Update
The brain “fingerprinting” work mentioned here in 2000 and 2003, whose hypothesis is that different areas of the brain are active when a person recalls an actual experience, as opposed to recalling merely learned information, was used in June in Pune, India, to secure a woman’s murder conviction. A neuroscientist convinced the judge that the…
Hey, Want to Go Hang Out?
Daytime burglar John Pearce, 32, was arrested in Dartford, England, in August after getting his foot caught in a window and hanging upside down for over an hour in full view of congregating (and taunting) neighbors before police arrived. However, in Chester Township, Pa., in July, scrap-metal burglar Charles Ancrum, 50, beat that record, hanging…
The Classic Middle Name (all new!)
Arrested recently and awaiting trial for murder: Nathaniel Wayne Lee, Attalla, Ala. (September); Michael Wayne Wood Sr. (arrested in Michigan in August as a fugitive from a 2005 Oklahoma murder warrant); Jeffrey Wayne Riebe, Myrtle Beach, S.C. (August); Barry Wayne Kaalund, Durham, N.C. (August); Joseph Wayne Keeler, Largo, Fla. (August). Captured after escaping while serving…
Bright Ideas
Wendy Brown, 33, was charged with identity theft in Green Bay, Wis., in September after she enrolled at Ashwaubenon High School pretending to be her 15-year-old daughter (who actually lives in Nevada). Though Brown has a “history” of identify-theft issues (according to a school official who spoke with Brown’s mother), one motive in this case…
Least Competent Criminals
Not Ready for Thugdom: Police in Wilmington, N.C., arrested Anthony Mallette, 30, and Capria Rouser, 28, in September, driving a stolen car, after they had allegedly tried to extort money from the owner for its return. They wanted $40. Two men attempted an armed robbery of the Brighton Mini Mart in Chicago in August, and…
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
2008 Audiences have been waiting nearly 20 years for another dose of whip-crack antics from the franchise that inspired countless backyard childhood treasure hunts. In most respects, the fourth Indy flick, “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, ” is worth the wait. Like the previous three, the film is fun and fast.…
Halloween: 30th Anniversary Commemorative Set
2008 Anchor Bay milks the Michael Myers franchise once more with a six-disc “Halloween: 30th Anniversary Commemorative Set,” but its all-in-one approach is too good to pass up. John Carpenter’s original 1978 classic is included, of course, in three versions: the theatrical cut, a new Blu-ray disc (for those of you with such players) and…
The Strangers
0review%20thumbnails/thestrangers.jpg” width=65 border=0> 2008 A bunch of us horroristas saw the trailer for “The Strangers” and thought, “Hey, this one looks like it might be kinda creepy.” The good news is that it is kinda creepy. The not-so-good news is that it’s only creepy for about 30 minutes. The bad news is that it’s 90…
The Incredible Hulk
2008 I like how “The Incredible Hulk” pretty much ignores Ang Lee’s attempt a few years ago, but still assumes that we know what the big guy’s backstory is. This time, Edward Norton is Bruce Banner who, when he loses control of his emotions, becomes the Hulk, thanks to a huge mistake in scientific gene…
OKC-based institute releases counterterrorism report
An intelligence report from a terrorism institute suggests an old threat has new clothes: Immigration and eminent domain radicalism are the heirs of Timothy McVeigh. The message on the Yahoo Web group, “Americans with a Spine” is unrelenting and unmistakable: OKLAHOMA CONNECTIONINTELLIGENCE STRATEGYFILL IN THE GAPS “This group is for those who have HAD IT!…
October is the time to feed creature needs
Creatures that go bump in the night have been saddled with a bad rap, more often associated with horror movies and cheesy spook houses than beloved pets or vital commodities to the ecosystem. Rather than shriek at the slightest peep, hiss or croak of nature’s creepier critters, there are several ways to learn to love…
Body of Lies
Reviewer’s grade: A+ Ridley Scott’s new opus stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Roger Ferris, a mid-level man-on-the-ground for the CIA’s Middle East division. Ferris spends his time gathering intelligence by partnering with locals in a wide array of locales, in search of a man called Al-Saleem (Alon Abutbu), a terrorist leader the CIA refers to as…
Family Values
Wealthy advertising executive Robert Schwartz died in 1997 and left a sizable estate, including a special “Party Trust” for his relatives, but with one condition: They must all celebrate Schwartz’s birthday every August for at least 10 years at a posh party in Naples, Fla., with all expenses paid, and people missing two straight, or…
Details emerge to improve Oklahoma’s embattled foster care system
In just a few weeks, the work of two years will be unveiled to the state Legislature on what to do about child abuse. Two of the key points in the report have emerged, and a legislative committee will call on increased funding. In 2006, a law was enacted which created the Oklahoma Children and…
University of Oklahoma’s Catlett Music Center hosts Japanese concert
After a five-year hiatus, Norman’s Sharp Concert Hall will once again transform into a Zen den. Japanese instruments, like the shakuhachi, koto and shamisen, will set the ambiance for the 8 p.m. Tuesday concert inside the University of Oklahoma’s Catlett Music Center. Michael Chikuzen Gould, Chieko Iwazaki and Kuniyasu Iwazaki will perform modern and traditional…
Python goes missing from Norman zoo twice
It’s not every day that a 12-foot albino Burmese Python goes missing, and then is returned. Twice. That’s just what happened to just such a snake named “Merlin,” according to reports. Merlin’s tale has many twists, turns and convolutions, and in keeping with his namesake, has quite a disappearing act. And though he was a…
Swiss animal rights
The world’s most extensive array of animal “rights” took effect in Switzerland in September. Dog owners must take, at their own expense, classes in pet care (and anglers must take a class in humane treatment of fish). Animals listed as “social” (including goldfish, hamsters, sheep, goats, yaks) must be kept with or near another of…
Charlie Louvin, Narvel Felts introduce themselves to new generations
When Charlie Louvin sings now, his voice carries the dry Old Testament gravity of Johnny Cash without as much bleakness. He’s blunt, like classic George Jones, but twice as sober and without the bluesy phrasing. SATURDAY SHOWPROUD OF THE ATTENTION There’s no use comparing the 81-year-old singer’s current country to the legacy he created in…
The Express
Reviewer’s grade: C+ The sports biopic is the grilled-cheese sandwich and tomato soup of movie genres. You know exactly what to expect, which is part of the appeal. “The Express,” which tells the true-life story of the first African-American winner of college football’s Heisman Trophy, plays it strictly by the book “? but even that…
Right turn
What if the Oklahoma City area becomes even more politically and culturally conservative in the next few years? According to a story in the Tulsa World, population trends show Oklahoma’s fastest-growing political districts are now either controlled by Republicans or trending towards the GOP. These districts include Oklahoma City’s suburban areas. If the trends hold,…
Oklahoma legislative committee studies ATV road legalilty
The Oklahoma state Legislature is finally looking into something we here at Chicken-Fried News have long considered a matter of supreme importance: all-terrain vehicles on the roads. Yes, friends, the time has finally come that ATV and Toyota Hilux may share the pavement. It brings a tear to our dusty, curmudgeonly eyes. Citing fuel prices…
Bart Davenport mixes melody, melancholy into earnest retro pop
By most accounts, Bart Davenport is a lover, not a fighter. Unguarded and unabashed in his adoration for the soft-rock pleasures of Seventies-era AM radio, the earnest singer/songwriter is about as aggressive as John Oates’ mustache. SOFT ELECTRONICSMOOTH MIX-TAPE However, after reading one newspaper’s negative review of “Palaces,” his recently released fourth solo album, the…
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20):
In medieval Europe, more resources and human ingenuity were lavished upon cathedrals and churches than on any other buildings. In the last hundred years, the emphasis has been different, having switched to the towering structures that house institutions dedicated to commerce. By that measure, Money is a far more important God than God. During the…
First sign of trouble and fair-weather fans show true colors
Losing sure brings out the ugly in people. The Oklahoma-Texas game from Oct. 11 produced the ideal example of unsightliness. The Longhorns scored to take a 45-35 lead with 4:02 left in the game, and before the two teams’ respective kick units could get lined up, thousands of Sooner fans started lining the aisles to…
Book drive
If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. That’s the motto for Norman officials and residents who want a new and bigger public library. Last May, a $49.5 million bond issue for a new facility was defeated in municipal elections by a mere 280 votes. Just five months later, library supporters have unveiled a…
Bartlesville turns up on Hells Angels’ radar
Everyone knows about Hells Angels, the notorious biker gang noted for cruising Harley-Davidsons since the Sixties. California is known for its history with the Angels, with Oklahoma barely a blip on the gang’s radar screen. But the town of Bartlesville lit up the sonar of the Angels, and law enforcement, when a member of a…
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19):
Describing a Jupiter transit, Capricorn astrologer Steven Forrest wrote, “Life is a train wreck, except the trains are made of cake and ice cream.” Amen to that, bro. I’d add that a Jupiter transit might also be imagined as being on the verge of too many orgasms, or getting forced to make a painful choice…
Quarantine
Reviewer’s grade: B+ Angela Vidal (Jennifer Carpenter) is one of those annoying local TV personalities who gets the human interest stories but is too cute and perky to be trusted with anything important. She and her cameraman Scott (Steve Harris) are shooting a piece on the life of a fire fighter. She follows Jake (Jay…
OPUBCO eliminates 155 positions, 14 percent workforce cut
Something was in the air Oct. 8 at The Oklahoman. Last month, the state’s largest daily newspaper announced the company’s 1,100-member workforce would be downsized in two stages: an initial phase of early retirements in September, followed by a second phase of layoffs the next month. Carrie Coppernoll, an Oklahoman columnist, posted her thoughts at…
Campy but contrived, ‘Horror’ spared by highly competent cast
One wonders what the corporate titans and society matrons who founded Lyric Theatre would think about the company’s current production of the musical “The Rocky Horror Show,” but actually, Lyric Theatre (founded in 1963) and “Rocky Horror” (created in 1973) are of the same generation. For “Rocky Horror,” Richard O’Brien created a send-up of horror…
Better Sex Lives Than Yours
In August two British couples were given sanctions by local councils because their loud, long sex sessions disturbed neighbors. Steve and Caroline Cartwright were issued a noise abatement order by the Sunderland City Council (Caroline: “I do admit I scream and make lots of noise”), and Kerry Norris was fined by the Brighton and Hove…
Gallery holds Xerox lithography workshop
As an alternative to traditional lithography, the Xerox machine really makes an impression. Joe Ramiro Garcia will give an artist’s talk 6:30 p.m. Friday, and a Xerox lithography workshop 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at Untitled [ArtSpace]1 N.E. Third. Garcia is a Santa Fe, N.M. artist who routinely combines the printmaking process…
Marcy Priest shifts from studio to stage
Oklahoma City’s Marcy Priest is shifting from the studio to the stage as she prepares the release of “Awake,” a seven-track debut of original songs. The collection of radio-ready soft rock and jazz is a platform for her to put her voice upfront through various roles, whether it’s featured in the crunching rock of “Never…
Bricktown building will host UCO’s Academy of Contemporary Music
Auditions are already being planned at a new Bricktown venue where hundreds of musicians will book gigs that could prove career- and life-changing. Renovations on the fourth floor of the Oklahoma Hardware Building, 25 E. California, are under way for the Academy of Contemporary Music ” a school organizers say will educate musicians and band,…
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22):
Describing the poet Kenneth Koch, his colleague John Ashbery said that his work “gives you the impression that you are leading an interesting life; going to parties and meeting interesting people, falling in love, going for rides in the country and to public swimming pools, eating in the best restaurants and going to movies and…
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21):
If you’re a left-winger, you may think right-wingers are stupid or evil or both. If you’re a right-winger, you probably hold the same attitudes about left-wingers. A similar pattern prevails between most other groups that hold opposing views. You’re a rare person if you’ve never looked at a certain group of people and thought to…
Oliver Twist – Charles Dickens
Sterling publishing From Sterling Publishing comes two new hardcover editions of favorite children’s classics, “Oliver Twist” by Charles Dickens and “Anne of Avonlea” by Lucy Maud Montgomery. The stories are lightly sprinkled with footnotes to explain certain words or phrases that may be foreign to anyone “? kid or adult “? today, for example, in…
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18):
In a recent horoscope, I urged people to convince everyone around them to take more responsibility and be more accountable. In response, a reader named Rene wrote, “I can’t think of ANYTHING more futile! Convincing other people to be anything other than the way they are is a misguided and losing proposition. Unless people have…
Means of Transit
University of Oklahoma Press While still in her twenties, Teresa Miller found literary success with the novel “Remnants of Glory.” The buzz surrounding her debut novel had her poised to be the next great author, but an 18-year debilitating writer’s block left her searching for new means for her voice to be heard. Miller, a…
Esquire endorses Rice, slams Inhofe
From the looks of U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe’s current campaign commercials, which end with the Oklahoma Republican walking in slow motion toward the camera, one might think the senior senator is the second coming of Jesus Christ. Well, the venerable Esquire magazine ain’t kneeling down at that one. In its annual “Esquire Endorses America” feature,…
Utopia Joe’ balances art, new television series
illiant designers, musicians in Oklahoma as anywhere.”
Chickasha venue offers plenty of pumpkin opportunities
Create your own Oktoberfest with a night of pumpkin cannon shooting, mazes and farm animals. Enjoy the autumn weather with a range of activities 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, and 1-8 p.m. Sundays at Reding Farm Maze and Pumpkin Patch in Chickasha. Children can follow the yellow sorghum road in one of…
