No prairie

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No prairie National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum's Passport explores traditionally Western artists' forays beyond the range.

By Jeremy Martin, P. 21

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INSIDE COVER P.21 When Cole Porter wrote “Don’t

Fence Me In,” he was imagining the wide-open spaces of the American West, but even the vast prairie can be limiting for Western artists. Passport, a groundbreaking new exhibit at National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, features artists known for Western motifs exploring the world and subjects far beyond the end of the trail.

By Jeremy Martin Cover by Kimberly Lynch

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NEWS Wade Gourley now serves as Oklahoma City Police Department’s 50th chief. | Photo Miguel Rios

ties of a good leader, you’ll find several words mentioned — words like honesty, integrity, commitment, the ability to inspire others, accountability and passion,” he said. “I realized these words describe the men and women in this police department I’ve served with for almost 30 years and continue to work with each and every day. They never cease to amaze me, and I expect them to hold me accountable as their leader to embody the same qualities on a daily basis in every decision.”

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Chief enforcer

Former deputy chief Wade Gourley was promoted to Oklahoma City Police Department chief. By Miguel Rios

Oklahoma City Police Department’s (OKCPD) new police chief is a 30-year police veteran. Wade Gourley is the 50th police chief, succeeding former chief Bill Citty, who retired May 2 after 15 years on the job.

City manager Craig Freeman announced the selection of Gourley at a July 8 press conference. He thanked Ward 7 councilwoman Nikki Nice for her call to have an open forum where the community could meet the candidates. Nice expressed her desire at the May 7 council meeting to be intentional about diversity when it came to appointing staff and upper management.

Freeman did not host an open forum but said he conducted community outreach meetings with minority and underrepresented groups to get feedback on the department.

“We met with them and had discussion about what they saw that was going well in the department, what they appreciated about their department, things that they would like to see us improve and then also what they would like to see in our next chief,” Freeman said. “Many of the things that I’m going to list here are things that are already happening within our city, that [police officers] are already carrying out every day, but they’re things that they want us to continue to focus on and make improvements in.”

Stakeholders expressed their desire for the chief to engage with all segments of the community, build trust and establish partnerships. Freeman said they also wanted to see more de-escalation train4

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ing, mental health training, outreach to homeless communities, reducing police shootings and supporting criminal justice reforms and transparency.

“As we went through the process, we had 32 applicants. It was a long, deliberate process,” Freeman said. “Six people went through final interviews. We did actually a third level of interviews with a smaller group after we had those community outreach meetings, and in this I found someone that I believe is open, engaged, he’s honest, innovative. … He’s committed to leading the men and women of the Oklahoma City Police Department to serve all of our residents in a fair and equitable manner.”

Gourley, who began his career in Chickasha before joining OKCPD, got his start on patrol and as a field training officer before earning promotions to work in investigations, administration, emergency services and as a crisis negotiator, tactical commander and director of training, according to a city press release. He has a bachelor of arts in police administration from University of Oklahoma and has undergone training by Anti-Defamation League Advanced Training School, FBI Executive Leadership Institute and Senior Management Institute for Police.

Gourley submitted his application and resume for chief in March and said he took a step back after the hiring process to reflect on what makes a good leader.

“I learned three things that are important for those responsible for making this decision: leadership, trust and people. ... When you read articles that talk about leadership or the quali-

Neighborhood Alliance of Central Oklahoma works closely with OKCPD for community relations programming.

Executive director Georgie Rasco said the organization had a great working relationship with former chief Citty and is hopeful the same will hold true with Gourley.

“Neighborhood Alliance contract with the police department to do community relations for the City of Oklahoma City,” she said. “We work primarily with the police community relations (PCR) officer, and chief Citty oversaw that contract every year to make sure that we were doing sort of his vision of what he felt like police community relations should be.”

The deputy chiefs reviewed the contract before it went to Citty, so Rasco said the Neighborhood Alliance worked with Gourley often.

“What I like about Gourley is that he was a 911 responder for years. He was a beat officer, he drove a patrol car on the street, and I think in order for you to have a true city with positive policecommunity relations, that you have to have a 911 responder’s heart — you have to have a heart for the officer who works daily with the community and knows the community’s needs,” she said. “Every time I’ve talked to him, he’s talked about being on the streets and his experience of being on the street. So I know that’s never far from his mind, never far from his heart, and I think that’s going to benefit everybody in that department.”

Rasco hopes Gourley can continue working closely with communities and strengthening bonds between those community relations officers and neighborhoods to not only make streets safer but make them feel safer. She cited OKCPD’s mission statement, which states its special focus is “toward solving real and perceived problems within the community.”

“That’s always struck me as to what it is that we do at Neighborhood Alliance and a lot of these other peripheral programs that chief Citty started and really supported — it’s that perception of crime that is so, so important,” she said.

“It’s great that we’re arresting people and getting them off the streets and fighting the actual crime, but if people still feel unsafe, it’s not safe. You’ve got to let people know that it’s OK to be on the street, it’s OK to be downtown, it’s OK to be in the neighborhood park, it’s OK to walk your children to school. …

I’m going to count on Gourley to continue to work with his peripheral programs that he’s already got and working even harder with his PCR officers.”

In an introductory video, Gourley stated his goals are to stay on the path the department has been on, improve officer wellness and retention and increase diversity in recruitment.

“I’ve lived here since I got out of college and started my career here at the police department since 1989. I raised my family here; I still have family here. I want [the public] to know that I’m part of the community just as they are,” he said. “I want the same things; I want to be able to go out in my neighborhood and walk the dog and feel safe just as everyone else does. I want them to know that if they place a call the police for anything, that we’re going to come out and we’re going to help them in any way we can.”

Neighborhood Alliance of Central Oklahoma executive director Georgie Rasco hopes to see close cooperation between Gourley’s OKCPD and neighborhoods to build safer communities. | Photo Gazette / file

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Project proposals

More than half of the MAPS 4 project proposals have been presented to Oklahoma City Council for consideration. By Miguel Rios

Members of Oklahoma City Council spent more than 10 hours hearing presentations on MAPS 4 proposals last week.

On Tuesday, council heard presentations on Palomar Family Justice Center; parks; sidewalks, bike lanes, trails and streetlights; and Freedom Center.

On Thursday, presentations were on youth centers, beautification, State Fair coliseum, senior wellness centers and an animal shelter.

Palomar

Kim Garrett, president and CEO, gave the presentation on Palomar, which — through collaboration with partner agencies — provides support for victims and children who suffer from trauma due to stalking, domestic violence, sexual assault and child and elder abuse.

In the presentation, Garrett explained that Palomar’s current facility is temporary, and with client number increasing, it is quickly outgrowing it.

The proposal is to co-locate and expand services to include 24/7 assistance, job training, a food pantry, comprehensive child services, trauma treatment and therapy and acute medical services.

The new location would be about 80,000 square feet and cost slightly more than $37 million to design, construct and furnish the facility, which would increase Palomar’s capacity by two-thirds. An additional $6.9 million would be necessary if Palomar is relocated out of Midtown, where the current facility stands.

Parks and youth centers

Doug Kupper, Parks & Recreation director, presented the proposals on parks and youth centers.

The vision for parks is to improve every neighborhood park in the city, Kupper said. To achieve this, improvements will be made to playground structures, athletic structures, restrooms, furnishings, paths and trees. This would cost $60 million to $80 million and $20 million for operating and maintenance through an investment fund. Mayor David Holt said the investment fund could eventually generate $800,000 a year for maintenance and operations.

Kupper also presented ideas various councilmembers and Holt had to improve parks. A sports tourism complex would cost $15 million to $30 million. Community gardens, new neighborhood parks, outdoor basketball courts and placemaking signs would cost $40 million to $50 million.

Holt suggested river enhancements that included a low water dam, boat landings, an amphitheater and an equestrian park upgrade. The presenta6

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tion did not include a cost estimate for these improvements.

In terms of youth centers, Kupper said that with aesthetically pleasing facilities and robust programming, they could help curb juvenile crime, which has increased over the years.

He would like to see nicer, more welcoming facilities that can accommodate more comprehensive programming.

Kupper said he also wants to focus on underserved areas. He discussed additional programming like life skills, nontraditional gaming, learning labs and nontraditional performing arts.

The cost for four proposed youth centers would be $60 million to $80 million with an operating investment fund of $25 million and a capital investment fund of $10 million.

Sidewalks, bike lanes, trails and streetlights

Aubrey McDermid, assistant city manager, presented the proposal on general walkability and bicycle infrastructure.

The goals are to increase the number of people walking, increase the availability of infrastructure, connect neighborhoods to important locations — jobs, public transits, parks, schools, commercial districts — and remove barriers to walking and cycling.

Sidewalks would cost $400,000 to $450,000 per mile and would be prioritized to connect with schools, parks, transportation and downtown.

Another capital improvement is adding three types of bike lanes – protected, dedicated and shared – throughout the city. The cost per mile for bicycle lanes is about $350,000 to $500,000.

Trails would receive improvements, which cost $165 to $270 per mile. Several miles of new trails would also be created, which would cost $1.2 million to $1.6 million per mile.

Eric Wenger, Public Works director, said that $1.56 million in funding would cover an estimated 500 streetlights for 10 years.

Freedom Center

Leonard Benton, chairman of the board of directors for Freedom Center, presented the proposal for restoration and the creation of Clara Luper Civil Rights Center. The total estimated cost would be $25 million, which would cover various small projects including the restoration, converting a gas station to a visitor center, constructing a new building and developing exhibits and programming.

The goal is to honor Clara Luper through a “Smithsonian Museum-caliber Civil Rights campus” that creates an in-

teractive “legacy journey” from the Freedom Center building to the proposed Clara Luper Civil Rights Center. The campus would stretch about three blocks and include a path, which Benton said zigzags slightly to symbolize the movement’s peaks and valleys.

Mayor Holt expressed some concern about the cost, which he said was $8 million during previous presentations. They plan to keep discussing the dollar amount.

Beautification

Holt presented the proposal for beautification. He said the proposal’s vision for beautification would not be addressed unless it is a part of MAPS 4.

Holt discussed beautification through public art and streetscaping as an economic tool. The proposal focuses on highways and corridors that predate those beautification efforts because they “continue to contribute to a negative impression of our city’s aesthetic appeal.”

Beautification projects would take place at about 10 various city entrance gateways, corridors and bridges. Projects would also include public art or monuments at key intersections, landscaping and trees. This would cost $15 million to $20 million.

The proposal also includes $5 million for an operational fund to create two to three beautification staff positions.

This would perpetually fund the staff, which would work with public and private sectors to promote beautification, pursue grants and work with OKC Beautiful for cleanup of public areas.

State Fair coliseum

Tim O’Toole, president and CEO of State Fair Inc., presented the proposal, which contends that replacing the current Jim Norick Arena is inevitable. According to the presentation, the current arena is 54 years old and at the “end of its usable life.”

The proposed arena would include 7,320 seats, first-class patron amenities and a modern concourse. It would be constructed adjacent to the current Jim Norick Arena, which would continue hosting events throughout construction.

The base estimate is $95 million, which Holt said potentially might only be partially funded by MAPS 4. The coliseum is estimated to generate $320 million in direct spending.

Oklahoma City Council had two of the four MAPS 4 special meetings last week.

The next one is July 31. | Photo Alexa Ace

Senior wellness centers

The project is a continuation of the original $52 million senior wellness centers project that was a part of MAPS 3, Holt said. David Todd, MAPS program manager, said two of the four original centers have been completed and the other two will be designed soon.

Both completed senior wellness centers offer things like social interaction, exercise, aquatic activities, arts, yoga and a health clinic. The first center had about 6,000 members as of last December, while the second center has about 1,000 since May. Todd said the proposal was to add two more centers, but Holt said that number could change as they continue the overall MAPS conversation and identify more needs. No dollar amount was presented.

Animal shelter

Jonathan Gary, OKC animal welfare superintendent, said the current facility was designed to hold animals for three days before euthanization. He said in the early to mid ’90s, only about 15 percent of animals left the facility alive.

The proposal is to build a new 67,000 square-foot, state-of-the-art shelter that is designed with animal sheltering best practices in mind. The estimated cost is $40 million to $45 million.

The purpose is to improve experience for animals and customers and address operational inefficiencies. In June alone, animal welfare took in 2,502 animals, adopted out almost 600 and euthanized almost 500. The rest were transferred or returned to their owner.

Future meetings

The next meeting is July 31 with presentations on transit, homelessness, Chesapeake Energy Arena and NBA enhancements and Diversion Hub. The final meeting is Aug. 6 with presentations on mental health, multipurpose stadium, Innovation District, other councilmember projects and a general MAPS 4 overview.

Both meetings begin 9 a.m. at Oklahoma City Hall, 200 N. Walker Ave. Visit okc.gov/government/maps-4.

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Immigration rally

Several local organizations and immigration activists are demanding the closure of camps and reunification of families at a Saturday rally in Lawton. By Miguel Rios

Immigration activists will meet in Lawton on Saturday to demand closures of camps where immigrant children and families are detained. Dream Action Oklahoma (DAOK) is hosting the event in conjunction with organizations such as Oklahoma Call for Reproductive Justice (OCRJ), American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Oklahoma and Black Lives Matter Oklahoma.

“The overall purpose is to show unification in the state of Oklahoma,” said Brenda Lozano, DAOK special projects and program management director.

“Our overall message is to end concentration camps. We’re hosting the event in solidarity with other organizations.

We don’t want to push for a narrative that this is just another instance of history repeating itself, but more so that history hasn’t stopped. These actions haven’t stopped. Incarceration of people of color hasn’t stopped.”

Attendees will meet 8 a.m. Saturday at 3000 United Founders Blvd. Breakfast will be provided and buses will leave at 8:45 a.m. for Fort Sill. In Lawton, they will meet around 10 a.m. at 2999 NW Sheridan Road.

The event comes amid reports of the number of families and children entering the country from the U.S.-Mexico border surging above 100,000, according to Associated Press. It is also a response to news that Fort Sill is set to become an emergency detention center to hold about 1,400 children; no date has been announced on when that will happen.

Fort Sill most recently held unaccompanied immigrant children in 2014 under former president Barack Obama. It has also been a relocation camp for Native 8

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Americans, a boarding school for Native American children separated from their families and an internment camp for Japanese American men in 1942.

Rallying call

DAOK executive director Serena Prammanasudh said it is important to spearhead the effort locally to bring more awareness to the fact that the issue is not only at the border.

“What we want to do is use the border as a rallying call because it has so much attention, but it’s more about bringing awareness that people are detained in our neighborhoods,” Prammanasudh said. “They’re being dragged out of work or their homes or their vehicles while they’re waiting for their children to come out of school, and they’re being put into detention centers here or the county jail and being funneled into the pipeline. I mean, it’s happening in our neighborhoods to our own neighbors.”

Detained asylum-seekers in Oklahoma are placed either in David L. Moss Criminal Justice Center in Tulsa County Jail, Okmulgee County Jail or Garvin County Detention Center in Pauls Valley.

“There’s local collaboration with these local detention centers. People don’t understand that that’s a huge way that people get into the system,” Prammanasudh said. “ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) does not have a huge capacity in Oklahoma. [Its closest office] is out of Dallas; we’re included in their region. ICE doesn’t knock on all the people’s doors who are being incarcerated right now — it’s local law enforcement as well. As much as they

may not want to admit it or even realize it, they are indirectly contributing.”

OCRJ co-executive director Priya Desai said various organizations taking the lead from DAOK are pooling resources to make the event as impactful as possible.

“What’s happening right now is unconscionable, and so we wanted to take a strong stance in support of that community,” she said. “[DAOK] is doing a really good job of pulling people out of their silos and making sure that we’re working together for this large goal that we have, trying to get a lot of people. I would be absolutely floored, in a good way, if we reached 500-plus people that come to this rally. … What’s happening right now is not just at the border but it’s in our towns, in our cities, so this event is an opportunity for everyone to unabashedly show that they don’t condone what’s been happening.”

Closing camps

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York, received backlash following a live stream in which she referred to the detention facilities as “concentration camps,” leading to a national debate about whether the term is accurate or insensitive to Jewish communities.

Organizers of the Lawton rally have also received some backlash for naming the event Close the Concentration Camps, but Desai, Prammanasudh and Lozano stand by the term.

“I feel like the term ‘concentration camp’ is very appropriate because we’re doing exactly what they were doing back then; we’re separating families and we’re causing all this trauma and pain that doesn’t need to happen,” Desai said.

“I feel like we’re at a point in history where if we don’t call it what it is, then we are denying what has happened and what we are doing right now.”

In an Esquire article, Andrea Pitzer, author of One Long Night: A Global History of Concentration Camps, argued that the U.S. is operating a “concentration camp system.” In the book, she defines those camps as “mass detention of civilians without trial.”

left Serena Prammanasudh is the executive director of Dream Action Oklahoma, a nonprofit organization that advocates and provides resources for immigrants. center Brenda Lozano, a member of Dream Action Oklahoma, said the United States has a long history of detaining minority communities. right Priya Desai, co-executive director of Oklahoma Call for Reproductive Justice, said the detention centers are modern-day concentration camps fueled by white supremacy. | Photos Alexa Ace

Waitman Wade Beorn, a Holocaust and genocide studies historian at University of Virginia, told Esquire that concentration camps at a basic level are designed “to separate one group of people from another group,” usually “because the majority group, or the creators of the camp, deem the people they’re putting in it to be dangerous or undesirable in some way.”

However, both Jewish Community Relations Council of New York and U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum have stated their rejection of efforts to equate current detention centers with Nazi-era camps.

“I’ve seen [the debate] on my social media feed and people say its inappropriate, and I’m just like, ‘Well, if we did a side-by-side comparison, it’s not going to be exactly the same, but the idea that fueled that is the same,’” Desai said. “It’s this idea of white nationalism and white supremacy under the guise of patriotism.”

Several Fort Sill protests have taken place since it was announced children would be held there. Last month, Japanese American World War II camp survivors gathered at the gates to “protest the repetition of history,” even using the term “concentration camp.”

Dream Action Oklahoma, an allvolunteer nonprofit organization, aims to empower the local immigrant community through advocacy and education. It provides resources like Know Your Rights presentations and advocates for immigrant justice.

Visit daok.org and closethecamps.us.

Close the Concentration Camps!

10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday 2999 NW Sheridan Road, Lawton facebook.com/acluok

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Fish fry

Oklahoma’s rebrand-around

According to the Oklahoma Game Wardens Facebook page, a phrase that is a can’t miss conversation starter at any party, three game wardens spotted illegal electrofishing along the Kiamichi River in southeast Oklahoma on July 6.

“After making the observations, wardens raced to a nearby boat landing and waited for the fishing crew,” wrote whoever is in charge of the Oklahoma Game Wardens’ social media presence.

We picture this went down exactly like the climactic boat chase scene in John Woo’s Face/Off, but afterward instead of emotionally reuniting with their old faces or whatever, our protagonists in this story “discovered an illegal electrofishing device, wire leads, and 10 catfish that had been shocked and held in a boat’s live well.”

The Facebook post went on to state that “multiple charges are pending.”

Unavailable for comment were the 10 catfish photographed lined up along a pickup truck tailgate looking dead as hell.

Electrofishing, which uses direct electrical current to lure fish and temporarily stun them, is a method employed by scientists studying fish populations but is illegal when done recreationally. This is, of course, not to be confused with blast fishing, or using explosives such as dynamite to kill large groups of fish for easy collection, which is also illegal — unlike regular fishing, where you simply trick a fish into biting into a food it likes to eat, impale its jaw with a hook and pull it out of the water to suffocate.

Also not illegal: just sitting quietly by the water with your thoughts and leaving the poor fish to go about their day, which is probably stressful enough without all the attempted murder, thank you very much. If you really want to shock a fish, try using a net to pull some of those plastic bottles and grocery bags out of the water.

Rolling Thunder

While most of Oklahoma City was sleeping, the shocking news that changed the course of beloved National Basketball Association (NBA) franchise Oklahoma City Thunder blared across notification screens.

Not only was reigning NBA finals MVP Kawhi Leonard spurning the team with whom he won a title, he was signing with the Los Angeles Clippers and conspired with the Thunder’s Paul George to request a trade to join him.

The news broke around 1:30 in the morning local time and reverberated like a fracking earthquake.

Almost a year to the day, Oklahoma City mayor David Holt declared July 7 Paul George Day after the all-star forward signed a four-year extension with the Thunder to the surprise of many around the league, who thought he was destined to play with the Lakers and LeBron James.

As shocking as the news might be — the idea that a player with three years left on his contract can dictate a new destination — it comes with the silver lining of getting one of the great treasure chest of assets in league history. Promising point 10

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guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, forward Danilo Gallinari, who can be a high-level starter or flipped for more assets later in the season, and five firstround draft picks plus the option to swap picks with the Clippers in the future, when George and Leonard might not even be on the team anymore.

The Thunder have put on a public face of how difficult it was to trade George, but it has set them up for a rebuild that has a more promising future than another first-round playoff exit for a team in salary cap jail.

George’s decision has started a fire sale; athletic forward Jerami Grant was traded to Denver, Russell Westbrook is going to Houston and Steven Adams might not be far behind.

The future is uncertain, and the city is faced with the proposition of supporting a non-playoff team for the first time since its inaugural season in OKC, but we here at Chicken-Fried News have faith in general manager Sam Presti to draft well and use a treasure chest of future assets to acquire more talent in the years to come.

Instead of gnashing teeth over playoff position and hoping for a miracle run with an older corps of players, let us all sit back and embrace the rebuild.

Say goodbye to Oklahoma’s scissorTwitter flycatcher plates! Lt. Gov. Matt Pinnell wants to ditch Mary Fallin’s infamous 2016 license plate design and replace it with something that is “better than OK,” which is not nearly as inspirational as the Gov. Kevin Stitt cabinet thinks it is.

Not only that, but Pinnell wants Oklahoma to get a new logo, slogan and welcome signs because that is what we’ve all been anticipating, right? No? Well, forget better funding for education, infrastructure or health care because we’re getting “selfie-worthy” highway signs.

When The Oklahoman reported on Pinnell’s efforts, many took to social media to complain about the license plates, and while most agreed they are unattractive, they also believe we do not need new ones.

“The plate was the clickbait for the press,” Pinnell responded on Twitter.

“All I’m focused on right now is recruiting the team that is going to create the uniform state branding.

Tangible products could be created from this, but it’s not my focus.”

We’re not exactly sure what this so-called “clickbait” is, but

we understand his point. Anyway, the team Pinnell is recruiting will be dubbed OklaX, which is hopefully not an indication on how Oklahoma’s rebranding will go. He is working with Renzi Stone, Saxum CEO, to gather branding experts for a summit in August. That seems fine and dandy, except that the creative experts will work on a volunteer basis — probably for exposure, which as we know always yields the best results.

Arguably the best part, though, is that Oklahomans can actually weigh in on what they think the rebrand should focus on through a very limited, fivequestion survey that is almost all multiple-choice. It takes less than five minutes because half the questions are about demographics and the fourth is so badly worded it makes you just give up.

Visit projectbluesky.ok.gov to give it a shot, because otherwise we could very well be stuck with some variation of “Oklahoma is Open for Top 10 Business Turnaround Right Here Right Now.”

O KG A Z E T T E . C O M | J U LY 1 7, 2 0 1 9

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CO M M E N TA RY

NEWS

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.

History repeating Even a disastrous radio promotion from 1979 tells us something about our current situation and how we look at history. By George Lang

For my July 13 edition of Spy 101, the music history “class” I host on The Spy FM/ KOSU, I told the story of Disco Demolition Night, a July 12, 1979 event staged by the Chicago White Sox during a twi-night double-header against the Detroit Tigers at Comiskey Park. Organized and promoted by DJ Steve Dahl, who lost his job the previous year when his rock station converted to an all-disco format, Disco Demolition Night (DDN) drew 50,000 people to a game that would normally pull a scant 15,000, mainly because the admission price — $.98 and a disco record for imminent destruction — was so enticing.

But there was more than cheap admission luring Chicagoans into the stands that night. Many white rock fans saw disco, a form of music that emerged in the early 1970s in African American, Latinx and LGBTQ+ New York clubs, as an affront to their culture. As such, they responded to the flowering of a minority cultural exponent gaining ground with the mainstream by trying to physically obliterate it. Contemporaneous

DJ Steve Dahl | Illustration Ingvard Ashby

accounts reported that a lot of nondisco records by African American artists like Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye made it into the pile.

The short version of the story is that the Disco Demolition mob might have won the battle. Disco was on its way out by late-1979 and kicked off one of the worst recessions in music business history. But disco won the war, since dance-oriented musicians of the past 40 years, from Madonna to Steve Aoki, owe a debt to it.

At any rate, I wrote in my social media promos that DDN was “one of the stupidest and most reactionary incidents in pop music,” a statement that was borne out by Dahl blasting a crater into the infield and Chicago Police Department arriving in riot gear and arresting 37 people at a radio promotion event.

Nevertheless, I received a response saying that those were different times and “there was a different sentiment about disco” back then, which is why

“there apparently was interest since there were 10K more people” crammed into Comiskey Park than fire marshals would normally allow.

To be completely fair, the writer of that post does not make a habit of being on the wrong side of history on social media — I checked. But it did point out how we view things in our rearview mirrors.

We cannot judge events, works of art, public statements and other artifacts of the past based on the mores of the time and give a pass to the perpetrators because it was so widespread or God forbid, it was a “youthful indiscretion.” That is how we ignore the lessons of history.

Dahl, who was 24 when DDN took place, was a kind of scorched-earth populist. These days, he tries to laugh it all off and complains that people have mischaracterized his sentiments or attitude in promoting the event. But he used his bully pulpit as a DJ on WLUP-FM to whip up a mob. He even had a name for his anti-disco followers, the Insane Coho Lips (ICL), who carried out his will.

The same technique of sowing conflict and breeding resentment is being used in the modern culture wars against minority populations by InfoWars, Breitbart, Tucker Carlson and the Trump administration. Four decades from now, are we simply going to say that sentiments were different back in 2019?

Giving history a pass is not how societies learn from their mistakes. In 1979, at the time of DDN, it was still possible for kids to watch a Little Rascals/Our Gang short on afterschool television in which Stymie, played by Matthew Beard, wipes his brow and flicks what appears to be black sweat on a wall. For laughs.

Granted, that short was not a product of 1979, but it was being tolerated and broadcast into my Tulsa home and imprinted on my brain at that time, more

than four decades after it was made, without concern for how it might play among the station’s African American viewership or how it might calcify racial attitudes among young viewers.

For the record, I owned a “help stamp out disco in our lifetime” T-shirt when this movement was ramping up. I thought it would help in my battle against bullies. It did not work.

Enumerating the embarrassments and atrocities of our own time would take this entire issue of Oklahoma Gazette plus the next month’s worth of issues, but for the sake of argument, let us focus on the impact sweeps planned in major U.S. cities by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). What is happening to undocumented immigrants, from the planned mass arrests to the detainment in concentration camps, will not be looked upon kindly or even dispassionately by historians. It is a human rights atrocity, full stop.

The people who perpetrated this crime against humanity must be held to account, now and in the future. Decades from now, any attempt to play this off as being somehow just a sign of the times in 2019 should be answered sternly and without rhetorical mercy.

Those unfamiliar with my writing probably feel a little whiplash at this point or even find it ridiculous that I started with a disastrous radio promo event and ended with the detention of immigrants. But this is how my brain works and, frankly, this is how history works. If you do not call out hate and injustice, it goes unchecked and metastasizes. We should never let ourselves off the hook.

George Lang is editor-in-chief of Oklahoma Gazette and began his career at Gazette in 1994. | Photo Gazette / file

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REVIEW

EAT & DRINK

Surprise tacos

Perez Truck’s brick-and-mortar location expands on excellent offerings from its mobile kitchen.

By Jacob Threadgill

Perez Truck Mexican Restaurant 2416 NW 23rd St. | facebook.com/ pereztruckmexicanrestaurant1 | 405-889-1314 WHAT WORKS: The verde sauce for enchiladas packs a punch, and the al pastor is flavorful and spit-roasted.

WHAT NEEDS WORK: The choriqueso became a solidified mass.

TIP: Find parking behind the building.

For Oklahoma Gazette’s annual summer guide, I set out on the delicious but arduous task of trying to document taco trucks with permanent or semi-permanent locations in the metro area.

It is easy to forget that Oklahoma City, in terms of square miles, is one of the largest cities in the country, especially since we do not spend a lot of time in traffic. There is nothing like traversing the metro area, looking for taco trucks, that really puts the sheer size of the city into perspective. Luckily, I had plenty of tasty food to help power me along the journey.

As you might expect, SW 29th Street is home to a ton of brick-and-mortar taquerias as well as food trucks. Many often consider Taqueria Sanchez, 4011 NW 10th St., the best taco truck in the city — and for good reason — but the true surprise of my adventure was Perez Truck, located at 4400 S. Western Ave., across from Integris Southwest Medical Center.

It was not so much of a surprise that Perez Truck serves great tacos — there are a lot of great tacos to be found in the metro — but I found the sheer size of its truck menu to be a pleasant surprise.

The truck serves 10 types of taco and 26 varieties of torta along with standard offerings of quesadilla, burritos, mulitas, sopes, tostadas and less ubiquitous choices like sincronizadas.

I ordered a cochinitia pibil torta ($6),

and it was enough for two meals. I was delighted to see cochinita pibil offered on the menu because it is not on a lot of menus in the area, especially as a taco, torta or burrito offering. The marinated and braised pork dish heavy on citrus is on the menu as a composed dish at Cafe Kacao, 3325 N. Classen Blvd., and at Hugo’s Taquizas, 5920 NW 23rd St. Cochinita pibil is a similar marinade to al pastor but is heavier on citrus juice and slow-cooked rather than spit-roasted.

The memory of the torta layered with plenty of the slow-cooked pork, beans, mayonnaise, lettuce and other ingredients stuck with me long after our taco truck map went to press.

A few weeks later, while driving west on NW 23rd Street, I noticed that Perez Truck had opened a brick-and-mortar location at 2416 NW 23rd St., across from Shepherd Mall, in a blue-and-orange building (to match its truck) in a former Mexican seafood location.

I know I had driven by a few times, but I was a little confused by the name because it keeps the name Perez Truck for the restaurant location. I think I drove by once and thought it could have been a spot to house the truck. It also only offers a slim entryway to a parking lot behind the building; it is a tight squeeze and easy to miss.

According to Perez Truck restaurant’s Facebook page, the owners opened the permanent location around late January this year. As someone who lives in nearby Military Park, I am always looking for more Mexican options. The Taco Loco truck at Pennsylvania Avenue and 39th Street is definitely one of the best in the city (order a burrito in addition to dollar tacos), but sometimes you crave more than what a taco truck can offer.

Perez Truck Mexican Restaurant is a

small restaurant, but like its truck, it offers a ton of options on its menu, some of which I have not seen on any other menus in the city. Everything for which the truck is known remains on the menu. There are plenty of torta offerings, but it offers an extensive seafood menu (which might be a vestige of the location’s former life), and all of its seafood is served 50 percent off on Mondays. The restaurant, which opens 10 a.m. daily, offers breakfast platters like huevos rancheros and revueltos and omelets.

Entrée additions at the restaurant include alambre, a pair of stews, enchiladas, garnachas and chilaquiles. It also offers a pair of soups and menudo on the weekend. It has a menu so vast and extensive that it might make Perez Truck Mexican Restaurant the Cheesecake Factory of local Mexican restaurants, but with much better executed food than the corporate establishment. Give me a restaurant with a salsa bar over a cheesecake case any day of the week.

On a recent trip to the restaurant, my wife and I began a meal hoping to get chips and guacamole but were told the kitchen did not have any avocados.

We opted for the choriqueso ($7.99) as an appetizer and wished that the kitchen had avocados instead. The mixture seemed to be about 70 percent chorizo, which is great in concept but not really execution. It quickly became a solidified mass of grease and cheese that was tasty but difficult to eat.

My wife is somewhat of a connoisseur of enchiladas verde, one of her go-to orders, and the verde sauce at Perez Truck ($9.99) is her favorite that we have encountered in the metro. It packs plenty of heat, and the corn tortillas were tender and flavorful.

I ordered Perez Truck’s version of tacos árabes ($8.99) because it is one of those dishes I have only heard about.

Translating to “Arabic tacos,” the dish originates in Puebla, Mexico, and is the result of Middle Eastern immigrants arriving in Mexico and replacing lamb with pork because it was easier to find. Al pastor is a similar mash-up of

Tacos arabes filled with al pastor and cheese | Photo Jacob Threadgill

Perez Truck Restaurant’s salsa bar | Photo Jacob Threadgill

cultures, using shawarma preparation for local ingredients, but traditional tacos árabes use a thick flour tortilla that has a similar pita texture.

Perez Truck serves its tacos árabes in regular flour tortillas with its al pastor, which is spit-roasted in the kitchen, but layers in onion, cilantro and plenty of melted cheese. The dish was a real treat.

The al pastor has a ton of flavor, and the onions are cooked just enough to bring out some sweetness. It offers dollar al pastor tacos on Wednesdays.

I am extremely happy to find that Perez Truck’s brick-and-mortar location continues its high quality dishes that started on the food truck.

Chicken enchilada verde | Photo Jacob Threadgill

O KG A Z E T T E . C O M | J U LY 1 7, 2 0 1 9

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F E AT U R E

EAT & DRINK

Parlor beauty

Parlor brings seven kitchens and two full bars to its food hall concept in Automobile Alley.

By Jacob Threadgill

Seven microkitchens and two full-service bars will open at Parlor later this year, which will mark Oklahoma City’s second food hall concept.

Parlor is the second concept of its kind operated by Meriwether Companies, which launched its first Parlor in Kansas City, Missouri. The Oklahoma City location is a 13,000 square-foot space, once home to Pioneer Telephone, 11 NE Sixth St. Parlor’s opening is tentatively set for August or September.

Chef Robert Black, formerly of A Good Egg Dining Group, who serves as Meriwether’s chief operations officer, oversees both the Kansas City and Oklahoma City locations.

“Most people might say the same thing: ‘I get the idea of a food hall,’ and maybe even picture something like mall food court in their mind. I think the reality is going to be totally different,” Black said. “For me, it is much fairer to call it an experience than a place to eat or drink because you have so many

options. It is seven different owners operating the kitchens, and they have their own personality, and it matches the interior. Each seating area is going to have its own feel. You can sit in the parlor area and have sushi one day … and [then] sit on the south side of the building with some pizza. With all of the floors, kitchens, bars and seating areas, it causes this sense of wanting to come back and try different things and drink in a different bar.”

Parlor has agreed to terms with six of its seven restaurant tenants, four of which are from local chefs, while the other two are some of the most popular from the Kansas City location.

The first floor of Parlor features Burger Pig, a local beef “better burger concept” from Timothy Abell; Pachinko Parlor from Eric Smith, which formerly operated a location in Automobile Alley; and two concepts that make their way from Kansas City: Providence Pizza and Sura Eats, a Korean street food concept.

The second floor features El Guate, a Guatemalan restaurant from Chris McCabe; Graffiti OKC, an Asian-Latin concept from chef Jonas Favela; and a to-be-determined final spot.

Restaurants sign a minimum of a year lease at Parlor and move into a turnkey space with equipment provided. The restaurant owner provides employees, signage and food while keeping all of its profits.

“The buzzword around town is ‘incuba-

Providence Pizza will feature Neapolitan-, New York- and Detroit-style pizza. | Photo Erin Hassett / provided

tor,’ but I don’t really like that word,” Black said of the food hall concept. “Each kitchen is its own restaurant. All of these kitchens will turn over at some point. The food at Parlor is evergreen. If a tenant comes in and does well, we want to be positioned for them to move from microkitchen to brickand-mortar, and we have the resources to help them take the next step.”

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Parlor represents Abell, Favela and McCabe’s first restaurants in Oklahoma City. Abell moved to Oklahoma City from southern California, where he operated a food truck. He worked with Black at Red PrimeSteak and enters Burger Pig with a signature patty that is made with locally sourced, dry-aged ground beef and pork belly.

Favela has worked in some of Oklahoma City’s most recognizable kitchens, most recently at Union Wood Fired Grill, where he showcased his ability to fuse the Latin and Asian flavors that will be a core tenet of his Graffiti OKC kitchen.

McCabe’s El Guate fills a void in the city: chef-driven Guatemalan food that is open for dinner. Two of Oklahoma City’s most prominent Guatemalan restaurants, Cafe Kacao Latin Cuisine and Cafe Antigua, close in the afternoon.

“Those places have great coffee and breakfast programs, but this will be geared towards lunch and dinner, which will separate his menu from their menus,” Black said. “This is going to be interesting to see [Guatemalan food] presented with a chef influence.”

You can sit in the parlor area and have sushi one day … and [then] sit on the south side of the building with some pizza.

Robert Black Smith opened Pachinko Parlor at Ninth Street and Broadway Avenue at the beginning of the decade, early in Automobile Alley’s revitalization. It closed in 2012, but Black thinks the fusion sushi concept is due to be a hit.

“They were one of the first pioneers [in Automobile Alley],” Black said. “It didn’t work out, and it wasn’t because it wasn’t great food. I just think it was too early. This area hadn’t been developed, and there wasn’t enough foot traffic. They do have a little bit of a cult following, and if you ask people that are foodies from this area, most of them have fond memories. It includes me, so I’m excited to see a rebirth of Pachinko.”

Black said Sura Eats is the overall No. 2 selling concept in Kansas City and specializes in Korean dishes like bibimbap and japchae. Providence Pizza offers three styles of pizza — Neapolitan-, New York- and Detroitstyle, the latter of which is gaining popularity across the country this decade — and bakes the crust in a deep pan for optimal caramelization.

“Two weeks ago, I was in Chicago for a food show, and I was like, ‘Man, I need to get some deep-dish because I’m in Chicago,’ but after I’ve had Detroit-style, Chicago is kind of ‘eh,’ which is sad because I used to love Chicago-style,” Black said.

Black oversees Parlor’s cocktail program, which will be featured at an upstairs and downstairs bar. It will have 12 regional beers and cocktails on tap.

“Everyone wants a great cocktail these days but don’t want to wait 15 minutes to get one,” he said. “How do we make great craft cocktails but be able to execute them in less than a minute? Our craft cocktails makes the bar program stand out. It will be seasonal and change every 3-4 months.

It’s where I get to play.”

There will be plenty of parking for Parlor off Seventh Street, and an information booth will direct guests where they want to go. The downstairs bar is meant to mimic someone’s parlor at home; there are no tables but plenty of plush chairs and couches with a fireplace. The back patio will feature a bocce ball court, and the upstairs patio will likely be home to weekly live music.

“If you want to grab a sandwich and a beer and be out in 30 minutes or if you want to stay for three hours and enjoy everything, it’s not hard to do,” Black said.

Visit parlorokc.com.

Sura Eats is a concept at Parlor that started at the original Kansas City, Missouri, location. | Photo Erin Hassett / provided

O KG A Z E T T E . C O M | J U LY 1 7, 2 0 1 9

15

F E AT U R E

EAT & DRINK

8 Metro Locations | HideawayPizza.com

You always know how to

show us the

Best Chef B R U C E R INEHART

ROCOCO PENN 2824 N. Penn Ave. | 405-528-2824 ROCOCO NORTHPARK 12252 N. May Ave. | 405-212-4577 loverococo.com

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J U LY 1 7, 2 0 1 9 | O KG A Z E T T E . C O M

Uptown Creole

After working under some of New Orleans’ most famous names, chef Reuben Carey shares his talents at Rew Orleans. By Jacob Threadgill

Even after training under some of New Orleans’ most renowned chefs, Reuben Carey’s biggest culinary influence remains his paternal grandmother, Jonamae.

Carey started Rew Orleans Catering after moving to Oklahoma City four years ago and has a permanent home at Alley Café, 447 NW 23rd St., where he is able to showcase his cooking style that combines soul food and Creole dishes inspired by his grandmother.

“I was always the prep chef for my grandma,” Carey said. “While other kids were outside playing, I was in there cooking with my grandmother, and it went from chopping everything up to her showing me her recipes. She told me that this would get me further in life if I learned how to cook for people, and I took heed to what she said.”

He learned to elevate family recipes, first by attending Treme Corner Culinary School in New Orleans, graduating in 1999. The culinary school closed after Hurricane Katrina sent the city underwater in 2005, and Carey had to fight to survive.

“I lost all my belongings in Katrina,” he said. “I was on the roof [of my house] for a few weeks.”

His professional career in New Orleans started at Dooky Chase’s Restaurant under Leah Chase, the “queen of Creole cuisine,” who turned her restaurant into a haven for those on the front lines of fighting for equality during the height of the civil rights era, and the restaurant remains an institution

following her death in June.

“She was one the best chefs I’ve ever worked with because she was so honest and didn’t cut any corners,” Carey said of Chase. “She treated me like I was her child. I loved working for her.”

From Dooky Chase’s, Carey went to work under another New Orleans icon, Emeril Lagasse, at his eponymous restaurant. He said he ran into the celebrity chef a few times, but Lagasse was busy building his restaurant and television empire.

He took the unusual job of cooking aboard offshore oil rigs, a position that required 28 days aboard and seven at home, but Carey credits the unique environment for strengthening his skills.

“Working offshore, you have to cook everything from scratch, so it elevated my skills a little bit,” Carey said.

“You’re cooking for the oil riggers, and they wanted fresh food, none of that boxed stuff. It was awesome.”

He worked offshore for seven years before Katrina hit. He found refuge in Dallas, where he eventually got a job with Olive Garden and a local school district. Olive Garden moved him to Oklahoma City about four years ago.

Bread pudding with caramel and chocolate sauce | Photo Alexa Ace

Gumbo with shrimp, chicken, sausage and jasmine rice | Photo Alexa Ace

Carey started Rew Orleans as a catering business while also working as kitchen manager for Red PrimeSteak.

While working at Red Prime, Carey met Joseph and Teresa Tran, owners of Alley Café, who were looking for a chef to take over the restaurant.

“They believed in me as a chef, and I told them that I could change the concept up and bring New Orleans to this area and we’d be successful,” he said.

Rew Orleans served its first meals in the Alley Café space at the end of June and opened for lunch July 9. It plans to begin a weekend brunch service in the coming weeks.

The outside of the restaurant now has silhouettes of a second line Mardi Gras parade, and tables are adorned with Mardi Gras masks. The menu is filled with decidedly New Orleans offerings. Appetizers include crab cakes, seafood toast, spicy barbecue meatballs and a New Orleans staple, barbecue shrimp, which showcases Carey’s signature spice blend. The sauce is made with Worcestershire sauce, chicken broth, lemon juice and a fresh Creole seasoning that includes fresh roasted red pepper and parsley stems among a few other secret ingredients. “[The seasoning] gives it a depth of flavor,” he said. “It’s a concoction that I use to make barbecue sauce mixed with some Korean barbecue sauce that [the Trans] already had in the kitchen.

It’s a different style. I don’t keep the heads on the shrimp because I don’t want to freak people out.”

Carey’s gumbo is a standout. It is shrimp, chicken and sausage served with jasmine rice and dark roux gravy enhanced with filé powder early in the cooking process.

Po’boys are served in huge portions, enough for one hungry person or two people. Rew Orleans offers roast beef, catfish, sausage and fried shrimp as well as a muffuletta, the combination of olive salad-cured meats on a round sesame roll that started at New Orleans’ Central Grocery.

Bayou beef tips and mash are cubes

of beef marinated for 24 hours before being slow-cooked and served with brown gravy, mushrooms and shallots over garlic mashed potatoes. Other entrees include shrimp and grits, red beans and rice, crawfish and shrimp étouffée, stuffed red bell pepper with beef and shrimp and Second Line Pasta with crab and shrimp in a cream sauce over penne.

You should’ve seen how many people said, ‘You spelled the name wrong.’

I’d have to go out and correct them.

it ’s okay to eat your feelings when they

taste this good

Reuben Carey “Since we’ve been open, 85 percent of the plates are empty,” he said.

Carey also offers five-cheese macaroni and cheese that can be paired with chicken, shrimp, lobster or all three.

Cajun Jam is his version of jambalaya served in a deconstructed manner with the chicken and sausage cooked separately from the rice and holy trinity (onion, celery and green bell pepper).

Dessert includes his mother’s bread pudding recipe and beignets made with the famed Café Du Monde mixture.

Rew Orleans serves beer and wine, and Carey hopes to have its liquor license in place by football season so he can serve Bourbon Street staples like daiquiris, hurricanes and hand grenades during New Orleans Saints watch parties. Rew Orleans’ menu is full of plays on words, which he said is also part of the restaurant’s name, which is in reference to his first name as well as a gumbo roux.

“I want people to ask the questions,” Carey said. “You should’ve seen how many people said, ‘You spelled the name wrong.’ I’d have to go out and correct them. I want to be different.”

Chef Reuben Carey started Rew Orleans as a catering business before moving it to Uptown 23rd District at the end of June. | Photo Alexa Ace

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GAZEDIBLES

EAT & DRINK

All scream

There’s really never a bad time to have ice cream. It can be comforting even when there’s snow on the ground, but there’s nothing like a scoop or two or three when the temperatures are approaching triple digits.

By Jacob Threadgill with photos Gazette / file and provided

Roxy’s Ice Cream Social 1732 NW 16th St. roxysicecream.com | 405-521-1300

This Oklahoma City staple with four locations in the metro area is also available across the city in various retail locations like Stella Nova coffee shop. It has 14 classic flavors with an additional eight flavors that rotate seasonally. Enjoy them as a float, cookie sandwich or sundae like the chocoholic that tops chocolate ice cream with hot fudge, whipped cream, cookie crumbles and a cherry.

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Served on a Fresh Buttery Brioche Bun, topped off with Siracha Slaw. Also served with a side of Baked Beans and Kettle Fried Potato Chips.

GRANDRESORTOK.COM I-40 EXIT 178 I SHAWNEE, OK I 405-964-7263

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J U LY 1 7, 2 0 1 9 | O KG A Z E T T E . C O M

Paleteria y Neveria El Buen Gusto Michoacano 5125 S. Western Ave. 405-400-3040

Whether you’re in the mood for homemade ice cream, smoothie or a frozen pop, this southside neveria has you covered. It has almost 60 flavors of frozen pop, including some that are fruit-filled, chocolate-filled and even interesting combinations like avocado.

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Dolci Paradiso

10740 S. May Ave. dolciparadiso.com | 405-254-5070

It’s a sweet paradise, indeed. This southside bakery and gelato shop is home to a rotating menu of fun and interesting flavors of the Italian sweet cream, which has a lower fat content than regular ice cream. The store has a few top-selling items like stracciatella, salted caramel and tiramisu, but keep your eyes on social media for fun flavors like Ferrero Rocher and cookie butter.

LUMPY’S SUMMER FLING lumpyssportsgrill.com

Just Desserts

Snow Ice Cream Roll

A majority of the world’s population is lactose intolerant, and many others don’t eat dairy products for environmental or other health reasons. They can still get their ice cream fix at Just Desserts, a mobile food truck that is usually set up at the corner of NW 47th Street and Western Avenue on the weekends. Made with a blend of coconut and almond milk, the ice cream at Just Desserts will satisfy everyone. Follow it on social media for other event locations.

An anti-griddle is almost exactly what it sounds like, except not really. There certainly aren’t any flames involved. The flat surface flash-freezes anything that it comes in contact with, and for the lucky folks at Penn Square Mall, this means the chance to watch ice cream being made right in front of them. Choose from a variety of flavors and toppings like gummies, cookies, boba and jelly for this sensation by way of Thailand.

1229 NW 47th St. facebook.com/justdessertsokc 405-401-6378

1901 Northwest Expressway, Kiosk 135 facebook.com/snowicecreamroll 347-260-5068

Snack Attack

Capitals Ice Cream

Ice cream is made daily at this Yukon eatery that is a haven for sweet treats and comforting warm entrees like baked potatoes and tamales. Flavors rotate, but strawberry cheesecake, Oreo and butter pecan are some of its top sellers.

Owner and operator Blanca Campos dishes the mix-ins by hand and is sure not to skimp.

This Midtown treat has become quite the hotspot since opening last year, and for good reason. A new take on soft-serve ice cream with creative favorites that include monthly features or standbys like cookies and cream with chocolate chip cookies, Oreos and cookie crisps. Of course, you can build your own with mix-ins that include cookies, cereal and fruit.

336 S. Mustang Road, Yukon snackattackok.com | 405-324-2072

1006 N. Hudson Ave., Suite 100 capitalsicecream.com | 405-562-7732

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COV E R

ARTS & CULTURE

Home and abroad

National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum’s Passport shows the more worldly art of Western masters. By Jeremy Martin

Inspiration for the art included in National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum’s latest exhibit comes from every direction.

Passport opens Friday and will remain on view through March 2020 at the museum, 1700 NE 63rd St. “The thing that will surprise people or maybe capture their attention is just the variety on display in Passport,” said Kera Newby, the museum’s digital and manuscript archivist. “We have everything; we have pieces from every corner of the world and tons of different time periods throughout history as well. You’ll be able to see really detailed sketches of German armor from the 1500s next to oil sketches that were done by an artist on a trip to Europe, of trees waving in the wind.”

time and around the world.”

Named for philanthropists Donald C. and Elizabeth M. Dickinson, the research center contains tens of thousands of books and photographs along with movie posters, novels, manuscripts and many other items illuminating the history and culture of the American West. Newby — who spent about a year planning the exhibit with Kimberly Roblin, Dickinson Research Center’s director and curator of archives — said Passport was inspired by the vast amount of material artists typically associated with the American West have created from other sources of inspiration. The museum’s A. Keith Brodkin Contemporary Western Artists Project, collecting the archival records of artists from the 1940s to the present day, has also acquired a large variety of works that show other sides of the artists.

“Whenever we meet with an artist and decide to acquire their collection, we take in everything that they have done over the course of their career as far as archival material, so that’s going to be sketches, sketch books, different notes they’ve taken,” Newby said. “A lot of that “Ladies of Lisbon” by Lowell Ellsworth Smith is compiled in their travels | Image National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum / provided — photography they might have taken on their travels, The museum has never before atbut also the sketches that they’ve done, tempted anything quite like Passport. the oils that they’ve done while they were “This is the first time that all of these traveling, watercolors, that kind of thing. pieces will be on exhibit,” Newby said.

Those materials are brought into our re“They’ve never been put on exhibit search center to better inform the public before, and they’ve definitely never been and researchers who come in about the put on exhibit together. … We are really different aspects of these artists and what excited to open it and have the public they were trying to convey with their come in and see all of these different Western and non-Western art.” types of art that Western artists create.”

Curating an exhibit with so many posPassport’s main purpose, Newby said, sible works to choose from required is highlighting the non-Western works Newby and Roblin to approach Passport of artists such as Robert K. Abbett, Laura differently from the museum’s typical Gardin Fraser and Tom Lovell, whose exhibitions, which are usually organized Western-inspired art is displayed as part around a more specific theme. of the museum’s permanent collection.

“Essentially, we wanted to ensure that “At the Cowboy Museum, we are we were representing lots of different always showcasing the wonderful time periods throughout history and also Western creations from these artists, but just a variety of artistic techniques, so like every artist, they are creative beings there’s watercolors, oil, pencil sketches, and they like to travel and create lots of pen-and-ink drawings, this kind of thing,” different art from different perspectives,” Newby said. “And so to arrange the Newby said. “We have so much of that exhibit, we went through several promaterial in the Dickinson Research cesses: Is it better to do it by artists? Is it Center archive that we wanted to create better to do it by just hanging them all en an exhibit to showcase the different sides masse and seeing what that looks like?” of these artists and some of their nonWestern-related artwork and to show that Untitled landscape (likely Europe) art is the ultimate passport, and through

by Tom Lovell | Image National Cowboy & their creation, you can also travel through Western Heritage Museum / provided

Ultimately, they decided to organize the exhibit by region; the Americas, Europe and Asia and the South Pacific all have their own sections. The Asian and South Pacific section contains Newby’s favorite Passport work — “Siamese Court Dancer Painted from Life” by Carl Link.

“He was a German artist who immigrated to the United States in the 1940s, and he spent a lot of time in New York City,” Newby said. “Later in his career, he moved out to the West and was just this prolific, amazing, wonderful Western painter, but in his time in Europe, he did a lot of covers for theatrical playbills, so we have this wonderful piece of a Siamese court dancer. It’s a really striking “Portrait of a Young Woman in a Sari” by William F. Reese | Image National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum / provided image. It’s a really bright blue background, and the costume is bold and red. It just catches your eye So we’re showing a different side of the and definitely stands out in the exhibit artists and also kind of showing that the but also in the museum.”

West, like art itself, isn’t one-dimensionGiving visitors the chance to see al or two-dimensional.” another side of Link allows for a greater Developing a more well-rounded view appreciation of his career. of the artists also provides a better per“That’s one of the things that we want spective on the West itself, Newby said. to do in the Dickinson Research Center “To see these pieces these artists have is be able to provide the context for who created and know that their primary these artists were as people and why they interest still remains in the West, I think were deciding to do the art that they did,” it’s really powerful and speaks a lot to Newby said. “I think it really humanizes the importance of the American West in them. I think it better forms a more these artists’ lives,” Newby said. “I think rounded picture of who they were and are it also shows that you can experience lots as people and showcases that art, when of different cultures and spaces around it is produced, isn’t coming from a onethe world and still come back to what dimensional place. It’s coming from a you know best and be better informed human who has had life experiences and about that, because the American West either has traveled or just desperately is ever evolving and cultures all around wants to travel and is interested in these the world have influenced what the different regions of the world. And I think American West is today.” whenever you’re able to approach art from Museum admission is free-$12.50. the perspective of, ‘This is another person Visit nationalcowboymuseum.org. who is like me, creating these different pieces,’ it makes art more accessible. …

Passport Through this exhibit, especially, we want Friday-March 15, 2020 to show the different sides of these artists, National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum so you’re able to go through the galleries 1700 NE 63rd St. and see their Western artwork and then, nationalcowboymuseum.org | 405-478-2250 in the Passport exhibit, you can see their forays outside of the Western art world.

Free-$12.50

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ARTS & CULTURE

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Clockwork life

Science Museum Oklahoma explores the complexity of machines with Life Imagined: The Art and Science of Automata. By Jo Light

A clown figurine dressed in a colorful silk shirt stands next to a small table.

His head gives a teasing wiggle just as he raises a feathered fan to his face.

When the fan comes away, his head is magically gone — until it is revealed a second later, smiling and blinking, under a box on the table. These are the lifelike motions of a complex work of art called “Clown Illusionist.” JeanMarie Phalibois, or perhaps his son Édouard Henri Phalibois, constructed the piece sometime around 1900.

The machine is an automaton, a clockwork-driven construction made at a time when the public was fascinated with blurring the lines between humanity and mechanics.

Guests of Science Museum Oklahoma can view this and dozens of other automata in smART Space gallery’s Life Imagined: The Art and Science of Automata exhibition. The exhibit opened Feb. 23 and continues through Sept. 29.

The word “automaton” comes from the Greek automatos, which means “moves on its own.” Creations like these are believed to be among the earliest complex machines built by civilization, beginning with the ancient Greeks and Chinese.

The golden age of automata began in the 19th century, when mechanical parts became more easily accessible and clockmakers were eager to show off their skills.

Although they were often made as curiosities or toys, automata laid the foundation for modern-day robotics.

The 41 works included in Life Imagined: The Art and Science of Automata date from 1850 to today. The early pieces like “Clown Illusionist” have been loaned to Science Museum Oklahoma from the Murtogh D. Guinness

Collection of Automata at Morris Museum in Morristown, New Jersey.

Alyson Atchison, associate curator of smART Space, said she visited the Morris Museum and attended last year’s AutomataCon to prepare for the exhibition, meeting many contemporary artists in the process.

She pointed out that the exhibition’s antique automata all conceal how they function, which at the time added to the illusion of machines mimicking humans.

One 1875 piece, “Conjurer” by Édouard Henri Phalibois, features a magician in front of a mirrored wall.

Each time the conjurer lifts his cups, a different object appears. The machinery is hidden in an ebonized base.

“It kind of reminds me of the Zoltar machine on Big,” Atchison said, referring to a fortune-telling animatronic that plays a key part in the 1988 film.

Atchison said there is still a strong collectors’ base surrounding both old and new automata. She believes the pieces remain relevant because of the high level of skill on display.

“When you come into the newer ones, they’re no longer relying on this mystery,” Atchison said, pausing in front of two modern automata by Jim Casey. “In fact, they are showcasing the mechanics of each piece.”

Bliss Kolb’s “Singing Bird” is a 2012 piece that features a bird atop a branch.

The bird twitches realistically, flaps its wings and whistles through a moving beak. Cams manipulate levers and strings to move the bird, while a bellows produces sound.

“As long as I can remember, I’ve been drawn to machines,” Kolb said via email, Cecilia Schiller’s “Mark Hansen Loves to Row” is on exhibit in Science Museum Oklahoma’s smART Space galleries. | Photo Jo Light

Guests examine Jim Casey’s “Ezra the Chronicler” and “Henry the Contemplative Robot” in Life Imagined: The Art and Science of Automata in Science Museum Oklahoma’s smART Space galleries. | Photo Jo Light

“the beauty of engineering and the elegance that naturally unfolds when attention is given to pure functionality.”

Kolb said “Singing Bird” took about two years to conceptualize and construct. The hope, he said, is that viewers feel the bird’s movements are lifelike even while they’re aware it is a machine.

“Looking over the wonderful, clever works of automata throughout its history, the thing that continues to hook me is the imitation or illusion of life, an obvious machine that moves so realistically it seems to be alive,” Kolb said. “I’ve come to pay most attention to a certain specific gesture that best evokes a creature’s intention or character.”

Another impressive piece is Cecilia Schiller’s “Birdhouse.” It’s taller than a basketball goal and depicts several moving scenes. Birds fly in a circle high above the viewer. In the base, cams move a hungry bird in a nest, while a woodpecker climbs up the side.

Schiller built “Birdhouse” in 2012 with the help of a Minnesota State Arts Board Artist Initiative grant. It’s a durable piece meant for display in public spaces.

Schiller said she has always been a visual person, and in 1968, she performed well in the mechanical engineering portion of a junior high aptitude test. However, due to social mores of the time, she avoided going into mechanics. She landed in art and theater instead, working with puppets, costumes and masks.

She now brings her experience in sewing, woodworking and engineering to her work as an automata artist.

“I see it with other automata makers that I know,” Schiller said via phone.

“They’re not just skilled in one area.

They’re skilled in a number of areas.

This allows me to use those [skills]; I don’t have to pick and choose.”

Schiller said she recently received another grant and plans on creating kits that will allow up-and-coming artists to build their own automata.

She hopes to make them available on her website within six to nine months.

Chris Fitch’s 1992 work “Monarch” is also a standout. A graceful butterfly flies in a circle, propelled by cogs and string. Fitch agreed that automata creation relies on numerous skills.

“Automata seem to be having another cultural moment,” Fitch said via email. “Like opera or film, they are complex vessels for storytelling. These days, you will find them commenting on social behavior, mimicking natural gestures, telling jokes or creating dreamscapes or fantasy imagery. And at a time when the sleeves of our robot overlords are very long, indeed it is all the more important to have friendly machines you can trust.”

Because of the delicate nature and age of many of the exhibition’s pieces, live demonstrations of the automata are limited. Science Museum Oklahoma has provided video installations alongside many of the pieces so guests can see them in motion.

“We would have loved to make these where people could come through and operate them, but it would have been impossible,” Atchison said.

Visitors who want to see elements of the mechanics at work can enjoy a wall of simple machines like peg wheels, gears, ratchets and cams.

Atchison said the museum is planning to screen Fritz Lang’s 1927 film Metropolis before the exhibit closes.

The movie features the maschinenmensch (“Machine-Man”), one of the earliest depictions of a robot in cinema.

The screening is tentatively set for September. During the event, Atchison said she hopes to demonstrate several of the automata in the exhibit again before it closes.

Admission to Life Imagined: The Art and Science of Automata is included with museum tickets. Admission is free-$15.95.

Visit sciencemuseumok.org.

Life Imagined: The Art and Science of Automata Through Sept. 29 Science Museum Oklahoma 2020 Remington Place sciencemuseumok.org | 405-602-6664 Free-$15.95

O KG A Z E T T E . C O M | J U LY 1 7, 2 0 1 9

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T H E AT E R

ARTS & CULTURE

Iceberg cometh

Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma’s Titanic: The Musical sets a different course from James Cameron’s blockbuster. By Jeremy Martin

Released in 1997, director James Cameron’s Titanic won 11 Oscars and made box-office history as the first film to make more than $1 billion worldwide, and its soundtrack featuring the international No. 1 hit “My Heart Will Go On” went platinum 11 times, selling more than 10 million copies. Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma’s production of Titanic: The Musical — presented Tuesday-July 28 at Civic Center Music Hall’s Thelma Gaylord Performing Arts Theatre, 201 N. Walker Ave. — is not that.

Vince Leseney, who plays Lt. William Murdoch in Lyric’s production, said the musical is “not in any way, shape or form” an adaptation of the film, though both are based on the 1912 shipwreck that killed more than 1,500 people.

“I think that a lot of people who come to see the show will think it’s an adaptation of the film and be surprised, hopefully pleasantly surprised, by the fact that it’s a different way of telling the same story,” Leseney said. “But the Celine Dion song is not in the show.

That’s the most important point. I think we’ve all heard it enough.”

With lyrics and music by Maury Yeston and a book by Peter Stone, Titanic: The Musical also debuted in 1997, but its original Broadway run was less successful than Cameron’s film.

“In musical theater circles, it’s kind of this notorious, multimillion-dollar thing that didn’t really work on Charlie Monnot as Harold Bride, Barbara Fox DeMaio as Ida Straus and Jeffrey Ambrosini as Captain E.J. Smith in Lyric Theatre’s Titanic: The Musical | Photo K. Talley Photography / provided

Broadway but recently has been seeing revivals and people trying to do it in a way that works,” Leseney said.

A 1997 New York Times article describes “production-freezing technical glitches in previews” and “rumors that the show might not even open.”

I think that people will absolutely be captivated by the music and by the action, the stories on the stage. … We’re not going to flood the theater.

Vince Leseney “Like the builders of the ship that gives the show its name, the talents behind Titanic have worked hard to create something of epic scope and technological wonder,” wrote Times critic Ben Brantley, describing tiered sets equipped with sliding panels and LCD monitors before concluding that the production’s focus on technical aspects of the legendary maritime disaster comes “at the expense of emotional engagement.”

“Unless you’re allowed to know the victims of any catastrophe, they will remain statistics,” Brantley wrote.

“With this Titanic your heart doesn’t, as it has to, go down with ship.”

Though Leseney said Lyric’s production, directed by Michael Baron, features “plenty of technical gadgets,” the focus is on the characters and the music.

“Everybody knows the boat sinks,” Leseney said.

“Everybody knows that’s what happens. So we don’t really need to show that.

We can show what happens to the people on the boat.

I think that’s much more riveting than sitting there waiting to see if the stage is going to tilt or whatever and risking it not tilting when it’s supposed to. I think that people will absolutely be captivated by the music and by the action, the stories on the stage. … We’re not going to flood the theater.”

Full steam

Even without high-tech sets, the production — fea24

J U LY 1 7, 2 0 1 9 | O KG A Z E T T E . C O M

turing a cast of 41, a chorus of 58 featuring members of Canterbury Voices and a 22-person orchestra conducted by Ok la homa Cit y Philharmonic music director A lexander Mickelthwate — is an elaborate and demanding theatrical feat.

“We’ve got 40-plus people in the rehearsal room, and moving people around and making sure that the audience knows which action to focus on is going to be kind of a challenge,” Leseney said. “I think Michael realized that the technical aspects of actually sinking the boat get the audience’s full attention, and so to take that out of it so that we can focus on the characters and the stories and this ridiculously gorgeous score … we’re really, really excited about it, and I hope it’s something that for spectacle alone, people who don’t normally go to the theater will want to get a ticket because it’s going to be something like we’ve never seen in the Civic Center; I know that for sure.”

Many of the characters, based with varying historical accuracy on documented Titanic passengers and crew members, have their own plotlines and arcs.

“You’ve got the coal stoker [Frederick Barrett, played by Ian Marcontell], who knows that they shouldn’t be driving the ship this hard on its first voyage,” Leseney said. “He should be the captain.

He knows what’s going on. He knows that they’re making all these mistakes upstairs, but of course they’re not going to listen to him. … And then you, of course, have to have two people [Kate McGowan, played by Tatum Grace Ludlam, and Jim Farrell, played by Kellan Harrod] who meet and fall in love on the boat. It wouldn’t be a musical if that didn’t happen.”

Leseney describes his own character Murdoch — the Titanic’s first officer, left in charge when the ship struck the iceberg — as “the guy who crashed the boat.”

“The character is really interesting because he is second in command, but there’s a moment in the play that’s very telling when Captain Smith (played by Jeffrey Ambrosini) asks him why he doesn’t have his own ship and he says that he’s not up to that responsibility,” Leseney said. “He actually thinks his place is to be second in command, someone who’s reliable but doesn’t have the responsibility of holding all of those people’s lives in his hands. Then after he crashes the boats, he basically says, ‘I told you, you thought too much of me.

You thought that I was more than I was, and I have destroyed the boat, and I’m

Ian Marcontell as Frederick Barrett and Jessica Anne Martens as Kate Murphy in Lyric Theatre’s Titanic: The Musical | Photo K. Talley Photography / provided

sorry.’ I guess that’s kind of pathetic, but it’s also very honest, you know — ‘I don’t have my own ship because I’m not that kind of person. I’m a perfectly good second-in-command, but please don’t leave me in charge, because bad things can happen.’ And they do.”

Leseney — who teaches voice at University of Oklahoma’s school of musical theater and directed a homecoming production of Titanic featuring a cast of 68 alumni and students at Oklahoma Christian University in 2000 — said he sympathizes with his character.

“Much like Murdoch, I have no business directing a stage show,” Leseney said. “I should be on the stage, singing and saying words. I should never be in charge of directing a cast of people. I decided that it would be awesome to have sort of this painter scaffolding, and then offstage, we put a forklift under it. And with each passing moment, we raised the forklift a little bit, and it tilted the scaffolding, which even now talking about it sounds like a brilliant idea, but then act two became about the audience watching the scaffolding tilt and not paying any attention to what was going on with the characters on the stage. So yeah, that was the last musical I ever directed, and it will remain the last musical I ever direct.”

Visit lyrictheatreokc.com.

Titanic: The Musical Tuesday-July 28 Thelma Gaylord Performing Arts Theatre Civic Center Music Hall 201 N. Walker Ave. lyrictheatreokc.com | 405-524-9312 $47-$100

RUNOFF BALLOT IS HERE! Oklahoma City’s first and longest-running readers’ poll, Best of OKC, is back for its 35th year!

You nominated your favorites last month and we tallied them up, so now we need you to tell us who is the Best of OKC in print or at bestofoklahomacity.com, until July 29th.

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CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE O KG A Z E T T E . C O M | J U N E 8 , 2 0 1 6

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CANNABIS

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OKG Lifestyle

Around OKC EAT Cafe Antigua WATCH The Innocent Man (Netflix) LISTEN Lights’ Little Machines READ Oklahoma Policy Institute’s In the Know newsletter LOVE Grind Espresso Shot liqueur EXPERIENCE Sunday Gospel Brunch at The Boom!

Outside OKC Steel City Pops in Dallas EAT The Try Guys (YouTube) WATCH Directionally Challenged podcast LISTEN An American Marriage by Tayari Jones READ Kingdom Hearts LOVE Wichita Mountains EXPERIENCE

Picks EAT all foods at Neighborhood JA.M.

and Lone Wolf in Tulsa

WATCH When They See Us (Netflix) LISTEN Any music by Michael Kiwanuka or Lizzo, or The Break Down podcast READ Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? by Dr. Beverly

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LOVE all things coffee and any baked good from Antoinette’s in Tulsa EXPERIENCE National Civil Rights Museum (Memphis), First Friday in Tulsa — especially

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CAFE ANTIGUA | PHOTO ALEXA ACE • THE BOOM SUNDAY GOSPEL BRUNCH | PHOTO GAZETTE / FILE • LIGHTS’ LITTLE MACHINES | IMAGE WARNER BROS. / PROVIDED THE TRY GUYS | PHOTO 2ND TRY LLC / PROVIDED • KINGDOM HEARTS | IMAGE PROVIDED • AN AMERICAN MARRIAGE | IMAGE WORKMAN PUBLISHING COMPANY / PROVIDED WHY ARE ALL THE BLACK KIDS SITTING TOGETHER IN THE CAFETERIA? | IMAGE HACHETTE BOOK GROUP / PROVIDED • NEIGHBORHOOD JA.M. | PHOTO JACOB THREADGILL O KG A Z E T T E . C O M | J U LY 1 7, 2 0 1 9

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SAM DE LA ROSA SANDI SELLNER JOE EISMA ROBERT WILSON IV CHAD THOMAS JERRY BENNETT NATASHA ALTERICI

CALENDAR These are events recommended

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

BOOKS Beyond the Book a discussion of Above the Waterfall by Ron Rash led by water experts, 6:30-8 p.m.

July 18. Norman Public Library East, 3051 Alameda St., 405-217-0770, pioneerlibrarysystem.org. THU Brunching with Books a book club meeting every other week, with reading selections chosen by group preference, 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturdays.

Buttermilk Paseo, 605 NW 28th St., 405-605-6660, buttermilkokc.com. SAT Nothing Daunted Women’s Book Discussion Group meet to discuss the book My Beloved World

by Sonia Sotomayor, the first Latina appointed to the United States Supreme Court 7-8:30 p.m. July 18. Full Circle Bookstore, 1900 Northwest Expressway, 405-842-2900, fullcirclebooks.com. THU Read the West Book Club a discussion of The Virginian by Owen Wister, 6-7:15 p.m. July 18. National

Botanical Gardens, 301 W. Reno Ave., 405-4457080, myriadgardens.com. WED

HAPPENINGS American Red Cross Blood Drive donate blood and receive a general admission voucher for the zoo and a a large bag of OKC Zoo Poo for your effort, 9 a.m.-3 p.m. July 20. The Oklahoma City Zoo, 2000 Remington Place, 405-424-3344, okczoo.com. SAT Apollo 11 50th Anniversary Celebration an event commemorating the anniversary of the first manned mission to the moon with lectures, video displays and cake, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. July 20. Norman Library, 225 N. Webster Ave. SAT Bass Under the Stars see live painting and dance performances, enjoy food trucks and a full bar and hear music by Finggaz, Dropshop, DJ Apollo Rex and more, 7 p.m.-1 a.m. July 20. Delmar Gardens Food Truck Park, 1225 SW Second St., 405-2326506, delmargardensokc.com. SAT BIG3 Basketball teams including former NBA players compete in three-on-three half-court basketball games, 8 p.m. July 21. Chesapeake Energy Arena, 100 W. Reno Ave., 405-602-8700, chesapeakearena.com. SUN

GET

FIT

YMCAOKC.ORG

Moon Landing Anniversary Saturday marks the 50th anniversary of the time film director Stanley Kubrick successfully passed off footage shot on an Area 51 soundstage as actual images of a space mission or, alternatively, the date NASA astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin planted an American flag on the moon, depending on who you talk to. You will hear none of that conspiracy theory hooey at this celebration where you can view items from Oklahoman and Apollo 10 Commander Lt. Gen. Thomas P. Stafford’s personal collection as well as original artwork and pop culture artifacts and a half-scale model lunar lander. You can also launch rockets, experiment with centripetal force, try out a hovercraft and watch Apollo 11: For All Mankind — an original and exclusive show telling the real story of the moon mission — at Kirkpatrick Planetarium. Prepare for blast-off 10 a.m.-2 p.m.

Saturday at Science Museum Oklahoma, 2020 Remington Place. Admission is free$15.95. Call 405-602-6664 or visit sciencemuseumok.org. SATURDAY Photo provided Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, 1700 NE 63rd St., 405-478-2250, nationalcowboymuseum.org. THU Timothy Zahn book signing the author will autograph copies of Thrawn: Treason, a novel set in the Star Wars universe, 6:30 p.m. July 23. Full Circle Bookstore, 1900 Northwest Expressway, 405-8422900, fullcirclebooks.com. TUE

FILM

Board Game Day enjoy local craft beer while playing old-school board and arcade games with friends, 5-8 p.m. Sundays. FlashBack RetroPub, 814 W. Sheridan Ave., 405-633-3604, flashbackretropub.com. SUN Books and Brews shop for books, drink Prairie Artisan Ales craft beer and hear live music by Randy Cassimus, 7-9 p.m. July 19. Full Circle Bookstore, 1900 Northwest Expressway, 405-842-2900, fullcirclebooks.com. FRI

Anastasia (1956, USA, Anatole Litvak) a con-artist (Yule Brynner) attempts to pass of an impostor (Ingrid Bergman) as the Russian Grand Duchess in this classic movie aired on OETA as part of its weekly Movie Club, 9 p.m. July 20. SAT

BrickUniverse LEGO Fan Convention a meetup for plastic-building-block enthusiasts featuring live builds, model exhibitions, challenges, and a Star Wars Zone, July 20-21. Cox Convention Center, 1 Myriad Gardens, 405-602-8500, coxconventioncenter.com. SAT-SUN

The Day We Walked On the Moon (2019, UK) a Smithsonian Channel documentary about Neil Armstrong’s historic giant leap for mankind, 1-3 p.m.

July 20. Oklahoma History Center, 800 Nazih Zuhdi Drive, 405-521-2491, okhistory.org. SAT

Cocktail Cruise see the Boathouse District, the Wheeler Ferris wheel and more on this sunset cruise with a full cash bar, Fridays and Saturdays through Sept. 28. Regatta Park Landing, 701 S. Lincoln Blvd., 405-702-7755, okrivercruises.com. FRI-SAT

Lust for Life (1956, USA, Vincente Minnelli and George Cukor) Kirk Douglas plays artist Vincent Van Gogh in this dramatic bio-pic, 7:30 p.m. July 18. Oklahoma City Museum of Art, 415 Couch Drive, 405-236-3100, okcmoa.com. THU

Conversational Spanish Group Meetup an opportunity for all experience levels to practice speaking Spanish, 7 p.m. Tuesdays. Full Circle Bookstore, 1900 Northwest Expressway, 405-842-2900, fullcirclebooks.com. TUE

Wonder (2017, USA, Stephen Chbosky) a fifthgrader with facial differences goes to elementary school for the first time, 6-9:30 p.m. July 17. Myriad

continued on page 32

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O KG A Z E T T E . C O M | J U LY 1 7, 2 0 1 9

31

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Senior Sundays

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Patient Drive

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Dix & Chix Dart Tournament bring a partner to compete for cash and other prizes, 7:30-10 p.m. July 19. Frankie’s, 2807 NW 36th St., 405-602-2030, facebook. com/frankiesokc. FRI

Moore Chess Club play in tournaments and learn about the popular board game at this weekly event where all ages and skill levels are welcome, 1-4 p.m.

Sundays. Moore Library, 225 S. Howard Ave. SUN

Drag Bingo hosted by former Miss International Gay Rodeo Association Luxx Bentley, this fundraiser for Other Options and Great Plains Rodeo Association will feature food, drinks and prizes, 7-9 p.m.

July 21. The Boom, 2218 NW 39th St., 405601-7200, theboomokc.com. SUN

Fandom Fridays celebrate some of your favorite sci-fi and fantasy characters with crafts and activities, 11 a.m.-noon Fridays through July 26. Moore Library, 225 S. Howard Ave. SAT

Intro to Flamenco Dance wear comfortable clothes and shoes for this dance class taught by Erika Reyes, 6-7:30 p.m. July 19. Moore Library, 225 S. Howard Ave. FRI

Flower | Edibles | Plants | Vapes | Tincture | & more!

#KnowYourRights learn about your legal rights when interacting with the police at this discussion led by OKC attorney Lorenzo Azar Banks, 6-7:30 p.m.

July 17. Ice Event Center & Grill, 1148 NE 36th St., 405208-4240, iceeventcentergrill.eat24hour.com. WED

Consistent Affordable Quality Products

MON-SAT 10AM-9PM SUN 12PM-6PM

project and follow it up with a specially crafted cocktail, 5:30-7 p.m. July 18. Factory Obscura, 25 NW Ninth St., factoryobscura.fun. THU

Heard on Hurd enjoy food trucks, retail vendors, live music by New Times Zones, Kyle Reid and Matt Stansberry & the Romance and a festival of short films at this community event, 6:30 p.m. July 20.

Downtown Edmond, 32 N. Broadway Ave., 405-2499391, downtownedmondok.com. SAT

Saturday July 27th • 10am–2pm

405.429.7570 | 1221 SW 59th ST, OKC

continued from page 31

The Great Catsby Kitten Event sip wine and pet adoptable cats at this event benefitting the Oklahoma Humane Society, 5-7 p.m. July 18. Skirvin Hilton Hotel, 1 Park Ave., 405-272-3040, skirvinhilton.com. THU

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Mid-South Wrestling Alliance watch several matches presented by this local wrestling promotion, 7 p.m. July 19. VFW Post 9265, 4605 S. Pennsylvania Ave., 405-604-0264, vfw9265.org. FRI Midnight Toast join a toast given by Allied Arts marketing and public relations manager Janelle Archer, 11 p.m.-2 a.m. July 19. Ludivine, 320 NW 10th St., 405-778-6800, ludivineokc.com. FRI Mix-Tape & Margaritas learn about the Factory Obscura artists collective’s history and future, tour phase one of its latest

OKC Pow Wow Club Indian Taco and Native American Arts & Crafts Sale enjoy Indian tacos and shop for art and crafts at this event, 11 a.m.-7 p.m. July 19. NorthCare, 2617 General Pershing Blvd., 405-858-2700, northcare.com. FRI Pooches on the Patio bring your best friend to this dog-friendly happy hour with drink specials, appetizers and free pet treats, 4-7 p.m. Saturdays.

Café 501 Classen Curve, 5825 NW Grand Blvd., 405844-1501, cafe501.com. SAT PowHERful Lunch Series: Work-Life Balance discuss the scheduling obstacles working women face and stare strategies for overcoming them, 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. July 17. The Treasury, 10 N. Lee Ave., Suite 100, 325-660-2264. WED Red Dirt Dinos: An Oklahoma Dinosaur Adventure learn about regional prehistoric reptiles at this hands-on exhibit featuring three interactive robotic dinosaurs, through Sept. 2. Science Museum Oklahoma, 2020 Remington Place, 405-602-6664, sciencemuseumok.org. THU-MON Renegade Poker compete in a 2-3-hour tournament with cash prizes, 3 p.m. Sundays. Bison Witches Bar & Deli, 211 E. Main St., Norman, 405364-7555, bisonwitchesok.com. SUN Saloon Series experience happy hour at a recreation of a vintage Wild West saloon with live music and tequila flights, 6-8 p.m. July 18. National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, 1700 NE 63rd St., 405-478-2250, nationalcowboymuseum.org. THU Smart Irrigation Technology Workshop learn about the benefits of installing smart irrigation controllers, soil moisture sensors, pressure-reducing spray heads and other water-efficient systems at this workshop, 3-4 p.m. July 18. Edmond Community Center, 28 E. Main St., 405-359-4483. THU Trivia Night at Black Mesa Brewing test your knowledge at this weekly competition hosted by BanjoBug Trivia, 6:30 p.m. June 18. Black Mesa Brewing Company, 1354 W. Sheridan Ave., 405-7781865, blackmesabrewing.com. TUE Trivia Night at Matty McMillen’s answer questions for a chance to win prizes at this weekly trivia night,

— THE MUSICAL —

July 23 - 28

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Experience the “Ship of Dreams” featuring 120 Voices and full orchestra conducted by Alexander Mickelthwate of the OKC Philharmonic!

PLUS! See authentic R.M.S. Titanic artifacts in the Civic Center lobby from the Titanic Museum Attraction in Branson, MO! ORDER TODAY FOR THE BEST SEATS AT THE BEST PRICE!

(405) 524-9312 • LyricTheatreOKC.org 32

J U LY 1 7, 2 0 1 9 | O KG A Z E T T E . C O M

Nightfall Haunted Territory’s Horror Con Why wait for October when you can get an early start on scary at this celebration of macabre pop culture? Costume contests, haunted walkthroughs, mini-golf, carnival games and appearances by horror icons such as Ari Lehman (Friday the 13th’s original Jason Voorhees), Felissa Rose (Sleepaway Camp) and Hellraiser: Judgment Pinhead Paul T. Taylor (pictured) await — if you dare. Raise some hell 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Saturday in the Centennial Building at Oklahoma State Fair Park, 609 Kiamichi Place. Tickets are $15. Visit nightfallhauntedterritory.com. SATURDAY Photo provided

GO TO OKGAZETTE.COM FOR FULL LISTINGS!

7:30 p.m. Tuesdays. Matty McMillen’s Irish Pub, 2201 NW 150th St., 405-607-8822, mattymcmillens.com. TUE

sion, 9:30 p.m.-midnight Tuesdays. Saints, 1715 NW 16th St., 405-602-6308, saintspubokc.com. TUE

Wheeler Summer Music Series enjoy live music performances, sample local beer and food truck fare and shop local vendors at this monthly music series, 7 p.m. third Friday of every month through Sept. 20.

Wheeler Ferris Wheel, 1701 S. Western Ave., 405655-8455, wheelerdistrict.com/ferris-wheel. FRI

What’s on the Menu hear a wide variety of operatic styles at this concert presented by Opera on Tap OKC, 8-9:30 p.m. July 20. UCO Jazz Lab, 100 E. Fifth St., Edmond, 405-359-7989, ucojazzlab.com. SAT

FOOD

Boot Camp to Brunch a 45-minute workout led by emPOWERHOUSE Gym owner Stephanie Fowler and followed by a champagne brunch, 10 a.m.-1 p.m.

July 20. The Bleu Garten, 301 NW 10th St., 405-8793808, bleugarten.com. SAT

ACTIVE

10 Years and Still Truckin’ Birthday Bash enjoy tacos, craft beer from Anthem Brewing Company, music by DJ Jo Square and a jalapeño eating contest, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. July 21.

Big Truck Tacos, 530 NW 23rd St., 405-525-8226, bigtrucktacos.com. SUN

Botanical Balance an all-levels yoga class in a natural environment; bring your own mat and water, 5:45 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays and 9 a.m. Saturdays. Myriad Botanical Gardens, 301 W. Reno Ave., 405-445-7080, myriadgardens.com. SAT-TUE

Backyard BBQ a dinner beginning with a Watermelon French 75 Cocktail and featuring sweet corn hush puppies and grilled coleslaw appetizers and a barbecue chicken entree; reservations required, July 18. Café 501 Classen Curve, 5825 NW Grand Blvd., 405-844-1501, cafe501.com. THU Mad Batter Cooking Class learn to bake and decorate a layer cake for a special event at this cooking class for adults, 2-4 p.m. July 18. Uptown Grocery Co., 1230 W. Covell Road, Edmond, 405-509-2700, uptowngroceryco.com. THU Paseo Farmers Market shop for fresh food from local vendors at this weekly outdoor event, 9 a.m.noon Saturdays, through Oct. 19. SixTwelve, 612 NW 29th St., 405-208-8291, sixtwelve.org. SAT Sushi Savvy Cooking Class learn to prepare three different sushi rolls at this cooking class for adults, 2-4 p.m. July 17. Uptown Grocery Co., 1230 W. Covell Road, Edmond, 405-509-2700, uptowngroceryco.com. WED Tailgating for Dummies Cooking Class learn to prepare meat for grilling along with side dishes at this adult cooking class, 2-4 p.m. July 19. Uptown Grocery Co., 1230 W. Covell Road, Edmond, 405509-2700, uptowngroceryco.com. FRI Unicorn Brunch enjoy a brunch from Picasso Cafe along with a stage show hosted by Renee Hilton, 10:30 a.m.-3 p.m. July 21. The Other Room, 3009 Paseo St., 405-602-2002, picassosonpaseo.com. SUN Wonder of Welcome taste traditional food from other cultures and hear stories about the experiences of refugees OKC at this event presented by The Spero Project, 6:30-9 p.m. July 19. Skyline on Bricktown Canal, 12 E. California Ave., Suite 300, 405-698-1757. FRI

YOUTH Annie: It’s a Hard Knock Life Musical Theatre Workshop children ages 7-12 will learn to design props and dance and sing in a production of the song “It’s A Hard Knock Life”, through July 17, 4 p.m.

Edmond Fine Arts Institute, 27 E. Edwards St., 405340-4481, edmondfinearts.com. MON-WED Cowboy Road Trip children are invited to take a tour of the museum’s Passport exhibit with their favorite toy in tow and several photo opportunities, 10 a.m.-1 p.m. July 20. National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, 1700 NE 63rd St., 405-478-2250, nationalcowboymuseum.org. SAT

Moms & Sons Dodgeball Tournament mothers and sons can team up to compete in this tournament, 7-10 p.m. July 19. Score OKC, 18509 N. Meridian Ave., 405-920-2121, scoreokc.com. FRI

Type-In Even with infinite monkeys on infinite typewriters, it might take a while to recreate the works of William Shakespeare, but if you fill an independent bookstore with typewriters and let people try them out for an afternoon, you might at least end up with Jack Kerouac’s On the Road. Find out at this event hosted by Russtic Typewriters where you can get free estimates on typewriter repairs, enter to win a typewriter, compete in a typing contest or just find out what it was like to type out an actual letter in actual ink on actual paper like in the movies. The event is 2-6 p.m. Saturday at Full Circle Bookstore, 1900 Northwest Expressway, Suite 135.

Admission is free. Call 405-842-2900 or visit fullcirclebooks.com.

SATURDAY Photo bigstockphoto.com

Wiggle Out Loud a concert featuring performances by musician and entertainer Lucas Ross, MicroGiants and RACE Dance Company, 6:30 p.m. July 19. Wheeler Ferris Wheel, 1701 S. Western Ave., 405-655-8455, wheelerdistrict. com/ferris-wheel. FRI

Triple’s Open Mic a music and comedy open mic hosted by Amanda Howle, 7:30 p.m. every other Wednesday. Triple’s, 8023 NW 23rd St., 405-7893031. WED

Wheeler Criterium a weekly nighttime cycling event with criterium races, food trucks and family activities, 5-8 p.m. Tuesdays. Wheeler Park, 1120 S. Western Ave., 405-297-2211, okc.gov. TUE

Open Mic at The P share your musical talent or just come to listen at this weekly open mic, 7 p.m.

Wednesdays. The Patriarch Craft Beer House & Lawn, 9 E. Edwards St., Edmond, 405-285-6670, thepatriarchedmond.com. WED

Yoga with Art workout in an art-filled environment followed by a mimosa, 10:30 a.m. Saturdays.

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

Othello’s Comedy Night see professionals and amateurs alike at this long-running weekly open mic for standup comics, 9 p.m. Tuesdays. Othello’s Italian Restaurant, 434 Buchanan Ave., Norman, 405-7014900, othellos.us. TUE

VISUAL ARTS

PERFORMING ARTS Bebe’s Beatdown Bebe Adams hosts a drag show featuring Teabaggin’ Betsy, Alyvia Paige O’Neil, Lucie Vuitton and Crystal Beth, 10 p.m.-1 a.m. July 19.

Partners, 2805 NW 36th St., 405-942-2199, partners4club.com. FRI Clever Little Lies family secrets and betrayals are exposed in this comedy by playwright Joe DiPietro, through July 20. Carpenter Square Theatre, 806 W. Main St., 405-232-6500, carpentersquare.com.

FRI-SAT

Don Quixote Open Mic a weekly comedy show followed by karaoke, 7:30-9 p.m. Fridays. Don Quixote Club, 3030 N. Portland Ave., 405-947-0011. FRI

WED-SAT

OKC Zoo Camp children age 4-15 can learn about a variety animals at these weeklong themed camps, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. weekdays through Aug. 9. The Oklahoma City Zoo, 2000 Remington Place, 405-424-3344, okczoo.com. MON-FRI Reading Wednesdays a weekly storytime with hands-on activities, goody bags and reading-themed photo ops, 9:30-10:30 a.m. Wednesdays. Myriad Botanical Gardens, 301 W. Reno Ave., 405-445-7080, myriadgardens.com. WED Storytime Science the museum invites children age 6 and younger to hear a story and participate in a related scientific activity, 10 a.m. Tuesdays and Saturdays.

Science Museum Oklahoma, 2020 Remington Place, 405-602-6664, sciencemuseumok.org. TUE-SAT Tech Theater Workshop students ages 9-16 can learn about the technical aspects of theater produc-

Stars and Stripes Spin Jam a weekly meetup for jugglers, hula hoopers and unicyclers, 6-8 p.m.

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

Twisted Spike Brewing Co., 1 NW 10th St., 405-3013467, twistedspike.com. MON

Families Explore: Astronauts enjoy crafts, activities and stories centered around the space program at this family-friendly event, 11 a.m.-noon July 20. Moore Library, 225 S. Howard Ave. SAT

OKC Improv Summer Kids Camp children ages 7-17 can learn about the art of improvised acting at this workshop, 7 p.m. July 24-27. Oklahoma City Improv, 1757 NW 16th St., 405-456-9858, okcimprov.com.

Run the Alley a 3-mile social run for athletes of all abilities ending with beers at The Yard, 6:30 p.m.

Thursdays. OK Runner, 708 N. Broadway Ave., 405702-9291, myokrunner.com. THU

audience, 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays.

Oklahoma City Improv, 1757 NW 16th St., 405-4569858, okcimprov.com. FRI-SAT

Divine Comedy a weekly local showcase hosted

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

Wednesdays. 51st Street Speakeasy, 1114 NW 51st St., 405-463-0470, 51stspeakeasy.com. WED

Junior Master Gardener Day Camp children ages 7-13 can learn about gardening through hands-on activities, 9 a.m.-3 p.m. July 18. Mustang Town Center, 1201 N. Mustang Road, 405-376-3411, cityofmustang.org. THU

OKC Futsal Beach Soccer Tournament compete in a coed soccer tournament on a sand court, 10 a.m.-10 p.m. June 20-21. Lighthouse Beach Bar, 3330 NW 112th Terrace, 405-245-3163, lighthousebeachbar. com. SAT-SUN

tion at this workshop, 4-6 p.m. July 22. Edmond Fine Arts Institute, 27 E. Edwards St., 405-340-4481, edmondfinearts.com. MON-WED

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

Junior Curator Camp children ages 8-12 can learn to build their own museum exhibits at this day camp, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. July 15. Oklahoma History Center, 800 Nazih Zuhdi Drive, 405-521-2491, okhistory.org. MON-FRI

Monday Night Group Ride meet up for a weekly 25-30 minute bicycle ride at about 18 miles per hour through east Oklahoma City, 6 p.m. Mondays. The Bike Lab OKC, 2200 W. Hefner Road, 405-603-7655. MON

Iron Horse Open Mic and Showcase perform music on stage at this show open to all experience levels, 7-10 p.m. Wednesdays. Iron Horse Bar & Grill, 9501 S. Shields Blvd., 405-735-1801. WED The Life Cycle of a Butterfly a recovering alcoholic comes to terms with her history of sexual abuse and the psychological damage it has caused in her life in this play written and directed by La’Charles Purvey and produced by African-American Artistic collective The Vanguart, July 18-21. Heritage Hall Middle School Howard Theatre, 1800 NW 122nd St., 405-749-3000, heritagehall.com. THU-SUN Lumpy’s Open Mic Night play a song of your own or just listen to the performers at this weekly show hosted by John Riley Willingham, 9 p.m.

Wednesdays. Lumpy’s Sports Grill, 12325 N. May Ave., 405-286-3300, lumpyssportsgrill.com. WED Monday Night Blues Jam Session bring your own instrument to this open-stage jam hosted by Wess McMichael, 7-9 p.m. Mondays. Othello’s Italian Restaurant, 434 Buchanan Ave., Norman, 405-7014900, othellos.us. MON Nichols Hills Band the 35-piece band continues its 37th concert season with a selection of jazz, rock and pop music, 7:30 p.m. July 18. Kite Park, 1301 Camden Way. THU OKC Comedy Open Mic Night get some stage time or just go to listen and laugh, 7 p.m. Mondays.

The Paramount Room, 701 W. Sheridan Ave., 405887-3327, theparamountroom.com. MON OKC Improv performers create original scenes in the moment based on suggestions from the

Pick-A-Tune with Lucas Ross people who have never played the banjo are invited to learn a song; instruments provided, 2-3 p.m. July 20. American Banjo Museum, 9 E. Sheridan Ave., 405-604-2793, americanbanjomuseum.com. SAT Pirates of the Mausoleum a pirate-themed dinner theatre murder mystery, 6:15-9:15 p.m. July 19. Cattlemen’s Steakhouse, 1309 S. Agnew Ave., 405-236-0416, cattlemensrestaurant.com. FRI Public Access Open Mic read poetry, do standup comedy, play music or just watch as an audience member at this open mic hosted by Alex Sanchez, 7 p.m. Sundays. The Paramount Room, 701 W. Sheridan Ave., 405-887-3327, theparamountroom.com. SUN Red Dirt Open Mic a weekly open mic hosted

by Red Dirt Poetry, 7:30-10:30 p.m. Wednesdays.

Sauced on Paseo, 2912 Paseo St., 405-521-9800, saucedonpaseo.com. WED The Return of The Golden Girls a drag parody of the beloved sitcom about four senior roommates, July 19-Aug. 24, 8 p.m. The Boom!, 2218 NW 39th St., 405-601-7200, theboomokc.com. FRI-SAT Rhyme in Reasons share your talent or just watch other artists perform at this weekly open mic, 7:30-10 p.m. Thursdays. Reasons Lounge, 1140 N. MacArthur Boulevard, 405-774-9991. THU Sanctuary Karaoke Service don a choir robe and sing your favorite song, 9 p.m.-midnight Wednesdays and Thursdays. Sanctuary Barsilica, 814 W. Sheridan Ave., facebook.com/sanctuarybarokc. WED-THU The Skirvin Jazz Club a monthly live jazz show presented by OK Sessions, 7:30 p.m. third Friday of every month. Park Avenue Grill, 1 Park Ave., 405-7028444, parkavegrill.com. FRI Staged a stage show hosted by Raven Delray, 10:30 p.m. third Saturday of every month. Frankie’s, 2807 NW 36th St., 405-602-2030, facebook.com/frankiesokc. SAT VZD’s Open Mic Night a weekly music mic hosted by Joe Hopkins, 7 p.m. Wednesdays. VZD’s Restaurant & Bar, 4200 N. Western Ave., 405-6023006, vzds.com. WED Weekly Jams bring an instrument and play along with others at this open-invitation weekly jam ses-

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Art Studio for Adults art instruction for adult students of all experience levels in a variety of mediums and techniques; taught by Gary Lennon, 7 p.m.

Wednesdays and Thursdays through Aug. 8. Edmond Fine Arts Institute, 27 E. Edwards St., 405-340-4481, edmondfinearts.com. WED-THU Beautiful Minds: Dyslexia and the Creative Advantage an exhibition of artworks created by people with dyslexia including students from Oklahoma City’s Trinity School, through Aug. 4. Science Museum Oklahoma, 2020 Remington Place, 405602-6664, sciencemuseumok.org. FRI-SUN Brenda Kingery: A Retrospective an exhibition of 23 paintings by the Chickasaw artist and Oklahoma City native, through Sept. 6. Oklahoma City University, 2501 N. Blackwelder Ave., 405-208-5000. SAT-FRI Estate Paintings view “Tree Arbor” by Nan Sheets and Standing Nude Female” by Charles Apt, through July 31. JRB Art at The Elms, 2810 N. Walker Ave., 405-528-6336, jrbartgallery.com. THU-WED Factory Obscura Volunteer Night help with the creation of the artist collective’s latest interactive exhibit Mix-Tape; ages 12 and older only, 6-8 p.m. July 18. Factory Obscura, 25 NW Ninth St., factoryobscura.fun. THU Oklahoma Meth Labs: Decades of Chaos a photo exhibit chronicling the impact of methamphetamine labs on the state, through Aug. 9. University of Central Oklahoma, 100 N. University Drive, Edmond.

THU-FRI

From the Golden Age to the Moving Image: The Changing Face of the Permanent Collection view portraits painted by Kehinde Wiley, Anthony van Dyck, Pierre-Auguste Renoir and George Bellows, Through Sept. 22. Oklahoma City Museum of Art, 415 Couch Drive, 405-236-3100, okcmoa.com.

FRI-SUN

Leviathan I: The Aesthetics of Capital an experimental exhibition created by artist Pete Froslie exploring climate change, moral and political philosophy through electro-mechanics and game engine-based digital projection, through Dec. 31.

Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, 555 Elm Ave., Norman, 405-325-3272, ou.edu/fjjma. WED-THU Patrick Riley: A Retrospective an exhibit of drawings, jewelry, sculpture and other artworks created

continued on page 34

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CALENDAR Vikki McGuire: Vision an exhibition of the Norman artist’s abstract acrylic paintings created using brushes, palette knives, stencils and stamps, through July 28.

Contemporary Art Gallery, 2928 Paseo St., 405-6017474, contemporaryartgalleryokc.com. FRI-SUN

C A L E N DA R

continued from page 33 by the artist and educator, through Aug. 29.

Gaylord-Pickens Oklahoma Heritage Museum, 1400 Classen Drive, 405-235-4458, oklahomaheritage.com. THU

Water/Ways a traveling exhibit created by the Smithsonian Institution illustrating the many ways water impacts human life and civilization, June 29-Aug. 18. Norman Public Library East, 3051 Alameda St., 405-217-0770, pioneerlibrarysystem. org. SAT-SUN

Print on Paseo a juried printmaking exhibition featuring traditional and contemporary styles, through July 27. Paseo Art Space, 3022 Paseo St., 405-525-2688, thepaseo.com. FRI-SAT

Welcome Home: Oklahomans and the War in Vietnam explores the impact of the war on Oklahoma families as well as the stories of Vietnamese families relocated to Oklahoma, through Nov. 6.

Oklahoma History Center, 800 Nazih Zuhdi Drive, 405-521-2491, okhistory.org. MON-THU

Remembering Regina Murphy an exhibit honoring the art and legacy of the painter and Paseo Arts District leader, through Aug. 31. The Depot, 200 S. Jones Ave., Norman, 405-307-9320, pasnorman.org. FRI-SAT Screenprinting Methods with Virginia Sitzes learn about screenprinting at this hands-on workshop, 5:30-8 p.m. July 23. Artspace at Untitled, 1 NE Third St., 405-815-9995, 1ne3.org. TUE Seeds of Being an exhibition examining the evolution of art created by Indigenous groups in North America, through Dec. 30. Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, 555 Elm Ave., Norman, 405-325-3272, ou.edu/fjjma. WED-THU Seeing Now an exhibit of multimedia art works

by Hank Willis Thomas, Ken Gonzales-Day, Travis Somerville, Paul Rucker, Graciela Sacco, Terence Hammonds and Michael Waugh, through Dec. 31.

21c Museum Hotel, 900 W. Main St., 405-982-6900, 21cmuseumhotels.com. THU Stab Binding Workshop learn about this unique method for making books at this hands-on workshop taught by Wendy Fox, 1-4 p.m. July 20. Artspace at Untitled, 1 NE Third St., 405-815-9995, 1ne3.org. SAT The UNlearning a solo art exhibition featuring works by Andrea Martin, July 19-Aug. 11, July 19-Aug. 11. IAO Gallery, 706 W. Sheridan Ave., 405-232-6060, iaogallery.org. FRI-SUN Van Gogh, Monet, Degas: The Mellon Collection of French Art from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts a traveling exhibition of a collection of works by influential European painters including Van Gogh, Monet, Manet, Picasso, Rousseau and many more, through Sept. 22. Oklahoma City Museum of Art, 415 Couch Drive, 405-236-3100, okcmoa.com.

SAT-SUN

Wanted: Dead or Alive See some of Oklahoma’s most notorious criminals at this exhibit featuring 38 black-and-white mug shots and other photographs taken from National Archives, University of Oklahoma Western History Collections and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and dating from 1907 to the late 1950s.

Learn about infamous figures such as Ma Barker and the Doolin-Dalton Gang (aka the Wild Bunch, aka Oklahombres) and lesser-known lawbreakers such as the Tulsa Central Park Gang and June Wanda Bartram. The exhibit is on display Monday-Feb. 29 at Oklahoma History Center, 800 Nazih Zuhdi Drive. Admission is Free-$7. Call 405-522-0765 or visit okhistory.org MONDAY-FEB. 29 Photo OPUBCO Collection, OHS Research Division / provided

Submissions must be received

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

Late submissions will not be included in the listings.

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

Sorry, but phone submissions cannot be accepted.

For OKG live music

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MUSIC

EVENT

Mac Sabbath serves up its self-described “drive-thru metal” 8 p.m. July 30 at Tower Theatre | Photo Jeremy Saffer / provided

Super-sized

Mac Sabbath offers a combo meal of “Paranoid” and “Iron Man” covers with freshly nutritional lyrics about fast food. By Jeremy Martin

Mike Odd is not necessarily scared of all clowns, just one in particular. As manager and media representative for the fast food-themed Black Sabbath cover band Mac Sabbath, Odd said he only ever sees frontman Ronald Osbourne in full costume and makeup.

“I’m afraid of that clown,” said Odd, who many speculate is actually Osbourne. “Keeping me tortured is sort of part of his whole thing.”

Mac Sabbath serves up its self-described “drive-thru metal” 8 p.m. July 30 at Tower Theatre, 425 NW 23rd St. Odd said Osbourne seems to take pleasure in feeding his manager an unbelievable back story that casts the clown as an “Iron Man”-esque time traveler.

“He’s insisting that he exists on this plane where he travels back and forth from the 1970s in this wormhole to save the world from the current state of music and sustenance and bring us back to that time where rock and food were still organic,” Odd said. “He has this whole thing where he doesn’t seem to ‘understand’ — when I say ‘understand,’ I’m making little quote things with my fingers; I don’t know if you can see that.

He doesn’t seem to ‘understand’ any technology after 1979. As the band manager trying to move things forward instead of backward, it presents a lot of problems for me trying to get things done and trying to go in the proper direction.”

Odd claimed that the first time he saw Mac Sabbath — which also features guitarist Slayer MacCheeze, bassist Grimalice and drummer Catburglar

— the band was literally underground.

“When I met them, they were only doing secret shows in basements of a burger franchise,” said Odd, who is careful to never mention specific brand names. “It was like this secret Fight Club, love/hate thing going on with disgruntled employees, and it was super secret. There was no phones allowed and no technology allowed whatsoever.

And then they asked me to bring it above ground, but they were really weird about it, and how it was going to be above ground. I had all these limitations. They were all scared for it to not be secret and didn’t know if some catastrophic thing was going to happen.”

For Osbourne, Odd said, the feared catastrophe is not receiving a ceaseand-desist letter from a billions-served burger franchise but inadvertently creating a temporal paradox.

“He’s always real paranoid — pun intended — about something going wrong with the time-space continuum with two things colliding or something,” Odd said. “So there’s this very delicate balance. And that’s why you’re talking to me about this, in his words. In my words, it’s because I don’t want him to go crazy on you and you get a pie in your face or seltzer water on your microphone or something.”

Changing “Paranoid” to “Pair-aBuns,” “War Pigs” to “More Ribs” and “Iron Man” to “Frying Pan” might at first sound like a celebration of fast food, but the songs’ lyrics are actually highly critical of its low nutritional content

and the industry’s unethical practices.

While cannabis ode “Sweet Leaf” famously opens with a smoker’s cough, “Sweet Beef” begins with the sound of vomit splashing in a toilet bowl.

“Electric Funeral” parody “Organic Funeral” changes Black Sabbath’s original lyrics about atomic warfare into an ominous recitation of the ingredients list in a burger combo meal and a condemnation of the Food & Drug Administration (FDA): “Ammonium sulfate, monosodium glutamate,” Osbourne sings, “Monsanto-run FDA, only legal in the USA.” Odd said that the band is obviously supposed to be silly and fun, but some of the information the lyrics in songs such as “Organic Funeral” convey is important, even if it comes from an unexpected source.

“You go and you look at that chemical, and what it is is this crap that they put in a hamburger buns in all fast food in America,” Odd said of the commercial fertilizer component/dough enhancer ammonium sulfate. “You find out about stuff like that and it’s just like, ‘Why aren’t people talking about this? Why do we have to go to a crazed, comedy band with a Black Sabbath-obsessed clown to hear about this stuff?’”

Being associated with Mac Sabbath has inspired Odd to think more carefully about the food he eats.

“It’s interesting to see how anyone who’s involved with this band, their diet changes, because you’re just constantly inundated with these concepts that you didn’t really hear about before,” Odd said. “I’m totally anti-meat industry now, and I used to be the biggest meat guy on the planet — I mean the most meat, the rawest meat, the bloodiest meat.”

The implications of the lyrics might be disturbing, but Odd stressed that Mac Sabbath strives to be fun for the whole family. The Tower concert is an all-ages show, and Odd said the band

prefers it that way.

“Ronald is very focused on having it be kid-friendly,” Odd said. “He doesn’t work blue. There’s no cursing. There’s no adult content. … It would be great to have an actual ball pit, and I’ve been trying to figure out how to do that, but it presents so many challenges. Maybe one day.”

Mac Sabbath’s elaborate stage show does not currently have a children’s play area, but Odd said concertgoers will still have fun.

“There are these towering spooky clowns with laser eyes, and sometimes they’re breathing, like, fiery smoke,” Odd said. “And there’s these giant burgers bopping around in the crowd.

There’s a smoking grill, and Ronald’s flipping these burgers and doing these crazy birthday party magic tricks in the middle of these Black Sabbath songs.

It’s a whole theatrical, multimedia experience. … It’s not something you can just see watching a video on YouTube or something because it has a beginning, a middle and an end. It has arcs. It’s a whole thing. It’s not really just a band.

It’s a lifestyle. You have to come down and be involved.”

One positive review (“It’s fun”) came from Black Sabbath frontman Ozzy Osbourne, who looked delighted watching Mac Sabbath perform “Frying Pan” on a video released online last year. Odd, who like Superman’s Clark Kent seems destined to always miss out on the action, claimed he did not know the meeting happened until after the fact.

“That was another thing that I’m in the dark about,” Odd said. “These pictures start surfacing of Ozzy hanging out with the band, and I’m, like, frantically trying to get ahold of them.

Everybody from the press is asking me questions about it. I’m trying to get answers, and he’s avoiding me and just giggling. And then finally, the video services. I’m like, ‘OK, how connected is he with Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath, and who is he really? And what is going on?’ The things that I’m left out of are sort of important.”

Asked if he has any theories about what is really going on, Odd can only offer a vague guess.

“I don’t know,” he said, “God is punishing me?”

Playboy Manbaby and Okilly Dokilly, a metalcore band based on The Simpsons’ Ned Flanders, are scheduled to open. Tickets are $17. Visit towertheatreokc.com.

Mac Sabbath 8 p.m. July 30 Tower Theatre 425 NW 23rd St. towertheatreokc.com | 405-708-6937 $17

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Making adjustments

By adding vocals and lyrics, Westering’s math-rock developed a new dimension. By Jeremy Martin

Westering started out as an instrumental math-rock band, but adding vocals balanced the equation.

The Oklahoma City five-piece featuring vocalist Jamie Bramble, drummer Andrew Dolman, bassist Dalton Farr and guitarists Bryan English and Stephen Brand celebrates the release of its selftitled debut EP 8 p.m. July 27 at The Paramount Room, 701 W. Sheridan Ave. Members of Westering — minus Bramble, who has previously performed solo as a singer-songwriter — have been playing together for about three years.

After hearing some demos, Bramble, who plays with most of the band as a worship leader at Simplicity Church, asked to join.

“They were letting me listen to some of the instrumental cuts that they had been working on, and I thought that it was really pretty exceptional stuff,” Bramble said. “It’s kind of math rock; it’s pretty intricate and complicated, and I was like, ‘Man, it’s too good to not have vocals or melody,’ just because there’s just not as big of a market for that. So I was like, ‘Let me take a pass at writing some lyrics and melody for it, and if you guys like it, great. If you don’t like it, then that’s cool; you can keep going in this instrumental direction.”

English said Bramble’s addition took some work to figure out.

“We actually hated it at first,” English said, laughing. “Not really. I mean, I think it took us a while to kind of gel at first with adding vocals because we were having to write songs in multiple parts to keep it interesting for instrumental music. We definitely had to change in order to have it be palatable for lyrics.”

Westering’s pre-Bramble history made the band cautious about changing the dynamic to suit a new frontman, Brand said.

“We were a little hesitant about even doing vocals to begin with because all of

Song titles from Westering’s EP are taken from phrases on drummer Andrew Dolman’s T-shirts. | Photo Image provided

us have known each other from playing in other bands, which all had vocalists, and I think there was just something refreshing in the moment of not having to worry about that,” Brand said. “At least in my experience, a lot of the vocalists have been just kind of like an add-on. … Every other band that I’ve been in has been punk or hardcore and the vocals are more about the lyrics than really anything else.”

Discovering that Bramble used his voice as an instrument made incorporating his vocals into the music more intuitive than it might have been and even helped Westering develop a more focused style, English said.

We definitely had to change in order to have it be palatable for lyrics.

Bryan English “If you listen to early demos we recorded, I mean, we’re all over the place,” he said.

“There’s math rock; there’s post-rock; there’s some more pop-punk kind of sounding stuff. I think it was really that each of us had different backgrounds in music, and it was just different influences popping up. But I think once Jamie came in, we really kind of found our sound.”

Brand said Westering began developing in a different direction once the band realized Bramble was a permanent addition.

“I started writing around, ‘OK, vocals are going to go here,’ instead of, ‘What else can we drop in here?’” Brand said. “Leaving that space … leads to song structures with this idea of not being so overpowering with leads and different guitars and blaring things, stepping back and letting the vocals fill in some of the void instead of just layering guitars and different weird things that I can come up with.”

One thing Bramble decided not to change were the band’s song titles, taken from T-shirts Dolman wore to practice.

Titles such as “Seven-Eight,” “1976,” “Dark Seas,” “The Sound of Your Name in the Rain” and “Spiraling” suggested themes worth exploring lyrically.

“As a singer-songwriter, lyrics have always been really important for me,” Bramble said. “On a personal level, it was really nice for me to have sort of an inside joke and kind of a lighthearted genesis to the actual words. … I just used the titles as the platform from which to build the concept or the actual content. I tend to write a lot about personal experiences, relationships, things like that. They’re

very much personal for me, and hopefully people as they listen to them will find their own meanings in them.”

Brand and English said they were both impressed by Bramble’s ability to create inspired lyrics from placeholder titles. “‘Dark Seas,’ I think it was a fishing bait T-shirt,” Brand said.

“It had no substance to it, but somehow Jamie took that and actually made something out of it.”

Bramble, meanwhile, is happy to write lyrics for a full band to play after years of playing as a solo acoustic act.

“The other band members, they’re all far better musicians than I am,” Bramble said.

“They’re all pretty incredible at what they do because they have been playing together for so long. They read each other really well, so that’s really been great.

They are able to really follow what I’m doing musically, and I’m starting to be able to follow them better.”

English said having e ver yone but Brand playing together as the worship band at Simplicity Church has also made Westering a more cohesive unit.

“Even outside of band practice and things like that, four of us have been able to really jam together a lot, even on Sundays at church,” English said. “Having to learn new songs all the time, it really kind of opens you up to different styles of playing. You could be playing gospel one day; you could be going from more country-sounding songs to rock to acoustic.”

Though four-fifths of Westering play together at Simplicity, English and Bramble said they do not consider it a Christian band. Lyrically, Bramble said, the band does not explore religious themes, and English added he is not sure everyone in the band would say they are Christians. For Brand, the main purpose of Westering is self-expression.

“I’m a mental health therapist and I work with a lot of trauma, so it’s my way of really taking care of myself,” Brand said. “It’s my outlet. That’s really the only goal that I have is for it to be something that’s an expression of my frustrations and just the way that I feel and at the same time also the good things about what is currently happening in the moment. Usually, when I bring a riff to the band, it’s directly related to how I’m feeling that certain day, so that’s really all it is for me is a way to kind of

Westering celebrates the release of its self-titled debut EP 8 p.m. July 27 at The Paramount Room. | Photo provided

process my own secondary trauma from listening to all my clients.”

English said he is just happy to be playing the kind of music he wants to after spending years playing music he felt like he “kind of got roped into.”

“It’s not really that I didn’t enjoy it at the time, but I kind of felt like there was some music I ended up playing that probably really wasn’t my style,” English said. “It was like, ‘I’m in a band, so whatever. I’m playing music; it’s cool.’

This is probably one of the first bands where, like Stephen said, you just get to really express yourself freely, and we all just kind of clicked.”

And in the Darkness I Was Free and Make Out Spot share the bill. Admission is $5. Visit facebook.com/theparamountroom.

Westering 8 p.m. July 27 The Paramount Room 701 W. Sheridan Ave. facebook.com/theparamountroom | 887-3327 $5

O KG A Z E T T E . C O M | J U LY 1 7, 2 0 1 9

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LIVE MUSIC The Odyssey/Don’t Tell Dena/New Time Zones, Bison Witches Bar & Deli. ROCK

These are events recommended

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

Rainbows Are Free/Psychotic Reaction, The Drunken Fry. ROCK

SUNDAY, JULY 21

WEDNESDAY, JULY 17

The Alarm/Modern English/Gene Loves Jezebel, Tower Theatre. POP/ROCK

I the Mighty/Cicadia, 89th Street-OKC. ROCK

Keith Sweat, Riverwind Casino. R&B

John Carlton & Kyle Reid, The Winston.

MONDAY, JULY 22

THURSDAY, JULY 18

Jason Hunt, Sean Cumming’s Irish Restaurant. FOLK

SINGER/SONGWRITER

Koodookoo/Bungalouski, The Deli. ROCK/JAZZ

TUESDAY, JULY 23

Pallbearer/Pinkish Black/Oberon, 89th Street-OKC.

Hi-Def Howlers, Myriad Botanical Gardens. ROCK/POP

METAL

Rarity/West Means Home, 51st Street Speakeasy.

ROCK

Tab Benoit, Tower Theatre. BLUES

FRIDAY, JULY 19 Beach Language/The Nghiems/JMK, 51st Street Speakeasy. ROCK The Ivy/Smokey Motel/Mad Honey, Opolis. POP Khalid/Clairo, Chesapeake Energy Arena. R&B Portugal.The Man/Quinn Christopherson, The Criterion. ROCK Rod Hamdallah/Acie James, Blue Note Lounge.

Mozzy, Tower Theatre. HIP-HOP

The Indigos Local indie folk pop trio The Indigos combines catchy melodies with vulnerable lyrics on its self-titled EP released last year. Vocalist/ ukulelist Amber Amanda, guitarist/bassist Carson May and drummer/ percussionist Michael Fabri multitask to make easily accessible music that reveals greater depth with repeated listening, and live, they get the chance to revel in trippier, jammier influences such as Khruangbin and The String Cheese Incident. See The Indigos along with Bobby Chill and the Wave and live art by Ashley Nicole Lewis at this BYOB event that also promises beer pong and cornhole. The party is 9 p.m.-1:30 a.m. Sunday at Resonator Institute, 325 E. Main St., in Norman. Admission is $5. Visit resonator.space.

WEDNESDAY, JULY 24 John Carlton & Kyle Reid, The Winston.

SINGER/SONGWRITER

Night Moves, The Jones Assembly. ROCK

SUNDAY Photo provided

SINGER/SONGWRITER

Slaid Cleaves, The Blue Door. SINGER/SONGWRITER

Bay Faction/Michael Loveland, Opolis. ROCK

SATURDAY, JULY 20

Bruce Robison/Kelly Willis, Tower Theatre.

SINGER/SONGWRITER

Jason Young Band, RIVERSPORT Rapids.

COUNTRY/ROCK

The JujJu Beans/The Big News, Blue Note Lounge.

ROCK/SKA

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

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

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

Sorry, but phone submissions cannot be accepted.

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CANNABIS

THE HIGH CULTURE

Kiki’s grow

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Project Releaf, 1218 N. Pennsylvania Ave., will be open 24 hours a day beginning in July. | Photo Alexa Ace

GrOKC is one of the leading growers in the cannabis market, with a laboratory including some of the country’s most renowned cannabis brands.

By Matt Dinger

When Hugh Musser says that his company GrOKC is in the medical cannabis industry, he means it.

Musser first cut his teeth years ago on cannabis cultivation after a back surgery for issues that arose from his service in the U.S. Marine Corps.

“I was on painkillers, nerve blockers, muscle relaxers for quite a while until my roommate was like, ‘Hey, let’s get you off those. You can’t survive like this,’” Musser said.

Living in Washington, D.C. and working in real estate at the time, he and his roommate grew Musser’s first cannabis in 2002 and 2003. That roommate now lives in Oregon and works in their cannabis market.

“Back then, it was a lot easier though.

B.C. was the brand of nutrients. It was a red bottle and a blue bottle and that was it, man,” Musser said. “I haven’t been doing it full time since then. I grew with him. We never sold anything. Once I moved back to Oklahoma, I’ve been self-medicating here and there for pain management for a while.

You just do everything you can not to get caught, do what you can to minimize the risk. It’s that or get hooked on painkillers and crap for so many years and it’s just destroying your body.”

During a family meeting about where they should invest their money, the topic of legal medical cannabis in Oklahoma came up. Musser did not believe State Question 788 would pass, but once it did, he dusted off his old skills and founded the company.

“Don’t tell me to get on the train and not get going. It’s been nonstop since that point,” Musser said. “We’ve been running and gunning and just trying to keep up with supply and demand and trying to keep the genetics going, and we’ve been very fortunate with that as far as getting our hands on true genetics as opposed to going from seed on a lot of things. We’ve got everything in here from

Dungeons Vault Genetics to Cookies Fam. We’ve got some of their cuts in here.

Jungle Boys; we’ve got a lot of their cuts in here.”

But genetics are only part of the combination that makes GrOKC’s cannabis flower successful. Musser has other trained professional growers come in and teach his crew cultivation methods and the science behind them.

“There’s obviously been an evolution in this industry, not only genetically, but with nutrients, with lighting. Because, you know, 10 years ago, you would never dream about putting an LED light on a fish aquarium, let alone a plant in a garden environment. But when you look at what you’re doing, you’re replicating an outdoor environment in an indoor environment on a super-speed train with steroids, trying to get as much of that life cycle packed into the shortest amount of time for production,” he said. “What it boils down to is until we can get into the scientific side of things legally, as far as being able to do trials and separate different types of terps. That’s a whole different realm as far as mapping out the cannabinoid system to the DNA platform and seeing how that maps out. Because even though my brother and I are very similar, genetically, plants affect us differently. I try to educate the b u d tenders on o u r strains. I’m tr y ing to bring the best quality medicine to market for the patients that’s as clean as it could possi-

bly be. We do two weeks of flushing. We do two weeks of drying. We do two weeks at a minimum of curing to make sure that by the time it gets to patients, it burns the white ash. A doctor would never recommend that you ingest burnt carbons, but most people are going to do it that way.”

Family genetics

The genetics of both his plants and his family play a large role in how and why Musser is devoted to growing medical cannabis, up to and including the name of the company.

While GrOKC is a self-explanatory and stylized brand, it has a hidden meaning.

It also stands for “Grow Kiki’s Cannabis.”

Kiki is the nickname for his mother, who suffers from early onset Alzheimer’s, and medical cannabis has given her some sort of relief and reprieve from her ailment.

“All the grandkids call her Kiki. And so we were discussing doing Kiki’s Cannabis as a dispensary name or Kiki’s Kitchen if we’re gonna do some edibles, and so Grow Kiki’s Cannabis was where it came from,” Musser said. “And then my mother’s side of the family having Native American lineage, we wanted to go with a dream catcher in terms of that going to the Oklahoma thing as well, so we kind of tied it all together.”

The brand has been taking off locally thanks to its concentrates, but those all also come from the flower it grows. It was one of the first local brands to bring certain concentrates, like live resin, to market.

It currently has about 3,000

GrOKC employees tending to the cannabis flower at its Oklahoma City operation | Photo Alexa Ace

plants of 58 different strains in vegetative state with about 1,200 plants in flower. It will also be opening a grow facility in Tulsa, where it has about 2,500 plants flowering at any given time. It will still keep the clones and mothers at the Oklahoma City facility and truck the plants up there for their flowering periods.

The scale of its operation allows it to conduct experiments on its plants on a massive scale.

“We could pop out about 2,200 clones in about 10 days in our cloners, plus we do Rockwool clones over here,” Musser said.

“We like to scale and test everything. …

We’re going to do these side by side on a hydroponic level and on a soil level, and then we’ll send it all in for testing and we’ll say, ‘Okay. Let’s see. What is the difference?’”

In addition to some of the most popular West Coast brands of cannabis, many of which are bred for higher THC content, GrOKC is also experimenting with medical strains bred for high CBD content along with THC. “Nurse Jackie. Cancer’s Nightmare. I don’t need budtenders out there telling them that this can cure cancer,” Musser said. “We don’t have the scientific backing for that. But let’s get that out there and see a patients tell us, ‘Hey, look, I love it.

It’s helping.’ Because that’s all we do.”

Visit facebook.com/oklahomagrow.

Hugh Musser is the owner of GrOKC. | Photo Alexa Ace

O KG A Z E T T E . C O M | J U LY 1 7, 2 0 1 9

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A shoebox-sized dispensary in Oklahoma City is quickly growing with a flagship facility under construction in Edmond. ElectraLeaf, 25 N. Oklahoma Ave., is a business with only 250 square feet of floor space, but it also just opened its second location in Chickasha, 1625 S. Fourth St., Suite B, co-owner Pedro Sotomayor said.

“We worked long and hard to find a spot that would let us open up in Bricktown because a lot of people didn’t want us. Steelyard wouldn’t take our business, so we kept looking,” Sotomayor said. “The owner of that property said we could do it and we said, ‘Man, it’s so small. How can we fine-tune this thing?’ When you walk in, there was a lot of thought put into what you see; let me just say that.

Because it was such a small space, we had to figure out how to make an efficient little business in there. I’m from the East Coast; I spent a lot of time in New York. There’s a lot of pizzerias in New York. And that’s kind of like part of the inspiration. You know, it’s like a New York-style pizzeria. Most people will look at that space and go, ‘You can’t ElectraLeaf is a 250 square-foot dispensary in Bricktown. | Photo Alexa Ace

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J U LY 1 7, 2 0 1 9 | O KG A Z E T T E . C O M

open a dispensary there. It’s too small.’

We sat there with pen and paper; we made designs upon designs upon designs to try to figure out how we could make it all work and make it all fit, and it still has its challenges that I don’t have in Chickasha.

“Going to New York and spending so much time in New York in my life and my grandfather being from Brooklyn, when I thought of how to do it, I said, ‘You know, it’s like a pizzeria.’

You walk in, there’s a counter and the pizzas are there and it’s behind glass.

We found a way to showcase cannabis in the same manner. The front is all glass. It’s wide-open. It’s very inviting.

You walk in, you grab your slice, and if you need some education about how we make the cheese and how we bake this pizza, we can talk about that.”

It currently carries about two dozen strains of cannabis flower as well as assorted edibles and concentrates.

Much of the flower on shelves comes from lead “baker” Dave Dodson, a grower who is exclusively partnered with ElectraLeaf under the business name of Altvm, a stylized version of the Latin word altum. continued on page 47

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THE HIGH CULTURE continued from page 42

CANNABIS

“In Latin, it means ‘deeper than deep and higher than high,’” Dodson said. “It’s a reflection of how we look at our products, and we put a lot into it. We really try to make it so it’s purpose-driven cannabis. We’re growing it for a reason: to be extracted or to help someone with a certain medical problem they have. I started growing, like, 13 years ago when I was in college.

I went to school for business entrepreneurship and dropped out to start growing weed.”

ElectraLeaf and Altvm currently are operating a 3,000 square-foot grow in Norman used for research and development purposes.

“That facility is just used for testing new genetics, popping new seeds,” Dodson said. “We’re constantly phenohunting for the newest strains to grow.

Since February, we have popped 418 seeds, and we plan to keep going. I think about every other month, we’re planting around 160 or so. What we do there is we just test them all out, we grow them, and the ones that we like, we keep those and we move them over to our facility in Edmond, which is going to be our flower production facility.”

The grow room at the Edmond facility is about 10,500 square feet. The loca-

tion will also be the future home of the processing facility as well as ElectraLeaf’s flagship dispensary.

Unlike the Bricktown location, the Edmond store will allow Sotomayor and Dodson to stretch their legs, with about 1,500 square feet devoted to the dispensary side. About half of all products that will be sold at that location will be ElectraLeaf and Altvm, Dodson said. The Edmond location is slated to open this fall.

Fast program

Originally from the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania area, Sotomayor tried to get into Pennsylvania’s medical cannabis market, which was limited by state law.

“Our application was scored in the very top bracket, but we didn’t score high enough to be one of the first 12 growers in the state,” Sotomayor said.

“Pennsylvania had a very limited program, very restrictive and was a merit-based scoring application process. It was basically a competition of some of the biggest cannabis heavyweights in the country. We’ve helped people in many states in consulting In Oklahoma. We really see an opportunity to help a lot of people in one of the fastest-moving programs and bringing a wide variety of products and experiences. We love cannabis as well, so we’re patients and we work hard to source the best products we can find the state.

Right now, if you come in and see my top shelf, it’s something that I would be proud of display in any state that I’ve ever been in that sells cannabis.”

While it has a partnership with Amedicanna currently, ElectraLeaf will be launching its own branded line of vape cartridges in the next few weeks. The team is still currently taste-testing the products and expects to have them available in eight to 12 strains of one-gram carts. A price point has not been set.

“One of the beauties of doing business here is we can just kind of make decisions as we go and we’re moving so fast that we can release the products pretty fast, too,” Sotomayor said. “In a lot of other states, before you can release any product, you have to go in and get approval from the state. Once I decide these are my core flavors and I’m ready to go, basically, once I have my product ready, I can launch it, which is nice. This

ElectraLeaf is preparing to open a new dispensary in Edmond. | Photo Alexa Ace

is all kind of real-time as it’s happening, so it’s fun. It’s interesting.

“We’ve tried to work with a lot of companies that we can build an ecosystem and work together, not just in the shortterm, but in the long-term and help each other. We’ve had a lot of dispensaries come to us and ask us what we sell, who we get it from, how we do business, and we’ve helped a lot of them in that aspect because, look, at the end of the day, we see this thing as a community that if the people that do it right work together and help each other, we can all be successful, and that’s what we’re trying to work with, trying to build a community of people that we can work with, whether it’s within our own family of companies or others on the outside.”

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O KG A Z E T T E . C O M | J U LY 1 7, 2 0 1 9

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PUZZLES NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE CROSSWORD PUZZLE HIDDEN TACTICS | 0721

By Jack Reuter Puzzles edited by Will Shortz Instructions: The center of this pulzzle represents a 70 Down/55 Down, in which you can achieve A 122-Across by moving the 25-Across.

ACROSS

1 Cleaning product in a dangerous 2010s viral internet challenge 8 “Home” in a classic song 16 Jack of children’s rhyme 21 “Agreed” 22 Escapes, as molasses 23 Irregularly notched, as a leaf 24 Protein found in hair and hooves 25 See instructions 27 Watson’s creator 28 Pain for a tiler, maybe 30 Yearbook 31 Side represented by 34 Adams and Elgort 35 Doctor’s order 37 Dorothy’s caretaker in The Wizard of Oz 40 Irritate 41 Irritable 42 Verify the addition of 43 Nabisco product with an exclamation point in its name 49 That guy’s 50 Ill repute, to a Brit 52 Santa ____ winds 55 Some ovations 60 Become attentive 61 Succeeds 65 Cowboy flick 66 Eve’s counterpart 67 What a plant may exude 69 Freak out 71 Treasure 72 When doubled, a Thor Heyerdahl book 73 Mother ____ 74 [Grumble, grumble] 75 Pith holders 76 Set aside for now 78 Score elements: Abbr.

79 Digital message 80 Old gold coin 81 Map of Hawaii or Alaska, often 82 1974 Gould/Sutherland C.I.A. spoof 83 Lushes 84 Deteriorate with age 86 Cut into bits 88 Prevents, legally 89 Letters near an X-ray machine 90 People native to Tennessee and the Carolinas 92 “While I have you …,” in a text 95 Classic 1922 film subtitled A Symphony of Horror 98 Brown-headed nest appropriator 104 “Fighting” college team 107 Maker of pens and lighters 108 Sheer fabric 109 First commercial film shown in stereophonic sound 111 Key of Bizet’s first symphony 116 Side represented by O 117 87 is a common one 118 Conspicuous 121 Yuletide contraction 122 See instructions 125 Arrests 128 Outpost for an osprey 129 No longer needed for questioning

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

First-class mail subscriptions are $119 for one year, and most issues at this rate will arrive 1-2 days after publication.

PUBLISHER Peter J. Brzycki

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1 Hangout often near a pool 43 Figures in the Sistine Chapel 2 Glacial hue 44 Part of Africa or an orchestra 3 Like Mount Kilimanjaro 45 Your signature might be in this 4 Doe in Bambi 46 Came down hard 5 Polling fig.

47 Terrific 6 French acceptances 48 Chatter 7 Title 1962 film villain 51 City that hosted the 1974 World’s Fair 8 Valentine heart, e.g.

53 Rare beneficiaries of royal succession 9 Urban cacophony 54 Together 10 Slate, e.g.

55 See instructions 11 Touch up, as styled hair 56 Dating-app distance metric 12 Some airborne particulates 57 Stat 13 What dashes may represent in 58 Lush internet searches 59 Son of Clytemnestra and Agamemnon 14 Kind of reaction 61 Enter incorrectly 15 Ike’s W.W. II command 62 Jawbone of ____ (biblical weapon) 16 Veto on movie night 63 How early Beatles songs were 17 Figure in many a fairy tale recorded 18 Mischievous 64 Best 19 One-named singer with the 2002 66 Suffix on many an infomercial No. 1 hit “Foolish” product’s name 20 Some cuppas 68 Self-inflicted ritual death of a samurai 26 No longer edible 70 See instructions 29 Computing acronym 73 Leash 32 Silicon Valley start-up V.I.P. 77 Dulce de ____ (confection) 33 Baby fox 82 Notice

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OPERATIONS

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OPERATIONS & MARKETING MANAGER Kelsey Lowe

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ADVERTISING

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF George Lang glang@okgazette.com

CALENDAR COORDINATOR Jeremy Martin

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STAFF REPORTERS Jacob Threadgill Jeremy Martin Miguel Rios Matt Dinger

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VOL. XLI NO. 29 Oklahoma Gazette is circulated at its designated distribution points free of charge to readers for their individual use and by mail to subscribers. The cash value of this copy is $1. Persons taking copies of the Oklahoma Gazette from its distribution points for any reason other than their or others’ individual use for reading purposes are subject to prosecution.

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100 “Phooey!”

101 Ape 102 Calls it quits 103 Boutique stock 105 Barbie’s younger sister 106 Long (for) 108 Part of an M.A. program application 110 Religious sch.

111 Called out 112 Any of the Apennines 113 In ____ (grumpy) 114 War hawk 115 Situation after a leadoff single 118 Ball ____ 119 Big org. in Saturday-afternoon TV 120 Indiana Jones setting 123 Half of a 1955 union merger 124 Singer’s syllable 126 They’ll sound sped up at 45 r.p.m.

127 French director Besson

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Copyright © 2019 Tierra Media, Inc. All rights reserved.

SUDOKU EASY | N° 16408

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

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

SKULLDUGGERY LANE By Ingvard Ashby

NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE CROSSWORD PUZZLE ANSWERS

Puzzle No. 0714, which appeared in the July 10 issue.

S I K H S

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J U LY 1 7, 2 0 1 9 | O KG A Z E T T E . C O M

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L U G A N A H I G H M O A E R L F S T E N O N E I C A B I E T A M S R R I S S I N A C C T H Y C H E A R M A D I O H E L A M L N A E A N D

I N H E R I T S E E Y O R E S P O S E

D I D I T I C O L E E I N I E S A N B A D A R E E G E A T R E H N E R A D A M B O O A S U L T S B E E F A T H O L M O R E T A H R O N D A O N E S B A I A F E R F T E E M L E T E

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

B A S E A N O S R A Y S R T O T R E A R E A T Y S S E S I E S T S T R A W O E B E R A I L C D T S H E S O R I B E T N U T O U G H U I L E T T E R

FREE WILL ASTROLOGY Homework: Name something you could change about yourself that might enhance your love life.

Testify at FreeWillAstrology.com.

ARIES (March 21-April 19)

An Aries reader sent me a boisterous email. “I was afraid I was getting too bogged down by my duties,” he said, “too hypnotized by routine, too serious about my problems. So I took drastic action.” He then described the ways he broke out of his slump. Here’s an excerpt: “I gave laughing lessons to a cat. I ate a spider. I conducted a sneezing contest. I smashed an alarm clock with a hammer. Whenever an elderly woman walked by, I called out ‘Hail to the Queen!’ and did a backflip. I gave names to my spoon (Hortense), the table (Beatrice), a fly that was buzzing around (Fallon), and a toothpick (Arturo).”

According to my analysis of the astrological omens, Aries, you’d be wise to stage a comparable uprising.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20)

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Welcome home, homegirls and homeboys. After observing all your homesteading in homes away from home, I’m pleased to see you getting curious about the real home brew again. I wonder how many times I’ll say the word “home” before you register the message that it’s high time for you to home in on some homemade, homegrown homework? Now here’s a special note to any of you who may be feeling psychologically homeless or exiled from your spiritual home: the coming weeks will be a favorable time to address that ache and remedy that problem.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20)

The world is full of eternally restless people who seethe with confused desires they don’t understand. Fueled by such unfathomable urges, they are driven in unknown directions to accomplish fuzzy goals. They may be obsessed in ways that make them appear to be highly focused, but the objects of their obsession are impossible to attain or unite with. Those objects don’t truly exist!

I have described this phenomenon in detail, Gemini, because the coming months will offer you all the help and support you could ever need to make sure you’re forever free of any inclination to be like that.

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CANCER (June 21-July 22) What would you say if I asked you to tell me who you truly are? I wouldn’t want to hear so much about your titles and awards. I’d be curious about your sacred mysteries, not your literal history. I’d want to know the treasured secrets you talk about with yourself before you fall asleep. I’d ask you to sing the songs you love and describe the allies who make you feel real. I’d urge you to riff on the future possibilities that both scare you and thrill you. What else? What are some other ways you might show me core truths about your irrepressible soul?

Now is a good time to meditate on these riddles.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22)

or Coca Cola or Apple within my horoscope column, you will find hype for spiritual commodities like creativity, love, and freedom. Like everyone else, I’m a huckster.

My flackery may be more ethical and uplifting than others’, but the fact is that I still try to persuade you to “buy” my ideas. The moral of the story: Everyone, even the Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu, is selling something.

I hope that what I’m saying here purges any reluctance you might have about presenting yourself and your ideas in the most favorable light. It’s high time for you to hone your sales pitch; to explain why your approach to life is so wise; to be a forceful spokesperson and role model for the values you hold dear.

Isaac Asimov wrote a science fiction story about a physicist who masters time travel and summons William Shakespeare into the present time. The Bard enrolls in a night school class about his own plays—and proceeds to flunk the course. Modern ideas and modes of discourse are simply too disorienting to him. He is unable to grasp the theories that centuries’ worth of critics have developed about his work. With this as a cautionary tale, I invite you to time-travel not four centuries into the future, but just ten years. From that vantage point, look back at the life you’re living now. How would you evaluate and understand it? Do you have any constructive criticism to offer? Any insights that could help you plan better for your long-term future?

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21)

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22)

The snow leopards of Central Asia crave a lot of room to wander. Zoologists say that each male prefers its territory to be about 84 square miles, and each female likes to have 44 square miles. I don’t think you’ll require quite that vast a turf in the coming weeks, Sagittarius. But on the other hand, it will be important not to underestimate the spaciousness you’ll need in order to thrive. Give yourself permission to be expansive.

The coming weeks will be a favorable time for you to buy yourself toys, change your image for no rational reason and indulge in an interesting pleasure that you have been denying yourself for no good reason. In addition, I hope you will engage in at least two heart-to-heart talks with yourself, preferably using funny voices and comical body language. You could also align yourself gracefully with cosmic rhythms by dancing more than usual, and by goofing off more than usual, and by wandering in the wilderness and seeking to recapture your lost innocence more than usual.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22)

Although you’ll never find an advertisement for Toyota

You are growing almost too fast, but that won’t necessarily be a problem—as long as you don’t expect everyone around you to grow as fast as you. I suspect that you also know almost too much—but I don’t anticipate that will spawn envy and resistance as long as you cultivate a bit of humility. I have an additional duty to report that you’re on the verge of being too attractive for your own good—although you have not yet actually reached the tipping point, so maybe your hyperattractiveness will serve you rather than undermine you. In conclusion, Scorpio, I invite you to celebrate your abundance, but don’t flaunt it.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21)

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19)

“I want to do things so wild with you that I don’t know how to say them.” Author Anaïs Nin wrote that in a letter to her Capricorn lover Henry Miller. Is there anyone you could or should or want to say something like that? If your answer is yes, now is a good time to be so candid

and bold. If the answer is no, now would be a good time to scout around for a person to whom you could or should or want to say such a thing. And if you’d like to throw in a bit more enticement, here’s another seductive lyric from Anaïs: “Only the united beat of sex and heart together can create ecstasy.”

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18)

Did you hear the story about the California mom who started a series of forest fires so as to boost her son’s career as a firefighter? She is an apt role model for behavior you should diligently avoid in the coming weeks.

It’s unwise and unprofitable for you and yours to stir up a certain kind of trouble simply because it’s trouble that you and yours have become skilled at solving. So how should you use your problem-solving energy, which I suspect will be at a peak? I suggest you go hunting for some very interesting and potentially productive trouble that you haven’t wrangled with before—some rousing challenge that will make you even smarter than you already are.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20)

The heroine of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass is curious, adventurous, and brave. First she follows a well-dressed rabbit down a rabbit hole into an alternate universe. Later she slips through a mirror into yet another parallel reality. Both times, with great composure, she navigates her way through many odd, paranormal, and unpredictable events. She enjoys herself immensely as she deals with a series of unusual characters and unfamiliar situations.

I’m going to speculate that Alice is a Pisces. Are you ready for your very own Alice in Wonderland phase? Here it comes!

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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