The Tulsa Voice | Vol. 5 No. 22

SUSAN ORLEAN: WHY LIBRARIES MATTER P28

PAUL DANO TALKS ‘WILDLIFE’ P44

N O V. 7 – 2 0 , 2 0 1 8

//

VOL. 5 NO. 22

We gather here CONGREGATIONS OPEN THEIR DOORS TO TULSA’S LGBTQ+ COMMUNITY | P18

SUICIDE PREVENTION IN TULSA P22 SALVATION IN A GAY BAR P26

paradise never sounded So Good.

Tickets On Sale Now

frankie valli & the four seasons nov 10 kacey musgraves nov 15 alabama nov 16 jo koy dec 7 mannheim steamroller dec 8 little big town dec 13 Bad company dec 28 Ron white dec 31

Live Music

Friday & Saturday Nights Starting at 9PM in 5 o’Clock Somewhere Bar and at 10 PM in Margaritaville!

Visit margaritavilletulsa.com for a complete schedule.

81ST & RIVERSIDE 888-748-3731 RIVERSPIRITTULSA.COM

2 // CONTENTS

November 7 – 20, 2018 // THE TULSA VOICE

Reserve a private party space or create the perfect holiday catering menu with the help of one of our wonderful restaurants.

Tavern Bond Event Center Elgin Park Dust Bowl

McNellie’s (Downtown & South City)

Yokozuna (Downtown & Yale)

El Guapo’s (Downtown & Harvard)

Dilly Diner Fassler Hall

F O R B O O K I N G I N F O A N D C AT E R I N G M E N U S , C O N TA C T T I F FA N Y AT T I F FA N Y@ M C N E L L I E S . C O M .

THE TULSA VOICE // November 7 – 20, 2018

CONTENTS // 3

4 // CONTENTS

November 7 – 20, 2018 // THE TULSA VOICE

EVERY SINGLE OTHER P18

November 7 – 20, 2018 // Vol. 5, No. 22 ©2018. All rights reserved.

BY FRASER KASTNER

Tulsa’s LGBTQ+ community comes to worship

PUBLISHER Jim Langdon EDITOR Jezy J. Gray ASSISTANT EDITOR Blayklee Freed DIGITAL EDITOR John Langdon

A PREVENTABLE CRISIS P22

CREATIVE DIRECTOR Madeline Crawford GRAPHIC DESIGNERS Georgia Brooks, Morgan Welch PHOTOGRAPHER Greg Bollinger

BY MARY NOBLE

Mental health professionals tackle Oklahoma’s rising suicide rate

AD SALES MANAGER Josh Kampf CONTRIBUTORS Jessica Brent, Jenny Eagleton, Charles Elmore, Barry Friedman, Valerie Grant, Jeff Huston, Fraser Kastner, Greg King, Cassidy McCants, Mary Noble, Deon Osborne, Gene Perry, Mason Whitehorn Powell, Joseph Rushmore, Andrew Saliga, Damion Shade, John Tranchina, Holly Wall, Brady Whisenhunt

The Tulsa Voice’s distribution is audited annually by

Member of

The Tulsa Voice is published bi-monthly by

A woman sits in the sanctuary of Fellowship Congregational Church during Sunday services. | JOSEPH RUSHMORE

1603 S. Boulder Ave. Tulsa, OK 74119 P: 918.585.9924 F: 918.585.9926 PUBLISHER Jim Langdon PRESIDENT Juley Roffers VP COMMUNICATIONS Susie Miller CONTROLLER Mary McKisick DISTRIBUTION COORDINATOR Amanda Hall RECEPTION Gloria Brooks

MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD Send all letters, complaints, compliments & haikus to: voices@langdonpublishing.com FOLLOW US @THETULSAVOICE ON:

NEWS & COMMENTARY 7 PAY UP

B Y GENE PERRY

26 TAKE ME TO CHURCH

B Y JESSICA BRENT

Low income means high tax rates in Oklahoma

8

A GATHERING GUNFIGHT

28 THE PATIENCE FOR BORROWING

B Y CASSIDY MCCANTS

BY BARRY FRIEDMAN

When is a public park not a public space?

10 OUTSIDE THE BOX

BY DEON OSBORNE Ex-felons seeking jobs ask Oklahomans for a chance

FOOD & DRINK 12 GOODBYE TO BANGKOK THAI

B Y HOLLY WALL SUSAN ORLEAN: WHY LIBRARIES MATTER P28

PAUL DANO TALKS ‘WILDLIFE’ P44

N O V. 7 – 2 0 , 2 0 1 8

//

AND BLAYKLEE FREED

A 30-year-old institution shuts its doors (for now)

MUSIC

ARTS & CULTURE Finding salvation in a gay bar

Susan Orlean on why libraries matter

30 ART FOR ALL

B Y BLAYKLEE FREED

38 PUNK ROCK LOVE

B Y BRADY WHISENHUNT Descendents and ALL return to Tulsa for a two-night punk reunion

40 ‘ THE PROBLEM OF PAIN’ Y DAMION SHADE B Susie McCombs explores love and loss on her solo debut

Philbrook’s new exhibit blurs the line between poetry and art

31 SQUAD GOALS

B Y JOHN TRANCHINA

TV & FILM 44 HOLLYWOOD IN THE HEARTLAND

B Y JEFF HUSTON

Oilers, off to strong start, have the playoffs in their sight

Paul Dano’s directorial debut brings awards buzz sweeping down the plain

32 YOU AND YOUR STORY

B Y DAMION SHADE

46 DANCING WITH THE DEVIL

B Y CHARLES ELMORE

Larry Rosen brings The Moth Mainstage storytelling event to Tulsa

Luca Guadagnino offers a hypnotic re-imagining of ‘Suspiria’

VOL. 5 NO. 22

14 NO FILTER

B Y JENNY EAGLETON

A primer on natural wines

16 BIGGER THAN BEER

B Y ANDREW SALIGA

We gather here CONGREGATIONS OPEN THEIR DOORS TO TULSA’S LGBTQ+ COMMUNITY | P18

SUICIDE PREVENTION IN TULSA P22 SALVATION IN A GAY BAR P26

ON THE COVER ARTWORK BY MORGAN WELCH THE TULSA VOICE // November 7 – 20, 2018

Exploring the finer points of Oklahoma’s new liquor laws

34 CHICKS IN BOWLS

B Y GREG KING

Contact sheet

46 MONUMENTAL BEAUTY

B Y JEFF HUSTON

‘ A Poem is a Naked Person’ reminds us why Tulsa needed a Leon Russell memorial

ETC. 6 EDITOR’SLETTER 36 THEHAPS 42 MUSICLISTINGS 47 CROSSWORD CONTENTS // 5

editor’sletter

L

ast week, The Tulsa Voice was honored with the 2018 News Media Award from the Dan Allen Center for Social Justice. Former TTV editor Liz Blood and I accepted the award, alongside some of the most dedicated and inspiring activists, advocates, and organizers in our city. We shared the honor with representatives from change-making groups like Dream Act Oklahoma, Poetic Justice, Men of Power, the Jewish Federation of Tulsa, and more.

Something Rev. Gerald Davis said in his invocation at the ceremony has been rattling around in my head ever since: “The justice we seek is love in public.”

What a line, right? It marries two concepts diametrically opposed in this country: love and justice. As readers of this paper know, Oklahoma’s conception of “justice” has metastasized into a

malignant tumor of overcrowded prisons, women shackled during childbirth, burdensome fees and fines that criminalize the poor, and a world-record incarceration rate that makes Singapore look like The Netherlands.

There is not, in other words, much love at the heart of our justice system. So what does it mean, then, to fight for social justice?

What does it mean to seek love in public?

For another local Reverend, Chris Moore of Congregational Fellowship Church, it means “to welcome all of God’s creation as if it were all created by God” (pg.

18). That’s from this issue’s cover story by Fraser Kastner, a powerful look at the important role played by LGBTQ+ friendly faith communities in Tulsa.

You’ll find another story about a different kind of salvation at The

ReVue’s Gospel Sunday Brunch drag show (pg. 26); a feature by Mary Noble about how mental health professionals are tackling rising suicide rates among some of Tulsa’s most marginalized communities (pg. 22); a look at one organization’s efforts to provide job training for formerly-incarcerated Tulsans (pg. 10); an interview with New Yorker staff writer Susan Orlean on the community-building power of public libraries (pg. 28); and more of what one disgruntled Facebook reviewer memorably called “social justice smut.”

National headlines over the last couple weeks have been among the most disturbing in recent memory. We’ve seen a rash of right-wing terrorism—including the worst mass killing of Jews in U.S. history, a foiled bomb plot against the President’s critics, and the slaying of a black couple at a

RECYCLE THIS Glass Bottles and Jars

grocery store in Kentucky. At the same time, the Trump administration has ramped up its usual stoking of racial grievances, publicly toyed with the idea of stripping transgender people of legal protections, and proposed unilaterally ending the constitutionally-protected birthright of citizenship for certain babies born in the U.S. No—there’s not much love in our public life, and it seems to become more loveless by the hour.

But we have no choice but to make room for the possibility of something different. This paper is our attempt to do just that. a

JEZY J. GRAY EDITOR

NOT THAT Light Bulbs and Ceramic Dishware

Take light bulbs to the Household Pollutant Collection Facility.

Donate dishware or throw it away in the gray trash cart.

Glass bottles and jars are perfect for recycling, but light bulbs and ceramic dishware are NOT acceptable for the blue recycling cart.

6 // NEWS & COMMENTARY

LEARN MORE AT

TulsaRecycles.com November 7 – 20, 2018 // THE TULSA VOICE

okpolicy

PAY UP Low income means high tax rates in Oklahoma

by GENE PERRY for OKPOLICY.ORG

THE TULSA VOICE // November 7 – 20, 2018

W

hile Oklahoma has a reputation as a low tax state, poor and middle-income Oklahomans are actually paying a greater share of their income in taxes than the national average, while the richest 5 percent of households—with annual incomes of $194,500 or more—pay less.

That’s why Oklahoma ranks among the 10 worst states for tax inequality in the newly updated Who Pays report from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP). The analysis evaluates major state and local taxes, including personal and corporate income taxes, property taxes, sales and other excise taxes. It finds that the poorest Oklahoma households pay 2.1 times as much of their incomes in taxes as the wealthiest 1 percent. In Oklahoma, the poorest 20 percent of households pay the fifth-highest taxes as a share of their incomes (13.4 percent) in the country.

Oklahoma’s tax system is regarded as regressive because the lower one’s income, the higher one’s effective tax rate. This is in part because Oklahoma relies more heavily on sales and excise taxes to raise revenue and less on personal income taxes, which tend to be more progressive (meaning the higher one’s income, the higher one’s effective personal income tax rate).

Among Oklahoma’s neighboring states, only Texas has a more regressive tax system. But in recent years, we’ve been moving in the wrong direction.

Lawmakers cut Oklahoma’s top income tax rate by nearly 25 percent since 2004, at a cost of more than $1 billion annually, while providing just over $200 to the median income household.

These repeated tax cuts for the wealthy meant less money to adequately fund education and other basic services. Oklahoma lawmakers also took aim at measures that primarily benefit low- and

middle-income working families by making the state Earned Income Tax Credit non-refundable and freezing the state standard deduction.

Given these facts, lawmakers should look for ways to make our tax system less regressive. As a start, lawmakers should direct the Tax Commission to conduct a regular study of the distributional impact of the whole tax system, similar to the study done by ITEP. Now that the state budget is recovering, lawmakers should also restore the refundable Earned Income Tax Credit, which provided some balance to the tax system and offered a critical boost to low-income working families before lawmakers cut it in 2016.

There’s a practical reason for Oklahoma and all states to be concerned about regressive tax structures, according to ITEP. If the nation fails to address growing income inequality, states will have difficulty raising the revenue they need over time. The more income that goes to the wealthy, and the lower a state’s overall tax rate on the wealthy, the slower a state’s revenue grows over time.

“Rising income inequality is unconscionable, and it is certainly a problem that local, state and federal lawmakers should address,” said Meg Wiehe, deputy director of ITEP and an author of the study. “Regressive state tax systems didn’t cause the growing income divide, but they certainly exacerbate the problem. State lawmakers have control over how their tax systems are structured.

They can and should enact more equitable tax policies that raise adequate revenue in a fair, sustainable way.”

You can read the full Who Pays report at whopays.org. a

Gene Perry is Director of Strategy and Communications at Oklahoma Policy Institute (okpolicy.org).

NEWS & COMMENTARY // 7

A gathering gunfight When is a public park not a public space?

by BARRY FRIEDMAN

F

irst, a story that has nothing (and everything) to do with us.

On Saturday morning, Jan. 8, 2011, Jared Lee Loughner shot 19 people in a Safeway parking lot in Tucson, including his target, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who was there to meet with her constituents. Joe Zamudio heard the commotion from a nearby drugstore, ran to his car, got his gun, and rushed over to the supermarket to find Loughner, still armed.

Zamudio drew his weapon to fire, but inexplicably didn’t, and instead wrestled the gun from Loughner. Zamudio was called a hero, a “good guy with a gun” who saved the life of Giffords from a bad guy with a gun. Arizona, too, was lauded for having gun laws that allowed such displays of bravery.

Except one thing.

It wasn’t Loughner who was holding the gun. It was someone who had already taken the gun from Loughner, another good Samaritan. Zamudio nearly killed an innocent man.

I’m not the one saying that.

Here’s Zamudio: I was very lucky. Honestly, it was a matter of seconds.

Two, maybe three seconds between when I came through the doorway and when I was laying on top of [the real shooter], holding him down. So, I mean, in that short amount of time I made a lot of really big decisions really fast. …

I was really lucky. 1

When asked about his training, if he was ready for the moment, Zamudio admitted he was lucky he didn’t kill anybody.

8 // NEWS & COMMENTARY

immigrant and going into various public buildings and recording his interactions.

We are surrounded every day by concealed carry and, admittedly, we have not turned into the Wild West.

But in 2012, sanity left the building, when a new bill was passed authorizing open carry of both loaded and unloaded shotguns, rifles, and handguns for any reason, like—wait for it—hanging out in a park.

My father raised me around guns … so I'm really comfortable with them. But I've never been in the military or had any professional training.

I just reacted.

Which brings us to Gathering Place and an incident in September, when three members of a group calling itself the Oklahoma Second Amendment Association (OK2A) were kicked out of the park for openly carrying their weapons.2 [Timothy] Harper, wearing a red USA hat with the number 45 (denoting Donald Trump, the

country’s 45th President) on the side, was open carrying a handgun on his hip when he was evicted from the park. He and at least two others slowly walked backwards out of the park while recording the interaction with officers on their cell phones.

That’s just the kind of paranoia you want armed.

It gets worse.

Other videos by Harper show him sitting armed and open-carrying in a McDonald’s restaurant pl ayground, confronting an alleged drunk driver he says was an illegal

Find me the section in the Second where people like Harper are allowed to moonlight as ATF and ICE officials.

I’ll wait.

If you think OK2A is about the “peaceful carry of weapons into and through the River Park Trail,” as the association wrote in its letter3 to Jeff Stava, executive director of Gathering Place, I’ve got a used AR-15 to sell you.

This is about intimidation and the organization’s own selfaggrandizement.

Now that Oklahoma legislators in their infantile wisdom have passed a law that allows open carry in public parks—which Gathering Place may or may not be—OK2A might be on solid legal ground. The park is a private enterprise but was gifted by the George Kaiser Family Foundation in 2014 to River Parks Authority, which is a public entity.

A letter of agreement between the city and GGP Parks, LLC, the company George Kaiser created to operate the park after donating it to Tulsa, states that GGP has the authority to “select the means, method and manner” to achieve “satisfactory operation, management, and maintenance of the park property.”4 Clearly, though, the raison d’être of Gathering Place is its public persona, and if this goes to court—as OK2A intimated it would make sure it did—I can see GGP losing.

And the city seems to know it. On Oct. 19, Tulsa officials said Tulsa police officers would no lonNovember 7 – 20, 2018 // THE TULSA VOICE

ger enforce the park’s ban on open carry. Jeannie MacKenzie, Tulsa Police Department spokeswoman, essentially said the park is on its own here.5 “Gathering Place has its own private security that officers assist on several matters, but police do not have anything to do with their rules,” MacKenzie told the Associated Press.

To be fair, TPD is in a difficult spot here. State law allows for concealed/open carry in public parks—even when local ordinances prevent it, as insane as that is.

For years I’ve been arguing with my good friend, novelist Shane Gericke, author of “The Fury” and other crime novels, and the least-berserk Second Amendment proponent I know, about guns in the public square.

“My sense is that while guns are allowed in all Tulsa parks, as per state law, someone decided the Gathering Place is a fancy new showplace and should be gunfree,” he said.

He’s got a point. Gun groups have been free to traipse around every park in Tulsa, so why the fuss now? Maybe because Gathering Place is truly private, but most likely because it’s the jewel of the Tulsa park system, and allowing gun-toting fetishists to frolic near the Spiral Connector will just scare the youngins and ruin all the good national press we’ve been getting. “[They] are juvenile for open carrying in public places,” says Gericke. “The mature and intelligent gun owner doesn’t let anyone know a gun is there until and unless you draw it to save lives.

Maturity in the gun world dictates you have the tool you need with you, but that you don’t frighten anyone around you by preening with open carry.”

We are surrounded every day by concealed carry and, admittedly, we have not turned into the Wild West. But in 2012, sanity left the building, when a new bill was passed authorizing open carry of both loaded and unloaded shotguns, rifles, and handguns for any reason, like—wait for it—hanging out in a park.6 In 2017, the craziness got crazier when something called “constitutional carry,” which has as much validity in law as CorinTHE TULSA VOICE // November 7 – 20, 2018

thian leather does in upholstery, was introduced and passed by Oklahoma legislators. This would have allowed the legal carrying of a handgun, either openly or concealed, to anyone over 18 without a license or permit. It also would have made getting a Glock easier than getting an iPhone. What could go wrong there?

Mary Fallin, in a rare moment of maturity and sanity, vetoed the bill.

As I often do in these matters, I then called friend of the column Professor Peter Shane, who teaches constitutional law at Ohio State University, for his take: The Scalia opinion7 that made the Second Amendment a judicially enforceable individual right to possess guns in one's home for self-protection [D.C. v. Heller] also preserved a wide swath for permissible gun regulation: ‘[N]othing in our opinion should be taken to cast doubt on longstanding prohibitions on the possession of firearms by felons and the mentally ill, or laws forbidding the carrying of firearms in sensitive places such as schools and government buildings, or laws imposing conditions and qualifications on the commercial sale of arms.’

The idea that open carry in a park is constitutionally required seems wildly counterintuitive.

Gericke agrees, adding the garishness of open carry is “an impoliteness not necessary to properly defend yourself from violent attack.”

It’s also a dick move.

How much of one? Here’s Don Spencer, president of OK2A, when asked by The Frontier what his point in carrying a firearm at Gathering Place was, anyway.8 “Because they said you can’t.”

What is he, nine?

Maybe not even.

“What would happen if the Gathering Place decided that people couldn’t carry a Bible or said the press couldn’t come in here?”

The false equivalence. It burns.

Facts are stubborn things: “Ten years after the adoption of RTC [Right

to Carry] laws, violent crime is estimated to be 13 [percent to] 15 percent higher than it would have been without the RTC law,” the authors concluded. Just five years after, it’s about 7 percent higher. “There is not even the slightest hint in the data that [these] laws reduce violent crime.” 9

It’s not just that OK2A plays on fears and inflates its own effectiveness—even though it does— it’s also cavalierly irresponsible.

Nowhere on its website, otherwise filled with its legislative accomplishments, printable targets, and quotes from likes of Adolf Hitler, Ron Paul, and Charlton Heston (with the obligatory torturing of the words of the Founding Fathers), does it even mention gun safety or training.10 A self-appointed militia, decked out in Trump apparel, running through the park (or tiptoeing through it backwards), weapons drawn to save the day, is both delusional and dangerous.

“We can have thugs with guns shooting and killing kids, but we can’t have law-abiding people, peaceful parents, there to protect their kids,” Spencer said.

But it doesn’t always work out that way.

Ask Joe Zamudio. a

1) slate.com: Friendly Firearms 2) readfrontier.org: Gathering Place officials mostly mum as ‘Second Amendment Rally’ outside park nears 3) tulsaworld.com: Letter from Oklahoma Second Amendment Association 4) tulsaworld.com: Gun-rights rally to be staged outside Gathering Place 5) usnews.com: Tulsa Police Not Required to Enforce Park's Gun Ban 6) lawcenter.giffords.org: Open Carrying in Oklahoma 7) cga.ct.gov: Summary of D.C. V. Heller 8) readfrontier.org: Gathering Place officials mostly mum as ‘Second Amendment Rally’ outside park nears 9) theatlantic.com: Do Right-toCarry Gun Laws Make States Safer?

10) ok2a.org: Oklahoma 2nd Amendment Association

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NEWS & COMMENTARY // 9

community

Outside the box

Ex-felons seeking jobs ask Oklahomans for a chance

by DEON OSBORNE

Left to right: Dolores Verbonitz, Earl Tyler, Jaylin Gafney, and Shauna Jaggers | DEON OSBORNE

A

lone storefront bustled with activity in the otherwise abandoned strip mall on Tulsa’s 36th Street North during a recent afternoon, with two young men hanging out front as if inviting curious passersby to take a closer look.

Tulsa Reentry One-Stop, a free program from Community Service Council, gives career training to men and women ages 18 to 24 who are involved with the criminal justice system. It also offers Oklahoma employers a pool of skilled workers eager to earn an honest living.

Workers and clients of the program talked about the barriers to jobs, education, and housing that plague formerly incarcerated citizens. They say requiring job applicants to disclose their criminal history is one of the biggest roadblocks to reentering society.

Removing that requirement—or “banning the box,” as the international civil rights campaign puts it—would give them a better chance to at least secure an interview.

While Gov. Mary Fallin signed an executive order in 2016 that removed the requirement for felons to check the box for most state government jobs, it still remains widely practiced by private employers. Nationally, 33 states and more than 150 cities and counties have banned the box, according 10 // NEWS & COMMENTARY

to the National Employment Law Project.

At the front of the interior entrance of Tulsa Reentry OneStop sits staff member Shauna Jaggers—calm, collected, and eager to share her own journey from prison back to society. She recounted having to check the felony box in pursuing a college degree after her release, and the difficulties finding jobs relevant to her education.

“My peers were graduating and getting jobs in specific markets, and those things just weren’t available to me,” Jaggers said.

She ended up working at a chicken plant and eventually reoffended. She was able to enter into a program with Women in Recovery, a local organization providing alternatives for women facing incarceration, which referred her to a job opening at Tulsa Reentry One-Stop.

Offering full-time, decent paying jobs to formerly-incarcerated Oklahomans is the best way to discourage recidivism, program manager Dolores Verbonitz said.

She has presided over the program since its founding in 2012.

“It’s hard to do that if you’re only making minimum wage at a part-time job,” Verbonitz said.

Two young, hopeful male clients reiterated the barriers Jaggers experienced, and they expressed a desire to ban the box on private

employee applications across the state.

Probation officers referred 21-year-old Earl Tyler and 20-yearold Jaylin Gafney to Tulsa Reentry One-Stop immediately after their release from prison in August.

Both say the program has helped them on their path to a career.

Tyler, reserved and focused, served a year in jail and a year in prison after being connected to friends who robbed and beat their marijuana dealer. Tyler said he was in the wrong place at the wrong time and was simply trying to buy marijuana when his former friends decided to jump the dealer.

“They took the drugs, took the money and was going to take him. But he got away, and we left,” Tyler said. Since participating in the program, Tyler has been able to earn his G.E.D. and land a job at Nonni’s Foods. He helps his grandma take care of his three younger siblings in their one-bedroom home and says his main focus is to provide a better life for his daughter.

Gafney, a lighthearted young man who served 10 months in a prison program for armed robbery, says that the bad choices he made were to provide for his family. But he says missing the birthdays of his daughter, mother, and sister opened his eyes to his self-destructive path.

“I could continue doing that

and be back where I was at—or in a worse place—or I could turn it around, try to do something different, and continue to help my people the right way,” Gafney said with a smile.

Tyler and Gafney hope that efforts to ban the box on job applications will allow them and other justice-involved citizens the opportunity to plead their case for employment like any other Oklahoman.

“You’re not giving me the first step to see who I am. You’re just looking at the cover,” Gafney said. He wants employers to consider the talent they are leaving on the table.

“You don’t know what I’m capable of. I could be one of your biggest assets,” Tyler said. His goal is to obtain his G.E.D., a welding degree, and have a home for himself and his daughter by the time he turns 25.

Gafney hopes to land a decent job and have a stable living environment to raise his daughter.

He said the barriers to reentering society make it hard to live, and almost encourage crime.

“If it’s hard to get back into the world, but you’re not giving us a chance—it’s almost like, what are our options?” Gafney said. “If we don’t have any options to do it the right way, how are we going to get around the extra stuff we were doing that got us locked up?” a November 7 – 20, 2018 // THE TULSA VOICE

Benefiting language arts in schools with a lesson in leadership using presidential rhetoric as our guide.

December 1st.

Six o’clock.

H O S T E D B Y:

S A M J OY N E R “ G A L L E RY H O U S E ”

Presidential Poetry Performances by:

H A N N I BA L J O H N S O N K AT H Y TAY L O R M I C H A E L WA L L I S H O N . S A M J OY N E R S U S A N S AVAG E DR. TOM BENNETT W E N DY T H O M A S AND MORE…

Event chairwoman:

KRISTEN BENNETT

Tickets:

M U S E D O R G A N I Z AT I O N . O R G

SUPPORT EAT

SPONSORED B Y:

THE TULSA VOICE // November 7 – 20, 2018

Andrew & Holly Ryan

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NEWS & COMMENTARY // 11

foodfile

Bangkok Thai owner Pat Srisukkum | GREG BOLLINGER

Goodbye to Bangkok Thai A 30-year-old institution shuts its doors (for now)

by HOLLY WALL with additional reporting by BLAYKLEE FREED

C

ount me among the many Tulsans devouring as many meals as possible at Bangkok Thai Buffet before its impending closure later this month.

The restaurant, a local institution since 1988, began posting to Facebook in June about a disagreement it was having with its landlord regarding flood damage to the building it occupies along with disputes over its lease agreement. They said management wanted owner Pat Srisukkum to pay $14,000 in repairs from flood damage.

“Nothing happened until January. The building flooded two times in January. The managers come and point to us [and say] it’s my fault,” Srisukkum said.

“The cast iron pipes, they’re disintegrated.”

But the flooding wasn’t even in Bangkok’s part of the 63-yearold building, according to Srisukkum. Just off of Harvard Avenue on East 32nd Place, the property

12 // FOOD & DRINK

is owned by the Tulsa-City County Library and managed by GBR Properties Inc. On June 30, the restaurant’s Facebook page posted: “We will be here regardless of what happens next or if we get locked out.

They can shut down the building but not the business Bangkok Thai Buffet. One thing we will promise to our loyal customers and friends is that Bangkok Thai Buffet will open somewhere somehow in Tulsa for Tulsa. That’s a sure thing!”

In September, the matter was taken to court, but the decision was not in the restaurant’s favor.

They went public with the news, adding that another point of confusion was with the contract between Bangkok and management. Srisukkum said the contract they signed in 2017 was supposed to keep their rent the same— $2,600—until 2019. However, he said the contract was never completed and returned to Bangkok. “[New management] never asked

about the contract or anything,” Srisukkum said.

“For 14 months they collected the check each month on time.

We assumed everything was in order, after all, we have been here for decades,” Bangkok’s Facebook post elaborated.

Now the restaurant is renting the space without a contract on a month-to-month basis. Nov. 17 will be their last day in business at 3313 E. 32nd Place, but Srisukkum is actively looking for a new location with his wife and co-owner Wanvaree.

The couple bought Bangkok Thai Buffet, which originally opened as the Noodle Room in 1977, in 1988 and added the buffet in 1999. The restaurant has since become a local favorite, filling up each day at lunch and dinner. The Srisukkums are there every day, cooking and filling up the trays on the steam tables with just enough food to satiate hungry diners but not enough to get cold and limp.

They always recognize and greet their regulars, who are dismayed at the potential closing of a local institution. Since the announcement, the couple has been overwhelmed with messages of support by fans begging them not to close, or to find another location quickly, and the restaurant has been flooded with hungry diners eager for one last taste of yellow curry, peanut chicken, or spicy pad thai.

The Srisukkums said they haven’t found a new location for the restaurant yet, but they plan to open “someplace in this area around spring.” For now, Pat Srisukkum said he plans to go to Thailand until the end of the year and will hit the ground running when he returns in early 2019, hoping to find a spot for Bangkok near its current location.

“After 40-something years, we don’t want to rush.”

Until Nov. 17, you can find me in the buffet line at Bangkok. a November 7 – 20, 2018 // THE TULSA VOICE

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FOOD & DRINK // 13

downthehatch

No filter A primer on natural wines

by JENNY EAGLETON

“Bring It” wine is available at Ranch Acres | GREG BOLLINGER

N

atural wine means a lot of things—or nothing, depending on whom you ask. It’s true that there’s no legal definition or certification associated with it (unlike organic agriculture, for example) but when folks talk about natural wine, they usually mean wines made from grapes grown well and without chemical pesticides. But there’s more to it than that.

Natural wines are fermented with ambient yeasts instead of lab-developed yeasts. They are unfiltered and are not clarified with the use of fining agents like bentonite or isinglass. No enzymes or other yeast food are added to speed up the process. The grapes are harvested by humans rather than machines. And finally, they have minimal or no added preservatives like sulfites.

This may seem like a long and tedious list of requirements, but what it really means is that natural wine is wine made simply from grapes, with maybe a scooch of sulfites added to stabilize the wine if needed. There are hundreds of legal additives in winemaking in the U.S. and the vast majority of wines include some—but you won’t find them here.

Additionally, natural wines tend to be made from unusual grapes,

14 // FOOD & DRINK

from places that aren’t usually considered the paragons of winemaking. As a result, natural wines tend to be cheaper than other wines of similar quality. Natural reds are more likely to be lighter and brighter (as opposed to big and bold). The wines in general are, like a lot of fine dining today, more driven by freshness rather than heavier flavors.

Natural wines are becoming more accessible in Oklahoma, thanks to distributors like Provisions, Artisan, and Thirst Wine Merchants. Here are a few excellent offerings available in Oklahoma that embody the characteristics of good, natural wine.

LES LUNES, CHARDONNAY This is a fun, fresh, zingy wine made by Shaunt Oungoulian and Diego Roig near San Francisco.

Shaunt and Diego aren’t just winemakers, they also farm most of the fruit they use for both of their brands: Les Lunes and Populis. They’ve got plots with some of the oldest fruit in Northern California and are working to spread the gospel of good grape farming. The wine is full of dense fresh apple and electric acidity.

It’s not your mom’s Chardonnay,

but I bet she’d like it anyway.

(Artisan, $26)

and some salad or, really, even a hot dog with sauerkraut. (Artisan, ~$33)

DONKEY & GOAT, TWINKLE MOURVÈDRE Mourvèdre is a grape from Southern France, typically blended into hot and heavy reds and chuggable rosés—but in the hands of Tracey and Jared Brandt at Donkey & Goat, it’s a lively and floral red that you can cool down. All of Donkey & Goat’s wines are fun and delicious. Sometimes this wine can have a just-lit-match smell. If you encounter that, pop it into a decanter (or pitcher or whatever) and swirl it around until the smell dissipates. (Boardwalk Brands, $26)

JOE SWICK, BRING IT This wine is a juicy blend of 50 percent Pinot Noir and 8 percent each of Syrah, Graciano, Malbec, Mourvèdre, Cinsault, and Pinot Gris from Oregon. Joe Swick is a fifth-generation Oregonian who used to work for Orin Swift but has since fully converted to making natural wine. The name refers to Swick’s not-so-secret slogan, “FBIB,” which stands for “Fucking Bring It, Bitch.” (That’s what you should chant if he ever shows up to a party, in case you were wondering.) You’ll drink this wine faster than you ever thought possible because of how fresh and delicious it is. (Provisions, $23)

LES VINS PIROUETTES, LE BILDSTOECKLÉ RIESLING DE STÉPHANE Les Vins Pirouettes is a project

by Alsatian Winemaker Christian Binner where he pairs with grape growers and teaches them how to make wine. This wine is wild. It’s dense and higher in alcohol, but has brilliant and bright acidity. It’s got lots of fruity apricot and herb flavors, but it’s not sweet. It’s a weird wine, but I can’t stop going back to it. If you want to taste something unlike anything you’ve ever had, try this. It’s especially good with simple food like cheese

CATHERINE & PIERRE BRETON, ELLE EST PAS BULLE LA VIE This is a crisp and sparkling Chenin Blanc from one of my favorite winemaking regions: the Loire Valley. Catherine & Pierre Breton are OGs in the natural wine world; they’ve been doing this stuff for decades. A lot of sparkling wine isn’t worth the price tag, but I’d drink this stuff over Champagne just about any day, and pair it with just about anything. (Provisions, $33) a November 7 – 20, 2018 // THE TULSA VOICE

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downthehatch

W

e’re now just over a month into the implementation of Oklahoma’s modernized liquor laws. These much-needed changes represent a significant milestone in catching us up to the national norm, allowing us to be more competitive, and encouraging new business growth. While most people are aware they can now buy “strong beer” and wine at grocery and convenience stores, there are several other changes that are just as exciting but less commonly known.

Oklahoma’s odd liquor laws date back to statehood in 1907.

We have the distinction of being the only state to enter the Union with a constitutional provision for prohibition already in place. Federal Prohibition wasn’t enacted until 1920; however, by 1933, most of the nation was tired of that noble experiment. Oklahoma adopted 3.2% ABW (alcohol by weight) beer only after the U.S. government classified it as non-intoxicating—a choice that stuck with us for 85 years.

The federal government repealed Prohibition in December of 1933, but Oklahoma was set on sobriety and held onto it until 1959. It wasn’t until 1984 that Oklahoma had a per-county vote to allow liquor by the drink, and it was only in June of this year that the remaining 14 dry counties voted to allow liquor by the drink.

The recent changes enacted

by SQ 792 affect everything from the distribution process of alcohol to the methods used by establishments to make infused liquors.

It will be a few months until the broad effects on businesses are fully known, but understanding the consumer side of things is slightly simpler.

ABV LIMITS AND EXPANDED HOURS The first distinction to make is the difference between what a liquor store and a grocery/convenience store can offer. Both liquor stores and grocery stores can now serve chilled beer and wine, however, grocery stores have a maximum 16 // FOOD & DRINK

Beer selection at Ranch Acres, 3324 E. 31st St. | GREG BOLLINGER

BIGGER THAN BEER Exploring the finer points of Oklahoma’s new liquor laws

by ANDREW SALIGA limit of 8.99% ABV for beer and 15% ABV for wine. You can still only buy spirits at the liquor store.

Grocery stores can sell beer and wine seven days a week, from 6 a.m. to 2 a.m., including holidays. Liquor stores’ allowable hours of operation have expanded 8 a.m. to midnight, but they must be closed Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Sundays. Fortunately, Sunday business hours can now be determined by a vote on a per-county basis.

NON-ALCOHOLIC ITEMS AND BULK SALES Liquor stores also have the new perk of being able to sell non-

alcoholic items like cocktail olives, bitters, glassware, ice, and more, as long as the products don’t exceed 20 percent of their monthly sales.

Wine enthusiasts are sure to be excited about direct to consumer sales. Oklahomans can now order up to six nine-liter cases of any wine as long as it’s not available in Oklahoma.

HAPPIER HAPPY HOURS AND PUBLIC CONSUMPTION For those who would rather enjoy a drink at their favorite watering hole, they’ll now have the ability to partake in real happy hours. Under the old law, happy hours were rare because businesses were restrict-

ed on the hours they could run a special, and the special had to last an entire week. The new laws allow drink specials at any hour of any day, as long as they are not discounted for less than 6 percent markup of the cost. This means after-work happy hours and ladies’ night specials are a possibility. Just don’t expect to order a bucket of beer for yourself, as it’s illegal to serve someone more than two drinks at a time.

One final small but significant change is that the public consumption of beer and wine is not expressly prohibited. Steven Barker, Deputy Director and General Counsel of the Oklahoma ABLE Commission, confirms ABLE interprets the law as only prohibiting the public consumption of spirits. However, he stresses that it’s largely unknown how municipalities will interpret and enforce this change.

While all of these changes are the most progressive push that Oklahoma has seen in decades, there is room for improvement.

The plethora of new Oklahoma breweries can now sell beer from their taproom; however, distilleries don’t have the same benefits, thanks to a veto from Gov. Mary Fallin.

Noah Bush, part owner of Hodges Bend and Saturn Room, has over 15 years of experience in the industry and offers some practical advice on the impact of the new choices consumers are now provided.

“Giving your money to a liquor store or a wine shop where they hand select from local distributors is important because it keeps businesses here in Tulsa,” Bush said.

“It is a great progressive thing that we are selling alcohol in grocery stores, but I want people to make a concerted effort to spend locally.

“There is absolutely nothing wrong with the big name brands.

I use them in my bars and drink them at home, but I prefer choosing local businesses because I own local businesses,” he continued.

“We need to make sure that we are supporting our economy.” a November 7 – 20, 2018 // THE TULSA VOICE

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FOOD & DRINK // 17

EVERY SINGLE OTHER TULSA’S LGBTQ+ COMMUNITY COMES TO WORSHIP

BY FRASER KASTNER

18 // FEATURED

PHOTOS BY JOSEPH RUSHMORE

November 7 – 20, 2018 // THE TULSA VOICE

T

ulsa has a hard-earned association with a particular brand of Christian faith. It is a flavor of Christianity closely allied with right-wing causes, with a strong condemnation of LGBTQ+ people and relationships. People from this community who are looking for places to worship are sometimes unable to be open with their sexuality or gender identity, and some are even cast out of their home communities. This can lead to deep suffering and spiritual conflict.

While Tulsa today has a fairly large network of LGBTQ+ friendly faith communities, this was not always the case. Leslie Penrose found herself among the only ones filling this need during a time of great spiritual THE TULSA VOICE // November 7 – 20, 2018

PARISHIONERS SING HYMNS DURING SUNDAY SERVICE AT CONGREGATIONAL FELLOWSHIP CHURCH.

struggle in the gay community: the AIDS crisis of the 1980s.

Penrose didn’t know what she was getting into when she visited a young man’s hospital room in 1986. The door to his room was plastered with signs warning against entering without gloves and a mask. He had been there two months and no one had come to visit him. The man, whom Penrose calls Joshua, was dying of a disease she knew nothing about.

Dr. Jeffrey Beal knew the anguish that Joshua was experiencing. Dr. Beal was then the only doctor in Tulsa treating HIV and AIDS patients, and he knew that with Joshua’s illness came profound spiritual struggle.

He reached out to Penrose, who had been ordained earlier that decade in the United Methodist Church through Phillips Theological Seminary.

Joshua was a gay Baptist. His old faith community had ostracized him, and he had been confined to the hospital for weeks, inching closer and closer to his eventual plunge into the lake of fire. A nurse would tell Penrose that there was “no reason at all that he is still alive, except that he’s terrified to die.”

When Penrose walked into the hospital room and introduced herself, his words shook her. “‘Don’t bother, my church already told me I’m going to hell. So you don’t even need to stay.’”

“I said, ‘I won’t stay if you don’t want me to, but I don’t believe that, and we can talk about it.’”

Joshua didn’t have the strength to talk for more than 15 minutes. Penrose returned every day, talking, rubbing his feet, or just listening for an hour or two. After a week, Joshua was dead and Penrose’s life had been changed forever.

Soon Penrose was getting calls from Joshua’s friends. In the space of a few months she met, counseled, bonded with, cried with, and buried about a dozen young men just like him. She started baptizing people in Dr. Beal’s office and attending group therapy sessions at night.

It wasn’t easy at first. The hard questions started coming during her very first session: “What kind of god creates a life and then condemns it to hell?”

Her answer: “Only a god that needs to die.”

When Penrose walked into the hospital room and introduced herself, his words shook her.

“Don’t bother, my church already told me I’m going to hell.

So you don’t even need to stay.”

FEATURED // 19

REV. CHRIS MOORE OFFERS COMMUNION AT FELLOWSHIP CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH.

“Here it’s not really about whether you’re gay or not.

It’s about being a child of God. That’s it.

We don’t worry about all that other stuff.”

20 // FEATURED

Statements like that got Penrose invited back to group therapy. Over the next few years, AIDS patients and openly gay folk began to fill the pews at the church where she was associate pastor. Although the congregation didn’t mind a few token minority members, things changed when they occupied two whole pews. In 1993, she was asked to leave.

Her bishop intervened, and Penrose stayed on. Later that year, Penrose began a “base community,” an autonomous religious community organized by an oppressed group, much like a church without the building, money, people, or even an official charter. One of the first communities of its kind in Tulsa, it would eventually be called Community of Hope. Its mission was to welcome anyone who might not be welcome in a ‘respectable’ church. Congregants included out gay people, those just leaving prison, HIV/ AIDS patients, and addicts all gathered to find peace at Community of Hope.

It was the only faith community that served AIDS patients, and one of precious few that was LGBTQ+ friendly.

They performed their first holy union, the closest they could get to a samesex wedding, in 1994.

At first their congregation was nearly half HIV-Positive. In their first year, there were more than 50 funerals.

Years later, in her Statement of Vocation, Penrose would write that “the question ‘who has died?’ clouded every gathering.”

She got hate mail every day. “It was difficult, but it was also empowering to know pretty clearly who your support is and who it isn’t,” she recalled years later. “The community I was with was so wonderful and so beautiful I wouldn’t have traded a single moment.”

Community of Hope operated under the Universal Methodist Church until 1999. A new bishop had taken over for Dan Solomon, which complicated things. Solomon had been sympathetic to Penrose’s cause, and had allowed the formation of the base community. The new bishop, on the other hand, abided by the 1996 statement added to the United Methodist Book of Discipline forbidding ministers from joining gay couples. Penrose was brought up on charges of heresy, all but excommunicating her from the Methodist Church.

After some wandering in the desert, Community of Hope joined the United Church of Christ (UCC), whose structure allows its member churches much broader freedom to interpret scripture than the United Methodist Church.

Community of Hope closed its

doors in 2013. Although there were many reasons, Penrose believes that ultimately the group had accomplished its mission and wasn’t needed any longer. “I think Community of Hope was a moment in time,” she said.

At its outset, Community of Hope was one of the only Tulsa faith communities working with LGBTQ+ people, AIDS patients, and other marginalized groups. Now, the Oklahomans for Equality (OKEQ) website lists nearly 35 congregations: Christian, Muslim, Jewish, and interfaith—all of them open and affirming.

After Penrose left Community of Hope in 2007 to do international aid work, she began to attend Fellowship Congregational Church. Even before Fellowship became an Open and Affirming (ONA) Church, the UCC’s official term for LGBTQ+ friendly, it had a history steeped in civil rights.

The church formed in the 1950s when a black couple tried to join Second Presbyterian Church, an otherwise allwhite community. The ensuing controversy caused a split. A number of families left to form a more inclusive church, led by California transplant Reverend Russell Bennett. The spiritual refugees made their way to the United Church of Christ, and gathered at Temple Israel every Sunday.

Mark Goins, a member of the November 7 – 20, 2018 // THE TULSA VOICE

PARISHIONERS AT CONGREGATIONAL FELLOWSHIP GREET EACH OTHER AT THE BEGINNING OF SERVICES.

Church, said that this was a formative part of the Fellowship’s history.

“We were always accepted by others and that’s the kind of message that we have. If we’re being accepted by others, then others should be accepted by us as well.” The Church officially became ONA in 1995, and Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) began meeting there soon after.

Goins calls Fellowship a “refugee church,” meaning that people of all faiths and denominations find their way there—often to escape judgement or rejection from their old faith communities. Raised Catholic, he eventually left because he felt unwelcome as a gay man. But at Fellowship, he can attend church openly with his husband.

“Here it’s not really about whether you’re gay or not. It’s about being a child of God. That’s it. We don’t worry about all that other stuff.”

A lot of other people make their way to Fellowship for the same reasons. During a Sunday service, the Community officially welcomed several new members. Dee Dee Jones and Julie Blake started attending services in 2016, seeking peace after a traumatic election cycle. The couple stayed because of the church’s commitment to social issues. “This is the first church I’ve ever known where the members THE TULSA VOICE // November 7 – 20, 2018

are responsible for working toward justice,” Blake said after the service.

It is also the first church she and her wife have attended as a married couple. Although Blake says she has never felt excluded from a religious community, she was never comfortable attending as an out lesbian. She and Jones were both working in public education for many years, and being openly gay was out of the question.

But at Fellowship, they have found a place where they don’t have to hide.

“We say that everyone is loved by God and I think that’s a really healing message,” Blake said.

Reverend Chris Moore, who leads the congregation, makes a point of being vocal about social justice issues. He is a fixture at immigration protests in the Tulsa area, and Fellowship’s website displays the United Church of Christ’s insignia in rainbow colors. He spoke about the week’s news during his sermon: 13 pipe bombs mailed to prominent critics of the President, 11 worshippers slain in a Pittsburgh synagogue, and two African-Americans shot in a racially-motivated killing in Kentucky.

“After this last week, some healing would be nice,” he said.

His sermon pivoted into the story of Bartimaeus, the blind man who was miraculously healed by Christ. In Rev.

Moore’s telling, Bartimaeus is an archetypal outcast. He points out that when the blind man cries out for healing, the crowd that had gathered around Jesus tried to silence him. But Jesus “shushes the shushers,” and heals the man. When Christ healed Bartimaeus’ eyes, he welcomed all outcasts into his church, and obligated his followers to do the same. Or, as Rev. Moore puts it, “To welcome all of God’s creation as if it were all created by God.” It was a blind man that Jesus met near Jericho, but in Rev. Moore’s view we could just as easily substitute a trans person, or a refugee, or a protestor in the street.

The senseless hatred toward the blind and outcast was the same hatred that sent 13 improvised explosive devices in the mail over the last several weeks. It is the same hatred that walks into Synagogues and grocery stores and executes innocent people.

Rev. Moore invokes the Protestant Reformation in a call for another sort of reformation within the church. It is a call to reject forms of faith that cast people out, that leave them to die alone in hospital beds or vote them out of the community for living as who they are. “We’re gonna love one another,” he concluded, as the crowd joined in: “Every single other.”

It’s hard to imagine a more welcoming faith community than Fellow-

ship. After the sermon I talked with Violet, a transgender woman who read liturgy during the service. She became a member of Fellowship six years ago, when her old church rejected her gender identity. Although she is the only trans member, she says she feels at home.

When the White House announced plans to redefine gender based on sex assigned at birth, Rev. Moore reached out to Violet and told her that the community stood behind her. “It helps immensely to know that,” she said. “I’ve always felt that, but to hear it vocally is a totally different thing.”

Violet says that many trans people she knows completely leave the faith because of the treatment they receive.

Finding a faith community that is open and affirming can be life-changing, particularly for LGBTQ+ folk who were raised in religious families.

“Within the [LGBTQ+] community there are so many people who have been burned by the church,” Goins said. “They haven’t found a community that is willing to tell them that they are part of God’s community. They are the children of God.” When asked if there was a central message he would like to leave with people, Goins smiled. “Come,” he said. “Because you are welcome here.

Everybody is.” a FEATURED // 21

A PREVENTABLE C

Mental health professionals tackle Oklahoma’s rising suicide rate 22 // FEATURED

November 7 – 20, 2018 // THE TULSA VOICE

CRISIS

BY MARY NOBLE PHOTOS BY JOSEPH RUSHMORE THE TULSA VOICE // November 7 – 20, 2018

I

n the U.S., more people die by suicide than in car accidents, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Suicide has risen by 37 percent in Oklahoma since 1999—the eighth-highest rate in the nation. Despite this disturbing trend, $52.6 million has been cut from the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services over the past four years.

As a social worker in Oklahoma, I have witnessed firsthand the effects of Medicaid being cut from families that no longer meet income requirements, despite living in poverty. I have seen kids slip through the cracks of our mental health and school systems until their maladaptive behaviors and symptoms intensify to the point of needing inpatient services. Each year, 700,000 to 900,000 Oklahomans are identified as needing treatment for mental illness or substance abuse, yet only one-in-three of those identified are able to access it.

Last October, my friend and fellow social worker died by suicide. She was a tireless social justice advocate, fiercely devoted to the people she served. Her passion and dry sense of humor will stay with me forever.

Two months after her death, my good friend Chris Silberstein lost his mother to suicide. I asked Chris if he’d be willing to answer a couple of questions for this article. He was hesitant because, like many relatives and friends of people who have died by suicide, he experiences the stigma surrounding it.

Still, he recognizes the importance of dragging this difficult discussion out of the darkness and into the light. “It’s really sad and awful to talk about; however, I think we’d all be better off, and even happier, if we could ease up on the pressure to always appear like everything is fine.”

PREVENTION AND OUTREACH: QUESTION, PERSUADE, REFER (QPR) Despite reduced government funding, many local organizations within Oklahoma have worked to address our increasing suicide rate. Julie Summers, Director of Outreach and Prevention with Mental Health Association Tulsa (MHAT), shared information about the services provided in her department.

MHAT helps connect people with resources to navigate the mental health system with a focus on prevention, education and intervention. One of the organization’s training programs is known as QPR (Question, Persuade and Refer). “[It’s like the] CPR of mental health [because] it teaches you how to be the help until help comes,” Summers said.

QPR trains people to recognize the warning signs of a suicide crisis and how to question, persuade, and refer someone to get the help they need. It’s a one-hour, evidence-based training program that is available free of charge. “We tend to do it in groups like church groups, civic groups,

[and] employee groups. Just this week we hit 1,500 for the year, people that we’ve trained in QPR. We go across the city and across the state,” Summers said.

Emily Brandenburg, a board member of the Mental Health Association Tulsa, shared how her training in QPR has impacted her. “I’ve attended more than half a dozen trainings, and the relevancy is renewed each time. It was after that first training where I realized, though, that this was not my first exposure to QPR.” That first exposure came when her sister experienced suicidal feelings in high school, and a teacher responded with the strategies that would become central to Brandenburg’s own prevention training.

“The steps that teacher took next were a variation of QPR that ultimately led to my sister receiving the treatment and help she needed. Knowing that this teacher really only acted on her own intuition made me realize in the moments immediately following my first QPR training how really important an expertly crafted action plan was.

QPR takes those little tickling feelings and teaches you what to do with them.”

If you are interested in scheduling QPR training for your business, school, faith community, or civic organization, call 918-585-1213 or 405-943-3700.

RISK FACTORS Experts have been unable to pinpoint a single determining cause of the rising rate of suicide. They are complex and vary across culture, race, sexual orientation, age groups, and gender. Risk factors for suicide are also multifaceted and range from biopsychosocial factors such as mental illness, substance abuse disorders, history of trauma or abuse, previous attempts, or major physical illnesses.

Social and cultural risk factors can include lack of support, lack of access to health and mental health care, and stigma associated with seeking help. Environmental risk factors can include job loss, loss of a loved one, or easy access to lethal means.

“When we talk about limiting access to lethal means we’re not saying people who own guns are more likely to be suicidal. We are saying that if someone is suicidal and they have access to a gun, they are in far more danger than if they don’t,” Summers said. “Limiting access to lethal means is another big way of addressing the suicide issue. So, storing guns separately from ammunition, putting locks on guns that kids can’t access or people who are suicidal can’t access.”

No one is immune to mental health issues, but various at-risk groups do complete suicide at a higher rate. These include but are not limited to: Native Americans and Alaska Natives, the LGBTQ+ population, middle-aged men, veterans, and service men and women.

FEATURED // 23

MYTHS AND FACTS ABOUT SUICIDE MYTH: If someone wants to die, they will find a way, and there’s nothing you can do to stop it.

FACT: Suicide is the most preventable cause of death.

Suicide has risen by 37

since 1999—the eighth-hi

MYTH: People who are thinking about suicide don’t tell anyone.

Despite this disturbing trend,

FACT: Research suggests that as many as 75 percent of the people who attempt suicide do something or say something to let others know before they act, meaning there is significant opportunity to intervene and provide help and support.

from the Oklahoma Departm

Substance Abuse Services

MYTH: There are no warning signs of suicide.

FACT: There are many warning signs, including talking about feeling hopeless or having no reason to live.

MYTH: When people who are thinking about suicide seem to be feeling better, they are no longer at risk of suicide.

FACT: For some people, once they decide to die by suicide, they temporarily feel a sense of relief. At this point, it’s not too late to prevent suicide by asking a question and saving a life.

MYTH: Teenagers and college students are the most at risk for suicide.

FACT: For teens and college kids, the suicide rate is actually below the national average. The suicide rate is still highest among white men over the age of 65.

24 // FEATURED

AT-RISK: THE TRANSGENDER COMMUNITY Transgender people are 22 times more likely than the general population to complete suicide. A study from the flagship journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, found that 51 percent of transgender male adolescents and 30 percent of transgender female adolescents attempted suicide before the age of 18.

A study in LGBT Health found that transgender individuals who have experienced family rejection are at a higher risk for substance abuse and suicidality.

Another study, published in the Journal of Homosexuality, found a higher rate of suicide attempts in participants who had been denied access to a public restroom. The Dennis R. Neill Equality Center in Tulsa offers several support groups for transgender and intersex adolescents, adults, and groups for family members.

In October, the Trump Administration announced they were considering putting forth new policies that would legally define a person’s gender based on their biological sex at birth, a decision many consider to effectively erase transgender identity.

Since the announcement, Trans Lifeline, a crisis hotline for transgender people, has seen four times the number of calls to their suicide hotline.

Trans Lifeline: 877-565-8860

AT-RISK: VETERANS Oklahoma’s veterans die by suicide at a rate higher than the national average, according to a report released by the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs. In 2014, 149 veterans died by suicide at a rate of 53.8 veteran suicides per 100,000 veterans. In 2015, the number rose to 159. The national rate of veteran suicides is 38.4 per 100,000 veterans.

Oklahoma veterans ages 18-34 currently have the highest rate of suicide in the nation. Advocates and professionals believe many factors contribute to this climbing rate, such as lack of access to mental health services, substance abuse issues, access to firearms, and the difficult transition from military to civilian life.

Professionals say that the first year back from service is the most difficult for veterans. Veterans encounter an array of challenges after discharge such as a loss of community and feelings of isolation, difficulty finding jobs, trauma from sexual abuse while serving as well as trauma from combat often resulting in post-traumatic stress disorder.

The Tulsa Vet Center is open to any veteran who served in a combat zone or experienced sexual trauma while on active duty. The center offers individual and group counseling services to veterans and families who have lost a loved one. They also have a 24/7 crisis line: (918) 6282760.

AT-RISK: INDIGENOUS POPULATIONS Native American and Alaska Natives have the highest rate of completed suicide compared to any other ethnic group in the U.S. This increasing rate is especially prevalent in Native youth. With more than 573 federally recognized tribes and over 300 languages spoken, the issue of suicidality within the Native population is complex with each community presenting with unique issues and concerns.

In 2016, the Osage Nation Prevention Program (ONPP) received a grant to address the high rate of youth suicide in Osage County. For ages 15-24 from 20042013 the rate was 42.7 percent higher than the state average.

Nearly a quarter of the Native population in Osage County is younger than 25.

Therefore, emphasis has been placed on early interventions and positive youth development programming with Native youth to reduce risk for suicide and substance abuse.

“The [ONPP] community outreach efforts have a strong impact,” said Harmony Revard Fuller, a therapist with the Osage Nation in Pawhuska. “They are present at community events and in the school systems, making sure that individuals are educated on the resources at their disposal. Osage Nation Prevention collaborates with other organizations in an effort to bridge gaps and collect data so we as a Nation can better serve our people.”

November 7 – 20, 2018 // THE TULSA VOICE

WARNING SIGNS OF SUICIDE TALKING ABOUT WANTING TO DIE OR KILL THEMSELVES

7 percent in Oklahoma

ighest rate in the nation.

, $52.6 million has been cut

ment of Mental Health and

s over the past four years.

LOOKING FOR A WAY TO KILL THEMSELVES, SUCH AS SEARCHING ONLINE OR BUYING A GUN TALKING ABOUT FEELING HOPELESS OR HAVING NO REASON TO LIVE TALKING ABOUT FEELING TRAPPED OR IN UNBEARABLE PAIN TALKING ABOUT BEING A BURDEN TO OTHERS INCREASING THE USE OF ALCOHOL OR DRUGS ACTING ANXIOUS OR AGITATED; BEHAVING RECKLESSLY SLEEPING TOO LITTLE OR TOO MUCH WITHDRAWING OR ISOLATING THEMSELVES SHOWING RAGE OR TALKING ABOUT SEEKING REVENGE DISPLAYING EXTREME MOOD SWINGS

Revard discussed the benefits of the tribe providing a wide range of resources within Pawhuska, but pointed out that many rural towns in Osage County continue to lack resources. For one, residents often struggle financially and experience barriers to transportation.

“Even when individuals are willing to seek help, location of services can pose a real threat to that person's ability to connect with behavioral health supports. In more populated Osage County communities, we see better access,” Revard said.

“There are many small towns and communities outside of Pawhuska that do not have this sort of programming, so families are left to make tough decisions about whether or not they are able to travel for their behavioral health needs.”

CULTURAL COMPETENCY AND SUICIDE PREVENTION Revard shared that she sees a great need for culturally competent professionals within the field, especially when those professionals are working with a culture, race, or ethnicity different from their own. Lack of competence can result in poor quality of care and alienation from mental health services.

“It is so important to have cross-cultural knowledge,” Revard said. “Oklahoma is home to 39 tribal nations. As mental health providers, we should make an effort to know our clients in a cultural sense, especially if that can be a pathway to healing.

THE TULSA VOICE // November 7 – 20, 2018

Making assumptions about someone’s culture or lumping all tribes into one generic category can create unintentional harm. … Mental health providers [should] step outside of their comfort-zone and make space for the incorporation of traditional healing. Tradition is healing, and there is resiliency and power in that.”

“MORE THAN HER LAST DAY” “It’s a difficult subject to be public about,” my friend Chris Silberstein said, when asked about his mom’s death. “On the one hand, there’s the very real stigmas that exist about mental health issues. And on the other … I really don’t want the first thing people think when they hear my name is, ‘Oh yeah, his mother committed suicide,’ which is a big part of why people are so private about [it].

“The truth is we’re not all thriving all the time,” he continued. “And we need to be more open about that so that people that need help feel a little less worried about how they’ll be perceived for needing some help. And, for those of us who have experienced suicide firsthand, I think it’s really important we remind ourselves that we’re not defined solely by this tragic thing that happened, and neither should our departed loved ones. My mother lived 49 years before she left this planet. I think we owe it to her to remember her by more than her last day here.” a

HARMONY REVARD FULLER, THERAPIST WITH THE OSAGE NATION IN PAWHUSKA

If you need help, call the National Suicide Prevention Hotline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).

Veterans may press 1 to be directed to the Veteran Crisis Line.

National Crisis Text Line: Text “Help” to 741741 COPES is a 24-7 free mobile crisis program serving adults and children in psychiatric crisis, If you or someone that you know is in crisis, you can contact COPES at (918) 744-4800.

FEATURED // 25

community

Y

ou’ll pass plenty of churches on your way to The ReVue. One is even called, plainly, Real Church. But the service we’ll be attending this morning is decidedly not held at a real church, though many of the standard symbols will be on display: crosses and holy water, the preacher’s wife, and a church activities coordinator. And singing.

Lots of singing. This is a Gospel Brunch, after all, but the church elders leading this service are foul-mouthed drag queens—and nothing is sacred.

The ReVue was born in August 2018 filling a gaping hole in Tulsa’s gay bar scene. Over the years, gay bars have steadily dropped off as the LGBTQ+ community has found increasing acceptance among the general public. First, TNT’s—a long-standing lesbian bar—closed. Next, the two-stepping staple Maverick’s shuttered its doors. Most recently, Renegades, the dive bar loved by people across the gay-straight spectrum for its killer karaoke and lively drag shows, closed suddenly. Bamboo followed suit shortly thereafter, leaving Tulsa with just three gay bars and limited venues for drag performance. Displaced staff and bereft drag kings and queens looked to Deb and Lynn Starnes, a prominent couple in the gay community and promoters for the drag pageant systems, to help them find a home.

“Because of our history with drag and with the community, we didn’t want to see that die,” Deb Starnes said. “It’s an important part of the history, and there just wasn’t anything left.”

Lynn Starnes, a 2004 National Drag King winner, believes drag performers hold the keys to LGBTQ+ history. Drag has been a part of the gay community ever since men put on dresses in Ancient Greece, and has been at the forefront of major historical events like the Stonewall riots of 1969. For queens, drag has long been seen as theatric performance, while women historically employed drag as a survival mechanism and to gain access to spaces 26 // ARTS & CULTURE

Sister Holy performs at Gospel Brunch on Oct. 23. | VALERIE GRANT

TAKE ME TO CHURCH Finding salvation in a gay bar

by JESSICA BRENT (such as bars) historically held for men. Though the art of drag has evolved over the years, its significance has not diminished.

Lynn emphasizes the importance of maintaining spaces for drag entertainers to perform, and to carry the art forward by bringing up new kings and queens.

Though the judgmental outsider may view drag performers as salacious sinners, Lynn sees them differently.

“They are role models and icons in our community,” she said.

And they needed a stage.

The ReVue found a fitting home in the very same building that housed Maverick’s for so many years. If you ever scooted

your boots across Maverick’s floor, the bar will feel familiar—but the redesign puts drag performance front and center. Portraits of drag queens line the walls. Bistro tables and cushioned dinner theater-style seats are arranged neatly around an elevated stage.

Seating for Gospel Brunch begins at noon. Guests are invited to pick from a spread provided by TW’s AFAB Catering and enjoy a breakfast cocktail while jotting down prayer requests. At 1 p.m. the show begins with three energetic performances (the opening song when I attended was “You Can’t Pray the Gay Away” by Laura Bell Bundy) after which the ladies settle down at a table onstage to

shoot the breeze and read from the church bulletin. Their banter is quick-witted, the innuendos are strong, and the audience is eager to engage with the performers. As they read prayer requests, Sister Holy waves an arm and repeats the requests in a whisper before sniffing the subjects out of the audience and laying her hands upon them.

This is all very different from the yawn-inducing church services of my youth. I find myself wondering about that Real Church I passed on the way to the bar.

What does a congregation look for in a church? A direct line to God, or a sense of community? Though Gospel Brunch pokes fun at all that is holy and the direct line to God might have some static, it does offer a safe space for fellowship, love, and acceptance.

When I ask Deb and Lynn if they’ve been able to attract to the bar the younger generation, a population that hasn’t experienced the same closeted culture we did, they point out that not everyone has benefited from the level of acceptance seen in bigger cities.

Many of their patrons travel over a hundred miles to find a safe haven in a gay bar.

And when it comes to kids these days, Deb says, “I also think in many ways they are seeking community.”

As the show unfolds, a sharply-dressed young man heckles the performers and pretends to toss his hair with every biting exchange. When he stands to offer a tip to one of the drag queens, I notice he’s donning a sassy-yet-sensible heel. It is not an exotic stiletto. It’s taupe in color with a rounded toe. It is the type of heel one might wear to church. Nothing else about his outfit is especially feminine, just the heels. I could be wrong, but I imagine that this dark bar full of fellow gays might be one of the only places he feels relaxed enough to slip into a pair of heels and have a ball.

Maybe it’s not a Real Church, but you can certainly find salvation in a gay bar. a November 7 – 20, 2018 // THE TULSA VOICE

Sunday, November 11 2:30pm Tulsa Performing Arts Center Experience the breathtaking 1962 work, “War Requiem,” led by Guest Conductor James Bagwell. This large-scale masterpiece combines the Latin Requiem Mass with the wartime poetry of British writer Wilfred Owen to offer a moving prayer for peace that sounds entirely as relevant today as it did when it premiered in Coventry Cathedral.

E V E N T S @ T PA C

Benjamin Britten’s

Brentano Quartet with Violist Hsin-Yun Huang Chamber Music Tulsa Nov. 11 Britten’s War Requiem Tulsa Symphony Nov. 11 An Evening with David Sedaris Innovation Arts & Entertainment Nov. 13 Lisa Genova Tulsa Town Hall Nov. 16 Alice In Wonderland Tulsa PAC Trust Imagination Series Nov. 15 & 16 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets In Concert Tulsa Symphony Nov. 17 & 18 Faith Prince: Have A Little Faith Tulsa PAC Trust Nov. 17 Irving Berlin’s White Christmas Celebrity Attractions with Tulsa PAC Trust Nov. 20-25

TICKETS @ TULSAPAC.COM 918.596.7111

tickets at tulsasymphony.org

NOV. 9 & 10 @ 8 pm NOV. 11 @ 2 pm LIVING ARTS • 307 E BRADY ST NOV. 9-10 & 16-17 @ 8PM NOV. 11 & 18 @ 2PM

telatulsa.com THE TULSA VOICE // November 7 – 20, 2018

squareup.com/store/atctulsa americantheatrecompany.org

STUDIO 308 308 S LANSING AVE

ARTS & CULTURE // 27

bookworm

The patience for borrowing Susan Orlean on why libraries matter

by CASSIDY MCCANTS

A

MCCANTS: You write about how the library is an easy place to be when you have nowhere else to go. I think that’s a beautiful thing about a library, but if this is true, why are so many of us afraid that libraries are in danger?

s a staff writer for The New Yorker, Susan Orlean has explored a plethora of topics related to arts, news, and culture—Justin Bieber, “mom jeans,” and medical marijuana among them—for more than 25 years. She’s also the author of several books of nonfiction, including “The Orchid Thief: A True Story of Beauty and Obsession” (1998), which was the inspiration for 2002’s Spike Jonze/ Charlie Kaufman film “Adaptation.” Susan spoke with me on the phone about her newest book, “The Library Book,” in which she reverently considers the importance of libraries in both her own life and for our culture as a whole.

Booksmart Tulsa will bring her in to visit Tulsa’s Central Library on Nov. 17 to talk more about why libraries matter.

CASSIDY MCCANTS: Hey, Susan.

Thanks for taking the time to talk with me. We’re looking forward to having you in Tulsa.

SUSAN ORLEAN: Ah, thanks. You too.

MCCANTS: Have you been to Tulsa before?

ORLEAN: Never. Oklahoma is the only state I’ve never been to, so this is going to be a watershed moment for me.

MCCANTS: I suppose you’ll be talking about why libraries matter, referring to your most recent book, “The Library Book.” I’m curious about how writing this one might have been different from your past projects. Could you talk a little about what exactly brought you to writing “The Library Book” and how it might have been different from or similar to your other journalistic work?

28 // ARTS & CULTURE

Susan Orlean | NOAH FECKS

ORLEAN: That’s a good question, and I’ve been thinking lately about how it’s different from my other books. One thing it has in common: I’m very interested in things I think I know everything about—I know how it works, I know everything about it—and discovering that I actually know nothing about them. That’s been true of every one of my books.

There’s the sense that something that seemed familiar is actually full of mystery and much more complex than I expected. … Libraries were so familiar to me, and yet I never really thought about them, never thought of how they worked, never thought of their history, never thought about why they were particularly meaningful to me or to anybody. And doing the book was an examination of

this thing that seemed so familiar that actually proved to be much more complex and interesting and complicated than I had realized.

I guess what was different was this felt very personal, more than any other book I’ve written. … I was thinking about going to the library with my mom as a kid and taking my son when he was old enough to go—and, additionally, being new to L.A. and stumbling into the library and into the story of the fire—it was a much more personal book, even though the subject seemed like it wouldn’t lend itself to being personal. …

I became very curious about how libraries have so much meaning for us, how much they have for me, and trying to figure out why a place filled with books feels so meaningful.

ORLEAN: Well, I think we have reason to worry about libraries.

First of all, the development of the internet began making people wonder if we needed libraries, and the minute you start wondering if you need something, there’s a reason to worry it’s going to begin disappearing very quickly. Libraries are a very easy thing for cities to cut money from, you know; they’re not the fire department, the police department. It feels very easy to say there’s going to be less money in the budget for the library.

And I have this other feeling that I and many people I know, at a certain point, sort of lost the patience for borrowing things and wanted to own anything we’re interested in. I think that made libraries seem sort of slow and old-fashioned and kind of speaking to a different culture. … And I think as a culture we kind of lost an appreciation for not only sharing books but sharing space, that you might go to a library just to hang out and to be in a public space. … So there are a lot of reasons libraries began to feel they weren’t part of the modern world anymore, and now I think we’re beginning to see them kind of roaring back to life. I think people appreciate once again the idea of sharing and public space, and I happen to think libraries are on the brink of being reborn as something really important to communities.

MCCANTS: I know the saving embrace a library can give us seems really important to me right now.

What are your thoughts about November 7 – 20, 2018 // THE TULSA VOICE

why, particularly right now, we need that kind of shared space, shared knowledge?

ORLEAN: We’re living in a moment in time where it feels like we don’t exist as a community. There’s so much divisiveness and polarization. … I think there is something incredibly uplifting about being in public, peacefully, with other people in your community, that everyone craves. I don’t think you would see the explosion of coffee shops if there weren’t that feeling that people just want to be together, to sort of feel that they’re part of a communal experience.

You know, you can make coffee at home, you can buy a book at home, but the idea that you share space with other people and get out of your own individual private world feels really good and makes you feel that maybe society will survive after all.

MCCANTS: When you write about the burning of the Los Angeles Central Library you talk about people going in, saving the books, and kind of creating a “living library,” passing along those books to rescue them. It’s a beautiful image—but you also bring up the realization of how quickly these human stories can disappear. All these things have been chronicled, and then these physical copies can just be gone in an instant. Do you think this is what a typical library arsonist is going for—making these stories disappear?

ORLEAN: You know, I think it really depends. Arson is a very strange crime. There are a lot of people who are pyromaniacs and simply want to set things on fire. I don’t think they care what it is—they’re just setting things on fire. But libraries have been burned throughout history by people who are trying to say the stories are being erased, and that’s very meaningful. It’s a way of trying to erase a human component. It’s not merely a book or paper that’s burning; it’s a way of threatening the very idea that a story can last, that knowledge can last. It’s a symbolic destruction of that.

MCCANTS: You chose to burn a book to see what the Central Library arsonist might have seen. Do you think you’ll ever do this again?

THE TULSA VOICE // November 7 – 20, 2018

ORLEAN: Ah! [Laughs.] No, definitely not. Thank you for asking, because I want to make it clear I don’t see it as a new hobby of mine. [Laughs.] It was very hard to do. … I cannot imagine a situation where I would do it again.

It was an incredibly uncomfortable feeling. I’m glad I did it—it was really interesting for the sake of the book—but, boy oh boy, it was weird. I don’t think I’ll be doing it again.

MCCANTS: You mention in the book it being a kind of terrorism to set a library on fire, to create violence there, because it’s somewhere that’s assumed to be safe.

This is kind of mushy, but I wonder what you think we can do to help keep each other safe. What’s next—what’s most pressing for us in taking care of one another?

These terrible things obviously happen—and not infrequently. Do we have any hope against them?

ORLEAN: I don’t think it’s mushy!

Not to put too much weight on the value of a library, but I think a sense of community is something we’ve really lost. The great pursuit of a private house and your own yard and your own car—things that are not communal but individual—that’s very much part of the American character, but community is one we can’t lose. Supporting and making use of these places that bring us together—while it’s not going to cure all the ills of society, I think being reminded that we actually are part of communities that need to exist peacefully together is incredibly important. …

There have been a lot of studies of pubs in England, [which are] almost like community centers.

Everywhere a pub has closed they found that people feel they don’t know their neighbors anymore. A library can serve that purpose as well. If you know your neighbors, you care about your neighbors.

That’s a given.

MCCANTS: Thank you, Susan. It’s been lovely. We’re looking forward to having you here. I hope you enjoy Tulsa.

ORLEAN: You’re so welcome. I’m excited. I’m really genuinely looking forward to it—I can tick off my 50th state, say, “I’ve done it.” a

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FAITH PRINCE HAVE A LITTLE

FAITH NOV. 17 @ 8 P.M.

Tulsa Performing Arts Center Liddy Doenges Theatre TULSAPAC.COM 918.596.7111

PRESENTED BY

PRESENTS

A

Little Princess

A DA PT ED BY V ER A M O R R I S

Nov 30 & Dec 7 @ 7:30pm • Dec 1, 2, 8, 9 @ 2pm Spotlight Theatre • 1381 Riverside Dr

Tickets available by calling 918-587-5030 or visiting www.spotlighttheatre.org.

ARTS & CULTURE // 29

artspot

Art for all

Philbrook’s new exhibit blurs the line between poetry and art

by BLAYKLEE FREED Mel Bochner is no poet.

At least, that’s what he says.

While the eloquent contemporary artist’s ability to spin simple words into compelling art speaks the truths of our time similar to poetry, it’s the visual element that makes his work pop. Bochner’s exhibition, “Amazing! Mel Bochner Prints from the Collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer and His Family Foundation,” is on display now at the Philbrook Museum of Art, the exhibition’s debut venue.

The collection contains work from Bochner’s days as a budding artist in the 60s, playing with numbers and perspective, to his most recent work that you’ve probably already seen around town on billboards: large monospaced type with incredible depth, texture, and color.

“Blah, Blah, Blah” and its numerous iterations are some of Bochner’s most popular works.

The simple word repeated three times in large, textured yet uniform text, forces viewers to think about the word—and about the meaning of language and speech.

His evolution was gradual, but Bochner recalled a moment in 2002 when his “thesaurus works” came to life.

“I was writing something and I hadn’t brought my thesaurus with me, so I went to the book store and they had a very new edition of the thesaurus. And I bought it and was looking at it—and it wasn’t like the thesaurus I had in college, which I’ve kept all these years,” Bochner said. “It was a new kind of language. Obscenities. Very rough stuff. And I thought, this is really interesting because the thesaurus is a picture of language, and children get to look at this book. So that meant to me that the politics of language had changed.”

30 // ARTS & CULTURE

“Blah, Blah, Blah” and “Do I have to draw you a picture?” by Mel Bochner | COURTESY PHILBROOK

Entering the gallery on the left side, a striking piece will catch your eye, but the language it explores will be unfamiliar to many Tulsans. The vibrant yellow felt words contrast with a dark backdrop in “The Joys of Yiddish,” a nod to Bochner’s roots, and a reminder of the yellow felt stars Jews were forced to wear while Nazis ruled most of Europe.

As you make your way around the exhibit clockwise, Bochner’s earlier work starts to appear— work that followed the movements of abstract expressionism and pop art—and, though he loved both of those styles, Bochner wanted

to carve out a space for himself.

So he started using numbers and playing with perspective.

“I was trying to find something that could just belong to me.

And it occurred to me that there’s nothing in the world that can just belong to you, but there are things that belong to everybody—so in a way, by belonging to everybody, they belong to nobody,” Bochner said. “There's a built in order [with numbers] that you adopt and you use, and I wanted to see how far I could take that and what I could do with that, and if I could even use that to make work that was interesting.”

One example is the 1979 piece “Range,” a silkscreen print that contains alternating sets of black and red numbers—zero through nine. Up close, the numbers are clear and legible, but take a few steps back and the interchanging black sets and red sets morph into strips of sporadic color. The work hinges on your perspective.

When asked why he was drawn to Mel Bochner, collector Jordan Schnitzer said it’s because artists are chroniclers of our time, and Bochner is one of the best because he uses symbols—words and numbers—that anyone can connect to, allowing his work reach broad audiences.

“If we look nationally about how we talk to each other, about discourse, about words and what they mean or do not mean, there is no one better in the art world today than Mel Bochner,” Schnitzer said. “[His work] forces us to deal with our thoughts and our words.”

Schnitzer and Bochner both stressed that art is for everyone.

It’s not an elitist experience.

Bochner’s work connects with anyone who uses words and numbers, with anyone who appreciates stunning variations of color and texture.

Schnitzer also emphasized the importance of approaching art without being overly analytical.

“Go to a gallery, go to a street fair, go anywhere, and just look.” He relates this simple act of experiencing art to a particularly blissful brush with Oklahoma barbecue.

“I was in heaven. The brisket was amazing. The links. The chicken.

I didn’t sit there and think, ‘Well, How do they cook it? ... I’m just experiencing the flavors and the taste and feeling so lucky to be in Tulsa eating this barbecue that I love.” a November 7 – 20, 2018 // THE TULSA VOICE

sportsreport

SELLING OUT TO THE BARE WALLS! 6006 S Sheridan Road • Tulsa, OK 74145 STORE CLOSED UNTIL FRIDAY TO MARK DOWN PRICES!

Tulsa Oilers play on home ice at the BOK Center | DAVID LACKEY PHOTOGRAPHY

SQUAD GOALS Oilers, off to strong start, have the playoffs in their sight

by JOHN TRANCHINA THE TULSA OILERS NEEDED TO JUMP OUT to a fast start for their 2018-19 season, based on the schedule—and so far, they have done just that.

In their fifth year in the ECHL (essentially the Double-A level of minor league hockey, the second rung below the NHL), their 11th year at BOK Center and 67th overall, the Oilers started 4-0-1 in their first five games, part of a season-opening eight-game homestand.

Attempting to return to the playoffs for the first time since 2015, Tulsa wanted to bank some points in those first few contests on home ice before the schedule got more difficult. They will have a season-high seven-game road trip over a span of 14 days in December, so it was important to start strong.

“You feel the pressure. You definitely want to take advantage of it,” said Rob Murray, Oilers second-year coach and director of hockey operations. “I think we’re doing that as of right now, but we just got to keep doing it.”

The early going has featured impressive victories over traditional rivals Allen (6-4 on Oct. 21), Kansas City (4-1 on Oct. 26) and Wichita (2-1 in overtime on Oct. 27). Sixth-year Oiler and captain Adam Pleskach (two goals, four assists) and second-year goaltender Devin Williams (2.00 goals against average, .933 save percentage) have led the way.

Second-year Ryan Tesink (one goal, five assists), veteran newcomer Peter Sivak (three goals, two assists), and rookie Jared Thomas (three goals, two assists), THE TULSA VOICE // November 7 – 20, 2018

among others, also performed well in the early going.

In addition to re-signing solid defensemen Eric Drapluk and Steven Kaunisto, Tulsa has received several key players from AHL San Antonio, such as Thomas and last year’s leading scorer, Charlie Sampair, thanks to its primary affiliation with the NHL’s St. Louis Blues. The Oilers also forged a secondary agreement with AHL San Diego that has resulted in three defensemen—Scott Moldenhauer, Terrance Amorosa and Chris Forney—joining the squad and bolstering the blueline.

“I got a call from the GM in San Diego during the summer and he just asked me if there was any room to place players, because they didn’t have an affiliate,” Murray said. “The way the rules work in our league is that you can only have a marquee-type affiliation, so St. Louis gets the billing—but San Diego, I said if they wanted to assign players here, I’d be more than willing to take them. They’re big, strong, good hockey players. It was beneficial to us to take those guys on.”

As the different factions of the team continue to mold together, Murray has been pleased with the early-season progress, and hopes it results in a return to the playoffs.

“I think, as a team, we can get better,” said Murray, who won the ECHL’s Kelly Cup championship in 2014 with the Alaska Aces. “The biggest thing is to make the playoffs. We didn’t last year and that puts it at three in a row, so for me, getting that done is the number one thing on my list.

I like how the team looks right now.” a

GREAT $2,000,000 STORE CLOSING SALE! - THE REASON FOR THIS GREAT SALE -

For 32 years, the Castleberry family has been serving the Tulsa area with Ethan Allen home furnishings and impeccable service. Now, the time has come to close our store permanently.

OUR STORE IS NOW CLOSED TO MARK DOWN PRICES on every floor sample, every one-of-a-kind item, all warehouse inventory, accessories and hand–knotted rugs, traditional, transitional and contemporary designs at total liquidation prices. We will also be offering special discounts on custom orders for a limited time. Everything will be plainly marked on sale tags for immediate pick-up or delivery. NOTHING WILL BE HELD BACK! We will open to the general public on Friday, November 9th.

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GREAT TERMS OF SALE SALE DAYS! Friday 10-6 Saturday 10-6 Sunday 1-5

- ALL ITEMS SUBJECT TO PRIOR SALE. - NO REFUNDS OR EXCHANGES. - CREDIT CARDS WELCOME. - DELIVERY AVAILABLE. - FINANCING AVAILABLE OAC*

SELLING OUT OUR COMPLETE & ENTIRE STOCK! √ LIVING ROOMS √ DINING ROOMS √ BEDROOMS √ SOFAS √ CHAIRS √ BEDS √ CHESTS √ SECTIONAL SOFAS √ TABLES √ SIDEBOARDS √ CABINETS √ LEATHER UPHOLSTERY √ BOOKCASES √ RECLINERS √ TV CONSOLES √ MATTRESS SETS √ LAMPS √ ACCESSORIES √ CHANDELIERS √ FOLIAGE

SALE BEGINS FRIDAY AT 10 AM! Permit# N/A

*Excludes prior sales, back orders and other offers.

All advertised items subject to prior sale. All merchandise sold “as is.”

© Lynch Sales Company 2018

ARTS & CULTURE // 31

onstage

T

he Moth Radio Hour features stories from live shows around the world, offering brief glimpses into the lives and background of the storytellers. The series debuted in 2009 and airs on more than 400 stations.

The Moth Mainstage is a multimedia experience with live music, audience interaction, and live storytelling. The Moth Education Program works with young people and educators around the nation to build community through storytelling workshops, performances, and innovative resources.

Larry Rosen—a master storytelling instructor with the Moth Education Program and the Community Program Manager for the Moth Radio Hour—has been teaching, directing, and practicing theater and comedy performance for more than 25 years. He has received numerous awards for his performances and has more than a decade of experience working with The Moth.

On Nov. 15, The Moth Mainstage comes to Cain’s Ballroom in partnership with KOSU Public Radio for a night of storytelling featuring five performers who will fine-tune their unforgettable stories with the Moth’s directors before sharing them with the public.

DAMION SHADE: How did you get connected to the Moth Radio Hour?

LARRY ROSEN: I began my work with the Moth as an instructor.

The Moth has several different instruction programs. We teach these story workshops in various communities. I began that almost 10 years ago. Since that time, I’ve been coaching storytellers on many different levels. Teaching workshops and also directing these mainstage shows like the one that we have coming up in Tulsa. What started as a community program had another arm added to it with the global community program.

32 // ARTS & CULTURE

YOU AND YOUR STORY Larry Rosen brings The Moth Mainstage storytelling event to Tulsa

by DAMION SHADE

So I teach a lot of workshops now overseas. We’ve been teaching a lot in Africa for the past four years.

It’s been incredible to see how universal and powerful the storytelling medium can be everywhere we go.

SHADE: It seems like there’s been a real resurgence of live storytelling in recent years. Why do you think that is?

ROSEN: In one word, I would say: connections. It serves a need and a want that people have, which when you think about it, is so basic but it’s more and more needed.

If you ever attend these events, it’s just people getting up and sharing themselves. They’re sharing these true stories from their lives. We like to say this is taken right from The Moth’s mission. Stories honor the diversity and commonality of human experience.

You’ll hear a story where the particulars of that person’s experience are quite different from anything that you’ve gone through, but the theme—which is what we’re always looking for—the themes are universal. So people connect to the story of an astronaut or a voodoo priestess, whoever’s telling the story, but they may be telling a story that’s also about family, which is a place where we all connect. So I really think it’s that connection, and I think that the crazier the world gets the more important that connection becomes.

SHADE: There are some Tulsans performing at The Moth Mainstage event at Cain’s, right?

ROSEN: We have two storytellers from the area, and if they’re representative of the people of Tulsa, then I may just move there.

They’re such lovely, sensitive, compassionate people—and so interesting.

One is Connie Cronley. Connie’s a writer. She’s the former executive director of Tulsa Ballet Theater, and she’s also the former executive director of the Iron Gate soup kitchen. She’s written books and her public radio commentaries are heard on KWGS, and she also has a column that’s called “Musings” that appears monthly in TulsaPeople magazine.

Our second Tulsan is Anthony Brinkley. His friends call him Tony B, and he’s sometimes referred to as the godfather of Tulsa poetry. I don’t know if you’re familiar with the series “Ok, So Tulsa.” Tony was their first Grand Slam Champion. He’s also been published in the Living Arts Poetry Chapbook and J Pearle Magazine, and he’s a regularly performing poet and storyteller. He’s a board member at Living Arts, and he hosts two popular annual events: Love and Lust Valentine’s Poetry Show and the yearly Living Arts Poetry Slam. Tony and Connie are both fabulous storytellers and amazing people.

SHADE: Why is it important that we teach storytelling to our kids?

ROSEN: The Moth has a whole education program, which works with high school and college students.

To see what it’s done for these kids is living proof of the power of it. People need to be heard.

People need to know that their experiences are important and that their experiences are worth knowing about, and also that we want to hear what you have to say. It’s that combination of those two things. Honoring what you’ve been through and then honoring you talking about it. You get both of those things at the same time.

It’s a wonderful thing when you write about your experiences.

When you read it, that’s beautiful on its level. We get to listen to you face-to-face, and we get to show you in the room how much we value you and your story. a November 7 – 20, 2018 // THE TULSA VOICE

presents

ni concert

Saturday, December 1, 7:30pm Tulsa Performing Arts Center

A true holiday favorite, this beloved comedy classic features composer John Williams’ charming and delightful score performed live to picture by the Tulsa Symphony.

Macaulay Culkin stars as Kevin McCallister, an 8-year-old boy who’s accidentally left behind when his family leaves for Christmas vacation, and who must defend his home against two bungling thieves. Hilarious and heart-warming, Home Alone is holiday fun for the entire family!

tickets: tulsasymphony.org or (918) 596-7111 © 1990 Twentieth Century Fox

www.guthriegreen.com

THE TULSA VOICE // November 7 – 20, 2018

ARTS & CULTURE // 33

contactsheet

CHICKS IN BOWLS words and photos by GREG KING Scrolling through my Instagram feed, I came across a woman named Michelle Steilen (aka @estrojen) doing tricks, grinds, flips, and handstands on roller-skates. At the time, I was shooting for different inline skating magazines here in the U.S. and Europe, but I’d never seen anyone doing the same type of tricks on quad roller-skates. I immediately started following her and a few other women who were doing the same thing as part of a group called Chicks in Bowls, which has chapters all over the world. It wasn’t until I moved to Tulsa a few months back that I experienced this movement in person, while checking out the skatepark at Gathering Place. Most of these skaters train at parks to stay sharp for roller derby—others just for fun. One thing they all have in common is their dedication to what they do, and their desire to motivate other women to try something different. I was lucky enough to get to know some of the local “chicks” who are a part of this global movement and experience what they do firsthand, and get some really rad photos along the way. Check out more coverage of what these skaters can do at chicksinbowls.com or on the Oklahoma chapter Instagram: @ciboklahoma. a Contact Sheet is a place for local photographers to share their projects.

If you’re interested in submitting, write to voices@langdonpublishing.com.

You can follow Greg on Instagram at @greg_king_photo.

34 // ARTS & CULTURE

November 7 – 20, 2018 // THE TULSA VOICE

THE TULSA VOICE // November 7 – 20, 2018

ARTS & CULTURE // 35

VETERANS DAY

T

his year marks the 100th anniversary of Armistice Day, the end of WWI. In 1954, the national holiday was renamed Veterans Day, to pay tribute to all American veterans.

Tulsa Symphony will honor veterans with a performance of Benjamin Britten’s “War Requiem.” Nov. 11, 2:30 p.m., $15–$70, Tulsa PAC – Chapman Music Hall The Tulsa Veterans Day Parade will take place on Monday, November 12, starting at 11 a.m. at 3rd Street and Cincinnati Avenue, winding through downtown and ending at 6th Street and Frankfort Avenue.

AUTHOR

SPEAKER

David Grann, the best-selling author of “Killers of the Flower Moon” will celebrate the release of his new book, “The White Darkness,” at All Souls Unitarian Church. Nov. 8, 7 p.m., $25, booksmarttulsa.com

Best-selling author, public radio contributor, and comedian David Sedaris will share new stories, followed by an audience Q&A at Tulsa PAC’s Chapman Music Hall. Nov. 13, 7:30 p.m., $38–$48, tulsapac.com

CRAFT BEER

CALLING ALL DESIGNERS

Tulsa Press Club’s 14th annual First Draft event will feature more than 100 Oklahoma craft beers to sample as well as more than 25 from out of state.

Nov. 9, 6–9 p.m., $30–$60

Art Directors Club of Tulsa presents the inaugural Kern & Burn, a fast-paced design competition for teams in three fiery rounds. Nov. 15, 6–9 p.m., Fassler Hall, adctulsa.com

ICON

STORIES

Special guest speakers will pay tribute to the Master of Space and Time and will unveil and dedicate the Leon Russell Monument at Memorial Park Cemetary. Nov. 10, 10 a.m.

Hear true stories from five storytellers as KOSU presents The Moth Mainstage at Cain’s Ballroom.

Nov. 15, 7:30 p.m., $50, cainsballroom.com

5TH ANNUAL

OUTDOOR THEATRE

Horton Records’ Rock N’ Folk N’ Chili Cook-Off will feature chili from more than 15 local restaurants (and some musicians), as well as six hours of music, including an all-star Tribute to Tulsa Music. Nov. 10, 5:30–11:30 p.m., $12–$15, hortonrecords.com

Stroll through the Arts District for drinks and see excerpts of some of The Immortal Bard’s greatest plays on Theatre Tulsa’s Shakesbeer Pub Crawl.

Nov. 17, 7–10 p.m., $25, theatretulsa.org

36 // ARTS & CULTURE

November 7 – 20, 2018 // THE TULSA VOICE

EVENTS Think & Drink: The Brain Disease Model of Addiction // 11/8, Heirloom Rustic Ales, facebook.com/events/329144707903139 Ruined My Rhythm, Vol. 3 Signing // 11/8, Whitty Books, facebook.com/shopwhittybooks Tulsa Hurling Club Charitable Affair // 11/9, Dead Armadillo Brewery, facebook.com/ TulsaGAC Rad Rewind: 80s Music Video Watch Party // 11/9, Philbrook Museum of Art, philbrook.org The Artists Are In: Black Moon // 11/10, ahha, ahhatulsa.org Handcrafted Market // 11/10, Dead Armadillo Brewery, facebook.com/ events/477236652793146 Gypsy Soul Holistic Fair // 11/10, Doubletree Hotel Downtown Tulsa, facebook.com/ gypsysoulholisticfair 2nd Sunday Walking Tour - Route 66 & Blue Dome // 11/10, Tours begin at Ross Group, tulsaarchitecture.org Harry Potter Day // 11/11, Inner Circle Vodka Bar, icvodkabar.com Lights On! // 11/15, Main Street Jenks, jenkschamber.com/event/lights-on-2018 Dickens on the Boulevard // 11/16-17, Claremore, visitclaremore.org/calendar

FESTIVUS FOR THE BEST OF US Wed., Nov. 7-Sun., Nov. 11

M

r. Burns and Dismond J’s Festivus For The Best Of Us will feature several nights of hip hop, including Lyrical Smoke (Nov. 7) and Push Gang, Damion Shade, Vic Goes Hard, and more (Nov. 8) at Soundpony, Higher Learning Academy, Steph Simon, Oilhouse, and others at Fassler Hall (Nov. 10), and The Neighbors and Alan Doyle at Buckaneer Bar (Nov. 11).

AUTHOR

Best-selling author Susan Orlean will discuss, “The Library Book,” in which she reopens the mystery of the most catastrophic library fire in American history. Read an interview with Orlean on pg. 28. Nov. 17, 7 p.m., Central Library, magiccitybooks.com RUN

Take on the Mother Road on foot or cheer for the thousands of runners in Tulsa for the Route 66 Marathon. Nov. 17–18, route66marathon.com

An Affair of the Heart // 11/16-11/18, River Spirit Expo, heartoftulsa.com

Tulsa Native Gary Busey will appear for a signing of his new book “Buseyisms: Gary Busey’s Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth” ahead of a screening of his classic action film, “Point Break” at Circle Cinema. Nov. 18, 1 p.m., $35, circlecinema.com THE TULSA VOICE // November 7 – 20, 2018

Faith Prince: Have a Little Faith // 11/17, Tulsa Performing Arts Center - Liddy Doenges Theatre, tulsapac.com Irving Berlin’s White Christmas // 11/20-25, Tulsa Performing Arts Center - Chapman Music Hall, tulsapac.com

COMEDY VFW Comedy Open Mic // 11/7, Centennial Lounge at VFW Post 577, facebook.com/ vfwcomedyopenmic Jake Johannsen, Matt Donaher, Landry // 11/711/10, Loony Bin, tulsa.loonybincomedy.com Whose Line Is It Anyway Rip-Off Show // 11/910, Rabbit Hole Improv, rabbitholeimprov.com Open Mic Comedy // 11/13, The Fur Shop, facebook.com/TheFurShopTulsa VFW Comedy Open Mic // 11/14, Centennial Lounge at VFW Post 577, facebook.com/ vfwcomedyopenmic Drew Thomas // 11/14-17, Loony Bin, tulsa.loonybincomedy.com Cloud Cuckoo Land’s Cornucopia of Comedy // 11/16-17, Rabbit Hole Improv, rabbitholeimprov.com Open Mic Comedy // 11/19, The Fur Shop, facebook.com/TheFurShopTulsa

Lisa Genova – Still Alice: Understanding Alzheimer’s // 11/16, Tulsa Performing Arts Center - Chapman Music Hall, tulsatownhall.com

SPORTS

Charles Page Studios Block Party // 11/17, Charles Page Studios, facebook.com/ CharlesPageStudios

Nitro Arenacross Tour // 11/9-10, Claremore Expo Center, nitroaxtour.com

90s Bar Crawl // 11/17, Downtown Tulsa, 90sbarcrawl.com Boare’s Heade Feaste // 11/17, The Castle of Muskogee, okcastle.com International Survivors of Suicide Loss Day // 11/17, The Tristesse Grief Center, thegriefcenter.org

ORU Volleyball vs North Dakota State // 11/9, Case Aerobics Center, oruathletics.com

ORU Men’s Basketball vs Southwestern // 11/9, Mabee Center, oruathletics.com TU Volleyball vs SMU // 11/9, Reynolds Center, tulsahurricane.com TU Men’s Basketball vs South Carolina State // 11/10, Reynolds Center, tulsahurricane.com ORU Volleyball vs Omaha // 11/11, Case Aerobics Center, oruathletics.com

PERFORMING ARTS

TU Volleyball vs Houston // 11/11, Reynolds Center, tulsahurricane.com

Cirque Du Soleil: Crystal // 11/7-11/11, BOK Center, bokcenter.com

ORU Men’s Basketball vs California Baptist // 11/13, Mabee Center, oruathletics.com

Brown Bag It: Tulsa Opera Big Sing // 11/7, Tulsa Performing Arts Center - Kathleen Westby Pavilion, tulsapac.com

World of Wrestling Kickoff Classic // 11/1617, Expo Square Pavilion, worldofwrestlingroller.com

Circle Mirror Transformation // 11/9-11/18, Studio 308, americantheatrecompany.org/ circlemirror

TU Men’s Basketball vs California Baptist // 11/16, Reynolds Center, tulsahurricane.com

The Ten Tenors // 11/10, Broken Arrow PAC, brokenarrowpac.com Brentano Quartet with violist Hsin-Yun Huang // 11/10, Tulsa Performing Arts Center John H. Williams Theatre, tulsapac.com Second Sunday Serials // 11/11, Agora Event Center, hellertheatreco.com

GET BUSEY

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets in Concert // 11/17-18, Tulsa Performing Arts Center - Chapman Music Hall, tulsapac.com

Peter and the Wolf // 11/16, Studio K, tulsaballet.org/peter-and-the-wolf Alice in Wonderland // 11/16, Tulsa Performing Arts Center - John H. Williams Theatre, tulsapac.com Wisdom’s Lit - A Live Interpretation // 11/17, Location TBA, facebook.com/cnotexmars

Tulsa Oilers vs Allen Americans // 11/17, BOK Center, tulsaoilers.com ORU Women’s Basketball vs TU // 11/17, Mabee Center, oruathletics.com ORU Men’s Basketball vs Ecclesia // 11/19, Mabee Center, oruathletics.com TU Men’s Basketball vs Little Rock // 11/19, Reynolds Center, tulsahurricane.com Tulsa Oilers vs Wichita Thunder // 11/20, BOK Center, tulsaoilers.com ORU Women’s Basketball vs UMKC // 11/20, Mabee Center, oruathletics.com TU Women’s Basketball vs Saint Louis // 11/20, Reynolds Center, tulsahurricane.com ARTS & CULTURE // 37

musicnotes

The Descendents, left to right: Stephen Egerton, Milo Auckerman, Bill Stevenson, and Tony Lombardo | KEVIN SCANLON

PUNK ROCK LOVE Descendents and ALL return to Tulsa for a two-night punk reunion

by BRADY WHISENHUNT 38 // MUSIC

“Punk rock love is her drawing on you. Her sleeping on your back.

Her being mad at you for being such a jerk. Her thinking it’s cool that you stink and your hair stands up by itself. Her having weird roommates who worship eggs. You waiting in the doorway for hours hoping she might pass by. Even in the snow. Her singing along with Descendents records over the air on her late night radio show.”

— Aaron Cometbus (“Punk Rock Love Is…”)

“P

unk rock love,” poeticized above by punk zine trailblazer Aaron Cometbus, is a major force in Descendents songs like “Good Good Things,” where singer Milo Auckerman breaks through the hardcore bluster of his peers with tender lines like “Did I ever tell you how much I love to love you?”

Punk rock love is spontaneous, bold, and insubordinate.

It’s the central nervous system of a world where, even if life had an operator’s manual, it’d be chucked out the window of a

moving van, pissed on, or burned just for kicks.

The Descendents spawned in 1977, a year that saw the first steps of more legendary punk bands than you could hock a loogie at.

The band was a yin-yang of spazz and personal lyrics inset in a feral buzz of wound-up powerpop punk. They were a missing link between the steely toughness of hardcore punk and dopamine-soaked singles of The Cars, The Knack, and The Raspberries.

A punker born around last time Descendents played Tulsa in 1996 would now be old enough to buy a beer when the band makes its return on Nov. 17 at Cain’s Ballroom. Measured against the length of a typical Descendents song, 22 years is an unfathomably large span of time—an eternity—but even still, something enduring in the band’s music barrels onwards, picking up new fans and keeping the older ones coming back.

Twenty-two years ago, Josh Fisher was a senior at Bartlesville High School, sporting buzzed leopard print hair and known by the aliases “Fish” and “Tex.” Back then, Josh identified with the Descendents, who were, as he put it, November 7 – 20, 2018 // THE TULSA VOICE

“nerdy dudes that strike out with girls.” They were also the one band all the punk rock girls in his circle loved just as much as he did.

“I totally threw a ton of Descendents songs on mixtapes for girls in high school,” he said.

Today Fisher resides in the Twin Cities area. A history teacher, husband, and father, he’s coming back to Tulsa to reconnect with six other friends from California, Texas, Kansas, and Minnesota for this special punk rock reunion.

To Tulsa native Carla-Rose Branch, Descendents evoke memories of “new relationship energy,” those blissful early stages of a budding romantic coupling. A fan since the ‘90s, when she was active in the punk scene, Descendents songs stood out to her because of how they conveyed the feeling of having a crush on someone.

“They’re romantic and silly and goofy,” she said. “I’m a hopeless romantic with a sense of humor, and I think that’s why I identify with it.

I could dance around, or bob my head to it, or cruise around in my car with the windows down and feel this sense of … happiness.”

But it’s not just Descendents who will be making this weekend one for the punk rock record books. Their sister band ALL (formed by Descendents members Bill Stevenson, Karl Alvarez, and Stephen Egerton) will be bringing their own brand of throwback pop-punk to the IDL Ballroom the following evening on Nov. 18.

This will be ALL’s first-ever show at a Tulsa venue, and the Descendents’ show will be the final date of their U.S. tour. To celebrate, they’ve invited friends Ultimate Fakebook, Hagfish, and Radkey to open for Descendents at Cain’s. ALL will be supported by Scott Reynolds, The Last, Slorder, and Drag the River.

“The larger part of the people who are going to come for the IDL show are people who are traveling, to kind of make a weekend out of the whole thing,” said guitarist Egerton. “[They are] diehard Descendents/ALL fans, who are familiar with some of the offshoots.”

Egerton moved to Tulsa 15 years ago to raise his kids and be close to relatives. “I’m excited to finally get to play here where I live,” he said.

“I sit in the band now after 32 THE TULSA VOICE // November 7 – 20, 2018

years of playing with them both as a fan and a member, and it’s very interesting to kind of see the crowd age range,” he continued. “One time I met a four-generations-deep family of people that were fans of the Descendents!”

Five years before he joined the band, at age 16, Egerton first heard the Descendents’ six-song “Fat” EP, which boasts an average song length of only 45 seconds. A rude, remorseless blast of adolescent fun with titles like “My Dad Sucks” and “I Like Food” delivered with singer Milo Aukerman’s grouchy,

defiant shouts, it’s a flawless punk rock record. “I immediately loved them,” Egerton said.

That EP’s hardcore edge was a far cry from the Descendent’s debut single, 1979’s reverb-laden, low-budget surf rock anomaly “Ride the Wild”/“It’s a Hectic World.” The sound was inspired in large part by The Last, one of the bands coming to Tulsa to support ALL at the IDL show.

“The Last were probably the biggest single influence on the beginning of the Descendents,” Egerton said. “[They] were al-

ready playing when bands like Black Flag or Circle Jerks started up. They were a little bit older.

They were the band that, when they were kids, the Descendents could go see practice.”

Almost 40 years after that first single, Egerton says Descendents keep gaining fans because the songs are “either borne of real experiences, or they’re silly.

And sometimes both of those things happen at the same time, of course. I think people respond to the fact that the songs are real, and they’re very human.” a

MUSIC // 39

musicnotes

‘The problem of pain’ Susie McCombs explores love and loss on her solo debut

by DAMION SHADE

I

n 1893, the infamous “Doolin-Dalton gang” and a posse of U.S. Marshals engaged in one of the bloodiest shootouts in American history in Ingalis, Oklahoma. The cover artwork on Susie McCombs’ new album, Songs from a Midwestern Estate, memorializes this terrifying event with a blue-tinted photo of the bullet-battered ghost town today.

This album is McCombs’ first solo effort. She has a nerdy but mischievous streak that’s in line with her making the site of a notorious gun battle her album cover. This album is also a folk history of sorts. There’s a strange Western sensibility. It explores a young woman’s life growing up in Claremore, fascinated by the arcane details of Oklahoma, the vastness of space, and McCombs’ personal struggle to recover from a traumatic brain injury while holding on to the faith that sustains her to this day.

For the past decade, Susie McCombs has been the lead singer of the shoegaze rock band Brother Rabbit. Their music marries elements of post-rock, at times boisterous and epic, with McCombs’ distinctive voice. When she decided to start recording her first solo project earlier this year, however, the songwriter made a conscious effort to change directions musically.

“In between writing songs for Brother Rabbit, I started to write songs that weren’t really suitable for our genre. They were just simpler folk songs that I didn’t want to play with a full band, and I really wanted to keep for myself,” McCombs said. “Once I decided to record these songs, I wanted them to be raw and sparse and to take on more of the sounds of Oklahoma.”

40 // MUSIC

Susie McCombs | JESS WAGONER

These limitations had a clarifying effect on the new record. On Songs from a Midwestern Estate, the rock instrumentation of Brother Rabbit has been replaced with gentle slide guitar, prominent harp and McCombs’ hypnotic droning contralto. Engineer and producer Tony Chambers adds the only rhythm with pulsing kick drums and foot stomps, which are often the only sounds other than McCombs’ guitar and lyrics.

McCombs’ lyrics are the most interesting piece of this record, suffused with love and sorrow, often in the same instant. The opening track “Departure Songs” begins: Honey, you cut me deep I thought you’d come back to the stage perhaps just to wave You fled the building

You ran away You got married, and I bought a gun You cut me short and I grew my hair out long This is how we grow McCombs isn’t bitter here. She finds this juxtaposition of detail hilarious. The singer-songwriter is strangely grateful for the lessons of this painful relationship.

Much of this album is rooted in what C. S. Lewis called “the problem of pain.” The record is in many ways a parable of hope conquering pain: the pain of loss, the pain of death, and McCombs’ personal struggle to hang on to her faith in the face of a painful injury that changed her life forever.

“I had a traumatic brain injury when I was I kid, and I never recovered all the way from that. If you study the medical side of my

recovery, it’s incredible because I shouldn't be alive,” McCombs said. “Growing up in a church, of course, people would pray for me. Their intentions were pure and good, but I can’t tell you how faith-shattering it was for me and my parents as a child who just wanted to be normal, who just wanted to walk normal and have a normal body.

“To have a group of people form circles and pray for you, and then when they’re done they expect you to just get up and walk out normal but nothing ever happened.

Nothing ever happened. That was really hard. There was so much pressure on me. I felt like I had these expectations. Like I better walk right or these people aren’t going to believe in Jesus anymore.”

She was 11 at the time of her traumatic brain injury, and she found herself forced to confront these questions about the nature of human suffering. Why would a God who loved her allow the dreams of a young girl to live a normal life to be crushed?

All these years later, Susie McCombs still doesn’t have answers to these questions. “I can’t answer why some people die and why some people don’t get any better,” she said. “But a big part of these songs are about learning God through that.”

Ultimately, Songs from a Midwestern Estate expresses McCombs’ faith in the all-consuming power of love. “I feel like people make love out to be something so much smaller than it is. Love includes compassion and forgiveness. It’s a lot of things, and I don't think we have the right to define love in our own human terms. Relationships can suck, and the conflict between two people can suck. But love is a lot bigger than that.” a November 7 – 20, 2018 // THE TULSA VOICE

THE TULSA VOICE // November 7 – 20, 2018

MUSIC // 41

musiclistings Wed // Nov 7 Blackbird on Pearl – Wubby Wednesday Brady Theater – *Little Steve & The Disciples of Soul – ($29.50-$59.50) Cain’s Ballroom – *Dawes – ($26-$41) Cellar Dweller – Grazz Trio Duet Jazz – *Jane Bunnett & Maqueque – ($30) Gathering Place - Great Lawn – Ranky Tanky Hard Rock Casino - Riffs – Trett Charles Mercury Lounge – Jared Tyler Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame – Shelby and Nathan Eicher – ($10) River Spirit Casino - 5 O’Clock Somewhere Bar – Stephanie Oliver & Johnny Mullenax Soul City – Don & Stephen White Soundpony – *Lyrical Smoke w/ Mr. Burns, Bam Beezy, David Puffin The Coffee House on Cherry Street – Open Mic The Colony – Tom Skinner Science Project The Vanguard – Whale Bones, Bilmuri – ($10) Westbound Club – Jam Night

Thurs // Nov 8 Blackbird on Pearl – The Kru – ($5) Brady Theater – *Lindsey Buckingham – ($55.50$75.50) Cain’s Ballroom – Gary Clark Jr., Tameca Jones – (SOLD OUT) Colorfeed A/V – *Reighnbeau, Beta Betamax, Sam Regan, Christopher Mackie Duet Jazz – Booker Gillespie Trio – ($5) Gathering Place - Great Lawn – Ranky Tanky Hard Rock Casino - Riffs – Bobby and Danny, Bobby Ray Hard Rock Casino - The Joint – Scotty McCreery – ($29-$49) IDL Ballroom – G Jones, Woolymammoth, Chee, Noizmekka – ($20-$25) Mercury Lounge – Paul Benjaman Mulligan’s Sports & Spirits – DJ MO River Spirit Casino - 5 O’Clock Somewhere Bar – DJ 2Legit Soul City – The Begonias Soundpony – *Vic Goes Hard, Fresh, D Pugh, Damion Shade, Push Gang, You.th, GxThree, DJ Noname The Colony – Jacob Tovar’s Western Night The Colony – Robert Hoefling - Happy Hour The Hunt Club – Songswappers w/ Jimmy Ray Taylor and Bill Crain The Venue Shrine – Ian Moore – ($15-$20)

Fri // Nov 9 American Legion Post 308 – Joe Harris Blackbird on Pearl – Stinky Gringos, Space Coast Ghosts – ($10) Cain’s Ballroom – Aaron Watson, Chancey Williams and the Younger Brothers Band – ($25-$40) Duet Jazz – Adam Ledbetter – ($5) Dusty Dog Pub – Barry Seal Gathering Place - Great Lawn – *Silent Disco w/ Funk Flex Hard Rock Casino - Riffs – Double Barrel, Hook IDL Ballroom – Sunsquabi, Marvel Years, KrewX, BRNDNC – ($15-$20) Lefty’s On Greenwood – Clueless Mercury Lounge – The Black Lillies Osage Casino - Thunder Bar & Grill – The Hitmen Pit Stop – DJ MO River Spirit Casino - 5 O’Clock Somewhere Bar – Brent Giddens River Spirit Casino - Volcano Stage – Ayngel & John Soul City – The Haymakers – ($10) Soul City – Susan Herndon - Happy Hour Soundpony – High & Tight The Colony – Paul Benjaman, Seth Lee Jones, Kalyn Fay and Friends – ($5) 42 // MUSIC

The Fur Shop – W/O Adjectives, Ringdown, Chrim, Landry Miller – ($5) The Hunt Club – JT and the Dirtboxwailers The Max Retropub – Afistaface The Venue Shrine – Jeff Austin Band – ($15.50-$20) Westbound Club – Outlaw Son, Wade Quinton

Sat // Nov 10 Blackbird on Pearl – Electric Billy Club – ($5) BOK Center – *Close to You: The Music of The Carpenters – ($28-$48) Brady Theater – Ben Rector – ($30-$37.50) Cabin Boys Brewery – Robert “Strummer” Combs Cain’s Ballroom – Rock N’ Folk N’ Chili Cook-Off w/ A Tribute to Tulsa Music – ($15) Duet Jazz – *Charlie Hunter – ($25) Fassler Hall – *Higher Learning Academy, Oilhouse, Steph Simon, Tone’s Beach, Bezel 365, Dismond J, Ron Ron x Surron, Verse, Baconomics, Cliffdiver, Al Compton, DeeJay Kudos Hard Rock Casino - Riffs – Scott Eastman, Time Machine Hard Rock Casino - The Joint – Cat & Nat – ($25) Mercury Lounge – *Freak Juice Mulligan’s Sports & Spirits – DJ MO Osage Casino - Thunder Bar & Grill – Chris Hyde Duo River Spirit Casino - 5 O’Clock Somewhere Bar – Zodiac River Spirit Casino - Paradise Cove – *Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons – ($65-$75) River Spirit Casino - Volcano Stage – Jesse Allen Soul City – The Hydramatics – ($10) Soundpony – Pony Disco Club Steve’s 727 Club – Chuk Cooley, Yae Omerta The Colony – *Damion Shade, Tea Rush & More – ($5) The Fur Shop – Lights-Out On Sheridan, Forbidden Serenity The Hunt Club – Tony Romanello and the Black Jackets The Max Retropub – DJ AB The Run – The Rumor The Vanguard – Good Villains, Lilac Kings, Society Society, The Brothers Moore – ($10) The Venue Shrine – Jeff Austin Band – ($15.50-$20) Westbound Club – Outlaw Son, Wade Quinton

Sun // Nov 11 Buckaneer Bar – *The Neighbor$, S. Reidy, Lonemoon, Alan Doyle East Village Bohemian Pizza – Mike Cameron Collective Mercury Lounge – Brandon Clark Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame – Veterans Day Concert – ($5-$20) River Spirit Casino - 5 O’Clock Somewhere Bar – Brent Giddens Soul City – Blues Brunch w/ Dustin Pittsley & Friends Soul City – Bruner & Eicher Soundpony – Quanstar The Colony – Paul Benjaman’s Sunday Nite Thing The Colony – Singer Songwriter Open Mic Matinee The Hunt Club – Preslar Monthly Music Showcase

Mon // Nov 12 Blackbird on Pearl – The Portal Hodges Bend – Mike Cameron Collective Mercury Lounge – Chris Blevins River Spirit Casino - 5 O’Clock Somewhere Bar – Travis Kidd Soundpony – Quinn Cicala The Colony – Seth Lee Jones The Colony – Ryan Browning - Happy Hour The Vanguard – Softspoken, Artica – ($10) Vanguard – Rome Hero Foxes, Candy Fly, Kinda Collective – ($10)

Tues // Nov 13 Blackbird on Pearl – The Pearl Jam Cain’s Ballroom – Bastille, The Moth & the Flame – ($40-$60) Mercury Lounge – Wink Burcham & Jacob Tovar Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame – Depot Jazz and Blues Jams River Spirit Casino - 5 O’Clock Somewhere Bar – Faye Moffett Soul City – Tuesday Bluesday The Colony – Dane Arnold & The Soup The Colony – Deerpaw - Happy Hour

Wed // Nov 14 Blackbird on Pearl – Wubby Wednesday Brady Theater – *Jason Bonham’s Led Zeppelin Evening – ($29.50-$45) Cain’s Ballroom – Drive-By Truckers, T. Hardy Morris – ($35-$40) Cellar Dweller – Grazz Trio Duet Jazz – *Smoochie Wallus – ($5) Hard Rock Casino - Riffs – Running On Empty Mercury Lounge – Jared Tyler Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame – Shelby and Nathan Eicher – ($10) River Spirit Casino - 5 O’Clock Somewhere Bar – Stephanie Oliver & Johnny Mullenax Soul City – Don & Stephen White The Coffee House on Cherry Street – Open Mic The Colony – Tom Skinner Science Project The Vanguard – Nicki Bluhm – ($15)

Thurs // Nov 15 Blackbird on Pearl – Ego Culture BOK Center – Trans-Siberian Orchestra – ($39.50$79.50) Hard Rock Casino - Riffs – Kalo, Weekend All Stars Hard Rock Casino - The Joint – *TLC – ($39-$59) Mercury Lounge – Paul Benjaman Mulligan’s Sports & Spirits – DJ MO River Spirit Casino - 5 O’Clock Somewhere Bar – DJ 2Legit River Spirit Casino - Paradise Cove – Kacey Musgraves – ($35) Soul City – The Begonias Soundpony – Zigtebra, Vagittarius, The Earslips The Colony – Jacob Tovar’s Western Night The Colony – Robert Hoefling - Happy Hour The Hunt Club – Firebird

Fri // Nov 16 American Legion Post 308 – Wiskey Bent Blackbird on Pearl – Barton and Long, Cowboy Jones – ($5) Brady Theater – Joe Bonamassa – ($79-$99) Cain’s Ballroom – *Asleep at the Wheel, The Round Up Boys – ($28-$43) Duet Jazz – Andrea Baker – ($5) Fassler Hall – *Henna Roso – ($5) Hard Rock Casino - Riffs – 80’z Enuf, Boogie Fever Mercury Lounge – The Matchsellers Osage Casino - Thunder Bar & Grill – Tom Basler’s Dueling Pianos Pit Stop – DJ MO River Spirit Casino - 5 O’Clock Somewhere Bar – Rivers Edge River Spirit Casino - Paradise Cove – Alabama – ($75) River Spirit Casino - Volcano Stage – Fuzed Soul City – The Dirtboxwailers Soul City – Susan Herndon - Happy Hour Soundpony – *Soundpony Goes Latino #7 The Colony – Big Ceder Fever, Kyle Reid – ($5) The Hunt Club – Dante and the Hawks The Max Retropub – DJ Moody

The Venue Shrine – *Indigenous, Paul Benjaman Band – ($15-$20)

Sat // Nov 17 American Legion Post 1 – Wade Quinton, Kings of Neon Bad Ass Renee’s – The After Glow, Follow The Buzzards, K_v_lent Blackbird on Pearl – Kurosion, Sirkit, Trixx, King Coopa, Jeff Haze – ($5) Brady Theater – Generation Axe w/ Steve Vai, Zakk Wylde, Yngwie Malmsteen, Nuno Bettencourt, Tosin Abasi – ($39.50-$425) Cain’s Ballroom – *Descendents, Radkey, Hagfish, Ultimate Fakebook – ($26-$41) Hard Rock Casino - Riffs – Scott Ellison, Replay Mercury Lounge – Sun Valley Station Mulligan’s Sports & Spirits – DJ MO Osage Casino - Thunder Bar & Grill – Ronnie Pyle & Randy Ess River Spirit Casino - 5 O’Clock Somewhere Bar – Dane Arnold River Spirit Casino - Volcano Stage – Brent Giddens Soul City – Stephen White Group – ($10) Soundpony – DJ Mooneyham The Colony – *Branjae, Faye Moffett – ($5) The Hunt Club – Jesse Joice The Max Retropub – DJ AB The Venue Shrine – DMVU, Of The trees – ($10-$15) Vox Pop Tulsa – Leigh Nash, Damion Shade

Sun // Nov 18 East Village Bohemian Pizza – Mike Cameron Collective Gathering Place - Great Lawn – *NOLA-Fest w/ Dumpstaphunk, Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Count Tutu Mercury Lounge – Brandon Clark River Spirit Casino - 5 O’Clock Somewhere Bar – Brent Giddens Soul City – Blues Brunch w/ Dustin Pittsley & Friends Soul City – Bruner & Eicher Soundpony – DJ $ir Mike The Colony – Paul Benjaman’s Sunday Nite Thing The Colony – Singer Songwriter Open Mic Matinee

Mon // Nov 19 Blackbird on Pearl – The Portal Hodges Bend – Mike Cameron Collective Mercury Lounge – Chris Blevins River Spirit Casino - 5 O’Clock Somewhere Bar – Travis Kidd The Colony – Seth Lee Jones The Colony – Ryan Browning - Happy Hour

Tues // Nov 20 Blackbird on Pearl – The Pearl Jam Mercury Lounge – Wink Burcham & Jacob Tovar Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame – Depot Jazz and Blues Jams River Spirit Casino - 5 O’Clock Somewhere Bar – Faye Moffett Soul City – Tuesday Bluesday The Colony – Dane Arnold & The Soup The Colony – Deerpaw - Happy Hour

November 7 – 20, 2018 // THE TULSA VOICE

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FILM & TV // 43

onscreen

Director Paul Dano on the set of “Wildlife” | COURTESY

Hollywood in the heartland

Paul Dano’s directorial debut brings awards buzz sweeping down the plain

by JEFF HUSTON

“Y

ou kind of have to find natural gold.”

That’s how actor and now first-time director Paul Dano described making an authentic period movie on a small budget.

After lots of digging, he struck gold in Enid, Oklahoma.

His acclaimed debut, “Wildlife,” stars Oscar nominees Carey Mulligan and Jake Gyllenhaal.

The film, based on Richard Ford’s 1990 novel about a crumbling mid-century marriage, is viewed from the perspective of the couple’s 14-year-old son, Joe, played

by Ed Oxenbould.

“It’s a film that takes place in 1960, has period elements, and is made on a certain budget, so we couldn’t build it all ourselves,” Dano said. “But once we planted our feet in Oklahoma, we found an incredible amount of locations.”

Equipped with a “lookbook” filled with images and aesthetic influences for the film’s palette, Dano and his production designer 44 // FILM & TV

Akin McKenzie combed several states and parts of Canada in search of a stand-in location for Montana, the story’s locale. With a narrow production window of November/December 2016, Montana’s climate would’ve been too cold for the fall setting. (Only scenes with mountain landscapes were shot there.)

“It was kind of a Hail Mary,” Dano said of adding Oklahoma to a list of regions they hoped would approximate Big Sky Country. “We drove the whole state in two days, and we came away from that trip saying, ‘OK, we can make the movie here.’ It was like this scavenger hunt, and when you find what you’re looking for, it’s incredible.”

What got them here in the first place was Oklahoma’s cash rebate incentive.

First implemented in 2001 but renewed for 10 more years in 2014, the Oklahoma Film Enhancement Rebate Program

attracts film and television productions to shoot in the state, employing thousands of Oklahomans and sustaining small businesses statewide. Originally capped at an available $5 million annually, that was reduced to $4 million per year in 2016 after state government incentives were cut by 20 percent. With just a $5 million budget of its own, “Wildlife” was eligible for the 35 percent base percentage rebate.

“There were several communities that really rolled out the red carpet, but [Dano and McKenzie] were so particular with what they were looking for. They found it in Enid,” said Tava Sofsky, Director at the Oklahoma Film & Music Office.

“Enid had a history that worked for our film,” Dano said.

“It was an oil town, and something about Montana towns were the same way, either oil or copper.

It had the right vibe.”

But it may have been the

kismet of the family’s home that sealed the deal.

“We found a house of a man who was a golf grounds keeper during the late ‘50s/early ‘60s, similar to the character of Jerry that Jake Gyllenhaal plays,” Dano said. “He’d kept a lot of stuff from his life, so suddenly we had stepped into this house with relics from the ‘60s, of a guy who had a similar job as Jerry’s. That’s one of those synchronicities you just can’t predict.”

The quality of local film crews was also vital. “We had talked to some people who had worked in the state before,” Dano said. “So we knew there was a good local crew base, and that’s really important because a film is usually done on a tight schedule—long days, and you need the whole organism to function well.”

“Oklahoma has a really excellent reputation [for film production],” said Colin Warde of Oklahoma City, who was the film’s November 7 – 20, 2018 // THE TULSA VOICE

on-set dresser. “People come here from out of state in top tier positions and are just bowled over by the high proficiency, the technical ability, the motivation to do the work.”

Warde’s fellow set dresser Dylan Brodie believes that reputation was borne out on “Wildlife.”

“We had some beautiful transformations for this film. Even though we didn’t have a great deal of money, there was never a sense of corners being cut. This was true, honest-to-God artistic integrity, every day. You knew it was something special. I’m really proud of what we achieved.”

Small films like this can be just the tip of the iceberg for states.

Sofsky has visited new film hubs like Georgia, seeing their infrastructure and researching their tax incentive programs. She also met with studio heads in L.A., and the message is the same: They want to bring projects to Oklahoma.

“I sat with executives at HBO and Disney,” Sofsky said. “It became clear that because of our diverse locations and growing infrastructure, they would be willing to invest their resources into our economy by bringing a TV series or a larger feature film to Oklahoma if we had better incentives.”

By comparison, Georgia began a more aggressive and generous program in 2008. A decade later, that state’s total film and television spending hit a record of $2.7 billion in the fiscal year that ended in 2017, and that doesn’t include the market growth for the broader economy.

“They call it the movie business for a reason,” Sofsky stressed.

“Studios are looking for soil to put their multi-million-dollar businesses on, to employ our citizens. Our taxpayers. Our talent. To patronize our businesses statewide. The more we can remain competitive with our incentive packages, the more business we can have here.”

A prime possibility: “Killers Of The Flower Moon,” a film based on David Grann’s book about the founding of the FBI during an investigation of murdered Osage Indians on their oil-rich land in the 1920s. From the actor/director team of Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese, Sofsky and the THE TULSA VOICE // November 7 – 20, 2018

Osage Nation are working hard to secure the coveted project, slated to roll in 2019.

Film production also brings value to a community’s sense of identity, said Marcy Jarrett, the director of Visit Enid, the city’s tourism board. “What was fun was to see the pride in the residents.

They felt honored,” Jarrett said.

“It brings a bit of excitement when Hollywood comes to town.

There’s no substitute for that.”

For Dano—who drew influences from the paintings of Rockwell and Hopper, the photography of Stephen Shore, and films ranging from “The Grapes of Wrath” to the family dramas of Japanese director Hirokazu Koreeda—Oklahoma brought fresh inspiration to the story that inspired him to make his first film.

“You’re discovering something new about the scene when you find the location,” Dano said.

“Sometimes it matches what’s in your head, sometimes it doesn’t.

Sometimes you find something better. Then suddenly, it feels like the way it was meant to be.”

“Enid was great to us, their arms open to us,” Dano added.

“We got to make the film we wanted to make. It’s about the mystery of who our parents are, from a kid’s point of view who’s trying to understand what’s happening.”

Dano and his partner, actor and writer Zoe Kazan—who recently became parents to their first child adapted the script together. “When I read it, I did feel like I was looking at a sort of portrait of the person I love,” Kazan said. “Also, I was intrigued by the puzzle of it, and drawn in

by Carey Mulligan’s character, Jeanette, who’s struggling to express her own identity but with no place for personal expression.”

“I related to this duality that family is one of the greatest loves of our life but also sometimes it’s one of the hardest things in our life,” Dano said. “It felt both archetypal and personal at the same time, which meant it could speak to anybody.”

“It’s as much a coming of age for Jeanette and Jerry as it is for Joe,” he added. “It’s a coming of age story for a family.”

It may be one for Oklahoma’s film industry, too. a

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FILM & TV // 45

onscreen

“Suspiria” | COURTESY

DANCING WITH THE DEVIL Luca Guadagnino offers a hypnotic re-imagining of ‘Suspiria’

FROM DIRECTOR LUCA GUADAGNINO (“A Bigger Splash,” “Call Me By Your Name”) comes a remake you never knew you wanted. Until now.

A re-imagining of Dario Agento’s 1977 psych-horror classic, “Suspiria” is told in six parts with an epilogue, lending the film a literary air. It kicks off in Cold War Berlin, in the office of psychotherapist Josef Klemperer, a frail old man whose young female patient is vexed with a paranoia that the instructors at the prestigious Markos Dance Academy are actually a coven of witches trying to possess her. At the center is Susan Dennison (Dakota Johnson), a meek American dancer from a strict religious background who gets the shot of a lifetime when she lands the lead in the company’s upcoming performance.

Fans of Argento’s 1977 giallo will no doubt see similarities in this updated retelling, but it’s not quite safe to call Guadagnino’s version a remake. Rather, much like the avant-garde style of dance depicted in the film, this version takes more expressionistic and interpretive license to tell the tale of this coven of witches. It’s a hypnotic pastiche of images, sounds, staccato rhythms and Thom Yorke’s dreamy score that surpasses the campy pop art of the original while never letting the viewer find a sense of comfort or steady footing.

This “remake” greatly improves upon its predecessor. While the original by Italian horror maestro Argento is certainly deserving of its place in the pantheon of great horror films, it’s all saturated pop colors and style—and not much substance. Eschewing the gaudy primary color scheme of the original for the murky, grey backdrop of the Berlin Wall, Guadagnino’s 46 // FILM & TV

new film is practically devoid of saturation or color.

Working from an updated script by David Kajganach, Guadagnino gives the film the high-art treatment fans of the original seem to think it has. Stripping the original down to just the bare frame of plot while drawing upon broader stylistic influences to reshape this tale of dancing witches, this “Suspiria” plays like a Tarkovsky tone poem shot through the same psycho-hysterical lens of polish auteur Andrzej Zulawski’s “Possession.”

Tilda Swinton plays Madame Blanc, the famed dance company’s ardent artistic director, who stalks around her gaggle of dancers like a ravenous feline toying with its prey. Swinton plays not one, not two, but three characters in the film: Madame Blanc, the holocaust survivor and psychotherapist Dr. Klemperer and—well, the third is best left for you to figure out.

Swinton’s shapeshifting is quite a feat and it pays off, for the most part, once you get past the passable prosthetics. A frequent collaborator of Guadagnino’s, she’s certainly the star of this show, dancing circles around the rest of cast—save for Dakota Johnson, who up until now has had the misfortune of being known as the lead in the dreadful Shades of Grey trilogy.

Here Johnson’s guileless timidity belies something far darker and more mysterious as she willingly succumbs to the witches’ grand scheme to bring new life to Madame Markos, the ailing alpha witch waiting for new flesh in order to live again. But Susan is no mere quarry in this Danse Macabre. With its stunning, emotional finale this “Suspiria” will leave you traumatized and haunted under its spell.

—CHARLES ELMORE

Leon Russell | COURTESY

MONUMENTAL BEAUTY

‘A Poem is a Naked Person’ reminds us why Tulsa needed a Leon Russell memorial HISTORIAN STEVE TODOROFF REMEMBERS something he said to Jan Bridges, Leon Russell’s widow, after a memorial service for her late husband two years ago: “You know what? We need to really plan for a permanent monument here in Tulsa, so people can come pay their respects, also, to have a place for his remains.”

On Nov. 10, Tulsans are invited to the public unveiling and dedication of the Leon Russell monument at Memorial Park Cemetery. Following this commemoration, Circle Cinema will screen “A Poem Is a Naked Person” (2015), a documentary about the beloved Tulsa Sound icon, with a special introduction by Todoroff.

It took two years of fundraising to make the monument a reality, but “A Poem” has a longer history.

At Russell’s request, documentary filmmaker Les Blank trailed the musician and friends from 1972 to 1974. The result is a mixture of live footage and sessions at Russell’s studio on Grand Lake, with candid shots of eccentric Okies, hippies, and Green Country festivities. Russell seems a “stranger in a strange land” in Blank’s bizarre film. Unsubtle commentaries on class division and consumerism are conjured by clever editing rather than stemming from Russell or his music.

The film is a peripheral depiction of Russell at work, with several scenes that are almost personal. We experience the artist, but no more deeply than a fan in the crowd. For this reason, Russell wouldn’t allow Blank to release the film during his lifetime. The filmmaker passed away in

2013, and his son Harrod Blank negotiated its release two years later.

Blank’s concert and studio footage is priceless, blending his vérité collage style and Russell’s holy presence. Live, Russell was more than an entertainer—his songs were invocations, reminiscent of a spirit-filled preacher before his congregation.

The Hank Wilson’s Back session footage shines. But studio appearances by George Jones, Willie Nelson, and Eric Andersen don’t reflect back on Russell—aside from a memorable argument with Andersen.

Blank’s hands-off approach to documentary, combined with Russell’s distance, feels sluggish onscreen. But “A Poem” is still worth watching, for Russell’s ghostlike charisma and as an Oklahoma cultural artifact.

Todoroff recalled Russell’s change of heart regarding the release of the film, saying that his viewing of “Saving Mr. Banks” was largely responsible. The true story of Walt Disney’s pursuit of the rights to P. L. Travers’ book “Mary Poppins” spoke to Russell.

“Leon said he got to thinking, and he was doing the same thing the author did in the movie. So, he decided that even if it wasn’t in his best interest—maybe he didn’t like how he looked in the movie— but, for his fans’ sake and for the people that had been following him all these years and had been wanting to see that film, he decided to say ‘yes,’ because it was probably the right thing to do.”

Do the right thing. Go pay your respects to Russell, and then see his cinematic revival. —MASON WHITEHORN POWELL November 7 – 20, 2018 // THE TULSA VOICE

ACROSS 1 Access facilitator 5 Sharp-tasting 10 They hold lots of chocolate 14 Dining table expander 18 Weapon with a duel purpose?

19 Plants, in general 20 Now THAT’s a thought!

21 Slice, as turkey 22 Four slow things 26 Bureaus 27 Follies makeup 28 Travelers from afar 29 It’s crushed or cubed 30 Worker bound to land 31 Thither 32 Recorder of old 39 Delphi attraction 43 Pertaining to an arm bone 44 Sports result 45 Forward and neutral 47 Beam of light 48 Jazzy Redbone 49 Wheels for VIPs 51 Uncooked 52 Emulate slime 53 Three slow things 60 Telco letters 61 Nocturnal flyer 62 Mountain Dew kin 63 Certain hospital procedure 64 Pontius Pilate’s domain 66 Fishy “lee” anagram 67 Drive back 69 One with much wisdom 70 Walked purposefully 73 Bit of Japanese currency 74 Taro root food

77 82 83 84

Four slow things Wild way to run Big guys Sing the praises of 85 Fish-loving eagle 86 ___ chi (martial art form) 87 Toyota no more 89 Doesn’t allow to go to waste 91 Collegiate starter?

92 Show runners 94 Some husbands of reigning queens 98 QB Prescott 99 Emulated Michael Phelps 100 “Lord of the Rings” monster 101 “Dilbert” setting 104 Exxon Valdez, infamously 106 Sudden mass arrivals 111 Four slow things 114 “Jaws” town 115 Editors “leave-in” notation 116 Leave the outside 117 Good or bad sign 118 Wimbledon court features 119 Unpaid chauffeurs 120 With no need to prepare 121 Abe’s Mary DOWN 1 Working no longer, briefly 2 Hairy imitator?

3 Anxious classroom cry?

4 Enlivens (with “up”) 5 Have an influence on 6 Wine or red shade 7 Holders of draperies

8 Maddening emotion 9 Sympathetic fairy-tale figures 10 Give new life or energy to 11 Way into a mine 12 Wallet fillers 13 Get all droopy 14 Hispanic lady 15 Ashtabula’s lake 16 Mary Kay rival 17 They can be all peaty 21 Blue and pink 23 Willow tree offshoot 24 Things in some southern stews 25 City VIP 30 “SNL” staples 32 “Mea” follower 33 Provide a headsup to 34 Nose-in-the-air type 35 Belted out a tune 36 Many trees 37 Boca Raton wader 38 Textbook enjoyer 40 Cohort 41 Overly enjoy the couch 42 Visual assessment maker 46 It makes its point 49 More blue 50 Castaway’s new home 52 College exam type 54 Not yet polished, as prose 55 “Norma” or “Carmen” 56 Triple-layer cookies 57 Spanish squiggle 58 Type of witness 59 “You ___ the boss of me!”

64 He broke his crown 65 Dormant 68 Genesis figure 69 Unmoving 71 Certain singing voice 72 Hold dear 74 ___-Novo (Benin capital) 75 One with the deed 76 Not active, chemically 77 Liver spread 78 Muslim chief 79 Mickey Mouse’s pair?

80 Throw softly 81 They can be mane places 87 “Neato!”

88 Not exactly right 89 Non-union?

90 Not as easy to find 91 Bring on, as another’s wrath 93 Royal decrees 95 Small landmasses 96 Bonked’s rhyming kin 97 Solar system model 101 Neighbor of Yemen 102 Perk of being a star 103 Glassmaking material 104 Comics canine 105 Romantically involved stars 106 A vowel for Plato 107 Lend, as money 108 ___ sapiens 109 Made, barely (with “out”) 110 Transmit 112 Ideal ending?

113 Simple digit

Find the answers to this issue’s crossword puzzle at thetulsavoice.com/puzzle-solutions.

UNIVERSAL SUNDAY CROSSWORD TAKE IT SLOW

By Timothy E. Parker

© 2018 Andrews McMeel Syndication

11/11

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THE TULSA VOICE // November 7 – 20, 2018

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