Oklahoma Gazette 2-4-15

FREE EVERY WEDNESDAY METRO OKC’S INDEPENDENT WEEKLY VOL. XXXVII NO. 5 FEBRUARY 4, 2015

G ARETT FISB ECK

BY BEN FELDER P.4

FOOD & DRINK: TREAT YOUR VALENTINE TO WINE AND CHOCOLATE ON SUNDAY P.22 ART: OKLAHOMA ZULU NATION PRESENTS STREET ART, MUSIC FESTIVAL P.30

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CONTENTS 29

8

ON THE COVER Oklahoma Gazette combs through demographic data, reports and interviews with city leaders and others for a look at what OKC might look like in 25 years. Transportation issues, taxes, education barriers, our relationship with Texas and rapidly changing city demographics might not bring us those jetpacks we’ve always been promised, but they will revolutionize how we work and live.

Story by Ben Felder. P.4.

NEWS

39

23

LIFE

LIFE

4

Cover: next 25 years

16

OKG picks

34

8

Education: F school tour

23

Election: Ward 2

36

Sudoku / Crossword

10

Food & Drink: Fat Elvus Diner, Wine and Chocolate, food briefs, OKG eat: favorites

Active: Serge Ibaka Foundation, Erica Enders-Stevens

Metro briefs

26

OKG shop: nonprofits

39

11 12

Chicken-Fried News

28

Books: Ralph Ellison Foundation

Music: Brian Gorrell & Jazz Company, Francisco The Man, event listings

Commentary

29

History: Black History Month

43

14

Film: Oscar Tune-Up, Children of the Civil Rights, ECU Screens

14

Letters

30

Visual Arts: Zulu Nation

46

Astrology

32

Performing Arts: Whirling Dervishes of Rumi, Tartuffe

46

Classifieds

— Jennifer Chancellor, editor-in-chief 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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NEWS COVER

The next 25 P HOTOS M A RK HA N COC K

Oklahoma Gazette examines the culture, population, transportation and industry changes that most impact our city.

BY BEN FELDER

The 1989 blockbuster Back to the Future II depicted a 2015 with flying cars, hoverboards and self-lacing shoes. This year, Nike announced it’s making a self-lacing shoe, but many of the film’s predictions haven’t (and likely won’t) happen.

However, in many ways, 2015 is much more advanced than even Hollywood could have imagined.

“There aren’t any cellphones in the film. Instead, we see banks of phone booths,” wrote Adrienne Lafrance for The Atlantic in her piece “The Actual Future Is So Much Cooler Than Back to the Future II Predicted.” She also noted the now-obvious lack of Internet in the film.

Hollywood’s grandest predictions for city life 25 years from now would likely fall short, too. However, if Oklahoma City’s rate of change remains as constant in the next 25 years as it has been in the last 25 years, we will likely live in a city that’s much different than it is today.

Oklahoma Gazette examined demographic data, interviews with business and city leaders and dozens of reports, and the following is our best guess of how our city will look in 2040.

While we avoid talk of flying automobiles, it is likely that new technologies like driverless cars for consumer use could exist in coming decades. Business models like Uber and Lyft stretch the imaginations of city officials, and evolving city demographics will further impact everything from culture to politics.

the multicultural blend of Lopez Food and OKC workers. “That’s the norm.”

In many ways, the diversity that has been an American standard for several decades just recently became more visible in Oklahoma.

An increase in visibility can often be seen via community festivals and sporting events, which bring together diverse ethnicities in ways not previously common here. But population trends over the past several years have created a city that, while diverse, remains segregated.

Oklahoma City’s next few decades will bring a growth of our immigrant community, a rise of cultural hubs and new challenges for city services and school systems that attempt to work with residents who do not speak English.

immigration policies and the continued viability of the energy sector.

Because OKC is expected to remain one of America’s cheapest places to live over the next 25 years, it should continue to be a popular destination for immigrants, especially those from Latin America.

“There is a good quality of life in Oklahoma City,” said David Castillo, president of the Greater Oklahoma City Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

“This is an attractive place for families, and that is something that is important to all people, including Hispanics.”

Castillo said he believes the shift will become more visible in coming years as groups transition from “hidden” communities mostly based in south OKC into bigger players in the

Transportation

Changing demographics

Oklahoma City is a 622-mile drive up Interstate 35 from the U.S.-Mexico border. This highway slices up America’s heartland and is a growing thoroughfare for Mexican immigrants who settle in mid-sized cities across the Midwest, including OKC. In a series of 2014 dispatches for The New York Times, journalists Damien Cave and Todd Heisler filed reports along I-35, including a piece on Oklahoma City hamburger processing plant Lopez Foods. It’s a successful example of the city’s growing Hispanic and ethnic communities, including those from Korea and Vietnam.

“Everything is getting blurred,” John Patrick Lopez told the Times, referring to

the primary language.

“The school district really is just a small microcosm of what our community is and will be,” said Gloria Torres, an OKC school board member appointed last year. “Whatever comes into our city, we get to see it first. We are very much at the front line, and we are preparing our city.”

Torres is the district’s first Latina board member and is the only board member of Hispanic descent.

Like many medium-sized cities in the South and Midwest in recent decades, Oklahoma City’s foreign-born population has grown. However, most of our immigrant population growth takes place in urban areas, not suburbs.

“Three quarters (76 percent) of the growth in the foreign-born population [in America] between 2000 and 2013 in the largest metro areas occurred in the suburbs,” wrote Jill H. Wilson in a research paper for the Brookings Institution.

Oklahoma City was one of 12 cities across the country where foreign-born growth was larger in the urban core.

By 2060, America is projected to be 43 percent white, a huge drop from the 85 percent level of 1960, according to the U.S. Census.

“We were once a black-and-white country,” Paul Taylor wrote for Pew Research Center. “Now, we’re a rainbow.”

Even as America champions itself as a melting pot nation, our multiculturalism is about to enter a new era.

OKC’s Hispanic population expanded 95 percent from 2000 to 2010, which increased our city’s Hispanic population from 5.2 percent to 8.9 percent. The numbers will grow, but the rate depends on many factors, including state and national

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local business community.

“We are starting to see the [Hispanic] community evolve,” Castillo said. “Before, what we had was landscapers working for other companies, many Hispanics working for roofing companies and in construction trade, stuff like that. Now they are becoming owners [of their own businesses], and that is the next step.”

The growth means the city must find better and more ways to communicate.

These challenges already face local schools. Oklahoma City Public Schools’ student population is nearly half Hispanic, and 30 percent of its students come from homes where English is not

High on many residents’ list of reasons to love Oklahoma City is its relatively low traffic congestion. OKC ranks No. 44 out of the largest 51 metros for traffic congestion, according to data from the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI).

However, many officials think the datagathering methods used are outdated and don’t take into consideration how far motorists actually drive to work.

A report, Driven Apart: How Sprawl Is Lengthening Our Commutes and Why Misleading Mobility Measures Are Making Things Worse, evaluated distance traveled during peak times, such as morning and evening rush hours, and ranked the metro as the second worst in the nation for congestion.

OKC’s traffic seems manageable compared to places like Dallas and Atlanta, and it is when considering stop-and-go freeway congestion. But OKC metro residents drive farther than those in Dallas and Atlanta due to a combination of sprawl and congestion.

Sprawl is projected to continue in OKC as Norman’s and Edmond’s populations — and commuters — increase. However, several area cities

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P HOTOS BY M A RK HA N COC K

NEWS COVER

have been working on a regional transit plan that could reach voters in coming years.

“I don’t think that the type of regional transit [system] we envision for Oklahoma City is just around the corner; I think it’s a ways off [from completion],” OKC Mayor Mick Cornett told Oklahoma Gazette last year. “But keep in mind how far we’ve come.”

Cities like Charlotte and Nashville were added to the top 25 list for traffic congestion by TTI. They both experienced growth trends in the past decade that Oklahoma City will likely to see in coming years.

“The … metro is one of the fastestgrowing metro regions in the United States,” said Eric Dyer, an assistant planner with the Association of Central Oklahoma Governments (ACOG).

“With Oklahoma City poised to grow even more over the coming years, more severe traffic congestion is inevitable.”

ACOG proposed a regional, railbased transit system that would feature streetcars in the urban center and commuter rail service to Edmond and Norman. Because city and business leaders in multiple cities across the region vocally supported the plan, it is realistic that some voters could be asked to approve a sales-tax increase for the system in five to seven years. Transit could be operational well before 2040.

City and business leaders say Salt Lake City’s regional transit system is one to emulate. It features a combination of rail and bus lines.

“There are a lot of similarities between Salt Lake and us,” said Roy Williams, president of the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce, noting similar growth patterns and political culture.

The chamber supports a regional transit system, and Cornett believes area cities will start public meetings as early as this year to discuss the details and tax structure.

to north Texas. From 2010 to 2030, the 10-county region of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex will add a projected 4 million new residents, according data from Vision North Texas. That type of growth would be like placing eight OKCs in Dallas over 15 years.

North Texas’ growth will impact OKC’s future. The cities of Dallas, Houston, Austin and San Antonio were the four fastest-growing economies in the nation between 2008 and 2014, according to Brookings Institution.

Oklahoma City was No. 5.

The Texas Triangle is one of 11 U.S. “megaregions,” as defined by the Regional Plan Association (RPA).

Megaregions are clusters of cities with strong connections of commerce and travel. Other examples include Cascadia (Vancouver, Seattle and Portland), Northeast (Boston to Washington,

OKC and Texas

Our city’s expected growth might be impressive, but it’s nothing compared

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With Oklahoma City poised to grow even more over the coming years, more severe traffic congestion is inevitable.

— Eric Dyer

D.C.) and Piedmont Atlantic (Atlanta to Charlotte).

The Texas Triangle includes Houston, Austin, San Antonio and Dallas, and RPA planners believe Oklahoma City could someday be included as transportation along the I-35 corridor continues to grow.

Numerous studies promising rail corridors based on current and future travel trends also support OKC’s future connection to Texas. The Rockefeller Foundation’s future high-speed rail study ranked hundreds of potential corridors across the country and scored the Oklahoma City-to-Dallas route high. In fact, OKC-Dallas was the fourth highest rated corridor within the Texas Triangle and viewed as a likely thoroughfare for increased rail service because of the growing connection the two metros are expected to have in the coming years.

Energy hub

Oil and gas are staples of our city’s economy, and while the city’s economic landscape is more diversified than it was in the 1980s — even after a dramatic drop in oil prices crashed OKC’s economy — the city is still heavily dependent on the energy sector.

The success of oil and gas over the past decade allowed OKC to weather the national recession. It also helped it become one of the few cities with steady employment growth since 2008.

However, as prices have fallen, concerns arise about what that could mean for the city’s future.

“We are an energy economy,” State Treasurer Ken Miller said. “I enjoy like everybody else to pay less for gas at the pump, and it’s good for consumers for a while, but if it is sustained, we would feel other effects that would mitigate the positive feeling we get at the gas pump.”

The city is likely to remain an energy hub, but it might expand its role as not simply a location for such companies but a base for technology and research centers that look for ways to expand energy options and technology.

“New technological breakthroughs in oil and gas are transforming the world’s energy landscape in ways unimagined just a decade ago,” said Michael Ming, general manager of General Electric’s planned global oil and gas research center here. “The new center’s close proximity to many of our customers and the state’s great university network and engineering talent will allow us to accelerate the development of new technologies.”

The city’s future might include jetpacks and Jetsons-style buildings, and while those types of developments are hard to predict, it’s almost certain its future will be shaped by continued population growth, an emerging Hispanic community, new modes of transit and the evolution — for good or bad — of the energy sector.

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NEWS EDUCATION

F stop A tour offers a look inside our low-scoring schools.

Math teacher Thomas Kelemen raised his voice over the light chatter of his students.

“Can anyone simplify quality A?” he asked.

Elajah, an eighth-grader at Oklahoma Centennial Mid-High School, volunteered to give it a try and walked up to the Smart Board in front of the classroom.

“Like this?” she asked when finished writing a series of numbers that probably look foreign to anyone who is at least a few years removed from a middle school algebra class.

After hints from Kelemen, Elajah finished the problem and walked back to her desk with a shy but proud smile.

The classroom scene showed an energetic yet engaged class of students; a teacher who wears his passion for teaching on his face; and a school that is clean, secure and filled with students learning the same lessons as thousands of other students across the state.

However, Centennial has been marked as an F school by the State Department of Education, a designation claiming the school is one of Oklahoma’s worst.

“We are not an F school,” said Jay Green, a student council member at Centennial.

Green helped lead a handful of lawmakers — who accepted an invitation from the Oklahoma City Public Schools district to tour three F schools — around Centennial.

Green’s tour group walked down a hallway past a sign that read, “Prove them wrong.” That is what school officials hoped to achieve during last week’s tour.

What is an F school?

The A through F grading system for schools was approved by the Legislature in 2011 and rolled out amidst deep criticism from many school officials across Oklahoma, including some in the OKC school district.

“I don’t believe there is any such thing as an F school,” OKC Superintendent Rob Neu said before the tour. “It’s too focused on a particular snapshot, and it’s really math and reading. I want [lawmakers] to see how great our kids are and what passionate and committed educators we have.”

G ARETT FISBECK

BY BEN FELDER

Rep. Mike Shelton visits a classroom during a tour at Centennial Mid High School in Oklahoma City.

Attendance, graduation rates and other factors are calculated to issue a letter grade for schools, and the formula has been adjusted since its launch a few years ago. The letter grade system replaced a number rating that letter grade supporters said was too complicated for parents to understand.

Critics of the letter grade system believe it unfairly labels a school, crushing the morale of students and teachers and giving parents further incentive to abandon urban schools.

New State Superintendent of Public Instruction Joy Hofmeister has also been critical of the letter grade system, calling it “invalid and unreliable.” Hofmeister joined the tour during its stop at Jefferson Middle School and said it was important for lawmakers to address the letter grade process.

“They label them with a letter grade that doesn’t tell the whole story,” Hofmeister said. “We need to make improvements so communities understand what is really happening inside the buildings.”

Student voices

At Jefferson, Principal Greg Frederick told a group of students gathered in the cafeteria that their F grade was not a

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mark against them. “[The F grade] says less about our students and our teachers and more about our ZIP code,” Frederick said.

Nearly all Jefferson students qualify for free or reduced lunch, and a majority of students are Hispanic and speak Spanish. However, Frederick can point to many bright spots in his school, including its 94 percent attendance rate, fine arts courses and a dance team that recently won a national contest.

“We are moving in the right direction,” Frederick said.

Just two state lawmakers and a councilman from Oklahoma City and Midwest City, along with several school board members, were in attendance for the tour. Neu said he would have liked to have seen more participation but vowed to hold more tours in the future.

Student-led tours were a big part of the event, allowing students to give their own perspective of what their school is like.

“We might not have everything that other schools have, but we have integrity, respect and a lot of values that maybe a lot of other schools don’t have,” said seventh-grader Saul Milan.

Milan said Jefferson lacks enough band equipment, some classes are in

portable rooms and its high number of Spanish-speaking students can pose challenges but he had pride for Jefferson and the students did not deserve the F grade.

“A lot of these kids just want their voice to be heard,” said Heather Messer, an assistant principal at Jefferson.

“These students have a voice that matters.”

Rep. Mike Shelton, D-Oklahoma City, was one of the legislators that attended the tour and told school officials it was important for the state government to reevaluate how it addressed public education in Oklahoma.

“Public school’s biggest problem isn’t the kids, and its biggest problem isn’t the teachers,” Shelton said. “Its biggest problem is the Legislature.”

Besides revisions to the A through F report card — if not a complete removal — school officials are hopeful lawmakers will approve additional funding, consider the impact charter school legislation would have on public schools and reject trigger laws that allow parents to essentially take over a school.

“We have a lot to get done,” Neu said. “But I wanted [lawmakers] to see we are doing a lot right.”

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NEWS ELECTION

No joke Ward 2’s election candidate roster is varied and colorful as the city council readies for the March 3 election.

P ROVI DED

Major Lewis Jemison

James Cooper

John Riley

conflict. I have a different approach.”

Cooper, an adjunct professor of English at the University of Central Oklahoma and Oklahoma City University, where he also teaches film studies, is openly gay and actively supports LGBT rights.

Shadid also has solid support from the LGBT community.

“I believe that my base is young people, LGBT folks, senior citizens, women, African-Americans, young professionals, all types of people,” Cooper said. “Maybe I’m being just too optimistic, but I think we are all invested in this city’s future, no matter the demographic.”

Like Cooper, Jemison accused Shadid of being divisive.

“During the past few years, we have seen a great deal of polarization

and separation on the council where there should be teamwork and unity,” Jemison said. “I certainly understand that not everyone can agree on everything all of the time; but our disagreements should strengthen us, not hinder us.”

Last year, a telephone push poll conducted by Promark Research Corporation asked Ward 2 voters their opinion of Jemison and painted him as a pro-business candidate and Shadid as anti-business.

Riley teaches American history and coaches track at Northwest Classen High School. He also is a second lieutenant in the 45th Infantry Brigade of the Oklahoma Army National Guard and previously served in the United States Army.

“Public service has always been

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important to me as a public school teacher and as a member of our armed forces,” Riley said. “I consistently tell my students about the difference they can make in the community, and running for city council is a chance for me to lead by example.”

Ward 2’s southern boundary is NE 23rd Street, and the ward includes several uptown neighborhoods around Classen Boulevard and Western Avenue.

The election is March 3. If no candidate receives 50 percent or more of the March 3 vote total, the two highest vote recipients head for an April 7 runoff.

Maybe I’m being just too optimistic, but I think we are all invested in this city’s future, no matter the demographic.

— James Cooper

PROVID ED

Ed Shadid

MARK H ANCOCK

A pastor, teacher, doctor and professor. It’s no joke; it’s the race for Oklahoma City’s Ward 2 council seat.

Councilman Ed Shadid — the doctor — is up for reelection after his first term and drew three challengers: John Riley, a teacher at Northwest Classen High School; James Cooper, a professor at Oklahoma City University; and Major Lewis Jemison, a pastor at St. John Missionary Baptist Church.

Shadid is one of Oklahoma City Council’s more visible members due to his minority stances on tax incentive votes and last year’s high-profile mayoral bid against incumbent Mick Cornett.

However, in this race, the Ward 2 councilman is the incumbent. In recent months, he has shown his political strength and the city council and candidates that he is ready for a March 3 election.

Last month, Shadid played a role in drawing attention to proposed oil drilling near Lake Hefner. The company pulled out following protests and public opposition. Shadid also was the lone council member to attempt to reverse a Downtown Design Review Committee vote to permit demolition of nine buildings.

“I feel like my work is about empowering people, the kind of people who don’t always feel like they have a voice,” Shadid told Oklahoma Gazette in an interview last month.

In a city in which large capital projects, tax incentives and a close relationship between the city and the business community has led to much urban redevelopment, Shadid is sometimes viewed as a contrarian.

It’s a role he embraces.

“I’m worried about the direction we are headed when we don’t stop and ask ourselves if we are handing out too much (incentives),” said Shadid, who has been critical of new TIF districts and the city’s potential involvement in funding a new convention center hotel.

Some of those looking to unseat Shadid attempt to paint him as a deterrent to progress.

“Where Ed lacks vision, I have one,” Cooper said. “Where he says ‘No, because,’ I say ‘Yes, if.’ He has created divisiveness and unnecessary

OKLA HOM A GA ZETTE / FI L E

BY BEN FELDER

Other elections

Three other council wards are up for election in March. Ward 6 features incumbent Meg Salyer and challengers Bob Waldrop and Dario Alvarado. In Ward 8, Councilman Pat Ryan is not seeking reelection and three candidates — Mark Stonecipher, John Ederer and Steve Curry — have filed. In Ward 5, Councilman David Greenwell was the only candidate to file, which means he wins the reelection unopposed.

Check back with Oklahoma Gazette for profiles of ward races.

Council seat

Oklahoma City council races are nonpartisan, meaning candidates are not divided by political party on the ballot. Each council member is paid $12,000 annually, and there are no term limits.

Voter registration deadline is Feb. 6 for the March 3 election.

NEWS BRIEFS

BY BEN FELDER

Night riders

P ROVI DED

A proposed bike ordinance criticized by the biking community failed an Oklahoma City Council vote last week.

Ward 8 Councilman Pat Ryan proposed an ordinance to require cyclists to ride to the far right of lanes and give three feet of space to cars when behind them.

Ryan later removed the farright riding requirement but promoted the rest of the ordinance because, he said, motorists needed to be protected from cyclists.

Three voted in favor of the ordinance: Ryan, Larry McAtee (Ward 3) and John Pettis Jr (Ward 7). The mayor and the rest of the council voted against it.

P ROVI DE D

Bike rule

Jan. 26 was long ago circled on Leno Rios’ calendar.

“This is a day to make more money,” Rios said while riding OKC’s No. 11 bus.

Embark launched its night service Jan. 26, and it now runs until midnight. It means Rios can now work with Chesapeake Energy Arena’s cleanup crew.

For the first time since 1979, OKC’s bus system runs past 9 p.m., ending the city’s claim as America’s largest city without night service. Last week’s rollout involved two bus routes that form a loop through the city’s core. While transit officials realize it will take time for the routes to reach their full ridership potential, the first night made a difference for residents who rely on public transit.

“This actually made me money tonight because now I can work nights as well as days,” said Frank Cooper, headed home from his job in Bricktown. “I usually have to leave work by 6:30 p.m. [to catch the last bus], but this is really good because I can work that later shift.”

A Better Classen Oklahoma City’s “urban highway” could see a transformation. At least that’s the hope for a handful of city visionaries and hundreds of interested citizens dreaming up a new Classen Boulevard.

“This is the beginning of a conversation that, as we look forward to the 2017 bond issue … this has the potential to change the game,” said Blair Humphreys, a local developer.

He’s also one of several leaders with A Better Classen, a new group wanting to make improvements along the six-lane roadway.

“You have seen how MAPS has changed the game … how good, sound development … has the ability to dramatically improve the quality of life,” he said.

Area residents like Humphreys, Jonathan Dodson and others are discussing ways the street can be more bicycle- and pedestrian-friendly, especially south of 23rd Street.

Hundreds of residents gathered at a forum last week at City Presbyterian church a few blocks from Classen to hear a presentation by Humphreys and Dodson. The pair discussed improvements, especially with the city preparing to pitch another bond issue in a few years. Attendees also shared ideas with Urban Land Institute Oklahoma to form a plan for Classen.

“I know that history tells us that economies adjust ... and whenever we lose jobs in one area, we gain in other areas,” Mickey Hepner, dean of the college of business at the University of Central Oklahoma, said at last week’s Oklahoma Policy Institute State Budget Summit when asked about the future of the state’s economy.

“What does scare me is that in Oklahoma, we are not preparing for whatever that future will be. We know that investing in infrastructure will help us prepare for whatever that future will be. We know that investing in our children’s future will help us prepare for the future. I cannot look at my children and honestly say we are preparing a better life for them with the policies that are coming out of the state.”

MARK HANCOCK

PROVID ED

Quotable

Race is on Filing for the March city council election ended with eight names.: Ward 2: Ed Shadid, James Cooper, Major Jemison and John Riley; Ward 6: Meg Salyer, Dario Alvarado and Bob Waldrop; Ward 8: Steve Curry, John Alan Ederer and Mark Stonecipher and Ward 5: David Greenwell.

O K L A H O M A G A Z E T T E | F E B R UA R Y 4 , 2 0 1 5 | 1 1

CHiCKEN CKEN Shooting blanks?

She has shot a lot of movies that were “all plot,” and now she’s shooting guns.

Moore resident and bodacious adult film chipmunk Jesse Jane is in the gun biz now. While in Las Vegas recently, she shot a gun rights video with adult film colleague Bonnie Rotten in a week that saw both the Adult Video News porn expo and Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade Show come to the City of Sin. So the union of both felt, you know, natural.

“People who are against porn, they judge us,” Jane said in the gun advocacy PSA. “People that shoot guns, you have people that are against you. So we’re both in industries where people judge us.”

When you oversimplify it, Jane isn’t wrong. The scrutiny of each industry is comparable. Too many guns in the wrong hands can lead to firearm misuse.

Too much porn and you get empty relationships and muscle asymmetry.

Stellar scratch

Former Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn

FRiED NEWS probably hates waste more than anything else. He spent countless hours over many years compiling lists of government dollars spent on needless or wasteful things.

Expenditures like $50 million in administrative leave (including disciplinary leave), $2 billion in massages for rabbits, an $800,000 video game about food fights and $171,000 to study gambling monkeys were included in Coburn’s 2014 Wastebook.

But there was one item that was probably the most questionable.

It turns out the government’s concerned about aliens. Yep, little green men — or whatever. Apparently, it doesn’t just assume extra terrestrials might want to “phone home” like the rest of us.

It’s so anxious, in fact, that it “spent $392,000 on a book offering

communication advice,” reported Forbes — you know, just in case we run into some.

For whom the cock crows

Recently, an OKC man got friendly with his rooster in the restroom of Beverly’s Pancake House. Employees called police on the mostly naked dude in the crapper, and that’s when officers caught him masturbating and naked except for a T-shirt pulled back over his head, reported KOCO. He was arrested on complaints of indecent exposure and public drunkenness.

Maybe he thought service at Beverly’s — a stalwart after-hours breakfast binge Mecca easily recognizable by the large rooster in its window — took too long so he serviced himself. Unfortunately, when he took the situation into his own hands, he got a little too cocky and forgot that this diner is a place where you’re supposed to eat the chicken, not choke it.

The

Tobacco companies are making a killing off you.

For years, the tobacco industry has promoted a richer, more glamorous life through smoking. Now that they have you hooked on a product that kills 1-in-3 smokers, they are out to recruit 4,200 Oklahoma kids every year as “replacement smokers”.

Affront to freedom

James Anderson, 28, is a man against America.

After allegedly stealing a Dodge Ram truck and holding up three people in Fort Worth, one in Euless and two in Gainesville, Anderson succumbed to Oklahoma police, who accused him of breaking into a car in the parking lot of WinStar World Casino in Thackerville.

The alleged crimes occurred in some of the Midwest’s favorite hangouts — Wal-Mart, Subway, Home Depot, a Main Street gas station, Applebee’s — and if he had been driving a Ford, he might have gotten away with it.

According to an affidavit obtained by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, police put out an APB (which stands for allpoints bulletin) on Anderson and the stolen truck. After a crime spree that lasted two days, Oklahoma authorities with the Lighthorse Police Department of the Chickasaw Nation responded with an arrest and recovery of the vehicle.

So again, if you’re going to rob Middle America, do it in an F-150, commie.

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Steer clear

Step away from the cow and mooove slowly away. Rep. Casey Murdock filed a bill to increase the minimum penalty for cattle theft in Oklahoma from three years to five years.

“Stolen cattle can mean the end of a ranching family,” said Murdock, R-Felt. “If a thief hits a convenience store, most likely that store will be open tomorrow. If a thief steals some cattle, that family is in danger of losing their whole farm or ranch.”

Stealing a cow is a pretty low act, but three years in prison and having to tell other inmates you got busted for cattle theft seems like a steep penalty already.

Then again, tougher punishments might help reverse the trend of growing cattle thefts, which more than doubled last year in Oklahoma, according to the Department of Agriculture.

Mayor Joe

Joe Dorman for mayor? Well, as much as the watermelon lobby might want it, it has never been a possibility, despite a claim by Oklahoma Gazette last week that Dorman was a former mayoral candidate and state senator.

Dorman is a former state representative and was a Democratic candidate for governor last year. He also appeared on the cover of last week’s Gazette sporting the endangered hoodie but without his traditional goatee that might have made him harder to recognize.

Mistakes aside, “Mayor Joe” might have a good ring to it.

Dorman’s Jimmy Buffett-style Hawaiian shirts would add color to the council horseshoe, and he would no doubt have fun ordering the city’s police department to up traffic enforcement around the governor’s mansion.

Shady satchel

People lose things a lot. Sunglasses, lip balm, car keys, wallets, purses — if you can think of it, you’ve probably misplaced it at some point. Yes, sometimes, abandoned packages and bags can be dangerous and filled with drugs or explosives. But sometimes a bag is just a bag.

Police closed off Harvey Avenue between NW Ninth and 10th streets Jan. 21 because a “suspicious” bag was discovered, NewsOK.com reported.

“Miscellaneous items” were found in the bag. What was suspicious about it? Was it strange colors?

Did it have something weird growing on it? Did it have stickers that said “anarchy” or “terrorist”?

And let’s be honest; if it was found in Midtown, how dangerous could it really be? Drunk Suzy probably dropped it while stumbling out to her car after hanging out with her friends in a trendy restaurant.

BoJack attack

The Sooners recently fired a mascot for taunting OSU fans during the Bedlam basketball game.

“WTF? I thought that was part of a mascot’s job?” you might be thinking.

But, alas, it is not when you take it to extremes, as this mascot did.

“The mascot blocked OSU fans’ vision of the game, taunted them and spilled popcorn on a group of them that included Heather Ford (the wife of OSU coach Travis Ford),” sources told NewsOK.com.

All of this is considered unsportsmanlike behavior. Who knew that a horse could act like such an ass?

a spot of tea to go with your Ph.D. Now, you can earn a British Ph.D. right here in Oklahoma in just three years through Swansea University. UCO partners with Swansea, but only Swansea offers the degree.

A British Ph.D. requires a quality thesis but no classes or other requirements.

You’ll have an advisor in Wales and one at UCO. Plus, two short trips to Wales included in the affordable tuition.

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O K L A H O M A G A Z E T T E | F E B R UA R Y 4 , 2 0 1 5 | 1 3

COMMENTARY

M A RK HA N COC K

Discrimination exists

BY TROY STEVENSON

Four months after the freedom to marry became law for all Oklahomans — and for over 70 percent of the nation — it is easy to believe that discrimination against the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) communities is now relegated to history’s dustbin.

However, as the events of the past week articulate, this is not our reality.

In a short week that saw a historic number of anti-LGBT bills introduced into the Oklahoma State Legislature — many more than any other state in the nation — it was easy for even avid LGBT news followers to miss an important piece of research from University of California, Los Angeles’ (UCLA) Williams Institute. The report, Employment Discrimination based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in Oklahoma, described how far Sooner

state residents are from full and lived equality.

LGBT Oklahomans are excluded from protections offered to other minority groups, as our Legislature has yet to add the LGBT community to existing anti-discrimination laws or create new ones. That said, 68 percent of state residents support adding such protections. Also, 78 percent of the UCLA report’s respondents believe the LGBT community experiences on-thejob harassment and discrimination.

Several municipalities do offer protections for city employees via local ordinances; however, these cover 1 percent of the state’s LGBT workforce.

About 4 percent of the American workforce, including more than 62,000 Oklahomans, identifies as LGBT, the study showed. In an example of unfair

employment practices, the study revealed that on average, gay male workers are paid 23 percent less than their straight male counterparts. This is far from the stereotype, but reality often is.

In fact, other community members have it worse. Seventy-eight percent of transgender residents report workplace bias, harassment and intimidation, and 47 percent report hiring, promotion and job retention barriers due to their gender identity or expression.

As is often the case, private employers adapt more quickly than state government when it comes to protecting their employees. Chesapeake Energy, Devon Energy, OG&E and ONEOK are a few examples of Oklahoma-based employers that provide protections.

Many state universities do as well. Why are private and education sectors here

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.

so far ahead of state and municipal governments? Why do they regulate themselves when they don’t have to?

The answer is simple: Being inclusive is good for business.

Academic research shows that employees of these companies and schools have greater workplace commitment, satisfaction and relationships. The lack of such policies shrinks talent pools and denies employers highly qualified applicants who — regardless of orientation or identity — will not work at companies that lack enumerated equal opportunity policies.

In essence, the lack of employment protection for 62,000 LGBT here damages our state, the UCLA study concluded. It’s bad for business, and it goes against the will of the people.

Troy Stevenson is executive director of Freedom Oklahoma.

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.

Thoughts

In “Woman’s world” (Life, Ben Felder, Jan. 21, Oklahoma Gazette) “Female representation at the statehouse … has long been a challenge …” Sally Kern’s elections to the House helped you fulfill your dream. Want more like her? Your dreams will become even more happy.

— Richard Hicks Oklahoma City Improvements

Regarding the Jan. 7 cover story (News, “A fresh look,” Ben Felder, Gazette), as I searched the article for the point of its existence, I reached the end on page 6 and realized there was a point, but not the one I believe reporter Ben Felder intended.

It starts with the declaration that the young, well-educated people of OKC are “reinventing the American Dream.”

How? The story doesn’t say.

Then, a bastion of cultural and socioeconomic wisdom, Mayor Mick Cornett, states that recruiting educated 20-somethings (20-somethings? Really?) is how we drive the economy in this digital age. Okay. How do they drive it, as opposed to any other age group?

Could you give us a measly detail or two, Cornett? Last time I checked, just as many 40- to 50-year-olds managed websites, wrote computer code and created web-based advertising.

Sadly, none of my questions were answered, but we get answers to what OKC’s millennials expect to be done for them: public schools that don’t suck, public transportation, sidewalks, cultural offerings and improved infrastructure.

These are what many OKC citizens over 40 with more than five functioning brain cells have been working diligently toward for decades. By the way, this was happening while most of the uber-cool hipsters were crapping their Pampers.

What really fascinated me was Cornett’s belief that a growth of millennials results in a need to adapt city services to a new era of technology and collaboration. Of course!

Why? Why is the city spending significant time and money harnessing technology for a certain age group?

Why is a certain age group deserving of being recruited for employment over and

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above any other? And why the hell is adaptation of city services to a new era of collaboration a concept that even applies to a certain age group? Why are all these things not goals to be achieved for every woman, man and child in this city, from 2 months to 102 years old? Try as I might to find any evidence in this article that would justify the ridiculous premise of it, I can’t.

— Amy Pringle Oklahoma City Painful mismanagement

The attorney general, the Oklahoma Board of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Control and State Medical Board enact policies that result in expense and hardship for patients who want only

to live close to a normal life. Many abandon the specialty because of the state’s flawed microscope. This doesn’t fight crime. It makes innocents suffer.

These bureaucrats think they know more than physicians. Why not go after real criminals and abusers, the actual problems? Medical boards shouldn’t micromanage doctors’ treatment of their patients. Our attorney general has an obvious agenda that’s unreasonable and outside his expertise.

As pain patients, we must organize and fight and stop this madness disguised as fighting crime. I am tired of the insults flung at our intelligence and health, adding to our injuries.

— David Rowden Chandler

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OKG picks are events

recommended by Oklahoma Gazette editorial staff members.

For full calendar listings, go to okgazette.com.

BOOKS Roy Deering Book Signing, author of Finders Keepers will sign and discuss his latest work, noon, Feb. 7. Full Circle Bookstore, 1900 Northwest Expressway, 8422900, fullcirclebooks.com. SAT Jo Ann Kessel Book Signing, author of Barney Kessel A Jazz Legend will sign her book about Barney Kessel, American jazz guitarist born in Muskogee, 2 p.m., Feb. 8. Full Circle Bookstore, 1900 Northwest Expressway, 842-2900, fullcirclebooks.com. SUN Jennifer Kidney Poetry Reading, author of six poetry books including her most recent, Road Work Ahead, 2 p.m., Feb. 8. The Depot, 200 S. Jones Ave., Norman, 307-9320, pasnorman.org. SUN Let’s Talk About It, a book discussion of This Is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Trooper; a humorous story of a family coming back together for the first time in years after the death of their dad, 7 p.m., Feb. 10. Oklahoma City University, 2501 N. Blackwelder Ave., 208-5000, okcu.edu. TUE

FILM The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till, (US, 2005, dir.

Keith Beauchamp) documentary telling the story of the death of 14-year-old Emmett Till whose murder is considered a catalyst of the civil rights movement, 1:30 p.m., Feb. 6. University of Central Oklahoma, 100 N. University Drive, Edmond, 974-2000, uco.edu. FRI

Let’s Talk About It, Oklahoma The world could use more book clubs. Here to help is the latest from the Let’s Talk About It, Oklahoma series. The series is held every second Tuesday through May and focuses on baseball this go-around with W.P. Kinsella’s Shoeless Joe. Each month, a different Oklahoma City University professor leads the discussion. Pick up books from any metro library listed at metrolibrary.org/locations. The series is organized

by Oklahoma Humanities Council and funded by National Endowment for the Humanities, Inasmuch Foundation and Kirkpatrick Family Fund. The event is 6 p.m.

Tuesday at the Northwest Library, 5600 NW 122nd St., and is free to the public, though registration is required. Visit metrolibrary.org.

Two Days, One Night, (FR, 2014, dir. Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne) a young mother is being fired from her job in exchange for her coworkers receiving a bonus and she has one weekend to convince them to give up their bonuses so she can keep her job, 8 p.m., Feb. 6; 5:30 p.m., Feb. 7; 3 p.m., Feb. 8; 7:30 p.m., Feb. 10-11. Oklahoma City Museum of Art, 415 Couch Drive, 236-3100, okcmoa.com. FRI-SUN/TUE-WED Freedom Riders, (US, 2010, dir. Standley Nelson) documentary of the Civil Rights Movement, 1:30-3:30 p.m., Feb. 7. Oklahoma History Center, 800 Nazih Zuhdi Drive, 521-2491, okhistory.org/historycenter. SAT Children of the Civil Rights, (US, 2015, dir. Julia Clifford) a documentary of the children during the civil rights movement and sit-ins here in Oklahoma city in 1958, 6 p.m., Feb. 7. Oklahoma History Center, 800 Nazih Zuhdi Drive, 521-2491, okhistory.org/historycenter. SAT Academy Award Nominated Documentary Short Films, a chance to view the nominated Best Short Films before the winner is awarded at the Oscars, 8 p.m., Feb. 7. Oklahoma City Museum of Art, 415 Couch Drive, 2363100, okcmoa.com. SAT

Luncheon forum

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HAPPENINGS Michele Gay, Founder of Safe and Sound: A Sandy Hook Initiative, mother of a child killed in Sandy Hook and former teacher will speak about her organization’s mission to offer education and insight on strategies for

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Tuesday, ongoing

President and CEO of the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber Roy Williams will offer his insight and experience regarding Oklahoma foreign trade ventures and strategies at a luncheon. It’s sponsored by the American Turkic Business Council, which works to improve and expand bilateral trade policies between the United States and other countries.

The event is 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m.

Wednesday, Feb. 11 at the American Turkic Business Council, 4444 N. Classen Blvd. Suite 120. Donations are requested at the door.

Wednesday, Feb. 11

enhancing school safety and security, 1:30 p.m., Feb. 4.

Moore Norman Technology Center, 13301 S. Pennsylvania Ave., 364-5763, mntc.edu. WED Early Season Vegetables, gardeners learn the best methods for planting things such as onions, potatoes, cabbage and other delicious vegetables, 1:30-3 p.m., Feb. 5. Northeast Regional Health & Wellness Campus, 2600 NE 63rd St., occhd.org. THU Calling All Guys, nutrition 101 for guys, meal planing strategies and how to be healthy, 9-10:30 a.m., Feb. 6.

Integris Southwest Medical Center, 4200 S. Western Ave., 951-2277, integrisok.com. FRI Fall in Love with Essential Oils, learn about essential oils, uses and what benefits they provide, 6:30 p.m., Feb. 9. Buy For Less, 3501 Northwest Expressway, 946-6342, buyforlessok.com. MON

FOOD Breakfast at Grandad’s, enjoy chicken and waffles served by the Taste of Soul Chicken and Waffle food truck accompanied by Ethiopian Ardi Stout, 6:30 p.m., Feb. 4.

Grandad’s Bar, 317 NW 23rd St., 604.0922, grandads. publishpath.com. WED Romancing the Zoo, a Valentine wine and dine experience with the company of animals and the opportunity to meet a sea lion, 6-8 p.m., Feb .7.

Oklahoma City Zoo, 2000 Remington Pl., 424-3344, okczoo.com. SAT Yukon Chocolate Festival, sample a variety of chocolate treats served up by local businesses and groups, 1-3 p.m., Feb. 7. Robertson Activity Center, 1200 Lakeshore Drive, Yukon, 350-7680, cityofyukonok.gov. SAT

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A Jewelry Trunk Show & Sale Jewelry designs by Tomoaki Orikasa, a native of Chiba, Japan, and mold-maker at the Crucible Foundry of Norman, are on display at A Jewelry Trunk Show & Sale at Kasum Contemporary Fine Art. Orikasa’s Black Collection designs will be marked down 25 percent for Valentine’s Day. The show is 11:30 a.m.-7:30 p.m.

Saturday and 1-5 p.m. Sunday at Kasum Contemporary Fine Art, 1706 NW 16th St. Attendance is free. For more information, visit kasumcontemporary.com or call 604-6602.

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Saturday-Sunday Guest Chef Event, one of the 68 Certified Master Chefs in the U.S., Jonathan Moosmiller hosts a special four-course meal to showcase his vision of fine dining and hospitality, 6, 6:30 and 7:30 p.m., Feb. 10. District 21, 12777 N. Rockwell Ave., 717-7700, francistuttle.edu/district21. TUE CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE

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continued

A Splash of Red In Your Eye Studio & Gallery’s annual February group show opens Friday and will introduce three new 2-D artists’ work. A Splash of Red supports the Go Red for Women health movement. The show will run Friday through Feb. 28 at In Your Eye Studio & Gallery, 3005-A Paseo St. Visit inyoureyegallery.com or call 525-2161.

Friday, ongoing

YOUTH Dr. George Washington Carver and the Amazing Peanut, learn about the man who transformed the peanut into peanut butter; play fun games, create a craft and enjoy a tasting of several peanut foods, 10-11 a.m., Feb. 7. Myriad Botanical Gardens, 301 W. Reno Ave., 445-7080, oklahomacitybotanicalgardens.com/ events. SAT Family Crafternoon, bring the whole family together to create special Valentine’s Day mailboxes to hold cards from classmates, friends and loved ones, 1-4 p.m., Feb. 7. Michaels, 5012 N. May Ave., 942-8920, michaels.com. SAT We Heart Animals, make special treats for your favorite animals, 2-3 p.m., Feb. 7. Oklahoma City Zoo, 2000 Remington Pl., 424-3344, okczoo.com. SAT Little Big Chefs, cooking class for parents and kids; learn to make a breakfast favorite, waffles, 2-4:30 p.m., Feb. 8. Uptown Grocery Co., 1230 W. Covell Rd., Edmond, 509-2700, uptowngroceryco.com. SUN Knights & Princesses, music of Cinderella, Romeo & Juliet and Beauty and the Beast performed by OKC Philharmonic; kids are welcome to dress as their favorite character, 8 p.m., Feb. 8. Civic Center Music Hall, 201 N. Walker Ave., 297-2264, okcciviccenter. com. SUN Dr. Seuss’ The Cat in the Hat, production of the classic Dr. Seuss tale of The Cat in the Hat, 11 a.m., Feb. 9 & 11.

Oklahoma Children’s Theatre, 2501 N. Blackwelder Ave., 606-7003, oklahomachildrenstheatre.org. MON/WED

PERFORMING ARTS Tartuffe, classic comedy satirizes religious hypocrisy, blind piety, and deceit; a religious hypocrite Tartuffe weasels his way into the good graces or Orgon and is promised the family fortune and his daughter’s hand in marriage but he has another agenda, 8 p.m., Feb. 5-7; 2 & 8 p.m., Feb. 8. Civic Center Music Hall, CitySpace, 201 N. Walker Ave., 297-2264, okcciviccenter.com.

THU-SUN

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The Whirling Dervishes of Rumi, live performance of Whirling Dervishes Turkish Sufi music ensemble, 7:30 p.m., Feb. 6. Oklahoma City Community College, 7777 S. May Ave., 682-1611, occc.edu. FRI The Mountaintop, award winner for Best New Play; a production re-imagining of the last night in the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and a look at the changing nation he left, 7:30 p.m., Feb. 6; 1:30 & 7:30 p.m., Feb. 7; 1:30 p.m., Feb. 8. Civic Center Music Hall, 201 N. Walker Ave., 297-2264, okcciviccenter.com. FRI-SUN Les Liaisons Dangereuses, production adapted from the 1782 novel by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos; two rivals use sex as a weapon of humiliation and degradation, all while enjoying their cruel games, 8 p.m., Feb. 6-7.

Reduxion Theatre Company, 914 N Broadway Ave., Ste. 120, 651-3191, reduxiontheatre.com. FRI-SAT Maria Bamford, comedy performance featuring one of Rolling Stone’s 50 Funniest People who has also made numerous late-night appearances on Conan and The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, 8 p.m., Feb. 7. ACM@UCO Performance Lab, 329 E. Sheridan Ave., 974-4700, acm.uco.edu. SAT An Evening with Martina McBride, concert with Grammy-winning recording artist, 7:30 p.m., Feb. 10.

Rose State College, 6420 SE 15th St., Midwest City, 733-7673, rose.edu. TUE

ACTIVE OKC Thunder vs. New Orleans Pelicans, NBA basketball game, 7 p.m., Feb. 6. Chesapeake Energy Arena, 100 W. Reno Ave., 602-8700, chesapeakearena.com. FRI Harlem Globetrotters, some of the greatest and most talented athletes perform a show of tricks, stunts, comedy and family interaction, 2 & 7 p.m., Feb. 7.

Chesapeake Energy Arena, 100 W. Reno Ave., 6028700, chesapeakearena.com. SAT Yoga, Wine & Chocolate, enjoy wines paired with locally crafted truffles and savory treats along with learning simple yoga poses and sequences; benefiting the Good Dogma, 6-8 p.m., Feb. 7. Waters Edge Winery, 712 N. Broadway Ave., 616-5031, wewokc.net. SAT

OKC Thunder vs. LA Clippers, NBA basketball game, noon, Feb. 8. Chesapeake Energy Arena, 100 W. Reno Ave., 602-8700, chesapeakearena.com. SUN C.A. Run, poker run to the Grand Casino in Shawnee, 9:30 a.m., Feb. 8. Harley-Davidson World, 6904 W. Reno Ave., 631-8680, harleydavidsonworld.com. SUN OU Sooners vs. Iowa State Cyclones, men’s college basketball, 8 p.m., Feb. 9. Lloyd Noble Center, 2900 S. Jenkins Ave., Norman, 325-4666, lloydnoblecenter. com. MON

Monkey Do: New Works by Matt Goad, exhibit showcasing work from the graphic designer and illustrator who also specializes in woodcut printing.

Myriad Botanical Gardens, 301 W. Reno Ave., 4457080, oklahomacitybotanicalgardens.com/events.

Natalia Ferber’s Altered Life, exhibit of artist, Natalia Ferber, who creates artwork by blending and merging several photos together. Kasum Contemporary Fine Arts, 1706 NW 16th St., 604-6602, kasumcontemporary.com.

VISUAL ARTS

OKC125 Artist Panel, panel discussion with the artists who participated in OKC125, 11 a.m.-12:15 p.m., Feb. 7. Artspace at Untitled, 1 N.E. 3rd St., 815-9995, artspaceatuntitled.org. SAT

Acrylic Paintings by Bert Seabourn, a painter, print maker, sculptor and teacher who uses a unique fusion of design, color, form and composition in his works. 50 Penn Place Gallery, 1900 Northwest Expressway, Suite 113-R, 848-5567, 50pennplacegallery.com.

Red Hot Art, February exhibit of artists inspired by the color red which is known to raise your blood pressure and quicken your heartbeat.

Contemporary Art Gallery, 2928 Paseo St., 601-7474, contemporaryartgalleryokc.com.

Character Studies, exhibit featuring paintings from artist Matt Atkinson in which he combines traditional oil paints with paints he makes from minerals and stone. The Summer Wine Art Gallery, 2928-B Paseo St., 831-3279, summerwinegallery.com.

Richard Gilleland, photography exhibit featuring distinctive photography styles by Richard Gilleland including High Dynamic Range and Tone Mapping.

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

Colby Bowers & Jamie Pettis, Bowers draws inspiration from the natural world and uses high-contrast, vibrant subjects while Pettis is inspired by her roots in Oklahoma and uses oils and acrylics. DNA Galleries, 1709 NW 16th St., 525-3499, dnagalleries.com.

Ephemeral Gradations, exhibit exploring the fleeting nature of life, its constant changes, and the human struggle to accept this transience; a journey through memory, grief, grown and self-healing. The Project Box, 3003 Paseo St., 609-3969, theprojectboxokc.com.

Jewelry 101, learn the foundations of jewelry making while making a ribbon and pearl necklace, 6:30-8:30 p.m., Feb. 10. Michaels, 5012 N. May Ave., 942-8920, michaels.com.

Robert Goddard, exhibition of work by Elk City photographer. Oklahoma State Capitol, 2300 N. Lincoln Blvd., 521-3356, ok.gov.

Strange Lands, exhibit featuring three international artists and three local Oklahoma artists; the collection seeks to reconcile humankind’s reach towards the heavens as well as its deep roots in Earth. SIG, 131 Dean A. McGee Ave., Suite 135, sigokc.org.

The First Fifty Years of Oklahoma Art, showcases work from Oklahoma’s first artists, including Woodrow Wilson Big Bow, Woody Crumbo, Charles Banks Wilson, Nan Sheets and more. Gaylord-Pickens Oklahoma Heritage Museum, 1400 Classen Drive, 2354458, oklahomaheritage.com.

Michelle Mikesell, featured February artist. JRB Art at The Elms, 2810 N. Walker Ave., 528-6336, jrbartgallery.com.

PROVID ED

Milliners Class: Red Hats for Valentine’s Day, learn the history of Edwardian milliners and create your own red hat for Valentine’s Day, 10 a.m.-4 p.m., Feb. 7. Oklahoma History Center, 800 Nazih Zuhdi Drive, 521-2491, okhistory.org/historycenter. SAT

4PLAY Robert JM Productions’ 4PLAY, a set of four short comedies and an uncomfortably enjoyable amalgam of LGBT situational humor, is closing its show Saturday. If you’ve ever longed for a burly chested Hugh Jackman but gotten the wrong one, sneezed while wandering about the wilderness or juggled two dates in one night, these might be too personal. The rest of you will be splitting your respective loins with laughter. Performances are 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday at Actors Warehouse Studio Theatre, 30 NE 52nd St. Visit rjmproductions.com or call 562-6877.

Friday-Saturday

For OKG music picks see page 41

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MARCH 30 & 31, 2015 The ANIMAL Conference is an open forum designed to convene, discuss, network, and

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SAFE HUMANE A New Vision

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PHOTO PERMISSION — KIRK WEST

Skirvin-Hilton Hotel in Oklahoma City

405-601-1951 check out our menu www.fivestargrille.com

1920 S Meridian OKC LOCALLY RAISED BEEF 100% KOSHER BEEF DOGS GLUTEN FREE OPTIONS NO MSG

Fat Elvus Burger

Delicious minds Yukon’s Fat Elvus Diner has got one heck of a hunka-hunka tasty burger.

BY LOUIS FOWLER

If Elvis Presley and I have one thing in common — besides a crippling addiction to painkillers, of course — it would be our insatiable love of all food thick and greasy. Much like the late, lamented King of Rock and Roll, I tend to go out of my way to sample just about every greasy-spoon burger or chicken-fried dive around, doctor’s orders be damned.

Fat Elvus Diner 4 E. Main St., Yukon | 354-9702 WHAT WORKS: Elvis knows how to make a mean onion burger.

WHAT NEEDS WORK: My heart, after eating one of them.

TIP: Bring a camera.

The spirit of this lust is kept alive and well-fed in Yukon at Fat Elvus Diner, 4 E. Main St. (I’m guessing the “us” is so they don’t get sued. Lawyers are the devil in disguise!)

Looking like a rustic side-of-theroad shack one would find on the way

to Memphis, the tight, homey diner is a tribute to all things rock ’n’ roll, with hundreds of records and artifacts lining every inch of wall-space. But this isn’t some kitschy Hard Rock wannabe — the denizens that run this joint mean it, from the sweet-as-honey waitresses to the Elvis (owner and impersonator Darin Thrasher) flipping the burgers.

The menu is an uncomplicated, simple affair, with one side offering breakfast deals like the Taking Care of Business Omelet and the “Viva Las Vegas” hamburger steak. As tempting as these Top 40 offerings were, it was three in the afternoon and I was itchin’ like a man on a fuzzy tree for what Fat Elvus is best known for: its titular Fat Elvus Burger ($5.09 plus extra for toppings), loaded with fixin’s, including jalapeños (in tribute to my main man El Vez, of course). A side of fresh-cut fries ($2) and a slice of banana cream pie ($3) completed my order.

When that Fat Elvus reached my table, “I [Could]n’t Help Falling in Love” with it immediately; this was a two-hander loaded with glistening beef, steaming fried onions and a few

hearty slices of good ol’ American “Glory, Glory Hallelujah” cheese melting down the sides.

The jalapeños left me sweating like I was Elvis, is that you? under Vegas spotlights, while the hot and crispy fries made a perfect complement when dipped in mayo.

When in Graceland …

The King would’ve been a fan.

While I thought about My dining companion, on the taking him aside and asking if there’s a other hand, had the chicken-fried steak secret menu with a deep-fried peanutsandwich ($3.85). He made note of butter-and-banana sandwich on it, the how well-seasoned and crunchy the heaviness of the food started to get to Southern-fried coating on the steak me and I decided it was time for “A was and the toastiness of the buns. But, Little Less Conversation” and a lot more sadly, he was unable to finish it — it nappin’. was just too much for him. However, Don’t live in Yukon? “That’s All he later told me that the leftovers made Right,” mama; this rockin’ diner is for a great lunch. definitely worth a Saturday afternoon As we sat back, enjoying Fat Elvus’ outing whether you’re starving for fresh, homemade banana cream pie, down-home eats or just wanting to do a Thrasher, in full-on Elvis persona, stopped little touristy rubberneckin’. by to make sure we enjoyed our meals, The Fat Elvus is the name of any taking time to pose for pictures with each onion-burger lover’s latest flame. and every diner who wanted one.

O K L A H O M A G A Z E T T E | F E B R UA R Y 4 , 2 0 1 5 | 2 1

P HOTOS BY DUSTI N HA RJO

FOOD & DRINK REVIEW

LIFE FOOD & DRINK

P ROVI DE D

Take your Valentine to Dinner at

Pour more Chocolate and wine — what more could your valentine want? Perhaps a date just before the holiday rush.

George’s Happy Hog Bar-B-Q

BY GREG HORTON

Valentine’s Day presents difficulties every year for couples wishing to go out on a date. Restaurants are booked, or if they are not, the wait can be endless. Even planning in advance can’t save you from the sheer volume of people who will have the serving staff utterly exhausted. What about adding a different twist to a Valentine’s date?

How do you do something different, something that isn’t dinner and drinks or dinner and a movie?

UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT

712 Culbertson Dr. Oklahoma City, OK 73105 (405) 525-8111 • M-Sat 11-7

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LUNCH 11-2 • DINNER 4-8

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Chocolates of all shades and tastes await your palate at Sunday’s event.

Wine and Chocolate sh, never “We use only fre tically es m frozen, do ef.” ranched Angus be

4-6 p.m. Sunday The Metro Wine Bar & Bistro 6418 N.Western Ave. | 840-9463 $25 per person, reservations required

20 NW 9TH • 405.270.0516 5929 N MAY • 405.843.8777 14020 N MAY • 405.418.8477 102 W MAIN ST • 405.360.5726 • Norman 7745 S WALKER (1240 & Walker) • 405.631.0783

WWW.SANDBBURGERS.COM

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For eight years, LaVeryl Lower has hosted Wine and Chocolate the Sunday before Valentine’s Day. Lower owns The Metro Wine Bar & Bistro, and she said it was the absolute craziness of Valentine’s Day that helped her decide to offer an alternative date night before the big day.

“So many people go out on that night or the night after that it’s difficult to get reservations unless you make them months in advance,” Lower said.

“I thought it would be a good idea to create a Valentine’s date that takes the pressure off and is far more relaxing.”

Lower features five by-the-glass wine lists every year. Wine and Chocolate is the night guests can sample her late winter list.

“Since it’s right before Valentine’s Day, I thought it would be fun to make it a wine and chocolate tasting instead of just rolling out a new wine

list,” Lower said.

In addition to the 20 wines (10 red and 10 white), guests enjoy housemade cocoa confections created for pairing with specific wines on the list.

The pairings offer another layer of experience to the event: education. She helps guests understand which flavor components go with what kind of wine because not all desserts need dessert wines or big, jammy reds.

“For whites, we look for flavors like lime and ginger or peppers and herbs,” Lower said. “Acid is always good for pairing desserts with white wine.”

This year’s event includes white chocolate with lime, ginger and Szechuan pepper; white chocolate with blood orange and basil; and white chocolate with coconut, pistachio and curry.

“People say that white chocolate isn’t really chocolate,” Lower said. “I know that’s true, but it’s still delicious.”

For the reds, Lower is planning raspberry-and-dark-chocolate truffles as well as Bourbon-and-brown-butter truffles. This year, for the first time, there also will be savory chocolates featuring bacon, cocoa-roasted beef tenderloin and bitter chocolate.

Wines at The Metro are chosen from all over the world and include a relative newcomer from Spain, Alejandro Fernández El Víncula Tinto Crianza, a very dry Tempranillo.

Lower’s list always includes local favorites, too, so names like Alexana, Banshee, Neyers and Turley will also be featured. Wine geeks will recognize Stolpman Roussanne and Spann Carignan, two of the more unique wines that will be poured.

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FOOD BRIEFS

Orbit overhaul

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Saturn Grill’s original Nichols Hills location, 6432 Avondale Drive, will be a cooler place to eat at once its redesign is finished. Construction starts this month. It will stay open through the renovations, said Steven Newlon, a Saturn Grill spokesman, in a media release.

He said the new look will update the appearance of the space and make it more comfortable and user-friendly for guests.

The remodel, supervised by owner Joseph Royer, includes warm tones, natural materials and an open kitchen. Once finished, the restaurant will feature selections of local art on its walls. Its wine and beer selection will be more prominently displayed by the door, and it will carry more locally made spirits, beers and wines.

Master dinner It’s not often that Oklahoma City residents experience the craft of a certified master chef (CMC), especially when there’s only one in the state. Jonathan Moosmiller (pictured), executive chef at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, is the guest chef at District 21’s Guest Chef Dinner Series Tuesday at 12777 N. Rockwell Ave. Seatings are at 6 p.m., 6:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. and cost $50$60. CMC certification includes an intensive, 8-day test often regarded as one of the most exacting in the world.

Seasoned beans Local beer master Black Mesa Brewing Company and Elemental Coffee Roasters are teaming up again to create a seasonal brew: Ethiopian Ardi Coffee Stout. (The duo also created last year’s seasonal hit Red Badger Stout.)

It gets its name from the beans used to brew it. Ethiopian Ardi comes in 500-milliliter bottles available at several metro package stores including Broadway Wine Merchants, 824 N. Broadway Ave., and Spirit Shop, 109 N. Berry Road, in Norman.

It is on tap at Grandad’s Bar, 317 NW 23rd St., and The Wedge Pizzeria at Deep Deuce, 230 NE First St. Black Mesa owner Brad Stumph said he hopes to add more bars and restaurants to the growing list of carriers of this seasonal brew.

Grandad’s owner Greg Seal hosts Breakfast at Grandad’s 6:30 p.m.

Wednesday, Feb. 4. Taste of Soul Chicken and Waffle will be serving food, and Ethiopian Ardi Coffee Stout will flow.

For more information, call Grandad’s at 604-0922.

Menu ministrations Changes are coming to Deep Fork Restaurant Group. And General Manager Daniel Thomas and Executive Chef Christopher House are leading the way.

Both moved here from Las Vegas, where they worked in several casinos.

However, they didn’t know each other before working at Deep Fork.

They will examine and improve all Deep Fork Restaurant Group menus, including those at The Barrel, The Wedge Pizzeria, The Mantel Wine Bar and Bistro and The Blue Note Lounge.

Both believe in a hands-on approach, so say hello if you find them at any of their locations.

GreenAcres

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Old faithful Some things are meant to last. Patrons keep coming back for more at these local eateries. Whatever the magic formula for success, these restaurants have it.

— by Devon Green, photos by Mark Hancock and Garett Fisbeck

Java Dave’s Coffee

Iguana Mexican Grill

2 NE Ninth St., Suite A javadavescoffee.com | 236-0272

9 NW Ninth St. iguanamexicangrill.com | 606-7172

This popular coffee chain got its start in 1980 with one humble Tulsa shop. The OKC metro now boasts four locations.

The Oklahoma City location on Ninth Street invested in its community before there was much around to support it.

Now it’s part of a bustling retail and dining area. Its location off Interstate 235 makes it a convenient stop where commuters can pick up a custom coffee drink and bagel.

This bustling restaurant offers affable service, colorful decor and delicious tacos, especially on Tuesdays when its mini tacos are $1 each. They come in several varieties — including ground beef, carnitas and chicken — depending on the daily menu. Pair them with a specialty margarita and an order of queso fundido, made with seasoned ground beef, onions and four cheeses.

Eat .

DRINK. BOWL.

Jim’s

r

Dine

Jim’s Diner

Jim’s

Johnnie’s Charcoal Broiler 2652 W. Britton Road johnniesburgers.com | 751-2565

This burger joint grew from a drive-in with inside dining in 1971 to multiple metro eateries, including Johnnie’s Express and Urban Johnnie. Johnnie’s Charcoal Broiler menu includes burgers, fries and onion rings along with hot dogs, salads and variations on chickenfried steak. The Theta (#9) is a favorite with pickles, shredded cheddar and hickory sauce. Pair it with Johnnie’s onion rings.

Dine

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Louie’s Grill & Bar

Bellini’s Ristorante

9401 Lake Hefner Parkway ehsrg.com | 751-2298

6305 Waterford Blvd. Suite 100 bellinisokc.com | 848-1065

Louie, Louie! Its broad menu offers favorites that keep with the restaurant’s casual bar theme. There are many items to choose from. Start with the Ultimate Chicken Fried Steak Sandwich and fries. Make sure to taste at least one of the many specialty cocktails at its expansive bar.

Bellini’s, one of the city’s finest restaurants, is tucked within the Waterford building. Michel and Alain Buthion took over in 2011 and developed a menu that matches the elegant space. Menu selections include dishes for every appetite and taste. For lunch, try the soup of the day with a small salad or the roasted half chicken.

San Marcos Mexican Restaurant

Waffle Champion 1212 N. Walker Ave. Suite 100 wafflechampion.com | 525-9235

4024 N. May Ave. 942-0260

Nestled into a corner next to a highway, San Marcos offers classic Mexican and Tex-Mex cuisine for lunch and dinner with both prices and flavors that keep customers coming back. At San Marcos, all the classics are represented. It also offers variations like Mexican fried rice made with veggies and marinated fajita chicken or steak. We recommend the chicken chimichanga with sour cream sauce.

As a fledgling food truck, Waffle Champion helped lead OKC’s mobile dining revolution. The city’s response was overwhelming, and owner Todd Woodruff soon moved from wheels to walls. It seems that residents can’t get enough meals stuffed into warm, fresh waffles. Start your Waffle Champion adventure with buttermilk fried chicken topped with Tabasco honey and crispy leeks. Add eggs for $1.

Sweets & Meats for Your Valentine 9346 N. May Ave Britton & May • OKC • (888) 751-6275

Say “I Love You” with handmade truffles.

Have a loved one for away? We can ship your Valentine gift.

Order by Feb. 10th order on Etsy.com: Unique Confections

810 W. Danforth Danforth & Kelly • Edmond • (405) 359-8200 4405 SW 3rd St I-40 & Meridian • OKC (405) 949-9000

Unique Confections, LLC

1100 E. Constitution, Norman, OK Tuesday-Saturday 11:00am - 6:30pm Valentines hours: Feb 9-14 9am - 7:00pm 405.579-8856, www.ucshops.com, andrew@ucshops.com

www.tbje.com Mon-Sat 10-6

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Love thy neighbor KC’s #1 Explore O age Shop Vint

ssories Clothing • Acce her ot & s rd Reco curious goods

We’re expanding what Valentine’s Day means, and “love thy neighbor” seems a natural approach.

Celebrate with hearts and flowers of the ideological kind. Pick one of these nonprofits and donate your money or time. For a comprehensive list of Oklahoma charities, visit oklahomacenterfornonprofits.org.

— By Devon Green

P HOTOS BY M A RK HA N COC K

in the Plaza 1759 NW 16th • Oklahoma City • 405-528-4585 Open Tues -Sat 11-7 • Like us on Facebook

SixTwelve 612 NW 29TH ST. SIXTWELVE.ORG

SixTwelve owners Amy Young and James Varnum transformed the old apartment at 612 NW 29th St. into a community center. The organization is dedicated to helping OKC residents learn about gardening, arts and crafts and making rain barrels. There is also a special area devoted to children’s educational activities. The venue now features a heating system designed by Varnum, and there’s enough space for an artistin-residence and an in-house chef.

A Chance to Change Foundation 5228 N. CLASSEN CIRCLE ACHANCETOCHANGE.ORG 840-9000

Can’t find the right fit?

Let us help!

A Chance to Change Foundation is a nonprofit that Rachel Whelan and Jackie Landler started in 1979. The organization was started to help young students deal with alcohol or drug problems. From there it grew into an award-winning initiative that empowers people of all ages to get the help they need and support for them and their families. You can help with donations, volunteer your time or just spread the word.

A cooperative effort of Norman Public Schools, the Norman Housing Authority and the Norman community, Bridges of Norman helps high schoolage children living alone. The nonprofit offers sliding-scale rent for individual apartments, assistance with school activities, mentoring and social services.

The program is affiliated with United Way of Norman and gets funds through grants and donations. Bridges of Norman helps these at-risk students reach their potential through teaching and encouragement.

Planned Parenthood of Central Oklahoma 619 NW 23RD ST. PPCOK.ORG 528-0221

New Goddess Underwire Support Bra-up to an L cup

Bridges of Norman 1670 N. STUBBEMAN AVE., NORMAN BRIDGESNORMAN.ORG 579-9280

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Planned Parenthood of Central Oklahoma (PPCOK) is the local chapter of the larger nonprofit organization that specializes in education surrounding men and women’s reproductive health.

PPCOK’s clinics offer services — including family planning, sexual-health checkups, prenatal care and treatment and prevention of sexually transmitted diseases — on a sliding scale.

in

Pretty Pink

Oklahoma City Metro Literacy Coalition 1444 NW 28TH ST. OKLITERACYCOALITION.OKPS.ORG (580) 762–4580

The Oklahoma City Metro Literacy Coalition believes that every adult should have the means to learn how to read. It provides tools — including mentors and teachers — that aid students in learning. The organization is funded by memberships, grants and fundraisers.

Freedom Oklahoma 5613 N. MAY AVE. SUITE 400

www.shopbowandarrow.com 617 N. Broadway Ave. • 601-0605 Hours: Mon-Fri 11-6 • Sat 11-4

FREEDOMOKLAHOMA.ORG 495-9300

Freedom Oklahoma is a nonprofit that speaks out for the rights of all residents, especially LGBT members of the community. It is the result of the merger of two of the most visible pro-equality organizations in the state: Cimarron Alliance and The Equality Network. United, Freedom Oklahoma continues to fight for everyone’s right to be treated with the same respect and protection under the state’s laws.

Rocktown Climbing Gym 200 SE FOURTH ST. ROCKTOWNGYM.COM 319-1400

Rock climbing is a unique experience that provides a challenge and a sense of accomplishment. Rocktown Climbing Gym in downtown OKC consists of indoor and outdoor scrambles. Situated inside a decommissioned grain silo, the gym offers ascensions to dizzying heights.

It runs a program that helps at-risk youth have an activity and a mentor to act as coach, boss and friend.

Taking the family to the gym can be a special weekend activity and a chance to support a cause.

O K L A H O M A G A Z E T T E | F E B R UA R Y 4 , 2 0 1 5 | 2 7

Alicia Working| Mustang, Oklahoma | Communications

Invisible touch The Ralph Ellison Foundation honors the Oklahoman who addressed racial issues and created literary classics.

Oklahoma’s Public Liberal Arts College Nationally Recognized for Affordability and Quality Rigorous and Distinctive Interdisciplinary Core Curriculum

BY ZACH JACOBS

Following the celebration of author Ralph Ellison’s centennial last March, a local Ellison enthusiast recently announced the founding of an organization bearing his name.

Michael Owens, foundation director and founder, said the 501(c)3 nonprofit organization will work to highlight Ellison within the region and promote the author’s legacy through programming and projects in the areas of literacy, music and the arts. “[It will] improve the lives of others through the attributes of ... Ellison’s life,” Owens said.

Oklahoma City-born Ellison is best known for writing the 1952 literary classic Invisible Man, which addresses intellectual and social issues of blacks in the early 20th century, including selfesteem and acceptance.

Invisible Man, Ellison’s first work, earned him the National Book Foundation Award for Fiction in 1953.

In 2012, the Library of Congress selected the novel as one of 101 “Books That Shaped America.”

Owens said that though the foundation is in its infancy, it has been successful lately in its efforts to popularize Ellison, including displaying his portrait in the Oklahoma State Capitol and his Oct. 4, 2014, posthumous induction into the Oklahoma African-American Hall of Fame.

The process for beginning the foundation began about two years ago, when Owens spoke with Dr. John Callahan, a close friend of Ellison and custodian of his unpublished works. Since then, coordination with the Oklahoma City Community Foundation has helped the dream of the Ellison Foundation become a reality.

Owens said the foundation plans to expound upon Ellison’s ideas through

university of science and arts of oklahoma | college for the curious mind

1727 W. Alabama Chickasha, OK 73018

USAO.edu (405) 574.1357

2 8 | F E B R UA R Y 4 , 2 0 1 5 | O K L A H O M A G A Z E T T E Tartuffe Gazette Ad.indd 1

1/26/2015 6:06:51 PM

above Ralph Ellison, author of Invisible Man outreach to the local community.

Future foundation events include a festival, which will highlight Ellison’s musical, artistic and literary works, as well as those of locals, and a Feb. 28 gala at Oklahoma History Center.

Despite Ellison’s discussion about self-esteem and identity through the lens of “invisibility,” Owens said that in the local area and in academia, Ellison is “still invisible.” “[He’s] not talked about in scholarship today in terms of identity and self-esteem,” said Owens. “He was beyond race, moving it to a concept to what it means to be human and accepted as a human.”

The board’s members include State Sen. David Holt, University of Oklahoma professor Dr. Shannon Bert, Oklahoma County Judge Bernard Jones, Oklahoma City University professor Dr. Tracy Floreani and longtime Oklahoma Department of Human Services employee Karen Jacobs.

National advisory board members include Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett, OCU President Robert Henry, OU President David Boren, Oklahoma Sen. James Lankford and Harvard University professor and lecturer Dr. Henry Louis Gates Jr. “If we’re to be truly a reflection on Mr. Ellison,” said Owens, “the board makeup reflects that. His approach was multicultural and diverse. It takes all of these different perspectives to make it right.”

For more information visit ralphellisonfoundation.org.

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curious minds discover new possibilities

LIFE BOOKS

P HOTO COURTE SY OKL A HOM A HI STORI C A L S OC I E TY

LIFE CULTURE

Heritage The Civil Rights Act passed 50 years ago, but racism still persists in Oklahoma.

BY MARK BEUTLER

The struggles of an entire race will be commemorated during the annual Black Heritage Month this February. The struggle for equality and acceptance laid the groundwork for the civil rights movement a half century ago. Even today, the struggle continues.

The release of the new film Selma and recent tragic events in our nation’s streets are stark reminders of how far we have come as a country and how much work is yet to be done.

Generations remember the oftenhorrific images that flickered across black-and-white televisions back in the 1950s and 1960s. Yet younger generations are just learning of the sacrifices that were made not long ago.

And Oklahoma played a unique role in the civil rights movement.

Early history

“African-Americans during that era were relegated to second-class citizens,” said Dr. Bob Blackburn, executive director of Oklahoma Historical Society. “By the 1950s, laws were changing in Oklahoma and throughout the country, but changing attitudes and changing hearts was lagging behind.”

Slavery existed until 1866 in what is now Oklahoma, said Blackburn. The Indian tribes were required by the federal government to provide land to their former slaves. As a result, more than 30 all-black towns were formed. The migration of blacks from the old South also contributed to Oklahoma’s growing population during the early part of the 20th century.

Oklahoma leader

By midcentury, the civil rights movement had reached Oklahoma. Clara Luper was an Oklahoma City teacher who led the charge, and she came to be known as the

mother of the state’s civil rights fight.

“During the ’50s and ’60s, sacrifices were made by African-Americans,” Blackburn said. “Clara Luper risked her own safety on many occasions.”

Luper would talk to the chief of police and tell him what they planned to do, but she was always quick to point out that any demonstration would be peaceful and nonviolent. Many segments of the white population also saw the injustices.

“Local businessman Jackie Cooper, who now owns a BMW dealership, was a good friend of Clara Luper. He owned a successful Oldsmobile dealership at the time, and their friendship dated back to the 1950s. Jackie was very instrumental in helping raise the consciousness of people in the white community,” Blackburn said.

A number of demonstrations took place in Oklahoma, including a famous lunch counter sit-in at the Katz Drug Store in downtown Oklahoma City in August 1958. Luper and some of her students seated themselves at the counter, where service was promptly refused. They returned day after day until Katz management relented and white customers offered to buy meals for the polite young black students. Similar demonstrations occurred at the John A. Brown department store in the summer of 1958 and a civil rights march on N. Shartel Avenue on April 3, 1965.

Blackburn was a teenager in the ’60s and experienced the changes firsthand.

“Here it is some 50 years later and injustices still need to be corrected,” Blackburn said. “We no longer have sitins at lunch counters because we have progressed beyond that. But hundreds of years of denying people their place in the sun will not change overnight, or even in 50 years.”

Besides protecting existing laws and rights, Blackburn said the key is building bridges.

“But what can we do to change our own hearts and rid ourselves of racism?

We need to make sure we give families equal access to early childhood education, higher education and equal employment.

Change comes from our elected officials, our lawmakers and the voters,” he said.

above Clara Luper and students at Katz Drug Store.

Racism has diminished but still exists in society today.

“It may not be as blatant as it once was, but it still exists,” Blackburn said.

“But we can change history at the individual level by changing our hearts and attitudes.”

BLACK HISTORY MONTH EVENTS 30th Annual Black Heritage Day On Friday, Feb. 13, the Oklahoma Department of Human Services Office for Civil Rights will sponsor the 30th Annual Black Heritage Day from 1 to 3 p.m. at Springlake Metro Technology Center, 1900 Springlake Drive. This year’s theme is Onward and Upward: 30 Years of Black Heritage.

Meritorious Service Awards will be presented to several state employees from the Department of Human Services, the Department of Corrections and Oklahoma Historical Society. Jazz musician Walter Taylor will perform. The reception is free and open to the public.

“A lot of things have changed since the passage of the Civil Rights Act 50 years ago,” said Roger Scott, programs assistant administrator for the DHS Office for Civil Rights. “But people are still battling injustice; we still have groups who preach hatred toward anyone they see as different.”

For more information, call 522-1611.

Black History Heroes Challenge Meanwhile, the Oklahoma City Thunder presents the seventh annual Black History Heroes Challenge for students in kindergarten through 12th grade. The contest is open through Saturday.

“The NBA has a long-standing

tradition of honoring important figures in black history, including Martin Luther King Jr.,” said Christine Berney, vice president of community relations for the Thunder. “As part of this league initiative and in partnership with Sprite, the Thunder has challenged students across Oklahoma to dig deeper into the contributions of our black history heroes and make a thoughtful and personal connection with their legacy.”

Some of the recent projects students have contributed include a detailed pencil sketch of Nelson Mandela, photo essays that celebrate the legacy of civil rights leaders and even a Lego diorama of Dr. King’s “I have a dream” speech.

“It is so inspiring to see the creativity and engagement from these students,” Berney said. “Five winners, each from a different age group, will be recognized at center court of Chesapeake Energy Arena prior to our Feb. 22 game. They will receive four tickets to that game, an autographed Thunder item, an award plaque and a Sprite backpack. During that game, we will also display select entries on the concourse.

“We are proud to partner with Sprite and offer this challenge to students across the state, and we look forward to seeing this year’s entries.”

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LIFE VISUAL ARTS

New chapter Oklahoma’s Universal Zulu Nation group unifies street art and hip-hop culture.

BY JAMES BENJAMIN

Elements of Hip-Hop Showcase 8 p.m.- 2 a.m. Saturday Studio Twelve 1208 N. Pennsylvania Ave. studio12.us 772-2645 $5-$10

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In a state that proudly boasts its country music heritage, hip-hop in Oklahoma has known a life of seclusion.

It’s a genre that, in many cases, lives in homemade studios and between friends. The culture literally created to unite people has itself formed cliques in the state.

“I feel like what we’re trying to do here is unifying everybody,” Nick Samsel, one of the founding members of the Oklahoma chapter of the Universal Zulu Nation, said.

“One of the principles of the UZN is bringing people together.”

The Universal Zulu Nation is a worldwide organization that promotes peace, knowledge, wisdom and understanding through the unifying force of hip-hop culture. The Oklahoma Zulus are hosting Elements of Hip-Hop Showcase beginning at 8 p.m.

Saturday at Studio Twelve, 1208 N. Pennsylvania Ave. All ages are welcome.

The UZN is a 41-year-old organization that is a year older than hip-hop itself. Afrika Bambaataa, a former gang leader who sought to bring peace to warring gangs in the Bronx, founded it.

Stephen Cooper is the founder and leader of the Oklahoma chapter of the UZN. Cooper joined the organization as the state’s only

above Members of the Oklahoma chapter of the Zulu Nation. member in 2013 and recently decided it was time to put together a local chapter.

It was recently recognized as an official chapter of the UZN because it has grown to incorporate at least 15 members.

Cooper said the event will put all the elements of hip-hop — rapping, breakdancing, DJing, graffiti art and knowledge — on full display in one place. The goal of this and future events is partially to help foster a stronger and more unified hip-hop culture in the state.

“There’s a lot of back and forth going on, and it’s like, you know, squash all that and come out and just have fun,” Cooper said.

Oklahoma chapter member Jo Square said hip-hop culture is alive and well in the area but the scene needs to embrace local artists.

“Every element is fully represented, in full effect, in Oklahoma City, but a lot of people don’t know because there’s not enough open opportunity to see those things go down,” he said.

Member and local artist Gregory Jerome said it’s true that a few local artists have achieved some level of acclaim. Oklahoma City rapper Jabee won an Emmy in 2014, and Tulsa-born rapper Josh Sallee released his album Know Society last year to some local and national praise.

“The media, they don’t go highlight other artists besides these other two main faces, so, therefore, you don’t get to see the vast majority

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of MCs in the city,” Jerome said.

“They’re overshadowed. People throw shade because they’re not the Jabee or the Josh.”

Jerome was born in Oklahoma but raised in Nashville. As an MC, he has traveled the country and found the community supports its own culture more in other places.

Hip-hop in Oklahoma will remain stagnant as long as it remains divided into separate pods, he said.

“There’s too much competition with each other, and everybody wants to be the next man, everybody wants to be the big face,” Jerome said. “No. Play your position, support one another and then we can move.”

The Oklahoma Zulus are not solely focused on building the local music scene; they also want to help build stronger communities.

Hip-hop has always been a culture with the potential to build, Cooper said. The organization encourages attendees to bring food in support of The Free Food Pantry and Educational Center in Oklahoma City.

“We want to feed people here (physically) and here (mentally),” Cooper said, pointing to his stomach and head.

The group is also planning future food and toy drives.

In a time that has seen cases of conflict between law enforcement and the nation’s black neighborhoods grab national headlines, Cooper said the Oklahoma Zulus also hope to help educate local community members about being safe.

Local MC and chapter member Element Life said hip-hop has always been much more than the music.

“Just like (rapper) KRS-One said, ‘Rap is something you do. Hiphop is something you live.’ So every single day, we live hip-hop,” he said.

“It doesn’t matter if it’s the journey in life itself, the adversities that we have to overcome in life, love that we encounter in life — the pain, the struggle; that’s what hip-hop is.”

While some criticize big-name, mainstream rappers for not speaking out more about issues that matter to

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See Jake Beeson’s art at the upcoming Zulu Nation showcase. communities in need, Jerome said those people are too busy traveling and working in the music industry to be well-connected to what’s going on at home.

“I don’t wish that mainstream hip-hop artists would be more vocal,” he said. “I look more for the independent, underground, community-based MCs to be more vocal about their communities.”

Entry into the Elements of Hip-Hop Showcase is $5 with a nonperishable food item and $10 without. The event will feature live performances by local artists L. Smooth, Jordan Perry, Mainframe Trax Family, Miillie Mesh, Icon Okee, Gregory Jerome, Maralen, Sativa Prophets, King Kanevil, Gregory Mcpherson II and the Mighty Goldantones.

The night will also include breakdance performances and a silent art auction, featuring works by top Oklahoma graffiti artists like Kris Kanaly, SKEER UAT, Bobby Entaker, TR, Jake Beeson, Sammy Gravano 146, Tetelestai 1, Garret Morgan and others.

The event is less of a party and more of a positive experience that can be shared with friends or family members.

“We do have fun, and we do throw the dopest parties,” Jerome said. “However, it’s about giving back to the community. It’s about activism.”

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Whirling Dervishes of Rumi

Cultural traditions

Whirling Dervishes of Rumi showcase the celebration of existence at an OCCC performance.

BY WILLIAM SAVAGE III

Whirling Dervishes of Rumi 7:30 p.m. Friday OCCC Visual and Performing Arts Center 7777 S. May Ave. tickets.occc.edu 682-7579 $20-$25

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In the world of sport broadcasting clichés, a whirling dervish might be a Sooner-state tailback bouncing off tacklers and spinning toward the end zone.

Friday at Oklahoma City Community College (OCCC) Visual and Performing Arts Center, however, audience members will experience the term’s origin and the real thing: devout men whose vows of poverty and ritualistic performances are filled with spiritual and sociological significance.

“The Whirling Dervishes of Rumi is a tradition that started 800 years ago,” said Ersin Demirci, executive director of the Dialogue Institute of Oklahoma City, which is the lead sponsor bringing the group to Oklahoma. “It is a spiritual performance that showcases the celebration of existence and mutual understanding.”

The Whirling Dervishes of Rumi are members of the Sufi Order, which was founded in the Turkish city of Konya during the 13th century. Rumi was a poet and theologian whose teachings often focused on universality and spirituality, and some of his poems will be read before the performance.

“Sufism emphasizes universal love and peace and acceptance of various spiritual texts,” Demirci said. “In a

time like this where hatred is causing so many problems, (I hope) the voice of peace (will) be heard through this rare performance in Oklahoma City.”

Those sentiments were echoed

by Louisa McCune-Elmore, executive director of the Kirkpatrick Foundation.

“The dervishes bring to life the rich cultural traditions of Central Asia and Sufism, which have a deep and beautiful perspective on God and love,” McCune-Elmore said.

Two university scholars will also be a part of Friday’s show in an attempt to provide even more insight into the Whirling Dervishes, their performance and the history of Rumi and Sufism.

Dann May with Oklahoma City University will recite some of Rumi’s poetry. In addition, Ori Z. Soltes will discuss Sufism and provide insight on its rich history. Soltes is a professor of theology, philosophy and art history at Georgetown University.

Demirci said this will be the Whirling Dervishes’ second performance in Oklahoma, after traveling here previously in 2004.

“The Whirling Dervishes don’t normally come to the United States, so it is rare,” he said. “And when they do come, it’s usually sold out with big crowds.”

The Dialogue Institute joined the Kirkpatrick Foundation, Raindrop Turkish House and other sponsors to bring the Whirling Dervishes of Rumi to Oklahoma from Turkey at a total cost of about $13,000. The dervishes will be here for about 10 days, with shows in Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana and New Mexico.

P ROVI DE D

LIFE PERFORMING ARTS

LIFE PERFORMING ARTS M ATTHE W TAS E TA N O / P ROVI DE D

Searing satire Tartuffe, written in the 1660s, is as biting and relevant today as it has ever been.

BY ERIC WEBB

Tartuffe 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday through Feb. 15.

Civic Center Music Hall CitySpace Theatre 201 N. Walker Ave. okctheatrecompany.org 297-2264 $15-$20

OKC Theatre Company (OKCTC) came under fire from conservative groups across the country for its 2013 production of The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told, a satirical retelling of Bible stories featuring gay and lesbian characters.

“Our company was targeted by political-religious people last year who spread misinformation and duped people throughout the city and across the country into harassing us relentlessly for three solid months,” said Rachel Irick, OKCTC artistic director.

OKCTC responded the best way it knows how: with art.

It mounted Tartuffe, Molière’s scathing, satirical indictment of religious hypocrisy.

The story concerns a pious family man named Orgon who is duped by the manipulative religious hypocrite Tartuffe into giving up his daughter’s hand in marriage — and the family fortune — even as the ne’er-do-well makes advances on Orgon’s wife.

Tartuffe premiered in 1664 and was

soon banned by King Louis XIV, most likely under direction of the archbishop of Paris, Irick said.

Irick said that the director, Fabrice Conte, a native of Cannes, France, has extensive acting and directing training and translated plays from French to English. Those things made him an obvious choice to direct this production. Conte previously directed OKCTC’s Frankenstein and Madea and starred in Most Fabulous.

While Molière’s rhymed couplets are respected, under Conte’s direction, the settings, costumes and characterizations reflect a more abstract setting.

“Our Tartuffe is far from a museum-piece theatre experience,” Irick said.

Tartuffe’s character is modeled on ’80s infamous televangelists who swindled millions from followers to provide themselves lives of luxury and excess.

Irick said Tartuffe will always be compelling and relevant as long as there are hypocrites who exploit religion for money and power, but he doesn’t consider the production or its message anti-religion.

“The problem is not Christianity itself; it’s the way people in politics and business twist and exploit it for power and personal gain,” Irick said.

“But what can we do? We’re artists, not politicians. So, instead of getting mad about it, we choose to laugh.”

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He is a 6-foot-10-inch 25-year-old power forward/center who speaks four languages and is a force of nature when it comes to his charitable foundation.

Born in Brazzaville in the Republic of Congo, Oklahoma City Thunder’s Serge Ibaka has climbed above some of the hardships he faced growing up there.

“Brazzaville and Congo are home for me. It went through difficult times in the past, but it’s making progress each year. A lot of people are investing money and resources so that it becomes a better country,” said Ibaka.

“But there is still a lot of room for improvement, especially for kids.”

Ibaka is all about giving back and paying it forward. He started the Serge Ibaka Foundation with a special focus on kids.

“They are the most vulnerable, and a lot of them in the Congo and the US don’t have anyone looking out for them,” said Ibaka. “Pros For Africa is an organization that has helped me a lot the last three years, with my charity gala in OKC and coming to help in the Congo the last two years.

They do a great job connecting people with an ultimate goal to help people in need in Africa.”

Ibaka grew up playing in the streets of Brazzaville, something most kids do even today. First, he played soccer, and then, because his parents played, he picked up basketball.

However, there weren’t many opportunities for him there.

“For me, it was in my genes to play ball, but the infrastructures were, and still are, deficient in general. Hopefully we can change

that soon,” he said.

Last year, Ibaka and his foundation rebuilt a basketball court with rims and stands with official measurements in the very same sports club he grew up playing in: Avenir du Rail.

The charity also provided shoes, uniforms and basketballs for the club.

“This is just one court in one neighborhood, and many more areas need to be fixed. Kids don’t have basketballs or sneakers to play with, for example. So to be able to provide that is a big step,” said Ibaka.

Ibaka’s foundation, working with Pros For Africa, is working at full speed on additional projects.

“We want to rebuild another public court so kids can use it for free,” Ibaka said.

The foundation’s charity gala is focused on raising funds for Ibaka’s foundation and for UNICEF. The foundation is working with UNICEF to develop a program focused on orphan youth. It works closely with the youth to help them secure an independent future.

“Also, with Pros For Africa, we have developed a relationship with the Starkey Foundation, which delivers hearing aids in many countries, Congo included,” Ibaka said.

Ibaka’s Thunder teammates encourage each other both on the court and off.

“We all support each other no matter what any of us do. I have talked to some of them about coming to the Congo, and hopefully they will,” Ibaka said.

For more information, contact charityprogram.sergeibaka.com.

WA L LY S UN

Erica Enders-Stevens

Storybook finish With an Oklahoma team behind her, pro drag racer Erica Enders-Stevens is the first woman to win an NHRA Pro Stock world championship.

BY BRENDAN HOOVER

Professional drag racer Erica EndersStevens was back in Wynnewood recently, preparing for next year.

After joining Oklahoma-based Elite Motorsports before the 2014 season, the 31-year-old Houston native became the first woman ever to win the National Hot Rod Association’s Pro Stock world championship in November, accomplishing her childhood dream.

“I’m just so proud of my guys. It’s been one hell of a year,” she said.

Enders-Stevens began drag racing in the NHRA Jr. Drag Racing League when she was 8. She and younger sister Courtney Enders watched their father race in the amateur Sportsman class.

“My sister and I grew up at the racetrack,” Enders-Stevens said. “It was never something that was forced on us.”

Ender-Stevens won 37 junior races in her first eight years. The sisters’ story was turned into a wildly popular Disney Channel movie, Right On Track, which debuted in 2003.

“Now, over 50 percent of the junior drag racers are female. So that’s really cool, because when I started in 1992, I was the only one,” she said.

Ender-Stevens raced Pro Stock for several teams and dabbled in team ownership after turning pro in 2005, running partial schedules at times and struggling to find sponsors. She performed well, however, notching three top-10 season finishes. She became the first woman ever to win a national Pro Stock event when she won in Chicago in 2012.

After the 2013 season, she signed a deal to drive Elite Motorsports’ new Camaro, with father/son duo Rick and Rickie Jones as crew chiefs and in-house engines built by veterans

Nick Ferri and Jake Hairston.

“It was like the pieces of the puzzle were coming together,” Freeman said.

Enders-Stevens won six times in 2014, setting two new national Pro Stock speed records and winning the pole six times. She won the K&N Horsepower Challenge in Las Vegas in March after being voted into the competition through a fan vote. The team also picked up sponsorships, including Purple Royal and Oklahoma City-based United Mechanical, Inc. Enders-Stevens lost the points lead late in the season after missing two events due to budget constraints, but she won the season’s next-to-last event in Las Vegas, setting up a showdown between her and rival driver Jason Line in the Auto Club NHRA Finals.

Enders-Stevens reached the finals on Nov. 16 after winning a semi-final against Jonathan Gray in which both drivers had perfect starting reaction times. That set up a winner-take-all final against Line, who red-lit at the starting line, giving Enders-Stevens the championship.

She joined drag racing pioneers Shirley Muldowney and Angelle Sampey in becoming only the third woman in history to win an NHRA world championship.

“It’s a very awesome accomplishment,” Enders-Stevens said. “But, as any girl racer will tell you, they just want to be the best racer. They don’t want to be looked at as anything different. You put your helmet on and everything’s equal. The car doesn’t know the gender.”

Now, young girls bring their fathers to the races. Enders-Stevens advises aspiring dragsters to join the Jr. Drag Racing League, drive as much as they can and work on the marketing side early.

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J E S S E

A P H I D

F O A M S

E B B S

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P A P A

E M E R

A B R A S I O N S

M C I N G

Y O G I S

L L A M A

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R H O N D B A U B Y B E L L Y L S S C I O N R A E S D W E A T

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

D P R I L O E A S G A N O S S L S H O O E N G A N S P A A O L R S T A U H U R L I S E V E R A R N T A I S H T T E R L O R E E L O P D E N S

I T S P A T T A M L A L I S P T E E

S T I R U P

M O N O G A M O Y R E C L O N E N Y S E L A I T F L T A S T

B I Z T E H T R E W S H H O L N E O M T I I L O K N R O O S W H A A N

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ACROSS 1 Hairstyle that usually involves clips or pins 8 Confidentially 15 N.J. Army base 20 ‘‘Beautiful!’’

21 Points in the right direction 22 ‘‘Let’s stop fighting, O.K.?’’

23 ‘‘Those wreaths all look the same to me!’’?

25 Something hard to drink?

26 Law-school class 27 Start of a conclusion 28 Satisfies 30 Sales force, informally 31 Summers on the Seine 32 Convention closing?

33 ___ black 34 Cutlass model of the 1980s-’90s 36 Senile sort 39 Start of an oral listing of African nations, perhaps?

42 Texas home of the Bears 44 One small sip 46 Store 47 Asked to come back, in a way 49 ‘‘Over There’’ subj.

50 VCR button 51 D halved 52 Alternative to JFK 53 Showing less cleavage?

58 ‘‘Watch it!’’

59 Many a critic’s preference 61 Superbright 62 Mrs., abroad 64 Himalayan myth 65 Remote button 67 ‘‘Lemme ___!’’

69 March org.?

73 Rally killers in baseball: Abbr.

76 ‘‘Warm’’ 78 ‘‘There was the time …’’

81 Middle of summer?

84 Cheap roadside assistance?

87 ‘‘I don’t need to hear that,’’ informally 88 Skip town 89 Big ___ 90 Stick in a rack

91 93 95 98 99 101 103 104 105 106 109 110 112 113 114 116 119 120 121 122 123 124

Mistakes Setting for most of Moby-Dick Kind of TV Liqueur flavorers Knockoff dress labeled ‘‘Armani,’’ say?

Rob Popular Hispanic newspaper name Rider’s handful Son of, in foreign names Have legs E.R. ‘‘A.S.A.P.’’ Devote Longtime Yankee nickname Less loopy Ban competition Caution to an orphan girl not to leave her wildebeest behind?

Reeves of John Wick Enter stealthily With Reagan memoirist Ready followers?

One in a tight spot?

Did some edgy writing?

DOWN 1 Get together 2 Embroidery loop 3 Group of actors who all have stage fright?

4 Emulated Diana Ross (1970) and Justin Timberlake (2002) 5 How long it takes mountains to form 6 Roxy Music co-founder 7 Attentive dog owner 8 French sister 9 They may be bookmarked 10 ‘‘The Family Circus’’ cartoonist Keane 11 Castigate 12 Away, in a way 13 Republican politico Michael 14 ‘‘___ happens .?.?. ’’ 15 National Do Not Call Registry overseer, for short 16 Ancient galley 17 Western vacation spot

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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 January 28 issue of Oklahoma Gazette are shown at left.

72 74 75 77 79 80 81

108

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35 37

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Winter carnival attraction Gen ___ Silents star Bara They put points on the board Help to secure a loan, maybe ‘‘Them’s fightin’ words!’’

Former A.L. manager who was an N.L. M.V.P. Geometric figures Have a big mouth?

Attire In a bad way Secure, as a sailor’s rope She’s asked ‘‘When will those clouds all disappear?’’ in a 1973 #1 hit Where many people may follow you

63

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Per ___ Popular après-ski place Spot in the afternoon?

Product that’s hard to keep in stock Janvier, across the Pyrenees Cap Supply with weaponry Put away Subway Series team Lovely but stupid person?

U.S. city whose name becomes another city’s name if you change both its vowels to A’s Kiss drummer Peter Reach the Mediterranean, say?

Pig sounds Fix, as some lawn chairs Canine cousin Dallas family name Race in classic science

0201

NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE CROSSWORD PUZZLE TWIST ENDING By Alan Arbesfeld / Edited by Will Shortz

fiction ‘‘Whirlybird’’ source Suspect duplicity Caspian Sea feeder Trojan horse, e.g.

Like the Parthenon Fitting one inside the other Appointment book Did a 1930s dance Big brother Luxor Temple deity Natural Ryan of old TV Intuit Straight, now Fifth Avenue retailer Campaign grps.

Backwoods con?

Heavyweight bouts?

Indigo Girls, e.g.

Commercial lead-in to Pen 118 Lead-in to meter 82 83 85 86 92 94 95 96 97 100 102 105 107 108 109 111 112 113 115 117

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LIFE MUSIC

Swingin’ Sunday

BY CHRISTIAN WILSON

Brian Gorrell & Jazz Company 7:30 p.m. Sunday The Depot 200 S. Jones Ave., Norman pasnorman.org 307-9320 $7-$10

The booty-swaying sounds of Brian Gorrell & Jazz Company are hitting The Depot in Norman Sunday night.

The band is playing as part of the series Sunday Jazz at the Depot, which invites accomplished local and regional trios and quartets to the space on Sunday evenings. Previously featured groups include Kyle Reid and the Low Swingin’ Chariots, Sisters of Swing and University of Central Oklahoma (UCO) Jazz Studies faculty member

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Mainstream jazz hits The Depot in Norman.

Brian Gorrell

Mitch Bell.

A mainstay in the metro since forming in 1995, Gorrell and Co. perform a variety of styles including traditional and mainstream jazz, fusion and Latin. While the quartet focuses on original compositions, it also plays material by composers like Billy Strayhorn, Michael Brecker, Victor Young, Marcus Miller and Pat Metheny.

The band features Gorrell on saxophone, Norman pianist Dennis Borycki, UCO student bassist Stephen Schultz and OKC drummer Mike Walker.

“Norman is very responsive to Jazz Company’s music,” said Nancy McClellan, assistant to the director at The Depot. “We have a loyal audience

that loves our bands, and we’re hoping to build off that. We’re looking for a good crowd.”

The Depot, built in 1909, originally served as Norman’s namesake passenger station and, after being renovated, was reopened in 2003 as a gallery and concert venue. Since the Sunday Jazz series began, the program has attracted top student and professional musicians to the space.

“We have amazing talent here,” said Gorrell. “I think people new to the Oklahoma City jazz scene might be surprised by that.”

This will be the fourth time Gorrell has played The Depot. The last time was two years ago with another group, Civilized Tribe, styled in a traditional New Orleans Dixie band. In addition

to being the director of Jazz Studies at the University of Central Oklahoma Jazz Lab, Gorrell also manages Jazz Lab Recording Studios, teaches several music and music technology classes and is the graduate advisor for UCO’s Master of Music in Jazz Studies.

He has been working on a new mainstream jazz album set for a 2016 release and is involved in the creation of Jazz Lab Bricktown, a downtown riverside boathouse music venue built by UCO in partnership with Chesapeake and slated for a late spring opening.

Future acts include the Maurice Johnson Quartet on March 8 and the listener-friendly Larry Pierce Combo April 26.

Tying up Loose Ends

BY ZACH JACOBS

Francisco The Man 7:30 p.m. Sunday The Conservatory 8911 N. Western Ave. conservatoryokc.com 607-4805 $8

Scotty Cantino, frontman for Los Angeles-based band Francisco The Man, remembers where he and two of his bandmates met and formed the core of their current lineup: a roller rink.

Being underage at the time, he and his high school instrumental rock group played “shows at all kinds of weird spots” they could land, just trying to get their names out there, said Cantino.

PROVIDE D

LA-based band Francisco The Man plays The Conservatory for a rolling good time.

Francisco The Man

Something clicked when drummer Abdeel Ortega and bassist Néstor Romero met that night, and after a few other musical detours, the trio formally came together in 2008. They take the name of a minor character in Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s seminal work One Hundred Years of Solitude, that of “a musician traveling from town to town.”

Seven years and a few lineup changes later, the trio is now a quartet, having added guitarist Brock Woolsey in 2011.

Last September’s release of Francisco The Man’s first full-length album, Loose Ends, available now on Fat Possum Records, sparked a multi-city tour that will bring them to Oklahoma City 7:30

p.m. Sunday at The Conservatory.

Cantino said he “hate[s] to self-label” his band, but the members’ influences “are all over the place individually.”

He cited a variety of groups like Talking Heads, Funk Brothers, ’70s-era pioneering punk group Television and Canadian post-rock group Godspeed You! Black Emperor as their influences and added that Woolsey’s love of electronic music shows up in the group’s sound.

Soft-spoken Cantino brings a ranging, borderline falsetto tenor and soaring guitar riffs to complement Woolsey’s slightly subdued yet steady rhythms and builds upon the foundation of Ortega’s heavy drums and

Romero’s bass lines.

Their deliberately slow, noise-pop sound on the album’s first track, “You & I,” is reminiscent of early Mazzy Star and Oklahoma natives The Flaming Lips.

Francisco The Man plans to tie up its proverbial Loose Ends as it kicks off its tour in Austin, play in Dallas and then Oklahoma City.

Cantino said he and his bandmates haven’t seen most of the cities they plan to play in but are looking forward to meeting locals. He is looking forward to some good local craft beer and seeing what Oklahoma is like.

Listen to the band at soundcloud. com/franciscotheman.

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Abysmal Dawn, Downtown Lounge. ROCK Casey & Minna, Saints. VARIOUS Derek Harris Band, Baker St. Pub & Grill. VARIOUS Maurice Johnson, R&J Lounge and Supper Club. JAZZ North Meets South, The Deli, Norman. VARIOUS The Friends No BS Jam, Friends Restaurant & Club.

VARIOUS

FRIDAY, FEB. 6

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LIVE MUSIC WEDNESDAY, FEB. 4

Aaron Newman Band, Tapwerks Ale House & Cafe. FOLK Annie Oakley/The Damn Quails, The Deli, Norman. FOLK Brent Blount, Jazmo’z Bourbon St. Cafe. BLUES Brian Belanus, The Paramount OKC. ACOUSTIC Brittany Shane, The Blue Door. SINGER/SONGWRITER DJ R&R, Russell’s, Tower Hotel. VARIOUS Fossil Youth/Keeper/Thin Skin, The Conservatory. ROCK Gentry, Kendell’s Bar. VARIOUS Good Company, Remington Park. VARIOUS Happenstance Quartet, Jann Jeffrey Gallery. FOLK Hosty Duo, 51st Street Speakeasy. ROCK Karen Khoury, Legend’s Restaurant, Norman. PIANO Kierston White & Friends, Blue Note Lounge. SINGER/ SONGWRITER Max Ridgway Trio, Full Circle Bookstore. JAZZ

Culture Cinematic, 51st Street Speakeasy, Thursday

THURSDAY, FEB. 5 Brent Saulsbury/Will Galbraith/Wayne Duncan, Friends Restaurant & Club. ROCK

Motion City Soundtrack/TEAM/Driver Friendly, Cain’s Ballroom, Tulsa. ROCK Shortt Dogg, UCO Jazz Lab, Edmond. BLUES SIMO/The Chebon Tiger Band, ACM@UCO Performance Lab. ROCK Stars, Riverwind Casino, Norman. COVER Sunny Ledfurd, Wormy Dog Saloon. COUNTRY The Choke/Kill the Reflection/They Play Wolf, Voodoo Lounge. VARIOUS The Clique, Friends Restaurant & Club. VARIOUS

In Defence/Violent Affair/Chokehole Stab/Mad On Acid, The Conservatory. ROCK

Voodoo, Oklahoma City Limits. ROCK

Kyle Reid Trio, O Bar. JAZZ

SATURDAY FEB. 7

Peach/Culture Cinematic/Paseo Street Walkers, 51st Street Speakeasy. VARIOUS Reese Wilson/Michael Summers, Kendell’s Bar. SINGER/ SONGWRITER

100 Bones Band, Tapwerks Ale House & Cafe. REGGAE

Samantha Crain/The Damn Quails, The Deli, Norman.

FOLK

Banana Seat, Riverwind Casino, Norman. COVER

The Cadillac Three/Tyler and the Tribe, Cain’s Ballroom, Tulsa. COUNTRY

Alice Cooper, Brady Theater, Tulsa. ROCK

Big G, Remington Park. BLUES

The Recliners, Baker St. Pub & Grill. COVER

Blake Lankford, Toby Keith’s I Love This Bar & Grill.

COUNTRY

Tilford Sellers and The Wagon Burners, Wormy Dog Saloon. COUNTRY

Bob Schneider, The Blue Door. VARIOUS Brent Blount, Jazmo’z Bourbon St. Cafe. BLUES Don and Melodee Johnson, Twelve Oaks, Edmond. JAZZ E-40, Farmers Public Market. HIP-HOP

OKG

music

pick

Casey & Minna Wednesday, Feb. 4

Longtime Wednesday night staples of Sean Cummings Irish Pub, Casey & Minna, a traditional folk duo, set up shop later today at Saints in the Plaza District. Their performances are the first Wednesday of every month and run the gamut of folk and fiddle; they play worldly Celtic lilts and Oklahoma takes on modern pop.

Enjoy it all with Saints’ selection of dishes and cocktails. Tonight’s music runs from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Saints, 1715 NW 16th St. Call 602-6308.

Life of the Party, Russell’s, Tower Hotel. COVER

TUESDAY, FEB. 10

Mary Catherine Reynolds and Louise Goldberg, Full Circle Bookstore. JAZZ

Caleb McGee/Zanzibar Showcase, The Deli, Norman.

VARIOUS

Mitch Casen, Friends Restaurant & Club. COUNTRY

Dynamic Duos, UCO Jazz Lab, Edmond. VARIOUS

Montu, The Deli, Norman. VARIOUS

That 1 Guy, Opolis, Norman. VARIOUS

Jason Eady, Wormy Dog Saloon. COUNTRY

Rusty and the Rough Riders, 40 & 8 Dance Club. COUNTRY Voodoo, Belle Isle Restaurant & Brewery. ROCK Whores/Traindodge/Brother Gruesome, Blue Note Lounge. ROCK

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 11 Aaron Pierce/Parker Millsap, The Deli, Norman.

SINGER/SONGWRITER

SUNDAY, FEB. 8

The Friends No BS Jam, Friends Restaurant & Club.

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

Ali Harter Residency, Blue Note Lounge. SINGER/ SONGWRITER

Casey & Minna, Saints. VARIOUS

Brian Gorrell & Jazz Company, The Depot, Norman. JAZZ

The Weathermen, Baker St. Pub & Grill. COVER

Edgar Cruz, Skirvin Hilton Hotel. ACOUSTIC

Kyle Reid, Will Rogers Lobby Cafe & Bar. ACOUSTIC

Excelsior! Trio, UCO Jazz Lab, Edmond. JAZZ Francisco The Man, The Conservatory. ROCK Karen Khoury, Legend’s Restaurant, Norman. PIANO Mike Hosty, The Deli, Norman. ROCK Scott Lowber, Friends Restaurant & Club. COVER

MONDAY, FEB. 9 The Damn Quails, The Deli, Norman, Thursday

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.

Alan Orebaugh and Friends/The Handsome Devils, The Deli, Norman. FOLK

O K L A H O M A G A Z E T T E | F E B R UA R Y 4 , 2 0 1 5 | 4 1

ACM@UCO Performance Lab • 329 East Sheridan $10 advance • $15 day of show • $5 students, ACM Students and Faculty Free • Ticketstorm.com www.okcsoundstage.com

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Candidates must possess a work history that includes excellent customer service and communication skills along with strong PC/data entry ability. Enthusiastic persons, who enjoy working in a fast-paced environment, are good listeners, detail oriented and interested in providing customer service are most successful in this position. Experience in customer service, the financial industry, real estate, legal, or mortgage servicing is helpful but not required. Preference will be given to candidates with call center experience. Scheduled hours are from 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. Spanish bi-lingual skills earn additional compensation.

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Excellent benefits (medical, dental, and vision coverage; 401K plan) Business casual atmosphere

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LIFE FILM

Magical Nights Two Days, One Night

BY CHRISTIAN WILSON

Oscar Tune-Up Wednesday through Feb. 28 Oklahoma City Museum of Art Samuel Noble Theater 415 Couch Drive okcmoa.com 236-3100 $5-$9

With Deux jours, une nuit (Two Days, One Night) brothers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne achieved a direct, humanistic, gray-toned narrative about working-class solidarity.

Within that framework though, the film explores considerations of human well-being: subjective evaluation of wealth, the true derivations of mental illness, the power of physical presence and the importance of movement within the mind and feet.

ABOUT THE SERIES For those who don’t follow film, Oscar season is usually the lone opportunity to roleplay as a pretentious film snob. It’s the one spark of self-gratification you get every long, unbearable year, and hey, you can go braless and gorge on Cherry Garcia.

Well, there’s a change of plans this year, darlin’, because the Oklahoma City Museum of Art (OKCMOA) adds class to your viewing binges. Today through Feb. 28, the Samuel Noble Theater will be screening a selection of this year’s feature-length nominees and each of the nominated short films.

ANIMATED SHORTS At times heartbreaking and joyous, the animated shorts nominees are all wonderfully entertaining, can’t-miss films.

This year’s stories include two brothers working out how to care for their ailing mother, a lonely pig in charge of main-

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Oklahoma City Museum of Art hosts its Oscar Tune-Up series, including everything from action to comedy. A Dardenne brothers film leads its feature-length movie roster.

Its story is strung through Sandra, played with deliberateness by Marion Cotillard. A mother of two in a working-class home, Sandra suffers a mental breakdown and takes a leave of absence from her solar panel manufacturing job.

Without her salary, the family can’t support itself and hovers at the singed border of welfare. Just as she regains her health and is poised for return, she’s told coworkers voted to lay her off in exchange for 1,000 Euro bonuses for themselves.

Alongside close friend Juliette, Sandra confronts the company representative, succeeding despite suffering a panic attack while convincing him to hold another vote.

Now, she must convince her peers to forgo their benefits so she can stay.

The process starts slowly for Sandra, who languishes in a fear of subsisting on pity, but timely sparks of support lift her enough to prevent irreparable loss.

Themes of movement become crucial, as she struggles to maintain her kinetic energy, often crumbling to the floor and bed. Cotillard emotes the feeling superbly; her technical ability borders on astounding.

The curvature of her body seems rusted into its defensive and weary posture, shoulders round and head down.

With each positive step, her body unfurls a measure more, and the Dardennes’ languid shooting style allows for its full communication.

Sandra’s encounters lend insight into the circumstances behind each vote — from newborns to frivolous

housing additions — and offer the audience opportunities to explore how necessity is evaluated and held against the preservation of human dignity.

What happens when people are given the opportunity to commit to the best versions of themselves? Or in the case of some, what happens when they are offered the rare autonomy of choice in a context of constant personal, professional and financial imposition?

The film is heavy but accessible, without overdosing on emotional pity, thanks to the Dardennes’ stylized realism.

A just-shy-of-brilliant, wonderful portrayal of the value and success in process, the film will make you will feel a bit taller and a touch lighter regardless of the final count.

taining the town dam and a mysterious vinyl single that gives a young woman the power to move through the years of her life at will.

a terminally ill mother hopes to pass on and the struggles of immigrant life during the North Dakota oil boom.

seals), this film follows the last seal-child and her brother as they venture to save the world of magic. It’s a perfect film for adults and children alike. (PG)

FEATURE FILMS TWO DAYS, ONE NIGHT A woman’s co-workers vote to receive yearly bonuses in exchange for her dismissal. Given only a weekend, she must persuade them to the contrary. (PG-13) (See our review on this page.)

TIMBUKTU

GONE GIRL LIVE-ACTION SHORTS The Oscar Live Action Shorts run an astounding gamut of emotive narratives, offering viewers glimpses back into childhood learning moments, literal snapshots of the day-to-day banality of foreign lands and reminders that isolation is more often than not a product of our imaginations and a fragment of time soon to pass.

Adapted from Gillian Flynn’s 2012 novel, the film structures itself to the form of husband/murderer film noir. A New York writerliving in Carthage, Missouri, is suspected of murdering his celebrity wife.

Told by David Fincher from two competing perspectives, the film is a dark satire of modernrelationships. (R)

GLEN CAMPBELL: I’LL BE ME

DOCUMENTARY SHORTS If you delight in intellectual pursuits but fear commitment — or perhaps just have a wee bladder — then the very particular niche occupied by these documentary shorts are for you. Included this year are films exploring a U.S. military suicide hotline’s phone calls, the legacy and lessons

One family’s idyllic lifestyle turns into a fight for independence against the harsh, new West African Ansar Dine regime.

Under the militant force’s institution of Sharia Law in 2012, life’s pleasantries — music, laughter, cigarettes and soccer — are no longer available and those living under the law must adapt. (NR)

SONG OF THE SEA Based on the Irish legend of the Selkies (beautiful women who take the form of

After he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and, at times, not able to recognize his own wife and children, country music legend Glen Campbell embarked on his last tour. Intended to last less than two months, it stretched a full year and a half with 151 sold-out dates along the way. The film features appearances by Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen, Blake Shelton, Taylor Swift, Steve Martin and Bill Clinton. (PG)

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P ROVI DE D / OKL A HOM A HI STORI C A L S OC I E T Y

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Documenting disobedience A new film about the Oklahoma City sit-in campaign premieres Saturday.

BY ADAM HOLT

Children of the Civil Rights premiere 6-9 p.m. Saturday Oklahoma History Center 800 Nazih Zuhdi Drive 522-5248 $15

Education and documentation of the civil rights movement in Oklahoma City tends to be limited compared to the events in Selma, Little Rock Central High School and the Freedom Riders. Thanks to a native-Oklahoma filmmaker, the sit-ins at area restaurants and other establishments spearheaded by civil rights leader Clara Luper finally get their due.

Children of the Civil Rights, a film directed by Julia Clifford, looks into the Oklahoma City sit-in campaign that began in August of 1958 when Luper, her children and black students sat at Katz Drug Store and refused to leave. After six years of continuing civil disobedience, the series of sit-ins integrated hundreds of establishments through nonviolent protest.

Clifford, 52, born in Ardmore and now living in Bellingham, Washington, was struck by the film idea during a conversation with her father during coffee.

“I asked him what were the most significant moments of his life,” she said. “He began telling me about participating in the Oklahoma City sitins. I grew up in Oklahoma and never heard about it.”

After seven years of research, interviews and gathering photos and film, Clifford is debuting the documentary Saturday at Oklahoma History Center.

The film focuses not only on

4 4 | F E B R UA R Y 4 , 2 0 1 5 | O K L A H O M A G A Z E T T E

Clara Luper, a leader of the civil rights movement in Oklahoma. the protests but the youth of those participating.

“These people were so young,” said Clifford. “It’s amazing how hard they fought to be Americans, the strength of the young.”

Luper, a history teacher at Dunjee High School who was 35 years old at the time of the sit-ins, protested more for the future of black youth than for her own well-being. This is evident in those she surrounded herself with at the sit-ins: her children, high school students and NAACP Youth Council members.

The Saturday premiere is the first of many screenings in the state and across the country. The film will show for free at Cinemark Tinseltown, 6001 N. Martin Luther King Ave., on Feb. 21 at 3 p.m. as part of the Black History Month Film Festival.

The premiere at Oklahoma History Center includes a meetand-greet with Clifford and a silent auction. Artwork, crafts and gift baskets are among the items up for bid.

The event is also a fundraiser to help Clifford pay for the documentary’s photo and film licensing. Oklahoma City Community Foundation is the fiscal sponsor.

The 271 photos used came at a hefty price.

“Photos can cost from $125 to $1000 a piece,” Clifford said. “Photos alone were $33,000.” However, she was allowed to use them for free.

“They were very generous. I would not have been able to do this film without those donations,” she said.

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Film school ECU presents a monthlong

BY DANIEL BOKEMPER

Lost in Rio is a French spy movie much in the vein of Austin Powers.

East Central University starts 2015 with a reinvigorated form of one of the institution’s most recent traditions.

Dubbed ECU Screens, the seasonal event includes a four-part foreign film festival in February and three live productions of the Royal National Theatre via satellite throughout the remainder of the semester. This year marks several innovations for the festival; this is the first time NT Live will broadcast to the Raymond J. Estep Multimedia Center and the first time the film portion of ECU Screens will step away from a strictly French rubric.

Much of the screening series started from what was at one time a faculty member’s passion project. Dr. Steve Benton and Rebecca Nicholson-Weir developed ECU Screens because there were many film theater projects without a solid foundation connecting them all.

“Five years ago, Steve started a French film festival with the notion of spreading the nation’s culture,” Nicholson-Weir, who is an assistant professor of English and co-director of ECU Screens, said.

Armed with a grant, Benton initiated a monthlong spring film festival.

Funding stipulations limited the series to a registry of approximately 70 pieces dictated by the French minister of film. Despite the limitation, the festival’s committee provides both “films that would be popular and things that generally haven’t been seen,” Nicholson-Weir said.

For example, last year, the festival presented Philippe Falardeau’s Monsieur Lazhar from 2011 and Michael Haneke’s Amour of 2012, two films that

PROVIDED

Stalingrad 4 p.m. Friday Raymond J. Estep Multimedia Center East Central University 1100 E. 14th St., Ada ecuscreens.blogspot.com Free

It’s something that applies to different classes — Rebecca Nicholson-Weir

bolstered a momentous presence within the Academy Awards foreign film division in their respective years.

The film festival starts Friday at 4 p.m., and everyone is welcome to attend.

While the movies generally bring a sizable crowd of about 40 to 60 attendees, certain screenings (dramatic and cinematic) have brought forth a tremendous audience.

“Last fall, the Royal Theatre’s production of Frankenstein was the biggest draw, as it sold out,” NicholsonWeir said. “In November of 2012, Steven Benton brought a documentary to campus: The Reconstruction of Asa Carter. It was kind of a standalone event, but it brought a packed house. Academically, it was very interdisciplinary.”

In 2013, the university screened

Of Mice and Men, starring James Franco, will be shown during the ECU film festival.

Granito: How to Nail a Dictator, a documentary detailing the trial of Efraín Ríos Montt in Guatemala.

“At the time, I was teaching a sophomore-level film class, so it wasn’t difficult to use it in the classroom,” Nicholson-Weir said. “It’s something that applies to different classes .... Faculty has been really supportive.”

In contrast, the Royal National Theatre broadcasts are exclusively in the evening, almost always yielding a higher volume of community members.

This year’s selections offer further instructional value through a diversity of themes and supplementary presentations alike. For example, this upcoming festival kicks off with Fedor Bondarchuk’s Stalingrad, which Nicholson-Weir described as “the most expensive and highest grossing Russian film.”

Dr. Christopher Bean, an associate professor of history and Native American studies, will also present a lecture regarding the impact of Soviet Russia before the film.

On Friday, Feb. 13, the festival takes a turn with Michel Hazanavicius’ OSS 117: Lost in Rio. The piece is a modern spy comedy starring Jean Dujardin as “a French Austin Powers.”

“And he’s a huge, oblivious misogynist,” Nicholson-Weir said.

Intended for a more mature audience, this particular screening will be exclusive to those 18 and older.

No, a Chilean film from Pablo Larraín, plays on Feb. 20. Detailing the controversial decision between dictator and democracy, the film will carry weight within the institution’s academics, specifically in the political science and historical departments. Rajkumar Hirani’s contemporary Indian classic 3 Idiots, showing Feb. 27, details “a trio of friends journey at university.”

“We are pairing with an international student organization, of which members will explain what it was like to attend school outside of their home nation in their own words,” Nicholson-Weir said.

In addition, the continuation of the NT Live broadcasts will begin on March 12 at 6:30 p.m. with Bryony Lavery’s adaptation of Treasure Island. Many films will follow, including James Franco in Of Mice and Men on April 30 and Man and Superman and Everyman in June and September respectively.

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A scene from Fedor Bondarchuk’s Stalingrad, one of the most expensive Russian films ever made.

ECU Screens seeks to bring the sparse, art house theater experience to Oklahoma, Nicholson-Weir said, describing the event as noble and necessary. Visit facebook.com/ECU. SCREENS, @ECUScreens on Twitter and ecuscreens.blogspot.com for more information.

O K L A H O M A G A Z E T T E | F E B R UA R Y 4 , 2 0 1 5 | 4 5

FREE WILL ASTROLOGY Homework: What’s the best possible mess you could stir up -- a healing mess that would help liberate you?

Testify at FreeWillAstrology.com.

ARIES (March 21-April 19) In 1979, Monty Python comedian John Cleese helped direct a four-night extravaganza, *The Secret Policeman’s Ball.* It was a benefit to raise money for the human rights organization Amnesty International. The musicians known as Sting, Bono, and Peter Gabriel later testified that the show was a key factor in igniting their social activism. I see the potential of a comparable stimulus in your near future, Aries. Imminent developments could amp up your passion for a good cause that transcends your immediate self-interests.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) In the film Kill Bill: Volume 1, Taurus actress Uma Thurman plays a martial artist who has exceptional skill at wielding a Samurai sword. At one point, her swordmaker evaluates her reflexes by hurling a baseball in her direction. With a masterful swoop, she slices the ball in half before it reaches her. I suggest you seek out similar tests in the coming days, Taurus. Check up on the current status of your top skills. Are any of them rusty? Should you update them? Are they still of maximum practical use to you? Do whatever’s necessary to ensure they are as strong and sharp as ever.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20) French Impressionist painter Claude Monet loved to paint the rock formations near the beach at Étretrat, a village in Normandy. During the summer of 1886, he worked serially on six separate canvases, moving from one to another throughout his work day to capture the light and shadow as they changed with the weather and the position of the sun. He focused intently on one painting at a time. He didn’t have a brush in each hand and one in his mouth, simultaneously applying paint to various canvases.

His specific approach to multitasking would generate good results for you in the coming weeks, Gemini.

(P.S. The other kind of multitasking — where you do several different things at the same time — will yield mostly mediocre results.)

CANCER (June 21-July 22) In 1849, author Edgar Allen Poe died in his hometown of Baltimore. A century later, a mysterious admirer began a new tradition. Every January 19, on the anniversary of Poe’s birth, this cloaked visitor appeared at his grave in the early morning hours, and left behind three roses and a bottle of cognac. I invite you, Cancerian, to initiate a comparable ritual. Can you imagine paying periodic tribute to an important influence in your own life -someone who has given you much and touched you deeply? Don’t do it for nostalgia’s sake, but rather as a way to affirm that the gifts you’ve received from this evocative influence will continue to evolve within you. Keep them ever-fresh.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) “What happens to a dream deferred?” asked Langston Hughes in his poem “Harlem.” “Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun? Or fester like a sore — And then run? Does it stink like rotten meat? Or crust and sugar over -- like a syrupy sweet?” As your soul’s cheerleader and coach, Leo, I hope you won’t explore the answer to Hughes’ questions. If you have a dream, don’t defer it. If you have been deferring your dream, take at least one dramatic step to stop deferring it.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) Virgo author John Creasey struggled in his early efforts at getting published. For a time he had to support himself with jobs as a salesman and clerk.

Before his first book was published, he had gathered 743 rejection slips. Eventually, though, he broke through and achieved monumental success. He wrote more than 550 novels, several of which were made into movies. He won two prestigious awards and sold 80 million books. I’m not promising that your own frustrations will ultimately pave the way for a prodigious triumph like his. But in the coming months, I do expect significant progress toward a gritty accomplishment. For best results, work for your own satisfaction more than for the approval of others.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22) Hall-of-Fame basketball player Hakeem Olajuwon had a signature set of fancy moves that were

collectively known as the Dream Shake. It consisted of numerous spins and fakes and moves that could be combined in various ways to outfox his opponents and score points. The coming weeks would be an excellent time for you to work on your equivalent of the Dream Shake, Libra. You’re at the peak of your ability to figure out how to coordinate and synergize your several talents.

didgeridoo. It’s created from a eucalyptus tree whose inner wood has been eaten away by termites. Both Wonderboy and the didgeridoo are the results of natural forces that could be seen as adverse but that are actually useful. Is there a comparable situation in your own life, Capricorn? I’m guessing there is. If you have not yet discovered what it is, now is a good time to do so.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21) In 1837, Victoria became Queen of England following the death of her uncle, King William IV. She was 18 years old. Her first royal act was to move her bed out of the room she had long shared with her meddling, overbearing mother. I propose that you use this as one of your guiding metaphors in the immediate future. Even if your parents are saints, and even if you haven’t lived with them for years, I suspect you would benefit by upgrading your independence from their influence. Are you still a bit inhibited by the nagging of their voices in your head? Does your desire to avoid hurting them thwart you from rising to a higher level of authority and authenticity? Be a good-natured rebel.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) In 1753, Benjamin Franklin published helpful instructions on how to avoid being struck by lightning during stormy weather. Wear a lightning rod in your hat, he said, and attach it to a long, thin metal ribbon that trails behind you as you walk. In response to his article, a fashion fad erupted. Taking his advice, fancy ladies in Europe actually wore such hats. From a metaphorical perspective, it would make sense for you Aquarians to don similar headwear in the coming weeks. Bolts of inspiration will be arriving on a regular basis. To ensure you are able to integrate and use them — not just be titillated and agitated — you will have to be well-grounded.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) The crookedest street in the world is a one-way, block-long span of San Francisco’s Lombard Street.

It consists of eight hairpin turns down a very steep hill. The recommended top speed for a car is five miles per hour. So on the one hand, you’ve got to proceed with caution. On the other hand, the quaint, brick-paved road is lined with flower beds, and creeping along its wacky route is a whimsical amusement. I suspect you will soon encounter experiences that have metaphorical resemblances to Lombard Street, Sagittarius. In fact, I urge you to seek them out.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) In the baseball film The Natural, the hero Roy Hobbs has a special bat he calls “Wonderboy.”

Carved out of a tree that was split by a lightning bolt, it seems to give Hobbs an extraordinary skill at hitting a baseball. There’s a similar theme at work in the Australian musical instrument known as the

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PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): According to the Bible, Jesus said, “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” Author David Foster Wallace added a caveat. “The truth will set you free,” he wrote, “but not until it is finished with you.” All this is apropos for the current phase of your journey, Pisces. By my estimation, you will soon discover an important truth that you have never before been ready to grasp. Once that magic transpires, however, you will have to wait a while until the truth is fully finished with you. Only then will it set you free.

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