MEET THE DYLAN ARCHIVE CURATOR P26 MUSICIANS ON POLITICS P28 WHAT SAY YEASAYER P30 N O V . 2 – 1 5 , 2 0 1 6 // V O L . 3 N O . 2 2
TALENT GRABS BACK Lady players share their experiences in the music scene P24
THE NEW BLACK WALL STREET: THE MEANING OF TULSA’S HIP-HOP RENAISSANCE | P21
2 // CONTENTS
November 2 – 15, 2016 // THE TULSA VOICE
NOW OPEN!
TULSA’S PREMIER SPORTS BAR DOWNTOWN ACROSS FROM DRILLERS STADIUM 325 E M.B. BRADY • 918.986.9910 • WWW.ELGINPARKBREWERY.COM • FACEBOOK/ELGINPARKTULSA
THE TULSA VOICE // November 2 – 15, 2016
CONTENTS // 3
4 // CONTENTS
November 2 – 15, 2016 // THE TULSA VOICE
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THE NEW BLACK WALL STREET
November 2 – 15 , 2016 // Vol. 3, No. 22 ©2016. All rights reserved. PUBLISHER Jim Langdon MANAGING EDITOR Joshua Kline ART DIRECTOR Madeline Crawford ASSISTANT EDITOR Liz Blood DIGITAL EDITOR John Langdon GRAPHIC DESIGNERS Georgia Brooks, Morgan Welch PHOTOGRAPHY/MULTIMEDIA Greg Bollinger AD SALES MANAGER Josh Kampf
BY DAMION SHADE
Tulsa’s hip-hop renaissance signals progress in healing the city’s racial divide
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INTERNS Mary Budd, Emerald Dean, Laura Dennis, Emma Giddens, Morgan Krueger, Lindsay McClain CONTRIBUTORS Beau Adams, Matt Cauthron, Ty Clark, Barry Friedman, Valerie Grant, Jeff Huston, Richard Kern, Hans Kleinschmidt, Ceili Lawrence, Melissa Lukenbaugh, Joe O’Shansky, Gene Perry, Amanda Ruyle, Damion Shade, Megan Shepherd, John Tranchina, Maurie Traylor, M.W. Vernon
The Tulsa Voice’s distribution is audited annually by
TALENT GRABS BACK BY AMANDA RUYLE
Lady players share their experiences in the local music scene
Member of
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The Tulsa Voice is published bi-monthly by
BRINGING IT ALL BACK HOME BY BEAU ADAMS
1603 S. Boulder Ave. Tulsa, OK 74119 P: 918.585.9924 F: 918.585.9926
A conversation with Michael Chaiken, curator of The Bob Dylan Archive
PUBLISHER Jim Langdon PRESIDENT Juley Roffers VP COMMUNICATIONS Susie Miller
COURTESY THE BOB DYLAN ARCHIVE
CONTROLLER Mary McKisick RECEPTION Gloria Brooks, Gene White
MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD
NEWS & COMMENTARY 8 PASS ON “PASS THROUGH”
Send all letters, complaints, compliments & haikus to: voices@langdonpublishing.com FOLLOW US @THETULSAVOICE ON:
BY MAURIE TRAYLOR
Wasteful tax giveaways disguised as help for small businesses
Lassalle’s New Orleans Deli is back
10 THE SON DOESN’T FORGIVE BY BARRY FRIEDMAN
12 THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM B Y M.W. VERNON My father, the Trump voter
MUSICIANS ON POLITICS P28 WHAT SAY YEASAYER P30 N O V . 2 – 1 5 , 2 0 1 6 // V O L . 3 N O . 2 2
ARTS & CULTURE 34 ATTACK ZONE BY JOHN TRANCHINA
Oilers off to strong start in new hockey season
TALENT GRABS BACK Lady players share their experiences in the music scene
14 MO’ BETTA
BY GENE PERRY
Yuval Rabin remembers his father’s Israel
MEET THE DYLAN ARCHIVE CURATOR P26
FOOD & DRINK
16 PRESERVATION STATION
ON THE COVER
Kristin Ruyle, Kylie Wells, Mandii Larsen, Carmen Skelton, Andey Delesdernier and Amelia Pullen in the Soundpony ladies’ room Photo by Melissa Lukenbaugh | Hair by Tony Li Makeup by Ashli Amador | Clothes from Cheap Thrills
THE TULSA VOICE // November 2 – 15, 2016
36 FACES ON THE WALL
BY LIZ BLOOD
M onty Little considers portraits, displacement, and PTSD
28 PROTEST SONG B Y TY CLARK
A survey of several local artists on how they consider political issues in songwriting
BY MAURIE TRAYLOR
DIY canning and preserving food
TV & FILM 41 LET’S HEAR IT FOR THE GUY BY MATT CAUTHRON
HBO’s “High Maintenance” is a breath of fresh city air
42 GIMME BREVITY BY JOE O’SHANSKY
S tooges doc “Gimme Danger” is exhaustively detailed, and sometimes exhausting
P24
THE NEW BLACK WALL STREET: THE MEANING OF TULSA’S HIP-HOP RENAISSANCE | P21
MUSIC
43 FERVENT COURAGE BY JEFF HUSTON
‘Hacksaw Ridge’ is an unlikely combination of jingoism and pacifism
30 COLLAGING ERAS B Y MEGAN SHEPHERD
An interview with Yeasayer’s Chris Keating
32 MUST BE 21 TO ENTER B Y CEILI LAWRENCE
Local musicians and promoters weigh in on Tulsa’s lack of all-ages venues
ETC. 7 YOURVOICE 15 DOWNTHEHATCH 38 THEHAPS 40 MUSICLISTINGS 44 THEFUZZ 45 NEWS OF THE WEIRD 46 ASTROLOGY + SUDOKU 47 CROSSWORD CONTENTS // 5
editor’sletter by JOSHUA KLINE
It’s almost over.
A
s I write this, we’re exactly T-minus one week from choosing a new president and being finished with this historic clusterf**k of an election season. We Oklahomans will also be answering a series of state questions that will have a tangible effect on our state’s livelihood in one way or another. If you haven’t brushed up on the state questions, I’d encourage you to familiarize yourself ahead of Tuesday; here are the cliffs notes for how I’ll be voting and why.
PRESIDENT
The choices: Hillary Clinton (Democrat), Donald Trump (Republican), Gary Johnson (Libertarian). My choice: Hillary Clinton. Why: Trump is a petulant, know-nothing maniac, and Johnson is too stoned to remember what Aleppo is. Clinton has the experience, temperament, and intellect to run our country. She may not transform the paradigm, but I believe she’ll capably lead us into the future. At the very least, with Clinton, we don’t run the risk of nuclear war over a Twitter slight.
ing at every turn, denying open records requests from media, and backtracking on his promise to reform the sheriff’s appraisal program, a money pit in which the sheriff pays his friends a generous sum of taxpayer dollars to do next-to-nothing. A vote for Regalado is a vote to keep Glanz’s legacy of corruption and cronyism alive.
STATE QUESTIONS SQ No. 776 SUMMARY: Written in response to the ensuing scandal after the botched execution of Clayton Lockett, this question essentially loosens the current regulations on death penalty protocol by amending the Oklahoma constitution to give the state more freedom in its choice of execution method, and eliminating the possibility that any future execution could be ruled as unconstitutional or “cruel and unusual punishment.” How I’ll vote: No. Why: After incompetence by the state led to Lockett’s grisly, painful death, we should be tightening death penalty regulations, not loosening them.
The choices: Rex Berry (Democrat), Vic Regalado (Republican).
SQ No. 777 Summary: Ostensibly written to protect the future rights of farmers, this bill would hamper “lawmakers’ ability to interfere” with ranching practices and agricultural technology.
My choice: Rex Berry.
How I’ll vote: No.
Why: Regalado has been in office since April after he won a special election to replace disgraced former sheriff Stanley Glanz. Like all of the sheriff’s candidates, Regalado promised to reform TCSO and usher in a new era of transparency. But since he was elected, he’s done the exact opposite; stonewall-
Why: Just like “Right to Work” was a union-busting measure disguised in the language of liberty, the so-called “Right to Farm” bill is anything but friendly to the people it claims to be protecting. What it really means: corporate agriculture would be given carte blanche to rape our land in whatever way they see fit,
COUNTY SHERIFF
6 // NEWS & COMMENTARY
environmental and economic consequences be damned. SQ No. 779 Summary: A penny sales tax increase to help fund our starving education system. It includes a $5,000 a year pay raise for teachers.
itol. In response, lawmakers present 790, which would remove the offending part of the Oklahoma Constitution (Article 2, Section 5) that prohibits the government from “using public money or property for the direct or indirect benefit of any religion or religious institution.”
How I’ll vote: Yes.
How I’ll vote: No.
Why: Lawmakers have repeatedly failed to address our growing education crisis brought on by a $1.3 billion budget shortfall. We’re bleeding teachers, classroom sizes are ballooning, some schools can only afford fourday weeks, and, with another budget shortfall on the horizon, the immediate future isn’t looking great. 779 is not an ideal fix, but it’s our only option to improve a dire and embarrassing situation in our state.
Why: This is a direct affront to separation of church and state, and would almost certainly be challenged in federal court if passed, likely costing our state millions in legal fees, money we don’t have. Even if you support the idea of a religious monument at our capitol, we simply cannot afford the cost of defending this law.
SQs No. 780 and 781 Summary: 780 would loosen drug laws, reclassifying simple possession of certain substances from felonies to misdemeanors. It would also raise the threshold on what constitutes a felony in property crimes like fraud and embezzlement. If 780 passes, 781 would take the money saved from locking up fewer people and redirect it to counties to fund mental health and substance abuse services. How I’ll vote: Yes to both. Why: Oklahoma has one of the highest incarceration rates in a country that locks up more of its citizens than Russia or China, and the failed war on drugs is squarely to blame. Drug law reform is long overdue. SQ No. 790 Summary: Last year, the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional a Ten Commandments monument on display at the state cap-
SQ No. 792 Summary: A “yes” vote would modernize Oklahoma’s liquor laws, allowing wine and high-point beer to be sold in grocery stores. It would also allow liquor stores to stay open later, to refrigerate high-point beer, and to sell non-alcoholic products such as food and mixers. How I’ll vote: No. Why: This is a tricky one. 792 is by far the most convoluted, deceptive bill on the ballot (even more so than 777). While I enthusiastically support all of the above changes, there are a host of consequences hidden in the language of 792. If passed, this bill would: favor corporate chains at the expense of local retailers (by some estimates, half of Oklahoma’s liquor stores would close), hinder our ability to bring boutique distilleries and family-owned wineries to Oklahoma, thus reducing the variety of products currently available to consumers, and generally throw Oklahoma’s drinking economy into chaos. This is not the change we need. a November 2 – 15, 2016 // THE TULSA VOICE
yourvoice
Editor’s note: The October B edition of The Tulsa Voice featured a story about Scott and Kala Large, founders of Provisions Fine Beverage Purveyors, and their influence on Tulsa’s drinking culture. Upon publication, a handful of people on social media expressed dismay over what they felt were glaring omissions regarding Scott Large’s time at Thirst Wine Merchants prior to starting Provisions, including Alex Kroblin, Thirst’s co-founder and owner. Kroblin posted the story on Facebook with the accompanying comment “So THAT’S how Thirst was started! Good to know. Seems like they left out a fairly significant part of the story (like roughl y 50%). I can’t quite put my finger on what it is…” We reached out to Alex and asked if he’d care to clarify those omissions in a letter to the editor. What follows is his unedited response. . 21 // V O L . 3 N O O V. 1 , 2 0 1 6 O C T. 1 9 – N
Searching for Bigfoo
t | P18
The Halloween Issue
| P20
Return to Wizard
World | P24
T
he Voice is truly amazing. I’m beginning to use that adjective again as it seems to be limping back toward it’s former life... reserved for grace, stunning phenomenon in nature, feats of human ingenuity. Not cheap, ugly purses on home shopping channels. Thank you for the quality of journalism… Barry Friedman for god’s sake! And the thoughtful, eclectic coverage of community events. Plus, the layout, graphics, photographs, ads, texts are gorgeous and extremely readable. All is simply first rate. Now for the requests. Dates. Specifically missing ones. Maybe I’m the one missing them, but in the last issue, Vol. 3 No. 20, there were several I couldn’t find. L. 3 NO. 20 2 0 1 6 // V O O C T. 5 - 1 8 ,
THE TULSA VOICE // November 2 – 15, 2016
Dear Tulsa Voice, I was asked if I would care to write a letter to the editor in response to a recent article in the Tulsa Voice that featured Scott Large and his retelling of how Thirst Wine Merchants began its life as a company. I initially was going to decline the offer but this morning I heard someone on the radio use the expression, “When they go low, we go high.” So here’s my response: Scott Large and I founded Thirst together. We were equal partners and we split everything 50/50. We both busted our asses to build Thirst into what I believe is a pretty nice company, and we were fortunate to have help along the way from some amazing employees, some small (and some soonto-be big name) wineries, and most importantly, a lot of generous folks in the Oklahoma wine trade. I have tremendous respect for Scott Large as a wine guy and I’ll always take pride in what we achieved together while he was at Thirst. I’m happy and for his new venture and I wish him all the best in the future.
Alex Kroblin Co-founder & Owner Thirst Wine Merchants
I wondered when Julie Morgan served up 120 Indian tacos at my neighborhood Florence Park Café, or when she will (or has it passed?) compete in the National Indian Taco Championship. And the beautifully written piece on the courtyard concert by Endless Forms made me envious that I wasn’t there. Then, wondering when this concert happened, is this a regular event/venue or was it a spontaneous thing, is it open to the public, do these remarkable artists regularly play around town or regionally, do they have any upcoming shows? Of course I could have found answers to these questions plus bought one of those handbags in the time I’ve burned to write this, but I’m lazy. And when I start renting rooms on Airbnb next month, I want my guests to have the full scoop as they make plans. Once again, my thanks for yet another amazing Tulsa offering. Sincerely,
Leslie Brucks NEWS & COMMENTARY // 7
okpolicy
Pass on “pass-through” Wasteful tax giveaways disguised as help for small business by GENE PERRY
A
recent press release from Governor Fallin advertised that she was participating in the “Bring Small Businesses Back Bus Tour” when it came to Oklahoma City. This tour is sponsored by the “Job Creators Network,” an association of corporate leaders started by the former presidential candidate Herman Cain and one of the founders of Home Depot. Governor Fallin’s press release especially focused on promoting H.R. 5374, a proposal by Illinois Republican Congressman Randy Hultgren that he calls the “Bring Small Business Back Tax Reform Act.” Rep. Hultgren’s legislation would enact a large tax cut for “pass-through income”—the term for business income that is reported on the personal tax returns of the business owners. Business owners typically choose to pass
8 // NEWS & COMMENTARY
through this income so they can pay a lower personal income tax rate than they would if it was taxed as normal business income. It’s already a lucrative tax break that is estimated to reduce federal tax revenues by more than $100 billion per year. Congressman Hultgren’s bill would supersize this tax break. He would allow business owners to pay a 10 percent rate on their first $150,000 of income and a 20 percent rate on income between $150,000 and $1 million. For the wealthiest business owners, making upwards of $415,000 per year, H.R. 5374 would cut their top marginal tax rate almost in half (from the current 39.6 percent). These business owners would be paying a lower marginal rate than the 25 percent paid by a median income household making about $52,000 per year. The result is that
many business owners would be allowed to play by a different set of rules and pay far less in taxes than their own employees. If this sounds familiar, you may remember that exempting pass-through income from state personal income tax was a major part of the tax cut plan enacted in Kansas in 2012 — the same plan that has damaged the state’s bond rating, slashed school funding, resulted in a worse state economy than before the tax cuts, and made Kansas Governor Sam Brownback the least popular governor in the U.S. The pass-through tax break is also not limited to “small businesses.” One study estimates that more than 70 percent of pass-through income goes to big businesses with over $10 million in annual revenues; another study found 69 percent of pass-through
income goes to the wealthiest 1 percent of American households. It’s a strange model to want to emulate, but unfortunately that hasn’t dissuaded Governor Fallin, corporate lobbying groups like the Job Creators Network, or Donald Trump, whose tax plan similarly featured a huge tax cut for passthrough income. If these ideas move forward on the federal level, or if tax cuts for pass-through income show up on the agenda of state lawmakers, we need to see them for what they are — an attempt to shift the responsibility for paying taxes off business owners and onto middle-class working families. That’s no help to small business, and it’s no recipe for a thriving economy. a Gene Perry is policy director of Oklahoma Policy Institute (www.okpolicy.org). November 2 – 15, 2016 // THE TULSA VOICE
EMPLOYMENT
COME NOW,
and let us reason together, saith the LORD.
DIRECTV is currently recruiting for the following position in Tulsa, OK: Warehouse Assistant If you are not able to access our website, DIRECTV.com, mail your resume and salary requirements to: DIRECTV, Attn: Talent Acquisition, 161 Inverness Drive West, Englewood, CO 80112. To apply online,
NANYEHI
FIRST CHURCH OF CHRIST, SCIENTIST
visit: www.connect.att.jobs/directv.
924 S. Boulder
Negative result on drug test required. EOE.
Church & Sunday School • 10:30am Wednesday Meeting • 6:00pm
OKLAHOMA STUDY OF NATIVE AMERICAN PAIN RISK RESEARCH PARTICIPANTS NEEDED
the story of nancy ward
a musical by becky hobbs and nick sweet
$200 compensation ($100/day)
INVESTIGATORS: Drs. Jamie Rhudy & Joanna Shadlow CONTACT: The University of Tulsa Psychophysiology Research Laboratory 918-631-2175 or 918-631-3565
N O V E M B E R 11 & 12 TICKET S: 918.384.ROCK
This study is safe, non-invasive, and does not involve medication. Participants must be able to attend 2 laboratory sessions (4-5.5 hours/day) in which physiological and behavioral reactions to different stimuli are recorded. This is a University of Tulsa, Cherokee Nation, and Indian Health Service Oklahoma Area Office IRB approved research study.
Bonbon in Wrapper, Credit: © Deborah Van Kirk
© 2016 Cherokee Nation Businesses. All Rights Reserved.
A novel research study is being conducted at The University of Tulsa to identify potential markers of risk for chronic pain in healthy (currently painfree) Non-Hispanic White and Native American individuals.
Explore the relationship between human culture and this rainforest treasure.
October 9, 2016 – January 8, 2017 Chocolate and its national tour were developed by The Field Museum, Chicago. This exhibition was supported, in part, by the National Science Foundation.
TU is an EEO/AA Institution.
Exhibition season title sponsor is the Sherman E. Smith Family Charitable Foundation. Support also provided by Mervin Bovaird Foundation, C.W. Titus Foundation and M.V. Mayo Charitable Foundation.
GILCREASE.ORG THE TULSA VOICE // November 2 – 15, 2016
NEWS & COMMENTARY // 9
viewsfrom theplains
The son doesn’t forgive Yuval Rabin remembers his father’s Israel by BARRY FRIEDMAN
I
t’s September 20, around 3 p.m., and Yuval Rabin is sitting on a white sofa in the lobby of Circle Cinema. He’s between interviews, on his cell, still suffering from jet lag, and the day isn’t even half over. He’s in Tulsa to promote “Rabin In His Own Words,” a documentary about his slain father, former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. But the movie is just part of it. It’s Trump he’s asked about most these days, the parallels between countries, then and now, the warning signs. He wrote in USA Today: “Trump’s words are an incitement to the type of political violence that touched me personally.”1 I start by asking about a rumor. “I know my mother didn’t shake his hand at the funeral or when the coffin lay in state,” he says when I ask about how Likud leader (now Prime Minister) Benjamin Netanyahu was received. “And I don’t think he came to the Shiva.” Yitzhak Rabin, elected as Israel’s fifth prime minister in 1974 and again in 1992, was fatally shot twice on November 4, 1995, by a gunman, an Israeli, during a peace rally at Kings of Israel Square (now Rabin Square). He had won a Nobel Peace Prize in 1994 for his hand in the Oslo Accords, and was killed for the same reason. Shimon Peres, the late Israeli president, was at the rally.2 Before it, we were given the words of the song, and he put it in his pocket. The bullet hit the song together with his body. You can tear a song. You can hit a body. You cannot kill the noble and great idea of peace.
10 // NEWS & COMMENTARY
you talk about a bond, how can there be a bond when you call someone a traitor, a murderer, and you stand in a rally where people are burning placards with my father in a Nazi uniform and a PLO uniform—there’s no bond!”4 After each attack, Christie … polled the convention for a response. “Guilty!” was the loud reply. One vendor selling Trumpthemed souvenirs across from the convention site said he had an obvious best seller: a T-shirt reading “Hillary for Prison 2016.” “We didn’t order enough,” said the vendor.
Barry Friedman and Yuval Rabin at Circle Cinema, Sept. 20 | CHUCK FOXEN
The bloody lyrics, literally, found in his breast pocket. Arafat asked three times whether Rabin was dead. Arafat then broke down in tears. Arafat then told Abington that making peace with the Palestinians had cost Rabin his life. 3
“But your mother didn’t greet Netanyahu?” I ask. “That’s amazing to me.” The son has no patience for this. “Why?” he asks me. “Because the history of Israel is so short and because its leaders, I’ve always imagined, had a bond, even if they disagreed.”
“I don’t call him a leader,” he says of Netanyahu. “He stood for nothing.” Our conversation ricochets. “Was he the Trump of the day in Israel?” I press. “Is he still?” “Why do you ask?” “I think by putting Trump in perspective, we make ourselves somehow feel better,” I say. “If Netanyahu is going to make you feel better about Trump, then we have a disagreement.” “I don’t mean feel—“ “Look,” he interrupts. “There are things I find very strange about the Republican nominee for president, but I don’t think there’s a value in this comparison. When
The bond. “When Trump spoke about McCain,” says Rabin, “I thought, ‘You were not in the service. How dare you speak about Senator McCain’s service to this nation, especially as a Republican.’ Not only was he not penalized, but rewarded.” “So there are echoes?” “We reached a conclusion, under [Ariel] Sharon, that we gotta build a fence. The fence was invented in my father’s time,” he answers. We will build a great wall along the southern border... and Mexico will pay for the wall. 100%.” 5
“With Sharon and [Menachem] Begin, Likud and Labor, there was a civility, though, yes, between your father them?” “Political disagreements have always been there, but at the end of the day—again, I don’t pretend to be objective—but my father held the standards of opposition and coalition to the highest November 2 – 15, 2016 // THE TULSA VOICE
degree. For instance, when people from the left called Begin a traitor [after Camp David], my father stood up and said, ‘Wait. No way. This is out of the question.’” Republican Donald Trump called President Barack Obama and Democratic rival Hillary Clinton the “co-founders” of Islamic State. 6
The unthinkable. Were Obama or Clinton to be assassinated by those in this country who encompass the same kinds of unleashed, unhinged anger, would those who ginned up that vitriol be held accountable, as well? “Do you blame Netanyahu for your father’s assassination?” “There is no doubt in my mind that Likud was behind it.” A Donald Trump supporter told reporters at campaign rally last week that Hillary Clinton “needs to be taken out” and that “she should be in prison or shot.” 7
In Israel, there is a law that states any gathering of more than 50 people requires a permit. “So for weeks and months, repeatedly, every Friday afternoon, they had 49 people protesting in front of my parents’ home. They were out there in minutes. Of course the ties were never proven, and there’s no question they will never be proven, but if you ask me, there’s no doubt Likud was behind it.” “I hear these horror shows, and we have to make sure that this election is not stolen from us and is not taken away from us,” [ Trump] said last week to a nearly all-white crowd in northeast Pennsylvania. “And everybody knows what I’m talking about.”8
After Yitzhak Rabin signed the treaty that would give the Palestinians self-rule in the Gaza Strip and on the West Bank, he said, “We who have fought against you the Palestinians, we say to you today in a loud and clear voice, enough of blood and tears, enough.” At the White House Rose Garden, there was the handshake. “It’s not so easy,” Rabin said at the time. THE TULSA VOICE // November 2 – 15, 2016
“When you choose your partners in foreign policy, you choose the least worst in an effort to achieve progress to fend off the worst.”
Yuval Rabin | COURTESY
“Is it true?” I ask Yuval. “The first handshake is always the toughest?” “It’s pretty false what you’re saying, pretty wrong,” he retorts. “When you choose your partners in foreign policy, you choose the least worst in an effort to achieve progress to fend off the worst. Not, ‘He’s bad, he’s good, he likes us, he doesn’t.’ The Palestinians— like it, don’t like it—you have to resolve it. You can’t go on for 50 years managing the lives of population about your size. You can’t. Doesn’t work. There is a price to be paid.” Leadership. “Bomb the shit outta them. I’d just bomb those suckers,” [ Trump] continued. “I’d blow up the pipes, I’d blow up the refineries, I’d blow up every single inch, there would be nothing left.” 9
In the documentary—Yitzhak Rabin narrates throughout— there’s Yuval and his sister, Dahlia; Leah, his mom, who died in 2000; and of course Yitzhak— young and gorgeous, a soldier, a prime minister, a weary statesmen, a dad playing ping pong. “The threats against your father, were they taken seriously?” “If she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do, folks,” Mr. Trump said, as the crowd began to boo. He quickly added: “Although the Second Amendment people — maybe there is, I don’t know.” 10
“My biggest regret is that I didn’t realize how dangerous the situation was. If you had told me a minute before he was shot that he would have been killed by a fellow countryman, I would have said ‘No way.’”
The story goes that after John Kennedy was killed in Dallas, Washington Post columnist Mary McGregor said to Daniel Patrick Moynihan, “We’ll never laugh again,” to which he replied, “Heavens, Mary, we’ll laugh again; we’ll just never be young again.” “Did Israel lose its innocence on November 4, 1995?” “It was the repercussions,” he says, the effects on the executive, judicial, legislative, branches, even the belief in the IDF [Israeli Defense Forces] that were most striking. “That was devastating to me.” He remembers a visit. “My father refused to wear a bullet-proof vest, refused to drive in bullet-proof car. At the time, I was dating my future wife. We came to my parents home, first time, for dinner—was the Friday before—and coming up, they lived in a flat—in the elevator, she said, ‘Sorry to say, the security is a joke. Anyone can come in.’ My answer was, ‘You don’t say these things. You don’t doubt the security services. If they think it’s enough, it’s enough. Who are you to challenge the best security force in the world?’ “Boy, was I wrong.” a
1) usatoday.com: Yuval Rabin: My father was killed at a moment like this 2) cnn.com: U.S., Mideast leaders react to Rabin’s death 3) weekly.com: Arafat cries after learning Rabin is dead 4) thehill.com: ‘Hillary for Prison’ T-shirt is best-seller in Cleveland 5) itv.com: Donald Trump promises ‘impenetrable and beautiful’ Mexico wall 6) reuters.com: Trump calls Obama, Clinton Islamic State ‘co-founders,’ draws rebuke 7) youtube.com: Trump Supporter Tells Reporters ‘Hillary Needs To Be Taken Out’ 8) todayonline.com: Trump’s call to monitor polls could give rise to intimidation of minorities 9) thedailybeast.com: Trump: I’d ‘Bomb the S**t’ Out of ISIS 10) nytimes.com: Donald Trump Suggests ‘Second Amendment People’ Could Act Against NEWS & COMMENTARY // 11
campaignyear
The elephant in the room My father, the Trump voter by M.W. VERNON
A
couple of weeks ago I had dinner with my dad for the first time in a while. We went to Cancun on Lewis (where they now accept credit cards, by the way). It was a slow night—a couple of men, presumably immigrants, at a nearby table and the woman who runs the place were the only other people there. My dad ordered a Corona, opted out of the lime. He reminded me that he used to come here often before he retired. “Oh, this is great,” I said when the guacamole arrived at our table. “You’ve got to try it.” “I hate avocados,” he said. “Really?” I wondered how I didn’t know this already. The men sitting at the table behind us were speaking in Spanish. My dad, who learned Spanish at some point during his long career in law enforcement, said they were discussing the best and worst things about Mexico versus the United States. He said this a little loud for my comfort. I don’t mind eavesdropping, but I felt uneasy letting on about it. We gave our orders to the waitress. As he handed over his menu I noticed the spasm in his arm had gotten worse since I saw him last. It was almost rhythmic now, the way his arm dipped down his side and swung back up. The repetition was almost comical, like in an old vaudeville dance routine or something. “This is the best salsa in town.” He certainly is a man of opinions. Like a lot of you, when I was growing up my dad was basically a superhero; he was actually a Secret Service agent. He spent most of his adult life contractually obligated to take a bullet for the president, among other duties like
12 // NEWS & COMMENTARY
investigating fraud and counterfeit currency. I can’t imagine sacrificing my life for someone I didn’t even vote for. I guess I’m not that selfless. I asked him if he had been keeping up with the debates. He said he hadn’t. I didn’t have to prompt him any further before he confirmed what I already suspected: He’ll be voting to make America great again. I cringed as my father, the only white man in a room of immigrants and women, confidently proclaimed that he will be voting for Trump. This is usually where I, as the token liberal of my immediate family, would chime in with some progressive argument. This was right after Trump’s “grab them by the pussy” tape leaked. I wanted so badly to ask him to reconsider his vote. At the very least as a fa-
ther. But this time I bit my tongue. This time was different. Ever since his first of several strokes, he’s had trouble making sense of things, and so have I. He’s lost about 80 pounds in the last year. His hair is entirely white now. A degenerative neurological disease makes it increasingly more difficult for him to control his limbs. This is very likely the last election he will vote in (barring some 1960 Chicago-style voter fraud). Who am I to tell this man, my father, who to vote for this time around? Part of me pities him, in a way. He doesn’t know—or care—about Trump’s policies, nor has he kept up with any of his scandals and general buffoonery. He reminded me that he’s voted for the Republican candidate in every presidential election since 1972. He can’t vote for
Hillary because she’ll destroy this country, even worse than Obama already has, in his mind. I think he just wants to vote Republican one last time. I already feel guilty about not seeing him enough; I won’t try to take that away from him. As long as I can remember, my dad has voted for the Republican presidential candidate as “the lesser of two evils,” which is a phrase I hate. He won’t vote third party because he sees it as a wasted vote (though it seems to me that a vote for a candidate you don’t believe in is the only way to truly waste a vote). I assumed working alongside Presidents Ford, Carter, Reagan, H. W. Bush, Clinton, and W. Bush, plus their respective vice presidents, would give him an intuitive sense of what makes a good one. Maybe it does? What do I know, anyway? Rather than try to change his mind, I chewed on the inside of my cheek. I finished the guacamole. I don’t want to think about him dying. The men at the other table talked about different names for types of family members in English and Spanish—something that always confused me when I was studying Spanish in college. I eavesdropped: “El padre de mi esposa es mi suegro, es ‘father-in-law’…” It’s unnerving: the superhero from my childhood voting for this cartoonishly villainous candidate, who could affect my life for the next four years, which is at once far too long and not nearly long enough. I don’t want my dad to vote for Trump, but in that moment it seemed less important. I just wanted to enjoy our meal together, because I don’t know how many of those we’ll have left. a November 2 – 15, 2016 // THE TULSA VOICE
T HANK YOU
TU L S A
FOR 30 YEARS! November 2016
3 0 T H A N N I V E R SA RY
G I V E AWAY S TulsaPeople Magazine is celebrating our 30th anniversary throughout November with 30 DAY OF GIVEAWAYS! Visit the newly REDESIGNED TulsaPeople.com to register for an amazing new prize each day. Prizes include four beautiful gifts of pearl jewelry from Moody’s Jewelry to celebrate our Pearl Anniversary! Other giveaways include dining gift cards, Tulsa Town Hall season subscriptions, Celebrity Attractions tickets, a $500 Travers Mahan gift certificate and much more!
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THE TULSA VOICE // November 2 – 15, 2016
NEWS & COMMENTARY // 13
MO’ BETTA Lassalle’s New Orleans Deli is back
by MAURIE TRAYLOR | photos by VALERIE GRANT
W
Lassalle’s new location, 15 W. 5th St. Crawfish etouffee
The French Fry and Abita beer
14 // FOOD & DRINK
hat began as a “let’ssee-how-it-goes” restaurant adventure has evolved into a favorite Tulsa eatery that is bigger and better than ever. Chris and Amanda West have just expanded Lassalle’s New Orleans Deli (formerly on the corner of 6th St. and Boston Ave.) into a new location at 15 W. 5th Street. I stopped in with friends to experience new menu items and celebrate the expansion. “We needed a larger kitchen and dining room to better serve our guests,” Amanda said. To that end, the larger kitchen and dining room have improved the run of the restaurant. Preparing the old Lasalle’s favorites is much easier, and the owners found space to add new favorites to the menu as well, such as several new po boys and muffuletta’s. Lasalle’s has also added local beer to the menu, including Coop Ale Works, Marshall Brewing Co., Prairie Artisan Ales, and—of course—the go-to New Orleans’ beer, Abita. Seating at the old location was, if you recall, a tad cramped. Their new location seats approximately 50-60 guests and is decorated with Amanda’s New Orleans’ artwork collection. The restaurant is also now open later on Fridays to accommodate their growing fan base. We began our visit with the French fry—a very special po boy with roast beef, gravy and mayo, decked out with crispy fries. Available in a 6” or 10” sandwich,
it captures the essence of The Big Easy with the traditional roast beef sandwich—crunchy, creamy, and perfectly seasoned—plus the twist of the fries. Next we had the fried green tomato sandwich dressed in a house-made special sauce called “wow sauce.” “Wow” is exactly the word to describe it—it’s tangy, tasty, and a Lassalle’s signature ingredient. Another version of this sandwich—the fried green tomato with boiled shrimp—brings the seafood tradition of New Orleans to the southern tradition of fried green tomatoes, again with the “wow” sauce factor. Both items are menu standouts. Get them fully dressed, Lassalle’s style, with lettuce, tomato and pickle. Two other dishes that should not be missed are the crawfish etouffee and the crawfish and corn bisque. Both are authentically prepared from family recipes that use fresh, Gulf-sourced seafood. The intersection of freshness and flavor transport the diner right to the heart of New Orleans. My friend Tiffanie, who joined me, summed up Lassalle’s best. “Amanda and Chris create the true ambiance of New Orleans. You expect to leave Lassalle’s and walk outside into the French Quarter.” a
LASSALLE’S NEW ORLEANS DELI 15 W. 5th St., 918.582.NOLA (6652) www.lasallesneworleansdeli.com Mon.-Thurs. 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Fri. 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., Closed Sat.-Sun.
Find this and other delicious morsels at TulsaFood.com, covering restaurants, products, events, recipes—everything a Tulsa foodie needs. November 2 – 15, 2016 // THE TULSA VOICE
downthehatch by LIZ BLOOD
*
Blackbird on Pearl 1336 E 6th St. Steve Liddell and Donnie Rich, co-owners of the Blackbird on Pearl | GREG BOLLINGER
Tulsa’s new listening room
I
nspired by The Beatles song of the same name, Donnie Rich and partners Steve Liddell and Angie Robinson have opened Blackbird on Pearl, Tulsa’s newest listening room. Like its namesake, the space’s vibe is quiet and lovely. “It’s more bar than it is venue,” said Rich, who also owns Venue Shrine. “We’re going for more of the come-hear-live-entertainment-but-don’t-be-overwhelmed-by-it. You can sit and talk. We’re not doing the hardcore stuff. We have The Shrine for that. I’d say this is 65 percent acoustic shows, and the rest are full bands.” Blackbird on Pearl has only been open about five weeks (since the end of September), but they’re consistently booking shows, shooting for entertainment seven days a week—most often music, though comedy will also be featured. Local musicians like Junior Markham and The Caretakers, Dustin Pittsley Band, Mike Dillon Band and Mike Dee & Stone Trio are playing the joint, as well as regional and national touring acts. Brandon Clark plays there every Wednesday evening. THE TULSA VOICE // November 2 – 15, 2016
Oh yes, drinks. Happy hour is from 4-7 p.m. daily and all day long on Sundays and Mondays, with $1.50 domestics. Blackbird always has a $5 shot + beer, $4 Fireball, basic cocktails, a modest craft beer selection, and forthcoming draught beer. “We got a great response in the first month,” said Rich. “We wanted to create a more intimate room for musicians to play in. It was Nitro before, which was always a really dark room. We went in and revamped the place, lightened it up—so you’re not feeling that old dungeon feel.” Besides brightening the atmosphere, Rich and his partners added a new PA system, made the club smoke-free, and are working on a patio out front for smokers. For musicians interested in booking a gig, get in touch with Rich through email, which is provided on the Blackbird on Pearl’s Facebook page. a
In “Down the Hatch,” assistant editor Liz Blood offers a look inside Tulsa’s many bars, pubs, saloons and gin joints. Send suggestions for future columns to liz@langdonpublishing.com or @lizblood on Twitter. FOOD & DRINK // 15
foodfile
Canning supplies | MAURIE TRAYLOR
Preservation station DIY canning and preserving food by MAURIE TRAYLOR
O
nce a staple in Oklahoma kitchens for economy and health, food preservation techniques are enjoying resurgence in the DIY economy. Yet, there is more than nutrition and fi nances that drives this growing food trend—it’s fun, crafty, and means you can have the local seasonal foods you love (read: Porter peaches, strawberries from your garden, etc.) year-round. “There is a deep desire to connect with food and to experience the sense of accomplishment gained conserving foods with and for loved ones,” said Tchinina Rayburn, farm manager for Three Fruits and a Veggie Organic Farm in Osage, OK. On their organic farm, Rayburn conducts canning classes through her participation in the Oklahoma Agri-Tourism program’s Jam and Jelly Trail. May through August, visitors can experience 47 different farms, ranches and orchards to pick food or create food products, such as Tchinina’s Blackberry Jam.
16 // FOOD & DRINK
Canning, or preserving, uses either a hot water bath or a pressure cooker to eliminate deadly micro-organisms through a vacuum method. Although canning can preserve any food, Rayburn suggests trying a jam recipe first as jellies, preserves, butters and marmalades can be more intensive and challenging. “Jam uses fruit or vegetable juice so the preparation time is less intensive,” Rayburn said. Jams are formed through the use of pectin, a natural gelling agent found in most grocery stores. Learning food preservation techniques can be intimidating, especially to new cooks. Enter Judy Allen and Valarie Carter, co-creators of “The Can Do Kitchen.” “We believe the best meal is the one you cook yourself,” Carter said. “Creating delicious foods for those you love can be achieved efficiently, economically and without the need for a culinary degree.” Allen and Carter recommend freezing because this approach
does not require any special or bulky equipment, as canning does, and freezing allows food to retain its original, fresh qualities. “Buying produce such as tomatoes, peaches, blueberries and other produce in bulk during peak season is economical,” Carter continued. “With the abundance of local farmer’s markets, freezing is the best way to extend the benefits of Oklahoma’s relatively short growing season.” To freeze produce, you’ll want a large pot of boiling water for par-boiling, a process where foods are immersed into boiling water, cooking the food slightly. Then, the food is removed and plunged into ice water to halt the cooking process. This allows produce such as corn, squash and greens to retain their beautiful colors. Next, slice and place food in freezer bags, mark with date and food type, and freeze. (For certain produce such as blueberries, cherries and peaches, you can skip the par-boiling and go straight to freezing.) Recently, Allen and Carter preserved slightly over-ripened
tomatoes, which they reduced through oven-roasting. Roasting alters food color; in this case, the tomatoes turned an autumnal golden-brown. “We then pureed the tomatoes and placed them in freezer bags,” Carter said. With so many options available and the rich supply of resources locally, preserving your dinner has never been easier or more delicious. a
ROASTED WINTER SQUASH PUREE BY JUDY ALLEN AND VALARIE CARTER Heat oven to 400 degrees. Cut one large butternut squash or pie pumpkin in half and remove any seeds using a spoon. Smear the cut sides with olive oil, season with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper (omit salt and pepper if using for sweet recipes). Using a rimmed baking sheet, place squash cut side down. Cook about one hour. Remove from oven and slightly cool. Scoop the flesh from squash into a bowl then mash to desired consistency. Use immediately in your favorite recipe or cool completely. Store in refrigerator for up to four days or freeze in plastic containers for up to three months. November 2 – 15, 2016 // THE TULSA VOICE
SHOPPING SMALL MAKES A
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THE TULSA VOICE // November 2 – 15, 2016
FOOD & DRINK // 17
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THE TULSA VOICE
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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2016 PATRON PARTY 6-8P; GALA 8-11P 307 E M.B. BRADY ST. CHAMPAGNECHOCOLATETULSA.ORG 18 // BRADY ARTS DISTRICT GUIDE
November 2 – 15, 2016 // THE TULSA VOICE
THE LOOP
loop
Downtown Tulsa's Shuttle
Operates Friday & Saturday Evenings 5pm-2am Scan the QR code and keep track of the
Loop with the Tulsa Transit Bus Tracker App.
NOV 4 from 6-9 PM
THE TULSA VOICE
BEST OF TULSA @BradyArtsDist
READERS’ CHOICE 2016
SPECIAL PERFORMANCES BY
GHOSTS • ORQUESTA D’CALLE BRAVO BRASS • AND MANY MORE!
ARRIVE EARLY STAY LATE THE TULSA VOICE // November 2 – 15, 2016
BRADY ARTS DISTRICT GUIDE // 19
dininglistings TU/KENDALL WHITTIER
SOUTH TULSA
Big Al’s Health Foods Bill’s Jumbo Burgers Billy Ray’s BBQ Brothers Houligan Calaveras Mexican Grill Capp’s BBQ Corner Café Duffy’s Diner El Rio Verde Freddie’s Hamburgers Guang Zhou Dim Sum Jim’s Coney Island Las Americas Super Mercado & Restaurant
BBD II Baja Jack’s Burrito Shack Bamboo Thai Bistro Bellacino’s Pizza & Grinders Bodean’s Seafood Restaurant The Brook Camille’s Sidewalk Café Cardigan’s Charleston’s Cimarron Meat Company Dona Tina Cocina Mexicana El Guapo’s El Samborsito Elements Steakhouse & Grille The Fig Café and Bakery First Watch Five Guys French Hen Gencies Chicken Shack Gyros by Ali Hebert’s Specialty Meats Helen of Troy Hideaway Pizza India Palace
Lone Wolf Bahn Mi Lot a Burger Maxxwell’s Restaurant Mr. Taco Oklahoma Style BBQ Pancho Anaya Bakery Philly Alley Pie Hole Pizza Pollo al Carbon Rib Crib BBQ & Grill The Right Wing Route 66 Subs & Burgers Tacos Don Francisco Tally’s Good Food Cafe
PEARL DISTRICT Ike’s Chili JJ’s Hamburgers Lola’s Caravan The Phoenix Café
Papa Ganouj El Rancho Grande Soul City
BROOKSIDE Biga Billy Sims BBQ Blue Moon Bakery and Café Bricktown Brewery The Brook Brookside By Day Café Ole Café Samana Charleston’s Claud’s Hamburgers Cosmo Café & Bar Crow Creek Tavern Doc’s Wine and Food Egg Roll Express Elmer’s BBQ The Hen Bistro HopBunz In the Raw Keo La Hacienda
Lambrusco’Z To Go Mazzio’s Italian Eatery Ming’s Noodle Bar Mondo’s Ristorante Italiano Old School Bagel Café Pei Wei Asian Diner R Bar & Grill Rons Hamburgers & Chili Señor Tequila Shades of Brown Sonoma Bistro & Wine Bar Starbucks Sumatra Coffee Shop Super Wok Sushi Hana Japanese Fusion The Warehouse Bar & Grill Weber’s Root Beer Whole Foods Market Yolotti Frozen Yogurt Zoës Kitchen
UTICA SQUARE Brownies Gourmet Burgers Fleming’s Goldie’s Patio Grill McGill’s Olive Garden P.F. Chang’s China Bistro
Pepper’s Grill Polo Grill Queenie’s Café and Bakery Starbucks Stonehorse Café Wild Fork
Albert G’s Bar & Q Bramble Dilly Diner El Guapo’s Cantina Fassler Hall Joe Bots Coffee Juniper
Atlas Grill Billy’s on the Square Boston Avenue Grill Deco Deli
624 Kitchen and Catering All About Cha Stylish Coffee & Tea Baxter’s Interurban Grill Bohemian Pizzeria The Boiler Room The Boulder Grill Café 320 Casa Laredo Coney Island Daily Grill Foolish Things Coffee Grand Selections for Lunch The Greens on Boulder Lassalle’s New Orleans Deli
MIDTOWN Albert G’s Bangkok Thai Super Buffet Bravo’s Mexican Grill Brothers Houligan Celebrity Restaurant Daylight Donuts Supershop Eddy’s Steakhouse Evolve Paleo Chef Felini’s Cookies & Deli Golden Gate
GREENWOOD Lefty’s on Greenwood
Elote Café & Catering Mod’s Coffee & Crepes Tavolo The Vault
DOWNTOWN
Bill & Ruth’s Blue Rose Café Burn Co. BBQ The Chalkboard Dalesandro’s
Elwoods Mansion House Café Ron’s Hamburgers & Chili La Villa at Philbrook
Lambrusco’z McNellie’s S&J Oyster Company STG Pizzeria & Gelateria Tallgrass Prairie Table White Flag Yokozuna
DECO DISTRICT
TERWILLEGER HEIGHTS
Abear’s Fat Guy’s
WO ODLAND HILLS
BLUE D OME Kirin The Krazy Olive La Crêpe Nanou La Flama Mahogany Prime Steakhouse Masa McNellie’s South City Mr. Goodcents Subs & Pastas Napa Flats Wood Fired Kitchen Nordaggio’s Coffee OK Country Donut Shoppe Pita Place Redrock Canyon Grill Ripe Tomato Ron’s Hamburgers and Chili Sushi Hana Japanese Fusion Thai Village Tres Amigos Mexican Grill & Cantina White Lion Whole Foods Yokozuna Zio’s Italian Kitchen
Lou’s Deli MADE Market in the DoubleTree by Hilton Mazzio’s Italian Eatery Naples Flatbread & Wine Bar Oneok Café Oklahoma Spud on the Mall Seven West Café Sheena’s Cookies & Deli Steakfinger House The Sushi Place Tabouli’s Ti Amo Topeca Coffee Williams Center Café
Lambrusco’z Mary Jane’s Pizza Mr. Nice Guys My Thai Kitchen PJ’s Sandwich Shoppe Phill’s Diner Sushi Train Trenchers Delicatessen Umberto’s Pizza
I-44/BA INTERCHANGE Big Anthony’s BBQ Bill & Ruth’s Subs Billy Sims BBQ Binh-Le Vietnamese Chop House BBQ D’Oro Pizza Desi Wok Fiesta Cozumel Gogi Gui Growler’s Sandwich Grill Hideaway Pizza Himalayas – Aroma of India Ichiban Teriyaki Jumbo’s Burgers Las Bocas Las Tres Fronteras Le Bistro Sidewalk Cafe Mamasota’s Mexican Restaurant & Bar Mazzio’s Italian Eatery
Monterey’s Little Mexico Nelson’s Buffeteria Pho Da Cao Pickle’s Pub Rice Bowl Cafe Rib Crib BBQ & Grill Roo’s Sidewalk Café Royal Dragon Sezchuan Express Shawkat’s Deli & Grill Speedy Gonzalez Grill Spudder Steak Stuffers USA Tacos Don Francisco Thai Siam Tokyo Garden The Tropical Restaurant & Bar Viet Huong Villa Ravenna Watts Barbecue
NORTH TULSA Amsterdam Bar & Grill Admiral Grill Bill & Ruth’s Christy’s BBQ Evelyn’s Golden Saddle BBQ Steakhouse Hank’s Hamburgers
Harden’s Hamburgers Hero’s Subs & Burgers Los Primos Moonsky’s Cheesesteaks and Daylight Donuts The Restaurant at Gilcrease White River Fish Market
WEST TULSA
Tulsa Broken Arrow
20 // FOOD & DRINK
Arnold’s Old-Fashioned Hamburgers Burger House Charlie’s Chicken Jumpin J’s Knotty Pine BBQ Hideaway Pizza Linda Mar
Lot a Burger Monterey’s Little Mexico Ollie’s Station Rib Crib BBQ & Grill Sandwiches & More Union Street Café Westside Grill & Delivery
Asahi Sushi Bar Baker Street Pub & Grill Billy Sims BBQ Bistro at Seville Bluestone Steahouse and Seafood Restaurant Brothers Houligan Brothers Pizza Bucket’s Sports Bar & Grill Charlie’s Chicken Chuy’s Chopsticks El Tequila Fat Daddy’s Pub & Grille Fat Guy’s Burger Bar Fish Daddy’s Seafood Grill Fuji FuWa Asian Kitchen Firehouse Subs The Gaucho Brazilian Steakhouse Haruno Hungry Howie’s Pizza In the Raw on the Hill Jameson’s Pub Jamil’s Jason’s Deli Jay’s Original Hoagies
Keo Kit’s Takee-Outee La Roma Lanna Thai Logan’s Road House Louie’s Mandarin Taste Marley’s Pizza Mekong River Mi Tierra Napoli’s Italian Restaurant Oliveto Italian Bistro Ri Le’s Rib Crib BBQ & Grill Ridge Grill Ron’s Hamburgers & Chili Savoy Shogun Steakhouse of Japan Siegi’s Sausage Factory & Deli Texas de Brazil Ti Amo Italian Ristorante Wrangler’s Bar-B-Q Yasaka Steakhouse of Japan Zio’s Italian Kitchen
BRADY ARTS DISTRICT Antoinette Baking Co. Bull in the Alley Caz’s Chowhouse Chimera Coney Island Elgin Park Draper’s Bar-B-Cue Gypsy Coffee House Hey Mambo The Hunt Club
Laffa Lucky’s on the Green Mexicali Border Café Oklahoma Joe’s Prhyme Downtown Steakhouse The Rusty Crane Sisserou’s Spaghetti Warehouse The Tavern
CHERRY STREET 15 Below Andolini’s Pizzeria Café Cubana Chimi’s Mexican Food Chipotle Mexican Grill Coffee House on Cherry Street Genghis Grill Heirloom Baking Co. Hideaway Pizza Jason’s Deli Kilkenny’s Irish Pub & Eatery La Madeleine Lucky’s Restaurant Mary’s Italian Trattoria
Mi Cocina Noodles & Company Oklahoma Kolache Co. Palace Café Panera Bread Phat Philly’s The Pint Qdoba Mexican Grill Roosevelt’s SMOKE. Taziki’s Mediterranean Cafe Te Kei’s Tucci’s Café Italia Zanmai
EAST TULSA Al Sultan Grill & Bakery Big Daddy’s All American Bar-B-Q Birrieria Felipe Bogey’s Brothers Houligan Casa San Marcos Casanova’s Restaurant Charlie’s Chicken Cherokee Deli Darby’s Restaurant El Centenario El Gallo Loco El 7 Marez El Refugio Azteca Super Taqueria Fiesta Del Mar Flame Broiler Frank’s Café Fu-Thai Garibaldi’s The Gnarley Dawg Hatfield’s
Jay’s Coneys Josie’s Tamales Kimmy’s Diner Korean Garden Leon’s Smoke Shack Lot a Burger Maria’s Mexican Grill Mariscos Costa Azul Mariscos El Centenario Mekong Vietnamese Pizza Depot Pizza Express Porky’s Kitchen Ron’s Hamburgers & Chili RoseRock Cafe Señor Fajita Seoul Restaurant Shiloh’s of Tulsa Shish-Kabob & Grill Stone Mill BBQ & Steakhouse Tacos San Pedro Taqueria la Cabana Timmy’s Diner
ROSE DISTRICT Andolini’s Pizzeria Daylight Donuts Fiesta Mambo Franklin’s Pork & Barrel In The Raw Sushi Main Street Tavern
McHuston Booksellers & Irish Bistro Nouveau - Atelier de Chocolat Romeo’s Espresso Café The Rooftop Toast Breakfast and Brunch
November 2 – 15, 2016 // THE TULSA VOICE
GREG BOLLINGER
Tulsa’s hip-hop renaissance signals progress in healing the city’s racial divide BY DAMION SHADE
H
ip-hop Culture begins with the four elements: DJing, breaking, MCing and graffiti. These are its foundation. With those elements, the genre has always aimed at transforming the discordant, often troubling details of a city into art. Tulsa’s history is rife with such detail. Like many cities, it has always been divided by race. Greenwood, Archer and Pine formed a boundary where racial separation was actually marked by the train tracks. People born here just got used to it. Parallel communities developed in the same city with separate churches and restaurants and even separate music and art. The sides had different names. In the early 20th century the community to the north of downtown was known as Greenwood, or Black Wall Street. It started in 1906 when a wealthy African American businessman named O.W. Gurley bought 40 acres of land and designated it to only be sold to black investors. At the time, African American property ownership was actively suppressed. Eventually Black Wall
THE TULSA VOICE // November 2 – 15, 2016
Street became the most affluent black community in the nation with more than 100 black-owned businesses, a thriving financial sector, multiple black millionaires and a notable jazz, art, and literary scene—the history of which is respected to this day. Tragically, on May 31, 1921, Black Wall Street was burned to the ground by an armed mob and members of the Tulsa police department. The Tulsa Race Massacre (still the most violent in American history) was a deliberate attempt to destroy the dream of a prosperous black community in Tulsa. Yet, despite this tragedy and turmoil, the positive legacy of Greenwood endures. Now, it is the story of a new generation of hiphop artists and young entrepreneurs poised to rekindle the spirit of Black Wall Street and confront Tulsa’s long segregation with the power of their work.
Steph Simon looks calm even when he’s excited. He’s a 28 year-
old Tulsa rapper whose last album, “Visions of the Tisdale,” sounds like a love letter to his city. “I know people who stay right on the other side of that highway,” Simon said, sitting on Soundpony’s patio, smiling under the brim of a baseball cap and pointing north. “But they’ve never been on this side of the street … They worked at Emerson, and they stay right there and that’s North Tulsa. Just a few hundred feet that way. It’s a whole other thing happening, and the people living there don’t even know this exists. That’s one of the reasons why I feel like we’re out here. We’re like the Christopher Columbus of what’s happening right now. Bringing North Tulsa out here.” Simon is a member of a growing Tulsa music community still inspired by the history of Black Wall Street, which to him sounds almost like a fairy tale. “Once you seek out the knowledge of [Black Wall Street], you get a different sense of possibility, a different pride. It feels like a pinnacle. Everybody thriving. It’s hard to imagine something like
that existing in a place where I walk everyday.” In the past few years Simon and his musical collective TulsaXWorld have quietly been helping to reshape the demography of downtown. Another central figure in the TulsaXWorld collective is local businessman, producer, and performer Keenan Lane, aka Keeng Cut. Lane is the co-founder of the popular food truck TNT Wangs. “We were basically delivering food out of my car for a few years, and we were actually down for awhile,” Lane said. “When we got ready to start up again that truck kind of fell out of the sky for us. It was a real blessing. We owe a lot of people in the community for that.” After two years in business, TNT Wangs has become a successful mainstay downtown by Cain’s and Soundpony. The menus framing the truck’s window are covered with signature soul food dishes named after local hip-hop heroes, but Keeng Cut’s personal hip-hop vision extends much further than his business aspirations. FEATURED // 21
Radio host Ali Shaw COURTESY
Local rapper Steph Simon COURTESY Historic Greenwood | BERYL FORD COLLECTION
Over the last year, the TulsaXWorld collective has started holding regular events under the name World Music Culture. “We wanted to incorporate older artists like the Outsiders and Oilhouse and Mr. Burns, with younger voices like St. Dominik and Tae Hero,” Lane said. “I think of it as a genre of music that’s become a whole culture. Hip-hop is just part of what’s happening. It’s become so much bigger than just one style of music or one type of group.” Simon and Lane’s goal is to carry the legacy of Black Wall Street into the here and now, by integrating the music, culture and businesses of the black community into the larger fabric of Tulsa. Simon lists a number of businesses carrying the community forward—New Look Barber Shop, the recently reopened Wanda J’s, Tropical Smoothie. “Tropical Smoothie is a blackowned business, but it’s not even just black anymore. Like Jake Beeson, the artist and designer. He’s white, and he’s a part of this new Black Wall Street. Now there are white people who are learning about it through the music and the history, and they want to bring it back too.” Beeson is also a genuine hiphop head; as a kid in the 90s, he 22 // FEATURED
collected Yo! MTV Raps trading cards with pictures of rappers like Big Daddy Kane and Third Bass. His artwork—illustrations of everything from GI Joes and Transformers to Biggie Smalls and Scooby Doo—is a sophisticated tapestry of American pop iconography. As downtown Tulsa is experiencing something of a renaissance in graffiti art, Beeson and other artists of his ilk are regularly commissioned to tag elaborate murals on the walls of local businesses. Beeson describes himself as a “graffiti writer” for the local graphic design and art company Clean Hands, but others like Scott Phillips, the emcee known as Dr. Freeman, are quick to tout his hiphop contributions. “That’s an OG in the art game,” Phillips said. “He’s done cover art for everyone. Donated his time to painting at live events and making fliers and design pieces for people just for the love sometimes. As far as hip-hop guys, I want to surround myself with individuals that encompass the four elements, and I think he absolutely represents that.” Phillips is one of the founders of a monthly hip-hop celebration, Lessons in Fresh, a full immersion course in the fundamentals of hiphop, which has featured several
of Beeson’s pieces. D.j. Somar, aka Steve Ramos, who founded Lessons along with Phillips, spins an infectious variety of hip-hop classics with contemporary cuts while graffiti artists like Beeson paint live art on the spot. Held at a different location each month (usually at a downtown bar, or a park), there are often breakdancers, battles, and cyphers in what the founders describe as an attempt to recreate “that ol’ skool block party that the culture was founded on.” “I really enjoy the heyday hip-hop is having now as far as influencing the town,” Phillips said. “Every opportunity that I have to hit the mic with Oilhouse or Lessons in Fresh, that encompasses how I feel about hip-hop. I want to put a voice or a sound to something that Bboys can break to, DJs can scratch to, artists can put in their earbuds when they’re painting … I feel like the city is finally conducive to that.” This creativity has opened a unique musical and cultural space for Tulsa as various threads of hip-hop converge here in counterintuitive ways. “It’s not like the Boombap of the East Coast.” Phillips said. “It’s not the Buggalo of the West Coast. You know? Oklahoma is on that Southwestern dirty south vibe
to where it’s a mainline to connect everything. I think this combination of so many different styles is what’s made it possible for so many audiences to embrace it now. What we have now is a bigger scene of what used to be underground.” Phillips also credits local venues for propelling this renaissance— places like Soundpony, The Yeti, Venue Shrine, Vanguard, and others that welcome a diversity in music, experimental shows, and embrace many and varied styles of hip-hop. “A decade ago there were only a few places, and all of the spots were pretty segregated,” he said. “Shout out to the venues that believed in this. There’s so many places that support the scene now. It’s not just the random club over on Lewis or up north.”
One of the most widely heard voices for hip-hop in Tulsa presently is Ali Shaw. She’s the host of the Weekly Rewind radio show on Tulsa’s KJAMS 105.3, which features a blend of throwback 90s hits and local and underground crossovers. “I’ve been called Mamma Tulsa by a few rappers,” Shaw said. “It’s not a term I loved at first, but if November 2 – 15, 2016 // THE TULSA VOICE
there’s ever a beef or an argument between people in the scene I try to knock it out completely if I can. I keep trying to bring everything back to love. That’s probably where the name came from. So I’ve started trying to embrace it.” Shaw is an unlikely a character to fit into the story of Tulsa hip-hop. A white, single mother from the small town of Lexington, Okla., Shaw comes from a culture slow to embrace hip-hop or black culture broadly. “I didn’t really have a lot of access to hip-hop growing up. One of the first things I got was a tape a friend made me. It had A Tribe Called Quest’s album The Low End Theory on one side, and Heavy D.’s album Peaceful Journey on the other. I heard that tape, and I pretty much lost my mind. I just had that feeling that I wanted to be a part of this.” For the last six years Shaw has cultivated a climate of real hiphop love on her show, spreading a reverence for celebrated icons and local newcomers alike. Ironically, Shaw’s background kept her fairly removed from the legacy of Greenwood. “I will tell you that I did not know anything about Black Wall Street until I went to school at Tulsa Community College,” she said. “I’m from Oklahoma, and I never even heard of it. I hate to even talk about it sometimes because it infuriates me. I only learned about it because I enrolled in an African American history class. I remember sitting in my seat and thinking I may be sitting in a place where some of this violence actually happened … Then when I learned about Black Wall Street it was just incredible. I loved to hear about all the businesses that were flourishing, to hear about the way people dressed, the art and the culture.” Shaw sees a Tulsa where the possibility of unity is still alive— and her optimism is proving to be founded. “It feels like people are working together finally. It’s like a sense of Black Wall Street is trying to make its way back, kind of reincarnating itself. The way people in the community have started trying to join forces. Maybe it’s that feeling that if we’ve THE TULSA VOICE // November 2 – 15, 2016
done this before maybe we can do it again.” A recent Forbes article called Tulsa the number one city in America for young entrepreneurs to live, but the vast economic development of the last decade seems to have stopped once again at the train tracks at Archer and Pine—for all of downtown’s growth, north Tulsa still doesn’t even have a grocery store (meanwhile, there are four within less than a square mile of each other on Brookside). So much of this city’s cultural attention and affluence lives on the south side of those tracks. Dan Hahn, local rapper and principal of the chartered Tulsa School of Arts and Sciences, describes the problem as he sees it—in the insecure position of being able to improve, or devolve, quickly. “I feel like downtown especially in the Brady District, is in a very precarious place,” Hahn said. “Ten years ago the problem was trying to make downtown a place that people from south Tulsa wanted to drive to. Now the question is how can we keep it from becoming something awful as so many urban centers do? How can we get people to care about each other’s lives with no currency attached?” The tragic death of Terence Crutcher, an unarmed black man shot by Tulsa Police Officer Betty Shelby on September 16, may have signaled a shift for Tulsa. National media descended on the city, anticipating the type of violence and unrest that has plagued this nation in recent months. It never happened. There was no rioting, or looting. Instead, a community of hurting people—black, white, brown—found solace in unity, in each other, and grieved. Local poet and performer Written Quincy likes to say, “I believe in spirits, phantoms, and ghosts. There are places in downtown Tulsa where the ground is unsettled, and if I’m going to speak it needs to be with their voices.” Perhaps the legacy of Black Wall Street is the sound of those voices and a city that needs, simply, to listen. Are we listening? a
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Mandii Larsen
Andey Delesdernier
Carmen Skelton
Kristin Ruyle Amelia Pullen Kylie Wells
TALENT GRABS BACK LAdy plAyeRs ShaRe tHeiR eXpeRieNceS iN tHe MusIc SceNe BY AMANDA RUYLE | PHOTOS BY MELISSA LUKENBAUGH 24 // FEATURED
November 2 – 15, 2016 // THE TULSA VOICE
“W
e should start a band, all of us together!” Amelia
Pullen suggests. Pullen sits in my living room, alongside five other women: Andey Delesdernier, Mandii Larsen, Carmen Skelton, Kylie Wells, and Kristin Ruyle, all of whom enthusiastically agree with her suggestion. These women don’t all know each other, but they at least know of each other. In just 20 minutes—one cocktail and a few jazz cigarettes in—they’re already a squad. This instant connection is partly a product of their gender (shout out to the sisterhood!), and partly a product of the art that drives them. They are all musicians: Pullen plays drums for Dead Shakes; Ruyle is a percussionist and livewire entertainer for Count Tutu and Branjae and the Filthy Animals (full disclosure: she’s also my sister); Wells and Delesdernier are both DJs (DJ Kylie and DJ Afistaface, respectively), Skelton plays the fiddle and her “vocal box” in the bluegrass band Klondike5, and Larsen is a multi-instrumentalist who’s played for Broncho and Low Litas. Tulsa has a number of talented frontwomen and singer-songwriters—Branjae, Fiawna Forte, Kalyn Fay, Rachel LaVonne, Brandee Hamilton, Desi Roses, Annie Ellicott, to name just a few—but the women in this room are bound together by their experiences as background players and supporting instrumentalists, or, in the case of the DJs, curators upstaged by the music itself. Over pork skins and gin, these ladies trade stories about performing in a male-dominated local music culture. “The thing is, when women get fucked with, it’s either undermining or sexual or both,” says Delesdernier, to a room of rowdy agreement. She mentions the time a dude hauled in a crate of records to the bar where she was playing, invaded her workplace and assumed he had a right to her equipment and her professional space. Of course, he didn’t. Larsen recalls telling a sound guy which frequencies were feeding back in her monitor and receiving a resounding “fuck you” in response. (Skelton points out that
THE TULSA VOICE // November 2 – 15, 2016
Beat this selfie, Tulsa!
she can’t remember ever working with a sound woman.) Pullen tells of a gig during which a man in the audience stepped onto the stage and started adjusting her drums mid-performance while he mansplained that she needed to play her right side higher and adjust her snare. Ruyle offers a similar anecdote—though in her case the man actually started playing her drums in the middle of the gig. One has to wonder if these men would have felt so entitled to the space and gear of male players. Everyone in this room is willing to put money on the answer being “no.” The conversation turns to politics. Inevitably, that Cheeto-dust-covered Vienna Sausage, Donald Trump, comes up. The room expresses anger and dismay at the recently released recording of Trump bragging about the ease of sexual assault. Most of these women regularly endure and fend off unwanted sexual advances. Wells informs us that she carries a knife with her everywhere she goes; to this, several other women respond that they do, as well. Just in case.
Despite the sometimes-frustrating inequities they experience, none of these women would call themselves victims. They tell these stories matter-of-factly—they’re less complaining than sharing the reality they live in. They love what they do, and live for their art. “I get my power from feeling good about myself,” Larsen says. “I feel freer, like a queen. I’m on my game,” Skelton agrees. That sense of self-worth, for Larsen and Skelton, and these other women, is derived from making music. Like most local musicians, they must strike a balance between evening performances and day jobs: Wells is a stylist, Pullen and Larsen bartend, Delesdernier freelances, and Skelton is a stay-athome mom who moonlights as a seamstress and electrian. Ruyle works full-time as an independent environmental and safety consultant, on top of the grueling practice and gigging schedule she keeps. “I may be dreading going to a gig because I gotta play until 2 a.m. and be back at work at 6:30 a.m. for work, and I’m already exhausted,” she says. “But once I hit that
first note … all of that is washed away. It’s the ultimate meditation.” Tulsa’s music community is small, but bolstered by a committed fanbase, and in this conversation these women betray no desire to run to a bigger city. “[I’m guessing] there are about five hundred hardcore music lovers that keep musicians alive in Tulsa,” Ruyle says, which makes for a tight-knit group often made up of familiar faces. People get to know each other, and the musicians they support. They get to watch the personal and professional growth of their favorite players, which provides an intimacy rarely seen in scenes with the impressive array of talent that Tulsa supports. “We’re lucky because everyone knows each other, and everybody wants to help each other,” Pullen says. Wells agrees, pointing out that although it can take a while to prove yourself, “once you do, you’re gold.” “[Tulsa] has given me a platform to be myself, and make a living at it,” Delesdernier says, something she wasn’t sure was possible ten years ago. When asked to name a few female musicians that influenced her development as an artist, Delesdernier rounds out her list by naming Kylie Wells. “She was DJing when I was still making mixtapes…I was always like ‘she’s so fucking cool!’” Wells is visibly moved by the compliment. She and Delesdernier pass the pork rinds back and forth to “crunch through their emotions.” As the evening winds down and the interview goes off the rails, these women begin to share tricks and tips with each other. Pullen is having some shoulder problems, so Ruyle and Skelton immediately begin asking questions and offering advice, sharing what worked for them when they were dealing with injuries. Before you know it, Skelton is on the couch next to Pullen, looking for pressure points, and Ruyle is promising to get her in touch with a physical therapist she knows who specializes in treating musicians. “Women who barely know each other are now giving tips on how to care for their bodies,” Delesdernier says wistfully. The room erupts into laughter and a collective awww. a FEATURED // 25
musicnotes
BRINGING IT ALL BACK HOME A conversation with Michael Chaiken, curator of The Bob Dylan Archive by BEAU ADAMS COURTESY THE BOB DYLAN ARCHIVE
O
ver the last eight months, Michael Chaiken has been a part-time resident of Tulsa as the curator of The Bob Dylan Archive, working on behalf of the George Kaiser Family Foundation (GKFF) to oversee the organization and delivery of this landmark cultural trove to the Helmerich Center for American Research at the Gilcrease Museum. There’s no educational road map for what Chaiken does; he has created his career as he has moved through it. “I started college at the University of Delaware,” said Chaiken, who currently lives in Williamsburg when he’s not in Tulsa. “I don’t really know why. I didn’t have any real career thoughts or direction; I just knew I liked literature. I was a lit major and I was kind of lost; I wasn’t ready. I did really well in high school, but I just couldn’t get into college at first. I remember I stopped going to class to watch the OJ trial.” Although the educational experiment at The University of Delaware ultimately failed, Chaiken was exposed to foreign films through a local clique of eclectics. There was a spark.
26 // FEATURED
“I saw John Cocteau’s ‘Orpheus’ and it just blew my mind,” he said. Back in his hometown of Philadelphia, Chaiken recalled a video store in a working-class neighborhood in the Northeast part of town. “I would find out later that it was one of the first video stores on the East coast. I wanted to see some more Cocteau, so I went in the store and while I was there I asked the manager if they were hiring and he said, ‘Yeah,’ and I started working there. Now you gotta understand, this wasn’t like a Blockbuster or something, this place had everything. If you were interested in Jon Cocteau, they had every Cocteau film. If you wanted to see Goddard, they had all of them. So, for a year, that was my life. Working there and watching films—that was it. I got about as deep into that as you could possibly go. I was obsessive. I was ready.” Temple University was the opposite of his experience at school in Delaware. “I had my obsession. I knew what I wanted to do and I had
mentors in place—people who could help me. It was what I thought education could be or maybe should be—the tools were there, if you were passionate you just had to go towards it.” Through Temple, Chaiken made connections at Harvard, which gained him access to their archives and an internship after his junior year. Post graduation, he managed a film festival through International House, a cultural center at the edge of the University of Pennsylvania’s campus. When it was decided that the center would no longer put on the event, Chaiken pitched an idea to stay on and create a year-round film series, which helped him learn the mechanics of how to put together and promote programs. Through his series at International House, Chaiken met famed documentary filmmaker, Albert Maysles (“Gimme Shelter,” “Grey Gardens”), who spoke at a retrospective of his work that Chaiken organized. Maysles’ production company, Maysles Films, was in the midst of moving from Manhattan to Harlem, and Chaiken soon jumped on board to help with the transition.
“As an independent film company, they were always looking for revenue to make the next film,” Chaiken said. “So I helped them a little with their DVDs that Criterion put out—worked the contracts and stuff like that—but the one thing that I said to Al was, ‘Where are your outtakes to Gimme Shelter?’” Chaiken plowed into the archives and found 30 hours of Rolling Stones footage that no one had ever seen. “You wanna talk about your assets?” he asked Maysles. “Your assets are your archive. We gotta start really taking care of this.” And so he did. The Maysles gig proved to be a career coup; it led to collaboration with Norman Mailer, which led to Chaiken archiving Mailer’s work on behalf of his estate after his death in November, 2007. On the heels of archiving Maysles work and starting his job with Mailer’s archives, he met Glenn Horowitz, rare book dealer and archive broker whom he had read about in the New York Times. Chaiken cold-called him. “He has me for lunch or something and he’s trying to pick my brain, he’s asking me what I’m doNovember 2 – 15, 2016 // THE TULSA VOICE
ing,” Chaiken said. “Then he goes, ‘Are you making any money?’ And I was like, you know, I’m doing all right, I really just love these guys and I’m trying to get their work out there…’” Horowitz was blunt in his response. “‘You’re a schmuck,’ he says. ‘Look, you got a weird set of skills here; there aren’t that many people that are doing this kind of thing. If you were to organize yourself a little bit better you could make an interesting life for yourself.’ And that was sage advice. That changed my life.” With a newfound seriousness and sense of purpose, Chaiken pushed on, landing a gig working on documentarian D.A. Pennebaker’s archives. Pennebaker directed the landmark Bob Dylan documentary “Don’t Look Back,” and over the course of archiving the film’s unreleased footage, Chaiken started communicating with Dylan’s manager. “I think [Dylan’s people] had been thinking about their own archives for a while and thinking maybe it was time to get serious. The other thing that happened was one of Bob’s manuscripts for ‘Like A Rolling Stone,’ ended up going to auction and selling for like, $2.5 million or something. That’s like two or three sheets of paper. That’s not even the tip of the tip of the iceberg that is Dylan’s archive.” Ultimately, Glenn Horowitz helped connect Chaiken with the Dylan job. “[Horowitz] calls me and says he thinks something is happening with the Dylan Archive,” Chaiken said. “Well, Bob is the whole ball game for me—I mean, it doesn’t get bigger. I talked to Glenn and I said, ‘I don’t know what I need to do, but I gotta work on this.’ And he said, ‘Why the hell do you think I’m telling you about it?’” Unlike many other artists, Dylan’s Archives were very well maintained and organized. Chaiken started to categorize and establish what the archive might be worth to an institution by breaking it down. “Here’s all the manuscripts. Here’s all the photographs, here’s all the master takes, here’s all the artwork from the album covers, here’s all the ephemora …” THE TULSA VOICE // November 2 – 15, 2016
Michael Chaiken, inaugural curator of The Bob Dylan Archive | RICHARD KERN
More so than anyone else Chaiken had previously worked with, Dylan’s office was very clear on what they had, but the archives still needed focus in order to make them ready to present to potential buyers. “I kind of came in and pieced it together so that you could look at it as a single document.”
SLOW TRAIN COMING Roughly six months into Chaiken’s work on The Bob Dylan Archive, Tulsa and GKFF entered the equation. To his surprise, when the archives were acquired, GKFF offered Chaiken the job of being the “inaugural curator” of the collection. The opportunity was too good to turn down. “The thing about these archive deals is after it moves to an institution, my job is usually over; I’m usually on to the next project,” Chaiken said. “So this is the first
time I’ve ever gone over with a collection.” Chaiken’s initial thoughts about Dylan’s Archives being permanently housed in Tulsa weren’t so much skeptical as they were curious. Horowitz, who was acting as the broker for the archives, explained to Chaiken his line of thinking and the picture became clearer. “So I thought okay, Woody Guthrie archives are already there—that makes sense. That’s an anchor,” Chaiken said. “The Gilcrease—so there’s Helmerich Center for American Research and Bob absolutely fits into that narrative and helps expand it into the 20th century. So, after you get past the ‘Why Tulsa?’ question, the intellectual and cultural infrastructure is there.” He continued: “Big deals like this come down to people. The people involved in this thing aren’t knocking on Bob’s door
asking him to come down here and cut ribbons—Tulsans just don’t seem to be like that. This isn’t about a service of celebrity and the people on Bob’s side are thrilled about that.” So, where does this leave Tulsa in respect for an opportunity to capitalize on its most recent gift from GKFF? Chaiken sees it as a staggering possibility for the city. “Look, you’ve been here a hell of a lot longer than I have. I’m coming into this place with the Guthrie Green already built, the ball-field is built—I’m coming into this place where there’s tremendous sense of revitalization. My take on this is that the work that GKFF is doing now is going to be the building blocks for a different kind of future for Tulsa. If this past weekend [the Dylan Film Festival] was any indication, there was certainly a healthy amount of local interest, but there were also people in from Toronto, people from L.A., people from New York, Denver, Oklahoma City—so the word is out. I mean, this was just a small film festival.” Chaiken said the film festival was a first test to gauge the local, national, and international interest in the Archive. “We wanted to know, what is the local interest? What is the national and international interest? And for a first test, it went very well.” As for his future, Chaiken remains in a role that makes him the most comfortable. “Here’s a thing I love about Tulsa: You know in New York, everybody’s a curator. You pick out your socks in the morning and you’re a curator. And there’s an effort on the part of some of these people to make themselves the celebrity instead of doing the work and letting the work be the important thing. That’s doesn’t happen much here. Nobody would put up with it. Everybody would call bullshit on that in Tulsa. I’m doing community work. I’m here to serve the work and get it into the hands of those that can do more with it. I’m not here to editorialize or self-aggrandize or try and become the face of the Bob Dylan Archive—it’s simply not my purpose, and I get a healthy sense that people in Tulsa respect that.” a FEATURED // 27
musicnotes
T
he adage “the pen is mightier than the sword” has been passed down in different forms for centuries, from the Bible to the Koran to Edward Bulwer-Lytton’s 1839 play “Richelieu; Or the Conspiracy.” But is it? Do people like Woody Guthrie do more to inspire the masses with music than governments or political machines? The potential certainly exists— especially here in Tulsa where many artists use social issues and politics in their own songwriting and performances to inspire critical thinking. Musicians, artists, and poets can often influence minds more than any lawyer, politician or government official. I approached a handful of Tulsa musicians from various genres to find out how they consider political issues in their own songwriting, if at all.
PROTEST SONG A survey of several artists on how they consider political issues in songwriting by TY CLARK
PUNK/ROCK AND ROLL I sat down with Michael Williams of The Agony Scene and Merlin Mason at Phoenix Coffee House. Williams is currently writing lyrics for the new Agony Scene record and says there are no “blatant politics” in his writing, but he does speak about “people in power who stand in the way of social progress.” “[Punk rock] is a social movement within music that eludes the social pressures the world puts on you to hinder the pursuit of being happy,” Williams said. That explanation sounds a lot like “freedom,” something of which Williams agrees politics could use more. Politics could also use more empathy, meaning the capacity to put yourself in someone else’s shoes. “I think it’s an artist’s duty to present art or music as a mirror for society … art is about empathy,” said Penny Hill, bassist for BRONCHO and founding member of Labrys. “It’s about feeling 28 // FEATURED
while we walk through life ... I have certainly written with social and political issues in mind. “People like Woody Guthrie,” Hill continued, “used very straight forward language and those songs have withstood the test of time. They remain relevant because the same shit is always happening—the fortunate ignoring the unfortunate, the fight of the underdog. These themes will always remain.” Joe Myside of Society Society, Streetlight Fight and Joe Myside And The Sorrow, takes an ambiguous approach to politics in his songwriting, but is more explicit when performing live. “[I’m more prone] to say something onstage when something is fucked, whether it be right in front of me or it
be something I read in the news,” Myside said. But offstage, he stays diplomatic, “especially while on 10 hour road trips,” and respects the sometimes differing beliefs of his various bandmates.
FUNK/HIP HOP From its inception, hip-hop was political: first as a way to settle disputes with words instead of violence, and then to reflect the socioeconomic hardships and injustices of inner city black communities. “[Hip-hop and punk rock] are both about unity within communities and they’re both about doing things different in reaction to the social issues, injustices and politics around them,” said local MC Mr. Burns, aka Earl Hazard. “People
uniting is a threat to the powers that be.” Derek Clark, aka Verse of Oilhouse, shares these sentiments. “I incorporate social issues or commentary in my music because of the historical significance of politically charged or ‘conscious’ hip hop,” he said. “And the fact that the artists who inspired me the most were the ones who talked about shit that mattered.” “Words backed by music can either make people extremely aware of issues happening in our society, or take the listener’s mind off of it for a brief moment,” said Branjae Jackson, who fronts the funk/Afrobeat band Count Tutu. “Either way, I am delighted that music chose me to offer this creative outlet to help enlighten and/or distract from a hurting and unfair world.”
COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA Cody Clinton of the husband/ wife duo Desi and Cody says he “codes in politics” on occasion. “[But] everything I write is esoteric,” Clinton said. “Sometimes I don’t know what I’m writing about specifically until it’s almost finished.” As an example, he pointed to the Desi and Cody song “Everyone’s On Our Side,” which seems like a love song but is more about “questioning blind allegiance to anything, not just politics.” Country troubadour Wink Burcham recently wrote his first protest song. “It’s an anti-political political song,” Burcham said. “While it protests politicians in general, it protests both sides as well … I don’t typically write political, but this particular campaign just rubs me wrong, ya know? “I’d like to think if people hear a song that they agree with and identify with they can channel their thoughts into that song rather than act out on them. Music saves lives one way or another.” a November 2 – 15, 2016 // THE TULSA VOICE
coming summer
Chamber Music Tulsa presents
2017
FRIDAY, NOV. 11, 2016 7:30 Harwelden Mansion 6:30 wine and hors d’oeuvres Works by Mozart and Ravel
SUNDAY, NOV. 13, 2016 3:00 Williams Theatre, Tulsa PAC 2:15 Pre-Concert Lecture, Works by Beethoven, Brahms, and Dvorak’s “American” quartet
The countdown is on
Get Ready! June 15–17
Gfestmuskogee.com
THE TULSA VOICE // November 2 – 15, 2016
FEATURED // 29
musicnotes
From top left, Anand Wilder, Ira Wolf Tuton, and Chris Keating of Yeasayer | ELIOT LEE HAZEL
Collaging eras An interview with Yeasayer’s Chris Keating by MEGAN SHEPHERD
W
ith the tour for its fourth album, Amen & Goodbye, well underway, Yeasayer will bring Tulsa fans a heavy dose of its signature psych-synth experimentation at Cain’s Ballroom on Wednesday, Nov. 2. Keyboardist Chris Keating gave us a taste of what to look forward to, including radio dial tunes, some poppy wordplay, and plenty of “life shit.”
THE TULSA VOICE: It’s been about six months since your newest record, Amen & Goodbye, dropped. How are you feeling about the album now that it’s had some time to breathe, be toured, received by your fans, picked apart by critics... 30 // FEATURED
KEATING: I’m really proud of the record. I haven’t really gone back and thought about it much, but I’m proud of it. It’s an interesting piece of art we made. I’m really happy with it, but as far as reflecting on the record … you generally don’t need to do that, you know? We spent a few years making it, and then it’s out there, and then it’s out of your control. And even I occasionally have to listen to it so I can remember how to play a song or something like that … TTV: What was on your mind when you started working on the record? KEATING: My wife was pregnant at the time, so we had our daughter … you know, things like that. I’m
always kind of interested in writing about mythology and religion, and am hopefully trying to tackle bigger topics in some of the songs. There are some songs that reference themes in religion, themes in politics. You know one of the songs is about a friend who died, and one of the songs is about having a baby. So you know, life shit. TTV: There’s a lot going on in these songs—tackling some of that “life shit” and what not— KEATING: You better quote me on that. “Life shit.” TTV: I’ll definitely give you fair attribution. But I’m wondering how you begin to create a record like this. With so
much going on—so many different pieces and layers and shifts—do you have a specific idea of what you want it to be when you start out, or do you let it evolve as you work? KEATING: I think it’s like anything else. If you’re gonna make a painting, you start developing a palate of colors, and it’s the same with making a record. When you’re sonically piecing things together, you’re still developing your palate, you’re synthesizing tone, certain bass tones, guitar effects, the way you want the vocals to sound. And then while you’re doing that, you’re also just writing songs the way you always do with a guitar or on the piano, and you just come up with melodies. And when those things meet, hopefully you’re November 2 – 15, 2016 // THE TULSA VOICE
Yeasayer | ELIOT LEE HAZEL
talking about something you want to talk about. And then there’s the palate and aesthetics of that, and the way it’s filtered through that is a big part of making music. I mean, there are simultaneous paths that you walk down and then you scrap things and you re-contextualize. Pretty much like 75 percent of the way through making any record it still sounds pretty terrible, you know? It’s only at that last 25 percent are we like, oh right, the harmonies are in key now, and we re-recorded that and trimmed that. It’s just like building a house. TTV: Yeah, and I feel like Yeasayer’s music is so focused on the sounds: the direction they move in, the trills, the melodies. It’s almost like the lyrics become secondary. Do your songs start with a melody, or something else? KEATING: I think I enjoy writing lyrics, and I like songwriting but I think you need to have certain sounds that grab people so they can go on and investigate the lyrics. You know, it’s not a folk album, and it’s not just a guitar and a voice. So I’m really disappointed THE TULSA VOICE // November 2 – 15, 2016
when I hear albums and I’m like, “Well, that’s the third patch on that synthesizer. Like, that’s as far as you got?” But also, I spend a lot of time writing lyrics, and I like wordplay. I like songwriting. I like pop songs. You know, people that do that well, they can actually say something meaningful, and I think that means a lot. It’s not my favorite form of poetry but there’s a time and place to do that stuff. TTV: The beginning of “Silly Me” almost has this discordant, out-oftune sound that turns into something really elegant as the song goes on. There’s a big change there. And on “Half Asleep,” you have these soothing, yogic sounds that eventually morph into a beachy, nostalgic, 80’s pop-radio kind of sound. I feel like many of the songs on the record are always kind of darting off in different directions unexpectedly. Do you gravitate towards that approach? KEATING: Yeah. I like the idea that a song—over the course of three or four minutes—can seem like you’re spinning the dial on the radio. There’s a confluence of decades, all kind of hitting at
different points. But that’s just the way we listen to music these days. Genre is somewhat irrelevant, and time period is somewhat irrelevant. It all kind of gets mashed together in an interesting way that I think is exciting. I like the idea of collaging decades and eras together to find something new. TTV: As a band, Yeasayer kind of defies typification in that way. Especially in light of everybody’s need to put bands into a particular genre or category—you know, how would you describe your sound?—is it frustrating for you to field that question? KEATING: It’s frustrating when I feel like someone doesn’t get it, and that they’re simplifying what we’re trying to do. I mean, I don’t know. I would never expect that someone would invest as much time in listening to a record as we did in making it, but in general, I’m not that interested in the way it gets reviewed, or how someone would talk about it in a magazine. Sometimes those criticisms, some of those interpretations are interesting, but you can’t really get caught up in that, whether it’s
positive or negative. It’s kind of irrelevant. Like, you’ve already made this thing. We’re not going to try to make it again, Part II. The next thing we make will be completely different, so you know, there’s no real point kind of getting caught up in that prison, I guess. TTV: I recently heard the track “Lone Shark Blues,” which didn’t make it onto the record. Which is a little surprising, considering how good it is. Why didn’t it make the cut? How do you determine what stays and what goes? KEATING: I don’t know, honestly. The band looks at the record, and you just don’t put things on. You feel like maybe it sounds too similar to something else, or it’s disrupting the flow of the pacing of the album. It’s sometimes like scenes in a movie: sometimes they don’t fit, and they get cut. But I guess it’s somewhat arbitrary. When dealing with vinyl, you do actually have a physical limitation for time. But I think we like the idea of a concise 10 or 11 songs, and sometimes there’s a couple songs that don’t make it. I always really liked that song. a FEATURED // 31
In Tulsa, there’s a dearth of accessible, affordable and safe all-ages music venues. Many have come and gone over the years, like the Pink Eye, Vinyl Countdown, Creative Room, Hillman’s Garage, Boulevard Trash, and The Monolith, but they’ve all struggled in one way or another to stay afloat before ultimately shuttering. Some event centers offer a platform for all-ages shows, like The Other Side in south Tulsa and the recently opened pH Community House in Crosbie Heights. And, of course, there are larger venues that routinely host all-ages shows such as The Vanguard, Cain’s Ballroom and Brady Theater. But what about a space specifically designated for modest DIY shows—the local punk band that might only draw 50 high schoolers? To better understand the necessity of and challenges facing all-ages venues, I asked both young local musicians and elder Tulsa music promoters and venue operators to share their thoughts and opinions: Covey Tims (lead vocalist, The Riot Waves), Noah Beal (drummer, The Lukewarm), Kylie Slabby (vocalist/guitarist, The Daddyo’s, Ramona and the Phantoms, and founder of Black Mold Booking), Jay Hancock (founder and owner, Holy Mountain record store), Aaron Kennedy (local musician and former bassist, As I Lay Dying), Jeff Richardson (founder, Hard Work Records), Michelle Cozzaglio (former owner, Boulevard Trash; current manager, The Fur Shop), and Natty Gray Watson (founder, Cult Love Sound Tapes).
The Tulsa Voice: Why do all-ages venues struggle to stay open in Tulsa? Tims: Venues seem to always fall under because of money. As big as the music scene is in Tulsa, it is predominately a bar scene. Sadly, there are tons of kids left out of killer local and touring acts that come through our bars. The short lived all-ages venues like The Creative Room and Boulevard Trash hosted amazing all-ages shows … Unfortunately, they shut down, but tons of kids showed up and it provided an amazing sense of community for the under-agers. Beal: The market is absolutely there, but most venues make a lot of money on bar sales. Underage groups typically don’t bring the bar crowd out. That’s not to say that the talent is the reason, but many people don’t feel comfortable 32 // FEATURED
no real expenses either. The bands may get some gas money from donated change, and a few damp dollar bills.
MUST BE 21 TO ENTER Musicians and promoters weigh in on Tulsa’s lack of all-ages venues by CEILI LAWRENCE photos by HANS KLEINSCHMIDT
“taking the risk” on a local band they may or may not like at all … Cover charges can be scary to people, I’ve seen it first hand. Hancock: Bottom line, an all-ages venue needs rules and guidelines. Underage drinking will always be the thorn in the side of the venue, but it’s up to the venue to curb the behavior. I helped run an all-ages space, The Monolith, for two of its nearly threeyear existence, and the only reason it lasted as long as it did was by setting up guidelines that the people involved with the venue made sure were enforced … If the police show up and find underage kids in your venue or your parking lot, you immediately are looking at a contributing to delinquency of minors charge and some hefty fines. Most of the all-ages venues that have sprung up since the downfall of The Monolith have treated the space as a clubhouse for reckless behavior and then wonder why they got shut down. Kennedy: Opening and keeping an all-ages venue is hard to do from the ground up. Most venues close to due to kids just becoming too much of a liability for the promoters, mainly because most people going to shows don’t want to pay a $10 cover fee to drink soda. The Marquee, for an example—it took them eight months to gain their liquor license, and despite who was playing,
people were not just coming out. But once they gained their license, people started coming back out again. Cozzaglio: The main complication my husband and I have faced with owning [Boulevard Trash] was the restrictions on the building itself. Booking, promoting and working with bands was easy! We personally have never had issues with the security side of things either. But finding a perfect venue up to code ... not so easy. It’s truly a battle. Tulsa is very tough on these restrictions. People try to open all-ages spots, and they close. We hope to overcome that obstacle someday and open back up but it costs a lot of money to do that. As a DIY venue, gathering up that much money is not a simple task to do. There are larger venues in town and a couple houses that cater to all-ages crowds still, and that’s great! Younger kids still have a place to go. But, having a DIY all-ages venue in town where kids feel safe and at home is what we need again. It’s very important for our youth to be able to express themselves within music and within a scene full of people that they identify with. TTV: What is your take on DIY events, or house shows? Richardson: [House shows] are the “hunter/gatherer” version of all-ages shows. They make no money, but have
Tims: Some of our wildest shows have been house shows. The Riot Waves’ second home is Barkingham Palace. We play there at least once a month. Without that place, the kids would have literally nowhere to see live music and let loose. They constantly have touring bands coming through which is a great opportunity for experienced locals and new/upcoming bands to hop on the show. Slabby: I love it. I have had some of the best and most memorable show experiences playing house shows and DIY venues. I’ve also had some crappy not-so-great ones. You never know how it will turn out. Watson: DIY is super fun and incredibly accessible. It’s really easy for anyone to put on or get into, so I’ve always been shocked more people don’t do house shows. But … it’s really hard to manage an all-ages concert space without simultaneously giving under age kids a place for them to indulge in illegal activities … it’s a huge liability when you’re the one running the space or your name is on the lease. Secondly, conflicts with neighbors will arise … and you’ll likely have at least a few interactions with police … even if you give your neighbors all prior warning. Thirdly, your house will get trashed pretty much every show—that’s almost completely unavoidable. Especially with more intense genres of music, you’ll likely end up with some holes in your walls and smashed household items. TTV: Are you working on any current all-ages events at the moment? Tims: Right now, we [The Riot Waves] are currently working on new songs to put together an LP. After that, we hope to put on an album release show. Slabby: I want to because I know a lot of underage people who want to see more live music, but I don’t know where to set up shows. I booked a few shows at Starship Records recently and they really like having bands there, so I guess that is an option for an all-ages spot. But Tulsa needs, like, way more! I’ve been on tour almost all across the country and we played at bars that allowed underage kids to come in and see the bands. I don’t see why we can’t do that in Oklahoma. a November 2 – 15, 2016 // THE TULSA VOICE
Ishi played an all-ages show at The Vanguard on Sept. 29
THE TULSA VOICE // November 2 – 15, 2016
FEATURED // 33
sportsreport
Adam Pleskach scores at the Tulsa Oilers’ 2016-17 season home opener | KEVIN PYLE
Attack zone
Oilers off to strong start in new hockey season by JOHN TRANCHINA
I
f the first four games are any indication of what the rest of the new hockey season is going to be like, Tulsa Oilers fans are in for a real treat in 2016-17. Beginning their third season in the ECHL, the Oilers have jumped out to a strong start, winning all four games, including each of the first three at the BOK Center on consecutive days and ending with back-to-back comeback victories over the Atlanta Gladiators, one in a shootout and the next in overtime. Overall, the Oilers have scored 19 total goals, ranking second in the ECHL, and are one of two remaining undefeated teams in the 27-team league. It’s a great start by a club that fell just one point shy of reaching the playoffs last season. “Last year, we were losing those one-goal games, and that’s one thing we had to definitely make sure that guys who were here last year understood how important it was,” said Jason Christie, Oilers coach and director of hockey operations. “It’s still a long season, but when guys can battle back like this, it’s just stuff you can build off of.” Their comeback win over Atlanta on Oct. 23, which pushed 34 // ARTS & CULTURE
them to 4-0-0, was particularly impressive. After trailing 3-1 entering the third period, the Oilers outshot the Gladiators 27-3 the rest of the way, evening things up on goals from Dan DeSalvo and Emerson Clark in the final 6:14. Clark deflected home the equalizer with 1:04 remaining and the goalie pulled for an extra attacker. Clark, who scored the shootout winner the night before, then assisted on the game-winning goal on a power play in overtime, as his slap shot from the blue line was stopped by Atlanta goaltender Matt Ginn before Adam Pleskach knocked home the rebound. It was a gutsy performance by the Oilers, battling back to tie it in the third period for the second night in a row, before pulling out the win. “We just kept going and had two good comeback games, and that’s always nice,” said Clark, who wound up with two goals and two assists in the game, giving him a team-leading seven points on three goals and four assists. “The team’s playing good. From what I’ve seen so far, we have great character. We have the speed, we have the skill—we’re
going to have a good team this year.” It’s a nice way to start what is being billed as the 65th season of professional hockey in Tulsa (although the current incarnation of the Oilers began in 1992-93). The Oilers’ top line from last season has returned intact, as Clark, last year’s team MVP DeSalvo, and Phil Brewer are all back and have looked just as potent together as they did last year. “It was just how we left off from last year—we know where each other are and we have good communication on the ice, so that really helps,” Clark said. “I think it comes down to being good friends off the ice. We hang out a lot. The chemistry part is there, for sure.” Strong secondary forwards like Pleskach, Christophe Lalancette and Shawn Bates are also back and looking dangerous, as are two impressive rookies who signed at the end of last season out of college, forward Ben Murphy and defenseman Eric Drapluk. Add in newcomers like rookie goaltender Jamie Phillips—assigned to Tulsa by the Oilers’ NHL parent club, the Winnipeg Jets, after completing four years of collegiate hockey at Michigan
Tech—and veteran defenseman Nolan Julseth-White, who made such an impact in the dressing room that he was voted team captain by the players, and the Oilers’ recipe for success looks strong. “He’s a workhorse, he’s a great leader, he’s a good person, and he’s got the ‘C’ for a reason,” Christie said of Julseth-White. Just about the only negative for the Oilers was the somewhat tepid response from Tulsa’s fans. While the first two home games at the BOK Center drew 5,592 and 4,196, respectively, a pretty empty building was on hand to witness the dramatic OT win on the 23rd. While it was officially announced as 3,736, the Sunday afternoon crowd looked like 500 people were actually in the arena, and Christie noticed it as his team tried to battle back in the third period. “There was just no atmosphere in the building today at all, it was just blah,” said Christie, who is already the ECHL’s all-time winningest coach with 523 and counting. “We had to find a way to dig deep and create our own excitement. I just wish there was just a little more excitement. You could hear yourself cough.” a November 2 – 15, 2016 // THE TULSA VOICE
THE TULSA VOICE // November 2 – 15, 2016
ARTS & CULTURE // 35
inthestudio
Tulsa Artist Fellow Monty Little in his 4th floor AHHA studio | MELISSA LUKENBAUGH
Faces on the wall
Monty Little considers portraits, displacement, and PTSD by LIZ BLOOD
T
he painted portraits covering the walls of Tulsa Artist Fellow Monty Little’s studio remind me of a memory I can’t pinpoint. They are blurred faces of many colors—frightening, they look as if they are stretched through time, from the past into the present. One—a woman, I think—gapes, her teeth seem bare and her jaw to clavicle torn open in a mess of purple, brown, and green. Most of the paint on the canvas is pulled and smeared except for one detail: the right frame of her glasses and her right eye peering through. “A lot of my images and works derive from poetry I wrote,” Little said. “Thoughts and visions and whatnot from my time serving in the Marine Corps and experiencing wartime in 2007 in Iraq.” The portraits are part of a series called “Displacement,” which will make up Little’s solo show at Living Arts in January. “So the term that I’ve been using—displacement—is basically saying that I was a person dealing with war and post-war, feeling the effects of PTSD. It affects your
36 // ARTS & CULTURE
whole emotional state. Knowing this, you’re kind of displaced from the majority of people. But, everyone is dealing with their own trauma, in some sense. Everyone associates themselves with their own emotional state.” As a Native American living away from the places he’s called home the longest, Arizona and New Mexico, Little feels that displacement geographically, too. While working towards a degree in creative writing at the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA), Little began writing landscapes, focusing on images of home territory as well as the terrain and experiences of Iraq. “Right then and there I started writing about serving in the Marine Corps and all those emotions started to surge out and surface,” he said. “I started to feel all these effects of PTSD and didn’t know how to deal with it and didn’t even really know what it was at the time … but I wanted to use it as a driving force in my artwork.” He enrolled in a printmaking class as an elective at IAIA, which was his gateway to the visual arts.
He began to translate the landscapes he wrote about into visual work. “One of the images that stuck with me from when I was in war, it was seeing a friend in a house, and there was all shadow, but there was a bullet hole in the wall that he was looking through. The sun hit perfectly in the bullet hole while he was talking to me, and I remember seeing just his eye. It’s a little bit haunting but you remember those things.” Several singular eyes peer out from the portraits on the wall of his studio, now. “I want to separate myself from understanding what a true portrait is by focusing on color, placement of color—basically disfiguring a person, reinventing the portrait style. “What I usually do is sit here and have a dialogue. Not really speaking, but looking and thinking, ‘well maybe this needs more distance or space.’ In a way, I’m helping my brain out by subconsciously thinking about PTSD and responding to it. I’m projecting the PTSD out here, and re-
arranging things to make myself better.” The colored paints on the canvases—smeared, smudged, dragged, pulled—they hint at that emotional turmoil, show its displacement from inside Little to outside, hanging on the wall. Three-quarters of the way through I remembered whose work they reminded me of. “Do you know of Rick Bartow?” I asked. “Oh yeah, I love his work,” Little said. TTV ran a story on Bartow this past February. Unfortunately, he died in April. Bartow had also been a Native American soldier, affected by PTSD after serving in the Vietnam War. That was the first body of work from a visual artist I’d seen mine the depths of his trauma and release what he found for the rest of us to see. “Art has really helped me,” Little said. “It’s therapeutic. There’s something about coming here and being able to work out and analyze everything. It’s almost like you’re painting or talking to yourself, as your own therapist.” a November 2 – 15, 2016 // THE TULSA VOICE
UPCOMING EVENTS
November
@ the PAC
10/ 28- Cabaret 11/6 Theatre Tulsa 2-30 Jo Sullivan: Illumination of the Spirit PAC Gallery 2
Vintage Voices Brown Bag It, PAC Trust
4
Dave Barry Tulsa Town Hall
5
Raiders of the Lost Ark Tulsa Symphony Pops
12
Kings of Cowtown World Comedy Tour Cowboy Bill Martin & Chad Prather
13
Modigliani Quartet Chamber Music Tulsa
15-20 20
Elf the Musical Celebrity Attractions Kelli O’Hara Choregus Productions
29-30 Cirque Dreams Holidaze Celebrity Attractions
READ IT
COURTYARD THEATER PRESENTS
Online, anytime, anywhere!
2016 - 18, O C T. 5
. // V O L
O C T . 1 9 – N O V . 1 , 2 0 1 6 // V O L . 3 N O . 2 1
20 3 NO.
MEET THE DYLAN ARCH IVE CURATOR P26 MUSICIANS ON POLI TICS P28 WHAT SAY YEASAYER P30
N O V. 2 – 1 5 , 2 0 1 6 // V OL. 3 NO. 22
December 1st & 2nd at 7:00pm Performed at Jenks Church
Searching for Bigfoot | P18
TALENT BACK
The Halloween GRAIssue BS | P20
Return to Wizard World | P24
Lady players share their experienc es in the music scen e P24
THE NEW BLACK
WALL STREET: THE
MEANING OF TUL
SA’S HIP-HOP REN
AISSANCE | P21
Just visit TheTulsaVoice.com for a complete digital edition of The Tulsa Voice including back issues. THE TULSA VOICE // November 2 – 15, 2016
Jenks Church Ticket Prices 1529 W. 49th St. General Admission: $5.00 in Jenks, OK
For More Information Go to courtyardtheatre.org
ARTS & CULTURE // 37
thehaps
Rock N’ Folk N’ Chili Cook-Off Saturday, Nov. 12, 5:30 p.m. to midnight, $15-$20
H
Cain’s Ballroom, hortonrecords.org
38 // ARTS & CULTURE
orton Records is holding its 3rd annual chili smorgasbord/concert extravaganza at Cain’s. The event will raise funds for the nonprofit record label, to help spread the good word of Tulsa music throughout the country and the world. The music lineup features a headlining performance from Seattle’s Ian Moore & The Lossy Coils, as well as Tulsa musicians Paul Benjaman, Dustin Pittsley, Wink Burcham, Henna Roso, Kalyn Fay, Lauren Barth, Jesse Aycock, and a Family Jam to close the evening. Competing in the Chili Cook-Off are a dozen local restaurants, including Burn Co, Elgin Park, Ike’s Chili, Lone Wolf, Mix Co, Mr. Nice Guys, and Torero, as well as several musicians. Admission includes all-you-can-eat chili from all of the competitors, while supplies last. There will also be door prizes, a raffle, a silent auction, and live art by Chris Mantle. Donate a coat or a non-perishable food item for the Community Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma and receive $5 off admission at the door and a free raffle ticket. Kids 12 and under will be admitted free.
POETRY EVENT
RUN
Enjoy poetry and pie at the release of “Poetic Justice Vol. II,” which features poetry written by incarcerated Oklahoma women. Nov. 3, 7 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., Tyrell Hall, University of Tulsa, facebook.com/poeticjusticeok
Drink 36 oz. of Guinness while running 4 miles during McNellie’s Pub Run. Because life is all about duality. Nov. 5, 3 p.m. to 8 p.m., $15-$45, mcnelliespubrun.com
THEATRE
ARCHITECTURE TOUR
Heller Theatre Company opens its season with the gamer romance “In Love and Warcraft” at Henthorne Performing Arts Center. Nov. 4, 5, 11, 12 at 7:30 p.m., Nov. 13 at 2 p.m., hellertheatreco.com
See what downtown living has to offer and explore 13 homes within the Inner Dispersal Loop at Tulsa Foundation for Architecture’s annual Dwell in the IDL. Nov. 6, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., $22-$25, tulsaarchitecture.org
ANNIVERSARY
CYCLING
The Coffeehouse on Cherry Street will celebrate its 10th anniversary with an all day party, featuring live music, local artists, raffles, and more. Nov. 5, all day, chocstulsa.com
The Red Bull Mini Drome returns to Cain’s Ballroom for a night of insane indoor cycling. Nov. 11, 7:30 p.m., $15-$18
D.I.Y.
MORE CYCLING
Interested in homebrewing? Get all the info you need at Learn to Brew Day hosted by the Fellowship of Oklahoma Ale Makers at High Gravity Homebrewing and Winemaking Supplies. Nov. 5, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., alemakers.org
Tulsa Tough’s satellite cyclocross event, Cyntergy Hurtland, takes cyclists over several types of terrain through Owen Park. Nov. 12, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., hurtlandusa.com November 2 – 15, 2016 // THE TULSA VOICE
First Friday Art Crawl // Friday, Nov. 4, 6 -9 p.m., thebradyartsdistrict.com // 108 Contemporary: 2016 Vision Makers; AHHA: “Return from Exile,” “Unforgettable” by Karen Hillier, Young Artists Show; Bar 46: Jamie Marler, graffiti art; Bradley’s Sanctuary: “Visions of the Southwest” – Photography by Taylor Mitchell; Brady Artists Studio: Pottery by Mel Cornshucker, Donna Prigmore, Chas Foote, Erin Slauson, jewelry by Rachel Dazey, weaving by Seth Dazey; Caz’s Chowhouse: Kali’s Enferno fire dancing: Caz’s Pub: Graffiti art; Chrysalis Salon: ”Archive Visions” – mixed media by Dustin Saied; Classic Cigars: Caleb Burgess; Club Majestic: Hoe You Think You Can Dance contest; Colors of Etnika: Christmas Gift Trunk Show; Gypsy Coffeehouse: “Universal Homogeny” by Wes Jackson, music by Terry Aziere; Hey Mambo: Painting by Stefanie Aziere Sattler, music by 7 Blue Jazz Trio; The Hunt Club: music by Speakeasy; Living Arts: In SITU; Mainline: “Spectrum Burst” by Ellen Moershel, music by Double Treble; Philbrook Downtown: “First Person: Remembering Little Bighorn,” “The Alphabet of Lili” by Mike Glier; TAC Gallery: “Up Close and Far Away” by Rebecca Joskey, Dean Wyatt, Loyal Roach, Taylor Painter-Wolfe; Tulsa Artist Fellowship: Open studios with Rena Detrixhe, Chris Ramsay, Gary Kachdourian, Monte Little; Tulsa Glassblowing School: Guest artist Jon Bolivar; Woody Guthrie Center: “Songs of Protest and Hope,” music by Eric Himan; Zarrow Center: Jenny Robinson: Struc.ture
BEST OF THE REST EVENTS Black Wall Street Walking Tour // Tulsa Foundation for Architecture’s monthly walking tour heads to the historic Greenwood District. Tours depart from Gypsy Coffeehouse starting at 10 a.m. // 11/12, 10 a.m., Gypsy Coffee House, $10, tulsaarchitecture.com Digital Media Student Showcase // Park for FREE at TCC, enjoy the exhibit and refreshments, and ride the FREE limo bus to and from the Brady District. // 11/4, 5 p.m., Center for Creativity at Tulsa Community College, TulsaCC.edu/ CenterforCreativity The Wit and Wisdom of Dave Barry The Best-selling author and Pulitzer Prize winner reads from his most recent book “Best. State. Ever. A Florida Man Defends His Homeland.” // 11/4-30 Chapman Music Hall, tickets available through subscription to Tulsa Town Hall Myths About Native Americans: Roxanne Dunbar // Booksmart Tulsa and Magic City Books host Roxanne Dunbar, whose book “’All the Real Indians Died Off’ and 20 Other Myths About Native Americans” unpacks the 21 most common misconceptions about Native Americans. // 11/6, 2 p.m., Circle Cinema, booksmarttulsa.com POP: Charles Baudelaire // MUSED. Organization continues to bring poetry to the people with its monthly POP series. // 11/11, 6 p.m., The French Hen, musedorganization.org Writing Well Creative Writing Workshop // Writers will convene for this all-day workshop to support and improve upon each other’s work. // 11/12, Oxley Nature Center, $50, writingwellworkshop.com Illumination of the Spirit // 11/2-11/30, Tulsa Performing Arts Center - PAC Gallery, tulsapac.com/index.asp OKEq Showcase // Oklahomans for Equality’s showcase of art features works by Oklahoma youth who are active in local Gay Straight Alliances, Diversity Clubs, and Social Justice Clubs. // 11/3-11/30, Dennis R. Neill Equality Center, okeq.org Unforgotten // In “Unforgotten,” visual artist Karen Hillier’s body of work constructs family identity by reimagining kernels of information found in her own personal research. // 11/4-12/18, Hardesty Arts Center, ahhatulsa.org In Situ // Mexican performance art group Sur Oeste Arte Estancia performs a piece created specifically for THE TULSA VOICE // November 2 – 15, 2016
Living Arts of Tulsa. // 11/4-11/5, Living Arts, $10-$12, livingarts.org Global Gardens Set the Table Kick-Off // Global Gardens empowers students in low-income communities to be agents of change by creating a garden. This event features live music, the Tulsa City-County Library’s Reading Roadshow, giveaways, and more. // 11/3, 5:30 p.m., Guthrie Green, guthriegreen.com Life Begins at 40 // Woody Guthrie Center celebrates Will Rogers Days with a screening of his 1935 movie “Life Begins at 40.” // 11/6, 2 p.m., Woody Guthrie Center, woodyguthriecenter.org Big Band Hangar Dance // Time travel to the 1940’s and swing dance among beautifully restored warbird planes. // 11/12, 6 p.m., Tulsa Technology Center Riverside Campus, $5-$30, caftulsa.org
Nanyehi // Michelle Honaker and Travis Fite star in this musical telling of the story of Beloved Woman of the Cherokee Nancy Ward. // 11/11-12, Hard Rock Hotel and Casino - The Joint, $10-$15, hardrockcasinotulsa.com Modigliani Quartet // Modigliani Quartet returns to Tulsa to perform Beethoven’s Quartet in B-flat Ma jor, Op. 18, No. 6, “La Malinconia,” Brahms’s Quartet in C Minor, Op. 51, No. 1, Dvor¡k’s Quartet in F Ma jor, Op. 96, “American.” The Quartet will hold a pre-concert lecture beginning at 2:15 p.m. // 11/13, 3 p.m., Tulsa Performing Arts Center - John H. Williams Theatre, $5-$25, tulsapac.com
COMEDY Improv & Chill // 11/4, 10 p.m., Comedy Parlor, $10, comedyparlor.com
Spook Light Tour with Tulsa Spirit Tours // Board the Tulsa Spirit Tours bus for a trip to the site of the infamous and elusive spook lights. // 11/12 // 6 p.m., Brady Arts District, thebradyartsdistrict.com
Blue Dome Social Club // 11/4, 8 p.m., Comedy Parlor, $10, comedyparlor.com
Holiday Sip & Shop // Holiday shopping with a drink in your hand! // 11/13, 1 p.m., Hardesty Arts Center, ahhatulsa.org
Squeaky Clean Stand Up // 11/5, 8 p.m., Comedy Parlor, $10, comedyparlor.com
Wild at Art // Find one of a kind gifts and art by locals artists at this market, which supports Wing It, a not for profit partner of the Tulsa Audubon Society. // 11/11-12, Tulsa Garden Center, tulsagardencenter.com Holiday Market // The Junior League of Tulsa present this three-day, one-stop holiday shopping extravaganza. // 11/4-6, Expo Square - Exchange Center, $6-$8, exposquare.com
PERFORMING ARTS TSO Pops: Raiders of the Lost Ark // Tulsa Symphony performs John Williams’s epic score from Indiana Jones’s first adventure while the movie plays behind the orchestra. // 11/5, 7:30 p.m., Tulsa Performing Arts Center - Chapman Music Hall, $15-$70, tulsapac.com Ok, So...Tulsa Story Slam: Siblings // Storytellers come together for this monthly competition. // 11/10, 8 p.m., IDL Ballroom, idlballroom.com La Revue de Cuisine: Jazz Ballet // La Revue de Cuisine is a jazz ballet in one act by Czech composer Bohuslav Martinu. // 11/12, 10 a.m., Philbrook Museum of Art, Free, philbrook.org
Army of Stand Ups // 11/5, 10 p.m., Comedy Parlor, $10, comedyparlor.com
Sunday Night Stand Up // 11/6, 8 p.m., Comedy Parlor, $5, comedyparlor.com Comedy Night // 11/7, The Venue Shrine, tulsashrine.com The Joker and Jester // 11/8, 8 p.m., Comedy Parlor, $10, comedyparlor.com Friday Night Lit // 11/11, 10 p.m., Comedy Parlor, $10, comedyparlor.com Crayons // 11/11, 8 p.m., Comedy Parlor, $10, comedyparlor.com Comfort Creatures // 11/12, 10 p.m., Comedy Parlor, $10, comedyparlor.com Cowboy Bill Martin & Chad Prather: Kings of Cowtown // 11/12, 8 p.m., Tulsa Performing Arts Center - John H. Williams Theatre, $27-$50, tulsapac.com Komedy Kombat // 11/12, 8 p.m., Comedy Parlor, $10, comedyparlor.com Sunday Night Stand Up // 11/13, 8 p.m., Comedy Parlor, $5, comedyparlor.com Soundpony Comedy Night w/ Dusty Slay // 11/14, Soundpony, thesoundpony.com Steve Poggi, Kristin Lindner // 11/2-11/5, Loony Bin, $2-$12, loonybincomedy. com/Tulsa Todd Yohn, Chad Miller // 11/9-11/12, Loony Bin, $5-$14, loonybincomedy. com/Tulsa
SPORTS TU Men’s Basketball vs Oklahoma Christian University // 11/2, 7 p.m., Reynolds Center, $15-$44, tulsahurricane.com Tulsa Oilers vs Utah Grizzlies // 11/2, BOK Center, $14-$57, bokcenter.com TU Women’s Basketball vs Southern Nazarene // 11/3, 7 p.m., Reynolds Center, $5, tulsahurricane.com TU Men’s Soccer vs Memphis // 11/4, 7 p.m., The University of Tulsa - Hurricane Stadium, $5, utulsa.edu Tulsa Oilers vs Missouri Mavericks // 11/4, BOK Center, $14-$57, bokcenter.com ORU Men’s Soccer vs Omaha // 11/5, 7 p.m., Oral Roberts University - Case Soccer Complex, oru.edu Wicked Wine Run // Run or walk while sipping wine! // 11/5, 5 p.m., PostOak Lodge and Retreat, $30-$75, postoaklodge.com DAV 5K Run to Honor Veterans // 11/5, 9 a.m., Guthrie Green, $15-$25, guthriegreen.com TU Football vs East Carolina // 11/5, Skelly Field at H. A. Chapman Stadium, $15$55, tulsahurricane.com Turkey n Taturs 10K, 25K, and 50K Trail Race // 11/6, 6:30 a.m., Westside YMCA, $35-$70, turkeyntaturs.com Tulsa Oilers vs Utah Grizzlies // 11/6, BOK Center, $14-$57, bokcenter.com TU Men’s Basketball vs Northeastern State // 11/7, 7 p.m., Reynolds Center, $15$44, tulsahurricane.com Tulsa Oilers vs Fort Wayne Komets // 11/9, BOK Center, $14-$57, bokcenter.com TU Volleyball vs USF // 11/10, 7 p.m., Reynolds Center, tulsahurricane.com ORU Volleyball vs Fort Wayne // 11/11, 7 p.m., Oral Roberts University - Aerobics Center, oru.edu TU Men’s Basketball vs Jacksonville State // 11/11, 7 p.m., Reynolds Center, $15-$44, tulsahurricane.com TU Volleyball vs UCF // 11/12, 1 p.m., Reynolds Center, tulsahurricane.com Tulsa Oilers vs Wichita Thunder // 11/12, BOK Center, $14-$57, bokcenter.com ORU Volleyball vs IUPUI // 11/13, 1:30 p.m., Oral Roberts University - Aerobics Center, oru.edu ORU Men’s Basketball vs Rogers State // 11/14, 7 p.m., Mabee Center, $10-$20, mabeecenter.com ARTS & CULTURE // 39
musiclistings Wed // Nov 2 Billy and Renee’s – Wednesday Night Thing Open Mic w/ Sidney Chase Cain’s Ballroom – Yeasayer, Lydia Ainsworth – ($20-$35) Downtown Lounge – Kyng, Blackwater Rebellion – ($10-$13) Mercury Lounge – Travis Linville Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame – Eicher Wednesdays – ($10) On the Rocks – Don White Soul City – Shrimp n’ Grits w/ Papa Foster’s Creole Trio – ($10) Soundpony – The Beaten Daylights The Colony – Tom Skinner’s Science Project – ($39.50-$59.50) The Venue Shrine – Tracii Guns – ($12) Vanguard – MEWITHOUTYOU, Into It. Over It., Needle Points – ($15-$40)
Thurs // Nov 3 Hard Rock Hotel and Casino - Cabin Creek – James Muns Hard Rock Hotel and Casino - Riffs – SeXtion 8, The Hi-Fidelics Hard Rock Hotel and Casino - The Joint – Olivia Newton-John – ($55-$65) Hunt Club – Dachsund Mercury Lounge – Paul Benjaman Soul City – The Writer’s Block Songwriters Night – ($10) Soundpony – DJ Somar The Colony – Honky Tonk Happy Hour w/ Jacob Tovar – ($39.50-$59.50) Utopia Bar & Lounge – DJ MO
Fri // Nov 4 American Legion Post 308 – Round Up Boys Downtown Lounge – First Jason, For the Wolf, Unicorn Street – ($5) Hard Rock Hotel and Casino - Cabin Creek – Chad Lee Hard Rock Hotel and Casino - Riffs – The Rumor, Travis Kidd Hunt Club – Speakeasy IDL Ballroom – *Josh Sallee, A.R.K. Noah, Ben Somners, Jarry Manna, C.O.T.U. – ($10) Mercury Lounge – Micky and the Motorcars pH Community House – Cherry Death, Shishio, The Riot Waves, Brother Rabbit – ($5) Roosters Cocktails – Cole Lynch Soul City – Rachel Dean – ($10) Soundpony – DJ Whynot The Blackbird on Pearl – All About a Bubble, Nick Whitaker The Colony – Lauren Barth & Jesse Aycock – ($39.50-$59.50) The Venue Shrine – *Scattered Hamlet CD Release w/ Cosmic Wool – ($7-$10) Woody’s Corner Bar – DJ Mikey B
Sat // Nov 5 Billy and Renee’s – GRIND, Enslaved By Fear, Sovereign Dame Cain’s Ballroom – Stoney LaRue, William Clark Green – ($20-$35) Chimera Cafe – *The Phoenix Brothers EP Premiere - Firehaus – ($5)
40 // MUSIC
Downtown Lounge – Warbeast, Forever in Disgust, Centaurus, Smoke Offering – ($10) Hard Rock Hotel and Casino - Cabin Creek – Chad Lee Hard Rock Hotel and Casino - Riffs – Members Only, Travis Kid Hunt Club – RPM Mercury Lounge – Opal Agafia & The Sweet Nothings Soul City – Brunch w/ Mark Bruner – ($10) Soul City – *Green Corn Rebellion single release “Get Over”/”Don’t Leave” – ($10) Soundpony – Soul Night The Colony – *Smoochie Wallus, BroujoRoots – ($39.50-$59.50) The Venue Shrine – Zac Maloy – ($10-$15)
Sun // Nov 6 Cain’s Ballroom – *Lettuce, Michal Menert – ($18-$33) Mercury Lounge – Brandon Clark Soul City – Mark Gibson – ($10) Soundpony – Mumblr The Colony – Paul Benjaman’s Sunday Nite Thing – ($39.50-$59.50) Utopia Bar & Lounge – DJ MO Vanguard – Marc Ford & The Neptune Blues Club – ($10-$13)
Mon // Nov 7 Mercury Lounge – Chloe Johns The Colony – Singer/Songwriter Night – ($39.50$59.50) Yeti – The Situation: Open Mic
Tues // Nov 8 BOK Center – *Black Sabbath – ($49.50-$150) Cain’s Ballroom – Hopsin, Joyner Lucas, Token – ($20-$100) Gypsy Coffee House – Tuesday Night Open Mic Hard Rock Hotel and Casino - Riffs – Bill Holden Mercury Lounge – Wink Burcham Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame – Depot Jazz and Blues Jams Soul City – Tuesday Bluesday w/ Dustin Pittsley – ($10) Soundpony – Mannequin Pussy The Colony – Seth Lee Jones & Cooper Waugh – ($39.50-$59.50) The Penthouse Rooftop Lounge at the Mayo Hotel – Ayngel & John Yeti – Writers Night
Wed // Nov 9 Billy and Renee’s – Wednesday Night Thing Open Mic w/ Sidney Chase Broken Arrow Performing Arts Center – *Ben Folds and a Piano – 7:30 p.m. – ($40-$159) Mercury Lounge – Travis Linville Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame – Eicher Wednesdays – ($10) On the Rocks – Don White Soul City – Shrimp n’ Grits w/ Papa Foster’s Creole Trio – ($10) Soundpony – Live band punk/metal karaoke w/ Satanico and the Demon Seeds The Colony – Tom Skinner’s Science Project – ($39.50-$59.50)
The Venue Shrine – Fractal Sky, Trouble in the Streets – ($5.50-$10) Vanguard – Late Night Radio, Famingosis – ($10)
Thurs // Nov 10 Hard Rock Hotel and Casino - Cabin Creek – Brian Capps Hard Rock Hotel and Casino - Riffs – The Band DeLorean, Darren Ray Mainline Art & Cocktails – Kyle Nachtigal Mercury Lounge – Paul Benjaman Soul City – The Writer’s Block Songwriters Night – ($10) Soundpony – Divino Nino, The Daddyo’s, Colouradio The Blackbird on Pearl – *Calliope Musical, Galaxy Tour Guides, TFM The Colony – An Evening with Jared Tyler – ($39.50-$59.50) The Penthouse Rooftop Lounge at the Mayo Hotel – Ayngel & John The Run – Barry Seal Unit D – Red Elvises Utopia Bar & Lounge – DJ MO Vanguard – Chuck-a-Palooza ft. Made Violent, BC & The Big Rig, Evan Hughes, Jackson Nichols – ($10)
Fri // Nov 11 American Legion Post 308 – Joe Harris BOK Center – *Billy Joel – ($51.50-$131.50) Cimarron Bar – Amped Cirque Coffee – Zach Winters – ($10) Dusty Dog Pub – Barry Seal Gypsy Coffee House – John Paul Ratliff Hard Rock Hotel and Casino - Cabin Creek – Stonehorse Hard Rock Hotel and Casino - Riffs – Replay, Darren Ray Hunt Club – Ben Neikirk Band Mercury Lounge – The Yawpers, 4onthefloor Soul City – Jimmy Markham and the Caretakers – ($10) Soundpony – My Brother and Me III w/ Pade, Thrill, DJ Whynot The Colony – *Jacob Tovar & The Saddle Tramps, Alice Wallace – ($39.50-$59.50) The Venue Shrine – *Joshua Yarbrough CD Release Vanguard – *Alejandro Escovedo, Lee Harvey Osmond, Jim and Sam – ($20-$25) Woody’s Corner Bar – DJ Spin
Sat // Nov 12 727 Club – Calvin Youngblood & Cold Front Billy and Renee’s – For the Wolf, Follow the Buzzards Brady Theater – Dream Theater – ($39.50-$59.50) Cain’s Ballroom – *Rock n’ Folk n’ Chili Cook-Off – ($15-$20) Cimarron Bar – Seven Day Crash Hard Rock Hotel and Casino - Cabin Creek – Western Justice Hard Rock Hotel and Casino - Riffs – Replay, The Hi-Fidelics Hunt Club – Let Slip the Dogs Mercury Lounge – Sam and the Stylees Soul City – Brunch w/ Mark Bruner – ($10) Soul City – Jason Heath and the Greedy Souls – ($10)
Soundpony – Pony Disco Club The Colony – *The Seth Lee Jones Band – ($39.50-$59.50) The Venue Shrine – Mountain Sprout, A Live One – ($10-$15) Vanguard – AJJ, Diners, Chris Farren – ($15-$38) White Crow Tavern – BlindSight20/20, Had Enough, Dixie Wrecked
Sun // Nov 13 Bodean Restaurant & Market – Kyle Nachtigal Cain’s Ballroom – Snow tha Product, Infamous – ($15-$18) Cimarron Bar – Black Kat Benders Mercury Lounge – Brandon Clark Soul City – Mark Gibson – ($10) Soundpony – Cortege, Acid Queen The Colony – Paul Benjaman’s Sunday Nite Thing – ($39.50-$59.50) Utopia Bar & Lounge – DJ MO Vanguard – Phillipsfest w/ Indigo Girls, Eric Himan, Trey Pearson – ($60)
Mon // Nov 14 Mercury Lounge – Chloe Johns The Colony – Singer/Songwriter Night – ($39.50-$59.50) Yeti – The Situation: Open Mic
Tues // Nov 15 Gypsy Coffee House – Tuesday Night Open Mic Hard Rock Hotel and Casino - Riffs – The Tiptons Mercury Lounge – Wink Burcham Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame – Depot Jazz and Blues Jams Soul City – Tuesday Bluesday w/ Dustin Pittsley – ($10) The Colony – Seth Lee Jones & Cooper Waugh – ($39.50-$59.50) Vanguard – Trapt, The Normandys, Fist of Rage, Wither, Blindsight 20/20 – ($15-$38) Yeti – Writers Night
Your VOICE For
Live Music Send dates, venue and listings to John@LangdonPublishing.com November 2 – 15, 2016 // THE TULSA VOICE
popradar
Ben Sinclair and Katja Blichfeld, co-creators of HBO’s “High Maintenance” | PAUL KWIATKOWSKI
Let’s hear it for The Guy HBO’s ‘High Maintenance’ is a breath of fresh city air by MATT CAUTHRON
“I
t’s about a weed delivery guy in New York.” That’s the simplest way to describe the premise of “High Maintenance,” the drama-comedy that just finished its initial six-episode run on HBO. But it so drastically misses the mark in describing what the show actually is that you’ll do a disservice to potential watchers if you leave it at that. Created as a web series in 2012 by husband-wife duo Ben Sinclair and Katja Blichfeld, soon picked up by the video website Vimeo and eventually ordered to series by HBO, the show is anything but the stoner comedy its name and premise may imply. It ostensibly centers on Sinclair’s unnamed marijuana dealer (he’s credited simply as The Guy), who delivers door-to-door by bicycle in Brooklyn. But it’s actually a series of vignettes, loosely tied together by The Guy’s delivery service, that paint intensely intimate character portraits of life in 21st-century New York. Among The Guy’s clientele are a pair of musclebound bros, aggressive and abrasive, who menace him until he hightails it out of their apartment—then turn out (delightTHE TULSA VOICE // November 2 – 15, 2016
fully) to be anything but menacing. There’s the uptight new mom, whose patience is tested when her freewheeling stoner baby-dad upends her routines and potentially threatens her family’s safety, until a tender text exchange sees them find the common ground of which they’d lost sight. There’s the sweet, heartbreaking Helen Hunt superfan whose agoraphobia is so crippling (and his secret love of The Guy so complete) that he only buys weed as an excuse to have some company. But some of the most affecting sequences are barely related to the dealings of The Guy, if at all. At one point he takes the trash out to the stoop and an old Chinese man comes into frame, on his daily journey around the city to collect bottles and cans. With no overt nod or comment, the camera simply begins to follow him instead of The Guy. We go into his modest apartment, see the mundane daily routine he and his wife share. Eventually we meet his son, a world-class theremin player whose stage performance moves his father to tears. Later back at his apartment, we see the old man pull an ancient-looking stringed instru-
ment from beneath his bed and begin to play it with a bow, his arm swaying softly. The episode ends on a shot—gorgeous in its simplicity and grace—of the old man performing on a subway platform for strangers, a contented grin nearly imperceptible on his proud face. The season’s clear highlight is an entire episode that unfolds from the point of view of a big, fluffy Labradoodle named Gatsby. He just moved to the big city. His owner is depressed, slovenly and casually neglectful. When he hires a free-spirited young woman to walk Gatsby while he’s at work, the dog is enraptured by her enthusiastic displays of affection and the magical adventures she makes possible. The ending is sad and sweet in the show’s signature unassuming way, but it’s a near miracle of narrative inventiveness. I’ve often said after an episode ended that I can’t believe they’ve created such richly drawn characters—and made me really care about them—inside of a 15- to 30-minute vignette. In this instance, my incredulity knew no bounds. They did it again, only this time the richly drawn character I came to care about was a dog. The only misstep of an other-
wise brilliant season of television was a foray into a more broadly comedic meta-narrative about a fictional television series based on The Guy and some people in his orbit. The less said the better, but suffice to say that it didn’t work because it veered too far away from why the show works in the first place. This series is not broad, and it is not meta. It’s small. It’s humanist. It lingers on details other shows might never even notice. It breathes. And The Guy is our perfect guide through all of it. He’s not saintly or magical. Sometimes he barely speaks, or barely even appears. But he’s kind. He’s nonjudgmental about the people whose lives he passes through at times of vulnerability or despair or joy. He’s got a serenity of spirit that is in too short a supply on the bustling streets of the big city—or anywhere, really. He’s what we should all aspire to be in an increasingly disconnected society. Not perfect. Not out to save the world at every turn. Just a guy who treats people well, lends an ear when they need it, knows to buzz off when they don’t. Oh, and brings really good weed. a FILM & TV // 41
filmphiles
Gimme brevity
Stooges doc ‘Gimme Danger’ is exhaustively detailed, and sometimes exhausting by JOE O’SHANSKY
I
came to know Iggy Pop, lead singer of the Michigan-born punk-progenitors The Stooges, mostly from his appearances in nerdy movies (as opposed to the band that made him famous). First, there were the cult sci-fi flicks “Hardware” and “Tank Girl.” He even played a Ferengi in an episode of “Deep Space Nine.” When I discovered Jim Jarmusch, I noticed Pop showing up in movies like “Dead Man” and, perhaps most memorably, “Coffee and Cigarettes”—where he indulged in both with another legend of era-defining cool, Tom Waits. Dude’s done it all. Or so I had thought. “Gimme Danger,” director Jim Jarmusch’s exhaustive (and somewhat exhausting) documentary chronicling the life of Iggy Pop (nee James Osterberg) and the influence of his seismic-shifting band, The Stooges, plunges the depths of his drug-fueled, anarchic, pedal-to-the-metal existence—a life that miraculously didn’t kill him before somebody got a chance to make a movie about it. Aside from longtime gui-
Tulsa’s independent and non-profit art-house theatre, showing independent, foreign, and documentary films.
42 // FILM & TV
“Gimme Danger” opens at Circle Cinema on Fri., Nov. 4.
Iggy Pop, Scott Asheton, Ron Asheton, and Dave Alexander in “Gimme Danger” | FRANK PETTIS
tarist James Williamson, nowadays everyone else in the band is dead. Inspired to perform by the unlikely influence of television personalities Buffalo Bob (“Buffalo Bob was like Timothy Leary,” he recalls) and Soupy Sales, Pop started playing drums in bands in Ann Arbor in the ‘60s. Soon after The Stooges coalesced with brothers Ron and Scott Asheton on guitar and drums, and their friend Dave Alexander on bass. Pop, stirred by the blues scene while briefly living in Chicago, decided to reinvent the genre. Incorporating the “mega clang” rhythms of the Motor City, the traditional three-chord blues structures became infused with an edge that was seminal to the rise
of punk, while irrevocably influencing the direction of rock and metal for years afterward. Heroin and alcohol addiction plagued the band, forcing lineup changes while fueling their raucous shows. Pop stage dived into the crowd (he’s often credited for inventing this), would cut his skin and bleed, flash his junk, rub peanut butter and raw meat all over himself, and generally be the kind of zero-fucks-given frontman for whom any legit band of true delinquents would punch out someone else’s front teeth. Without Iggy Pop there would be no GG Allin (if you know who that is, then this movie is definitely for you). They’d break up and reform in different incarnations between
1968 and 1974, until Pop got clean and went solo in the mid-‘70s. Despite the crazy ride, their albums “The Stooges,” “Funhouse” and “Raw Power”—like most great things—wouldn’t find commercial success or critical respect until after their time. Jarmusch’s level of respect and fandom for The Stooges, and Pop in particular, borders on the familial. They are, collectively, “Gimme Danger’s” greatest strength. A love letter of epic proportions, Jarmusch’s time capsule holds a novel of minute details revealed during extensive interviews with Pop, who tells the story of the band with the reminiscent clarity of someone who survived a car crash. With vintage photos, archival interviews, behind the scenes footage, and legendary concert performances, Jarmusch documents seemingly everything you could want to know about the formation of the band, the chaos of their time together, and their influence on the music that came after. If you’re a fan, you will be enraptured. But my favorite feature of Jarmusch’s work is the emotional distance he usually puts between his camera and his characters. Here, for a layman or passing fan especially, his personal connection to his subject (and friend) renders the story into a stream-of-consciousness laundry list of events, connections, and relationships that—absent his particular cinematic style—starts to feel less interesting and revealing than he thinks it is. In that regard, it could have been directed by any other aficionado, which is fine, but Jarmusch’s affection for his subject ultimately makes “Gimme Danger” for superfans only. a November 2 – 15, 2016 // THE TULSA VOICE
FERVENT COURAGE ‘Hacksaw Ridge’ is an unlikely combination of jingoism and pacifism
Andrew Garfield in “Hacksaw Ridge” | COURTESY
JESUS NEVER FOUGHT IN A WAR. But if he had, his service probably would’ve looked a lot like the kind displayed by Desmond Doss. The key, of course, is that Doss never actually fought, yet his heroism near the end of World War II earned him the Medal of Honor, making him the first conscientious objector to be awarded the U.S. military’s highest tribute. “Hacksaw Ridge”—the film that dramatizes Doss’s story, named after the site at the Battle of Okinawa where Doss did the miraculous—effectively combines the two most unlikely of traits: jingoism and pacifism. It’s a bizarre contradiction in a movie defined by them. As a volunteer (not a reluctant draftee), Army combat medic Desmond Doss (portrayed on film by Andrew Garfield) was a devout Seventh-Day Adventist Christian who, according to his faith, refused to take a life. Instead, Doss would go on to save 75 lives in one of the war’s most gruesome battles while never defending himself, an irony equal to the fact that his story is told by one of Hollywood’s most controversial purveyors of violence: Mel Gibson. “Hacksaw Ridge” melds the brutal content and sacrificial spirit of Gibson’s two most famous works—“Braveheart” and “The Passion of the Christ”— while having a split personality of its own (fitting for a filmmaker who’s own life has had a Jekyll & Hyde trajectory). The movie’s second hour explodes with manifest warfare and carnage, but the first is starkly conventional. The opening thirty minutes charts Doss’s pre-war life, from formative childhood events to the romance—portrayed, at times, in rather corny fashion— between Doss and his would-be wife, Dorothy (Teresa Palmer). The narrative is safe, both in structure and tone, and the boot camp section that follows has stock genre clichés (albeit very entertaining ones) led by Vince Vaughn’s drill sergeant and his THE TULSA VOICE // November 2 – 15, 2016
colorfully creative profanities, nicknames, and insults. In short, “Hacksaw Ridge” is Mel Gibson’s softest hour of filmmaking followed up by his hardest. Indeed, when the explicit combat begins, the familiar conventional build-up—which appeared to lack sophistication—suddenly seems intentional by design. Having lulled us into a palatable, accessible formula, Gibson suddenly thrusts us into the vile gore of war. The leap is jarring, and makes the war scenes even more grotesque and repulsive by contrast. Yet to its credit, the film’s pre-war boot camp section is a strategic, thematic transition. It’s here that Doss’s pacifism is first put to the test (and, arguably, its greatest). His refusal to bear arms draws mockery, then hazing, from his platoon. Soon, he’s forced to firmly decline direct orders. Most others would’ve caved any number of times under what Doss had to face, from everyone. But in establishing his unwavering resolve here, Doss’s refusal to wield weapons on the field of battle when his life is actually on the line becomes not only credible, but inevitable. As Doss, Andrew Garfield is first-rate, always meek but never weak. He embodies how to live out one’s convictions: with piety, but without judgment toward others—and in service to them. That should be a lesson for anyone, and a resonant one for a movie that opens just days before an election in which partisan ideologues belittle those who vote their conscience. Gibson’s re-creation of twentieth century warfare is, suffice it to say, unforgettably visceral in its appropriate excess, and masterfully rendered. In its grisly fog, Doss becomes the ballsiest guy you’ve ever seen, yet there’s not an ounce of machismo in him, proving there’s more than one way to “be a man.” It’s a stirring feat of bravery to behold, and the most challenging form of courage ever venerated in a war movie. — JEFF HUSTON
A BRIEF RUNDOWN OF WHAT’S HAPPENING AT THE CIRCLE CINEMA OPENING THURSDAY NOVEMBER 4
GIMME DANGER
From famed indie director Jim Jarmusch, this documentary takes an in-depth look at the influential 1960s Michigan punk band The Stooges, led by legendary frontman Iggy Pop. Circle Cinema Board member Steve Higgins will host a “Gimme Vinyl!” trivia contest on opening night. Rated R.
CERTAIN WOMEN
A triptych of three female-centric short stories – starring Laura Dern, Michelle Williams, and Kristen Stewart – set against the backdrop of a small Montana town. Directed by indie auteur Kelly Reichardt. Rated R.
OPENING NOVEMBER 11
CHRISTINE
Based on the bizarre true story of a Christine Chubbuck, a 29-year-old Florida news reporter in 1974 who loses grip on reality and ultimately commits a shocking act on live television. Starring Rebecca Hall and Tulsa’s own Tracy Letts. Rated R.
AMERICAN PASTORAL
Based on the Pulitzer Prize winning novel by Philip Roth, this 1960s drama about a family’s generational clash and fallout from political radicalism marks the directorial debut of Ewan McGregor, who also stars along with Dakota Fanning and Jennifer Connelly. Rated R.
SPECIAL EVENTS
PRETTY IN PINK
This Booksmart/Philbrook 30th Anniversary presentation
of the John Hughes classic will be introduced by Kevin Smokler, author of “Brat Pack America.” Rated PG-13. All seats $5.00! (Thurs. Nov. 3, 7:30 p.m.)
THEY LIVE
Another “Graveyard Shift” event from the Circle, this sci-fi cult classic from director John Carpenter stars a bubblegum-chewing Roddy Piper as a man who finds a pair of glasses that enables him to see the world for what it really is. The first 75 guests each night receive a free pair of sunglasses. Rated R. (Fri. Nov. 4 & Sat. Nov. 5, 10 p.m.)
HERE, THERE & EVERYWHERE
This thrilling sports documentary showcases the progressive evolution of snowsports, narrated by Olympic gold medalist Jonny Moseley. Sponsored by Tulsa Ski Club. (Sun. Nov. 6, at 2 p.m. and 4:30 p.m.)
GHOST IN THE SHELL
A landmark of Japanese anime, this stunning 1995 classic has had a profound impact on the sci-fi genre, influencing films like “The Matrix” and “Avatar.” An Anime Club presentation. (Fri. Nov. 11 & Sat. Nov. 12, 10 p.m.)
LAUREL & HARDY/FELIX THE CAT – SILENT MOVIE DOUBLE FEATURE
A presentation of two Silent film shorts from the legendary comedy team of Laurel & Hardy – “Double Whoopee” and “Wrong Again” – will also feature a cartoon short starring Felix the Cat. Live accompaniment on the Circle’s original 1928 pipe organ by Bill Rowland. (Sat. Nov. 12, 11 a.m.)
STARS IN SHORTS: NO ORDINARY LOVE
This collection of short films stars comedy legends like Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Dick Van Dyke, Ed Asner, Kevin Nealon, Elizabeth Perkins, Peri Gilpin, and more. Presented by Shorts International. (Wed. Nov. 16, 7:30 p.m.)
FILM & TV // 43
THE FUZZ THE TULSA VOICE SPOTLIGHTS: TULSA SPCA
2910 Mohawk Blvd. | MON, TUES, THURS, FRI & SAT, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. 918.428.7722
SHILOH is a two year-old boxer/ Shepard mix. He is house broken and extremely smart. He doesn’t like other dogs, so dog parks are not an option for him, but he loves people. He would make a great solo companion or family dog. He’s also a good listener—so come see Shiloh and tell him your secrets … he won’t tell!
BOWIE is a one year-old terrier/Boston mix. This little guy is a happy bundle of joy that loves to play with other dogs and people. Right now he’s a lil’ Roly-Poly, but we are working on his diet to get him to a healthy weight. This cutie-pie enjoys playing during the day and hanging out on the sofa with you in the evening. Always smiling, he knows no stranger.
The Tulsa SPCA has been helping animals in our area since 1913. The shelter never euthanizes for space and happily rescues animals from high-kill shelters. They also accept owner surrenders, rescues from cruelty investigations, hoarding, and puppy mill situations. Animals live on-site or with foster parents until they’re adopted. All SPCA animals are micro-chipped, vaccinated, spayed/neutered, and treated with preventatives. Learn about volunteering, fostering, upcoming events, adoptions, and their low-cost vaccination clinic at tulsaspca.org.
LOU is an eleven-month hound mix. Lou was really shy when he got here. We could tell he wanted to play, but was too scared. A playful dog friend helped Lou break out of his shell and now he isn’t fearful at all. He might seem standoffish at first, but he warms up quickly. This cuddle buddy and will keep you nice and warm on the cold nights to come.
KAYLEE is a three year-old domestic shorthair. She is a bit of a loaner kitty that likes to be petted on her own terms. When she comes to you for some attention, she loves to be scratched behind the ears. But, for the most part, she stays to herself. If you want a non-needy cat to love on, Kaylee is your girl.
KANE & ZANDER are one year-old domestic shorthair brothers that came to us as kittens. They were both extremely shy, but are now able to hang out and play out in the open. Both enjoy playing with wand toys. If you are looking for a pet that will cuddle and isn’t high mai ntenance, either of these guys will fit the bill.
Your dog will be thankful! $2 from every box of Give Treats purchased goes to the Oklahoma Alliance for Animals.
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November 2 – 15, 2016 // THE TULSA VOICE
news of the weird by Chuck Shepherd
Extreme Hobbies John Weigel and Olaf Danielson are engaged in a frenzied battle of “extreme birdwatching,” each hoping to close out 2016 as the new North American champ of the American Birding Association, and a September Smithsonian piece had Weigel ahead, 763 to 759. Danielson is perhaps better known for doing much of his birding in the nude (and is the author of the provocatively titled volume, “Boobies, Peckers and Tits” — all common names of popular birds). The old one-year record was 749, and the association attributes the larger numbers this year to El Nino, which has disrupted food supplies and driven birds into different locations.
Religion adapts to technology A network of freelance Buddhist priests in Japan last year began offering in-home, a la carte services (for those adherents who shun temples) through Amazon in Japan, quoting fi xed fees and bypassing the usual awkward deliberation over “donations.” And in September, Pastor David Taylor of Joshua Media Ministries International (St. Louis, Missouri) announced, to great fanfare, that he had “resurrected” a diabetic woman, 40 minutes after her death, by sending the lady a text message — through Facebook (though, of course, neither she nor any family member was available for an interview). Redneck chronicles Thousands flocked to the annual Roadkill Cooking Festival in Marlinton, West Virginia, in September, featuring an array of “tasting” dishes (e.g., black bear, possum, elk, snapping turtle) with a competition in which judges deducted points if the “chef” had not managed to remove all gravel or asphalt. Fine points of Canadian law Who is the most at fault when (a) a mother provides beer to her underage son, (b) who then, with a pal, gulps down a bottle of vodka and steals a car from a dealer’s THE TULSA VOICE // November 2 – 15, 2016
lot, and (c) drunkenly crashes, leaving the pal with a catastrophic brain injury? In October, the Ontario Court of Appeal upheld a jury verdict that parceled out “fault,” but assigned more to the victim of the 2006 car theft (Rankin’s Garage of Paisley, Ontario) than to the mother or the driver (because Rankin’s having left the key in the car overnight made it irresistible to “teenage car thieves”). The job of the researcher Charles Foster, recent recipient of the “Ig Nobel” prize in biology (and a fellow at Oxford University), has recently lived as a badger (inside a hole in Wales), an otter playing in rivers, and an “urban fox” rummaging through garbage bins in London, in addition to a red deer and (“ridiculously,” he admits) a migratory bird mapping treetop air currents — all in order to authentically experience those creatures’ lives apart from their physical appearance, which is generally all that humans know. “We have five glorious senses,” he told the Ig Nobel audience, and need to “escape the tyranny” of the visual. “Drop onto all fours,” he recommended. “Sniff the ground. Lick a leaf.” Awesome numbers in the news The Justice Department revealed
in an October court fi ling that former National Security Agency contractor Harold Martin III, 51, had stolen at least 500 million pages of “sensitive government fi les,” bit by bit over two decades. (Bonus questions: How does no one notice, for years, and anyway, how many total pages of “sensitive government fi les” are there?) Leading economic indicators In October (as in supposedly every previous October since the 13th century), some British official arrived at the Royal Courts of Justice in London and paid rent to the queen for use of two properties — for the sum of “a knife, an axe, six oversized horseshoes and 61 nails,” according to reporting by Atlas Obscura. “No one knows exactly where these two pieces of land are,” the website reported, but one is in Shropshire County, and the other near the Royal Courts. Great art! New York City sculptor Bryan Zanisnik, operating on a grant from an emerging-artist program of Socrates Sculpture Park in the Astoria neighborhood in Queens, recently created a 10-piece “garden” of concrete Christopher Walken heads to honor the actor, who grew up in Astoria. Said Zanisnik, “Perhaps the project suggests that Walken’s DNA was
imbued into the soil of Astoria, and now Walken mushrooms are growing everywhere.” A News of the Weird Classic (July 2012) Serial impregnator Desmond Hatchett, of Knoxville, has fathered (as of June 2012) at least 24 kids by at least 11 women, but he is hardly Tennessee’s most prolific. A June (2012) story (citing reporting by WMC-TV and WREG-TV in Memphis) revealed that Terry Turnage of Memphis has 23 children by 17 women, and Richard Colbert (also from Memphis) has 25 with 18 women. Various child support court orders have been ignored, with one woman claiming the most she had ever seen from Turnage was $9. a
10/19 SOLUTION: UNIVERSAL SUNDAY
ETC. // 45
free will astrology by ROB BREZSNY
SCORPIO (OCT. 23-NOV. 21):
Until 2007, Scotland’s official slogan was “Scotland, the Best Small Country in the World.” Deciding that wasn’t sufficiently upbeat, the government spent $187,000 on a campaign to come up with something better. “Home of Golf” and “Home of Europe’s Fastest Growing Life Sciences Community” were among the proposed phrases that were rejected. The ultimate choice: “Welcome to Scotland.” I bring this to your attention, Scorpio, because you’re in a favorable phase to rebrand yourself. But I hope you will be more daring and imaginative than Scotland. How about “Smolderingly Alarmingly Brilliant”? Or maybe “Safely Risky and Unpredictably Wise” or “Home of the Best Secrets Ever”?
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): I cheer you on as you attend to your difficult but holy duties. I send you my love as you summon the wisdom and resourcefulness you need to weather the gorgeous storm. Here are clues that might be useful: Whether you are partially or totally victorious will depend as much on the attitude you hold in your heart as on your outward behavior. Be grateful, never resentful, for the interesting challenges. Love your struggles for the new capacities they are building in you. CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): The coming weeks constitute the harvest phase of your personal cycle. That means you have the pleasure of gathering in the ripe rewards that you have been cultivating since your last birthday. But you also have the responsibility to answer and correct for any carelessness you have allowed to affect your efforts during the previous eleven months. Don’t worry, dear. My sense is that the goodies and successes far outnumber and overshadow the questionable decisions and failures. You have ample reasons to celebrate. But I hope you won’t get so caught up in your rightful exaltation that you’ll neglect the therapeutic atonements. AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Like England and Spain, the Netherlands has a royal family, including a king, queen, prince, and princesses. They’re an egalitarian bunch. The young ones attend public schools, and the previous queen’s birthday is celebrated with a nation-wide flea market. The king’s crown is attractive but quite economical. Its pearls are fake, and other “jewels” are made of glass, colored foil, and fish scales. In accordance with the astrological omens, I propose that you create a regal but earthy headpiece for yourself. It’s high time for you to elevate your self-worth in an amusing and artful way. What fun and funky materials will you use in your homemade crown? PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): In her book, A Natural History of the Senses, Diane Ackerman reports on the eccentric methods that professional writers have used to galvanize their creative process. Poet Amy Lowell relaxed into her work day by puffing on Manila cigars. Novelist Colette plucked fleas from her cat. T. S. Eliot’s poetry thrived when he had a head cold. Novelist George Sand liked to jump out of bed after making love and immediately begin writing. Novelist William Gass, who is still among the living, wanders around outside taking photos of “rusty, derelict, overlooked, downtrodden” places. As for D. H. Lawrence: climbing mulberry trees naked energized his genius. What about you, Pisces? Now is an excellent time to draw intensely on your reliable sources of inspiration— as well as to seek new ones. ARIES (March 21-April 19): I am in awe of your headfirst, charge-forward, no-distractions approach. In fact, I aspire to incorporate more of the Aries-style directness into my own repertoire. But I also love it when, on rare occasions, you flirt with a more strategic perspective. It amuses me to see you experimenting with the power of secrets. Your wisdom often grows at an expedited rate when you get caught up in a web of intrigue that exposes you to dark joys and melodramatic lessons. During times like these, you feel fine about not having everything figured out, about not knowing the most straightforward route to your destination. You allow the riddles and enigmas to ferment as you bask in the voluptuous ambiance of the Great Mystery. Now is such a time. TAURUS (April 20-May 20): I am pleased to inform you that at least 30 percent of what you think you know about love and lust is
Place the numbers 1 through 9 in the empty squares so that each row, each column and each 3x3 box contains the same number only once.
NOVICE
too prosaic. Probably too narrow and constrained, as well. But here’s the good news: As soon as you agree to relinquish the dull certainty of that 30+ percent, you will open yourself to a surge of fresh teachings. And soon, I expect, dewy throbs and hot flows will awaken in all the erotic parts of your body, including your heart and brain and soul. If you’re brave enough to respond, generous lessons in intimacy will keep you entertained for weeks. GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Over the last two decades, well-meaning Westerners have donated a profusion of clothes to low-income folks in Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania. Kind and magnanimous, right? Yes, but their largesse has had an unintended consequence: the demise of the textile industry in those African countries. With this as a cautionary tale, I’m asking you to take inventory of your own acts of benevolence and charity. Are they having effects that you approve of? If not completely, how could you adjust the way you give your gifts and bestow your blessings? CANCER (June 21-July 22): Is it possible that you might flourish as a topdog after all the work you’ve put in as an underdog? Can you wean yourself from the worried fantasy that you’ve got endless dues to pay, and then harness your imagination to expand your confidence and build your clout? I believe you can. And in the coming weeks I will unleash a flood of prayers to the Goddess of Holy Reversals, asking her to assist you. Now please repeat after me: “I am a creative force of nature. I am a strong song of liberation. I am a wise animal with direct access to my primal intelligence.” LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): The next two weeks could be smooth, peaceful, and bland. Is that the experience you want? Mild satisfactions, sweet boredom, and slow progress? There’s nothing wrong with any of that. Please feel free to loll and loaf as you explore the healing charms of laziness. Grant yourself permission to avoid conflict and cultivate sunny self-protectiveness. This is one of those times when silence and stasis are among the best gifts you can give yourself. Welcome the rejuvenating power of emptiness!
MASTER
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): It’s time to replace banged-up, dried-out old obsessions with ripe, juicy fascinations. It’s your duty to phase out numbing traditions and deadening habits so as to make room for exciting new rituals, customs, and sacraments. Can you summon the electric willpower to shed influences that are technically “correct” but lacking in soulfulness? I think you can. Do you love yourself enough to forswear pretty but meaningless titillations? I think you do. Now get out there and do the hard work necessary to bring more serious fun into your life. Homework: Write an essay titled “What I Can Do to Be More Playful.” LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Over the course of his or her life, the average British person says “Sorry” on over 90,000 occasions. The typical Libran Brit probably utters routine apologies upwards of 120,000 times. Libras from other countries may not reach that heady level, but many do specialize in excessive politeness. (I should know, as I have three planets in Libra in my natal chart.) But in accordance with the astrological indicators, I am authorizing you to be a bit less courteous and solicitous than usual in the next two weeks. Don’t go overboard, of course. But allowing yourself some breathing room like this will help you get more rigorous access to your authentic, idiosyncratic, soulful urges — which will be very tonic.
Compose a sincere prayer in which you ask for something you think you’re not supposed to. t h i s w e e k ’ s h o m e w o r k // T E S T I F Y AT F R E E W I L L A S T R O L O G Y. C O M . 46 // ETC.
November 2 – 15, 2016 // THE TULSA VOICE
ACROSS 1 Bench plank 5 Engages in some R&R 10 Junk email 14 Little rascal 19 Priest in Buddhism 20 Seize illegally 21 Spelling of TV 22 Hawaii island 23 “Too many to list” abbr. 24 Rockslide debris 25 Mercury astronaut Shepard 26 Surrealist Max 27 Why timing is everything (Part 1) 31 Isolate like Napoleon 32 Retain 33 Teamwork deterrent 34 Mulligan, e.g. 35 No longer with us 36 Get by somehow 38 Track unit 41 Even if, briefly 44 Street alternative 45 Blender sound 46 See-through item 47 Ruby of “A Raisin in the Sun” 48 Seekers of evidence of telepathy 53 Folded geographical sheet 54 It’s not up to par? 55 ___ d’oeuvre 56 2:1 or 3:5, e.g. 57 Bobsled run surface 58 Baby’s word 59 Dublin’s place 60 Auto title ID 61 Why timing is everything (Part 2) 70 Uneaten morsel
71 72 73 74
Hawk’s opposite Seething state Shooting marble Friend of Lois and Jimmy 77 Garden-variety 78 Mine passages 81 Whitney of cotton gin fame 82 Historical 1917 event 86 Howard the director 87 Be sore 88 Some are out chasing after a buck 89 Blood flow inhibitor 90 Squeezing (out) 92 Turkish governor 93 Bawdy 94 Shopping center? 95 ___ Torino (old Ford) 97 Reward for a good waiter 98 Emulate an eagle 99 Straight 102 Why timing is everything (Part 3) 110 Polish, as a shoe 111 “Poor me!” 112 Totally ticked off 113 Pipe problem 114 Engine 115 Dorothy’s dog in Oz 116 Alphabetizes, e.g. 117 Head start 118 Soothsayers 119 Observed 120 Proofers’ catches 121 Changed colors, in a way DOWN 1 Large quantity 2 Shop tool 3 At full speed, at sea 4 Not short, exactly
5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 28 29 30 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 49 50 51 52 58 59 60 62 63
Steal cattle Stay clear of Certain Shade provider Raid target of old Became old hat Tentacled creature Egyptian, e.g. Super short skirt Heavy type of hammer Ship’s goods Diarist Frank A crow’s-nest tops it The ___ (awful) Legally prohibit Fully prepared Printer’s copy, briefly Ali’s rope-a-___ Nervous system disorder Lubricates, in a way Persevere Not for Cancun cash Allow to enter “Rich and Famous” man Conical Great Plains dwelling Dusting cloth Fingerprint feature Billy Joel’s instrument Cancel a spaceflight Hotel offering “Pet” that sprouts Wash problem Russian author Maxim Peeper Left-hand page “A fate ___ than death” Having a scent
64 Brandy sniffers 65 City in the Ukraine (var.) 66 South American monkey 67 Babies’ wombs 68 Beautician’s employer 69 “Dallas” family 74 Hermit or king 75 One founder of Time 76 Covered with cinders 77 Some winter weather 78 Diagnoser of sneezes and such 79 Pairs of pairs 80 “Addams Family” cousin 83 Proficient 84 Most of the Earth’s surface 85 Poet’s “below” 91 Genuflected 93 Long-term prisoners 94 Arsenic, e.g. 95 Run-down urban area 96 Alcove 97 Certain opera voice 98 Washington, but not D.C. 100 Full of cattails 101 Missouri River tributary 102 Endings for Catholic and real 103 It’s about a foot? 104 Low-calorie, in adspeak 105 Has a nice meal 106 ___ vera 107 “Iliad” city 108 Large stringed instrument 109 ___ out a living (scraped by)
Universal sUnday Crossword Tardy ParTy By Timothy e. Parker
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