Capitol one
The former chef for the Oklahoma Governor’s Mansion, Nettle recently launched Venue 104, 10400 S. Western, as a catering business after having worked for hungry commanders-in-chief Mary Fallin and Brad Henry. “I left on the best of terms,” said Nettle. “It was just time for me to do my own thing.” He and his wife,…
‘Heart’ rates
It’s odd that Oklahoma City Repertory Theatre’s production of Larry Kramer’s The Normal Heart, about the beginning of the AIDS crisis, is the state’s first staging of this 1985 drama. Now at the Freede Little Theatre under the fine direction of René Moreno, it was worth the wait. The play was once topical and is…
LETTERS
Oklahoma Gazette provides an open forum for the discussion of all points of view in its Letters to the Editor section. The Gazette reserves the right to edit letters for length and clarity. Letters can be mailed, faxed, emailed to pbacharach@ okgazette.com or sent online at okgazette.com, but include a city of residence and contact…
LETTERS
Oklahoma Gazette provides an open forum for the discussion of all points of view in its Letters to the Editor section. The Gazette reserves the right to edit letters for length and clarity. Letters can be mailed, faxed, emailed to pbacharach@ okgazette.com or sent online at okgazette.com, but include a city of residence and contact…
Just push play?
Credit: Brad Gregg According to a Yahoo! report, the guest spot didn’t sit well with any band member who wasn’t Tyler. Recalled rhythm guitarist Brad Whitford, someone said, “Wait a minute: So this is an Aerosmith album, right?” Perhaps that objector was lead guitarist Joe Perry? Quoted in Yahoo!’s article, he didn’t sound all too…
French bread
Say what you will about the French. No, seriously, just go ahead and say it. Get it out of your system. Are you done? Good. Because while I will let you defame the entire nation, I will not hear a word about their food, unless that word is “More?” And at La Baguette Bistro, Oklahoma…
Seasonal spirits
Pumpkin pie, apple cider and the various seasonal dishes we associate with Thanksgiving and Christmas have a unique flavor profile. Those flavors do not easily translate to cocktails. Done right, however, spicy drinks can add an extra dimension of festivity to the season. “Everyone likes the holiday flavors,” said Kyle Fleischfresser, beverage director for Western…
Choc it up
Choc Beer received a silver medal last month for its Signature Grätzer at Denver’s Great American Beer Festival, in the category of Indigenous Beer, which awarded “uniquely local or regional” beer types. Zach Prichard, owner of the Krebs-based Choc Beer, said Grätzer, a Polish-style wheat beer, was not being brewed anywhere in the world two…
‘Richard’ gears
“Now is the winter of our discontent” might be Shakespeare’s most famous opening line. But no one will walk away from Reduxion Theatre’s Richard III “discontent” with the performances. Known for adding twists to the classics, Reduxion has embarked on its first Shakespearean history, setting the play in the cabaret world of the Weimar Republic…
Kicking the crap out of Democrats
Credit: Brad Gregg Let the postmortems commence. Despite little actual change in the national political landscape, with President Barack Obama holding on to the White House, Democrats retaining Senate control and Republicans holding the House, inquiring minds want to know: How “red” did Oklahoma — already known as one of the reddest states in the…
A new hope
When it finally opens, the American Indian Cultural Center and Museum, located at Interstate 40 and Eastern Avenue, is expected to become an international tourism destination. Securing additional funds, however, continues to be the last major hurdle to completing construction that began six years ago. NACEA Executive Director Blake Wade said he’s counting on $40…
Solutions for progressives
President Barack Obama was reelected in an Electoral College rout; Elizabeth Warren and Tammy Baldwin were elected to the U.S. Senate, Tammy Duckworth won a U.S. House seat, three states approved same-sex marriage and two states passed legalized marijuana. The country’s demographics are changing and so are cultural and social attitudes. By the 2016 presidential…
Times bold
Photo: Doug Schwarz It doesn’t take more than a minute or so into Defining Times’ new record, Separate Tongues, to sense the intimacy, closeness and trust the Oklahoma City alternative band members must feel for one another. You’d think they’d been playing for a decade, not a year and a half. “It’s a brotherhood,” front…
Whiz kid
Credit: Brad Gregg Little Dillan no longer will be a menace to society, thanks to a vigilant Piedmont police officer. The officer — who, one might argue, had a bit too much time on his hands — stopped the tot as he began to unzip in the front yard of his home on a quiet,…
Report-card reaction
Belle Isle EnterpriseMiddle School Credit: Mark Hancock Those expecting high marks received them. Those who anticipated the worst saw their fears realized. As part of the state’s new evaluation system, all public schools were issued a grade from A to F based on a list of newly developed criteria. In Oklahoma City Public Schools, the…
No laughing matter
Looking out at a room of 40 people, Dan Skaggs sighed and wondered if he was doing something wrong. His group, OKC Comedy, had brought Los Angeles comedian Brent Weinbach to town. When tickets to the March didn’t sell, they dropped the price to free. And they still drew only 40 people. “That was maybe…
OKG7 spots open on Thanksgiving
Deep Fork Grill5418 N. Westerndeepforkgrill.com848-7678 Deep Fork has your Turkey Day covered for lunch and/or dinner. There will be a traditional Thanksgiving menu, complete with turkey and stuffing, as well as staple items off the regular menu. Expect to see the filet, strip and cedar-plank salmon. Reservations strongly encouraged; the restaurant already is filling up.…
Killing fields
Sgt. Gary Knight Credit: Shannon Cornman Compare that to 2011, when there were only 60 homicides recorded in the city. “We don’t know why,” said Sgt. Gary Knight, assistant public information officer with the Oklahoma City Police Department. “Some were domestic, some involved gang violence, others involved robberies and still others were drug killings.” The…
Future’s so bright
Imagine for a moment that you’re perched atop a pristine body of water. As you gaze downward, ripples contort the natural world, and all of your tangible surroundings seem strangely elusive and engulfed in fantasy. The other side of that reflection? The world in which Future Islands live. Appearing tonight at Opolis, the Baltimore trio…
Chud — Chud
Well, it might, actually. But the band’s music sounds as non-damn-giving as can be — in the best way possible. The rising hardcore enthusiasts steadily have ascended the local ladder with their blistering live presence — a barrage of piercing guitar riffs, staccato rhythm section and singer-guitarist Alex Barnard’s slobbery howl. The impression left has…
King pong
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US” lang=”EN-US”> John Gillette and Linda Piattcompete at Belle Isle Berwery. Credit: Shannon Cornman On Thursday, it’s paddles down in the Belle Isle Brewery. Someone will make the final serve in a ping pong tournament that started nearly two months ago as a fundraiser for Easter Seals Oklahoma. As competition has narrowed, event…
Perfect situation
Haters will hate, but of bands established in the 1990s, Weezer remains one of the most recognizable due to its sound: wailing guitar solos, harmonies owing as much to The Beach Boys as punk rock, and lyrics dripping with all the nostalgia and self-obsession teenagers could possibly muster. If fans, however, would rather not drop…
Setting up camp
Feeling normal when you’re battling a terminal illness is a sizable challenge, but it’s what the people behind the Cavett Kids Foundation hope to help thousands of children accomplish. For more than 30 years, Danny Cavett, a chaplain at the OU Medical Center, quietly went about his goal of providing special camps for children fighting…
CFN Quote of the Week
Credit: Brad Gregg —James Harden to Yahoo! Sports writer Adrian Wojnarowsk in a Nov. 6 story, on the OKC Thunder reportedly giving him an hour to consider the club’s final contract offer
Primping for the parties
You can pick up all your party frocks and accessories locally, because the metro is full of small boutiques offering unique pieces not available online or at the mall. Gil’s, 7644 N. Western, serves a wide demographic at a moderate price. “The Gil’s girl is a fashion-forward early teen to a hip 60-year-old,” said store…
Frack it up
Credit: Brad Gregg Oklahoma’s own corporate sugar daddy recently got the green light from Pennsylvania state officials to begin hydraulic fracturing a well located about a mile away from the Beaver Valley Nuclear Power Station in Shippingport, Penn., along the Ohio River. While there is no proven link between seismic activity and hydraulic fracturing —…
CFN Quote of the Week
Credit: Brad Gregg —James Harden to Yahoo! Sports writer Adrian Wojnarowsk in a Nov. 6 story, on the OKC Thunder reportedly giving him an hour to consider the club’s final contract offer
Looking for laws
The items on the legislative program, which the council passed unanimously, are first recommended by city department heads to the city manager, who then passes the recommendations on to the council’s legislative committee. Last year’s agenda items that were eventually passed into law included restoring December city elections in odd years, requiring counties to notify…
Whither a Kardashians court?
No, that’s not the name of next season’s Kardashian family spinoff, but rather the possible future of Oklahoma judicial retention elections as scripted by the State Chamber of Oklahoma. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce became a shrewd and dominant legal player at the turn of the millennium, transforming formerly quiescent, low-dollar state Supreme Court elections…
Sun and shade
Russ Goering, OKC VAMC facility energy engineer, said construction began last year after the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs awarded $56.7 million in contracts to VA medical centers in five sunny states, including Oklahoma. “The system is robust and about 300 by 200 feet in size,” Goering said. “[It] provides double benefits because our veterans…
Pop goes the table!
The pressure to produce a great gathering can worry most hosts, novice and expert alike. Thankfully, it’s not necessary to be a master chef or own a grand manor to create a fun and successful affair. Begin by deciding on a menu. At Uptown Grocery Company, 1230 W. Covell in Edmond, chef Jermiah Duddleston believes…
Very dirty Santa
Once you’ve whittled down the pile and sent the proper regrets, the focus then turns to those parties you can attend. Some are ugly sweater parties or have other themes. Maybe you’ve got a gala or soiree that requires cocktail wear. Most certainly, however, aside from the dips and the fudge and the dresses, you’re…
Ghost of a chance
Photo: Krista Spears Most parents aren’t thrilled about their kids playing in punk bands. The mother of Corporate Ghost drummer Max Harris, however, has fostered the entire underground scene by giving fledgling punk and garage rock bands a place to call home while honing their skill. “It’s provided a place for the punk and underground…
The Outlaw Brothers
Yes, it comes from the Dragon Dynasty line — release No. 57, to be precise — but it’s sillier than the bulk of Dragon Dynasty product, which largely skips this period in favor of old-school Shaw Brothers. But Frankie Chan’s The Outlaw Brothers? It’s as of-the-times as a 1990 flick can be, right down to…
Rudyard Kipling’s Mark of the Beast
Not only is the title superimposed over an image from the indie effort, but two clickable options, two URLs and four review blurbs, as if to convince you upfront that you are about to witness brilliance. To further complicate the eyesore, the blurbs are not presented in consistent typeface, color or size. In other words,…
The Ghostmaker
A little research reveals it was built by an inventor of torture devices — a man considered “an evil version of Leonardo da Vinci. They called him the Devil’s Craftsman.” The coffin is a “ghost machine” constructed to allow its users to safely experience the sensation of death without actually dying. One goldfish test later,…
The Right to Love: An American Family
Oklahoma-born, Christian director Cassie Jaye chronicles one gay couple’s struggle for such acceptance in The Right to Love: An American Family. The documentary follows two years in the life of the Leffew family: two professional parents raising two adopted children they love dearly, and who love them back. That the parents happen to be two…
Nitro Circus: The Movie
Sandwiched between a faux-stakes framing device of preparing for its first live show in Las Vegas, ringleader Travis Pasternak and his Nitro Circus crew perform X Games-friendly stunts that must have earned a nod of the helmet from Evel Knievel in heaven. The guys — and lone woman, Jolene Van Vugt — often defy gravity…
Portlandia: Season Two
Here, allow me to throw you some examples:• “We can pickle that.”• “Cheese boats are dope.”• “Plastic bags cause pelican cancer.”• “Ron, get these white people outta my closet.”• “Don’t touch me, you’re a dirty hippie, you don’t get punk at all!”• “My sister went to community college, and we haven’t talked in 10 years.”•…
After the hurricane
S&B’s Automobile Alley location on N.W. Ninth will host bands from noon to 8 p.m. Donations of bottled water, blankets and clothing will be accepted and then delivered to the American Red Cross. Iguana will feature a “Well Wishes” specialty cocktail, and 100 percent of the sales from the drink will be donated. The proceeds…
[REC] 3: Genesis
Despite the subtitle, it’s not really a prequel. Ingeniously presented as a cheesy wedding video, complete with menu and photo montage, the film documents the nuptials of Clara (Leticia Dolera) and Koldo (Diego Martín), and the subsequent country-club reception that gives new meaning to “blow-out.” At some point deep into the dance-party portion of the…
‘Poppins’ pops
Disney’s national touring production of the Mary Poppins musical is great, fun and colorful. Its cast is excellent, too, with one strange exception: Mary Poppins herself. As Mary, the magical nanny, Madeline Trumble was the only one who seemed overly showy, clearly putting on a performance, whereas the rest of the actors were much more…
