The Only Way Out
Initially, authorities ruled the March shooting death of Texas restaurant executive Thomas Hickman, 55, a kidnap-murder, since he had been shot in the back of the head and the body dumped in the New Mexico desert. Later, however, investigators found the murder weapon nearby, attached to balloons that had snagged on cactus, and in July…
Recurring Themes
The latest evidence that, for men, size is important: Following a men’s room argument in Durban, South Africa, in September, five men of Indian descent left a bar, returned with guns and killed three patrons. According to police, the altercation started when one Indian man at a urinal called attention to a white South African…
Mechanically Inclined Perverts
Akira Hino, 51, was arrested in Tokyo in September and charged with stealing a woman’s underpants, using a fishing rod to reach a laundry pole on an apartment balcony. Police found more than 500 women’s undies in his apartment. A 34-year-old primary-school teacher was convicted in September for a 2007 incident in Clydebank, Scotland, in…
Thanks for no memories
I’m not sure if one of the highlights of my journalism career will be covering the final game of Oklahoma City Thunder head basketball coach P.J. Carlesimo. I was excited when I arrived in the press room to find out I would be sitting behind the scorer’s table for the historic game between the Thunder…
Unclear on the Concept
In November, after two years of controversy, the school board in Jacksonville, Fla., voted 5-2 to retain the designation of Nathan Bedford Forrest High School, which is named for a Confederate general who was also an early Ku Klux Klan leader. Advocates for change described Forrest as one of America’s biggest Civil War slave traders,…
It’s Good to Be a British Prisoner
The Sun reported in September that officials at London’s Holloway Prison had recently staged a morale-boosting costume dance party for female inmates, even though Holloway houses Britain’s worst female murderers. As a result, families of murder victims learned that the killers had a jolly good time dressed up as, for example, vampires and ghouls covered…
Local Government Follies
Police in Cobb County, Ga., said in October that County Commissioner Annette Kesting had asked local “high voodoo priestess” George Ann Mills to perform a “death ritual” on her longtime political rival Woody Thompson (“cancer” or a “car accident” preferred). Mills acknowledged helping Kesting on some “family” issues, by sacrificing three hens and a rooster,…
Can’t Possibly Be True
Residents of an Austin, Texas, neighborhood undergoing a federally mandated sewer replacement noticed that, for several weeks starting in September, the work crews would spend the first three hours of their 12-hour days digging a huge hole in the street, and the last three hours re-filling and paving over it (repeating the process each day).…
Nov. 4 saw huge turnout at polls, but not everyone completed ballots
There are three losing candidates who looked at the election results, saw the number of people who decided not to vote in their race and shook their heads, wondering what it takes to get people to vote. APATHY TO INDIFFERENCEBACKSIDES Most elections have a clear-cut winner when the votes are tallied, but a few need…
ARIES (March 21-April 19):
Fifty-five percent of Americans not only believe in guardian angels, but testify that they have been actively aided by the intervention of those divine helpers. Commenting on the results, one religious expert said that “Americans live in an enchanted world.” The 55 percent figure may rise even higher in the coming weeks. A majority of…
Eye-dropping jewelry
Dutch designer Eric Klarenbeek, 29, has developed jewelry consisting of tiny crystals or flowers that hang directly from the eye via micro-thin medical wire attached to either prescription or blank contact lenses and, in the light, give the appearance of tears streaming down the cheek. He expects to hit the market soon, according to an…
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):
In her book One Continuous Mistake, Gail Sher provides excellent advice for people who want to be writers. I’m offering it to you for your all-purpose use as you enter the Reinvent Yourself phase of your astrological cycle. The drive for perfection can be a distraction, Sher says. What’s more useful is to be brave…
Science Museum Oklahoma features space exhibit
Escaping Earth’s gravitational pull is just the first step in “Destination Space,” a unique, space-aged exhibit that shows kids what it takes to be an astronaut. Kids can blast off at Science Museum Oklahoma, 2100 N.E. 52nd, by taking part in a mission to have fun while learning about space and the science that propels…
AmeriCorps workers start tutoring curriculum in Norman
Julia Hicks and Chloe Kliewer sat around the table at the Community After School Program’s Norman office stuffing small goody bags full of toys for the many children that attend the after school program. AMERICORPS VISTALIVING STIPENDTHREE SCHOOLS Both women are 22 and studying international and area studies at the University of Oklahoma. And, both…
Least Competent Criminals
Jose Diaz Jr., 35, was arrested and charged with shoplifting from a Wal-Mart in Madison Township, Ohio, in October after attempting to run from the store with a digital camera. He first crashed into the glass front door (which looked open, but was closed), cutting himself badly, but then exited into the parking lot, where…
Sapulpa newspaper ignores Obama’s election
Obama wins! Obama wins! But you might not know it if you lived in Sapulpa. The town’s newspaper, The Sapulpa Herald, failed to mention the news of Barack Obama’s historic Nov. 4 election in the following day’s edition. And that has many of the city’s black residents as angry as Joe the Plumber facing a…
GEMINI (May 21-June 20):
A year ago, I had a vision that your experiences in 2008 would boost your heart’s smarts — maybe not up to the same level as your head’s intelligence, but much closer than before. I predicted you’d have a growing ability to master your own moods and emotions, and speculated on how that would in…
Oklahoma’s lightweight title up for grabs at Remington Park
Undefeated newcomers to the Oklahoma lightweight rankings, George Colbert and Noah Zuhdi will be fighting Monday night for the Oklahoma lightweight title. Colbert and Zuhdi have racked up impressive victories and are widely agreed to be two of the state’s best lightweights. SANCTION FIGHTSDIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES “They are two really good lightweight division fighters, they are…
Rachel Getting Married
Who doesn’t love a wedding? For that matter, who doesn’t hate them, too? Among the rituals that comprise life’s rich pageant, few can match a wedding for sheer joy and bare-knuckled dysfunction. Like any good exchange of nuptials, “Rachel Getting Married” engulfs a wealth of conflicts, resentments and unresolved rivalries, and yet you might wind…
Exhibit features Oklahoma’s Latino history
Fascinating Latino stories of Oklahoma from the 1800s to present day are told through a new interactive exhibit that features interviews, artifacts, documents, photographs, film and music. Two themes intertwine to explain the significance, impact and contribution of Latinos in “Tierra de Mi Familia.” The exhibit opens Friday and is on display until March 1,…
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19):
Long-time conservative writer Christopher Buckley, son of rightwing icon William F. Buckley, voted for Obama. Though he was once a speech-writer for John McCain, a man he admired, Buckley was aghast at how the presidential campaign unfolded. “I didn’t leave the Republican Party,” he said. “The Republican Party left me.” I urge you to be…
Planet B-Boy’ documents the globalization of break dancing
The United States gets a certain amount of flack from the rest of the world ” and rightly so ” for some of its cultural exports. McDonalds, KFCs, and Taco Bells are in every available international nook and cranny, and Hollywood now counts a major portion of its box-office take from international markets. Throw in…
New York trio Nada Surf storms city stage before sailing for calmer seas
Nada Surf emerged in 1996 when alternative rock ruled the airwaves with the ironic ode to high school, “Popular.” The band found a modest hit in the song, but trends changed a few years later, and Nada Surf lost favor alongside power-pop counterparts like Fastball and Superdrag. However, the trio endured, releasing four albums since…
The Lost Island of Tamarind – Nadia Aguiar
Feiwel & Friends Maya Nelson is sick of the sea. She’s sick of her little brother and her parents and, most of all, she’s sick of being stuck on her parents’ boat, the “Pamela Jane.” After spending all of her 13 years sailing with her parents from the Caribbean to the tip of South America…
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20):
Do you have a negative opinion of clouds? Are you inclined to regard them as symbols of gloom or malaise, interruptions in what you wish would always be clear blue sky? If so, I’ll ask you to revise your view. Consider the fact that in Chinese mythology, there are xiangyun, or “lucky clouds” that are…
Point: Great time for GOP
On Nov. 4, the Republican Party nationally didn’t fare very well, but Oklahoma Republicans had reason to celebrate. For the first time in state history, the GOP controls both chambers of the Legislature. Oklahoma voters gave House Republicans an additional four seats and control of the state Senate for the first time in state history.…
Oklahoma liquor wholesalers, winemakers compromise
On Nov. 4, more than one million Oklahomans ” nearly 79 percent of voters ” voted in favor of State Question 743, a ballot initiative that proponents hope will bolster Oklahoma’s growing wine industry. The verbiage in the question was a result of compromises between Oklahoma liquor wholesalers on one side and Oklahoma winemakers and…
Fans can’t let bad start temper their excitement for Thunder
Patience, please. There’s still a long row to hoe this NBA season, and we all knew the Oklahoma City Thunder’s initiation was going to be anything but easy. 1-9 OVERALLNOT ENOUGH CONCERN So don’t go putting your season tickets on eBay just 11 games into an eight-month, 82-game journey that more than anything is going…
Oklahoma to become first in nation to use ground-moving siren
Does everyone remember that iconic T-rex scene in the beginning of the 1993 blockbuster “Jurassic Park” ” you know the one, where the car has stopped by the empty T-rex enclosure and all is silent, too silent? But then, just barely audible, you hear a low, reverberating thump “¦ then another one. The camera pans…
People Who Need Attention
In October, Travis Fessler of Florence, Ohio, broke the Guinness Book record by holding 11 Madagascar hissing cockroaches in his mouth for the mandatory 10 seconds. Briton Sarah Burge, 49, broke the Guinness Book record for the most cosmetic surgery, having now spent a total of 539,500 pounds ($850,000) on more than 100 procedures, according…
Mayor of Bricktown’ dies
If the city’s beloved Bricktown area had its own mayor, it would have been Jim Brewer. Considered the father, architect and thrust behind one of the greatest renaissances Oklahoma City has ever witnessed, it was only fitting that an American flag stood at half-staff last week upon the news of his death. Brewer made his…
Hellboy II: The Golden Army
ters, demons and spirits. The picture is written and directed by Guillermo del Toro, the mad Mexican genius behind “Pan’s Labyrinth.” His eye for the extravagantly outr
Boobzilla reveals mystifying, jaw-dropping talents
Every mother believes her child is unique, but some moms are more right than others. Odds are that the woman who birthed The Amazing Boobzilla had no idea what she’d brought into the world. An all-around sideshow wonder, Boobzilla’s true gift (or gifts) relate to the incredible lifting power of her “¦ um, well “¦…
Turkey Trot Classic benefits programs at Eagle Ridge Institute
Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett has initiated a goal for Oklahomans to lose one million pounds by the end of 2008. The Turkey Trot Classic, which will be held on Thanksgiving Day, is not only a positive step toward that goal, but also important to overall good health. This annual event, sponsored by Eagle Ridge…
Three Cups of Tea – Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin
Puffin Young Readers The inspirational journey of Greg Mortenson has been adapted for children “? which is fitting considering his life’s work is to bring education to the children of Afghanistan and Pakistan. Mortenson stumbled upon his passion on accident. After a failed attempt to reach the summit of K2, a peak in the Himalayas,…
Starlight Mints to perform at Norman Music Festival
Norman Music Festival organizers gleefully roamed the packed downtown streets last year as the inaugural event defied expectations by bringing a festival packed not only with local and regional talent, but offering it up to city residents for free. The festival lured Chainsaw Kittens out of semi-retirement, brought the cult choir The Polyphonic Spree to…
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21):
It’s a ripe time to work on fixing any neurosis that chronically disrupts your economic karma. Can you afford sessions with a psychotherapist who’ll help you improve your relationship with money? Just in case you can’t, I’ll offer two exercises that might propel you toward financial self-healing. Twice a day for five minutes, visualize yourself…
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18):
“Never keep up with the Joneses,” counseled author Quentin Crisp. “Drag them down to your level. It’s cheaper.” But I don’t recommend that approach, Aquarius. To do so would be as big a waste of your energy as trying to match the consumerist folly of the Joneses. The same holds true about any situation in…
National organization, Gazette team up for ‘American Unchained’ event
The American Independent Business Alliance (AMIBA) and Oklahoma Gazette are teaming up to rally local restaurants, bookstores, bakers, coffee shops, mechanics and other businesses wanting to resist the market domination of corporate chains. Saturday marks “America Unchained,” a national effort to urge consumers to skip over Wal-Mart, Target and other big-box retailers and spend money…
Get Smart
2008 Steve Carell stars as the accident-prone-but-tenacious Maxwell Smart of CONTROL, a super-secret American spy organization. He is the best at his job, but his fondest wish is to become a field agent. But since Smart is so good at analysis, the Chief (Alan Arkin) denies Max’s field promotion. Then CONTROL’s headquarters is bombed, and…
Oklahoma woman dies in Louisiana
So what went amiss on that lonely Louisiana sandbar the fateful night that killed Tulsa woman Cynthia Lynch? According to the several reports, Lynch, 43, traveled by bus to Slidell, La., after seeking to join a chapter of the Ku Klux Klan there, called the Sons of Dixie Knights. There, the group transported her to…
Afghan heroin comes to Oklahoma City up interstate, onto turnpike
e driver’s reaction. “I observed (her) lip began to quiver. She then stared at my car, back at her car and then back at my car. She was extremely nervous at this point and began to tremble slightly,” the deputy wrote. The K-9 officer walked his partner, a dog named Mick, around the car. He…
TAURUS (April 20-May 20):
You’ve been hiding a part of yourself from your conscious awareness. That’s why I’m going to ask you to take off the mask you wear when you’re alone with yourself. You might be surprised when you actually gaze upon your secret face. But I believe it will ultimately prove to be an intriguing breakthrough that…
A Gathering’ presents old-fashioned murder mystery with modern twist
Lyric Theatre and www.tarsplace.com present “A Gathering,” a new play written and directed by Oklahoma playwright Robert Matson. In the work, an invitation leads to the revelation of deadly secrets and hidden desires after nine gay men are gathered together by an unknown stranger and held accountable for their past crimes. Over the last 10…
A News of the Weird Classic (May 2003)
Researchers at Plymouth University in England, with a small Arts Council grant, could not quite test whether an infinite number of monkeys with an infinite number of typewriters could produce the works of Shakespeare, but did see what six Sulawesi crested macaque monkeys would write with a computer over a four-week period. According to a…
Love Letters’ takes departure from average romantic play
It’s no surprise that “Love Letters” was nominated for a Pulitzer back in the late 1980s “? it’s a fantastic play. Its original and elegant depiction of a lifelong romance between Melissa Gardner and Andrew M. Ladd III is told exclusively through a correspondence that begins in the second grade in the 1930s and continues…
WALL-E
2008 The latest Pixar feature, “WALL-E,” was conceived, co-written and directed by Andrew Stanton, the guy behind “Finding Nemo.” This is the rarest kind of family film: a real family film “? not a kiddie movie in disguise, nor an adult movie for morons. In the year 2700. Earth has become nothing but an endless…
Counterpoint: Democrat hope
Earth to disappointed Oklahoma Democrats: It’s all good. Put those recriminations away. No one person or event can be blamed for the poor showing of Democratic state candidates in the Nov. 4 election. Keep your hopes alive. State Democrats are poised to make gains in the general election two years from now. It’s not difficult…
Prolific songsmith leaves brothers behind, goes it alone
According to Owen’s Mike Kinsella, Mike Kinsella: does not miss having to think while playing music, and is not pleasant to be around. With a lengthy career in several bands ” Cap’n Jazz, Joan of Arc and American Football, to name a few ” his self-awareness might be a little disconcerting. But as Kinsella sings…
Istvan Gallery celebrates one-year anniversary
With completely different artistic and aesthetic approaches, two artists from seemingly polar ends share a common thread connecting life to the inanimate. Oklahoma artists T
The Haunting of Molly Hartley
University of Oklahoma grad and film producer Mickey Liddell makes his directorial debut with “The Haunting of Molly Hartley,” a not-bad, PG-13 horror movie set at a nose-in-the-air prep school. Calling it “not-bad” both is and isn’t a compliment “? isn’t, because “not bad” doesn’t mean good, and is, because “not bad” is higher praise…
UCO Theater stages a highly entertaining version of Shakespeare’s ‘Twelfth Night’
ny a scene. DASHING TURNMitchell, Johnson and Damen are responsible for one of the standout aspects of this production: the composition of several original melodies performed throughout There are strong performances by Yousef Kazemi ,camping it up to great effect as the haughty and rather cruelly abused Malvolio, and Craig Gibson delivering a dashing turn…
Obama’s Oklahoma coordinator disputes support
The state coordinator for the Barack Obama campaign in Oklahoma has a different view point than one of his volunteers on John McCain’s overwhelming victory in Oklahoma. Jed Green said the state Democratic Party did all they could to try and make red Oklahoma Obama blue. Green disputes the remarks made by Jeff Bezdek who…
