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12/28/18 2:10 PM

INSIDE COVER P. 9 As we charge headlong into 2019, Chicken-Fried News takes a look at how we were brutalized by the previous year.

By Gazette staff Cover by Ingvard Ashby

NEWS 4 STATE uninsured in Oklahoma 6 CITY Ward 6 city council race

7 COMMENTARY combating hate

9 COVER Chicken-Fried News year

in review

THE HIGH CULTURE

AM

ERI AS S CA EEN ’S G O OT N TAL EN

14 MARIJUANA getting licenses 15 THC GLOSSARY

16 MARIJUANA CBD Plus USA

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20 GAZEDIBLES New Year’s resolutions

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23 THEATER The Phantom of the Opera 24 THEATER Brightmusic Chamber

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CORRECTION

In “Glory road,” (News, Nazarene Harris, Dec. 21, 2018, Oklahoma Gazette), attribution given to Louisa McCune for a quote should have been given to Linda Cavanaugh: “For as many strides that we’ve made in the workforce, I believe there’s still more to be done. We’ve gotten ourselves into the workforce; now we’re learning how to balance life in the workforce, and I’d like to see us thrive in the workforce.”

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S TAT E

Emergency rooms in Oklahoma saw an increasing number of uninsured children in 2017. | Photo Alexa Ace

Declining health

Researchers find a link between expanding Medicaid for low-income adults and insuring children. By Nazarene Harris

A damning statistic has been making headlines across the nation since its release in November. According to a nearly decade-long study conducted by researchers at Georgetown University Center for Children and Families, for the first time since 2008, the number of uninsured children across the United States has increased.

“The nation’s many years of progress in reducing the number of uninsured children came to a halt and reversed course in 2017. Despite an improving economy, national political trends reinforced the notion that publicly funded coverage was at risk. With a decline in the number of children enrolled in Medicaid/CHIP and non-group coverage, including the [Health Insurance] Marketplace, the uninsured rate went up,” researchers Joan Alker and Olivia Pham wrote in their study’s conclusion.

Alker and Pham began collecting data from health care authorities in all states in 2008 and saw coverage for children increase in all years but 2017.

In 2008, the number of uninsured children in the United States stood at 7.6 million, according to the study. That figure declined gradually each year, and in 2016, the rate was 3.6 million.

For the first time since the study’s inception, Alker and Pham noted that the uninsured rate rose from 3.6 million in 2016 to 3.9 million in 2017, effectively leaving 276,000 fewer children without health coverage.

Oklahoma Healthcare Authority (OHA), which oversees the state’s Medicaid program, SoonerCare, released statistics showing that the decline of health coverage for children was seen in Oklahoma as well, where about 3,000 additional children went uninsured last year.

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While some news reports mention that those who lost coverage in 2017 might be illegal immigrants hesitant to enroll their children in state health care programs due to a fear that enrollment could lead to deportation, OHA spokeswoman Katelynn Burns said any reference to the demographics of children who went without health care last year is speculation since data on those children is lacking.

“What we saw in the national data is that the majority of uninsured children are citizens,” Alker said. “There was a statistically significant increase in the number of Caucasian and AfricanAmerican children that are uninsured.”

According to OHA, there are currently 519,171 children enrolled in SoonerCare with the majority of children classified as Caucasian.

“Children age 18 and younger are the largest number of enrollees in the SoonerCare program, at approximately 65 percent,” OHA’s website states.

“All children enrolled under the SoonerCare program can receive a vast array of treatment and services such as inpatient and outpatient hospital, dental, behavioral health, prescribed drugs and child health services.”

According to a 2015 study by Georgetown University Health Policy Institute, health insurance for adolescents results in better life outcomes during youth and beyond.

“Children with health insurance are more likely than those who are not covered to receive early care for health problems, and they are at lower risk for hospitalization,” David Murphey, the study’s author, said. “There is growing evidence that when children (particularly those eligible for public health care insurance) have coverage, they are not

only more likely to get care but also more likely to have improved outcomes — in health, of course, and in other important areas of life as well.”

In his study, Murphey describes how a lack of health insurance during adolescence results in a greater likelihood of developing high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, obesity and premature mortality in later years.

Likewise, Murphey said, children who have medical insurance go on to receive better reading scores in school and higher rates of high school and college graduation and are more likely to gain employment and contribute financially to the communities they grew up in.

Recently elected District 40 state Senator Carri Hicks said she knows how important it is for children to have health insurance from personal experience.

Hicks’ son has type 1 diabetes, and before she and her husband Spencer had children, there was a time when they both were uninsured.

“I think the perception some people have of the people on SoonerCare is so negative and inaccurate,” she said.

“Forty percent of working individuals in our rural communities are uninsured. There was a time when both my husband and I worked but went without health insurance as well. Expanding Medicaid is a nonpartisan issue, especially when it could mean providing health care for children.”

Hicks said she will work with legislators in 2019 with the hope of expanding Medicaid in Oklahoma, a move she believes could indirectly impact the number of insured children in the state.

Health first

After former president Barack Obama signed the Affordable Care Act into law in 2010, states were given the opportunity to expand their Medicaid programs with federal funds. While an offer to fund about 90 percent of costs for Medicaid expansion in the 14 states, including Oklahoma, that have declined to expand coverage still stands, the issue has been met with division and controversy in the Sooner State for

almost a decade.

In 2012, Gov. Mary Fallin announced in a press conference that expanding Medicaid would not be an option under her tenure.

“It does not benefit Oklahoma taxpayers to actively support or fund a new government program that will ultimately be under the control of the federal government, that is opposed by a clear majority of Oklahomans and that will further the implementation of a law that threatens to erode both the quality of the American health care system and the fiscal stability of the nation,” she said.

Recently elected Gov. Kevin Stitt has echoed similar sentiments while on the campaign trail.

“We cannot create … more dependency on our state because that is going to be a tremendous detriment to our state,” Stitt said during a gubernatorial candidate debate in September.

The 10 percent that Oklahoma taxpayers would be responsible for after federal funds are received for Medicaid expansion would amount to about $100 million.

In an editorial published by The Oklahoman in October, editors stated, “Put simply, the cost of Medicaid expansion comes with trade-offs that include slower job growth and reduced government spending on other priorities like schools. Policymakers who support Medicaid expansion need to be upfront in facing that reality.”

Hicks said the reality is that claims like that are simply untrue.

“The top priorities in this state are health care and education,” she said.

“That doesn’t mean that we have to choose between funding one or the other.”

A healthier workforce, Hicks said, would result in a better economy, a healthier state and healthier families.

Oklahoma Policy Institute executive director David Blatt said data supports Hicks’ claims.

“I think there is an indirect correlation between Medicaid expansion for lowincome adults under the Affordable Care Act and health care coverage for children,” Blatt said. “In states were Medicaid has been expanded for adults, the rate of coverage for children has also increased.”

If Medicaid expansion were to occur in Oklahoma, Burns said, SoonerCare’s policies would shift only by accepting otherwise “able-bodied adults” who meet certain income criteria.

Alker and Pham’s findings suggest that other shifts, including a change in the number of children insured, might occur as well.

“The uninsured rate for children increased at almost triple the rate in nonexpansion states than in states that have expanded Medicaid,” they wrote.

“Children whose parents are insured have considerably higher rates of coverage than those whose parents are not.”

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Community investments

Jim Holman has announced his candidacy for Ward 6’s Oklahoma City Council seat.

By Nazarene Harris

After living in Oklahoma City’s sixth ward for about 20 years, Jim Holman said his name is a familiar one among neighbors. He hopes it carries a good reputation, and if the past few months have been any indication, he believes it does.

“Asking for help is not the easiest thing to do,” Holman said. “My friends and neighbors, the community … has been incredibly supportive of my decision.”

In October, Holman added his name to the list of candidates running to replace Oklahoma City’s Ward 6 councilwoman Meg Salyer, who announced her retirement in June after holding the office for a decade.

Holman’s application for city council brings the number of candidates running to replace Salyer to three. Ward 6 is bordered by NW 23rd Street on the north and SW 59th Street on the south.

Thirty-six-year-old oil-and-gas business owner Nathaniel Harding and 28-year-old mental health advocate JoBeth Hamon previously announced decisions to run for the position and remain steadfast in their pursuit.

Holman intended on filing for office earlier but was delayed by an injury he sustained while running.

“I’m a devout runner,” he said. “For the first time in my life, a few months ago, I fell while I was running and had to have surgery on my shoulder. I had never had surgery before, so quite frankly, I wasn’t sure what the recovery would be like. … I didn’t know if I would be physically equipped to handle the position, and I told myself, ‘If I survive this after a few months, I’ll sign up.’”

After a few rounds of physical therapy, Holman was back to running on the trails in Ward 6 and announced his run for the city council seat.

While Holman said his seniority contrasts with the youth of his opponents, he does not believe it puts him at a disadvantage.

“Age is just a number,” he said. “I think more focus should be on attitude.

I’m 68, but I’m energetic and curious. … I never want to stop learning.”

Holman was born near Altus to a surgeon father and a mother who was an administrative assistant and homemaker. He has two brothers.

He received a bachelor’s degree in economics from Southwestern Oklahoma State University in Weatherford before traveling to neighboring states, where he worked in sales.

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His career and love for the Sooner State eventually brought him back to Oklahoma, where he launched The Car Store, a used car dealership with brickand-mortar locations currently in south Oklahoma City, Midwest City and north Oklahoma City.

Holman retired from the business recently and hopes to dedicate his time toward addressing concerns of Ward 6 residents and building upon the legacy left by Salyer.

“She seems to have played a significant role in the renaissance of Oklahoma City,” Holman said. “I would love to have the chance to build upon that.”

Holman said his age and experience has lent him a deep love, respect and understanding of Ward 6 and Oklahoma City.

If elected, Holman said he would bring with him a desire to strengthen Oklahoma City’s schools and economy.

“We are making great investments into our communities, and I want to make sure those investments are sustainable,” he said.

The most important thing I think a city council person can do is to listen to the concerns of the people.

Jim Holman Like Salyer, Holman enjoys working with younger generations and would like to contribute ideas to a city council that is diverse in age, race, gender and ideology.

“I love millennials,” he said. “They are passionate and honest and are great at challenging the status quo.”

Salyer echoed similar sentiments in a previous interview with Oklahoma Gazette.

“I love being around young people,” Salyer said. “We all kind of gravitate to energy, and the young people in this community are bringing so much energy and excitement.”

Varying priorities

While Holman’s agenda for Ward 6 is seemingly general, his opponents have articulated specific areas they would like to cast their attention to if elected.

Harding, his wife Amanda and their

three children live in Heritage Hills, a historic preservation district within the boundaries of Ward 6.

When Heritage Hills residents lobbied for additional regulations to be placed upon Airbnb short-term renters within their neighborhood in October, Harding told Oklahoma Gazette that residents of the community should decide how and if regulations should be incorporated.

“Concerns are valid on both sides,” Harding said. “But ultimately, residents should get to decide what is best for them and the city council should support that decision.”

As a member of the MAPS 3 advisory board, Harding said improving city transportation methods are a top concern.

“Investing in all forms of transit is vital for Oklahoma City to continue on its path of progress,” he said.

Choosing to live life without a car, Hamon, an education coordinator at Mental Health Association of Oklahoma, said she also considers herself an advocate for increased and enhanced transportation methods in Oklahoma City.

“There’s a stigma still around riding the bus,” Hamon said. “It can be very intimidating for first-time riders. If we are going to invest money into public transportation, I think it’s just as important that we educate the public on how to use it and to remove the idea that the bus is not for everyone.”

A change that Hamon would like to see includes increasing bus pick-up times from every 30 minutes to every 10-15 minutes, a measure she said cities on the rise in other states have taken to

Retired businessman Jim Holman is running for Ward 6’s Oklahoma City Council seat. | Photo provided

support community wellbeing and growth. Hamon would also like to create safer bike-riding trails for residents.

Hamon’s other priorities include mental health and economic growth.

While Hamon believes Oklahoma City is experiencing growth, she said not everyone is a part of it.

“There’s this narrative that Oklahoma City is in a renaissance,” she said. “That may be true, but it’s not the reality for everyone who lives here.”

She said rent burden, where the cost of rent is so high that little money is left each month for other basic needs like food and health care, is on the rise.

If elected to represent Ward 6, Hamon hopes to work on creating affordable housing within city limits.

Holman said he doesn’t have a particular agenda.

“I’m not a politician,” he said. “I’m running for city council because I care about the people in Oklahoma City and the people in Ward 6. The most important thing I think a city council person can do is to listen to the concerns of the people in their city and make decisions based upon those concerns.”

Oklahoma City public information officer Kristy Yager said the deadline to file as a candidate for city council was Dec. 5. Primary elections are Feb. 12.

CO M M E N TA RY

Opinions expressed on the commentary page, in letters to the editor and elsewhere in this newspaper are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of ownership or management.

Fighting hate A national white identity group is putting its stickers in OKC’s high-traffic areas. By George Lang

In November 2018, former Oklahoma Gazette reporter Ben Luschen found one while hiking near Cushing and took a photo on his cellphone. Then, shortly before Christmas, the sticker for the white identitarian/hate group Identity Evropa began appearing in prominent locations throughout the Oklahoma City metro area, showing up in Midtown, Nichols Hills, downtown Edmond and Campus Corner in Norman.

More showed up in Kingfisher, Enid and Tulsa’s Brookside district.

If you paid attention to coverage of Unite the Right, the hate rally held Aug. 11-12, 2017, in Charlottesville, Virginia, that resulted in the death of a counterprotester Heather Heyer, chances are you saw the Identity Evropa logo, a Germanic symbol known as the “dragon’s eye,” on the white polo shirt worn by University of Nevada Reno student Peter Cvjetanovic as he marched with a tiki torch and chanted “You will not replace us” and “Blood and soil.” The latter phrase was coined by German proto-Nazis in the late-19th century to express a racially unified group (“blood”) tied to a specific area (“soil”).

The logo stickers along with one featuring a midcentury white family opening

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presents and captioned with the phrase “Merry Christmas from Identity Evropa” have gone up all over the country in the past two months. The group posts photos on Twitter every time one goes up. It is a concerted effort to get their messages of hate and division into high-traffic areas around the U.S. On Dec. 5, the group unfurled a massive banner from an overpass at Georgia Tech in Atlanta, Georgia. The banner said, “America First” and “End Immigration,” and all of this comes at a time when the president of our nation, a man who uses the first phrase at rallies, has engineered a federal government shutdown in an effort to fund a border wall.

After this week, Google must think I’m some kind of monster, but even without search engine-enabled research, my memory is long on this issue. Shortly after college and five months after I joined Oklahoma Gazette as a staff writer, a terrorist with direct links to the Christian Identity movement attacked our city. He was known to frequently quote William Pierce’s 1978 white supremacist novel The Turner Diaries, a book depicting the violent overthrow of the federal government and the genocide of non-whites.

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Hate groups gather Aug. 12, 2017 in Charlottesville, Virginia. | Photo bigstock.com

Less than a year later, I traveled to Elohim City, a white separatist compound near Sallisaw and a place that terrorist allegedly visited before the attack. Nearly a quarter-century later, I still have nightmares about Robert Millar and his followers, who have spent decades living apart from society in genetic seclusion, preparing for a race war.

I would say that this kind of rhetoric has no place in our country, but plenty of people are proving me wrong right now by spewing hate from high places and trying to legitimize speech that is completely antithetical to my ideals and the ideals of most Oklahoma Gazette readers. But more importantly, any attempt to recruit new members for hate groups in the city where 168 people died at the hands of a white separatist is an insult to their memory and an attack on a still-grieving population.

Ask members of Identity Evropa if they are members of a hate group and naturally they will deny it, but if your website includes links to an article co-written by Unite the Right organizer Richard Spencer that uses data from 1994’s The Bell Curve,

a widely discredited study claiming that IQ levels are linked to race, your group is racist. If your group distributes posters with dog-whistle phrases like “Protect your heritage,” “Only we can be us” and the particularly odious in #MAGA times “Let’s become great again,” your group is racist.

If your followers argue that Aristotle said democracy could not survive in a racially diverse society but their source is Why We Fight by French white nationalist and Marine Le Pen acolyte Guillaume Faye, do I really need to say it?

On Dec. 12, President Donald Trump resumed efforts to deport Vietnamese immigrants who were granted asylum after the fall of Saigon and the end of the Vietnam War. Under his argument, anyone from Vietnam or Cambodia who entered the country before 1995, when the U.S. and Vietnam resumed diplomatic relations, can be deported.

There is no good reason to do this other than to placate the kind of people who post Identity Evropa stickers on utility poles, and again, this is a direct insult to the people of Oklahoma City, especially the churches that sponsored thousands of refugees as they arrived from Fort Chaffee, Arkansas. They came here, they built lives and raised families and they made our city better and richer for their presence. Our thriving Asian District is a testament to what can be accomplished through generosity, hard work and ingenuity.

I understand that Identity Evropa stickers can be removed fairly easily. If you see one, feel free to do so.

Unfortunately, removing hate is an ongoing process.

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

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chicken

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2018 takeout

Chicken-Fried News throws an entire year into the deep fryer and burns it to a crisp.

By Gazette staff | Illustrations Ingvard Ashby

Fallin away

The queen is dead; long live the king.

Mary Fallin’s eight-year reign of terror over the state is over, and her successor Kevin Stitt is a political outsider who campaigned on his version of “drain the swamp” but has surrounded himself with insiders during his transition to the Governor’s Mansion.

Oh, Gov. Fallin, your tenure began with such promise. You wanted to eliminate the state’s income tax in favor of an even more regressive sales tax. This pursuit culminated in 2016 with a .25 percent reduction in the state’s income tax to the tune of $147 million in lost revenue for the state. The gross production tax was reduced during Fallin’s tenure, and research from NonDoc in 2016 showed the oil and gas sector paid only $4 million in corporate income tax in 2015, in stark contrast to the $315 million paid by the state’s other industries.

It should be noted that the same year, Fallin declared Oct. 13 as Oilfield Prayer Day, in which Christians were called to “thank God for the blessing created by the oil and natural gas industry and to seek His wisdom and ask for protection.”

The resulting budget shortfall forced counties across the state to go to fourday school weeks, resulted in a lengthy and costly special session that we’re not sure it even officially ended — it just bled into the next Legislative session — and set the stage for 2018’s teacher walkout.

Fallin initially campaigned as a compassionate conservative, one that would push for

prison reform. We finally got some justice reform in 2016 after a state question (which the Legislature actively tried to roll back), but only after the state became home to the secondhighest incarceration rate in the country. During Fallin’s term, the state looked for new ways to put people to death and is positioning itself as the testing ground for death by nitrogen gas.

Somehow, the GOP managed to hang onto the Governor’s Mansion despite the fact that Fallin was the least popular governor in the country. Kevin Stitt used his lack of history in elected office to his advantage, campaigning as an outsider that would use to business background to get the state on the right path.

Stitt wasted no time in naming prominent GOP insiders and business people to his transition team — including Marc Nuttle as its leader. Nuttle stepped down from his position as board member from a South Carolina-based nonprofit that is part of the U.S. Islamophobia Network and routinely makes disparaging remarks about Muslims, LGBTQ+ people and liberals, according to Oklahoma Watch.

Nuttle — a Norman attorney and longtime GOP insider — remains in his position with the transition team as Stitt’s initial cabinet picks include a few holdovers from Fallin’s administration, proving that time is a flat circle.

Stitt science

One of the key aspects of Governor-elect Kevin Stitt’s transition team, which is named O k l a h o m a ’s Turnaround, is that they want Oklahoma to be a Top 10 state.

While the team pushes for increases from near dead-last rankings in infrastr ucture, education and job growth, Stitt is making sure the state can be No. 1 in preventable

illnesses.

The Daily Beast ran the headline “Kevin Stitt is an anti-vaxxer,” and while Stitt and his communications team will follow up to say that his family has fully vaccinated all of his children in coordination with his doctor’s orders, his position is only strengthening the personal choice loophole that allows parents to trust a former Playboy playmate and reality television host Jenny McCarthy for their medical advice.

There’s also the problem of Stitt’s own words, which contradict his stance.

“I believe in choice,” Stitt said at a Tulsa political forum in February 2018.

“We’ve got six children, and we don’t vaccinate; we don’t do vaccinations on all of our children. So we definitely pick and choose which ones we’re going to do. It’s got to be up to the parents; we can never mandate that. I think there’s legislation right now that are trying to mandate that to go to public schools; it’s absolutely wrong.”

Stitt’s own website says that his children has been given “various” vaccinations. Various is a funny way of spelling “all.” It should be noted that there was a mumps outbreak at University of Oklahoma this year, and there is a mystery “polio-like” disease spreading among Oklahoma children.

The scary thing is that Stitt’s support of parental choice was also supported

by Democratic governor nominee Drew Edmondson, indicating that maybe the state’s ruling class has a bunch of their investments tied to a company that produces the iron lung.

King Kyler

For the second straight year, a recordsetting Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback has pulled a below-average University of Oklahoma defense to the College Football Playoff, but the manner in which Kyler Murray did it couldn’t have been more different from Baker Mayfield.

Both quarterbacks ended up at

Oklahoma after starting their college careers in Texas (Mayfield at Texas Tech, Murray at A&M), but Murray’s Heisman season came without the boisterous bravado and crotch-grabbing of Mayfield. That’s not to disparage Mayfield; Chicken-Fried News is squarely in the “do what you need to do as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone” camp of allowing athletes to get in their proper mind frame.

Whether it was hyping himself for an undermanned Kansas team or planting a flag at midfield of Ohio State, we always felt the media attention on Mayfield was overblown. The most controversial moment for Murray came when he made an underhanded dis of Texas before their rematch in the Big XII Championship, which only ingratiated himself with OU fans even more.

It’s been fun to watch Murray live out his dream of playing college football and do so at such an elite level after he was drafted in the first round of the Major League Baseball draft by the Oakland Athletics and given a multimillion-dollar signing bonus.

Although pursuing a career in baseball over football is likely the better choice for his long-term health, it’s hard not to wonder how his game would translate to the modern NFL, where rule changes have allowed offenses to flourish and made it possible for 5-foot11-inch Murray to have success.

Murray’s breakout season will potentially set the stage for more athletic and undersized quarterbacks to make their impact on the gridiron and make the days of another two-sport star like Florida State Heisman trophy winner Charlie Ward going undrafted in the NFL the ancient past.

For children

We imagine that after Oklahoma’s war on education, which came to a head with continued on page 10

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teacher walkouts in the spring, Democrats in the state Legislature welcomed the newly elected teachers-turned-legislators with a warm hug, sigh of relief and general thanks to God Almighty.

Long before an estimated 30,000 teachers marched at the state Capitol for 10 days in April, educators met with their state representatives and urged them to enact legislation that would increase school funding. While Gov. Mary Fallin signed into law the biggest teacher pay raise in Oklahoma’s history on March 29, educators felt their voices had yet to be heard.

With the desire to see increased funding for education and the value

of the teaching profession spread statewide, teachers placed their names on ballots in unprecedented numbers.

The names of 65 teachers and education professionals from every county in Oklahoma graced ballots on Nov. 6. Seventeen members of the Educator Caucus were elected, bringing the total number of lawmakers who are educators to 26, the highest number in the state’s history.

While citizens hoped the increased representation would mean higherquality education in the Sooner State, we had no idea it might also mean the preservation of public education.

Kiddos going to school on federal and state tax dollars is somehow apparently controversial, as was made clear by a letter sent to newly elected lawmakers by Canadian County Republican Party chairman Andrew Lopez in late November.

“If you are a teacher who has entered the Legislature with the sole purpose of increasing funding for education, your representation of your district is compromised by your claim to be a rep10

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resentative of a special interest group,” Lopez wrote in his letter.

And just like that, elected teachers went from respectful game-changers to the sole hope for children who wish to remain educated in Oklahoma.

fully causing women legislators to prepare for a showdown in January.

Safe place

The term “selfie stick” first entered the national lexicon in 2014 and quickly became the most popular Christmas present of 2015 before fading from use because people rea lized that they didn’t like drawing atten- tion to the fact they were being narcissistic.

Luckily for the stockholders of selfie stick manufacturers, David Holt began his term as mayor in 2018.

The job of mayor in Oklahoma City actually does not have as much power as one might think. The position’s biggest pull comes with being the tiebreaking vote for any deadlocked city council decisions, but the job is important for being a public face for the city’s policies.

The retirement of longtime city manager Jim Couch probably had more impact on the implementation of city policy than the start of the Holt administration, but Holt has done his best to be the city’s own hype man.

If you go to any public event, whether it is a block party in Capitol Hill or a glitzy event celebrating the opening of the Oklahoma City Streetcar, chances are that you will see Holt with his selfie stick in tow for a Twitter post.

By all accounts, Holt is a likeable guy who has the city’s best interest at hear t, but the biggest question might be whether he upgrades his selfie stick or hires a campaign worker to take photos for his inevitable gubernatorial run in a few years.

Welcome home, ladies! While we’ve been around in Oklahoma since humans have been around in Oklahoma, it has taken centuries to become recognized lawmakers in the state. On Nov. 8, history was made in the Sooner State, where for the first time in Oklahoma’s history, the state’s citizens elected its first female Democrat to U.S. Congress.

Kendra Horn, 42, defeated incumbent Steve Russell by winning 50.7 percent of votes to represent U.S. House District 5 beginning in January. She attributes her win and the win of her sister candidates to voters’ desire for change.

“We’ve seen the desire for change on a national level and in Oklahoma,” Horn said. “Women rose to the occasion, offered common-sense solutions and won based on those solutions.”

But the question remains: Does female representation mean Oklahoma is now a safe place for ladies to walk alone at night?

To this, criminal justice and sociology experts answer in unison, “Of course not!”

Oklahoma, and let’s face it, the world, is light-years away from that. But hopefully, more women in office will mean fewer instances of sexist, possibly dangerous behavior in the state.

One such instance occurred two years ago when nut job/Return of Kings founder Roosh Valizadeh managed to convince local nut jobs they should meet at Harkins Bricktown Cinemas 16 to discuss Valizadeh’s mission to reclaim masculine authority in a world turned backward by feminism.

Valizadeh’s beliefs include banning women from voting and legalizing rape.

Thankfully, the meeting was canceled and as of October 2018, Valizadeh’s online movement is “going on hiatus.”

An equally appalling instance of both outward misogyny and national embarrassment came when State Sen. Joseph Silk, R-Broken Bow, said he wanted to abolish abortion and make it criminally punishable with sentences of life in prison or the death p e n a l t y.

Silk authored Senate Bill 13 in November, hope-

Selfie sufficient

Convenience price

Oklahoma hurtled into the late-20th century by updating its

woefully outdated alcohol laws in 2018. It’s the year we f ina l ly sa id goodbye to lowpoint beer.

Ca n you believe it?

We held the number 3.2 over our heads like a point of shame for so long that it is hard to believe it is gone. We don’t have to apologize to outsiders any-more or explain why it takes five beers just to get a buzz.

Oklahoma had already started to nurture its craft beer scene, but the new alcohol laws allowed onsite taprooms to sell beer and create a true destination for the type of people that insist you have not lived until you drink every conceivable version of an IPA. We get it; they taste hoppy.

The modernization of alcohol laws also brought wine into grocery and convenience stores, which is a great thing for the average consumer not concerned with selection and a bad thing for your locally owned liquor store that now has to compete with the likes of Walmart and Target while also having to install coolers. There’s no doubt that some liquor store owners will be forced out of business due to the law change, but it also ends the days of a liquor store being able to stay in business just because it was a liquor store.

It’s the price most consumers will pay for convenience, especially if it means there are more Trader Joe’s locations in the state.

Scott blew it

At the zenith of the Swamp Thing’s dominance as the grand champion of govern-

ment fleecing, whacked-out Trumpist paranoia and royalty-class air travel on Emirates, Chicken-Fried News briefly considered renaming itself This Week in Scott Pruitt. Pruitt’s accomplishments as an exemplar of waste and Big Energy toadying was simply and quite literally breathtaking, and on July 5, when he became too embarrassing even for President Donald Trump, it felt like an end of an era — a noxious epoch when the staff wondered daily if an unmarked black van would back up to CFN World Headquarters and functionaries in ninja gear would start tossing out 55-gallon drums of dioxin.

Like dioxin, everything Pruitt did as Environmental “Protection” Agency administrator stank to high heaven, from his attempts to use his influence to get his wife Marlyn a Chik-fil-A franchise in Broken Arrow to his goon squad forcibly ejecting AP environmental reporter and former Tulsa World staffer Ellen Knickmeyer from the EPA building to his deregulation of ammonium nitrate manufacturing facilities.

Pruitt was such a font of great material/raw sewage that it would be quite understandable, dear reader, if you thought the CFN News Team actually missed Oklahoma’s former attorney general. Well, whenever a junior staffer starts waxing rhapsodic over the Pruitt era, we stuff him in a closet and remind

him that Sen. Jim Inhofe will have to either retire or crawl back into the primordial ooze someday, and who do you think is going to run for his seat?

The horror. The horror.

Streetcar desire

Many years ago, Chicken-Fried News’ editor-in-chief was living in Silicon Valley, a place not unlike Oklahoma City except for its proximity to elephant seals and the kind of property values that reduce most people to blithering idiots when scrolling through Zillow. On occasion, he would venture up El Camino Real to San Francisco, a place known to Oklahomans for both actual trolleys and trolleys that appear on boxes of mingled rice and pasta.

One morning, having made a stop at Tower Records in Palo Alto, he continued to drive up “the royal road” to San Francisco to give the clutch on his 1981 Honda Accord a workout. As he crested one of the city’s famous hills, he found himself nearly in a head-on collision with a streetcar. He swerved quickly, narrowly avoiding certain death but crashing headlong into feeling like a hayseed country yokel.

As of Dec. 14, when the new downtown streetcars began regular operacontinued on page 12

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tion, Oklahoma City became a lot more like San Francisco, sans hills, but the realities are the same. We must now steer our F-150s with more caution than one might take at a monster truck rally. We must be mindful of the new streetcars’ concrete platforms and the tracks that can send a bike rider or Lime pilot headlong into the plate-glass window of Stella Nova. We must be aware of sudden stops and, of course, never tailgate, because who are you trying to intimidate anyway?

But most of all, we must ride these things. They are the result of good public policy, and we want more of them. If not, then CFN’s editor-in-chief will spend more time driving on Oklahoma City’s streets, and we must think of the children.

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Still smoking

After Oklahoma voters passed State Question 788 (on the left-hand side) to legalize medical marijuana on June 26, Oklahoma State Department of Health rushed to kill the buzz, adding amendments that never appeared on the ballot like banning smokeable marijuana and requiring dispensaries to hire full-time pharmacists. The proposed amendments sparked outrage and a lawsuit alleging the board violated open meetings laws by discussing the issue behind closed doors. (The lawsuit didn’t specify whether board members stuck a rolled-up towel under said closed doors first.) Oklahoma State Department of Health general counsel Julie Ezell resigned in July, reportedly after admitting to emailing herself fake threats from nonexistent MMJ advocates. She has been charged with preparing false evidence and computer crime. Soon after Ezell resigned, NonDoc published a text message exchange between Oklahoma State Board of Pharmacy director Chelsea Church and Ezell in which Church seemed to offer Ezell a job with a pay raise in exchange for an amendment requiring pharmacists in dispensaries. Church lost her own job less than a week later and the amendments vanished in a puff of … well, you get the idea. We won’t ask what Church and Ezell were smoking because if they’d had any stoner friends, they’d know to use code words when texting about potentially illegal activities, especially on stateissued cellphones.

Hazy math

Advocates for marijuana legalization, meanwhile, rolled their own scandal in August when Green the Vote board

members Isaac Caviness and Dody Sullivan admitted to artificially inflating the number of signatures they said they had in support of putting State Question 797, which would legalize recreational marijuana for adults 21 and older, on the November ballot.

While they initially claimed to have 132,527 signatures, they had approximately 75,000, or about 49,000 less than required by law. Sullivan admitted they’d been inflating the count in a Facebook live video in August, just days before the deadline to turn in the petitions. The revelation caused infighting among advocates and left the prospect of legalizing recreational marijuana in Oklahoma uncertain. We won’t ask what Caviness and Sullivan were smoking because, numerically speaking, it is probably best if everyone goes on pleading the Fifth about 420 for the foreseeable future.

Newsbreaks

After a lengthy courtship that began in May 2017, Sinclair Broadcast Group and Tribune Media called off their wedding Aug. 9 after best man/Federal Communications Commission chairman Ajit Pai expressed reservations over the unholy corporate matrimony.

If the union had gone through, Sinclair would have had a virtual Brady Bunch of television stations in the Oklahoma City media market to run the Boris Epshtyn Trumpist Propaganda Minute: KFOR, KAUT, KOKH and KOCB. Now, Lacey Lett and Lucas Ross don’t have to interrupt the good times on KAUT’s Rise and Shine for Epshtyn’s gloomily Orwellian commentaries, which are “must-run” segments on all Sinclair-owned stations, and KFOR will not have to reduce its local news hole in

service to a tone-deaf apparatchik.

Elsewhere in the Oklahoma City media landscape, ownership of The Oklahoman and Oklahoma Gazette, two of OKC’s preeminent news publications, changed hands in the fall of 2018.

(We like to think we’re the preeminentest pub of all, but that’s really for readers to decide.) The Oklahoman’s new owner is New York-based GateHouse Media, described in The Oklahoman’s own coverage of the sale as “the fastest-growing publishing company in the country … operat[ing] in more than 570 markets across 37 states.” Not mentioned in The Oklahoman’s story, however, were the 37 staffers laid off in the process.

“Employees reported being alerted via email yesterday to a mandatory meeting,” Poynter Institute reported.

“They sat through a 35-minute presentation about the sale and upcoming changes before being informed of the layoffs.

Publisher Chris Reen addressed the staffers and said those who'd been laid off had just been notified via email, and their firings were effective immediately. The entire room then checked their phones, as the meeting disintegrated.”

In December, GateHouse announced that the paper’s executive editor, Kelly Dyer Fry, would also be taking on the duties of publisher. In an announcement to the newsroom, Fry told reporters they were going to “take [their] paper back,” which sounds a lot like Sarah Palin’s “take our country back” dog whistle but makes a lot less sense. Take it back from what, exactly? The brink?

Gazette, meanwhile, went to Peter J. Brzycki, an Oklahoma native and publisher of civic news site OKCTalk. com, and retained all of its roster, from the editor-in-chief to our large staff of Juilliard-trained foot masseuses and Chicken-Fried News cabana technicians. (Just

kidding, a layoff of five Gazetteers would leave CFN to be written by tumbleweeds.)

If it sounds like we’re gloating, we absolutely aren’t. We are living in exceptionally perilous times, and the increasing tendency to operate news sources like sub-Subway fast food chains is a menace to democracy and objective truth. As amusing as it might be to read a city council story that has been crowd-sourced to someone from Papua New Guinea on Amazon’s Mechanical Turk or written entirely using an iPhone 3’s predictive text feature, we don’t want to have a monopoly on independent, intellectually honest, locally based journalism. That’s not good news.

Bird infestation; Lime disease

Banged shins across the city have lamented the arrival of fleets of Lime and Bird “dockless” electric scooters. These rentable scooters can be located throughout the city using a mobile app.

Look for one wherever the hell the last person that rode it felt like leaving it, whether tipped over in a formerly prizewinning flower bed or right smack-dab in the middle of the guldang sidewalk.

Or if you’re walking around minding your own business, one might come right to you, possibly piloted by a nearsighted tourist who has had seven shots of Wild Turkey. (We’re not sure exactly who this is for, but WATCH OUT! THERE’S ONE BEHIND YOU RIGHT NOW!) In October, Lime and Bird were named in a class-action lawsuit filed in Los Angeles on behalf of nine plaintiffs who say they sustained injuries including damaged teeth, torn ligaments and broken wrists, toes and fingers while either riding the scooters, tripping over them or being hit by them. While city lawmakers

attempt to figure out how to better regulate these things, we should all remember to look both ways before crossing any flat surface or even, in some cases, before standing still.

Nonesuch knockoffs

As the saying goes, imitation is the highest form of flattery. Nonesuch elevated the Oklahoma City restaurant scene on a national level with its recognition from Bon Appetit as the best new restaurant in the country in 2018.

The tasting menu devised solely from fresh and foraged Oklahoma ingredients by chefs Colin Stringer, Jeremy Wolfe and Paul Wang is a revelation in flavor and sense interpolation.

As we look into 2019, we wonder how long it will take for someone to attempt a low-rent version of what Nonesuch is offering. Instead of mushrooms care-

fully foraged from the forest, it’s a dish made with the weird green moss growing in an alley in Midtown.

Do you like the pickle platter at Nonesuch in which local ingredients are eaten with a toothpick made from the branch of a local juniper bush? The knockoff version will offer Lake Hefner catfish with wood from an office building torn down during the Pei Plan.

The food won’t be as good as Nonesuch, but you’ll be able to get a table. Tickets to Nonesuch are sold out through April.

Gunfight

Oklahoma’s gun laws allow for concealed carry with a license, perfect for a bad man to be stopped by a good man and asked if he has a few extra bullets to spare. But nothing will ever be good enough for the National Rif le Association’s Russian-compromised leadership, which is cheerleading a bill pre-filed for the 2019 legislation by State Sen. Nathan Dahm, R-Broken Arrow, who spent his formative years with his missionary family in Romania and then, in an unfortunate turn of events, came back.

Senate Bill 12, authored by Dahm, would allow any adult to carry a gun — no training, no backg round checks, no problem, except when some hothead at a bargain steakhouse gets a tough flank steak and an underdone baked potato breaks out his Ruger and ruins everybody’s Saturday night. Don’t think that will happen? Well, you know

that neighbor of yours who sliced off the “McCain” on his “McCain/Palin ’08” bumper sticker after Barack Obama became president? Keep an eye on him.

While many people have been, funnily enough, pushing for stricter firearm laws in the wake of [insert name of most recent mass shooting here], some Oklahoman lawmakers apparently watch The Good, the Bad and the Ugly and think, “Eh, needs more guns.” Last year, Gov. Mary Fallin vetoed similar legislation after it passed through (God help us all) both the House and Senate, but Governor-elect Kevin Stitt might have a different interpretation of the U.S. Constitution’s Second Amendment. To clarify, the Second Amendment is the one that grants “the right of the people to keep and bear arms” because of the necessity of maintaining “a well regulated militia” and is (hopefully) not to be confused with a Yosemite Sam mud flap.

Earlier this year, Oklahoma City residents suddenly were “two wheels good” as Bird and Lime scooters appeared on sidewalks throughout the central neighborhoods. Sure, there was a lot of fist shaking and “Get off my lawn and/or street” sentiments, but nothing beats downtown Oklahoma City parking issues like pulling up to a food truck park and not having to fight the bros for a space.

Well, if Governor-elect Kevin Stitt signs Dahm’s SB12, which is likely to happen because, um … Stitt already said he would, Chicken-Fried News predicts that Silicon Valley startups will take advantage of the new legislation and start dropping guns on every street corner.

Holstered in brightly colored metal racks with QR codes on the grips, pistols from companies with names like Active Shooter and FunGunz will be available for our state’s perpetually triggered hotheads to execute frontier justice on the fly. What we lose in street festivals, public safety and due process we will gain in app-enabled felony machismo.

Read more CFN predictions at okgazette.com.

O KG A Z E T T E . C O M | J A N U A R Y 2 , 2 0 1 9

13

M A R I J UA N A

THE HIGH CULTURE

Legal marijuana

Oklahoma Gazette’s medical marijuana correspondent reflects on getting his license and being able to possess marijuana legally. By Matt Dinger

Christmas came a few days early for me this year.

After 11 days of waiting — or 18 years, depending on how you look at it — it was official. As of Dec. 22, I can now legally possess and consume cannabis in my home state.

The critics were partially correct — the license was almost comically easy to obtain. But the critics were also wrong — my vet wouldn’t write me a recommendation while I was there with the cat last month.

When State Question 788 passed, I had no intention of getting my patient license. I didn’t consume a large enough amount of cannabis to make it necessary or worthwhile. Besides, my usage was still largely a secret, or at least not publicly shared information.

Being a salty and experienced reporter, I also expect things that are too good to be true to turn out not to be true at all.

But the course of the last two months 14

THC

J A N U A R Y 2 , 2 0 1 9 | O KG A Z E T T E . C O M

covering the burgeoning cannabis industry tempered my cynicism.

Since October, I’ve spoken to politicians, lawyers, state government employees, entrepreneurs and a handful of friends who slowly eroded my resistance. The interview with registered nurse Renee Harper of Green Hope Wellness Clinic was the tipping point.

I made the appointment online. I had a firm price tag for an inclusive visit — $239.30 — and an appointment scheduled six minutes after one of my good friends with whom I had shared the news of Green Hope’s model.

He was in a bad wreck this summer and still has a lot of pain and limited mobility in his shoulder. Thanks to Senate Bill 1446, it has become exceedingly difficult for him to get pain medication while he awaits surgery. This man could always drink me under the table, but he could never hang when we smoked, so he’s the kind of legitimate medical

Matt Dinger is Oklahoma Gazette’s medical marijuana correspondent. | Photo Alexa Ace

white envelope two days after that.

And thus ended nearly two decades of secrecy and dishonesty about my cannabis usage.

The friend I got my license with asked not to be identified. He has a family and works remotely for a company out of state. Even though the only reason he has his medical card is to manage his residual pain from the crash, he’s still worried about his employer finding out, a fear that he didn’t have when he was being prescribed opioids.

Even though the license sits firmly in my wallet and I was asked by my editor to write about my experience, it still nags me internally to be penning this. While the stigma is rapidly waning, it is still very real. I worry about this bit of writing coming back to haunt me. I shouldn’t.

I first smoked pot when I was in middle school. I didn’t pick it up again until I was a senior in high school. With the exception of a few breaks as I’ve gotten older, I’ve been a daily cannabis user for more than half my life.

In that time, I’ve passed the joint to lawyers, doctors, entrepreneurs, accountants, teachers and professors, artists, craftsmen and scores of blue-collar workers. All of us have gotten up each day to go about our responsibilities, including raising families, and some of us were a little high when we did it.

More than a few, like myself, have gotten away with it for years on end without consequence. Others have lost jobs or thousands of dollars fighting charges in court. And some of my friends have gone to prison over this plant.

Cannabis culture has always seemed silly to me, but there’s a lot to be optimistic about in this new local industry.

Watching as more states decriminalize or pass medical or recreational marijuana laws, the reality that this is the new normal is slowing sinking in.

But as much as the landscape is shifting, with new cannabis businesses seemingly birthing overnight, I still don’t know how long it will be before I get used to being asked if I want a receipt when I buy my weed.

patient this law was tailored to serve.

He came with his papers in order, paid the fee and was finished seeing the doctor before I had my own paperwork filled out.

It was the opposite of any medical consult I’ve ever experienced. Instead of explaining the problem and letting the doctor choose the treatment, I was asked why I thought medical cannabis would benefit me.

Once upon a time, I’d wanted to be a doctor, and I’ve never thought it necessary to lie to one. This appointment was no different.

I don’t have chronic pain, seizures or crippling anxiety. What I do have is a brain that runs a million miles an hour and which a small amount of cannabis has always been able to relax just enough so I can order and communicate my thoughts coherently. What I do have is just enough social anxiety to make certain situations uncomfortable, but not unbearable, and for which just a hit or two an hour or more beforehand can curb. What I do have is a career steeped in breaking news, most of which was a medley of storytelling about catastrophe and pain. Smoking a little weed soothed my raw nerves and quieted the endless loop of carnage and misery I took home in my head every night. Years later, certain thoughts and images occasionally still sneak up on me.

I also know that amphetamines do not calm me and benzodiazepines like Xanax inexplicably send me into fits of rage.

What I don’t have is the urge of my halcyon days of pot smoking where we tried to get as stoned as humanly possible. What I do have is the desire to try some cannabis with more evenly matched THC to CBD ratios like Harlequin and knowing that what I’m buying is actually the strain I want.

I’m past the days where dabs and moon rocks appeal to me but I am curious about exploring THC/CBD tinctures and whatever medicine might come from that realm as the industry progresses.

Writing the word “medicine,” I still O K L AH O M A MEDICA snicker a bit interL MARIJUA ADULT PA NA TIENT CAR nally, even after D more than a decade of using cannabis more medicinally than recreationally.

Conditioning dies hard.

The doctor had heard enough to sign off on my recommendation.

PATIENT My friend and I had our photos taken and applications uploaded to the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority (OMMA).

Image Kimberly Lynch We were both in and out in about 30 minutes. I got my approval email nine days later and my license in a plain,

THC

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ACCESS POINT Generically speaking, an access point is an authorized location where license holders can select and purchase medical marijuana.

If a patient has met all the requirements to obtain a license, purchasing medical marijuana is fairly simple, but an access point (which is synonymous with dispensaries in Oklahoma) must follow the guidelines set forth by the state on things like paperwork and authorization.

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CANNABINOIDS Are these the cannabinoids you’re looking for? Cannabinoids are the chemical compounds unique to cannabis that act upon the human body’s receptors and help with pain relief and anxiety. Of course, the best-known of the cannabinoids is tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) because that’s the one everybody likes, but it’s far from the only useful compound found in cannabis.

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M A R I J UA N A

THE HIGH CULTURE

CBD rising

THC

CBD Plus USA grew to over 50 locations in less than a year. By Matt Dinger

With President Donald Trump’s signature on the 2018 farm bill last month, industrial hemp became an ordinary agricultural commodity, and CBD Plus USA sees it as bringing the company one step closer to getting its products into all 50 states.

“Very few people want to get in our space — CBD only,” president Matt Baker said. “When a state opens up like California or Colorado, the THC is kind of the shiny object. It gets you high.”

For the company executives, learning more about the plant’s benefits and conducting experiments in creating new products to better serve the patients are their driving forces.

Founder and CEO Ryan Vicedomini is bringing the lessons he learned as an entrepreneur in the nicotine vaporizer business to the cannabis trade.

“I used vaping to quit smoking,” he said. “Both of my grandparents died from cancer-related illnesses from smoking, and if I would have had my vape company 10 years prior, I would have both my grandparents still. They both died early, in their 60s.”

He recently sold the company he founded, Vapor World, and moved into the CBD space in November 2017 with the same intention of using the market to improve the health and quality of life of other Oklahomans.

“I saw a niche. ... I got some and tried it again, and it worked, you know, and it started something in my mind and I couldn’t stop it,” Vicedomini said. “So I basically joined up with a friend, and I opened up half of a location and shared the other half of the location with another company, and without even a sign, our first month, we started just killing it.

“I basically started just by going to a wholesale website, bought 10 grand worth of stuff and put it on the shelves. It really wasn’t rocket science.

But what I ended up finding out was everybody else’s stuff that I

was buying was either too expensive for me to offer the customer a good price or — I hadn’t started testing our products — it had no CBD in it. It may have had a 10th of what it was representing sometimes. So once we figured that out, we started vetting all of our vendors. We started making sure that if we were going to sell it, it had to match up. And that’s the standards we opened with at [Interstate] 240 and Penn[sylvania Avenue] with the new brand, new everything.”

Vicedomini launched the first full CBD Plus USA on Feb. 1. By year’s end, there were over 50 stores open in Oklahoma and seven other states, with double that number set to open soon in those and several other states.

“It all starts with being accountable to ourselves,” Vicedomini said. “That’s where it started. It started with the vape industry, where I wanted to provide a better product at a better price. Same philosophy here. It’s provided a very good product that is all farm-to-table. It’s U.S.sourced, 100 percent. Oklahoma, Colorado and Oregon. Period. It comes from no other place. What’s in that bottle is on a label that shows you what it is, and not some sort of fake percentage. If it says 1,000 milligrams in it, it truly has 1,000 active milligrams, no questions asked, and I have a lab test in the book that

they can see, even online, representing exactly what it is. I think there’s a lot of fraud on what’s out there. ... You’re getting a clean product every single time and guaranteed to have the cannabinoids on the profile sheet.”

Some companies run laboratory testing infrequently and intermittently on their products, he said, but every CBD Plus USA product has a batch number printed on it. Consumers can reference the lab tests from ProVerde Laboratories, Inc., a medical marijuana testing company in Massachusetts.

“We’re so confident in our product that we’re the only company that offers a money-back guarantee,” Baker said.

Vicedomini said the product return rate is less than 1 percent.

While CBD Plus USA does now offer smokeable cannabis flower, the explosion of dispensaries catering to highTHC products and their own snowballing number of franchisees are not altering the company’s course.

You’ll have to search a little to find it. The cannabis flower is in opaque packaging on a middle shelf among a host of other products at the headquarters location, 420 N. Pennsylvania Ave. — no loud smells, menu boards or glass jars full of green announce its presence.

“The reason that our THC side has not boomed like some of these head shops where people want to go get high is because we just haven’t jumped the market. We’re sticking with our medical dosing, low-and-slow,” Baker said.

“We’re seeing so much success with our customers — our patients — that they’re bringing their friends in, and our businesses do well because we’re treating people the way that they should be treated with an amazing product, and we’re dumping that money right back into education because that’s going to continue to help these people understand how to get the most benefit from it,” said executive vice president Jake Chilcoat. “It’s not we’re sitting over here developing this big company Ryan Vicedomini sold his vaping business and reinvested the proceeds into starting CBD Plus USA. | Photo High Five Media / provided

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CBD Plus USA offers a variety of CBD products. | Photo Alexa Ace

so it’s all for ourselves. It’s really, truly to help people and we put our money where our mouth is by spending hundreds of thousands of dollars in education specifically that will directly benefit the customer.

“We have a call center that’s dedicated. You never have to sit on with an operator or wait on hold or anything like that. We’ve got live people that are sitting, waiting to answer questions whether it’s on Facebook or Instagram or our website. You can call our 1-800 number. It’s real people. ... When they’re not talking to a customer, they’re doing their research and they’re speaking to our medical director. ... We’ve got people who are sitting there every day educating themselves and pushing the envelope on what we understand about the product, and those people, our customers have access to them. Pick up the phone. Call them right now. Ask any questions until you’re blue in the face, until you’re tired of asking questions.”

In 2019, the company will open a 25,000 square-foot education facility with classrooms and a 300-person auditorium, Vicedomini said.

“Education is our driving force that we want to push because we want transparency in the industry,” Chilcoat said.

“We want good, solid standards and regulations, and we want the public to be educated and really, truly understand how this incredible, incredible product can impact people.”

That quality control, Baker said, is what sets CBD Plus USA apart.

“A lot of these pop-up shops, all they care about is making their money right now,” he said. “We are the fastest-growing franchise in the United States of America. We’re not only accountable to our customers; we’re accountable to 106 other people that paid us to be really good at making sure that we’re executing great product with great lab results that creates a great medical effect in this industry. In the absence of that, we’re just like every other cash-grab schmuck that’s opening up shops on every corner in Oklahoma.”

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REVIEW

EAT & DRINK

Gourmet diner

Located in a vintage diner, Polk’s House delivers its mission of providing gourmet food at affordable prices. By Jacob Threadgill

Polk’s House 2319 N. Lottie Ave. polkshouse.net | 405-887-0539 WHAT WORKS: The price point and comfort classics like neck bones, greens and yams are great.

WHAT NEEDS WORK: The meatloaf needed more moisture.

TIP: Follow the restaurant on Facebook for specials like Cornish game hen and prime rib.

The white building at the corner of 23rd Street and Lottie Avenue once housed a diner, but it had long been forgotten when husband-and-wife duo James and Shacopie Polk decided to renovate the space and pursue their dream of owning their own restaurant.

According to Dinerville, a website that tracks diners across the country, the building is a 1961 Valentine Diner, which is a prefabricated mail-order diner that came from Wichita, Kansas, and began to pop up across the country

after the rise of the Interstate Highway System. The building is one of the few remaining Valentine structures in the state open for business, and T&T Chinese Food, 5501 S. Western Ave., is the only other operating Valentine structure in Oklahoma City. You might have noticed the vacant former Foodies Asian-American Diner in Midtown, which is another example of a Valentine diner in the Oklahoma City metro area.

The location at 2319 N. Lottie Ave. operated as an income tax office until around 2014, according to RoadsideArchitecture. com, and opened as Polk’s House in 2017 after heavy renovation by the Polks.

The slogan they added to the side of the building caught my attention while I was driving west on 23rd Street: Gourmet food at an affordable price.

James Polk has years of experience in professional kitchens, and his wife leans on years of cooking family recipes to create a menu that is centered around

Southern-style home cooking “that only a brother from Idabelle [sic], Oklahoma can provide,” Polk’s House website says.

Not only does walking into Polk’s House feel like stepping into a time machine — I’m not sure I’ve ever been in a diner quite like it before — I understand why it has the name because it’s like ordering from someone’s home kitchen, if they had credit card readers.

There is limited parking on the side of the building, but customers can park in the adjacent strip mall lot, and there are a few tables and chairs outside on the sidewalk, but I have a feeling Polk’s House mostly operates as a takeout restaurant.

The menu is centered on staple items like corn meal fried catfish with fries ($6), fried chicken and waffles ($8) and a crab boil ($15) with sausage, artichoke, jalapeños, corn and potatoes. Its gourmet side comes out with salmon croquettes ($8) and its house burger ($8), which tops a half-pound beef burger with grilled shrimp ($8), jalapeño cheese and is served with waffle fries. I’m not sure I’ve seen a surf-and-turf-style burger quite like it.

The BJ Burger is the restaurant’s top seller ($7.50). The half-pound burger is topped with chili, cheese and a fried egg.

The restaurant also serves daily specials that trend to comfort food classics like chicken Alfredo, chicken-fried steak, beef stroganoff, grilled pork chops and steaks.

Specials are served with two sides and bread for $10.86. Sides rotate depending on the day, but you will see everything from mashed potatoes with gravy to country green beans and roasted potatoes.

Specials are not only classic American comfort food; they also sell enchiladas, quesadillas and chicken teriyaki with egg rolls or get fancy and pair roasted Cornish game hen with dressing or prime rib with asparagus. I’d say it delivers on its slogan. You don’t see game hen on menus very often, especially not for less than $11. I recommend following Polk’s House on Facebook to keep track of daily specials, which will often be announced a few days in advance. above Slow-cooked neck bones with cabbage and mashed potatoes with gravy below Meatloaf with greens, yams and cornbread | Photo Jacob Threadgill

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The restaurant is open for lunch Monday-Friday and adds late-night dinner hours Wednesday-Saturday (until 2 a.m. on Saturday nights, 11 p.m. otherwise). On Sundays, they serve 1-7 p.m.

I stopped by on a recent Sunday right as they opened the doors just after 1 p.m., and almost like a dinner bell getting rung, a few people quickly popped up behind me to place orders.

I got a pair of daily specials to go with cornbread. I ordered meatloaf with greens and yams and slow-cooked neck bones with mashed potatoes and gravy with steamed cabbage. Service was quick and friendly, and as I clarified my order to make sure the meatloaf order included greens and sweet potatoes, another gentleman in line piped up with, “Oh, that’s a great order.”

Specials on that day also included liver and onions and hog maws. Believe it or not, I like liver and onions, but I’ve never been able to get into chitterlings or hog maws, whatever your preferred nomenclature for pig intestine. I know they are one of the most divisive food items, with fervent detractors and defenders.

My favorite entrée of the day was the neck bones; I received three large portions that had plenty of meat between the bones. It was cooked with onions and peppers that made for nice gravy.

I’m a big meatloaf fan; it’s one of the first things I learned to cook as a preteen. The ketchup-based sauce caramelized and had a nice flavor, but I wanted more moisture in the loaf. I’d recommend increasing the amount of egg mixture or using a variety of meats with different fat contents.

The sides hit the spot with the greens and yams stealing the show, just as the gentleman in line predicted. The greens weren’t bitter or cooked to death and were served with large flecks of pork.

It’s hard to ever go wrong with a stewed sweet potato or yam.

I appreciate Polk’s House for providing such interesting food at a great price point. It’s a cherry on top that it comes in a unique setting that is a window into the country’s roadside eatery history.

F E AT U R E

New Union

Former MMR Prime Steakhouse aims to serve bold flavors at an affordable price as Union Wood Fired Grill. By Jacob Threadgill

Over the past 18 months, the restaurant at 2920 NW 63rd St. has gone from Meat Market Refectory to MMR Prime Steakhouse and finally Union Wood Fired Grill.

As executive chef Jonas Favela was promoted to co-owner by principal owners Lance and Cindy Ruffel, he wanted to put his own stamp while building on extensive kitchen experience in Oklahoma City. Favela came on board in May 2017 right before its transition from Meat Market Refectory to MMR. “Right off the bat, I never really liked the name,” Favela said. “No one knows what a refectory is. … We’d have our busy days and our slow nights, but it was never really consistent. I always thought it was because we were considered a special occasion restaurant.”

Favela’s position was elevated, and the restaurant closed for a few weeks before re-opening in late November with a menu that builds on the Union name by combining flavors from different cuisines in one dish and what Favela hopes is a more family-friendly and affordable restaurant that attracts customers from nearby neighborhoods on a more regular basis.

“Not everyone likes the same thing in a big family,” Favela said. “If you have vegans in the family and still have people who want a big, fat steak, we can make both of them happy.”

Favela’s lengthy and varied experience in kitchens in Oklahoma City includes time with The Ranch and Boulevard Steakhouse and many others, but when he finally got full control of a menu, he wanted to showcase the interpolation of sweet, acidic and salty with some spice thrown in for good measure.

He is very excited that the top-selling item on the menu in its first few weeks

as Union Wood Fired Grill is the shrimp poblano ($19).

“Coming from a steakhouse, the small filet is typically the No. 1 seller,” Favela said. “Our filet is up there, but I’m proud that they aren’t just coming for steak.”

Favela puts a spin on traditional stuffed poblano pepper by putting shrimp and ginger jasmine rice in the pepper, which is placed on top of a mole sauce.

“Food is like music,” Favela said.

“When you think about certain flavors that you’re dealing with in a sense of percussion, ginger is going to be a high hat while something like mushroom or truffle is a kick drum or floor tom. Just like good music, you need it all in there.”

Diners at MMR will still recognize the distinct omega-shaped bar and the blue chandelier hanging overhead, but the former meat market space has been turned into a private dining room. The restaurant puts its focus on dinner and will begin offering its full menu until 11 p.m., with additional bar snacks available until closing time.

The kitchen remained largely the same as its former iteration except the addition of a large wood-fired grill that uses mild, but smoky white oak. The grill makes its mark on dishes in a variety of ways. There is a large aging chamber where the restaurant cures its own charcuterie and rib-eyes ($43) age for 45 days before hitting the grill.

The smoky and occasionally spicy shishito peppers ($8), one of 12 appetizers on the menu, hit the grill until they are blistered and are then combined with balsamic caramel and shallots. A rack of lamb ($37) cooks sous-vide until it’s the perfect temperature and is then finished on the grill for a smoky flavor.

The Union Burger ($13) hits the grill before going on a pretzel bun and getting

toped with Port Salut cheese and avocado-corn relish. Favela said the addition of sandwiches to the menu was another way to make it more approachable. Union also serves a house-cured and smoked pastrami on rye with house-made pickle, jack cheese and honey mustard and shaved rib-eye sandwich ($18) with black garlic au jus and Port Salut.

Favela made a concerted effort to expand the seafood offerings beyond the requisite salmon, shrimp and scallops at a steakhouse. He added cedar plank sea bass ($37), which is finished in the oven with honey truffle and brown sugar until the cedar plank starts to smoke and it’s brought to the table for unique presentation.

The restaurant also offers lobster tail (market price) with rice and broccolini and lobster tagliatelle ($25).

The restaurant offers three vegan dishes, including a Chinese-inspired vermicelli bowl ($18) with wood-grilled vegetables, which is an example of how the Union in the name of the restaurant signifies the combination of different flavors. On the res-

Dry-aged rib-eye | Photo provided

taurant’s version of the Mexican street food classic elote, corn is slathered in mayonnaise, but instead of using chili spice and queso fresco, Union uses ricotta salata and a togarashi spice blend.

“It’s Japanese spice with Italian cheese, and it comes together as an elote,” Favela said. “Those flavors are similar to the original but different.”

Union’s cocktail program is showcased with monthly wine and liquorthemed dinners. Favela said they will consider adding lunch hours in the middle of 2019, once the new menu is ingrained in the service from the kitchen to the front of the house.

Visit unionwoodfiredgrill.com.

Burrata mozzarella appetizer | Photo provided

Jonas Favela | Photo provided

O KG A Z E T T E . C O M | J A N U A R Y 2 , 2 0 1 9

19

GAZEDIBLES

EAT & DRINK

Resolute eating

Calorie counts go out the window over the holidays, but now that we’ve turned the calendar over to 2019, it’s time to start making those New Year’s resolutions come to fruition. These seven restaurants allow you to eat out while staying true to your goals.

By Jacob Threadgill with Gazette / file and provided photos

Okie Pokie

2418 N. Guernsey Ave. noodeeokiepokie.com | 405-605-5272

Okie Pokie’s combination of fresh fish with greens is a heart-healthy way to start off the new year. Order tuna, salmon or both over greens instead of rice for a tasty treat that has a low carbon footprint and will satiate your stomach and your conscience.

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Coolgreens

204 N. Robinson Ave. coolgreens.com | 405-600-6444

“The big salad” is a Seinfeld joke that lives on decades after its finale. Take the middleman out of the equation and go to any of Coolgreens’ six metro area locations to get a hearty salad or go with a sandwich, quinoa bowl or flatbread. The Plaza Skinny includes a nice assortment of greens, sundried tomatoes, sunflower seeds, artichokes and basil vinaigrette and can also be ordered in a wrap.

The Kitchen at Commonplace Books

1325 N. Walker Ave., Suite 138 commonplacebooksokc.com/kitchen 405-534-4540

Commonplace’s new kitchen does a lot with a little space by focusing on a menu devised around toasts, salads and naturally gluten-free polenta. It’s a relaxed quick breakfast or lunch option in the Midtown area, and it serves family-style specials for dinner. It also serves the Cadillac of salmon, Ora King, on toast with herbed butter and radish or with greens and avocado on a salad.

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Picasso Cafe

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Cheever’s Cafe

The Earth Cafe & Deli

With a menu that is about half vegan and vegetarian-friendly but with plenty of carnivorous options, everyone can go home happy. Picasso Cafe has a robust salad selection, and the Drunken Pear with spicy, port-poached pear, spiced pecans, feta cheese and cider pecan vinaigrette has the warm notes of winter while also being refreshing in the summer.

The cafeteria on the first floor of Devon Energy Center is much more than an employee eatery, but its incentive to provide its employees healthy options pays off for the rest of the community, especially after an indulgent holiday period. You can grab fresh sushi or made-to-order noodle bowls with high-quality proteins and veggies or visit the “Well” station for a daily special of something tasty and nutritious.

A trip to Cheever’s after the holidays means passing up its delectable chicken-fried steak with jalapeño gravy, but it doesn’t mean sacrificing flavor. Its quinoa avocado salad isn’t just one of the best salads in the metro area; it’s one of the best dishes. The combination of quinoa, avocado, chile-lime corn, pico de gallo, goat cheese and almonds with garlic vinaigrette is a home run that will leave you full without the guilt.

This Norman staple is a go-to for vegetarian- and vegan-friendly sandwiches, salads and baked goods. Jim’s Salad includes mixed greens, carrots, black olives, sprouts, tomatoes, pumpkin seeds and vegan cheese. It has essential protein, antioxidants and plenty of fiber, which will help your heart after a long holiday season.

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21

ARTS & CULTURE

ART

Period piece

The second Menstruation Art Show will showcase works about body positivity, femininity, nature and more while raising money for Homeless Alliance. By Jo Light

Oklahoma City artists are gathering to deal with menstruation while they’re paintings, prints, sculptures and more homeless, it can be a morale-kicker,” for the second-ever Menstruation Art they said. “You don’t really have privacy, Show Jan. 12 at BlackMint Collective, you don’t have a safe place to clean your800 W. Sheridan Ave. self, you don’t have access to hygienic products.”

All of the art in the show will be available for purchase via a silent auction, Alizadeh-Fard gave the example of a which starts at 6:30 p.m., and a portion person who might lack feminine products being on their period and ruining of the event’s proceeds will help support their only pair of undergarments.

Homeless Alliance.

The art show’s organizer is Cara “It’s just heartbreaking to think Alizadeh-Fard, a self-described aspiring about how menstruation is such a taboo curator who recognized a need in an oftenin our society,” they said. “That often overlooked portion of Oklahoma City’s these people that need help; some of population. Alizadeh-Fard was working their basic needs are being overlooked in downtown OKC last winter near shelters because nobody wants to talk about it.” and other homeless Alizadeh-Fard orga nizations acknowledged that when inspiration part of the art for an event struck. show’s purpose is to Additional rehelp spread awaresearch helped ness and hopefully them learn about enable others to discuss the topic the difficulties that individuals more openly. experiencing “Whenever I was homelessness face trying to brainstorm during menstruaa name for the show, tion. It made I was trying to think sense for this to of something clever become the focus involving female “meteor shower” by Katelynn Knick genitalia or blood,” of the art show. | Image provided Kinsey Crocker, they said. “And then director of comI just decided to go with simple and to the point — munications at Homeless Alliance, confirmed this is an area of particular need.

Menstruation Art Show — so that people “We are thrilled to benefit from the know what to expect when they go and Menstruation Art Show,” Crocker said via they also have a better idea of what they’re email. “It brings awareness to an issue supporting.” that not many people think about. It’s kind of a taboo subject. But women who menSecond success struate know how uncomfortable or inThe first Menstruation Art Show was convenient periods can be. Now imagine held in the Plaza District in January if you don’t have access to feminine 2018 and succeeded in gathering femihygiene products.” nine hygiene products for Homeless Although donations of any kind are Alliance and other local organizations. welcome, feminine products usually go For the second show, Alizadeh-Fard overlooked at homeless organizations. hopes guests will again contribute mon“Often when people think of items etary donations or donations of mento donate to our day shelter, tampons, strual and feminine hygiene products.

Tampons, pads, menstrual cups, femipads and women’s underwear are not at the top of their list,” Crocker said. nine wipes, pregnancy tests, underwear “But feminine hygiene products are an and soap will all be accepted. ongoing need at shelters throughout the One major change made for 2019’s community. The art show is bringing art show is its location. Alizadeh-Fard awareness to this issue and will help wanted to feature a female-owned local raise funds to purchase items for women business, and so they specifically who are currently experiencing homereached out to BlackMint Collective, an lessness in our community.” independent tattoo studio on Film Row, Alizadeh-Fard echoed Crocker’s to secure the show’s venue. statements about the importance of They also made sure to incorporate feminine products to those experiencthe local art program Fresh stART in ing homelessness. the second Menstruation Art Show. The “I feel like for a lot of people that have first show’s timeline was unfortunate22

J A N U A R Y 2 , 2 0 1 9 | O KG A Z E T T E . C O M

ly too tight for the program’s artists to participate, but this time around, Alizadeh-Fard and Crocker planned ahead to include several artists.

Fresh stART is a program that provides art studio time twice every week to individuals experiencing homelessness. The program is hosted at WestTown Homeless Resource Campus, 1724 NW Fourth St., and is provided through Homeless Alliance and City Care.

Crocker said Fresh stART benefits its participants in many ways, providing a creative outlet as well as a source of potential income. The program also helps to develop social, emotional and job skills. It accepts donated art supplies and welcomes volunteers year-round.

Alizadeh-Fard said they hope to include pieces by five artists from the Fresh stART program in the upcoming Menstruation Art Show. Like the rest of the show’s participating artists, these artists will donate a portion of the profit from their pieces but retain the rest as income.

“I’m really excited to see what they bring to the show this year,” AlizadehFard said.

They added that the artist slots filled up very quickly for the upcoming event. A couple of artists from the first Menstruation Art Show will return for the second iteration, including local painter/sculptor Katelynn Noel Knick, who creates colorful pieces in a range of sizes.

Alizadeh-Fard described the show as broad and inclusive and said the art will reflect that. The show’s prints, paintings, sculptures or installations can include depictions of female reproductive systems and genitalia. Body positivity, femininity as a whole and nature will also be potential subject matter.

“For anyone that might feel some hesitation, I invite them to come see if

Cara Alizadeh-Fard | Photo Jonce / provided

they can find someone just like themselves,” Alizadeh-Fard said.

They want to encourage patrons to bring their families, children included.

Young art fans attended last year with no issues.

“It’s just a normal part of the human body,” Alizadeh-Fard said. “And it’s just humans trying to help other humans.”

In addition to the art and silent action, a raffle will be held at the event.

So far, the prizes include gift certificates from Commonplace Books, 1325 N. Walker Ave., Suite 138, and tickets to the upcoming Tinder Live! show at Tower Theatre, 425 NW 23rd St. BlackMint Collective will hold specials on tattoos as well, with flash tattoo art available from two artists on a firstcome first-served basis.

Alizadeh-Fard expressed pride that such a diverse group of people will be participating in the show, including cisgender and LGBTQ+ creators of varying ages. They emphasized the importance of inclusivity to the show and said people of all backgrounds are welcome to attend.

“Womanhood is not defined by your ability to reproduce or to menstruate,” they said. “It is more than that.”

Visit homelessalliance.org.

Menstruation Art Show II 6:30-9 p.m. Jan. 12 BlackMint Collective 800 W. Sheridan Ave. facebook.com/blackmintcollective Free

T H E AT E R

Opera tricks

An updated stage production of The Phantom of the Opera includes more spectacle than was possible when the musical debuted. By Jeremy Martin

Like the disfigured sewer-dwelling organist it’s named for, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera helped mold the career of a young performer bewitched by the possibilities of a life onstage. Eva Tavares, who plays Christine in the touring production of Phantom scheduled to run Jan. 9-20 at Civic Center Music Hall, 201 N. Walker Ave., said seeing the show for the first time at the age of 10 helped her realize she wanted to star in musicals.

“At the time, I was a dancer,” Tavares said. “I hadn’t started singing yet, but I knew that I could sing because I loved singing around the house, and my grandmother was actually an opera singer, so she was always encouraging me to sing. [Phantom] was really the combination of all of these different art forms. There was dance; there was singing; there was the production value.

It was such a spectacle. I was just kind of taken with the grandeur of it all.”

Hoping to become part of such grand spectacles, Tavares began performing with Vancouver Opera’s children’s chorus as a teenager.

“That was the first time I had been in something of that scale, with all the

different moving parts and the huge sets and the stars that were coming in, doing these roles,” Tavares said. “It was intoxicating, really.”

In 2017, Tavares was cast as Christine, the chorus girl who becomes the Paris Opera’s lead soprano thanks to singing lessons from the Angel of Music, aka the Phantom, who also advances his pupil’s career through intimidation and violence.

A stagehand is found hanging from the rafters; a chandelier famously falls.

Tavares said modern methods have only made the show’s spectacle more spectacular than when she first saw it as a child.

“When the show was created 30 years ago, they had a certain set of tools that they were able to use as far as technology goes,” Tavares said. “Now we have just so much more to play with. You’re going to see some new set pieces. You’re going to see a lot more fire and some special effects that weren’t present in the original, but it’s also important to know that the same things that you love about the brilliant original are still there. The story, the characters, the music, the costumes, the stuff that you remember as iconic, that’s still present, just in an updated, more amped-up way.”

Pyrotechnics and other special effects make the production’s action scenes seem like they have higher stakes, Tavares said, but the actors onstage aren’t taking any real physical risks.

“I personally love the kind of dangerous aspect that it brings to it, although it’s very, very safe from our end,” Tavares said. “I mean, we have people on the show that are really just there to make sure we feel safe and comfortable onstage; especially with stuff like fire going off, you want to make sure that’s the top priority. So I’ve never felt unsafe, Quentin Oliver Lee and Eva Tavares star in the North American touring production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera. | Photo Matthew Murphy / provided

but I know from the audience’s perspective, there’s definitely the wow factor.”

Independent adaptation

The exhilaration she felt in the audience at age 10 still remains, but as an adult, Tavares said she has more appreciation for the “complexity of the relationships” between the Phantom, Christine and her fiancé Raoul, who seeks to rid the opera of its half-masked menace by any means necessary.

“I think when I was a kid,” Tavares said, “I probably would have said, ‘Oh, Christine should be with Raoul. He’s the one that’s loving and caring and all of those things,’ but now, looking at it as an adult, I don’t think I would trust Raoul, given his conduct throughout the show, and also, that relationship with Phantom is more complex than it might seem on the surface, when I was a child.”

After Tavares was cast in the role, she began studying the complicated inner angles of this volatile triangle to try to figure out the motivations behind Christine’s choices.

“That was the biggest thing, picking apart those relationships,” Tavares said, “really trying to understand her reasoning behind her decisions. And making sure, as well, that she wasn’t a victim, that she was making her own choices. … I just feel that she has to be a strong female character that she doesn’t have to be someone that’s just pushed around by these other people around her, but that she, over the course of the show, develops a lot of her own independence and strength so that by the end, she’s found another part of herself where she’s able to fight back and able to stand her ground in the face of someone who is very combative and hostile.”

While Christine might not always be represented as strong and independent in the myriad adaptations of Phantom that have haunted stages, screens, radios, pinball machines and metal albums since Gaston Leroux first published the novel in 1910, Tavares said the production currently touring North America has updated more than just the special effects.

“Our director definitely encouraged us to try to portray these characters as really grounded and human without any kind of magic elements, so having

The Phantom of the Opera runs Jan. 9-20 at Civic Center Music Hall, 201 N. Walker Ave. | Photo Matthew Murphy / provided

them really be real people going through real things, and it makes it grittier, for sure,” Tavares said. “I think it’s definitely a different take on it.”

When Webber and Cameron Mackintosh debuted their musical take on the story in 1986, versions of the Phantom had already been portrayed by Lon Chaney, Claude Rains and William Finley, and since then, the likes of Robert “Freddy Krueger” Englund and even the Jack Russell terrier on the children’s show Wishbone have starred in variations of the story. Tavares said she didn’t draw inspiration for her version of Christine from any specific predecessor but felt that the sheer number of adaptations of the story meant she, too, could create her own version of her character.

“I try not to emulate anyone else,” Tavares said,” but the fact that so many other people have taken the show and done what they felt like they needed to do with it, that gives me the freedom to do the same.”

Tavares’ first performance in the production was in Vancouver, in the same theater where she first saw Phantom as a child.

“That was a bizarre week because I got to have my whole family and all my friends from high school and my music teachers and everyone else out there, which was such a gift,” Tavares said.

And she loves to see excited children, who might find inspiration of their own, in the audience.

“We’re always at the stage door, saying hello to everyone, and we get lots of kids out,” Tavares said. “I also get a lot of Instagram messages from parents, as well. It’s amazing how much of an inspiration it is to all different ages, really.”

Visit okcbroadway.com.

The Phantom of the Opera Jan. 9-20 Civic Center Music Hall 201 N. Walker Ave. okcbroadway.com | 405-594-8300 $32-$162

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ARTS & CULTURE

T H E AT E R

Russian Romantics, Brightmusic Chamber Ensemble’s third concert of the season and its first of 2019, is Jan. 15 at St. Paul’s Cathedral. | Photo provided

Romance language

Brightmusic Chamber Ensemble performs pieces by two famous Romantic Russian composers.

By Jeremy Martin

In its two previous concerts this season, Oklahoma City’s Brightmusic Chamber Ensemble paid tribute to the underappreciated viola and gave listeners a tour of Beethoven’s Vienna. For its third concert of the season and first of 2019, Brightmusic is highlighting the piano in two technically demanding works imported from Russia, Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Sonata for Cello and Piano in G Minor, op. 19 and Sergei Taneyev’s Quintet for Piano and Strings in G Minor, op. 30.

“When you think about piano,” said Brightmusic co-artistic director and pianist Amy I-Lin Cheng, “the Russian School has made a tremendous contribution to Romantic and post-Romantic repertoire. … The piano in both the second concerto and the sonata feature long, beautiful, melodic phrases. They also feature very challenging piano techniques, basically passage work with lots of fast, cascading note, wide arpeggiation, especially for the left hand.”

The concert, titled Russian Romantics, is scheduled to begin 7:30 p.m. Jan. 15 at St. Paul’s Cathedral, 127 NW Seventh St. Taneyev’s quintet, which concludes the concert, was the first piece the ensemble chose. The quintet, possibly because of the challenges it presents to musicians, is “very, very underperformed,” Cheng said. “[Taneyev] is not well known outside of his own country,” Cheng said. “Part of the reason the Taneyev quintet may 24

J A N U A R Y 2 , 2 0 1 9 | O KG A Z E T T E . C O M

not be as popular is simply because the scale of the composition is nearly symphonic. The composition performance time is over 45 minutes long. This is a piece as passionate and as rich as you could wish from a piano quintet.”

In addition to its length, Taneyev’s quintet — featuring two violins, a viola, a cello and a piano — is challenging because of the composer’s advanced technical capabilities.

“Taneyev’s music is very imaginative, and there are quick changing tempos, you have to be able to move together as a group, and also because it is late-romantic, there is a lot of chromaticism, a lot of key changes that sneak up on you,” Cheng said. “Since he’s writing in this large symphonic scale, there are interlocking parts that are really rich in arpeggiation but they don’t always line up easily because he puts in a lot of imaginative inner voices and fancy auxiliary notes.”

Though the ensemble wants to introduce listeners to compositions they might not be familiar with and always seeks challenges when selecting material, Cheng said Taneyev’s quintet was primarily chosen for its quality.

“It’s not often performed because it’s challenging and very long, but we mainly wanted to program it because it’s just a gorgeous piece that deserves to be performed,” Cheng said. “One of Brightmusic’s missions is to promote chamber music, and we offer a reper-

toire that is well known pieces as well as pieces that are less performed but deserve to be performed. Everything is difficult, so I wouldn’t say we were programming this because it’s difficult. We think the inherent value and content of this music will be absolutely satisfying to our audience to listen to.”

Completed in 1911, just four years before the composer’s death, the quintet is one of Taneyev’s most mature compositions. Cobbett’s Cyclopedic Survey of Chamber Music calls the quintet “the crowning glory of Taneyev’s chamber works with piano, a work permeated with profound thought and inward pathos.” Listeners without encyclopedic knowledge of music history and theory will still be able to appreciate the magnificence of the music, Cheng said, especially as the climax approaches.

“The last movement, you can literally hear the bells and the pedals just ringing,” Cheng said. “It’s fanciful. It’s really, truly a journey on an epic level.”

Joyous sonata

The concert will open with a signific a nt ly b e t t er-k now n w ork , Rachmaninoff’s Sonata for Cello and Piano in G Minor, completed in 1901 at a turning point in the composer’s life and career.

“At the time of the composition,” Cheng said, “he had just come out of a deep depression. His first symphony received heavy criticism, and he perceived it as a total failure and was unable to compose for a long time. He sought hypnotic treatment and was able come out of the depression and compose one of the most glorious and successful piano concertos, Piano Concerto No. 2 in C Minor, the same year before he composed this sonata for cello. So he was in an upward swing again when he composed this sonata for piano and cello.

However, initially, his sonata was overshadowed by the earlier concerto, but the sonata quickly caught on.”

Rachmaninoff, who studied under Taneyev, was famously a piano virtuoso, and while his skills are evident in the sonata, Cheng said the cello part is equally impressive and integral to the composition.

“There are not cello sonatas that have this kind of lyricism,” Cheng said.

“This really is a gem for cellists. It is very easy for me as a pianist to want to talk about how great a piano part is, but I have to highlight the amazing lyrical writing for the cello. Without it, there wouldn’t be this sonata. The effects that he uses in the second movement, some staccato and quick fragments, melodic motifs, also showcase … the warmth the cello is capable of.”

While composers’ biographies don’t always offer insight into their compositions, Cheng said Rachmaninoff’s sonata conveys a sense of vibrant joy.

“Many creative artists, performers, composers, visual artists suffer depression and various forms of mental illness,” Cheng said. “Artists don’t always project their personal struggle onto their music.

The sonata is so warm and so much a celebration of life. If you listen to the last movement, it’s unbelievable, it’s noble and proud and bright. … The key is in G minor — both pieces are in G minor — and usually when a composer chooses a minor key, it’s to be deeply expressive.

Both pieces end in major keys, so it’s rather uplifting at the end. One could, of course, read into this that, after all, life triumphs over tragedy.”

However, both works seem to express more than one mood, offering a more complete picture of the human experience.

“There is definitely plenty of emotional turmoil,” Cheng said. “What this kind of symphonic-scale piece will capture is a universe of emotions, making both pieces like journeys through life. Now one thing that Rachmaninoff captured extremely well is a sense of nostalgia. So I think it’s a fantastic work. It’s not just melancholy or sadness but the sense of nostalgia, the state of wishing, longing for the past.

We can’t say if that’s directly connected to his depression or just his natural human makeup.”

Tickets are free-$20. Visit brightmusic.org.

Russian Romantics 7:30 p.m. Jan. 15 St. Paul’s Cathedral 127 NW Seventh St. brightmusic.org Free-$20

FILM

Welcoming reality Oklahoma Gazette rounds up the best films of 2018. By Phil Bacharach | Photos provided

Given the unreal state of reality in 2018, perhaps it’s unsurprising that movies largely gave up on escapism. In this upis-down environment, documentaries thrived, with a handful — Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, about Mr. Rogers; the toobizarre-to-believe, Three Identical Strangers; and Free Solo, which chronicles the only person to free solo climb Yosemite’s El Capitan — being among the year’s best movies. Fiction films tackled an admirable array of social issues, including racism (Black KKKlansman), homophobia (Boy Erased), climate change (Leave No Trace) and screen addiction (Ready Player One). Fizzy rom-com Crazy Rich Asians won accolades for busting racial stereotypes, and even a superhero popcorn flick like Black Panther examined race in America. When you’re already through the looking glass, reality becomes the new escape.

10. Mission: Impossible – Fallout

Mission: Impossible – Fallout sets a dazzling high bar for the blockbuster franchise. Directed by Christopher McQuarrie, the sixth installment in the MI series is near nonstop action, including a spectacular chase along the rooftops of Paris, a jaw-dropping helicopter sequence and the impossibly ageless stardom of Tom Cruise.

9. If Beale Street Could Talk

Lakeith Stanfield, who stars as a hapless telemarketer making a Faustian bargain, for keeping us emotionally invested even when things go batshit crazy.

5. Annihilation

8. The Hate U Give

This adaptation of Angie Thomas’ YA bestseller begins with young Starr Carter (Amandla Stenberg, excellent) getting “the talk” from her father (an equally excellent Russell Hornsby). Instead of the birds and the bees, however, this talk involves the black and the blue — namely, how an African-American youth need to act when they are invariably stopped by police without cause. Starr learns, with tragic consequences, the usefulness of dad’s advice. Director George Tillman Jr. occasionally teeters toward sentimentality, but The Hate U Give is always brutally, unflinchingly honest.

After only two feature films to his directorial credit, Alex Garland is already a master of The Thinking Person’s science fiction. That isn’t to imply Annihilation, based on the 2014 Jeff VanderMeer book, is overly brainy. Mutant creatures and scares abound as Natalie Portman plays a biologist on a secret government expedition of a vast, mysterious blob, dubbed The Shimmer, that has taken up residence on Planet Earth. Annihilation recalls classic sci-fi of yore, but the vibe here is unique, and the finale rivals 2001: A Space Odyssey for mind-melting trippiness.

4. Eighth Grade

7. First Reformed

In writer-director Paul Schrader’s best film in years — maybe his best ever — Ethan Hawke is extraordinary as a pastor in the throes of existential crisis. First Reformed’s Reverend Ernst Toller isn’t so far removed from the delusional vigilante in 1976’s Taxi Driver, which Schrader scripted, but nothing feels dated here. First Reformed pulses with the urgency of today.

6. Sorry to Bother You

Warning: For those of us still suffering post-traumatic stress disorder as the result of middle school, Eighth Grade might just trigger cold sweats, maybe even a spontaneous wedgie. The cringe-inducing but darkly humorous flick stars a superb Elsie Fisher as a shy, screen-addled 13-year-old navigating through the treacherous waters of social media, school crushes and pool parties. Writer-director Bo Burnham, a comedian who rose to prominence via YouTube, understands how technology is radically transforming how kids relate to the world and to each other. The result isn’t a cautionary tale — Eighth Grade is too smart and heartfelt for that — but a pitchperfect reminder that growing up is as painfully funny as it is painful.

3. Roma

If Beale Street Could Talk proves the Oscar-winning Moonlight was no fluke for writer-director Barry Jenkins. This tragic but achingly romantic adaptation of James Baldwin’s 1974 novel pulsates with an unmatched sense of lyricism and intimacy. It will haunt you for days afterward, particularly the magnificent performances of leads KiKi Layne and Stephen James.

I’m guessing that Boots Riley, the rapperturned-moviemaker behind Sorry to Bother You, approached his first film determined to free nearly every notion, observation and joke that had been collecting in his head. Sorry to Bother You explodes with ideas; it is an urban comedy, a dystopian sci-fi, a rebuke to capitalism and a stinging satire on racism, labor, Walmart, modern art — you name it. The outrageousness nearly spirals out of control, so credit

Thomas Wolfe famously posited that you can’t go home again, but don’t tell that to Alfonso Cuarón. In Roma, the acclaimed filmmaker (Gravity, Children of Men) meticulously recreates the 1970s’ Mexico City of his youth. The episodic storyline centers around a nanny/housekeeper

(newcomer Yalitza Aparicio) for a wellto-do family, evidently based on the nanny who had an instrumental role in Cuarón’s upbringing. Shot in crisp blackand-white and replete with spellbinding set pieces — a violent protest as seen through a second-floor department-store window, the surreal sight of a man singing while a forest fire rages behind him, perilous moments along an ocean beach — Roma boasts a visual sumptuousness that recalls 1960s-era Fellini but with an emotional resonance that is all Cuarón.

2. Widows

Thrillers this meaty don’t come along very often. Widows has a lot to say about racism, politics and power, but Oscarwinning director Steve McQueen (12 Years a Slave) keeps such themes neatly tucked in the muscular confines of the crime drama. Based on a 1983 British TV miniseries and co-written by Gone Girl and Sharp Objects author Gillian Flynn, the movie stars Viola Davis — a force of nature here — as a grieving widow forced into an unlikely heist after her criminal husband (Liam Neeson) and his crew are killed in a robbery gone awry. The ensemble cast might be the best of 2018, with particular props to Elizabeth Debicki as an abused wife who discovers wells of resourcefulness when she needs it.

1. Shoplifters

Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda explores the complexities of relationships with sensitivity but without sentimentality, a rare artist who can tap into the rhythms of everyday life without boring his audience in the process. He is one of the great humanists in contemporary cinema. Shoplifters, which earned the Palme d’Or at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, takes its time in telling the story of a ragtag family of thieves who adopt — or is it abduct? — a neglected 5-year-old girl (Miyu Sasaki). Revelations emerge slowly, but when they do, they pack a wallop. By focusing on Japanese who live on the margins of society, Shoplifters offers a window not typically afforded to Western moviegoers. It helps that Koreeda’s cast is outstanding, particularly Sakura Andô and Lily Franky as the mom and dad of the clan. In one particular close-up, Andô delivers one of the year’s most affecting onscreen moments.

O KG A Z E T T E . C O M | J A N U A R Y 2 , 2 0 1 9

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Fresh face

Salt & Water Co. provides clean beauty and healthy self-care products to the Oklahoma City metro. By Jo Light

Chelsey Cobbs began developing a passion for clean cosmetics after she decided, almost by accident, to become a makeup artist.

She has now established herself as an experienced artist and a local expert on clean beauty products and unique selfcare items through her recently opened shop, Salt & Water Co., at its temporary location at 1120 N. Walker Ave. “Clean beauty” refers to products that are free of known or suspected toxic materials, resulting in organically made items with limited lists of ingredients.

The shelves at Salt & Water Co. are stocked with brands like LILFOX, Palermo Body, Leahlani, Kjær Weis cosmetics and Province Apothecary, many of which boast plant-based ingredients, and the shop itself is filled with rich, clean, herbal smells.

After graduating from University of Oklahoma and spending a brief stint in accounting, Cobbs joined a Bobbi Brown cosmetic counter and worked her way up to the position of educator and makeup artist.

Around 2013, she became a full-time freelancer and opened Chelsey Ann Artistry, where she works with hair stylist and business partner Ali Earnheart to style clients for weddings, fashion shoots and other events.

This line of work often took Cobbs to California for photo shoots. Although she had an extensive knowledge of makeup and skincare through Bobbi Brown, her interests began expanding after she learned about different clean, nontoxic beauty brands.

“You do all this work internally,” Cobbs said. “Eat organic, and take the BPA out of your stuff and make sure you’re using cleaning products at home that aren’t toxic and harmful. You do all that work, and then you start looking at your skincare, and you’re like, ‘Wait!

There’s formaldehyde in my eyeliner?’”

Formaldehyde-releasing ingrediSalt & Water Co. sells a handful of popular clean beauty and self-care brands, including Palermo Body. | Photo Alexa Ace

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ents are still used in some beauty products as a preservative to increase shelf life, although many brands are moving away from the practice.

Cobbs credits Laura Linsenmayer at one Laguna Beach shop, ROOTS the Beauty Underground, with helping her switch problematic products out of her makeup kit.

As time passed and she began buying more clean products, Cobbs was happy to support ROOTS, but it was also important for her to shop locally in Oklahoma. She wanted to find the same products closer to home.

So about two years ago, Cobbs began brainstorming ideas for how she could impact the local makeup and self-care scene in the same way.

“It kind of started out as maybe I’d have a makeup studio and do education,” Cobbs said. “And then it turned into, ‘Well, I think people really would like to purchase things.’”

Salt & Water Co. was born. The name of the store comes from a book of poetry

by Brianna Wiest.

Cobbs said she is consistently surprised and impressed by her clientele, many of whom are open to clean beauty.

Some even recognize the store’s products.

“It’s been really cool to be like, ‘No, Oklahoma was already ready for this,’” Cobbs said.

Education remains one of Cobbs’ key focuses in both her freelance work and in the store. Even now, she is willing to sit down with customers and go through their makeup bags to figure out what works best for their skin type and age. She also likes to give personalized makeup lessons to those who have questions.

“I taught workshops and master classes, but you’re teaching to a group of people,” she said. “So the information you give, it really has to be inclusive for all.”

For instance, different eyelid sizes can require different amounts of eyeshadow, or certain eye shapes can be Salt & Water Co. sells a variety of clean beauty and self-care products. | Photo Alexa Ace

CAROUSEL CONSIGNMENT F urniture J ust A s n ice t he s econd t ime A round

FURNISHINGS 10 Am - 7 pm m on . F ri . 10 Am - 5 pm s At .

Chelsey Cobbs, a former Bobbi Brown makeup artist, opened Salt & Water Co. to fill a need for a place to purchase clean beauty and self-care products in Oklahoma City. | Photo Alexa Ace

better emphasized with the use of a bold eyeliner. Cobbs will teach those who don’t know how to apply that eyeliner the correct way. She said she is excited to provide such personal attention to her customers.

Salt & Water Co. on Walker Avenue opened on Nov. 1 and is technically considered a pop-up location, although Cobbs holds regular hours there. She is preparing to move into a larger, permanent location on Film Row in the coming months.

Cobbs said she wants her shop to be a place where people can “heal” both inside and out.

The permanent shop will have three separate spa rooms, with spaces for an aesthetician and two other healers.

Cobbs said she hopes to bring in individuals like nutritionists or therapists or perhaps services like cupping.

Earnheart will operate a one-chair salon in the shop and perform nontoxic hair services.

In addition to healing and retail, Cobbs wants Salt & Water Co. to be utilized as an event space where they can hold gatherings like morning meditations or panel discussions on pregnancy and fertility. She said she wants the store to be a platform for others and a place for learning.

“I’ll build the space, and people can do their thing in it,” Cobbs said.

Cobbs said many believe that making the move to clean beauty is either too confusing or too expensive.

To combat this, she organized her store into categories, not by brands.

This makes for easy shopping, no matter the customer’s familiarity with the product names. Her products are also sold at range of price points to be affordable for more customers.

Cobbs has tested every product in the shop herself, so she stands behind each item’s effectiveness.

Salt & Water Co.’s permanent location at 629 W. Sheridan Ave., Suite 101, will open the second week of January. Cobbs and the owners of two neighboring Film Row businesses plan to hold a block party to celebrate their opening in February 2019.

Visit saltandwaterco.com.

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ARTS & CULTURE

Protesting climate

A local student organization takes part in a national rally to bring attention to climate change.

By Joshua Blanco

According to the Fifth Assessment Report released by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), atmospheric greenhouse gas concentration is rising at an unprecedented rate, resulting in an onslaught of detrimental changes across the planet. Despite decades of smear campaigns and bunk science manufactured and marketed by organizations looking out for their own special interests, the effects of climate change have at last reached a point of undeniable prevalence.

With dismal consequences looming before us, scientists are making it a point to educate both the public and representatives alike on the severity of the matter. As time passes, more legislators and activists are realizing the implications of anthropogenic climate change and the threats it poses upon our immediate future.

Workers’ rights and all of these other things that we fight for don’t really matter if we don’t have a planet.

Bailey Walker Earth Strike is just one of many movements committed to the ongoing education set forth by the experts.

“The time to act is now, before it’s too late,” its mission statement reads. “The threat of climate change has reached a tipping point despite years of warnings, and we need to change course.”

The organization demands global cooperation in upping regulations for major polluters in an effort to halve net carbon emissions by 2030 with the intention of maintaining zero net emissions by 2050. The regulations are also intended to hold these entities responsible while preventing the further destruction of global ecosystems.

In a push to bring those ideas to fruition, Earth Strike is organizing a series of four international walkout protests set to take place throughout 2019.

“We need to make the world’s governments and the world’s businesses listen to the people, and the best way to do that is by refusing to participate in those businesses and governments,” Earth Strike wrote. “There will be no banking, no offices full of employees or schools full of children.”

Of the major cities in the United States, Oklahoma City was one of the prominent municipalities showing no 28

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signs of participation; that is, until a handful of students from a local community college decided to make their voices heard.

Accompanied by other activist organizations, Rose State College Democratic Socialists of America (RSCDSA) will gather 2-3 p.m. Jan. 15 in Bricktown at 400 E. Reno Ave for the Earth Strike Kickoff Protest. The purpose of the event is to rally concerned citizens from across the state while educating those who might otherwise be unaware of the consequences with which society will eventually be forced to come to terms.

Bailey Walker, president of RSCDSA, founded the Rose State chapter in September 2017 as an educational platform to attract students interested in learning more about leftist politics. “[Socialism] isn’t well-defined in American discourse largely. … When people see socialists, they think Stalin and bread lines and thought police and things like that, and those are sort of the exact things that we are against,” he said.

Walker cited the rise of the Bernie Sanders presidential campaign as an eye-opening experience that served as the main motivation for the chapter’s founding and realized there were viable alternatives to the two parties that traditionally stand in the forefront of American politics.

But it wasn’t the smoothest startup in the history of campus organizations.

Despite almost disbanding shortly after its founding, RSCDSA barely pulled through. Eventually, it was able to successfully recruit a core group of active members and has continued to progress in its on-campus involvement. Fulfilling its role as an educational unit, the chapter is now shedding light on a matter of international significance often understated in Oklahoma politics.

After noticing substantial political discourse was becoming increasingly devoted to climate change, Walker thought it was time for RSCDSA to take stand on a truly bipartisan issue calling for immediate attention.

“There was one thing in particular that really flipped the switch for me,” he said, regarding his initial interest in combating climate change. “Workers’ rights and all of these other things that we fight for don’t really matter if we don’t have a planet.”

Walker said this is a priority. Through the strike, he hopes to unite individuals from all sides of the political spectrum for the common cause of combating an issue pertinent to the survival of the entire planet.

“We’re going to have to work with everyone, including conservatives and anyone on the right, because some of the issues that we face they are also facing,” Walker said.

“I have a Republican who comes to our meetings, for example, and he comes because he thinks we’re respectful and we’re fighting for the right things,” added Jagger Stingley, former president of Young Democratic Socialists of America (YDSA) at Oklahoma City Community College. “He used to be homeless himself, and he knows that we wanna fight.”

YDSA at Oklahoma City are among the DSA chapters planning to march at the Jan. 15 Earth Strike rally. Other non-DSA groups have also expressed interest and plan to attend the event.

RSCSDA is still awaiting responses from the professors and politicians invited to speak at the protest.

Anticipated public reception surrounding the march remains uncertain.

“I assume some portion of the population is going to be angry that we’re even talking about climate change, but that’s acceptable,” said RSCDSA member, Daniel Barten. “That’s the price we have to pay.”

This year, Yale Program on Climate Change Communication released a report stating 66 percent of those residing in the Oklahoma City residential area believe climate change is happening. Only 54 percent believe humans

from left Bailey Walker, Hollye Carroll, Jagger Stingley, Fern Casanova, Natalie Langworthy and Laine Russell, members of Rose State Democratic Socialists plan to take part in Earth Strike’s rally to bring attention to climate change Jan. 15. | Photo Alexa Ace

are the primary contributors, though neither of these numbers represent a greater than 5 percent deviation below the national average.

Though these numbers might be low compared to the approximately 97 percent of scientists who agree climate change is as serious as it is real, these statistics speak volumes for both the state and the nation as a whole, indicating a positive trend in the right direction.

“A lot of people who come will probably already be educated on the issues, but I think an important aspect to just talking to people who already know about these issues is it gets them more worked up and they want to do more about it,” Walker said. “When you give people next steps and things to do after, then it can be an inspirational thing. And so largely, that’s what we want to do.”

Visit earth-strike.com.

Earth Strike Rally/March 2-3 p.m. Jan. 15 400 E. Reno Ave. facebook.com/rscdsa Free

CALENDAR

WE’RE SOCIAL.

These are events recommended

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

BOOKS Brunching with Books discuss the most recent reading assignment chosen by group preference at this biweekly book club held at local restaurants, 11:30 a.m.- 1:30 p.m. Jan. 5. Florence’s Restaurant, 1437 NE 23rd St., 405-427-3663, facebook.com/ florencesrestaurant. SAT

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Cris Mazza reading the author will read from her short story collection Charlatan, exploring sexual politics and accountability, 7-9 p.m. Jan. 7. Old Trinity of Paseo Event Center, 3000 N. Lee Ave. MON Mid-Oklahoma Writers a meetup for local writers featuring guest speakers and literary discussions, 7-9 p.m. the second Tuesday of the month.

Eastside Church of Christ, 916 S. Douglas Blvd., 405-732-0393. TUE Oklahoma Voices hear featured poets read from their works at this monthly event, 2 p.m. the first Sunday of every month, 2 p.m. Dec. 2. IAO Gallery, 706 W. Sheridan Ave., 405-232-6060, iaogallery.org. SUN What Lies Between Us with Ayanna Najuma join a conversation on social justice centered around the book White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin Diangelo, 6:308 p.m. Jan. 8. Full Circle Bookstore, 1900 Northwest Expressway, 405-842-2900, fullcirclebooks.com. TUE

FILM Blockbusted Video: Howard the Duck (1986, USA, Willard Huyck) watch the epic tale of the duck from outer space who joins an ‘80s new wave band and riff along with comics and film nerds at this screening where audience participation is encouraged; hosted by VHS & Chill, 7-9 p.m. Jan. 2. The Paramount Room, 701 W. Sheridan Ave., 405-8873327, theparamountroom.com. WED The Favourite (2018, Ireland, Yorgos Lanthimos) as Queen Anne (Olivia Colman) grows weaker and her health fails her, her friend Lady Sarah (Rachel Weisz) takes on royal responsibilities in 18th-century England, through Jan. 3. Rodeo Cinema, 2221 Exchange Ave., 405-235-3456. WED-THU

@OKGAZETTE

Phantom of the Paradise Deals with the devil, disfiguring accidents, music industry intrigue and Oscarnominated songs are just a few of the elements included in director Brian De Palma’s 1974 rock musical. Over the top even by De Palma’s standards, recounting the plot to this surreal and campy riff on Faust and Phantom of the Opera in accurate detail might take longer than the film’s 91-minute runtime. This screening, hosted by Oklahoma Film Society, gives viewers the rare chance to witness the insanity on the big-screen because your laptop or iPad can’t possibly contain it all.

Phantom of the Paradise is here 7 p.m. Tuesday at The Paramount Room, 701 W. Sheridan Ave. Admission is free. Visit facebook. com/okcfilmsociety.

TUESDAY Photo provided

HAPPENINGS Board Game Day enjoy local craft beer while playing old-school board and arcade games with friends, 5-8 p.m. Sundays. FlashBack RetroPub, 814 W. Sheridan Ave., 405-633-3604, flashbackretropub.com. SUN Burning Bowl Ceremony and Shamanic Clearing focus on letting go of negative thoughts and emotions at this ritual that invites participants to write down things they wish to rid of in the New Year on pieces of paper and then burn them, 7-9 p.m. Jan. 2. The School of Natural Wisdom, 6817 NW 27th St., 405-255-8366, facebook.com/schoolofnaturalwisdom. WED Chicago Steppin Class learn how to do the popular dance at this free weekly class, 7-9 p.m. Thursdays.

L & G’s on the BLVD, 4801 N. Lincoln Blvd., 405-5242001, facebook.com/landgsontheblvd. THU

Keto Cooking Class Let’s be honest: None of your friends understand your diet. Anytime you try to describe it to anyone, they wind up thinking you’re losing weight by drinking BLT smoothies and sucking the skin off rotisserie chickens or something. If you’d like to talk about ketogenic eating with someone who actually understands it, this class will teach you to prepare healthy meals using low-carb vegetables and nutritious protein sources, assuming you’re tired of eating whole blocks of cheese with your bare hands or whatever the heck it is you’re doing.

The class is 6-8 p.m. Monday at Trinity Exercise Studio, 15220 N. Western Ave., Suite E1, in Edmond. Admission is $35. Call 405-315-2402 or visit trinityexercisestudio.com.

MONDAY Photo bigstock.com

Conversational Spanish Group Meetup an opportunity for all experience levels to practice speaking Spanish, 7 p.m. Tuesdays. Full Circle Bookstore, 1900 Northwest Expressway, 405-842-2900, fullcirclebooks.com. TUE Credit Empowerment Workshop learn tips and tricks to raise your credit score from financial consultant De’Iona Monay of the Xtreme Financial Academy, 3:30-6 p.m. Jan. 5. Dunlap Codding, 609 W. Sheridan Ave., 405-607-8600, dunlapcodding.com. SAT Illuminations: A Northern Lights Experience a high-tech light show in the Crystal Bridge Tropical Conservatory, through Jan. 2. Myriad Botanical Gardens, 301 W. Reno Ave., 405-445-7080, myriadgardens.com. TUE-WED Mindful Yoga Happy Hour practice mindful meditation with Bhante Santhapiya, followed by coffee, tea and conversation, 5-7 p.m. Fridays.

Oklahoma Buddhist Vihara, 4820 N. Portland Ave., 405-810-6528, okbv.org. FRI RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 4 Watch Party meet up with other fans to watch the popular reality show paired with a live drag show featuring local performers, 7-9 p.m. Fridays. The Boom, 2218 NW 39th St., 405-601-7200, theboomokc.com. FRI Kate Bunce, Musica (detail), ca. 1895–97. Oil on canvas, 40 3/16 x 30 3/16 x 1 3/4 in., Birmingham Museums Trust (1897P17). © Birmingham Museums Trust

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O KG A Z E T T E . C O M | J A N U A R Y 2 , 2 0 1 9

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continued from page 29 Tarot Talk learn about the imagery and symbolism in Alistair Crowley’s Thoth Tarot card deck, 4 p.m. Jan. 5. Sekhet Bast Ra Oasis, 2714 N. Pennsylvania Ave., 405-706-7379, sekhetbastra.org. SAT Together Oklahoma: Toasting our New Year’s Resolutions drink champagne and make resolutions for Oklahoma’s legislators and other elected officials to let them know what their priorities should be in 2019, 7-8:30 p.m. Jan. 8. The Paseo Plunge, 3010 Paseo St., 405-315-6224, paseoplunge.org. TUE

Trans Friendly Game Night members of the trans community and their allies are invited to enjoy a variety of boardgames at this meetup hosted by PFLAG Norman, 6-10 p.m. Jan. 8. Loot&XP, 2228 W Main St., 405-310-3230, lootandxp.com. TUE Wednesday Night Trivia test your knowledge on various subjects for the chance to win prizes, 8 p.m. Wednesdays. The Garage Burgers and Beer, 1117 N. Robinson Ave., 405-602-6880, http:www. eatatthegarage.com. WED

FOOD Bubbles and Brunch pair mimosas and bloody Marys with shrimp and grits at this event co-hosted

by OKC Black Eats, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Jan. 5. Chef Curry To Go, 5701 N. Western Ave., 405-608-8050, chefcurrytogo.com. SAT Intro to Making Sushi Class learn to slice salmon, prepare professional-quality sushi rice and make salmon and California rolls at this class for beginners, noon-2 p.m. Jan. 6. Full Moon Sushi, 326 E. Main St, 405-701-1800, fullmoonsushi.com. SUN

YOUTH The Disgusting Human Body learn about the digestive system by creating a model of the human stomach out of household items and ready to get messy, 2-3 p.m. Jan. 2. Almonte Library, 2914 SW 59th St., 405-606-3575, metrolibrary.org. WED

Early Explorers toddlers and preschoolers can participate in fun scientific activities they can repeat later at home, 10-11 a.m. Thursdays, Science Museum Oklahoma, 2020 Remington Place, 405-602-6664, sciencemuseumok.org. THU Jewelry Design Class for Kids learn to create necklaces, bracelets and earrings at this workshop for beginning and advanced jewelry makers age 5 and up, 6-8 p.m. Jan. 5. Heart Studios, 3208 Teakwood Lane, Suite 103, 405-664-4194, heartstudiosllc.com. SAT Reading Wednesdays a weekly story time with hands-on activities, goody bags and reading-themed photo ops, 9:30-10:30 a.m. Wednesdays. Myriad Botanical Gardens, 301 W. Reno Ave., 405-445-7080, myriadgardens.com. WED Storytime Science the museum invites children age 6 and younger to hear a story and participate in a related scientific activity, 10 a.m. Tuesdays and Saturdays.

Science Museum Oklahoma, 2020 Remington Place, 405-602-6664, sciencemuseumok.org. TUE-SAT

PERFORMING ARTS Divine Comedy a weekly local showcase featuring a variety of comedians from OKC and elsewhere, 9 p.m. Wednesdays. 51st Street Speakeasy, 1114 NW 51st St., 405-463-0470, 51stspeakeasy.com. WED The Future of Sound Sessions hear live music by The Allie Lauren Project and Jarvix and watch aerial silk dancing by Morgan Smith and live painting by painting

by Justin Cabellero, 7-9 p.m. Jan. 5. Factory Obscura, 1522 S. Robinson Ave. SAT Jazz & Blues Mondays a weekly showcase for musicians and vocalists, 8:30 p.m. Mondays. Ice Event Center & Grill, 1148 NE 36th St., 405-208-4240, iceeventcentergrill.eat24hour.com. MON Lumpy’s Open Mic Night play a song of your own or just listen to the performers at this weekly show hosted by John Riley Willingham, 9 p.m.

Wednesdays. Lumpy’s Sports Grill, 12325 N. May Ave., 405-286-3300, lumpyssportsgrill.com. WED Open Mic a weekly comedy show followed by karaoke, 7:30-9 p.m. Fridays. Don Quixote Club, 3030 N. Portland Ave., 405-947-0011. FRI Open Mic hosted by Elecktra, this open mic has an open-stage, almost-anything-goes policy and a booked feature act, 6-11:30 p.m. The Root, 3012 N. Walker Ave., 405-655-5889, therootokc.com. MON Open Mic a music and comedy open mic hosted by Amanda Howle, 7:30 p.m. every other Wednesday.

Triple’s, 8023 NW 23rd St., 405-789-3031. WED Open Mic at The Deli hosted by Jarvix, this monthly show offers anyone the opportunity to sing or perform, 10 p.m.-1 a.m. first Wednesday of every month. The Deli, 309 White St., Norman, 405-3293934, thedeli.us. WED Poetry and Chill Open Mic poets and spoken-word artists the stage to share their latest verses at this bi-weekly event, 9 p.m.-midnight Fridays. The Queen Lounge, 2306 N. MacArthur Blvd., 405-606-8616. FRI Public Access Open Mic read poetry, do standup comedy, play music or just watch as an audience member, 7 p.m. Sundays. The Paseo Plunge, 3010 Paseo St., 405-315-6224, paseoplunge.org. SUN Rap and Jam Salon learn new musical skills in a variety of genres from local musicians at this monthly workshop, 4-6 p.m. first Sunday of every month. Your Mom’s Place, 919 N. Virginia Ave. SUN Rebels & Royals Drag King Show hosted by former Mister USofA Damian Matrix-Gritte, this monthly show features local drag kings and special guests 10:30 p.m.-12:30 a.m. Fridays. Frankie’s, 2807 NW 36th St., 405-602-2030, facebook.com/ frankiesokc. FRI

David Bowie Power Flow Tribute The idea of a yoga class soundtracked

by David Bowie’s cosmic glam-rock is fairly self-explanatory, so we’ll just tell you to bring your own water bottle, but towels, mats, blocks and straps are provided, so we can devote the rest of this space to naming possible Bowiethemed yoga poses: The Downward Facing Diamond Dog, Half Moonage Daydream, The Jean Genie, The Spider from Mars, Ground Control to Major Tom, The Babe with the Power. The class is 7:15-8:15 p.m. Tuesday at 405 Yoga, 1004 N. Hudson Ave. Admission is $15. Call 405-778-8905 or visit 405yogaokc.com.

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Red Dirt Open Mic a weekly open mic for comedy and poetry, hosted by Red Dirt Poetry, 7:30-10:30 p.m. Wednesdays. Sauced on Paseo, 2912 Paseo St., 405-521-9800, saucedonpaseo.com. WED Revolution: The Beatles Symphonic Experience a musical tribute to the Fab Four with a rock band, vocalists, an orchestra and a multimedia presentation featuring rarely scene photos, 8 p.m.

Jan. 4-5. Civic Center Music Hall, 201 N. Walker Ave., 405-297-2264, okcciviccenter.com. FRI-SAT The Skirvin Jazz Club a weekly live jazz show presented by OK Sessions, 7:30 p.m. Fridays. Park Avenue Grill, 1 Park Avenue, 405-702-8444, parkavegrill.com. FRI Wayne Cantwell: Traditional Music of the Open Prairie hear the musician perform folk music on banjo, fiddle, and mountain dulcimer, 1-2 p.m. Jan. 5. American Banjo Museum, 9 E. Sheridan Ave., 405604-2793, americanbanjomuseum.com. SAT

ACTIVE Co-ed Open Adult Volleyball enjoy a game of friendly yet competitive volleyball while making new friends, 6-8 p.m. Wednesdays. Jackie Cooper Gymnasium, 1024 E. Main St., Yukon, 405-350-8920, cityofyukon.gov. WED Dance Session & Movement Workshop a guided warmup followed by an informal dance ses-

Integris Changing Your Weighs In less than two decades, the obesity rate in Oklahoma went from one of the lowest in the nation to one of the highest, and that’s not a chart we want to be rapidly climbing, especially in our condition.

If you’ve been promising yourself you’ll make a change but don’t think you have the time or extra money, this free eight-week class offers practical realworld health advice from registered dietitians and exercise specialists, focusing on healthy eating and increased physical activity. The class meets 5:30-6:30 p.m. Thursdays Jan. 5-Feb. 28 at Integris Community Wellness, 5100 N. Brookline Ave., Suite 100. Admission is free but reservations are required due to limited class size. Call 405-951-2277.

THURSDAY-FEB. 28 Photo bigstock.com sion for all ages and skill and experience levels, 4:306:30 p.m. Jan. 6. Resonator, 325 E Main St., Norman, resonator.space. SUN Monday Night Group Ride meet up for a weekly 25-30 minute bicycle ride at about 18 miles per hour through East Oklahoma City, 6 p.m. Mondays. The Bike Lab OKC, 2200 W. Hefner Road, 405-603-7655. MON Open Badminton hit some birdies in some morning pick-up games of badminton with friends, 10 a.m.noon Saturdays. Jackie Cooper Gymnasium, 1024 E. Main St., Yukon, 405-350-8920, cityofyukon.gov. SAT Wheeler Criterium a weekly nighttime cycling event with criterium races, food trucks and family activities, 5-8 p.m. Tuesdays. Wheeler Park, 1120 S. Western Ave., 405-297-2211, okc.gov. TUE Yoga Tuesdays an all-levels class; bring your own water and yoga mat, 5:45 p.m.-7 p.m. Tuesdays.

Myriad Botanical Gardens, 301 W. Reno Ave., 405445-7080, myriadgardens.com. TUE

VISUAL ARTS American Indian Artists: 20th Century Masters an exhibition of Native art from the Kiowa Six, Harrison Begay, Tonita Peña and more, through May 12. National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, 1700 NE 63rd St., 405-478-2250, nationalcowboymuseum.org. SAT-SUN ArtNow Gallery Talk hear artists Ryan Davis, Darci Lenker, Katharine Norton, Sarah Sullivan, and Stella Thomas discuss their work, 6 p.m. Jan. 8. Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center, 3000 General Pershing Blvd., 405-951-0000, oklahomacontemporary.org. TUE

Paseo Arts District’s First Friday Gallery Walk peruse art from over 80 artists with 25 participating business for a night of special themed exhibits, refreshments and a variety of entertainment opportunities, 6-10 p.m. first Friday of every month. Paseo Arts District, 3022 Paseo St., 405-5252688, thepaseo.org. FRI Pop Stars! Popular Culture and Contemporary Art an exploration of contemporary pop art inspired by Andy Warhol, Nick Cave, R. Luke DuBois and others, through Feb. 28. 21c Museum Hotel, 900 W. Main St., 405-982-6900, 21cmuseumhotels.com.

SUN-THU

T-Shirt Screen Printing with Virginia Sitzes learn the basics of T-shirt design and production at this hands-on workshop; all other supplies provided, but bring your own T-shirt, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Jan. 5. [Artspace] at Untitled, 1 NE Third St., 405-815-6665, 1ne3.org. SAT Victorian Radicals: From the Pre-Raphaelites to the Arts & Crafts Movement an exhibit exploring the revolutionary artworks of Victorian England featuring many works not previously seen outside the UK, through Jan. 6. Oklahoma City Museum of Art, 415 Couch Drive, 405-236-3100, okcmoa.com. SAT-SUN Whiteout at Campbell Art Park an outdoor artwork made by hundreds of transparent white spheres embedded with white LED lights and animated in large-scale patterns, through March 31.

Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center, 3000 General Pershing Blvd., 405-951-000, oklahomacontemporary.org. WED-SUN

Beautiful Minds: Dyslexia and the Creative Advantage an exhibition of artworks created by people with dyslexia including students from Oklahoma City’s Trinity School, through July 14. Science Museum Oklahoma, 2020 Remington Place, 405-602-6664, sciencemuseumok.org. FRI-SUN Cowboys in Khaki: Westerners in the Great War learn about the ways Westerners contributed to the US effort in World War I at this exhibit featuring military, rodeo and other historical memorabilia from the time period, through May 12. National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, 1700 NE 63rd St., 405478-2250, nationalcowboymuseum.org. SAT-SUN Greg Burns: A Collection of Contemporary Watercolors the Oklahoma artist displays works inspired by trips to New Mexico and Florida, through Jan. 19. [Artspace] at Untitled, 1 NE Third St., 405815-6665, 1ne3.org. THU-SAT Inspirations from Nature an exhibition of abstract paintings by Anthony Dyke and Susan Morrison-Dyke celebrating the beauty of nature and architecture, through Jan. 31. Myriad Botanical Gardens, 301 W. Reno Ave., 405-445-7080, myriadgardens.com. TUE-THU Into the Fold: The Art and Science of Origami features origami artists from around the world and displays the techniques of artful paper folding and other unique applications of origami, through Jan. 13.

Science Museum Oklahoma, 2020 Remington Place, 405-602-6664, sciencemuseumok.org. FRI-SUN

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

Late submissions will not be included in the listings.

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

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For OKG live music

see page 33

EVENT

MUSIC

Invasion history

Peter Asher recounts his role in 1960s British pop music in a one-man show. By Jeremy Martin

Interviewing breakout pop stars in the 1960s, music journalists all seemed to want to know one thing.

“If you look at any old Beatle interviews or our interviews, or anybody’s interviews,” said Peter Asher of the duo Peter & Gordon, who recorded several hit songs in the mid-’60s including “A World Without Love,” written by Paul McCartney, “the one question we all got asked, always, was ‘What are you going to do when this is all over?’ because it was an absolute conviction that a career in pop music was two years or thereabouts, and that would be it.

They all said, ‘What are you going to do when you go back to being a boatman or whatever you were?’”

Asher, who began entertaining as a child actor, followed his years performing with Gordon Waller in Peter & Gordon with a stint as the head of the artists and repertoire (A&R) division of The Beatles’ Apple Records label, then as a manager for musicians including James Taylor, Linda Ronstadt a nd Jon i M it c he l l .

The musi-

cian-turned-music executive discusses his decades in the industry in his touring one-man show Peter Asher: A Musical Memoir of the ’60s and Beyond, scheduled to make an Oklahoma City stop for two performances 8 p.m. Jan. 9-10 at The Blue Door, 2805 N. McKinley Ave. A Musical Memoir illustrates Asher’s stories with photographs, film clips and live musical performances, and the show is slightly different every time.

“Even though I tell the same stories, exactly how I tell them changes,” Asher said. “I find myself remembering little different bits of information even as I tell the stories. I make it clear to the audience, too, that if anybody has a question or anything, heckling is welcome.”

Asher’s stories and songs span more than 50 years, but the show is about two hours long with an intermission.

Deciding what to include and what to omit, especially after new relevant videos are discovered, is an ongoing process requiring frequent tweaking.

“There’s a lot of ground, there’s a lot of time to try to cover,” Asher said. “It’s been about a decade of changing and developing and adjusting.”

The same could be said of the

1960s, a decade of significant cultural, political and social upheaval with implications carrying into the present day. While people today are aware of many of the major personalities and prevalent ideals of the era, Asher said many Americans are surprised to learn how much of the British Invasion influencing U.S. culture in the Peter Asher, one half of 1960s pop duo Peter & Gordon, is scheduled to bring his his touring one-man show Peter Asher: A Musical Memoir of the ’60s and Beyond, to Oklahoma City for two performances at The Blue Door. | Photo Joe Carducci

mid-1960s was propelled by the influence of American exports. Asher, who calls himself “the world’s biggest Woody Guthrie fan,” said British rock musicians at the time were heavily influenced by American folk music, jazz and R&B. “I still don’t think Americans realize how much our interest was all based on our admiration and longing for America,” he said. “They don’t realize how different things were in Britain in the ’50s. It was post-war depression and rationing, bombsites and black-and-white. We looked across at America, and it was all glossy and Technicolor and amazing. Then when we discovered the music, and it was, like, wow. … Essentially, the whole British Invasion, the mystery about it, the most astonishing thing is it really consisted of us falling in love with your music, learning it and selling it back to you.”

Ever-present past

In addition to multiple McCartneypenned hits (McCartney dated and was briefly engaged to Asher’s sister, actress and author Jane Asher), Peter & Gordon

charted in the U.S. by recording songs written by Americans Buddy Holly (“True Love Ways”), Del Shannon (“I Go to Pieces”) and Phil Spector (“To Know Him Is to Love Him”). After dozens of years apart, Waller and Asher reunited in 2005 and continued performing together until Waller died in 2009.

“When Gordon died,” Asher said, “I had to go, ‘Does that mean that I’m never going to sing these songs or tell these stories again?’ I started to consider whether I could put together something that might be fun to do on my own.”

A Musical Memoir is the result, but while Asher said a book based on the radio show he hosts on SiriusXM’s Beatles Channel, Peter Asher: From Me to You, is in the works, he has so far refused offers to publish his memoirs in written form.

“I was approached by a publisher,” Asher said, “and I said, ‘No, I’m not going to write my autobiography’ because everybody who worked at the Beatles’ Apple has written a book. I mean everybody — my assistant at Apple, the doorman at Apple, literally, I’m not kidding. They’ve all written books, and I just didn’t want to get into that sort of gossipy area.”

He said he admires the scholarly approach author Martin Lewisohn has taken in books such as The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions, but Asher, for the present, would rather have his

show in its current live and malleable form because he still wants the opportunity to fix any errors he makes in remembering his own history.

“This way, if I get something wrong, I can just go, ‘Oh, OK. I’ll fix it,’” Asher said.

“With a book, you’re saying, ‘This is exactly what happened,’ and having read some of the existing books, I know how much of the stuff in them is wrong. … A lot of it is anecdotal and guesswork and so on, and I try to stay clear of it. In this context, of course, there’s the tendency of everybody to go, ‘So then I said to John,’ and ‘Then I told Paul,’ and this ‘I was the fifth Beatle’ nonsense. I would like to make it clear I was not the fifth Beatle.”

By reminiscing onstage, he offers others the chance to remind him of things he has forgotten.

“In the course of it, you do find yourself remembering other stuff,” Asher said. “Somebody just yesterday emailed me about seeing Peter & Gordon at the roller rink in Alexandria, Virginia, and I suddenly I kind of remembered it. I actually had a mental picture of this weird, low-ceilinged roller rink that we were onstage at in Alexandria, Virginia.”

The idea that some pop culture moments could live on only in dim memories might seem alien in the 21st century.

“Now all this stuff would be so heavily documented,” Asher said. “Any gig you mention, there’d be 20 people putting the film up on their phone online in seconds. … Nowadays, of course, everything’s recorded to death whether you like it or not.”

But at least people have stopped asking Asher when he will give up on music and go back to his day job.

“People don’t ask that now,” Asher said, “but then, definitely, it was a tacit assumption that every pop star was a flash in the pan. …The ‘rock ’n’ roll will never die’ thing, that’s where that came from because people were saying that it would. That’s why it needed defending, and of course, it did not die.”

Tickets are $40. Visit bluedoorokc. com.

Peter Asher: A Musical Memoir of the ’60s and Beyond 8 p.m. Jan. 9-10 The Blue Door 2805 N. McKinley Ave. bluedoorokc.com | 405-524-0738 $40

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MUSIC

EVENT

Andrew Grimm and ellen cherry host the podcast Why Aren’t You Famous? | Photo Blonnie Brooks

Famous ideas

Two working musicians explore the meaning of fame through their podcast and live on tour. By Joshua Blanco

Why aren’t you famous? It’s a good question. Perhaps you’ve been asked before, or maybe you’ve asked another. It’s possible you’ve even asked yourself. In reality, few will attain such recognition. The elusive nature of fame is what defines it, branding it as an eternally coveted achievement, exclusive to the distinguished and reserved only for those deemed worthy of its illustrious status.

The reason some of us are not yet famous isn’t so simple, and that’s why Andrew Grimm and ellen cherry have devoted an entire podcast to tackling the seemingly inexplicable concept of fame and why they and others like them haven’t quite made the cut.

For roughly two decades, Grimm and cherry have worked as gigging musicians, dedicating themselves to their passion, the art of music. So why haven’t you seen their faces on the cover of the latest Rolling Stone?

Despite years of hard work and international tours, neither has topped the charts, released a best-selling album or delivered a sold-out performance at Madison Square Garden.

And you might be surprised to learn that it’s not for a lack of talent. After all, people like them. They have listeners who attend their shows and buy their albums, genuine fans who support their work and come back wanting more.

The bottom line is fame was never their objective.

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Both Grimm and cherry recall moments after shows in which fans would ask why they weren’t famous.

Their responses give the impression of two individuals for whom the notion of stardom is merely an intruding abstraction held light-years away from their conscious thought.

“When somebody says, ‘Why aren’t you famous?’ you think, ‘Well, fame isn’t really my goal. My goal is to try to create something really beautiful and meaningful or express myself,’” cherry said. “The idea of it may sound really appealing but … I wanna know if I can write a line that rhymes and if I can express myself in metaphor, and that came to be a more interesting and, to me, worthy goal.” cherry met Grimm in 2004 in what she describes as a “cosmic meeting.” In need of an opener for his upcoming show, Grimm feverishly scrolled through lists of local musicians hoping for the right fit. On Baltimorebands. com, he could see pictures of cherry along with descriptions and press reviews covering her work.

“How bad could it be?” he asked himself.

Not bad at all. The two discovered a near instantaneous connection to one another through music, a connection they describe as fueling their growth as musicians to this day.

“It’s an honor, always, to be asked to play somebody’s show sight unseen,” cherry said of their initial meeting.

“Frankly, it’s really wonderful and I’m very happy that we met.”

Like cherry, the concept of fame seemed to elude Grimm.

“We just thought it was a silly concept and decided to try to explore what [fame] means for an independent musician that is on a very low tier,” he said.

So they created a podcast exploring the different facets of fame while pulling back the curtain on life as independent musicians, including a look into booking a tour and landing gigs without the employment of agents who know the business. It’s not uncommon for them to express the frustration that comes with unresponsiveness and rejection, either.

“We thought there’s gotta be a way to make our voice heard because you just start to feel invisible after a while,” cherry admitted. “And so part of the hope of the podcast is that people who are struggling with that feeling of invisibility don’t give up.”

“It’s a war of attrition. All you gotta do is hang in there,” Grimm said.

Telling stories

Using their podcast as a platform for other artists, each episode in the first season would feature a song by a musician they had met on the road in an effort to help increase their audience.

Episodes would also feature Grimm and cherry reading aloud a personal essay focusing on the meaning and economy of fame. Though the essays were written beforehand, their reactions were not.

Twenty-one of the 24 episodes in the first season were centered on a preplanned theme, yet the show remains largely unscripted.

“It was a space for us to do something different, to kind of push our limits on how we write and what we write about,” Grimm said.

The second and current season features musicians with whom cherry and Grimm have become acquainted or, as cherry puts it, are “comrades in arms in the fight to continue to make art important in [their] culture.”

For season two, friends who are invited on to the show select a topic they would like to discuss. Grimm, cherry and their guests each write a song over the topic and perform the number while on the air. It’s risky, but Grimm said all songs have been great thus far.

“A rising tide will lift all these boats; that’s really one of the hopes of this podcast and of our continued work individually and together, that if we can raise the bar and also raise that tide and bring other people with us, that’s an amazing thing,” cherry said. “It feels good to do that, and I think it shows people that songwriting is important and storytelling is important and supporting those people that make that work is important.”

But that doesn’t mean they’re putting the brakes on their own schedule.

Saturday at 6 p.m., the Baltimore-based pair will make a stop at Joe’s Addiction, 1806 SE 59th St., in Oklahoma City as part of their tour.

Over the years, both Grimm and cherry have dealt with their fair share of trials and tribulations. In an evening filled with music and storytelling, they hope to hone in on the sentimental subject of empathy while delving into more personal and existential anecdotes.

“Seeing somebody not for what might afflict them but for them being themselves,” Grimm said, is a message he believes is worth spreading.

Since their last visit, they befriended the coffee shop’s owners and have looked forward to coming back to put on another show for their audience.

“I am really looking forward to going back to Oklahoma City, to be in that neighborhood and be in that community of people again, because it was such a great feeling last time,” cherry said.

“And just to be there, I feel like we build these pockets of friendships as we tour.”

“The majority of people that I have met on the road have been warm, kind, caring, giving people, and Oklahoma City was no exception,” Grimm said.

Visit whyarentyoufamous.org.

Why Aren’t You Famous?

6 p.m. Saturday Joe’s Addiction 1806 SE 59th St. whyarentyoufamous.org Free (donations accepted)

LIVE MUSIC Fort Defiance/Welcome Little Stranger, The Root. FOLK

These are events recommended

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

Jack Rowdy, Landing Zone. COUNTRY Miss Brown to You!, Full Circle Bookstore. FOLK The SEARCH Committee Brass Band/The Deep Deuce Brass Band, VZD’s Restaurant & Bar. JAZZ

WEDNESDAY, JAN. 2

SUNDAY, JAN. 6

Maurice Johnson, The R & J Lounge and Supper Club. JAZZ

Duane Mark, Lost Highway. SINGER/SONGWRITER

THURSDAY, JAN. 3

MONDAY, JAN. 7

Brandi Reloaded, VZD’s Restaurant & Bar. COVER

Jason Hunt, Sean Cumming’s Irish Restaurant. FOLK

Hot House Band, Othello’s Italian Restaurant. JAZZ

TUESDAY, JAN. 8

Shelly Phelps and Dylan Nagode, Jazmo’z Bourbon St. Café. JAZZ

FRIDAY, JAN. 4 Carol Morgan/All For More/Magic Munchbox, 51st Street Speakeasy. ROCK Cowboy Troy, Chisholm’s Saloon. COUNTRY Drive, Remington Park. COVER Gary Gibson Band, Landing Zone. COUNTRY Hank Western, JR’s Pub & Grill. COUNTRY Janice Francis Smith, Full Circle Bookstore. SINGER/ SONGWRITER

Jessica Tate & John Rouse, Bossa Nova Caipirinha Lounge. JAZZ L-Smooth Mensah/Marcel P. Black, The Root.

Country Clique, Friends Restaurant & Club.

COUNTRY

Kyle Reid, Scratch Kitchen & Cocktails. SINGER/ Toadface Bugs for Breakfast, released in September, opens with a Pink SONGWRITER Floydian wash of clock chimes, but the bass drops just a few ticks later, letting you know Dayton, Ohio’s Toadface is taking the low road. It’s still a road less WEDNESDAY, JAN. 9 traveled, though. While the album features plenty of the rumble and wobble Katie & the Elements, The R & J Lounge and Supper expected from bass music, Toadface’s sonic experimentation is also heavy on Club. JAZZ psychedelic exploration, mixing video game blips with vocal samples, barking dogs, crying babies and even what sounds like organic instrumentation, Live music submissions must be creating a uniquely spacey style that wouldn’t be out of place at a dance party received by Oklahoma Gazette no later on the dark side of the moon. The show is 8-11:30 p.m. Friday at 89th Streetthan noon on Wednesday seven days OKC, 8911 N. Western Ave. Tickets are $13. Call 405-463-9203 or visit before the desired publication date.

89thstreetokc.com. FRIDAY Photo provided Late submissions will not be included in

HIP-HOP

Adam Miller, Penn Square Mall. SINGER/SONG-

SATURDAY, JAN. 5

Alter Ego, Red Brick Bar. ROCK

WRITER

Bobby Chill and the Wave, Red Brick Bar. ROCK Drive, Remington Park. COVER The Flannels, Okie Tonk Café. COVER

the listings. Submissions run as space allows, although we strive to make the listings as inclusive as possible.

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

Sorry, but phone submissions cannot be accepted.

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O KG A Z E T T E . C O M | J A N U A R Y 2 , 2 0 1 9

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PUZZLES NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE CROSSWORD PUZZLE

‘NO DUH!’ | 0106

By Luke Vaughn Puzzles edited by Will Shortz

ACROSS 1 Fixture on a ski-lodge deck 7 Sound quality 13 West African capital 19 Like counting your chickens before

they’ve hatched 20 Going great guns, as business 22 Come to terms with 23 “Good golly!” across the pond 24 Close enough 25 Cloaklike garment 26 Nosh 27 Goes around 29 Hardly a right-minded individual?

31 NCAA rival of Duke 32 To which one might respond, “Salud!”

33 Superlative suffix 34 Summer setting in Seattle: Abbr.

36 Reason for an R rating?

39 McGregor who played Obi-Wan Kenobi 42 Gobble 44 Quaint photos 45 Cuban or Zuckerberg?

48 Archie’s pal at Riverdale 51 Dry as a bone 52 Largest species of the genus Leopardus 53 Fighting 54 Sprang 57 More ready to go 60 Show stopper?

62 Pure and simple 64 Part of the eye where vision is sharpest 65 Old hand 68 Maker of the MDX luxury SUV 69 Needing certain ink for a color printer?

71 Epitome of laziness 73 Freestyle, e.g.

74 Harbor city of NW France 76 Went to court, say 77 It may be right under your nose, informally 78 Fixture behind the bar 80 IHOP order 82 Billy of infomercial fame 83 Only European capital on both a

river and an ocean 86 Kind of vision 88 Fit for the job 90 Impetus behind a paternity test?

93 Not so far 95 “Straight Outta Compton” group 96 “The path to the dark side,” per Yoda 97 On a Paleo diet, say?

102 Slow boat 104 ____ Studies (college major) 106 Big Starbucks orders 107 Year the Office of Homeland

Security was created 108 Some paints 111 Rumbles 112 “The world’s greatest …,” e.g.

113 Opposite 115 Capital of Thessaly 117 Washington air hub 119 Post-workout activity 120 Unusually short 121 Start to take off, in a way 122 Shanghai 123 Accents and Sonatas 124 100-meter and 200-meter

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DOWN 1 Commotion 2 Connected 3 Reaction to a really bad pun 4 Something you might need to kill 5 Treat like an object 6 Really, really needing some sun?

7 Neighborhood north of the World

Trade Center 8 Charges 9 Weasel’s relative 10 Beach tops 11 ____ Tin Tin 12 2003 Economics Nobelist Robert 13 One’s most ardent supporters 14 Finisher of cakes 15 86 16 Buy one circus animal, get one

circus animal free?

17 Most newspapers have one 18 Sport-____ 21 Theodor ____ (Dr. Seuss’s real name) 28 Live 30 Stealth bomber, familiarly 32 Partner of snick 33 French Alpine river 35 Root of Polynesia 37 Mesopotamian mother goddess 38 Female in a pen 40 In front of, old-style 41 Cowboys’ home, for short

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43 It’s more than a warning: Abbr.

46 Street handout, maybe 47 View from la plage 48 Aladdin villain 49 City between Albany and Rochester 50 Stimulate 51 2017 World Series winner, for short 55 Something required 56 Dog or cat transporter 58 Often-smoked cheese 59 First lady 61 Shia of Transformers 63 Beginnings of fame and fortune?

65 Some SAT study 66 Kind of alcohol 67 ____ Days (1990s platinum Bon

Jovi album) 69 Anthem contraction 70 On another call 72 Hedy ____, subject of the 2017 documentary Bombshell 75 Woman’s name meaning “born again” 77 Installment of a women’s clothing catalog?

78 Common potato- chip flavor, in brief 79 Hybrid tourney style 81 Pure 83 Worker at a hosp.

84 Waterloo’s home 85 Something up for grabs on a fishing boat?

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87 Director Lee 89 Rules, informally 91 Untagged 92 Quavering sounds 93 Rating somebody?

94 The Supreme Court and the Muses 98 Zoroastrianism’s sacred text 99 Author of The Joy Luck Club 100 Collision 101 Barbara and Jenna Bush, to Jeb 103 Famous 105 Exams for future JDs 109 Traveling from coast to coast, maybe 110 Car-sticker fig.

111 “Do you ____?”

112 Robust 113 Part of AMA 114 X 116 Medicinal plant 118 Part of SASE: Abbr.

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J A N U A R Y 2 , 2 0 1 9 | O KG A Z E T T E . C O M

NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE CROSSWORD PUZZLE ANSWERS

Puzzle No. 1230, which appeared in the Dec 26 issue.

C H E A P

H O W S A D

A L E P P O

C H U G

R E N O

O R A L

A M I E

W I N N

A R K S

T H A I

E S S A Y T E S T

P A S C A L S W A G E R

A L L A N I M A G I N E S

S A M A N T O H A A R

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

G R A V E U R E O N E A L I O N S T E E N O V A T H A T S F E D O N I Z R E P E A S I B L E N O L R I G F I L L U L Q U E I E S N D S

E K C O M E A L E A V E S I N S E T

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

E N D P O I N T S T A G E M O T H E R S

C L I C K B A I T

C O O T

A W N S

A M O S

L A N K

S L A W

M E G A

E B A Y

Y A R R O W

S T E L L A

S W E E P

STARGAZER ALL SIGNS

Are you interested in a personal horoscope?

Vivian Carol may be reached at (704) 366-3777 for astrology appointments. www.horoscopesbyvivian.com

On Jan. 5, 2019, we will experience an astrologically significant solar eclipse in the sign of Capricorn. This phenomenon is a symbol that marks the need for personal transformation as well as global/political change, and its effects will be notable for the next two years. Now is the time to break free of unproductive ruts and experiment with new forms in daily living patterns. Talk yourself past the fears and take the opportunity to try ideas that have been floating in the back of your mind for a long time.

ARIES

(March 21-April 19) First, take your vitamins and get plenty of rest this week. You are subject to allergic reactions or opportunistic viruses that cross your path. Your mind might feel foggy and unclear (perhaps due to allergy medications). Drive and handle tools carefully. Your dreaming mind could be especially active now.

TAURUS

(April 20-May 20)

Your romantic side is cooperating well with your nurturing side at this time. This is especially good for female friendships. Make a date for lunch and reconnect with people you like. You have the opportunity to be a healing presence for friends or family members.

GEMINI

(May 21-June 20) Your attention shifts to matters of shared resources for the next three weeks. Resources include time, things of material value, energy and sexuality. The territory is wide, ranging from the mundane study of the budget to investments, and even to important discussions with partners over the need for greater intimacy.

CLASSIFIEDS

HEALTH

CANCER

LIBRA

CAPRICORN

(Sept. 23-Oct. 22)

(June 21-July 22)

Moon children a re a lways influenced by eclipses. This one on Jan. 5, 2019 emphasizes your partner. He/she might start something new that will have an affect on your relationship. The resulting effect might not be immediately apparent, but changes will develop over the next few months.

LEO

The new moon eclipse brings attention to property. You might need to attend to that which is aging. It could be time to repair or replace. Your ruling planet is Venus. “She” moves into a new sector now through Feb. 3. Your attention will be drawn to gatherings in neighboring areas and with those of your usual environment. Those with siblings might enjoy improved relationship(s) through this period.

(Dec. 22-Jan. 19)

Please read the lead paragraph about the eclipse in your sign. Your sense of personal identity has been the subject under consideration. Who are you becoming, and who do you need to be? How do you wish to define yourself before the world? You are learning what is required for you to hold onto your identity while simultaneously maintaining a rewarding relationship.

SCORPIO

(July 23-Aug. 22)

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18)

(Oct. 23-Nov. 21)

The eclipse of this week (see lead paragraph) might bring to mind a need for change in your self-care regimen. This leads to reorganizing your daily routines to make time for improvements. Changes might also occur in your workplace that require adjustment. In the beginning, it might be unsettling, but the end result will be positive.

VIRGO

You likely will be in the right place at the right time to offer your deep compassion to someone who needs it. Nobody can be as deeply empathetic with others as The Eagle. If you follow that urge, it will be healing for you as well. That kind of energy flows both ways.

This is a week in which you will be pondering important issues. It might be about career and life direction. Now is a time to take yourself and your intentions seriously. An opportunity to shape yourself into greater maturity is right before you. Hold a long-term perspective as you make decisions now.

SAGITTARIUS

(Aug. 23-Sept. 22)

PISCES

(Nov. 22-Dec. 21)

This is a week in which your relationships flow smoothly. Mercury, your ruling planet, moves into the sector of life related to children, recreation, personal creativity and romance. Your attention will be focused in these areas through January. You will enjoy everything more if you can leave your inner critic locked in a box.

Venus enters your sign this week and will travel “with you” until Feb. 3, 2019. The subject of relationship will be very important as you move through this time. If you have issues with a partner, this is the time to lay them out on the table to take a look at how better to deal with them. Negotiate but do not accuse.

(Feb. 19-March 20)

Communication with those from a distance will be favorable and supportive to your soul self. The time is auspicious for activities related to travel, the internet, publishing, teaching, higher education and the law. You have a poetic turn of mind. You likely will enjoy reading spiritual or philosophical material.

CLASSIFIEDS

CLASSIFIEDS

MUSIC

HOMES

CLASSIFIEDS

JOBS

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