The Sorcerers
Explains the Monserrats to a complete stranger (Ian Ogilvy, TV’s Return of the Saint) they’ve secured in what looks like an electric chair, the couple has devised a scientific system offering “complete abandonment with no thought of remorse … intoxication with no hangover, ecstasy with no consequence.” (To the viewer, this means a sequence of…
Wanda Jackson — Unfinished Business
Here she builds on the success of last year’s The Party Ain’t Over, her collaboration with Jack White, but unlike that effort, this album is raw, spare and constructed to showcase the Oklahoma-born-and-bred Jackson’s prodigious gifts. Ample credit goes to Justin Townes Earle, who produced this 10-song collection of blues, country, gospel and soul covers.…
‘Shout’ it out loud
Although we live in Oklahoma — Native America, as the license plates read — many people still believe the popular cinematic images of American Indians as tepee-dwelling folk clad in ceremonial headdresses and quick to dispense ancient wisdom while passing a peace pipe. It’s a stereotype that Lawton-born Kiowa/Choctaw screenwriter Steven Judd, co-writer of the…
‘Grease’ girl
Although Olivia Newton-John earned her stripes well before starring in 1978’s Grease and released her debut album an entire decade before 1981’s Physical, odds are that when you think of the Australian pop star, you think of one of two things: black hot pants or a leotard. Despite those benchmarks, she has performed nonstop for…
Helio, you must be going
For a lot of bands, discovering that your studio’s been submerged under a foot of water would prove catastrophic. Such an undesirable dilemma was forced upon The Helio Sequence after the release of its breakthrough 2009 album, Keep Your Eyes Ahead. Yet, while the alt-rock act could have sulked knee-deep in the liquid that pervaded…
At the top
But those who can steal a glance at the decor of the restaurant will find subtle design details and unique custom furniture. Two dedicated elevators in the lobby whisk diners to the top of the skyscraper. Those stopping by for a drink can sit at the bar or in plush cowhide chairs near the windows.…
Fest of feast
One year ago, April Harrington and Matt Burch — owners of Earth Elements Farm and Urban Agrarian, respectively — joined forces to create Earth to Urban Local Food Hub. Both had been active in the local food renaissance for several years when they decided to pair up to help revitalize the Farmers Market district. Harrington…
Ermahgerd layzurs!
Lasers are no longer only found in campy science-fiction movies or on dry-erase boards during school lectures. Lasers can be used to enhance your appearance. (Not trying to say you need it, beautiful.) Generally, we try to look good for one another. I mean, in the grand scheme of things, there’s only a short number…
Info on informants
The battered and bruised body of Kenneth Trentadue raised the suspicions of his family. And the journalists might not be alone. FBI informants might also be found on the White House staff, in the offices of U.S. congressmen, in the courts and among the clergy. The allegations stem from Trentadue’s ongoing legal battle with the…
Corn’s new crop
Based in Weatherford, Green Corn Revival never has boasted a stable lineup, but even a massive lineup shake-up this past spring put the group on pause. Six months later, the alt-country act is enjoying a bit of a revival itself, and bandleader Jared Deck believes it’s the finest incarnation yet. “It’s the trust I have…
Rolling upward
Photo: Doug Schwarz With the third anniversary of Oklahoma City outfit Skating Polly coming on the eve of Halloween, things are shaking out how every band dreams it will. The duo recently signed a manager and found a booking agent, and a record deal looks to be inked in the very near future. It’s been…
Killing them softly
Photo: Clark Deal Oklahoma City’s Kill the Reflection has come a long way. What began as a trip-hop group in 1999 has morphed into a post-punk band that does moody with the best of them. Heavily indebted to Joy Division and Interpol — yet inspired by acts as varied as Deftones, Iggy Pop and Sade…
Dash of cardio
The consequences of Halloween can be quite painful for some children. Their tummies hurt from an overload of candy intake and their teeth ache from all the sugary goodness. Luckily, the Junior League of Norman is hosting a fun and healthy alternative to wallowing on the couch in a fructose-fueled daze. The Monster Dash is…
Sweep well
Photo: Kyle Froman Few get to act dirty in a Disney musical. Con O’Shea-Creal does, because that’s what you do when you’re cast as the chimney sweep of Mary Poppins. Taking a visual cue from Dick Van Dyke’s performance as Bert in the beloved 1964 film, O’Shea-Creal spends much of the stage show covered in…
Thunder on
James Harden Credit: Shannon Cornman While several national media outlets recently have ranked the Oklahoma City Thunder as among North America’s top professional sports franchises, the team has other things on its collective mind these days: namely, the start of a new season and the challenge of winning an NBA championship. Losing to the Miami…
OKG7 new spots to stop
Harrison’s Chicken House 204 E. Oklahoma, Guthrie 260-7692 Have you ever had fried chicken that looks simultaneously like a work of art and a heap of southern goodness? If the answer is no, and you have no aversion to fried green tomatoes, then you’ve got no legitimate reason not to check out Harrison’s Chicken House.…
‘E.CO’ friendly
Contemporary art meets environmental awareness in E.CO, a photography exhibit that serves as the perfect showcase for [Artspace] at Untitled, according to Executive Director Jon Burris. “The reason we were interested in this particular show was that it fit our mission. We are an environment designed to stimulate creative thought and new ideas about contemporary…
Milking it
The Ban the Bags program calls on hospitals to cease distribution of formula gift bags to new mothers, which proponents call “pure marketing” that undermines efforts to promote breastfeeding as recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the World Health Organization. “When a hospital hands out a name-brand formula, it’s considered an endorsement,” said…
Seeing red
This year’s crop includes both affordable and moderately expensive bottles. Canard Vineyard has sold its Napa Valley fruit to the Ravenswood and Mondavi vineyards for nearly two decades. The Zinfandel comes from vines more than 100 years old. The acres of Cabernet, Merlot and Cabernet Franc were planted in the 1980s. Canard (French for “duck”)…
All trails lead to here
It was a struggle. A monumental task, like climbing Mount Everest or staying awake during a tax preparation seminar. But I did it. I didn’t order the chicken. If you’ve ever been to Inca Trail, you understand what I’m talking about. This gem of a Peruvian restaurant is known for great food, but no dish…
Think small
The following Cyber Monday offers its own e-commerce steals. So, what to do on the Saturday in between? Celebrate a relatively new American shopping holiday, of course. Small Business Saturday, created by American Express in 2010, encouraged more than 100 million shoppers last year to shop at independently owned small businesses. Promoted through social media,…
CFN Quote of the Week
Credit: Brad Gregg —Charles P. Pierce, on Gov. Mary Fallin’s address at the Republican National Convention, in the November issue of Esquire
CFN Quote of the Week
Credit: Brad Gregg —Charles P. Pierce, on Gov. Mary Fallin’s address at the Republican National Convention, in the November issue of Esquire
Castro-free Cubans
Cuban cigars, for instance. Or communism. Or driving a Packard. But here, a scant 1,245-mile car ride away from Havana (hold your breath through the Gulf of Mexico), we can enjoy one of the best things ever to come from that island nation: the Cuban sandwich. For those unfamiliar with the culinary treat, the traditional…
Black helicopter alert!
Credit: Brad Gregg Well, except for Alabama (and that’s still a maybe). Oh, and Oklahoma, too. It appears Alabama lawmakers, unsatisfied with just the mind-control-device-blocking power of the tinfoil hat, decided in their wisdom to pass a measure prohibiting state and local governments from participating in the implementation of United Nations initiative Agenda 21. For…
Mitt Romney and the demise of Anthony’s
Credit: Brad Gregg Mitt Romney does, or at least he might, as detailed in a recent Newsweek story by David Stockman, former budget director in the Reagan administration. As reported in the article, Romney’s private equity firm, Bain Capital, began buying up big-box retailers in the late 1980s and early ’90s that were failing amid…
Mick NYC
Credit: Brad Gregg In the Oct. 22 Bloomberg Businessweek, Mayor Mick was one of five city experts interviewed about urban planning. Asked what his favorite city is aside from OKC, Cornett let his little-town blues melt away. “The public transit is astonishing,” he said of New York City. “The diversity available — in all senses…
Lest ye be judged
Credit: Brad Gregg The rankings came from the Oklahoma Civil Justice Council, a partnership between the State Chamber, the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce, the Tulsa Metro Chamber of Commerce and other organizations. The State Chamber has said in the past that it planned to rank judges, who are re-elected on retention ballots, and…
Flea circus
Credit: Brad Gregg First it was Lil Wayne, who took his “I didn’t get a courtside seat” rants to Twitter during last season’s NBA playoffs. Now the anti-Thunder grousing comes from Michael Balzary, better known as Flea, the Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist and an adamant L.A. Lakers fan. Evidently, Flea was denied access to…
Park places
The proposed designs were met with general approval by the crowd in attendance. Many audience members offered their ideas for the park, including suggestions for making the area more friendly to bicyclists and mass transit users. The park will comprise 40 acres south of the future downtown boulevard and 30 acres south of the realigned…
School shakeup
Karl Springer and Brian Staples visitedwith Jesse Jackson at Douglass earlierthis year. Credit: Shannon Cornman District officials did not disclose details of that probe, but said the results were being turned over to the Oklahoma County District Attorney, the state Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Education. As Oklahoma Gazette first reported in…
Sheriff in town
The contest pits Sheriff John Whetsel, a Democrat who is running for his fifth consecutive term, against 20-year law-enforcement veteran and U.S. Marshal Service special deputy Darrell Sorrels. While Whetsel has a definite edge in fundraising — totaling around $333,000 against Sorrels’ $28,000, as of this writing — Sorrels is a Republican in one of…
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…
A taxing question
Fred Mogran Credit: Shannon Cornman A coalition of business groups headed by the State Chamber of Oklahoma support passage of SQ 766, which is on ballot Tuesday, asserting that its failure could spur a vast expansion of state taxes on items as varied as retirement benefits, professional licenses, hunting leases, and even copyrighted song lyrics…
Romney is the choice for Oklahoma
—The Keystone XL Pipeline: From our state’s perspective, I could rest my case there. The Obama administration’s decision not to approve the pipeline is one of the greatest failures of his term. National security, small business and Oklahoma jobs are at risk of serious setback. Keystone XL Pipeline means more construction jobs, more industry jobs,…
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…
Obama deserves the vote of Oklahomans
The difference between the two candidates couldn’t be more evident. On one side, there is President Obama’s track record of strong, stable leadership, delivering transformational policy. Then there’s Mitt Romney’s opaque platform on the other side, featuring vague policies and positions that shift like a weather vane in the Oklahoma wind. When Obama took office,…
The Man Who Created Halloween — Irwin Yablans
This self-published paperback is his story — emphasis on The Man, not Halloween. The making of that 1978 now-classic movie is only a small part of the autobiography, which covers his entire life. Luckily, Yablans is an engaging storyteller who’s full of amusing anecdotes — some of which are intentional (John Wayne declaring his wish…
It’s a TV-on-DVD fall frenzy!
The Walking Dead: The Complete Second Season Now that the third season has started, I guess we’ll know soon enough, but The Walking Dead must figure out a way to deliver a consistent season. It delivers awesome season openers and closers, but the ones in between can be maddening; they can take several episodes to…
Kendrick Lamar — good kid, m.A.A.d City
The album, which Lamar labeled as a “short film,” tells the story of his life as a good kid in the mad city of Compton, Calif. He raps about trying to avoid temptations, including women, drugs, alcohol, violence and revenge. However, even the good kids succumb to temptation from time to time. The disc twists…
Going downtown
The OCU Board of Trustees today approved a proposal to move the law school to the former Central High School, near the Automobile Alley area. Earlier this year, OCU competed for the building with Oklahoma City Public Schools, which wanted to use the facility as a new administration building. OCU officials are planning renovations to…
Ms. Jackson if you’re nasty
And when he penned that adjective, he wasn’t even aware of the single’s video, which features a bona fide porn star! Yes, appearing in the Queen of Rockabilly’s video for “Tore Down” is none other than Ron Jeremy, the hairy Hedgehog of f–k flicks. Among other spots, look for him nearly two minutes into the…
