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inside COVER P.55 Insane Clown Posse, aka ICP, brings its longtime Gathering of the Juggalos four-day fan festival — featuring everything from rap and rock performers Waka Flaka Flame, Vanilla Ice, Mushroomhead and Dope to comedy, professional wrestling, sideshows, parties, carnival rides, movie screenings and more — to Oklahoma City’s Lost Lakes Amphitheater and Waterpark July 26-29. By Ben Luschen. Cover Megan Nance Cover image bigstock.com.
NEWS 4 City Braum’s asks to rezone classic
Classen Circle district
6 City Full Moon apartments
incorporate innovation and necessity
8 state fostering resiliance in youth
10 State Oklahoma Democratic
Party chairwoman Anna Langthorn
12 Chicken-Fried News 14 Letters
EAT & DRINK 17 Meet the Brewer Black Mesa
Brewing Company
19 Event Plaza Beer Walk
21 Event Myriad Gardens’ Outdoor
Dining Series: Vegetarian Dinner
22 Feature craft beer pairings
26 Event Odyssey de Culinaire 28 Gazedibles tamales
ARTS & CULTURE 30 Art Steven Kovash 31
Best of OKC Runoff Ballot
Mythical Menagerie at SMO
35 Art Ray Harryhausen —
36 Art Prix de West at National Cowboy
& Western Heritage Museum
Memory, and Trauma at Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art
39 Art Picher, Oklahoma: Catastrophe,
41 Culture Center of the Galaxy
Festival at Farmers Public Market
42 Theater Lyric’s West Side Story 44 Film rennovating the historic
Jewel Theatre
46 Film Abacus: Small Enough to
Jail at OKCMOA
48 Film Filmography series at 21c 49 Active Forgiven Skate Church 50 Calendar
MUSIC 55 Cover Gathering of the Juggalos
at Lost Lakes
58 Event Better Than Ezra and The
Wallflowers at The Jones Assembly
59 Event Seether at Diamond 60 Live music
FUN 61 Puzzles sudoku | crossword 62 Astrology OKG Classifieds 62
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NEWS The Donnay Building on the corner of of NW 50th Street and Classen Circle | Photo Garett Fisbeck
Cit y
Community landmark
Broken Circle?
A Braum’s proposal to rezone Classen Circle draws heavy debate about the area’s past and future. By Laura Eastes
When Charlie’s Jazz-Rhythm & Blues Records’ “open” sign lit up the day after news broke that a fast-food restaurant and grocery chain submitted a rezoning application proposal to clear historic structures along Oklahoma City’s Classen Circle, customers streamed into the four-decade-old record shop. “People were coming in, and they kept saying, ‘We are not going to let this happen,’” said Justin Daniels, who continues his grandfather Charlie Nicholson’s legacy by running the business known for supplying locals with vintage blues, jazz and R&B records, cassettes and eight-track tapes and introducing new generations to music legends. Located at 5114 Classen Circle, Charlie’s Jazz-Rhythm & Blues is one of the long-standing local businesses that calls the midcentury modern Donnay Building home. Last week, Braum’s Ice Cream and Dairy Stores submitted a rezoning application that hints at demolition of existing buildings to make way for a new Braum’s store. “My grandpa worked way too hard and put too much effort into this shop for nothing,” Daniels said. Last week, Daniels joined a crowd of protestors gathered outside the Classen Circle businesses to voice concerns over the application. Preservationists and fans of Charlie’s Jazz-Rhythm & Blues Records, HiLo Club, Drunken Fry and neighboring diner Classen Grill shouted, “Save the Circle,” as they waved picket
signs at passing cars. Save Classen Circle — Boycott Braums, a Facebook group created in the hours following media coverage about the rezoning application, organized the protest. “Oklahoma City doesn’t have a lot of places that truly express what is the flavor of the city,” said protestor Dillon Pierce, who frequents HiLo Club, which he described as a bar where everyone fits in. “For it to be destroyed to make way for a corporation would be very disappointing.”
Rezoning application
On July 7, Braum’s Ice Cream and Dairy Stores filed a rezoning application with the City of Oklahoma City that revealed plans for a new restaurant near the corner of NW 50th Street and N. Military Avenue, where the company acquired a small residential lot next to the Donnay Building in 2015. The application seeks to rezone lots at 5100 Classen Circle from residential to a simplified planned unit development (SPUD), which allows for a variety of uses and building types. It included documentation about larger plans for the triangle-shaped city block — bound by Classen Circle, NW 50th Street and Military Avenue —including razing the Donnay Building and the neighboring one-story building housing Classen Grill, in order to create a parking lot. According to the application, Red Oak Properties, LLC, which has owned the Donnay Building, its surrounding
buildings and land since 1995, authorized Braum’s to act on its behalf and indicated a forthcoming agreement between Red Oak and Braum’s to either buy or lease the properties. The application will come before the city’s Planning Commission as early as 1:30 p.m. Aug. 24 in the council chambers. The community board must weigh in before any zoning change can be granted. The ultimate decision, however, rests with the Oklahoma City Council, which could hear the case in late August or in September. All planning and council meetings are open to the public and provide opportunities for the public to address city leaders. In addition to a rezoning approval, Braum’s must also seek and be granted a demolition permit from the city for any structures it plans to tear down on the land. An effort to reach Braum’s officials for comment was unsuccessful by Oklahoma Gazette’s deadline.
When Okie Mod Squad cofounder Lynne Rostochil learned about Braum’s proposal, she created an online petition to preserve the properties at Classen Circle. Okie Mod Squad is a group of architecture and design enthusiasts who celebrate and push for preservation of Oklahoma’s unique midcentury modern architecture. The petition had more than 12,000 signatures and recorded thousands of comments by Gazette press time on July 17. “It is a very interesting building because it’s one of the first examples of mixed-use architecture,” Rostochil said. “It had space for apartments and space for retail and restaurants. It was an early precursor to what’s going on all over the city today. Even though the building needs some love, it is a great example of forward thinking in midcentury modern architecture.” Built in 1954, The Patio restaurant was one of the building’s first tenants, operating for 46 years before it closed. In 1956, HiLo Club opened and has become a bar known for serving strong drinks, dishing up Sunday brunch and being a haven for the LGBTQ community and its allies. Nicholson’s record shop opened in the late 1970s. A decade later, Classen Grill, located at 5124 N. Classen Blvd., opened its doors as a breakfast-and-lunch spot. Drunken Fry opened about 10 years ago. “This building and the businesses in it touch the core of people,” Rostochil said. “If you grew up in Oklahoma City, this was the place you went with your parents and grandparents to The Patio restaurant. So many people have visited this building throughout their entire lives and made memories here. I’ve heard many stories about first dates and first legal drinks. What I find interesting about this building is it’s not just history; these businesses are thriving with new memories being made every day.”
Kara Shultz holds a sign supporting Classen Circle’s HiLo Club during a protest last week at the corner of NW 50th Street and Classen Circle against a rezoning proposal that jeopardizes the future of businesses in the district. | Photo Laura Eastes
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NEWS
Rising soon
One of Oklahoma City’s leading architects, who is known for creating innovative spaces, is at it again — this time with Full Moon. By Laura Eastes
Not long ago, Oklahoma City architect Rand Elliott was driving downtown and its districts block by block in search of property and opportunity. When Elliott spotted a sign hinting at an available lot near the intersection of NW 12th Street and Hudson Avenue, the award-winning architect knew he had found both. The Midtown lot was small and narrow like a brownstone and home to unwanted couches and mattresses. Like any urban architect and designer, Elliott looked beyond the patches of grass and litter. The vacant space was his blank canvas. “Generally, those projects that seem to have absolutely no potential do have potential at some point, if you are willing to look close enough,” Elliott told Oklahoma Gazette from inside his architecture firm Elliott + Associates in Automobile Alley. “What if we could take a piece of land that nobody wanted and create a building that responded to all the circumstances, all the challenges, and come out on the other side with a piece of art that you could live in?” The architect whose work includes Bicentennial Park, Beacon of Hope in Stiles Park, Classen Curve, POPS, boathouses along the Oklahoma River and more, explained recent urban residential developments like Lift Apartments and Metropolitan Building required substantial land. Following OKC’s urban renaissance, a two-decade redevelopment wave downtown, large parcels are becoming harder to find. That leaves mostly small parcels for future development. 6
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While some might not think twice about a small, narrow piece of land between the Wesley Village Apartments and the former Foodies Asian Diner, Elliott saw possibility. “There are the forgotten ones, the little pieces of properties that are around downtown that are 25 feet wide, 37 feet wide or 50 feet wide,” Elliott said. “No one is interested in them. The thought was, ‘Could we take the unexpected and do something really interesting with an unloved property?’” The answer is Full Moon.
third-floor bridge unique views of Midtown, Automobile Alley, the Innovation District and the state Capitol complex. At night, an LED light will trace the oculus, adding to the Midtown skyline. “The thought is we would find 10 likeminded people,” Elliott explained. “All 10 would enjoy drinking wine together, watching the sunset, or meet in the morning to watch the sunrise. They would become fast friends and appreciate and enjoy living in a very special place.” Full Moon will be built using a sprayed concrete technique, which is a contemporary touch on an already distractive design. The four-story development will rise at 322 NW 12th St. It provides residents with communal spaces like the thirdfloor bridge, garden and courtyard. The
Defying odds
Full Moon by Elliott embodies the merging of art and architecture. As Elliott began the design process, he found inspiration in the concept of capturing seasons, shadows, sunbeams and moonlight. At the same time, he faced unique challenges in designing a multifamily residential building. Complying with city code on a narrow piece of land is no easy task. To make a residential structure work, it had to run north and south. Elliott had to think creatively to produce a structure that still delivered on his concept. After producing about 20 different variations of the building, Elliott singled out Full Moon, an urban living experience consisting of eight lofts and two ground-level flats that were designed around a 42-foot oculus in the building’s center. As the structure’s signature feature, the oculus will serve as the building’s eye, granting residents on its
Rand Elliott | Photo Ryan McDonald / Elliott + Associates / provided
An artist rendering shows Full Moon at its proposed location at 322 NW 12th St. in Midtown. The multifamily residential infrastructure features a 42-foot oculus. | Photo Image Elliott + Associates / provided
units range from 884 to 1,060 square feet. Each has a unique floor plan and perspective of the oculus. Last May, Oklahoma City’s Downtown Design Review Committee unanimously approved the proposal on the recommendation of city staff.
Evolving neighborhood
Midtown, a popular district that mixes restaurants, retail, work spaces and residential, is about to embark on a construction boom. In addition to Full Moon, which is expected to break ground in the next 90 days, The Pivot Project is renovating Uptown Theater and the adjoining spaces to deliver a market, microrestaurants, retail space and a permanent home for Elk Valley Brewing Co. at 1212 N. Hudson Ave. Former Foodies diner is proposed to convert into a bar and food court at 1212 N. Hudson Ave. Crews will soon lay track along NW 11th Street for the future MAPS 3 Modern Streetcar, which is scheduled to launch daily services through Midtown and nearby Automobile Alley, Bricktown and the Business District in late 2018. Full Moon’s timing is perfect, explained Elliott. While the infrastructure will add to an already-thriving area, Elliott believes it could be the structure to “open the door for others.” “Full Moon will become a real special landmark in downtown,” Elliott said. “People will be proud to live there. People will be proud it’s in their neighborhood. … I think Oklahoma City is at a time in its growth where we have a more sophisticated audience than before. There is a desire for cool places.”
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NEWS Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy director Joe Dorman speaks to a Norman Police Athletic League at Longfellow Middle School last week in Norman. | Photo Garett Fisbeck
nation, supports school-based mental health services and staff development that employs trauma-based approaches.
S tat e
Second chances
High count
Child advocacy workers, educators and juvenile justice leaders will soon have a legislative interim hearing about an important public health issue. By Laura Eastes
Earlier this year, a south central Oklahoma third-grader told a classmate they would bring a knife to school to kill them. Long-term suspension was not the appropriate answer for the child, insisted Joe Dorman, the former state representative who now serves as chief executive officer of Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy (OICA). Research supports that disciplinary problems are often not the result of bad behavior; instead, bad behavior is deeply rooted in toxic stress. A swelling number of Oklahoma children and teenagers are experiencing traumatic events like abuse and neglect and witnessing behaviors like crime, parental conflict, mental illness and substance abuse, and Dorman argued the best way to remediate their harmful effects is to build and foster resilience in youth. “We need to find out what issues are creating the problems,” Dorman said. “We need to get kids the help they need rather than kicking them to the curb.” Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), which include those traumatic childhood events, can create dangerous levels of stress and impact brain development, resulting in effects on learning, behavior and health. According to research performed two decades ago at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Program, 10 types of childhood trauma 8
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are linked to the adult onset of chronic disease, mental illness, violence and becoming a victim of violence. Youth who experience two or more types of childhood adversity are more likely to see their physical and mental health affected as they age, according to the research. In a three-year-old report, Oklahoma ranked in the highest quartile in eight ACE conditions, shows research from Child Trends, a nonprofit, nonpartisan research center. In the report, Oklahoma ranked No. 1 in the categories of children witnessing domestic violence and experiencing parental divorce. Oklahoma came in No. 2 in the areas of parents who have abused drugs and children who are victims of violence or had witnessed neighborhood violence. “The fact that we rank highest in the rate of children who have experienced four or more ACE experiences speaks volumes,” Dorman said. His nonprofit organization, along with Potts Family Foundation, have partnered with Rep. Pat Ownbey, R-Ardmore, to bring a slate of presenters on ACEs and their impacts on Oklahomans to the Capitol for an interim study. Now is the time for residents to push for policies and practices in state services that allay and prevent future dysfunction ranging from chronic health issues to early death.
“We are not going to turn the corner until we overcome these generational issues, break the cycles and help kids avoid the mistakes of their parents and grandparents,” Dorman said.
Caring adults
Students facing significant trauma were not difficult for educator John Thompson to spot during his 18 years teaching in urban Oklahoma City classrooms. High schoolers with trauma, which varied from students experiencing the death of a loved one to witnessing family members struggle with substance abuse and mental illness, were constantly on edge from their unstable home environments, placing their brains in a state of constant high alert. After several hours at school, even a simple interaction from a teacher or a peer could trigger rage, expletives and other inappropriate behavior, Thompson explained. He responded to a student exhibiting dysfunctional behavior with a hug and conversation, a straightforward technique to help the student calm down. It had an outsized impact. “There is really only one way you learn about what your kids have experienced in terms of the severe trauma and their mental illness, and that’s to develop relationships,” said Thompson, who entered the teaching profession in the 1990s, when education leaders advocated that better instruction led to fewer classroom behavior problems. “All this talk about instruction and test scores, that’s just a distraction from what we really need to do. The intellect and academics are important. Teaching is fundamentally an act of love. The answer to the stress created by trauma is a loving adult. By building trusting relationships, we can work together and build resilience.” Thompson, who writes about education issues in Oklahoma and across the
Steve Buck, Oklahoma’s Office of Juvenile Affairs (OJA) executive director, doesn’t tolerate staff flipping through a teenager’s file followed by a headshake and comments like, “Not much hope for this one.” The state agency’s mission is to provide prevention, education and treatment services as well as secure facilities for juveniles in order to promote public safety and reduce juvenile delinquency. Through OJA’s education and treatment services, there is an opportunity to reverse the trajectory of the young men and young women who come into the agency’s care. “Their experiences shape who they are,” Buck said. “Just as they shape their difficulties, they can also shape the brilliance of their recovery.” According to OJA records, at the Southwest Oklahoma Juvenile Center in Manitou, 33 percent of males at the 64-bed facility scored a rate of four or higher on the ACE test. At Norman’s Oklahoma Juvenile Center for Girls, 60 percent of females scored a rate of four or higher. That tells OJA staff that youths who enter the care of OJA don’t come in with just offenses. Buck said that the majority of the youth are raised in cycles of generational poverty, which include time spent in the child welfare system, mental illness and substance abuse issues, academic disruption and having a parent incarcerated. A successful juvenile justice program not only helps youth get back on their feet once they leave the state’s care but can help decrease recidivism. The agency has an established program that includes mental health intervention as well as educational and career advancement, health and wellness classes and pushing healthy relationships with caring adults, which Buck believes is one of the top ways to help a child build resilience. Research also suggests that just one caring, safe relationship can be the key to giving a child or a teenager a better chance at a healthy future. Everyone deserves a second chance, Buck said. “The prevalence of ACEs in a child should not be a reflection of the lack of potential in that child,” Buck said. “Presences of ACEs in a child should be an invitation to us adults to help that young person find ways to succeed in extraordinary ways. … It is important that we as a state understand this. We, as a community, do what we can to help young people who have experienced ACES recover and all that we can to minimize the number of ACEs on future generations.”
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No palooka
The Oklahoma Democratic Party’s chairwoman might be the youngest in the party’s history, but she said she’s determined to fight for the rights of all Oklahomans. By Megan Prather
Twenty-four-year-old Anna Langthorn began her political career at age 17, volunteering on local and state political campaigns. Seven years later, she’s still advocating for Democratic leadership in the state of Oklahoma, and now she’s doing it as the youngest chairperson in Oklahoma Democratic Party history. Oklahoma Gazette: Tell me about yourself and how you got into politics. Anna Langthorn: When I was 17, I joined the Young Democrats of Oklahoma and I went to Girls State, and then that summer and fall, I started volunteering for campaigns — both Jari Askins’ gubernatorial campaign and then a local state legislative campaign that I worked on. That spring of my senior year, I started interning for the state party. The following year, in 2012, I started being paid to work for Sen. Kay Floyd on her first state House campaign.
Anna Langthorn is the new chairwoman of the Oklahoma Democratic Party | Photo provided
OKG: What made you decide that you wanted to run for chairperson of the state Democratic Party? Langthorn: In all honesty, I haven’t thought about running for chair for a long time, but I’ve thought about who would be the ideal fit for chair for a long time because I firmly believe that if Democrats want to start winning again in Oklahoma, we have to rebuild our party as an organization. Candidates can’t do it all on their own. Super PACs and independent expenditures can’t build the infrastructure that’s necessary to persuade voters to vote for Democrats long-term. I spent a lot of the last two years thinking about who would be the ideal fit, and I asked some other people to run, and they told me no. I couldn’t really think of that many people who I thought would do a good job. … I started thinking, ‘Well, why not me?’ And I couldn’t
really think of a good reason other than that maybe I’m pretty young, but that wasn’t really a good reason, so I just decided to do it, and here we are. OKG: What are your overall goals for the party? Langthorn: Our mission is to elect Democrats; that’s our goal. So our shortterm goal is we’ve got … special elections coming up, and we want to win as many of those as we can. … Long-term goals is the same goal: to elect Democrats, but to do that when we’re looking toward 2018 and 2020 and 2022. We need to be building infrastructure, we need to be communicating with voters consistently — because I firmly believe that is why we have failed in the last several decades. We have to do a better job of communicating what it means to be a Democrat, that it means that we believe in things like hard work and fairness and equality. We’re not communicating that right now. So basically, it’s just infrastructurebuilding and getting our message out there as much as we can while working in conjunction with our legislative leaders and candidates for office. OKG: Oklahoma voter turnout isn’t the best, especially in local elections. Do you have any plans to work toward improving those numbers? Langthorn: Absolutely. That’s another reason I don’t personally believe that Oklahomans are necessarily overly conservative people. The reality is that most Oklahomans don’t vote. We might see a change in who we’re electing based off who shows up to vote. The way to do that, though, is to engage and educate the communities you’re talking about: youth communities, marginalized communities, people of color, people who are living in poverty. And one of the best ways to get them to vote is to make it easier to vote. We need to pass legislation like they’ve done in Washington where everyone who has a driver’s license is automatically registered to vote. That’s a big goal, and that’s not something that I can accomplish on my own, but I think it’s something that we as a party and a state should be working to. We need to consider all mail-in ballots. Instead of signing up to vote by mail, everyone automatically gets a ballot mailed to their house. There are a lot of states that do that, and it’s very successful. It makes it easier to vote, people have more notice of the election because they have a couple weeks to turn their ballot in and everybody that’s registered to vote knows there’s an election, which isn’t the case right now — most people are caught off guard. The average citizen of Oklahoma has a lot going on in their life. They’re not thinking about when the next election is, and no one’s telling them.
OKG: What are some of the biggest problems we’re currently seeing in the Democratic Party, in your opinion, and what kind of changes do you think we need to see within the party? Langthorn: We’re definitely both locally and nationally going through some growing pains. The party is like any other major institution; it’s existed for a long time, and there’s a certain expectation about how it operates both within and without the party, and we’re in sort of a transition period. We are known to be the big-tent party, though, and we want to make sure we always include a diverse set of experiences and perspectives, and I intend to do that going forward. We want to make sure that all Oklahoma families have the opportunity to succeed. That’s what we’re advocating for, that Oklahoma families have a shot at a good life. Right now, because of the failures of Republican leadership, a lot of them don’t. Because of the failures of Republican leadership, schools are closing. Oklahoma hospitals are closing because they’re going bankrupt because our insurance system doesn’t provide Oklahoma families with the ability to get affordable health care. Our roads and bridges are crumbling. In terms of the issues we advocate for, sometimes within the party, there is a discussion of individual pieces of policy that we disagree on, but overall, the reality is that Oklahoma Democrats are the only people that are advocating for Oklahoma families right now. … We’re advocating for the average Oklahoman to have a better life. OKG: So, you’re only 24 years old. What’s it like to be such a young person in this position? How has that hindered or helped you? Langthorn: I’ll be honest; my age is something that is the draw for the media. Everybody wants to talk about how young I am, but I don’t have any other experience; I don’t have any understanding on how it would be to be the chair and be 40 or how it would be to be the chair and be 60. I only know how it is to be the chair and be 24. But I think it’s just as challenging for me as it would be for anyone else. There’s a lot of work to be done, but I don’t think the work has changed based on my age. I think my age, if anything, is a help. I’ve got a lot of energy, and I have more time than someone who has a whole career they’ve built or has a family that they have to take care of. It’s just me and the party, and that’s what’s going on in my life right now. But people are excited that I’m young, whether it’s the media, donors, volunteers or activists. They’re excited because I represent to them change. We’ve had a lot of growth in the four to six weeks I’ve been in office. I don’t think it’s been a hindrance at all; I think it’s been a help.
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chicken
friedNEWS Oh yes he did!
Beat me up, Scotty
It’s the never-ending debate. Trekkies insist life is better aboard the Starship Enterprise while wannabe Jedi hone their lightsaber skills and pretend the prequels never happened. The world might never know the truth. That fact didn’t stop an area man from coming to blows over the classic Star Wars versus Star Trek debate July 1. Oklahoma City Police Department officers arrested Jerome Dewayne Whyte on complaints of possession of marijuana, assault and battery and outstanding Oklahoma County warrants, KTUL.com reported. According to the news website, Whyte was in the living room of an apartment with another man when the discussion turned serious — the argument quickly turned violent after they disagreed about which sci-fi series was better. Whyte shoved the man to the ground and later began choking him. Oklahoma City officers arrested Whyte, who remains in custody. His hearing is scheduled for July 27, according to ABC News. No word yet on whether he will share his side of the debate with the court at that time. But the court of Chicken-Fried News reporters, like everyone else, knows that Star Wars wins for its exceptional soundtrack and special effects. And we won’t even mention the time Chewie was arrested for creating Wookieleaks.
A police bodycam caught Brandon Thompson as the handcuffed perp propped himself on one knee and popped the question to his girlfriend. The Muskogee Police Department even shared the video of Thompson proposing to his girlfriend Leandria Keith on its official Facebook page. It all happened while Thompson and his family were celebrating his birthday — which also happens to be Independence Day. Muskogee police rolled up to the yard party and proceeded to detain him regarding several felony warrants, CNN reported. The recording shows Thompson asking his mom if he should “do it now” before asking her to retrieve the ring. “I asked the officer if I could propose,” he told CNN. “The officer said, ‘You want to do what?’ and I said, ‘I want to propose to her.’” Police were taken aback, but apparently not too far aback, because they agreed to let him do it. “When the other officer told me he was gonna propose, I think my initial response was, ‘Are you kidding me?’” Muskogee Police Department spokesman Lincoln Anderson told Tulsa’s NewsOn6.com.
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Officers even recuffed Thompson with his hands in front of him so he could put Keith’s engagement ring on her finger, CNN reported. “I was shocked,” she told the news network. “Amazing; very amazing. It feels great. I know that he loves me, and I love him and we can get through anything together,” Keith told NewsOn6. com. “Yes,” she told Thompson. “It’s not every day you get asked to let a marriage proposal happen after making an arrest on the soonto-be groom. But it happened!” the Muskogee Police Department posted to its Facebook page.
Quick and to the pointless
At a 30-minute town hall with constituents at the Stillwater Regional Airport, U.S. Senator from Oklahoma Jim Inhofe said, “I like Obama.” The reason the Republican Senator likes Obama? “He is who he says he is — a strong liberal.” Stillwater News Press recorded that comment and others during Inhofe’s short visit in which he answered constituent questions and passed out leaflets on Republican efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act. On President Donald Trump,
Inhofe — who has served four presidential administrations — said the businessmanturned-politician takes “one thing at a time” before moving on to another item. Inhofe was clear in stating there are issues he disagrees with the president on. In Inhofe’s opinion, “most of the media hates [Trump].” When constituents brought up former Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt serving as the head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Inhofe stated, “How is he qualified? Because he has sued [the EPA] so many times, he knows what the problems are.” As the Stillwater newspaper put it, Inhofe has things “down to a T.” That includes the cattle trade, which impacts his constituents at home — especially in places like Stillwater. Not that Inhofe would ever pander to anyone. Because that’s just not what politicians ever do, especially not Oklahoma’s politicians. “On April 5, I signed a letter to Trump urging him to prioritize reopening China’s market to U.S. beef,” he said. ‘Trump lifted beef export ban on June 12. OK is fifth
in cattle production, and cattlemen need access to the largest beef markets in the world. By lifting beef export ban to China, the Trump administration is taking action that levels the playing field for our nation’s beef industry.”
We’re No. 1!
We beat the national average! But don’t get too excited because the average that we beat is for STDs — in fact, Oklahoma Department of Health data shows our state outpaces national infection rates for every sexually transmitted disease. Did we just type “every”? Because we meant to type “every.” The study, conducted between 2013 and 2015, also shows infection rates for chlamydia, syphilis and gonorrhea are some of the fastest-growing within Oklahoma. All are higher than the national average. Chlamydia infections in Oklahoma County alone are 70 percent higher than the national average. Megan Holderness told The Oklahoman that STD infection rates are highest in those ages 15-24 across Oklahoma County. Now, nobody at Chicken-Fried News is pointing fingers, but Oklahoma is one of 29 states that doesn’t mandate sex
education. In fact, the largest school district in the state, Oklahoma City Public Schools, hasn’t had a required districtwide sex education program in more than 20 years.
Holy plunder
Well, big news about Hobby Lobby, the Christian-founded arts-andcrafts retail chain founded and led by Oklahoman Steve Green and his family, was out of the glossy, gold glitter polka dot gift bag recently when the company was fined $3 million by the U.S. Department of Justice. Federal prosecutors believe Green illegally bought and smuggled more than 5,500 artifacts into this country, CNN reported. We at Chicken-Fried News consider it a little bit ironic that, unlike fictional archeologist and occult expert Dr. Indiana Jones, Green hasn’t fallen into a pit of snakes and glimpsed the gilded glory of the Ark of the Covenant or its prize, the Ten Commandments. However, the company has opened a can of worms for the $500 million Museum of the
Bible, for which Green is chairman of its board and of which his family is a major contributor. Just imagine those governmentconfiscated artifacts for a minute: thousands of ancient cuneiform tables, seals and historical Bibles — you know, the sort of non-wicker, non-paint-bynumbers, non-posterboard arts-andcrafts items that might make handsome additions to a museum about, say, the Bible. The company has previously said it hoped the artifacts, which it began collecting in 2009, would be preserved and studied by scholars. In a statement quoted by NBC News, Green admitted he made “regrettable mistakes” and credited those mistakes in large part to his inexperience in dealing with the complexities of the acquisitions process. We’re assuming that one of those “regrettable mistakes” probably included letting dealers mark Hobby Lobby shipments filled with artifacts as “sample” and “ceramic tiles,” The Washington Post reported. Oops.
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letters
NEWS Oklahoma Gazette provides an open forum for the discussion of all points of view in its Letters to the Editor section. The Gazette reserves the right to edit letters for length and clarity. Letters can be mailed, faxed, emailed to jchancellor@okgazette.com or sent online at okgazette.com. Include a city of residence and contact number for verification.
Chicken-fried topicality
Imagine a map of the city, one you’ve seen before, districts multicolored to demonstrate the patchwork quilt of our town. Now imagine who’s called upon to do the stitching to hold it together in our minds. The fabric is not invariably smooth but takes cultivation, articulation, dissemination; we do not see ourselves as audience, as readership, as citizens until the thread is unspooled, followed, looped back again & again. We find ourselves in this following, this stitching together of interest & community just as streets are populated, storefronts dressed, kitchens lit & animated to give pattern, density to what we knew once as a far-too-open, windy, Western town. John Selvidge, Short Order Poems Oklahoma City
Repeal health care?
Americans take more antidepressants than any other country in this world, yet we don’t have a health care system that works. Ask the Swedish how much they are willing to pay in taxes to ensure the citizens of their country have universal health care and how, ironically, they are considered one of the happiest societies on earth. What our government needs is to ensure obtainable and realistic health care for everyone. Christi Nelms Oklahoma City
No repeal
Healthcare concerns us all. Leave Obama’s ACA health care plan alone! Mohammed Alhusseiny Tulsa
Oppose Trumpcare
Trumpcare would transfer wealth from the poor and middle classes to the rich and cause 24 million people to lose health care. Zachary Barringer Oklahoma City
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Financing education
What seems to be happening is a focus on pipe dreams that will do little if anything alongside ignoring the 800-pound gorilla in the room. That would be the state of management. They love to put on dramatics but don’t seem to understand the value of a dollar. Recently, a PBS program interviewed Deborah Gist, Tulsa Public Schools superintendent, about the results of our financial dilemma. She talked about laying off a sizable number of teachers and increasing class sizes, among other things. Gist came to employment in Tulsa not very long after Tulsa Public Schools rallied at the state capitol for more money. She was hired at what the state says is a base pay of $235,000. Other sources claim cumulative wages and benefits are more like $325,000. That figure is a little more than 10 times the average starting pay for a teacher — 10 teachers hired, but who’s counting? She was hired in 2015 but wasn’t vetted for the job until 2016. How that works, I don’t know. To her credit though, as the crises mounted, she was the only one I know of to look at a possible pay cut for superintendent positions, as six-figure salaries are not uncommon. I don’t think the state administrators liked that idea, but only after looking at closing down neighborhood schools, one of which benefitted from $6 million in MAPS money, has the state administration at least considered something similar. They wanted to spend money on a study as to whether or not many of the positions could be consolidated, rather than just look at the fact that every single school district regardless of size has both a super and an assistant super. Another point is the obsession with moving the school year further and further into what is the absolute hottest period of the year, some schools starting as early as Aug. 10. Anyone spending two minutes looking at the usage graph and the related cost per kilowatt on their electric bill knows what that means. You can magnify that by a factor of at least 10 when looking at a particular school campus. Factor into the equation that there are 520 separate school dis-
tricts/campuses and you get the picture. This is considerable money saved simply by moving the start date to right after Labor Day. But that’s the real world. Too bad it’s not government as well. Doug Rixmann Newalla
Do something
Thanks to the extremely suspect practices of President Donald Trump, I’ve been living in a constant state of anxiety for the past half year. The current source of nightmares: the health care debate and potential repeal of Obamacare. For the longest time, my family had been self-paying our medical expenses. We couldn’t afford medical insurance, but as prices rose and my parents grew older, we knew we needed to sign up for something to help pay our medical bills. When President Obama released his health care plan, known to many as Obamacare, we could finally have health insurance that didn’t cost as much as major surgery. Now, President Trump seeks to take that coverage away, but with prices still rising and my parents now in their old age, self-paying is no longer an option. My mom and dad have chronic breathing and stomach problems requiring them to take medication and make regular doctor visits. If Trumpcare is allowed to pass, my parents won’t be able to get that treatment and may very well die, along with countless others who will lose their health insurance. This bill must not be allowed to pass. I encourage everyone to stand against it. Write to or call your senator until their mailboxes are full, talk about it on social media, donate to a charity trying to protect our health care if you want, but do something. Alex Hanuschak Yukon
Citing sources
I would really like to see what sources were used in Pete’s critique on renewable energy (Opinion, Letters to the Editor, “Pull my finger,” Pete Lepo, June 21, Oklahoma Gazette). He first critiques the environmental impact of the production and transportation of wind turbines. My response: First, show me your sources and numbers, and second are my numbers (source at end of letter).
According to the Union of Concerned Scientists’ (UCS) Environmental Impacts of Wind Power report, “Most estimates of wind turbine life-cycle global warming emissions are between 0.02 and 0.04 pounds of carbon dioxide equivalent per kilowatt-hour. To put this into context, estimates of life-cycle global warming emissions for natural gas generated electricity are between 0.6 and 2 pounds of carbon dioxide equivalent per kilowatt-hour and estimates for coal-generated electricity are 1.4 and 3.6 pounds of carbon dioxide equivalent per kilowatt-hour.” Natural gas itself produces 30 to 50 times as much carbon dioxide per kilowatt-hour as wind turbines, and coal produces even more! Pete then goes on to critique the ecological impact of wind power production. While Pete is correct that wind farms can take up a lot more space than a power plant that produces an equivalent amount of power, what he fails to realize is that not all of the space is taken up by the turbines — most of it can be used for a variety of purposes after construction has been completed. More from the UCS: “A survey by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory of large wind facilities in the United States found that they use between 30 and 141 acres per megawatt of power output capacity (a typical new utilityscale wind turbine is about 2 megawatts). However, less than 1 acre per megawatt is disturbed permanently and less than 3.5 acres per megawatt are disturbed temporarily during construction.” Pete also vastly overstated the impact on bird and bat populations. UCS referenced a National Wind Coordinating Committee review that concluded wind turbines do not pose a threat to species populations. Ecological impacts can also be easily be mitigated by proper siting research on the species, such as the finding referenced by the UCS that bats are actually most active during times of low wind production. Finally, Pete also critiqued the tax incentives gained by the wind and solar industries. Let me just point out the massive tax cuts Oklahoma alone provides to the oil and natural gas industry. Ian Dean Norman
Correction
The July 19 Oklahoma Gazette arts and culture story “Fast love” by Tyler Talley about The Art of Speed: Oklahomans and Fast Cars at Oklahoma History Center contained incorrect information about a July 21 after-hours event. The exhibit is open to the public. However, the center will host a private, after-hours evening reception July 21 as a means of thanking key players for helping bring the exhibit together. We apologize for any confusion.
CONGRESS SHALL MAKE NO LAW RESPECTING AN ESTABLISHMENT OF RELIGION, OR PROHIBITING THE FREE EXERCISE THEREOF; OR ABRIDGING THE FREEDOM OF SPEECH, OR OF THE PRESS; OR THE RIGHT OF THE PEOPLE PEACEABLY TO ASSEMBLE, AND TO PETITION THE GOVERNMENT FOR A REDRESS OF GRIEVANCES. 91.7 OKC | 107.5 TULSA | KOSU.ORG
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EAT & DRINK Chris Sanders and Ole Marcussen of Black Mesa
f e at u r e
Brewing Company | Photo Garett Fisbeck
Meet the brewer
Black Mesa Brewing Company comes home again. By Jacob Threadgill
Editor’s note: As part of our continuing coverage of Oklahoma craft beer, Oklahoma Gazette presents “Meet the brewer,” a monthly feature profiling beermakers. On the afternoon of May 31, 2013, the only thing running through Black Mesa Brewing Company founder Chris Sanders’ head was “Get out of the way.” The EF3 tornado that began in El Reno and affected Oklahoma City is the widest ever recorded by the National Weather Service, leaving 2.6 mile-wide path of destruction at its peak. The next morning, Sanders checked on his brewery on Sheridan Avenue, which had not even been operating a year as part of an Oklahoma City brewing co-op, and discovered his equipment, including four tanks of finished beer, was completely destroyed. “The roof lifted off the ground and came back down,” Sanders said. “It trashed all of the brewery equipment. The rest of the building was fine.” In the storm’s aftermath, the co-op, which also included Redbud Brewing Co. and Anthem Brewing Company, went their separate ways. Black Mesa was without an Oklahoma home.
Peripatetic progression
Sanders, 57, a retired firefighter and Midwest City native, holds his Oklahoma roots close to his heart. He named his brewery after the highest point in the state, and his signature beer Endless Skyway (which won first place in the English style bitter category at the 2014 World Beer Cup) is a nod to the
Woody Guthrie anthem “This Land Is Your Land.” When it came time to find a new home for Black Mesa, Sanders settled on O’Fallon Brewery in St. Louis after meshing with head brewer Brian Owens, even though it meant contracting outside his home state. “I trusted Brian because we brew the same way,” said Sanders, who graduated from a program at the University of Wisconsin sponsored by the Master Brewing Association after retiring as a firefighter. Black Mesa returned to Oklahoma City in April and worked with Urban Farmhouse Designs when O’Fallon increased its production from 15 barrels to 50. Sanders and partner Ole Marcussen hope to break ground on their own brewery later this year. “It’s been so important for us to come back to Oklahoma because this is my home and where I lived all my life,” Sanders said, noting that his brewery will bring six to eight jobs to Oklahoma City once it opens. Sanders and Marcussen, a retired civil engineer originally from Norway, met in 2011 when Marcussen’s Yeasty Boys beer club took a field trip to a brewery where Sanders had worked after he graduated from the University of Wisconsin program. The two stayed in touch, and Marcussen, a homebrewer for more than 20 years, has helped develop recipes — including Black Mesa’s award-winning Endless Skyway — from the beginning.
Okie inspiration
Early this year, Marcussen became a full partner in the business. “Like every homebrewer, my dream was to open a brewery,” Marcussen said. “I mostly did IPAs because it is the bestselling craft beer. I’ve seen breweries that used to say they’d never brew an IPA, but they have one now. You have to sell one to stay in business.” Black Mesa’s is Big Wheel IPA, which is brewed in more of an English style and is an example of the brewery’s mission to blend European and American flavors. “American IPA can go extreme on the hops,” Sanders said. “Our beers are brewed in an Old World style, but we use American hops, so it gives in a modern twist. We want them as close to the original style as possible. We don’t add offshoot flavors or fruit.” Endless Sky ESB and Mountain Boomer Kölsch are examples of European styles that Sanders and Marcussen wanted to brew stateside. It has required some education on the part of the consumer. “When you tell them it stands for Extra Special Bitter, the person might say, ‘Oh, I don’t like that.’ But once you explain that is not that bitter, it’s more [of a] caramel, malty taste, they usually think it’s great.” Sanders was watching from Oklahoma via laptop livestream when the Endless Sky was awarded the gold medal
in the ESB category at the 2014 World Beer Cup, beating out a brewery from South Korea and numerous breweries in England, where the style originated. “It meant a lot because it’s the Olympics of beer,” Sanders said. “We got a nice plaque and a lot of recognition.” The Mountain Boomer pairs the nickname of the collared lizard, Oklahoma’s state reptile, with the style of beer born in Köln (Cologne), Germany. “ESB and Kölsch are really starting to gain in popularity in the United States,” Sanders said. “It’s a balance between hops and malt.” Cave Dweller Red Ale is Black Mesa’s fourth year-round offering. Sanders said that a traditional red ale trends toward a malty finish, but they aimed for a red ale with more hops. But he had the most fun creating its name. “There are some caves in the Black Mesa region, and we threw out that there were prehistoric people searching for the perfect beer,” Sanders said.
Canned comeback
Bringing on Marcussen as partner isn’t the only change Black Mesa made at the beginning of this year. Sanders hired a local graphic artist to create new designs for the switch from four-packs of bottles to six-packs of cans, which echoes a larger shift in the craft beer industry. No longer are cans only for big beer companies, as improved technology has led breweries and consumers to have more faith in the aluminum packaging. A national Brewers Association study comparing the percentage of can sales to bottle sales shows the former has increased every year since 2011. New technology has allowed for lids to accentuate aromatics, and in Black Mesa’s case, it allows for easier stacking on shelves. The label redesign allows the can to stand out and avoid what Sanders referred to as “urban camouflage” among many other craft beers on convenience store shelves. The big wheel on the IPA dresses up the childhood favorite like one of Evel Knievel’s motorcycles, and the Kölsch puts the bright colors of the collard lizard on full eye-popping display. “We’re a gateway for people coming from unflavored pilsner into craft beer,” he said. “We want to give you beers that are easy to drink and not scare off the new craft beer person.”
| Photo Garett Fisbeck
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Smart bars
Plaza Beer Walk offers specialty brews and an event that helps raise funds for area schools. By George Lang
Beer might not always solve problems, but Plaza Beer Walk is doing its best to raise money for struggling area schools. The monthly event, which returns 6 p.m. July 26 with beers by Elk Valley Brewing Co., champions public school students while putting the fun in “funding.” The event began in 2016 when the owners of Saints and The Mule in the Plaza District were trying to develop a monthly event that would be mutually beneficial to all the bars in the neighborhood. Bryan Grigsby of Refresh Creative Management, which helped launch Plaza Beer Walk, said the proprietors landed on a common concern. “There was a lot of discussion about some of the funding problems that the local schools were having, which is just a general topic of discussion these days,” he said. To bring in the crowds, the beer walk selects either local breweries or craft beers that are beginning to be distributed in the Oklahoma City market. “They try their best to try to identify breweries that they think will have the biggest impact on this particular month,” Grigsby said. “For instance, last month was Sixpoint Brewery. They were coming into Oklahoma for the first time.” Whenever possible, Plaza Beer Walk offers something that cannot normally be found on those shelves or in those bars, creating a greater sense of urgency among the craft brew lovers. “So, if it’s a local brewery, they’ll usually throw in some kegs of one-off or specialty brews that would not normally be available to the public,” Grigsby said. “The other big one for a lot of people is glassware. Beer glasses are highly collectible for a lot of the beer geeks in the state.” Getting the glassware requires some brew-consuming fortitude. Beer lovers must visit at least two of the participat-
Owners of Plaza District venues Saints and The Mule launched Plaza Beer Walk events to toast the neighborhood while raising funds for local schools. | Photo provided / file
ing bars — Oak & Ore, 1732 NW 16th St.; Empire Slice House, 1734 NW 16th St.; The Mule, 1630 N. Blackwelder Ave.; and Saints, 1715 NW 16th St. — and order the featured beer of the night. They are given a ticket at each bar, which they can present at a third bar to get the special glassware. The event generally focuses on one school each quarter, with the participating merchants setting a goal of raising at least $1,500. This month, Plaza Beer Walk raises funds for Classen School of Advanced Studies, 1901 N. Ellison Ave. With Oklahoma City Public Schools superintendent Aurora Lora’s recently rescinded plan to close North Highland Elementary, 8400 N. Robinson Ave., there is a constant concern that programs or entire schools in areas with low tax bases will be shuttered. Grigsby said Plaza Beer Walk generally trains its focus on schools in the neighborhoods surrounding the Plaza District but makes exceptions for area schools with a particular need. “The schools can spend the money any way they need to,” Grigsby said. “I think everybody’s aware at this point that the schools are going to be struggling for the foreseeable future. … So every little bit helps, and this is something small that this group of people is trying to do on their end.”
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event
EAT & DRINK
Al fresco feast
Myriad Botanical Gardens’ Outdoor Dining Series gets fresh with its Summer Vegetarian Dinner prepared by chef Ryan Parrott. By Megan Prather
Imagine dining under an Oklahoma sunset in a setting somehow more beautiful than the sunset itself. Picasso Cafe’s chef Ryan Parrott prepares a vegetarian dinner 7-9 p.m. July 28 as part of Myriad Botanical Gardens’ third summer hosting its Outdoor Dining Series at 301 W. Reno Ave. “We have more of an upscale dinner, and we do it in our Meinders Garden Terrace, so it’s outdoors normally unless it’s just incredibly hot; then sometimes we’ll move it inside,” said Ashley Elkins, director of public events. Each year, Myriad Gardens works with local chefs to create delicious meals for attendees. In the past, the series has included barbecues, farmto-table dinners and even meals made only with Oklahoma foods. “Last year, we did an outdoor series for the whole summer starting in May and ending in September,” Elkins said. “This year, we scaled it back a little more like the first year, where we just did three outside. I think last year was too overwhelming.” One of the two remaining summer events brings in Kamala Gamble of Kam’s Kookery, who prepares farm-totable meals. Another features Dustin Dunaway of C2 Catering, who will present smoked meats. Admission for the July 28 event is $65-$75. “[Chefs] come in and prepare meals, we charge a fee and everyone gets to enjoy a nice dinner outside in the gardens,” Elkins said. Each chef determines their menu, which is one aspect that makes each dinner unique and draws diners to the series. Parrott’s Outdoor Dining Series: Summer Vegetarian Dinner event menu includes King Oyster mushroom scallops made with kale pine nut risotto, charred scallions, pickled radishes and aged balsamic vinegar; heirloom tomato-asiago bisque featuring
Myriad Botanical Gardens’ Outdoor Dining Series hosts local chefs as they prepare meals to be eaten al fresco. | Photo Carl Shortt Photography / Myriad Botanical Gardens / provided
truffled eggplant frites and basil oil; panzanella made with Artisan bread, burrata and roasted bell peppers; spaghettini with pistachios, dill, charred tomato; and goat cheese and saffron panna cotta featuring brandy poached peaches, lavender roasted fig and honey cardamom fluid gel. The meal also includes wine provided through a donation from the Arnall Family Foundation. “I think it’s going to be really popular since we have so many people that sign up for the dinner and then they’re like, ‘I’m a vegetarian, so I can’t eat certain foods,’” Elkins said. The Outdoor Dining Series also raises funds needed to help keep Myriad Botanical Gardens operating. “A lot of people don’t realize that the gardens are a nonprofit organization, so almost all of the events that we do are a way to actually bring in funds to the garden to help sustain and keep us open,” Elkins said. “We also do it because our mission as a nonprofit is to activate the gardens and create a space where people can come and enjoy it.” Another goal of the Outdoor Dining Series is to draw in people who might not have experienced the gardens before. Seating is limited. Diners must be at least 21 years old to attend and must register by July 27. Visit myriadbotanicalgardens.org.
Outdoor Dining Series: Summer Vegetarian Dinner 7-9 p.m. July 28 Meinders Garden Terrace | Myriad Botanical Gardens | 301 W. Reno Ave. myriadgardens.org | 405-445-7080 $65-$75
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EAT & DRINK
“Vote”
Best place to dine before a show Best downtown restaurant
415 Couch Drive | 235-6262
North Penn 15124 Lieyton’s Ct. Ste. 118 405-286-3676
Del City 5301 Main St. Ste. 117 405-813-8337
Lawton 3807 Cache Road 580-699-8337
West OKC 300 Outlet Shoppes Dr. 405-607-8337
OKC 2836 NW 68th St. 405-848-8337
Edmond 801 E. Danforth Rd 405-810-8337
Broken Arrow 3202 W. Kenosha St. 918-254-8337
South OKC 8324 S. Western Ave. 405-635-8337
Norman 700 N. Interstate Dr. 405-307-8337
Tulsa Hills 7848 S. Olympia Ave. WEST 918-301-8337
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VOTE Best Mexican Restaurant Add relish
Find the perfect craft beer to pair with your favorite seasonal fare. By Greg Elwell and Gazette Staff
There are two schools of thought when pairing foods with seasonal craft beers: complementary flavors and contrasting flavors. “There are so many different styles of beer,” said Benny Jacobs, owner of craft beer bar The Root, 3012 N. Walker Ave., Suite B. “I think you can find something to pair with any kind of food.” Oklahoma Gazette asked Jacobs for his recommendations, which he generously shared. We took his advice and then paired top seasonal craft beers recently chosen by Summer Brew Review panelists. (Read our full Summer Brew Review at okgazette.com.)
Spicy
People who like spicy food choose their beers for different reasons. Some want to hose down the fire, and some stoke its flames for a deeper, lasting burn. Light lager is ideal for tamping down the heat of intensely spicy foods. “You want something that would complement those flavors, something clean and crisp, like a pilsner or a bohemian style or even a [hefeweizen],” Jacobs said. “Those are light on the palate and take away some of that heat.”
We recommend: >> Saturday Siren dry-hopped pils, COOP Ale Works >> Velvet Antler American amber, Iron Monk Brewing Company Those who champion calefaction should throw hops on the fire. The bitter sting of hop-heavy IPAs give the spice of peppers an extra kick, as do rye pale ales. Bubbly beers, such as a gose, add air into the mix, which feeds a fire, and the tickle of popping bubbles prolongs the oh-so-delicious pain of hot wings, habanero salsa and five-alarm chili. We recommend: >> Exit 174 rye pale ale, Iron Monk Brewing Company >> Habanero Sculpin India pale ale, Ballast Point Brewing Company >> Cool for the Summer Germanstyle gose, 405 Brewing Co.
Seafood
Seasonal seafood fare, such as shrimp, oysters and grilled fish, call for a deft hand in seasoning. Your beer selection should accentuate, not overwhelm, the milder seafood flavors. continued on page 25
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FEATURE
continued from page 22
“With seafood, I always want something more fruity, like a saison or a farmhouse,” Jacobs said. “With shellfish, which can be so briny, a beer that has farmhouse notes pairs well.” Look for beers with floral or citrus hops, like pale ales and mild IPAs. Witbiers, a Belgian-style wheat beer, are gently spiced for a flavor that blooms on the palate with coriander, orange peel and other herbs often used in cooking seafood. If you want more punch with smoked or cured seafoods, which have more fat and taste, Jacobs recommends a sour, slightly fruity saison or gose to contrast the stronger flavors. We recommend: >> Everything Rhymes with Orange India pale ale, Roughtail Brewing Company >> Pineapple Sculpin India pale ale, Ballast Point Brewing Company >> Golden Spike Saison ale, Twisted Spike Brewing Co.
Meats
Some of the easiest food items to pair beer with are also some of the easiest to cook outdoors: hot dogs, sausages, hamburgers and steak. A German-style kölsch is light and easy to drink, while a malt-heavy brown lager helps cut through the rich fattiness that makes meats like sausage so delicious. India pale ales are an ideal choice for grilled steaks and hamburgers, as the sharp hops flavor balances out the
Photo Garett Fisbeck / file
rich, smoky, fattiness of the meats. We recommend: >> Cask-It Series Brandy Barrel Aged DNR with Cherries Belgian dark ale, COOP Ale Works >> 60 Minute India pale ale, Dogfish Head Craft Brewery >> Grapefruit Sculpin India pale ale, Ballast Point Brewing Company >> Stone Delicious India pale ale, Stone Brewing Co.
Desserts
“People always want to pair stouts with desserts because they’re thinking of chocolate,” Jacobs said. Make sure the beer is as sugary as the dessert, he said; otherwise, less-enjoyable background flavors could take over. Dessert is a course that often is mellow, so beers with big, competing flavors aren’t always ideal. Look for a fruit beer that can go with a tart or a piece of cake. “You want something that has a good flavor profile, like banana and clove,” he said. We recommend: >> Hazelutely Choctabulous chocolate stout and hazelnut brown nectar ale, Rogue Ales >> Milk Stout, Iron Monk Brewing Company >> Dirty Blonde Belgian-style blonde ale, Twisted Spike Brewing Co. >> Carolina Apple Granny Smith Hard Cider, Bold Rock Hard Cider
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event
EAT & DRINK
Delicious direction Odyssey de Culinaire allows culinary professionals to mentor aspiring student chefs. By Rachel Schaub
Oklahoma City culinary scene superstars team up with aspiring chefs in high school July 27 to create, cook and plate delicious and diverse dishes. Odyssey de Culinaire, Oklahoma Restaurant Association’s (ORA) annual fundraising dinner, benefits student programs like ProStart, which pairs with 22 Oklahoma high schools to bring chefs into classrooms and mentor students and teach them new cooking techniques. The event is 6-9 p.m. July 27 at The Skirvin Hilton Oklahoma City, 1 Park Ave. Attendance is capped at 250 guests, and tickets are $125. Each of five Oklahoma City chefs creates one course of a five-course meal. Each chef also is paired with a ProStart student who will spend the day cooking alongside their mentors. ORA director of education and ProStart state director Chandy Rice said the event pulls double duty as fundraising and demonstration education for high school students who hope to enter the culinary world. “The students get the opportunity to just work all day,” she said. “But also, a lot of times, several of the students have been at the chef’s restaurant before the event, shadowing them and just getting to know them.” Odyssey de Culinaire, which also hosts a dinner Thursday night in Tulsa at Renaissance Tulsa Hotel & Convention Center, served up its first fundraising meal 16 years ago. Mark Vannasdall is the lead coordinating chef of this year’s event and vice president of culinary operations at Traditions Spirits. Competition is fierce among chefs vying for a spot on Odyssey’s menu each year. “There’s quite a waiting list — they all want to be in this event because it’s a lot
of fun,” Rice said. “So it’s kind of a process, but there are a lot of chefs that throw their name in the hat.” The chefs’ willingness to promote the event and ability to work with high school students are important factors in the selection process. “[Vannasdall] chooses. And there’s a lot of competition in that we want the chefs to market it, so he’s like, ‘Are you going to promote this on social media? Are you going to help market the program?’” Rice said. “I have some say in it because I want chefs to be involved in Odyssey that are involved in the program. They want to mentor students and care about kids.” This year’s OKC event chefs are Patrick Clark II from The Red Cup; Jonas Favela from The Meat Market Refectory; Theron Jessop from The Artesian Hotel, Casino & Spa in Sulphur; Aaron Miles from The Skirvin Hilton; and Michael Paske from Boulevard Steakhouse. OKC’s theme — regional rivalry — allows for creativity in the kitchen. “They take, like, Texas and California and make a dish that’s a fusion of two states,” Rice said. Clark II, owner and head chef of The Red Cup, began his career in ProStart and is now an Odyssey chef. “He’s actually doing dessert, and he’s doing really cool stuff with pickled fruits and things like that,” Rice said. “But he was a ProStart student … so he’s a success story.” Visit okrestaurants.com.
J u ly 1 9 , 2 0 1 7 | O kg a z e t t e . c o m
Jonas Favela of The Meat Market
Michael Paske of Boulevard
Refectory | Photo provided
Steakhouse | Photo provided
Odyssey de Culinaire 6-9 p.m. July 27 The Skirvin Hilton Oklahoma City | 1 Park Ave. okrestaurants.com | 405-942-8181 $125
brunch | late night eats patio dining | neighborhood pub pet friendly patio place for a grown up party cocktail-the black betty bartender-becky ginn chef-haley hinson waiter or waitress-ke hassen bartender-meghanne hensley Best public art/mural “Welcome to Uptown” 26
Aaron Miles of The Skirvin Hilton Oklahoma City | Photo provided
Patrick Clark II of The Red Cup | Photo Garett Fisbeck / file
cocktail-sputnik
Strawberry infused gin, lemon, elderflower liqueur, rhubarb bitters, prosecco
dive bar new bar to open since 6/1/16
Best sushi Best Japanese
Best Japanese Best Western ave District Restaurant sushi neko & Musashi’s
O kg a z e t t e . c o m | J u ly 1 9 , 2 0 1 7
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g a z e di b l e s
eat & DRINK
Hot tamales
Anyone who says they don’t love tamales has never eaten real ones. Traditionally made by wrapping different fillings such as pork, chicken, cheese or beef in corn masa and a cornhusk, these concoctions are cropping up around the metro. Here are some tamaletrading spots across the city worth checking out. By Megan Prather and Rachel Schaub Photos by Garett Fisbeck and Cara Johnson
Supermercado Morelos 4475 NW 50th St. www.supermercadomorelos.com 405-208-8807
Supermercado Morelos is the place to go for an authentic dining and grocery experience in one. Since 2002, the company has offered patrons products that remind them of their “land and legacies.” With three OKC locations, it’s hard to miss and offers an array of fresh fare, specifically cut meats and groceries. It also takes reservations for its cafe-style dining area, where it serves tamales by the dozen.
1st anniversary parking lot party Burgers, salads, sandwiches and more
Best participating Restaurant in OKC Restaurant week 2017
chefcurrytogo.com 5701 N Western Ave. | 405.608.8050 M-F 10:30 am to 7 pm | Sat 11 am to 3 pm
Barrios Fine Mexican Dishes
Taqueria La Original 2
Stop by and relax on the patio while enjoying some fresh, made-with-love Mexican cuisine. Start off with traditional smashed guacamole and chips ($8). Its “mollys” (aka tamales) menu features red chile pork tamales with mole, mancha manteles (literally translated to “table stainer”) and chicharrón ($8). If you’re a vegetarian, there’s room for you here, too! Order a wild mushroom tamale with huitlacoche (Mexican truffle) and poblano cream ($8).
When you’re in the mood for real-deal Mexican food, look no farther than Taqueria La Original 2. Its pork tamales with red sauce are the epitome of a classic done right, and at $6.29 for two, there is plenty of opportunity to try of one of its many meat options inside a taco or gordita. From red chili pork or Mexican sausage to milder ham or beef tongue, Taqueria La Original 2 offers something for every taste.
1000 N. Hudson Ave. barriosmexicanokc.com | 405-702-6922
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J U ly 1 9 , 2 0 1 7 | O kg a z e t t e . c o m
tana thai
now open | new event Space call today to reServe
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Restaurant El Milagro 2534 S. Robinson Ave. 405-602-6826
If you’re in the mood for authentic Mexican cuisine, none of that Tex-Mex stuff, then Restaurant El Milagro is the place to go. This family-owned and run restaurant serves up authentic Mexican fare including tacos, chimichangas and homemade tamales. A three-tamale entrée served with rice and beans is $6.95.
New Koozie Colors Are iN!
Tamales El Patio
Taco Rico
3421 SW 29th St. okctamales.com | 405-605-1800
Matachines Authentic Mexican Food
3838 N. Lincoln Blvd. 405-521-1330
When there’s no seating left in the restaurant, you know you’ve found something special. Such is the case with Tamales El Patio. The intimate eatery has only two or three tables, but it sells housemade tamales by the dozen, so order them to-go and get a Diablito, a Mexican-style snow cone, while you wait. Tamales are $15 per dozen and offered in three varieties: pork, chicken and jalapeño and cheese and jalapeño.
Taco Rico’s logo informs diners that “Rico means delicious!” And it’s true. Order your tamales by the dozen or half-dozen or served on a platter with sides of rice, refried beans, chips and guacamole. This Lincoln Boulevard hidden gem has a drive-thru option if you want your fresh tamales fast, but let’s face it; these are worth taking the time to sit down and enjoy.
180 W. 15th St., Edmond matachinesauthenticmexicanfood.com 405-562-3930 Matachines Authentic Mexican Food pledges
two things: to provide the absolute best service and use quality ingredients. Those ingredients lend robust flavors to street tacos, flautas and homemade tamales — especially the tamales. Made with masa and your choice of either red sauce with pork or green sauce with cheese, you can order them a la carte or as an entree served with delicious rice and refried beans.
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ARTS & CULTURE Oklahoma City Arts Commissioner Stephen Kovash discusses his work assisting young artists and helping new galleries establish themselves during a recent visit to 16th Street Plaza District’s Plaza Walls outdoor
art
mural exhibit. | Photo Garett Fisbeck
Aesthetic versatility
OKC art and music stalwart Stephen Kovash balances creativity with his work for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. By Ben Luschen
From an early age, Stephen Kovash has taken his art and life into his own hands. The Oklahoma City Arts Commissioner left a chaotic home life at age 12 and was legally emancipated from his family when he was a young teenager. For a while, he slept in buses and abandoned cars and with people on the fringe of society before finding semi-steady but rotating homes within the city’s underground arts community. Kovash’s youth might read like a lost one, but he was incredibly focused. He lied about his age so he could get a job when he was 14 years old and always remained resolved in his art and schooling. He was an excellent student but was so independentminded that he sometimes conflicted with his teachers. “I generally got kicked out of [art classes] because they were so boring,” Kovash said during a recent Oklahoma Gazette interview. “It was all make kitties and paste things, and I was making signs and drawing EPA (United States Environmental Protection Agency) posters.” Kovash is locally known for his yearslong presence in the art community and as owner of now-closed Istvan Gallery in Midtown. Few know about his lengthy career writing grants for the EPA. One could characterize Kovash’s pur30
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suits as a double life, but the truth is that he is the same person in the studio as he is in the office. He does not try to put on a public face, and Kovash is comfortable with letting his EPA colleagues in on the real him. “I’ve always had the long hair and the sort of bohemian thing going on,” he said. “They actually kind of liked it.”
Career focus
Kovash’s artistic style has always been informed by the darkness in his past. He said he has endless stories from his experiences as a homeless teen, many of them sad. His work today is still fueled by themes of homelessness, depression and melancholy. Art, over time, has become a coping mechanism. These days, Kovash focuses more on helping other artists and local gallery owners and does not have as much time to create his own art. When he does find the time to sit down and create something, he still channels his troubled past. “It ends up becoming something I don’t want to sell,” he said, “but it always ends up selling because it ends up touching somebody else.” Despite an unstable youth, Kovash always believed he’d graduate high school and go to college. He attended Central State (now the University of Central Oklahoma),
first pursuing an art degree before switching to political science. He quickly got a job with the United States Air Force. His duties included ordering materials to construct bombs and other weapons. The task did not sit well with Kovash’s conscience. “It was horrible,” he said. “I lost sleep over it.” Kovash’s karate instructor worked with the EPA and convinced his pupil to join the agency. “A lot of the people who came on board were from the Peace Corps or they were hippies or hippie scientists,” he said. “There was a real sandals-and-flannel attitude, and we had some of the best scientists in the world there.” He began his EPA job in the early 1990s and worked in Washington, D.C., specializing in helping foreign countries establish their own environmental regulations and conservation programs. It was around the time of the Soviet Union’s dissolution. Kovash worked with and wrote grants for several new Eastern European nations that needed to develop their own environmental and sanitary standards. He said they had a big gap to close. “Under Soviet rule, everything was sacrificed to produce products,” he said. “I mean, they had lakes up there that you could dispose bodies in. It was frightening how bad it was.”
Creative balance
Kovash still works writing grants for the EPA, but he now lives in Oklahoma City. He enjoyed his time on the East Coast and was heavily involved in the Washington, D.C., and Baltimore, Maryland, art scenes. But over time, he found fewer and fewer reasons not to return to his home state. “The politics in D.C. are insane,” he said. “Working there is really hard. I got married while I was there, and that went
bad, so there was nothing that I wanted to stay there for.” If there is an aspect of art or creativity out there, there is a good chance Kovash has involved himself in some way. He participates in Oklahoma City University’s Red Earth Masters of Fine Arts (MFA) creative writing program. In the early- to mid-’80s, he was part of the group that opened the Bowery bar and music venue in downtown’s Plaza Court basement at NW 10th Street and Walker Avenue. The historic club has since closed. The punk and new-wave music venue was known for bringing in heavyweight acts like the Red Hot Chili Peppers and R.E.M. Kovash would sometimes act as security for acts passing through and was once a bodyguard for Exene Cervenka, vocalist for the pioneering punk and rockabilly band X. Kovash reminisced that X’s visit came around the time of Cervenka’s break-up with band vocalist/bassist and husband John Doe. He said tension between the two was palpable. “It was really funky working that night,” he said. Kovash has enjoyed a long career following many artistic pursuits, but he said few things could ever top his Bowery days, though he worked there just two years, ’82-’84. “I wouldn’t go back, because that would be insane,” he said, “but those were some of the best times.”
Local growth
Kovash now spends most of his time assisting young artists and helping new galleries establish themselves in the city. His Istvan Gallery, though now closed, blazed the way for a new trend of local galleries that offered platforms for emerging artists. Today, Kovash uses his experience to help guide new gallery owners and stresses the importance of establishing a business plan and not juggling too much on their own. The local art scene has experienced major growth in recent years but seems to have hit a plateau due to a saturated art market. It’s also challenging to inform the general public up about the progressing art community and its many shows. “If you’re not in the bubble, it’s almost like you’re going to a petting zoo with exotic animals,” he said. “People don’t know about the arts — they’re scared of them.” Still, the arts commissioner is enthusiastic about what the city’s future might hold. “We’re getting more and more young people to continue to move to Oklahoma City, so they’re going to be able to continue to support the arts scene,” he said. “I don’t see it going away anytime soon.” Visit facebook.com/istvanart.
RUNOFF BALLOT IS HERE! Oklahoma City’s first and longest-running readers’ poll, Best of OKC, is back for its 33rd 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, at bestofoklahomacity.com, via Facebook or on our Best of OKC app until july 27th. cONTINUEd ON NExT pAgE O Okg kgaazzeettttee. .cco Om m | | jjuuly n e1 9 8 , 2 0 1 76
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people Best radio personality or team
Jack and Ron (KQOB-FM Fun 96.9) Joey and HeatHeR (KYIS KISS 98.9) Lisa and kent (TYler MedIa KOMa 92.5) Rick and BRad (KaTT-FM rOcK 100.5) tJ, Janet and JRod (KJYO-FM KJ103 102.7)
Best local feed to follow on social media as toLd By:okc keep it LocaL koco-tV channel 5 kWtV-tV cBS channel 9 tHe Lost ogLe
Best local weBsite or Blog as toLd By:okc Homes By taBeR nondoc okctaLk tHe Lost ogLe
Best local singer / songwriter (not national) cHase keRBy JaBee JoHn moReLand kyLe diLLingHam mike Hosty
Best chef
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Best visual artist
adam Jones denise duong desmond mason Jason paWLey Jay RoBeRts at mind BendeR tattoo and fine aRt gaLLeRy
Best local annual event or festival
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Best charity event
Boots & BaLL goWns gaLa Benefiting infant cRisis seRVices, inc. okLaHoma city memoRiaL maRatHon peace, LoVe & goodWiLL festiVaL Red tie nigHt Benefiting okLaHoma aids caRe fund sHine a LigHt gaLa Benefiting sunBeam famiLy seRVices
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Best concert venue cHesapeake aRena ciVic centeR music HaLL tHe cRiteRion tHe zoo ampHitHeatRe toWeR tHeateR
Best puBlic art/mural (give intersection and district)
cuLtiVation muRaL at ek gayLoRd BouLeVaRd and W. Reno aVenue By Jason paWLey fLamenco memoRiaL to JoHn L. BeLt in paseo aRts distRict neW zeaLand tHundeR pLayeR steVen adams muRaL on tHe paRamount BuiLding in fiLm RoW pLaza WaLLs pRoJect in 16tH stReet pLaza distRict WeLcome to uptoWn muRaL on pizzeRia gusto BuiLding in uptoWn 23Rd
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nationaL coWBoy & WesteRn HeRitage museum okLaHoma city museum of aRt okLaHoma city nationaL memoRiaL & museum sam noBLe museum science museum okLaHoma
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Best clothing consignment Bad gRanny’s BazaaR cLotHes mentoR daisy excHange neaRLy neW tHe Bottom dRaWeR
Best furniture
asHLey fuRnituRe HomestoRe BoB miLLs fuRnituRe & mattRess stoRe k&n inteRioR consignment matHis BRotHeRs fuRnituRe uRBan faRmHouse designs
Best women’s clothing Boutique BaLLiets BLue seVen BoW & aRRoW Boutique LusH fasHion Lounge tHe BLack santiLLa
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Best place for continuing education
fRancis tuttLe tecHnoLogy centeR okLaHoma city community coLLege (Occc) okLaHoma state uniVeRsity-okLaHoma city (OSu-OKc) uniVeRsity of centRaL okLaHoma (ucO) uniVeRsity of okLaHoma (Ou)
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blaCk oPtiCal Cornerstone eyeCare midtown oPtiCal sam’s oPtiCal warby Parker sHowroom at sHoP Good
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a date witH iris CaPitol Hill Florist Floral and Hardy new leaF Florist troCHta’s Flowers & Garden Center
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food & drink Best tea or coffeehouse all about CHa aloHa sHave iCe & CoFFee sHoPPe CoFFee slinGers roasters elemental CoFFee roasters urban teaHouse
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Clauren ridGe vinyard & winery FarFalla wines Put a Cork in it windery strebel Creek vineyards waters edGe winery
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broadway 10 bar & CHoPHouse Cattlemen’s steakHouse maHoGany Prime steakHouse ranCH steakHouse red Primesteak
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oFF tHe Hook seaFood & more Pearl’s oyster bar roCoCo tHe drake seaFood and oysterette tHe sHaCk seaFood & oyster bar
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abel’s mexiCan restaurant alFredo’s mexiCan CaFe barrios Fine mexiCan disHes CHelino’s mexiCan restaurant ted’s CaFe esCondido
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Best western european restaurant, not italian Fassler Hall inGrid’s kitCHen la baGuette bistro old Germany restaurant royal bavaria
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basil mediterranean CaFe CousCous CaFe mediterranean imPorts & deli nunu’s mediterranean CaFe & market Zorba’s mediterranean Cuisine
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GorŌ ramen musasHi’s sHoGun steak House oF JaPan susHi neko tokyo JaPanese restaurant
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Best new restaurant to open since 6/1/16 AurorA BreAkfAst, BAr & BAckyArd BArrios fine MexicAn dishes GorŌ rAMen revolución tAqueriA & cAntinA ur/Bun
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cheever’s cAfe MAhoGAny PriMe steAkhouse red PriMesteAk rococo vAst
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Phill Me uP cheesesteAks tAqueriA sAnchez tAste of soul eGG roll the sAucee siciliAn thunder doGs
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Beverly’s PAncAke house BooMArAnG diner JiM’s diner sunnyside diner the diner
1492 neW World lAtin cuisine BArrios fine MexicAn dishes cAfé do BrAsil stellA Modern itAliAn cuisine WAffle chAMPion
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ARTS & CULTURE Ray Harryhausen with the mechanical Bubo the Owl from the 1981 film Clash of the Titans | Photo Andy Johnson for The Ray & Diana Harryhausen
art
Foundation / provided
Mythical creatures
A smART Space exhibit explores the work of special effects genius Ray Harryhausen. By Rachel Schaub
Colossal monsters from classic movies and larger-than-life models that represent gargantuan efforts are approaching Oklahoma City in miniature. Science Museum Oklahoma (SMO) opens its new exhibit Ray Harryhausen — Mythical Menagerie July 29. The museum hosts a gallery opening 6-9 p.m. July 28 in the smART Space gallery at SMO, 2020 Remington Place. The museum is open 9 a.m.- 5 p.m. Mondays- Fridays, 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturdays and 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Sundays. Admission to Mythical Menagerie is included in museum admission (free-$25.95). Scott Henderson, director of smART Space galleries at SMO, said guests can discern Harryhausen’s genius in the exhibit, which runs through Dec. 3. “He’s kind of the grand master behind movie special effects and stop motion animation,” he said. “A lot of the influences in science fiction and fantasy films today were influenced by Harryhausen. A lot of people attribute him as their inspiration.” Harryhausen’s methods and vision impacted the likes of James Cameron, Tim Burton and George Lucas. His work on movies such as 1981’s Clash of the Titans and 1949’s Mighty Joe Young shaped the future of the field of cinematic special effects. Ray Harryhausen’s Medusa model from the 1981 film Clash of the Titans | Photo Andy Johnson for The Ray & Diana Harryhausen Foundation / provided
Assembly required
Henderson worked with The Ray & Diana Harryhausen Foundation in Scotland to organize the exhibit. He first started thinking seriously about a science fiction movie exhibit over a year and a half ago. “I started looking at movie posters and models and such, and I came across the (foundation) website, and it struck a chord in me because I remember as a kid loving these movies,” he said. “So I look at the website, and they are looking for potential people to exhibit the work. I reached out thinking
they would probably just say no and that they weren’t interested, but to my surprise, they were very interested. That’s when the ball got rolling.” The foundation did not have a complete collection prepared for exhibition when Henderson contacted them. “I had to work with the collections manager there to put the show together,” he said. “It wasn’t something already formed. We had to go through all the inventory and select the specific pieces to put together, which movies we wanted to showcase. That was part of the longevity of getting it put together.” Poring over the models Harryhausen used to pioneer techniques in stop motion was an arduous task, but one that will pay off in Mythical Menagerie. “It’s never been shown to this degree in the United States as a complete collection,” Henderson said. “It’s usually shown around Europe — little pieces of it will travel to museums.” A large-scale collection of Harryhausen’s work is an exciting prospect, though Henderson said that it almost didn’t come together. “They had just posted this. Connor Heaney — he’s the collections manager for the foundation — when I contacted him, he wrote back. But he was just now putting the collection together,” he said. “[Heaney] had just been hired, so everything was kind of all over the place. He told me that if I had not contacted him when I did, it probably wouldn’t have happened.” Mythical Menagerie will be shown in smART Space, a smaller exhibition room on SMO’s second floor. Henderson said the size of the space is an advantage for the models on display. “These models, they’re not very large,” he said. “They’re minuscule in size, just because of how they had to be animated. I wanted to create a more intimate space so you can get up close and almost personal with the models. I’ve chosen a smaller area that’s going to wind you through so you can be up close.”
Lasting impact
The exhibit brings together the history of film and beloved artifacts to showcase the stop-motion pioneer’s work. “I think it’s going to be a fabulous exhibit,” Henderson said. “It’s historical, but it’s also going to show kids
Ray Harryhausen stands with his Kraken model during production for the 1981 film Clash of the Titans. | Photo The Ray & Diana Harryhausen Foundation / provided
today who may not be familiar with Ray Harryhausen how his influence on cinematic history had influenced the movies they see, even CGI movies.” Henderson expects to see Harryhausen devotees and novices alike at Mythical Menagerie. Though his name might be unknown to museum guests when they enter the exhibit, Henderson said his work speaks for itself. “The people that may not know his name probably will recognize something in the exhibit that will strike a chord back to some recognizable event,” he said. “People that were born after 1990 probably won’t recognize them so much, but I hope they’ll find that relatable aspect.” People who love movies with otherworldly monsters and scenery will find something interesting, as well. “I think it will speak to a lot of people, but he does have a following,” he said. “Film historians and film lovers are definitely going to be here — fantasy movie lovers, people that love science fiction.” Fantasy movie buffs will recognize some of the pieces Henderson is most looking forward to exhibiting. “I’m really excited about all of them, but there are a few on the top of my list,” he said. “That’d be the Medusa model, the Bubo model from Clash of the Titans — that was a movie that I watched over and over as a kid — then from Jason and the Argonauts, there’s the original Cyclops armature, which is very cool. And then a slew of others, of course; there’s the centaur from the Sinbad movies and the Pegasus is really cool.” Visit sciencemuseumok.org.
Ray Harryhausen — Mythical Menagerie Opening 6-9 p.m. July 28
Exhibit 9 a.m-5 p.m. Mondays-Fridays, 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturdays, 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Sundays Science Museum Oklahoma | 2020 Remington Place sciencemuseumok.org | 405-602-6664 Free-$25.95
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ARTS & CULTURE
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National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum explores the future of Western art with its annual Prix de West sale and exhibit. By George Lang “A Father’s Gift” by George Hallmark
Today, the West looks little like it did when it was “won,” but Western art continues galloping forward, chronicling the evolution of the region and its culture. The full range of entries in the 45th annual Prix de West at National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, 1700 NE 63rd St., proves that Western art is not monolithic — it contains multitudes, much like the West itself. Prix de West, which opened June 9 and continues through Aug. 6, is one of the most influential and prestigious Western art shows and sales in the nation, with 97 artists showing their work at the juried event. The show includes Western art seminars, demonstrations by participating artists, a live auction, a sale, book signings, a trunk sale and the unveiling of the artwork selected for annual Prix de West awards in eight categories.
25-by-38-inch oil painting “Transparent Water Colors,” which sold for $24,000. He also was awarded a $3,000 award sponsored by Bob and Margaret Mills. The prestigious Prix de West Purchase Award is the single artwork selected by the museum for inclusion in its holdings. Susan Patterson, the museum’s curator of special exhibits, said the award helps extend the facility’s scope in terms of highlighting the evolution of Western art in the 21st century. T. Allen Lawson of Sheridan, Wyoming, earned the 2017 Prix de West Purchase Award with “The Nursery Tree,” his 35-by-32-inch oil on panel painting, which sold for $48,000. He also received a $5,000 award and the Prix de West medallion.
Top honors
Determining excellence
A new award presented this year was the Wilson Hurley Memorial Award, named for the revered Tulsa-born landscape artist, who died in 2008. Hurley was known for his dramatic, large-scale paintings of Western landscapes and weather phenomena. His five triptychs known as Windows to the West are displayed in the museum’s Sam Noble Special Events Center. Colorado artist Len Chmiel earned the inaugural honor this year for his
| Image National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum / provided
“We have a Prix de West committee that listens to the curatorial staff and judges the show,” Patterson said. “Our goal is to broaden our museum’s collection, and they look at many factors before making a decision about a piece we’re going to purchase.” Those factors include not only the “Friendly Finish to Trading, Upper Missouri River, 1808” by Z.S. Liang | Image National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum / provided
excellence of the works under consideration, but how those particular works can augment the museum’s current holdings. “We ask, ‘Does it add to the diversity of the collection?’” she said. “We don’t want to have 10 pieces by the same artist in a 45-year period. It comes down to 10 or 12 people sitting around a table and trying to come to a consensus in terms of what piece would be best for the museum collection.” Patterson said that consensus-building process can involve a great deal of deliberation. “Sometimes, the piece selected doesn’t fall under that you might say is pretty, but it might be a forward-thinking artist who has depicted the American West in a way that we never thought of considering,” she said. “It is beyond a pretty picture. We want something that, 100 years from now, when someone comes to this museum and visits, they’re going to see a collection that a lot of thought was given to through the Prix de West exhibition.” While the purchase award has long been a component of Prix de West, the spirit with which it is awarded is part and parcel of recent forward movement at the museum regarding scope and philosophy. Recent exhibits, including John R. Hamilton’s photographic retrospective Hollywood and the American West and 2016’s Power and Prestige: Headdresses of the American Plains, pushed the museum’s repertoire in new directions that
“The Takeaway” by Bonnie Marris | Image National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum / provided
help make history tangible and expand the definition of Western art. Patterson said continually adding to its collection through the Prix de West purchase award helps maintain the museum’s status as a living document of the West.
A SeASonAl Guide to CentrAl oklAhomA
Collector opportunities
By design, Prix de West is an opportunity for aficionados to add to their collections, but it is not exclusively for active collectors, Patterson said. “Even if purchasing art is maybe not on your list of what you see yourself doing, it’s really a wonderful opportunity to view today’s art created by the top Western artists in our country,” she said. “I think it can broaden a visitor’s view in terms of how each of these artists sees the American West, whether they see a historic West or a contemporary West.” Visit pdw.nationalcowboymuseum. org for an online catalog of the more than 300 Prix de West works for sale.
Prix de West 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Mondays-Saturdays, noon-5 p.m. Sundays | Through Aug. 6 National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum 1700 NE 63rd St. nationalcowboymuseum.org | 405-478-2250 Free-$12.50
“American Icon” by Sandy Scott | Image National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum / provided
There is a lot to see and do throughout Autumn, and Gazette gives its readers direction on where to find the best festivals, shows, foods and more! FeAturinG A 3 month CAlendAr inCludinG: labor day events Fall theater Season Fairs, Festivals Special events Concerts, music and Clubs
Art exhibits and Shows day trips museums kid events & Classes Sports Schedules
Along with expanded editorial content PubliShinG SePtember 20, 2017 Ad deAdline tueSdAy, SePtember 12, 2017
Attention publicity seekers!
• Submit calendar events at okgazette.com or email to listings@okgazette.com • Please be sure to indicate ‘Fall Guide’ in the subject line. We do not accept calendar items via phone. • Deadline to submit items for our Fall Guide calendar is Wednesday, August 30, 2017 by 5pm.
CAll or emAil to reServe Ad SPACe or For AdditionAl inFormAtion. specialsections@okgazette.com | 405.528.6000
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RUNWAY OF THE FUTURE
FASHION SHOW + COCKTAIL PARTY
FutureFashion Saturday, Aug. 5 | Fairgrounds | 21+ For tickets, visit bit.ly/OCFutureFashion. oklahomacontemporary.org | 405 951 0000 | @okcontemporary 3000 General Pershing Blvd. | Oklahoma City, OK 73107
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ARTS & CULTURE “Lytle Creek” (2008) | Photo Todd Stewart / Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art / provided
its residents. “Not only do the images in Todd’s work reflect the fact that this space used to be inhabited, but the objects left behind speak volumes on their own,” White said. “We’ve included things like postcards, crafts and other personal memorabilia that Todd collected during his project.” Such a collection of seemingly inconsequential items take on new significance when paired with the people and history of their physical origin. Objects on display in the exhibition hold sentimental and scientific value.
Collecting consequences
art
Still life
An art exhibition and book give glimpses into the lives that once filled an Oklahoma town. By Jessica Williams
The University of Oklahoma’s Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art confronts the environmental and sociopolitical consequences of commerce and economic gain with its summer exhibition Picher, Oklahoma: Catastrophe, Memory, and Trauma. Featuring photographer and OU assistant professor Todd Stewart’s collected photographs and objects from the vacant northeastern Oklahoma town, this nine-year project commemorates the past as much as it hypothesizes the future. Museum director and curator of the exhibition Mark White spoke to Oklahoma Gazette about the significance of preserving the memories of towns that have fallen to manmade and natural disasters.
Memory bearers
“Landscapes are bearers of memories,” White said. “Todd’s images of Picher encapsulate the complicated process of trying to reserve the memories of a town that is no longer habitable.” In a project that’s as anthropological as much as it is artful, Stewart’s documenta-
tion of Picher spans from 2008 to 2017, featuring images and objects collected from the small mining town. Simultaneously quaint and eerie, White said Stewart’s photos capture the town’s complex identity. “From 1917 onward, Picher was first and foremost an industrial town, and the effects of that fact are still evident today,” he said. “There are sink holes, massive hills of waste and toxic materials from this town’s mines and different factories that contributed to both World Wars.” Located on Quapaw tribal territory, Picher was part of the Tri-State Lead and Zinc District that supplied hundreds of jobs to working-class families. However, in 1967, its mines closed, resulting in a destructed, poisoned landscape and economy. “In the 1980s, Picher and its surrounding towns were declared the most toxic areas in America,” White said. “During that point until the 2008 tornado, there were many failed attempts to remediate the town’s water supply and general quality of life, but the damage was irreparable.” 2014 marked the town’s formal termination — all remaining residents were evacuated from the toxic site, leaving behind generations of memories and connections to a community.
Meaningful mementos
Stewart’s nine-year documentation of Picher marks its final days as a functioning community but also functions as an archive of memories through observation and collection.
“Todd’s work was originally meant to be displayed in a book,” White said. “Seeing his work in its original form gave me the idea to display these images in our museum. I first encountered these images before the 2008 tornado, and I had no idea what a timely project it would become.” Like many industrial towns in America, Picher’s former residents experience high levels of different health issues caused by a toxic environment. OU’s past philanthropic efforts in the town significantly outlined Stewart’s approach to the art. “A team led by Dr. Bob Nairn working on water purification efforts in Picher sparked Todd’s interest in the town,” White said. “Todd got more involved in 2008, asking through his work what kind of record of the town remains after cataclysmic events occur.” Photographs of the town’s uninhabitable landscape include hills of past mining materials, sinkholes and decaying buildings, but the exhibition isn’t intended to be completely hopeless. Stewart’s work in the toxic Superfund site might mark the end of a town, but it breathes life into the town’s history through
“When the museum decided to create an exhibition from Todd’s work, we also wanted to include the specific mining minerals from Picher that speak to the area’s geological history,” White said. “We directly worked with Todd to collect that material. So while this is an art exhibition, it’s really about documenting the physical consequences of environmental disasters like Picher, and that begins with its geological origins.” Talking about the town’s massive deposits of lead and zinc brings a vital awareness to these issues, but actually seeing these materials in person raises the immediacy of the environmental damage in towns like Picher. “These minerals covered not only northeastern Oklahoma, but also parts of Kansas and Missouri,” White said. “This Tri-State deposit was enormously important in developing the communities in this region, but unfortunately, the story ends tragically. We’re exploring what remains after towns like Picher are abandoned.”
Landscape lessons
In covering such a complex narrative with many parts, public education is crucial to connect one issue to the next. White said the museum’s educational programming for the exhibition seeks to provide a critical approach to current environmental subjects. continued on page 40
“Cardboard Fan, Front” (undated) | Photo Todd Stewart / Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art / provided
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ARTS & CULTURE
“Postcards” (undated) | Photo Todd Stewart / Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art / provided
continued from page 39
art
“Looking at these objects from Picher, we want people to consider what these physical remnants say about their culture and history,” he said. “We’re asking families in particular to think about the objects they hold dear and what they say about us as individuals and communities.” The Fred Jones Jr. Museum staff has made it their mission to extend education to all areas of their own community. Along with hands-on art activities and discussions, the museum will hold a writing workshop for OU students led by graduate student Matt Jacobson Sept. 1 and a closing reception Sept. 7. “Our closing reception in September will focus on our faculty and student population when they arrive on campus for the fall semester,” White said. “We will feature a lecture by Alison Fields, who wrote the text for Todd’s original book about Picher.”
Picher, Oklahoma: Catastrophe, Memory, and Trauma Fridays-Saturdays, 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Thursdays and 1-5 p.m. Sundays through Sept. 10 Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art 555 Elm Ave., Norman ou.edu/fjjma | 405-325-3272 Free
Perceptive reality
No research project is absolutely unbiased, and Stewart’s presents the evidence of a town with a tumultuous history without making finite conclusions. Rather than providing answers to the complicated issues presented in Picher, White said the exhibition promotes new possibilities for viewing the health of communities. “We’re not here to stand on a soapbox or preach the importance of going green,” he said. “However, there is certainly a lesson to learn through these images of empty buildings and tarnished landscapes. It’s about thoughtfully considering the future of our landscape.” Picher, Oklahoma: Catastrophe, Memory, and Trauma runs through Sept. 10 at Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, 555 Elm Ave, in Norman. Visit ou.edu/fjjma.
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“Blue Boy” (undated) | Photo Todd Stewart / Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art / provided
cult u r e
Universal appeal From Chewie to Admiral Ackbar, even nerf herders are welcome at this year’s Center of the Galaxy convention. By George Lang
Study Farmers Public Market from the right angle, with its sandy hues and rugged exteriors, and it can start to resemble the Mos Eisley spaceport on Tatooine. For Tobi Coleman, a lifelong Star Wars fan, the district provided the perfect backdrop for her dream project, Center of the Galaxy Festival, a three-day Star Wars convention featuring actors and artists from Star Wars Episode IV - A New Hope, Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. The event, held Friday-Sunday at Farmers Public Market, 311 S. Klein Ave., came about as a response to the scarcity of Star Wars conventions in the region. Coleman and her event company, Revolve Productions, saw a genuine opportunity to bring “a galaxy far, far away” a little closer.
Frenzied fandom
“Well, there was a group of us at the production company that were wanting to put on a very cool, unique event here in Oklahoma City that hasn’t happened here before,” she said. “We started trying to find out where the closest Star Wars event was, and it’s really the one in Orlando, Florida. We knew there were a ton of Star Wars fans here and in Texas, so we just decided we would put it together. It’s taken off — it’s nuts, but that’s how Star Wars fans are.” Coleman said the intensity of Star Wars mania in 2017 becomes apparent once you start looking for it. Beyond the popularity of 2015’s Star Wars: The Force
Awakens and last year’s Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, she said the sheer number of original Star Wars trilogy T-shirts she sees worn by people around her is a testament to the enduring popularity of the earliest films in the epic space opera franchise, which first launched in 1977. She decided the original film’s 40th anniversary was a perfect time to launch Center of the Galaxy Festival.
Celestial lineup
While larger conventions are more likely to get marquee names, the inaugural Center of the Galaxy will focus on behindthe-scenes creative workers and smallpart actors who made a significant impact on the series. The topliner, Colin Cantwell, designed the Death Star, Millennium Falcon, X-wing Fighters, TIE Fighters and Imperial Cruiser. Cantwell is not a household name, but for millions of people, he is a creator of worlds, and his creations extend beyond Star Wars. “We contacted him through Instagram,” Coleman said. “For me, he’s like my whole youth. Between WarGames and Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Star Wars and 2001: A Space Odyssey, for anyone who’s cared about sci-fi in the last 40 years, he’s the one who created it.” Actors attending the conference played smaller roles but all share valuable stories about the creation of the legendary film franchise. Mike Quinn, a master puppeteer who worked with The Jim Henson Company on The Dark Crystal, Labyrinth and five Muppets
Fans unite from every side for Center of the Galaxy Festival Friday through Sunday at Farmers Public Market. | Photo Kennon Bryce / provided
films, portrayed smuggler and pilot Nien Nunb and helped operate other characters like Jabba the Hutt. Keith De’Winter plays Goss Toowers, the Resistance’s technician in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and Debbie Lee Carrington and Kendra Wall Dahl both portrayed Ewoks in Return of the Jedi. Coleman said that many of Center of the Galaxy’s participating actors live in England — much of the production on the first trilogy took place at Elstree Studios near London. For avid autograph collectors with a specific interest in Star Wars, names such as Carrington and Dahl will fill major blanks in their books.
The Force unleashed
Much like the Tatooine scenes involved shooting in Tunisia, Farmers Public Market will undergo some stagecraft for this three-day event. Power House will become Mos Eisley Cantina, and on Friday and Saturday, Star Warscostumed heavy metal band Galactic Empire will perform thrashed-up versions of composer John Williams’ music, including “The Imperial March,” on the outdoor stage. The event also includes over 100 exhibitors, food trucks and vendors. “It’s become a real community effort for the entire Farmers Market District,” Coleman said. “It’s like its own little compound, which makes it kind of like its own universe — our little Tatooine.”
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T h e at e r
ARTS & CULTURE
Relevant romance
Lyric Theatre’s production of a 60-year-old iconic Broadway musical proves its modern relevance. By George Lang
West Side Story, the landmark musical that transformed the Montagues and Capulets into Sharks and Jets, is 60 years old. It is such an essential piece of the Broadway firmament that it can be falsely perceived as quaint in the age of Hamilton and The Book of Mormon. But as Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma mounts its new production of West Side Story, opening Tuesday, director Matthew Gardiner begs the question, How can a play about immigrants wanting to “live in America” when their fellow residents resent their presence be “quaint”? “I think there is nothing more relevant than West Side Story at this time,” Gardiner said. “I mean, the piece is about doing better, trying to do better, working harder to recognize that our differences are what make us beautiful and not what should separate us. I think the message of opening one’s heart to another person is an important one.” West Side Story runs July 25-29 at Civic Center Music Hall, 201 N. Walker Ave.
Adaptation adjustments
The story was adapted by Arthur Laurents (Alfred Hitchcock’s Rope, The Way We Were) from William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet and centers on the warring Puerto Rican Sharks and the white Jets gangs on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. At the center of an ongoing war between the gangs is Tony, a former Jets member who is in love with Maria, the sister of Sharks leader Bernardo. 42
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Laurents’ book was paired with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and choreography by Jerome Robbins, giving West Side Story an enviable pedigree by any measure. Any of the constituent parts of the play would be considered iconic, from Robbins’ stylized depictions of street fighting through dance to Sondheim and Bernstein’s “Tonight,” “Somewhere,” “Maria,” “America” and “I Feel Pretty.” The songs by themselves are considered standards of the Great American Songbook, whether heard inside or outside the musical. Gardiner recently directed a soldout production of West Side Story at the Signature Theatre in Washington, D.C. — a 300-seat facility in which Gardiner was able to achieve a great degree of intimacy. Because of the scale, he was able to install fire escapes over the audience and stage much of the action around the seating. With the upcoming performances at Civic Center Music Hall, Gardiner is working on a much larger scale, which presents its challenges. “The major challenge is the limited amount of time,” he said. “And our M.O. has been to use Jerome Robbins’ original choreography, and to put it in this space is a huge undertaking. But luckily, I’m working with a group of people who have tackled the piece before, and we’re all excited to do this new production here.”
Subverting shadows
Of course, one of the reasons most people know West Side Story is the 1961
Ryan Fitzgerald plays Action, Christopher Rice plays Riff and Sean Watkinson plays A-Rab in Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma’s West Side Story. | Photo KO Rinearson / Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma / provided
film version, which was directed by Robert Wise and starred Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer and Russ Tamblyn. That public awareness of the film can be both a blessing and a curse for a team mounting a new production. Gardiner said that while he credits the film for pushing him to pursue a life in theater, he prefers to go to the source material and build his productions from the ground up.
When you’re a young soprano, you cannot help but think of Natalie Wood or the other performers who have played Maria, but it is important to come to it as your own self. You have to yourself to make your own connection with her. MaryJoanna Grisso That is also true for one of the stars of the Lyric Theatre production. MaryJoanna Grisso, who plays Maria, has played the character over 600 times, including the national revival tour and regional productions. She said she contends with the long shadow of Wood’s cinematic performance. However, in each performance, Grisso said her goal is always to play the character in a way that is faithful to the original creators’ vision, but in a way that feels impactful and relatable today. “The film is such a different feel from what happens in the live production,” Grisso said. “It’s beautiful in its own right, but when I need to refresh for the role, I go back to the book — the material is so strong and so powerful. When you’re a young soprano, you cannot help but think of Natalie Wood or the other performers who have played Maria, but it is important to come to it as your own self. You have to yourself to make your own connection with her.” Visit lyrictheatreokc.com.
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Kehinde Wiley (American, b. 1977). Randerson Romualdo Cordeiro (detail), 2008. Oil on canvas, 48 x 36 in. (121.9 x 91.4 cm). Private collection, Golden Beach, Florida, courtesy of Roberts & Tilton, Culver City, California. © Kehinde Wiley. (Photo: Robert Wedemeyer, courtesy of Roberts & Tilton)
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PUT ME IN COACH
Future past
An icon of African-American cultural achievement, the Jewel Theatre straddles past, present and future at the beginning of its restoration campaign. By Ian Jayne
If movies transport their viewers to different times and places, then so can their theaters, which sometimes have stories even more compelling than those on screen. Jewel Theatre, 904 E. Fourth St., stands alone as the only AfricanAmerican theater in Oklahoma City that has survived over the decades and the only theater currently in the process of fundraising for restoration. The Jewel Foundation is an organization overseeing the building rehabilitation efforts. Its five-member board is presided by Sherri Williams, and Arthur Hurst, current owner of the Jewel Theatre, serves as vice president. Officially added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2009, nearly 80 years after its construction in 1931, Jewel Theatre was once a communal refuge necessitated by the legal and societal prejudices of segregation. “To me, the historical significance of the theater is that we have come a long way from that, but this building
still stands as a representation of where we were,” said Karen Wallace Douglas, secretary and treasurer of the Jewel Foundation’s board. Because of the restrictions that segregation placed on African-Americans, black residents could only live within a certain mile radius in which all necessary businesses had to operate, Douglas said.
Solid foundation
The Oklahoma City theater is one of three Jewels once owned by Percy H. James, who was an African-American businessman of the Jay-Kola bottling enterprise. “It’s just amazing to me that one black man built this theater for his community,” Douglas said. The once-vibrant Jewel closed in the 1970s, and many of the surrounding buildings have been demolished. “The Jewel still stands, and it’s only because of Mr. Hurst,” said John McConnel, a historian on Jewel Foundation’s board.
from left John McConnel, Karen Wallace Douglas, Arthur Hurst and Sherri Williams are working to raise funds to restore Jewel Theatre. | Photo Garett Fisbeck
Spotlight sharing
Because of the Jewel’s status as a historically significant building on the National Register, the rehabilitation process will have specific guidelines to preserve elements of the structure’s past. “I think that people can look forward to seeing a state-of-the-art theater,” said Catherine Montgomery, architect and owner of Preservation and Design Studio. “It will have some aspects that will evoke the feelings and appearance of the old theater, but there may be some modern touches incorporated.” One way the foundation aims to recapture and modernize the theater’s function is by expanding its role to that of theater and community center. Some of Jewel Foundation’s future goals for the rehabilitated space include offering stage shows, acting classes, concerts, film screenings, lectures, political rallies and other personal events such as bar mitzvahs and weddings.
Citywide benefits
Glowing hope
Hurst has a long history with the building; he was once a theatergoer and is now its owner. “Growing up, I lived just two blocks from the theater, so it was the theater I went to the most,” Hurst said. Due to his frequent visits, Hurst got to know the owner and eventually purchased the Jewel. “I just wanted to see the theater opened again,” he said. Hurst began working with the board members of Jewel Foundation in order to help achieve his goal of building rehabilitation. Jewel Theatre has held up over the decades and is structurally sound. The building has concrete flooring throughout, a sloped auditorium, a usable proscenium, space under its stage for dressing rooms and a façade still in good condition, said McConnel. The theater’s vertical neon sign, likely from the 1940s, has been preserved and should be functional after some refinishing. Oklahoma History Center also displayed a 35 mm projector from the Jewel. Even though the building is not currently in use, it continues to draw the curious. “Throughout the years, that building has been photographed by so many people,” Douglas said. “There are a lot of people that are aware of the building, know the history.”
“We’re really looking for it to be a theater that is for the entire Oklahoma City community,” Douglas said. Jewel Foundation also hopes to offer after-school programs geared toward the arts and engaging with Oklahoma school curricula on the topics of Oklahoma history and black history. “We need to preserve it,” said Williams of the Jewel and the robust community that once frequented and surrounded the theater. “People need to know about it, what was there.” Jewel Foundation has a projected fundraising goal of $2 million for the necessary renovations. The foundation launched a GoFundMe page for online donors, some of whom might be eligible for tax credits through the Historic Tax Credit program. In addition to online fundraising, Jewel Foundation also hosted the first Juneteenth Film Festival this year. The event featured speakers Councilman John Pettis Jr., Rep. George Young and Candace Liger as well as local filmmaker Samuel C. Bey, who also manages the marketing and social media for the foundation’s board. “It was great to be on the sidewalk watching Mr. Hurst’s grandchildren handing out postcards,” Montgomery said of the event. Once the foundation reaches its fundraising goal — likely sometime in 2018-2019 — the rehabilitation process is expected to take about a year. “The Jewel is still sitting there with its sloped floor and its proscenium stage, ready to be put back into service,” McConnel said. Visit jeweltheatreokc.org.
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ARTS & CULTURE by loan officers within the institution. It fired the employees involved. Instead, the crux of the film is the lengthy legal battle Abacus engages in against the idea that there was institutional knowledge or willful ignorance of the fraud — or worse, a bankwide cover-up.
Bank statements
Film
For many small community banks, the substantial charges alone would be a death sentence and few would be capable of defending themselves against a team of state lawyers. Perhaps that was what the DA was counting on when it brought the charges against Abacus. Though not made implicit by any of the prosecutors in the film, there seems to be a general sense that they were looking for a small institution to make an example of amid alleged gross misconduct by larger banks deemed “too big to fail.”
Counted out
Abacus: Small Enough to Jail is a classic underdog story and a worthy addition to director Steve James’ canon. By Ben Luschen
Only one American bank has ever faced criminal charges following the financial crisis of 2007-08. It was not an institution that runs commercials during the Super Bowl or regularly gives loans to wealthy corporate real-estate suits. It was a small, family-owned bank with an original location nestled between two noodle shops in Manhattan’s Chinatown neighborhood. Abacus: Small Enough to Jail tells the story of New York’s Abacus Federal Savings Bank and its yearslong legal battle against a slew of mortgage fraud charges leveled by the New York County
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District Attorney’s Office. The 2016 film by celebrated documentarian Steve James (1994’s Hoop Dreams, 2002’s Stevie, 2011’s The Interrupters) screens July 28-30 at Oklahoma City Museum of Art, 415 Couch Drive.
Questionable motives
The film opens with couple Thomas and Hwei Lin Sung watching James Stewart’s 1946 Christmas classic It’s a Wonderful Life. As Stewart’s banker George Bailey is to the fictional Bedford Falls, Thomas Sung is to Chinatown. Sung, born in Shanghai, opened Abacus
from left Vera, Jill and Thomas Sung fight institutional mortgage fraud charges against their family-owned bank in Abacus: Small Enough to Jail. | Photo Sean Lyness / PBS Distribution / provided
in 1984 not because he needed a job, but because he felt compelled to provide banking services to the mostly immigrant community. He is not a faceless bank CEO, but an important, recognized and respected figure in Chinatown. To most, the bank seemed like an unlikely target for prosecution following the last decade’s subprime mortgage bubble burst. Yet in 2012, the bank and 19 of its employees were charged with procuring money from the Federal National Mortgage Association, commonly known as Fannie Mae, for use in fraudulent mortgage loans (totaling a nine-figure sum). The issue here is not whether wrongdoing was ever done by employees of Abacus. The bank, in fact, was the one that first discovered and reported fraud
Any thoughts that Abacus would quietly accept its role as the banking industry’s sacrificial lamb greatly underestimated Sung’s fighting spirit. While the widespread fraudulent lending practices of the United States’ largest banks rippled into an epic financial crisis (called by some experts the worst financial debacle since the Great Depression), none of them were ever charged. Many believed that those banks and institutions were so connected to the global market that prosecuting them would capsize the world’s economy. The DA’s desire to make a statement with this case might be best epitomized by a highly reported and photographed scene of district attorney officers
Director Steve James | Photo provided
leading a row of defendants handcuffed and chained together through the halls of the courthouse after their arraignment. The film speculates that the scene was mostly a DA public relations move. Still, any thoughts that Abacus would quietly accept its role as the banking industry’s sacrificial lamb greatly underestimated Sung’s fighting spirit, not to mention his family of hard-nosed,
accomplished lawyer daughters. The most compelling part of the documentary is the family at its core. The Sungs clearly have a deep love for each other as well as fierce loyalty to their patriarch. The stress of a long legal battle, especially one of this magnitude, can take its toll on any unit, and the Sung family can be seen truly pressed to its limits in the stress of it all. At stake in the trial, Thomas Sung says, is not just the bank or its reputation in Chinatown, but the reputations of Chinese people as law-abiding citizens. Through the trial, it was discovered that it was not only the bank’s loan officers who were committing fraud, but that those applying for the loans sometimes lied or misrepresented themselves to get approved. While there was no doubt some intentional deception going on, the film makes a point to say that there are cultural differences between the way finances are handled in China and the U.S. Because some lending is done on a more by-faith basis in China, it is possible that some lendees were not aware they were breaking the law. For some immigrants, Abacus is the first American bank they have ever dealt with.
Underdog story
The Sungs’ bank is clearly a David facing off against the New York County DA’s Goliath legal team, but director James sometimes oversells the point. For example, while it is true that Abacus is a community bank, it includes several branches within the area and serves the Manhattan Chinatown neighborhood of more than 100,000 people, which would be enough to make it one of Oklahoma’s five largest cities. It is not Bedford Falls. The film blatantly puts itself in the Sungs’ corner. Not much time is spent playing devil’s advocate or digging deeper into the possibility that Abacus management was turning a blind eye to the illicit dealings of its loan officers. This could be because James was partisan to the fighting family story angle or because the DA’s singling out of Abacus was obvious. It is hard to know for sure which is the case, and unfortunately, the film does not give viewers much room to draw a conclusion on their own. It is also easy for the average viewer to glaze over parts of the documentary that delve into more intricate detail about the misdealings. Combining court jargon with finance lingo leaves most directors with an unenviable cocktail of over-your-head exposition to overcome. James, however, should be com-
mended for keeping everything on a level that keeps the layman (such as myself) engaged, especially in comparison to some other films that try explaining the mortgage bust debacle.
Niche piece
Abacus is actually more of a documentary about the family of a valued immigrant community member and his fight to save face against state charges than it is about the actual court proceedings or the larger financial crisis. James’ ability to recognize that and make what could easily be a niche piece about a small Chinese-American bank into a widely relatable underdog story is the film’s greatest accomplishment. While some of James’ other documentaries might be flashier or tackle bigger subject matters, Abacus finds some larger societal truths within its story that make it a strong addition to his catalogue.
Abacus: Small Enough to Jail 8 p.m. July 28, 5:30 p.m. July 29, 2 p.m. July 30 Oklahoma City Museum of Art | 415 Couch Drive okcmoa.com | 405-236-3100 $5-$9
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Moving cinema deadCENTER, OKC Film Society and 21c Museum Hotel present a monthly series showcasing local, independent, documentary and art films. By George Lang
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On any day or night at 21c Museum Hotel, impactful and thought-provoking modern art festoons the hotel’s gallery space, but with Filmography, a partnership between the hotel, OKC Film Society and deadCenter Film Festival, the images are truly moving. The free monthly film series was initiated by 21c Museum manager Michaela Slavid, deadCenter director of programming and education Kim Haywood and OKC Film Society executive director Alex Palmer as a way to provide a film component to 21c’s modern art. “We said, ‘We’ve got all these amazing art films — documentaries about artists and also films that really fall into the category of art films. What would you think about partnering to do a series?’” said deadCenter executive director Lance McDaniel. “So, we picked half the movies from films that had played at deadCenter, so there was a strong deadCenter tie, and half that had not played at deadCenter but that we felt were some of the strongest artistic movies we’d seen.”
Local delivery
Filmography launched in February with a screening of Beauty Is Embarrassing, the acclaimed 2012 documentary on Wayne White, whose innovative kinetic work was displayed at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art (OKCMOA) in 2013. Subsequent films included the 2013 documentary Trash Dance, Benh Zeitlin’s
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Oscar-nominated drama Beasts of the Southern Wild and Kehinde Wiley: An Economy of Grace, the screening of which coincided with the opening of the retrospective Kehinde Wiley: A New Republic at OKCMOA. McDaniel said a key component of Filmography is local content. At 8 p.m. Aug. 18, the series will screen Four Sheets to the Wind, Oklahoma director Sterlin Harjo’s breakthrough film, and concludes 8 p.m. Dec. 15 with Worm, a crime drama directed by Andrew Bowser and filmed in Guthrie utilizing two continuous shots. “It is absolutely, to me, the most impressive movie we’ve ever played at deadCenter,” McDaniel said.
Now showing
This month’s entry, The Queen of Versailles, screens 8 p.m. Friday. The 2012 documentary follows resort kingpins Jackie and David Siegel, whose plans to build an ostentatious 90,000 square-foot Florida home were threatened by the 2009 recession. The film, which began as an exploration of extravagant living, shifted gears as director Lauren Greenfield captured the Siegels’ diminishing fortunes. “That one did deadCenter, as well,” McDaniel said. “And then I met her — she was at [The Skirvin Hilton Oklahoma City] filming that Wife Swap TV show. I walked up to her and said, ‘Are you the Queen of Versailles?’ She said, ‘How did you know?’ and I said, ‘You won our festival.’”
Filmography screens The Queen of Versailles 8 p.m. Friday at 21c Museum Hotel. | Photo Magnolia Pictures / provided
Adding context
But in addition to the art documentaries and revolutionary indie films, Filmography also provides historical context for viewers who want to understand where independent cinema began. Just in time for Halloween, the series will feature Eraserhead, David Lynch’s surreal 1977 feature-length debut 8 p.m. Oct. 20. “That choice right there, well, the OKC Film Society had a really fun idea,” McDaniel said. “Let’s look at these things that, if you didn’t go to film school, you may not know about (Sergei) Eisenstein or Eraserhead and all these amazing things that, as a filmmaker, you might take for granted because you had exposure to them. But for the general audience, I mean, there’s 20-year-olds who weren’t alive when some of these films were made. So Eraserhead was perfect for that part of the mission and is just a great art film in and of itself.” Visit facebook.com/21cmuseumhotels.
Filmography series 21c Museum Hotel | 900 W. Main St. facebook.com/21cmuseumhotels 405-982-6900 Free
Eraserhead screens 8 p.m. Oct. 20.
The Queen of Versailles
| Photo Janus Films / provided
8 p.m. Friday
Four Sheets to the Wind 8 p.m. Aug. 18
Gregory Crewdson: Brief Encounters 8 p.m. Sept. 15
Eraserhead 8 p.m. Oct. 20
Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry 8 p.m. Nov. 17
Worm 8 p.m. Dec. 15
Forgiven Skate Church services are comprised of of about four hours of skating time and a short Bible study. | Photo Heath Shelton / Forgiven
Ac t i v e
Skate Church / provided
Skating salvation
Come for the skating, stay for the community at Forgiven Skate Church, a local organization looking to help young skaters. By Ian Jayne
Those outside the fold of religious life would be forgiven for thinking that church is strictly one place. For serious Christians, church can take place anywhere: a building with pews and stained glass windows, someone’s home or even a skate park. “Church isn’t about the four walls,” said Darrin Zdanowski, a founding member of Forgiven Skate Church and its lead pastor. Zdanowski is working alongside Forgiven Skate members Israel Brumback and Heath Shelton to reach young skaters. Forgiven Skate, officially recognized as a church with nonprofit status, began as a Bible study started by Charles Steiger, who now plays in the Christian rock band Brightside Flight. According to Zdanowski, Steiger started the Bible study at South Lakes Park’s skate park after noticing that it functioned as a de facto babysitter for its visitors. Steiger’s decision to be a positive influence created a ripple effect for Zdanowski, who had moved to Oklahoma with his wife and children after serving in the Air Force. Zdanowski said he missed being involved in mentorship programs. But when he visited a local skate shop, he heard about Steiger’s work and the seeds of Forgiven Skate were sown. “I thought we could actually do something bigger than just a Bible study to reach a larger crowd,” Zdanowski said. The group began to hold bimonthly Bible studies and skating sessions at Industrial Skatepark, then located in Norman. When Industrial Skatepark announced its move to Oklahoma City, the church faced changes, too.
Zdanowski said Forgiven Skate had a one-year hiatus during the move, at which point Steiger had gone on to pursue his music and Heath Shelton had joined the church. During that time, the group held services at other parks. Industrial Skatepark is currently in the process of moving to another location in Oklahoma City, so Forgiven Skate holds its services on Saturdays.
Unorthodox understanding
“It’s an unorthodox service,” Zdanowski said of Forgiven Skate’s Saturday meetings and skaters. “Their form of worship is their skateboarding, and we also bring the gospel to them in the form of a Bible study.” The services involve about four hours of open skating and a brief devotional. Zdanowski and Brumback both said that Forgiven Skate’s approach is relational. “We work on building relationships with the skaters so they’ll know that people out there care about them,” Brumback said. The leaders at Forgiven Skate said they are aware that the mainstream perception of young skaters is frequently a pejorative picture of loiterers who scratch up handrails. Brumback, who skated when he was young, said he can relate to the perceptions surrounding those who attend Forgiven Skate. Despite the sometimes-negative image surrounding skaters, Zdanowski cited Rodney Mullen’s TED Talk about skating to say that the activity helps skaters develop motivation and perseverance. “They fall and fall and fall and fall and get back up every single time until they land the trick,” Zdanowski said. “Isn’t that a metaphor for life?” Brumback said.
Zdanowski said that there are many community centers geared toward sports such as basketball and baseball, but similar organizations for skating and other extreme sports are not as accessible. Consequently, Forgiven Skate finds itself positioned at the crossroads between the spiritual and the practical, trying to help people in multiple ways. One of the church’s main goals is to help young skaters actualize their potentials through careers that allow them to preserve their love for skating. Heath Shelton started photography 21 years ago, borrowing his dad’s equipment at the request of friends who wanted him to document them at the skate park. “The skate park guy started buying my photographs,” Shelton said. “I’ve been doing photography ever since.” Forgiven Skate hopes to eventually hold budgeting, videography and photography classes in order to help skaters chart their future paths.
Future-focused
Having proven that church is not about any one specific location, the leaders of Forgiven Skate do hope to put down roots in a building they can call their own. “The big vision is to have our own facility where we can have classes, we can have skate church and be a skate park that’s open to the public at the same time,” Brumback said. While Forgiven Skate has a large amount of donated materials, the church lacks a location. “We have a skate park,” Brumback said. “We just need a place to put it.” As they work for a permanent location, the leaders of Forgiven Church have continued to hold and attend local and regional events. While Zdanowski and Brumback both mentioned a current of skate culture that avoids Christianity, they said that there is a network of Christian skate ministries throughout the United States as well as public figures like Brian Sumner, a Christian pro skater. Shelton said that the success of Forgiven Skate’s public events proves a willingness within skate culture to accept Christianity. “The perception is there that these guys are doing good, or you would have 200-300 people at an event,” Shelton said. In August, Forgiven Skate will take a skate trip to McKinney, Texas, where J.D. Danielson works out of Crosseyed Skates, another Christian ministry. Weather concerns forced Forgiven Skate to reschedule its second annual Bowl Party. The church plans to have a skating competition in Edmond’s Mitch Park later this year; it’s tentatively scheduled for Aug. 12. Visit forgivenskate.church.
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calendar are events recommended by Oklahoma Gazette editorial staff members For full calendar listings, go to okgazette.com.
BOOKS Life of an Osage Writer, join Norman English professor and author Michael Snyder during a discussion and book signing, 1-3 p.m. July 22. Barnes & Noble, Norman, 540 Ed Noble Parkway, Norman, 405-579-8800, barnesandnoble.com. SAT Intersectional Feminist Book Club, everyone is invited to ask questions, suggest how to take action in related causes and discuss themes from Rupi Kaur’s Milk and Honey, 5:30-7 p.m. July 26. Sandalwood & Sage, 322 E. Main St., Norman, facebook.com/intersectionalfembookclub. WED
Museum Films Present: French Film Month, a month-long showcase of the best of classical and contemporary French cinema screening each Thursday during July. Enjoy an original retrospective of newly restored masterworks by French New Wave filmmaker, Jacques Demy, and a hand-curated festival of new French films, 7:30 p.m. through July 27. Oklahoma City Museum of Art, 415 Couch Drive, 405-236-3100, okcmoa.com.
HAPPENINGS Mysteries of the Manuscripts, archivist Mallory Covington speaks about materials that are included in the manuscript collection and how to use it for historical, genealogical and general research, 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. July 19. Oklahoma History Center, 800 Nazih Zuhdi Drive, 405-521-2491, okhistory.org/ historycenter. WED
FILM
2017 Youth National Championship Horse Show, enjoy eight days of exciting horse show classes, shopping, food vendors, workshops, behind-thescenes tours and meet an Arabian horse, 8 a.m.-9 p.m. July 22-29. State Fair Park, 3001 General Pershing Blvd, 303-597-8251, arabianhorses.org.
Sonic Summer Movies: Moonrise Kingdom, (USA, 2012, Wes Anderson) a pair of young lovers flee their New England town, which causes a local search party to fan out to find them, 8 p.m. July 19. Myriad Botanical Gardens, Crystal Bridge Tropical Conservatory, 301 W. Reno Ave., 405-445-7080, myriadgardens.com. WED
Guthrie Ghost Walks, hear tales of history, heartbreak, murderous intentions and mysterious happenings while walking among the classic Victorian/Edwardian architecture of downtown Guthrie, 7 p.m. July 22. Downtown Guthrie, 212 W. Oklahoma Ave., Guthrie, 405-293-8404, guthrieghostwalk.com. SAT 24/7 Art Party & Fundraiser, enjoy live music, video art, film screenings, interactive art, performances and more while raising funds for IAO’s annual programming, 12 a.m.-12 a.m. July 24. Individual Artists of Oklahoma & IAO Gallery, 706 W. Sheridan Ave., 405-232-6060, individualartists. org. MON -TUE Positive Heroes Series featuring Jeanne White-Ginder, aimed to educate and empower attendees in an effort to fight stigma often surrounding people affected by HIV and AIDS, the event features keynote speaker Jeanne White-Ginder, one of the most prominent activists today, 5:30-8 p.m. July 25. Skirvin Grand Ballroom, 1 Park Ave., 405-348-6600, positiveheroesok.com. TUE Reframing Beauty: Intimate Visions Lecture by Deborah Willis, focuses on artists and photographers who are looking at the past, recreating portraits through the camera’s lens while others re-stage beauty as a performative act. Explore gender and desire; humor and apathy; child games and toys and play with the imaginary through dreaming and projecting, 6-7 p.m. July 26. Oklahoma City Museum of Art, 415 Couch Drive, 405-236-3100, okcmoa.com. WED
The Economics of Blackness: Assets and Liabilities Financial savvy pairs with artistic elegance during The Economics of Blackness: Assets and Liabilities. Hip-hop and spoken-word performances lead a night of discussion featuring Sen. Connie Johnson, financial planner and local artist Jacobi Isham (pictured) and keynote speaker Boyce Watkins. The event is 6-9 p.m. Friday at Douglass High School, 900 N. Martin Luther King Ave. Admission is free, but those interested in attending should RSVP online at eventbrite.com. Visit facebook.com/eobassetsandliabilities or call 405-423-1846. Friday Photo R. Tolar / So Focus Photos / provided
Dive-In Movie: Captain America Civil War, (US, 2016, Anthony Russo and Joe Russo) political interference in the Avengers’ activities causes a rift between former allies Captain America and Iron Man, 8-11 p.m. July 21. White Water Bay, 3908 W. Reno Ave., 405-943-9687, whitewaterbay.com. FRI Sonic Summer Movies: The Jackie Robinson Story, (Australia, 1950, Alfred E. Green) biography of Jackie Robinson, the first black major league baseball player in the 20th century. Traces his career in the negro leagues and the major leagues, 8 p.m. July 26. Myriad Botanical Gardens, Crystal Bridge Tropical Conservatory, 301 W. Reno Ave., 405-445-7080, myriadgardens.com. WED
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IAO Member Meeting & Artist Social, members and non-members alike are welcome to join for an informative meeting about upcoming programming while meeting local artists in the community, 6-8 p.m. July 26. Individual Artists of Oklahoma, 706 W. Sheridan Ave., 405-232-6060, individualartists.org. WED
FOOD
Paint Your Pet Put a brush to canvas and create a masterpiece 2-5 p.m. Sunday. The focus of Painting with a Twist’s event is your favorite furry friend. Paint Your Pet provides a sketch of your chosen animal based off a photo that must be sent in after registration. One pet photo will be sketched per canvas, and the class, which is for adults and teens 16-18 years old (if accompanied by an adult) and costs $55 per seat, will have an open bar. Class begins promptly at 2 p.m., so get to Painting with a Twist, 9217 N. Pennsylvania Ave., on time for an afternoon of memorializing your four-legged companion. Visit facebook.com/pwatoklahomacity or call 405-2865549. Sunday Photo bigstock.com
through July 29. Oklahoma City Museum of Art, 415 Couch Drive, 405-236-3100, okcmoa.com. A Night with Bats, explore the amazing life of bats and other nocturnal critters with museum scientists. Meet at the museum for a short exploration before traveling by caravan to a local park to encounter high-flying mammals, 8-10 p.m. July 21. Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History, 2401 Chautauqua Ave., Norman, 405-325-4712, samnoblemuseum.ou.edu.
FRI
Kids’ Workshop: Collagraph Printmaking, ages 7-14 learn how to make a collagraph with local artist and printmaker Annalisa Campbell of Brayer and Brush. Use mixed media to make unique inked impressions on paper, 1-4 p.m. July 22. [Artspace] at Untitled, 1 NE Third St., 405-815-6665, artspaceatuntitled.org. SAT
Hooked on Fishing, summer fishing program teaching hands-on instruction in knot tying, casting, fish identification, fishing safety and regulations. Classes taught by the Fisheries staff from the City’s H.B. Parsons Fish Hatchery and volunteers from Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation, 8-10:30 a.m. July 23. Crystal Lake, 6625 SW 15th St., 405-297-1426, okc.gov/parks. SUN
Theatre of the Imagination: Acting Workshop, join the Thelma Gaylord Academy for a one-week camp covering performing arts instruction in an atmosphere of fun and creativity, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. July 24-28. Lyric Theatre, 1727 NW 16th St., 405-524-9312, lyrictheatreokc.com. TradeShare and ReFuse Summer Camp, weekly
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Fork + Bottle: Anthem Brewery, if you love fine wine, craft beer and sipping bourbon, join Mary Eddy’s Kitchen and Lounge for a new dinner series where guest brewers, distillers and winemakers are highlighted with special pairings for tasting menus prepared by executive chef Jason Campbell, 6:30-8 p.m. July 20. Mary Eddy’s Kitchen x Lounge, 900 W. Main St., 405-982-6900, 21cmuseumhotels.com. THU Outdoor Beer & Yoga, join 405 YOGA OKC where yoga and beer unite. Bring your own yoga mat for a no-pressure, all-levels, feel-good yoga, 10-10:55 a.m. July 23. The Bleu Garten, 301 NW Tenth St., 405-879-3808, bleugarten.com. SUN
YOUTH Summer Camp for High School Writers, the OKCU English department hosts the Smokewood Institute for Young Writers, an intensive two-week program of writing workshops, craft sessions, creative readings and a culminating anthology of student work, through July 22. Oklahoma City University, 2501 N. Blackwelder Ave., 405-208-5000, okcu. edu. WED -SAT Western Explorers Summer Camp, campers learn about photography, leather-making, gardening, weaving and beading, nature and more while exploring the museum’s collections, exhibitions, gardens and trails providing the foundation for creative self-expression, through July 28. National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, 1700 NE 63rd St., 405-478-2250, nationalcowboymuseum. org. Art Foundations: Ceramics, a serious introduction to kiln-fired ceramics. Students learn about types of clay, glazing and how kilns operate, 2-4 p.m.
Fusion Friday Those still not aware of The Boarding House in Guthrie are sorely missing out. Fusion Friday is a great time to acquaint oneself with the board game lounge, coffeehouse and snack bar. In addition to its usual selection of games, live music by Stranded at the Station and Jeremy Hall and food from FIL-AMazing food truck will be on-site. The fun begins 8 p.m. Friday at The Boarding House, 124 W. Oklahoma Ave., in Guthrie. Admission is free-$5. Visit theboardinghousellc.com or call 405-466-8146. Friday Photo bigstock.com
go to okgazette.com for full listings!
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a quarterly Glossy maGazine published by OklahOma Gazette.
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c a l e n da r
Welcome to Pet Gazette,
calendar events imbued with theater, media and communication, visual arts, gardening, cooking, dance, sports and more with daily instruction from guests spanning from circus performers, local farmers, food producers and visual artists, July 24-29. OKC Farmers Public Market, 311 S. Klein Ave., 405-727-0977, roundaboutokc.org.
Al’s Teen Lounge, offering an assortment of mini geek out sessions on a variety of interests like favorite board or card games, drawing, movies, arts and crafts and more in a drama-free zone for teens who just want to spend time enjoying their favorite activities with others, 5-7 p.m. July 26. Almonte Library, 2914 SW 59th St., 405-606-3575, metrolibrary.org. WED Build A Better World, read for fun and earn badges all summer long, log reading time and earn prizes, through July 31. Metropolitan Library System, 300 Park Ave., 405-231-8650, metrolibrary.org. Backyard Bugs: An Oklahoma Insect Adventure, taking Oklahoma’s amazing insects to a largerthan-life level with giant animatronic insects, interactive exhibits and live insect displays giving visitors a unique perspective of a bug’s world and reveal the fascinating complexities of our six-legged neighbors, through August. Science Museum Oklahoma, 2020 Remington Place, 405602-6664, sciencemuseumok.org. Summer Camp Contemporary, keeping kids creative with learning camps featuring visual arts, music, hip-hop, fiber, clay, performance, robotics and more, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. through Aug. 11. Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center, 3000 General Pershing Blvd., 405-951-0000, oklahomacontemporary.org. Ultimate Adventure Camps, try new adventures like zip lining, the SandRidge Sky Trail, high speed slides, kayaking, stand-up paddle boarding and whitewater rafting, through Aug. 11. Boathouse District, 725 S. Lincoln Blvd., 405-552-4040, boathousedistrict.org. Comets, Asteroids & Meteors: Great Balls of Fire, the threat of a catastrophic impact from an asteroid or comet is a staple of popular culture, learn about asteroids, comets and meteorites and where they come from, through Sept. 10. Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of
Bricktown Beach: Movie Night at the Beach How often can you enjoy a movie at the beach in Oklahoma? Bricktown Beach is hosting a free movie night 9 p.m. Friday at 2 N. Mickey Mantle Drive. Feel the sand between your toes while enjoying a free screening of Angels in the Outfield with your family and friends. Concessions will be available along with games and activities, such as beach volleyball, that will remain at Bricktown Beach all summer long. Visit downtownokc.com/bricktown-beach or call 405-235-3500. Friday Photo Downtown OKC Inc. / provided Natural History, 2401 Chautauqua Ave., Norman, 405-325-4712, samnoblemuseum.ou.edu. Bodies Revealed, exhibition showcasing real human bodies preserved through a revolutionary process allowing visitors to see themselves in a fascinating way like never before, through October. Science Museum Oklahoma, 2020 Remington Place, 405-602-6664, sciencemuseumok.org. Read for Adventure, the OKC Zoo and Metropolitan Library Systems have partnered to publish the children’s book Our Day at the Zoo to create a community Read for Adventure program enabling readers to check out the new book from any of the 19 metro library locations, through March 31, 2018. Metropolitan Library System, 300 Park Ave., 405-231-8650, metrolibrary.org.
PERFORMING ARTS
PublishinG:
auGust 2, 2017 | october 25, 2017 January 31, 2018 | aPril 24, 2018
to place your ad in Pet Gazette, call your Gazette account executive at 405-528-6000 or email specialsections@ okgazette.com 52
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Cartoons & Comics: The Early Art of Tom Ryan National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum opens two new temporary exhibitions Friday, so hitch your wagon and visit the museum, 1700 NE 63rd St., before time runs out. One of the new draws is Cartoons and Comics: The Early Art of Tom Ryan, which showcases the work of Western artist Tom Ryan alongside his artistic influences, which include comic strips and cartoons. The exhibit is open through April 1. While there, explore Vintage Black Heroes: The Chisholm Kid Exhibition, which runs through Sept. 17 and spotlights comic renderings of the Chisholm Kid. Museum hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Mondays-Saturdays and noon-5 p.m. Sundays. Admission is free-$12.50. Visit nationalcowboymuseum.com or call 405-478-2250. Friday-Wednesday, ongoing Image Tom Ryan / Tom Ryan Collection / Dickinson Research Center / National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum / provided
Or, the first credited female playwright has one opportunity to have her play produced and fulfill her desperate desire to leave the spy trade behind her in a night of hilarity, passion and self-discovery that transcends time, through July 23. Oklahoma Shakespeare on Paseo, 2920 Paseo, 405-2353700, oklahomashakespeare.com. WED -SUN Drinking Habits, two nuns at the Sisters of Perpetual Sewing have been secretly making wine to keep the convent’s doors open, but Paul and Sally, reporters and former fiancees, are hot on their trail, July 21-29. Legacy On Main Street, 224 N. Main St., Eufaula, 918-605-7405, legacyonmainstreet.com. Art After 5, enjoy a late-night art gallery experience and live music on the roof terrace with the best views of downtown OKC and a relaxing atmosphere, 5-9 p.m. July 20. Oklahoma City Museum of Art, 415 Couch Drive, 405-236-3100, okcmoa.com. THU Namron Players Theatre 24 Hour Plays, producing new works with local artists during the 6th annual event. Experience new plays that were conceived, rehearsed and performed within 24 hours, 7 p.m. July 22. Norman Music Institute, 2795 Broce Dr., Norman, namronplayers.com. SAT Basketmouth & Bovi, two of Africa’s biggest and finest comedians come to Oklahoma City for the first time, 7-11 p.m. July 22. 3Sixty Entertainment Powerhouse, 7312 N. Cherokee Plaza, 405-2031669, 3sixtypowerhouse.com. SAT The Ricochet, join Oklahoma’s storytellers as they share experiences centered on this month’s theme: The Change-Up, 7:30-9:30 p.m. July 22. McKinley Design Studio, 220 NW 59th St, facebook.com/ McKinleyDesignStudio. SAT
Summer Breeze Concert Series, with Indie band The Cave Singers, 7:30 p.m. July 23. Lions Park, 450 S. Flood Ave., Norman, 405-307-9320, pasnorman.org. SUN Sunday Twilight Concert Series, presented by the Arts Council OKC featuring live entertainment by On a Whim, 7:30-9p.m. July 23. Myriad Botanical Gardens, Crystal Bridge Tropical Conservatory, 301 W. Reno Ave., 405-270-4848, artscouncilokc. com. SUN Seussical the Musical Jr., the Cat in the Hat tells the story of Horton, an elephant who discovers a speck of dust that contains the Whos, bringing the powers of friendship, loyalty, family and community, July 26-30. Oklahoma Children’s Theatre, 2501 N. Blackwelder Ave., 405-606-7003, oklahomachildrenstheatre.org.
ACTIVE Bowling for Rhinos Fundraiser, a family-friendly, annual fundraiser supporting rhino conservation. All proceeds benefit rhino conservation in Asia and Africa, with just a roll of a bowling ball, 6-9 p.m. July 22. Heritage Lanes Bowling Alley, 11917 N. Pennsylvania Ave., 405-4243344, eventbrite.com. SAT Soccer, OKC Energy vs Colorado Springs Switchbacks, 7:30 p.m. July 22. Taft Stadium, 2901 NW 23rd St., 405-5870046, energyfc.com. SAT Baseball, OKC Dodgers vs Reno, July 25-28. Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark, 2 S. Mickey Mantle Drive, 405-218-1000, milb.com.
VISUAL ARTS Art of the Nude, a celebration by more than 30 artists of the sensual human body. The exhibition includes painting, drawing, photography, sculpture and installation works, through July 30. JRB Art at The Elms, 2810 N. Walker Ave., 405-528-6336, jrbartgallery.com. Variations on Themes, an exhibit of paintings by Jim Cobb with a selection of a variety and themes including multiple subjects and landscapes, through Aug. 27. The Depot, 200 S. Jones Ave., Norman, 405-307-9320, pasnorman.org. Closing Reception for Three Outstanding Women and Parler Paint, meet featured artists Gayla Hollis, Jasmine Jones and Jo Decker, view their works, enjoy a local block party and paint a guitar in a French style, 6-9 p.m. July 21. Studio112 and a half, 112 1/2 E. Main St., Shawnee, 405-314-4702, studio112andahalf.com. FRI
go to okgazette.com for full listings!
Cloth as Community: Hmong Textiles in America, experience works that illustrate the profound relevance of textiles as infrastructure in the Hmong culture, an art form that shifted as it adapted to fit new realities, featuring textiles, flower cloths and embroidered story clothes by those in the Hmong community, through Aug. 11. Edmond Historical Society & Museum, 431 S. Boulevard, Edmond, 405-340-0078, edmondhistory.org. Kehinde Wiley: A New Republic, presenting an overview of the artist Kehinde Wiley’s career including sixty oil paintings, stained glass and sculpture, through Sept. 10. Oklahoma City Museum of Art, 415 Couch Drive, 405-236-3100, okcmoa.com. Body, curated to examine how the body has been used to address the themes of movement, fragmentation and mechanization, geometry and identity, through Dec. 30. Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, 555 Elm Ave., Norman, 405-325-3272, ou.edu/fjjma. Coded_Couture, look at the intersection of fashion and technology offering a new definition of couture, using computer coding as the ultimate design tool for customizing clothing and accessories, through Aug. 10. Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center, 3000 General Pershing Blvd., 405-951-0000, oklahomacontemporary.org. Spring show exhibit, enjoy the works of oil painter Phebe Kallstrom and handmade jewelry artist Whitney Ingram, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. through November. The Studio Gallery, 2642 W. Britton Road, 405-752-2642, thestudiogallery.org. Sole Expression: The Art of the Shoe, featuring the creations of 25 local, national and international shoe designers and artists; guests examine how the shoe has been interpreted in art throughout history and the science and engineering behind specific shoe designs, through December. Science Museum Oklahoma, 2020 Remington Place, 405602-6664, sciencemuseumok.org. The Art of Speed: Oklahomans and Fast Cars, featuring 22 unique automobiles from the private collections of several Oklahomans. The exhibit is organized by eras and includes cars dating from 1900 to modern day, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. through Aug. 12. Oklahoma History Center, 800 Nazih Zuhdi Drive, 405-521-2491, okhistory.org/historycenter. The Natural World, a group art show featuring a diverse spectrum of artists working with a common theme, exploring the different ways each artist communicates their relationship with the natural world, 6-9 p.m. through Aug. 6. DNA Galleries, 1709 NW 16th St., 405-525-3499, dnagalleries.com. Nasty Women, join a nationwide movement demonstrating the solidarity among artists who identify with being a Nasty Woman in the face of threats to roll back women’s rights, individual rights and health care access for women, through July 30. Current Studio, 1218 N. Pennsylvania Ave., 405-673-1218, currentstudio.org. Rachel Hayes Test Patterns, Oklahoma Contemporary kicks off their Showroom/ Showcase series with the work of Rachel Hayes, a nationally recognized artist whose fabric structures explore painting processes, quilt making, architectural space, light and shadow, through Sept. 4. Oklahoma Contemporary Showroom, 1146 N. Broadway Drive, 405-9510000, oklahomacontemporary.org. We the People: A Portrait of Early Oklahoma, enjoy a selection of Henry Wantland’s photography from his family’s arrival to Stillwater in 1891. Images documented over a twodecade span can be viewed during a temporary exhibition, through January 2018. Will Rogers World Airport, 7100 Terminal Drive, 405-4782250, nationalcowboymuseum.org. Self-Care and the Creative Process, using her work Tales of Whoa as a point of reference, join Art 365 artist Kelly Rogers for a discussion around creative ways to implement self-care and cultivate resilience through the creative process, 6:30 p.m. July 26. Mainsite Contemporary Art, 122 E. Main St., Norman, 405-360-1162, mainsite-art.com. WED Guerrilla Art Park, featuring six Oklahoma artists, ranging from emerging to well established in the second edition of the public art display with mediums ranging from ceramics, to glass installations and metal work, through Sept. 4. Oklahoma Contemporary’s Campbell Art Park, NW 11th St. and Broadway Drive, 405-951-0000, oklahomacontemporary.org.
Pole Olympics 2017 Let’s face it; few of us will ever have the chance to compete as Olympic pole-vaulters. The Olympic dream doesn’t have to die, though! The Pole Olympics at Night Trips is actually easier to compete in and much more fun. Those with the best skills on the pole can take home cash and other prizes, including $1,000 for first place. The competition begins 10 p.m. Friday at Night Trips OKC, 220 S. Vermont Ave. Registration is free, and sign-up begins at the club around 8:30 p.m. Contestants are not required to go topless to compete. Observer admission is $5. Visit nighttrips.com/okc or call 405-942-4242. Friday Photo bigstock.com
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
Gather ’round
Oklahoma City becomes the new home of Insane Clown Posse’s four-day Gathering of the Juggalos festival. By Ben Luschen
Do not ask Insane Clown Posse to stay in one place for an extended period of time. After years grinding tour schedules, Detroit-based horror rap duo Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope sometimes are not even sure in which city they’re applying their trademark clown makeup. “For us, the years sort of start to blend together Groundhog Day style,” Shaggy said during a recent Oklahoma Gazette phone interview. “It’s just time to move on to a different place.” This is part of the reason the Posse — commonly known by its initials ICP — decided to move The Gathering of the Juggalos, its official music festival and fan convention, from Legend Valley, Ohio, to Oklahoma City’s Lost Lakes Amphitheater and Waterpark, 3501 NE 10th St. In addition to several ICP shows, the four-day fest, which runs July 26-29, offers a lineup with everything from rap and rock performers Waka Flaka Flame, Vanilla Ice, Mushroomhead and Dope to comedy, professional wrestling, sideshows, parties, carnival rides, movie screenings and more. Juggalos and juggalettes — the preferred masculine and feminine monikers for intensely loyal, idiom-speaking, makeupdonning fans of ICP and its Psychopathic Records label — can also enjoy Lost Lakes’ giant WaterSlide, Wake Zone Water Park and other park amenities. The Gathering has bounced between several sites over the years, but this is the first time for it to happen west of the Mississippi River. Shaggy, who released his third solo album, F.T.F.O.M.F. (Fuck the Fuck Off, Motherfucker), in May, said the move will help some fans who haven’t yet been able to experience the festival. “It’s easily one of the most memorable and fun times of your life,” he said. “You can come with basically no money and you’re going to have a full belly. It’s, like, 24 hours, so whether you’re a night person or a day person, you’re straight.” Over its close to two decades in existence, The Gathering has become one of the world’s most famous — and, to some, infamous — music festivals. ICP has been ridiculed and criticized by outsiders for its sometimes violent and sexually graphic lyrical content and perceived lack of musical taste and the lower economic status of some of its fans. The Federal Bureau of Investigation has labeled juggalos as a loosely organized “gang,” a label most juggalos find inaccurate and offensive. A key concept in juggalo subculture is the importance
of “family” — specifically the relationships forged through their shared interests. Despite the music’s sometimes-violent song lyrics and themes, many juggalos emphasize the overall subculture embraces and endorses openness and friendship. The Gathering was created to reflect those key values. “Even if you’ve got a gimp arm with fucking four thumbs on one hand, nobody gives a fuck because it’s all love,” Shaggy. “You get accepted as you come because of who you are.”
Scottie recently visited Lost Lakes to preview the outdoor entertainment complex. “I think it’s going to be as good a venue for a Gathering as any other outdoor one that we’ve had, especially with all the water activities,” he said. “The big slide is a big deal.” Scottie said he would expect The Gathering to revisit for another year or two, although ICP has expressed interest in hosting it in Colorado at some point. He hopes fans bond with Oklahoma City like they did with Ohio. “The Columbus area loved us,” he said. “They hated that we were leaving.”
It will be interesting to see how well the clown makeup holds up to the waterslide. Cameron Buchholtz
Soda launch
Brad White, part owner of Lost Lakes, said the story behind the venue’s Gathering booking is fairly straightforward. ICP first performed at the venue (then known as Wake Zone Cable Park) in October 2015. While it was in town, the band toured the property with members of the Psychopathic Records management team. “It was really that the guys came and liked the property and said they would like to get closer to the rest of their fans,” White said. He said organizers expect up to 8,000 attendees each day of this year’s event. This year’s festival move to the central United States is great for juggalos like Scottie D, based in Dallas, Texas. He is president and chief operator of popular juggalo fansite faygoluvers.net, named as a nod to ICP’s affection for Faygo brand soda. Scottie has attended every festival since the event’s inception. Last year, he drove 20 hours (each way) with his family while towing a recreational vehicle (RV) to get to the 2017 festival near Columbus, Ohio.
White admitted that the park’s management team was a little nervous about hosting its first ICP show back in 2015. The band has performed many times in OKC, but usually in indoor venues like Diamond Ballroom. (It is one of two acts to be banned from historic Cain’s Ballroom in Tulsa “because of the use of Faygo,” which is sprayed on fans from the stage — fans also shake open bottles like champagne during shows — venue box office manager told The Tulsa Voice in 2015. The other act was David Allen Coe.) And music fans in general tend to be less inhibited at open-air events. However, through the show, White discovered venue managers’ concerns were allayed and ICP is an amazing live act to witness. “I will say [ICP] had a great time because one thing they were able to do in our venue that they maybe weren’t in some others is launch about 2,000 bottles of Faygo,” he said. “It was incredible.” White said the park smelled like root
Insane Clown Posse | Photo Nicole Robertson / Psychopathic Records / provided
beer for several weeks after the 2015 concert.
Some concerns
White said Lost Lakes transitioned from Wake Zone into a multi-entertainment venue and amphitheater with encouragement from the city to develop a festival grounds within city limits, which makes it all the more surprising to him that an Oklahoma City councilman would consider an ordinance to limit it to three concerts a year due to noise complaints. “This came out of left field for us,” he said about the proposal, which was made earlier this year. “It was like, ‘Wow! This makes absolutely no sense.’ Everybody here is looking for the motivation there.” In May, Ward 7 Councilman John Pettis Jr. proposed to rezone the public park and limit the number of live music events it could hold each year. That proposal was later rescinded, but Pettis has continued to voice concerns about noise and park safety in subsequent council meetings. Lost Lakes leases part of its property from Oklahoma City, and Pettis has said he would be in favor of the city ending its lease with the waterpark and festival grounds. Pettis did not return Gazette’s requests for comment by press time. White said Lost Lakes will comply with all required ordinances but he views the proposed restrictions as unfair and pointed out that Frontier City and The Zoo Amphitheatre are also in Ward 7 and there have been no proposals to limit concerts in those venues. White started organizing concerts in 1987 and co-founded Rocklahoma, the popular annual music and camping festival in Pryor. The Gathering specifically brings with it a past and reputation that would seem to encourage enhanced security. Rumors of drug selling and use have long followed the fest. In a few instances, performers reportedly have been hit with crowdthrown rocks, bottles or even feces. Oklahoma City Police Department media relations officer MSgt. Gary Knight said police know about the festival but declined to elaborate any further. “It’s certainly something we are aware of,” Knight told Gazette. “We will have an appropriate response for it.” White said Lost Lakes did its homework before agreeing to host The Gathering and contacted previous festival hosts and related law enforcement agencies. “After fleshing all of that out, we were able to determine that these guys — despite all of the hype — are very organized in terms of how they put on a festival,” he said. White said Psychopathic Records hired a local security company, which will work in cooperation with local law enforcement agencies. Lost Lakes requires all security teams to be licensed and state-certified. continued on page 56
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Up to 8,000 people are expected to attend this year’s Gathering of the Juggalos each day of its four-day stay in Oklahoma. | Photo Dustin
‘Don’t judge’
Heading into his third Gathering, local comic and KATT-FM radio personality Cameron Buchholtz said one aspect in particular about this year’s event piqued his curiosity. “It will be interesting to see how well the clown makeup holds up to the waterslide,” he said. Buchholtz performed his first Gathering gig in 2014 after emailing Psychopathic and requesting to be added to the comedy bill. He has since built a relationship with the festival and was invited to return in 2015 before making his homecoming appearance at The Gathering’s Lost Lakes debut. “Every time, it’s always fun,” he said. “I think both times I’ve done it, I’ve ended up taking pulls from a handle of whiskey that people passed up.” The comedian was nervous during his initiatory Gathering experience. He knew he did not look like a stereotypical juggalo and felt out of place at an event packed with ICP fans. Very quickly, however, Buchholtz saw The Gathering for what it is: a group of music fans looking to have a good time with people who share mutual interests. “I go to a lot of hard rock and metal stuff, and [The Gathering] is not that far removed
“Hazin” Lane / Cherry Bomb / provided
from going to a metal show,” he said. “It’s just a few degrees more extreme.” Buchholtz, who frequently attends rock concerts and music festivals, called ICP a “legitimately great” live act. The band’s trademark Faygo shower, he said, is a genuine spectacle. He said he knows many non-juggalo/ juggalette locals who plan to attend The Gathering, either out of curiosity or as a joke. Buchholtz encourages everyone to attend and respect ICP fandom while they’re there. “Go and just have fun,” he said. “Don’t judge them or anything. Just go in with an open mind and you’ll probably have
a blast.”
Being heard
Scottie said juggalos and The Gathering have been unfairly targeted because ICP is almost universally hated and misunderstood. Simply put, it’s a phenomenon people love to hate. “There’s not a single music festival without any illegal substances or heavy drinking, whether it be country, rock or rap,” he said. “Probably even Christian, though I’ve never been to one.” Juggalos have more than an image problem, he added. The fan group’s rights are regularly ignored and violated.
Sept. 16, ICP fans from across the nation will gather on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., for the Juggalo March on Washington event to bring awareness to fans’ rights and to protest the group’s classification by some state and federal law enforcement agencies as a “criminal street gang.” He will also be one of the event’s featured speakers. Indeed, Scottie said, identifying as a juggalo is about more than being a fan of a certain type of music. It is about the comforting togetherness found within a group. ICP offers a sense of belonging some fans might not feel anywhere else. “There’s no gang mentality,” Scottie said. “We’re just music fans with similar interests, and that’s it.” Visit juggalogathering.com.
The Gathering of the Juggalos July 26-29 Lost Lakes Amphitheater and Waterpark 3501 NE 10th St. juggalogathering.com | 405-702-4040 $190 Note: RV/trailer and car passes are also available.
Vote Lost H i gh wa y Best New Bar 1613 N May Ave • 405.601.5606 @LostHighwayBar
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Better Than Ezra | Photo Greg Miles / provided
Opening doors
The Wallflowers and Better Than Ezra celebrate the opening of new Film Row venue The Jones Assembly. By Ben Luschen
Anyone who has ever settled into a new home knows no space is official until you have invited your friends over for a housewarming party. That is exactly what Graham Colton is helping do via Oklahoma City’s newest music and entertainment venue, The Jones Assembly. The Oklahoma-born singer-songwriter is a managing partner at The Jones Assembly, a new restaurant, bar, concert and event venue at 901 W. Sheridan Ave. in Film Row. As if opening the elegant new space wasn’t enough on its own, Colton brings a ’90s dream tour to town 8 p.m. July 29 — the venue’s inaugural concert — with The Wallflowers and Better Than Ezra.
‘I dig him’
Better Than Ezra frontman, guitarist and vocalist Kevin Griffin reminisced about the first time he met Colton. Griffin’s Louisiana-born alternativerock trio had a gig with Graham Colton Band in Washington, D.C., and his label’s artists and repertoire (A&R) man asked him to check out the Oklahoma musician’s set. “I went and saw him and said, ‘Oh, I dig him,’” Griffin said. The two immediately bonded professionally and have since written several songs together, including Graham Colton Band’s “How Low (Breakdown)” and “Cigarette.” They have also played a lot of shows together. “I think, more than anything, we became really good friends,” Griffin said. Griffin has casually tracked The Jones Assembly’s progress for a while and is eager to break in the new facilities. “I’ve watched it come along from a distance,” he said. “It’s just gorgeous.” The night also will be special because 58
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it welcomes The Wallflowers, the Los Angeles-formed alternative-rock band founded by Jakob Dylan, son of Nobel Prize-winning songwriter Bob Dylan. Griffin said he has long known the younger Dylan (whose talent is great enough to stand alone, and it does) but had not seen him for several years until their tour together began July 8 in Montclair, New Jersey.
I’ve watched [The Jones Assembly] come along from a distance. It’s just gorgeous. Kevin Griffin “It’s nice to touch bases again and see how he’s doing,” he said. “Honestly, I’m a fan of The Wallflowers. I love their music — the singles, but then the album cuts, too.” The bands perform together on less than 20 dates on this tour, which adds a whiff of exclusivity to the July 29 opening event. “It’s not a crazy long tour,” he said, “but it’s just long enough.”
‘All about collaboration’
Better Than Ezra, with its current roster of Griffin, bassist Tom Drummond and drummer Michael Jerome, is known for its sudden rise to stardom and label prominence following the success of its single “Good” and re-release of its album Deluxe by Elektra Records in 1995. The band had been together for seven years before it broke through into the mainstream. It parted with Elektra in 2000, re-
leasing several albums and re-establishing success on the smaller Beyond Records label. Better Than Ezra now works with The End Records. Its latest album, All Together Now, was released in 2014. Griffin said the band is working on new music and expects to release a new single sometime this fall, with a new album planned for 2018. Aside from his work with BTE, Griffin also works as a songwriter in Nashville, Tennessee. Griffin also has helped write songs for Taylor Swift, Sugarland, James Blunt and Howie Day. He said he loves working with artists in the city to craft new songs. “I wasn’t always this way,” he said, “but I’m all about collaboration and bringing talented people together and coming up with something that’s better than anybody would do on their own.”
‘Journey to something special’
Griffin founded Franklin, Tennessee’s Pilgrimage Music Festival, a threeyear-old event that returns Sept. 23 with a lineup featuring Justin Timberlake, Eddie Vedder, Ryan Adams, The Avett Brothers, Gary Clark Jr. and Better Than Ezra, among others. The idea to launch a new music festival came to him one day after reminiscing about the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival he used to attend every year when he was growing up. He wanted to replicate something like that in Franklin, his new hometown. “I ran back home, and I told my wife, ‘We’re starting a festival,’” he said. “Really, it was that simple.” Griffin said the festival’s name came from a popular tour of Antebellum homes in Nachitoches, Louisiana, called the Fall Pilgrimage. “I always loved the name, and I couldn’t believe no one had done a music festival called pilgrimage. The moment of truth really was going on to GoDaddy and typing in ‘pilgrimagefestival.com’ — that thing we’ve all done,” he said. “A pilgrimage is a journey — a journey to something special. It can be an architectural pilgrimage to Chicago or a pilgrimage to Graceland.” Or to The Jones Assembly in a tour that brings his friendship and professional accomplishments with Colton full-circle as BTE celebrates many years together and a new direction and success. Visit betterthanezra.com.
The Wallflowers
and Better Than Ezra 8 p.m. July 29 The Jones Assembly | 901 W. Sheridan Ave. thejonesassembly.com | 405-212-2378 $40-$75
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Seether | Photo Marina Chavez / provided
Still Seething
Hard rock act Seether returns to a heavier sound with its latest album, Poison the Parish. By George Lang
When Seether emerged in South Africa in the late-1990s, it was considered a hard sell. While the country is occasionally known for producing left-field successes like art-damaged alt-hip-hop group Die Antwoord, most of the music that sells in South Africa is either mainstream pop or indigenous music such as township jive (aka jaiva). But Seether, which performs 7 p.m. Aug. 1 at Diamond Ballroom, 8001 S. Eastern Ave., came at their early audiences in South Africa’s administrative capitol, Pretoria, with a hard-edged style deeply influenced by Nirvana. Originally named Saron Gas, which singer-guitarist Shaun Morgan reportedly found on a sound effects CD, the group released one album, Fragile, before changing its name in 2002 to less toxic-sounding Seether, chosen in honor of the Veruca Salt song. Morgan and his bandmates’ early Saron Gas music came to the attention of Wind-up Records, the home of hard rock bands such as Creed and Seether’s future touring partners, Evanescence. Wind-up signed Seether and issued the band’s next album, Disclaimer. The first single, “Fine Again,” became a massive hit on rock radio and launched the group as a major force in ’00s hard rock. During the tour, Morgan and Evanescence leader Amy Lee started dating, and the two collaborated on the Seether single “Broken.” The band quickly followed up that radio hit with another successful single, “Sold Me,” which was included on The Punisher soundtrack. The group also solidified around a core trio: Morgan, bassist Dale Stewart and Oklahoma drummer John Humphrey.
In the mid-’00s, groups with a solid debt to Seattle grunge dominated the mainstream rock charts, and Seether was poised for continued success with its next album, Karma and Effect. “Remedy,” the first single, could easily have passed as a lost Nirvana track, and the subsequent singles, “Truth” and hard ballad “The Gift,” continued the group’s string of successes. However, Morgan’s battle with alcoholism reached critical mass; his breakup with Lee was memorialized in the Evanescence single “Call Me When You’re Sober,” and the group was forced to drop out of a package tour with Three Days Grace and Staind.
Many of the lyrics are a response to the oversharing culture that permeates social media and reality television. After completing rehab, Morgan and Seether began work on 2007’s Finding Beauty in Negative Spaces, but three weeks before its originally scheduled release, Morgan’s brother, Eugene Welgemoed, committed suicide, jumping from the eighth floor of a hotel room in Rapid City, South Dakota. Morgan delayed the album and wrote the up-tempo single “Rise Above This” in tribute to his brother. Despite negative reviews from publications such as Rolling Stone, which criticized producer Howard Benson’s processed
sound, Negative Spaces became one of the group’s best-selling albums. Four years passed between Finding Beauty in Negative Spaces and its follow-up, 2011’s Holding Onto Strings Better Left to Fray, but most critics considered it time well spent. Seether sounded rejuvenated on the album, which featured standouts such as “Country Song” and “Tonight” that displayed a renewed energy and focus. The group then released a bookending greatest hits album, Seether 2002-2013, which included two new originals, several demos and B-sides and a cover of Veruca Salt’s “Seether” for good measure. After Wind-up Records sold to Concord Music Group, Seether reconvened for 2014’s Isolate and Medicate, which featured some new textures such as the martial drumming on “Words as Weapons,” the layered harmonies of “My Disaster” and acoustic “Save Today,” which featured Morgan deploying a smooth falsetto the chorus. This spring, Seether ventured out on its own, forming a new label imprint, Canine Riot Records, and releasing Poison the Parish, the first album Morgan has self-produced after years of working with legendary rock producer Brendan O’Brien (Pearl Jam, Bruce Springsteen). The album returns the band to a far heavier sound than its previous two albums, and many of the lyrics are a response to the oversharing culture that permeates social media and reality television. The first single, “Nothing Left,” directly addresses the culture in which Morgan’s teenaged daughter is growing up. “The inspiration behind that song, and pretty much everything else on this album, is looking around at society and seeing how, in my mind, it seems to be crumbling in the sense that we worship and idolize vapid and empty people that have done nothing in their lives to warrant the admiration that they receive,” Morgan told Billboard magazine in April. “I see it, and it makes me angry and it makes me sad. The fact that I have a teenage daughter who thinks that Instagram is a very important place to get ‘likes,’ because therefore that gives you some sort of self-worth as a human being, I think is bullshit. There’s no other way to say it. As far as I’m concerned, there’s far more important and valuable ways to be considered important and that you are worth something and that as a human being, you have something to offer, something to bring to the rest of the world.”
Seether with Letters From the Fire and Big Story 7 p.m. Aug. 1 Diamond Ballroom | 8001 S. Eastern Ave. diamondballroom.net | 405-677-9169 $28.50-$295
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LIVE MUSIC These are events recommended by Oklahoma Gazette editorial staff members. For full calendar listings, go to okgazette.com.
WEDNESDAY, 7.19 Alexa Kriss/Danny Trashville, Red Brick Bar, Norman. SINGER/SONGWRITER Amarillo Junction, JJ’s Alley. COUNTRY Chin Up Kid/Diamond Aces/The Idle Kind and more, District House. ROCK Good Morning Bedlam, The Paramount Theatre. INDIE Keith Rea, Blue Bonnet Bar, Norman. FOLK Rings of Saturn/Among the Missing/All Have Sinned, 89th Street-OKC. ROCK
THURSDAY, 7.20 Clint Niosi/Morgan Alexander, Red Brick Bar, Norman. FOLK Davina Yannetty/Hannah KD/Julien Boussontie and more, Michael Murphy’s Dueling Pianos. PIANO He Is Legend/Islander/To Speak of Wolves and more, 89th Street-OKC. ROCK Hosty, Oklahoma City Museum of Art. BLUES Kyle Dillingham & Horseshoe Road, CHK Central Boathouse. BLUEGRASS
Great Lawn Folk Festival Grab your lawn chair, spread out a blanket upon Myriad Botanical Gardens’ lush, green grass and enjoy music by Grammywinning artist and Carolina Chocolate Drops founding member Dom Flemons at this year’s Great Lawn Folk Festival. Oklahoma band Steelwind also will perform. The free event begins 7:30 p.m. Saturday at 301 W. Reno Ave. VIP tickets are $35 and include one free drink ticket and reserved, front-row seating. Visit myriadgardens.com or call 405-445-7080. Saturday Photo Myriad Botanical Gardens / provided
Unturned/Pluto Rest In Peace/Johnny Manchild and The Poor Bastards and more, The Paramount Theatre. VARIOUS
Randy Houser, Frontier City. COUNTRY
FRIDAY, 7.21
Signal 88, Lumpy’s Sports Grill. COVER
Boogie T, Rodeo Opry. ELECTRONIC Casey & Minna, National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum. FOLK Christophe Murdock/Christophe and The Prairie Fire/The JuJu Beans and more, Your Mom’s Place. VARIOUS Despero/TRPQWN, The Blue Note. PUNK
Rockn Rog, Classics Bar & Grill. ROCK
The Captain Ledge Band, Red Brick Bar, Norman. BLUEGRASS
The Mills Band, Bedlam Bar-B-Q. COUNTRY Uncle Blue, Cove Club. BLUES Well Now Margery, Full Circle Bookstore. FOLK
SUNDAY, 7.23
Echo-21, OKC Limits. ROCK
Digisaurus, Red Brick Bar, Norman. INDIE
Gary Johnson/Christian Pearson, Red Piano Lounge, Skirvin Hilton Hotel. PIANO
Edgar Cruz, Park Avenue Grill. ACOUSTIC
Henna Roso/Faye Moffett Music, The Deli, Norman. R&B Kyle Rainer and the Runnin’ Hot Band, Sliders. COUNTRY
Mark Galloway, The Shack Seafood and Oyster Bar. ROCK Midas 13, Alley Club. POP Phil Smith & The Blend Project, Sauced on Paseo. ROCK Randy Cassimus, Full Circle Bookstore. ACOUSTIC Scott Keeton, Remington Park. ROCK Slaid Cleaves, The Blue Door. SINGER/SONGWRITER
The Vince Norman Octet, UCO Jazz Lab, Edmond. JAZZ
Michael Kleid, Flint. JAZZ
MONDAY, 7.24 AFI/Circa Survive/Citizen, Diamond Ballroom. ROCK Opal Agafia & the Sweet Nothings, The Deli, Norman. BLUEGRASS
TUESDAY, 7.25 As We Are, Red Brick Bar, Norman. INDIE The Normandys/The Big News/Mad Dog and the 20/20s, Blue Note Lounge. PUNK
WEDNESDAY, 7.26 Froggy Fresh/Trash TV, 89th Street-OKC. HIP-HOP Jason Scott, JJ’s Alley. SINGER/SONGWRITER
SATURDAY, 7.22
Riverbend Reunion, Red Brick Bar, Norman. ROCK
Branch/Stunna Stackz/DJ Luc and more, 89th Street-OKC. HIP-HOP Dwight Twilley, The Blue Door. SINGER/SONGWRITER
Eldredge Jackson, UCO Jazz Lab, Edmond. JAZZ Evolution Underground, OKC Limits. ROCK FlamThowa, Foxy Nights Bar. HIP-HOP Forever Young, Remington Park. COUNTRY Grant Stevens, Red Piano Lounge, Skirvin Hilton Hotel. PIANO Gregg Standridge/Terry Buffalo Ware/T.Z. Wright Music, Midway Grocery & Market, Norman. VARIOUS
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.
Owen Pickard/Haley Bagwell/Kelcie Pickard and more, Rodeo Opry. COUNTRY
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go to okgazette.com for full listings!
puzzles New York Times Magazine Crossword Puzzle First for knowledge
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81 City next to Gulfport 83 Cut at a slant 86 Selfish demand 87 Discover 88 City on the Italian Riviera 89 Sign of a hit 90 What jets may do midair 92 Word often said to lack a rhyme 93 Contents of drives 94 Do better than 95 Mother-of-pearl 96 Size again 97 Candid 99 Nasdaq alternative 101 “C’est la vie!” 103 Paleontologist’s find 104 Polo brand 106 Cook who’s entrepreneurial 107 ____ talks 109 It might get your feet wet 110 Stadium cry
New York Times Crossword Puzzle answers Puzzle No. 0709, which appeared in the July 12 issue.
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33 Moving vehicle 35 Some infrastructure 36 Name for a cat 37 Depression Era refugee 38 Stash hunter 39 Hebrew name that means “his peace” 40 Annotation on Santa’s list 42 About which you might ask, “One lump or two?” 43 Theme in To Kill a Mockingbird 44 See 3-Down 45 Name on the Saudi flag 46 Refuse 48 Not engaged 50 It has two cups 52 LP players 54 Teaser
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free will astrology Homework: In what circumstances do you tend to be smartest? When do you tend to be dumbest? Testify at Freewillastrology.com. ARIES (March 21-April 19) The Greek word
philokalia is translated as the "love of the beautiful, the exalted, the excellent." I propose that we make it your keyword for the next three weeks -- the theme you keep at the forefront of your awareness everywhere you go. But think a while before you say yes to my invitation. To commit yourself to being so relentlessly in quest of the sublime would be a demanding job. Are you truly prepared to adjust to the poignant sweetness that might stream into your life as a result? TAURUS (April 20-May 20) It's a favorable time to strengthen your fundamentals and stabilize your foundation. I invite you to devote your finest intelligence and grittiest determination to this project. How? Draw deeply from your roots. Tap into the mother lode of inspiration that never fails you. Nurture the web of life that nurtures you. The cosmos will offer you lots of help and inspiration whenever you attend to these practical and sacred matters. Best-case scenario: You will bolster your personal power for many months to come.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20) Two talking porcupines
are enjoying an erotic tryst in a cactus garden. It's a prickly experience, but that's how they like it. "I always get horny when things get thorny," says one. Meanwhile, in the rose garden next door, two unicorns wearing crowns of thorns snuggle and nuzzle as they receive acupuncture from a swarm of helpful hornets. One of the unicorns murmurs, "This is the sharpest pleasure I've ever known." Now here's the moral of these far-out fables, Gemini: Are you ready to gamble on a cagey and exuberant ramble through the brambles? Are you curious about the healing that might become available if you explore the edgy frontiers of gusto?
CANCER (June 21-July 22) I predict that four weeks from now you will be enjoying a modest but hearty feeling of accomplishment -- on one condition: You
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must not get diverted by the temptation to achieve trivial successes. In other words, I hope you focus on one or two big projects, not lots of small ones. What do I mean by "big projects"? How about these: taming your fears; delivering a delicate message that frees you from an onerous burden; clarifying your relationship with work; and improving your ability to have the money you need.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) Spain's most revered mystic
poet was St. John of the Cross, who lived from 1542 to 1591. He went through a hard time at age 35, when he was kidnapped by a rival religious sect and imprisoned in a cramped cell. Now and then he was provided with scraps of bread and dried fish, but he almost starved to death. After ten months, he managed to escape and make his way to a convent that gave him sanctuary. For his first meal, the nuns served him warm pears with cinnamon. I reckon that you'll soon be celebrating your own version of a jailbreak, Leo. It'll be less drastic and more metaphorical than St. John's, but still a notable accomplishment. To celebrate, I invite you to enjoy a ritual meal of warm pears with cinnamon.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) "I'm very attracted to
things that I can't define," says Belgian fashion designer Raf Simons. I'd love for you to adopt that attitude, Virgo. You're entering the Season of Generous Mystery. It will be a time when you can generate good fortune for yourself by being eager to get your expectations overturned and your mind blown. Transformative opportunities will coalesce as you simmer in the influence of enigmas and anomalies. Meditate on the advice of the poet Rainer Maria Rilke: "I want to beg you to be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and to try to love the questions themselves."
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22) I've compiled a list of four
mantras for you to draw strength from. They're designed to put you in the proper alignment to take maximum advantage of current cosmic rhythms. For the next three weeks, say them periodically throughout the day. 1. "I want to give the gifts I like to give rather than the gifts I'm supposed to give." 2. "If I can't do
things with excellence and integrity, I won't do them at all." 3. "I intend to run on the fuel of my own deepest zeal, not on the fuel of someone else's passions." 4. "My joy comes as much from doing my beautiful best as from pleasing other people."
from giving you the advice I'd planned to? I guess not. Listen carefully, Capricorn: Monitor the people and situations that irritate you. They'll serve as mirrors. They'll show you unripe aspects of yourself that may need adjustment or healing.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21) The world will never
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) A source of tough and
fully know or appreciate the nature of your heroic journey. Even the people who love you the most will only ever understand a portion of your epic quest to become your best self. That's why it's important for you to be generous in giving yourself credit for all you have accomplished up until now and will accomplish in the future. Take time to marvel at the majesty and miracle of the life you have created for yourself. Celebrate the struggles you've weathered and the liberations you've initiated. Shout "Glory hallelujah!" as you acknowledge your persistence and resourcefulness. The coming weeks will be an especially favorable time to do this tricky but fun work.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) I suspect you
may have drug-like effects on people in the coming weeks. Which drugs? At various times, your impact could resemble cognac, magic mushrooms, and Ecstasy -- or sometimes all three simultaneously. What will you do with all that power to kill pain and alter moods and expand minds? Here's one possibility: Get people excited about what you're excited about, and call on them to help you bring your dreams to a higher stage of development. Here's another: Round up the support you need to transform any status quo that's boring or unproductive.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) "Everything that
irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves." So said psychologist Carl Jung. What the hell did that meddling, self-important know-it-all mean by that? Oops. Sorry to sound annoyed. My cranky reaction may mean I'm defensive about the possibility that I'm sometimes a bit preachy myself. Maybe I don't like an authority figure wagging his finger in my face because I'm suspicious of my own tendency to do that. Hmmm. Should I therefore refrain
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tender inspiration seems to be losing some of its signature potency. It has served you well. It has given you many gifts, some difficult and some full of grace. But now I think you will benefit from transforming your relationship with its influence. As you might imagine, this pivotal moment will be best navigated with a clean, fresh, open attitude. That's why you'll be wise to thoroughly wash your own brain -- not begrudgingly, but with gleeful determination. For even better results, wash your heart, too.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20) A "power animal" is a
creature selected as a symbolic ally by a person who hopes to imitate or resonate with its strengths. The salmon or hare might be a good choice if you're seeking to stimulate your fertility, for example. If you aspire to cultivate elegant wildness, you might choose an eagle or horse. For your use in the coming months, I propose a variation on this theme: the "power fruit." From now until at least May 2018, your power fruit should be the ripe strawberry. Why? Because this will be a time when you'll be naturally sweet, not artificially so; when you will be juicy, but not dripping all over everything; when you will be compact and concentrated, not bloated and bursting at the seams; and when you should be plucked by hand, never mechanically.
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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