New Year's Guide

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COMING SOON: NEAL MCCOY - JANUARY 10 CHRIS TUCKER - JANUARY 18 COOP CONCERT SERIES: PARKER MCCOLLUM - JANUARY 25 COOP CONCERT SERIES: DUSTIN LYNCH - FEBRUARY 7 WILLIAM SHATNER LIVE - FEBRUARY 14 RANDY ROGERS BAND - FEBRUARY 15 CANDLEBOX - FEBRUARY 21 JAY LENO - MARCH 27 THE BELLAMY BROTHERS, GENE WATSON & MOE BANDY - MAY 23

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INSIDE COVER In this issue, look back at the good and bad things 2019 brought to the Oklahoma City metro and celebrate the possibility in 2020 at local New Year’s Eve events.

By Oklahoma Gazette staff Cover photo by Alexa Ace and design by Phillip Danner and Mindi Stucks Cover model: Q Special thanks to The Paramount OKC and Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma.

NEWS 4

METRO Oklahoma County Sunday

liquor sales

6 CITY Oklahoma City Council update 8 EDUCATION teacher pay and retention 9

CHICKEN-FRIED NEWS

EAT & DRINK

BRANJAE BRANJAE BRANJAE

10 REVIEW Tacos Don Nacho

Nhinjo Sushi and Grill Aurora Breakfast, Bar & Backyard reopens 14 GAZEDIBLES seasonal ingredients 11 FEATURE 13 FEATURE

ARTS & CULTURE 16 COVER 2019 in review

18 COVER New Year’s Eve events

20 ART Tom Shannon: Universe in the

Mind | Mind in the Universe at SMO’s smART Space

21 ART Renewing the American Spirit:

The Art of the Great Depression at OKCMOA 22 CALENDAR

STREAMING NOW PLAYITLOUDSHOW.COM AN ORIGINAL MUSIC DOCUSERIES

MUSIC 24 COVER Jacobi Ryan, Make

december 28

Oklahoma Weirder and local albums of the year

26 LIVE MUSIC

THE HIGH CULTURE 27 CANNABIS infused eggnog and

bread pudding recipe 29 CANNABIS Cowboy Cup reaction 32 Self Wellness Gift Guide 33 CANNABIS The Toke Board 33 CANNABIS strain review

FUN 34 PUZZLES sudoku | crossword 35 ASTROLOGY

COMING SOON

rodney carrington january 24

bret michaels february 1

Sugar ray

OKG Classifieds 35

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After a 2-1 vote, with District 2 commissioner Brian Maughan as the sole opposition, county commissioners will let residents decide whether or not to allow county liquor stores to operate on Sundays. | Photo Miguel Rios

Sunday liquor

Oklahoma County residents will get to vote on Sunday liquor store sales at a March 2020 special election. By Miguel Rios

Oklahoma County will decide whether or not to approve Sunday liquor store sales early next year. The Board of County Commissioners voted 2-1 to let residents decide at a special election March 3, which will coincide with the state’s presidential primary. Tulsa County commissioners decided in November to let residents vote on the issue.

After deferring the decision from Dec. 2, Carrie Blumert (District 1) and Kevin Calvey (District 3) voted in favor of the special election while Brian Maughan (District 2) voted against it at last week’s meeting. Blumert brought the measure forward after learning that stores like Walmart, Target and Homeland can sell beer and wine while local liquor stores cannot.

“I have only heard positive support,” Blumert told Oklahoma Gazette. “I randomly called some liquor stores in my district … and just asked the owner, ‘What do you think of this?’ Every single owner was supportive of it.”

Calvey also spoke to liquor store owners and his general constituents about the topic.

“Store owners and constituents in my district wish to have the say,” Calvey said at the meeting. “I do also appreciate some who voiced an opinion and a very understandable and legitimate concern about alcohol and some of the damage that that can cause in our society.”

However, he also said that what overrode the concern was part of the new statewide laws passed in late 2018 that allowed grocery and convenience stores to sell full-strength beer and wine every day.

“Grocery stores and convenience stores are now allowed to sell wine on Sundays, and so this just really evens the playing field in terms of different vendors 4

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for that,” Calvey said. “It seemed to be the, at least in my district, the majority view amongst both those who have the stores … and members of the public.”

Maughan said he didn’t want to vote on anything that would weigh on his conscience. He referenced his recent opinion piece in The Oklahoman in which he discussed the dangers of addictive substances.

That will translate into hopefully a little more revenue and keep some money local and keep some local businesses open.

Bryan Kerr “For a state that worries rightly over the costs of addiction, Oklahoma has made some baffling choices in recent years. From marijuana stores on every corner to the sale of strong beer and wine in grocery and even drug stores — and in cutting penalties for some cases of drug possession — we have become an addict’s paradise. Now several Oklahoma counties are considering legalizing liquor sales on Sundays and other holidays,” he wrote. “I will vote against the measure to submit that change to a popular vote. We need to rethink how we are handling the availability of addictive chemicals, and the harm that availability is doing.”

At the meeting, Maughan also referenced the recent passage of MAPS 4, which promises to allocate millions of dollars for mental health services.

“I just don’t want to add, to contribute

towards that even if it’s just one person,” he said. “Having lost a staff member who was a victim of a person who was under the influence when he killed her, and another staff member has lost a child to addiction, so we’re very sensitive to it in District 2. I do appreciate the free-market aspect argument, but given the life-ordeath situation of it, I’m going to vote no.”

Following Maughan’s comments, commissioner Blumert clarified that if approved in March, liquor stores would have the option to sell on Sundays but would not be mandated to do so.

“I talked to one liquor store owner who said, ‘We only plan to be open on Sundays if it falls right before a holiday.

If July 3rd falls on a Sunday, we plan to be open,’” she said.

for things like refrigeration while learning to compete with giant grocery stores.

“Convenience is king,” Kerr said. “It’s a little hyperbolic, but I would guess 90 percent of the people who shop [for alcohol] at Walmart do so simply because they don’t want to make another stop.”

Kerr, who owns a liquor store himself, said the state is losing about two liquor stores each month. While some local stores have survived due to good location, little competition with other stores or exceedingly good service, Kerr doesn’t expect the loss of liquor stores to slow down.

“We’ll probably lose another 200, so I think we’re looking at continuing to lose stores over the next few years a little at a time,” he said. “Some stores have sort of equalized, others are barely hanging on and others are probably going to make it through the holiday season and call it quits.”

Competing local

Bryan Kerr, president of Retail Liquor Association of Oklahoma, was hesitant to say this would “significantly” improve local store sales.

“Studies in other states show that if a liquor store can be open on Sunday, then the overall increase is somewhere around 5 percent, so it’s a modest increase in sales but nonetheless good for the consumer to have an extra day to shop at a locally owned store,” Kerr said.

“Certainly anything helps at this point for the little guy trying to go up against the big-box stores. Obviously, the vote to modernize our laws was about convenience, and so if we can add a little extra convenience to people being able to shop our local liquor stores on Sunday, then that will translate into hopefully a little more revenue and keep some money local and keep some local businesses open.”

Though the laws that went into effect in 2018 don’t allow grocery and convenience stores to sell liquor, they can still sell beer and wine every day while liquor stores can only operate six days a week.

Each county must have a vote to allow them to sell products on Sunday.

State Question 792 updated Oklahoma’s liquor laws when it went into effect October 2018, but people in the industry said it hurt local businesses. Local liquor stores had to grapple with capital improvement costs

Commissioner Carrie Blumert brought the measure forward after learning that grocery and convenience stores could sell alcohol on Sundays but local liquor stores couldn’t. | Photo Miguel Rios

Local store owners feel like they’re competing on a skewed playing field because they can only operate 6 days a week and because other stores pose more convenience. While Sunday liquor store sales will benefit local stores, Kerr said it won’t totally even the playing field.

“As far as days open, yes. Hours are still restricted for liquor stores. Those restrictions are not put on grocery and convenience stores, and obviously there’s some other inequities in there,” he said.

Despite that, Kerr thinks the move is positive for consumers and local stores.

“I think this is going to make it on several small county ballots too, but I think in the metro counties, it’s going to pass pretty easily,” he said. “I would encourage folks to get out and vote ‘yes.’

Most of us local people that own liquor stores want to be open on Sundays, and we want to offer that extra convenience to consumers.”

CIT Y

Final actions

Oklahoma City Council had its last meeting of 2019 on Dec. 17. By Miguel Rios

Councilmembers set a date on a new sales tax vote, amended policies and approved more spending, among other actions at Oklahoma City Council’s final meeting of the year.

Park tax

Three weeks ago, former councilman Ed Shadid submitted a petition with enough signatures to allow residents to decide whether or not they want to implement a 1/8-cent sales tax dedicated to parks.

“If you look at what we’re asking to do, you’ll find it to be very transformative in terms of our parks operation,” said former councilman Pete White, a proponent of the tax. “It’s a crying need in parks to have a fixed source of revenue for programming, operations, maintenance, and this would answer that question.”

Mayor David Holt said via Twitter that this is the first time since 1989-1990 that city residents successfully submitted a petition for a sales tax vote.

If passed, the tax would generate

about $14 million in additional funding for Parks & Recreation’s budget. It could be used to fund the replacement and addition of trees and plants; park programs like athletic leagues, exercise classes and other outdoor activities; capital improvements, but only for new restrooms, athletic infrastructure and bleachers; and operational expenses.

The election will be March 3, 2020, coinciding with the state’s presidential primary.

Busking ordinance

An ordinance seeking to simplify the rules for street entertainers was amended from a previous version. Ward 6 councilwoman JoBeth Hamon first brought the ordinance forward in early November. It has had a public hearing since then but was amended slightly for its final hearing.

The original ordinance eliminated licensing requirements for street entertainers except for those wanting to locate along Bricktown Canal, said Aubrey McDermid, assistant city

manager. This created additional requirements for the Bricktown Canal area, including review and approval by the director of Parks & Recreation.

This was because there were additional safety concerns regarding street performers along the canal, but McDermid said upon further review and advice from legal staff, they tweaked the ordinance.

“The safety concerns that we originally had for the Bricktown Canal are actually already covered within the

Oklahoma City Council’s first meeting of 2020 is 8:30 a.m. Jan. 7. on the third floor of City Hall, 200 N. Walker Ave. | Photo Miguel Rios

municipal code. The police department can enforce any type of gathering in any public space that causes a safety issues,” she said. “So there was a separate, higher standard for the Bricktown Canal that wasn’t really necessary to create that extra burden on people who wanted to continued on page 6

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locate along the canal.”

The reworked ordinance simply deletes “street entertainers” as one of the types of amusements in the definition of a “public amusement,” which eliminates the regulation and licensing of street entertainers consistently citywide.

“I coordinated with the Downtown Oklahoma City Inc. to work with the property owners,” McDermid said.

“When they talked to them, they were surprised that this ordinance even existed in the first place. They would like to see street entertainers along the Bricktown Canal and increased activity along the canal, and they were not concerned.”

It passed unanimously.

CIT Y

CHAMPAGNE, PARTY HORNS, AND A GOOD OLD FASHIONED TAX WRITE-OFF.

NEWS said he would vote no on the amendment because he believes the city should wait until federal and state policies change.

The proposal passed 7-2, with McAtee and Ward 1 councilman James Greiner, who sit on either side of Cooper, voting in opposition.

Oklahoma surfing

The city council voted to approve a bid on a surf machine for the Boathouse District. Initially estimated to cost $1.45 million, councilmembers narrowly approved a higher bid at $1.965 million.

“That is a little more than what we had as our estimate, but discussing that among ourselves, we think it’s still a reasonable cost,” said David Todd, MAPS program manager. “The additional items that we were going to do, some of those will be scaled back a little bit to make up for this.”

Healthy overlay

There was a public hearing for the Healthy Neighborhood Overlay intended for the 73111 ZIP code. There were no comments from the public.

The final meeting for the overlay zoning will be at the next city council meeting Jan. 7.

Personnel policy 91.7 OKC | 107.5 TULSA | KOSU.ORG

BEGINNING JANUARY 1, 2020!

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Ward 2 councilman James Cooper introduced a proposal to amend the city’s personnel policies to extend nondiscrimination protections for gender identity and expression. The proposal adds “and gender identity and/or gender expression” to the city’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy, which already prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation. It only affects municipal employment.

“The cities of Norman and Tulsa and a couple of cities in Texas — Fort Worth and Austin — they have amended their personnel policies to include gender identity and gender expression as well,” said Paula Kelly from the city’s municipal counselor’s office.

Allie Shinn, Freedom Oklahoma executive director, and Alyssa Bryant, a transgender attorney and member of the Freedom Oklahoma board of directors, spoke in support of the amendment.

Ward 5 councilman David Greenwell wondered how the new amendment would affect any policies when it comes to bathrooms or changing rooms. Chris York, from the city’s personnel department, said the city doesn’t have any explicit bathroom policies but it is not a concern.

“While the bathroom issue is a sensitive issue, in reality and in practicality, it’s almost hyperbole,” he said. “The reason I say that is because we had maybe I can think of two cases that I can think of in recent history — and I’m talking years — where we’ve had an instance where we had gender identity and bathroom. It’s such a small subsection of the issues that we run into that I’m not concerned with some type of wholesale change.”

Ward 3 councilman Larry McAtee

City residents will decide whether or not they want to implement a 1/8-cent sales tax dedicated to parks in a March 3 election. | Photo Alexa Ace

Hamon and Greenwell said they had trouble trusting the Boathouse Foundation because it has withheld information from the city in the past.

“But I want to see ways for us to support the operations of the specifically city-owned entities in the Boathouse District so that low-income and middleincome families can actually afford to go there,” Hamon said.

Greenwell made an unsuccessful motion to defer the item indefinitely, but ultimately, the council approved the bid in the consent docket.

Next meeting

The city council’s first meeting of 2020 will be 8:30 a.m. Jan. 7. on the third floor of City Hall, 200 N. Walker Ave. Meetings are also streamed on the city’s YouTube channel.

Visit okc.gov and youtube.com/ cityofokc.

E D U C AT I O N

Teaching tender Teacher pay and retention remains at the forefront of a long list of education issues postteacher walkouts. By Nikita Lewchuk

Since the teacher walkout in April 2018, the state of Oklahoma has increased the school funding formula, a combination of local, state and federal revenue that is then distributed according to each state’s specific “formula,” by 19 percent, according to Center on Budget and Policy Priorities — one of the biggest increases of any state that had education-related protests.

This is something Alicia Priest, president of Oklahoma Education Association, said is movement in the right direction.

“On average, over the last two years, teachers have received a raise of $7,220.

That is good movement,” Priest said.

“Our support professionals have only received a raise of $1,250, so we need to continue to invest in our education support professionals. Those are our cafeteria workers, our bus drivers, school assistants, teacher’s aids and those types of job categories.”

The average raise of $7,220 did not go exclusively to teachers. Priest said it also included administrators, such as principals and assistant principals. The only education administrator not included in the raise was the school superintendent.

These raises are part of that 19 percent increase to the school funding formula.

Another component of the increased funding will be used to bolster the teacher retention rate in the state.

“Making sure that we are staying competitive and able to recruit and

President of Oklahoma Education Association Alicia Priest hopes increased community engagement will bolster support for public education. | Photo provided

retain quality teachers in the classroom is very important because the number one indicator in student success is a teacher in the classroom that knows the curriculum, that knows the art and science of teaching,” said Priest.

Representative John Waldron, who sits on the education committee, agrees that retention is key.

“The teacher shortage is the canary in the coal mine,” Waldron said. “It’s not so much a recruiting problem as it is a retention problem. In fact, the really critical shortage is people holding a teacher certification staying in the job.

So you have to look at why they aren’t staying in the job.”

Waldron said a combination of low pay, high classroom sizes and lack of funding are the issues that need to be addressed.

Public Radio Tulsa reported in late July that over 1,600 emergency certifications were issued for the 2019-2020 school year.

In addition, emergency certifications are temporary. Anyone teaching with an emergency certification can only stay in the system for three years.

To continue teaching, they would need to have a bachelor’s degree, complete continued on page 8

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a teacher education program or work in a specialized field related to their subject for two years.

“It’s like a ship that’s burning down as it’s sinking, you know?”

Waldron said. “You don’t know which problem to fix first.”

These issues, he said, are the result of systematic cuts over the last decade.

“We’re still below the 2008 funding levels. We’ve added tens of thousands of students, but we haven’t replaced all of the funding that we took out in the cuts if you adjust for inflation and rising costs,” Waldron said. “One point that was made was that the budget was only falling because of a temporary downturn in energy prices. I think we cut a lot of taxes to get ourselves into that deep hole. ... We first of all have to realize that we cut funding because we cut revenue.”

The teacher shortage is the canary in the coal mine.

Rep. John Waldron Even with the progress that has been made in the past two years, there is still much more to do.

“We did not earmark money to raise the salaries of custodians and librarians and all the other support personnel who keep our schools running. We didn’t provide enough funding to restore classroom sizes to their 2008 level. We haven’t made incredible investments in infrastructure, like the blended virtual options in our schools,” Waldron said. “And we haven’t reached the superintendent’s goal of increasing the number of counselors so that they can provide mental health services to our students.”

Priest is hopeful these problems can be solved by working with teachers and legislators like Waldron.

“If there’s a bill that needs to be run,

we should really be talking to those that are working in the classroom day in and day out,” she said.

Waldron is wary of some of the attitudes he sees in his colleagues.

“I took objection to, in the debate, the tendency of the leadership to start their historical clock two years ago. If you look two years ago, we’re great on education. We’ve increased funding by 25 percent. And also a lot of the membership will say, ‘We voted for every teacher salary increase that came in front of us.’ Well, over the last couple years, when the situation became critical and after years of neglect. That’s how we got into that hole,” he said. “On behalf of people that are in the school system, I think that’s a little disingenuous. I mean, sure, in the last couple years, when the crisis became obvious, people took the necessary course corrections. But it would be a big error to declare victory and assume that the problem is fixed.”

Priest said the funds used for education are only a part of the bigger picture.

“Education doesn’t work in a bubble, right? The student in my classroom could also be a student that is in DHS custody or a student who they themselves or a family member that they live with has mental health issues and needs mental health help,” she said.

“We could be talking about our students who don’t have access to adequate health care because their rural hospital has closed.”

She is planning to build on these recent gains with a push for broader community engagement.

“People are paying more attention.

Right after the work stoppage, we turned around and got engaged in campaigns and elections,” Priest said. “Our members walked and knocked on doors for candidates who supported public education. Every time we have an event, you know, we want to hear from the community and our education employees to see what is their vision, what do they need for their classrooms and their school to make sure that we’re providing the best for our kids.”

For nine days beginning on April 2, 2018, teachers across the state walked out to protest low pay, overcrowded classrooms and tax cuts that resulted in lower statewide education spending. | Photo Bigstock.com 8

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chicken

friedNEWS

Hollywood ‘Oklahoma’

The Watchmen television series earned high critical praise for its ambitious run on HBO, which included the first-ever onscreen depiction of the Tulsa Race Massacre, but if fans want to tour Oklahoma after watching the series, they’ll be surprised that it looks nothing like its Georgiashot locations that stand in for Tulsa.

The latest in the line of “That’s too many hills to be Oklahoma” comes with next summer’s Ghostbusters: Afterlife, which takes the new generation of the comedy sci-fi franchise out of New York and plants in a fictional Oklahoma town.

The production, which is helmed by Jason Reitman, son of original director Ivan Reitman, took place in Canada.

The new movie stars Carrie Coon, who is married in the film to real-life Tulsa native Tracy Letts, and includes Finn Wolfhard (Mike from Stranger Things) and McKenna Grace. We should’ve known the production was in Canada because there’s no way Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt would allow Wolfhard within a 200-mile radius of the metro area without snapping a selfie with the teen star.

The initial trailer for the film, which will be released in summer 2020, shows familiar Ghostbusters technology in an unfamiliar setting — verdant wheat fields, large mountainous quarries and other things that an outsider might think of as Oklahoma. The state is actu-

ally very diverse and home to every type of climate except for an ocean, but Ozark Mountains don’t look like farmland.

The new Ghostbusters film will include cameos from original cast members Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray, Ernie Hudson and Sigourney Weaver and acts as if the female-centric 2016 reboot doesn’t exist at all, kind of like lush green Oklahoma farmlands in the foothills of the mountains.

for further hassles from any “teacher that’s lowkey racist.” Sounds like at least two Byng students — head wraps, in-school detention, national media attention and all — have definitely learned something.

Going big

Wrap battle

A recent revision to the Byng Public School District dress code was featured on Vice this month.

“Since their sophomore year, Is’Abella Miller and Delanie Seals have been at odds with the administration at Byng High School in Ada, Oklahoma, over what they perceive to be a violation of their rights: a school rule that prohibited students from wearing African head wraps along with other forms of nonreligious headwear,” reported Leila Ettachfini for Vice’s Identity section. “Byng High School is majority white and both Seals and Miller said that forbidding African head wraps signifies a bias among administrators.”

School administrators first began clashing with Seals and Miller over their head wraps in 2018. In their sophomore, junior and now senior years, Seals and Miller said two different principals took multiple, sometimes contradictory, stances on whether the head wraps were allowed. At one point, the principal reportedly (and puzzlingly) told them “they could wear their head wraps, but only if they show some of their hair,” only to later tell them he changed his mind and they violated the dress code’s “no headwear” policy.

They said their request to meet with Byng’s superintendent went unanswered.

“The headwear rule is culturally and ethnically insensitive and we decided we had to do something about it, even if that meant going to in-school detention,” Miller told Vice.

And so they did. They also started a social media campaign with the hashtags #headwrapsmatter and #myculturemysay. Following more meetings with the principal, superintendent and school board, the dress code was finally revised to allow “caps, hats, or any head coverings that are not distracting to the learning environment.”

Miller told Vice she’s happy about the change in policy but worried the word “distracting” could be used as an excuse

Remember the guy who led law enforcement agencies on a three-hour high-speed chase with a stolen vehicle in 2017?

You might have seen him live on any local news station or on his personal Facebook page where he was broadcasting a big part of the chase.

“I’m thinking, hopefully, if I get to Cleveland County, I’ll get to go to jail there and not Oklahoma County,” Brenton Hager said on his broadcast.

“I’m not trying to go back to Oklahoma County.”

The Oklahoma County jail is low-hanging fruit at this point what with all the plumbing issues, mold problems, understaffing, overcrowding and the fuzzy timeline for its new jail administrator to take over, so we’ll leave it alone for this Chicken-Fried

News entry — but we’ll absolutely follow up in 2020.

Hager weaved through the Oklahoma City metro and ultimately ended up driving through a field and into a pond before trying to escape on foot and being hit with a Taser, taken into custody and charged for a litany of crimes. He was released on bond but found himself back in jail about a month later for stealing another car.

Last week, Hager pleaded guilty to three felonies — assault and battery, endangering others while eluding and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle — and four misdemeanors. The Oklahoman reported that Hager received a 20-year sentence for each felony but will serve them concurrently as part of an arrangement with prosecutors. His response to a 20-year sentence?

“Go big or go home,” he told reporters as he was escorted out of the courtroom.

District Attorney Greg Mashburn had a solid response to Hager’s comment.

“He’s not going home,” he told KOCO. “So I mean, he can go big but he’s going to go to prison.”

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Destination burrito

Surrounded by offices and warehouses, Tacos Don Nacho lives up to the hype by delivering tasty traditional Mexican favorites. By Jacob Threadgill

Tacos Don Nacho 3721 S. Council Road | 405-745-2550 WHAT WORKS: The Taco Rico plate is tasty and one of the best burritos in the city.

WHAT NEEDS WORK: More salsa was needed for the meal.

TIP: Burritos are served with meat, beans, onions, cilantro and salsa.

I passed the third warehouse in a row, and I could only see a long line of industrial parks in front of me as I was headed south on Council Road during a quest for one of the most lauded Mexican restaurants in the greater Oklahoma City area.

“I thought I was getting close,” I thought to myself.

Another warehouse whizzed by the window, and I checked the GPS information on my phone again.

“It says the destination is only 0.2 miles away, but I don’t see it.”

Don’t expect to find free queso with every meal because Tacos Don Nacho isn’t serving Tex-Mex. Just as I passed SW 36th Street, there was a break in office zoning and a Sonic Drive-In appeared, followed by a huge aluminum-sided building. There it was; elevated on a little hill in a huge parking lot of its own across the street from a massive Hobby Lobby complex was the site of my desire: Tacos Don Nacho, 3721 S. Council Road.

After covering food and restaurants for Oklahoma Gazette for a little over two years, Tacos Don Nacho is perhaps the one restaurant I’ve most wanted to visit. It has achieved almost mythical status for me because there is not much about the restaurant’s history to be found online — a Facebook page with a handful of posts and a Yelp page with reviews dating back to 2010.

Considering that most of what I knew about the restaurant came from wordof-mouth, it feels like stepping back into the land before the internet. All I knew was that it’s a great place for a smothered burrito and to get there early.

It’s a pretty good sign that the food is going to be good when people will make a drive to get there, like The Butcher BBQ Stand in Wellston. Tacos Don Nacho is located near the northwest corner of Will Rogers Airport, and there is some housing near Tacos Don Nacho and three schools in the vicinity, but when I walked into the restaurant 10

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about 20 minutes before noon, it was packed full of people who appeared to be taking their lunch break or meeting friends.

Located in what appears to be a former fast food establishment, Tacos Don Nacho operates with counter service and keeps its former drivethru window open for customers to pick up call-in orders.

Don’t expect to find free queso with every meal because Tacos Don Nacho isn’t serving Tex-Mex. Owners Maria and Gustavo Rivera opened the restaurant in 2008 after moving in 2007 from California, where they operated a successful Mexican restaurant called El Taco Rico.

Maria said that when they decided to open a restaurant in Oklahoma City, they wanted to continue the name, but the Taco Rico at 3838 N. Lincoln Blvd. already laid claim. They decided to honor Gustavo’s father Ignacio, who went by the nickname Nacho, with the name of their new restaurant.

“We know how to be successful [because of our experience],” Maria Rivera said over the phone. “We want to provide good food and good service.

Nobody’s perfect, but we’re trying to be.”

The menu from their California restaurant remains largely intact, right down to its eponymous dish, which is the most popular menu item. The Taco Rico plate is sautéed carne asada with tomatoes, peppers and onions topped with sliced avocados and sides of rice and beans served with your choice of fresh corn or flour tortillas.

As I stood in line, trying to make a decision from Tacos Don Nacho’s huge menu that spans from all-day breakfast to soup and seafood, I kept seeing the Taco Rico plate being sent out to diners, and it was too much temptation to overcome.

I placed my order and found the only open table, located right next to the front entrance. I didn’t even mind the cold December air blowing in every time a customer came in because the complimentary chips and salsa are topnotch. The salsa is the right balance of lime, crushed tomatoes and small chunks of onion for added texture, and the chips were light, crispy and perfectly salted.

I’m not sure how the kitchen staff knew where to bring my food because they didn’t provide a number when I paid, but the food arrived after about 15 or 20 minutes directly to my table, and there was an audible thud when the piled-high plate left the server’s hands.

Taco Rico plate | Photo Jacob Threadgill

The melted cheese had perfect brown bubbles, which made the food even more tempting. Carne asada can be hit-and-miss for me, but luckily Tacos Don Nacho’s version is the former. It was both tender and had plenty of umami flavor and its marinade with sautéed jalapeños provided the heat. The only downside was that I ran out of salsa midway through the meal and couldn’t catch an employee to ask for more — mostly because I couldn’t stop eating.

Rivera said that the burrito plate, which can be ordered with your choice of meat and smothered in red sauce, is the second most popular item, followed by the three-taco special.

While overloaded San Francisco mission-style burritos have served as the basis for national chains like Chipotle and Qdoba, I don’t always want an entire meal inside of the tortilla. Tacos Don Nacho veers more toward a Southern California-style burrito, only filling the tortilla with a choice of meat (which includes chile verde and a whole chile relleno beyond the ubiquitous options), Crispy tacos | Photo provided

A “wet” burrito covered in red sauce and cheese is one of the most popular items at Tacos Don Nacho.| Photo Gazette / file

refried beans, cilantro and salsa.

“Some people try to order rice or guacamole in the burrito, but that’s not how we do them,” Rivera said.

The restaurant might have “taco” in the name, but it’s immediately in the running for my favorite burrito in the metro, joining the chicken burrito from the Taco Loco food truck on NW 39th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue.

I’m glad I finally made it out to Tacos Don Nacho, and it vaults to destination dining status, even if you’re not in the southwestern corner of the city.

F E AT U R E

Automated sushi Ring In 2020 Sushi robots increase efficiency and provide Nhinjo Sushi and Grill a pilot opportunity as a potential fast-casual sushi franchise. By Jacob Threadgill

One of metro Oklahoma City’s first families of sushi is relying on the technology manufacturers’ market of “sushi robots” to lower the barrier for becoming a sushi chef with new fast-casual Nhinjo Sushi and Grill serving as a pilot program for potential franchise expansion.

Kang and Mary Nhin first took risks at Kang’s Asian Bistro in Edmond, where they introduced the option of nyotaimori dining, in which diners ate sushi off a naked woman.

They then transformed Kang’s from a fine-dining restaurant into Nhinja Sushi and Wok, a family-focused sushi restaurant that has expanded to five locations across the metro area.

It would be really nice to be in neighborhoods across America and have access to affordable sushi.

Mary Nhin Nhinjo Sushi opened at 12301 S. Western Ave. in Moore Nov. 19, and its first innovation is immediately in view of customers — they have the option of customizing their order at an tablet kiosk — and its two other pieces of new technology — a pair of machines, one that packs sushi rice evenly and another that cuts rolls consistently — improve kitchen efficiency.

“At Kang’s, we did naked sushi, and a lot of people didn’t agree with that, just like a lot of people don’t agree with decreasing the labor force [through automation],” Mary Nhin said.

The first Nhinjo Sushi and Grill is located at 12301 S. Western Ave. in Moore. | Photo Jacob Threadgill

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Mary and Kang Nhin are owners of Nhinja Sushi and Wok as well as Nhinjo Sushi and Grill. | Photo Jacob Threadgill

While the Nhins are conscious of potential criticism for adding automated products to the kitchen, they also point out that finding skilled sushi chefs is the most difficult part of operating a sushi restaurant.

“We’re creating more entry-level positions, too,” said Tony Nguyen, director of operations. “Sushi chefs are more skilled labor, and we’re creating more jobs, if anything.”

Lowering the barrier to be able to consistently serve fresh sushi quickly is the biggest hurdle to clear when establishing a franchise of fast-casual and affordable Nhinjo Sushi stores that the founders hope can gain a regional foothold before expanding.

“It would be really nice to be in neighborhoods across America and have access to affordable sushi. We’re focusing right now on perfecting this model,” Mary Nhin said.

The pair of sushi robots are manufactured by Japanese company Autec.

The Nhins said the technology is about four or five years old. They heard about them while attending a restaurant conference and toured restaurants where they’ve been deployed in Dallas and other cities before deciding to make an investment that they hope spurs future expansion.

First up on the kitchen line is the $14,000 Maki Maker, in which staff pour a huge container of cooked sushi rice.

The machine is capable of perfectly pressing up to 1,300 pieces of rice into perfect rectangles every hour. Kang Nhin, a trained sushi chef, said that the average sushi chef can form about 200 pieces over the same period.

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EAT & DRINK continued from page 11

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F E AT U R E

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After the rice and seaweed are filled with desired protein and vegetables, they’re rolled by hand and placed into the $6,000 automatic Maki cutter that produces 10 perfectly portioned pieces.

“It helps our employees do their job better,” Kang Nhin said.

“Especially a sushi chef, they don’t want to sit there and mat out every single piece of rice on the sushi paper. It makes it easy for them; it’s a like a helper or assistant.

Being a sushi chef, I wish I had that 10 years ago so that my hand doesn’t cramp up all night long.”

Nhinjo’s menu takes some of Nhinja’s most popular sushi rolls and adds a few new innovations while adding yakitori and salads like seared ahi tuna, Asian chicken or kale salad with avocado, tomatoes, cucumber and feta made to-order.

Two of its most popular items in its first few weeks include the Thunder roll with tempura shrimp with avocado topped with crabstick and spicy mayo, a holdover from the Nhinja menu. The Tiger roll — with cooked chicken in the center — is a creation for Nhinjo.

“We wanted something that is warm on the inside and cool on the outside,” Kang Nhin said. “So we created the Tiger roll with grilled teriyaki chicken on the inside and cool avocado on the outside.”

Guests have the option to make orders at the tablet by the front door or with a staff member at the front counter.

“I’m very picky when I eat, so when I customize anything, there is less miscommunication,” Nguyen said, noting

that 60 percent of customers prefer to use the kiosk. “It gives us an extra person to focus on the kitchen to make sure it’s running correctly. Our turnover time is about five minutes [from order to table].”

Kang Nhin’s family owned a noodle manufacturing company in Vietnam before they immigrated to the U.S., and

A Maki Maker produces as many as 1,300 pressed rectangles of sushi rice per hour. | Photo Jacob Threadgill

he got introduced to the restaurant industry at a young age. He followed his older brothers to their job in the kitchen of a Chinese restaurant in Edmond, killing time watching the front and back of the house employees.

“When you fist migrate here, the only jobs you can get are in the restaurant industry because you don’t speak English, so you can go into prep and dishwasher and work your way up,” he said. “I’m the youngest, and during that time, my brothers would take me to the restaurant they worked in and put me in a corner because that’s the way of babysitting. … One day, I asked my brother to teach me how to make pepper steak. I was about 14 years old.”

Kang and Mary met while they attended Northwest Classen High School and opened Kang’s Asian Bistro in 2005 on Second Street in Edmond, which was later converted into a Nhinja Sushi before being sold to a cannabis company in 2019.

The ambitious couple is once again making a big investment with the Nhinjo concept.

“It’s fun and scary at the same time,” Kang Nhin said. “Are people going to like it?”

Visit nhinjo.com.

Thunder and Tiger rolls made with the help of two automated machines at Nhinjo Sushi and Grill in Moore. | Photo Jacob Threadgill

F E AT U R E

The salt-and-pepper chicken at Aurora with corn purée is on its new dinner menu. | Photo Jacob Threadgill

Sunny rebirth

Aurora reopens under new ownership with expanded hours and a dinner menu. By Jacob Threadgill

Almost a year after Jamie and Jordan Winteroth opened their first restaurant, Social Deck + Dining, the couple has expanded into a mini restaurant group — Shared Plate Hospitality — by bringing back breakfast favorite Aurora Breakfast, Bar & Backyard to 16th Street Plaza District after a fivemonth hiatus with expanded hours and offerings.

The Oklahoma City dining scene was dealt a shock when former owners Aimee and Jeff Struble surprisingly announced on social media that Aurora was closing June 30, despite being a runaway breakfast hit, but that was also part of the problem for the founders, who have a lot of proverbial irons in fires.

“Aurora wasn’t an unsuccessful business,” Jamie Winteroth said. “It was their passion for [the Strubles] to own the restaurant, not to have to manage it.”

The last week of November — just two weeks after the Winteroths and business partner Cody Barnett closed

on the space — not only did Aurora reopen to the public, but it’s also now open for dinner service. Service is 7 a.m.-2p.m. Tuesday-Thursday with dinner going from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m., 8 a.m.-3 p.m. and 5 p.m.-10 p.m. Saturday and 8 a.m.-3 p.m. for Sunday brunch.

The salt-and-pepper chicken is the centerpiece of the dinner menu.

Jamie Winteroth The Winteroths brought in chef Sam Tangren, whom Jordan knew from his days as manager with A Good Egg Dining Group. Tangren helped execute a dinner menu of new American items that showcase high-quality ingredients with simple preparation, which is also an ethos of Social Deck + Dining, 1933 NW 23rd St. The dinner menu is built around

familiar items elevated through preparation, which can be highlighted by the salt-and-pepper chicken. A brined airline chicken breast is sautéed until the skin is crispy and served over wilted spinach and a side of corn purée that’s like an elevated creamed corn with charred onions and jalapeños.

The cage-, hormone- and antibioticfree chicken arrives from Redbird Farms in Iowa.

“The salt-and-pepper chicken is the centerpiece of the dinner menu,” Winteroth said. “We love that dish. The chicken is really important to use because it’s thoughtfully sourced. The dish is so simple and easy. The chef was like, ‘I can’t believe we can serve chicken like this and it’s so delicious.’”

Other dinner favorites include shrimp and grits with a tomato-based sauce, brown butter haddock, seasonal vegan risotto, entrée mac and cheese, salads that range from classics like spinach with dried cherries and strawberry mint vinaigrette and arugula Caprese to unique items like the zucchini with raw zucchini noodles, celery, carrot, mushrooms, onion, tomato, sesame seeds and ginger soy vinaigrette.

Aurora is using Destiny Farm to supply a chef’s selection of steak that is in limited supply.

It has served both hanger and petit rib-eye preparations in the first weeks of service. It has been the most popular dinner item, followed by the Bolognese made with Della Terra pappardelle, beef, housemade sausage and peas.

“The bowl used for the Bolognese usually comes back licked clean,” Winteroth said.

The breakfast menu is largely untouched, but a few redundant items like an egg sandwich and an egg biscuit have been streamlined to only the biscuit variety, which is made with thyme buttermilk and baked by Aurora’s original baker, who also makes its daily cinnamon rolls and scones.

Aurora’s tiramisu pancakes, which featured an appearance on Cooking Channel’s Cheap Eats, has been replaced by a Boston Cream Pie version in addition to buttermilk and banana nut versions.

Building off what they learned by operating Social, the Winteroths have learned to keep a literal note anytime a guest has a suggestion.

“There is a notebook, and it always gets updated anytime someone asks for something that didn’t make the cut, like lox,” Winteroth said. “Maybe when we do a seasonal change, we will consider some of these items. There have been many requests like for the veggie biscuit, which we had no idea was so

popular. We have all of the ingredients in-house, so we’ll just make it for anyone if they ask.”

The Winteroths were able to rehire a handful of servers and baristas, on which Winteroth said she is leaning as she still learns customer expectations.

The new version of Aurora is also employing more kitchen staff than the original version to handle the additional service.

“We could not be more thankful to the Strubles that they created an environment where people want to come back and they feel welcome,” Winteroth said. “We didn’t want to change Aurora 100 percent; we wanted to make sure that a business that was already successful remained that way.”

Social Deck + Dining is officially celebrating its one-year anniversary in early January. The actual date is in late December, but it has been pushed after dealing with the stress of reopening Aurora. Aurora will work in conjunction with Social under the Shared Hospitality umbrella on various monthly commu-

The shrimp and grits is available for breakfast and dinner at Aurora. | Photo Jacob Threadgill

nity giveback programs that highlight a different local nonprofit each month.

“When you work for us, we want them to have genuine hospitality,” Winteroth said. “I can teach you how to cook and wait table, but I can’t teach you to be genuinely gracious to your guests, and that’s what it is all about. … If we take care of the employees, they will take care of the guests.”

Visit shinewithaurora.com.

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GAZEDIBLES

EAT & DRINK

Bounty of bubbles

Whether it’s technically champagne or sparkling wine, there’s no better way to celebrate the upcoming new year and the revelatory spirit of the holiday season than a glass (or bottle) of some bubbly. These seven spots have plenty of bubbly options.

By Jacob Threadgill with provided and Gazette / file photos

The Merret

The Eleanor

Social Deck + Dining

Named after Christopher Merret, the 17th-century creator of champagne, The Merret is equipped to serve all kinds of sparkling wine, whether it hails from the Champagne region of France or not. Since opening last year, The Merret is the place to be classy and meet friends, but there a dance party is liable to break out any weekend night.

Celebrating its grand opening this month, The Eleanor takes ownership of this spot in Uptown 23rd with a remodeled space that formerly held Rockford Cocktail Den with a champagne bar concept. The Eleanor is sure to be one Oklahoma City’s most Instagrammed locations with its classy and fun interior. It’s open 4 p.m.-2 a.m. Tuesday-Saturday and serves Sunday brunch.

A restaurant that serves daily brunch is a best bet for having a great selection of champagne and sparkling wine.

Whether you dine in the morning or evening, enjoy one of Social’s fresh meals with sparkling wine-based cocktails like Social 23 or a seasonal mimosa that includes cranberry during the winter. Social offers sparkling wine by the glass or bottle.

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Ludivine

320 NW 10th St. ludivineokc.com | 405-778-6800 Ludivine knows how to host a great toast because it’s home to a weekly Saturday midnight toast as a rallying cry for the city. You can put your faith in Ludivine or its sister restaurant, The R&J Lounge and Supper Club, to take care of your celebration needs. Since opening in its new location, its bar is even more wellequipped to hold a crowd.

El Huevo Mexi-Diner

3522 24th Ave. NW, Norman elhuevomexidiner.com | 405-310-3157 This Mexican-inspired breakfast concept from Hal Smith Restaurants has gained a lot of fans since it opened in Norman, recently scoring a top-3 finish in Yelp’s Oklahoma City metro list. If you want to get your celebration started early, there’s no better place because multiple varieties of champagne are literally on tap at El Huevo.

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814 W. Sheridan Ave., Suite C facebook.com/goldenhourokc 405-774-9665 In photography terms, the golden hour is the magic time just after sunrise or right before sunset when the light makes everything look beautiful. You’ll always look your best during this luxury experience on Film Row. It has a selection of sparkling wine, including the house Opera Prima for just $6 per glass as well as its version of a French 75 champagne cocktail.

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ARTS & CULTURE

COV E R

This year, Norman became the state’s most inclusive city, Oklahoma City elected its first openly gay city councilor and Oklahoma City Pride Alliance hosted the largest Pride in state history. | Photo Stephanie Montelongo / provided

2019 review Here’s a look back at some of the most newsworthy events around the metro this year.

By Jeremy Martin, Miguel Rios and Jacob Threadgill

To the ballot

Oklahomans have filed four statewide initiative petitions and one referendum in 2019.

The referendum, filed in August, was to let voters decide whether or not they wanted “permitless carry,” the first bill signed by Gov. Kevin Stitt to go into effect. The referendum did not gain enough signatures. Ultimately, the law, which allows firearm owners to carry guns without licensing or training, went into effect Nov. 1. Stitt publicly opposed the referendum during the signaturegathering period.

Unlike the referendum, an initiative petition to expand Medicaid (State Question 802) garnered more than 300,000 signatures, far surpassing the roughly 178,000 needed and making history as the most signatures ever gathered for a ballot initiative. Though the signatures are still being verified, many expect the issue to appear on a 2020 ballot. Gov. Stitt will choose when the initiative will be voted on, and he could either call a special election or choose from elections in March, June, August or November.

The measure adds a new article to the state constitution to expand SoonerCare to include low-income, non-elderly adults who earn up to 133 percent of the federal poverty level. Medicaid expansion in Oklahoma would cover approximately 200,000 people who are currently uninsured. Stitt has publicly opposed this initiative.

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Another initiative aims to end partisan redistricting, aka gerrymandering.

Filed by People Not Politicians, a coalition led by Let’s Fix This and League of Women Voters of Oklahoma, the measure (State Question 804) intends to amend the state constitution and create a nine-member independent redistricting commission to take the politics out of redistricting.

Republican leaders in the Legislature (they control both chambers) have vocally opposed the initiative, saying the current process is working well.

The two most recent initiative petitions deal with felony sentence modification and legalizing recreational cannabis respectively.

State Question 805 aims to reduce the state’s prison population by prohibiting prosecutors from using previous felony convictions to increase sentencings in nonviolent cases. It would also let people who have increased sentences because of this to petition the courts for relief.

Stitt has publicly opposed this initiative.

State Question 806 was filed to legalize recreational cannabis consumption for people age 21 and older, though it establishes quantity limits, safety standards and other restrictions. Impaired driving and distribution to those under age 21 would remain illegal, and it would not affect employers’ ability to restrict employees’ cannabis consumption. Stitt has publicly opposed the initiative, saying it needs to be addressed at the federal level first; “otherwise it creates

too many unintended consequences.”

Once the Oklahoma Secretary of State reviews and clears the three most recent initiatives, and once they respectively clear any legal challenges, supporters will have three months to collect roughly 178,000 signatures.

LGBTQ+ Oklahoma

As far as Oklahoma goes, it has been a successful year for LGBTQ+ communities across the state. For a population that, as Freedom Oklahoma executive director Allie Shinn put it, is used to “holding their breath every single February through May” during the Legislative session, 2019 has been mostly positive.

Following a hectic year for OKC Pride, Inc. as it dealt with the fallout of its former leader’s embezzlement scandal, a new organization rose from the ashes and put on the biggest Pride festivities Oklahoma City has ever seen.

One hundred volunteers, more than 200 participating organizations and an estimated 120,000 people showed up to celebrate Pride’s Legends & Rebels.

Admittedly overworked volunteers said the payoff from long hours building an organization and hosting events from the ground up was gratifying. Oklahoma even got some positive national attention during Pride month when Hulbert’s Cody Barlow went viral for painting a rainbow flag on the back of his truck and writing “Not all country boys are bigots. Happy Pride Month.”

This year’s Pride also marked the first time Oklahoma City’s mayor walked in the Pride parade. Mayor David Holt even declared the third week in June Pride Week. About 15 other city, county and state leaders, including James Cooper, OKC’s first openly gay councilmember, walked along a sea of LGBTQ+ individuals and allies.

In terms of policy, 2019 has also been a

victory for Oklahoma’s LGBTQ+ communities. Cooper recently helped amend OKC’s personnel policies to extend nondiscrimination protections to municipal employees on the basis of gender identity and expression. Norman mayor Breea Clark championed a measure that made her city the first in the state to approve comprehensive nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ+ residents when it comes to employment, housing and public accommodations. Human Rights Campaign’s (HRC) annual Municipal Equality Index awarded Norman 92 points out of 100 for its inclusive policies, meaning it more than doubled its equality index from 2018’s 41 points. HRC even gave Norman the distinction of an “All Star” city.

Though Oklahoma still has a lot of work to become fully inclusive to the LGBTQ+ community — it has an average score of 32 on HRC’s Municipal Equality Index, compared to the national average of 60 — organizations like Freedom Oklahoma and Oklahomans for Equality vow to build on a successful year and continue paving the path to equality.

Next year, LGBTQ+ proponents hope to see more nondiscrimination protections extend to sexual orientation, gender identity and expression; a statewide ban on conversion therapy for minors; and the elections of more LGBTQ+ friendly leaders at all levels of government.

Not permitted

Since state law was officially changed on Nov. 1 to allow firearm owners to carry guns without licensing or training — the first bill signed by Gov. Stitt — a few things have happened.

A 3-year-old found a semi-automatic handgun left on the toilet paper holder in the restroom of La Baguette Bistro, which has a sign on the door prohibiting handguns. A man accidentally discharged a .32-caliber pistol while standing at the jewelry counter in a Stillwater Walmart, which also, as permitted by law, prohibits guns in its stores. A man was arrested for unlawfully bringing a rifle into a Twin Peaks, which serves alcohol — so like public buildings, schools, professional sporting events and casinos, but unlike, say, Scissortail Park, carrying a rifle there is legally prohibited.

One thing apparently did not happen, despite a rumor spread by Breitbart and other pro-gun news sources. The Nov. 18 shooting in a Duncan Walmart parking lot that resulted in the death of three people, including the gunman, was not stopped by an armed citizen who happened to be on the scene. The Duncan Police Department reported that a nearby witness with a gun approached after the shooting but did not confront or stop the gunman, who had already shot himself.

Oklahoma congressman Kevin Hern, meanwhile, has introduced an amendment to the federal Gun-Free School

Zones Act that would exempt statelevel permit holders from the law prohibiting guns within a 1,000-foot radius of a school.

High stakes

Following months of inconclusive backand-forth, Gov. Stitt announced Dec. 17 that he would be taking over tribal casino gaming compact negotiations after Attorney General Mike Hunter’s office officially withdrew.

Tribal casinos — which, according to the 2019 National Indian Gaming Association report have an annual statewide economic impact of $9.25 billion — paid $139 million to the state in exclusivity fees in 2018. However, Stitt, in an op-ed published in Tulsa World in July, announced plans to renegotiate the rates tribes pay for the exclusive right to operate casinos. The original compacts — which require tribes to pay 4-10 percent of casino revenue to the state — were negotiated in 2004 in accordance with a voter-approved ballot initiative. While Stitt claims the 2004 agreement expires Jan. 1, tribal representatives insist that the original compacts will automatically renew for 15 years if both sides do not agree to renegotiate the terms before then.

So far, this disagreement has prevented any further negotiations. While Oklahoma Indian Gaming Association chairman Matt Morgan told Associated Press (AP) that he expects casinos will continue to operate as usual with or without a new agreement after Jan. 1, Stitt — who has previously warned that tribal casinos will be operating illegally after the New Year without new compacts and also threatened to open the state up to commercial casinos — urged tribal leaders to sign an extension to the original agreement.

“The language in this extension will allow each side who signs on to the extension to retain their legal positions,” Stitt said at the Dec. 17 press conference.

The Collective Kitchen + Cocktails | Photo Pete Brzycki

“I want business to continue as usual while we resolve this dispute.”

Morgan said automatic renewal is not up for debate.

“Tribal leadership has been clear from the beginning — if he acknowledges auto-renewal, we’ll sit down and negotiate with him,” Morgan told AP. “But clearly he does not want to do that.”

exchange for a percentage of sales. Parlor locks kitchens into leases, but each kitchen keeps all of its profits. One kitchen has already closed at The Collective, but it will be announcing two more additions in early 2020. It’s only a matter of time before one of the kitchens

ment enhancements, city and park infrastructure and — for the first time in MAPS history — social needs like mental health support and affordable housing.

The tax will be collected over the next eight years. By comparison, MAPS 3 was collected over seven years and nine

Trendy dining

Perhaps there is no better indicator of shifting dining trends over the last decade than the introduction of curated, hip food halls as the cooler, less corporate cousin of the mall fall court.

As more diners want locally owned and mindfully sourced product options, the trend has continued to a food hall model, which started in Europe before prominent concepts in Denver, Chicago and Dallas served as inspiration for Oklahoma City.

At the start of the decade, food trucks were all the rage. They provided a mobile kitchen for young chefs and restaurateurs without the capital needed for a full brick-and-mortar location.

Now, food halls are positioning themselves as a perfect restaurant incubator — free of having to chase customers in a food truck that is also at the will of unpredictable weather. A pair of food halls opened in Oklahoma City in 2019.

The Collective Kitchens + Cocktails, 308 NW 10th St., opened in Midtown this summer after months of delays with 11 possible micro-kitchens — mostly filled with local chefs — around a large central bar and multiple patios. Parlor OKC opened in Deep Deuce at 11 NE Sixth St. in September with seven kitchens, two bars and a rooftop patio. Parlor is an extension of a concept started in Kansas City, and it brought three successful kitchens from its first food hall to Oklahoma City, mixed with local chefs curated by Oklahoma City chef and consultant Robert Black, who manages both locations.

Each food hall provides different blueprints for its chefs. The Collective doesn’t charge rent, instead supplying equipment, logos and promotions in

at either concept opens its own brickand-mortar, and the cycle will continue.

MAPS generation

When Oklahoma City mayor Ron Norick pitched the idea of using a temporary 1-cent sales tax to pay for Metropolitan Area Projects (MAPS) in 1993 to improve the city’s infrastructure and image, he had to literally go door-to-door to gain enough support for it to pass.

In 2019, the city — largely driven by the generation that grew up with MAPS’ success — approved the most ambitious and inclusive version of the project as MAPS 4 passed with 72 percent support, even though turnout was low.

In total, 16 individual projects make up MAPS 4 have a projected budget of $978 million that includes entertain-

A referendum filed in August to let voters decide whether or not to allow permitless carry failed to gain enough signatures. | Photo bigstock.com

months and it will ultimately take about 12 years to implement all of its projects, according to mayor Holt.

A MAPS 4 citizen advisory board will be created in 2020 to determine implementation and the order of each project.

Because the city uses a pay-as-you-go model — not starting work until a project is fully funded to avoid debt — it will take time before work begins.

The overall program has marked $140 million for improving the city’s park systems; $87 million for sidewalks, bike lanes, trails and street lights; $87 million for buses and city transit; $71 million for an “Innovation District” that will encourage job creation and diversification of the city economy; $115 million for improvement at Chesapeake Energy Arena; $63 million for a multipurpose coliseum at Oklahoma State Fair Park; $50 million for affordable housing; $40 million for a mental health services center; $38 million for an animal shelter; $38 million for a Palomar family justice center to assist victims of domestic abuse and sexual assault; $30 million for road beautification; $16 million to renovate Freedom Center and establish the Clara Luper Center as a civil rights museum for Oklahoma City, and $17 million for a diversion hub to reduce pressure on the overcrowded Oklahoma County jail.

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ARTS & CULTURE

COV E R

51st Street Speakeasy hosts a ’90s-’00s Dance Party 8 p.m.

Tuesday to 2 a.m. Wednesday. | Photo Alexandra Dugan / provided

New Year’s glee Oklahoma Gazette suggests 10 ways to welcome the new year. By Jeremy Martin, Brittany Pickering, Miguel Rios and Jacob Threadgill

We’re miles away from the hustle and bustle (and record-breaking crowds of revelers) of Times Square, but from food halls to runways, listening rooms and barcades, the Oklahoma City metro has the perfect spot for everyone to ring in 2020. Cheers!

The Fashion Art & Beauty Gala

New Year’s Eve at Parlor

8 p.m. Tuesday to 1:30 a.m. Wednesday Castle Row Studios 2908 Epperly Drive, Del City facebook.com/blacboxcollective $75-$100

7 p.m. Tuesday to 2 a.m. Wednesday Parlor OKC 11 NE Sixth St. parlorokc.com | 405-294-4740 Free

This year, New Year’s Eve in Oklahoma City offers something new: an immersive art experience featuring visual and performing arts, food and fashion. Blac Box Collective’s The F.A.B. Fashion Art & Beauty Gala featuring Nicole Moan’s Misfit Toys and visual artists Willa Williams, Jim Thompson, Tara McKinney and Palm Tree Don brings together Oklahoma City Ballet’s Amy Potter, Blac Box Collective’s Rio Byerly and R.A.C.E. Dance Company to lead a runway fashion production celebrating art and culture and benefitting local nonprofits and charities.

The Parlor OKC, the food hall located in Deep Deuce, wants to take care of all your New Year’s needs from food and drink to entertainment. There’s no cover to enter, but you can dine at one of its seven micro-kitchens with a $40 prepaid card that has a bonus $10 or an $80 card with a bonus of $20. Each guest over age 21 gets a complimentary glass of champagne upon entry. There will be live bands and a DJ playing music throughout the night that culminates with a $1000 balloon drop.

Party Like It’s 1999 — New Year’s Eve Bash 8 p.m. Tuesday to 2 a.m. Wednesday FlashBack RetroPub 814 W. Sheridan Ave., Suite A flashbackretropub.com 405-633-3604 $20-$200 If The Purple One himself were still with us today, who’s to say he wouldn’t ring in the new year chugging PBR and playing Zaxxon? Enjoy a midnight champagne toast, party favors, music by DJ Reaper and, of course, an impressive selection of old-school arcade games while you pretend to still be mildly worried about Y2K. (Look it up.) Life is like a party, and this party is meant to last — until last call.

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Angles’ New Year’s Eve Party 2020 Doors open at 3 p.m. Tuesday Celebration 8 p.m. Tuesday to 2 a.m. Wednesday 2117 NW 39th St. anglesokc.com | 405-525-0730 Free Newly renovated, recently reopened Angles invites you to party your way into a new decade New Year’s Eve. With more lights and lasers than before, owners promise you won’t want to miss a second of the countdown. Plus, if you don’t have any plans before nightfall but feel like getting ahead of the celebration, you can head in early, as the doors open at 3 p.m. on New Year’s Eve. Maybe pace yourself on the day drinking though, as you’ll likely want to stay there until the New Year’s party officially kicks off at 8 p.m.

New Tribe New Year: Dark Side of the Moon

New Year’s Eve Masquerade Ball

9:30 p.m.-midnight Tuesday The Blue Door 2805 N. McKinley Ave. bluedoorokc.com | 405-524-0738 $10

8 p.m. Tuesday to 2 a.m. Wednesday The Sanctuary Barsilica 814 W. Sheridan Ave., Suite F thesanctuarybar.com $20-$100

In 2020, the Norman-bred psychedelic veterans in New Tribe plan to release a trilogy of albums with a corresponding video series, but as the band plays OKC out of the auld lang syne in the waning hours of 2019, its second set will be devoted to Pink Floyd’s prismatic perennial classic rock cash cow. The weird kid in homeroom swears this New Year’s party totally syncs up to The Wizard of Oz.

Oklahoma City’s only religion-themed bar hosts a mysterious masquerade ball that includes a music performance from the band Born in November. Entry is $20 per person or $30 to get dual entry into its neighbor FlashBack RetroPub. Tables are available for a $100 reservation for a group of four people. Table reservations include a bottle of champagne. Dress attire is cocktail, and there is no coat check available.

NYE with The Imaginaries 9:30 p.m. Tuesday to 2 a.m. Wednesday Social Capital 517 S. Hudson Ave. socialcapitalokc.com 405-270-7805 Ring in the new year with the musical stylings of Norman-based husband and wife Shane Henry and Maggie McClure at Oklahoma City’s home to the largest selection of craft beer (along with cocktails and food). The duo is fresh from supporting Brian Setzer Orchestra, and you’ve probably heard some of their Christmas music, which has been licensed in Hallmark movies and played on the radio.

Social Capital opened this year and is located directly west of Scissortail Park.

Angry Scotsman Brewing’s New Year’s Eve Celebration 8 p.m. Tuesday to 1 a.m. Wednesday Angry Scotsman Brewing 704 W. Reno Ave. angryscotbrew.com | 405-673-7713 Free Ring in the new year with the Angry Scotsman at his downtown urban microbrewery, patio and taproom. Promising one of the best spots to view fireworks, Angry Scotsman Brewing celebrates the end of the decade starting at 8 p.m. With music from The Bottom of the Barrel 9 p.m. to midnight., Angry Scotsman will provide snacks to keep people energetic through the night. A complimentary midnight toast will be served — and don’t forget about the microbrewery’s broad selection of craft beers to keep you warm before the clock strikes midnight. The Angry Scotsman recommends getting there early to snag one of his limited party favors.

Speakeasy’s ’90s–’00s Dance Party 8 p.m. Tuesday to 2 a.m. Wednesday 51st Street Speakeasy 1114 NW 51st St. 51stspeakeasy.com | 405-463-0470 Free-$10 It’s about to be a new decade, but 51st Street Speakeasy wants to celebrate the hits of the past. Join its ’90s-’00s Dance Party and reminisce with hits from Cher, Mariah Carey, Britney Spears, Beyoncé, Dr. Dre, Justin Timberlake, Backstreet Boys, NSYNC and the best music videos of 2019. Expect Boozy Capri Suns and a ton of glow sticks while the Thunder game plays on a big screen. Free food is served buffet-style 6-8 p.m. There is a $5 cover after 8 p.m. and a $10 dollar cover after 10 p.m., but everyone gets a champagne toast at midnight.

Consider getting there early, as the owners fully expect to hit capacity.

Groovy’s Roaring ’20s New Year’s Eve Party!

8 p.m. Tuesday to 1:30 a.m. Wednesday Groovy’s 5705 Mosteller Drive facebook.com/danceclubokc 405-842-9248 $30 What could be more groovy, man, than flipping the calendar back a century and celebrating the return of the Roaring ’20s like Jay “The Great Groovemeister” Gatsby? This swingin’ shindig features party favors, dance music provided by DJ Steve Jackson and 1920s-themed décor. Costumes to match are encouraged but not required. Twenty-three skidoo, and all that jazz.

THE KINGMAKER

From Lauren Greenfield, director of The Queen of Versailles and Generation Wealth comes an examination of the Marcos family’s improbably return to power in the Philippines.

Opening December 20th

THE ROOM

The legend comes to the big screen in Oklahoma City for one night only.

Johnny is a successful banker who lives happily in a San Francisco townhouse with his fiancée, Lisa. One day, inexplicably, she gets bored of him and decides to seduce Johnny’s best friend, Mark. From there, nothing will be the same again.

Saturday, December 28th @ 8:00pm

OKC’S UNIQUE NONPROFIT ART HOUSE MOVIE THEATRE SHOWING INDEPENDENT, FOREIGN, AND DOCUMENTARY FILMS.

Showtimes & Tickets at Rodeocinema.org 2221 Exchange Avenue, OKC 405-235- 3456 (FILM)

Follow us on

PREPARE TO BE SURPRISED. Meet the Maddox family. They have two boys, a daughter with cerebral palsy who is confined to a wheelchair and an infant they foster. It’s more than most of us could handle.

But the Maddoxes don’t just receive help from United Way agencies, they find room in a stretched budget and they give to the United Way. Can you?

GIVE. ADVOCATE. VOLUNTEER.

United Way of Central Oklahoma

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ARTS & CULTURE

ART

“Atom Compass Array” comprising hundreds of magnetic spheres, hangs in the lobby at Science Museum Oklahoma as as part Tom Shannon: Universe in the Mind | Mind in the Universe. | Photo provided

Cosmic scale

Tom Shannon: Universe in the Mind | Mind in the Universe inspires existential questions.

By Jeremy Martin

A current art exhibit has been changing the way visitors walk into a museum.

“The first thing they do is look up,” said Scott Henderson, director of smART Space galleries at Science Museum Oklahoma, who often watches from the second floor as visitors notice “Atom Compass Array” currently hanging in the museum’s lobby. “They walk around with their heads up in a circular formation to try to understand what they’re looking at. Underneath, there’s a sign that explains the installation, so you’re actually in it while you’re reading the description.”

The large-scale installation, which is comprised of hundreds of magnetic spheres suspended from the museum’s glass ceiling, makes its U.S. debut as part of Tom Shannon: Universe in the Mind | Mind in the Universe, on display through Oct. 25, 2020 at Science Museum Oklahoma, 2020 Remington Place. The white halves of the black-and-white spheres face magnetic north, but the installation represents more than a standard compass could tell you.

“If you walk around it, you see the phases of the moon shifting, but it also represents a large molecule in the way that the balls react to each other and vibrate and move around,” Henderson said. “You really get a sense of large, small, macro- and microcosmic.”

Shannon — a Manhattan-based sculptor, artist and inventor — has had works displayed in Centre Pompidou in Paris and The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) 20

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in New York, but this exhibition is his first in Oklahoma. Henderson said he began talking with Shannon about two years ago and became “intrigued by his thought process.”

“Atom Compass Array” alone took at least six months to plan and build and about four days to install, Henderson said.

You really get a sense of large, small, macroand microcosmic.

Scott Henderson “It had many phases, many plans, many renderings,” Henderson said.

“Our lobby is fairly new, and it’s sort of unique. It also has a slight slant to it, so we had to figure out how many balls we could hang in the array, how far they had to be distanced apart.

They’re all magnetic, so that’s another challenge that we had to face. That took some time, but he kept coming back with new renderings, new plans. I would send back specs, and we’d just go back and forth until eventually we came to an agreement.”

The exhibit also includes a 6-foot version of Shannon’s “Synchronous World Clock,” which, according to the patent Shannon filed in 1984 “allows a user to determine the exact time at any location on earth” by rotating a two-dimensional map of the earth once every 24 hours. Architect, engineer and theo-

rist Buckminster Fuller — whose lectures Shannon attended as a master’s student at the Art Institute of Chicago — designed the map, which, according to the clock’s patent “includes an accurate north polar projection of all the earth’s inhabited continents.” A full rotation of the map, like a full rotation of the earth, takes 1,440 minutes, or 24 hours.

“It turns very slowly,” Henderson said, “but you’ll get a sense the real timing of earth’s rotation.”

Many of the pieces in the exhibit were created specifically for — and in many cases by — the museum.

“We had to manufacture a lot of the pieces in the exhibit,” Henderson said.

“They were based off of his drawings and his specs, but we actually had to manufacture them. Not everything, but a lot of it.”

Visitors can also view a neverbefore-displayed collection of Shannon’s sketches and notes.

“Tom writes down all of his ideas,” Henderson said. “Any concept he sketches and keeps records of, and it’s good to show the audience how important that is to develop ideas. Some of them are realized; some are unrealized, but it goes all the way back to 1968 to the present so you really get a sense of his thinking process.”

One interactive sculpture visualizes the scale of the earth, sun and moon and the distances between them, and another 25-foot sculpture is being installed in front of the museum next year.

“There’s five different pieces, each 5 feet in height, that symbolize the essential elements that make up the universe — fire, air, earth, water and the cosmos — and they’re all based on shapes — the tetrahedron, the octahedron, the cube, the icosahedron and the dodecahedron,” Henderson said. “They all stack upon each other, and when you move the

bottom shape, they all move with it in a way that defies gravity. It looks like it might tumble on top of you, but it won’t.”

In a press release from the museum, Shannon said the works in the exhibition “express some of the entwined characteristics of the world we live in: time, space, relativity, the invisible forces of electromagnetic and gravitational fields, atomic through astronomic proportions, the geometry of perspective and weightless equilibrium — all in relation to human scale.”

Henderson said Shannon’s work fulfills smART Space’s stated mission to provide “a combination of art and science that isn’t found anywhere else.”

“It’s an integration of art, scientific research, advanced knowledge,” Henderson said. “It gives our visitors things they don’t see very often. It’s got some exact science and the knowledge of nature and existential questions almost, seen from a factual side portrayed through very minimalist fine art.”

Shannon’s work is based on scientific concepts, but it can inspire philosophical inquiries.

“It puts you in the scale of everything,” Henderson said. “What is the universe? How expansive is it? The planet that we live on, how minute it is compared to the rest of the universe — even to our small star the sun. It just really kind of expands your mind.”

Admission to the museum is free$16.95. Call 405-602-6664 or visit sciencemuseumok.org.

The installation, making its U.S. debut, took six months to plan and build and four days to install. | Photo provided

Tom Shannon: Universe in the Mind | Mind in the Universe through Oct. 25, 2020 Science Museum Oklahoma 2020 Remington Place sciencemuseumok.org | 405-602-6664 Free-$16.95

“Triumph of Washington” by Gardner Hale | Photo provided

ART

Abundant life

Oklahoma City Museum of Art’s Renewing the American Spirit: The Art of the Great Depression showcases the many meanings of art restoration.

By Jeremy Martin

Oklahoma City Museum of Art recently acquired an artwork so big there was basically no choice but to create an exhibition around it.

Gardner Hale’s mural “Triumph of Washington” — nearly 14 feet tall and 24-and-a-half feet wide — is essentially the centerpiece for Renewing the American Spirit: The Art of the Great Depression, on display through April 26, 2020 at the museum, 415 Couch Drive.

“Really the only place that mural will fit is in our special exhibition gallery,” said assistant curator Jessica Provencher. “It does have almost an entire wall to itself.”

Hale, who The New York Times called “one of America’s foremost young painters of murals and frescoes,” died in a car accident Dec. 28, 1931 at the age of 36. He painted the mural, which depicts the first U.S. president leading troops on horseback with a 20th-century cityscape in the background, in 1931 for an exhibition commemorating George Washington’s 200th birthday in 1932, and it was not publicly displayed again until Renewing the American Spirit.

Unrolling the mural revealed stains, tears, lost paint and water damage, but “Triumph of Washington” was restored with a Bank of America Art Conservation Project grant.

Provencher said the mural’s idealized vision of American history was a common theme in Great Depression era art and evident in several pieces throughout the exhibit.

“A lot of artists in the 1930s were looking back to the past, to American and local history and historical figures, so that mural gave us an opportunity to explore another side of the Depression,” Provencher said. “It kind of puts them in

“They were dedicated to doing this throughout the country in both rural and urban areas, trying to bring art to people, but also they set up nearly 100 art centers across the country, where they not only exhibited art, where people could come see art from different artists throughout the country, to be introduced to different styles and different artists, but also they could take classes and learn about art.”

Revealing views

a different context, in a different light.”

When visitors enter the exhibition, they The exhibition includes 28 works get a less idyllic view of the Great created for the Works Progress Depression from photographs such as Administration’s art program, part of Dorothea Lange’s “Migrant Mother President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal.

(Destitute pea pickers in California.

“A lot of the artists, especially the Mother of seven children. Age thirtyartists that worked with the New Deal two. Nipomo, California)” and Arthur art projects, they thought art could help Rothstein’s “Dust Storm, Cimarron enliven the broken American spirit, that County, Oklahoma.” Provencher said it could raise national morale,” Provencher said.

“They didn’t necessarily want New Deal artists to create works that were entirely negative and that showed a lot of the suffering that people were experiencing at that time. A lot of the works you’ll see are more uplifting and promising, and they’re hopeful, maybe idealistic. Some of them look to the future, what they hope for the future, or they’ll look to the past, remembering a better time, showing these historical figures that had triumphed over “Crucified Land” by Alexandre Hogue | Photo provided adversity to remind people at that time that they could also conquer understanding the difficulties people the difficulties that they were facing.” faced in that era is important for apRoosevelt, Provencher said, “thought preciating the context in which the art was essential to living an abundant artworks were created. life.”

“You see the reality first,” Provencher “Definitely one of the things that the said. “You learn what people are going New Deal art projects did was try to make through, and then you look at the art that American art accessible and bring it to was produced in response to that. It kind the American people and integrate it into of paints this revealing portrait of people their daily lives by putting art in public at that time. … You see that they’re trying places, like the post offices and schools to find a way to move ahead. … The empha— there’s a mural down the street at sis on some of these idealistic scenes, the Wilson Elementary,” Provencher said. scenes that they thought maybe were com-

forting is really interesting. It just kind of speaks to just how difficult a time it was that they were depending on art to try to help raise morale and comfort people.”

While many artists attempted to capture the Depression’s stark realities, others tried to give viewers an opportunity to look past them.

“Some artists at this time looked to popular entertainment, so they pulled their subjects from the circus, amusement parks,” Provencher said. “Some artists focused on mundane details of everyday life like walking home after work instead of focusing on people that were suffering.”

Even without focusing on the hardships, many artists captured them by simply having an eye for detail.

“There’s a certain tone,” Provencher said. “People have these somber faces. You can tell this is still a difficult time. It kind of evokes what’s going on in that period. … [One painting] seems like a nice rural landscape, but when you look closely, you’ll see some people hitchhiking in the background. So even though overall it doesn’t seem so negative, when you look closely, you’ll see hitchhiking was something that was quite prominent in the 1930s. When you didn’t have a lot of money, you had to find another way to get around, and there were millions of people that didn’t have a lot of money.”

While aspects of life in the late 1920s and ’30s can be hard to imagine in the present day, Provencher said there are lessons we can apply to our lives.

“We definitely don’t want to compare the Depression to our own time,” Provencher said. “It was such a challenging time and time of uncertainty for people, and there can be some parallels. We’re in a challenging time for some people, and people consider this a time of uncertainty. … There are a few things about the Depression that people can relate to. Poverty has not gone away. It’s still a thing that a lot of people face. … We ask people to consider some of these parallels and ask them how they find hope in the world today after seeing how some of these artists found hope.”

Museum admission is free-$12. Call 405-236-3100 or visit okcmoa.com.

Renewing the American Spirit: The Art of the Great Depression through April 26 Oklahoma City Museum of Art 415 Couch Drive okcmoa.com | 405-236-3100 Free-$12

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CALENDAR are events recommended

by Oklahoma Gazette editorial staff members For full calendar listings, go to okgazette.com.

BOOKS Last Sunday Poetry Reading a poetry reading followed by an open mic, 2 p.m. last Sunday of every month. Full Circle Bookstore, 1900 Northwest Expressway, 405-842-2900, fullcirclebooks.com. SUN

HAPPENINGS Afro Beats a dance party with soca, hip-hop, Caribbean, dancehall and other genres of music provided

by DJ Sinz, 11 p.m.-2 a.m. Fridays. Glass Lounge, 5929 N. May Ave., 405-835-8077, glasshouseokc.com. FRI Board Game Brunch play board games while enjoying a variety of food and beverage options, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. last Sunday of the month. The R & J Lounge and Supper Club, 320 NW 10th St., 405-6025066, rjsupperclub.com. SUN Board Game Day enjoy local craft beer while playing old-school board and arcade games with friends, 5-8 p.m. Sundays. FlashBack RetroPub, 814 W. Sheridan Ave., 405-633-3604, flashbackretropub.com. SUN Coffee with Real Estate Investors network over coffee and discuss topics such as real estate investing, building a successful business and chasing the American dream, 7 p.m. Wednesdays. Starbucks, 5800 W. Memorial Road, 405-722-6189, starbucks.com. WED Conversational Spanish Group Meetup an opportunity for all experience levels to practice speaking Spanish, 7 p.m. Tuesdays. Full Circle Bookstore, 1900 Northwest Expressway, 405-842-2900, fullcirclebooks.com. TUE Devon Ice Rink ice stake in the Myriad Botanical Gardens and enjoy seasonal food and beverages., Mondays-Sundays. through Feb. 2. Devon Ice Rink, 100 N. Robinson Ave., 405-708-6499, downtownindecember.com/devon-ice-rink. FRI-SUN Downtown Recyclers Toastmasters practice your public speaking skills at this ongoing weekly meeting, noon-1 p.m. Wednesdays. Department of Environmental Quality, 707 N. Robinson Ave., 405702-0100, deq.state.ok.us. WED Drag Me to Bingo bingo night hosted by Teabaggin Betsy, 9 p.m. Tuesdays. Partners, 2805 NW 36th St., 405-942-2199, partners4club.com. TUE Frankie’s New Years Bash ring in the new year with dancing at a Great Gatsby-themed party, 9 p.m.-midnight Dec. 31. Frankie’s, 2807 NW 36th St., 405-602-2030, facebook.com/frankiesokc. TUE Fuzzy Friday a monthly happy hour meet-andgreet hosted by the Bears of Central Oklahoma, 5:30 p.m. Fridays. Apothecary 39, 2125 NW 39th St., 405-605-4100. FRI Governor’s Club Toastmasters lose your fear of public speaking and gain leadership skills by practicing in a fun and low-stakes environment, noon-1 p.m.

Wednesdays. Oklahoma Farm Bureau Building, 2501 N. Stiles Ave., 405-523-2300, okfarmbureau.org. WED Holiday Lights Spectacular a drive-thru light display more than 1.5 miles long, featuring an 118 foot Christmas

tree lit by more than 9,000 LED bulbs, 6-11 p.m. through Dec. 25. Joe B. Barnes Regional Park, 8700 E. Reno Ave., 405-739-1293, midwestcityok.org. WED Illuminations: Starry Starry Night an immersive light installation inspired by Vincent Van Gogh’s famous painting through Jan. 1, 2020. Myriad Botanical Gardens, 301 W. Reno Ave., 405-445-7080, myriadgardens.com. WED Jackbox.tv Game Night play interactive party games with host Alex Sanchez, 8-10 p.m. Mondays.

Oak & Ore, 1732 NW. 16th St., 405-606-2030, oakandore.com. MON Karaoke Night perform your favorite songs on a stage with a light display and professional sound system, 8 p.m. Dec. 25. Bison Witches Bar & Deli, 211 E Main St., 405-364-7555, bisonwitchesok.com. WED The Lost Ogle Trivia test your knowledge in a four-round trivia game, 8 p.m. Thursdays. McNellies, 1100 Classen Drive. THU Moore Chess Club play in tournaments and learn about the popular board game at this weekly event where all ages and skill levels are welcome, 1-4 p.m.

Sundays. Moore Library, 225 S. Howard Ave. SUN New Year’s Eve Bash enjoy live music, dancing and a champagne toast to ring in 2020, 8 p.m. Dec. 31. The Artesian Hotel, Casino and Spa, 1001 W. First St., 855-455-5255, artesianhotel.com. TUE Pooches on the Patio bring your best friend to this dog-friendly happy hour with drink specials, appetizers and free pet treats, 4-7 p.m. Saturdays.

Café 501 Classen Curve, 5825 NW Grand Blvd., 405844-1501, cafe501.com. SAT Postcard Perspectives an exhibition featuring thousands of postcards created by artists from across the U.S. and 37 other countries, 7-10 p.m. Nov. 15-Dec. 28. Artspace at Untitled, 1 NE Third St., 405815-9995, 1ne3.org. FRI-SAT Queen Mariah’s Variety Show a monthly stage show featuring various drag performers, 10:30 p.m.

Saturdays. Frankie’s, 2807 NW 36th St., 405-6022030, facebook.com/frankiesokc. SAT Reiki/ Energy Share learn about reiki healing and share good vibes at this community get-together, 6 p.m.

Fridays. Beautifully Connected, 13524 Railway Dr., Suite J, 262-753-6852, beautifullyconnectedwellness.com. FRI Renegade Poker compete in a 2-3 hour tournament with cash prizes, 3 p.m. Sundays. Bison Witches Bar & Deli, 211 E Main St., 405-364-7555, bisonwitchesok.com. SUN

Drunken Fry Comedy: Home for the Holidays More like the return of the prodigal fun! Cameron Buchholtz (Model Citizen/Zero Discipline) hosts this stand-up showcase of OKC ex-pats Derek Smith, Genevieve Rice, James Draper, Madison Allen, Taylor Vinson and an alleged special guest who must not be named. (Is it Megan Mullally? I bet it’s Megan Mullally.) Look what the cat dragged in 10-11:30 p.m. Friday at Drunken Fry, 1201 N. Western Ave. Admission is $5. Visit facebook.com/okccomedy.

FRIDAY Photo provided p.m. Dec. 31. Eatery & Cocktail Office @ The Union, 616 NW Fifth St., 405-601-2857, theunionokc.com. TUE OKC Farmers Market a year round farmers market featuring fresh produce, honey, baked goods, meat, hand made goods and more., Saturdays, 9 a.m.-2 p.m. OKC Farmers Market, 311 S. Klein Ave., 4054860701, okcfarmersmarket.com. SAT Vegan | Vegetarian Brunch enjoy veggie hash migas, granola bowls, quiche, cocktails and more, 11 a.m-2 p.m. Dec. 29. Opolis, 113 N. Crawford Ave., 405-673-4931, opolis.org. SUN

YOUTH

Toastmasters Meeting hone public speaking and leadership skills in a move-at-your own pace environment, 7-8:30 p.m. Thursdays. McFarlin United Methodist Church, 419 S. University Drive, 623-810-0295. THU

Art Adventures children can enjoy story time and related activities, 10:30 a.m. Tuesdays. Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, 555 Elm Ave., 405-325-3272, ou.edu/ fjjma. TUE

Trivia Night at Black Mesa Brewing test your knowledge at this weekly competition hosted by BanjoBug Trivia, 6:30 p.m. Tuesdays. Black Mesa Brewing Company, 1354 W Sheridan Ave., 405-7781865, blackmesabrewing.com. TUE

Beginning Martial Arts Classes students ages 7 and older can learn martial arts from instructor Darrell Sarjeant at this weekly class, 4:30-5:30 p.m.

Thursdays. Nappy Roots, 3705 Springlake Drive, 405896-0203, facebook.com/pg/nappyrootsbooks. THU

Trivia Night at Matty McMillen’s answer questions for a chance to win prizes at this weekly trivia night, 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays. Matty McMillen’s Irish Pub, 2201 NW 150th St., 405-607-8822, mattymcmillens.com. TUE

Early Explorers toddlers and preschoolers can participate in fun scientific activities they can repeat later at home, 10-11 a.m. Thursdays. Science Museum Oklahoma, 2020 Remington Place, 405-602-6664, sciencemuseumok.org. THU

FOOD

The Polar Express Train Ride take a fanciful round trip train ride to the North Pole with hot chocolate, cookies and Santa Claus, Nov. 22-Dec. 31, Through Dec. 31. Oklahoma Railway Museum, 3400 NE Grand Blvd., 405-424-8222, oklahomarailwaymuseum.org. FRI-TUE

New Years Eve Ribeye Dinner Experience enjoy steak or chicken dinners for two with a bottle of wine, smashed potatoes, vegetables and desert, and stick around for a midnight champagne toast, 6-10

Reading Wednesdays a weekly storytime with hands-on activities, goody bags and reading-themed photo ops, 9:30-10:30 a.m. Wednesdays. Myriad Botanical Gardens, 301 W. Reno Ave., 405-445-7080, myriadgardens.com. WED Sankofa Chess Club children 7 and older are invited to learn chess in this club meeting weekly, 6-7:30 p.m. Wednesdays. Nappy Roots, 3705 Springlake Drive, 405-896-0203, facebook.com/pg/nappyrootsbooks. WED Story Time with Britt’s Bookworms enjoy snacks, crafts and story time, 10:30-11:30 a.m. first and third Thursday of every month. Thrive Mama Collective, 1745 NW 16th St., 405-356-6262. THU Storytime Science the museum invites children age 6 and younger to hear a story and participate in a related scientific activity, 10 a.m. Tuesdays and Saturdays.

Science Museum Oklahoma, 2020 Remington Place, 405-602-6664, sciencemuseumok.org. TUE-SAT

PERFORMING ARTS The Room What does it say about people that brilliant filmmakers probably die in obscurity all the time while millions of people have purposely watched something this unbelievably bad more than once? Who financed this? How can ostensible human beings be so unconvincing at acting like human beings? Had anyone involved ever seen an actual movie before? Anyway, how’s your sex life? Ponder these quandaries and more while you try not to get hit with plastic spoons. You’re tearing me apart, Lisa 8 p.m. Saturday at Rodeo Cinema, 2221 Exchange Ave. Tickets are $10.

Call 405-815-3275 or visit rodeocinema.org. SATURDAY Photo provided

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Adèle Wolf’s Burlesque & Variety Show see burlesque, cabaret, circus arts and belly dance performances, play games and enjoy a champagne toast at this New Year’s Eve event, 9 p.m. Dec. 31. Yale Theater, 227 SW 25th St., 4052496859. TUE Brendan Schaub the standup comic, podcaster and former UFC fighter will perform, 7:30-9 p.m.

Dec. 27. Bricktown Comedy Club, 409 E. California Ave., 405-594-0505, bricktowncomedy.com. FRI

GO TO OKGAZETTE.COM FOR FULL LISTINGS!

Christmas with the Crawfords spend the holidays with Joan Crawford and family with cameos from Judy Garland, Ethel Merman and Bette Davis, through Dec. 28. The Boom, 2218 NW 39th St., 405601-7200, theboomokc.com. FRI-SAT DC Young Fly the standup comic and podcast host will perform, 7-8:30 p.m. Dec. 30. Bricktown Comedy Club, 409 E. California Ave., 405-594-0505, bricktowncomedy.com. MON Divine Comedy a weekly local showcase hosted

by CJ Lance and Josh Lathe and featuring a variety of comedians from OKC and beyond, 9 p.m.

Wednesdays. 51st Street Speakeasy, 1114 NW 51st St., 405-463-0470, 51stspeakeasy.com. WED Don Quixote Open Mic a weekly comedy show followed by karaoke, 7:30-9 p.m. Fridays. Don Quixote Club, 3030 N. Portland Ave., 405-947-0011. FRI Dope Poetry Night read your poems or just go to listen to others at this open mic hosted by J. Wiggins and Proverb, 7 p.m. Wednesdays. Ice Event Center & Grill, 1148 NE 36th St., 405-208-4240, iceeventcentergrill.eat24hour.com. WED Iron Horse Open Mic and Showcase perform music on stage at this show open to all experience levels, 7-10 p.m. Wednesdays. Iron Horse Bar & Grill, 9501 S. Shields Blvd., 405-735-1801. WED Joel Forlenza: The Piano Man the pianist performs variety of songs made famous by Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra and, of course, Billy Joel, 5:30-8:30 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday. Othello’s Italian Restaurant, 434 Buchanan Ave., 405-701-4900, othellos.us.

TUE-WED

Kendell’s Open Mic play up to four songs at this weekly music open mic, 8-11 p.m. Tuesdays. Kendell’s, 110 S. May Ave., kendellsbar.com. TUE Lumpy’s Open Mic Night play a song of your own or just listen to the performers at this weekly show hosted by John Riley Willingham, 9 p.m.

Wednesdays. Lumpy’s Sports Grill, 12325 N. May Ave., 405-286-3300, lumpyssportsgrill.com. WED Monday Night Blues Jam Session bring your own instrument to this open-stage jam hosted by Wess McMichael, 7-9 p.m. Mondays. Othello’s Italian Restaurant, 434 Buchanan Ave., 405-701-4900, othellos.us. MON OK Country Cafe Open Mic show off your singing talent, 6 p.m. the second and fourth Thursday of every month. OK Country Cafe, 6072 S. Western Ave., 405-602-6866, okcountrycafe.com. THU OKC Comedy Open Mic Night get some stage time or just go to listen and laugh at this open mic hosted by Travis Phillips, 7 p.m. Mondays. The Paramount Room, 701 W. Sheridan Ave., 405-887-3327, theparamountroom.com. MON OKC Improv performers create original scenes in the moment based on suggestions from the audience, 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays.

Oklahoma City Improv, 1757 NW 16th St., 405-4569858, okcimprov.com. FRI-SAT Triple’s Open Mic a music and comedy open mic hosted by Amanda Howle, 7:30 p.m. every other Wednesday. Triple’s, 8023 NW 23rd St., 405-7893031. WED Open Mic at The P share your musical talent or just come to listen at this weekly open mic, 7 p.m.

HAPPY HILOdays!

Wednesdays. The Patriarch Craft Beer House & Lawn, 9 E. Edwards St., 405-285-6670, thepatriarchedmond.com. WED Othello’s Comedy Night see professionals and amateurs alike at this long-running weekly open mic for standup comics, 9 p.m. Tuesdays. Othello’s Italian Restaurant, 434 Buchanan Ave., 405-701-4900, othellos.us. TUE Paramount Open Mic show off your talents at this open mic hosted by musician Chris Morrison, 7 p.m. first Wednesday of every month. The Paramount Room, 701 W. Sheridan Ave., 405-887-3327, theparamountroom.com. WED Prairie Ales Comedy Night Taylor Vinson hosts a comedy showcase featuring Josh Lathe, Travis Phillips, Jenny Godwin and more, 8-11 p.m. Dec. 28. 89th Street-OKC, 8911 N. Western Ave., 405-607-4805, 89thstreetokc.com. SAT Red Dirt Open Mic a weekly open mic hosted by Red Dirt Poetry, 7:30-10:30 p.m. Wednesdays. Sauced on Paseo, 2912 Paseo St., 405-521-9800, saucedonpaseo.com. WED Rhyme in Reasons share your talent or just watch other artists perform at this weekly open mic, 7:30-10 p.m. Thursdays. Reasons Lounge, 1140 N. MacArthur Boulevard, 405-774-9991. THU Rysan Niemiller the standup comic, known for his appearance on America’s Got Talent, will perform, 7:30 and 10 p.m. Dec. 28. Bricktown Comedy Club, 409 E. California Ave., 405-594-0505, bricktowncomedy.com. SAT Sanctuary Karaoke Service don a choir robe and sing your favorite song, 9 p.m.-midnight Wednesdays and Thursdays. Sanctuary Barsilica, 814 W. Sheridan Ave., facebook.com/sanctuarybarokc. WED-THU Steve Hofstetter the standup comic and host of Finding Babe Ruth performs a special New Year’s Eve show, 8-9:30 p.m. Dec. 31. The Paramount Room, 701 W. Sheridan Ave., 405-887-3327, theparamountroom. com. TUE VZD’s Open Mic Night a weekly music mic hosted

by Joe Hopkins, 7 p.m. Wednesdays. VZD’s Restaurant & Bar, 4200 N. Western Ave., 405-602-3006, vzds.com. WED Weekly Jams bring an instrument and play along with others at this open-invitation weekly jam session, 9:30 p.m.-midnight Tuesdays. Saints, 1715 NW 16th St., 405-602-6308, saintspubokc.com. TUE

ACTIVE Co-ed Open Adult Volleyball enjoy a game of friendly yet competitive volleyball while making new friends, 6-8 p.m. Wednesdays. Jackie Cooper Gymnasium, 1024 E. Main St., 405-350-8920, cityofyukon. gov. WED Monday Night Group Ride meet up for a weekly 25-30 minute bicycle ride at about 18 miles per hour through east Oklahoma City, 6 p.m. Mondays. The Bike Lab OKC, 2200 W. Hefner Road, 405-603-7655.

MON

Open Badminton hit some birdies in some morning pick-up games of badminton with friends, 10 a.m.noon Saturdays. Jackie Cooper Gymnasium, 1024 E. Main St., 405-350-8920, cityofyukon.gov. SAT Run the Alley a three-mile social run for athletes of all abilities ending with beers at The Yard, 6:30 p.m.

Thursdays. OK Runner, 708 N Broadway Ave., 405702-9291, myokrunner.com. THU Stars and Stripes Spin Jam a weekly meetup for jugglers, hula hoopers and unicyclers, 6-8 p.m.

Wednesdays. Stars & Stripes Park, 3701 S. Lake Hefner Drive, 405-297-2756, okc.gov/parks. WED Twisted Coyote Brew Crew a weekly 3-mile group run for all ability levels with a beer tasting to follow; bring your own safety lights, 6 p.m. Mondays.

Twisted Spike Brewing Co., 1 NW 10th St., 405-3013467, twistedspike.com. MON Yoga Tuesdays an all-levels class; bring your own water and yoga mat, 5:45 p.m.-7 p.m. Tuesdays.

Myriad Botanical Gardens, 301 W. Reno Ave., 405445-7080, myriadgardens.com. TUE Yoga with Art workout in an art-filled environment followed by a mimosa, 10:30 a.m. Saturdays.

21c Museum Hotel, 900 W. Main St., 405-982-6900, 21cmuseumhotels.com. SAT

VISUAL ARTS Articulation work on your art or craft project with other creators at this weekly meet-up; bring your own supplies and clean up after yourself, 6:30-10 p.m. Thursdays. Little D Gallery, 3003 Paseo, 720773-1064. THU Colors of Clay an exhibition of clay pots, bowls, pitchers and jars created by Native American artists, Through May 10, 2021. National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, 1700 NE 63rd St., 405-478-2250, nationalcowboymuseum.org. FRI-TUE Harold Stevenson: The Great Society a collection of 98 large-scale portraits of

LifeShare WinterFest Hope on a snow tube and slide away from the holiday blues at an almost-too-fast-but-probablystill-safe speed on the largest manmade slope in the region — just like you might if you lived somewhere with consistent winter weather and inclined angles.

Public snow tubing is available noon-8 p.m. Thursday-Jan. 4 at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark, 2 S. Mickey Mantle Drive. Tickets are $14. Visit downtownindecember.com. THURSDAY-JAN. 4 Photo Cody Roper/Oklahoma City Dodgers/provided

residents of Idabel, Oklahoma, through Dec. 29. Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, 555 Elm Ave., 405-3253272, ou.edu/fjjma. TUE-SUN Jim Keffer and Jean Richardson an exhibition of paintings by both artists, through Dec. 31. JRB Art at The Elms, 2810 N. Walker Ave., 405-528-6336, jrbartgallery.com. SUN-TUE

RING IN 2020

DANCEFLOOR IS POPPIN’ W/ DJ SLOWJAMZ & TURBO HOUSTON 1221 NW 50TH, OKC 843-1722 HILOOKC.COM

Leviathan I: The Aesthetics of Capital an experimental exhibition created by artist Pete Froslie exploring climate change, moral and political philosophy through electro-mechanics and game engine-based digital projection, through Dec. 31. Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, 555 Elm Ave., 405-3253272, ou.edu/fjjma. WED-TUE Seeds of Being an exhibition examining the evolution of art created by Indigenous groups in North America, through Dec. 30. Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, 555 Elm Ave., 405-325-3272, ou.edu/fjjma.

WED-MON

Seeing Now an exhibit of multimedia art works by Hank Willis Thomas, Ken Gonzales-Day, Travis Somerville, Paul Rucker, Graciela Sacco, Terence Hammonds and Michael Waugh, through Dec. 31. 21c Museum Hotel, 900 W. Main St., 405-982-6900, 21cmuseumhotels.com. THU-TUE Until We Organize: The Struggle for the Equal Rights Amendment an exhibition of photographs chronicling Oklahoma’s battle over the ERA, through Nov. 30, 2020. Oklahoma History Center, 800 Nazih Zuhdi Drive, 405-521-2491, okhistory.org.

MON-TUE

Submissions must be received

by Oklahoma Gazette no later than noon on Wednesday seven days before the desired publication date.

Late submissions will not be included in the listings.

Submissions run as space allows, although we strive to make the listings as inclusive as possible. Fax your listings to 528-4600 or e-mail them to listings@okgazette.com.

Sorry, but phone submissions cannot be accepted.

For OKG live music

see page 26

GO TO OKGAZETTE.COM FOR FULL LISTINGS!

O KG A Z E T T E . C O M | D E C E M B E R 2 5 , 2 0 1 9

23

C OV E R

MUSIC

Listen up Oklahoma Gazette’s top 20 (and then some) albums of 2019 By Jeremy Martin

I know, I know — the list below, as far as you’re concerned, is wrong. By the time you read this, even I might want to tweak it a little. Year-end best-ofs are always subjective and even a little arbitrary. As a fallible human who doesn’t

like getting yelled at, I’d prefer to hedge my bets with an alphabetically ordered cop-out, but people like lists, so here’s hoping these numbered entries paired with pithy, troll-adjacent descriptions will annoy everyone enough to bring a

20. KAT LOCK YOU AGAIN Shimmery pop sharp enough to cut somebody. Is it still a breakup album if you sound kinda stoked?

16. TWIGGS - III Lusciously loose, literal rock and roll, as in there’s literally a song called “Rock and Roll,” and it’s a good one.

11. MAD HONEY THEORIES A luminescent sci-fi synthpop world I would someday like to retire to.

little more attention to the OKC metro artists who deserve it.

For example, all the local albums below are guaranteed to be better than that Kanye West song about Chick Fil-A that has like 38 million plays on Spotify.

And that most definitely includes our honorable mentions Ray June (now that’s what I call gospel rap), Rainbows Are Free, Chair Model, The Space Program, $onrae, Cavern Company, Dorian, Shoulda Been Blonde, The Lunar Laugh, Don’t Tell Dena, Colourmusic, Lost Highway, Westering, Audio Book Club, Troy on 10, Magic

19. BEACH LANGUAGE SMALL TALK

18. DIRE GNOME HOMEBREW

17. POOLBOY POOLBOY

Beach Language moves from the bedroom to the studio but retains the anxious introspection under all the polish.

Almost disqualified because I’m still not convinced this isn’t an obscure private-press psychedelic gem from the late ’60s.

Party-starting powerpop-punk that lands every trick and makes it sound effortless.

15. SPINSTER SPINSTER

14. GABRIELLE B. FEEL SOMETHING

Annie Oakley’s Jo Babb goes electric and gives her songwriting a wicked jolt.

If her voice doesn’t make you feel several somethings, check your hearing — or your pulse.

10. SPECIAL THUMBS - SO WHO DO YOU KNOW? The next time someone’s telling me how great Vampire Weekend is, I’ll pretend they’re talking about Special Thumbs so I don’t get annoyed.

7. MADDIE RAZOOK - ARCHIVE

9. SLYREX UNRAVEL/THE GREAT END Unravel for late nights alone; The Great End for late nights with someone else.

6. CHAT PILE — THIS DUNGEON EARTH/REMOVE YOUR SKIN PLEASE

So idiosyncratic and intimate I’d be surprised if you can hear this outside headphones. Shout out

Ugly, noisy, as toxic as a Superfund site. Swoon.

to the Lust and Pigments albums; we had to adopt

Munchbox and LoneMoon, whose album I haven’t heard yet will probably break my top 5 when it drops. Speaking of Spotify, check out Oklahoma Gazette’s Best of 2019 playlist for songs by all of these artists and more. Email me at jmartin@okgazette.com to tell me what I forgot, but please be gentle. Thanks to Elecktra and DezzGotSteeze for the steady scene-bolstering that made this list more interesting, but don’t blame them. These decisions were my own.

13. S. REIDY A MIXTAPE This is the emo rap we were promised. I’ll take “The Ballad of a Bitter Hater” over everything Post Malone ever releases.

12. BEAU JENNINGS AND THE TIGERS THE THUNDERBIRD If Springsteen lived in Oklahoma, he’d for sure be writing songs about death-row inmates and fracking-induced earthquakes.

8. SATIVA PROPHETS - SP:EP Wonderfully bizarro beats and some of the most quotable and simultaneously unrepeatable lines I’ve heard all year.

5. LIMP WIZURDZ CIRCLES S m a r t- s t u p i d /s t u p i d smart.

The Wizurdz grow up a little and only get angrier about it.

a “one Maddie Razook project per list rule.”

4. DESOLATE TOMB – CAST FROM GOD’S SIGHT When people think “Christian rock,” they don’t think “Paradise Lost-referencing blackened death metal.”

What a shame.

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D E C E M E B R 2 5 , 2 0 1 9 | O KG A Z E T T E . C O M

3.TEFLO DOLLAR - DELUSIONALLY BEAUTIFUL Released back on Jan. 2, but hardly anything came close all year.

2. MIILLIE MESH MESH MADNESS Wait; is Miillie still here?

Shouldn’t she be filling stadiums somewhere?

1. LINCKA – BLANK SLATE OF MIND Flawlessly produced, fearlessly delivered bilingual dance pop so good it got me back on Duolingo.

List your event in Make it weird

Make Oklahoma Weirder chief executive weirdo Evan Jarvicks releases his Big 50 — highlighting the top 20 albums, top 20 EPs and top 10 singles released by Oklahoma artists each year.

The 2019 Big 50 is scheduled for release in January, but we asked Jarvicks for this year’s weirdest Oklahoma albums. His picks and commentary (edited for space) are below, but he wanted to clarify that “weirdness is just something that’s different, that’s unfamiliar.”

Submissions must be received by Oklahoma Gazette no later than noon on Wednesday seven days before the desired publication date. Late submissions will not be included in the listings. Submissions run as space allows, although we strive to make the listings as inclusive as possible.

Submit your listings online at okgazette.com or email them to listings@okgazette.com.

Sorry, but phone submissions cannot be accepted.

2811

Dorchester Drive, OKC

VISIT TEGRIDYMARKET.COM Follow Us!

@tegridymarket

@tegridyokcrx

@tegridymarket

Make Oklahoma Weirder chief executive weirdo Evan Jarvicks | Photo provided

ALBUMS MAKING OKLAHOMA WEIRDER IN 2019 CONTENT FARM VOL. 4 SPACE WESTERN

Various underground bedroom pop artists assemble a pop art revision of honky-tonk. Why isn’t there more music like this?

DOUBLEVEE - SONGS FOR BIRDS AND BATS Mad scientists Allan & Barb Vest continue to put out wildly inspired and surreal songs — some of the most meticulously composed rock music of its kind, and it’s way groovier than you think it is.

BLATTARIA - LIFE IS A DISEASE A solo black metal project with a niche online following that raises a middle finger to tonality. More than 40 sludgy minutes of absolute agony.

BENJAMIN DEAN WILSON PLAY PRETEND Wilson’s provocative wit tackles his heaviest, most uncomfortable topics yet, and it’d probably be offensive if it wasn’t so damned brilliant.

FM HAIVALA - FUN DRIP Imagine a rapping zombie with a penchant for ‘90s slow jams. Yeah.

This is probably the weirdest thing I’ve heard all year, and I love it.

Visit makeoklahomaweirder.com.

O KG A Z E T T E . C O M | D E C E M B E R 2 5 , 2 0 1 9

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MUSIC C OV E R

Built different

Yes, Jacobi Ryan is probably going to release 52 songs this year. By Jeremy Martin

When we spoke to Jacobi Ryan in March, he was on track to release 52 songs, one for every week, in 2019. As of publication time, he still is — whether you like it or not.

“I can’t imagine how many people have been sitting there at their computers every week like, ‘Hopefully it’s not gonna happen this week,’” Ryan said.

“Or people sitting at their computers like, ‘I hope it does happen this week.

Please do it. Please do it.’ People cheering for me and people cheering against me, I’m sure.”

After releasing a few of the promised entries in his #52in365 project in early 2019, the OKC hip-hop artist realized the songs by themselves were not getting the attention he wanted and decided to release an accompanying video for each of the singles as well. The videos got more views, but Ryan said the project has not raised his profile as much as he expected.

“I was surprised at how little people with a platform shared it, a lot of the Oklahoma blogs and things like that,”

Ryan said. “In Oklahoma, it’s hard for people to take rappers serious because they don’t think they can make it … so I did this to show people even if you have this thought that I’m from Oklahoma is holding you back from supporting me, me putting out a new song every week has to overpower that at some point. It has to be like, ‘Man, this is like fucking crazy.’ … So, this year told me bluntly and in plain language what I need to do … what I need to work on and focus on going forward. Just sharpen my craft, my brand.”

After this year, I will bet everything I own and everything you own on myself.

Jacobi Ryan He also thinks some people might just be waiting to see if he actually completes

the project before they start paying attention. Either way, he said the experience has made him a stronger artist.

“That’s my favorite part of this year,” Ryan said, “how much progress I’ve noticed, how much progress I’m experiencing, and how much progress I’m promised because of what I’ve done. ... As much as I didn’t do as good as I wanted to do and wasn’t as good as I want to be, I also understand this is just the beginning and this is a very good stepping stone to get started. … Before this year, I would have bet everything I own on myself. After this year, I will bet everything I own and everything you own on myself.”

He began the year releasing a weekly episode of his podcast The More I Know the More I Don’t to tell the story behind each song, but he stopped in August.

“I actually have all the episodes finished; I just haven’t released them,” Ryan said. “My anxiety was getting to me. Trying to think of new content, make sure I do the video, make sure I got the song done, it just got to be a lot and I just didn’t want to rush it and I didn’t want to do it halfway. I wanted to make sure that if I did it, I was giving people who are taking the time out to listen to it something actually of value, that it’s worth their time. So I just got in my head and just quit doing it. ... The

At press time, Jacobi Ryan’s #52in365 campaign is still going strong. | Photo provided

last thing I want to be is self-indulgent.”

Ryan plans on releasing the episodes before the end of the year. The main thing he learned from releasing so many songs this year is that he has so many more in him.

“My fear my whole life really as an artist is, ‘When am I going to run out of things to say and talk about?’” Ryan said. “‘How does music continue to happen decade after decade, century after century? How do we still make new music? At what point do we reach the threshold?’ As I’ve found, the more I invest and the more I exert, the more I’m open and aware to even more. I thought I would exhaust me, but really it’s just fueled me.”

Visit jacobiryan.com.

LIVE MUSIC OKC. PUNK

These are events recommended

by Oklahoma Gazette editorial staff members. For full calendar listings, go to okgazette.com.

Hosty, The Deli. ROCK

MONDAY, DEC. 30 Jason Hunt and Preston Ware, Sean Cumming’s Irish Restaurant. FOLK

WEDNESDAY, DEC. 25

Mark and Edgar Cruz, UCO Jazz Lab. ACOUSTIC

Amarillo Junction, JJ’s Alley Bricktown Pub. ACOUSTIC

Superfreak, The Liszt. COVER

John Carlton & Kyle Reid, The Winston. SINGER/ SONGWRITER

TUESDAY, DEC. 31

THURSDAY, DEC. 26

Death by Knowledge/Stone Tide/The Velvet J’s, Blue Note Lounge. ROCK

Money Makin Jam Boys, Bunker Club. FUNK/SOUL

Gary Allan, Riverwind Casino. COUNTRY

Robert Earl Keen, The Jones Assembly.

Justin Echols, Burn. JAZZ

COUNTRY

Shelly Phelps & Dylan Nagode, Jazmo’z Bourbon St. Café. ACOUSTIC

FRIDAY, DEC. 27 Brown Note, Alley Club. ROCK Cody Abbott, Brewskey’s. COUNTRY/ROCK Elizabeth Speegle Band, Saints. JAZZ/POP Kinky Slinky, Belle Isle Restaurant & Brewing Company. ROCK

Helicopter Above is the only known photograph of Norman’s Helicopter (1998-2001) that, according to legend (i.e., Facebook) “mixed 90’s indie pop and classic rock influences played at high volume.” Can the band reignite that old dial-up internet era magic? Was Helicopter even ever good in the first place? We have no idea. We were still in high school in another state when Helicopter broke up, and you can probably guess how an internet search for “Norman helicopter” would go. But anytime someone decides to get the band back together after a nearly two-decade hiatus to play a bar show, we’re at least curious about what is going on. Also we will totally vouch for supporting acts Carly Gwin & The Sin and Poolboy. Get to the chopper 10 p.m. Saturday at The Deli, 309 White St., in Norman.

Admission is $5. Call 405-329-3534 or visit thedeli.us. SATURDAY Photo provided

Life of the Party, Whiskey Chicks. COVER My So Called Band, The Deli. COVER Scott Keeton, Remington Park. ROCK Whiskey Myers, Riverwind Casino. COUNTRY/ROCK

SATURDAY, DEC. 28

The Chad Todd Band, Oklahoma City Limits.

COUNTRY

The Chebon Tiger Band, The Deli. BLUES/ROCK Jabee, Sanctuary Barsilica. HIP-HOP Lacy Saunders, Remington Park. SINGER/SONG-

WRITER

Levi Parham, Full Circle Bookstore. SINGER/SONGWRITER

SUNDAY, DEC. 29 Dwarves/Don’t Make Ghosts/Kobra Kai, 89th Street-

GO TO OKGAZETTE.COM FOR FULL LISTINGS! 26

D E C E M E B R 2 5 , 2 0 1 9 | O KG A Z E T T E . C O M

Kyle Reid, Scratch Kitchen & Cocktails. SINGER/ SONGWRITER

WEDNESDAY, JAN. 1 Amarillo Junction, JJ’s Alley Bricktown Pub. ACOUSTIC

John Carlton & Kyle Reid, The Winston. SINGER/ SONGWRITER

Live music submissions must be received by Oklahoma Gazette no later than noon on Wednesday seven days before the desired publication date.

Late submissions will not be included in the listings. Submissions run as space allows, although we strive to make the listings as inclusive as possible.

Fax your listings to 528-4600 or e-mail to listings@okgazette.com.

Sorry, but phone submissions cannot be accepted.

CANNABIS

THE HIGH CULTURE

Christmas cheer

For the holidays, the chefs at Guyutes have whipped up infused eggnog and bread pudding.

By Matt Dinger and Jacob Threadgill

An excellent way to add some yuletide cheer to your Christmas is with a little infused bread pudding and eggnog after opening your presents.

Each month, the chefs at Guyutes team up with Oklahoma Gazette to bring readers some cannabis cooking recipes that are off the beaten path.

“We started off with traditional bread pudding, which is going to essentially use two loaves of brioche bread.

You can use other breads. I love brioche bread just because it has that butteriness already in it. It’s a little more sweeter,” chef Matt Pryor said.

The bread should be left out overnight before the mixture is poured over it. Add fruit as desired.

“I like to add fresh fruits, dried fruits.

I use mandarin oranges, dried cranberries and then blueberries in mine. You can use any other fruits. Dates are really good, and those can kind of just change depending on your flavor profile, what kind of fruit you like,” Pryor said.

The infused cannabis is added to the cream glaze rather than the bread because it is baked at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

“We were afraid it would degrade too much of the THC, so we just made it in the glaze for it instead,” chef Jarrod Friedel said.

“We figured that if we were going to put it into the bread pudding itself, we’d have to super-dose it and then we would never actually know exactly how much we did end up with baking it for that long at that high temperature,” Pryor said.

For the eggnog, infusing the cream is the most time-consuming portion.

“I didn’t use the satchel. I just dumped it in, and that way I could just stir it around and make sure that it was releasing into the heavy cream,” Friedel said. “You still have to be pretty careful because you can’t scorch milk. … It’s just a really, really low heat, and I was just constantly stirring for a fucking hour.”

Review

Bread pudding, much like its cousin banana pudding, is truly a dessert for the people. It’s easy enough to make at home, and it will be certain to please everyone. Pryor used a fun mixture of fruit that I wouldn’t have considered.

The mandarin orange was a highlight of the dish and really popped inside the creamy dessert. I ate it both cold and right out of the oven and enjoyed both versions. I liked the idea of only infusing the crème Anglaise because it allows patients to add as much dosage as they’d like. Neither the cream nor the eggnog had a cannabis aftertaste, and I found the effects to be a nice sleep aid at the end of a long day. The fresh version of eggnog made me realize that I’ve probably only had the store-bought version, and I think it would make a great annual treat.

—Jacob Threadgill

top Infused bread pudding with cream glaze | bottom Infused alcoholic eggnog | Photo Alexa Ace

Infused Eggnog and Bread Pudding Recipes Bread pudding INGREDIENTS 4 cups granulated sugar 10 large beaten eggs 2 cups milk 4 cups cream 4 teaspoons pure vanilla extract 6 cups cubed brioche bread, allowed to stale overnight in a bowl

bean. Bring the milk mixture to a simmer. Remove it from the heat.

2. Whisk the egg yolks and sugar in a me-

and beat it until stiff peaks form.

3. Whisk the egg whites into the mixture.

Chill and serve.

dium bowl to blend. Gradually whisk

1. Add the heavy cream to a pot and apply low heat. After the cream starts to heat up, add the decarbed cannabis. Whisk

the hot milk mixture into the yolk mix-

COOKED EGGNOG DIRECTIONS

ture. Return the custard to the sauce-

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the

pan. Stir the custard over low heat un-

egg yolks until they lighten in color.

2. Place the cheesecloth over a quart ma-

til it thickens and leaves a path on the

Gradually add the 1/3 cup sugar and

son jar and strain the cannabis out of the

back of a spoon when your finger is

continue to beat until it is completely

heavy cream. Return the cream to the

drawn across it, about 5 minutes. (Do

dissolved. Set it aside.

refrigerator immediately. Use the expi-

DIRECTIONS

not boil the custard.) Strain the sauce

2. In a medium saucepan over high heat,

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahr-

into a bowl. Cover and chill. (Can be

combine the milk, heavy cream and

made one day ahead.)

nutmeg and bring the mixture just to

enheit. Grease a 13-by-9-by-2-inch pan.

DIRECTIONS

the mixture constantly for 30-45 minutes and do not let the cream boil.

ration date on the bottle of heavy cream.

Eggnog

it from the heat and gradually temper

UK CHEESE FROM CANNABLESS AT 27.07% THC

the hot mixture into the egg and sugar

7g x 27.05%

INGREDIENTS

mixture. Then return everything to the

1893.5/ 64 tbsp (1 quart)

4 egg yolks

pot and cook it until the mixture reach-

29.5859375 per tbsp

pan. Sprinkle the brown sugar mixture

1/3 cup sugar, plus 1 tablespoon

es 160 degrees Fahrenheit. Remove it

over the top and bake it for 35-45 min-

1 pint whole milk

from the heat, stir in the bourbon, pour

EGGNOG

utes or until set. Remove it from the oven.

1 cup infused cream

it into a medium mixing bowl and set it

16 tbsp x 29.5859375

3 ounces rum

in the refrigerator to chill.

473.375/ 6 servings

2. Mix together the granulated sugar, eggs and milk in a bowl, and then add vanilla.

Pour the mixture over the cubed bread and let it sit for 10 minutes.

3. Pour the bread mixture into the prepared

Crème Anglaise

a boil, stirring occasionally. Remove

1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg 4 egg whites

INGREDIENTS

3. In a medium mixing bowl, beat the egg whites to soft peaks. With the mixer

78.89 mg per serving

running, gradually add the 1 tablespoon

CRÈME ANGLAISE

1/2 cup whole milk

DIRECTIONS

of sugar and beat it until stiff peaks

8 tbsp x 29.5859375

1/2 cup infused cream

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the

form. Whisk the egg whites into the

236.6875/ 10 servings

chilled mixture.

23.67 mg per serving

1 2-inch piece of vanilla bean, split or 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

egg yolks until they lighten in color.

Gradually add 1/3 cup sugar and con-

3 large egg yolks

tinue to beat until it is completely dis-

3 tablespoons sugar

solved. Add the milk, cream, bourbon and nutmeg and stir to combine.

DIRECTIONS

2. Place the egg whites in the bowl of a

Infused cream INGREDIENTS 7 grams decarbed cannabis

1. Combine the milk and cream in a heavy

stand mixer and beat them to soft

1 quart heavy cream

medium saucepan. Scrape in the seeds

peaks. With the mixer still running,

cheesecloth

from the vanilla bean and then add the

gradually add the tablespoon of sugar

O KG A Z E T T E . C O M | D E C E M B E R 2 5 , 2 0 1 9

27

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THE HIGH CULTURE

JOIN US

12/31/19 FOR THE

OF END

THE

D L R WO Y T R PA N IG M ID ST TOA

HT

Inaugural cup

Winners were announced during the first Cowboy Cup held Dec. 13 and 14 at Tumbleweed Dance Hall in Stillwater. By Matt Dinger

The inaugural Cowboy Cup went by with nary a hitch, awarding its first round of encrusted belt buckles to a new crop of cannabis cultivators.

“I think there was a really good crowd, and I think all the vendors got their money’s worth. I think they’re all well taken care of,” founder Daniel Lewis said. “I just wanted to make sure everybody was happy and got their money’s worth, and I think everybody did. I didn’t hear any complaints.”

He said more than 800 people attended the event at Tumbleweed Dance Hall on Dec. 13 and 14.

“I would have liked to have gotten 2,000, but it’s an inaugural event, and after what High Times pulled, I think a lot of people are real wary about events like this in general and kind of maybe were a little bit standoffish to jump in this one. ... I’m just a little guy, but I think we showed everybody we knew what we were doing,” he said.

Cannabis businesses and patients were well represented from all corners of the state along with numerous brands from the Oklahoma City and Tulsa areas.

There were no major problems with the event, nobody was hurt and there were not any arrests. Entry into the event went smoothly from the box office to the back of the venue where large vendor tents were set up. Inside the dance hall, local bands played continuously from dark until closing, while live music was held on a separate stage inside the vendor tents that was also the venue for the championship ceremony.

During the ceremony, second- and third-place winners were given

from left Jeremy Jones of Purple Tangie with Cowboy Cup founder Daniel Lewis after winning the grand champion flower category Dec. 14 | Photo provided

plaques, while the first-place winners were awarded unique ornamental belt buckles. Prizes were awarded in 14 categories ranging from topicals and concentrates to raw flower.

The grand champion flower and indoor flower categories were both won

by Purple Tangie Cannabis Co.’s Gelato Cake #1. Purple Tangie and Green Rush Gardens, the growing arm that won second place in indica flower at High Times Cannabis Cup for the same strain, is based in Eufaula.

“It’s a crazy experience to go from six felonies to awards. It’s a complete turnaround that I’ve never thought could happen in my home state,” owner Jeremy Jones said. “I pretty much kind of ran away. I did business in Arkansas for the last seven years, and it’s just great to have something to come home to because, having children here and being an entrepreneur, I want to make money in my home state. I love my state, and I want to bring back to it and I want to be a positive influence and someone that brings something to the table for the community, so when it became legal and I was able to go back, that was great, that alone, but never did I think it would go to winning awards.”

Jones is the public face of the company but has brought in others with award-winning experience in the cannabis industry to do what they love and craft superior products for the continued on page 31

Years and years of testing experience.

We’re talking decades.

405 488 2400 | CannabestLabs.com

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O KG A Z E T T E . C O M | D E C E M B E R 2 5 , 2 0 1 9

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CHECK OUT ANY OF THESE LOCATIONS: 1327 S. Broadway, Edmond 2810 SW 104th St, OKC 8017 W. Reno, OKC 9606 N May Ave, The Village 2501 SW 15th Street, OKC 7876 S Western Ave, OKC 751 Canadian Trails DR, STE 120, Norman 30

D E C E M B E R 2 5 , 2 0 1 9 | O KG A Z E T T E . C O M

25 WITH OVER

STRAINS

A VAI L ABL E

COWBOY CUP WINNERS

THE HIGH CULTURE continued from page 29

CANNABIS

Oklahoma market.

Matt Powell was a judge for the competition in the indoor and sun-grown flower categories. He reached out to Lewis when Cowboy Cup was first announced and was selected as a judge in June. Powell said he picked up numbered samples in small plastic containers. There were more than 60 entries he judged for the indoor category and about 20 in the outdoor category

that he picked up from Outpost 33 Dispensary in Coyle.

He said that the judging was done online and there were six indoor flower entries that he thought were stellar as well as two in the sun-grown category.

He hopes to be selected again as a judge for next year’s event.

“For our state, it was a well-deserved event,” Powell said. “It fit our needs. It was what it needed to be.”

Winners in Cowboy Cup categories were awarded custom belt buckles. | Photo provided

G R AN D CHAM PION F LOWE R Purple Tangie - Gelato Cake #1 SUN-GROWN FLOWER 1st - Oklahoma Premier Reserve - Gas Breath 2nd - AC Genetics - Crazy Glue 3rd - Boss Lady Farms - Gorilla Glue#4 4th - Tulsa Tops - L.S.D 5th - Holistic Heights - Animal Cough INDOOR FLOWER 1st - Purple Tangie - Gelato Cake #1 2nd - Stability Cannabis - Platinum GG 3rd - New Leaf Medicinals - Slurricane 4th - Green Love Tulsa - Wedding Mints 5th - JJs Organic Gardens - Hash Head

DISTILLATE 1st - Helix Extract - Grandaddy Purple 2nd - Helix Extract - Delta 9 3rd - Helix Extract - Berry White CARTS 1st - Everything’s OK - Mimosa 2nd - Twisty Seeds - Palm Beach Sour 3rd - Helix Extract - Watermelon OG 4th - Helix Extract - Bubblegum OG 5th - Kiamichi Skies - Mac and Cheese TOPICALS 1st - Oklahoma Medicine - Topical Pain Salve ​2nd - OK Desert Extracts - Slow Burn Cotton Candy Kush Live Resin ​

HARD/SOFT CANDIES 1st - Oklahoma Premier Reserve - Dope Rope 2nd - Easy Street - Gummies 3rd - Ruby Maes - Black Cherry Sour Gummies 4th - Kiamichi Skies - Breathmints Mac and Cheese 5th - Arcadia Brand - Gummie Zkittles

CBD FLOWER 1st - 420 Cannabis Kings - Harlequinn 2nd - Ganulv Gardens - Z7 / Remadey PRE-ROLLS 1st - Pharmhouse - Starmalade 2nd - KOLA Organics - Krown Kola SOLVENTLESS 1st - 918 OG in collaboration w/ Green Love Tulsa - Wedding Mints 2nd - Herban Envy - Tropicana Cookies ROSIN 1st - 918 OG - Morning Wood 2nd - Hilltop Gardens - GG #5 3rd - Herban Envy - Tangie x Tropicana 4th - Kiamichi Skies - Mac and Cheese 5th - 918 OG - Wedding Mints SHATTER/WAX 1st - Fuel Farms - Tree of Souls 3 2nd - Desert Extracts - Slow Burn Cotton Candy Kush 3rd - New Leaf Medicinals - GMO x Sunset Cookies

BAKED GOODS 1st - Pharmers Daughter Edibles - Medicated Cake Cup 2nd - Oklahoma Medicine - German Chocolate Bon Bon 3rd - PCD Inc. - Layer Cake Brownie 4th- Place - Bee Elevated - Cake Bombs Hybrid SPECIALTIES 1st - Ruby Mae’s - Peanut Butter Chocolate 2nd - PCD Inc - BBQ Sauce 3rd - Oklahoma Medicine - Peanut Butter Cup 4th - D&G Dankery - Puppy Chow 5th - Bee Elevated - Honey Shots/Sour D

4th - Everything’s Ok - Blue Cookies

$70 MMJ DR. REC’S $70

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Discuss the benefits of medical THC and CBD oils with our in-house team.

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MONDAY make it thru the week all 1/2 oz products get $30 discount try out tuesday 10% discount when you purchase something new that you’ve never tried hump day wednesday 20% discount on 1/8 or more throwback thursday 15% discount on 2 grams or more friday chill with us

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31

Self Wellness GIFT GUIDE

MI X ERS FOR YOUR HOLIDAY MINGLERS

Get your motor runnin’ this holiday season with Canna South’s Black Gold Premium 1200mg THC Syrup. This 4oz can packs a punch and mixes perfectly with any beverage.

Choose from green apple, cherry, watermelon or blue raspberry to find your favorite flavor or enjoy any of our flower, edibles, plants, vapes, tinctures and more!

Canna South Medical Marijuana Dispensary

POW ER HOUR

Power Hour at 46 Releaf is from noon-2p.m. and 4-6p.m. everyday.

Offering special discounts and more!

1221 SW 59th St. 405-429-7570 cannasouth.net

46 Releaf Dispensary several metro locations weedmaps.com

SUNDAY E X T R AC T S

Sunday Extracts offer an array of high quality distillate cartridges that are a hybrid of cannabis-derived and botanical-derived terpenes infused with a natural fruit flavor made from high quality essential oils extracted from organic fruits. All packed in a premium quality Jupiter Research CCEL cartridge.

R INGSIDE ’S GUMM Y GLOV E S

Ringside’s Gummy Gloves are Island Punch flavored and a true delight for your tastebuds.

We have 5mg, 10mg, and 20mg options so that every patient can find the dose they are looking for. What makes these gummies especially unique is our reintroduction of terpenes; because of this reintroduction, our gummies come in Sativa and Indica specific options.

Ringside Medical 14201 N. May Ave., Suite 205 ringsidemedical.com 405-242-5325

Tegridy Market 2811 Dorchester Drive weedmaps.com 405-810-5199

T HE M A R I JUA N A R E VOLU T ION S TA R T S HER E

ONE S T OP SHOP

We have Pipes, THC - CBD oils and non THC oils as well as Hemp Balm.

Your medical needs are met at our shop.

Medicine Man 5917 S. Sunnylane Road 405-225-1323

DR . R A NDY W HI T EK ILLER , DO

Offering medical marijuana recommendations starting at $70, Dr. Whitekiller also offers complimentary rec’s to all veterans with an appointment. Appointments can be made by calling 405-608-6820. Located at 5829 N. May Ave, Suite 500.

Dr. Randy Whitekiller, DO 5829 N. May Ave, Suite 500 405-608-6820

Enjoy one of Okie Kush’s home-grown strains today! Roadkill, with it’s frosty trichomes, will have you saying, “Pass the turkey, please!” and help ease the strain of the holiday madness. Okie-grown, Okie-cured.

Visit any of our 4 metro locations to talk with a knowledgeable budtender and find the product that’s right for you!

Okie Kush Club several metro locations okiekushclub.com

BA K ERS MEDICA L DISPE NS A RY IS NOW OPE N

We know medical cannabis seems to be everywhere, but it’s hard to find truly great, great cannabis. At Bakers Medical we only carry the highest quality medical products. We curate the best genetics, flowers, extracts, and edibles. So you don’t have to.

Bakers Medical Dispensary 4507 N W 10th St. bakersmedical.com 405-900-6199

Products containing THC in this gift guide are for personal use only and may only be purchased using a valid patient license from the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority.

32

D E C E M B E R 2 5 , 2 0 1 9 | O KG A Z E T T E . C O M

TOKE BOARD

THC PATIENTS Applications Received:

222,123

DISPENSARIES

Applications Approved:

GROWERS

209,730

Applications Approved:

1,651*

Applications Approved:

4,063*

CONSUMERS Natural person or entity in whose name a cannabis license would be issued

DISPENSARIES

Allows the entity to purchase medical cannabis from a processer licensee or grower licensee and sell medical cannabis only to qualified patients, or their parents or legal guardian(s) if applicable, and caregivers

GROWERS

allows the entity togrow, harvest, and package medical cannabis for the purpose of selling medical cannabis to a dispensary, processor, or researcher *Business totals still pending during renewal process.

FLOWER REVIEW

Cannabis effects vary wildly from patient to patient based on a multitude of factors, including THC tolerance, brain chemistry and personal taste. This review is based on the subjective experience of one patient.

Strain name: Glukies Grown by: unknown grower Acquired from: Along Came Mary Date acquired: Dec. 13 THC/CBD percentages: 22.78 percent/ .08 percent (per Scissortail Laboratory) Physical traits: dense, dark green nugs with few stigmas

terpenes, considering the unique flavor.

The high again was intense, but that is apparently what this strain, which is a cross between GG4 and Thin Mint Girl Scout Cookies, has built its reputation upon.

However, while the effects were calming, they did not put me to sleep or make me tired; they instead settled into a deep but lucid calm after smoking. Heavy use is definitely not advised for novice smokers, but it should be extremely pleasant for the more experienced crowd.

10% OFF PURCHASE FOR NEW PATIENTS

Bouquet: peppery and earthy Review: This strain, also known as Gorilla Cookies, kicked my ass like no other when I tried a run this summer from A Grade Organics of Oklahoma, so I was a little wary about taking it on a second test drive. I treaded lightly this time, taking only one small hit at first and letting it settle in before taking a second and waiting before stepping it up. That strategy was for the best anyway, as the smoke from this run was somewhat harsh and left me coughing after most hits, though I don’t know if that was due to dryness or the abundant

NOW OPEN HERBOLOGY OKLAHOMA CITY 718 N. BROADWAY AVE OKLAHOMA CITY, OK 73102 Glukies | Photo Phillip Danner

405-445-1902 MYHERBOLOGY.COM @HERBOLOGYGRAM O KG A Z E T T E . C O M | D E C E M B E R 2 5 , 2 0 1 9

33

PUZZLES NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE CROSSWORD PUZZLE DOING A DOUBLE TAKE | 1229

By Christina Iverson and Jeff Chen Puzzles edited by Will Shortz

1

ACROSS

25

1 Sandwich with an apostrophe in its name 6 Last-minute eBay bidders 13 ____ Speaker 18 Family written about by Margaret Mitchell 20 Laureate 21 California city whose name translates to “the table” 22 Concise and to the point 23 Improvement 24 Desirous 25 Word with coin or ring 26 Enclosure for a slush pile, for short 28 Salsa and guacamole 30 Foe of the Jedi 31 Boor 32 This puzzle’s subjects, by another name 36 Beats by ____ (audio brand) 37 For now 41 One of 24 42 Group running a celeb’s social media accounts, say 46 “My ____” 47 Fragrant item in a fireplace 49 Doorway 50 What violence might lead to 52 Political figure on whom Snowball is based in Animal Farm 54 Hitting close to home?

57 Pattern on a barber pole 61 Shade 62 Word before rip or slip 63 FDR’s last veep 66 Boatload 67 Youngest animal in the Hundred Acre Wood 68 Daily cable show that has covered Hollywood since 1991 71 Part of a parade float on New Year’s Day 74 Send over the moon 76 Duties imposed 78 Airer of Arrow and iZombie 79 Party notifications sent with a click 81 Members of un monastère 82 “Well, golly!”

84 Maximally mannered 85 “None for me, thanks” 87 Brain, slangily 89 Cry just before the birthday guest arrives at a surprise party 92 Juniors, to their fathers 96 Tingling, in a way 100 Tousles, as hair 103 Muscat native 104 Bog growths 107 Bit of off-road equipment 108 Where Orange County is, in brief 109 Something with many variables to consider 110 Chow down on, biblically 112 Judea and Sheba, in the Bible 114 Warehouse stacks 118 Relating to theft on the high seas 122 Some South Africans 127 French schoolteacher 128 Chord known as “the devil in music” on account of its unsettling sound 129 Title role played by Hilary Swank

2

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29 When repeated, “Cheerio!”

33 The Jets, but not the Giants 34 Lead-in to long 35 Drink with a straw 38 Hatcher of Lois & Clark 39 Lawman at the O.K. Corral DOWN 40 In the slightest 1 Can opener 43 What amber comes from 2 Company that introduced Etch A 44 Cleaning up the mess, for short?

Sketch 45 Texter’s “ciao” 3 Takes the plate in place of 47 Certain bean or horse 4 World of Warcraft enemies 48 “____ run!”

5 “Boo-____!”

51 Levels 6 “Quiet, you!”

53 Provocative poster 7 Admonishment before Christmas 54 Keeper of the books? morning 55 One who fixes flats?

8 Dutch banking giant 56 One of Chaucer’s pilgrims 9 “____ supuesto!” (Spanish “Of 58 Hot under the collar course!”)

59 Things students take 10 Presidential time 60 “Whither thou ____ …”

11 Contributors to “the front page 63 Mischievous titter of the internet” 64 Erupt 12 Welcome, as a guest 65 Fortune 500 category, informally 13 ____ tai 69 Most sinewy 14 Tsps. or tbsps.

70 Florist’s cutting 15 George W. Bush’s nickname for 72 Weather phenomenon whose himself, with “the” double lights were said to 16 Where to set your butts down represent this puzzle’s subjects 17 Pandemonium 73 Baseball double play, in slang 19 ____ admin … or a hint to understanding the 21 Retro-cool music purchases 12 Across answers that have circles 27 Producer of bills 74 Like a “mwa-ha-ha” laugh

D E C E M B E R 2 5 , 2 0 1 9 | O KG A Z E T T E . C O M

OPERATIONS

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OPERATIONS & MARKETING MANAGER Kelsey Lowe

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in a 2009 biopic 130 “Alas ...”

131 Good thing to find on a boat 132 Agreeable response to a parental order

ADVERTISING

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Brittany Pickering bpickering@okgazette.com

CALENDAR COORDINATOR Jeremy Martin

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STAFF REPORTERS Jacob Threadgill Jeremy Martin Miguel Rios Matt Dinger

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SKULLDUGGERY LANE By Ingvard Ashby

Peter J. Brzycki

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Please address all unsolicited news items (non-returnable) to the editor.

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Oklahoma Gazette is circulated at its designated distribution points free of charge to readers for their individual use and by mail to subscribers. The cash value of this copy is $1. Persons taking copies of the Oklahoma Gazette from its distribution points for any reason other than their or others’ individual use for reading purposes are subject to prosecution.

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Stumped? Call 1-900-285-5656 to get the answers to any three clues by phone ($1.20 a minute).

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75 Freedom 77 Abbr. on a keyboard key 80 Derrière 82 India’s smallest state 83 Orange Sesame Street monster 86 It’s a start 88 Founder of the Ottoman Empire 89 “That’s odd …”

90 Chits inits.

91 Wet firecracker, e.g.

93 Genre akin to goth 94 ____ fly 95 Finish of three U.S. state names 97 Flash-drive port 98 The big eau 99 Org. that began welcoming girls in 2019 101 California’s ____ National Forest 102 Wiped 105 Seasoning in a yellow-and-blue tin 106 Disgusting, quaintly 111 Picks, with “for” 113 Near impossibilities on par-5 holes 114 Fig. watched by some dieters 115 Bit in a feedbag 116 Some fraternity-row letters 117 GRE administrator 119 Coastal inlet 120 “The pond”: Abbr.

121 Here’s the kicker!

123 Marks out 124 Its seeds whirl to the ground 125 Hit 2011 animated movie 126 Pusher of green eggs and ham

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SUDOKU HARD | N° 21062

Fill in the grid so that every row, column and 3-by-3 box contains the numbers 1 through 9. www.printmysudoku.com

NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE CROSSWORD PUZZLE ANSWERS

Puzzle No.1222, which appeared in the December 18 issue.

J A B B E R

A F R A M E

R E E L E D

I N K E R S

N A R N I A

A D I D A S

O J I B W A S

P A L E A L E

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A S C W K E L E Z I N E I I N D O R G E S D T I R N I N E S E C S I A G E S T E N W O D O L I M A E F E M X V I A W E E Z O B R I I V U S N U G A L L U N E A M I S S P A

A S S N A T H E I S M B E S I E G E D

P O S E S H D E O O R Z E I G E E N S T U S R A P S A S S S E

A T R I A

B R E A D B D I I N R N T O I N R E I V N E G R Y O D A

O V I D

B O T U L Y C A P E T O O Y Z N E A G M U S B E H I I A T E N W S E W R V E E E R N E N T H E R E N A R E L E

U F F D I E Z I I T Y B E L M D O P L H Y D S S T E E X P A

T E A T I M E

E T H E N E S

S A D D E N S

C O N W A Y

K L E I N E

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P E Y O T E

C R E S T S

A S S E N T

FREE WILL ASTROLOGY Homework: Your imagination is the single most important asset you possess. What can you do to ensure it serves you well and doesn’t drive you crazy?

ARIES (March 21-April 19)

Nazi Germany invaded and occupied Denmark during World War II. In 1943, Hitler ordered all Danish Jews to be arrested—a first step in his plan to send them to concentration camps. But the Danish resistance movement leapt into action and smuggled virtually all of them to safety via fishing boats bound for Sweden. As a result, 8,000+ Danish Jews survived the Holocaust.

You may not have the opportunity to do anything quite as heroic in 2020, Aries. But I expect you will have chances to express a high order of practical idealism that could be among your noblest and most valiant efforts ever. Draw inspiration from the Danish resistance.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20)

When she was 31, Taurus writer Charlotte Brontë finished writing her novel Jane Eyre. She guessed it would have a better chance of getting published if its author was thought to be a man. So she adopted the masculine pen name of Currer Bell and sent the manuscript unsolicited to a London publisher. Less than eight weeks later, her new book was in print. It quickly became a commercial success. I propose that we make Brontë one of your role models for 2020, Taurus. May she inspire you to be audacious in expressing yourself and confident in seeking the help you need to reach your goals. May she embolden you, too, to use ingenious stratagems to support your righteous cause.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20)

2020 can and should be a lyrically healing year for you.

Here’s what I mean: Beauty and grace will be curative.

The “medicine” you need will come to you via poetic and mellifluous experiences. With this in mind, I encourage you to seek out encounters with the following remedies.

1. Truth Whimsies 2. Curiosity Breakthroughs 3. Delight Gambles 4. Sacred Amusements 4. Redemptive Synchronicities 5. Surprise Ripenings 6. Gleeful Discoveries 7. Epiphany Adventures 8. Enchantment Games 9. Elegance Eruptions 10. Intimacy Angels 11.

Playful Salvation 12. Luminosity Spells CANCER (June 21-July 22) “There are years that ask questions and years that answer,” wrote author Zora Neale Hurston. According to my astrological analysis, Cancerian, 2020 is likely to be one of those years that asks questions, while 2021 will be a time when you’ll get rich and meaningful answers to the queries you’ll pose in 2020. To ensure that this plan works out for your maximum benefit, it’s essential that you formulate provocative questions in the coming months. At first, it’s fine if you generate too many. As the year progresses, you can whittle them down to the most ultimate and important questions. Get started!

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22)

The Roman Emperor Vespasian (9–79 AD) supervised the restoration of the Temple of Peace, the Temple of Claudius, and the Theater of Marcellus. He also built a huge statue of Apollo and the amphitheater now known as the Colosseum, whose magnificent ruins are still a major tourist attraction. Vespasian also created a less majestic but quite practical wonder: Rome’s first public urinals. In accordance with astrological omens, I invite you Leos to be stimulated by his example in 2020. Be your usual magnificent self as you generate both inspiring beauty and earthy, pragmatic improvements.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22)

When Virgo author Mary Shelley was 18 years old, she had a disconcerting dream-like vision about a mad chemist who created a weird human-like creature out of non-living matter. She set about to write a book based on her mirage. At age 20, she published Frankenstein, a novel that would ultimately wield a huge cultural influence and become a seminal work in the “science fiction” genre. I propose we make Shelley one of your role models for 2020. Why? Because I suspect that you, too, will have the power to transform a challenging event or influence into an important asset. You’ll be able to generate or attract a new source of energy by responding creatively to experiences that initially provoke anxiety.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22)

Libra-born mystic poet Rumi (1207–1273) wrote that he searched for holy sustenance and divine inspiration in temples, churches, and mosques—but couldn’t find them there. The good news? Because of his disappointment, he was motivated to go on an inner quest—and ultimately found holy sustenance and divine inspiration in his own heart. I’ve got a strong feeling that you’ll have similar experiences in 2020, Libra. Not on every occasion, but much of the time, you will discover the treasure you need and long for not in the outside world but rather in your own depths.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21)

Among his many accomplishments, Scorpio rapper Drake is an inventive rhymer. In his song “Diplomatic Immunity,” he rhymes “sacred temple” with “stencil.”

Brilliant! Other rhymes: “statistics” with “ballistics”; “Treaty of Versailles” with “no cease and desist in I”; and—my favorite—”Al Jazeera” (the Qatar-based news source) with “Shakira” (the Colombian singer). According to my analysis of the astrological omens in 2020, many of you Scorpios will have Drake-style skill at mixing and blending seemingly disparate elements. I bet you’ll also be good at connecting influences that belong together but have never been able to combine before.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21)

Sagittarian poet Rainer Maria Rilke (1875–1926) embodied a trait that many astrology textbooks suggest is common to the Sagittarian tribe: wanderlust. He was born in Prague but traveled widely throughout Europe and Russia. If there were a Guinness World Records’ category for “Time Spent as a Houseguest,” Rilke might hold it. There was a four-year period when he lived at fifty different addresses. I’m going to be bold here and hypothesize that 2020 will NOT be one of those years when you would benefit from being like Rilke. In fact, I hope you’ll seek out more stability and security than usual.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19)

Fifteenth-century Italian metalworker Lorenzo Ghiberti worked for 28 years to turn the Doors of the Florence Baptistry into a massive work of art. He used

bronze to create numerous scenes from the Bible. His fellow artist Michelangelo was so impressed that he said Ghiberti’s doors could have served as “The Gates of Paradise.” I offer Ghiberti as inspiration for your life in 2020, Capricorn. I think you’ll be capable of beginning a masterwork that could take quite some time to complete and serve as your very own “gate to paradise”: in other words, an engaging project and delightful accomplishment that will make you feel your life is eminently meaningful and worthwhile.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18)

You’re wise to cultivate a degree of skepticism and even contrariness. Like all of us, your abilities to say NO to detrimental influences and to criticize bad things are key to your mental health. On the other hand, it’s a smart idea to keep checking yourself for irrelevant, gratuitous skepticism and contrariness. You have a sacred duty to maintain just the amount you need, but no more—even as you foster a vigorous reservoir of receptivity, optimism, and generosity. And guess what? 2020 will be an excellent time to make this one of your cornerstone habits.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20)

Dante Alighieri (1265–1321) finished writing The Divine Comedy in 1320. Today it’s considered one of the supreme literary accomplishments in the Italian language and a classic of world literature. But no one ever read the entire work in the English language until 1802, when it was translated for the first time. Let’s invoke this as a metaphor for your life in the coming months, Pisces. According to my visions, a resource or influence that has previously been inaccessible to you will finally arrive in a form you can understand and use. Some wisdom that has been untranslatable or unreadable will at last be available.

Go to RealAstrology.com to check out Rob Brezsny’s expanded weekly audio horoscopes /daily text message horoscopes.

The audio horoscopes are also available by phone at 1-877-873-4888 or 1-900-950-7700.

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Happy Birthday to history’s most famous undocumented immigrant.

Merry Christmas from OKG.