Undignified Deaths
A 40-year-old man accidentally fatally shot himself in Imperial, Mo., in September while teaching gun safety to his girlfriend. The gun fired when he was quizzing her to recognize whether a gun’s safety mechanism was engaged or not. Tom Elton, 54, and Brenda Blondell, 59, both convicted murderers who became prison-rights activists, eventually won parole,…
Least Competent Criminals
Major Denial: In September, David McKay, 28, finally pleaded guilty in Regina, Saskatchewan, to obstruction of justice after initially lying to police officers who were trying to serve a warrant on him from an earlier incident. McKay had repeatedly claimed that he was “Matthew,” and not “David McKay,” even at the station house, when a…
Least Competent Criminals
Major Denial: In September, David McKay, 28, finally pleaded guilty in Regina, Saskatchewan, to obstruction of justice after initially lying to police officers who were trying to serve a warrant on him from an earlier incident. McKay had repeatedly claimed that he was “Matthew,” and not “David McKay,” even at the station house, when a…
Undignified Deaths
A 40-year-old man accidentally fatally shot himself in Imperial, Mo., in September while teaching gun safety to his girlfriend. The gun fired when he was quizzing her to recognize whether a gun’s safety mechanism was engaged or not. Tom Elton, 54, and Brenda Blondell, 59, both convicted murderers who became prison-rights activists, eventually won parole,…
Hyperactive Seniors
Ella Orko, 86, was arrested in Chicago in August (her 61st arrest) and charged with shoplifting $252 worth of groceries and sundries (including anti-wrinkle cream). Earlier this year, Richard Ramsey, 77, finally fulfilled a dream he said he’d had since age 13: He surgically became a woman. He had been living occasionally as Renee Ramsey…
Hyperactive Seniors
Ella Orko, 86, was arrested in Chicago in August (her 61st arrest) and charged with shoplifting $252 worth of groceries and sundries (including anti-wrinkle cream). Earlier this year, Richard Ramsey, 77, finally fulfilled a dream he said he’d had since age 13: He surgically became a woman. He had been living occasionally as Renee Ramsey…
Fetishes on Parade
Jerry Lowery, 38, surrendered to police in Milwaukee in July in connection with three thefts of expensive eyeglasses from local retailers. He admitted that he “really (likes) to be around glasses” and has had this “problem” for about 15 years. Police in Commerce, Texas, arrested a man in September and charged him with twice approaching…
Fine Points of the Law
Judge James Morley dismissed animal cruelty charges in September against former Moorestown, N.J., police officer Robert Melia Jr., who had been caught in 2006 attempting to sexually gratify himself using calves’ mouths. Because the state has no anti-bestiality statute, Melia was charged with animal “cruelty,” but Judge Morley said he was uncertain whether the acts…
Fetishes on Parade
Jerry Lowery, 38, surrendered to police in Milwaukee in July in connection with three thefts of expensive eyeglasses from local retailers. He admitted that he “really (likes) to be around glasses” and has had this “problem” for about 15 years. Police in Commerce, Texas, arrested a man in September and charged him with twice approaching…
Fine Points of the Law
Judge James Morley dismissed animal cruelty charges in September against former Moorestown, N.J., police officer Robert Melia Jr., who had been caught in 2006 attempting to sexually gratify himself using calves’ mouths. Because the state has no anti-bestiality statute, Melia was charged with animal “cruelty,” but Judge Morley said he was uncertain whether the acts…
Tales from the Darkside: The Second Season
1985-1986 Talk about a sophomore slump “? “Tales from the Darkside: The Second Season” represents a precipitous drop in quality from its first year. Never mind budgetary issues, as funding for the syndicated horror anthology series was always small “? these two dozen episodes, more often than not, lack energy, imagination and ingenuity. Oh, there…
Dionne Warwick ‘Walks on By’ Norman casino
A bona fide diva and five-time Grammy winner Dionne Warwick takes the stage at Norman’s Riverwind Casino on Friday. In the 1960s, her sophisticated but heartfelt vocal stylings made her a favorite of the powerhouse songwriting team of Burt Bacharach and Hal David. Warwick’s first hit with the pair came in 1962 with “Don’t Make…
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20):
I hope you won’t merely wander around the frontier. I hope you’ll undertake a meticulous yet expansive exploration of that virgin territory. Here are some tips on how to proceed: Formulate specific questions about what you’re looking for. Develop a hypothesis for the experiments you want to carry out. Ignore what doesn’t interest you and…
ARIES (March 21-April 19):
You may be as flooded with briny emotion as a Pisces on a meandering binge. You might be as embedded in a labyrinth of your own creation as the Geminis who verge on being too clever for their own good. You may be as cagey a listener as a Scorpio who’s searching for a hidden…
Rocketplane Global offers space rides to Austrians
They have offered a marriage ceremony, a video game that puts kids right in the cockpit, and now the latest offering is at the checkout stand ” all to entice people to ride their rocket ship. Rocketplane Global, an Oklahoma-based company intending to provide a space tourism business by taking people up for a joy…
OU entertains in its production of ‘How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying’
From top to bottom, “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying” is a first-rate production, starting with the musical itself, which won seven Tony Awards and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1962. Full of wit, charm and some clever satire, the musical took on the male-dominated business world of its day and skewered…
Neurons and celebrities
The human brain’s 100 billion neurons may have such specific functions that a few electrically charge only upon recognition of a single celebrity, such as Oprah Winfrey or Bill Clinton. UCLA researchers, studying the healthy cells of pre-op epilepsy patients, inadvertently discovered this unusual property, which apparently varies with individuals but remains internally consistent, whether…
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22):
At a family planning conference in Beijing, a researcher from Ghana presented testimony about tribal issues that he had in part gleaned through interviews with dead ancestors. He said that spirit mediums had acted as his “translators.” When he was met with skepticism from colleagues, he was defensive. “If I only heard from the living,”…
Nothing Like the Holidays
2008 Here’s something you don’t see every year: a Christmas movie that isn’t about characters who use the holiday as an excuse for making fools of themselves before learning in a swift 90 minutes The True Meaning of Christmas, which is, of course, that we should all get along at least until we start to…
Oklahoma stadium sells beer during U2 concert, but not athletic events
U2 fans were served boatloads of beer at the Oct. 18 concert at the University of Oklahoma, but Sooner fans looking for a brewski still haven’t found what they’re looking for inside Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. OU gave vendors permission to sell beer during the special concerto, university spokesman Jay Doyle told The Oklahoma…
Federal Reserve now owns OKC’s Crossroads Mall
Seventeen years ago, Ross Perot observed of NAFTA that there was a “giant sucking sound” from south of the border with Mexico that would dry up the wealth of America. Recently, we learned that a giant sucking sound was coming from Wall Street and investment bank Bear Stearns. What we didn’t know was that the…
CANCER (June 21-July 22):
Israeli poet Yehuda Amichai (1924-2000) witnessed the full range of experiences that life on this planet has to offer, from war to love and everything in between. During an interview he gave in Jerusalem in 1994, he said, “I can stand on my balcony and tell my children, ‘Over there I was shelled for the…
Oklahoma City ladies’ swimsuit-wearing man faces exposure charges
Sometimes, we think people might do things just to make it into CFN. Case in point: Phillip John Ortega. The 56-year-old Oklahoma City resident is accused of exposing himself to a woman. According to NewsOK.com, he was arrested Oct. 19 for allegedly doing so, in the 1700 block of N.W. Ninth Street. Now, just showing…
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22):
At a family planning conference in Beijing, a researcher from Ghana presented testimony about tribal issues that he had in part gleaned through interviews with dead ancestors. He said that spirit mediums had acted as his “translators.” When he was met with skepticism from colleagues, he was defensive. “If I only heard from the living,”…
Watonga offers more than just cheese, like serious R&R at Roman Nose State Park & Lodge
On a late afternoon stroll, the sun glistened through the towering cedars as we walked across the rocks jutting up through the creek bed. Water gurgled and flowed down waterfalls, providing a peaceful soundtrack to a nature hike. MAJOR RENOVATION WATER ADVENTURE We were not alone. Red and blue dragonflies flitted around our heads; daddy…
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):
The Da Vinci Code author Dan Brown has a unique way of stimulating his imagination: He dons his gravity boots and meditates on complex storylines while he’s inverted. It’s also a good way to overcome writer’s block. “You think differently upside-down,” he says. Do you have an equivalent method for providing gentle shock therapy to…
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19):
When Sheelah Ryan won $55 million in the Florida lottery, she used the money to create an organization dedicated to helping the disadvantaged. “I guess I’ve disappointed a lot of people,” she told a reporter. “I could be traveling all over the world, or have a beautiful mansion on the ocean, or have a chauffeur-driven…
Brightmusic Society of Oklahoma celebrates Sweet Sixteen
Sixteen Oklahomans joined together six years ago to create a musical organization that has paved the road for change in locally staged classical music. From Baroque to classical works from the 21st century, the Brightmusic Society of Oklahoma is a chamber music organization that focuses on works made by musicians within the state. Chamber music…
Watonga offers more than just cheese, like serious R&R at Roman Nose State Park & Lodge
On a late afternoon stroll, the sun glistened through the towering cedars as we walked across the rocks jutting up through the creek bed. Water gurgled and flowed down waterfalls, providing a peaceful soundtrack to a nature hike. MAJOR RENOVATION WATER ADVENTURE We were not alone. Red and blue dragonflies flitted around our heads; daddy…
The ‘Obama effect’
Some Oklahoma Republicans and pundits are predicting gains for the GOP in the 2010 statewide elections because of President Barack Obama’s unpopularity here. This should raise concerns about the state’s cultural environment. Will the so-called “Obama effect” lead to a Republican governor and wider GOP majorities in the Oklahoma House and Senate after the 2010…
Neurons and celebrities
The human brain’s 100 billion neurons may have such specific functions that a few electrically charge only upon recognition of a single celebrity, such as Oprah Winfrey or Bill Clinton. UCLA researchers, studying the healthy cells of pre-op epilepsy patients, inadvertently discovered this unusual property, which apparently varies with individuals but remains internally consistent, whether…
Los Lobos refuse to rest, not kidding around with new album of Disney covers
Los Lobos has explored rock, roots, R&B and Spanish/Mexican sounds for more than 35 years, and its members are just as vibrant today as when they released their critically acclaimed 1984 debut, “How Will the Wolf Survive?” The band rose to prominence in 1987 on the strength of its soundtrack to “La Bamba,” which shot…
Oklahoma City ladies’ swimsuit-wearing man faces exposure charges
Sometimes, we think people might do things just to make it into CFN. Case in point: Phillip John Ortega. The 56-year-old Oklahoma City resident is accused of exposing himself to a woman. According to NewsOK.com, he was arrested Oct. 19 for allegedly doing so, in the 1700 block of N.W. Ninth Street. Now, just showing…
Boulevard planned to replace Crosstown bridge, but its design, funding are uncertain
Work on the estimated $75 million boulevard ” set to run between Oklahoma Avenue on the east and Walker Avenue on the west ” is still at least three years away, but city officials want its construction to coincide with the planned demolition of the Interstate 40 Crosstown bridge in 2013, which the boulevard will…
Oklahoma City Theatre Company’s offbeat take on ‘Eurydice’ struggles to stay afloat
ails/eurydice-pic2.jpg” width=”150″ align=”right” vspace=”10″ border=”0″ />Oklahoma City Theatre Company opens its 11th season with Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Sara Ruhl’s adaptation of the classic Greek myth “Eurydice.” It tells the story of Orpheus and his quest to rescue his recently deceased wife, Eurydice, from the underworld. While keeping some of the myth’s characters and basic plot,…
Dionne Warwick ‘Walks on By’ Norman casino
A bona fide diva and five-time Grammy winner Dionne Warwick takes the stage at Norman’s Riverwind Casino on Friday. In the 1960s, her sophisticated but heartfelt vocal stylings made her a favorite of the powerhouse songwriting team of Burt Bacharach and Hal David. Warwick’s first hit with the pair came in 1962 with “Don’t Make…
Storied farmhouse turned bar pours second round of Halloween fun
You can either spend Halloween night going to a spook house filled with fake blood and killer clowns, or you attend a party haunted by Oklahoma City indie-rockers The Uglysuit at The 51st Street Speakeasy. “It’s a pre-1900 costume party, so anything pre-1900s will fly. So you can be a pirate or an Indian or…
New England’s Paul Geremia fingerpicks way from ‘Providence River Delta’ to Oklahoma
When thinking of blues music hotbeds, the typical locales likely careen through one’s mind: Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas ” but what about Rhode Island? BLUES SCENE LIFE ON TOUR The tiny state is home to blues/country fingerpicking guitar virtuoso Paul Geremia, who brings his eclectic and entertaining style to Oklahoma City for a Friday night show…
GEMINI (May 21-June 20):
During this phase of your cycle, you’ll generate good fortune if you brainstorm and meditate about your relationship with work. I urge you to empty your mind of everything you think you know about the subject. Adopt a fresh and innocent perspective. Here are some questions to prime your investigations. What’s the quality of the…
Oklahoma City Zoo hosts 26th annual Haunt the Zoo for Halloween
By now, parents have probably heard endless spiels about Halloween from their kids, especially when the subject of candy or costumes is on their minds. This year, the beloved holiday arrives a few days early at the Oklahoma City Zoo, 2101 N.E. 50th, for the 26th annual Haunt the Zoo for Halloween. This event is…
Student hands Oklahoma teacher grenade shell
People, what is it with the hand grenades? We had an Oklahoma City drug dealer offering hand grenades to an undercover officer last week, and now this. According to KOCO, a student at Deer Creek’s Grove Elementary handed a teacher the seemingly explosive present last week. What, there weren’t any apples available? The school was…
Most papers don’t spend money to pursue civic responsibility
Props to the Tulsa World for putting its money where its mouth is in an effort to protect citizens’ access to public information. The World isn’t the first news organization to sue bureaucratic rascals for information, but this case is one of the most recent. The World filed suit last month against the U.S. Marshals…
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18):
When I did a performance in Santa Fe a few years ago, a woman in the audience came up to me after the show and made a sardonic proposal: Would I like to join her twelve-step program for writers who are overly fond of vivid adjectives and adverbs? With all the uppity mock politeness I…
GEMINI (May 21-June 20):
During this phase of your cycle, you’ll generate good fortune if you brainstorm and meditate about your relationship with work. I urge you to empty your mind of everything you think you know about the subject. Adopt a fresh and innocent perspective. Here are some questions to prime your investigations. What’s the quality of the…
Oklahoma musician got lost before finding way back home with Tom Waits’ help
All one needs to know about JD Thompson’s new album, “My Perfect Nightmare,” can be heard on the closing track, “White Trash Heroes.” The cover of the Archers of Loaf song is an eight-minute odyssey through growling vocals; simmering, atmospheric reverb; somber harmonies; and stark piano. HALF A MILLION DOLLARS SMOLDERING COLLECTION HIGHLY POLISHED The…
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18):
When I did a performance in Santa Fe a few years ago, a woman in the audience came up to me after the show and made a sardonic proposal: Would I like to join her twelve-step program for writers who are overly fond of vivid adjectives and adverbs? With all the uppity mock politeness I…
Bright Ideas
The mayor of the Paris suburb of Levallois-Perret, faced with an overcrowded highway D909 through town, “solved” the problem recently by making the street one-way, sending traffic speedily into the adjacent town of Clichy-la-Garenne. That city’s mayor (a political rival of the Levallois-Perret mayor) reacted by making his portion of D909 one-way back toward Levallois-Perret,…
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21):
“Behind every face, there are a thousand faces,” says film director Bryan Singer, who worked on two of the X-Men movies. He deals with professional actors, who specialize in revealing the myriad faces beneath the surface. But I think his assessment applies to lots of people, especially you Scorpios — although it must be said…
Some survivalists aren’t hoping for society’s meltdown, they just want to be prepared
He’s wearing camouflage, head to toe. And body armor, because his enemies are everywhere. He’s carrying a semi-automatic rifle and a look that says: “You DO NOT want to mess with me.” So why doesn’t anybody invite him to sit at their table in the food court? MEALWORM DEAL SELF-RELIANCE GROWING YOUR OWN Survivalism has…
The Continuing Crisis
In 2002, following an acrimonious family debate, the head of late baseball slugger Ted Williams was cryogenically frozen, in the hope that science will some day learn how to revive dead people. An employee of the Arizona lab that stores the head recently disclosed some inside shenanigans, according to a September report in the New…
Saw VI
soNormal” style=”MARGIN: auto 0in”>This picture opens with two bank loan officers who are guilty of talking folks into taking out larger loans than they could ever pay back, and then repossessing their property. In order to escape certain death, they must remove weight from their own bodies via meat axes and butcher knives. Whichever of…
Washington Irving’s classic tale of terror gallops onto Civic Center stage in ‘Sleepy Hollow’
Oklahoma City Ballet opens its new season this weekend with the state premiere of choreographer Alan Hineline’s adaptation of Washington Irving’s classic short story “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.” In a year that has also included an adaptation of “The Wizard of Oz,” company artistic director Robert Mills hopes the Halloween favorite will strike a…
Jury sentences Oklahoma man for setting girlfriend’s house ablaze
So, what are the options after arguing with your significant other? There’s the silent treatment, drinking it all away with a buddy (a CFN personal fave), making up with flowers or a six-pack. Great options. What’s possibly a less great option? Setting fire to your girlfriend’s house. Yeah, somehow we don’t see that couple laughing…
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):
The Da Vinci Code author Dan Brown has a unique way of stimulating his imagination: He dons his gravity boots and meditates on complex storylines while he’s inverted. It’s also a good way to overcome writer’s block. “You think differently upside-down,” he says. Do you have an equivalent method for providing gentle shock therapy to…
CANCER (June 21-July 22):
Israeli poet Yehuda Amichai (1924-2000) witnessed the full range of experiences that life on this planet has to offer, from war to love and everything in between. During an interview he gave in Jerusalem in 1994, he said, “I can stand on my balcony and tell my children, ‘Over there I was shelled for the…
Will Hoge escapes ‘The Wreckage’ with enewed spirit, rediscovers passion
Nobody wants to learn things the hard way, but, alas, there’s a reason there’s a school of hard knocks. Sometimes, sense must be beaten into us. DISCOVERING GUITAR REGAINING ABILITY Heartland rocker Will Hoge’s education began after the musician was introduced to a van as it turned into his lane as he left his Nashville,…
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19):
When Sheelah Ryan won $55 million in the Florida lottery, she used the money to create an organization dedicated to helping the disadvantaged. “I guess I’ve disappointed a lot of people,” she told a reporter. “I could be traveling all over the world, or have a beautiful mansion on the ocean, or have a chauffeur-driven…
Second Stage Players present unearthed scripts
The Golden Age of radio returns to Oklahoma for one night. The Second Stage Players, a senior theater group at Performing Arts Studio, will take the stage at 7 p.m. Friday at the Santa Fe Depot, 200 S. Jones in Norman. The group has unearthed three scripts from “Old Time Radio Mystery Theater” and will…
Wrong Turn 3: Left for Dead
2009 Horror movies are not supposed to get better with each successive sequel; nature demands for the law of diminishing returns to kick in, and often heavily. For whatever reason, the “Wrong Turn” franchise has bucked the trend “¦ and who ever thought there’d be a franchise? The first film was a 2003 box-office fizzle…
Undead, metalheads alike will arise, assemble with heavy hitters for pair of hellacious concerts
There’s nothing scarier than a bunch of hardcore and heavy metal acts gathering for a haunted Halloween. More than a dozen groups have been gathered for “Hella Weekend 2009,” a two-night, twin-venue show organized by Tony Proctor, founder of Big Papa Productions. “I have such a huge request for bands that want to play a…
Undead, metalheads alike will arise, assemble with heavy hitters for pair of hellacious concerts
There’s nothing scarier than a bunch of hardcore and heavy metal acts gathering for a haunted Halloween. More than a dozen groups have been gathered for “Hella Weekend 2009,” a two-night, twin-venue show organized by Tony Proctor, founder of Big Papa Productions. “I have such a huge request for bands that want to play a…
Oklahoma musician got lost before finding way back home with Tom Waits’ help
All one needs to know about JD Thompson’s new album, “My Perfect Nightmare,” can be heard on the closing track, “White Trash Heroes.” The cover of the Archers of Loaf song is an eight-minute odyssey through growling vocals; simmering, atmospheric reverb; somber harmonies; and stark piano. HALF A MILLION DOLLARS SMOLDERING COLLECTION HIGHLY POLISHED The…
Teenage Bottlerocket blasts out of ‘Shadows,’ adding more furious fuel to pop-punk pedigree
There’s virtue in simplicity. It’s one of punk’s charms. Drawing on the high-energy, straight-ahead spirit of the Ramones and the pop-punk tunefulness of acts like Screeching Weasel, the four members of Teenage Bottlerocket are as incendiary as their namesake, ripping through two-minute anthems geared for punk’s outcasts and spirited iconoclasts. From the enthusiastic power chord…
Lyric Theatre’s powerful production of ‘Sweeney Todd’ scratches surface
Among Stephen Sondheim’s most popular musicals, the Gothic masterpiece “Sweeney Todd” tells the dark and twisted tale of barber Benjamin Barker, who is wrongly imprisoned and separated from his family by the corrupt Judge Turpin. After escaping from jail, Barker returns to London under the assumed name of Sweeney Todd, only to learn of his…
Storied farmhouse turned bar pours second round of Halloween fun
You can either spend Halloween night going to a spook house filled with fake blood and killer clowns, or you attend a party haunted by Oklahoma City indie-rockers The Uglysuit at The 51st Street Speakeasy. “It’s a pre-1900 costume party, so anything pre-1900s will fly. So you can be a pirate or an Indian or…
Boulevard planned to replace Crosstown bridge, but its design, funding are uncertain
Work on the estimated $75 million boulevard ” set to run between Oklahoma Avenue on the east and Walker Avenue on the west ” is still at least three years away, but city officials want its construction to coincide with the planned demolition of the Interstate 40 Crosstown bridge in 2013, which the boulevard will…
J.P. Hasson prepares multimedia main event to headline two-night Norman Halloween show
What do Yoda, “CHiPs” and The Dead Milkmen have in common? On the surface, nothing really, unless you’re JP Incorporated, in which case, these are all glimmers of what made you who you are today. MULTIPLE TREKS THEME LOVE Born from the ashes of alt-comedy musical act Pleaseeasaur, JP Inc. is comedian J.P. Hasson. A…
Student hands Oklahoma teacher grenade shell
People, what is it with the hand grenades? We had an Oklahoma City drug dealer offering hand grenades to an undercover officer last week, and now this. According to KOCO, a student at Deer Creek’s Grove Elementary handed a teacher the seemingly explosive present last week. What, there weren’t any apples available? The school was…
Will Hoge escapes ‘The Wreckage’ with enewed spirit, rediscovers passion
Nobody wants to learn things the hard way, but, alas, there’s a reason there’s a school of hard knocks. Sometimes, sense must be beaten into us. DISCOVERING GUITAR REGAINING ABILITY Heartland rocker Will Hoge’s education began after the musician was introduced to a van as it turned into his lane as he left his Nashville,…
Federal Reserve now owns OKC’s Crossroads Mall
Seventeen years ago, Ross Perot observed of NAFTA that there was a “giant sucking sound” from south of the border with Mexico that would dry up the wealth of America. Recently, we learned that a giant sucking sound was coming from Wall Street and investment bank Bear Stearns. What we didn’t know was that the…
Bright Ideas
The mayor of the Paris suburb of Levallois-Perret, faced with an overcrowded highway D909 through town, “solved” the problem recently by making the street one-way, sending traffic speedily into the adjacent town of Clichy-la-Garenne. That city’s mayor (a political rival of the Levallois-Perret mayor) reacted by making his portion of D909 one-way back toward Levallois-Perret,…
Transplanted triathlete finding success in new surroundings
Bethany Handley has only lived in Oklahoma City for 11 months, but already she’s become an ambassador, of sorts, for her new home. Not only did she represent Oklahoma recently at the Best of the U.S. Amateur Triathlete Championship in California; she won it. COMPETITIVE DAYS MEDICAL PHYSICIST In besting the field ” by almost…
Jury sentences Oklahoma man for setting girlfriend’s house ablaze
So, what are the options after arguing with your significant other? There’s the silent treatment, drinking it all away with a buddy (a CFN personal fave), making up with flowers or a six-pack. Great options. What’s possibly a less great option? Setting fire to your girlfriend’s house. Yeah, somehow we don’t see that couple laughing…
Amelia
Just over 72 years ago, Amelia Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, disappeared over the Pacific Ocean while flying the last leg of Earhart’s flight around the world, which “? if it had been successful “? was to mark her retirement from aviation. “Amelia” is a hodgepodge of semi-interesting moments in Earhart’s life interspersed with…
Teenage Bottlerocket blasts out of ‘Shadows,’ adding more furious fuel to pop-punk pedigree
There’s virtue in simplicity. It’s one of punk’s charms. Drawing on the high-energy, straight-ahead spirit of the Ramones and the pop-punk tunefulness of acts like Screeching Weasel, the four members of Teenage Bottlerocket are as incendiary as their namesake, ripping through two-minute anthems geared for punk’s outcasts and spirited iconoclasts. From the enthusiastic power chord…
Mythical guides lead costumed crowds through ‘Psychopomp,’ multimedia masquerade ball
Let “Psychopomp” lead you into the afterlife and a great night of partying with ghosts, ghouls and strobe lights. LARGE DANCE FLOOR REACTIVE COSTUMES “Psychopomp” is a Halloween party hosted by Rampage Artist Inc. that combines dancing, silent film-style performances and elaborate costumes, as well as a mythical creature who guides your soul to the…
Transplanted triathlete finding success in new surroundings
Bethany Handley has only lived in Oklahoma City for 11 months, but already she’s become an ambassador, of sorts, for her new home. Not only did she represent Oklahoma recently at the Best of the U.S. Amateur Triathlete Championship in California; she won it. COMPETITIVE DAYS MEDICAL PHYSICIST In besting the field ” by almost…
In Your Eye Studio & Gallery displays travel-inspired exhibit
Annalisa Campbell is not a typical artist. She doesn’t have mounds of painful memories or a rough life to inspire her artistic flair. Instead, she focuses on her travels and her love of life to create her work, and the In Your Eye Studio & Gallery, 3005-A Paseo, is showcasing her as a featured artist…
Bat Boy: The Musical’ lands at OCU with wicked sense of humor, tabloid title character
ass=”MsoNormal” style=”MARGIN: auto 0in”>”It would be hard to find one Bat Boy; I have two outstanding young performers: Thomas Steward and Colin Anderson. They rock this role,” he said. The musical is making quite the splash on campus. Images of the actors in character can be seen on every napkin dispenser in the cafeteria, and…
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20):
I hope you won’t merely wander around the frontier. I hope you’ll undertake a meticulous yet expansive exploration of that virgin territory. Here are some tips on how to proceed: Formulate specific questions about what you’re looking for. Develop a hypothesis for the experiments you want to carry out. Ignore what doesn’t interest you and…
OKC education center focuses on low-income families to help young children succeed
A high number of dropouts, students reading below grade level, teenagers turning to crime and gangs ” these are trends seen not only in Oklahoma but also around the country. Teachers and administrators at Oklahoma City’s newest early education center, however, hope they can intervene early enough to help students stay on track. LOWER RATIO…
Oklahoma stadium sells beer during U2 concert, but not athletic events
U2 fans were served boatloads of beer at the Oct. 18 concert at the University of Oklahoma, but Sooner fans looking for a brewski still haven’t found what they’re looking for inside Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. OU gave vendors permission to sell beer during the special concerto, university spokesman Jay Doyle told The Oklahoma…
It’s Garry Shandling’s Show: The Complete Series
1986-1990 This is the review for Garry’s show, the DVD review for Garry’s show. These are the words that you read as you consider a purchase. We’re almost halfway finished. How do you like it so far? How do you like the review for Garry’s show? Any fan of cable TV’s late-’80s breakthrough sitcom “It’s…
ARIES (March 21-April 19):
You may be as flooded with briny emotion as a Pisces on a meandering binge. You might be as embedded in a labyrinth of your own creation as the Geminis who verge on being too clever for their own good. You may be as cagey a listener as a Scorpio who’s searching for a hidden…
Rocketplane Global offers space rides to Austrians
They have offered a marriage ceremony, a video game that puts kids right in the cockpit, and now the latest offering is at the checkout stand ” all to entice people to ride their rocket ship. Rocketplane Global, an Oklahoma-based company intending to provide a space tourism business by taking people up for a joy…
Most papers don’t spend money to pursue civic responsibility
Props to the Tulsa World for putting its money where its mouth is in an effort to protect citizens’ access to public information. The World isn’t the first news organization to sue bureaucratic rascals for information, but this case is one of the most recent. The World filed suit last month against the U.S. Marshals…
Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant
Vampire is the new black. Between the popularity of the “Twilight” franchise and HBO’s “True Blood,” bloodsucking hasn’t been this lucky since the Wall Street bailout. Now comes another vampire-centric tale, “Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant.” Truncating the first three novels of Darren Shan’s young-adult book series, the flick boasts warring vampires, teenagers living…
Some survivalists aren’t hoping for society’s meltdown, they just want to be prepared
He’s wearing camouflage, head to toe. And body armor, because his enemies are everywhere. He’s carrying a semi-automatic rifle and a look that says: “You DO NOT want to mess with me.” So why doesn’t anybody invite him to sit at their table in the food court? MEALWORM DEAL SELF-RELIANCE GROWING YOUR OWN Survivalism has…
New England’s Paul Geremia fingerpicks way from ‘Providence River Delta’ to Oklahoma
When thinking of blues music hotbeds, the typical locales likely careen through one’s mind: Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas ” but what about Rhode Island? BLUES SCENE LIFE ON TOUR The tiny state is home to blues/country fingerpicking guitar virtuoso Paul Geremia, who brings his eclectic and entertaining style to Oklahoma City for a Friday night show…
The ‘Obama effect’
Some Oklahoma Republicans and pundits are predicting gains for the GOP in the 2010 statewide elections because of President Barack Obama’s unpopularity here. This should raise concerns about the state’s cultural environment. Will the so-called “Obama effect” lead to a Republican governor and wider GOP majorities in the Oklahoma House and Senate after the 2010…
OKC education center focuses on low-income families to help young children succeed
A high number of dropouts, students reading below grade level, teenagers turning to crime and gangs ” these are trends seen not only in Oklahoma but also around the country. Teachers and administrators at Oklahoma City’s newest early education center, however, hope they can intervene early enough to help students stay on track. LOWER RATIO…
Stan Helsing
2009 A friend of mine summed up the horror parody “Stan Helsing” best when he said, “I know I shouldn’t find Freddy, Jason and Pinhead dancing to ‘YMCA’ funny, but I do.” My sentiments exactly. I know “Stan Helsing” is juvenile; even without seeing it, you know that “Stan Helsing” is juvenile. But dammit, I…
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21):
“Behind every face, there are a thousand faces,” says film director Bryan Singer, who worked on two of the X-Men movies. He deals with professional actors, who specialize in revealing the myriad faces beneath the surface. But I think his assessment applies to lots of people, especially you Scorpios — although it must be said…
Brightmusic Society of Oklahoma celebrates Sweet Sixteen
Sixteen Oklahomans joined together six years ago to create a musical organization that has paved the road for change in locally staged classical music. From Baroque to classical works from the 21st century, the Brightmusic Society of Oklahoma is a chamber music organization that focuses on works made by musicians within the state. Chamber music…
The Continuing Crisis
In 2002, following an acrimonious family debate, the head of late baseball slugger Ted Williams was cryogenically frozen, in the hope that science will some day learn how to revive dead people. An employee of the Arizona lab that stores the head recently disclosed some inside shenanigans, according to a September report in the New…
Oklahoma City Zoo hosts 26th annual Haunt the Zoo for Halloween
By now, parents have probably heard endless spiels about Halloween from their kids, especially when the subject of candy or costumes is on their minds. This year, the beloved holiday arrives a few days early at the Oklahoma City Zoo, 2101 N.E. 50th, for the 26th annual Haunt the Zoo for Halloween. This event is…
J.P. Hasson prepares multimedia main event to headline two-night Norman Halloween show
What do Yoda, “CHiPs” and The Dead Milkmen have in common? On the surface, nothing really, unless you’re JP Incorporated, in which case, these are all glimmers of what made you who you are today. MULTIPLE TREKS THEME LOVE Born from the ashes of alt-comedy musical act Pleaseeasaur, JP Inc. is comedian J.P. Hasson. A…
Carpenter Square neither dies onstage nor slays audiences with comedy/drama ‘Murderers’
Jeffrey Hatcher’s homicidal comedy/drama “Murderers” opens with three actors announcing, “I am a murderer.” It recalls the old television show “To Tell the Truth,” on which two impostors and one real subject introduced themselves as the same person. Presented by Carpenter Square Theatre at Stage Center and directed by Shawn Hicks, “Murderers” consists of three…
Los Lobos refuse to rest, not kidding around with new album of Disney covers
Los Lobos has explored rock, roots, R&B and Spanish/Mexican sounds for more than 35 years, and its members are just as vibrant today as when they released their critically acclaimed 1984 debut, “How Will the Wolf Survive?” The band rose to prominence in 1987 on the strength of its soundtrack to “La Bamba,” which shot…
