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contents 35

19

6

43

ON THE COVER

NEWS

LIFE

LIFE

It’s December in Oklahoma City, and that means ’tis the season to get out there and holly your jolly and enjoy local performing arts offerings and seasonal events that dot the calendar like sugarplums in a pudding. On the cover, Rockettes-style Santas welcome the holidays as part of Oklahoma City Philharmonic’s The Christmas Show, which runs Thursday-Saturday at Civic Center Music Hall.

Photo by Wendy Mutz / Provided.

Story by Christine Eddington, P. 35.

4

Health: vaping

24

OKG shop: holiday shopping

35

Cover: holiday events

6

City: EMBARK

9

Youth: teen pregnancy

23

Shop Local

37

Books: Starting Over

10

Chicken-Fried News

27

Education: suspension rates

38

Sudoku / Crossword

12

Commentary / Letters

29

Culture: PAMBE Ghana

40

Holiday Festivities Directory

13

Holiday Services Directory

30

Buy This Holiday Gift Guide

40

32

Community: Miller home tour

Active: KD fan website, Opening Night Finale 5k

33

Visual Arts: Brenda Kingery, Google Cultural Institute

LIFE 14

OKG picks

19

Food & Drink: Off the Hook, The Hash, briefs, OKG eat: new restaurants

43

Music: Chase Kerby, Clash by Night, listings

46

Astrology, Classifieds

Mission statement Oklahoma Gazette’s mission is to stimulate, examine and inform the public on local quality of life issues and social needs, to recognize community accomplishments, and to provide a forum for inspiration, participation and interaction across all media.

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Ga r e t t fi s b e c k

news health

Bated breath Lawmakers, vape shop owners and health officials struggle to define safety and usage guidelines for e-cigarettes.

By Laura Eastes

Sean Gore doesn’t hide his frustrations when it comes to talking about pending U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulations of electronic cigarettes.

The restrictions drafted by the federal agency and in review by the White House cause much headache for the vape shop co-owner and Oklahoma Vapor Advocacy League president.

If the 2014 FDA proposal for regulations is adopted, then “99.9 percent” of vape shops would close, he contends.

To illustrate his belief, he pointed to a small and clear e-liquid bottle during an Oklahoma Gazette interview at one of his four Get Vaped stores in the Oklahoma City metro. If the FDA establishes the premarket tobacco application, Gore would need to file an application for each e-cigarette and flavor of e-liquid he wished to sell. He names costs “in the millions” that come with no guarantee of approval. His speculation may sound extreme, but it is rooted in his study of the proposal and his knowledge of FDA officials’ warning that the application will cost shop owners millions of dollars.

Gore supports limited FDA regulations, and suggests the industry be regulated similar to food service with abiding by certain safety standards. He said mixing e-liquids is no different from flavoring a soda at a restaurant or convenience store.

“The base is Dr Pepper, but you’ve added cherry or vanilla flavor,” Gore said before asking, “It is still a Dr Pepper? Have you changed the product?”

Product regulations and “grandfather dates” that influence which products staying on the market trouble Gore. He said he is outraged by regulator barriers’ impact on smallbusiness owners, which sequentially helped thousands stop smoking traditional cigarettes. Without local shops specializing in vaping products, e-cigarette users would likely return to cigarettes, benefiting Big Tobacco.

“We can help people,” said Gore, a former smoker, who tried “everything under the sun” to quit cigarettes before trying vaping 5 years ago. “That’s what we are here for.”

current smokers,” Sebelius said. “This proposed deeming rule would allow us to gain a more robust understanding, and if necessary, an ability to take action to mitigate potential harms.”

E-cig study

E-cigarette supplies at Get Vaped in Edmond.

FDA regulation

In 2003, a smoking pharmacist in China developed the first electronic cigarette and the product hit American shelves about four years later. Shortly after, health officials, anti-tobacco groups and lawmakers began sharing concerns, particularly toward children using e-cigs and the limited research on the product.

In 2009, under the Family Smoking and Tobacco Control Act, the FDA was awarded the power to regulate the tobacco industry, which included e-cigs and cigars, previously pre-exempt from past rules. In April 2014, the first restrictions on e-cigs were proposed.

In October, after rounds of review and public comment, the White House Office of Management and Budget received the latest proposal, which wasn’t public. At any time, the White House could approve or adjust the regulations before sending the document to Congress for adoption. Depending on decisions made by national leaders, the FDA rule could birth a structured, regulated vaping market or severely limit the industry that many turn to when trying to tamp down their use of traditional cigarettes.

Nationally, the vaping industry responded to the 2014 proposal with disdain, as advocacy groups — including Oklahoma Vapor Advocacy League — declared aspects of the proposal detrimental to the $2.5 billion industry.

4 | december 2, 2015 | Oklahoma Gazette

Regulatory impact

Currently, there are little to no rules when it comes to e-cigs, which are battery-operated products designed to deliver nicotine and flavors as an inhaled aerosol.

Without regulations, there is no way to ensure product consistency. A user could buy an e-liquid unaware of the amount of nicotine or other ingredients used to create the juice. E-liquid mixing might take place in a clean area by a gloved worker or in contrary conditions.

In Oklahoma, state law bans stores from selling to minors, but some states have no state laws concerning sales to youth.

Regulations would address, among other things, labeling, safety standards and sales to minors. Federal officials believe regulations would allow for further study of the industry to determine effects of e-cigs on health.

“What we don’t know yet is the full impact and ramification that these products have on our nation’s health,” said Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, during a media call April 24, 2014, which coincided with the release of the FDA’s proposed regulations. “We don’t yet have a full understanding as to whether these products serve as a gateway to the use of regular cigarettes and we don’t know how they influence the behavior of

E-cigarettes are the subject of studies, including one recently conducted by the Center for Disease Control, which undercuts the theory that e-cigs are a gateway to smoking. The study concluded 12.6 percent of Americans have tried e-cigs and only 0.4 percent of nonsmokers currently use them.

Additionally, 55.4 percent of smokers who quit had used e-cigs.

Health officials warn of the need to further study the longterm effects of e-cigs.

One such official is Adrienne Rollins, who serves as a tobacco use prevention manager at the Oklahoma State Department of Health. She recognizes many adult e-cig users are former smokers. While she applauds those trying to quit, she remains weary of smokers turning to e-cigs for help.

About two years ago, the Oklahoma State Department of Health issued a public health advisory addressing e-cigs and vapor products. The advisory warned of no regulations and cautioned against vaping around children and in vehicles.

“We don’t know good or bad what the impact is of e-cigarettes,” Rollins said. “I have always said until e-cigarettes are regulated and the research is consistent across the board, we wouldn’t know. … The one thing we do know is they contain nicotine.”

At Get Vaped, Gore counted the e-liquid ingredients on his hand: Water, nicotine, flavoring, propylene glycol and glycerin. He added the last two ingredients are found in toothpaste, including his daughter’s My Little Pony paste.

“Continue to study,” Gore said. “The more you find out the better.”

Gore believes regulations can offer benefit to both the industry and the consumer, but that’s not what he sees in the FDA proposal. Only a few large companies, with ties to Big Tobacco, will survive.

“Regulate as if health matter more than wealth.”

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Stephen Morrow couldn’t recall the exact date that marked the last time he got behind the wheel and drove himself to work.

Around seven years ago, he decided to check out Oklahoma City’s Embark public transit system.

The educator boarded a bus from downtown to S. May Avenue, which stopped at Oklahoma City Community College (OCCC).

It took only a week to hook the English and philosophy professor.

He traded fighting traffic and finding parking with catching up on reading and preparing for upcoming lectures.

He admits public transit takes longer, but he views a bus as an extension of his office, where he accomplishes about an hour and a half of work each day.

“The reason I would never go back to driving is I can read and read,” Morrow said when holding a book and iPad during a Nov. 19 ride.

“That’s my texting. I read at least 40 more book titles a year.”

Before Morrow opened his book, he hit the home button of his iPad. His finger tapped the Internet browser, which prompted the Embark website to open.

He agreed to the Wi-Fi access terms and, within moments, answered a student’s email.

“One less thing I have to do at home,” Morrow said as the sent message notification roared.

Evolving transit

When it comes to service, there have been few new amenities offered since buses began running in American cities during the 1920s. The goal of bus service is to collect a fare and provide a ride, and it hasn’t needed much adjustment except for extending routes and expanding service hours.

As travelers evolve and transit companies seek to attract and keep untraditional riders, favor for adding on-bus amenities is gaining speed, and that speed centers on Wi-Fi. In October, Oklahoma City’s Embark, which oversees the city’s bus system, parking and ferry service, joined the growing list of transit agencies outfitting buses with Wi-Fi. It began in the fall of 2014 with four buses but is now featured on all 59 buses. Wi-Fi allows Embark passengers to check their email, surf the Web or send text messages without tapping into data usage plans.

Director Jason Ferbrache said Central Oklahoma Transportation and Parking Authority Trustees followed national trends when they approved an agreement with Satellite and Wireless to bring Wi-Fi to buses in July.

“This is the way transit systems are evolving, and we wanted to stay ahead,” Ferbrache said. “As we know, most of us are connected to our mobile devices, and Wi-Fi is one of those things that people expect you to have.”

The addition of Wi-Fi is one of the many recent enhancements of Oklahoma City’s bus service. In

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Passengers get comfortable near the rear of the Route 5 bus as it continues to board at the Embark downtown transit station.

April 2014, the transit system was renamed Embark, which led to a new website and bus signs. Beyond a new marketing strategy, Embark reconfigured many routes, increased bus frequency and rolled out night service on specific routes.

Residents responded by riding.

For fiscal year 2014-15, Embark recorded a 9.5 percent increase in ridership and averaged near 12,000 passenger trips per day. There were more than 3 million passenger trips on the fixed routes during the period between July 1, 2014, and June 30, 2015, before installing Wi-Fi hotspots.

“We’ve seen significant growth, and we predict that Wi-Fi will be another amenity that allows for the growth to continue,” Ferbrache said.

“We are really excited to look back to see where our ridership is at a year from now.”

Using technology

Embark reports other technology enhancements, such as automatic vehicle locator systems, on the buses.

Embark employees can track bus locations and update riders on arrival times by posting real-time data to the website. Travelers can text 414-11 with the message “Embark” followed by the stop identification and the route numbers and Embark responds in a text message with the next two bus arrival times.

Additionally, the transit system is welcoming Web developers to access their information through open source data. This opportunity encourages developers to use the information, under clear legal conditions, to create transit apps for customers. Already, Google Maps and Moovit have

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“If there are different apps, there are more options and choices for our customers to be able to maximize the Embark system through technology,” Ferbrache said of the transit company’s support toward open source.

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Rider views

Embark’s service enhancements aid OCCC’s Morrow when explaining to co-workers, friends and students the benefits of riding Embark. He often talks about his experiences and ride commitment in efforts to combat climate change.

“I’d love to see a change,” Morrow responded when asked about increased ridership. “There is only one response I get when I tell people I ride the bus, which is, ‘I wish I could ride the bus.’

They always have an excuse.”

Could Wi-Fi attract new riders to Embark? Morrow believes it might; however, he said there are other benefits, like financial savings, that could keep riders returning, too.

Riding a bus offers an experience similar to a coffee shop where people strike up conversations. Morrow helps connect fellow riders to OCCC programs and services.

As the route 012 bus traveled north on S. Agnew Avenue, Morrow looked out the window and pointed to Cattlemen’s Steakhouse in Stockyards City.

“When I ride in the morning, it’s dark and all you can see is the light from the restaurant as people eat their breakfast around the counter,” Morrow said. “It’s a little piece of Americana. That’s something some people will never see.”

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news youth

Breaking cycles Teen moms and dads find support through a new OKCPS program.

By Laura Eastes

Speed bumps

In recent years, the teen birth rate declined across the country, but Oklahoma continues to be listed among the states with the highest teen pregnancy rates. In 2013, the Sooner State nabbed the third highest rate, before New Mexico and Arkansas, according to The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy.

Studies of teen parents, especially those still in high school, spotlight the difficulty of raising a child and pursuing education. Nationally, only one-third of teenage mothers complete high school, and FamilyFirstAid.org reported that 80 percent of unmarried teen mothers end up on welfare.

The statistics of struggling teen parents drive Katie Morgan in her position as the teen parent coordinator of Oklahoma City Public Schools.

Morgan joined the district in June after the position was created from grant funding awarded by nonprofit Variety Care. Prior to arriving at OKCPS, Morgan worked as a nurse for 13 years, where, most recently, her job duties

included home visits with teenage moms and their infants. “[Teen parents] get a bad rap.

They need a cheerleader, someone who believes in them and knows what they can truly accomplish,” she said. “One of the questions asked during my interview was, ‘Do you believe once a teen becomes pregnant in high school, father or mother, that is the end?’ I responded, ‘No. It is a speed bump.’”

I do everything and anything to help these kids be successful.

— Katie Morgan

School parents

Launched this school year, Morgan’s program works to remove the barriers that teen parents face staying in school. To overcome those barriers, she meets privately with students during their non-core classes. During those meetings, conversation tends to address a student’s academics, health, emotion or career goals. It’s not uncommon for Morgan to suggest a social service agency, field a question on sexually transmitted diseases or agree to go with students to their next doctor’s appointment.

“I do everything and anything to help these kids be successful,” Morgan said. “If I don’t know the answer, I’ll find out. … I encourage them to call and text me… That way, they don’t have to wait until the next day at school.”

Teachers, counselors and school nurses refer students who would benefit from the program; Morgan also learns about expecting students from their friends.

Morgan believes her students can break the cycle by graduating high school and continuing their education.

She describes herself as a resource with knowledge on Pell grants, the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and programs at area colleges and technical schools. She shares opportunities unknown to many of her students, such as applications for day

m a rk ha n coc k

Pride and adoration filled Stephanie Morga’s demeanor and voice as she talked about her infant daughter. A smile came across her face before she said, “She is a smart baby to be only five months old.”

Seated next to his girlfriend, Humberto Herrera emanated the joy that young Kimberly brings the couple.

Like Morga, he smiled and called his daughter “beautiful.”

The doting couple pulled out a smartphone to show a photo of their daughter. A cluster of “ahhs” came from around the room. Next, they showed a photo of the two embracing in maroon graduation robes. As the phone was passed around a second time, 18-year-old Morga explained it was senior photo day at Capitol Hill High School. Wearing the academic regalia heightened her enthusiasm for graduating, an achievement that is challenging for most teenage parents.

For Morga and Herrera, it hasn’t been easy, but their commitment to completing high school is met by support from home and their school.

“We expected it to be harder,” said Herrera, 17.

Katie Morgan right, teen parent coordinator for OKCPS, listens to teen mother and father Stephanie Morga and Humberto Herrera, both Seniors at Captiol Hill High School. care grants provided to single parents pursuing higher education.

As of mid-November, Morgan has a list of 130 student participants in the program. She splits the first four days of the week visiting U.S. Grant High School and Capitol Hill High School, which are located in ZIP codes that endure high rates of teen pregnancies.

On Fridays, depending on referrals and student needs, Morgan might visit John Marshall, Northwest Classen, Star Spencer, Douglass or Oklahoma Centennial high schools to meet with students.

Another aspect of Morgan’s position is to encourage students who dropped out of school because of pregnancy to return. She reenrolled three students the week of Nov. 16.

OKCPS’ program is unique in the state, but not in the nation. School districts, including those located in San Francisco; Chicago; Orange County, California; Portland, Oregon; and St. Paul, Minnesota, adopted similar school-based programs with the focus of preventing teen parents from dropping out of school. While the goal of the programs is the same, the services vary. For example, some schools work exclusively with teen mothers, and others provide group support meetings and on-site child care services.

Setting examples

Once Herrera and Morga found out they were expecting, the two enrolled in Lifewise, a parenting education course taught on Tuesdays after school. The two learned how to care for an infant, along with other important parenting skills. Their physician, Kyle Stewart of Variety Care, encouraged the couple to enroll in the teen parent program at their school.

Morga alluded she’s a different student this year, thanks to the oneon-one time with Morgan, who has stayed on top of her about her grades and inspired her to apply for the Metro Technology Centers practical nurse program.

Mornings are difficult, admitted Morga, who said she wakes up earlier to get ready for school and get Kimberly ready for the day. Morga’s mother cares for Kimberly while the couple is at school.

Graduating teen parents is the district’s objective, but it is also Morga and Herrera’s goal, as they set an example for their daughter.

“It will show her if we can do it, she can do it,” Herrera said. “To get further than high school is something I want not just for my baby, but for myself. I know in the future, it will benefit us all.”

Oklahoma Gazette | december 2, 2015 | 9

Chicken

Fried news

Exotic candidacy

Bleached-blonde, mullet-sporting, fringed-leather-jacket-wearing Oklahoma zookeeper Joe Exotic — real name Joseph Maldonado, née Joe Schreibvogel — announced his candidacy for president of the United States last week, according to KFOR.com.

He also owns Garold Wayne Interactive Zoological Park in Wynnewood.

“What’s my chances of winning? Who knows, you know?” he told the TV news station. “Pretty slim.

But I’m going to give them a run for their money.”

He said his key platforms are veterans’ rights and health care.

He also made his intent known at an event in Ohio, where he addressed “the Ohio people about their tax money being used in a monopoly pushed through by Governor Kasich, Senator Balderson,” he said in a media release.

Yeah! Way to focus on the issues!

In our infinite immaturity, we almost compared his distinctive look to Crocodile Dundee or Buffalo Bill, but we read a little more about him — We said a little; it’s not like we said we’re

literate. — and decided against it. Then we put the lotion on our skin before we got the hose again.

“It shouldn’t be about the way I look. It shouldn’t be about anything else,” he told KFOR. “I’m not going to wear a suit. I’m not cutting my hair because I’m not going to be fake.”

As for animal rights activists who have dogged him and the zoo over the years, he said in a Facebook video post, “Y’all go play somewhere else, because right now, we don’t even have time to respond to your bullshit.”

Puppy pals

“Who’s that kid with Wayne Coyne?” you might have asked when you saw the photo.

“I don’t know who that boy with Wayne Coyne is though,” some uttered.

Well, it wasn’t a kid, and it wasn’t a boy either. It was Coyne’s 22-year-old pal Miley Cyrus.

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daughter Miley Cyrus did something adorable that will make even her biggest skeptics go “D’aww.”

The shock-value princess and Oklahoma’s eccentric uncle showed up at a Nov. 14 pet adoption event at the PetSmart at NW 63rd Street and May Avenue and adopted a medium-sized black-and-white furry friend.

Oklahoma Humane Society, Bella Foundation, Underdogs Rescue, OK Save a Dog, Forever Yours Dog Rescue and OKC Animal Welfare were involved in the weekend-long mega adoption event.

OKC Animal Welfare posted a photo of Coyne, Miley and the dog, Yogi, on Facebook and said, “Miley Cyrus just adopted Yogi at our adoption event!! She and Wayne Coyne (Flaming Lips) here with Yogi here!!!”

Miley wore pants with a marijuana-leaf pattern and a jacket printed with disembodied hands and fingers.

It was very, uh … cute.

Sticky-fingered skipper

Last month, a local television news reporter scooped other local media when KFOR.com broadcasted an exclusive interview with a father who became the victim of phone theft.

The act occurred at a northwest Oklahoma City gas station, after Eric Jeandemange parked his large van, left the vehicle unlocked and entered the convenience store.

During the time Jeandemange was in the store, an unknown person removed his phone from the van’s cup holder. He used his phone to look at photos of his seven kids and contact all his friends, according to the report from KFOR. “I have nothing,” Jeandemange told KFOR. “It’s like somebody stealing your entire life.”

In addition to the interview with the upset Jeandemange, surveillance video also documents the atrocity. In the footage, a person opens the driver’s door, reaches inside and walks away from the van. Next, the woman skips.

That’s what really gets Jeandemange. It was a blissful perpetrator, perhaps someone proud

of stealing someone’s most valuable possession.

“She was happy, jumping, having fun – seemed like stealing is part of life, seemed like it’s OK,” he said.

Rare game

William Oakes didn’t get the warm Oklahoma welcoming he had hoped for when he stopped at a northeast Oklahoma City motel earlier this month, according to a report from KOCO.com.

Oakes is in the fur business, specifically exotic hide tanning. His customers hunt zebras, lions and buffaloes and contact Michigan’s H&H Fur Dressing for preserving the skins.

When the skins are ready, he loads the trailer and travels to his customers.

Recently, he was on delivery to Texas when he stopped in Oklahoma City to rest for the night. The next morning, the skins were gone and police were called, according to the television news station.

Police are asking residents to look

out for the exotic furs. Say a friend has a new zebra rug under their dinning room table set for a holiday dinner.

Skedaddle and call crime stoppers.

Uninhibited criminal

Police recently arrested 23-year-old Haydon Taylor for exposing himself to a woman in a parking lot near North May Avenue.

As she sat in her car, the man allegedly approached her vehicle and displayed his nethers.

“At first, I thought he was going to break into somebody else’s car,” she told KOCO.com. “I was sitting in my car, wondering what he was going to do. The next thing I know … that happened.”

Police were called and found him “sitting against a light pole with his hands around his crotch,” according to KOCO.com.

He also told police the victim was

lying and then threatened the victim, saying, “I’m going to beat your (expletive) when you take these cuffs off” and “I’m going to get you when I see you again,” the news station reported.

Then he also tried to escape before allegedly threatened the cops, saying, “I’m going to pop you with your own gun in the forehead.”

Needless to say, the man soon found himself in a jail cell on complaints of indecent exposure and “threatening to perform an act of violence with harm or death.”

Good, bad, ugly

Remember the Clint Eastwood movie The Good, the Bad and the Ugly?

If you don’t remember the 1966 western, you must recall the legendary theme song.

Think repeating tom-tom drum followed by wah, wah, wah.

Like the movie, the City of Oklahoma City deals with good houses, bad houses that need a little work and ugly houses or

nuisance properties.

How does the city handle the properties that are abandoned or structurally unsafe? According to KOCO.com, neighbors and concern citizens report nuisance properties to city workers, who launch an investigation.

If the city finds a home dilapidated, an owner receives a warning. The owner has two choices: repair or tear down the property.

If an owner doesn’t respond, the city adds the address to a list, which is presented to the Oklahoma City Council for a hearing. Only with the council’s blessing can city staff demolish a house and try to recover the cost by placing a lien on the property.

Back to the tom-tom drum.

If only a city worker would find a stash of gold in one of those houses, sluggish tax collections wouldn’t be such a concern.

Oklahoma Gazette | december 2, 2015 | 11

commentary

m a rk ha n coc k

An education in math

By Felix P. Linden Jr.

It’s hard to make a difference when you struggle to make a living. This is an all too familiar reality for many teachers in Oklahoma. Sadly, what has become more tired is the talk from our leaders about the need to act but the lack of action.

Here’s my story: My last check was: $1,039.84. My next check will be the same. On a typical week, I get to work at 7:30 a.m. and leave around 5 p.m. That’s roughly 10 hours a day, not counting one or two hours at home, working on things for school. That’s about 12 hours a day, or 60 hours a week. Over two weeks, that’s 120 hours, which averages out to $8.66 an hour.

That’s a full $1.41 more than minimum wage.

Based on this salary, I would qualify

for food stamps and my kids could be placed on SoonerCare. The same stubbornness that made me decide on education is the same stubbornness employed when I choose not to utilize these services. Why should I? Why should I have to seek assistance from the government to make the ends meet when I work educating students?

So no, I’m not going to go to Oklahoma’s Department of Human Services and get what would amount to a more than $400 per month raise; that lets our Legislature off the hook. I’d then be a “taker.” I’d be the one who gets looked at with disdain while waiting in line at the grocery store as the narrative formulates in onlookers’ minds.

“Oh, here’s a black guy using food stamps. He must have been lucky enough

to pass his drug test. … Get a job.”

That’s the irony: I don’t have a job; I have a career, a career that impacts the lives of students and their families. I’m doing exactly what I’m supposed to do with my skills and God-given talents.

I feel like I’m honestly doing my part.

The question becomes, Are you?

There are various proposals that address teacher pay. Some call for cutting existing budget items, while others look to raise taxes. Regardless of the plan, if providing our teachers a competitive wage is a priority, where is the will to make these things happen? Our Legislature wants to support teachers — until we have to figure out how to pay for it. Then, we only want to pay those who teach at schools with passing letter grades.

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.

I don’t envy the job of those who create policy and pass laws. I do, however, question the sincerity and commitment of those who say that children, education and teachers are priorities.

As a teacher, you often live within your means while living without your dreams.

It is a dream of mine to one day buy a house. It is a dream of mine to buy my family tickets to an Oklahoma City Thunder game. It is a dream of mine to be able to live and be a part of the resurgence our city is experiencing.

These are dreams that, at $8.66 an hour, are slowly turning into a nightmare.

Felix P. Linden Jr. works at Roosevelt Middle School’s seventh-grade Language Arts and Leadership Academy in Oklahoma City.

LETTERS Oklahoma Gazette provides an open forum for the discussion of all points of view in its Letters to the Editor section.

The Gazette reserves the right to edit letters for length and clarity. Letters can be mailed, faxed, emailed to jchancellor@ okgazette.com or sent online at okgazette. com. Include a city of residence and contact number for verification.

Victims matter

As the trial of former Oklahoma City police officer Daniel Holtzclaw continues, many in our community have started to gather outside the courthouse during each hearing to offer support to the accusers. I wanted to take this opportunity to bring attention to the important issues these demonstrators have raised.

The fact that every one of the 13 alleged victims is a black woman from our community, while the jury is entirely white and mostly male, raises legitimate concerns about fairness in our justice system. Too many in our community feel marginalized and excluded from the systems that are supposed to protect us.

This theme came up again and again in accusers’ testimonies.

Many of these women have criminal

records, having used drugs or worked as prostitutes in the past, and claim that they did not come forward with information until now out of fear that nobody would believe them. They claim that they were targeted in the first place because they would be viewed as unreliable, even disposable.

After taking the stand, many of these women found their character under attack.

That’s why I believe these protests are so important. All black women matter. Nobody should feel like society does not support or value them.

— Chris Harrison, Millwood Public School Board of Education president and candidate for House District 97 Oklahoma City Green penalties?

At a time when scientists and even politicians (although not those from Oklahoma) believe that humanity is making the largest impact on climate change, here we have a corporation — OG&E — that wishes to be a monopoly in providing electricity using mostly fossil fuels. We live in a state with abundant wind and sun; both are renewable sources of energy, and apparently, homeowners and business owners who wish to invest in such energy may receive a penalty tariff if

12 | December 2, 2015 | Oklahoma Gazette

OG&E gets its way with the Corporation Commission. In a time when our state is facing financial crisis after crisis, it would seem investing in renewable energy will save taxpayer money in the long run.

More money in a taxpayer’s pocket means more spending, and that is what helps our economy grow. Our state should be the first state to launch investments in renewable sources of energy, not the last.

Let’s gain national recognition for our willingness to embrace technologies that can help us be independent from the oil and gas special interests. I say no to a proposed tariff OG&E wants the Corporation Commission to levy penalties on homeowners and business owners wishing to invest in renewable sources of energy.

— Susan Bishop Edmond Reject tariff

I am against the tariffs OG&E wants to charge residential and business customers who create electricity with solar or wind.

These rates are discriminatory and punitive. The “demand” charge would mean that a customer’s bill would be based on the moment of highest usage within a month, no matter how much energy is used.

No other investor-owned utility in the U.S. has been allowed to charge residential customers in this way. The Corporation Commission must protect customers from such an outrageous and unfair charge.

At a time when our planet is warming to disastrous effect, we must not prevent the development of renewable sources of energy. These OG&E rates would kill economic growth in solar and wind installation and the local jobs associated with it.

Citizens, churches, schools and businesses have made private investments in solar and wind, and the proposed tariffs would dramatically reduce the return on those investments.

OG&E customers already pay a basic fee for connection to the grid.

Citizens and businesses producing energy from solar and wind will actually be giving energy to OG&E. To add charges is punitive and meant to discourage the development of renewable energy, which we must do to save life on the planet.

I urge the Corporation Commission to reject OG&E’s requested tariffs.

— Pat Hoerth Oklahoma City

Christ the King Catholic Church Christmas Eve Masses 4:30 p.m., 7:30 p.m., Midnight Christmas Day Mass 10:00 a.m.

Saturday december 5th 9:00-10:30am Breakfast with Santa

Sunday december 6th 8:30 and 10:45am Worship 4:00pm Children’s Musical

new covenant chriStian church

New Years Eve Mass 5:00 p.m.

(Disciples of christ)

New Years Day Mass 10:00 a.m.

Confessions Saturdays 3:30-4:15 p.m.

8005 Dorset Dr.

come join uS thiS holiday SeaSon

(405) 842-1481 • www.ckokc.org

12000 N. Rockwell Ave. Oklahoma City, OK 73162 (405) 722-7445 NCCCOKC.ORG

Oklahoma Gazette | december 2, 2015 | 13

Tulsa, OK

★ 423 NOrTh MaiN sT.

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okg picks are events

recommended by Oklahoma Gazette editorial staff members.

For full calendar listings, go to okgazette.com.

BOOKS Story Time With Julie, kid friendly story time with the latest children’s books, 10:15 -11 a.m., Dec. 5. Full Circle Bookstore, 1900 Northwest Expressway, 842-2900, fullcirclebooks. com. SAT Will Thomas Signing, Oklahoma Book Award winner Will Thomas will be present to sign copies of his book, Fatal Enquiry, a Victorian thriller that follows private detective Cyrus Barker on his quest to bring an affluent criminal to justice, 3-5 p.m., Dec. 5. Full Circle Bookstore, 1900 Northwest Expressway, 842-2900, fullcirclebooks.com. SAT Christiane Faris Signing, OCU Professor Emeritus Christiane Faris will be speaking about and signing her newest book, Voices of a World; Professor Faris previously authored The Nicest Nazi, a memoir about growing up during World War II, 6:30 p.m., Dec. 7. Full Circle Bookstore, 1900 Northwest Expressway, 842-2900, fullcirclebooks.com. MON Sara Cunningham Signing, in her very personal memoir called How We Sleep at Night, Sara Cunningham describes with unyielding raw honesty her experience and emotions on the journey to rectify her son’s sexuality with her own personal faith, 6 p.m., Dec. 9. Full Circle Bookstore, 1900 Northwest Expressway, 842-2900, fullcirclebooks.com. WED

FILM Beltracchi: The Art of Forgery, (2014, Germany, dir. Arne Birkenstock) for 40 years, Wolfgang Beltracchi fooled highly trained art experts with his forgeries of the works of renowned 20th century artists; infuriating, unapologetic, and incredibly charming, Beltracchi’s larger than life persona makes it easy to see how he could so easily con the entire art world, hook, line and sinker, 5:30 & 8 p.m., Dec. 3. Oklahoma City Museum of Art, 415 Couch Drive, 236-3100, okcmoa.com. THU Straight Outta Compton, (2015, US, dir. F. Gary Gray) in the 1980s, five young men came together to revolutionize the world of hip-hop from the streets of Compton, California; Ice Cube, MC Ren, Eazy-E, Yella, and Dr. Dre formed N.W.A., “the world’s most dangerous group,” 6 p.m., 9 p.m., & midnight, Dec. 4.; 1 & 4 p.m., Dec. 5. Meacham Auditorium, 660 Parrington Oval, Norman, 325-6411, ou.edu/upb.html.

FRI-SAT Millennium Mambo, (2001, Taiwan, dir. Hou Hsiao-hsien) the most recent of Hsiao-hsien’s works onscreen this weekend, this film depicts one girl’s quest for meaning against the canvas of the early 2000’s club scene, 5:30 p.m., Dec. 6.

Oklahoma City Museum of Art, 415 Couch Drive, 236-3100, okcmoa.com. SUN Elf, (2003, US, dir. Jon Favreau) on December 24th, 1973 a baby boy at an orphanage crawled into Santa Claus’s magical bag of presents and stowed away on his sled, only to be discovered once Santa touched back down at the North Pole,

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Home Alone 25th Anniversary The Christmas classic is back in theaters by popular demand for a one-night-only 25th anniversary presentation. Home Alone’s poster is as iconic as Edvard Munch’s “The Scream,” and its Rube Goldbergian protagonist Kevin McCallister is a resourceful and maniacal genius. Home Alone is a masterwork of slapstick comedy for the whole family. The film shows 7:30 p.m. at AMC Quail Springs Mall 24, 2501 W. Memorial Road, Wednesday, Dec. 9. Tickets are $12.50 and are available at the box office, at fathomevents.com or by calling 888-440-4262.

Wednesday, Dec. 9 deciding to raise the baby at his toy factory as an elf; this is that baby boy’s story, 7 p.m., Dec. 8. Harkins Theatre, 150 E. Reno Ave., 231-4747, harkinstheatres.com. TUE

displays spanning over a mile and a half drive, including a 118-foot Christmas tree and dancing light shows coordinated to music, 6-10 p.m., Nov. 20-Dec. 30. Joe B. Barnes Regional Park, 8700 E. Reno Ave., Midwest City, 739-1293, midwestcityok.org.

HAPPENINGS Through the Eyes of the Lynx: Galileo, Natural History and the Americas, The Academy of the Lynx was one of the world’s earliest scientific societies, whose star pupil happened to be Renaissance artist and scientist (among other vocations) Galileo Galilei; this exhibit celebrates the contributions of Galileo and the Academy of the Lynx in the areas of natural science and history, Aug. 1-Jan. 18. Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History, 2401 Chautauqua Ave., Norman, 325-4712, snomnh.ou.edu.

Holiday Light Spectacular, over the course of two decades this annual lights display has grown to more than 100 light

Christmas in the Park, come drive or walk through a dazzling exhibition of over four million Christmas lights covering four hundred displays; best of all, admission is free, so bring all your friends and family to kick your holiday rear into gear, 6-11 p.m., ongoing. Yukon City Park, 2200 S. Holly Ave., Yukon.

SAT Winter Shoppes, if you love your friends, you love your family, but maybe you don’t love supporting big corporations, and you don’t have time to Pinterest that crap, then the Winter Shoppes at Myriad Botanical Gardens just might be your saving grace; lots of very cool local businesses are bringing all your holiday needs to one awesome pop-up holiday outdoor shopping fest, 11 a.m.-6 p.m., Nov. 27-29. Myriad

dec 17 - 19

liAn cHRis2k6 il & 27 dec

Holidays on the Paseo

n mic & s

The Paseo Arts District has turned preparing for the holidays into an art — literally. On Saturday, the entire district extends its hours and makes itself into a winter shopping wonderland. Visit Santa, check out awesome gift ideas and deals and decorate a gingerbread house. The event runs from noon to 7 p.m., so you’ll have plenty of time to take care of all your shopping. The Paseo is located between NW 28th and 30th Streets, from N. Walker Avenue to N. Dewey Avenue. Call 525-2688 or visit thepaseo.org.

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www.loonybincomedy.com 14 | December 2, 2015 | Oklahoma Gazette

provi d ed

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Saturday

Now BookiNg for BoardiNg School

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Project Elevate

k9 university is the answer. let us do the training!

Junior PG GAZETTE NUT.pdf

Irish artist and dancer Stacia Tauscher once said, “We worry about what a child will become tomorrow, yet we forget that he is someone today.” The guys over at Yukon’s Project Elevate are dedicated to helping and protecting the people that children already are by ending bullying where it starts in our public schools. Join them for a free presentation of their youth-centric multimedia approach 6 p.m. Saturday at Harding Fine Arts Center, 3333 N. Shartel Ave. Admission is free. RSVP by calling 370-3053, or visit facebook.com/ pelevate.

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Saturday Botanical Gardens, 301 W. Reno Ave., 445-7080, oklahomacitybotanicalgardens.com/events. FRI Deck the Halls, it’s a fun and educational way to celebrate the holidays; come meet a variety of historical Mr. and Mrs. Clauses, 10 a.m., Dec. 5. Oklahoma History Center, 800 Nazih Zuhdi Drive, 521-2491, okhistory.org/ historycenter. SAT Wreath Making Workshop, make a very cool natural wreath to help chase the winter blues away, using plants grown in the zoo’s very own botanical garden; 10 a.m.-noon & 6-8 p.m., Dec. 5. Oklahoma City Zoo, 2000 Remington Pl. SAT Drop-In Art, you might think December is awfully early to begin preparing Carnival masks, but traditionally people were allowed to wear them between the festival of Santo Stefano on December 26 and the start of the Carnival season the day before Ash Wednesday, known in some countries as Pancake Day, which sounds awesome, 1 p.m., Dec. 5. Oklahoma City Museum of Art, 415 Couch Drive, 236-3100, okcmoa. com. SAT Old Paris Flea Market, if you’ve exhausted all those other usual avenues attempting to find the perfect gift, check out the Old Paris Flea Market to see if you can’t find something for the person who already has everything, 12:30 p.m., Dec. 8.

Farmers Public Market, 311 S. Klein Ave., 232-6506, okcfarmersmarket.com. TUE

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FOOD Holiday Entertaining Show, it’s like Pinterest, but in person; join Buy For Less to learn everything you need to know-and buy- for the perfect holiday get-together shindig and impress all your friends, 11 a.m.-5 p.m., Dec. 5. Buy For Less, 3501 Northwest Expressway, 946-6342, buyforlessok.com. SAT Uptown Cooking Class, if you have often wished that it were acceptable to eat pie for every meal, then this week’s cooking class featuring a comfort food staple in the form of chicken pot pie, 10 a.m., Dec. 5. Uptown Grocery Co., 1230 W. Covell Road, Edmond, 509-2700, uptowngroceryco.com. SAT The ABCs of What You Eat, the theme for this month’s ABCs is the Twelve Days of Christmas; fingers crossed that means learning the health benefits of roasted partridge, fried goose eggs, and chasing down those lords a-leaping, 10 a.m., Dec. 8. Buy For Less, 3501 Northwest Expressway, 9466342, buyforlessok.com. TUE continued on next page

Oklahoma Gazette | december 2, 2015 | 15

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Deep Deuce Christmas Crawl Who needs to run all those Christmas marathons when you can do basically the same thing but with walking at a leisurely pace and a lot more booze? Don’t even walk upright. Take the “crawl” part literally. Support OK Foster Wishes and Infant Crisis Services of Oklahoma by donating at participating bars. Make new friends. Laugh with old ones. Start at 6 p.m. Friday at any participating bar (WXYZ, Slaughter’s Hall, WSKY Lounge or Anchor Down) and end at Deep Deuce Grill, 307 NE Second St., at 9 p.m. for the official after-party.

Participation is free; donations are encouraged. Visit okccrawl.com.

Friday Holiday Taste Fair, if you aren’t freebasing crushed-up candy cane in the alley behind your local shopping mall’s North Pole Village then you really aren’t Christmas enough; join Whole Foods for its holiday taste fair so you can learn all the best recipes for the Christmasest Christmas that ever Christmas’d, 1 p.m., Dec. 8. Whole Foods Market, 6001 N. Western, 879-3500, wholefoodsmarket.com. TUE

YOUTH Tape & Tunnels, get psyched for recyclables at the newest exhibit at SMO, where kids can experience an interactive wonderland with packing tape tunnels, bungee cord mazes, and cardboard clubhouses where they can climb, build, and explore. Science Museum Oklahoma, 2100 NE 52nd St., 602-6664, sciencemuseumok.org.

Devon Ice Rink, see how well you fare in a nearly frictionless environment at this year’s Devon ice rink; perhaps you’ll discover a new talent you never knew you had… or maybe you should try, like, knitting or something.

Myriad Botanical Gardens, 301 W. Reno Ave., 445-7080, oklahomacitybotanicalgardens.com/events.

Junie B in Jingle Bells, Batman Smells, Junie B. has a whole world of problems this Christmas, and they’re about to get worse when Junie B. draws Tattletale May, who has been ruining her fun all along, for Secret Santa, 11 a.m., Dec. 2, 7 & 9; 11 a.m. & 12:45 p.m., Dec. 4; 2 p.m., Dec. 5; 7 p.m., Dec. 6. Oklahoma Children’s Theatre, 2501 N. Blackwelder Ave., 606-7003, oklahomachildrenstheatre.org. WED-WED Crafts For Kids, come in Saturday to make a very adorable, sturdy and not filled with water, so even if it ends up all over your carpet it isn’t really that much of a loss, 11 a.m.-3 p.m., Dec. 5. Lakeshore Learning Store, 6300 N. May Ave., 8588778, lakeshorelearning.com. SAT Mayor’s Christmas Party for Kids, as part of Yukon’s ongoing Christmas in the Park, the mayor of Yukon will be hosting the 18th annual Mayor’s Christmas Party for Kids, featuring face painting, food, games, and special holiday guest appearances by Rudolph, Jinglesauras, Frosty the Snowman, and the big man in red himself, 10 a.m., Dec. 5.

Dale Robertson Center, 1200 Lakeshore Dr., Yukon. SAT

PERFORMING ARTS Tim Kidd, with his late 1990s bad boy looks, aversion to authority, and ability to make you laugh until your sides hurt, Tim Kidd is your unrequited high school crush; come check out his high energy comedy stylings this week,

16 | December 2, 2015 | Oklahoma Gazette

8 p.m., Dec. 2 & 3; 8 and 10:30 p.m., Dec. 4 & 5. Loony Bin Comedy Club, 8503 N. Rockwell Ave., 239-4242, loonybincomedy.com. WED-SUN A Christmas Carol, Mr. Ebenezer Scrooge was lacking in holiday spirit, so fate sent him three- the Ghosts of Christmas’ Past, Present and Future; come see Charles Dickens’ classic ghost story brought to life onstage and leave the humbug at home, 7:30 p.m., Dec. 2-3; 8 p.m., Dec. 4; 2 & 8 p.m., Dec. 5; 2 p.m., Dec. 6. Lyric Theatre, 1727 N.W. 16th St., 524-9312, lyrictheatreokc.com. WED The Fourposter, an ode to the circle of life as represented by marriage, this play follows a turn-of-the-century couple through 35 years together and the moments that shape them, both good and bad, all set in their bedroom, dominated by the titular fourposter bed, 8 p.m., Dec. 3-5; 2:30 p.m., Dec. 6. Jewel Box Theatre, 3700 N. Walker Ave., 521-1786, jewelboxtheatre.org. THU-SUN The Christmas Show, it’s like a reboot for Christmas music, if reboots weren’t always unnecessary, more expensive, less profitable, and totally gratuitous, 7:30 p.m., Dec. 3; 8 p.m., Dec. 4.; 2 p.m. & 8 p.m., Dec. 5.

Civic Center Music Hall, 201 N. Walker Ave., 297-2264, okcciviccenter.com. THU Alcoholidays, in a holiday comedy guaranteed to raise your spirits and fill your heart (and glass) with Christmas cheers, Meg and Jacob embark on an ancient and impossible quest: to make it through the holiday season and all the gatherings it entails without losing their minds, 8 p.m., Dec. 3-5. Civic Center Music Hall, CitySpace, 201 N. Walker Ave. THU Naughty & Nice & A Little Bit Nuts, come enjoy all your holiday music favorites, brought to you by the finest vocalists UCO’s Department of Musical Theater has to offer, 7:30 p.m., Dec. 3-5; 5 p.m., Dec. 6. UCO Jazz Lab, 100 E. 5th St., Edmond, 359-7989, ucojazzlab.com. THU Greetings!, if you’re looking for some on-stage holiday cheer that you haven’t already seen a billion times before, consider checking out Greetings!, a show featuring a protagonist who brings home his Jewish atheist fiancee to his very Catholic family for the first time, 8 p.m., Dec. 4-5. Carpenter Square Theatre, 806 W. Main St., 2326500, carpentersquare.com. FRI-SAT Greg Fitzsimmons, you might know his face from all his work in radio; Greg Fitzsimmons has been doing stand-up comedy since his days at Boston University, and has lent his voice to numerous podcasts and radio shows, including several of his own, 7:30 p.m., Dec. 5. ACM@UCO Performance Lab, 329 E. Sheridan Ave., 974-4700, acm. uco.edu. SAT

ACTIVE OU Women’s Basketball, enjoy an entertaining evening with Sooner peach basket pick-em-up, or as you might better know it, basketball as the Sooners duel the Little Rock Trojans, 7 p.m., Dec. 2. Lloyd Noble Center, 2900 S. Jenkins Ave., Norman, 325-4666, lloydnoblecenter.com. WED Holiday Hustle 5K, nothing boosts your spirits like cold December air filling your lungs… and if that doesn’t do it, the pancake breakfast immediately following should sure do the trick, 7 a.m., Dec. 5. Oklahoma Christian University, 2501 E. Memorial, Edmond, 425-5000, oc.edu. SAT American Spirit Championships, it’s like the end of the movie Bring It On, but a lot longer and way cooler, and there’s no Kirsten Dunst, probably; watch athletes from ages 4 to 24 compete in teams, performing choreographed dance and gymnastic numbers, Dec. 6. Cox Convention Center, 1 Myriad Gardens, 602-8500, coxconventioncenter.com. SUN OKC Thunder vs. Sacramento Kings, California may be in a drought, but the Thunder is bringing a storm to wash away the Kings, 6 p.m., Dec. 6. Chesapeake Energy Arena, 100 W. Reno Ave., 602-8700, chesapeakearena.com. SUN

VISUAL ARTS All in All, you don’t make it onto the wall of the Chesapeake Arena Thunder Family VIP Lounge for nothing; boasting a BFA from State University of New York College, Christie Owen’s organic abstract and modern impressionist acrylic works are displayed all over Oklahoma draw inspiration from natural and industrial textures, from both the organic and the inorganic. Verbode, 415 N Broadway Ave #101, , .

Annual Ceramics Sale, ceramic pottery from Oklahoma Contemporary is fantastic for a lot of things, including food & drink, decoration, and as useful and unique gifts for the whole family; proceeds go directly back to the studio to help keep class costs low and to improve and replace equipment. Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center, 3000 General Pershing Blvd.

Cody Rains/Eleazar Velazquez/Chandler Watson, check out three unique local artists working in a variety of 2-D media, ranging from spray paint to acrylics & oils to pastels; all share in a love of color and physiological abstraction. DNA Galleries, 1709 NW 16th St., 525-3499, dnagalleries.com.

Dirty Santa Novelty Toys, local artist Allin KHG makes some of the most unique, bizarre, and in some cases downright terrifying toys you’ve ever seen; delight your friends and terrorize your family at this year’s game of White Elephant or Dirty Santa or whatever by showing up with one of these adorably macabre contraptions, on sale through Christmas Eve. Kasum Contemporary Fine Arts, 1706 NW 16th St., 604-6602, kasumcontemporary.com.

Enter the Matrix: Indigenous Printmakers, exhibition exploring how printmaking has become a matrix for cultural and key figures of artistic exchange. Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, 555 Elm Ave., Norman, 325-3272, ou.edu/fjjma.

Immortales: The Hall of Emperors of the Capitoline Museums, people may not live forever, but their fame certainly can; this is best exhibited in this selection of 20 busts from the Capitoline in Rome which offers busts of emperors, empresses, and patricians from the 1st century B.C. to the 5th century A.D. Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, 555 Elm Ave., Norman, 325-3272, ou.edu/fjjma.

James Surls, nature figures prominently in the work of sculptor James Surls, and over the course of four decades, he has developed evocative, hybrid forms in wood, steel, and bronze inspired by flowers, the human body, and rock formations. Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, 555 Elm Ave., Norman, 325-3272, ou.edu/fjjma.

Retro 75, Jann Jeffrey’s latest exhibit is a celebration of color and design through watercolor, glasswork, photography and more; help her celebrate decades of involvement in the arts community as a creator and supporter as she closes her gallery at the end of December.

Jann Jeffrey Gallery, 3018 Paseo St., 607-0406.

Watercolors by Jo Woolery, a graduate of Oklahoma State University, Jo Woolery produces dreamy yet detailed paintings of various subjects including portraits of people, animals, and landscapes. 50 Penn Place Gallery, 1900 Northwest Expressway, Suite 113-R, 848-5567, 50pennplacegallery.com.

PROVI DED

Christmas Market, the art-lover in your family deserves a gift as unique as she is; show you care with one of the small works available at the Christmas Market exhibition, featuring small works by local artists. The Purple Loft Art

Gallery, 514 NW 28th St., Suite 400, 412-7066.

WinterGlow The University of Central Oklahoma might have put the “H” in “Broncho” — with the help of a dictionary at the time — but it also put the “win” in “winter.” Join UCO this Friday for its 18th annual WinterGlow celebration, starting with a tree lighting ceremony on Broncho Lake at 6 p.m. Donate a toy to the HOPE Center of Edmond and get a free picture with Santa for your kids or yourself, if that’s your thing. There will also be a craft area, face painting, games and s’mores, so bring your friends, family, coworkers, acquaintances and that fun guy you just met at the bus station. Participation is free. Call 974-2363 or visit uco.edu/winterglow.

For okg

Friday

music picks see page 45

CORNER OF CLASSEN & BOYD, NORMAN | 11AM-2AM | 405.329.3330 | THEMONT.COM Oklahoma Gazette | december 2, 2015 | 17

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18 | december 2, 2015 | Oklahoma Gazette

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Jars of pickled goodies are available at Off the Hook Seafood & More, 125 W. Britton Road in Oklahoma City.

Hook learnin’

Fish, shrimp and grits

Chef Corey Harris never dreamed of owning a restaurant, but Off the Hook Seafood & More is a hit all the same.

By Greg Elwell

During and after high school, Corey Harris worked a series of dead-end jobs.

Slinging fast food through the drive-thru wasn’t going to cut it, so he enrolled at Platt College and got a culinary degree.

But he never thought he would have his own restaurant.

While working at the Chesapeake Energy Arena (née Ford Center), he was approached by a former Thunder player about starting a food truck. Before it got off the ground, the player was traded, but Harris and his wife Loniesha decided to press on.

Their truck, Off The Hook Seafood & More, was a hit — they finally had to get their own building, 125 W. Britton Road.

“To be honest, this wasn’t my dream,” he said. “We were content with the truck, but we were forced by our customers to open the restaurant. We heard it so much, we thought, ‘Maybe we should.’”

Loniesha has the mind for business and proudly wears a T-shirt that reads “Boss Lady” on the back. Corey knows the food, which he picked up from his mother and grandfather and sharpened during stints at the Skirvin, Remington Park and the Ford Center.

The menu is Cajun-inspired, even though Harris has only been to Louisiana once in his life.

“A lot of people ask if we’re from Louisiana,” he said. “I tell them our food is a little bit Cajun and a whole lot of amazing.”

Top lobster

Off the Hook’s top seller came about by chance. After a catering job, Harris decided to dip some french fries in a leftover lobster cream sauce. It was pretty good, he said. So he added bacon, and then Sriracha, and then

blackened shrimp.

“People thought it was stoner food,” he said.

But if that was their initial impression, it soon turned to hunger.

When they went to an event without the smothered seafood fries on the menu, it was all people wanted, Loniesha said.

Now they make a giant stockpot of lobster cream sauce for their busiest days, and it’s still not enough.

Seafood is front and center on the menu, though there are other options for people who aren’t comfortable with food that swam. And as the weather turns cold, the restaurant will bump up production of its gumbo and rotate in chilis and chowders as its soups du jour.

And since Off The Hook lives in the bones of a long-gone Starbucks, it has a drive-thru for customers who don’t want to face the weather. But Harris said he isn’t back to making fast food.

“We make it fresh to order, so sometimes there will be a wait,” he said.

Diners can try calling ahead, but when it gets too busy inside the restaurant, answering the phone is the first casualty.

One taste of the food, though, and all worries about waiting quickly vanish.

The grilled fish, shrimp and grits is a revelation. Creamy, perfectly seasoned grits are the base for delicate blackened fish and jumbo shrimp with spinach lobster cream sauce over the top.

The restaurant smells of fresh garlic frying in butter and aromatic spices, but the air is filled with conversation as the lunch crowd rolls in, eager for fried catfish, po-boys and the Melted Lobster sandwich.

In the back, Harris and crew are busy cooking as the line grows longer. It might not have been his dream, but he’s living it all the same.

Seafood fries sit ready to eat next to a platter of crispy seafood wontons.

Cousins in the business together — from left Shana Magness, Loniesha Harris and Sarah Kharem — pose in front of the Off The Hook mural inside their new restaurant location at 125 W. Britton Road.

Oklahoma Gazette | december 2, 2015 | 19

P HOTOS BY MARK HA N COCK

life food & drink

life food & Drink

Monster Hash Retro or not, The Hash is doing inventive and inviting diner food right now.

Valid on dinners up to $11 99 only.

Discount taken off equal or lesser purchase. Limit 2 coupons per person. Not valid with any other offers.

Expires 12/9/15.

11AM-9PM | Mon-Sat • 11aM-4PM | SUN

NW 50th & MeridiAN | 947.7277 oNliNe orderiNg NoW AvAilAble!

oKLaHoMaStatIonBBQ.coM

20 | december 2, 2015 | Oklahoma Gazette

1149 E. Second St., Edmond | 471-6747 What works: Loaded hash browns, inventive pancakes and classics done right.

What needs work: They really should have an intercom in the bookstore.

Tip: The Hash closes at 2 p.m., so you can get a late lunch, but not too late.

By Greg Elwell

For the life of me, I don’t know what makes The Hash Retro Diner in Edmond retro. The decor inside the restaurant at 1149 E. Second St., maybe?

Frankly, I’m not terribly interested in a modern diner. The very thing that defines most diners is that they serve up classic, consistent breakfasts. On that score, The Hash is a winner.

Conveniently located next to a Half Price Books, The Hash gets hopping early, and it’s not uncommon to find yourself with a few minutes on your hands. The cashier joked there should be an intercom next door since the bookstore has become a de facto waiting room. Assuming you’re there for breakfast, because that’s exactly when you should be there, I urge you to look at the Loaded Hash section of the menu.

It takes two big piles of freshly griddled hash browns and slaps them around a choice of fillings.

My preference: The Fiesta ($7.99) with your choice of bacon or ham, onions, jalapeños, tomatoes and Jack cheese with a couple of cooked-to-order eggs on top and a choice of toast or biscuit and gravy on the side.

I’m not sure what it says about my aging taste buds, but lord almighty do I enjoy diced fresh jalapeños with my breakfast. The kick of heat meets the unctuous, soothing quality of the eggs and all is right with the world.

This is a big dish, by the way. It might be wise to share.

I’m not sure it’s possible to share the carrot cake pancakes ($6.99 for two). The raisins, the shredded carrots, the brown sugar and, instead of syrup, a glaze of cream cheese — it’s a lot of textures, but the flavor is right on.

If you’re looking for something a bit lighter, the Lite Menu has Cakes & Egg for $3.99. Two small pancakes, two strips of bacon and an egg, however you take it, for $4 is a pretty sweet deal (and probably about what a normal active person should eat for breakfast).

Though it wasn’t my breakfast, per se, I did sneak a bite of my mom’s classic waffle ($4.99) and found it rich, creamy and inviting, with deep pockets in which honey butter and powdered sugar can hide. If you like breakfast sweet, this is a heck of a place to start.

The Hash also serves up three-egg omelets ($7.99 with choice of potatoes

photos bym ark hancock

CHECK OUT OUR NEW MENU ITEMS!

The Hash Retro Diner

Carrot cake pancakes with cream cheese glaze

A classic blueberry waffle at The Hash Retro Diner in Edmond.

and bread), and their list of ingredients could make for some pretty intriguing combinations. It’s not on the menu, but I’m pretty sure an order of onion, shallots, garlic, green onion and feta should be called The First Date Killer.

Just a thought.

There’s a lunch menu, too, with burgers and chicken pot pie and roast

beef sandwiches, but I haven’t yet figured out how to go to The Hash without ordering breakfast.

Based on the meals I’ve had there so far, though, I’m looking forward to giving those dishes a try soon. And if there’s a wait, well, I can do a little Christmas shopping next door.

SMALL PLATES & WINE, PERFECT BEFORE OR AFTER YOUR SHOW.

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by Greg Elwell

Heaven sent

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1 block from Civic Center & OKC Museum of Art

305 N. WALKER

PATRONOOKC.COM

405.702.7660

Whiskey Cake Kitchen & Bar, 1845 Northwest Expressway, hosts a Heaven Hill whiskey paired dinner 7 p.m. Tuesday. Head chef Frank Keith and staff do pairing dinners about once a month, giving them a chance to try new recipes and feature flavors that aren’t always found on the regular menu.

Tickets fare $55 and 45 seats are available. It will focus on pairing five Heaven Hill whiskey cocktails with a five-course meal, including a maple-glazed duck breast and an English pea risotto, as well as an amuse-bouche and an “entry cocktail.” Tickets can be reserved by calling the restaurant at 582-2253.

Smokey’s rekindled

mark hancoc k

Longtime westside restaurant Smokey’s Bar-B-Que & Diner, 2410 N. Portland Ave., has a new owner and a revamped menu. Jerry Coles is a firsttime restaurant owner, but he did his homework and hired chefs to work on making first-rate barbecue.

In addition to burnt ends and Jerry Coles left and chef Nick Carson fatty brisket, the new Smokey’s offers all-vegetarian sides, and all are made in-house, save the Herman’s Famous Coleslaw, from the much-beloved and missed Herman’s in Oklahoma City.

The concept is simple, said Coles: Sell good, flavorful barbecue made with fresh (and local when possible) ingredients. The focus is on seasoning and smoke to enhance the meat, not just a vehicle for sauce.

“The old Smokey’s had abominable reviews, so maybe I made a mistake keeping the name,” he said. “But I decided to spend the money that would go to a new sign on equipment for the kitchen.”

lunch & dinner 6014 N. May 947.7788 zorbasokc.coM

New world

GARETT FISBECK

After years of work, brothers Arturo (pictured at left) and Marco Chavez (pictured at right) have opened a second location for their popular 1492 New World Latin Cuisine restaurant. Housed in the Casady Square shopping center, 9213 N. Pennsylvania Ave., the eatery has lots of room and gives the restaurant a fine-dining feel, Marco said.

“Actually, we were looking more toward Norman, but we were approached by some real estate guys who own the property when the spot became available,” he said. “We love the area. It’s right outside Nichols Hills in the Village, and there’s not a whole lot of sit-down dining nearby.”

The original 1492, 1207 N. Walker Ave., has been a mainstay in the bustling Midtown District, but the owners began to hear many customers say they’d like a location closer to where they live. Adding a second location farther north opens them up to plenty of new clientele, Chavez said.

The menu features some Tex-Mex, but much of the food at 1492 is Latin fusion cuisine, drawing inspiration from Venezuela, Cuba and Argentina.

Oklahoma Gazette | december 2, 2015 | 21

SPONSORED PROGRAM

food briefs

Hanging tough Oh. Oh-oh. Whoa-oh. Look at all these new restaurants popping up around our fair city. You hungry, Donnie?

Quit fighting with your brother, Jordan! And has anyone seen little Joey? Oh. Oh Danny, no. I can’t believe you ate him. Poor, itsy bitsy Joey. Don’t you see, Danny?

We were going to dinner soon. This, truly, was the wrong stuff.

— By Greg Elwell Photos by Mark Hancock and Garett Fisbeck

The Meat Market Refectory 2920 NW 63rd St. meatmarketrefectory.com | 608-8866

Praise the lord and pass the full rack of grilled and oven-roasted Australian lamb chops — The Meat Market Refectory is here. While most refectories are found in monasteries, no one will make you take a vow of silence — you’ll just be too busy enjoying the creme de asparagus soup and 28-day dry-aged prime New York strip steak to say anything. Don’t worry; the servers will be able to understand the hand signals for “another glass of wine, please.”

Guyutes

Chae

730 NW 23rd St. guyutes.com | 702-6960

1933 NW 23rd St. facebook.com/chaeokc | 600-9040

It took a while to get here, but the staff of Guyutes has quickly established the restaurant as the place for late-night drinks and dining on always-busy 23rd Street.

And the menu is clearly the crazed fever dream of someone with a culinary degree and a case of the munchies. Cheetoscrusted chicken in The Pip wrap? Ham, Tabasco-marinated pineapple and jalapeño on the Ring of Fire pizza? Yes, it’s real, and it’s spectacular.

Following the success of his local All About Cha coffee and tea restaurants, Daniel Chae turned his sights on bringing upscale, chef-driven Korean food to Oklahoma City, and the impressive results are Chae.

This accessible, delicious take on Korean dishes includes a crowd-pleaser (and crowd-filler) Iron Bibimbap, a giant castiron skillet filled with toasted rice, seared veggies and tender beef short ribs topped with an egg.

Christmas Hoilday Parties?

We’ve got you covered with cookie trays, party trays & party subs, breads & pastries & corned beef

M-F 7am-6:30pm • Sat 9:30am-4pm 2310 N Western 524-0887 22 | december 2, 2015 | Oklahoma Gazette

lunch buffet M-F | 11am-2pm

VZD Restaurant & Bar

The Fixx

Provision Kitchen

Meatball House

4200 N. Western Ave. vzds.com | 602-3006

644 W. Edmond Road thefixxok.com | 285-2311

6443 Avondale Drive provision-kitchen.com | 843-2310

333 W. Boyd St. meatball.house | 701-8300

“I thought this was supposed to be about new places.”

“It is.”

“VZD Restaurant & Bar isn’t new.”

“Well, it was closed for a while, and now it’s open again. Bigger menu, more seating — it’s new enough.”

“Does it still serve beer? If so, let’s go.”

Do you need a Fixx man? C’mere. I got the hookup. No, it’s not pills. It’s not heroin, either. Wow, you’re really weird; I was just going to take you for a burger at this new place in Edmond called The Fixx. Drugs are not on the menu — just hamburgers, hot dogs, sandwiches and salads. Maybe I should go there now and you can join me when you get out of rehab. Pull it together, man.

Do not get out of your car. I mean, you can if you want to. No pressure. You don’t have to live in the car from now on.

But if you’re going to Provision Kitchen, the new Nichols Hills hot spot for organic, free-range, healthy, tasty, chefcreated, blast-chilled meals for you and your family, you can call ahead and order and they’ll bring the food out to your car. Breakfast, lunch or dinner, it has you covered.

Those Deltas might have hijacked the homecoming parade and cheated on a test and killed a horse, but they’ve got nothing on the University of Oklahoma’s rowdiest fraternity: Meatball House. All your favorite bros are there: Dave “Pork n’ Beef” Johnson and Leslie “Fishtato” Fischelmann.

Huh? It’s a restaurant? I guess that explains why nobody here goes to class and that lady keeps refilling my water glass.

LIKE US ON

Oklahoma Gazette | december 2, 2015 | 23

Local presents Whether shopping for family, friends or yourself this holiday season, local retailers are where you’ll find charming and distinctive gifts and home-warming accents, from on-trend clothing and accessories to furniture, festive home decor, art and party accoutrements.

— By Jennifer Chancellor Photos by Mark Hancock

KC’s #1 Explore O age Shop Vint

essories Clothing • Accot Records & hesr curious good

in the Plaza 1759 NW 16th • Oklahoma City • 405-528-4585 Open Tues-Sat 12-7 • Like us on Facebook

Urban Farmhouse Design 400 S. Western Ave. urbanfarmhousedesign.com 305-6353

Find your joy — literally, as Urban Farmhouse Design sells handcrafted metal holiday signs that say just that — with this distinctive shop’s one-of-a-kind furnishings that celebrate the season. Feature items include oversized tin toy soldiers, festive throw pillows, edible goodie gift sets, drinkware and more.

Cayman’s

The Indigo Attic

a colorful little hippie store, & so much more 5012 n. meridian mon-Sat: 10am-7pm | Sun:1pm-5pm fb.com/theindigoattic

tues-fri 11am-7pm

saturday 12pm-6pm

art classes, jewelry, crafts, handmade art, furniture, gifts with an edge! fOllOW us!

5924 NW 38th | OklahOma City 24 | december 2, 2015 | Oklahoma Gazette

Designed to Consign

2001 W. Main St., Norman

4932 N. May Ave.

shop-caymans.com

designedtoconsign.com

360-3969

949-1600

Find fashionable everything at Cayman’s, with its selection of designer jewelry and handbags; home accents; men’s shoes, seasonable warmup vests and flannel; and more.

There’s even a registry so you can share all your holiday wants and wishes with the ones you love.

Need to make room for holiday guests while earning a little extra cash for the holidays? Looking for an additional couch, loveseat, dining room set or accent piece to complete your holiday look? Do it all at Designed to Consign.

Bow & Arrow Boutique 617 N. Broadway Ave. shopbowandarrow.com 601-0605

Deck your halls with Okie-centric, artist-made tree ornaments, and make your house smell like a warm, friendly holiday home with Bow & Arrow’s selection of scented candles. Before you head home, bundle up with an affordable knit hat and scarf, and maybe buy one for a friend, too.

CALL TO COMPARE OUR EVERYDAY LOW RATES Milo & Lily Boutique 9612 N. May Ave. miloandlilyboutique.com 430-7915

Moms and daughters can shop together for rompers, tops, dresses, hats, handbags, vests, accessories and more.

Heck, you can even find coordinating dog accessories for Spot and Fido.

The Indigo Attic 5012 N. Meridian Ave. facebook.com/TheIndigoAttic 625-4006

This season is smokin,’ especially with The Indigo Attic’s gift selection, which includes a quirky selection of handmade glass pipes, deerskin accessory pouches, bottle light art and psychedelic banners.

MICRODERMABRASION $30 First Treatment $200 Package of 5 MICRODERMABRASION ADD-ONS $10 Glycolic Peel $20 Jessner’s Peel

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Schelly’s Aesthetics

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Shoppes at Northpark, 12028 May Ave.

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4932 N. May ave.OKC, Next tO SteiN Mart 405.949.1600 | deSigNedtOCONSigN.COM

On the Edge with Skulls & Stones 5924 NW 38th St. facebook.com/OnTheEdgeOKC 652-9992

This out-of-the-ordinary gift and lifestyle shop features curious curios like sugar skull-painted wineglasses and Army-man lamps in addition to seasonal art, handcrafted jewelry and hand-decorated footwear, art classes, dolls, tees and clothing, holiday ornaments and more.

Oklahoma Gazette | december 2, 2015 | 25

Shop for handmade holiday gifts .. or for yourself!

Open through 12/23

Visit both locations: Fairgrounds

Showroom

3000 General Pershing Blvd.

Oklahoma City

1146 N. Broadway Dr. Oklahoma City

Stock refreshed daily. Check back for new finds!

www.oklahomacontemporary.org | 405-951-0000

26 | december 2, 2015 | Oklahoma Gazette

CERAMICS SALE

Annual Ceramics Sale

Disciplinary measures

Principal Armando Ayala interacts with a first-grade class at Shidler Elementary School in Oklahoma City.

Suspension rates fall at Oklahoma City Public Schools, but are core discipline, safety and education concerns being addressed?

By Brett Dickerson

“Hello, Mr. Ayala,” said a series of smiling Shidler Elementary School second-graders as they walked past principal Armando Ayala in an orderly line.

He watched them with a look of pride in his eyes. The students beamed with pride, too.

Shidler, located in the Oklahoma City Public Schools (OKCPS) district, is one of those places that visitors recognize as an orderly, productive environment — a “successful school.”

Students in the southside neighborhood school quietly passed from one activity to another down the hallways as parent volunteers worked on their latest project.

Teachers spoke in normal tones. Each classroom was engaged in a learning activity, many of them guided by students whose teachers trained them how to lead fellow students.

A visit to Shidler under the productive and positive leadership of Ayala and its teachers might reassure most visitors that, at least there, all is well in Oklahoma City’s public school system.

But organizations cannot be uniformly successful all the time, and OKCPS is no exception. Questions remain about whether excelling schools like Shidler are the exception or a sign of positive times ahead for the district.

Efforts to shake a stigmatizing U.S.

Department of Education investigation into alleged civil rights violations led the district to adopt measures to drop high OKCPS suspension rates — which were even higher for minority students — while helping more students stay engaged in their education.

Indeed, Teri Bell, OKCPS executive director of student support services, said suspensions are down 63 percent over this time last school year.

But some staff remain anxious of what they believe might be a potentially unsafe leniency toward repeated, problematic troublemakers in schools.

For these reasons, teachers union representatives have argued against the initiatives.

Tensions mounted early this school year — at first with the old code of conduct, which was applied differently than before. The new code, introduced at a Nov. 23 school board meeting, hasn’t quelled their apprehension.

Second-year Oklahoma City Public Schools Superintendent Rob Neu reassures teachers that discipline has been and will be a priority. Union representatives still raise doubts that order can be kept in classrooms if the district is too focused on reducing suspension numbers.

The purpose and value of discipline intersects each of these discussions.

Investigation response

A suspension is a disciplinary measure that results in a student being removed from their regular classroom for a specified period of time as they are sent either to inschool suspension (ISS), alternate sites for short- or long-term programs or home.

During the 2013-14 school year, Neu ordered an internal audit of the district’s suspension policies and practices after the federal investigation of civil rights complaints against the district came to light.

Accusations of excessive minority suspension rates prompted the audit.

It found that, in some schools, black students, especially, were disciplined at much higher rates than students of other races and minority students in general were suspended at disproportionately high rates.

The analysis also found students were suspended for long periods of time, in some cases 45 school days, without being referred to the district’s alternative education committee for possible placement in another setting.

Bell authored the report and said the audit found repeated cases across the district where parents were told their child needed to go to alternative school, but the process dictated the principal must refer the student, and parents could not seek out a school.

Thus, students were stuck in

administrative limbo after suspensions, depriving them from accessing any education at all.

In response to the audit’s findings, Neu ordered that new measures be developed and established, from district administration’s top levels down to classrooms. Changing suspension practices would be a key focus of efforts.

In board meetings toward the end of the 2014-15 school year, Neu repeatedly emphasized that if students were not in school, they could not learn.

Longtime OKCPS administrator Chuck Tompkins was tapped to direct a newly created Office of School Climate and Student Discipline. The office oversees coordinating discipline efforts and ensures building administrators followed district policy regarding suspensions.

Another school year began with the expectation that teachers would more actively engage students and develop relationships before turning them over to the principal to discipline.

Union representatives voiced concerns about safety and how focusing too heavily on bringing down suspension numbers could distract from efforts to improve safety and address behavioral concerns.

Bob Hammack, OKCPS Board of Education member, and Ed Allen, continued on next page

Oklahoma Gazette | december 2, 2015 | 27

p hotos by Ga r e t t fi s b e c k

life education

life education

American Federation of Teachers president, shared a heated exchange over the new system at a Nov. 2 board meeting.

It came after Allen presented an anonymous survey the union conducted online that showed negative scores for poor disciplinary support of teachers. It also collected 836 anonymous narrative responses, many of which were negative.

Allen said that he believes the district practices an “ignore and deny” discipline philosophy in response to negative national attention it received last school year for its high suspension rate, especially among minority students.

Root causes

“It’s bigger than just what goes on in a school or a classroom. It’s bigger than education,” Neu said. “This is about humanity; this is about how we treat each other.”

An era of testing and accountability has had a profound damaging effect on education, Neu said.

“When I look at the root causes of why kids are getting suspended, obviously, there are many factors, many of which we don’t control,” he said, “stuff that these kids are bringing into the schoolhouse that are coming from poverty. … And they’re worried about things that most of us find unimaginable.”

Citing efforts in recent years to chase better district test scores, he said schools suppress arts and other electives that foster creative environments and students. “[Most importantly,] we have excluded building relationships with kids. What we’ve got to do is focus on that,” he said. “When a kid becomes a number, all we’re doing is preparing our kids for incarceration. What we’ve got to do is get to know them from the standpoint of name, strength, hopes and dreams.”

Clarifying expectations

Most of the anxiety centers on determining the value and purpose of suspensions.

Many OKCPS teachers agree suspension is sometimes a necessary tool that helps maintain effective learning environments.

Some also believe the current administration endorses suspensions as a last-resort option.

Through union representatives, teachers have contended that principals are being pressured to reduce suspension rates. They said the focus on numbers can leave some teachers feeling exasperated and possibly unsafe, with insufficient district or principal support.

Many teachers also push to add alternative school programs, and

administrators must find ways to keep students involved in the education process with the programs in place while fighting budgetary and other limitations.

“You have students with chronic behavior problems that are committing serious offenses in class; for example, getting in fights and making threats,” said union field representative Camal Pennington. “And those things are happening repeatedly.”

He said that teachers use every option available to halt and correct problem behavior before recommending suspension.

“Then, the principals are making some responses,” Pennington said. “But at the end of the day, those interventions are not helping and those students are still in class, causing the same problems.”

Two OKCPS teachers shared their experiences with Oklahoma Gazette but wished to remain unnamed to protect their roles and their school principal.

Both expressed frustration at what they perceived to be a lack of support regarding a small number of students whose problematic behavior regularly disrupted their classrooms.

Both also said poverty is the top contributor to behavioral problems in their schools.

Neither wanted any student kicked out of school if it inhibited them from accessing an education. Instead, they wish to see a more extensive alternative school system that addresses deeper needs while enabling other students to learn.

28 | december 2, 2015 | Oklahoma Gazette

Kelly Higham teaches a lesson to her first-grade class at Shidler Elementary School.

Alternatives

Bell, who also heads student support services at OKCPS, countered that adding more alternative education programs won’t provide the panacea many might hope for and schools currently offer short- and long-term discipline alternatives. Two months ago, OKCPS announced schoolyear 2016 partnerships with Boys & Girls Clubs of Oklahoma County and the Latino Community Development Agency (LCDA) to offer Alternative to Suspension Programs for certain disciplinary infractions that result in out-of-school suspensions that are five days or longer.

The 10-day programs may also be used “as a means to shorten longer suspension,” according to OKCPS documentation.

Neu, quoted by National Public Radio affiliate KOSU in a Sept. 1 story, compared implementation of the programs to “a plane being built midflight” because they were launched after the start of the school year.

Bell also said certified teachers are assigned to Alternative to Suspension Programs sites to continue the education process while suspended students receive instruction on conflict resolution and character development. LCDA also offers drug and alcohol abuse counseling as needed.

The initiative can serve up to 40 students at a time, and Bell said about 24

now participate.

Bell also cited the district’s alternative schools: Emerson High School, Metro Tech’s Metro Career Academy, Justice Alma Wilson Seeworth Academy and Harper Academy.

Fully engaged

At Shidler, first-grade teacher Kelly Higham leads her class with the ease of someone who knows that she is supported and is a part of a larger positive effort.

The class moves smoothly between activities, and if a student is off task or distracted, there is no yelling. She approaches and visits quietly with them and then re-engages with the entire class quickly.

“Self-esteem goes down. Grades go down just because they miss school. They miss learning,” she said when asked what she sees happen when an elementary student is suspended. “Sometimes, at home, they just aren’t getting what they need either. It kind of makes for an overall year’s struggle for them.”

Trying to avoid that last resort is the reason the staff at Shidler fully engages their students throughout the day.

“It’s about trust and relationships between me, the teachers and the students,” Principal Ayala concluded.

“That’s what makes this work.”

m a rk ha n coc k

life culture

Market shift

PAMBE Ghana’s Global Market helps educate West African youth with proceeds from its seasonal fair trade shop, open locally through Dec. 23.

By Oraynab Mohamad

Alice Iddi-Gubbels is the founder of PAMBE Ghana, a nonprofit charity headquartered in Oklahoma City.

She is a native of the Republic of Ghana, West Africa, and made her way here through volunteer efforts with global not-for-profit organizations.

PAMBE was launched from an idea she had to raise money to help the people in her rural village build schools for children, and its seasonal Global Market helps her realize that goal.

“I had a long dream that I would like to go back and do something in education; education being one of the biggest challenges in our area,” Iddi-Gubbels said, “because it’s quite remote and access to schools — especially quality education for younger children — is challenging.”

Iddi-Gubbels and her group of volunteers collaborate with fair trade shops from around the world. They select the arts and crafts of artisans through a catalogue and sell their wares at PAMBE Ghana’s local Global Market, 6516 N. Olie Ave., to raise money for the artists and help expand the school in Ghana.

“Basically, [our mission] is to bring literacy to the underserved rural areas in northern Ghana through a bilingual approach in education in

Alice Iddi-Gubbels, founder of PAMBE Ghana and director of its Global Market, at the recent opening of the seasonal fair trade shop in Oklahoma City. the Montessori methodology,” IddiGubbels said.

Judy Federa volunteers as a board member. She made her first trip to Ghana this past year.

“We buy most of our stuff through a more limited sourcing network of places. It’s still pretty big. And the other part of it is if we know for sure about something,” Federa said. “One of the examples is the shea butter; it’s made in Alice’s village.”

PAMBE was launched in 2007 as a 501c(3), after a Swedish friend donated some of her inheritance to help fund Iddi-Gubbels’ school. The following year, one class was built. The school now educates children from prekindergarten through sixth grade.

PAMBE Ghana is managed through the combined efforts of volunteers and donations from local businesses.

“This hasn’t always been in this location; it’s donated space,” Federa said. “We’ve been fortunate to be in this location for several years in a row, but it’s been in different parts of the city.”

Local artists also donate their products to PAMBE Ghana’s cause.

“This is another thing. It’s not through a catalogue, but she’s a volunteer,” Federa said. “She makes

these dog collars; she’s an Oklahoma City person. She [also] heads the children’s outreach services with the Metropolitan Library.”

Added Iddi-Gubbels, “She actually bought this material from Ghana and made them.”

PAMBE Ghana’s Global Market is divided into three rooms filled to capacity with ethnic-inspired artwork and crafts. It is open to the public, and Iddi-Gubbels said sale proceeds go a long way to meeting PAMBE Ghana’s goals.

For now, Iddi-Gubbels is focused on building a strong foundation for the school.

“The plan is to … consolidate and to make this really, really a top-notch educational system and eventually make it a training center so that other people can come and learn,” she said.

“And that we have the capacity to continue to grow for the primary level, but also to provide support to whatever institution wants to replicate what we have.”

PAMBE Ghana is looking for additional volunteers to help run the shop, which is open noon-6 p.m.

Tuesdays-Saturdays through Dec. 23.

Learn more about the organization and market at pambeghana.org.

Oklahoma Gazette | december 2, 2015 | 29

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30 | december 2, 2015 | Oklahoma Gazette

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Tree, tops The Miller Neighborhood Mantels & Trees Tour showcases a historic community’s homes all dressed up for the holidays.

By Mark Beutler

The Miller Neighborhood Mantels & Trees Tour 6-9 p.m. Friday NW 10th to 16th streets From Villa to May avenues $10

Northwest

7930 N. MacArthur • 728-7100

Southwest

8900 S. Walker • 632-0483

Edmond

2624 S. Bdwy Ct. • 341-4331

32 | december 2, 2015 | Oklahoma Gazette

Norman

562 N. Main •364-8787

Holidays provide the perfect reason to look inside some of Oklahoma City’s most historic and early homes during Friday’s Miller Neighborhood Mantels & Trees Tour.

Miller is located between NW 10th and 16th streets and May and Villa avenues. It was platted in the early 1900s. Founder George Miller built his home at the corner of NW 12th Street and Miller Avenue, in what has become known as the Miller Mansion, said Mike Stuart, who now owns the residence with Bruce Hall. The home is one of several on this year’s holiday tour.

“I think anyone who attends will be impressed with the sense of pride from the homeowners who have volunteered to open their homes and share in the holiday spirit,” Stuart said.

“Miller residents are warm, friendly and love being a part of this historic neighborhood.”

Many of the Tudor-style homes will primarily feature decorated living rooms, Stuart said, while others deck the halls all the way through.

“Some of the participants started decorating in early November,” he said. “It really depends on the level of participation. If they are focusing on just their living room, mantel and tree, they may not be as taxed to finish as those decorating the entire house.”

Most of the participating houses are new additions to the tour, and Stuart said the owners are relatively new Miller neighborhood residents. Each home reflects the owner’s interpretation of Christmas.

This year’s displays feature young professionals decorating their first house and longtime residents who have been

Miller neighborhood homes deck their halls for this annual Mantels & Trees Tour. part of previous Mantels & Trees events.

Stuart and Hall bought Miller Mansion in 1997 and immediately began restoring it inside and out. They added a pool, upgraded landscaping and brought the house back to life. The pair also keeps expanding the breadth of the house’s holiday decorations.

“We really started to decorate for Christmas in remembrance of my mother,” Stuart said. “She died after Christmas, shortly before we moved, and Christmas was always her favorite time of year. So decorating really made a difference in helping me deal with it.

Each year, it seems to get bigger and bigger. For the last several years, we have decorated the entire house with trees throughout, and even different themes. Both levels of the house will be decorated this year.”

Miller neighborhood experiences a resurgence of popularity as people return to historical urban areas, Stuart said. It allows them to enjoy the close proximity to Oklahoma City’s flourishing downtown area.

“It is so exciting to see the younger generation buying these older homes and appreciating them for the historical significance,” he said. “In fact, Miller recently achieved national historic recognition for having homes of historic value.”

Tickets for the tour are $10 and can be purchased at 23rd Street Antique Mall, 3023 NW 23rd St., or at participating homes along the tour.

For more information, email Stuart at mike@impressionsprinting.com.

“We think anyone who attends will certainly go home with a rejuvenated Christmas spirit,” Stuart said of the tour, which celebrates its sixth year this season.

p rovi de d

life community

life visual arts

Visual tapestries Brenda Kingery’s work eludes traditional definitions as she blends history, memory and culture.

By Paul Fairchild

Mnemonic engine

Kingery sees life in textures, and her work has a quilting feel. Just as one creates a quilt, she works on one piece of the image at a time, sewing together smaller images to form a larger picture.

She balances complete improvisation with subject material taken from memory.

The mnemonic engine that drives her painting also evokes a dreamlike quality that challenges traditional modes of interpretation.

She starts each piece with a series of ink washes done in the Sumi-e technique she learned during her time in Japan.

She then turns to oils or acrylics, adding as many as 25 layers to a painting, refining the image as she goes.

It’s not uncommon for her to incorporate mica and small found objects, buried like treasure between layers. One painting might be an amalgamation of 10 photos or a snapshot of a memory seen from 10 angles.

“A lot of the pieces here (at Exhibit C) are taken from photographs of the Red Earth powwow,” she said. “But I take them very loosely; I don’t try to do anything that’s exact. I’m not representing regalia in any particular form because I’m more interested

mark hancock

Brenda Kingery’s work eludes interpretation. Her style is her own and presents stories and narratives in ways unfamiliar to even veteran art critics.

But the stories are there. And it’s worth the effort to discover them.

“My paintings have been described as narrative symbolism. The paintings reflect my history, experiences and the way I see my environment,” she explained. “I see life in a series of patterns that can almost be described as visual tapestries. The goal is to create paintings full of life’s breath that are full of boundless energy, yet exacting.”

Kingery’s work will be on display at Bricktown’s Exhibit C, 1 E. Sheridan Ave., through February. Exhibit C, an outlet of the Chickasaw Nation and Chickasaw Country tourism organization, is devoted to displaying the work of Chickasaw artists.

Kingery discovered her Chickasaw heritage a bit late in life, but for some years, it has been central to her work.

Brenda Kingery with “November,” one of her works now on display at Exhibit C gallery in Bricktown. in … the patterns and the way the compositions move.”

Kingery’s style is so unique that art critics and teachers had no vocabulary to describe her work until master potter Harding Black hung a label on it: narrative symbolism.

It’s a style she began developing as a child.

“I’ve always been a painter or an artist,” she said. “In kindergarten, the teacher called my mother and said, ‘You have a baby artist.’ My mother asked what to do; the teacher said, ‘Just buy her supplies and let her paint. Don’t try to teach her anything until she’s at least 16.’ … That was my real education.”

Cultural revelations

She kept at it, later attending the University of Oklahoma, where she earned a degree in art history.

Her marriage to her husband, Tom, an Air Force officer, meant moving from station to station, the first being Ryukyu Islands in Japan. It catalyzed two important features of her work: immersion in other cultures and a fascination with textiles. She spent little time on base, learning Japanese and practically becoming a local as she made

contact with and befriended local artists and craftsmen.

“I worked with the potters, but I also went out on the little islands … and worked with weavers,” she said. “Each little village and each little island has its own indigenous style of weaving, and so textiles became a big deal.”

Her stint in Japan kindled a lifelong love of the exploration of other cultures, her own in particular. After returning to the States, her mother invited her to the first Red Earth powwow. It was love at first sight, and what she saw would provide material for her work for the rest of her life.

“It sounds corny, but it’s true: I was blown away by the texture, the textiles, the movement,” she said. “Japanese dance moves slowly. When I saw Native Americans moving and the way that the dance went, it was texture again. It was textiles again that fascinated me. It was the most gorgeous transition for me to come from one culture to another so fluidly. In fact, it was perfect.”

Tailored tales

Her immersion in other cultures continues with her work with Threads of Blessing ministry, which she founded

almost 20 years ago.

Always interested in mission work, she and a colleague traveled with two dentists to Honduras, where they trained women to use a skill they already had — sewing — to create fine art. The works are brought back to the States to be sold, and 100 percent of the proceeds go back to the women who created them.

“We train women in something they can do without electricity, without running water and all the other elements we take for granted. Nor do they have the opportunity to make a decent living, because they’re way out in the country,” she said. “This project is interesting because nearly every woman in a third-world country has learned to sew out of subsistence. They picked it up immediately and are stunning in what they can do; it’s a demonstration of how art can change people’s lives.”

Kingery’s work is held in private, corporate and public collections around the world. It can be found at flagship Marriott Hotels, Arthur Andersen Consulting, University of Texas at San Antonio and San Antonio Museum of Art, where it’s part of the permanent collection.

Oklahoma Gazette | december 2, 2015 | 33

Mural culture Tech giant Google takes an interest in the murals along Western Avenue.

By Ben Luschen

LIKE US ON

Jerrod Smith’s murals on Western Avenue can be seen from Tulsa, Tuscany and even outer space — with a secure Internet connection, that is.

Originally intended to bring excitement to the stretch of road between W. Wilshire Boulevard and NW 36th Street, Western Avenue Association’s mural project can now be seen by nearly anyone, anywhere through a partnership with Google Cultural Institute. Each of the eight Western Avenue murals, including the two Smith worked on, were added to Google’s digital art and culture archive.

“The world has become a very small place — a very large place but a very small place,” Smith, artist and owner of Weldon Jack, said.

“That’s one of the benefits, that millions of people across the world can see what we did, and I think it’ll add to Oklahoma City becoming a destination and not just a place between [Los Angeles] and [New York City].”

Western Avenue Association, of which Smith is a board member, added five murals to its territory in 2014 to bring fresh interest into the area. The plan worked. Rachael Taylor, director of the association, said they constantly get tagged on Instagram in pictures of people posing with the art.

“The public really enjoys the murals, and that’s been one of my primary reasons for doing this, to really add public art to the city,” she said. “And it’s always really exciting to see people interact with the murals.”

Google culture

Google took notice, too. Andrew Silvestri, public affairs manager for the state, said he has worked and lived in Oklahoma City for the last 10 years and has seen artists transform the city before his eyes.

After the five initial murals were finished, Google offered Western

34 | december 2, 2015 | Oklahoma Gazette

“The Nature of Things,” by Jerrod Smith, Kristopher Kanaly and Dustin Gilpin Avenue a $10,000 grant for the completion of three more murals.

All of the art projects would then be photographed and added to their online Cultural Institute.

Silvestri said the institute is a nonprofit initiative seeking to partner technology with culture and art around the world.

“Museums and artists are creating actual archives all over the world, and this really gives them a platform to digitize those items and memorialize them forever, for generations to come, which is really exciting,” he said.

The institute also has partnerships with Oklahoma City Museum of Art and Philbrook Museum of Art in Tulsa. Silvestri said Google has no other partners lined up in Oklahoma City, but the institute is interested in new, local works.

Smith said at first, the Western Avenue board was in favor of splitting up the Google grant money among different wants and needs, but he convinced his colleagues to invest the full amount in the artists for whom the money was intended.

By properly investing in the artists bringing their value into the area, Smith said everyone in the community truly benefits. If Oklahoma City wants to continue to see its profile grow, he said that type of investment will need to continue.

“The reality is Google sought us, and I think because of that, we can help be good influences or inspiration for another generation of people,” he said. “And we can use it for business.

That’s Google saying, ‘Hey, this was great. This was something special.’”

Find Google Cultural Institute at google.com/culturalinstitute.

Chri s ‘ Qui t’ Nguy e n / P ROVIDED

life visual arts

The Nutcracker

American Spirit Home for the Holidays

P ROVI DED

Ja n a C a rs on / P ROVIDED

cover performing arts

Scrooge, a dancing candelabra and snow tubing highlight seasonal events across the metro.

The Christmas Show

By Christine Eddington

It’s December in Oklahoma City, and that means ’tis the season to get out there and holly your jolly and enjoy local performing arts offerings and seasonal events that dot the calendar like sugarplums in a pudding.

Whether you prefer a beautiful, lilting production of The Nutcracker, a toe-tapping A Territorial Christmas Carol or free beer and a Neil Diamond tribute band, this guide will steer you from Guthrie to downtown OKC and everywhere in between. We’ve made our list and checked it twice so you don’t have to.

— By Christine Eddington

A Christmas Carol

7:30 Wednesdays and Thursdays, 8 p.m. Fridays, 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays through Dec. 27 Lyric’s Plaza Theatre 1727 NW 16th St. lyrictheatreokc.com 524-9310 $30-$60

Get Scrooged for the holidays — again!

— as Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma brings this classic to life for its fifth consecutive year.

Expect special, magical elements, such as a ghost gliding above the audience’s heads, a flurry of snow and special guest and Oklahoma City University professor of music Marilyn Govich as the Ghost of Christmas Present, in this year’s production.

“No holiday season would be complete without our spectacular production of A Christmas Carol,” said Lyric Theatre artistic director Michael Baron. “This heartwarming and beautiful production will make your family and friends’ holiday seasons extra special.”

The Nutcracker

2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Dec. 12, 2 p.m.

Dec. 13, 7 p.m. Dec. 18, 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Dec. 19-20, 7 p.m. Dec. 21-22 Civic Center Music Hall 201 N. Walker Ave. okcballet.com 297-2264 $25-$75

Thanks to Herr Drosselmeyer and his gift of a colorful nutcracker, Clara, unable to contain herself, sneaks downstairs to play with her new toy and is swept into a magical fantasyland of giant mice, dancing snowflakes, toy soldiers and the Sugarplum Fairy herself.

“This year, in an ongoing effort to keep the production fresh, I’ve re-choreographed the grand pas de deux and the Russian babka dances in the second act, and both have colorful new costumes,” said Robert Mills, Oklahoma City Ballet’s artistic director.

Whether you’ve never seen The Nutcracker or you’ve seen it a dozen times, this show surprises and delights.

The Christmas Show

Downtown in December

7:30 p.m. Thursday, 8 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Saturday Civic Center Music Hall 201 N. Walker Ave. okcphilharmonic.org 842-5387 $19-$65

Various times and locations in downtown through December downtownindecember.com 235-3500

Oklahoma City is packed with fun, thanks to Downtown OKC Inc. and this monthlong celebration. There’s the Snow Tubing Winter Festival, Dog Day in December, skating at Devon Ice Rink, free holiday water taxi rides and so much more.

Many of the activities are free to attend or reasonably priced, making them perfect for the whole gang to enjoy. See the full schedule at downtownindecember.com.

All of the sights and sounds of the season come together in a musical romp during Oklahoma City Philharmonic’s holiday extravaganza.

Billed as OKC’s original Christmas show, The Christmas Show promises to delight audiences with fresh interpretations of holiday favorites celebrated through music, song and dance for over two decades.

Beauty and the Beast

A Territorial Christmas Carol

10 a.m., 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Dec. 26; 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Dec. 27 Civic Center Music Hall 201 N. Walker Ave. celebrityattractions.com 297-2264

8 p.m. Thursday-Friday, 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday through Dec. 20 The Pollard Theatre 120 W. Harrison Ave., Guthrie thepollard.org 282-2800

$25-$75

$15-$30

A Territorial Christmas Carol is an original production of The Pollard Theatre that plays to sold-out crowds each year, and 2015 marks its 28th anniversary. It’s an adapted version of the Dickens classic created by Oklahoma playwright Stephen P. Scott and set in the days of the Oklahoma Land Run.

Lovers of Lumiere, rejoice! Everyone’s favorite dancing candelabra, his cranky beast of an owner and the lovely hostage-turned-bride Belle are in town for two days as part of a whirlwind tour around the country.

continued on next page

Oklahoma Gazette | december 2, 2015 | 35

WENDY MUTZ / P ROVI DED

Happening holidays

P ROVI DED

cover performing arts

Downtown in December

A Melinda Doolittle Christmas

MATTHEW MURPHY / P ROVIDED

7:30 p.m. Tuesday Visual and Performing Arts Center Oklahoma City Community College 7777 S. May Ave. tickets.occc.edu

Beauty and the Beast

10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday through Dec. 30 Red Earth Art Center 6 Santa Fe Plaza redearth.org/red-earth-museum 427-5228 Free

Red Earth invited five Oklahoma native tribes to create beautiful, handmade ornaments with beaded corn, mini dream catchers, drums and stockings that now adorn five breathtaking, six-foot trees. Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes and Chickasaw, Citizen Potawatomi, Comanche and Osage nations are participating.

Opening Night 2016 7 p.m.-midnight Dec. 31 Downtown Oklahoma City artscouncilokc.com 270-4800 $8-$10

Ring in 2016 at OKC’s biggest New Year’s Eve celebration, produced by Arts Council of Oklahoma City.

Venues throughout downtown showcase performers of every ilk, and the whole thing is yours to enjoy with the purchase of a wristband. A

children’s area will be located inside Civic Center Music Hall, and this year’s finale will be made even more fun with the addition of food trucks.

Performances feature Edgar Cruz, Shortt Dogg, Tequila Azul and the unicycling antics of Michael King.

$31

7 p.m. Dec. 10-11, 2 p.m. and 8 p.m.

Dec. 12, 2 p.m. Dec. 13 Kirkpatrick Auditorium Oklahoma City University 2501 N. Blackwelder Ave. okcu.edu/tickets

Doolittle, of American Idol fame, is in town for one show and one show only. She took third place on the show’s sixth season and has performed at the Rock and Rock Hall of Fame, the White House and Carnegie Hall.

She was a featured performer at the 2015 Boston Pops Fourth of July Spectacular. All of this is made more impressive by the fact that Doolittle said she was tone deaf as a child and was encouraged not to sing in elementary school.

Home for the Holidays provides all the high style of a Broadway show right here in OKC. It’s a merry, musical romp through holiday favorites old and new. Oklahoma City University’s nationally acclaimed American Spirit Dance Company, under direction of Oklahoma City University dance department chairwoman Jo Rowan, is comprised of more than 150 dancers who will perform Broadway-style tap, jazz and ballet numbers.

$29.20

A Melinda Doolittle Christmas

Bricktown NYE 2016 9 p.m.-1 a.m. Dec. 31 Chevy Bricktown Events Center 429 E. California Ave. bricktownnye.com $50-$400 21+

Free domestic beer until 10:30 p.m., a champagne toast at midnight, the state’s largest balloon drop and Neil Diamond tribute act Super Diamond are just four of the reasons Bricktown NYE 2016 will be very, very “Cherry, Cherry.”

In derivative news, Diamond himself is a fan of Super Diamond, having appeared with the act twice onstage and complimented it at least twice on live television.

36 | december 2, 2015 | Oklahoma Gazette

PROVIDED

Treefest

American Spirit Home for the Holidays

life books

A local author helps empower women to take back control of their finances with her best-selling book, Starting Over.

Oraynab Jwayyed

By Alissa Lindsey

An Oklahoma woman has written a best-selling book to empower women struggling financially.

Oraynab Jwayyed, author of Starting Over: A Practical Guide for Women After a Money Crisis, was inspired to write the book while pursuing her MBA at the University of Central Oklahoma because so many women approached her seeking financial guidance.

Jwayyed is a consultant and founder of Business Interludes LLC, where she teaches women to manage their finances.

Starting Over is for women who have been through a divorce, are expecting a divorce, lost a job or need to return to the workforce after years of absence — women in situations that might make them feel financially insecure.

“The book is catered to women with a life crisis and focused on divorced women,” she said. “It speaks a lot to

my own experience. Even though I was pursuing my degrees, I was not in control of my finances. I started taking care of my kids, and my ex-husband insisted on having total control of the finances, so I just gave them up to him.”

While in school, Jwayyed found that many women were deterred from managing their own finances because of the large amount of jargon that can be involved in the process.

“The plain-English rules were seriously enforced after the crisis hit, and [before that,] there was a lot of finance talk many people didn’t understand,” she said. “Many women relied on their husbands.”

During her divorce, Jwayyed gained knowledge that she said can only be acquired through experience. “[I learned] that I have to put myself first; I think that is the greatest lesson

we have,” she said. “I can’t take care of others unless I take care of myself.”

Starting Over is Jwayyed’s second book, and it includes an eight-step guide on how to get finances together.

“With respect to myself, [many women] grew up with ambitions and goals,” she said. “You get sidetracked and you make your kids and your marriage your first priority. The next thing you know, everything is a priority except yourself.”

Jwayyed published Starting Over through Amazon, and it has made the best-seller list in three categories, including women and business, finance and money management.

In January, Jwayyed begins teaching about being financially organized, saving and investing options and 401(k)s at Francis Tuttle Technology Center.

“Anyone, with a little determination, can get their financial matters in order,” Jwayyed said.

Starting Over is available on Amazon for $2.99.

She also is working on future books.

She would like to compile a collection of essays from women who overcame financial crises and want to share their experience with others.

Jwayyed is seeking 300- to 500word essay submissions describing what the women learned and how they overcame their financial struggles.

Women who are interested should email a brief outline to info@ businessinterludes.com.

To learn more about Jwayyed, visit businessinterludes.com.

Editor’s note: Jwayyed is an Oklahoma Gazette freelance reporter.

beLTrAcchi: The ArT of forgery thurs, dec 3 | 5:30 & 8:00 P.M.

The wonders fri, dec 4 | 5:30 P.M. sat, dec 5 | 8:00 P.M. sun, dec 6 | 2:00 P.M.

Also like life: the films of hou hsiAo-hsien A Time To Live And A Time To die fri, dec 4 | 8:00 P.M.

dusT in The wind sat, dec 5 | 5:30 P.M.

miLLennium mAmbo sun, dec 6 | 5:30 P.M.

For movie descriptions and ticket sales visit www.okcmoa.com Oklahoma Gazette | december 2, 2015 | 37

PR OVI DED

Dollars, sense

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Gridinn째180 Fill the grideasy so that every row, column and 3-by-3 box contains the numbers 1 through 9.

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38 | December 2, 2015 | Oklahoma Gazette

O P E N S F O R

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of the warrior” 23 Charged (with) 24 Part of a mob 25 Threshold of major change 27 Heroic deeds 28 Eritrea’s capital 29 Small body of medical research 31 Jack in the box, once?

33 Attempt to debug?

34 Soundly defeat, informally 38 Arthur Conan Doyle title 39 Catchphrase from Jerry Maguire 42 Actress Larter of Heroes 43 A little light 45 Homer’s neighbor on The Simpsons 47 ____ facto 48 Winnie-the-Pooh greeting 50 Jet black 51 Like Nahuatl speakers 54 Puffs 56 “31 Days of Oscar” channel 57 Hail or farewell 58 Crocodile tail?

61 Latin lover’s word 62 Dance class 63 They sit for six yrs.

65 Was a victim of price gouging 70 ____ Lilly and Company 71 Struggles (through) 73 Dweller along the Wasatch Range 74 “That’s lovely!”

75 Rush to beat a deadline 80 Not aweather 81 Penultimate countdown word 82 Messenger ____ 83 One of the Golden Girls of

1980s-’90s TV 85 Nonexpert 86 Cubs’ home 87 Surrounded by 90 Danced to Xavier Cugat, say 92 “Supposing that’s true …”

93 Modern spelling?

94 Madame’s “mine” 97 Sites for R.N.s and M.D.s 98 Skedaddles 100 Prince’s inits.

101 Mark that’s hard to hit 104 Red Cross work 106 Where to find some ham 107 “____ in Calico” (jazz classic) 109 It makes flakes 110 Biceps exercise 113 Steamed dish that may be

prepared in an olla 115 Rapper né Andre Young 117 British pool stick 122 Fort ____ National Monument 123 They’ll make you blush 125 Reindeer relative 126 “That makes sense now” 127 Early Mexicans 128 Up 129 Businesswoman/philanthropist

____ Heinz Kerry 130 Auto identifiers 131 Launch dates

DOWN 1 Sons of, in Hebrew 2 Drooping 3 Exasperated cry in the morning 4 A Few Good Men men 5 First option 6 Rented 7 Last stage of metamorphosis 8 Dogs 9 Rankles 10 Coke Zero, for one 11 “Every dog has his day” and others 12 Zimbabwe’s capital 13 It’s in the eye of the beholder 14 Formal occasions 15 Be unable to make further progress 16 Part of a Mario Brothers costume 17 Equity valuation stat 18 Prince Edward Isl. setting 19 Talks with one’s hands 26 Exact 30 Newfoundland or Labrador 32 Singer Tori 34 Weight-room figure 35 Board game popular

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bigger than C 49 Jesus on a diamond 52 Site of King Rudolf ’s

imprisonment, in fiction 53 Santa ____ 55 Sour-candy brand 57 Nile River spanner 59 Typical end of a

professor’s address?

60 ____ Place (Butch and

Sundance companion) 64 Six, in Seville 66 Berry of Monster’s Ball

Oklahoma Gazette is circulated at its designated distribution points free of charge to readers for their individual use and by mail to subscribers.

The cash value of this copy is $1.

Persons taking copies of the Oklahoma Gazette from its distribution points for any reason other than their or others’ individual use for reading purposes are subject to prosecution.

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commercial prefix 76 Hoffer or Holder 77 Green garnish 78 Two past Tue. 79 Exact 84 President Garfield’s

middle name 87 Tire-pressure indicator 88 “Let’s Get It Started” rapper 89 “Rikki-Tikki-____” 91 Reebok competitor 92 “Positively

Entertaining” network 93 Thingamajig

Stumped? Call 1-900-285-5656 to get the answers to any three clues by phone ($1.20 a minute). The answers to the New York Times Magazine Crossword Puzzle that appeared in the November 25 issue of Oklahoma Gazette are shown at left.

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New York Times Magazine Crossword Puzzle Having Aspirations By Samuel A. Donaldson & Jeff Chen / Edited by Will Shortz

95 It might follow a

showstopping

performance, in

modern lingo 96 Hot 99 Not black-and-white 102 Code of silence 103 Exact 105 Conehead 108 Caffè ____ 111 Sports-star-turned-

model Gabrielle 112 Author Dahl 114 They go around heads

around Diamond Head 116 Russian legislature 118 Big name in microloans 119 Subject of the 2002 book The Perfect Store 120 Turns bad 121 Exact 124 Draft org.

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Oklahoma Gazette | december 2, 2015 | 39

#oklovesKD Thunder fan Ben Parker urges fellow Kevin Durant admirers to send their messages to the basketball star.

By Laura Eastes

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At the end of the 2015-16 NBA season, Kevin Durant will likely face what could be the toughest decision of his professional career.

After eight years playing for the Oklahoma City Thunder, Durant becomes a free agent and ultimately decides if he should stay with the Thunder or play elsewhere.

If you are a Thunder fan, there’s legitimate reason to worry. Fans of LeBron James and Ken Griffey Jr. witnessed their beloved stars leave for offers in their hometowns at the peak of their careers.

Its no secret Washington Wizards fans want Durant, a native of Suitland, Maryland, which is located a mile outside of the District of Columbia. When the Thunder visits the nation’s capitol, signs reading, “KD2DC” and “Come Home KD” greet the team.

Thunder fan Ben Parker understands Wizards fans’ desire to lure Durant, a talented player and a professional basketball icon. The grassroots efforts in Washington, D.C., go beyond game posters as fans post social media messages using the hashtag #KD2DC and sport T-shirts — one in particular reads, “KD Homecoming 2016.”

Parker decided Oklahomans needed to react.

“If people in other cities are going to start doing this, we should have a site to tell [Durant] how we feel and that we want him to stay,” explained Parker, who serves as director of technology for the Oklahoma Public School Resource Center.

“I had extra time on my hands, and I do Web design for fun,” he said. “I put two and two together, and it took off.”

The campaign

Celebrate Safely US DOT 542712 40 | december 2, 2015 | Oklahoma Gazette

www.viplimo.net 405.752.5466

Okloveskd.com, Parker’s labor of love, has collected over 5,000 hits and hundreds of messages supporting Durant in a Thunder jersey for seasons to come. The easy-to-use

Okloveskd.com, Ben Parker’s website, urges fans to tell Kevin Durant how much this city loves the OKC Thunder basketball player. site urges fans to leave messages for the 2014 NBA MVP by using their Twitter and/or Facebook accounts.

Twitter comments are displayed on the website by fans using the hashtag #oklovesKD. The goal of the campaign is twofold for Parker. The OKC man wants fans to express their support to Durant and spread the message when they are at Chesapeake Energy Arena, hanging out with friends or visiting the grocery store by wearing a T-shirt. Parker sells blue T-shirts that read, “Keep KD in OKC 2016,” in sunset orange. Proceeds from the $25 T-shirts benefit The Children’s Hospital at OU Medical Center.

Parker selected the children’s hospital based on his own experience.

He suffers from a slight form of hemophilia and received services from a children’s oncology ward when he lived in Las Vegas.

“I have a soft spot in my heart for kids and families in that situation,” Parker said. “If there is something I can do to help the facility, I do it.”

While it’s still early in the NBA season, Parker’s impressed with Thunder fans’ response. Messages don’t have to address Durant’s basketball skills; as Parker likes to share, Durant is a community hero.

(Oklahoma Gazette readers named Durant Best Community Leader in its Best of OKC 2015 readership poll.)

“After the Moore tornado, he was out working,” recalled Parker, who also mentioned the Kevin Durant Charity Foundation work. “He wasn’t asking for anything. He wasn’t out for publicity. He just put on work gloves and got after it. I think it is admirable how much he has jumped in and become part of our community. …

Anybody like that, you want to keep around.”

Ga re tt fi s be c k

life active

P rovi de d

Party pace Get a running start into your new year with this pre-Opening Night celebratory 5k event.

By Oraynab Mohamad

Opening Night Finale 5k 4 p.m. Dec. 31 Civic Center Music Hall 201 N. Walker Ave. artscouncilokc.com/opening-night 270-4848 $30-$35 Note: Race registration includes a wristband for Opening Night festivities.

As a prelude to New Year’s Eve festivities across downtown Oklahoma City, Arts Council of Oklahoma City again hosts its Dec. 31 Opening Night Finale 5k.

This year’s runners will pass through downtown Oklahoma City as they wind their way past landmarks such as the SkyDance Bridge, all while dressed in festive party glitter, costumes and capes, said Christina Foss, the arts council’s communications director.

Bicentennial Park marks the event’s starting and ending lines.

Foss said the run serves two purposes.

“It’s a fundraiser for the arts council, and it’s a good way to kick off your healthy resolutions, to start the New Year off right,” she said.

It starts at 4 p.m. and ends with enough time to prep for a night out to welcome in the new year.

“You get done in plenty of time, even if you’re just walking, to be able to go home and get dressed and ready for the evening,” she said.

Each runner receives a medal, and winners in male, female and age categories also receive a piece of original artwork, and a grand prize will be awarded for “most festive costume.” “[The medals and artworks are created by] artists that we use and have relationships with during the year,” Foss said. “Collin Rosebrook;

Kids and adults can run or walk in Opening Night Finale 5k. he makes the awards for the top three in each age division. He makes these really cool medallions; they’re kind of like a pottery piece. Dean Emeril created sculptures that are for the top overall finishers.”

Family-friendly festivities also will be held right after the race.

Opening Night begins at 7 p.m. as five downtown venues feature music and theater performances and a youth activities area will be in Civic Center Music Hall.

“We’ll have the face painting and the interactive art and activities for the kids, as well as performances inside,” Foss said.

Opening Night’s countdown celebration starts around 11:30 p.m. at Bicentennial Park, 500 Couch Drive, with R&B act Shortt Dogg as the featured music performer.

“It’s going to be a lot of fun and live music, and we’ll raise the ball and have a huge fireworks show and countdown to midnight,” Foss said.

Race proceeds benefit Arts Council of Oklahoma City’s many events and education programs.

Early bird registration is $30, which increases to $35 after Dec. 14. T-shirts will be provided to early entrants.

Race packets can be picked up noon-7 p.m. Dec. 30 at Red Coyote Running and Fitness, 5720 N. Classen Blvd., or at the starting line at Bicentennial Park on the afternoon of the race.

Runners who participate in the 5k will be provided with a wristband to use at Opening Night, a $10 value.

Learn more about Opening Night Finale 5k and Opening Night at artscouncilokc.com.

2 T I C K E T S TO

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42 | december 2, 2015 | Oklahoma Gazette

life music

Quiet storm Local singer-songwriter Chase Kerby makes his loudest proclamations about vulnerability and self as he strips down to his voice and his guitar.

By Adam Holt

7:30 p.m. Dec. 18 City Pres 829 NW 13th St. chasekerby.com $10

The last time most of America saw Chase Kerby, he was ending his successful run on season nine of NBC’s The Voice.

Now back home in Oklahoma City, the 31-year-old musician plots his next steps in the world of professional music.

“I’ve been busy. Writing [music] a lot,” Kerby said concerning his life after The Voice. “It’s always good to be home.”

Kerby’s life in music did not begin with the NBC show. He has toured in rock bands since the age of 19, including a trek with Stillwater’s The All-American Rejects with his former band, The City Lives. The band was signed on the Oklahoma record label Edmond Records.

Since his appearances on The Voice in early October, social and professional interest in Kerby has risen.

It’s important to me as a songwriter to capture a certain vulnerability by bringing it back and saying, “Here’s the song. This is all you get.”

— Chase Kerby “I’ve heard from a lot of people randomly, just life friends and family,” he said. “People coming in to say hi to me at the candy store.”

Kerby and his mother run 42nd Street Candy Co. in Oklahoma City. It appeared on The Voice in the form of a box of candy Kerby gave judge Gwen Stefani.

“I’ve heard from a few people here and there as far as music on a professional level,” he said. “A lot of it has been kind of behind-the-scenes work and planning toward what can be the best steps for 2016.”

Kerby has been a busy man. He released his first solo effort, the four-song EP Tidal Friction, a year ago. It features songs layered with piano and ambient, atmospheric sounds at a laid-back pace.

The music is hard to define. There are small hints of Coldplay. At times, the choral vocals are reminiscent of those from The Flaming Lips’ “The Gash” from The Soft Bulletin, but comparisons abruptly stop there.

Kerby’s sound is all his own, which makes his next release all the more interesting. He plans to drop his next EP, A Quiet Man, in the next few months.

The project is a 180-degree diversion from the layered, windy sound of Tidal Friction.

“I have all these songs, and I wanted to take a handful of them and make something that is really stripped-back and really honest,” he said.

Minimal tones

The sound of A Quiet Man is that of a singer-songwriter and its songs feature little more than Kerby’s vocals and guitar.

“I thought it was kind of important to take the integrity of these songs and the heart and emotion and put them in verse,” he said.

The acoustic guitar and vocals were recorded together live, with two microphones. The technology used to capture the sound was purposely sparse and minimalistic — Kerby didn’t even listen through headphones while playing.

“That [minimalism] was kind of the idea,” he said. “I think wearing headphones kind of pulled me out of it. It was like I was focusing too much on the details.”

He said the meager sound of the new EP allowed him to confront certain aspects of his music for the first time.

“It’s important to me as a songwriter to capture a certain vulnerability by bringing it back and saying, ‘Here’s the song. This is all you get.’”

Kerby said the atmospheric sound of Tidal Friction and stripped-down songs on A Quiet Man represent the two sides of his songwriting, a feature he will soon explore with an upcoming EP he hasn’t recorded yet.

“It will probably be the middle ground between Tidal Friction and A Quiet Man,” he said.

He explained how the EP will take the acoustic guitar foundation from A Quiet

mark h ancock

Midtown Songwriter Series Audra Mae, M. Lockwood Porter and Chase Kerby

Chase Kerby performs at the Crown Jewel Amphitheater in Oklahoma City during a recent Edgemere Under the Stars concert.

Man and mix it with the ambient sounds of Tidal Friction.

Aside from his solo project, Kerby also fronts Chase Kerby + The Villains.

Along with singing duties, he plays guitar and keys in the four-piece outfit. Kerby’s next full-length album will be a Villain’s project.

“I’ll be hopefully going into the studio at the beginning of the year and doing the full band thing,” he said.

He is also toying with the idea of releasing a Chase Kerby & The Villains EP before the full-length album.

Kerby’s dance card is filled to the brim. He has a solo performance Dec. 18 for the Midtown Songwriter Series at City Pres. He plans to tour early next year either with The Villains or by himself. He has also secured a slot at Norman Music Festival 9 in late April.

Along with the changes The Voice has brought him in his everyday life, Kerby feels the effect internally.

“There 40,000 people who auditioned and only 48 who made the teams,” he said. “It’s definitely changed the way I think about myself and my music.”

Now that making a living is a reality for Kerby, he looks at his work in a different light.

“I’m almost even more meticulous,” he said. “I’m pickier in the decisions that I make.”

He knows his time is now. The show served as an on-ramp for him to be heard — an opportunity few receive, or in the case of The Voice, a chance that only 0.0012 percent were given. “[The Voice] validates the thought that this is a feasible thing,” Kerby said, “which is nice.”

Oklahoma Gazette | december 2, 2015 | 43

life music

Calling poem An Oklahoma writer contributed to a book of poetry based on The Clash’s legendary album London Calling.

MOVED TO FEB 6

In December 1979, the English punk band The Clash released the album London Calling in the United Kingdom.

They released it a month later in the United States. The record became a critical and commercial success that impacts music to this day.

In May of this year, writers Gerry LaFemina and Gregg Wilhelm created an anthology of poems influenced by songs from London Calling. Poets throughout the United States, including Oklahoma City writer Richard Dixon, contributed to Clash by Night.

Dixon is retired teacher and tennis instructor in his late 60s. He worked in the Oklahoma City Public School District for more than 30 years as an instructor for students with special needs. His penchant for writing, and poetry in particular, began when he was young.

“I’ve been writing poems since my mid-20s, though I didn’t get serious till the late 1980s,” he said.

Dixon’s original writing inspiration was the influential stand-up comedian Richard Pryor and his commentary on racial and societal issues. Dixon’s writing began with comedic observational monologues, but he did not see himself as a comic.

“I never felt I had the nerve to get up in public and do a routine,” he said. “I short-handed that down to poetry.”

Over the years, his verse has evolved to include serious tones along with his humor. Subjects peppering his current writing include everyday tasks such as building a fence.

We came up with this idea of how poets might interpret covering an album, and when we threw the question into the air of what album, we both said London Calling.

— Gerry LaFemina

44 | december 2, 2015 | Oklahoma Gazette

Ga rett fi s bec k

By Adam Holt

Richard Dixon with the Clash by Night poetry anthology He also draws heavily from his travels throughout the United States.

The task of writing poetry about The Clash is a notable tangent from his recent endeavors.

“It was a challenge, but I remember the feelings I had from the punk rock movement,” he said.

Respect

Dixon is a longtime connoisseur of music and enjoys an eclectic range of musical styles. His roots took hold in the waves of 1960s AM radio, when The Rolling Stones and The Beatles were new and changing the landscape of popular music.

This foundation of quality songwriting set a high standard for Dixon’s taste. When speaking on the topic of late ’70s punk, Dixon often compares and contrasts The Clash with another legendary band of the era.

“The Sex Pistols were publicity magnets, publicity drawing,” Dixon said, “but The Clash were all good musicians and good songwriters.”

Dixon said The Sex Pistols tossed aside the history of rock music, while The Clash not only appreciated those who came before, but sought to write music in multiple styles.

It’s this respect for musicianship and songwriting that played a part in his decision to accept an offer to contribute to Clash by Night.

He submitted two poems. One was about the song “London Calling,” and the other was based on “Train in Vain.”

The latter was chosen for publication.

“I wrote the poem trying to get the same feeling of what the guy in the song is telling his girlfriend,” Dixon said.

Co-editor Gerry LaFemina said when the idea of poetry about a specific album was conceived, the choice was obvious.

“Gregg [Willhelm, co-editor,] and I were talking about the nexus of music and literature, particularly poetry,” he said. “Beyond being a poet, I’m also a musician, so the notion of covering songs and then records came up. So we came up with this idea of how poets might interpret covering an album, and when we threw the question into the air of what album, we both said London Calling.”

The response received by LaFemina and Willhelm from writers wanting to be part of the project was vast. In the end, only 40 poets made the cut.

“What happened next was putting a call out through various means for poems covering the songs on the album and allowing for “cover” to be loosely interpreted. We received a large number of submissions and then had to sort through them,” LaFemina said.

“Richard’s poem made the cut. And I’m glad he’s part of the book.”

LaFemina said the next album to be featured in this series known as “lo-fi poetry” will be Pet Sounds by The Beach Boys. When asked if he would like to participate in the project, Dixon replied with a smile.

“I could write a poem for every song on that album,” he said.

Sa rra h Da n zig e r / p rovi de d

FRIDAY, DEC. 4

John Calvin Abney, Opolis, Norman, Saturday

Amarillo Junction, Grady’s 66 Pub, Yukon. COUNTRY Baroness/Earthling, 89th Street Collective. ROCK Derek Paul & The Handsome Devils, Wormy Dog Saloon.

ROCK Electric Okie Test, 51st Street Speakeasy. ROCK Nghiems/Carmans, Opolis, Norman. INDIE Robby Ray, Full Circle Bookstore. SINGER/SONGWRITER Sex Snobs/Pale Dian/Cherry Death, Blue Note Lounge.

ROCK

p rovi ded

Shawna Russell, Riverwind Casino, Norman. COUNTRY Stereo Deck, Oklahoma City Limits. COVER Trout Fishing in America, The Blue Door. ROCK Will Hoge, ACM@UCO Performance Lab. SINGER/ SONGWRITER

Live Music WEDNESDAY, DEC. 2.

SATURDAY, DEC. 5

Aaron Woods Band, Baker Street Pub & Grill. COUNTRY

Blake O the DJ, Chevy Bricktown Events Center. VARIOUS

Edgar Cruz/Jeff Nokes, Avanti Bar & Grill. ACOUSTIC

Bryce Dicus, Toby Keith’s I Love This Bar & Grill. COUNTRY

Figure, Kamps. ELECTRONIC

Casey & Minna, Oklahoma State Fairgrounds; Oklahoma Expo Hall. FOLK

Maurice Johnson, R&J Lounge and Supper Club.

Scott Lowber/Will Galbraith/Ed VanBuskirk, Friends Restaurant & Club. COVER SK Love/Lazy Rooster Rhythm Co. & More, Opolis, Norman. ROCK

THURSDAY, DEC. 3 Alejandro Escovedo, The Blue Door. SINGER/ SONGWRITER Brent Saulsbury/Will Galbraith/Wayne Duncan, Friends Restaurant & Club. ROCK Chris King, Wormy Dog Saloon. SINGER/SONGWRITER Dave Thomason Band, Grady’s 66 Pub, Yukon. COVER

okg

music

pick

Cover Me Badd, Mickey Mantle’s Steakhouse. COVER

Pokey LaFarge and The Deslondes

Specializing in American roots music, Pokey LaFarge looks like he just stepped out of an old black-and-white photograph from the 1940s at literally all times. Together with The Deslondes, a country-soul outfit out of New Orleans with all the trappings of a 1970s bluegrass band, Pokey sends you on an interdimensional spiral to a time long passed in a place both everywhere and nowhere but decidedly a part of the South.

Tickets are $15 and are available at acm.preferredfan.com. The show starts 9 p.m.

Tuesday at ACM@UCO Performance Lab, 329 E. Sheridan Ave. This event is all ages.

Visit acm.uco.edu or call 974-4700.

DJ Phillip, Central Oklahoma Home Builders Association.

VARIOUS Don and Melodee Johnson, Twelve Oaks, Edmond. JAZZ Electric Avenue, Riverwind Casino, Norman. COVER Jill Justice, Skirvin Hilton Hotel. HARP John Calvin Abney/Calabar/Shameless Friend, Opolis, Norman. INDIE Justin Fox, Riverwind Casino, Norman. COUNTRY Midas 13, Remington Park. ROCK Miss Brown to You, Full Circle Bookstore. JAZZ

Ripple Green/Foxburrows/Field Division, Blue Note Lounge. ROCK

Owen Pickard, Rodeo Opry. COUNTRY

The Crooks, Wormy Dog Saloon. COUNTRY

TUESDAY, DEC. 8

Replay, Russell’s, Tower Hotel. COVER

The Remedy OKC Band, Oklahoma City Limits. ROCK

Aaron Gillespie, 89th Street Collective. ROCK

provide d

Lullwater/Wurly Birds, Blue Note Lounge. ROCK

Pokey LaFarge and The Deslondes

100 Bones Band, Tapwerks Ale House & Cafe. ROCK

Pokey LaFarge, ACM@UCO Performance Lab. SINGER/ SONGWRITER

SUNDAY, DEC.6

Saint Asonia/Pop Evil, Diamond Ballroom. ROCK

Banditos, Blue Note Lounge. ROCK Canterbury Christmas, Civic Center Music Hall. CHORALE Jake Moffat, Grady’s 66 Pub, Yukon. ACOUSTIC Michael Fracasso, The Depot, Norman. SINGER/ SONGWRITER Mike Hosty One Man Band, The Deli, Norman. ROCK Scott Lowber/Will Galbraith/Rick Toops, Friends Restaurant & Club. COVER

WEDNESDAY, DEC. 9 Edgar Cruz/Jeff Nokes, Avanti Bar & Grill. ACOUSTIC Maurice Johnson, R&J Lounge and Supper Club.

Sam Pottorff/Kenny Holland/Alex Lee, Diamond Ballroom. ROCK Scott Lowber/Will Galbraith/Ed VanBuskirk, Friends Restaurant & Club. COVER

MONDAY, DEC.7 Rick Toops, Friends Restaurant & Club. ROCK Sinatra Centenary/Jay Wilkilson, UCO Jazz Lab, Edmond. JAZZ

Shawna Russell, Riverwind Casino, Norman, Friday

Submissions must be received by Oklahoma Gazette no later than noon on Wednesday seven days before the desired publication date. Late submissions will not be included in the listings.

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

Fax your listings to 528-4600 or e-mail them to listings@okgazette.com. Sorry, but phone submissions cannot be accepted.

Oklahoma Gazette | december 2, 2015 | 45

P h o n e (4 0 5 ) 5 2 8 - 6 0 0 0 | E - m a i l : a d v e r t i s i n g @ t i e r r a m e d i a g r o u p. c o m

FREE WILL ASTROLOGY

by ROB BREZNY

Homework: What’s the most selfish, narcissistic thing about you? Do you think that maybe you should transform it? Testify at FreeWillAstrology.com.

ARIES (March 21-April 19) “Charm is a way of getting the answer ‘yes’ without having asked any clear question,” wrote French author Albert Camus. I have rarely seen you better poised than you are now to embody and capitalize on this definition of “charm,” Aries. That’s good news, right?

Well, mostly. But there are two caveats. First, wield your mojo as responsibly as you can. Infuse your bewitching allure with integrity. Second, be precise about what it is you want to achieve — even if you don’t come right out and tell everyone what it is.

Resist the temptation to throw your charm around haphazardly.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) I suspect that in the coming days you will have an uncanny power to make at least one of your resurrection fantasies come true. Here are some of the possibilities. 1. If you’re brave enough to change your mind and shed some pride, you could retrieve an expired dream from limbo. 2. By stirring up a bit more chutzpah that you usually have at your disposal, you might be able to revive and even restore a forsaken promise. 3. Through an act of grace, it’s possible you will reanimate an ideal that was damaged or abandoned.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20) To the other eleven signs of the zodiac, the Way of the Gemini sometimes seems rife with paradox and contradiction. Many non-Geminis would feel paralyzed if they had to live in the midst of so much hubbub. But when you are at your best, you thrive in the web of riddles. In fact, your willingness to abide there is often what generates your special magic.

Your breakthroughs are made possible by your high tolerance for uncertainty. How many times have I seen a Gemini who has been lost in indecision but then suddenly erupts with a burst of crackling insights? This is the kind of subtle miracle I expect to happen soon.

CANCER (June 21-July 22) In September of 1715, a band of Jacobite rebels gathered for a guerrilla attack on Edinburgh Castle in Scotland. Their plan was to scale the walls with rope ladders, aided by a double agent who was disguised as a castle sentry. But the scheme failed before it began. The rope ladders turned out to be too short to serve their intended purpose. The rebels retreated in disarray. Please make sure you’re not like them in the coming weeks, Cancerian. If you want to engage in a strenuous action, an innovative experiment, or a bold stroke, be meticulous in your preparations. Don’t scrimp on your props, accouterments, and resources.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) If you give children the option of choosing between food that’s mushy and food that’s crunchy, a majority will choose the crunchy stuff. It’s more exciting to their mouths, a more lively texture for their teeth and tongues to play with. This has nothing to do with nutritional value, of course. Soggy oatmeal may foster a kid’s well-being better than crispy potato chips.

Let’s apply this lesson to the way you feed your inner child in the coming weeks. Metaphorically speaking, I suggest you serve that precious part of you the kind of sustenance that’s both crunchy and healthy. In other words, make sure that what’s wholesome is also fun, and vice versa.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) Your mascot is a famous white oak in Athens, Georgia. It’s called the Tree That Owns Itself.

According to legend, it belongs to no person or institution, but only to itself. The earth in which it’s planted and the land around it are also its sole possession. With this icon as your inspiration, I invite you to enhance and celebrate your sovereignty during the next seven months. What actions will enable you to own yourself more thoroughly? How can you boost your autonomy and become, more than ever before, the boss of you? It’s prime time to expedite this effort.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22) Police in Los Angeles conducted an experiment on a ten-mile span of freeway. Drivers in three unmarked cars raced along as fast as they could while remaining

in the same lane. The driver of the fourth car not only moved at top speed, but also changed lanes and jockeyed for position. Can you guess the results? The car that weaved in and out of the traffic flow arrived just slightly ahead of the other three. Apply this lesson to your activities in the coming week, please. There will be virtually no advantage to indulging in frenetic, erratic, breakneck exertion. Be steady and smooth and straightforward.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21) You will generate lucky anomalies and helpful flukes if you use shortcuts, flee from boredom, and work smarter rather than harder. On the other hand, you’ll drum up wearisome weirdness and fruitless flukes if you meander all over the place, lose yourself in far-off fantasies, and act as if you have all the time in the world. Be brisk and concise, Scorpio. Avoid loafing and vacillating. Associate with bubbly activators who make you laugh and loosen your iron grip. It’s a favorable time to polish off a lot of practical details with a light touch.

you’d be wise to keep in mind, Capricorn. In the coming weeks, what’s most delicate and vulnerable about you will have more staying power than what’s massive and fixed. Trust your grace and tenderness more than your fierceness and forcefulness. They will make you as smart as you need to be.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) Aztec king Montezuma II quenched his daily thirst with one specific beverage. He rarely drank anything else. It was ground cocoa beans mixed with chili peppers, water, vanilla, and annatto. Spiced chocolate?

You could call it that. The frothy brew was often served to him in golden goblets, each of which he used once and then hurled from his royal balcony into the lake below. He regarded this elixir as an aphrodisiac, and liked to quaff a few flagons before heading off to his harem. I bring this up, Aquarius, because the coming weeks will be one of those exceptional times when you have a poetic license to be almost Montezuma-like. What’s your personal equivalent of his primal chocolate, golden goblets, and harem?

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) “Like all explorers, we are drawn to discover what’s out there without knowing yet if we have the courage to face it.” Buddhist teacher Pema Chödrön said that, and now I’m telling you. According to my divinations, a new frontier is calling to you. An unprecedented question has awakened. The urge to leave your familiar circle is increasingly tempting. I don’t know if you should you surrender to this brewing fascination.

I don’t know if you will be able to gather the resources you would require to carry out your quest. What do you think? Will you be able to summon the necessary audacity? Maybe the better inquiry is this: Do you vow to use all your soulful ingenuity to summon the necessary audacity?

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20) “Unfortunately, I’m pretty lucky,” my friend Rico said to me recently. He meant that his relentless good fortune constantly threatens to undermine his ambition. How can he be motivated to try harder and grow smarter and get stronger if life is always showering him with blessings? He almost wishes he could suffer more so that he would have more angst to push against. I hope you won’t fall under the spell of that twisted logic in the coming weeks, Pisces.

This is a phase of your cycle when you’re likely to be the beneficiary of an extra-strong flow of help and serendipity. Please say this affirmation as often as necessary: “Fortunately, I’m pretty lucky.”

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) “Once I witnessed a windstorm so severe that two 100-year-old trees were uprooted on the spot,” Mary Ruefle wrote in her book Madness, Rack, and Honey.

“The next day, walking among the wreckage, I found the friable nests of birds, completely intact and unharmed on the ground.” I think that’s a paradox

Go to RealAstrology.com to check out Rob Brezsny’s expanded weekly audio horoscopes /daily text message horoscopes.

The audio horoscopes are also available by phone at 1-877-873-4888 or 1-900-950-7700.

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