If Not for Alcohol, Could “News of the Weird” Exist?
Alexander Ocampo, 27, was arrested in Hilton Head Island, S.C., in July for DUI and for continuing to drive on even after his car had briefly spun out of control, oblivious of the fact that his passenger had been ejected through his open window. (The passenger survived, but with serious injuries.) WKMG-TV reported in August…
OKC NAACP chapter plans rally to support Louisiana high-school students
The Oklahoma City chapter of the NAACP will host a rally Thursday at the Oklahoma State Capitol to protest the treatment of Jena, La. high-school students. Along with other National Association for the Advancement of Colored People chapters across the nation, the 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Oklahoma City event seeks to rally behind…
Recurring Themes
Some environmental groups continue to slight the environment when establishing exhibits to increase environmental awareness. The town council of Stoke-on-Trent, England, approved plans in July for a 21-foot-tall metal-sculpted tree to highlight the virtues of its public nature park, but first, 20 real trees would have to be cleared away, and then, to prevent injuries…
People Different From Us
In June, addiction experts at an American Medical Association meeting discussed whether to consider “video game addiction” as a distinct mental illness (ultimately deciding to await further study), but one month later, in Reno, Nev., a couple in their early 20s were arrested and charged with abusing their two toddlers by ignoring them for long…
Sass live from the press box!
Facing an oh-fer-the-season Utah State team, the Oklahoma Sooners may be able to name their score today. Sass will keep you posted on the compelling storylines from the game if there are any to be shared. Maybe the number of duplicate-number players who hit the field? Or maybe even which linemen line up at fullback?…
Oklahoma roughs up Utah State
The Oklahoma Sooner football team beat Utah State 54-3 on Owen Field today. The Sooner offense racked up more than 600 yards (623 to be exact) while limiting the visiting Aggies to just 153. Freshman quarterback Sam Bradford began the game hitting 11 of 11 passes en route to a 19 of 26, 255-yard and…
Fine Points of the Law
In July, Maryland county judge Katherine Savage dismissed, permanently, a 2004 child-rape charge against a Liberian immigrant after finding that he speaks a rare tribal language for which no translators were available in time to meet the state’s speedy-trial requirement. Nonetheless, according to a Washington Post report, the defendant’s demand for a native speaker might…
Questionable Judgments
The medical association in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu reprimanded Dr. K. Murugesan in June after his arrest for unremorsefully allowing his 15-year-old son to perform a Caesarean section on one of his patients, for the sole purpose of qualifying the boy for a world record in the Guinness Book. The baby was born…
Brazil: The Criterion Collection
1985/2006 If anything, Terry Gilliam’s surreal fantasia about an overwhelming, nightmarish bureaucracy has become more eerily prescient with each passing year “? “Brazil” is one of the great films from the Eighties and a work steeped in barely contained passion. It’s a sprawling, dense and willfully odd film that builds breathlessly to a stark, chilling…
Hoot
2006 Let’s get the easy puns about “Hoot” out of the way first. It’s tough to give a hoot about “Hoot.” Or “Hoot” is for the birds. The beatniks among you might prefer: “Hoot” is no hootenanny. Sorry about that; it couldn’t be helped. A movie with so much wasted potential tends to invite puns…
Slain Okarche priest one step closer to sainthood
The Archdiocese of Oklahoma City is formally announcing the cause of canonization for the Rev. Stanley Rother, an Okarche priest murdered in Guatemala more than 25 years ago, and the first for an Oklahoma native. According to the archdiocese, a canonization committee will be commissioned following an Oct. 5 mass at Okarche’s Holy Trinity Church,…
Children’s Asian Moon Festival rising in Edmond
The University of Central Oklahoma will host its fifth annual Children’s Asian Moon Festival at 7 p.m. Saturday, at Broncho Lake in the heart of UCO’s campus, 100 N. University, in Edmond. “The festival is traditionally a Chinese celebration in the fall, but we’re taking this day and using it to celebrate the Asian culture…
Mentor: The Kid & The CEO – Tom Pace with Walter Jenkins
Mentor Hope Publishing Oklahoma City-based business owner Tom Pace collaborates with local author Walter Jenkins to deliver “Mentor: The Kid & The CEO,” a slim slice of inspirational fiction with entrepreneurial appeal. The narrator is Tony, a 19-year-old who lands in the Oklahoma County Jail for stealing a 12-pack of beer. His wayward direction in…
Edmond woman helps police arrest alleged Texas con man
A 60-year-old woman bested an alleged Texas con man after he tried to play doctor with her $30,000 Rolex watch. According to a version of the story in the Star newspaper in Texas, the woman was attempting to sell the Rolex Presidential watch through a newspaper ad when a man who identified himself as…
The 101st idea
The 100 Ideas initiative for Oklahoma ” 100IdeasOK.org ” is in full swing. Around the state, residents are coming together in groups to brainstorm policy ideas for Oklahoma’s future. The inspiration for the 100 Ideas initiative comes from Florida, where former Gov. Jeb Bush sought input to craft a future policy agenda that would outlive…
Open Me – Sunshine O’Donnell
Macadam Cage Verbally abusive mother raises daughter. Daughter internalizes abuse, waits for mother to die to release her from her hellish childhood. Now you know the general plot of “Open Me,” Sunshine O’Donnell’s first novel. The work itself is decidedly less cheerful than the author’s name, but fascinating as it blends historical reports documenting the…
The Film Crew: Wild Women of Wongo
2007 For the third expedition of The Film Crew “? those “Mystery Science Theater 3000” vets now charged with providing commentaries for films too bad to merit them otherwise “? the boys visit the island of Wongo, in the stunningly awful 1958 flick “Wild Women of Wongo.” Of course, “stunningly awful” translates to “frequently hilarious”…
Atreyu – Lead Sails Paper Anchor
Hollywood If you find yourself in Hot Topic at the local mall’ you know, the loud store with the wacky T-shirts, pierced-beyond-recognition staff and the quasi-naughty underwear marketed for tweens’ you either are going to hear Atreyu playing over the sound system or overhear a debate regarding its genre categorization from a couple of…
Local events on deck for Talk Like a Pirate Day
When locals start freely using “ahoy,” “avast” and “arrrr” in casual conversation on Wednesday, Sept. 19, remember: It’s only International Talk Like a Pirate Day. Invented in 1995, the unofficial holiday began as an inside joke, yet in recent years has gained in popularity. In Oklahoma City, the day does not go unnoticed. EDUCATIONFor the…
Genesis – Turn It on Again: The Hits’ The Tour Edition
Rhino Grammy-winning English pop-progressive-rock band Genesis is back at it, touring again and releasing records after splitting and partially rejoining in 2006. Around for 40 years, in some form or another, Genesis has seen several lineup changes, successful solo careers and chart-topping, award-winning songs and albums. Its latest offering, “Turn It on…
Former Jayhawk now plays Americana solo
Mark Olson left The Jayhawks when they seemed on the precipice of “next big thing” status, having transitioned from Flying Burrito Brothers-style country rock harmonizing to Crazy Horse fuzz and thump to something both, neither and more. His decision to bolt for the desert with musical wife Victoria Williams left The Jayhawks in a tailspin…
The Bad Plus – Prog
Heads Up Similar to Oklahoma’s own Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey, The Bad Plus is updating the traditional jazz piano trio in a more modern, avant-garde style. The result, as with the aforementioned group, can be a little out there at times, but in this reviewer’s opinion, “Prog” is down-to-earth compared with some of the…
Oklahoma town celebrates man who put their town on the map with Good Luck
And, to continue the whole doctorin’ theme “¦ One Kay County town kicked up centennial festivities a notch with its celebration of, as Oklahoman state correspondent Jim Etter reported recently, “one of the most unusual events during Oklahoma’s centennial”: “the horse liniment that made Newkirk famous.” Whoa, Nellie. Held Sept. 8 this…
The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters
Reviewer’s grade: A The arcade classic Donkey Kong is one of the hardest video games to master, which is why the high score, set in 1982 by gaming bad-ass Billy Mitchell, lasted for more than 20 years. After another life disappointment, happily married father of two Steve Wiebe decides it’s high time he holed himself…
State fair siphons a third of police protection from rest of city
Each year in September, the population of one part of Oklahoma City swells by hundreds of thousands for 11 days. In 2006, a million people attended the 100th State Fair of Oklahoma ” and this year, it’s expected that the Centennial Expo version of the state fair will top 1 million in attendance. All patrolled…
Carpenter Square stages Albee’s taboo-exploring ‘Goat’
that first fateful time had pulled him into worlds beyond humanity. Devastated Stevie is having none of it, and Vikki Simer skillfully takes this powerful character to the end of the line. The funniest and most volatile scene, after she has just found out, leaves the viewer both exhilarated and exhausted. Winner of the 2002…
Three artists part of mixed-media Blue Apples exhibit
Blue Apples Gallery is hosting a new exhibit called “Within Individual Frames of Reference,” with works by Ginger Barton, Carolyn Chandler and Almira Grammer. The exhibit will be on display through Oct. 28 at the Blue Apples Gallery, 800 W. Rock Creek, Suite 117, in Norman. Grammer’s acrylics are locally oriented and influenced by her…
Colin Powell to address OU campus
Having served as an Army general, the United States secretary of state, the national security adviser and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, one would expect Colin Powell to know a little something about “The Challenges Facing America.” Powell will share his thoughts on that topic in a 4 p.m. address today at the…
New metro literacy coalition faced challenge of distributing 50,000 kids’ books
Last month, the good news was that Oklahoma won 50,000 new children’s books in a national contest. The bad news was that Oklahoma won 50,000 new children’s books in a national contest. The gift from First Book ” a national nonprofit group for children’s literacy ” immediately raised dilemmas for the Oklahoma City Metro Literacy…
Betty Price reflects on Oklahoma Arts Council career
Desiring more family time, Oklahoma Arts Council Executive Director Betty Price will retire Oct. 1. But the move hardly will mark the end of a lifetime involvement in the arts. “Life is serendipity ” a door opens ” and it really was,” she said. The Northeastern State University graduate and Norman and Mid-Del educator plunged…
Juliette Lewis to sing
Acting just doesn’t release enough creative energy, so many screen celebrities try to make the jump from cinema to stage. Joining the ranks of Billy Bob Thornton, Eddie Murphy and Johnny Depp is Oscar-nominated actress Juliette Lewis, who will be stopping by the Opolis in Norman on Saturday with her band The Licks. Lewis, whose…
OKC needs to exercise patience in wait for NBA action
With the Hornets returning to New Orleans, there is currently talk about how Seattle’s National Basketball Association franchise may end up here. But there are still a number of hurdles involved in getting that deal finalized. And honestly, does OKC really want a team known as the SuperSonics? Then again, if they were based out…
Blonde Redhead brings dream pop to Bricktown
New York City’s indie-rock breakthrough Blonde Redhead is among the current bands poised to make a leap into the mainstream, and its tour will stop off Thursday at the Bricktown Ballroom. The band has built up 14 years’ worth of underground credibility, budding as discordant art-rock revivalists, but with its latest album, “23,” its members…
Vacancy
2007 As seen in “Vacancy” and a hundred other movies before it, small, rural, old, out-of-the-way motels in the middle of nowhere don’t enjoy much repeat business, mostly because visitors likely don’t survive the night. Bickering soon-to-be-divorced spouses Luke Wilson (“Old School”) and Kate Beckinsale (“Underworld”) find this out the hard way when middle-of-the-night car…
Boland and band return home to red-dirt roots
Oklahoma native and red-dirt country pioneer Jason Boland has been packing bars and selling out shows for more than seven years, positioning himself and his band, the Stragglers, as underground legends among Southern partiers and in-the-know music fans. Boland and The Stragglers are heading back to where it all started for a Wednesday show in…
3:10 to Yuma
Reviewer’s grade: A Russell Crowe as murderer/thief Ben Wade fights an intense battle of wills with Christian Bale as rancher/decent-but-failing family man Dan Evans in one of the best movies of 2007. Dan must transport Wade to the town of Contention and put him on the 3:10 train to the prison at Yuma before…
AMC Quail Springs brings midnight movies back
Some movies are just meant to be shown at midnight. Throughout September and October, metro movie buffs will get a chance to see some late night classics and more recent releases at the AMC Quail Springs Mall 24. “Oklahoma City is also a lot more of a ‘movie town’ than people want to give it…
The Brothers Solomon
The cast is good enough that there are a few funny parts, but it’s not nearly enough to make up for the limp script and hammy acting. You probably won’t walk out, but you might wish you spent your seven bucks on something more useful, like a six pack of enemas or a bottle…
One of nation’s few Taiwanese Buddhist monasteries calls OKC home
The Buddha Mind Monastery is located in an unlikely place for a Buddhist monastery ” an old Pentecostal church on S. Anderson Road between Interstates 40 and 240. Two Taiwanese nuns live and work there. The abbess, Jian Tai, arrived from Taiwan last September. Jian Xiang, one of the founding nuns, has been in Oklahoma…
Small world
I travel a lot, and I’m always amazed at how many people I meet with Oklahoma connections. Years ago, while I was in Moscow, Enid attorney Stephen Jones ” the man who would defend Oklahoma City federal building bomber Timothy McVeigh ” walked up to me and introduced himself. You don’t expect to meet people…
Cultural Diversity
Sweden’s army turned down 600 draftees in July, claiming that it did not have enough officers to supervise them, but about 350 of the conscripts launched a formal protest, demanding to serve. Said one, “I was upset. What was I going to do for a year?” The National Service Administration arranged for 100 of the…
Latest Religious Messages
God Is Love: Charles Flowers, the director of the no-nonsense Christian camp Love Demonstrated Ministries, was arrested in August and charged with dragging a 15-year-old camper on her stomach behind a van after she either could not or would not keep pace on a morning run. In August, Buena Park, Calif., Baptist pastor Wiley Drake…
Companies, official battle out the Oklahoma coal-fired plant using advertisements
Anybody who’s read The Oklahoman probably couldn’t miss a series of full-page ads talking about a proposed coal-fired, electricity-generating plant. The dueling ads were either against the coal ” supporting the viewpoint of Oklahoma gas drilling giant Chesapeake Energy Corp. ” or for it ” funded by Oklahoma Gas and Electric, which wants to…
30 Rock: Season 1
2006/2007 Tina Fey’s Emmy-nominated freshman sitcom “30 Rock” started strong, and just got better as its season went on, emerging as one of the funniest shows on TV, perhaps second only to “The Office.” Fey plays Liz Lemon, the terminally single head writer of a “Saturday Night Live”-style sketch show that’s upended when…
Colin Powell speaks at the University of Oklahoma
Former Secretary of State and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Colin Powell spoke to a capacity crowd at the University of Oklahoma Wednesday and answered some submitted student questions. Powell spoke to students and others for about a half hour at Catlett Music Center’s Paul F. Sharp Concert Hall. Overflow attendees were able…
Prescription defense
Until a July Florida appeals court ruling, Mark O’Hara, 45, had been in prison for two years of a 25-year mandatory-minimum for trafficking in hydrocodone, based solely on the 58 tablets found in his possession in 2004, even though his supply had been lawfully prescribed by a physician. The state attorney in Tampa had pointed…
OKC Bricktown bars present reading and spelling challenge
CFN intern Bucky loves to live it up out on the town. The guy is loyal, but he’s not all that intelligent. We’ve recommended a number of Bricktown bars at which he could get his drink on, but he claims he never can find them. We finally figured out why: Their names are misspelled. …
Voters elect Johnson to county commissioner post
With all precincts reporting, Oklahoma City voters elected Councilwoman Willa Johnson as county commissioner. Johnson outdistanced former state legislator Forrest Claunch for the vacated District 1 Oklahoma Board of County Commissioners post. Johnson received 5,967 votes, 54 percent, to Claunch’s 5,083 votes, 46 percent. The longtime city council member maintains a Democrat party hold on…
