Today, “public education” is coming to mean something different: We want an “educated public” — and it doesn’t matter where that education takes place. Most students still go to the school closest to their house. But did you realize that in Florida, for example, nearly half the students (43 percent) go to a school other […]
brandon
Posted inNews
Congratulations, y’all
Kelly Clarkson, the first American Idol winner, married her sweetheart, Brandon Blackstock, at Blackberry Farms in Walland, Tenn., according to eonline.com. Blackstock is the stepson of redheaded Okie and Queen of Country Reba McEntire. Coincidentally, McEntire and Clarkson are BFFs, and McEntire’s husband — Narvel Blackstock — manages the pop princess. Talk about a confusing […]
Posted inMusic
Boyz to Men
The music made by Oklahoma City’s The Hitt Boyz isn’t exactly what founding members/guitarists Will Ogletree and Adam Thornbrugh intended: to be the next At the Drive-In or Mars Volta. Instead of fighting what came natural, the two decided to roll with the punches. “We wanted a high-energy, punk-rock band, but when we started writing, […]
Posted inArts & Culture
I Am Bruce Lee
For example:• He was a child star in Hong Kong — the Macaulay Culkin of his day and place.• He was a 1957 cha-cha champion.• In college, he was obsessed with General Hospital.• He was quoted as saying, “My obsession is to make, pardon the expression, the fuckingest action motion picture ever made.” That film […]
Posted inMusic
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 […]
Posted inMusic
In orbit
Photo: Chris Phelps In the winter of 2010, things were looking pretty good for Austin, Texas’ The Rocketboys. Then half the altrock sextet walked out, worn out and abused from the exhausting tour schedule that got them to that point. The Rocketboys looked doomed to crash and burn. “There was a lot of not knowing […]
Posted inArts & Culture
The FP
The credo of 248 leader JTRO (Jason Trost, who co-wrote and co-directed with his brother, Brandon) is “We roll together, we die together.” That’s tested when JTRO vows never to play again after BTRO dies during a rather heated Beat-off (go ahead, snicker) against 245 head L Dubba E (Lee Valmassy), and disappears. A year […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Tokyo drift
A passion for drawing and a deathly milk allergy played a role in the creation of Brandon Reierson’s design line, Lactose Intoler-Art. His work will be featured in a special show Saturday at Cafe Oasis. Growing up in Stratford, Okla., Reierson was read children’s books with vivid illustrations. He then used markers and copy paper […]