Oklahoma Gazette 81314

free every wednesday Metro OKC’s Independent Weekly Vol. XXXVI No. 33 august 13, 2014

An OCU fundraiser showcases the wit of Mike Turpen.

By Josh Hutton p.38 Robert Henry mark hancock

Mike Turpen

BUZZ ON okc.BIZ: OKC NO. 10 FOR BEST PLACES TO START A BUSINESS P.13 MUSIC: OKG’S INTERVIEW WITH THE POLYPHONIC SPREE P.41

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8/6/14 10:14 AM

CONTENTS 41

38

47

21

ON THE COVER

NEWS

LIFE

LIFE

Boisterous politician, author, businessman and philanthropist Mike Turpen will showcase his wit and wisdom — and his new book — with an Aug. 15 toast and roast to help raise $150,000 in scholarship funds. Plus, he’s also well-known for his witticisms.

Story by Josh Hutton. P. 38

4

Education: Elevate

13

Buzz on okc.BIZ: small business

34

6

Politics: Coburn’s farewell

14

Buzz on okc.BIZ: The Clad Stache

8

Metro briefs

15

— Jennifer Chancellor, editor-in-chief

Performing Arts: Ryan Drake, Lysistrata

Buzz on okc.BIZ: office plant trends

9

Education: cirriculum management

38

Cover: Mike Turpen Music: The Polyphonic Spree, Maxwell, Feel Spectres, event listings

OKG picks

41

20

Food & Drink: summer brews, food briefs, Knucks Wheelhouse, cold soups, OKG eat: ice cream

47

Religion: interfaith marriage

Chicken-Fried News

12

Commentary

12

Letters

29

Film: Boyhood, Magic in the Moonlight

31

Youth: Science Museum Oklahoma 32

Oklahoma Gazette’s mission is to stimulate, examine and inform the public on local quality of life issues and social needs, to recognize community accomplishments, and to provide a forum for inspiration, participation and interaction across all media.

Sudoku / Crossword

16

10

MISSION STATEMENT

36

G ra n d Re s o r t O K .c o m

49

Astrology

49

Classifieds

Visual Arts: Art Gone Wild, 30 Sunrises in 30 Days

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O K L A H O M A G A Z E T T E | AU G U S T 1 3 , 2 0 1 4 | 3

NEWS EDUCATION

Rise above

OKC schools are using a new program to boost the character of student athletes.

Oklahoma City Public Schools Athletic Director Keith Sinor believes the winat-all-costs mentality of professional and collegiate sports has crept into high school athletics and that prep sports need a renewed commitment toward characterbuilding, not just points, statistics and scholarships.

“High school sports, in years past, was about building character and really trying to help the athlete grow as an individual,” Sinor said. “Somewhere along the way, we have lost that ... it’s become more about the wins and losses.”

After experimenting with the program in a few schools last year, the Oklahoma City Public School district unveiled Elevate to all its high school coaches this summer. Elevate assists high school coaches in recognizing character in athletes and guiding teams through a weekly curriculum.

“We want them to add this to their practice planning,” Sinor said about the Elevate program, which launches this fall. “Do a little bit less work on the fundamentals and take about 10 minutes out of their practice time to implement this.”

At a meeting with coaches last month, Sinor passed out boxes to each athletic program. Inside each box was a DVD offering training to coaches, commitment cards for athletes to sign and 10 large gold coins representing different character traits.

“Sports cannot create character, but coaches can,” said Nathan Mellor with the Academy of Sports and Character, the Oklahoma City-based organization that created Elevate. “The idea is to focus on character with students. We want coaches to be able to catch their students doing it right.”

During the high school sports season, each coach will hand out one coin a week based on that week’s theme, which will include alertness, courage, determination, responsibility, honesty, self-control, loyalty, flexibility, enthusiasm and respect. For example, during the self-control week, a coach will award the player who exhibited the most self-control with a C3 coin, and each school is encouraged to promote the award online and throughout the school.

“We are very excited about this program that we have been working on for several months, and really for more than a year,” Mellor said. “Oklahoma City is a special pace to all of us, and part of what

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SHANNON CORNMAN

BY BEN FELDER

From left Northwest Classen High School Coach Cindi George with Elevate gold medal awards and student athlete Yasmin Lopez, 16, a sophomore.

Last year, Yasmin won the courage award. we want it to be known for is the athletes we produce and the character they have.”

In action

Cindi George, a softball and girl’s soccer coach at Northwest Classen High School, was one of a few coaches to try the program last year.

“It reminds you on a daily basis to focus on these aspects,” she said.

George worked the character traits into her practices and even remembers picking up her Elevate book during a post-game meeting.

“I can recall a time where we were in a tournament and we had really played very poorly one day,” George said. “I remember picking up my Elevate book and said, ‘You

guys aren’t even going by this.’”

The next day, George heard some of her players yelling out, “Elevate,” during practice in an effort to motivate and encourage each other.

Each high school will also receive a banner for athletes to sign, committing them to play with character.

“You hear all the time about the wins and losses, but we feel the lessons the kids need to learn [are] the character aspects,” Sinor said. “We want to equally recognize those aspects. They are of equal importance [to athletic ability], if not more important.”

The launch

The Academy of Sports and Character is a division of Strata Leadership, an

organization providing character-based leadership resources to companies.

Oklahoma City is the first district to embrace the Elevate program, which was funded by the Wes Welker Foundation, a nonprofit launched by the NFL and college football standout from Oklahoma.

“This is probably the most exciting thing we have done since we created the Wes Welker Foundation about a decade ago,” said Lee Welker, brother of Wes and one of the founders of the organization.

Lee Welker said he coached for several years at Heritage Hall High School, where he learned how important coaches are in a student’s life.

“Coaches just have the ability to make such a huge impact in kids’ lives,” Lee Welker said. “[Coaches] have a million things on your mind, and maybe the last thing on your mind is, ‘How am I going to create character in my kids?’ This helps you do this.”

For those who doubt the need for character-building in high school sports, there are no shortage of examples from college and professional ranks that highlight how sports, like every other facet of life, can fall victim to unethical behavior.

In addition to highlights and scores on ESPN, it seems an equal amount of coverage is paid to DUIs, domestic abuse and other legal and moral ills. But character-building in high school sports isn’t merely about helping future collegiate and professional stars.

Most high school athletes will not take their talents to the next level and will instead become doctors, teachers, police officers and nearly every other common American profession.

“We talk to employees who say the kids that played sports in high school are better employees, and there is a reason for that,” Mellor said.

While there are plenty of examples of a lack of character in professional sports, Mellor reminded coaches last month that moments of character by the biggest stars of sports can also be found.

“Would you have wanted Kevin Durant to be your son after standing up there and giving that speech? How come?”

Mellor asked about Durant’s 2014 NBA Most Valuable Player acceptance speech, which drew attention for his focus on his teammates and family. “Character. It’s because he showed character.”

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NEWS POLITICS

Fond farewell Coburn’s rock star status was on full display during a recent town hall meeting.

BY BEN FELDER

Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Oklahoma, is a rock star — at least to the mostly older, ultra-conservative crowd that showed up for one of his final town hall meetings as a U.S. senator last week.

That’s not to say his appeal doesn’t transcend to conservatives, or even a few progressives, of all ages. For an older generation of Oklahomans who are filled with distrust for the federal government and a strong dislike — if not fear — of the direction of the country, Coburn’s brash anti-spending approach is a message many in this Republican state latch on to.

During one of several town hall meetings across the state last week, Coburn answered questions from a crowd of nearly 200 — many of which offered strong words of praise for his willingness to call out Washington DC for its high-spending ways — at Oklahoma City Community College.

However, for all his appeal to the far right, Coburn’s style and talking points are not merely made up of the partisan pandering that has become the norm on Capitol Hill.

Coburn is willing to talk of bipartisanship and compromise.

When town hall questions appeared to be based on information from conservative cable news, Coburn was quick to denounce it.

He steered clear of any fearmongering, at least when he wasn’t talking about the nation’s crippling debt, which he said could be the demise of the country.

“I’m not known as an insider in the Senate,” Coburn said. “But I’m also known as a compromiser.”

“He has done a lot [wrong], but so have Republican presidents,” Coburn said to a question about Obama’s use of executive orders. “The president and I obviously have a different philosophy … but I respect him as a man.”

Coburn said he supported the Republican Congress’ attempt to sue Obama and continually said the nation was faced with a lack of leadership. But on some matters, such as the conflict in the Middle East, he came short of throwing blame to the White House.

“I don’t blame our administration because of what’s going on in Gaza … that’s been going on for a long time,” Coburn said.

and left many who will miss the man who ripped up a giant credit card on the Senate floor and puts out annual waste books highlighting what he sees as unnecessary and absurd government spending.

“I think I can have a greater influence outside of the Senate than what I can in,” Coburn said. “As I look at our country today, what is really missing is competence, trust [in our leadership] and the idea that we can really accomplish what we set our mind to do. The reason that’s there is we have had failed leadership, Republican and Democrat alike.”

Respect

Dr. No

Coburn has never been one to bask in the glitz of DC. In his book on the celebrity and self-centered culture of Washington, New York Times journalist Mark Leibovich wrote about Coburn being an anti-establishment figure.

“It is one parasite feeding off another parasite,” Coburn said in the book This Town, speaking about the parties, balls and other social events that are the norm in the nation’s capital. “The reason you attach yourself to someone else is so you can gain something yourself.”

The doctor likes using medical analogies to describe the Washington

Coburn said one of his proudest achievements as a senator has been a willingness to work with others, even those who disagree with him politically.

“I like the Republican label, but that doesn’t always mean it’s right,” Coburn said.

Some questions from the audience were laced with criticism of President Barack Obama, and many of Coburn’s own negative comments about the president were met with applause. But Coburn did not look for cheap applause lines through Obama-bashing and even defended the president at times.

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Tom Coburn speaks last week during a town hall meeting in the Oklahoma City Community College Visual and Performing Arts Center.

Many of those with questions also told Coburn they were thankful for his courage in the Senate.

What is viewed as courage by his supporters might be seen as obstructionism by his opponents.

During his 10 years in the Senate, Coburn has earned his nickname, Dr. No, through a willingness to see legislation and budgets brought to a halt due to a lack of focus on cutting the national debt.

His decision to leave the Senate following the end of this year created a musical chair effect on local elections

Celebrity

culture, which he sees as being plagued with a cancer that is not getting better.

Coburn was a bit of a trailblazer in his style and approach when he was first elected to the Senate. It’s a posture that has competition.

“Other conservatives — like Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Mike Lee of Utah — are stepping up to replace [Coburn],” wrote Burgess Everett in Politico. “Taking Coburn’s confrontational style to an entirely new level.”

Some of the new “confrontational” lawmakers, like Cruz, have even pushed the needle in such a way that Coburn has been accused of being part of the Republican establishment.

Calling Coburn an established politician might be considered the biggest insult to the Oklahoma senator, but no one at last week’s town hall was ready to call him that.

At the end of the meeting, the crowd gave Coburn a standing ovation, and his exit was delayed as he worked his way through a crowd looking to shake hands and even take a selfie or two with the senator.

It was a rock star exit for a man who can make conservatives swoon, and there was a lot of swooning last week.

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Classy

Oklahoma City Public Schools Superintendent Robert Neu

BE N FE L DE R

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BY BEN FELDER

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The race for Oklahoma governor is well underway as Gov. Mary Fallin and Democratic challenger Rep. Joe Dorman are in full campaign mode.

Fallin hit the road last week in a campaign RV, stopping in towns to tout the state’s economic growth under her watch. Dorman has been traveling the

Mary Fallin

Joe Dorman

state for several months, but he unveiled his first commercial last week claiming he was the right candidate to address the state’s education problems.

By the numbers

No. 2. That’s where Oklahoma City ranks on a list of the most conservative cities in America.

A national survey conducted by Chris Warshaw of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Chris Tausanovitch from the University of California at Los Angeles was published by the American Political Science Review. The survey ranked the nation’s largest cities on a political scale.

Mesa, Arizona, came in at No. 1. The most liberal cities were San Francisco, Washington DC and Seattle. Only 11 cities lean conservative, while more than two-thirds of the cities lean liberal.

Say what?

“It is a blasphemous and obscene inversion of the Catholic Mass,” said Paul Coakley, archbishop of Oklahoma City, in response to a Black Mass event scheduled for next month.

Coakley asked the city of Oklahoma City, which operates Civic Center Music Hall, where the event is taking place, to kick out the satanic group. City officials said the U.S. Constitution prevents that from happening, and Coakley has planned a series of prayer events to combat the event.

PROVID ED

After months of conference room meetings, policy discussions and the other administrative duties of a school superintendent, Robert Neu got his first real chance to interact with students, teachers and parents in a school setting.

On the first day of class on Aug. 4, as more than 43,000 students returned to school across the Oklahoma City Public Schools system, the district’s new superintendent hopped on a school bus and ate breakfast with third-graders at Mark Twain Elementary School in west OKC. “I hope to do a lot of these throughout the school year,” Neu said about his trips into schools.

At the corner of Second Street and Klein Avenue, with the early morning sun slowly rising over the city’s skyline, a few students began to make their way to the bus stop. Waiting for them was Neu. “I really want to get a feel for what’s going on in the schools,” Neu said before he boarded the yellow school bus.

Once he arrived at Mark Twain, Neu stepped off the bus and was escorted to the school’s new gym. He interacted with arriving students before joining a third-grade class — most of whom said they had come to school without anything to eat that morning — for breakfast.

“It’s actually good,” Neu said as he enjoyed a plum and breakfast pastry.

Neu said his school visit was a chance to show he cared but also an opportunity to learn more about the district he took over a few months ago.

P HOTOS BY M A RK HA N COC K / FI LE

Superintendent Neu joins students for the first day of school.

Getting schooled New district leadership works to make life easier for principals.

Susan Martin at Fillmore Elementary School.

BY BEN FELDER

It would seem impossible for Aurora Lora to learn the name of every principal she meets during her tour of each Oklahoma City public school over the next few weeks. That’s why she always snaps a photo of them with the plan of making flashcards.

As the district’s new associate superintendent of student achievement and accountability, Lora is charged with implementing districtwide curriculum and finding ways to monitor and equip principals in order to improve school effectiveness. Part of that process involves visiting every school and every principal.

Simply put, Lora is looking for ways the district can make life easier for principals. Hired in June, Lora’s arrival comes at a time of change for the OKC school district, which has also welcomed a new superintendent.

“This district has a long way to go,” Lora said following a visit to almost a quarter of the district’s schools as of last week. “When I first got here, I realized the curriculum department was almost nonexistent. The more layers I uncover, the more I realize principals and teachers have been working really hard for many years, but with very little support from central office.”

Following dozens of conversations with school principals, Lora said she has discovered a need for better curriculum management, a more efficient hiring process and quicker responses to maintenance issues.

“I know we can put the right systems in place, and I know we can figure out better ways to support our principals,” Lora said.

No easy job

“We have 900-plus kids here. I am running around doing a pretty good amount of things,” said Susan Martin, principal at Fillmore Elementary School in Oklahoma City.

If OKC Public Schools Superintendent Robert Neu has his way, that load will be lightened in the near future.

“We have to really work hard in central office to be service providers to the schools and take administrative responsibilities off the principals so they can really focus in on the instruction and leadership,” Neu said.

Last month, a plan was announced to have the district’s human resources

From left Emerson Alternative School Principal Sherry Kishore meets with Aurora Lora, the district’s new associate superintendent of student achievement. department take on a more active role in hiring teachers in an effort to alleviate the crunch principals can face when a school year is about to begin and there are still vacancies.

Neu also said his office will complete a series of audits to see where the central office can more efficiently perform the duties required of principals. Part of that audit includes Lora’s districtwide tour.

“But I can tell you early on that’s going to take some staffing up at central office,” Neu said.

The district’s central office employs 294, a number Lora says is too low for a district the size of Oklahoma City.

“Because central office has been so lean for many years, this district has been spending lots of money on contracts with vendors,” Lora said.

Martin won’t complain about her job — she loves it — but she can quickly list areas where she could use some help.

“A lot of what I have to do is make sure we are following curriculum guidelines,” Martin said. “I have the academic portion of it, and I spend a lot of time making sure [teachers have] everything they need.”

That includes providing teachers with the physical materials to teach while also ensuring that standards are met.

Neu said curriculum development and oversight will be an area the central office

gets more involved with. The district is in the process of hiring math curriculum directors, which are new positions in the district, Lora said.

Help with curriculum implementation is needed, but so is assistance with maintenance issues at school buildings.

“I think we need more maintenance people so that everything is up and running when school starts,” said Sandy Phillips, principal at Mark Twain Elementary School.

Alisa Stieg, principal of Edgemere Elementary School, said maintenance requests will be submitted to the district but there’s no way of knowing if her request has been received or how long it will take to be resolved.

That is also a problem at Fillmore.

“Maintenance issues have also become a concern for principals, and there are times when a repair doesn’t get done in time for school,” Martin said.

At Emerson High School, it sometimes means outside help.

“I’ve had my husband come up and fix something because we need it done,” Principal Sheryl Kishore said. “You just get creative.”

Ready for a change

Bolstering central office staff has been just one of several aggressive plans Neu has said he would like to implement in the

district. It’s nothing new for an incoming superintendent to announce change, but Neu’s message has been well-received by some of the district’s principals.

“I’ve [worked] in the district for 38 years, and I’ve been through 19 superintendents,” Martin said. “I have a very good feeling about this year and a very good feeling for Mr. Neu.” Kishore said she has noticed a change in philosophy in the district since the arrival of Interim Superintendent Dave Lopez, who filled in prior to Neu’s arrival.

“Everything has been different,” Kishore said. “The focus is now on ‘How can we help?’ and ‘What can we do?’ as opposed to ‘You guys aren’t doing anything’ and ‘We need to cut something.’”

Lora said she hears from principals who want more a understanding tone from the central office.

“I have had [principals] tell me, ‘Don’t judge me if I make a mistake. Don’t be so quick to think I’m terrible,’” Lora said. “To me, their work is so hard and everyone needs to be able to get coaching and training when they need it.”

Teacher hiring

Neu’s planned staffing level increases are not only aimed at the central office. He said the district will confront its teacher shortage issue head-on. That includes restructuring the human resources department to be more active in hiring teachers.

Many principals say a quicker hiring process is a big need, too.

“In a situation where you are under the gun to get school started and you have a teacher shortage, having help would be great,” Martin said. “If [central office] could get me people to interview and have already done pre-interviews with [them, that] would help.”

There’s no overnight solution or magic bullet to reforming the relationship between the district and its principals, but an effort appears to be underway to listen to concerns and respond with strategic solutions.

“There is so much change that can happen when you really understand what that work is like [for principals],” Lora said. “It’s a big job, but I’m attracted to big jobs where we can make a big difference.”

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P HOTOS BY M A RK HA N COC K

NEWS EDUCATION

CHiCKEN

FRiED NEWS

Boomer! Macarooner!

This year’s OU football team has wheels, and we’re not talking about speed.

In an unprecedentedly trendy maneuver, the OU athletics department OU has employed a food truck — you know, MENU EATS a restaurant for SOONER SCONER BARRY SCHNITZEL hipsters — to serve JASON WHITEFISH HAM BRADFORD its athletes with DRINKS BUD MILKINSON choice cuisine. The new dining option comes as a result of a new NCAA rule permitting all athletes (not just football) to receive unlimited snacks around the clock.

“We don’t have facilities in all the places they would need to be, so the idea is to have a mobile fueling station and perhaps some additional trailers that have refrigeration capabilities that can operate as a prep kitchen of sorts,” said OU Athletic Director Joe Castiglione.

Castiglione estimated the university will spend approximately $1 million to diversify its food selection, which got us thinking about potential menu offerings.

For breakfast, there’s The Sooner

Sconer; Barry Schnitzel for a midday protein boost; Jason Whitefish for omega-3 fatty acids; and the Boomer Macarooner for desert (if there’s room). Our personal favorite, though, is the Ham OU Bradford, a crimsonand-creamy take on an American classic: ham-and-cheese. And if it were up to us, there would be only one beverage option available: Bud Milkinson.

Heed our advice, Joe. If that doesn’t whip your team right into National Championship shape, nothing will.

Give me a problem and, yo, I’ll solve it

... with a machete.

A young man in Owasso was charged with assault with a deadly weapon after attempting to solve an argument with a friend with a sharpened blade. According to KJRH.com in Tulsa, 19-year-old Devin Buck attacked his friend after an altercation turned heated.

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The police found Buck at his home.

He was arrested for assault and an outstanding warrant for possession of methamphetamine. Buck stated his reason for the attack was that he was taught to “handle his own business,” apparently either by hacking his way through dense underbrush, MONDAY 8/11/14 harvesting sugar cane •GET DRUNK or watching too many Danny Trejo movies.

“She was found in a room kind of disoriented,” Police Chief Bob Haley told The Tulsa World. “By the time we got there, she was in a room and wearing shorts.”

She will most likely not be in charge of shaping the young minds of the future.

Pants-off dance off

Residents of Edmond have thrown open their windows and are hollering, “We’re as mad as hell, and we’re not going to take this anymore!” out of them.

Unlike the classic film Network, in which lead character Howard Beale gets wound up (and melts down) during a news broadcast, Edmondites are furious after a rash of car burglaries in a neighborhood.

The crime spree has widened to at least two home burglaries, as well.

“We’re really at a point of now of no tolerance,” HOA President Clay Trotter told KOCO. “Whether that be adding

The first day of school is rough on everybody, no one more than teachers.

In a report from KFOR.com, Lorie Ann Hill, 49, a teacher in Wagoner, was caught blowing off some steam in her classroom in a big way.

Officials claimed she seemed out of sorts when she showed up for the first day of work. They found Hill in an empty classroom, allegedly having a private pants-off dance off and reeking of booze.

Hill was charged with public intoxication.

Stop the “violence”

gates to the neighborhood, putting in security cameras or actually hiring armed patrol.”

But before taking guns into the streets, neighborhood residents formed a watch committee to step up security and, as KOCO reported, “stop the violence.”

Standard (influential) deviation

GARV

IN

Gov. Mary Fallin was recently named the 15th most influential woman in the GOP by a right-leaning media outlet. Among the other “winners” were Sarah Palin and some chick from Fox News. This might be something that Fallin could hang her bonnet on, but, unfortunately, Fallin placed 15th out of three women. So, it isn’t necessarily positive recognition.

What? Do you actually think there are more than three women making waves in the GOP? According to a Pew Research Center report, 37 percent of American women identify themselves as Democrats

and 24 percent identify as Republicans.

So, according to our math (which can be shaky sometimes), that means there are approximately 4.5 women in the entire Republican Party, and we heard one was disqualified from the Newsmax.com list of influential GOP women because she switched her affiliation earlier this year.

Turns out the .5 was just James Lankford dressed to impress at the HiLo for a Bang! Bang! show.

When our governor isn’t busy rejecting invites to KKK rallies in Garvin County, she uses her time to say things about tornadoes and “courageous” Oklahomans and then sometimes does contradictory things that instead might benefit big business, which qualifies her as the 15th most influential woman of the GOP, according to Newsmax.

It all adds up.

I hate this law; enforce it

Republicans claimed President Barack

Obama’s healthcare law created a burden on business owners.

Obama responded by delaying mandates on business owners, essentially doing what Republicans in Washington D.C. had been clamoring for.

Those same Republicans then sued him for not following the laws of Obamacare.

Obama just can’t win.

Rep. James Lankford, R-Oklahoma, voted with the majority of Republicans in favor of filing the lawsuit last month.

“I am humbled today to stand up for the millions of Americans who are fed up with the President’s unwillingness to faithfully execute the law,” Lankford said after the vote.

Lankford could have also said, “Americans are fed up with Obamacare, but I will sue the president for not upholding it.”

Pyrotechnic retaliation

Rejection is hard. Most people don’t take it well.

But most wouldn’t even think of

setting a fire because of it.

However, Leonard Johnson IV is not most people.

Johnson wanted to renew the sexual spark in his relationship with a lady when he went to her home and demanded entry about 11 p.m. July 29, but she refused his advances and sent him away, reported KFOR.com.

He decided to set a fire of his own.

No, not self-gratification. Well, it depends on your definition of self-gratification; he set two porch chairs aflame.

According to okcfox.com, Johnson and a friend returned to her home three hours later, and Johnson threw liquid from a bottle on two chairs on her front porch and set them ablaze while his friend watched from the street.

Luckily, the woman woke up and smelled smoke, put the fire out and called the police before the fire caused further damage.

When arrested, Johnson admitted to visiting the house in search of some sexual healing but denied returning to set the fire.

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COMMENTARY

We need long-term road solutions

BY BOBBY STEM

The federal government is driving us to a highway fiscal cliff, and, per usual, the road is paved with short-term intentions.

Failure to find a permanent solution to replenish the Federal Highway Trust Fund threatens Oklahoma’s future investment in infrastructure, road safety and economic development. In addition, delayed federal funding will have a significant negative impact on Oklahomans’ mobility and pocketbook.

Federal dollars account for 55 percent of Oklahoma’s Eight-Year Construction Plan. This plan touches all 77 counties in Oklahoma and utilizes state and federal dollars to be put into the repair, improvement and development of public infrastructure. This long-term investment will protect our daily commutes to work, improve weekend trips to Oklahoma lakes and parks and provide a prosperous future for our state.

However, should federal funding

slow or stop before 2021, the state’s ability to award contracts for needed road improvements and expansion projects will come to a rapid stop. Delays will cost time and progress to our state’s top road projects, such as the widening of Interstate 40 in Oklahoma City and repairs to Tulsa’s Interstate 244. Oklahoma drivers who depend on our roadways and bridges for personal and commercial mobility will also encounter delays from increased road volume, deteriorating road conditions and damage to their vehicles from the inability to fund needed road repairs.

The Association of Oklahoma General Contractors’ consistent efforts to upgrade the quality of the Oklahoma transportation system through the years has resulted in a significant reduction in the number of state-maintained deficient bridges, the reconstruction of thousands of miles of roadways and the completion of safety improvements that

have significantly helped our economy.

However, to achieve Oklahomans’ goals for a modern and safe transportation system, we must continue to make further improvements through the next decade, as Oklahoma’s transportation system is critical to the state’s economy and growth.

Additionally, Gov. Mary Fallin and the Oklahoma Legislature have made the necessary efforts to find funding to ensure the continued safety, quality and expansion of our roads and bridges. Their resourcefulness has created a culture of increased competition among contractors, resulting in competitive pricing for state projects and continued growth in our state’s infrastructure.

The federal government needs to make the same commitment our state has in terms of solving the depleted Highway Trust Fund. Our Oklahoma delegation has been leading this issue for several years; however, we need to

Opinions expressed on the commentary page, in letters to the editor and elsewhere in this newspaper are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of ownership or management.

have more federal officials with his longterm thinking and insight. Proposals to increase taxes on consumers of gasoline are short-term stopgaps and fail to address the realities of the modern driver. Thanks to the adoption of green technology and alternative fuels, people today are driving shorter distances and traveling on less gas. It might also surprise some that alternative fuel cars are heavier than their traditional fuel counterparts.

Added weight contributes to road wear and undermines highway pavement sustainability over time.

All of us should hope and advocate that any measures taken should be initiatives that move us further away from relying on short-term solutions. Surely the right fix is one that brings us closer to creating an educated and informed permanent solution that meets the needs of every Oklahoma driver.

Bobby Stem is executive director of the Association of Oklahoma General Contractors.

LETTERS Oklahoma Gazette provides an open forum for the discussion of all points of view in its Letters to the Editor section. The Gazette reserves the right to edit letters for length and clarity.

Letters can be mailed, faxed, emailed to jchancellor@okgazette.com or sent online at okgazette.com. Include a city of residence and contact number for verification.

Fallin’s popularity wavers

According to a recent Rasmussen poll, Governor Mary Fallin has the support of only 45 percent of likely voters. (That’s down from a high of 69 percent.) Her Democratic challenger Joe Dorman came in with 40 percent support from likely voters. That telephone survey was conducted on July 15-16.

In my opinion, the reason for her popularity plunge is, in part, because Fallin rejected an estimated $3.6 billion in federal funding to expand Medicaid in Oklahoma. This funding would have covered 200,000 adults who were too poor to buy health insurance. With no money to go to a doctor when they get sick, they wait until they’re so bad that they go to the emergency room, which is enormously expensive for us taxpayers.

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Fallin also signed a bill that keeps Oklahoma’s minimum wage at $7.25 an hour. This measure forces city and county governments in Oklahoma to keep the minimum wage at $7.25 statewide.

In conclusion, former U.S. President Ronald Reagan said, “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are ‘I’m from the government, and I’m here to help.’” How true. How true of Oklahoma with Mary Fallin as governor.

— Wanda Jo (Peltier) Stapleton Former State Representative Oklahoma City Let’s talk about human rights

For the current debate about gay marriage, let’s look back at interracial marriage. What was public opinion when courts made decisions? How did politicians and religious leaders react?

The U.S. Supreme Court called restrictions on interracial marriage unconstitutional in 1967. A nationwide Gallup Poll the next year found 20 percent of people favoring interracial marriage.

No church was ever required to perform interracial marriages. Still, nearly 30 years later, in 1995, Southern

Baptists reconsidered their staunch position to discover a holy acceptance of this type of marriage.

Looking back at this absence of marriage equality ... well, would anyone go back?

Today, various courts examine the Constitution and find again that government can’t restrict marriage between two adults. The nonpartisan Gallup Poll shows 55 percent say gay marriages should be valid.

No church is going to be required to perform gay marriages. Still, we can prayerfully hope that before 30 years passes, unwelcoming religious leaders will again examine their hearts and theology.

Fallin, Lankford and other divisive politicians seem concerned only about their next election. Meanwhile, the rest of us continue to embrace, respect and support diversity.

Oklahomans love marriage; most marriages here start by age 23, which puts us in the top five states for earliest age of first marriages. Our state is also in the top dozen highest rates for interracial (black/white) marriages, which shows a receptive “Oklahoma Standard” does bend toward justice.

— Steven Goldman Oklahoma City

S HA N N ON CORN M A N / FI L E

KORY B. OSWA LD

The best left Travis Whitmire has his hair cut by Jake Phelps as owner Jerrod Smith looks on at Weldon Jack.

A survey has found that OKC is the 10th best city in which to start a small business.

right James Helton, proprieter of Choppers Hair Design in Bethany, styles Megan Partin’s hair.

BY KORY B. OSWALD

Oklahoma City was recently named the 10th best city to start a small business in by a San Francisco-based professional services website.

After surveying more than 12,000 entrepreneurs in 82 cities nationwide, Thumbtack.com’s Small Business Friendliness Survey found OKC small business owners have a favorable opinion of the state’s small business environment.

The survey examined business owners’ views of the tax code, health and safety, labor and hiring and licensing and zoning regulations, among other categories.

Oklahoma City scored A’s in the areas of overall friendliness toward small businesses, zoning and licensing laws and training and networking programs; the latter was rated No. 3 in the nation.

The state’s licensing forms, requirements and fees and the “friendliness” of the tax code and other tax-related regulations were among the largest factors determining a city’s “overall friendliness” to small businesses, according to the survey.

Jerrod Smith, proprietor of Weldon Jack, a men’s barber and handmade aesthetics shop, agrees with the survey’s findings overall but pointed to the difference between being “friendly” to small businesses and investing in them.

“The way a community thrives is when you’re investing not only care and concern in a business but putting your money where your mouth is,” he said.

By the numbers The Thumbtack report found that 63 percent of small business owners in OKC believe they pay the “right share of taxes,” earning the city a B in the tax code friendliness category, which is something that Smith also agreed with.

“I think the way [taxes] work is fair,” he said. “I have not had any problems with it.”

Grading cities in 38 states, the study asked 12,632 business owners and operators questions based on 11 metrics.

Oklahoma City scored an A to A+ in six of the categories. The city’s lowest score was a D+ for “ease of hiring,” rating the city 68th out of 82 in that category.

Smith owns and operates Weldon Jack and has not begun the hiring process, which is something he is not looking forward to doing, he said.

“The only thing that I’ve been nervous about since day one is hiring,” he said. “Because it gets a little more dramatic, especially with healthcare changing and payroll taxes. They don’t mess around with that stuff.”

James Helton, owner and operator of Choppers Hair Design, also concurred with the survey’s findings but said that he moved his shop from Oklahoma City to Bethany partly for the even greater ease of working with the smaller municipality.

“Oklahoma City is a little bit difficult for a small, small business,” Helton said. “In the grand scheme of things, we’re considered a tiny business.”

The way a community thrives is when you’re investing not only care and concern in a business but putting your money where your mouth is.

— Jerrod Smith

Where to improve Both Smith and Helton agreed that Oklahoma City could improve on its networking and training programs that are offered to small businesses. For Helton, it is a matter of training people how to actually network, whereas Smith cited a need for the city to simplify and update some of the information that is already available.

“Really, it’s the investment of how the information is disseminated. There could be really easy ways to reach people,” he said. “You almost need to make it a Opening a Small Business for Dummies in Oklahoma website.”

The U.S. Small Business Administration (USBA) typically decides if a company is a “small business” by examining whether the business is independently owned, organized for profit and not dominant

in its field.

The size of a business, the number of workers and the annual receipts are also a factor, but that is conditional to the business’ subsequent industry, according to the USBA website.

Although the survey did not include cities in all 50 states, the company believes the survey is an accurate representation of the country because it compared the data of those surveyed with public data of the general business population, which “revealed that the Thumbtack survey sample has a similar distribution to the American small business community in terms of age and size with a slight bias towards younger businesses and a general exclusion of the largest-size businesses,” according to the report.

Eighty-one percent of service businesses are non-employer firms, and 57 percent of small businesses in the survey sample reported having no employees. Nationally, 62 percent of small businesses have 1 to 4 employees, while 79 percent of businesses surveyed have the same amount.

Two percent of national businesses have 100 or more employees, compared to zero employees for those companies surveyed. Representatives in every state answered the survey, but states without at least 30 respondents were excluded from the report.

Weldon Jack is located at 3621 N. Western Ave. in Oklahoma City, and Choppers Hair Design is located at 6748 NW 39th St. in Bethany.

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Supporting KGOU is good for the community and your business!

Last year, KGOU was our only media marketing and we exceeded our yearend sales goal by 33% in September!

The effectiveness of our KGOU underwriting continues to increase.

KGOU is the ONLY media marketing we used for the summer of 2013 and we are way up for visits and sales in every category over last year!”

– Steve Winner, Director of Marketing and Sales

For the kids A local craftsman and bow tie aficionado has a new shop and line of kid’s fashion.

BY DEVON GREEN

Blue Seven Clad Stache Sugar Free Allstars Back-to-School Bash noon-2 p.m. Saturday Blue Seven 7518 N. May Ave. myblueseven.com facebook.com/TheCladStache 463-0604 Free

Taylor Hanna hated bow ties. He thought they were the opposite of cool. But, as it often happens, necessity dictated taste and fashion for Hanna when he ended up at a wedding without a tie. His dad, a bow tie aficionado from long ago, had his back.

“After some convincing, he got me into a bow tie, and as soon as I put it on, I loved it,” Hanna said.

Two years later, he is the craftsman behind The Clad Stache, handcrafted bow ties that won’t break your wallet or make you turn in your cool points.

For now, you can find his handmade items at various locations including Blue Seven, 7518 N. May Ave., and The Hub, 7 N. Lee Ave. After fully embracing the bow tie look, Hanna found the selection of outlets that carried bow ties disappointing. The bow ties were too expensive, too limited or just uncool, which is exactly what led him to dislike them in the first place.

Before creating The Clad Stache, Hanna looked into having his bow ties custom made. The manufacturer initially balked at the idea, but when they quoted a price, Hanna balked in return. He wanted a reversible bow tie, and apparently, this idea was revolutionary. After more searching and some prompting from his wife, he decided to make them himself.

His passion for bow ties also spurred him to look into other items

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above Mason Paul Cornman picks out a reversible bow tie from The Clad Stache at Blue Seven. that are worth “discovering” from the past, including handmade goods and “the barbershop look.”

“I’ve gotten more into it, the art of handmade stuff. To me, I would much rather buy something handmade,” Hanna said.

Hanna’s new shop, called The Shop on 8th, opens at 3 NE Eighth St. next month.

Customers will be able to get a shave and haircut at the shop thanks to Kenny Nunnelee, a local barber whose shingle will hang at the shop. Hanna plans to bring in other men’s services, like tailoring and shoe shines, and would love to offer cobbling as well.

Hanna is also the official bow tie maker for local “kindie rockers” Sugar Free Allstars. He said his work with the band jump-started the idea of making a line of kids clothing, including bow ties and suspenders.

Blue Seven is having a Back to School bash, and they invited Sugar Free Allstars, Twist Gourmet Pretzels and Roxy’s Ice Cream Social to help ease the pain of the new school year.

Hanna will be there teaching how to tie bow ties, and Nunnelee will be giving free haircuts. While the party will officially be from noon to 1 p.m., Hanna and Nunnelee plan to be there from about 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

P HOTOS S HA N N ON CORN M A N

“After carefully considering all traditional marketing and advertising choices in Oklahoma we chose KGOU underwriting messages to reach a large and highly discerning audience who appreciate the high level of quality and craftsmanship offered by Carlton Landing.

Office air M A RK HA N COC K

Plants do more than add color to your workspace.

BY CONRAD KERSTEN

The only thing worse than the office intern at completing reports might be the office plant. The office plant is not going to bring in new clients either. They are also awful at answering phone calls. The plant can’t even get the coffee order right.

But before you have human resources fire that shrub for its lack of productivity, keep in mind that the plant might be contributing to your office’s success.

Victor Goetz, chief operating officer of Calvert’s Plant Interiors, 5308 N. Classen Blvd., said studies show that certain plants are able to improve the air quality. Calvert’s has been locally owned and operated for more than 30 years.

Located on the historic Rey Nursery, Calvert’s specializes in interiorscaping for homes and offices.

Plants do more than convert carbon dioxide into oxygen. A study from Green Plants for Green Buildings, an organization that Calvert’s is a member of, said that the air in plant-filled rooms contains 50-60 percent fewer diseasecausing bacteria and mold than rooms without plants. With fewer toxins in the air, employees are more likely to be productive. The same study showed that employees are more productive and less stressed when plants are in the office.

Goetz explained that there are microbes in the soil of plants. These microbes work with the root systems of plants to clean things like formaldehyde out of the air.

Green Plants for Green Buildings lists the peace lily and the English ivy, among others, as plants that remove higher amounts of toxins from the environment.

“It has been proven that the air quality goes up [with plants inside],” said Barry Fox, chief grower of Trochta’s Flowers and Garden Center, 6700 N. Broadway Extension.

Trochta’s has been growing plants and flowers in Oklahoma City since the 1950s.

“It has been recommended to have at least a 6-and-a-half-inch pot per 100 square feet of ... space,” Fox said.

Even if your plants are not excellent at cleaning the air, any plant is better than none.

“All plants are mother nature’s air filter,” said Kristy Rutland, greenhouse manager at TLC Garden Center, 105 W. Memorial Road.

WHY PLANTS ARE GOOD FOR OFFICES

1. They decrease stress and enhance productivity.

2. They create a more attractive environment for potential employees.

3. They purify the air.

4. The keep the “outdoors” in the minds of workers. (Think about that proverbial window people need to look out every once in awhile.)

5. Research has shows that shoppers are willing to pay more for goods in areas that include trees, even small ones.

Sources: Plantcultureinc.com, earth911.com, greenplantsgreenbuildings.com, bayeradvanced.com

Rutland has worked at locally owned TLC for 12 years and has a degree in horticulture. TLC Garden Center specializes in bed design, floral design and landscaping.

Plants do more than clean the air.

Rutland said plants can also help lighten the mood in an office. Employees in an office with plants might be able to concentrate better, according to Green Plants for Green Buildings.

Rutland said it is important to make sure that the plants match the environment that they are in and certain plants will work better in different offices compared to others.

Rutland suggests the pothos ivy or sansevieria for their ease of care.

Also, shops like Marcum’s Nursery, with locations in both OKC and Norman, offer pots of all sizes, shapes, colors and materials. Its plant offerings include everything from hearty, healing aloe varieties (in case an employee needs a natural skin remedy) to sunny blackeyed susans and even indoor ficus trees and ginger plants. “[Calvert’s] difference is we have trained horticulturists taking care of our plants,” Goetz said.

Fox said that the care they show will help those without a green thumb find plants that are appropriate for their environment.

“These local stores, like Trochta’s, take pride in having knowledge of our plants,” Fox said. “We want our customers to be successful with what they buy here.”

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Belly Dancing Saturdays • 8:30

OKG picks are events

recommended by Oklahoma Gazette editorial staff members.

For full calendar listings, go to okgazette.com.

6014 N. May • 947-7788 www.zorbasokc.com

BOOKS

Cory Doctorow Q&A, sci-fi author, activist, journalist and blogger discusses new-media issues, 10 a.m., Aug. 13. Southern Oaks Library, 6900 S. Walker Ave. 631-4468, metrolibary.org. WED

Story Time with Julie, hear the best and newest children’s books, 10:15 a.m., Aug. 16. Full Circle Bookstore, 1900 Northwest Expressway 842-2900, fullcirclebooks.com. SAT

2 FREE E-Liquid Flavors and a Spare Atomizer

WHEN YOU BUY ANY TANK IN THE STORE *LIMIT 5ML SIZE*

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Stand By Me, (U.S., 1986, dir. Rob Reiner) a writer relives a journey from his past after the death of a close friend, 9 p.m., Aug. 13. Myriad Botanical Gardens, 301 W. Reno Ave., 445-7080, myriadgardens.org. WED

P ROVI DED

FILM

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

Boyhood, (U.S., 2014, dir. Richard Linklater) shot over 12 years, critically acclaimed film follows Mason on his journey as a young child into adulthood, 7:30 p.m., Aug. 14-16; 2 p.m., Aug. 17. Oklahoma City Museum of Art, 414 It has been a quarter of a century since Indiana Jones graced the big screen — Couch Drive, 236-3100, okcmoa.com. THU–SUN unless you count 2008’s Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (which

Despicable Me 2, (U.S., 2013, Pierre Coffin, Chris we don’t). Nevertheless, see the third installment of Steven Spielberg’s legendary Renaud) Gru is recruited by the Anti-Villain league to help deal with a new super villain, 9 p.m., Aug. 15. franchise, starring Harrison Ford and Sean Connery, 7 p.m. Tuesday at Harkins Myriad Botanical Gardens, 301 W. Reno Ave., 445-7080, Bricktown Cinema, 150 E. Reno Ave. Tickets are $5. Call 231-4747 or visit myriadgardens.org. FRI

harkinstheatres.com.

The Land Before Time, (U.S., 1988, dir. Don Bluth) classic tale of orphan dinosaurs traveling the ruins of their world in an attempt to survive, 9 p.m., Aug. 16.

Tuesday Myriad Botanical Gardens, 301 W. Reno Ave., 445-7080, myriadgardens.org. SAT

Live on the Plaza, see the best of what the Plaza District El Reno Block Party, featuring live entertainment, food

has to offer, 6-10 p.m., Aug. 8. The Plaza District, 1618 N. trucks and family-friendly activities, 6-9 p.m., Aug. 16.

Gatewood Ave., 367-9403, plazadistrict.org. FRI Downtown El Reno, cityofelreno.com. SAT

Oklahoma Professional Sales Association (OKPSA) Festival of Hope 2014, celebrating the power of hope Luncheon, Michael Byrnes, the President and General and to honor those who improve the quality of life Manager of the OKC RedHawks is the August speaker, for people in Oklahoma, 6:30 p.m., Aug. 15. National 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m., Aug. 20. Devon Tower, 333 W. Sheridan Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, 1700 NE 63rd

Ave. WED St.478-2250, nationalcowboymuseum.org. FRI Eat For Your Good Health, tips for planning healthy,

delicious and quick-to-fix budget-friendly meals,

10 a.m., Aug. 13, 20. Buy For Less, 3501 Northwest Expressway. WED, WED

Midtown Market at Saints, fresh, Oklahoma-grown produce, meats, dairy, baked goods, honey and prepared foods such as salsa, jam, jelly and relish, 1 p.m., Aug. 15. Midtown Market, NW 9th St. and Walker Ave. FRI

Roasting & Cupping Workshop, get an inside scoop on the coffee roasting process followed by a coffee cupping session of current crops, 2 p.m., Aug. 16. Coffee Slingers, 1015 N. Broadway Ave. 606-2763, coffeeslingers.com.

SAT

Why Wait: Choose Your Weight, step-by-step approach to managing a healthy weight, 2 p.m., Aug. 18.

Buy For Less, 3501 Northwest Expressway. MON

The ABCs of What you Eat: Melons, sample a variety of melons, learn the nutritional benefits, how to select and store prior to using and ideas for serving in this class, 12 a.m., Aug. 19. Buy For Less, 3501 Northwest Expressway.

TUE

Eat for Your Good Health: Fiber, what fiber is, why it’s important and where to get it, 2 p.m., Aug. 19. Buy For Less, 3501 Northwest Expressway. TUE

HAPPENINGS

GILENYA® Go Program™ Event

An opportunity to meet Gabriel Pardo, MD, learn about perscription GILENYA, and connect with people in your community.

8/29/14 at 12:00pm

Paseo Grill 2909 Paseo Drive, Suite A Oklahoma City, Ok 73103 Tell or bring a friend!

Accessible to people with disabilities.

Light meal will be served.

Parking will be validated. Space is limited.

Please RSVP by calling

1-866-682-7491

You are encouraged to report negative side effects of prescription drugs to the FDA.

GILENYA is a registered trademark of Novartis AG. GO PROGRAM is a trademark of Novartiz AG.

Novartiz Pharmaceuticals Corporation East Hanover, New Jersey • 07936 ©2013 Novartis

1/13

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FOOD

PROVIDED

Your invited to join us at a

Premiere on Film Row

YOUTH

Almost exactly one year ago, Premiere on Film Row ... premiered. To celebrate, the resilient district’s monthly celebration gets even more ambitious, with a Wizard of Oz-themed block party in an attempt to break the world record for largest gathering of people dressed as characters from the film. Oh yeah. There will also be food trucks and live music. So dress up and follow the Yellow Brick Road 6-10 p.m. Friday along W. Sheridan Ave. between Dewey and Shartel avenues. Admission is free. Call 235-3500 or visit facebook.com/filmrowokc.

Blue Seven Clad Stache Sugar Free Allstars Back-toSchool Bash, celebrate the beginning of the school year with food trucks, free haircuts and more, 2 p.m., Aug. 16.

Blue Seven, 7518 N. May Ave., 604-5199, myblueseven. com. SAT

David Payne’s Wild Weather Camp, learn about Oklahoma weather and proper safety procedures, 10 a.m., Aug. 20. Science Museum Oklahoma, 2100 NE 52nd, 602-6664, sciencemuseumok.org. WED

Friday

CAll TO COMPARE OUR EvERyDAy lOw RATES

MICRODERMABRASION $30 First Treatment $200 Package of 5 MICRODERMABRASION ADD-ONS $10 Glycolic Peel $20 Jessner’s Peel

PERMANENT MAKEUP

Way Back Wednesdays at the Zoo, rolling back prices, guests of all ages get in the gate for $1, children two and under are free, Aug. 20.

Oklahoma City Zoo, 2000 Remington, 424-3344, okczoo.com. WED

• $250 Eyeliner • $250 Eyebrows • $350 Full Lips • $250 Lip Liner

JUVEDERM • RADIESSE

PERFORMING ARTS

Rob Little, stand up comedy, 8 p.m., Aug 13-14; 8, 10:30 p.m., Aug. 15-16; 8 p.m., Aug. 17. Loony Bin Comedy Club, 8503 N. Rockwell Ave. 239-4242, loonybincomedy.com. WED-SUN

BOTOX Always $10 Per Unit

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Introductory Offers: Two 30 min. sessions of SlimSonix Ultra ONLY $119.00 Two 20 min. sessions of RF Skin Tightening ONLY $99.00 Two 1 hr. sessions combination SlimSonix Ultra and RF ONLY $199 Two free treatments with any membership or any package until August 31st

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Lysistrata, a musically comedic sex farce in which the women of Greece go on a sex strike in efforts to end war, 8 p.m.-10 p.m., Aug. 15-16. Reduxion Theatre Company, 1613 N. Broadway Ave., 6513191, reduxiontheatre.com. FRI-SAT Ryan Drake: A Live Album Recording, local comedian records his first live album with support from Spencer Hicks and Brett James, 7:30 p.m., Aug. 18, Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center, 3000 General Pershing Blvd., 951-0000. MON Rick Guiterrez, stand up comedy, 8 p.m., Aug. 20.

Loony Bin Comedy Club, 8503 N. Rockwell Ave. 239-4242, loonybincomedy.com. WED

ACTIVE

Guided Meditation Classes, classes designed for people interested in connecting to the divine through the art of mindful meditation, 7-8 p.m., Aug. 13. Labyrinth Temple, 417 NW 25th St. WED

BIG STOCK.COM

OKC Energy vs. Arizona SC, men’s professional soccer, 7 p.m.–9 p.m., Aug. 14 . Pribil Stadium, 801 NW 50th St., energyfc.com. THU

Bright Night of Star Wars Is The Force with your child(ren)?

Then take your young Jedi Knights to Bright Night of Star Wars, a sleepover during which kids and adults can dress up as their favorite character and learn the ways of The Force. Bring your sleeping bag or air mattress 7 p.m.-7 a.m. Friday– Saturday to Science Museum Oklahoma, 2100 NE 52nd St. Admission is $25-$45. Call 6023760 or visit sciencemuseumok.org.

Friday–Saturday

O K L A H O M A G A Z E T T E | AU G U S T 1 3 , 2 0 1 4 | 1 7

THE

BEST SERVICE

continued Rage in the Cage XXX, live mixed martial arts competition, 8 p.m., Aug. 15. Farmers Public Market, 311 S. Klein Ave., 232-6506, okcfarmersmarket.com.

FRI

C.J. Bradford Demonstration, nationally renowned artist who works in pen and ink as well as watercolors, 1 p.m., Aug. 17. The Summer Wine Art Gallery, 2928 B Paseo St. SUN

OKC Energy vs. Los Angeles Galaxy II, men’s professional soccer, 7-9 p.m., Aug. 16. Pribil Stadium, 801 NW 50th St., energyfc.com SAT

Conspicuous Caffeination, stunning mesas and ordered lines of cedars of New Mexico sparked Bruce’s creative urge. Gray Owl Coffee, 223 E. Gray St., Norman, 701-2929.

The Blaze 5k, experience a run on the peaceful Oklahoma River Trails to benefit those in need of prosthetic care, 8 p.m., Aug. 16. Chesapeake Boathouse District, 725 S. Lincoln Blvd. 722-6113, boathousedistrict.org. SAT OKC Redhawks vs. El Paso Chihuahuas, minor league baseball, 7:05 p.m., Aug. 20. Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark, 2 S. Mickey Mantle Dr. 218-1000, bricktownokc.com. WED

Dian Church, sometimes graphically realistic, sometimes totally abstract always with an emphasis on design and color. Norman Santa Fe Depot, 200 S. Jones Ave., Norman, 307-9320, pasnorman.org.

42 Years of Art & Artists in the Edmond Area, depicting historical information about the Edmond Arts Association and showcasing current members’ works. Edmond Library, 10 S. Boulevard St., Edmond, 341-9282, metrolibrary.org.

Formed in Stone, the natural beauty of fossils. Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History, 2401 Chautauqua Ave., Norman, 325-4712, snomnh.ou.edu.

VISUAL ARTS

Just South of 4th Street on I-35 in Moore Movie Line:

( 405 ) 703-3777 • WarrenTheatres.com

Anji Bryner, works primarily in oils but incorporates other media into her work, including acrylics, watercolor and mixed media. Gallery 66, 6728 NW 39th Expressway, Bethany, 314-2430, gallery66ok. com.

Aquaticus: An Ocean on the Prairie, exhibit includes information on the building of the Midwest’s only major aquarium in the 1980s. Oklahoma City Zoo, 2000 Remington, 424-3344, okczoo.com.

Art After Noon, 30-minute discussions about landscape paintings from the museum’s permanent collection, 12:30 p.m., Aug. 19. Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, 555 Elm Ave., Norman, 325-3272, ou.edu/ fjjma. TUE Art Gone Wild: Paintings by OKC Zoo animals, pieces of art created by the Zoo’s own talented animal artists made especially for the show with some help from their care givers. AKA Gallery, 3001 Paseo St., 6062522, akagallery.net.

T THES BUILPUBLIPCM a HE R 6 5 RT S

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Ladylike, work evolves from themes of female body image, feminine stereotypes, eating and domesticity.

IAO Art Gallery, 706 W. Sheridan Ave., 232-6060, iaogallery.org.

New West, featuring emerging and established artists from New Mexico, Texas, Arizona, Utah, Wyoming, Idaho, Kansas and Oklahoma. Acosta Strong Fine Art, 7302 N. Western Ave., 464-9719, johnbstrong.com.

Oklahoma Art Great and Small, small works show by members of the Oklahoma Art Guild.

Contemporary Art Gallery, 2928 Paseo St., 601-7474, contemporaryartgalleryokc.com.

Power Play, exhibit explores human physiology and the power of the human body. Science Museum Oklahoma, 2100 NE 52nd St., 602-6664, sciencemuseumok.org.

Air Sex Championships Have you ever had air sex? You know — like air guitar, but more ... sensual.

Then you’ll enjoy the Air Sex Championship Tour, which has left a deep, long-lasting impression on those who witness its vulgar, often tasteless brand of performance art.

You, too, can partake in this orgy of hilarity, hosted by comedian Chris Trew, 8 p.m.

Saturday at Opolis, 113 N. Crawford Ave., in Norman. Tickets are $8.

Visit airsexworld.com.

Saturday

www.uco.edu/passport U N I V E R S I T Y

Kim Robbins: Blossoms for the Soul, Robbins masterfully captures nature and adds her own unique flair through digital processing. Crystal Bridge Tropical Conservatory, 301 W. Reno Ave., 297-3995, myriadgardens.com.

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Georgiana Stewart, artist uses color and form to communicate the beauty and emotion in the people, objects, and amazing land and seascapes around her.

Contemporary Art Gallery, 2928 Paseo St., 601-7474, contemporaryartgalleryokc.com.

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Emerging Artist Showcase, featuring artist and cloudscaper David Holland. Acosta Strong Fine Art, 7302 N. Western Ave., 464-9719, johnbstrong.com.

AIR SEX CHAMPIONSH IPS / PH OTO ILLU STRATION

Brandice Guerra’s Wunderkammer/Totemic Taxonomy, a wondrous display of art and natural history curiosities and a collaboration between Pete Froslie and Cathleen Faubert, where totems are explored in the current context of the 21st century.

Science Museum Oklahoma, 2100 NE 52nd St., Oklahoma City, 602-6664, sciencemuseumok.org.

Pa

Contemporary Flora, exhibit by Linda Hiller is all about bright colors, bold forms and modern beauty.

Summer Wine Art Gallery, 2928 B Paseo St., 831-3279, summerwinegallery.com.

O K L A H O M A

P R OVI DE D

Drag Float!

PREPARATION • PROTECTION PEACE OF MIND

Alfred Hitchcock’s Lifeboat, ’70s disaster movies and drag queens. No, it’s not a day in the life of a Gazette employee, but it’s not far off. That’s how playwright Robert Matson describes Drag Float!, his bombastic adult-themed comedy. See the dinner theater production 6:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday at The Boom, 2218 NW 39th St. Tickets are $15. Call 562-6877 or visit theboomokc.com.

Friday–Saturday

Shifting Frontiers, consists of cowboy portraits and rugged Western landscapes. Gaylord-Pickens Oklahoma Heritage Museum, 1400 Classen Blvd., 2354458, oklahomaheritage.com.

Spacial Recognition, two innovative artists exploring the nature of spaces, both those surrounding us and those within us. In Your Eye Studio & Gallery, 3005-A Paseo St., 525-2161, inyoureyegallery.com.

Small Works, selections from the Oklahoma Art Guild.

Contemporary Art Gallery, 2928 Paseo St., 601-7474, contemporaryartgalleryokc.com.

This is Our Oklahoma Land, Kimberly Baker specializes in photographing Oklahoma Landscapes.

200 S. Jones Ave., Norman, 307-9320, pasnorman.org.

SE HABL A ESPAÑOL 3445 W. MEMORIAL ROAD, SUITE H, OKLAHOMA CITY

MIKE FUH R

WWW.MAZAHERILAW.COM • 405.414.2222

Nature in Art Series Mike Fuhr is many things: accomplished photographer, state director of The Nature Conservancy of Oklahoma — you know, the usual stuff. And now you can see his gorgeous, inspirational works of art as part of the Nature in Art Series, a one-night event showcasing the beauty of our natural surroundings. The installation is from 6 to 7:30 p.m.

Thursday at The Nature Conservancy of Oklahoma, 408 For OKG NW Seventh St. Admission is free. Call 918-585-1117 or visit nature.org/oklahoma. music picks

Thursday

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Summertime sipping

4

1. Raspberry Wheat, served

by Crystin Andeel at Belle Isle Restaurant & Brewing Company, 1900 NW Expressway.

2. Bartender Nathan Porter with a Prairie Bomb! Artisan Ale at Picasso Cafe.

3. Bartender Matt Ramage serves up a Mustang Washita Wheat at Upper Crust Wood Fired Pizza.

4. Coy Nichols presents an Old King Kölsch at Bricktown Brewery.

Here are seven beers you must imbibe before summer’s end.

BY ANGELA BOTZER

Beer and summer go together. The foamy, fermented beverage brewed from malted grain has been around for thousands of years. Hops were introduced in the 15th century, in England, and we’ve been happy about it ever since. Summer beers are usually hoppy, light, wheaty and often a bit fruity, but other varieties of brewskies are also suitable for summer.

Belle Isle’s Raspberry Wheat

For a homegrown local, Belle Isle’s Raspberry Wheat has just a hint of raspberry in a malted golden wheat ale.

Fruity ales can be a bit cloying at times, but not this one. The raspberry tartness is very subtle. There are also Belle Isle IPAs (India Pale Ales) to choose from.

IPA is currently a big fad.

“We sell a ton of it during the summer,” said bartender Crystin Andeel at Belle Isle Restaurant and Brewing Company, 1900 Northwest Expressway. Stop in at Belle Isle for the brewpub scavenger hunt on Thursdays, live music on Fridays and Saturdays, and a tour of the brewery on Sundays.

Prairie Bomb!

A summer beer doesn’t necessarily need to be light, and Oklahoma-brewed Prairie Bomb! by Prairie Artisan Ales perfectly balances a robust flavor with the season.

“We sell a lot of this. It’s very popular, even throughout the summer,” said Nathan Porter, bartender at the delightfully eclectic Picasso Cafe, 3009 Paseo St. Prairie Bomb is a stout with hints of coffee, chocolate and ancho chili peppers. Pair this with a light summer salad and you’re ready for whatever the season brings.

Mustang Washita Wheat

While you’re on a mission for the supreme summertime uber pizza, check out the beer selection at Upper Crust Wood Fired Pizza, 5860 N. Classen Blvd.

“The Mustang Washita Wheat is one of the most talked-about beers

here,” said bartender Matt Ramage.

This local craft beer is brewed with Oklahoma red wheat, producing a sweet, smooth summer brew. A signature Margherita pizza would be a sublime pairing.

Old King Kölsch

Old King Kölsch is a merry beer brewed at Bricktown Brewery, 1 N. Oklahoma Ave. It’s brewed in the Kölsch style, with a yeast having qualities of both a lager and an ale. It’s an easy-to-drink craft beer; get it to-go in a growler for your next picnic.

Regional beers

“We have White Rascal on tap, a Belgianstyle wheat beer, ideal for summer,” said Shavonne McRee, manager at Drunken Fry, 5100 Classen Circle.

Brewed in Boulder, Colorado,

by Avery Brewing Company, this unfiltered beer (you might see yeast at

The Mustang Washita Wheat is one of the most talked-about beers here.

— Matt Ramage

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the bottom of the glass) offers hints of coriander and orange. And there’s no food pairing more perfect than french fries with one of Drunken Fry’s 17 varieties of dipping sauce. Try the No. 15 Sunday Morning Coming Down, a dip-worthy bloody mary ketchup sauce.

Next, stop in at a classic local haunt, the Skirvin Hilton Hotel, 1 Park Ave., for perfect summertime refreshment. The elegant Red Piano Lounge offers a brisk Boulevard Unfiltered Wheat Beer that is excellent for summer sipping. This Kansas City, Missouri, craft beer has citrusy overtones that are wonderful with a tomato-basil bruschetta appetizer.

Gluten-free

Looking for a gluten-free beer?

Omission Pale Ale, brewed in Oregon, is just what the doctor ordered.

Broadway Wine Merchants, 824 N. Broadway Ave., offers an impressive selection of gluten-free beers, including the popular, hoppy Omission Pale Ale. “This tastes like what beer would taste like if it were not gluten-free,” said customer and gluten-free beer aficionado Erik Kvale.

P HOTOS BY M A RK HA N COC K

LIFE FOOD & DRINK

LIFE FOOD BRIEFS

The Wedge Pizzeria recently added more variety to its morning menu.

Jeff Longstreth, with The Wedge Pizzeria, has created a heavy metal breakfast dish.

BY DEVON GREEN

The Wedge Pizzeria, in addition to its grab-and-go breakfast, is now adding breakfast skillets to the mix. For those who would like to take a little more time in the morning, manager Jeff Longstreth has formally rolled out something he has been doing here and there for a while. Jeff ’s heavy metal skillets offer a sit-down alternative to grab-and-go, and the price is nice. For $8, you get a skillet, a veggie side and a drink.

“When I was a kid, I used to eat at places that had these, and you don’t really see them anymore,” he said.

“Since ingredients are good, produce is good, I thought it would be cool to bring them back.”

One special last week was roasted potato, pancetta and spinach. There is

always a veggie option, and of course, some substitutions are possible. You know what they say: it’s the most important meal of the day. Make it metal.

In bloom

As we move into the dog days of summer, fresh produce continues to display its seasonal rainbow on the

way to inevitable autumn. Do you know why it’s called “dog days”? It refers to the fact that Sirius, the dog star, is brightest in the night sky in our hemisphere. The Romans believed that Sirius’ rage was the cause of the hot weather.

This month, while you peruse the local farmers market, you’ll see the summer showing off with peaches, cucumbers, okra, peppers, eggplant and tomatoes. Check out any of the fabulous farmers markets in the metro, such as Brooks Farmers Market, 1205 1:00SW - 4:00Second p.m. St.; OSU-OKC Farmers Packard’s kitchen Market,new 400american N. Portland Ave.; or liveEdmond music on Farmers the patioMarket, from kyle 26reid W. First featuring john calvin abney St., in Edmond.

brunch and summer cocktails

Where’s t he wolf?

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ar and grill

Winner!

Local representative Frank D. Lucas (R) from Oklahoma’s third congressional district received a “Champion of Agriculture” award from American Agri-women (AAW).

American Agri-Women is a national coalition of women dedicated to preserving the interests of agricultural America. During its 2014 meet-up, called Fly-In to Washington, the group awarded Lucas for his dedication to agricultural interests in Oklahoma, including his position as chair of the House Committee on Agriculture. For more information about American Agri-women and its mission, please visit americanagriwomen.org.

S HA N N ON CORN M A N

Heavy metal breakfast

In their Wheelhouse S HA N N ON CORN M A N

DISCOUNT TAKEN OFF EQUAL OR LESSER PURCHASE. LIMIT 2 COUPONS PER PERSON. NOT VALID WITH ANY OTHER OFFERS. EXPIRES 8/20/14.

One local couple hopes to establish more than a pizza joint — they want a community experience.

BY DEVON GREEN

Knucks Wheelhouse 103 E. CALIFORNIA AVE. KNUCKSWHEELHOUSE.COM 605-4422

Owner Drew Mains has put a lot of hard work into what might seem like an overnight success story. Mains and his wife, Anna, also own In the Raw, another Bricktown concept. When they set out on their pizza adventure, Knucks Wheelhouse, 103 E. California Ave., their approach was slow and methodical.

“See, we’re restaurant people, but we’re not necessarily pizza people,” he said. “We spent some time in New York, of course, and even ventured out to California to see what was in pizza trends out there.”

The couple ended up doing most of their research at a pizza joint in Colorado, picking up tips and tricks along the way about toppings, recipes and cooking methods.

The result is Knucks Wheelhouse, which quietly opened in February.

For now, the couple enjoys a steady increase in business, especially in the lunch crowd around downtown. They also have quite a lot of business during the evenings because of bars in the area that don’t serve food. Drew passes out menus to the local watering holes and encourages delivery orders throughout downtown.

The menu offers a hand-tossed, New York-style crust made with COOP Native Amber ale and a variety of options for toppings.

“The Hoochie Cuchi is by far our most popular,” he said. “It’s bacon, prosciutto, mozzarella, pecorino with a marinara base and pesto sprinkled

Anna Mains, co-owner of Knucks Wheelhouse, holds a B-Bop with barbecue pork, coleslaw and sauce on top.

11AM-9PM | MON-SAT • 11AM-4PM | SUN

NW 50TH & MERIDIAN OKLAHOMASTATIONBBQ.COM 947.7277

on top.”

Have no fear; they do a brisk business with classic pepperoni as well.

Mains said that if there is anything that is more popular than their pies, it’s the duck fat truffle fries, which are quickly earning “legendary” status among diners.

The couple shops local, too.

Whenever possible, they get their spices from Savory Spice Shop OKC, 4400 N. Western Ave. Knucks offers ghost chili pork rinds that they make in-house using Savory Spice Shop’s ghost pepper salt.

“It’ll make you sweat for sure,” Drew said.

The Mains’ vision is to maintain a local friendly spot in the heart of Bricktown. Drew wants to have a restaurant that focuses on other local businesses and for which the community has a sense of ownership.

He has festooned the place with decor that speaks to local business; there is memorabilia from the Academy of Contemporary Music at the University of Central Oklahoma (which is also located nearby) on the walls and native craft beers on tap.

“We want to have a place where more local people would be proud of and want to hang out in Bricktown,” Drew said.

Knucks is open until 3 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays for hungry barflies making their way home.

O K L A H O M A G A Z E T T E | AU G U S T 1 3 , 2 0 1 4 | 2 3

FOOD

Chill out When you crave soup this time of year, it shouldn’t be boiling.

Cool options include cucumber, avocado, shrimp and more.

THE PURCHASE OF ANY ENTREE (EXCLUDES STEAKS) E X P I RE S AUG 1 8 T H , 2 0 1 4

THURS 11AM-8PM | FRI-SAT 11AM-9PM | SUN 7AM-7PM

HIGHWAY 77 & MAIN ST., MULHALL, OK

649-2229 WWW.LUCILLESOK.COM

OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK

BY GREG ELWELL

It has been an unseasonably cool summer in Oklahoma City, which doesn’t mean that much more than we’ve avoided weeklong stretches of 100-degree days.

It doesn’t always feel like an oven outside. The fire hydrants haven’t melted. Some children still have hair. But if you’re still feeling a bit overheated, maybe you need a nice bowl of soup.

We like our French onion pipinghot, and pho is best when it’s a few degrees shy of just evaporating entirely, but some soups come chilled — a nice way to lower the body temperature before heading back out into Oklahoma’s luxurious humidity.

The Metro

2701 N. Classen • 524-733 www.GrandHouseOKC.com

2541 W Main • Norman • 310-6110 www.180MeridianGrill.com

$6 Lunch Special PICK 4 ITEMS

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PHOTOS BY S HA N N ON CORN M A N

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The Metro Wine Bar & Bistro, 6418 N. Western Ave., has had two cold soups on its menu for decades, and each is painstakingly engineered for perfection.

The vichyssoise ($4 for a cup, $5 for a bowl) is a cold potato-and-leek soup heavy on the cream and smoother than a collaboration between Santana and Rob Thomas. Cold potatoes might not sound appetizing, but this soup will prove you wrong. It’s creamy but not overly thick, as gluey mashed potatoes can be. The flavor is subtle but delightful. It’s a holdover from the Metro’s origins as a French restaurant, said owner Chris Lower.

For a bit more punch and crunch,

Shrimp and avocado gazpacho with toast points from La Baguette Bistro. the chilled cucumber-avocado soup ($4 for a cup, $5 for a bowl) is a stunner.

The cucumber is diced so small it nearly disappears, but the texture and flavor remain. The avocado lends a richness and creamy nature, and the dash of paprika on top (and a bit of jalapeño inside) is colorful with just a hint of heat.

For a bit more punch and crunch, the chilled cucumber-avocado soup is a stunner.

Lower said they make 25 gallons of cucumber-avocado soup each week.

“We put it on the menu every spring and take it off every fall, and we have customers who complain for months afterward,” he said. “But I always say absence makes the heart grow fonder, so they’re very happy when it comes back the next year.”

And for those who want to make it at home, Lower said they’re happy to give out the recipe.

La Baguette

Though La Baguette Bistro, 7408 N.

THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH: A community of faith A community of love A community for everyone Inquiry classes to learn more about the Roman Catholic Church have started Sunday’s, at 5:15pm.

NW 4th Street, Oklahoma City Phone: 235-4565

St. Joseph Old Cathedral

HAPPY HOUR 2 : 00-5 : 00 Mon-Fri 2 ROLLS- $10 3 ROLLS-$13

20% OFF Entire Ticket

(excludes drinks; cannot be combined with Happy Hour prices)

May Ave., specializes in French cuisine, it is open to other European influences, especially when they taste as good as gazpacho with shrimp and avocado ($12). This robust blend of summer vegetables brings the full acidic weight of fresh tomatoes to bear on the palate.

That punch is tempered with the mild, barely sweet flavor of chilled shrimp and the mellow familiarity of avocado. The addition of seafood and fat gives an otherwise-light starter the heft to be a filling, but not heavy, summer entree.

The Lobby Bar

If you’re looking for another very summery taste, the watermelon gazpacho ($3 cup, $5 bowl) at The Lobby Cafe & Bar, 4322 N. Western Ave., should be your next stop.

Executive chef Jonathan Groth has plenty of stunning options on the menu, but before you dig in to the weekly slider, this gazpacho will set the stage for a laid-back meal.

Top Avocado cucumber soup from The Metro Wine Bar & Bistro.

Bottom Jonathan Groth, executive chef at The Lobby Cafe & Bar, presents a colorful watermelon gazpacho with cucumber and peppers.

Though the watermelon takes center stage, the soup is much more than fruit. A petite dice of bell pepper, cucumber, jalapeño and citrus are joined with watermelon and mirin (rice wine, for the uncultured, like me).

“I like the clean, refreshing flavor,” said Groth. “It is perfect on a scorching Oklahoma afternoon.”

So when the sun is beating down on you and flash-frying all the grass on your lawn, remember there’s a little bowl of heaven waiting for you in Oklahoma City. And if a gazpacho or a cup of cucumber-avocado can’t do the job, well, then I guess you’ll have to have a beer, too.

9321 N. PENNSYLVANIA AVE. CASADY SQUARE, OKC 242-2224 OPEN 7 DAYS 11AM - 9 :30PM FRI- SAT UNTIL - 10:30PM O K L A H O M A G A Z E T T E | AU G U S T 1 3 , 2 0 1 4 | 2 5

Ice cream scream No matter how sophisticated your taste buds are, nothing brings out the kid in you like ice cream. There are a bevy of metro places to get your sweet tooth satisfied, including places that specialize in gelato, Italian ice cream that’s made with milk rather than cream.

Whether you crave the flavor of the week or are devoted to the classics, these local places have the scoop for you.

Kaiser’s American Bistro 1039 N. Walker Ave. kaisersbistro.com 232-7632

The soda fountain at Kaiser’s American Bistro wasn’t created to look authentic.

It is authentic — Kaiser’s Ice Cream opened in 1918 looking out over a bustling Midtown. While the interior is charmingly nostalgic, the reason to stop by is the ice cream. It’s made fresh in-house, and there are six flavors to choose from. You can even get your scoops in a homemade waffle cone. If you’d prefer to sip your indulgence, Kaiser’s also offers homemade shakes and malts.

— by Devon Green, photos by Mark Hancock, Shannon Cornman

Braum’s Ice Cream and Dairy Store Multiple metro locations braums.com 528-3006

Sometimes we forget that Braum’s Ice Cream and Dairy Stores have always been local. Who can resist the perfect banana split? It’s made while you wait, with three scoops of any flavor, hot fudge and fresh whipped cream. If you’re thinking of branching out, Braum’s just added three new sundaes — including the colorful Birthday Cake Sundae with pound cake, the electric blue birthday cake ice cream and marshmallow topping — to its already-impressive repertoire.

Il Dolce Gelato 937 SW 25th St., Moore ildolcegelato.com 794-7266

Since 2007, owners Sommer and Neil Buss have served up thousands of scoops and even more smiles. With hundreds of flavors made in small batches, there is sure to be something for even the most fickle taste buds. There are classic flavors like stracciatella (that’s like chocolate chip) and unique combinations like strawberry balsamic. There are also exactly four variations involving the words “peanut butter.” No, they won’t let you live there. We checked.

Ali-

Fine Italian y r e h c Dining Bau in the heart of Film Row

MONDAYS BEER OLYMPICS

50¢ domestics | 10-Cl

TIPSY TUESDAY

Roll the dice for your price of domestic beer | 4p-7p Train Wreck Trivia | 9p

WILD CARD WEDNESDAY Always a party with SIN night | 10p-1a

• Hand crafted pizza • Fresh PAsta • • Delicious Sandwiches • • Refreshing GElato •

Full bar featuring COOP Ale Works & Stella Artois on tap

THIRSTY THURSDAY $1 Draws | 4-8p

FREEDOM FRIDAY

MONDAY - THURSDAY 4-10PM

Bartender’s choice Special of the day | 3p-8p

20% DINE IN ONLY

SINFUL SATURDAY

2 for 1 domestics | 12p-4p

(EXCLUDES ALCOHOL AND OTHER SPECIALS)

SUNDAY FUNDAY

Frozen Fresh Fruit Smoothies & Bloody Mary Bar | 12p-2a

2 GREAT

LOCATIONS

1200 N. Penn 405.605.3795

M - F, 3p - 2a Sat & Sun, 12p - 2a

NORTH 14101 N. May Ave, STE 117

DINE IN, CARRY OUT, AND DELIVERY

405-748-DELI (3354) Ext 2 | Mon-Sat 11am-8pm Sun 11am-3pm

700 W. Sheridan • 405-525-8503

405-748-DELI (3354) Ext 3 | Mon-Fri 7am-2:30pm

@JoeysPizzeria • Facebook.com/JoeysPizzeriaOKC 2 6 | AU G U S T 1 3 , 2 0 1 4 | O K L A H O M A G A Z E T T E

YOUR CATERER

Downtown 120 N. Robinson, STE 175W

W W W. C A F E 7 O K C . C O M

Aravalli

Roma’s Gelato

Sooner Dairy Lunch

Bricktown Candy Co.

Devon Tower 333 W. Sheridan Ave. cafearavalli.com 228-8386

301 S. Bryant Ave., Suite 130, Edmond romasgelato.com 708-6111

1820 W. Main St., Norman 321-8526

Bricktown Candy Co. 100 E. California Ave., Suite 100 bricktowncandy.com 600-9009

This little coffee shop nestled in the Devon Tower has a lot to offer, from freshly made pastries and breads to mouthwatering gelato. The gelato is made daily in small batches, so when a flavor is gone, it’s gone. But there is sure to be more than one that moves you, including the cheesecake and the salted caramel. We suggest you try them all.

For an authentic Italian experience, look no farther than Edmond. Located by the University of Central Oklahoma, Roma’s Gelato offers a daily variety of fresh gelato and (dairy-free) sorbet, including tiramisu and pistachio. New flavors are added all the time. Be sure to check out the selection of gelato popsicles or the affogato al caffe, sweet gelato swimming in a cup of steamy espresso.

Cruising Main Street in Norman, you might overlook the red-and-white-striped drive-in with the classic sign, and that would be a shame. Sooner Dairy Lunch has served Oklahoma since 1954 and has some of the best burgers and fries in the business. The real shame, however, would be missing out on one of the traditional milkshakes, which are handmade with thick, rich ice cream. Our favorite flavor is butterscotch. It’s just the thing to cool you off on a hot August afternoon.

With a dazzling assortment of candies and soda pops, Bricktown Candy Co. is heaven for your sweet tooth. There’s even a wall of mix-and-match bulk candy. There are 24 daily choices of gelato (the store makes 60 varieties, and the menu rotates), including classic flavors and not-so classic flavors like bubblegum or maple bacon. If you can’t make up your mind, try a sample or two. Also, the company makes its own root beer, Triple AAA, named for an Oklahoma City favorite from the past.

30 TVS | AUTHENTIC STREET TACOS BURGERS| WINGS & MORE NOW HIRING COCKTAIL SERVERS Hand-Rolled Truffles, Toffees, Hard Candies, Candied Nuts, Caramels, Mendiant and more!

Ask about special orders on cakes, cookies and other treats

All Handmade in Norman Also check out our new line of Classic Candies and Gifts 1100 E. Constitution, Norman, OK 11AM-6:30 PM Tues.-Sat. 405-579-8856 www.ucshops.com WE CAN SHIP YOUR GIFT — CALL TO INQUIRE

MONDAY SPECIAL

ALL YOU CAN TACOS, INCLUDES 2 SIDES $8.99

OPEN FOR LUNCH & DINNER

SUN 11AM-12AM • FRI & SAT 11AM - 12AM 2035 S. MERIDIAN AVE. | 405.605.6250

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COMING THIS FALL TO MIDTOWN OKC

HOUSEMADE SAUSAGE GERMAN BEERS BAVARIAN PRETZELS BEER GARDEN HAND CUT FRIES LIVE MUSIC

421 NW 10TH STREET

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LIFE RELIGION

Faith and matrimony The number of interfaith marriages has increased, but love might not be enough to conquer the complexities that come with it.

BY GREG HORTON

As staunchly conservative and overtly religious as Oklahoma can be, the state is still not immune to cultural trends, even trends that affect the way people practice their faith. Prior to 1960, only 20 percent of couples were in an interfaith marriage — between Protestants and Catholics, for example.

According to poll results published in The New York Times, 45 percent of couples that married in the first decade of this century were in interfaith marriages.

Cydney Dixon was raised in Fort Wayne, Indiana, as part of the Evangelical Lutheran tradition. She moved to Oklahoma in her late teens and started working at a local IHOP. That is where she met Samer Alkahder, a Jordanian student who moved to Oklahoma because he was considering wrestling at Oklahoma State University.

The two began dating in 2011, and in January of 2013, they were married at an Oklahoma City mosque.

Alkahder describes himself as a cultural Muslim. He does not practice all aspects of the faith, but he does keep many of the traditions, including dietary restrictions and avoidance of alcohol.

The couple is among an increasing number of young Americans who are marrying across religious lines, thereby embracing the complications that come from wedding two distinct traditions.

Rabbi Abby Jacobson of Emanuel Synagogue said interfaith couples face two very serious obstacles.

“When the couple has children, choosing or helping them choose a faith can be difficult,” Jacobson said. “Second, walking the line between teaching about a faith and practicing the faith is a very difficult line to walk, even if someone is only somewhat connected to their faith

tradition.”

Alkahder and Dixon, now 27 and 23, have yet to discuss what to do when they have children. Dixon is still working on a degree, so children are an undetermined number of years in the future. At issue immediately is finding ways to communicate about the different traditions, particularly how women are viewed and treated.

Walking the line between teaching about a faith and practicing the faith is a very difficult line to walk, even if someone is only somewhat connected to their faith tradition.

— Rabbi Abby Jacobson This is not just a struggle for interfaith couples; some marriages are impacted by intrafaith traditions as well. Tommie Marshell was raised in a Southern Baptist home; her father is still a Baptist minister. Her husband recently left a staff position at a local Acts 29 church, a tradition that blends 16th-century Calvinist theology with a complementarian — some critics say hypermasculine — approach to Christianity. The organization was popularized by Seattle megachurch pastor Mark Driscoll, but he stepped down from leadership over Acts 29 last year.

Cydney Dixon, an Evangelical Lutheran and Samer Alkahder, a Muslim, find balance in life as husband and wife.

Although Southern Baptists are traditionally complementarian — the belief that men and women are designed

by God for different roles, the role of the wife being more domestic and childcentered — Marshell’s experience was of a father who was more egalitarian in approach. The sudden immersion into a complementarian environment was difficult.

Marshell described the process of moving from congregant to leadership.

“Once we got behind the scenes, I noticed that there was not an equality that they preached about,” she said. “It made the sermons not make sense. The belittling of women is intense. But what makes it really bad is it’s so subtle, it’s so manipulative that I don’t think most see it at first. I didn’t see it at first, but little by little, I realized I didn’t have the

‘DNA’ they expect members to have.”

DNA is shorthand in the tradition for women or men who share the complementarian approach. Those who fight the system or speak out against it are described as not having the proper DNA. Marshell said she and her husband communicated regularly and openly about the status of women and how she felt as a woman in the environment.

“Once I started talking more to my husband about the things I saw, he listened and started looking for the things I was mentioning. I always referred to them as the ‘ickies’ because that’s how they made me feel. I think every church has them, but theirs were core issues. They weren’t just preferences; CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE

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Rabbi Abby Jacobson at Emanuel Synagogue wearing a prayer shawl and kippah and holding a prayer book.

CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS

they were core.”

Islam, too, has a reputation of being non-egalitarian in its treatment of women. Dixon said she and her husband have discussed several issues, including modesty — she admits to changing her clothes occasionally to make peace — and her right to live by her traditions, not his. Thus far, the couple has successfully navigated the differences, as have Marshell and her husband.

Jacobson said “clear, open, honest communication” is critical to the process, not just with each other but with grandparents as well. Grandparents can be an overlooked component of marital success, especially when faith traditions collide.

“In a world of two and three careers, grandparents are often directly involved with the raising of children,” Jacobson said. “Whether it’s picking them up once a week or having them spend the weekend, they will have an influence in a child’s development. It’s important to say up front what traditions the couple will and will not practice, just as you would tell them about sugar, bedtime, allergies and everything else.”

Marshell and her husband solved their issue by withdrawing from the particular tradition. Her pastor father was helpful in the process, pointing out issues of theology and practice as well as providing guidance and counsel.

Dixon and Alkahder are not practicing either faith for now, although he says it is a matter of laziness on his part, something he intends to correct soon. This year will bring a new challenge, though, as Dixon will be meeting Alkahder’s family face-to-face for the first time.

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Power of one Science Museum Oklahoma’s Power Play exhibit encourages visitors to test their physical prowess.

S HA N N ON CORN M A N

LIFE YOUTH

BY KEVAN GOFF-PARKER

Science Museum Oklahoma is widely known for its hands-on, physical approach to exploring the wonders of science. Its newest interactive exhibit, Power Play, embraces that theme by offering visitors the opportunity to discover the potential of the human body.

Visitors can test their speed, strength, stamina, balance and flexibility across the 4,000-square-foot exhibit on the second floor of the museum.

Power Play includes a timed obstacle course and climbing wall for small children and a timed twoperson, 50-foot dash course, tug of war and other equipment created to measure physical challenges.

“For a kid, this is just play,” said museum Planetarium Director Wayne Harris-Wyrick. “If they learn something along the way, it’s a bonus.”

Harris-Wyrick researched the information for the text and photos on display throughout the exhibit. The signs highlight famous Oklahomans known for their athletic achievements, including former champion boxer Sean O’ Grady and Maria Tallchief, the first Native American prima ballerina of the New York City Ballet.

Additional informative signs instruct visitors on how to interact with

Skylar Lawrence works her way across the horizontal ladder at the Power Play exhibit at Science Museum Oklahoma. the exhibit and explain what a worldclass athlete could achieve using the same equipment. (See box for details.)

Suzette Ellison, museum vice president of interpretation, said that the human body truly is a machine that many of us take for granted each day.

“Power Play not only gets kids moving, but it also inspires the conversation among adults and children about the ways in which our body’s work, the importance of taking care of ourselves and choosing the right foods to maintain a healthy body,” Ellison said. “The exhibit encourages kids to challenge themselves, as well as strike up friendly competition with friends. We have always been a museum that encourages loud voices and playing. Now we want families to get to running, jumping and climbing through the physical challenges found inside Power Play.”

Ellison said Power Play most likely will appeal to children ages 6 to 12 but also has a mini ropes course for younger, budding athletes up to age 4.

Power Play facts Tug of war: “Did you know that Tug of War was an Olympic sport from 1900-1920? Over that period, Great Britain won two gold medals and [the] U.S.A., Norway and Sweden won one each ...”

Balance: “While no competitive records are kept of balancing, the Science Museum Oklahoma staff competed against each other to test how long each could maintain his/ her balance. Our best time was four minutes, 12 seconds.”

Rock climbing: “In 1993, American competitive climber Lynn Hill made the first free-climb ascent of the 3,000-foot, sheer rock face known as “The Nose” of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park. Many other climbers had conquered “The Nose” before, but none had done so without the aid of ropes and other equipment.

For years, this [was] the most coveted goal in the world of rock climbing. She repeated it a year later, in less than 24 hours.”

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P ROVI DED

LIFE VISUAL ARTS

Into theWild

The Oklahoma City Zoo’s brightest creatures (and their keepers) want you to see their artistic side.

BY DAVID DEAN

Through Aug. 31 a.k.a. Gallery 3001 Paseo St. aka-gallery.com 606-2522 Free

The Oklahoma City Zoo launched its fifth annual Art Gone Wild animal art show earlier this month, with a.k.a.

Gallery hosting for the first time. The exhibit will run through the entire month of August and features original pieces of art created by the zoo’s most creative and artistic animals. From gorillas to giraffes, stingrays and sea lions, the art is created using a wild palette at the zoo.

“Making connections between wildlife and wild places with people is a major part of the zoo’s mission,” said Tara Henson, the zoo’s director of PR and marketing. “Providing healthy and fun activities for our animals is paramount for their health and well-being. Enhancing each species’ behavioral, physical, social, cognitive and psychological well-being are important.

Enrichment activities such as painting [are] just one of the ways our animal care team accomplishes this goal.”

Art Gone Wild will provide guests with an opportunity to view and purchase these unique pieces of art, with net proceeds supporting the zoo’s conservation initiatives.

“My hope is to raise a lot of money for the zoo and the wildlife conservation groups that they support,” said Ashley

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Griffith, owner of a.k.a. Gallery. “I also hope people walk away realizing that each and every person can make a difference in helping preserve these beautiful animals and their habitats.

Hopefully, with the money we raise, this can be the gallery’s part for now.”

Providing healthy and fun activities for our animals is paramount for their health and wellbeing.

A new addition to the animal artist crew this year is Togo, one of the zoo’s silverback gorillas, along with giraffes Bogy, Ursula, Noel and Ellie. The exhibit will also feature painting by Gus, a Von der Decken’s hornbill, and Zeppy, a salmon-crested cockatoo, who will be showing off their newly acquired painting skills with a paintbrush. Also, back by popular demand is the zoo’s toddler elephant Malee, who has painted more of her “Malee kisses.” Expect to also see other artists like a Komodo dragon, a Red River hog and Galapagos tortoises.

The caregivers of these animals should get as much credit as the talented

Sea lion Pearl and her keepers enjoy a leisurely art session. artists. They deeply love and care for each animal, and they support them in their artistic endeavors. Some animals enjoy using paintbrushes, while others choose to paint with their trunks, paws or even noses, all under the encouraging eye of the caregivers.

“I think the trainers have the most fun with this fundraiser,” Griffith said.

“I got the opportunity to go to the zoo and watch the trainers and animals work together, and it was really spectacular to see how much love and care each of the trainers spend with the animals.”

— Tara Henson

Art by zoo animals is one part of providing a stimulating environment.

If you’re worried about the safety and health of the animals, there is no need.

Creating the art is safe for all the animals; the paints are nontoxic and washable.

“Programs like Art Gone Wild help elephants in their natural habitats and at the zoo,” Henson said. “Painting is a collaboration between the animal team and each animal. The animal has a choice on whether it wants to participate.

Each animal receives a reward such as a favorite treat if they choose to do so.

If not, there’s no negative interaction.

Everything is based upon positive reinforcement.”

Asha the elephant paints her own masterpiece.

PROVIDED

Art Gone Wild

LIFE VISUAL ARTS

Folsom risen hues “Sunrise 25”

BY MOLLY EVANS

The sky was cut in half, Oklahoma City artist Kelli Folsom remembers. One half was a brilliant hot pink, and the other was the dark blue-gray hue of an approaching thunderstorm. Being mid-May, the storm was moving quickly, and Folsom was already running late that morning.

For several days in a row, she had been waking up 15 to 30 minutes before dawn to find a different location near her home in northwest OKC and paint the sunrise from that perspective. But this morning — the only one she found stressful during her 30 days of painting the sunrise — she woke up late, rushed to scout out a spot and painted from memory that “insanely beautiful” sky from the inside of her car as the rain came down.

“No matter what the weather was doing, I said, ‘I’m going to get up at the

You can appreciate so much more and have so much more gratitude for the rest of the day when you start out that way.

— Kelli Folsom

time of the sunrise. I’m going to paint,’” Folsom said.

At first, she planned to paint only one, simply because she kept waking up around the time the sun had risen and felt she was missing out on “the best part

of the day.” The same day she decided to wake up early, she came across a poem from Rumi, a 13th century Persian poet, that resonated with her and her artistic endeavor. She knows the phrase by heart and recited the poet’s inspirational words: “The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you. Don’t go back to sleep.”

She had to fight the urge to go back to sleep after the fifth or sixth day of painting. But after she detected those first signs of struggle, she wanted to commit to 30 days because she knew she wouldn’t go back on her word and the experience radiated inner positivity.

“I felt so nurtured by nature,” she said. “It gets into your system. You see the whole rest of the day with new eyes. You can appreciate so much more and have so much more gratitude for the rest of the

day when you start out that way.”

Folsom compared the experience to exercising; you hit a wall, but when you push through it, you’re set for the duration of the challenge.

She noticed that people on social media were also enjoying the routine, following her 30-day experience as she posted her latest landscape painting every morning. The reception encouraged her to use Blurb, an online self-publishing website, to compile her series into a book, 30 Sunrises in 30 Days, so people could have a memento or something tangible beyond Facebook.

The book includes all 30 works — mostly rural landscapes around northwest OKC — accompanied by Rumi poetry.

It has already sold over 100 copies, and it can be purchased on Amazon.

O K L A H O M A G A Z E T T E | AU G U S T 1 3 , 2 0 1 4 | 3 3

P ROVI DE D

Local artist Kelli Folsom painted the vibrant Oklahoma sunrise for 30 consecutive days.

LIFE PERFORMING ARTS

Ryan Drake warms up for his comedy act.

Comedian Ryan Drake began his career timid and gun-shy.

Now, he’s one of the local scene’s most fearlessly prominent figures.

Drake handles the microphone at The Spy FM studio.

BY DAVID DEAN

Ryan Drake: A Live Album Recording 7:30 p.m. Monday Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center oklahomacontemporary.org 3000 General Pershing Blvd.

951-0000 Free

Ryan Drake wears many hats, and each of those hats will make you smile. The Oklahoma City comedy darling can be found doing stand-up throughout the city on any given night, his voice can be heard on Pairadime Music Radio on KOSU and his words can be read on The Lost Ogle.

It’s extremely difficult to be a successful comedian, and that goes for anyone, whether in Los Angeles, New York City or Chicago, where the comedy industry thrives. But Ryan doesn’t let that hold him back, and he is making a huge impact on OKC’s rapidly growing comedy scene.

“The scene in OKC is so rich with talent, but it’s still really hard to get the people to the shows,” Drake

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said. “There are so many smart and hilarious people telling jokes to seven people in a dive bar that it can be a bit disheartening.

“When I started telling jokes here [in 2009], there were around 15 regular comedians and maybe 10 improv groups. The scene has grown just as quickly as the city itself over the last five years. We have dozens of new faces jumping on stage every week, and I hope that the crowds will soon be following them, because I sincerely believe that we have a deeper comedy pool than any other city between Chicago and Austin.”

When he first started, his style was mostly one-liner jokes about athletes or politicians, due to an unwillingness to make himself vulnerable in front of people he didn’t know. But over the last year, he has veered away from that, telling very personal stories about his struggles with alcohol and girls.

“It’s much more liberating to be that open in front of a crowd because you feel like they are connecting with you and not your opinions,” he said. “I still have a section in my set for all the

When I started telling jokes here, there were around 15 regular comedians and maybe 10 improv groups.

The scene has grown just as quickly as the city itself over the last five years.

— Ryan Drake

old one-liners, but I like to bookend them with more story-based humor about the times I have failed in life.”

Drake will record his first live album Monday at Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center, 3000 General Pershing Blvd., and the moments leading up to a live recording can take the anxiety to another level and make you question everything —

while also being super excited.

“I am so worried that the album won’t be absolutely perfect that I am starting to question whether I should rewrite all of my material,” Drake said.

“I was lucky enough to get a sponsorship from the people at TeeHappy.com to cover the expenses of booking a good venue, hiring a sound engineer, finding a bartender and printing promo materials.

TeeHappy is a really cool OKC-based clothing line that caters to nerd culture, and their sponsorship is the reason the event is free.”

The event, which is hosted by local funny man Spencer Hicks and also features Brett James, happens to coincide with Drake’s 27th birthday.

So if you give him the gift of support, he’ll try to return the favor with a little laughter.

PH OTOS BY MARK HA NCOCK

Started from the bottom

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Reduxion Theatre Company’s Lysistrata is a stylized take on a centuries-old production.

BY LARRY LANEER

Lysistrata 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday Through August 30 Broadway Theater 914 N. Broadway Ave., Suite 120 reduxiontheatre.com 604-4730 $18-$25

It takes a while for the audience and characters to reach a state of arousal in Reduxion Theatre Company’s Lysistrata, but by the second act, the production rises to about the level of a tween boy’s fantasies while eyeballing lingerie adverts. And who would have thought a play about sex and war could be so cute and sweet?

In this Aristophanes hit comedy from 411 B.C., Lysistrata leads a revolt of Athenian and Spartan women who have grown weary of their husbands being away all the time, fighting the Peloponnesian War. Their ultimatum to the men: No sex until the combatants declare permanent peace. Then they seize the Athenian treasury and block the men from funding more warfare.

Director Tyler Woods begins the play, now at the Broadway Theater, 914 N. Broadway Ave., Suite 120, with some weird choreography, sometimes taking the script a bit literally. When Kalonike (Jessa Schinske, in a voice that makes fingernails on a chalkboard sound like a lyric soprano) says, “It’s hard for women to go anywhere with bending over backwards just to keep our husbands happy,” Woods has her, well, bending over backwards in a feetand-hands-on-the-floor arch. Some of the fight choreography ranges from the level of a Three Stooges pie fight to professional wrestling.

From left Heath Jones Jr, Mariah Webb, Robert Shaun Kilburn, Erin Woods, Timothy Berg, Lydia McBee Reed, Jessa Schinske, Denise Hughes, Tori Goss.

In the title role, Erin Woods gives an appealing performance as the lead revolutionary. Lysistrata has to use both her feminine wiles and headstrong determination to keep the cause going.

She has about as many problems with the women as she does with the men.

The first act is set in 411 B.C., but Woods switches the second act to 2014, where Lysistrata and the women are based on the feminine protest group FEMEN, which was founded in Ukraine in 2008. They are known for topless demonstrations against sex trafficking and other social issues. Thus, the women now wear boots, tight jeans and body paint. The men are in military fatigues or the shiny suits of the Spartan ambassadors that make them look like Mafia wise guys (the first-rate costumes are by Karalyn Merritt). And, they’ve been rendered tumid by a lack of female companionship.

The women are now more demonstrators than revolutionaries.

One protester’s sign reads “No Peace = No Pussy.” This protesting goes along with Kyle Gossett’s original score, which sounds as if it’s right out of the 1960s.

Entering its seventh season (young for a city theater company), Reduxion has developed a signature style, as demonstrated in this production. They take some risks and can almost always be relied upon to do quality work.

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SUDOKU/CROSSWORD

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35 “Impossible is nothing” sloganeer 37 Spiced tea 38 72-Across, e.g., informally 39 Models 41 Motor grp.

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53 Iowa college 55 Cabby’s phrase on arrival 57 S O S, e.g.

58 Some cries for attention 60 County north of San Francisco 61 Citi Field precursor 63 ___ valve 64 Only form that carbohydrates take?

69 “Absalom and Achitophel” poet 70 Piddling 71 Break ground?

72 Baby 38-Across 73 In 75 Record label co-founded by Jay-Z 79 “That will be ere the set of ___”: Macbeth 80 Unsure answer to “Where were the 2014 Winter Olympics held?”?

83 Group of two 84 7-Layer Burrito seller 87 How seatbelts should be fastened 89 GPS course: Abbr.

90 Get off one’s chest?

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alphabet 92 Iroquois foe in the Beaver Wars 94 Nuts 97 Actor Stanley’s dinner reservation?

102 Filmmaker Nicolas 103 Loads 105 “___ got an idea!”

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friend?

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114 Arm that’s swung 115 Parts of a party line 116 Feel like 117 Dr.’s relatives 118 Less Than Zero author 119 Alarm clock button 120 ___ Fields DOWN 1 Rice ___ 2 Do away with 3 Fine coat material 4 Off-color 5 Like Super Bowl crowds 6 “Pardon me,” in Parma 7 Like 3-Down 8 Target of some passes 9 Wallace of E.T. 10 Burglary, in police-speak 11 Verdi’s “Ernani! Ernani, involami,” e.g.

12 Flute section 13 D.C. summer setting 14 Declares, informally 15 Rider of the war horse Babieca 16 Celebrated Bombay-born conductor 17 It’s a lock 19 Seasonal cookie eater 22 Italian town with Giotto frescoes 25 Roast locale 31 Drink since 1948 32 Trail to follow 33 Stop on a wine tour?

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Stumped? Call 1-900-285-5656 to get the answers to any three clues by phone ($1.20 a minute). The answers to the New York Times Magazine Crossword Puzzle that appeared in the August 6 issue of Oklahoma Gazette are shown at left.

Oklahoma Gazette

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59 Did away with 61 Tuxedo accouterments 62 Chinese dynasty preceding the Three Kingdoms 63 Go at 64 Game on the line?

65 Pack member 66 Fast pitch 67 Moonshine 68 Sound investment?

69 Workers in booths, maybe 73 Many moons 74 Pack carrier 75 Independent sort 76 Classical work accompanied by a musical instrument 77 One jumping on the bandwagon, say 78 Suffix with orange 80 Citation abbr.

81 Bump, as one’s toe 82 Place for a potted plant

0810

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85 Not loose 86 Boston Garden legend 88 “Having fun ___?”

91 Billy of Titanic 93 Displays disuse 94 Kaffiyeh wearers 95 Film title character who

likes to high-five 96 Shakers and others 97 Lugs 98 Police, in slang 99 Ex-Disney chief Michael 100 Witherspoon of Mud 101 Agenda makeup 103 Kazakhstan’s ___ Sea 104 Meter site 108 Basse-Terre, par exemple 109 Unagi, in a sushi bar 110 Sot’s woe 111 W.C. sign 112 One half of an iconic 1981 Rolling Stone cover

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P HOTOS BY M A R K HA N COC K

LIFE COVER

Legal ease Mike Turpen’s new book will be showcased at OCU to raise scholarship funds.

BY JOSH HUTTON

An evening with Mike Turpen 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., Friday Aug. 15 Oklahoma History Center 800 Nazih Zudhi Drive. okcu.edu/TurpenTime 208-5402 $50

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Some of the many reasons to join our team include: • Competitive Benefits to include tuition reimbursement • Ability to earn incentive pay • $500 Experience Bonus for candidates who possess at least 12 months of previous banking experience

www.midfirst.jobs

If you are interested in this opportunity, please visit our website to complete an online application.

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It took less than two minutes. William Smith stopped halfway from the exit at VZD’s Restaurant & Club after a Saturday brunch to say hello to longtime friend Mike Turpen. Turpen riffled through catch-up subjects, grown children and business ventures. He made direct eye contact. With every question, he pointed or touched Smith’s arm.

The cantor of his voice blended with his gestures, blurring the line between engaging and hypnotic.

“While I got you here, let me tell you about this event we’re doing at OCU,” Turpen said. And that was it.

On Aug. 15, Oklahoma City University (OCU) and Oklahoma Historical Society are hosting an evening with Turpen, showcasing Turpen’s new book, Turpen Time: The Wit and Wisdom of Mike Turpen, while raising funds for the university’s Clara Luper Scholarship Program at the Oklahoma History Center, 800 Nazih Zudhi Drive.

With the donation from Smith of W.M. Smith Energy, LLC, the campaign has raised more than $150,000.

“Have your money raised on the front end,” Turpen said. “Sales, fundraising, it’s the transference of belief. Often, people want to be a part of something bigger than themselves.

They’re just waiting to be asked.”

This falls in line with his mantra, “The more you give, the more you have,” an aphorism that also serves as a preface to one of the chapters in his new book.

Each chapter begins with a one-liner or terse saying that has struck a cord with Turpen. He said his love of rhetoric

From left Oklahoma City University (OCU) President Robert Henry and Mike Turpen are raising funds for OCU’s Clara Luper scholarship. and giving spirit stem from his mother.

“Her screen door sprung open on welcome hinges. She didn’t just take care of her family; she took care of the whole neighborhood,” he said.

Turpen writes of a childhood of figure skating — not just ice-skating, not hockey, he stressed — up through managing the fundraising campaign for Hillary Clinton during the 2008 election. The journey’s reward, whether resulting in epiphany or reframing humor, anchors the work.

A former district attorney for the state of Oklahoma and a democratic candidate for governor in the 1986 election, he now spends his time as a private practice lawyer, a political commentator on Flashpoint and a fundraiser.

Due to his myriad commitments, he spent close to four years writing the book.

“Sleep is overrated,” he said. “You know what successful people say? They say, ‘T.G.I.M.,’ thank God it’s Monday.”

Sitting across from Turpen during the lunch interview, nodding in agreement, was Robert Henry.

Henry now serves as OCU’s president and CEO. He has been close friends with Turpen since 1986, when he was campaigning to be Turpen’s successor as district attorney.

Henry said he was moved by Turpen’s character the first time he met him.

“He was coming off a losing run for the Democratic candidate for governor.

His campaign was $100,000 in debt, and there he was, at my fundraiser, writing me a check for $500,” Henry said. “All he asked was that I take care of his staff.”

P HOTOS BY M A R K HA N COC K

MIKE TURPEN ON TWITTER Well-known for his “Turpenisms,” here’s a sample of what he shares @MikeCTurpen » “IF YOU DON’T GRIND, YOU DON’T SHINE; You must be laborious, before you can be glorious.” » “LOVE IS AS LOVE DOES.” » “Simply put: You’ve got to do something to be something; destiny does not make house calls.” » “Remember: IF YOU DON’T TAKE IT PERSONALLY, DON’T TAKE IT AT ALL.”

When Henry and Turpen are together, they come across as living, breathing literary foils to one another.

Turpen is tall and boisterous, and Henry is of average height and soft-spoken.

“He’s my straight man,” Turpen jokes. “We’re ironing out our material for the 15th.”

When Turpen’s book was published, Henry wanted to do something for his friend.

“Mike being Mike,” Henry said, “it wasn’t enough to host an event just about the book. He wanted it to be a fundraiser for our scholarship fund.”

Clara Luper, the eponym of the fund, was a longtime Oklahoma educator and activist best known for her role in the 1958 sit-in campaign at the Katz drug store in downtown Oklahoma City. She and members of the NAACP, the nation’s oldest civil rights organization, sat down at the counter and ordered sodas. They not only were refused service but were also spat upon by white patrons.

“She won by being dignified,” Henry said. “She was our Rosa Parks.”

The scholarship fund benefits outstanding students who would otherwise not be able to attend the university because of socioeconomic status.

The fundraising event features a dinner, musical performances from OCU students, toasting, roasting and Turpen reading excerpts from his book.

Tickets are $50. To make reservations, visit okcu.edu/TurpenTime or call 208-5402.

» “Remember Kemosabe: You can’t always control what happens, but you can always control how you react to it.” » “My father, WWII vet and Bronze Star recipient, said: ‘Born free is a priviledge, dying free is a responsibility.’

Thanks Dad.” » “Remember: 99% of everything done in the world, good or bad, is done to pay a mortgage; MARRIAGE, MORTGAGE & MUNCHKINS is what life’s about!” » “OKLAHOMANS are at their best when confronted by adversity; we will rebuild and soldier on; and the missives of hope are greatly appreciated.” » “Destiny is not a matter of chance.

It’s a matter of choice.” » “New ideas create new realities.” » “To prepare for and pursue any successful endeavor one must unflinchingly develop a sense of urgency.” » “Don’t forget The 4 F’s: Faith, Family, Friends & Finances.” » “A good friend walks in while the rest of the world walks out. Keep that in mind when your friends are having a hard time.” » Do what’s right, even if it isn’t popular.

Remember one man or woman with courage makes a majority.”

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LIFE MUSIC

Spree’s company Come and knock on the door of 17-piece symphonic pop collective The Polyphonic Spree.

BY NATHAN WINFREY

The Polyphonic Spree 8 p.m. Friday ACM@UCO Performance Lab 329 E. Sheridan Ave. acm.uco.edu $20

“A band that was never supposed to be a band, a demo that was never supposed to be a record and a song that was never supposed to be on the demo wound up being our bread and butter,” Tim DeLaughter said, reflecting on 14 years of fearless sonic experimentation as frontman of The Polyphonic Spree.

“The whole thing was just bizarre.”

DeLaughter just needed to know what certain instruments sounded like blended together — and how 10 people singing instead of just one might change an arrangement. The forum for these ideas was a collection of musicians who shared DeLaughter’s curiosity and were eager to see where it went.

After the first show in 2000, DeLaughter’s friends brought very real concerns to his attention when they saw what he was tinkering with: an enormous musical troupe, which today lists 17 musicians on its roll, trying to make music and function as a viable entity. His friends meant to reality-check him back into a musical troupe that looked more like a traditional band and less like an army of fantastically robed spacemen.

“‘Man, this is really great,’” DeLaughter said, repeating the kinds of things people used to say to him, “‘but you really need to think about this. It’s not going to be something that’s easily toured.

You’re going to have a difficult time.’”

DeLaughter had never thought about making this experiment into a band, but he decided to try to get another gig.

“It was just like, ‘Let’s get it moving and see where it takes us,’” he said.

“We were asked to play [David] Bowie’s festival in London, and once we did that, we realized we could make that jump. And the band blew up over there.

We spent the next three and a half years over there in Europe.”

The Polyphonic Spree has had to tighten its belt to make it work, but the Texas-based band has succeeded, even with its populous roster.

“This band tours easier than a five-piece band I was in. It’s a lot more expensive, but it’s actually pretty easy except for the expense of flying,” DeLaughter said, adding that it’s difficult, financially, for him and his family. “We’re paid as a four-piece band, but there’s four bands in this band, so the math never really works out. It’s exhausting for us, but we do what we gotta do.”

And if they’re an army, The Polyphonic Spree attacks on three aural fronts: symphonic, choral and psychedelic. The triune nature of the

At the end of the day, it’s art. You have to be able to evolve and still make art.

— Tim DeLaughter

band’s sound has been its stamp since day one, when they began mingling symphonic and electric instruments.

“I think the elements of adventure came from Tripping Daisy — because Tripping Daisy was total power pop — but it became a more experimental kind of pop,” DeLaughter said of his former band, which disbanded in 1999. “I think the adventurousness of that band is what spawned The Polyphonic Spree in the first place.”

Back in his Tripping Daisy days, DeLaughter frequently found himself wishing he could include instruments that weren’t traditionally found in pop music. Since those instruments weren’t available, they would do their best to create the effect synthetically.

Much of their sonic tinkering is bankrolled by the unexpected popularity of a song from their debut album, The Beginning Stages of…. The soaring, supercharged “Light and Day/Reach for the Sun” has enjoyed enduring

popularity since 2002, appearing in numerous movies and commercials.

“It was amazing because I almost didn’t put the song on the record,” DeLaughter admitted. “I didn’t feel like it fit with the rest of the record. But my wife insisted that it went on there, and thank God she did because it has basically kept the band going.”

Getting shows and finding extensive musical success doesn’t appear to have been a problem. The Polyphonic Spree released Yes, It’s True, their fifth studio album, last year.

“We’re definitely a lot more electronic on this record than we have been before, and there is a ballad side that we’ve never done before. It’s the most mature record we’ve made to date in regard to restraint and instrumentation,” DeLaughter said. “At the end of the day, it’s art. You have to be able to evolve and still make art.

And part of that is coming into the understanding of what you’re about and who you are as a group. And I think we’ve always done it, but I think we’re getting really good at our craft.”

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FRIDAY

AUG 22 ZZ Top & Jeff Beck SATURDAY

AUG 23 PANIC! AT THE DISCO WALK THE MOON • YOUNGBLOOD HAWKE

n $25 LaTwiL Tix ‘ !

8/15

SEPTEMBER 7 ZOO AMPHITHEATRE tickets at Buy For Less & reasor’s By phone at 866 977 6849 or onLine at www.THEZOOAMPHITHEATRE.cOM

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LIFE MUSIC

Soul dude Grammy-winning R&B artist Maxwell has become an elderly statesman of — and inspiration for — the genre’s new era.

P ROVI DE D

COMING TO ZOO AMP OKC

BY JOSHUA BOYDSTON

Maxwell with Kevin Ross 6:30 p.m. Saturday OKC Downtown Airpark 1701 S. Western Ave. okcairpark.com 364-3700 $44-$125

Maxwell sits and smiles as Frank Ocean, Janelle Monáe and Miguel grab headlines and Grammy nods. Memories rush back with each achievement; he was standing in those same shoes not too long ago, a fresh face introducing a new generation to R&B. With D’Angelo, Erykah Badu and Lauryn Hill in the wings, the sultry singer helped pioneer the neo soul movement in the late ’90s, taking a genre that had been ignored and cheapened and elevating it back to a commercial and critical high-point.

Now you find a new class doing the same again, each voice joining the choir and making R&B that much stronger and inescapable. “[R&B] was passed on to me by people I love, and thank God it’s been passed on to them,” Maxwell said of the newest class of acolytes, noting a particular admiration for Ocean. “They are killing the game.”

He is hardly a fossil, though. Happy for the new kids but not content to fall into the background, Maxwell is 41 years old but croons with the same vitality he did two decades back while performing in support of his seminal debut, Maxwell’s Urban Hang Suite.

His songs have stood the test of time, and his profile has stayed steady for just as long, a direct result of a younger Maxwell’s consideration for how his songs would sound at 50 years old and beyond.

“If I can write a song that means so much that it doesn’t need a new album to be excitable, then I’ve done my job,” the Brooklyn native said. “I get bored pretty easy with the industry and business of releasing albums. It’s mainly going on the road and seeing how your music has touched everyone. That’s the part that turns me on more.”

Maxwell has done more than turn himself on over the years. His sensual

ballads found in his 1996 debut, 1998’s Embrya and 2001’s Now heated up headphones and bedrooms alike, all three albums going platinum in the process.

An extended sabbatical eventually yielded BLACKsummers’night, 2010’s Grammy winner for Best R&B Album and another commercial hit with over a million copies sold in thanks to his Male R&B Vocal Performance winner, “Pretty Wings.”

That fourth studio album is the first in a trilogy long in the works, and it was also subject to a number of delays described as an unfortunate but necessary byproduct of making sure the full story hits all the right notes.

[R&B] was passed on to me by people I love, and thank God it’s been passed on to them.

— Maxwell “People give me a lot of shit about when the album is coming out, but it’s nice for them to know that deep inside, he may take time, but he sure does care,” Maxwell said. “I don’t like to be out there just to be out there, like ‘Hey, I’m in class, guys.’

I only want to show up when I can contribute to the conversation.”

The second entry — a hi-fi, gospelleaning record he claims sounds like nothing really made before — is due within a year’s time, with a love-centered record to follow that will close out the series. Perhaps taking cues from the new school of thought, Maxwell said he just stumbled upon the perfect method for rolling out those final two installments of the trilogy in a way that should be a “big surprise” (without divulging any details), confident the end product will satisfy your soul and his.

“When it comes down to getting that food,” Maxwell said, “I know what’s nutrition and what’s junk food — and when it’s time to put down the potato chips.”

LIFE MUSIC REVIEWS

Double down

BY JOSHUA BOYDSTON

Often, there’s as much wonder in the process as the finished piece of art itself. That’s precisely the mark of Oklahoma City indie rockers Feel Spectres; the four-piece approaches its music with the same dedication to the craft that a woodworker carries into making a piece of fine furniture.

Every note, bar and hook is measured to the sonic millimeter, precisely plotted and seamlessly assembled before it’s coated with a drum of Thompson’s Water Seal.

Sure, songs like “Sea Inside” and “Disguise” play as fun standalones.

But each musical decision behind them was informed by hundreds of trips to the record store and an ungodly amount of hours watching the vinyl spin afterward, a sensation that excites even more.

At least that last part seems necessary to so effectively echo shades of The Clash, Guided by Voices and Talking Heads as the group so often does in Meet Your Double. The record finds Feel Spectres standing in as a spiritual cover group for every deadand-buried influence each of the four members — frontman Matt Goad, bassist Alaina Avants, guitarist/ keyboardist Tory Ayers and drummer Allen Cory — has ever carried. They do for art pop what Wolfmother did for classic rock, with just as much conviction and technical merit.

There’s a ceiling with such faithful dedication to recreation, though, and even the most talented art conservationists can’t exceed the brilliance of the original masterpiece they are asked to preserve. It’s an admirable endeavor all the same, and

the obvious, oozing reverence for the source material makes Feel Spectres’ sophomore outing a successful one.

“Echo Eye” acts as the first step into the band’s haunted bounce house and the likely result of Neu! tasked with covering T. Rex, merging krautrock and fuzzy garage rock in a deliciously unhinged take from a band so often in total control. Followup “Disguise” builds on that motif, zip-tying the spooky pop aesthetic to an even deadlier hook.

The band has more than a little moxie, and that’s what allows the would-be London Calling B-side “Meet Your Double” charm as much as it does, with a spunky bass groove doing the major lifting. The spaghetti Western synth-rock opus “Sea Inside” and Rocky Horror Picture Show theatrics in “Karma Ride” throttle forward with a similar confidence.

The mojo runs lower on “Original Renaissance Man” and “Same Old Song.” The plodding former manages to make two minutes feel like four (salvaged only by a frenzied close that could have been applied throughout), while the latter and its prophetic title fail to leave an impression over its boilerplate run of guitar solos and breakdowns.

Feel Spectres understand the tropes and mostly dance around them, but it’s the happy accidents that happen in those evasive maneuvers that find the band at its very best. In “Hip Revelations” and “Technical Support,” that encyclopedic knowledge of mod chicness, sleek guitar riffage and melodies as catchy as Johnny Bench collide, and it’s a beautiful thing, a journey and destination that stand on even footing.

Feel Spectres Album: Meet Your Double | Available now | feelspectres.com

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LIFE MUSIC LIVE MUSIC

Aaron Newman Duo, Red Rock Canyon Grill. ACOUSTIC

WEDNESDAY, AUG. 13

Butch Cavindish, Grandad’s Bar. COUNTRY

Aaron Newman Band, Baker St. Pub & Grill. FOLK

Empty Bottles, The Deli, Norman. COUNTRY

American Hate/Impales/Loom, Opolis, Norman. ROCK

Equilibrium, Belle Isle Restaurant and Brewery. ROCK

Curtis McMurtry, The Blue Door. SINGER/SONGWRITER

Gary Johnson, Skirvin Hilton Hotel. PIANO

Grant Wells, Skirvin Hilton Hotel. PIANO

Horse Thief/Idabel, Opolis, Norman. FOLK

Joe Mack/Sky Smead/Carter Sampson, Grandad’s Bar. SINGER/SONGWRITER

Jacob Becannen/Mark Vollersten, Nonna’s Purple Bar. ACOUSTIC

Kate Tucker and the Sons of Sweden/Moloko Litso/ Campbell Young, The Conservatory. ROCK

Jake Moffat, Toby Keith’s I Love This Bar & Grill. COUNTRY

Blake O the DJ, Colcord Hotel. DANCE

Mark Vollersten, Red Rock Canyon Grill. ACOUSTIC

John Moreland/John Calvin, The Blue Door. SINGER/ SONGWRITER

North Meets South, The Deli, Norman. FOLK

Justin Echols, Skirvin Hilton Hotel. JAZZ

The Friends No BS Jam, Friends Restaurant & Club.

VARIOUS

Justin Fox Band, Riverwind Casino, Norman. SINGER/ SONGWRITER

P ROVI DED

Chuck Dunlap, Oklahoma Territorial Plaza - Old Church.

SINGER/SONGWRITER

Lucky, Russell’s, Tower Hotel. R&B

THURSDAY, AUG. 14 Aaron Newman Duo, Colcord Hotel. ACOUSTIC Acoustic Terrace Thursdays, Myriad Botanical Gardens.

ACOUSTIC Blake Lankford, Russell’s, Tower Hotel. COUNTRY Brent Saulsbury/Will Galbraith/Wayne Duncan, Friends Restaurant & Club. ROCK

Michael McDonald/Toto, Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, Catoosa. SINGER/SONGWRITER

The Polyphonic Spree

Our Last Night/Set It Off/Heartist, The Conservatory.

ROCK

Friday

Paseo Street Walkers, 51st Street Speakeasy. ROCK Randy Cassimus, Full Circle Bookstore. ACOUSTIC

The Clique, Friends Restaurant & Club. VARIOUS

Jade Castle, Myriad Botanical Gardens. SINGER/ SONGWRITER

The Gospel Truth/Shutdown Shoutouts/Weak Knees, Blue Note Lounge. ROCK

Kyle Reid & the Low Swingin’ Chariots/Idabel, Dunlap Codding. FOLK Laura Leighe, Baker St. Pub & Grill. POP

music

pick

The Choke/Axis, HiLo Club. ROCK

David Morris, Skirvin Hilton Hotel. PIANO

Kyle Dillingham & Horseshoe Road, The Paramount OKC. ACOUSTIC

OKG

Stephen Salewon, The Paramount OKC. SINGER/ SONGWRITER

SATURDAY, AUG. 16

Live, Riverwind Casino, Norman. ROCK Lucky, Russell’s, Tower Hotel. R&B

Aaron Newman Band, Tapwerks Ale House & Cafe. FOLK

Maurice Johnson, Avanti Bar & Grill. JAZZ

North Meets South/Kierston White/Eliza Bee, The Deli, Norman. FOLK

Attic Wolves, Edmond Christian Church. FOLK

Raw Power/Wartorn/The Quickiez/James Bond Dracula, The Conservatory. ROCK

Betraying the Martyrs/Adestria/Sylar, The Conservatory.

ROCK

Rick Jawnsun, O Asian Fusion. ACOUSTIC

Blake Lankford, Toby Keith’s I Love This Bar & Grill.

COUNTRY

Science!, The Blue Door. FOLK Stars, Red Rock Canyon Grill. COVER

Mitch Casen, Friends Restaurant & Club.

Crossland, Baker St. Pub & Grill. ROCK

The Dave Thomason Band, Grady’s 66 Pub. COVER

Derek Harris/Blake Lennon, Bedlam Bar-B-Q. SINGER/ SONGWRITER

The Harmed Brothers, Grandad’s Bar. BLUEGRASS

Don and Melodee Johnson, Twelve Oaks. JAZZ

2AM, Tapwerks Ale House & Cafe. ROCK

Ovy, Aloft Downtown Oklahoma City. ELECTRONIC

Christian Pearson, Skirvin Hilton Hotel. PIANO

Patrice Pike, The Blue Door. SINGER/SONGWRITER

John Goodell, The Deli, Norman. SINGER/SONGWRITER

Phil Smith and the Blend Project/Kingfish, UCO Jazz Lab, Edmond. SINGER/SONGWRITER

Nicnos, Rose State College, Midwest City. POP

The Living Dead, The Deli, Norman. ROCK

Jamie Bramble, Nonna’s Purple Bar. ACOUSTIC

Unwed Sailor/The Gentle Art of Floating/Tumbling Nebulae, Blue Note Lounge. VARIOUS

Jason Young Band, Downtown El Reno. COUNTRY

The Handsome Devils/Alan Orebaugh and Friends, The Deli, Norman. ROCK

Nathan Burris, Riverwind Casino, Norman. COUNTRY

Sugar Free Allstars, Blue Seven. ROCK

Grant Stevens, Skirvin Hilton Hotel. PIANO

Byron Berline Band, Southwestern Oklahoma State University, Weatherford. BLUEGRASS

TUESDAY, AUG. 19

Myron Oliver, Red Rock Canyon Grill. JAZZ

Stephen Speaks, Red Rock Canyon Grill. POP

Fabulous Minx/Code 22, VZD’s Restaurant & Club. ROCK

FRIDAY, AUG. 15

We’re not sure how all 17 of its members are going to fit on the stage (or any stage for that matter), but there are other reasons to go see The Polyphonic Spree, too. The Dallas-based symphonic pop act has amassed a cult following for its lush instrumental palette and colossal hooks, placing Tim DeLaughter’s post-Tripping Daisy venture into a genre of its own. See them 8 p.m. Friday at ACM@ UCO Performance Lab, 329 E. Sheridan Ave. Tickets are $20. Call 974-4700 or visit acm.uco.edu. See our story on page 41.

Yesterday’s Wine, Grandad’s Bar. ROCK Zach Sutton, The Paramount OKC. SINGER/ SONGWRITER

Shakers of Salt, OSU-OKC Campus. COVER

WEDNESDAY, AUG. 20 Marshall Crenshaw and the Bottle Rockets, The Blue Door. ROCK Nickel Creek, Cain’s Ballroom, Tulsa. ACOUSTIC North Meets South/Lazy Rooster Rhythm Co., The Deli, Norman. ROCK

SUNDAY, AUG. 17

North/Lost Empires/Tumbling Nebulae, The Conservatory. ROCK

Edgar Cruz, Skirvin Hilton Hotel. ACOUSTIC

Steve Crossley, Red Rock Canyon Grill. COVER

Replay/80’z Enuf, Baker St. Pub & Grill. COVER

Matthew Curry/Jonathan O’Neal, VZD’s Restaurant and Club. BLUES Mike Host, The Deli, Norman. BLUES Paperscissor, Myriad Botanical Gardens. ROCK

Live, Riverwind Casino, Saturday, August 16

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PROVIDED

Randy Cassimus, Captain Norm’s Dockside Bar. ACOUSTIC

MONDAY, AUG. 18 Attica State, Rose State College. ROCK

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.

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P ROVI DED

LIFE FILM

A boy’s life

Boyhood

Richard Linklater’s Boyhood is a comingof-age movie like no other.

BY PHIL BACHARACH

Boyhood 7:30 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday Oklahoma City Museum of Art 415 Couch Drive okcmoa.com 236-3100 $7-$9

The swooning of critics over Boyhood has reached near-embarrassing levels.

But there’s no getting around it; this is a remarkable movie, a testament to the singular vision of writer-director Richard Linklater. And while that doesn’t necessarily make Boyhood an unqualified triumph, its deficiencies as a story are more than made up for by its overall power.

The project was definitely a compelling one. Linklater — whose credits include Dazed and Confused, School of Rock and the Before trilogy (Before Sunrise, Before Sunset, Before Midnight) — and his Boyhood cast shot for about a week every summer over a 12-year period to chronicle a boy’s life. Other movies have captured the phenomenon of kids growing up, most notably the Harry Potter franchise and Michael Apted’s Up series. But Boyhood,

which screens Thursday through Sunday at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art, 415 Couch Drive, offers the exhilarating experience of watching that journey unfold in one fell swoop.

Its central character, Mason Jr. (Ellar Coltrane), is growing up in Texas. We see that growth literally as he transforms from a doughy 6-yearold to a lanky, contemplative college freshman. Linklater marks the passage of time through cultural touchstones — the Iraq War, Obama’s election — and a music soundtrack that ranges from Coldplay and Sheryl Crow to Arcade Fire and The Black Keys.

Through it all, Mason continues on his unwieldy transition. Sometimes those physical changes can be jarring.

If I hadn’t known better, I might have thought that Coltrane had been replaced between seventh and eighth grade. Within minutes, the boy is taller and slender, his voice having deepened.

When it comes to special effects in movies, puberty is in a class of its own.

Changing right along with Mason is older sister Samantha (Lorelei Linklater, the director’s daughter) and single mom Olivia (Patricia Arquette, Fast Food Nation). Shortly after the film begins, Olivia moves the family to Houston

so she can return to college. The new location doesn’t keep Mason’s biological father, Mason Sr. (Ethan Hawke, Before Midnight), from staying involved in his kids’ lives.

Boyhood is as much a story of parenthood as it is Mason’s. Arquette is excellent as a single parent doing the best she can in spite of some dicey decisions. Hawke has never been better as a guy who initially seems like the reluctant grownup clinging to youthful cool. But Mason Sr. proves to be more interesting than that, a loving and committed father offering his kids a litany of life lessons.

Mason Jr. receives a torrent of advice from the adults who shuffle through his life, all of which is taken in and assessed by the quiet, observant boy with searching eyes. Linklater was fortunate when he cast 6-year-old Coltrane. Before filming began each year, the director visited with his young actor about what was going on in his life. Those discussions informed the screenwriting that followed. What emerged was a charismatic performance that is compromised only by Mason Jr.’s passivity.

The movie is so ingenious and so risky that it feels ill-mannered to note

its problems. But Boyhood is imperfect.

Its acting, a blend of professionals and nonprofessionals alike, is strikingly uneven. Linklater’s writing can be erratic. And the film’s determination to capture childhood in all its shambling, mundane glory means that it largely soars and stumbles based on the vagaries of the viewer. We process all art through the filter of our own psychological baggage, of course, but Boyhood seems especially tethered to what it awakens in our own memories.

Mason’s life unfolds through ordinary, if resonant, moments. He considers a dead bird on the ground.

He gets a haircut. He endures the scrutiny of being the new kid at school.

He drinks beer with older boys who taunt him and posture about sexual conquests. There are many lovely and stirring scenes along the way, but a running time of more than two and a half hours makes for an awful lot of desultory moments, too.

Just like life.

And that is where Boyhood, with all its blemishes and gangly awkwardness, finds both its greatness and frustration.

In capturing the halting rhythms of life, Linklater has achieved something truly amazing.

O K L A H O M A G A Z E T T E | AU G U S T 1 3 , 2 0 1 4 | 4 7

LIFE FILM

“On rare occasions a movie seems to channel the flow of real life.

Boyhood is one of those occasions.”

— WAL L ST REE T J OU R N A L

AUGUST 19 SEVENDUST

AUGUST 20 NICKEL CREEK AUGUST 23

COLT FORD AUGUST 28

DELBERT M CLINTON C

Boyhood

SEPTEMBER 25

SEPTEMBER 30

BY PHIL BACHARACH

INTERPOL OCTOBER 27

JIMMY EAT WORLD NOVEMBER 2

AN EVENING WITH CAKE For movie descriptions and ticket sales visit okcmoa.com

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4 8 | AU G U S T 1 3 , 2 0 1 4 | O K L A H O M A G A Z E T T E

Into the mystic Woody Allen gets magical — and maddening — in Magic in the Moonlight.

KACEY MUSGRAVES

Thursday, 7:30 p.m.

Friday & Saturday, 7:30 p.m.

Sunday, 2 p.m.

Magic in the Moonlight

We are at a crowded theater in Berlin circa 1928. A rapt German audience fixes on a magician who shares the stage with … an elephant.

The magician, outfitted in robes and sporting a prominent Fu Manchu mustache, has a large partition placed between the audience and the pachyderm. Voilà! The partition is taken away to reveal that the elephant has vanished. It isn’t the only sleight of hand being played out. Minutes later, we learn that the magician is not from the Far East but is a starchy Englishman portrayed by Colin Firth.

The scene promises mystery and magic to come. But even with the literal elephant off stage, a figurative elephant is still in the room: the ever-frustrating work of Woody Allen. Opening Friday at AMC Quail Springs Mall 24, 2501 W. Memorial Road, Magic in the Moonlight is two-thirds enchantment and one-third letdown, beset by the problems that have plagued many Allen films over the past several decades.

Firth (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) plays magician Stanley Crawford, stage name Wei Ling Soo, whom his best friend fittingly describes as “a genius with all the charm of a typhus epidemic.” That plainspoken friend, Howard (Simon McBurney), lures Stanley to a country estate in the south of France with an irresistible challenge. It seems an American psychic named Sophie Baker (Emma Stone, The Amazing SpiderMan 2) is wowing — and presumably conning — a wealthy family. Can Stanley, who scoffs at the notion of mystical worlds, expose her as a fraud?

Sophie, however, is no slouch.

Stanley is knocked off his game by how much this charming young woman appears to know about him. It isn’t long before the cynical, atheistic Stanley is rethinking his entire worldview. Does Sophie’s mysticism point to the existence

Even with the literal elephant off stage, a figurative elephant is still in the room: the ever-frustrating work of Woody Allen.

of God? And is Stanley falling in love?

Allen is clearly in his element here.

Buoyed by gorgeous countryside vistas, Magic in the Moonlight mines the comedy to be had from pitting fantasy against reality and religion against science. It skewers the intelligentsia while celebrating them, and it revels in the romance of the Jazz Age. Woody Allen fans can play connect-the-motifs from his earlier films. When a late afternoon rainstorm forces Stanley and Sophie to scurry for shelter in a nearby observatory, the scene recalls Manhattan’s Allen and Diane Keaton falling in love in a planetarium.

In Magic, Allen has two game players. Few actors do flinty arrogance as well as Colin Firth. His Stanley Crawford, an unapologetic misanthrope, is an edgier version of My Fair Lady’s Henry Higgins. By contrast, Emma Stone radiates warmth and wideeyed wonder. It’s easy to see why Stanley is smitten.

Then something happens. With the third act, Stanley and Sophie stop being characters and start being mouthpieces.

With each successive movie, Allen is seemingly less inclined to create convincing people. Their actions and reactions feel absurd or inexplicable, increasingly manipulated by the not-soinvisible hand of a filmmaker lost in his own fantasia.

P ROVI DE D

W/ GEMINI SYNDROME

FREE WILL ASTROLOGY Homework: “You know what to do and you know how to do it.” True or False? Why? Testify at Truthrooster@gmail.com.

that now is one of those times when you should be very focused on ensuring that the healing effect predominates.

ARIES March 21-April 19 Researchers in Peru have recently tracked down many previously unknown varieties of wild cacao plants. What that means is that there are exotic kinds of chocolate that you and I have never dreamed of, and they will be commercially available within a few years. As delicious as your Chocolove XOXOX Extra Strong Dark candy bar may taste to you now, you will eventually journey further into a new frontier of ecstatic delectability.

I propose that we use this theme as a metaphor for the work you have ahead of you right now. It is time for you to make good things even better ­— to take fun diversions and transform them into experiences that engender transcendent bliss. Turn “yes” into “YESSSS!!!!”

CANCER June 21-July 22 A New York doctor offers a service he calls Pokertox. Jack Berdy injects Botox into poker players’ faces so as to make their expressions hard to read. With their facial muscles paralyzed, they are in no danger of betraying subtle emotional signals that might help their opponents guess their strategy. I understand there might sometimes be value in adopting a poker face when you are in the midst of trying to win at poker or other games. But for the foreseeable future, Cancerian, I recommend the opposite approach. You’re most likely to be successful if you reveal everything you’re feeling.

Let your face and eyes be as eloquent as they can be.

TAURUS April 20-May 20 At your next meal, imagine that the food you are eating is filled with special nutrients that enhance your courage. During the meal after that, fantasize that you are ingesting ingredients that will boost your perceptiveness. The next time you snack, visualize your food as being infused with elements that will augment the amount of trust you have in yourself. Then you will be ready to carry out your assignment for the coming weeks: Use your imagination to pump up your courage and perceptiveness as you carry out smart adventures that you haven’t trusted yourself enough to try before now.

GEMINI May 21-June 20 The leaves and berries of the deadly nightshade plant are highly poisonous. If ingested, they cause delirium and death. On the other hand, a drug obtained from the same plant is on the World Health Organization’s List of Essential Medicines.

It’s helpful in treating many illnesses, from gastrointestinal and heart problems to Parkinson’s.

Is there a metaphorical equivalent in your life, Gemini? An influence that can either be sickening or healing, depending on various factors? I suspect

LEO July 23-Aug. 22 When we are launching any big project, our minds hide from us the full truth about how difficult it will be. If we knew beforehand all of the tests we would eventually face, we might never attempt it.

Economist Albert O. Hirschman called this the principle of the “hiding hand.” It frees us to dive innocently into challenging work that will probably take longer than we thought and compel us to access new resources and creativity. To be clear: What’s hidden from us are not only the obstacles but also the unexpected assistance we will get along the way.

VIRGO Aug. 23-Sept. 22 The literal meaning of the Swedish word smultronställe is “wild strawberry patch.”

Metaphorically, it refers to a special place that feels like your private sanctuary. It may be hard-to-find or unappreciated by others, but for you it’s a spot that inspires you to relax deeply. You might have had a life-changing epiphany there. When you’re in this refuge, you have a taste of what it’s like to feel at home in the world. Do you have a smultronställe, Virgo? If not, it’s time to find one. If you already do, spend extra time there in the coming week.

LIBRA Sept. 23-Oct. 22 IIf I’m reading the astrological omens correctly,

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the bells are about to ring for you. The festive lights will flash. The celebratory anthems will throb. It’s like you’re going to win a fortune on a TV quiz show; like you will get an A+ on your final exam; like you’ll be picked as homecoming king or queen. But it’s possible I’m a bit off in my projections, and your success will be subtler than I anticipate. Maybe, in fact, you are about to accomplish the Healing of the Year, or discover the Secret of the Decade, or enjoy the Most Meaningful Orgasm of the Century.

SCORPIO Oct. 23-Nov. 21 A teenage Pakistani boy decided he wanted to help his country’s government clean up the local Internet. Ghazi Muhammad Abdullah gathered a list of over 780,000 porn sites and sent it to the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority. Big job! Hard work! I would love to see you summon similar levels of passion and diligence as you work in behalf of your favorite cause, Scorpio. The coming weeks will be prime time for you to get very excited about the changes you would like to help create in the world.

SAGITTARIUS Nov. 22-Dec. 21 Working as a journalist for the Papua New Guinea Post-Courier, Simon Eroro wanted to interview a group of indigenous rebels in a remote jungle. He decided he was willing to do whatever was necessary to get the big scoop. After making a difficult journey through rough terrain to reach them, he was told he would be given the information that he sought on one condition: that he be circumcised with bamboo sticks as part of a cleansing ritual. Eroro agreed to the procedure, got the story, and ultimately won a prize for his report. I don’t recommend that you go quite that far in pursuit of your current goal, Sagittarius.

On the other hand, it might be wise for you to consider making a sacrifice.

CAPRICORN Dec. 22-Jan. 19 Kintsukuroi is a Japanese word that literally means “golden repair.” It refers to the practice of fixing cracked pottery with lacquer that’s blended with actual gold or silver. Metaphorically, it suggests that something may become more beautiful and

valuable after being broken. The wounds and the healing of the wounds are integral parts of the story, not shameful distortions to be disguised or hidden.

Does any of that resonate with you about your current experience, Capricorn? I’m guessing it does.

Let’s call this the kintsukuroi phase of your cycle.

AQUARIUS Jan. 20-Feb. 18 Near the end of his career, the painter Henri Matisse created a paper-cut composition he called Le Bateau, or The Boat. It is an abstract piece that does not depict a literal boat. That’s why the Museum of Modern Art in New York should perhaps be forgiven for mistakenly hanging it upside-down back in 1961, upon first acquiring the piece. Fortunately, after a month and a half, a knowledgeable person noticed, and the position of *Le Bateau* was corrected. I’m wondering if there’s a comparable phenomenon going on with you right now, Aquarius? Is it possible that a part of your life got inverted or transposed? If so, will you be sharp enough to see the goof and brave enough to fix it? I hope you won’t allow this error to persist.

PISCES Feb. 19-March 20 “I owe my success to having listened respectfully to the very best advice,” said British author G. K. Chesterton, “and then going away and doing the exact opposite.” I’m going to endorse that approach for you, Pisces. In my astrological opinion, I don’t think anyone can possibly give you accurate counsel in the coming weeks. Your circumstances are too unique and your dilemmas are too idiosyncratic for even the experts to understand, let alone the people who care for you and think they own a piece of you. I do suspect it might be useful for you to hear what everyone has to say about your situation, though. Seeing their mistaken or uninformed perspectives should help you get clarity about what’s right.

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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FACILITIES TECHNICIAN Needed to assist in ensuring the timely and accurate delivery of services, to include preventive and predictive maintenance, and repair services. Self motivated individual will perform a variety of semi-skilled construction, maintenance, modification and repair activities. E.O.E. PLEASE APPLY AT WWW.VARIETYCARE.ORG/CAREERS.

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5 0 | AU G U S T 1 3 , 2 0 1 4 | O K L A H O M A G A Z E T T E

*Prices may vary depending on zones

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EQUAL HOUSING OPPORTUNITY All real estate advertising in this newspaper is subject to the Federal Fair Housing

Act of 1968, which makes it illegal to advertise any preference, limitation or discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, national origin or an intention to make any such preference, limitation, preference or discrimination.

This newspaper will not knowingly accept any advertising for real estate which is in violation of this law. Our readers are hereby informed that all dwellings in our newspaper are available on an equal housing opportunity basis.

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P H O N E (4 0 5 ) 5 2 8 - 6 0 0 0 | E - M A I L : A D V E R T I S I N G @ T I E R R A M E D I A G R O U P. C O M

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O K L A H O M A G A Z E T T E | AU G U S T 1 3 , 2 0 1 4 | 5 1

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