The Tulsa Voice | Vol. 4 No. 1

DEC. 21, 2016 – JAN. 3, 2017 // VOL. 4 NO. 1

PARADISE NEVER SOUNDED So Good.

SOLD OUT

CHRIS YOUNG

CHARLIE WILSON SATURDAY, JANUARY 14

THURSDAY, JANUARY 19

ALAN JACKSON

BRETT ELDREDGE

FOREIGNER

FRIDAY, JANUARY 6

FRIDAY, JANUARY 20

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 3

DON HENLEY

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 9

TICKETS ON SALE NOW ZZ TOP

FRIDAY, MARCH 10

CHRIS ROCK

Entertainment schedule subject to change.

Must be 21 to enter.

THURSDAY, APRIL 6

81st & Riverside // RIVERSPIRITTULSA.COM // 2 // CONTENTS

December 21, 2016 - January 3, 2017 // THE TULSA VOICE

SOMETHING SPECIAL E V E R Y D AY O F T H E W E E K MOND AY 1/2 price sausages all day free duck fat fries w/ lunch order

T UE SD AY Taco Tuesday

$1 carnitas tacos, $2 Tecates

T UE SD AY Seth Lee Jones 9pm, no cover

W EDNE SD AY Burger Night

$3.99 charburger w/ choice of side, 5pm-close

T HUR SD AY Dad’s Got Dinner Special

$25 l arge single topping or specialt y pizza & growler fill, carryout only, 4pm-close

T HUR SD AY college night

1/2 price bowling & shoes, plus beer specials w/ college ID

WEEKENDS Open till 1am Friday & Saturday 1/2 price breakfast tacos after 9pm

D A I LY 1/2 price burgers after 9pm

D A I LY sushi happy hour 2pm-5pm

V I S I T M C N E L L I E S G R O U P. C O M F O R A F U L L L I S T O F L O C AT I O N S THE TULSA VOICE // December 21, 2016 - January 3, 2017

CONTENTS // 3

4 // CONTENTS

December 21, 2016 - January 3, 2017 // THE TULSA VOICE

Dec. 21, 2016 – Jan. 3, 2017 // Vol. 4, No. 1 ©2016. All rights reserved.

PUBLISHER Jim Langdon

22

EDITOR Joshua Kline MANAGING EDITOR Liz Blood DIGITAL EDITOR John Langdon ART DIRECTOR Madeline Crawford GRAPHIC DESIGNERS Georgia Brooks, Morgan Welch PHOTOGRAPHER Greg Bollinger GRAPHIC DESIGN INTERN Lindsay McClain

VOICE’S CHOICES

AD SALES MANAGER Josh Kampf CONTRIBUTORS Beau Adams, David Blatt, Matt Cauthron, Alicia Chesser, Ty Clark, Claire Edwards, Angela Evans, Barry Friedman, Jeff Huston, Hans Kleinschmidt, Adam Murphy, Denver Nicks, Mary Noble, Bobby Dean Orcutt, Joe O’Shansky, Michelle Pollard, Damion Shade, Megan Shepherd, M.W. Vernon

The Tulsa Voice’s distribution is audited annually by

Staff picks for the best and worst of 2016

Member of

The Tulsa Voice is published bi-monthly by

NEWS & COMMENTARY

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

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

8 TRIGGER WARNING Y DAVID BLATT B

14 A BRAVE NEW YEAR Y ANGELA EVANS B

Legislature has set itself up for another ill-timed income tax cut

L ooking back at the culinary happenings of 2016

10 8TH ANNUAL BAD PENNY AWARDS Y BARRY FRIEDMAN B

16 DRINK ALL THIS SHIT Y LIZ BLOOD B

2016. The worst year ever.

12 THE YEAR OF THE TROLLS Y DENVER NICKS B Annus Horribilis, or: What the f**k just happened?

13 WE WILL MEET IN A PLACE WHERE THERE IS NO DARKNESS

BY M.W. VERNON

Reflections on 2016

MUSIC DEC. 21, 2016 – JAN. 3, 2017 // VOL. 4 NO. 1

FOOD & DRINK

18 BEHIND THE NIB

The year’s best in music

24 ART THAT PAYS THE BILLS Y ALICIA CHESSER B

Movers and shakers in the performing arts count 2016’s blessings, offer wishes for 2017

26 LOCAL SHIPPING

BY MEGAN SHEPHERD

‘Chocolate’ exhibition at Gilcrease sheds light on the history of the world’s most famous confection

20 ALL THE NEWS THAT’S FIT TO PRINT

BY BEAU ADAMS

Day drinking with Tulsa World’s Jerry Wofford

TV & FILM 37 DICK PUNCH Y CLAIRE EDWARDS B

Behold, the Boxyard

28 NEW YEAR’S EVE

BY MEGAN SHEPHERD

32 SONIC SUPERLATIVES

BY TY CLARK, BOBBY DEAN ORCUTT, MARY NOBLE AND DAMION SHADE

Sparkle into the new year for $30 or less

ARTS & CULTURE

BY JOHN LANGDON

How to ring in the New Year

ETC. 7 YOURVOICE 31 THEHAPS 36 MUSICLISTINGS 41 THEFUZZ 42 ASTROLOGY + SUDOKU 43 CROSSWORD

The year in Lady Parts

38 THE CONTENDERS

BY JEFF HUSTON AND JOE O’SHANSKY

TTV critics talk the year’s best in film

40 DON’T KILL YOUR TV ON THE COVER

Illustrations by Georgia Brooks and Morgan Welch THE TULSA VOICE // December 21, 2016 - January 3, 2017

BY MATT CAUTHRON

The 10 best shows of 2016 CONTENTS // 5

editor’sletter

Reluctance Ah, when to the heart of man Was it ever less than a treason To go with the drift of things, To yield with a grace to reason, And bow and accept the end Of a love or a season?

That’s the last stanza of Robert Frost’s “Reluctance,” a poem I once, years ago, obsessed over during an especially difficult season. At the time, I misinterpreted Frost’s meaning—I thought he was finding peace in the inevitability of change, I thought he was saying, “accept your lack of

control and embrace the next chapter.”

I realized much later that he was saying just the opposite. “Reluctance” is about Frost’s despair after first being rejected by his future wife, Elinor. The story goes that, after a long courtship, he traveled to New York to propose to her while she was in college, but she said “no.” Devastated, he retreated to a swamp in Virginia and considered suicide. He would not “yield with a grace to reason,” and refused to accept the end of his love. After several, painful days

of self-reflection, he ultimately left the swamp, went back to New York and won Elinor back. They married and had six children.

The poem has taken on new meaning for me in recent months.

In the collective big picture, 2016 has been marked by one rejection, death, disappointment, and setback after another. The season is changing for all of us; America is morphing into something new yet familiar—something potentially frightening. And it’s not just our country but the world in general. People have lost faith in

their leaders and institutions, and in response are electing “outsiders”—demagogues, fear mongers, authoritarians—in a last ditch effort to overhaul a broken system.

This was the year of despairing in the swamp. We can’t drain it, but we can follow Frost’s lead and trudge through it ‘til we find higher ground. a

JOSHUA KLINE EDITOR

Thank you, Voice Readers!

THE TULSA VOICE

BEST OF TULSA READERS’ CHOICE 2016

wBest inMuseum ner!

•

Best Place to Learn Something New

Two locations, one world-class art museum.

Stay connected. philbrook.org 6 // NEWS & COMMENTARY

December 21, 2016 - January 3, 2017 // THE TULSA VOICE

yourvoice HAIKU EDITION

Birds have disappeared All is still and quite peaceful A storm is brewing

a ghost of a moon sailed by on a slip of silver a flimsy raft for moonbeam!

Winter’s snow hide trees Icicles form a low branch Direct the sunlight

damp snapping wind iced her bones through to the marrow with winter sorrow

Soon it is over The sunlight peeks out again A wildflower smiles

tonight I shall see stars a whole sky of sheer delight my dream idea

Needs to Get Out of the House More Often Early morning drive: Eyes widen, heart races; mind-It’s just an oil change!

Unstoppable Forces at Work

Truest Thought An explanation, Stiff, rapt, afoot on the huntVanished on wings!

- Phetote Mshairi,

Gravity takes hold Friendship succumbs to passion Soul mates fall, in Love Tulsa

- Henry Heitmann, Ft. Myers Beach, FL

- Linda Amos, York, PA

We ask for letters to the editor each issue, welcoming “letters, complaints, compliments, and haikus.” In March, we made a tongue-in-cheek call for haikus on social media because we had never received any. Next thing we knew, we received tiny poems from all over the country.

Magnanimity Occupy your space; Be your best as you best be-Share it with my best.

Kleenex lined pockets Editor with allergies Tulsa’s snot rocket

- D.W. Hartford,

- Tyler Schilling,

Bay Saint Louis, MS

Tulsa

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THE TULSA VOICE // December 21, 2016 - January 3, 2017

NEWS & COMMENTARY // 7

okpolicy

T

TRIGGER WARNING Legislature has set itself up for another ill-timed income tax cut

by DAVID BLATT

8 // NEWS & COMMENTARY

his time last year, Oklahoma was in the middle of a massive budget crisis. As revenues came in below projections, the state twice made acrossthe-board budget cuts that hit our schools, health care, roads, and other key building blocks of our economy. Then the Legislature came into session facing a $1.3 billion shortfall, which led to even deeper cuts. Amid this agony, another tax cut took effect at the start of this year — adding at least $150 million to the budget hole and ensuring that critical services were slashed more deeply.

That tax cut kicked in because of a poorly-designed trigger mechanism passed by legislators in 2014. This year could be déjà vu all over again. Because of the same legislation passed nearly three years ago, Oklahoma could face another automatic tax cut as we grapple with even more painful budget cuts.

Under the bill passed in 2014, another tax cut lowering the top income tax rate from 5 percent to 4.85 percent could take effect in January 2018. The tax cut is automatically triggered if General Revenue collections are projected to grow next year by more than the cost of the tax cut in 2018.

Last year, the cost of the 0.15 percentage point cut was estimated at $94.8 million by the Oklahoma Tax Commission. The problem is that if revenues grow just enough to reach the trigger, next year’s revenues will still be more than $400 million below what they were in FY 2015. And even with revenue growth, Oklahoma faces another huge budget hole due to the $550 million to $700 million of non-recurring revenue that was used to balance the FY 2017 budget. As Tulsa World editor

Wayne Greene noted, “We’re still stumbling around from the last time, and we’re getting ready to hit ourselves in the head with another hammer.”

Knowing that the state budget needs more time to bounce back from the current drop in revenues, legislative leaders almost succeeded last year in delaying the next tax cut until revenues improve substantially more. SB 1618, which was introduced in the waning days of the 2016 session, passed the full Senate 44-3 two days before legislative adjournment. However, before the bill could be brought up for final passage in the House, a glitch in the bill’s drafting was discovered. Since there wasn’t time to pull the bill back and get a revised version through both chambers, the bill was left to die.

Ideally, the Legislature would stop enacting triggers entirely and would base its tax policy decisions on conditions at the time, not some point in the future when the state’s full financial situation is unforeseeable. The Legislature should also reject the idea that a modest level of revenue growth means we can afford more tax cuts — an idea that ignores the reality that state government must spend more over time to provide the same services as populations grow and costs rise. At the very least, the Legislature must act in 2017 to push the trigger back and give Oklahoma more time to recover from repeated budget cuts.

It’s time to learn from our mistakes. Making sure that this tax cut does not take effect should be a top priority of next year’s Legislature. a David Blatt is Executive Director of Oklahoma Policy Institute (www.okpolicy.org).

December 21, 2016 - January 3, 2017 // THE TULSA VOICE

2016 kinda sucked, but there was cool stuff, too.

THE TULSA VOICE - BEST OF TULSA 2017 THE TULSA VOICE // December 21, 2016 - January 3, 2017

COMING SOON

NEWS & COMMENTARY // 9

viewsfrom theplains

WE’RE BEGGING YOU … KNOCK IT OFF RIGHT NOW WITH THE NOODLE RESTAURANTS. (Angela Evans begs to differ on page 14.)

1

2

3

8TH ANNUAL BAD PENNY AWARDS

by BARRY FRIEDMAN 4

Genug In Yiddish, it means Enough.

2016. The worst ever.

(We say that every year, though, don’t we?)

Nevertheless, welcome to the 8th Annual Bad Penny Awards, so named, as Grandma Sylvia would attest, because the bad ones always return or, as is the case in Oklahoma, never leave and linger like fever blisters for the entire country to see.

Tulsa should secede from the state—or just midtown should.

State legislators this past year fought the wrong battles, sided with intolerance and insensitivity, promoted a state religion, cared more about hand guns than higher education, relished keeping poor people from healthcare, piled up debt and dysfunction, found new and ingenuous (and incompetent) ways to kill people, patronized teachers, fracked itself into becoming the most seismically active state in the Lower 48, and, worst of all, challenged Colorado’s pot laws.

Any wonder Durant left?

Genug!

Okay, you want a reason to smile? Sally Kearn was term-limited; our sunsets are still glorious; there’s always plenty of parking (even if MENSA members can’t figure out how to work the meters downtown); we’ll soon be able to get ice and corkscrews at liquor stores; the Dylan archives are here; George Kaiser, even though he’s an unappreciative old Jewish oil man (stay with me), still spends money gussying up the place; and Tulsa’s new mayor, the refreshing G.T. Bynum, hired a guy named Junk to be his deputy.

P.S. Ev’ry night my honey lamb and I watch the same lazy hawk making circles in the sky and think, “Can we please make Leon Russell’s ‘Home Sweet Oklahoma’ the state song?”

LET’S BEGIN. 10 // NEWS & COMMENTARY

1.) LIKE HAVING FORMER SENATOR TOM COBURN GUARD THE CONDOM CASE AT PLANNED PARENTHOOD

President-elect Trump (it still stings) named Oklahoma’s Attorney General Scott Pruitt the new EPA Director, an agency he’s presently suing. Pruitt will do for the environment what his boss did for monogamy. MAGA.

2.) WHILE YOU’RE PEEING, REMEMBER, IT’S NOT A CHOICE, IT’S A CHILD

As part of a bill passed last year to make the state abortion-free (and return women to chattel), Oklahoma restaurants, beginning in 2018, will be required to post signs in women’s restrooms that promote, ahem, “life-affirming” choices. It’s just one more way the GOP is getting government

out of your lives and into your Fallopian tubes. (Why are the pro-life signs in just women’s bathrooms?)

3.) BANNED FROM THE VODKA GIMLET, A PROUD MAN REBUILDS

In addition to pleading no contest to a charge he failed to perform his official duties, former Tulsa Sheriff Stanley Glanz pled guilty to one misdemeanor count of using his county vehicle for personal use. Yes, forget his connection to Robert Bates and doling out assessor jobs to relatives and friends, it was taking his department-issued SUV to Costco that brought him down.

He was sentenced to … well, we don’t really know. He got to keep his pension, his guns, got unsupervised probation, isn’t going to the hoosegow, but—

maybe there’s a story here—he has to stay away from booze (“intoxicants” if you’re scoring at home). As our favorite ADA Jack McCoy reminds us, “What laws for the rich and powerful?”

4.) EXCEPT THE WORD GUN DOESN’T APPEAR IN THE BIBLE AND THE WORD GOD DOESN’T APPEAR IN THE CONSTITUTION

Don Spencer, president of the Oklahoma Second Amendment Association, who apparently was dropped on his head repeatedly as a lad, called gun ownership “a God-given right,” and said, “I’m still going to tell you gun rights are more important than education. Education is not a right. The word ‘education’ does not appear anywhere in the Constitution.”

Okay, stop talking now.

OKLAHOMA’S DANCE WITH DEATH “How about Drano, Percocet, and a ball-peen hammer to the head?”

You don’t leave CVS without making sure you have the right prescription, but back in 2015, Oklahoma officials received the wrong execution drugs and nobody realized it until the convicted killer, Richard Glossip, had already finished his last meal.

While that would prove embarrassing to most, here in Oklahoma, we took it as challenge, so legislators proposed and (voters approved) State Question 776, which allows officials to execute convicted murderers however they wish unless and until SCOTUS rules those methods unconstitutional. What could possibly go wrong there?

SHIT HAPPENS A Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver ruled the 2014 Oklahoma execution of Clayton Lockett was not cruel and inhumane, citing a Supreme Court decision that, “some risk of pain is inherent in any method of execution — no matter how humane,” even though, according to prison reports, one of Lockett’s veins “blew out” when the IV line in his groin exploded and toxins almost enough to kill him traversed through his body for thirty minutes before he, writhing in pain, had a heart attack.

That circuit court in Denver is one tough sumbitch to offend.

TWO WHO SHOULDN’T BE DEAD TERENCE CRUTCHER | KHALID JABARA December 21, 2016 - January 3, 2017 // THE TULSA VOICE

ENDANGERED SPECIES LIST: THE BLACK RHINO, HAWAIIAN MONK SEAL, AFRICAN ELEPHANT, OKLAHOMA DEMOCRAT

THE NUMBER OF DEMOCRATIC STATE SENATORS IN THE OKLAHOMA LEGISLATURE. THE NUMBER OF ADULTS THAT CAN FIT COMFORTABLY IN A DODGE DURANGO. What you can do to help Now that both Joe Dorman and Dan Boren have decided not to seek the Democratic nomination for governor in 2018, state party officials will institute a draft to select a nominee, much like jury duty, where you’re picked and you can’t get out of it.

AL-RIGHTY THEN Mayor G.T. Bynum on former Mayor Dewey Bartlett:

“Dewey and I both come from families that have been active in public service, yes. His dad and my grandfather were friends for years, so we have similar backgrounds … My biggest hurdle in running against him was that I grew up looking up to him.”

Former Mayor Dewey Bartlett on Mayor G.T. Bynum:

“I didn’t know him very well.”

2017 PREDICTIONS 31st and Harvard will be ripped up again mostly because construction crews just feel like it.

City Councilman Blake Ewing is going to have a bad year.

Donald Trump at a campaign rally | JOSEPH SOHM / SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

JEWS, MEANWHILE, IN THE PROCLAMATION, WERE ASKED TO APOLOGIZE FOR KILLING CHRIST. So Governor Mary

Fallin thought it was a good idea to issue an “Oilfield Prayer Day.” “Whereas Oklahoma is blessed with an abundance of oil and natural gas ... [and] Christians acknowledge such natural resources are created

by God … Christians are invited to thank God for the blessings created by the oil and natural gas industry and to seek His wisdom and ask for protection.”

Because how else do you thank God who has everything? The problem was the governor’s proclamation excluded everyone who didn’t remind her of Harold Hamm.

While the governor eventually rewrote the proclamation to include members of all faiths, God still hasn’t appreciably raised the benchmark for West Texas Intermediate, Brent Blend, or Dubai Crude.

THANKS, OBAMA ?? Hunters were advised to stay

away from lethargic rabbits in Oklahoma, as some were affected by tularemia.

AND WE VOTED FOR DONALD TRUMP BY ALMOST 2-1.

GO FIGURE. According to wallethub.com, Oklahoma

ranked 44th in the nation in political engagement, meaning we form political alliances and opinions by relying on rudimentary and often incorrect beliefs. Like people in the other 63 states don’t.

“He’s a racial healer.”

Bishop Desmond Tutu describing North Carolina Pastor William Barber OR Governor Mary Fallin discussing Donald Trump

FOR THE LOVE OF BEACHFRONT PROPERTY IN POTEAU

In an interview with Morning Consult, Senator Jim Inhofe said, “I assumed like everybody else, way back when everyone was talking about global warming and all that, I assumed that that was probably right, until I found out what it was going to cost.”

So, all this time, Oklahoma’s senior senator, the leading climate denier in America, a man who once threw a snowball inside on the senate floor to mock warming temperatures, was just pissed about the repair estimate.

WHICH BRINGS US TO …

OUR OVERHEARD MOMENT/CONVERSATION OF THE YEAR “I want a glacier to fall on Inhofe.”

“How exactly would that happen?”

“Well, he’d be up in Greenland, measuring glaciers to prove how they weren’t melting, when one would break up and conk him on the head.”

“Ahhh.”

“Ironic, huh?”

(Fist bump)

OVERHEARD (RUNNER UP) “Oklahoma is not a state. It’s a condition.”

“Their goal is the destruction of Western civilization from within. This is a cancer in our nation that needs to be cut out.”

Representative John Bennett (R-Sallisaw) on Islam OR Joseph Goebbels (Nazi Minister of Propaganda) on Jews

President Trump, on a trip to the Oklahoma State Fair, is overheard telling Governor Fallin, “Oh, come on, get over the Interior Secretary thing already.”

The Copper and Electrical Wire Casing Crime Syndicate that’s been disabling Tulsa’s highway lights turns out to be just one guy named Dwayne with bolt cutters in a late-model Toyota pick-up.

TIA’s new 180,000-square-foot parking deck expansion will add 500 new parking spaces at the airport—or about 500 more than Tulsa needs.

Senator Mike Ritze (R-Broken Arrow) erects ten separate monuments around the state capitol, each featuring one commandment, and tweets state ACLU head Ryan Kiesel, “Can’t get ‘em all, pal.”

2017. Even worse.

“I love that smell of the emissions!”

Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin to a group of motorcyclists OR new EPA Director-designate Scott Pruitt at a Devon Energy meet-n-greet

KEY: 1.) MARY FALLIN 2.) JOHN BENNETT 3.) SARAH PALIN THE TULSA VOICE // December 21, 2016 - January 3, 2017

NEWS & COMMENTARY // 11

openletter

YEAR OF THE TROLLS Annus Horribilis, or: What the f**k just happened?

by DENVER NICKS

O

ne of the few good things to come out of 2016 was the excellent Netflix series “The Crown,” featuring a humanizing and surprisingly likable portrayal of a young Queen Elizabeth II. As we take stock of what this year has wrought, the Queen is a fitting place to start, A) because she has been with us for a very long time and like all old people her presence reminds us to keep things in perspective, and B) because even the Queen once deemed a year in the early 1990s, during which her family was rocked by scandal and her house, Windsor Castle, caught fire, “an annus horribilis,” which seems, in at least two ways, like a fitting descriptor for this year, too.

We’ll look back on 2016 as the year the assholes took over the world.

It all kicked off well enough, after Mexican drug lord El Chapo, wearing a very shiny shirt, was photographed with Sean Penn and then promptly arrested. Beyoncé broke new artistic ground with “Formation,” heralding the year of hot sauce with the line, “I got hot sauce in my bag, swag,” just as I was finishing up my book “Hot Sauce Nation.” The Democratic presidential primary had become 12 // NEWS & COMMENTARY

a surprisingly interesting contest between the establishment and an insurgent democratic socialist from Vermont.

And the GOP primaries were the greatest show on earth, as a rage-hued toad-man barked madefor-TV insults and insane ideas at a long bench of establishment contenders. The Republican base roared with laughter and everyone else roared along with them, until we all realized that while we’d been enjoying the spectacle someone had drawn the shades, switched on the black lights and locked the doors from the outside.

Our ringmasters were replaced with something like the Insane Clown Posse, only worse. The circus became a dark carnival.

Then Zika. You remember the rest.

As nature ordains, the unrelenting march of time eventually takes from us the people we love, but 2016 felt especially cruel. First went David Bowie, then Alan Rickman, the literary giants Umberto Eco and Harper Lee (on the same day, no less), seemingly indestructible former Toronto mayor Rob Ford, and Merle Haggard, Mohammed Ali, Gene Wilder, Leonard Cohen, Prince, and Leon Russell.

This year killed the most colorful Supreme Court personality, Justice Antonin Scalia, as well as the VCR (the last one manufactured rolled off an assembly line in Japan in July). Gawker, the media juggernaut whose irreverent, impulsive and often irresponsible style once seemed destined to conquer the entire Fourth Estate, was razed into rubble in 2016, bankrupted in a lawsuit at the behest of billionaire super villain Peter Thiel.

Terrorist attacks in Brussels, Orlando, Istanbul, Nice and elsewhere reminded us not that the world is an especially dangerous place these days (it isn’t) but that terrorism is still very good at terrorizing us. A gorilla named Harambe almost tore a child apart, and then the question of whether killing the animal was justified tore us apart. American swimmers humiliated themselves at the Rio Olympics. Seeing a groundswell of young activists excited about Bernie Sanders, the Democratic National Committee told the kids to go to hell and conspired to help Hillary Clinton. Then the toadman surprised everyone by nabbing the GOP nod fair and square.

After that, the year that couldn’t get weirder got even weirder. At

least two separate Russian intelligence outfits hacked into the computer systems of the Democratic and Republican parties, and selectively leaked information to tip the scales toward the GOP in the 2016 U.S. elections. The FBI closed a long-running investigation into Clinton’s private email server after determining no laws had been broken, then, in what a less skeptical observer might mistake for collusion with the Kremlin, the FBI reopened its investigation just before election day, then promptly closed it again.

When the votes were cast, the Kremlin’s horse won. Toad-man became president-elect.

And just when we thought 2016 had peaked, annus horribilis raised the bar again. Trump celebrated his Electoral College victory by asserting, without basis, that Hillary Clinton received millions of fraudulent votes. When the media pointed out that not only was there no proof of this, there wasn’t even evidence of it, Trump demanded that someone prove that the election he won wasn’t rigged.

A fake news story went around that Trump had tapped El Chapo to head up the DEA, which was bullshit. Another story went

December 21, 2016 - January 3, 2017 // THE TULSA VOICE

around that Trump had tapped the wife of a pyramid scheme CEO to head up the Department of Education, which wasn’t. Trump announced he was replacing Energy Secretary Ernie Moniz, who is a nuclear physicist, with Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who is not. The president-elect broke with U.S. tradition by refusing to release his tax returns and declining to divest from his substantial business interests. As 2016 drew to a close, the toad-faced con artist was preparing to turn the United States of America into a subsidiary of his real-estate empire. Then Trump held a meeting with Kanye West, who had just gotten out of the loony bin. If you need to take a moment now to stare bug-eyed into the mirror and ask yourself “what in the fuck is going on?”— feel free. So do I. I’ve been thinking lately of the Yeats poem we so often turn to when things seem to be flying off the rails: “Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world.”

This is one of those singular moments in human history when life feels especially tentative and the world is positively heaving with change. The end of the poem is the most chilling part, particularly in light of where we are at the close of 2016: “And what rough beast, its hour come round at last / Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?”

But another less famous quotation has come to mind a lot recently, too. In the final game of the 1980 World Series, Tug McGraw was pitching for the Phillies with two strikes on the board and Kansas City Royal slugger Willie Wilson on the plate. It was the bottom of the 9th and the Phillies had the lead. The series had come down to a single pitch and the crowd bellowed and roared.

It was the sort of moment for which sports exist, and how it ended doesn’t really matter. What matters is that in that moment, when everything was on the line and the stadium rumbled like a thundercloud, Phillies catcher Bob Boone stopped the action and approached the mound to whisper into McGraw’s ear.

“Isn’t this exciting?” a

WE WILL MEET IN A PLACE WHERE THERE IS NO DARKNESS Reflections on 2016

by M.W. VERNON

I

t was a bright cold day in Tulsa, and the clocks were striking thirteen. I was watching an old man outside Reasor’s use bungee cords to fasten groceries to a bicycle. As he began to ride away, his bike tipped over and all his purchases, including a watermelon, crashed to the ground in a swirl of gritty dust.

I watched versions of this happen over and over again this past year, among my friends and also on the news. I don’t know a single person who hasn’t been struggling with something. Add to that, it’s been such a year of outliers, the unexpected, and the unprecedented that there’s no longer a historical model for the present.

I just can’t get all these symbols and signifiers from dystopian novels out of my head lately.

Some oppressive force manipulates the collective’s thoughts and memories over time. No trust of nature or the earth. No sense of permanence.

Winter has come and it’s all skeletal trees and dead brown grass and days that cede to darkness by late afternoon. Our cold prairie wind is at once invigorating and terrifying.

Looking back, mistakes were made, which we’ll get into later. Personally, I consumed copious amounts of alcohol and was flippant with others’ emotions. I ate too many taquitos from QuikTrip.

I was late on my rent four out of twelve times.

There were some bright spots, sure. We’ll get into those later. But it seemed more often there was another bomb, another shooting, another scandal, another death of an icon. These days every time I see a headline that starts with a name I assume that person is dead before I finish the sentence.

It’s a blander Tulsa without Cornel Williams, who ran, hands-down, the ballsiest publication in town, and it’s a shame we’ve lost him, because it feels like we need Tulsa Crime Monthly now more than ever.

Cornel was an activist. “But you can’t make people listen. They have to come ‘round in their own

THE TULSA VOICE // December 21, 2016 - January 3, 2017

time, wondering what happened and why the word blew up under them,” said not Cornel, but Granger, leader of the hobo intelligentsia, about twothirds through “Fahrenheit 451.”

Of course “post-truth” is Oxford Dictionary’s word of this pre-apocalyptic year, which it defines as, “to be conscious of complete truthfulness while telling carefully constructed lies.” Just kidding— that’s how George Orwell describes doublethink in “1984.”

We’ve got people coming into power who are treating the earth like it’s the last party in a rent house. We’ve also got mass shootings and bombs motivated by the worst kinds of fear and hatred and extremism, and then catastrophic natural disasters that strike blindly without caring who you are or what you love.

It’s difficult to imagine spring in an interminable winter.

But, please remember—spring will return. And springtime in Tulsa is all bloomy dogwoods and farmers markets and warmer nights.

“They can’t stop you from enjoying it. This is a satisfying reflection,” Orwell wrote in his essay “Some Thoughts on a Common Toad.”

“How many a time have I stood watching the toads mating, the hares having a boxing match in the young corn, and thought of all the important persons who would stop me enjoying this if they could. But luckily they can’t. So long as you are not actually ill, hungry, frightened, or immured in a prison or holiday camp, spring is still spring.

The atom bombs are piling up in the factories, the police are prowling through the cities, the lies are streaming from the loudspeakers, but the earth is still going round the sun, and neither the dictators nor the bureaucrats, deeply as they disapprove of the process, are able to prevent it.”

So pass the Victory Gin. Smoke ‘em if ya got ‘em, I guess—but also be prepared for when the smoke clears. a NEWS & COMMENTARY // 13

citybites

Cirque Coffee in the Pearl District opened in August | GREG BOLLINGER

Changing foodscape Looking back at the year’s culinary happenings

by ANGELA EVANS

R

estaurants have been upping culinary antes all year in Tulsa, taking gambles on new concepts, new cuisines and new locations. It is always eye-opening to see how much the cuisine landscape changes each year and 2016 saw some of the boldest ventures yet, from raw bars to ramen shops. Here’s a look at Tulsa’s foodie innovations from the past twelve months.

TOP RAMEN

Though pho is having its moment here in Tulsa, another broth-based competitor is canoodling its way into our hearts. Ramen has come a long way since college dorm days, becoming a sensation in big cities across the country. In addition to sushi, Yokozuna has been serving quality ramen dishes for years, but now downtown has Roppongi, a dedicated ramen shop opened by Libby Billings, owner of Elote Café and The Vault. She launched her take on the traditional Japanese soup after doing some reconnaissance in 14 // FOOD & DRINK

Tokyo. The colorful shop is located in the Deco District at 6th and Boston (the old Lassalle’s New Orleans Deli location). Nipping at Roppongi’s heels is a corporate mainstay, JINYA Ramen Bar. JINYA is located in hundreds of locations all over the world and now calls a small spot in the Blue Dome District home.

imports oysters from the east and west coast. No gulf oysters here.

Meats and cheeses are imported directly from Italy, along with Virgola’s own brand of prosecco and rose. Both new restaurants get the freshest fish and seafood despite being in a landlocked state.

COLD IS HOT

Eat Street Tulsa is Tulsa’s largest food truck festival and 2016’s event showcased almost a dozen brand spankin’ new food truck concepts. Luckily, food fans won’t have to wait until next year’s festival to find their favorite trucks and discover new ones. Fuel 66 is a food truck park and biergarten that just opened on 11th Street near Lewis. A who’s who of investors, led by MASA owners Robert Carnoske and Chad Wilcox, are behind the new spot, which features an indoor bar, a heated patio that can be enclosed, giant Jenga and chess sets, and a ping pong table that is definitely not used for beer pong. The year-round park

Just when Tulsans have finally embraced sushi, local chefs and restaurateurs are taking raw to the next level. First, Torero made waves with its bold take on South American cuisine, focusing especially on ceviches—fish and seafood that are “cooked” using the acidity of citrus juices. For the ceviche skeptics out there, try Torero’s scallop crudo with cold poblano broth. It’s life changing.

Virgola, an oyster bar, is banking on bivalves with its cold kitchen concept. Virgola’s Brookside location is the third location to open in this franchise that originated in New York City. Virgola

KEEP ON TRUCKIN’

will have a rotating roster of food trucks, along with concerts and special events.

BIG YEAR FOR BEER

We could’ve guessed that Tulsa would vote to loosen up liquor laws on November’s ballot by simply observing the uptick in brewpubs bubbling up all over town. Prairie Brewpub, anchored

by Prairie Ales, opened in the Brady District. Meanwhile, Chase Healey sold Prairie to CHOC and opened American Solera, a tap room and beer society. Elgin Park, the pizza-plus-brewery concept from McNellie’s Group, staked territory by the ballpark. Roosevelt’s, a sister restaurant to R-Bar, built a swanky spot on Cherry Street that houses more flat-screen televisions than a Best Buy. Tulsa also scored its own Bricktown Brewery, which has taken over the location that used to house Leon’s on Brookside, which closed in April. Liquor may be quicker, but beer is playing it slow and steady in Tulsa.

December 21, 2016 - January 3, 2017 // THE TULSA VOICE

Widow maker sandwich from Roosevelt’s MICHELLE POLLARD

CH-CH-CH-CHANGES

Lassalle’s New Orleans Deli moved into a larger, mo’ betta location in Bartlett Square.

Chris and Amanda West not only expanded their square footage by taking over the old Quizno’s at 423 S. Boulder, but also expanded their menu (fried green tomato po’ boy, hello!), hours (open for dinner on Friday!) and drink selections (beer!).

Nico Albert built a stellar reputation as chef at Lucky’s Restaurant on Cherry Street. Then, she decided to trade food for booze, making a move to MixCo in downtown Tulsa and leaving that chef life behind…or so we thought. After a couple of years behind the bar, she returned to the kitchen this year and rolled out a fantastic menu for MixCo. Carefully curated cheese plates (pro tip: get the pimento cheese), seductive sandwiches like the Basque-style French Dip, and delicate salads like the tuna nicoise all pair beautifully with MixCo’s craft cocktails and wines.

Ahead of opening its full-service location in the Brady Arts District next year, Lone Wolf upgraded its current fast-casual brick-and-mortar operation in September, moving to 11th and

Ramen from Roppongi GREG BOLLINGER

Gary where the short-lived Rising Sun restaurant (along with a host of other dearly-departed concepts) once resided. They spruced up the space and expanded their menu, adding new appetizers, salads and sandwiches. They also carry a sublime selection of local beers which are available for carry-out (if unopened).

It’s hard to believe the Asian bistro Te Kei’s opened on Utica Avenue 14 years ago. Earlier this year it got an update, both in appearance and taste, and reemerged as ROKA Bar & Asian Flavors.

Not a total makeover, ROKA still has the same great romantic ambiance and décor. The menu gained a few new treats, like the coconutty tom kha soup, but also kept some Te Kei favorites. ROKA boasts a great happy hour—like four potstickers with soy cream sauce for only $3 and a $5 burger on Mondays, featuring houseground beef and distinctly Asian accoutrements.

BREWING NEWS

Hoot Owl Coffee took Tulsa by storm in the spring of 2015 with its superior collection of beans from around the world and its killer nitro brew. But after less than a year open, the café shut its

THE TULSA VOICE // December 21, 2016 - January 3, 2017

doors this past January. Much like Superman ducking into a phone booth for a quick change, Hoot Owl re-emerged as Fair Fellow Coffee in March. The same java fanatics are paying attention to all the details in the gorgeous space, sourcing the best beans from sustainable sources. And, yes, their nitro will still blow your mind.

Cirque Coffee opened its doors in the Pearl District in August, offering a single origin espresso bar, and coffee in both pour-over and daily large-batch forms. The sparse interior features handmade furniture, bike racks, steampunkish lighting and coffee gear, and a few succulents, ensuring your focus is kept on what matters: the coffee.

DOE’S BECOMES D’VINA

When Doe’s Eat Place closed its doors in December 2015, Davina Howie was watching. Less than a year later, after an extensive remodel, Howie’s restaurant concept, D’Vina, opened its doors. The interior isn’t the only departure from the previous steak and potato joint. Exotic spices from around the world provide inspiration for the international menu. Howie, along with executive chef Kurt Fichtenburg, have created a menu that touches almost every conti-

nent. Lamb tagine and tikka masala share menu space with gouda lamb burgers and spicy pork arepas.

D’Vina is open for lunch and dinner every day and serve brunch on the weekends. (Oh, and, free parking at Marquette School while you dine with D’Vina.)

FOND FAREWELLS

We wish the hardworking folks behind these dearly departed restaurants the best.

Heirloom Bakery (December 2016) Sonoma Wine Bar (December 2016) Ming’s Noodle Bar (October 2016) Hopbunz (September 2016) S&J’s Oyster Bar (June 2016) Leon’s (April 2016) The Right Wing (December 2015)

TO GREENER PASTURES

Michelle Donaldson, who has been the executive chef at Tallgrass Prairie Table since it opened in late 2013, has handed the reigns for Tallgrass and its sister restaurant The Bramble to former sous chef Stephen Lindstrom. Over the years, Donaldson has distinguished herself as one of Tulsa’s creative culinary voices. We get to keep her for a little longer, but she has her sights set on moving back to her hometown of Detroit. a FOOD & DRINK // 15

downthehatch

DRINK ALL THIS SHIT Sparkle into the new year for $30 or less

by LIZ BLOOD

TTV Managing Editor Liz Blood with a selection of bubblies from Provisions Fine Beverage Purveyors | ADAM MURPHY

W

hen I met Scott Large, owner of Provisions Fine Beverage Purveyors, he ran between stacks of wine cases exclaiming “this is the coolest shit going!” and “this is the shit I’m most flipped out about!”

I started this column nearly a year ago, offending the owner of the first place I wrote about by calling the art and ephemera on the walls “shit.” But I meant it in a good way!

It’s fitting to bookend this year of drinking—the perfect year for it, in fact—with that word.

Here are several lovely sparkling wines (that aren’t champagne) with which to get your New Year’s party on and say “good riddance” to 2016. Look for them at Tulsa Hills Wine Cellar, Old Village Wine & Spirits, Ranch Acres, Grapes & Grain, Parkhill Liquor & Wines, and more.

FIELD RECORDINGS PÉT NAT

$19-20/bottle According to Large, pét-nats are the darling of contemporary American wine culture. “If you’re a young winemaker in the United States not making a pét-nat, there’s something wrong with you,” Large said. The name pét-nat is shorthand for Pétillant-naturel, an ancestral method in which wine finishes fermenting in the bottle. “The next version of this will be dry-hopped with two kinds of hops,” said Large, “which is totally sick.”

16 // FOOD & DRINK

ALLOY WINE WORKS METHOD ALUMINUM SPARKLING WINE

$12-13/16.9 oz can This sixteen-ouncer is made from 100% Pinot Noir grapes and is tangy, dry, delicious, and rosé in color—plus the bubbles, which get you tipsy faster. I loved it.

SCAR OF THE SEA ‘A | MUSE’ PÉTILLANT NATUREL CHARDONNAY

$25-28/bottle This pét-nat is freaking delicious. Think tropical fruit, lemon zest, and minerality—like being on the coastline, sun warming your shoulders, toes dipped in cold saltwater. Because it finishes fermenting in the bottle, you’ll notice some hazy funk in there. Not to worry—from the winemaker’s notes: it’s “just natural, non-intrusive winemaking.” If you want to impress someone, Google and make Melissa Clark’s NY Times recipe “Linguine With Littlenecks, Roasted Tomatoes and Caramelized Garlic” and enjoy with this bottle. Trust me.

CAVA AVINYÓ BRUT

$18-19/bottle Cava is Spain’s answer to champagne.

Tasting notes include bright white fruits and a fresh and vibrant palate. The inscription on the bottle reads: “from the must of the flower and with the rigor of a work well crafted.” Not to mention well priced.

MEDIVOL SPARKLING CRÉMANT DE LIMOUX BRUT WHITE

$18-19/bottle Medivol hails from the Limoux region in France, the historically established “birthplace” of sparking wine—first documented in 1531. From the website: “This wine goes with so much, from oysters and caviar to grilled cheese sandwiches, and from milestone celebrations to getting in and out of the D.M.V. in under an hour.” It’s unpretentious but beautifully packaged.

BODKIN CUVEE AGINCOURT BLANC DE SAUVIGNON BLANC

$20-21/bottle As America’s first sparkling Sauvignon Blanc, Large calls this the “hipster sparkling wine.” (It was first, bro.) It also comes in “baby Bodkins”—single serving-size bottles of bubbly. Winemakers promise “a core of racy crispness driven by lively acidity, accented with lemon-lime aromas and citrus-passion fruit flavors.”

RAMONA FIZZ

$20/4-pack Made by Jordan Salcito, one of Wine Enthusiast’s top 40 under 40 tastemakers in 2016, Ramona Fizz is an artisanal grapefruit wine cooler with attitude. Pro tip: try with mezcal or gin.

BELLUS LA VIE EN BULLES

$30/bottle Also made by Salcito, along with Michael Cruse—San Francisco Chronicle’s 2016 Winemaker of the Year—La Vie in Bulles (Life in Bubbles) is a sparkling rosé from California. “It terms of crazy drinkability, it’s got to be at the top of these selections,” said Large. It’s just off-dry with fine bubbles and tastes of strawberry and limestone with a long, pleasing finish.

HOXIE SPRITZER, LEMON GINGER ROSÉ AND LEMON LINDEN BLANC

$14-16/4-pack “This is what I’m most excited about!” said Large. “Dry wine spritzers from America’s first AVA.”(AVA means American Viticultural Area. So, these modern wine spritzers—do not think B&J Wine Coolers, ok?—are made from the oldest grapes in our country.) They come in two flavors, Lemon Ginger and Lemon Linden. The first is light and crisp, like ginger ale, with a pink hue. The second is my favorite of the pair. Made with linden flowers, known to reduce anxiety (a great combo with booze!), it’s bright and reminiscent of St. Germain elderflower liqueur, but not too sweet.

Have a great New Year’s, and as my grandmother, for whom this column is named, would say—down the hatch! a

December 21, 2016 - January 3, 2017 // THE TULSA VOICE

OKLAHOMA STUDY OF NATIVE AMERICAN PAIN RISK RESEARCH PARTICIPANTS NEEDED

$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

THE LOOP

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.

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.

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.

THE TULSA VOICE // December 21, 2016 - January 3, 2017

FOOD & DRINK // 17

foodfile

CHOCOLATE: THE EXHIBITION Continuing through Jan. 8 Gilcrease Museum Gilcrease.org/exhibitions/chocolate

A man lays cacao beans out to dry | COURTESY

Behind the nib

‘Chocolate’ exhibition at Gilcrease sheds light on the history—and controversy—of the world’s most famous confection

by MEGAN SHEPHERD

“O

h, man. Would you like another one?”

The barista in front of me motions to the broken chocolate bar at my feet, offering his condolences over the shatter.

The bar’s Willy Wonka-esque orange foil wrapper slid right out of its paper exterior to a sad chunked reality on the floor, apparently as delicate as glass. I was surprised by the bar’s fragility then, but after touring “Chocolate” with associate curator Mark Dolph, I know to expect nothing less.

Gilcrease Museum’s newest traveling exhibit, “Chocolate,” chronicles the complete history of cacao—from discovery to harvesting, ancient traditions to modernization, meteoric rise to ethical pitfalls.

Plan to spend about 45 minutes walking through the multi-sensory exhibit to really digest its content.

The traveling exhibit comes from the Field Museum in Chicago—one of the premiere natural science museums in the world— and has been making its rounds

18 // FOOD & DRINK

across the country for nearly 15 years. That said, parts of the physical exhibit feel a bit dated (fonts, the Rainforest Café-esque quality of the installations) but digital elements help recapture the attention of techies, and the historical and anthropological information featured is as relevant as ever.

Those expecting an art exhibition will be disappointed by “Chocolate.” More anthropological than anything else, it represents a bit of an evolution for Gilcrease (which usually features straight art exhibitions), offering conversation-starters for individuals looking to consider responsible sourcing or mindful eating.

Around 500 AD, Mesoamerican Indians enjoyed chocolate as a sacred indulgence, even using it as currency for trades and purchases. By today’s count, three cacao beans would score you five peppers at the market.

Originally served as a liquid, the Mayans first roasted cacao beans in the sun, fermenting and then boiling them with water and

spices. The drink boasted a subtle spice and a consistency reminiscent of some of today’s chocolate milk. The frothy concoction was regarded as liquid gold, imbibed in times of rare celebration and ceremony, and was often served in gold vessels, inscribed with glyphs and insignia representative of its owner. In celebration and ritual, chocolate was a way of life.

Flash forward 1000 years, when the Aztec’s enthusiasm for chocolate transformed into something reserved for elites only. Cacao was stored away for safekeeping alongside wealth and valuables. The Europeans thought they’d really stumbled onto something huge when they “discovered” chocolate hiding in the vaults of Mexico City. In fact, Columbus and his crew were clueless that Mesoamerican Indians had been enjoying chocolate for at least 2,000 or 3,000 years by the time the Conquistadors ransacked Mexico City.

The Spanish conquests brought cocoa to Europe, and demand for the chocolate quickly outpaced

supply. As a result, chocolate became the indulgence of the elite, a delicacy reserved for the upper echelon of society members, and a mere dream of the working class and peasant Charlie Buckets of the world.

In time, chocolate became far more ubiquitous, with production efficiency expanding the growing empire. Americans would experiment with removing cacao seeds from the naturally growing rainforest habitat and harvesting it via slave labor in the south alongside crops like sugar and tobacco, and this process would sustain temporarily. But the world’s best cacao is still produced in equatorial rainforest climates. Like terroir with fine wine, the soil and environmental conditions of the climate in which it’s grown impact the flavor and quality of cacao.

Still, despite what Portlandia’s characters would have you believe, not all aspects of cacao are trendy or romantic. To this day, the crop is still farmed and pruned by hand from the cacao tree in the high

December 21, 2016 - January 3, 2017 // THE TULSA VOICE

One pod can make up to seven milk chocolate bars | COURTESY

canopy reaches of the southern hemisphere’s rainforest, meaning labor conditions are demanding, and often not fairly compensated.

Fair Trade labeling and a rise in bean-to-bar popularity has helped to combat some of this, but the overwhelming reality of chocolate remains the same: like so many others (think wine, coffee, diamonds, tobacco) it’s a labor-intensive commodity crop that, despite commercialization and streamlining, has historically been produced outside the countries that demand it. The ugly reality is that the confection is often produced through human exploitation, and at the expense of the environment.

This reality, Dolph says, is central to the exhibit.

“There’s an awful lot involved in getting it from the Rainforest cocoa bean to some kind of consumable. So much of chocolate—if you talk to Glacier—it’s an industrial product. It’s not the kind of high-end product that they would manufacture,” Dolph says.

He’s talking about Glacier Confection—Tulsa’s darling chocolatier, which specializes in artisanal, craft confections made of curious flavor combinations (mojito mint, banana split, or blueberry lavender, for instance).

“They’ve turned me into a chocolate snob,” he admits. And after tasting, touching, or smelling it, you’ll know why Glacier chocolate bars go for $5 a pop, while a Hershey Bar will only cost you $0.75.

“Bill Copeland, Chief Chocolate Officer at Glacier, taught

me that when it’s really good chocolate, it snaps. It doesn’t just kind of bend and fall apart. This audible snap tells me something good’s about to happen.”

I tested the theory with a few different bars—from Glacier and DoubleShot’s collaborative Maduro chocolate bar to the impulse aisle bars with the flamingoes on the packaging at Trader Joes—and it checks out. Break off a piece of good chocolate, and you see a fine point. Drop it, and it should shatter.

And when it is time to taste, true chocolate connoisseurs will tell you to rub the chocolate between your fingers before eating.

This helps the cocoa butter start to warm a bit. After a few seconds, place it on the tongue, and let it melt. Behold: the art of tasting chocolate.

Glacier’s not the only local business in town turning the mass production of chocolate on its head with a craft approach; Middle West Chocolatiers and Nouveau Chocolates in Broken Arrow are also reclaiming the trade with an artisanal mindset and creating fine chocolates in the pursuit of excellence.

There’s a lesson to be gleaned from Gilcrease’s “Chocolate”: indulgences often come at a high price for those who make them.

Learn where your chocolate comes from and how those farmers and workers are treated and paid. And be willing to pay the price for not only quality, but fair trade. a

THE TULSA VOICE // December 21, 2016 - January 3, 2017

You can help fill the plates of so many people in our community this holiday season. Your donation could go twice as far, thanks to the generosity of the George Kaiser Family Foundation.

“For those of you who have never been in this position and don’t know what it feels like, and you still give, thank you even more.”

-Kendra, Emergency Infant Services

VISIT OKFOODBANK.ORG FOOD & DRINK // 19

daydrinking

ALL THE NEWS THAT’S FIT TO PRINT Day drinking with Tulsa World’s Jerry Wofford

by BEAU ADAMS Beau Adams and Jerry Wofford drink Dead Armadillo at The Fur Shop | GREG BOLLINGER

I

f you support Tulsa’s music scene, chances are you’ve run into Jerry Wofford at some point. The Tulsa World Scene writer is one of the city’s most loyal boosters of local music and arts, and is frequently found at shows ranging from arena concerts at the BOK Center to local barnburners at Soundpony and Yeti.

Wofford graduated from OU’s Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication in 2008.

He first covered crime and education at the Manhattan Mercury in Manhattan, Kansas, before moving back to Oklahoma and taking a job at the World in 2010 as a night breaking news/crime reporter. Now, Wofford works at the Scene desk, covering music and writing features.

TTV: How many pieces are you writing per week?

THE TULSA VOICE: How much latitude do you have regarding a story you’d like to cover?

TTV: Phone interview?

JERRY WOFFORD: In the old days, we were more confined. We had beats. But anymore, we all do a little bit of everything.

20 // FOOD & DRINK

JW: Everything all together? I’d say about 20.

TTV: I write about six things a year.

I’m pretty proud of that.

JW: It’s a lot. I have to see it in the positive light. The fact that there is much for me to cover means that Tulsa is really kicking ass right now. Our musicians, our venues— we are really lucky to be here in this time period.

TTV: Do you ever “fanboy” out on people you’re interviewing?

JW: I interviewed Dolly Parton once. As far as, like, fanboying or geeking out—I mean, it’s Dolly.

So, yeah.

JW: Yeah, so she called, and whenever I answer the phone I say, “Tulsa World, this is Jerry.” And in that unmistakable voice I hear, “Well, hey Jerry from Tulsa World, this is Dolly from Dolly World!”

So, at this point, I’m shaking and out of breath. So, yeah, hopefully I didn’t make too much of fool of myself.

TTV: So, you’re a little ways down the road with your new ownership, how have things changed? (editor’s note: in 2013, the Lorton family sold the Tulsa World to Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway Media Group) JW: Well, the goals and the missions have stayed the same. The goal is to tell good stories and to tell the truth.

TTV: I read on fivethirtyeight.com that only about 20 percent of people still trust their newspapers.

Five or six years ago, the death of print journalism seemed a forgone conclusion. Why do you still have a job?

JW: We have a large readership in Tulsa. We have a broad focus and a lot to present to people. We have something for everyone. You know, Fivethirtyeight and CNN are not going to come to Tulsa and cover the Leon Russell tribute at the Cain’s Ballroom or interview

the guys that played with him.

That’s on us. And if we don’t do that, then we lose something so enormous in this community that it pulls us further apart.

The normal Tulsan doesn’t have the time to go sit in a city council meeting and figure out what it’s all about. He doesn’t have the ability to sit in on the preliminary hearing for Terence Crutcher. Someone has to be there for the rest of us, to tell us what happened.

TTV: Do you think Tulsans trust their news sources more than some of the more jaded parts of this country?

JW: I’d like to say that I think so, but I feel like that’s coming from someone that’s inside. I don’t think we’ve done a good enough job explaining to people how this works. There is a very large and burning firewall that exists between us and advertising, between us and the editorial section.

TTV: Did you go to OU because of journalism or did you find it once you got there?

December 21, 2016 - January 3, 2017 // THE TULSA VOICE

JW: Actually, I went to OU for meteorology. Growing up around here, I was fascinated by the weather. But it turns out that math is really hard. I was always pretty good at writing, but up to that point I hadn’t really ever tried. OU had this brand new shiny journalism school, so I thought I’d try that. I started working for the OU Daily, doing some reporting and working in the Daily newsroom.

That excitement and adrenaline from deadlines—that’s really a thing. That’s real.

TTV: Do you still feel that way?

JW: Oh, absolutely. It’s a drug for sure. You have to write fast and it has to be complete and it has to be accurate, which are three very big things. The deadline is always five minutes ago. You get really good at it, really fast because you don’t have a choice. And you start to thrive off of that pressure and stress—and that has carried me through until now. When I do big concert reviews, I’ll have to write it and send it in as soon as the show is over to make it to print.

So, I’m sitting at the BOK Center writing it on my phone. We print in the middle of the night, so I have to get my stuff in around 10 p.m. or so to the editor. It has to be copy edited and print set and designed—they have to make the plates, you know, it’s a big process.

TTV: It’s kind of crazy that it ever gets done.

JW: Everyday is a miracle at a newspaper. It’s fantastic. Here’s a really good recent example: Leon Russell dies. It’s a Sunday morning.

I woke up to text messages from my managing editor. I thought, “Oh, shit.” So I started looking for verifiable sources and yeah, it looks like that happened.

It’s 8 o’clock in the morning.

My brother is staying with me— he’s visiting. He’s watching CBS Sunday Morning on the couch and I’m in my bed writing furiously to at least get something online. Once that was published, we called in a designer, a publisher and an editor and all four of us went in on Sunday morning.

Our editor brought breakfast sandwiches from McDonald’s and

grapes so we wouldn’t be famished. My little brother came with me and hung out and watched.

So, we start managing this thing.

Here’s who I have to get, here’s who I want to get and here’s a list of people it would be nice to get if it works. And we start waking people up on a Sunday morning.

It’s stressful, but again that’s part of the appeal of it.

I don’t want this to sound the wrong way, but when you have something happen like that, like Leon’s passing, you have a feeling that this printed information is going to be something that people might want to save. So you want to nail it.

TTV: I gotta be honest, if you guys had dropped the ball on that one, I would’ve been pissed. I mean, if Nashville beats us on this, I’m pissed.

JW: Their’s was trash. [Laughs.]

Right. No, we get that. So, that’s a good example of something that happened and we were able to turn it around on a Sunday.

Now you have to understand, we already had Monday ready to go and it didn’t have a word about Leon in it. So you just highlight all and “delete.”

TTV: So, how much fun is it to be in a relationship with a “newsman”?

JW: [Laughs] Well, there’s a whole wake of exes that would love to tell you about that. Everyone I’ve ever been with and family and friends, they know what I do. And they know how weird it is. But it doesn’t make it any easier, I suspect. When you have someone in your family or someone you care about that works at the newspaper, you have that life, too.

TTV: Journalistic heroes?

JW: I’d say writing heroes or inspirations. Mary Roach, just a brilliant science writer. Sloan Crosley—I like memoir writers. I like to read people and hear their voice. I like to pick up on meter and cadence and humor. That’s a hard thing to do as a writer. That’s the type of thing I strive to do, to find my voice and make sure that it is clear and unmistakable.

THE TULSA VOICE // December 21, 2016 - January 3, 2017

TTV: Isn’t that hard to do with hard news? Isn’t the idea to take out the personal voice?

JW: Yeah, for sure. I get to do it more in features. That kind of gets back to why I do this in the first place. I want people to see me as the conduit through which they get these stories. I would hope that if people read me that they would get an idea of my personality and my humor in addition to the important information, and that getting those things doesn’t shape their judgment, but that there is some trust built in.

…the place where thou standest is holy ground.

FIRST CHURCH OF CHRIST, SCIENTIST 924S.Boulder Church & Sunday School • 10:30am Wednesday Meeting • 6:00pm

TTV: Let’s talk about the world of music in 2016. What’s the over/ under on Willie Nelson making it out of the year alive?

JW: I swear to God. Lock him in a box with his vitals hooked up—if we lose Willie right now, what kind of world is this? Look, it’s been a really insane year, and obviously I’ve been thinking a lot about it, in that I think we’re getting to a point where in the 60s and 70s there was a saturation of stars. There were just more of them and we knew more about them and so they had larger impacts on our lives. Now they’re getting old.

TTV: Can you give me a personal favorite album of the last year?

JW: Carter Sampson’s album, Wilder Side. The way that she describes the sense of being alone but that not being necessarily a bad thing—alone but not lonely—that feeling of openness and spirit really connected with me this year.

Specifically, I took a trip to Arkansas and did a press tour. We stayed at a cabin near the Buffalo River and it was the first cold night of fall up there, everyone else had gone to sleep and there’s no light pollution there—you can see all of the stars. And I’m out there on the balcony with these headphones in and I put on this album and stared out at the stars and listened to it four times in a row. It was just the most serene, life-affirming, recharging thing that I could hope for in this crazy fucking year. a

TULSA’S SOURCE FOR EXCEPTIONAL FLAVOR M-S 11 am-10pm SUN 11 am-9pm HAPPY HOUR 3-6pm 1616 S UTICA AVE 918.382.7777 • rokatulsa.com

FOOD & DRINK // 21

VOICE’S CHOICES Staff picks for the best and worst of 2016

One hundred years from now, historians (presumably space-faring) will no doubt look back at 2016 as a year of painful transformation. Whether we just experienced some major growing pains ahead of a new paradigm of prosperity and harmony or the first tremors of the apocalypse is anyone’s guess.

Regardless, there’s a lot to suss out, and we at TTV and Langdon Publishing have no shortage of opinions on the best and worst aspects of one weird year.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF TTV ARCHIVES

LIZ BLOOD, MANAGING EDITOR BEST BOOK Muriel Barbery’s “The Elegance of the Hedgehog.” Translated from French, it’s smart, hilarious, and delightful.

BEST ALBUM Lemonade by Beyonce!

C’mon.

BEST LIVE SHOW Tulsa Artist Fellow Nathan Young did this very strange-to-me but awesome noise music/noise art performance on top of AHHA last September.

Close second, Die Antwoord at Cain’s in October.

MOST HOPEFUL NEWS STORY Army Corps of Engineers not granting easement to Energy Transfer Partners to drill under the Missouri River for the Dakota Access Pipeline.

MOST DEPRESSING NEWS STORY Energy Transfer Partners says it will drill anyway.

GREG BOLLINGER, PHOTOGRAPHER BEST MEAL Fried Chicken from the new Roosevelt’s on Cherry St. That chili honey sauce is indescribable.

BEST ALBUM Dustin Pittsley Band, self-titled album. Such a unique blend of music.

Go listen to it. Now. MOST DEPRESSING NEWS STORY Scott Pruitt being picked to head the EPA. This is just terrifying. Mother Earth and its ecosystems are seeing some fatal consequences from not just the fossil fuel industry but deforestation as well. Mr. Pruitt does not care, unfortunately.

BEST MOMENT FOR TULSA The new Boxyard shopping center in the East Village is pretty, pretty cool.

WORST MOMENT FOR TULSA Passing of Steve Pryor. Miss that guy a lot.

GEORGIA BROOKS, GRAPHIC DESIGNER BEST MEAL Steak dinner at Molly’s Landing. When I go to heaven, I will eat dinner at Molly’s every day.

BEST BOOK “Gaudy Night” by Dorothy Sayers. For those of us who crave frivolous mysteries set in the 1930s.

BEST MOVIE “Hell or High Water” BEST LIVE SHOW I loved seeing Sports at this year’s Best of Tulsa party at Fassler.

THE THING THAT DEFINED 2016 My family are not party-planning types, but we managed to pull off a dope wedding for my sister this year. It was a small, weird, hilarious party and I don’t think I’ve ever had more fun. I continue to feel lucky to be part of that crazy jumble of people.

MADELINE CRAWFORD, ART DIRECTOR BEST BOOK “The Girls” by Emma Cline BEST TV SHOW I’m ten years late, but I watched The West Wing in the weeks leading up to the election, and it helped put things in perspective.

BEST LIVE SHOW “Hamilton” BEST MOMENT FOR TULSA I love the support for small business that has led to so many great new places opening up this year.

THE THING THAT DEFINED 2016 We tried fostering dogs this year, and failed miserably in that we adopted our foster dog. It made our family a little bigger and even better.

JOSHUA KLINE, EDITOR BEST MEAL For Thanksgiving dinner, my dad dragged me to Commissary at the LINE Hotel in Los Angeles, which promised an “all vegetarian” riff on turkey day. I was not particularly pleased with this idea, but it turned out to be one of the best meals I’ve ever had, despite it consisting of dishes like “beet tartar,” “grits and quinoa,” and “raw mushrooms with spices.”

THE TULSA VOICE // December 21, 2016 - January 3, 2017

BEST BOOK “The First Bad Man” by Miranda July

MORGAN WELCH, GRAPHIC DESIGNER

BEST LIVE SHOW Radiohead’s OK Computer performed front to back by a supergroup of local musicians at Fassler Hall.

I was watching the video clips from this for weeks after.

BEST MEAL Eat Street Tulsa graciously introduced me to the Hangover Helper from Bohemia: Moveable Feast. Make sure to also get a side of Lumpia Shanghai.

BEST MOMENT FOR TULSA In the wake of Terence Crutcher’s murder, two things: 1.)

Our police department and district attorney responding swiftly and transparently, and 2.) The way our community rallied and showed the rest of the country how to peacefully, productively protest.

IN 2017, MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO: Watching Donald Trump try to be president.

JOHN LANGDON, DIGITAL EDITOR

BEST TV SHOW A few friends suggested I watch “Shameless,” and now I highly suggest it to everyone else. I had to take breaks from binging because my emotions were going all over the place.

BEST ALBUM The best album from 2016 is a tie between Neck Deep’s Life’s Not Out To Get You and Dance Gavin Dance’s Mothership.

BEST THING HAPPENING IN TULSA The ever-expanding downtown. Including the parking fees, downtown is really starting to look and feel like it could compete in the same ranks as any of our big city neighbors.

BEST LIVE SHOW Steve Ripley’s starstudded Bob Dylan tribute “On a Night Like This.”

IN 2017, MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO: Going on my first cruise with Warped Rewind At Sea!

BEST SONG “I Can’t Give Everything Away,” the last track on David Bowie’s Blackstar, is a painful reminder of mortality that somehow manages to sound like all who we’ve lost are smiling comfortingly back at us from the other side of the grave.

GENE WHITE, RECEPTIONIST

WORST POLITICIAN That Trump can even be called a politician is still deeply depressing.

BEST MOMENT FOR TULSA “C’mon, Matt Damon, get me outta here.”

IN 2017, MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO: The opening of A Gathering Place for Tulsa and (because I said this here last year and it didn’t happen in 2016) new episodes of “Twin Peaks.”

JULEY ROFFERS, PRESIDENT OF LANGDON PUBLISHING BEST BOOK “Becoming Wise: An Inquiry into the Mystery and Art of Living” by Krista Tippett BEST TV SHOW CBS Sunday Morning—it’s like reading a magazine.

MOST HOPEFUL NEWS STORY The election of a couple of local moderate Republicans: Mayor G.T. Bynum and District 70 Representative Carol Bush.

MOST DEPRESSING NEWS STORY The election of Donald Trump.

IN 2017, MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO: Continued peace throughout most of the world, please.

BEST TV SHOW “Madam Secretary,” timely content.

BEST LIVE SHOW Rebecca Ungerman’s production of “The Way Motown Revue.”

BEST MOMENT FOR TULSA Electing our new mayor, G.T. Bynum.

WORST MOMENT FOR TULSA Law enforcement’s continued “code of silence” practice to protect their own; the inappropriate misuse of power; and the continued double standard in applying justice to its citizens.

IN 2017, MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO: Even with the upheaval of this past year, I am most hopeful that many who have been duped and expect wonders will begin to see what is the real truth. I look forward to many in this country who have remained quiet will finally realize that Black families hurt just as much when their love ones lie dead in the streets as White law enforcement families hurt when ambushed and killed. We all bleed the same.

We all have feelings, hopes, and dreams. I look forward to the time when the current emboldened racial strife is no longer tolerated by a “quiet majority.” I look forward to when all parents teach their children to respect cultural differences rather then pass on the ignorance and hate of learned societal norms. I have hope and look forward to the future because I have faith in people. a

onstage

ART THAT PAYS THE BILLS

Movers and shakers in the performing arts count 2016’s blessings, offer wishes for 2017

by ALICIA CHESSER

Robert Young, Michael Wright, Olivia Jensen, and Erin Scarberry at Nightingale Theater | HANS KLEINSCHMIDT

I

t’s been a year of shake-ups and surprises for the arts in Tulsa—the formation of Arts Alliance Tulsa, for example, or the overhaul of the TATE Awards. But in my view, the most notable development has been the dialogue.

I’ve covered some of it in this column: spirited debate about the purpose of arts criticism, new perspectives on the function of awards in a small but hungry creative community, discussion around the word “professional” when it comes to community theater.

In the spirit of continuing that dialogue, I asked four local artists to share their thoughts about the year that’s passed, and their wishes for the year to come.

Robert Young—an actor and singer now venturing into directing and producing, who runs a Facebook page called Tulsa Theatre Scene and a blog at robertyoung. net—said 2016 has been “a fun, if challenging, year, creatively.”

“We truly have phenomenal talent in this city,” Young said, “and it has been expanding exponentially. It has allowed us to produce higher quality and technically more challenging shows, which I think has started to re-engage audiences

24 // ARTS & CULTURE

and has encouraged more performers.”

“Our affordability as a city allows us the opportunity to tackle many of the issues facing the arts without the make-or-break mentality of larger markets.”

Young said he’d like to see “a more unified front” in marketing, so performers and audiences stay engaged, as well as more artists taking on leadership roles in production.

Erin Scarberry, artistic director of Clark Youth Theatre and a member of the Odeum Theatre Company, counts the survival of Clark’s programs for kids (in the organization’s first full year of independent operation after the loss of its city funding) and the changes in the Tulsa Awards for Theatre Excellence as gratifying developments in 2016.

“I am excited to see where my students will be by this time next year, and I’m excited about [directing] ‘Sweeney Todd,’” she said. “The biggest need is funding, so that more artists can be financially supported in their work here.”

To this end, Scarberry has high hopes for Arts Alliance Tulsa, as well as G.T. Bynum’s new regime at City Hall. “[I hope] the shift in

mayoral administrations will mark a new era for the arts, one in which we are valued and supported.”

Michael Wright is theater director and professor of creative writing and film at TU, and a contributor to The Tulsa Voice. His action-item-packed wish list is as follows: “One—Every theatre represented with flyers at everyone else’s shows. It’s time to do away with clannishness and show genuine support.

“Two—More performance spaces. There are a number of buildings that could become small, simple theatre spaces if someone wanted to make the investment or if the mayor’s office wanted to get even more serious about supporting the arts.

“Three—If every local theatre company would seek out one new play by an Oklahoma writer and present just one reading over the coming year, giving people a chance to experience something different and not having to take much financial risk in order to do so, think what a service that would be to the level of theatrical expression here. It’s absolutely a win/win.”

The last word goes to youngest of this group, Olivia Jensen,

a dancer/choreographer who returned to Tulsa recently after graduating from college in Portland. She says this has been “a good rooting and growing year” in which she’s created new work and taken a seat on Living Arts’ performance art committee.

“It’s a little paradoxical,” Jensen said, “because I needed to be more locked into community in order to make art, but making art is what truly builds community.

I offer my resources to others, they offer theirs to me. That kind of mutual aid is so powerful, but it shouldn’t only be our friends responding to our needs. We have the talent. We need rehearsal space. We need to pay performers. We need small project grants to fuel the visions of individual artists.

“I often hear how we must elevate the status of the arts in Tulsa with professional development and honest critique,” she continued. “I don’t disagree with that, but I think it comes later. People barely even have time to make work. When your art doesn’t pay the bills, it slides down your list of priorities.

“That’s my wish for Tulsa.

That’s my wish for myself. Art that pays the bills.” a

December 21, 2016 - January 3, 2017 // THE TULSA VOICE

UPCOMING EVENTS

December

@ the PAC

22 Brian Nhira and Friends From ‘The Voice’

28 Mannheim Steamroller Christmas Celebrity Attractions

January

6-29 Tulsa Glassblowing School Exhibit PAC Gallery 13 Luis Alberto Urrea Tulsa Town Hall 14 TSO Classics: Beethoven’s 4th Symphony

20-21 Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus–Live!

Celebrity Attractions

January 14, 2017 7:30 PM

Tulsa Performing Arts Center For Tickets Call 918.596.7111 or www.tulsasymphony.org

22 Nathan Gunn Choregus Productions 27-29 Peter And The Starcatcher Feb. 2-5 Theatre Tulsa Next Stage 28-29 Paw Patrol Live!

Vstar Entertainment

Bonbon in Wrapper, Credit: © Deborah Van Kirk

SYNCRETIC: TULSA ARTIST FELLOWSHIP

Curated by Dr. Louise Siddons and in partnership between 108|Contemporary and Tulsa Artist Fellowship, SYNCRETIC brings together the work of the inaugural TAF Fellows for the first time highlighting the unique synthesis of this group of artists.

SHOP THE MUSEUM STORE FOR HOLIDAY GIFTS

Closes January 8, 2017 Tulsa Artist Fellowship

Chocolate and its national tour were developed by The Field Museum, Chicago.

This exhibition was supported, in part, by the National Science Foundation.

Image: Their Wooden Wings Bruising the Air, Alice Leora Briggs

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 // December 21, 2016 - January 3, 2017

ARTS & CULTURE // 25

retailtherapy

LOCAL SHIPPING Behold, The Boxyard

by MEGAN SHEPHERD

O

n December 10, Tulsa heralded the opening of The Boxyard, a multi-purpose retail center built entirely of repurposed shipping containers that have crisscrossed the world over. They now house hip purveyors selling everything from boutique apparel and beard wax to artisan ice cream and nerdy gadgets. There will even be an open-air rooftop cocktail bar named Open Container, courtesy of the guys behind Hodges Bend.

A project from development company Nelson + Stowe, The Boxyard is one of the few places in town where you can tinker around in a science shop, tweak out on craft coffee, grab gourmet waffles, fill up your water jugs, shop ’til you drop, then give your barking dogs a rest at a neighborhood foot massage parlor, all in one fell swoop (and 17,000 square feet). In other words, it’s awesome.

Here’s your pocket guide to Boxyard and a few of its curious, quirky shops.

FOR THE PAPER PUSHER WHO DREAMS OF BUSTING OUT INTO SOMETHING MORE HEADY...

Behold, the absolute coolest shop ever of all time: The STEMcell.

As a science store for nerds and non-science-y people alike, this place has it all. Feel like growing your own fungus? Give it a shot!

Need to refresh your inventory of Bunsen burners and bacteria culture containers? Come on in!

Want a child-sized NASA-grade 26 // ARTS & CULTURE

The Boxyard is a collection of “micro-retail” GREG BOLLINGER

astronaut suit for your little space cadet? Terry Mudge’s store has it, along with countless other grade-A trinkets for testing and experimenting. While they carry a few interactive-play toys for the youngsters, Terry’s store is positively posed for an older audience. Return all your Christmas gifts immediately and buy new ones here.

FOR THE TULSAN WHO IS JUST. SO. DAMN. PROUD… There’s Dwelling Spaces, a mecca for all things Tulsa love.

As T-Town’s flagship “shop local” store, Dwelling Spaces has made a name for itself selling t-shirts, goods, and collectibles from Okie-owned and operated brands. Fill your shopping bag with out-and-proud TULSA merch, designer outdoor gear, and lapel pins, then snag a cup of coffee from Joebot’s on your way out.

FOR THE BEARDED, LEATHER SATCHEL TOTING MAN WITH A TASTE FOR THE FINER THINGS...

Saunter over to East + West. The second arm of Saint Louis’ central west end boutique, East + West is a fashion-flannel man’s happy place. Think premium fabrics, American-made denim, clean design, and elegant durability. East + West sells the sort of functional fashions that today’s Midwest hipster lives in: Americana-cool, with a little vintage twinge. And

THE BOXYARD | 502 E. 3RD ST. NOW OPEN: Abelina’s Boutique, Dwelling Spaces, East + West Tulsa, Sole Massage, Modern Mess, The STEMcell, Beau & Arrow OPENING SOON: The Sweet Boutique, Landella, The Water Co., Blue Sky Bank, Rose Rock MicroCreamery, WIRWAR Tulsa

authentic and premium doesn’t exactly come cheap at East + West, but the guys aren’t too sorry about it, either. As manager Ben Kilgore explains, “We’re basically saying, buy less, but buy better…Some of the stuff in here is going to cost more, but you can use it for the next three years. In the case of some our boots and things, that’s something that you can pass down to your kids.”

FOR THE BUDDING GLAMAZON WHO FEELS LIKE TRYING OUT A PLUNGING NECKLINE ON NEW YEAR’S EVE...

Abelina’s has you covered (though not your décolletage).

As the sister women’s wear store to Abelina’s south town location, Abelina’s in The Boxyard is a bit less bridal, and a bit more fabulous party dress. Picture body-con numbers, Iris Apfel-inspired oversized sunglasses, and sequin everything.

Abelina’s also has a few floorlength gowns on display for fancier affairs, and middle tier prices

mean you can afford to look great at the party and eat before it.

FOR THE WOMAN WHO IS STILL PERFECTING HER RAGGEDY TWO-SIZESTOO-BIG-BUT-CHIC LOOK...

You’ll want to pop into Modern Mess. The website bills itself as a boutique for the woman who “dresses according to her mood and uses her style as a second language. She is cool and confident while embracing her imperfections, and is not afraid of taking risks.” Aka, the too-drunk twenty something who loves mirrored sunglasses and big crocheted dresses that look like burlap sacks, and who’s always about two cocktails away from adopting a dog.

AKA: paradise. Sign me up.

FOR THE FOODIE WHO GETS OFF ON BEING THE FIRST TO KNOW ABOUT NEW NICHE CONCEPT...

Wirwar (opening soon) will be Tulsa’s only Belgian honky-tonk (what?), and the city’s official HQ for Belgian street food, beer, and hillbilly music (because apparently there is a *YUGE* market for that in Tulsa). Oddities aside, word on the street is that Wirwar will have a serious selection of aiolis, in addition to puffy fries and fluffy waffles. I have no idea how the hillbilly music will fit into the mix here, but I’m excited to take in the view of downtown from Boxyard’s second story and figure it out. a

December 21, 2016 - January 3, 2017 // THE TULSA VOICE

Dear Santa, I’ve been so good this year!

I hope I’m on your Good Dog list!

I watched the house.

I was good at camp.

I entertained my people!

I learned to shake.

I’d like something girly.

I’d like something tasty!

Don’t forget about me!

You can see I’m an angel.

Thank you! I feel handsome.

Shranks for the new reash.

Please get my presents at

Thank you.

Gracias.

Danke Schoen!

Everything you need this season for your dog, cat or friends who love their pets.

1778 Utica Square • 918-624-2600 • Open Monday-Saturday, 10-6

THE TULSA VOICE // December 21, 2016 - January 3, 2017

ARTS & CULTURE // 27

NEW YEAR’S EVE Fun Around Town

Noon Year’s Eve

9:30 A.M.-2:30 P.M., $10 TULSA CHILDREN’S MUSEUM DISCOVERY LAB

Let the kids celebrate without staying up past their bedtime. Play in thew museum, take part in loudest noisemaker and craziest hat competitions, and watch thousands of balloons float down from the ceiling at noon.

TULSACHILDRENSMUSEUM.ORG

New Year’s Eve Sobriety Pow Wow 1 P.M.-9 P.M.

STUDENT LIFE CENTER, BACONE COLLEGE, MUSKOGEE

The 16th Annual New Year’s Pow Wow will feature plenty of Fancy Dancing, dance competitions in over a dozen categories, a children’s art contest, vendors, and more.

New Year’s Eve Pie Night 7 P.M.-10 P.M.

ANTOINETTE BAKING CO. Start 2017 with a belly full of delicious pie. Antoinette will be serving special flavors, champagne, wine, and a few surprises.

ANTOINETTEBAKINGCO.COM

The Oklahoma Swing Syndicate New Year’s Eve Dance 7 P.M.

SOUTHMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN COMMUNITY CENTER

Whether you’re brand new to swing dancing or a seasoned expert, swing into the New Year at TOSS’s all-ages dance, featuring live music by 7 Blue Jazz Band and raffle prizes.

THEOKLAHOMASWINGSYNDICATE.ORG

Totally Awesome New Year’s Eve Party 7:30 P.M.-1 A.M., $75

DOUBLETREE AT WARREN PLACE,

100.9 Totally Awesome 80s host this rad-tastic party, which will feature live music from OMG It’s the 80’s!, a buffet dinner from Warren Duck Club, 80s video games, Rubik’s cube contest, trivia, prizes (including one for best-dressed 1980s couple), and more.

TOTALLYAWESOMETULSA.COM 28 // ARTS & CULTURE

NYE – Old Hollywood Glam Prohibition Style 8 P.M.-2 A.M. $45, $80/COUPLE

THE WINE LOFT Party like it’s 1927, at The Wine Loft, with signature cocktails, a buffet, live music, champagne, cigars, balloon drop, and more. VIP tickets also available.

THEWINELOFTTULSA.COM

Brady District New Year’s Eve Party 8 P.M.-2 A.M., $50-$75

OKLAHOMA JAZZ HALL OF FAME

Billed as “The Biggest New Year’s Eve Party in Tulsa,” this bash in the Brady Arts District will feature music from The Fabulous Mid-Life Crisis Band, Uninvited Guest, and DJ Sea. PROTIX.COM

New Year’s Eve Bash

8:30 P.M.-12:30 A.M., $40 SPOTLIGHT THEATRE

It wouldn’t be a Saturday night without a performance of America’s longest-running play, the melodrama “The Drunkard,” and the variety of “The Olio.” Spend the final moments of 2016 cheering the heroes and booing the villains. Admission includes dinner, drinks, party favors, and more.

SPOTLIGHTTHEATRE.ORG

New Year’s Eve at the Speakeasy

9 P.M.-1 A.M. $25-$100 PRICE TOWER ARTS CENTER, BARTLESVILLE

Frank Lloyd Wright’s Price Tower in Bartlesville hosts a road trip-worthy New Year’s party, where the Gallery will be transformed into a 1929 speakeasy.

Flappers and gangsters can have their mug shot taken, and dance to live music

by Zodiac. And, as is tradition, the Price Tower will ring in the New Year with the Olive Drop: a giant olive descending into an equally giant martini glass.

PRICETOWER.ORG

Crystal Ball: A NYE Masquerade Party 9 P.M.-1:40 A.M., $35, $60/COUPLE IDL BALLROOM, ENSO, ELECTRIC CIRCUS,

The three clubs at 1st and Detroit will

be transformed into a crystal wonderland for the 7th annual Crystal Ball, featuring music from DJs Demko, Phluf, and Uber. Admission includes a complimentary Venetian mask from New Orleans. VIP tickets also available.

TULSACRYSTALBALL.COM

New Year with Nerds!

9 P.M.-2 A.M., $5

DRAGONSLAYER GAMES,

Nerd out into the New Year. In collaboration with OKgamers.com, Dragonslayer is hosting a night of tabletop and console gaming, featuring a Smash Up tournament, door prizes, and more.

DRAGON-SLAYER-GAMES.COM

Two-Step into 2017 9 P.M.-2 A.M., $10

LEGENDS DANCE HALL,

Attention Cowboys and Cowgirls: DJ Houston from 106.1 The Twister will be playing Country hits all night, so you can line dance into the future.

LEGENDSTULSA.COM

Race into the New Year

annual celebration, which will include giveaways all night, a champagne toast, and a balloon and cash drop at midnight. No cover.

CAZSPUB.COM

MixCo NYE Dinner $40-$20

MIXED COMPANY MixCo offers a three-course meal of latin flavors with champagne and optional specially paired wines (taking reservations until 9:30 p.m.), then hip hop supergroup Oilhouse will ring in the New Year at midnight.

MIXCOTULSA.COM

A Royal Ruckus: New Year’s Eve at The Mayo 8 p.m.-2 a.m., $85 THE MAYO HOTEL 2016 was quite the ruckus, so why not finish it off with another? The Royal Ruckus includes access to The Mayo’s Grand Hall and Penthouse Bar, champagne, and heavy hors d’oeuvres, with music by LA DJ Michael Linney and local DJ Vince. Room packages also available.

THEMAYOHOTELEVENTS.COM

11 P.M.-1 A.M., $10-$30

RIVER WEST FESTIVAL PARK Start the New Year off on the right foot with a one-mile fun run and a 5K race, starting at 11:45 p.m., that’ll have you running from 2016 into 2017.

Don’t look back.

RUNNERSWORLDTULSA.COM

NYE at The Melting Pot

4 P.M.-MIDNIGHT, $120/COUPLE THE MELTING POT Fondue into the New Year with a fourcourse meal, which includes a party favor and a champagne toast.

MELTINGPOT.COM

The ‘Deco’dent NYE Dinner 7 p.m. - 9:30 p.m., $175

624 KITCHEN & CATERING Celebrate the New Year in style in the Deco District with 624’s five-course surf n’ turf wine dinner. Call 918.779.6333 for reservations.

624CATERING.COM

Caz’s 22nd NYE Bash 7 P.M. - 9 P.M.

CAZ’S PUB & CAZ’S CHOWHOUSE

Caz’s will start the evening at the Chowhouse, with a NYE dinner for two for $50 (call 918.588.2469 for reservations). Caz’s Pub will keep the party going into the night with their

T U L S A’ S P R E M I E R E D A N C E C L U B

NEW YEAR'S EVE

Bash

FEATURING

DJ FENIXFX Doors @ 9 Champagne Toast at Midnight!

124 N. Boston Ave • 918-584-9494 clubmajestictulsa.com

December 21, 2016 - January 3, 2017 // THE TULSA VOICE

p u t ligh ht g i n the

T Y P R O S

P R E S E N T S

NYE PARTY

Sky Loft • 9 p.m.

Dancing • Drinks • Champagne Toast Entertainment by DJ Gus Major

Purchase tickets and hotel packages at lightupthenight2016.eventbrite.com

NYE CHAMPAGNE TOAST AT MIDNIGHT!

BALLON & CASH DROP NO COVER! NYE $50 dinner for 2 Reservations required

PUB

21 E. BRADY ST. • 918-585-8587

18 East M. B. Brady St. 918-588-2469 cazschowhouse.com

CELEBRATE 2017 WITH DELICIOUS FONDUE FOR TWO! Four-Course Fondue dinner $120 per couple.

Call 918-299-8000 for reservations.

300 RIVERWALK TERRACE, SUITE 190, JENKS MELTINGPOT.COM/TULSA-OK

• fine wine • • craft beer • • unique liquor • 401 E. 11th St. • 918-295-0295 /ModernSpiritsTulsa THE TULSA VOICE

BEST OF TULSA READERS’ CHOICE 2016

Best Liquor Store Finalist! v o te fo r u s

THE TULSA VOICE // December 21, 2016 - January 3, 2017

ARTS & CULTURE // 29

NEW YEAR’S EVE

Music Around Town

R I NG I N T HE NEW YEAR WITH DI N N E R A N D ROSÉ C H A M PA G N E

Call for reservations | 918-582-4321 palacetulsa.com NYE menu available online.

“The discovery of a wine… …is of greater moment than the discovery of a constellation. The universe is too full of stars.”

-Benjamin Franklin

The Fur Shop starts the celebrations a day early, with BlindSight20/20, Edge of Zephyr, Not in Public, and Darku J on Friday ($5), and The Dirty Mugs, DJ Speedbump, and more on Saturday ($10, $15/COUPLE).

Dad. The Band will release a new EP at an all-ages NYE Party at The Vanguard, also featuring NeoRomantics, Oceanaut, Animal Library, Foster Pace, and Wyatt Sanders.

8 P.M.-MIDNIGHT, $10-$12 A supergroup of New Tulsa Soundsters—Paul Benjaman, Wink Burcham, Andrew Bones, Jacob Tovar, and Jesse Aycock— will perform with special guests and surprises at Fassler Hall.

9 P.M.-2 A.M., $10 Milk & Knives perform at Soundpony. 10 P.M.-2 A.M. Double Treble and DJ Vashonda will perform at the NYE party at Soul City. 9 P.M.-2 A.M. Desi and Cody will perform in the cozy Cellar Dweller.

10 P.M.-1 A.M. Green Corn Rebellion play at The Colony. 10 p.m.-2 a.m.

Jack Ketch & The Bilge Rat Bastards, For The Wolf, and Pittersplatter perform at Billy and Renee’s. 9 P.M.-2 A.M.

Come discover new wines for the holiday season from our unrivaled selections. Enjoy.

Wine Capital of Tulsa for Over 40 Years East of Harvard on 31st St.

918.747.1171 30 // ARTS & CULTURE

The Girls Room, La Panther Happens, Noun Verb Adjective, and Ramona & The Phantoms perform at Beehive Lounge. 10 P.M.-2 A.M.

Mountain Sprout performs at The Blackbird on Pearl.

10 P.M.-2 A.M., $9-$10 KISS cover band Dressed to Kill performs at Magoo’s.

9 P.M.-1 A.M. Sons of the Dust perform at VFW Post 577’s Centennial Lounge.

9 P.M.-12:30 A.M. $10 The Brothers Moore perform at The Hunt Club.

K Phillips performs at Mercury Lounge.

Double “00” Buck performs at American Legion Post 308.

Hard Truth performs at the Leather N Lace Masquerade Bash at Wyld Hawgz. 8 P.M.-2 A.M. Ol’ School and Even Keel perform at Crystal Skull.

Str8ght Shot performs at Lennie’s Club & Grill. 8 P.M.-2 A.M., $15, $25/COUPLE Fortunate Soul performs at Four Aces Tavern Retro performs at Uncle Bently’s.

The Sellouts perform at the 5 O’Clock Somewhere Bar, and Chris Hyde performs on the Margaritaville Stage, both at River Spirit Casino.

DeLorean, The Hi-Fidelics, and Paralandra perform at Riffs, and Redland and Travis Marvin perform at Cabin Creek, both at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. a

December 21, 2016 - January 3, 2017 // THE TULSA VOICE

thehaps

BEST OF THE REST EVENTS December 2016 Creative Cocktail Hour // Bring a friend, have a drink, and get the inside talk. Join Living Arts for the last Thursday of each exhibit for a chance to hear exhibiting artists or guests informally discuss contemporary art, processes and concepts. Chris Wollard, Sarah Bliss and Penni Gage will speak about their work in The Four Elements. // 12/22, 5:30 p.m., Living Arts, Free, livingarts.org Holiday Throwdown // Ugly sweaters are encouraged for this latte art throwdown at Foolish Things. // 12/23, 7 p.m., Foolish Things Coffee Company, foolishthingscoffee.com

The Art Hunt Thurs., Dec. 22, 7 p.m.-10 p.m.

Youth Services of Tulsa, facebook.com/thearthunt

F

or the seventh year running, local artist Daniel Gulick, owner of ColourStudios, will hide several original and unique mixed media paintings around town for lucky and sharp-eyed sleuths to find. The first clue will be revealed at the Youth Services Coffee House (311 S. Madison Ave.), and from there, the hunt is on. New clues will be posted on The Art Hunt’s Facebook page until all have been found.

The Art Hunt is free, but donations to Youth Services of Tulsa are encouraged. Youth Services provides shelter, food, education, and other necessities to families and displaced youth.

THE TULSA VOICE // December 21, 2016 - January 3, 2017

1 Million Cups // 1 Million Cups is a free, weekly national program designed to educate, engage, and connect entrepreneurs.

Developed by the Kauffman Foundation, 1MC is based on the notion that entrepreneurs discover solutions and network over a million cups of coffee. // 12/21, 9 a.m., 36 Degrees North, 36degreesnorth.co Giant Jenga Tournament // Fuel 66 hosts its first annual single-elimination Jenga tournament, with cash prizes and drink specials. // 12/22, 10 a.m., Fuel 66, $5, fuel66ok.com Live Fast. Travel Light Premier // Hella Crackin Productions presents the premiere of the new skateboarding video by Jono Sinclair. // 12/23, John L. Rucker Warehouse, Intergalactic Circus Showcase // This ultraviolet circus show will feature aerialist performances, musical acts, roaming characters, dancers, tarot readings, and more surprises. // 12/30, The Blackbird on Pearl, $8, facebook.com/Blackbirdtulsa

COMEDY Stand Up Snowflakes // 12/23, 10 p.m., Comedy Parlor, $10, comedyparlor.com

Improv Sleigh Ride // 12/23, 8 p.m., Comedy Parlor, $10, comedyparlor.com Sunday Night Stand Up // 12/24, 8 p.m., Comedy Parlor, $5, comedyparlor.com Shane McConnaghy // 12/21-12/24, Loony Bin, $2-$12, loonybincomedy.com/Tulsa Tony Tone, Cody Woods // 12/28-12/31, Loony Bin, $2-$12, loonybincomedy.com/Tulsa Sunday Night Stand Up // 1/1, 8 p.m., Comedy Parlor, $5, comedyparlor.com Premature NYE with Drew Welche // 12/30, 10 p.m., Comedy Parlor, $10, comedyparlor.com T-Town Famous // 12/30, 8 p.m., Comedy Parlor, $10, comedyparlor.com

SPORTS ORU Men’s Basketball vs Richmond // 12/23, 3 p.m., Mabee Center, $10-$20, mabeecenter.com Tulsa Oilers vs Missouri Mavericks // 12/27, 7 p.m., BOK Center, $16-$56, tulsaoilers.com Tulsa Oilers vs Utah Grizzlies // 12/30, 7 p.m., BOK Center, $16-$56, tulsaoilers.com Tulsa Oilers vs Wichita Thunder // 12/31, 7 p.m., BOK Center, $17-$57, tulsaoilers.com ORU Women’s Basketball vs Fort Wayne // 12/31, 12:30 p.m., Mabee Center, $7, mabeecenter.com Tulsa Shoot-Out // The largest micro sprint racing event in the country. // 12/29-12/31, Expo Square, $15-$40, exposquare.com Tulsa Holiday Winter Circuit // There’s nothing like a holiday rodeo. The Tulsa Holiday Winter Circuit features Western pleasure and trail riding, as well as high point and amateur roping, among other classes. // 12/30-1/2, Expo Square - Ford Livestock Arena, exposquare.com ARTS & CULTURE // 31

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32 // MUSIC

December 21, 2016 - January 3, 2017 // THE TULSA VOICE

musicnotes A TRIBE CALLED QUEST We Got It from Here...Thank You 4 Your Service As a Tribe fan, I’ve been hoping they would put out another project for a long time. Yes, it was bittersweet hearing it after the death of Phife Dawg. However, I love the way they paid tribute to him recently on SNL. A couple of tracks on the album change so drastically that it’s like you are getting two songs in one. I love it because it forces you to think about improving yourself and the world around you. I love it because it’s TRIBE, yo. ATCQ will always be my ish. -ALI SHAW, DJ, KJAMS 105.3 My love affair with hip-hop that evolved into a passion began with A Tribe Called Quest. This album is everything I wanted it to be and more. It serves as a much deserved anthem to Phife, it unabashedly addresses racism in America and materialism in mainstream hip-hop, all while staying true to their roots and original sound.

-MARY NOBLE, TTV MUSIC WRITER

THE YEAR’S BEST MUSIC

We’ve once again called on Tulsa artists and tastemakers to pick the album that defined their year. The choices are varied and sometimes surprising, but the triumphant return of A Tribe Called Quest in the wake of Phife Dawg’s passing stood out to three of our contributors, besting Beyonce and Bowie as the closest thing to a consensus favorite in a music-rich year.

COMPILED BY TY CLARK, MARY NOBLE, BOBBY DEAN ORCUTT, DAMION SHADE

Folk music is not white. It’s a music of the people, for the people with a voice of dissent. It questions authority and shines light on real struggles that did not die with Woody Guthrie. If this record isn’t that, nothing is. Intelligent lyrics meet engaging beats, leaving you with a record that flows like a great movie, the kind where you catch something new on each play. Incredible hip-hop record that’s really an incredible folk record.

-BOBBY DEAN ORCUTT, TTV MUSIC WRITER

JUSTICE, Woman

BIG THIEF, Masterpiece

ANDERSON .PAAK, Malibu

Black Marble’s latest record, It’s Immaterial, is a nice step forward from their last album. Its gothy, catchy hooks should be welcoming to anyone looking for a subtle pop banger.

I wore their first album out as my go-to cycling record and totally can’t wait to put some miles on this one.

It’s got a little bit of everything!

Favorite track is “Heavy Metal,” which starts out with a creepy vibe, then changes into kind of an epic track. Definitely give it a listen if you enjoy electronic music. It’s got a bit of everything from disco vibes, house feels and some with an 80’s feel. I love this entire album!

It’s barely 2016, but Malibu by Anderson .Paak.

It’s hip-hop, soul, funk; it’s love.

The grooves are insatiable and the arrangements are on point. It’s my go-to album to feel good on a crummy day and feel extra good on a good day.

CLAY FLORES, LIZARD POLICE

KYLIE WELLS, AKA DJ KYLIE

This was one of the records to truly floor me in 2016. Broke my heart into all kinds of pieces.

Adrianne Lenker’s voice has its own gravity and her lyrics tear at your emotions like claws. There is actual poetry in some of these songs. It’s so beautiful and lively and sad. Somehow this band turns these gentle folk songs into a torrent of rock and roll.

BLACK MARBLES, It’s Immaterial

THE TULSA VOICE // December 21, 2016 - January 3, 2017

KRISTIN RUYLE, COUNT TUTU

DAMION SHADE, TTV MUSIC WRITER MUSIC // 33

PARKER MILLSAP, The Very Last Day From “Hades Please” to the shiver worthy “Heaven Sent,” this record is as fun as it is poignant. He wails like an old gospel singer, but he’s preaching his personal truth, and you don’t have to speak in tongues to believe it. The title track nails the Bible Belt’s apocalypse obsession to the proverbial cross. Forget about weeping and gnashing your teeth, unless you still haven’t listened to this album.

LEONARD COHEN, You Want it Darker It would have been my favorite whether or not he passed away shortly after releasing it.

Cohen kept growing the whole time and this record is proof. He had a way of staring things right in the face until they gave up the spirit, then catching that spirit and spinning it into simple, honest-to-god art truth songs. Thanks Leonard. I do want it darker.

DAVID BOWIE, Black Star

The Life of Paul

Oddly enough, it’s not a record that I play on repeat over and over like most my favorites.

I can beat around the feeling but can’t quite place it; the beginning of the record I feel a little anxious, maybe even a little scared and then by the end I’m left with hope and an almost nostalgic feeling. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever experienced!

The album is a masterpiece, and possibly one of my all time favorites!

This fan edit of Kanye West’s The Life of Pablo is my favorite album of 2016. There is something to be said about an album that inspires somebody to collect every artifact of the final product and dedicate their time and resources to tastefully create a version that is three times longer (56 edits) to share with other fans while knowing copyright laws would likely result in it quickly being removed from the internet.

PARKER MILLSAP, SINGER/SONGWRITER

DESI ROSES-CLINTON, DESI AND CODY

LIGHTSABRES, Hibernation

A GIANT DOG, Pile

SURRON THE 7TH, Chill

Upon the first listen it sounds familiar. With more spins, the album begins to show its roots in all things 90s alternative, both radio and underground. Many of my favorite bands come to mind when listening— Smashing Pumpkins, My Bloody Valentine, The Cure. There are some great riffs here, and the vocal melodies are what really seal the deal.

I saw the band in a basement in Tulsa when I was 19 and followed them ever since.

Their live shows are nothing less than exciting and their records are the same. When I listened to it for the first time it was on repeat for a few days at least! If you dig rock-n-roll, wailing vocals, and insanely catchy harmonies, this album is for you.

CALVIN COMPTON, STARSHIP RECORDS & TAPES

AMELIA PULLEN, DEAD SHAKES

The album may be called Chill, but he brings some heat with this one. It puts you in a state of relaxation while at the same time goin’ over and across ya head with intricate wordplay and some heavy-handed punchlines. And all the tracks to back his crazy rhymes are just as ill. Don’t sleep on this guy’s work. He’s one of best rappers around, and not just around Tulsa.

ERIN O’DOWD, SINGER/SONGWRITER

34 // MUSIC

MIKE DEE, EMCEE

DILLON HARGRAVE, THE PHOENIX BROS.

PANIC AT THE DISCO, Death Of A Bachelor It is one of the most creative and passionate albums I have heard in a long time. It seamlessly blends multiple genres from rock, trap and even big band jazz to create a unique and odd pop album without alienating the listener. Brendan’s vocals are always crisp and on point.

His range, vocal styling/layering help warp the already astounding tracks into an epic pop symphony.

JANKINS, EMCEE

December 21, 2016 - January 3, 2017 // THE TULSA VOICE

SCOTT HIRSCH, Blue Rider Songs

SUMAC, What One Becomes

This is a splendid example of the influence Tulsa music has had on folks all over these States.

Rock-solid, yet stripped-down rhythm sections, tremolo-ridden and reverb-drenched guitars, and smooth, dark melodies inhabit this entire record. Clever wordplay and Cale references accompanied by clear, beautiful arrangements. By far, this is my favorite record of the year.

There’s a lot of predictable and generic music within the sludge and doom genres.

Sumac might be considered post-metal, but it takes the best elements of the other genres and does them better. What One Becomes creates a refreshingly grim landscape where a relentless beat performs a gradual erosion punctuated by moments of chaos. It is well recorded, with a production that feels huge without drowning in so much reverb that it loses power.

JOHN CALVIN ABNEY, SINGER/SONGWRITER

JAMES PLUMLEE, SENIOR FELLOWS

B.O.B., Elements

ELIZABETH COOK, Exodus of Venus

BEYONCE, Lemonade

ASH BORER, The Irrepassable Gate

Lemonade has to be my most influential album of 2016. It has to be the most inspiring to me as a woman. Being raised with five sisters and a single mother, I related to its many stages of any relationship, heartbreak, healing and just flat out feminism and power. She painted her story so beautifully. The poetry and empowering lyrics gave me chills at times. I love how she has grown with each album she has made and it’s like BAM, in your face.

2016 has subjectively been one of the worst years for pop culture, politics, and prolonged hope for any semblance of a silver lining.

Ash Borer’s long-awaited third LP helps usher in the mounting despair and hopelessness we can all come to expect in our collective future. Atmospheric ambience textured with cascadian riffs and blindingly fast blast beats create the perfect soundtrack for the death of all dreams, great and small.

FAYE MOFFETT (FORMERLY BRANDEE), SINGER/SONGWRITER

JAY HANCOCK, HOLY MOUNTAIN MUSIC & ODDITIES

BRONCHO, Double Vanity

IGGY POP, Post Pop Depression

I would’ve never guessed that B.O.B. could make an album that I would even almost consider a favorite but with that said, Elements is definitely my favorite album of the year. I’m a huge fan of documentaries. I enjoy learning new things. I love hip-hop and on occasion I indulge in ratchet activities. This album embodies all of those elements (pun intended). Definitely going in the collection. Stays on repeat.

A modern classic.

I think it is the best thing to come out of Nashville in years. There is a heavy gospel and old school country influence, but the record is refreshing, modern, emotional, and powerful. Cook’s songwriting is so personal and relatable, and her voice is haunting and sweet, one of the best in the music business. Pick this up if you haven’t heard it yet, it’s a total masterpiece.

We just got off a tour with them. I loved the album before, but seeing them perform it every night really piled on the weight for me. The vocal melodies, the harmonies, the sludge... it all hits me in the gut pretty hard, emotionally. You don’t even have to understand the lyrics to feel it, but it makes you sad in a really happy way. We’re good friends and I act cool around them, but really I think they’re brilliant.

The best records have always given me chills and made me laugh out of sheer joy.

We were on tour at the time when I first heard it entirely. Sitting in the back seat, I went to that place inside myself where time was forgotten, there was no pain and auditory ecstasy was the only thing I felt. I was hooked and 2016 never produced another record quite as joyful as this one.

SURRON THE 7TH, EMCEE

LAUREN BARTH, SINGER/SONGWRITER

CALE CHRONISTER, SPORTS

TY CLARK, TTV MUSIC WRITER a

THE TULSA VOICE // December 21, 2016 - January 3, 2017

MUSIC // 35

musiclistings Wed // Dec 21

Sun // Dec 25

Crow Creek Tavern – Dan Martin Mercury Lounge – Travis Linville Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame – Eicher Wednesdays – ($10) On the Rocks – Don White Soundpony – Live band punk/metal karaoke w/ Satanico and the Demon Seeds The Blackbird on Pearl – Whiskey Wednesdays w/ Brandon Clark The Colony – Tom Skinner’s Science Project Zin Urban Lounge – The Hi-Fi Hillbillies

Hard Rock Hotel and Casino - Riffs – Empire, Scott Eastman The Colony – Paul Benjaman’s Sunday Nite Thing

Thurs // Dec 22 Hard Rock Hotel and Casino - Cabin Creek – Carl Acuff Hard Rock Hotel and Casino - Riffs – The Hi-Fidelics Hunt Club – Ego Culture Mercury Lounge – Paul Benjaman Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame – Dr. Joey Crutcher’s Annual Christmas Show River Spirit Casino - 5 O’Clock Somewhere Bar – Merle Jam Soundpony – Cohorts The Colony – An Evening with Jared Tyler The Venue Shrine – Taddy Porter, BC & The Big Rig – ($7-$10) VFW Post 577 - Centennial Lounge – Hector Ultreras

Fri // Dec 23 American Legion Post 308 – Wiskey Bent Electric Circus – Phluf N Stuf Hard Rock Hotel and Casino - Cabin Creek – The Tiptons Hard Rock Hotel and Casino - Riffs – Stars, Travis Kidd River Spirit Casino - 5 O’Clock Somewhere Bar – DJ Demko River Spirit Casino - Margaritaville Stage – Chris Hyde Band Soul City – The Brothers Moore – ($10) Soundpony – Afistaface The Beehive Lounge – Stinky Gringos, The Mules, Oceanaut The Blackbird on Pearl – WHiRLiGiG’s Festivus Miracle The Colony – Paul Benjaman’s Yule Tide Joy! The Venue Shrine – Dwight Twilley – ($10) Vanguard – John Moreland, Travis Linville – ($13-$35) Woody’s Corner Bar – DJ Spin

Sat // Dec 24 Hard Rock Hotel and Casino - Riffs – Chris Hyde Band Lot No. 6 – ResurXtion 31: Nightmare B4 X-Mas w/ DJs Jessy James, 950 David Soundpony – The Funky Christmas and Hanukkah Get Down w/ DJ Sweet Baby Jaysus Yeti – The Nightmare Before Christmas w/ DJs DedBoii, FrankGrimes, Skanka

36 // MUSIC

Mon // Dec 26 Crow Creek Tavern – Acoustique by Franklin Mercury Lounge – Chloe Johns The Colony – Singer/Songwriter Night Yeti – The Situation Open Jam

Tues // Dec 27 Gypsy Coffee House – Tuesday Night Open Mic Hard Rock Hotel and Casino - Riffs – Brian Capps Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame – Depot Jazz and Blues Jams Yeti – Writers Night

Wed // Dec 28 Crow Creek Tavern – Dave Les Smith Mercury Lounge – Travis Linville Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame – Eicher Wednesdays – ($10) On the Rocks – Don White River Spirit Casino - 5 O’Clock Somewhere Bar – The Hi-Fidelics Soundpony – Dirty Few The Blackbird on Pearl – Whiskey Wednesdays w/ Brandon Clark The Colony – Tom Skinner’s Science Project The Fur Shop – Old Statem Better Halves, Had Enough, Unsung Alibi – ($5-$7) Tulsa Performing Arts Center - Chapman Music Hall – Mannheim Seamroller Christmas by Chip Davis – ($25-$75)

Thurs // Dec 29 Hard Rock Hotel and Casino - Cabin Creek – Paul Bogart Hard Rock Hotel and Casino - Riffs – Travis Marvin, Chad & Keith Hard Rock Hotel and Casino - The Joint – Big & Rich, Cowboy Troy – ($55-$65) Mercury Lounge – Paul Benjaman River Spirit Casino - 5 O’Clock Somewhere Bar – KVOO River Spirit Casino - Margaritaville Stage – Ayngel & John Soundpony – Don’t Touch My Bag The Beehive Lounge – Ethan Smith The Blackbird on Pearl – Re Dirt Rangers and Friends The Venue Shrine – Nappy Roots, No Name Bones – ($12-$15) Vanguard – Bruise – ($10)

Fri // Dec 30 American Legion Post 308 – American Strings Dusty Dog Pub – James Groves Blues Machine Electric Circus – Phluf N Stuf Hard Rock Hotel and Casino - Cabin Creek – Chad Lee Hard Rock Hotel and Casino - Riffs – Replay, Chad & Keith Hunt Club – Speakeasy Mercury Lounge – BC & The Big Rig

River Spirit Casino - 5 O’Clock Somewhere Bar – DJ Demko River Spirit Casino - Margaritaville Stage – Zodiac Soul City – Jimmy Markham and the Caretakers – ($10) Soundpony – Klondike 5 The Colony – Senior Fellows album release w/ Bik Fliqqr, Reigns – ($3) The Fur Shop – BlindSight20/20, Edge of Zephyr, Not in Public, Darku J – ($5) The Run – Medicine Train VFW Post 577 - Centennial Lounge – BlindSight20/20, Edge Of Zephyr VFW Post 577 - Centennial Lounge – Wink Burcham

Sat // Dec 31 American Legion Post 308 – Double “00” Buck Billy and Renee’s – For The Wolf, Jack Ketch & The Bilge Rat Bastards, Pittersplatter Cellar Dweller – Desi and Cody Crystal Skull – Ol’ School, Even Keel Fassler Hall – NYE at Fassler w/ Paul Benjaman, Wink Burcham, Andrew Bones, Jacob Tovar, Jesse Aycock, and more – ($10) Hard Rock Hotel and Casino - Cabin Creek – Redland, Travis Marvin Hard Rock Hotel and Casino - Riffs – DeLorean, The Hi-Fidelics, Paralandra Hunt Club – The Brothers Moore Lennie’s Club – Str8ght Shot Magoo’s – Dressed to Kill: A Tribute to KISS Mercury Lounge – K Phillips River Spirit Casino - 5 O’Clock Somewhere Bar – The Sellouts River Spirit Casino - Margaritaville Stage – Chris Hyde Soul City – Soul City NYE Party w/ Double Treble and DJ Vashonda Soundpony – Milk & Knives The Beehive Lounge – La Panther Happens, The Girls Room, Noun Verb Adjective, Ramona & The Phantoms The Blackbird on Pearl – NYE Party w/ Mountain Sprout – ($9-$10) The Colony – Green Corn Rebellion The Fur Shop – The Dirty Mugs, DJ Speedbump – ($10, $15/couple) Vanguard – Dad. The Band EP Release w/ NeoRomantics, Oceanaut, Animal Library, Foster Pace, Wyatt Sanders – ($10-$12) VFW Post 577 - Centennial Lounge – Sons of the Dust – ($10) Woody’s Corner Bar – Jennifay Joy

Your

VOICE For

Live Music Get the word out

Sun // Jan 1 The Beehive Lounge – Hector Ultreras The Colony – Paul Benjaman’s Sunday Nite Thing

Mon // Jan 2 The Colony – Singer/Songwriter Night Yeti – The Situation Open Jam

Tues // Jan 3 Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame – Depot Jazz and Blues Jams Yeti – Writers Night

Send dates, venue and listings to John@ LangdonPublishing.com

December 21, 2016 - January 3, 2017 // THE TULSA VOICE

ladyparts

DICK PUNCH The year in Lady Parts

by CLAIRE EDWARDS

(Left to right) Beyonce, Samantha Bee, Melissa McCarthy in “Ghostbusters” (COURTESY), Hillary Clinton (JOSEPH SOHM / SHUTTERSTOCK.COM)

“FULL FRONTAL WITH SAMANTHA BEE” PREMIERES, FEBRUARY Former Daily Show correspondent Samantha Bee crashed into the boys’ club of late-night political commentary with the roar of a fucking freight train.

Whether taking down so-called pregnancy resource centers that spread false information about abortion or the staggering backlog of rape kits, Bee brought a righteous fury and biting comedy to 2016.

In the wake of the Orlando shooting at Pulse nightclub in June, her sweet, near-cloying voice ripped through the bullshit with a ferocity stoked by tragedy and insisted she couldn’t deliver the usual words of comfort and affirmation that follow a national trauma. “Fuck it,” she said. “I am too angry for that.”

In a year where the president-elect is praised for his ability to “tell it like it is,” Bee provides a much-needed catharsis by being unapologetically and vocally angry in a way that no other woman in politics is allowed to be.

HARRIET TUBMAN PLACED ON THE $20 BILL, APRIL As one maniac continued his rise to power, we at least got the satisfaction of seeing another removed from our currency. In a move that should have been one of the least controversial in this contentious, ugly year, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew announced that the gaunt, ghastly visage of famed genocidal monster Andrew Jackson would

be replaced by former slave, abolitionist, and uncontested American hero Harriet Tubman.

It marked a step towards acknowledging America’s ugly past, while finally making room for a woman of color to occupy a space typically reserved for white, ethically flexible men.

And look, anything that can get some Fox News pundits frothing at the mouth about “political correctness run amok” is typically worthwhile.

BEYONCE’S LEMONADE DROPS, APRIL In Lemonade, a visual album that is meditative, explosive, beautiful, and ugly, Beyonce married the personal to the political.

Lest the film be dismissed as merely an epic takedown of a cheating spouse, an archival clip of Malcolm X breaks through early in the film with these words: “The most disrespected person in America is the black woman.

The most unprotected person in America is the black woman. The most neglected person in America is the black woman.”

This interlude sets the tone for a film that is as much about repeated patterns of abuse, neglect, survival, and redemption of black American women as it is about personal betrayal.

“Being a black woman is both empowering and painful,” Kimberly Richards wrote of Lemonade on Romper, “and the more art that aims to tackle the truth of our existence, as the greats—Ms. Lauryn Hill, Nina Simone, India

THE TULSA VOICE // December 21, 2016 - January 3, 2017

Arie—have done, the more empowered we’ll be.”

“GHOSTBUSTERS” REMADE, JULY When it was announced that there would be an all-women Ghostbusters reboot, hordes of nostalgia-sick beta males flocked to Reddit to air their grievances, claiming it would irrevocably alter their precious memories or “rape their childhood.”

Perhaps the histrionics also stemmed from the fact that the comedy-action film has long been a decidedly masculine genre, one where women are either out of the narrative completely or exist only in the periphery.

Though the film lacks the lightning-in-a-bottle quality of the original, it makes up for it with heart and the easy, charming interplay between Leslie Jones, Melissa McCarthy, Kate McKinnon, and Kristen Wiig. And, more importantly, a generation of girls was given a new kind of female action hero.

“GRAB HER BY THE PUSSY” AND RESULTING DISCOURSE, OCTOBER I look back fondly on those halcyon days when I believed that the phrase “Grab her by the pussy” would finally, mercifully be the death knell of Trump’s campaign. I remember poring over Facebook posts from one man after another who vehemently denied that what Trump said to Billy Bush on the Access Hollywood Bus qualified as “typical locker room talk.”

While I appreciate men calling out Trump’s words as transcending lasciviousness and entering the territory of outright predation, it wasn’t especially helpful for men to suddenly clutch their Boy Scout badges and claim that this sort of talk was foreign to them. If anything, it seemed like an attempt to deny the existence of rape culture.

Recognizing what Trump said is normal is not the same thing as excusing it. It’s an ugly facet of masculinity that women deal with every day.

HILLARY CLINTON LOSES TO DONALD TRUMP, NOVEMBER Boy, what a perfect punctuation point on this shit show of a year.

I have to admit, I was wholly unprepared for the possibility of Clinton’s defeat. I woke on the day of the election positively brimming with optimism, hoping that this day would end our country’s most recent, unfortunate flirtation with insanity.

More so, I was hoping that the months and years of abuse that Hillary Clinton had withstood at the hands of the body politic would finally pay off—that it wouldn’t all be for naught.

Unfortunately, Trump’s America had other plans. His victory over Clinton served as a heart-shattering reminder that, no matter how qualified and eloquent a woman might be, people will still take a blustering, sentient garbage fire of a person over her, providing he has a penis. a FILM & TV // 37

filmphiles

Paul Dano and Daniel Radcliffe in “Swiss Army Man” | COURTESY

The contenders TTV critics talk the year’s best in film

by JEFF HUSTON and JOE O’SHANSKY JEFF HUSTON: Well, Joe, we’re in that fun time of year again for film critics, which can also be overwhelming: awards season.

It’s this glorious onslaught of movie screenings and screeners that studios are hoping to use to gain some awards traction, and if they can get jokers like us buzzing about them then that boosts their campaign efforts. We’re seeing a lot of movies right now, but aren’t quite ready for official Top 10 lists as a few contenders remain unseen by us (Scorsese’s “Silence” chief among them).

Tulsa’s independent and non-profit art-house theatre, showing independent, foreign, and documentary films.

38 // FILM & TV

Joe, in your mind, what’s the film to beat right now for the year’s best?

JOE O’SHANSKY: While things can change, as of this writing it is writer-director Kenneth Longeran’s moving and memorable “Manchester by the Sea.” Fueled by a powerful performance from Casey Affleck, and stellar turns by Lucas Hedges, Michelle Williams, Gretchen Mol, and Kyle Chandler, Longeran has crafted a novelistic melodrama whose dry (often hilarious) sense of humor leavens the proceedings with an unlikely naturalism, considering the sometimes awful shit that befalls them. Being from back east myself, the characters and their world feel like a place remembered in dreams.

Lonergan’s direction is pitch perfect, weaving their arcs and the underlying narrative with the grace of a tai chi master. While there are a joyous number of great films this year “Manchester” stuck with me in a way it apparently did not with Sam Jackson. (I get it. Even on Long Island there were black people. And this movie doesn’t get much whiter.)

Which film this year was the apple of your eye?

JEFF: There’s not a clear frontrunner for me, but not for lack of options.

“Manchester by the Sea” is certainly right there, a small American movie by a renowned American playwright that feels like a Great American Novel. And it’s absolutely devastating in the most worthwhile way. The other two garnering major buzz right now are “Moonlight” and “La La Land,” and both live up to the hype.

But if I wanted to be a true iconoclast, I’d have the guts to go with “Swiss Army Man.” Easily the year’s biggest surprise, I was not expecting the Sundance “Farting Corpse Movie” to become a poignant existential search, let alone offer up Paul Dano’s career-best work. It’s a magical realism fable that wrestles with loneliness and loss but then hopes for resurrection, and it’s also the year’s biggest risk taker from first time directors Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert.

And speaking of directorial debuts, 2016 was as strong in that re-

gard as any year I can recall. Along with “Swiss Army Man,” movies like “The Witch,” “Krisha,” “The Edge of Seventeen,” and “Southside With You” (a.k.a. the Obama love story) all heralded very promising filmmaking careers, the first two of those four achieving a distinct auteurist signature.

JOE: Don’t forget to add “The Eyes of My Mother” to the first-timer list. Not only one of the creepiest and most stylized films of the year—not to mention deeply disturbing—but from a dude who’s only been able to legally drink in bars for five years (he’s just 26-years old—say that in a Michael Caine voice). Considering some of the great film debuts from directors to keep an eye on this year, 2016 has been an embarrassment of riches.

I couldn’t agree more about “Swiss Army Man,” though there’s an ephemeral quality to its quirk that undercuts a true emotional connection (for me, at least). You used the term “magical realism fable” which made me realize there are a few films like that this year that are either on my list, or nearly made it there. “Hunt for the

December 21, 2016 - January 3, 2017 // THE TULSA VOICE

Wilderpeople” and “The Lobster” in particular, and to a lesser degree “The Witch,” join “Swiss Army Man” in that realm.

So I take your last response to mean that you haven’t found your favorite film of the year yet?

JEFF: Right. I’m still waffling. The year’s best are so distinctly different in what they are and why they excel that I’m finding it difficult to commit. Another one vying for my cinephilic affections is “Jackie,” the Jacqueline Kennedy biopic set during the week following JFK’s assassination. It plays like a full-on surrealistic mind meld yet never once resorts to an internal monologue voice over. Natalie Portman’s performance isn’t just transcendent but actually transcendental, and Chilean director Pablo Larraín goes beyond dramatization to conjure an id in its most fragile yet resilient state. It’s hypnotic, and downright brilliant.

JOE: “Carol” made my list last year, yet I’m never in the mood for it.

“Jackie” is great, yet, again, I’m not sure it’s something I’ll watch as a perennial compulsion.

Because I know I’ll see some of them again, perhaps many times (“Fury Road” seemed to break the Oscar boundary in this regard), I’m a genre guy. Is it the best, or just a favorite?

JEFF: Personal taste is an inevitable influence (I had “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” somewhere on my list last year), but something like genre or rewatchability never really enters my equation, particularly since annual lists are such a “creature of the moment” anyway.

Regarding that time capsule factor, if one element beyond artistic merit does come into play for me it’s probably relevancy. That’s where documentaries resonate, and in the year of #BlackLivesMatter a powerful trilogy organically emerged: “O.J.: Made In America,” “13th,” and “I Am Not Your Negro.” All made by black filmmakers, they examined and capture the reality of race in the United States from three specific vantage points, cultural, historic, and iconic, respectively.

But then back to fiction, you look at something like “Moonlight,” which ended up being a

much more resonant work in the year of #OscarsSoWhite than what had initially been anointed (“The Birth of a Nation”). Of course “Moonlight”—along with the beautiful, intimate lament of director Barry Jenkins’ filmmaking—also transcends both artistry and relevancy to tap into something universal.

JOE: “Moonlight” was stunning in that regard. A non-homogenized mirror of Linklater’s “Boyhood,” made with more honesty and intoxicating style, which didn’t take thirteen years to create.

“Birth of a Nation” is fine. The bombast worthy of a Mel Gibson joint (there are a few ironies there) more or less subverts the subtlety that story deserved.

Among the documentaries I have seen this year, “Author: The JT Leroy Story” is at the top (sorry, Herr Herzog, though I love you). JT Leroy is/was the teenage boy alter-ego for the decidedly middle-aged female writer, Laura Albert, who took the late 90s/ early aughts literati by storm, only to fall from grace once they realize they’d all been catfished.

The details are too numerous to get into here. A cultural critique, an exploration of mental illness, and a love letter to how far you can go in this country on inherent talent while fearlessly bullshitting everyone. It’s the kind of distinctly American story you can’t make up.

I still have some catching up to do. “La La Land,” “Silence,” and “American Honey” all come to mind. Is there still anything left on your must-see list?

JEFF: Scorsese’s “Silence” is the big one. I’ve seen the other Oscar hopefuls and they range from decent (“Fences”) to hyperbole-inducing (“La La Land”). In the meantime, if there’s one guarantee I can give to the movie-going masses from 2016, it’s this: if Disney is above the title, see it. From “Zootopia” to “The Jungle Book” to “Pete’s Dragon” to “Moana” and, yes, Spielberg’s sadly-underseen gem “The BFG,” no Hollywood brand machine did better in animation or live action over the past year, not even corporate cousins Pixar and Marvel.

People, have yourself a merry little Christmas with any of those. a

THE TULSA VOICE // December 21, 2016 - January 3, 2017

A BRIEF RUNDOWN OF WHAT’S HAPPENING AT THE CIRCLE CINEMA

Natalie Portman and Caspar Phillipson in “Jackie” | COURTESY

OPENING DEC. 21

JACKIE Natalie Portman gives a transformative performance in this hypnotic biopic about First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, set during the week following the assassination of JFK. Co-starring Billy Crudup, Peter Sarsgaard, and John Hurt, Portman’s mesmerizing portrayal has garnered Best Actress nominations from the Golden Globes and Screen Actors Guild. Rated R.

OPENING DEC. 25

FENCES Based on August Wilson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play, Denzel Washington and Viola Davis reprise their Tony Award-winning roles as a 1950s low-income Pittsburgh African-American couple whose family is in crisis.

Washington also directs.

He and Davis have received nominations from the Golden Globes and Screen Actors Guild, along with a cast nomination by SAG as well.

Rated PG-13.

LION The tear-jerking true story of a 5-year-old Indian boy who gets lost over a thousand miles from home, is adopted, and grows up to search for his birth family. Nominated for 4 Golden Globes including Best Motion Picture (Drama). Nicole Kidman and Dev Patel are nominated for their supporting turns by both the

Golden Globes and Screen Actors Guild. Rated PG-13.

OPENING DEC. 30

A MAN CALLED OVE Based on a novel that’s been on the NY Times best-seller list for 44 weeks, this Swedish import is the tale of a grumpy 59-year-old man.

He still tries to look over his neighborhood with an iron fist despite having been deposed as the community’s president years earlier. A small accident caused by new neighbors leads to an unexpected friendship. Rated PG-13.

STILL PLAYING

MANCHESTER BY THE SEA, Moonlight, Loving, Nocturnal Animals, and The Eagle Huntress. Final day for White Christmas is Sat., Dec. 24.

SPECIAL EVENTS

THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW A Circle tradition for the 11th consecutive year, close out the old or ring in the new at one of these two late night special event screenings of the cult classic starring Tim Curry and Susan Sarandon.

As usual, audience participation is encouraged! Circle Cinema will have prop bags for sale at the concession stand. *No throwing objects at screen and no water guns* (Fri. Dec. 30 & Sat. Dec. 31, 10 p.m.)

FILM & TV // 39

popradar

Don’t kill your TV The 10 best shows of 2016 | BY MATT CAUTHRON (Left to right) “Search Party,” “The People V. OJ Simpson,” “Stranger Things,” “Better Call Saul,” “Atlanta,” “VEEP,” “Broad City,” “Games of Thrones,” “Bojack Horseman,” “OJ: Made in America” | COURTESY

T

here’s too much good TV for anyone to watch all of it. But I watched my fair share, and these 10 series are the best I saw all year.

10. SEARCH PARTY An ensemble comedy crossed with a riveting mystery thriller, this oddity from TBS (yes, TBS) was a welcomed surprise. The supporting players ooze with charm and add lightness to the sometimes pitch-black plot developments, but Alia Shawkat is perfection as the obsessive, good-hearted but deeply flawed heroine.

9. THE PEOPLE V. OJ SIMPSON Despite some painfully clunky historical irony (mostly involving Kardashians) and peak Travolta insanity, FX’s limited series depicting the circus that was the OJ trial wisely dialed in on Marcia Clark, Johnnie Cochran and Christopher Darden. With sharp writing and stellar performances from the three leads, it ultimately managed to humanize a trio that had long been relegated to punchlines.

8. STRANGER THINGS To so blatantly capitalize on nostalgia can be forgiven when it’s this much fun. Netflix’s out-of-nowhere ’80s pastiche turned summertime binge-watchers upside down with its ragtag blend of charming 40 // FILM & TV

children, supernatural suspense and a welcome Winona Ryder comeback. Extra credit for a bitchin’ opening title sequence and earworm of a score.

7. BETTER CALL SAUL When Bob Odenkirk showed up in the second season of “Breaking Bad”—playing the kind of absurd, fast-talking sleazeball you’d expect in a “Mr. Show” sketch—no one could have predicted how essential he’d become to that show. But the fact that the same character, and Odenkirk’s nuanced performance, soulfully anchors a spin-off whose quality and heart matches anything in the Peak TV era is nothing short of a miracle.

6. ATLANTA Donald Glover’s strange and wonderful FX series about friends on the rise in the Atlanta hip-hop underground is a true original. Whether getting high on a raggedy outdoor couch, holding court at the second-best VIP section in the club, or politely suffering the slam poetry of a rich, white asshole at his lavish Juneteenth party—I’m happy to hang with these characters.

5. VEEP Visionary creator Armando Iannucci left the show and the reins were handed to newcomer David Mandel, yet “Veep”—minute-for-minute the funniest show on television—not only didn’t miss a beat, it actually got better.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus remains a na-

tional treasure, and no comedy in the universe has a deeper bench.

Next season’s challenge is a tall order: how to satirize a political system that has become too absurd to be believed.

4. BROAD CITY HBO’s “Girls” so desperately wanted to be the voice of the millennial generation that its lead character literally said those words out loud in the pilot. But Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer appeared on the scene with their stoner hijinks and general badassery and snatched the mantle without even trying. The soul of the show is friendship, and the third season uncharacteristically delved into some of the messier, more painful aspects of navigating life with a platonic soul mate—without sacrificing any of the usual hilarity.

Yass queen, indeed.

3. GAME OF THRONES Hodor held the door in one of the most touching and visually inventive sequences the show has ever presented. Zombie Jon Snow led an attack on his former home in a visceral gut-punch of a battle.

Cersei, eternally the show’s best character (props to the flawless, magnificent Lena Headey), settled family business in a stroke that puts Michael Corleone to shame.

Who knew leaving George R. R. Martin’s source material in the dust would be the best thing to happen to HBO’s golden goose?

2. BOJACK HORSEMAN Not since the heyday of “The Simpsons” has a television show (animated or otherwise) weaved a richer tapestry of intelligence and heart with a relentless barrage of laugh-out-loud jokes. Yes, it centers on an anthropomorphic horse who’s a washed-up sitcom actor. But it’s also the most heartfelt examination of depression, loneliness, substance abuse and existential despair you could find anywhere in popular culture. The saga of BoJack’s former protégé Sarah Lynn, at turns hilarious and devastating, was the most affecting thing I saw on television this year.

1. OJ: MADE IN AMERICA The way this 8-hour documentary from ESPN examined the external forces that shaped the psyche of OJ Simpson, and shed light on his capacity for a brutal double murder (whether you believe he committed it or not), was fascinating in itself. But the way it presented the chase, the trial, the verdict and the aftermath against the backdrop of decades of racial injustice in Los Angeles—even if you’d thoughtfully considered those parallels before—was stunning in its meticulous detail and clarity. Even though it could (and should) win an Oscar, its widest reach was on television, and nothing else on the small screen in 2016 came close to matching its quality. a

December 21, 2016 - January 3, 2017 // THE TULSA VOICE

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

POCKETS

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.

AMIGO

The first time we saw POCKETS and AMIGO our hearts melted! At nine and 11 years old, these two are ready for the easy life. They were surrendered to us after their long-term owner became sick and unable to care for them.

Because they have lived their whole lives together we have decided they must go to the same home. These two would make great pets for an elderly person or someone who spends the majority of their time at home.

If you are looking for a gentle giant, DOZER is your guy! At 107 pounds, this two-year-old Great Dane can be intimidating. Despite his size, Dozer loves to play and obviously thinks of himself as a lap dog. We have only had Dozer for a few days, but he is a well-behaved dog and very friendly. If you are looking for a big family dog Dozer is the one!

LEIDY is a two-year-old frontdeclawed longhair mix. Leidy can be very affectionate, but like all cats she has her own personality.

Come meet this sweet girl!

TIPPI is a 13-year-old Domestic longhair mix. Tippi was left at a local veteran office and for seven months the staff tried to contact her owners. She is shy when meeting new people. In an effort to socialize her, we’ve had Tippi living in our upstairs office and she’s become very close with several members of our staff.

REAL COLLEGE RADIO

Tune into Tulsa’s ecletic, uniquely programmed, local music loving, commercial free, genre hopping, award winning, truly alternative music station. @RSURadio | WWW.RSURADIO.COM THE TULSA VOICE // December 21, 2016 - January 3, 2017

ETC. // 41

free will astrology

by ROB BREZSNY

SAGITTARIUS

(NOV. 22-DEC. 21):

Physicist Stephen Hawking is skeptical of the hypothesis that humans may someday be able to travel through time. To jokingly dramatize his belief, he threw a party for time travelers from the future. Sadly, not a single chrononaut showed up to enjoy the champagne and hors d’oeuvres Hawking had prepared. Despite this discouraging evidence, I guarantee that you will have the potential to meet with Future Versions of You on a regular basis during the next nine months. These encounters are likely to be metaphorical or dreamlike rather than literal, but they will provide valuable information as you make decisions that affect your destiny for years to come. The first of these heart-to-hearts should come very soon.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): During these last few weeks, you may have sometimes felt like smashing holes in the wall with your head, or dragging precious keepsakes into the middle of the street and setting them on fire, or delivering boxes full of garbage to people who don’t appreciate you as much as they should. I hope you abstained from doing things like that. Now here are some prescriptions to help you graduate from unproductive impulses: Make or find a symbol of one of your mental blocks, and bash it to pieces with a hammer; clean and polish precious keepsakes, and perform rituals to reinvigorate your love for them; take as many trips to the dump as necessary to remove the congestion, dross, and rot from your environment.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Singer-songwriter Tom Waits has a distinctive voice. One fan described it this way: “Like how you’d sound if you drank a quart of bourbon, smoked a pack of cigarettes and swallowed a pack of razor blades. Late at night. After not sleeping for three days.” Luckily, Waits doesn’t have to actually do any of those self-destructive things to achieve his unique tone. In fact, he’s wealthy from selling his music, and has three kids with a woman to whom he’s been married for 36 years. I foresee a similar potential for you in the coming weeks and months. You may be able to capitalize on your harmless weirdness . . . to earn rewards by expressing your charming eccentricities . . . to be both strange and popular.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Was punk rock born on June 4, 1976? A fledgling band known as the Sex Pistols played that night for a crowd of 40 people at a small venue in Manchester, England. Among the audience members was Morrissey, who got so inspired that he started his own band, The Smiths. Also in attendance was a rowdy guy who would soon launch the band Joy Division, despite the fact that he had never played an instrument. The men who would later form the Buzzcocks also saw the performance

by Johnny Rotten and his crew. According to music critic David Nolan, these future pioneers came away from the June 4 show with the conclusion, “You don’t have to be a virtuoso or a musical genius to be in a band; anyone can do it.” I see parallels between this seminal event and your life in the coming weeks.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): “Living is a form of not being sure, not knowing what next or how,” said dancer Agnes De Mille. “We guess. We may be wrong, but we take leap after leap in the dark.” As true as her words might be for most of us much of the time, I suspect they don’t apply to you right now. This is one of those rare moments when feeling total certainty is justified.

Your vision is extra clear and farseeing. Your good humor and expansive spirit will ensure that you stay humble. As you take leap after leap, you’ll be surrounded by light.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): “We are torn between nostalgia for the familiar and an urge for the foreign and strange,” wrote author Carson McCullers. Are you ready to give that adage a twist, Taurus? In the coming weeks, I think you should search for foreign and strange qualities in your familiar world. Such a quest may initially feel odd, but will ultimately be healthy and interesting. It will also be good preparation for the next chapter of your life, when you will saunter out into unknown territory and find ways to feel at home there.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): “If you don’t use your own imagination, somebody else is going to use it for you,” said writer Ronald Sukenick.

That’s always true, but it will be especially

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

important for you to keep in mind in 2017. You Geminis will have an unparalleled power to enlarge, refine, and tap into your imagination.

You’ll be blessed with the motivation and ingenuity to make it work for you in new ways, which could enable you to accomplish marvelous feats of creativity and self-transformation.

Now here’s a warning: If you DON’T use your willower to take advantage of these potentials, your imagination will be subject to atrophy and colonization.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Why are Australian sand wasps so skilled at finding their way back home after being out all day? Here’s their trick: When they first leave the nest each morning, they fly backwards, imprinting on their memory banks the sights they will look for when they return later. Furthermore, their exiting flight path is a slow and systematic zigzag pattern that orients them from multiple directions. I recommend that you draw inspiration from the sand wasps in 2017, Cancerian. One of your important tasks will be to keep finding your way back to your spiritual home, over and over again.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Vault 21, a restaurant in Dunedin, New Zealand, serves sautéed locusts. For $5, patrons receive a plate of five.

The menu refers to the dish not as “Oily Sizzling Grasshoppers,” but rather as “Sky Prawns.”

Satisfied customers know exactly what they’re eating, and some say the taste does indeed resemble prawns. I bring this to your attention, Leo, because it illustrates a talent you will have in abundance during 2017: re-branding. You’ll know how to maximize the attractiveness and desirability of things by presenting them in the best possible light.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): The literal translation of the German word Kummerspeck is “grief bacon.” It refers to the weight gained by people who, while wallowing in self-pity, eat an excess of comfort food. I know more than a few Virgos who have been flirting with this development lately, although the trigger seems to be self-doubt as much as self-pity. In any case, here’s the good news: The trend is about to flip.

A flow of agreeable adventures is due to begin soon. You’ll be prodded by fun challenges and provocative stimuli that will boost your confidence and discourage Kummerspeck.

MASTER

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): “Since you are like no other being ever created since the beginning of time, you are incomparable,” wrote journalist Brenda Ueland. Pause for a moment and fully take in that fact, Libra. It’s breathtaking and daunting. What a huge responsibility it is to be absolutely unique. In fact, it’s so monumental that you may still be shy about living up to it.

But how about if you make 2017 the year you finally come into your own as the awesomely unprecedented creature that you are? I dare you to more fully acknowledge and express your singular destiny. Start today!

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): “To dream… to dream has been the business of my life,” wrote author Edgar Allan Poe. I don’t expect you to match his devotion to dreams in 2017, Scorpio, but I do hope you will become more deeply engaged with your waking fantasies and the stories that unfold as you lie sleeping. Why? Because your usual approaches to gathering useful information won’t be sufficient. To be successful, both in the spiritual and worldly senses, you’ll need extra access to perspectives that come from beyond your rational mind. Here’s a good motto for you in 2017: “I am a lavish and practical dreamer.”

Talk about the pleasures you’d enjoy if you went a week without consuming any media. 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 .

42 // ETC.

December 21, 2016 - January 3, 2017 // THE TULSA VOICE

ACROSS 1 Fresh out of the garden 4 Twenty-one gun salute, e.g.

9 Barbecue fare, often 13 “___ Lisa” 17 “And now, without further ___ ...”

18 Even though 19 Skinny and scrawny one 21 Bustles and commotions 22 Speaking-badly observation (Part 1) 26 “The King” of music 27 Some workers from an agency 28 Ireland’s Stone 29 Gossipmonger 30 Food fish or bellyache 31 Hollywood production 32 Mineral that’s easy to split 35 “As good as gold,” is one 38 Big butte 42 Devoted followers 47 Waste time 49 A Muse or advertising award 50 Give abilities to 51 Medieval eyeballs 52 Cow of ads 53 Lorenzo of TV 55 Chinese society or half an ice cube pincher 56 Spike in Hollywood 57 Bits of land 58 Title for a retired professor, often 60 Santa ___, California 62 Went on horseback 64 Speaking-badly observation (Part 2) 72 Gold medalist Lipinski

73 74 75 79 82

Maple drip Flammable gas Diary kin Storable bed Hardens, as concrete 84 Miss Hawkins of comics 85 Like bees 86 Address to a king 87 Beginning of a simple musical refrain 89 Jungle VIP 90 Oppressed one 92 Good one of the Bible 94 Movie theater unit 95 Grace under fire 97 Baa mas 98 Nimble 99 Charlie Brown exclamation 102 Drum major’s cap 107 On the way 111 Volvo worker, probably 113 Republic in South America 115 Speaking-badly observation (Part 3) 118 Cost of a poker hand 119 Iterate 120 Gives a speech to many 121 ___ tai (bar drink) 122 Family practitioners 123 Without 124 “Full House” costar Bob 125 Hyphenated ID in the U.S. DOWN 1 Grating, voice-wise 2 Cherish 3 Word on a restaurant door 4 ___ gin fizz 5 With competence 6 Albanian money 7 Panoramic view 8 “None of the above” alternative

9 “Let us know,” on an invitation 10 Secures, as a victory 11 Certain undergarment 12 Some fish-eating diving ducks 13 Bryn ___ College 14 Deity of the Vikings 15 B flat, for one 16 Gray in the face 18 Burning 20 Kitchen on a ship 23 Supreme suffix 24 Music enhancers 25 Thanksgiving veggie 30 Positive type of attitude 31 Hazelnut 33 Strong feeling of anger 34 Half-man, half-horse creature 36 Worshipped thing 37 Muck companion 38 Shopping mecca 39 “If all ___ fails ...”

40 Straight, narrow cut 41 Affirmatives, in voting 42 Shrine to remember in Texas 43 Nickel-and-___ (petty one) 44 Be a pack rat 45 Bluefin and others 46 Musical repeat symbol 48 Leaves alone?

49 Skein of yarn 54 Chapel in the Vatican 57 ___ fixe (obsession) 59 Lift over snow 61 Morning times, briefly 63 Current rule?

65 By unexpressed agreement 66 Some bridge seats 67 Drama with singing

68 Biblical verb 69 Comaneci of gymnastics fame 70 Veggie that can make one teary-eyed 71 Young person 75 Help for the lost 76 Nonlethal fencing sword 77 Sorvino of movies 78 Oven for hop-drying 80 Black-and-white cookie 81 Abound or swarm 83 Makes a tiger approachable 86 Diana Ross’ group (with “The”) 88 “___ we having fun yet?”

91 Hostage taker 93 Debate subjects 96 Make, as beer 98 Start for “pend” 100 “Ciao!” relative 101 Prefix meaning “four” 103 ’Do coverer 104 President Monroe’s successor 105 Coke nuts 106 Big name in pest control 107 “Good gracious!”

108 Nickname of a perfectly pitched game 109 Campus cadet’s org.

110 Relatives of poems 111 Work a grocery store register 112 Explanations, essentially 113 Suffix with kitchen 114 Atkins of country music 116 D.C.’s nation 117 Stereotypical witch

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