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contents 42

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ON THE COVER

NEWS

Few artists appear as comfortable in their own skin as suburbia’s poet laureate Ben Folds. The piano man has maintained a steady, 31-year music career since launching Ben Folds Five in the ’90s. Here is his Oklahoma Gazette Q&A. On the cover: Folds brings his time-honored act to Oklahoma City 8 p.m. April 13 at Chevy Bricktown Events Center, 429 E. California Ave.

By Ben Luschen, P.49.

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Cover photo by Greg Fiore / Provided

Education: charter school expansion

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32

Food & Drink

ARTS & CULTURE

29

Kabob-n-Curry, The Oklahoma Creativity Ambassadors Gala, The Wedge Pizzeria, food briefs, OKG Eat: Top chop

6

Education: Teach For America

8

Health: Open Streets OKC

10

Sustainability: Downdraft dome

ARTS & CULTURE

12

State: Disability program cuts

39

14

Chicken-Fried News

16

Letters

OKC.BIZ 17

okc.BIZ 2016 Best of Business

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Film: City of Gold, Oklahoma Urban Cinema Festival, Thing and Spirit Both Documentary Film Festival Performing Arts: 2016 Ballet Ball, Quintets, Sextets & Queen

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47

Books: Henry Winkler, Puterbaugh Festival of International Literature & Culture Arts & Culture calendar

Music 49

Cover: Ben Folds

52

Music: Forum, The Black Lillies, Norman Music Festival preview, Rick Springfield, WeatherPeople

56

Music calendar

57

Sudoku / Crossword

Congratulations Darlene Switalski

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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I-40 EXIT 178 | SHAWNEE, OK | 405-964-7263 Oklahoma Gazette | march 30, 2016 | 3

L AU RA E AST E S

news education

Ask now

With board approval, community dialogue officially begins on charter school expansions in Oklahoma City Public Schools.

Few seats were available at the March 21 Oklahoma City Board of Education meeting. The board approved a resolution to discuss charter expansions.

In April, Oklahoma City begins a paramount public discussion on three charter schools possibly expanding their models into the state’s largest school district.

Santa Fe South, KIPP (Knowledge Is Power Program) Reach College Preparatory and John Rex Charter Elementary School leaders see opportunity for collaboration with Oklahoma City Public Schools (OKCPS). In February, charter administrators approached district leaders with Quality Seats, a cursory glance at the three charters’ histories, accomplishments and desires to serve more students. A month later, the Oklahoma City Board of Education approved a significant resolution authorizing the three charters to share their proposals with the public in a series of community forums with an emphasis on public feedback.

Funded by the Inasmuch Foundation, local nonprofit Possibilities Inc. will facilitate the community forums. Much is unknown than is known about the three charters’ proposals. No preliminary proposals were made public and community members jumpstarted the dialogue, some even hosting their own forums.

Over the past two months, rumors have run rampant and caused frustration for parents and community members.

At the last two school board meetings, the public flooded into the meeting area. Many saught specific details on what charter expansion might mean and how it would impact families and neighborhoods.

OKCPS Superintendent Rob Neu acknowledged the lack of information and irritation; however, the district

GA ZETTE / FI L E

By Laura Eastes

Brent Bushey

Parents should ask, ‘If this doesn’t work out for my child, where would they go?’

— Brent Bushey

was awaiting board approval of the four-paragraph resolution. After all, the charters approached the district.

Proposals will come from the charters,

Charters at a glance John Rex Charter Elementary School Address: 500 W. Sheridan Ave. Established: 2014 Administrator: Joe Pierce Grades: Prekindergarten through third grades.

Fourth grade offered fall 2016.

Enrollment: 371 Demographics: 36 percent white, 28 percent black, 18 percent Hispanic, 12 percent two or more races, 3 percent American Indian and 2 percent Asian.

Sponsor: University of Oklahoma

4 | march 30, 2016 | Oklahoma Gazette

not from the district.

Quality seats

“This shouldn’t be a narrow conversation or for a specific school,” said John Thompson, an education writer and former OKCPS teacher. “This is a districtwide conversation. Both sides of the story need to get equal time.”

The retired teacher closely monitors and studies school trends, including charter school growth in Oklahoma and across the nation. Charter expansion is a nationwide debate. Districts in Los Angeles, Boston and Oakland are discussing similar measures.

A frequent attendee at OKCPS board meetings, Thompson cautioned against a rushed dialogue. He said charters can help some students achieve success by closing learning gaps, but acknowledged the charter model isn’t for every student.

He worried a large number of students would be harmed under “no excuses” disciplinary models in neighborhood schools. Traditionally, charters have strict conduct policies. Critics often question their ability to effectively serve students with behavior challenges.

“The issue shouldn’t be, could this charter or that charter work?” Thompson said. “The issue should be if you scale up the charters, what will happen that’s good and what will happen that’s bad?”

Charters are publicly funded and independently operated schools.

Founded on the concept to create an improved learning environment for traditionally underserved populations, Oklahoma lawmakers passed legislation allowing charters in the late 1990s.

By 2000, four charter schools were operating in Oklahoma County, including Justice Alma Wilson SeeWorth

KIPP (Knowledge Is Power Program) Reach College Preparatory Address: 1901 NE 13th St. Established: 2002 Administrator: Tracy McDaniel Grades: Fifth through eighth grades Enrollment: 290 Demographics: 69 percent black, 14 percent Hispanic, 7 percent white, 3 percent two or more races, 3 percent American Indian and 2 percent Asian Sponsor: OKCPS

Academy, an alternative school for students removed from traditional schools for fighting, drugs or gang activity. Janet Grigg serves as the school’s executive director and superintendent, as well as president of the Oklahoma Public Charter Association.

Grigg said charters are required to meet education standards set by the state and federal governments, but have independence to establish specialized curriculum or unique programs for students. OKC is home to charters recognized for their strengths in fine arts, college prep and STEM, or science, technology, engineering and math.

Charters are held accountable by their governing boards, charter sponsors and the State Board of Education.

Grigg believes charters and traditional schools share much in common. A key difference is charters don’t collect any portion of local bonds; they heavily rely on state funding.

“I think we’ve been pitted against, public schools versus charter schools,” Grigg said. “It is really not [like that].

We are all one. We have different ways of reaching the child. In Oklahoma City, it’s not your child versus our child. They are all our children. It is about serving every single child we can get our hands on to mare sure they are successful.”

Local charters

Oklahoma County is home to 23 charter school sites, in addition to four virtual charters. There are 6,898 students attending charter schools, according to Oklahoma Gazette’s analysis of Oklahoma State Department of Education 2015-16 school year enrollment data. More than 139,000 county students attend public schools.

Santa Fe South Schools Address: high school, 301 SE 38th St.; middle school, 4712 S. Santa Fe Ave.; sixth-grade center, 4701 S. Shields Blvd.; elementary at Penn, 5325 S. Pennsylvania Ave.; elementary at Western Hills, 401 SW 44th St.; early childhood, 2222 SW 44th St. Administrator: Chris Brewster Grades: Prekindergarten through 12th grades Enrollment: 2,076 Demographics: 92 percent Hispanic, 4.6 percent white, and 1.7 percent black.

Sponsors: OKCPS for middle and high school, University of Oklahoma for elementary

GAR E TT FI S BE CK / FI L E

Janet Grigg

The Oklahoma County charter schools serve Hispanic and black students at higher rates than white students. Hispanics constitutes 56 percent of the enrollment. Five years ago, Hispanic students comprised 43 percent of charter enrollment. While the number of Hispanic students steadily increased since the 2010-11 school year, the number of black and white students fell.

OKCPS, which serves 46,500 students, holds ties with 12 OKC-based charter schools, including SeeWorth, KIPP and two of Santa Fe South’s sites. Tulsa Public Schools is the only other district in the state to sponsor a

UNI_16-RP-69_SaturdayQuarters_Gazette.indd 1

charter school. In addition to districts, universities, tribes and the education department sponsor charters.

Debated dialogue

Brent Bushey, executive director of the Oklahoma Public School Resource Center, applauds the district and charter leaders for sparking the conversation.

“There is potential for collaboration and working together,” said Bushey, whose organization provides resources to member school districts and charter schools throughout the state. “I think the district should be commended for trying to come up with innovative solutions.”

Bushey is one of many who feel there is much ground to cover before final charter expansion proposals are presented to the OKC board. Following the community meetings, charters are expected to bring proposals to the board, which ultimately will make the decision.

“Let’s talk about discipline, let’s talk about expulsion rates and let’s get data,” said Bushey, who explained the key question of enrollment: Would a neighborhood school converted into a charter continue to serve the same students or would students opt-in?

“Parents should ask, ‘If this doesn’t work out for my child, where would they go?’” Bushey said.

Thompson questions the timing of the charters interest in OKCPS. It’s no secret the district is grappling with fewer dollars in wake of the state revenue crisis. The district estimates a $30 million budget short fall for the coming academic year, which begins in July. To save $8 million, the district eliminated 208 teacher positions for the 2016-17 school year.

Transforming some schools into charters could be viewed as a cost-savings strategy. Charters don’t follow statemandated salary schedules. Most are free from teachers’ unions.

“They know they are kicking the district while they are down,” Thompson said, “and the unions while they are down.”

He wants the public to ask what will most likely happen if there are a large number of charters established at the same time in this environment.

Compared to other states, Oklahoma has been relatively slow to embrace charter schools, with less than a handful opening each fall and not in such close proximity, Grigg said.

“We are very cautious, as we very well should be,” Grigg said. “We need to have plans in place before we say, ‘Hey, let’s do this.’”

The outcome of the community

Community meetings All meetings are free and open to the public.

6:30- 8 p.m. April 5 Fairview Missionary Baptist Church 1700 NE Seventh St. 6:30- 8 p.m. April 14 Greater Mount Olive Baptist Church 1020 NE 42nd St. 6:30-8 p.m. April 19 Prospect Baptist Church 2809 N. Missouri Ave. *Times and dates current at press time. Find additional meetings and more information at www.okcps.org.

dialogue can’t be predicted; but the public can expect intense debate about reshaping the district. Decisions will influence schools and their students for generations. The overriding goal, however, is to create the best educational opportunities for all students.

As Bushey explained, when it comes to student achievement and school success, it’s as easy as it seems and both public and charter schools can create ideal learning environments.

“Every good school has a good school leader and good quality teachers,” Bushey said. “[At the] end of the day, those are the two factors.”

Oklahoma Gazette | march 30, 2016 | 5 3/25/16 11:50 AM

L AU RA E AST E S

news education

Impacting schools Teach For America corps members strive for positive student outcomes in OKC schools.

by Laura Eastes

When Micah Graham was in her final year of undergraduate studies, she decided she wanted a job with an opportunity to impact her community.

While pursuing her studies at the University of Oklahoma Price College of Business, she committed to serving the college campus and the Norman community by volunteering at a local church’s after-school program.

“The thought of sitting behind a desk and not feeling like I was making any kind of a difference was terrifying,” said Graham, a marketing major.

January 2015, Graham was accepted into Teach For America, a nonprofit organization recruiting new college graduates to teach for at least two years in disadvantaged urban or rural schools.

In August, Graham was assigned to Oklahoma City Public Schools’ Rockwood Elementary School. There is a desk in the prekindergarten classroom, but Graham spends more time walking around her classroom, visiting with her students at learning centers or reading children’s books to students seated on the brightly colored carpet.

“You leave every day knowing you made a difference,” Graham told Oklahoma Gazette. “You changed somebody. They learned the letter ‘E’ or learned to share.”

Graham is one of 190 Teach For America corps members to begin their first year of service in Oklahoma schools last fall. In total, 390 corps members are serving schools in Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Lawton, Muskogee and Sapulpa this school year. In OKC, corps members teach at OKCPS, Millwood Public Schools, Western Heights Public Schools and KIPP (Knowledge Is Power Program) Reach College Preparatory, a charter school in northeast OKC.

Unique role

Teach For America recruits top college graduates and trains them to teach in urban and rural public schools across the country. Before the school year begins, new recruits go through extensive educator training to prepare for the first day. Throughout the school year, corps members work closely with the organization for additional professional development. Teach For America corps members deliver high-quality education for their students.

6 | march 30, 2016 | Oklahoma Gazette

The organization launched in 2009 in the Sooner State with service to Tulsa area schools. Over the past seven years, Oklahoma Teach For America has grown to the third largest in the nation, right behind Chicago and New York, said Art Serna, deputy executive director of Teach For America in Central Oklahoma.

“The need is great, but also there is a community behind Teach For America that says, ‘We see value in what you provide,’” Serna said. “The community has provided funds and support to make it happen.”

The need for Teach For America circles back to the state education landscape, a rough terrain for administrators and educators gripped with teacher shortages, constant changes in academic curriculum requirements, increased class sizes and dwindling dollars for classroom funding.

The need is great, but also there is a community behind Teach For America that says, ‘We see value in what you provide.’

— Art Serna

Recruiters don’t hold back when describing the state’s education challenges.

This year’s Education Week’s Quality Counts report card ranked Oklahoma’s education system No. 46 out of 50 states.

Serna said reports and rankings can compel young leaders to select Oklahoma.

“That says something to a new leader who wants to make an impact,” Serna said. “The millennial generation is not about salaries. They want to make an impact on society. We will say, ‘This is where we are at in Oklahoma at this time in various areas, including [student] outcomes compared to other states. There is great need. … You can come and contribute significantly to change the outcomes of students.’”

Micah Graham, a member of Teacher For America, teaches prekindergarten at Rockwood Elementary School. The University of Oklahoma alumna is in her first year of teaching.

Graham’s experience

Before Graham was assigned to Rockwood, she underwent training at Summer University, where she assisted with OKCPS summer school. With her Teach For America instruction in early childhood education earlier in the summer, Graham worked alongside another TFA corps member and a master teacher at the district’s Bodine Elementary School. During lessons, Graham could look to the master teacher to offer hints, suggestions or encouragement. Summer University is a five-week program.

When school began at Rockwood, Graham was assigned one of the school’s three prekindergarten classes. She teaches students who are ages 4 or 5. Many never attended preschools or day care programs.

Some arrived at school with no English language skills. Graham said the first six weeks proved to be an adjustment phase for many of the 20 students.

Graham explained she was fortunate to have Teach For America training and resources and the ability to look to the school’s lead teacher for advice and guidance. Her mother, a prekindergarten teacher in Ponca City, also proffered advice. During the school day, Graham works alongside a teaching assistant trained through the Head Start program.

With a third of the academic year gone, Graham gets excited when a student who came into the classroom only able to speak Spanish says a complete sentence in English. Other proud moments come when she overhears her students talking to one another, repeating a recent lesson.

“I hear words that I know I taught them,” Graham said. “I get this feeling that they learned that in my classroom.”

Graham expects to teach prekindergarten next school year at

Rockwood, but with her training in early childhood, she could transition to kindergarten. After her two-year commitment, she plans to pursue her business and marketing training but hopes to stay in the education sector.

She sees herself working for a nonprofit organization, committed to education and helping children.

Serna says Graham’s experience and future plans are not uncommon for corps members. Some continue to teach in classrooms, and others pursue leadership roles in education and become administrators.

“It is a great opportunity for someone who never thought about education but cares deeply about communities and wants to contribute to education longterm,” Serna said.

Future planning

Friday, Teach For America-Central Oklahoma hosts its first Donors Appreciation Celebration event, a time for the organization to recognize contributions and commitments by local school and community leaders and businesses.

The future is bright for the organization in central Oklahoma.

Leaders plan to launch a strategic plan for the area in June. The initiative will examine how to expand and grow the program’s impact, which could include expanding into other parts of the state. Additionally, Teach For America offers professional development and learning opportunities to practicing teachers. Its driving focus is to ensure all children have access to an excellent education.

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Oklahoma Gazette | march 30, 2016 | 7 3/16/16 2:55 PM

L AU RA E AST E S

Shon and her family eat healthy snacks. Learn why.

news health

Street time Open Streets OKC returns to Uptown 23rd District Sunday as it expands into Paseo Arts District.

Open Streets OKC Noon-4 p.m. Sunday NW 23rd Street between N. Western Avenue and N. Robinson Avenue and N. Walker to the Paseo Arts District openstreetsokc.com Free

By Laura Eastes

Visit NotOurDestiny.com for recipes, stories and more.

Funded by USDA’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — SNAP. USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.

UNI_16-CNGF-2_Diabetes_Is_Not_Our_Destiny_OK_Gazette.indd 1

56,000 OK KIDS ARE CURRENT TOBACCO USERS.

56.6% OF OK TEEN SMOKERS HAVE TRIED TO QUIT.

ULTIMATELY, 88,000 CURRENT OK KIDS WILL DIE FROM SMOKING.

Tobacco is still a problem in Oklahoma.

8 | march 30, 2016 | Oklahoma Gazette

3/9/16 11:19 AM

Going into the fourth installment of Open Streets OKC, event organizers surveyed families about their experience following last fall’s event in south Oklahoma City.

On surveys passed out to the 4,500-person crowd, 60 percent of respondents said without Open Streets, they wouldn’t have engaged in physical activity on that sunny and breezy October afternoon.

“That’s a significant number of people who got out and moved,” said Lorri Essary, manager of operations for community health at the Oklahoma City-County Health Department.

“You have individuals discovering their community, getting active and having family time. This is a wonderful event.”

Open Streets returns to Uptown 23rd District noon to 4 p.m. Sunday.

While Open Streets holds a blockparty vibe and appeals to all ages, it’s not a typical street festival. Event organizers want people to walk, bike, skate or board through the closed streets on NW 23rd Street between N. Western and N. Robinson avenues and N. Walker Avenue up to the Paseo Arts District. Festivalgoers will encounter countless organizations, businesses and groups promoting and encouraging healthy lifestyles, balanced eating and health care options.

“We are closing streets so people can get out and get active,” Essary said.

“Sometimes, with the structure of our city, it can be tough to get out and walk. This is an opportunity in a safe environment for getting out and getting active. Along the way, there are so many organizations highlighting health components.”

Participants can expect to cross paths with organizations such as Latino Community Development Agency,

Lorri Essary said Open Streets OKC gets residents active, healthy and engaged in their community.

The event is Sunday.

Riversport Adventures, The Lynn Health Science Institute, Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma, Spokies, American Lung Association, Anytime Fitness and Embark. Staff from OU Medical Center will offer free health screenings.

A majority of the booths offer people the chance to participate in a physical activity, such as pedal a bike, jump rope, show a dance move or kick a soccer ball. Healthy lifestyle tips are easy to come by, and an array of classes take place on the street. An entertainment element is available as Out of the Box from Arts Council Oklahoma City brings eight live acts to the streets. Additionally, participants will find parklets scattered along Open Streets’ route, a stilt walker and longboarding seminars. Tucker’s Onion Burgers’ parking lot transforms into a toddler obstacle course.

With a goal of keeping the event fresh and exciting each time, event organizers expanded the route to the Paseo Arts District, giving local shops, art galleries and restaurants a chance to participant. For those on two wheels, the bike lane from NW 30th Street and Shartel Avenue will be blocked off to NW 50th Street, encouraging more riders from area neighborhoods to bike to the event.

Merchants and restaurants located in the Paseo and Uptown 23rd districts expect an increase in foot traffic Sunday. Additionally, food trucks parked along the Open Streets route will provide at least one healthy option on their menus.

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Oklahoma Gazette | march 30, 2016 | 9 3/1/16 4:10 PM

Ga r ett fisbe c k

news sustainability

Drafty dome A metro man devotes his time to a scientific project that could impact energy and water supplies.

Daniel Wade quit his job to focus on creating his downdraft dome in Edmond and contribute to science.

by brett dickerson

It’s hard to imagine anyone in Oklahoma leaving a solid job right now. It’s even harder to imagine doing that to launch a project that might not be completed in a lifetime.

Daniel Wade imagined it, and he launched just such a project.

What he calls the “downdraft dome” is his passion and focus. The ultimate implementation of the concept is that a Pikes Peak-sized structure could use ocean saltwater to eventually power the equivalent of one-half of California’s wattage needs as it desalinates the water.

But first he has to prove it.

The dome would be one answer to two big ecology concerns: a need for more clean power and to make the ocean’s waters drinkable.

Early on, Wade developed computer models. Now, he anticipates completing construction of the first

10 | march 30, 2016 | Oklahoma Gazette

small-scale working model outside Oklahoma City. He is in the middle of a Kickstarter campaign that could crowdfund construction of even larger working models.

What he needs over the next several months is a hot, dry summer to get “good data” from his prototype.

If the summer test produces the results Wade anticipates, he will present scientific papers on the concept over the next few years as he builds larger and larger test models.

Early inspiration

“I read Buckminster Fuller’s I Seem to Be a Verb: Environment and Man’s Future when I was 17, and it changed my life,” Wade said. “He addressed ecology optimistically. “‘For the first time in history, man has the possibility to be a success in his environment,’” Wade quoted Fuller.

“That one sentence changed everything for me.”

The further exploration of his interests and Fuller’s concepts led him to earn two degrees, he said, one in civil engineering from the University of Oklahoma and a master’s degree in environmental engineering from the University of Texas at Austin.

After working for an engineering firm in OKC, he took a job with the utilities department of Oklahoma City, where he was content working, until he wasn’t. He needed to try the concept, and a full-time job would not allow it.

So he quit and started his downdraft domes project as he worked freelance engineering jobs to pay the bills.

The concept

His concept calls for water mist to be sprayed at the top of a tall tower at least 1,000 feet tall, where the cooling

of warm air causes it to rush down the tower. The wind picks up speed until it flows through turbine generators at the bottom of the tower.

Early models of the concept were developed by Phillip R. Carlson. Dan Zaslavsky and Rami Guetta further developed the concept for a 1,000-foot tower that is self-supported by concrete.

“A thousand feet sounds like a very tall tower,” Wade said. “But Dr. Zaslavky’s problem is he thought too small. It needs to be taller because every time you double the height, you get 11 times the power. [Even at 1,000 feet,] there’s cost, and there’s the instability when you build a tower that high. You start having very strong wind forces. You have a very, very heavy structure that is hard to support.”

Wade’s concept modification called for the use of lightweight materials for the tower itself and the use of

CALL TO COMPARE OUR EVERYDAY LOW RATES Buckminster Fuller’s geodesic dome design as the support in place of a rigid, heavy tower.

Wade said the geodesic dome design is strong despite weighing much less than concrete towers.

“Anything that is a network of triangles is going to be inherently stronger than a network of squares,” he said.

A geodesic dome could scale up “almost infinitely, he said, and would allow the structure to rise even higher beyond 6,000 feet in the concept and still be much more stable than a tower.

With an edifice of that height and the ability to push that much air through turbines, the downdraft dome could produce 18 billion watts, or about half of California’s energy consumption.

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‘For the first time in history, man has the possibility to be a success in his environment.’

That one sentence changed everything for me.

— Daniel Wade

An added feature of the dome would be to desalinate the water used in the process. By using about 20 percent of the power produced, the structure could theoretically power a desalination plant for far less than the prohibitive cost of today’s process.

Working model

Wade is completing a working model that is about 46 feet wide just outside of Oklahoma City.

He plans to have it working by the end of April and then spend the summer gathering operational data.

His Kickstarter campaign will help fund the building of the model and the instrumentation it will take to gather data.

The campaign has raised 48 percent of its $10,000 goal and ends 2:03 p.m. April 16.

Visit 405dome.com for information, photos and a link to the Kickstarter campaign.

Oklahoma Gazette | march 30, 2016 | 11

news state

Lifesaver needed

Oklahomans with developmental disabilities face barriers to services and wait times of up to 10 years or longer.

By Laura Eastes

Even in this time of state revenue crisis, Wanda Felty remains hopeful and determined to help individuals with developmental disabilities and their families.

Felty can’t pinpoint the exact moment or describe the person who first shared with her about the waiting list for seeking state-paid care for developmental disabilities. It’s a blurry spot in the many years Felty spent desperately trying to find services to help her daughter, Kayla White, while raising her three children and holding down a job.

It came years after learning that her daughter, who is mostly blind and has limited communication skills, qualified for Medicaid’s Personal Care Services. Through the program, a care worker visited Felty’s home to aid White with eating, bathing, dressing and other personal hygiene needs. The Medicaid program became Felty’s lifesaver, freeing up several valuable hours each day for her to concentrate on her other two children and take care of herself.

As White became a preteen, Felty could only imagine what other services her daughter might require in the future. Again, she asked around. Eventually, she landed on the Oklahoma’s Department of Human Services (DHS) Developmental Disabilities Service Division’s waiting list. After about five years, the wait ended for Felty and her daughter.

Then, a DHS worker visited their home to connect the family to services covered under the Medicaid home and community-based waiver.

Now, Felty helps other families prepare for DHS workers to visit their homes, but also braces them for the long wait ahead. Sadly, she estimates families who sign up now might not see relief for at least a decade, double her own wait time.

“My goal is to support families as much as I can,” said Felty, who meets quarterly with families during waiting list meetings held in Oklahoma City and Tulsa with DHS’ leaders present.

“While you are waiting, who else can help?” Felty said. “Some families don’t know what is available.”

12 | march 30, 2016 | Oklahoma Gazette

The next fiscal year is shaping up to be rather bleak. This year was bad, but next year has the potential to be worse.

— Mark Beutler

State system

What is clear is there will be a wait.

As of mid-March, 7,312 people with developmental disabilities were waiting for state services. The applications of people who got in line in 2006 are being processed.

In Oklahoma, families with loved ones with conditions such as autism, cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, brain injuries and intellectual disabilities are referred to DHS’ Developmental Disabilities Services Division for services. Those services can include long-term case management, prescription drugs, home health aids, personal or medical care, therapy and job training.

The state provides these services through a federal Medicaid waiver.

The state administers Medicaid, but receives a funding match from the federal government. The waiver allows Oklahomans to use the Medicaid funds to cover care in community settings rather than institutions.

Recently, Oklahoma closed its last two institutions, located in Enid and Pauls Valley.

Mark Beutler, a DHS spokesman, said DHS officials closed the institutions to shift toward community-based services, which are offered under the wavier. Now, the state serves individuals with developmental disabilities in their homes and communities. In 2015, more than 9,000 individuals with developmental disabilities received

LAU RA E AST E S

INTEGRIS AND

MAYO CLINIC.

GREAT MINDS THINK ALIKE. GREATER MINDS THINK TOGETHER.

Wanda Felty, a parent and coordinator of the waiting list meetings, discusses families seeking state-funded care for developmental disabilities. state support, according to DHS figures.

“They can be around family and be active in their own community,” Beutler said. “They can have more of a home life than in a facility.”

Judy Goodwin agreed. As the director of Oklahoma CommunityBased Providers, Goodwin works directly with a majority of the state-contracted partner agencies providing services to individuals with developmental disabilities.

“I think with the appropriate support, people with disabilities are certainly able to lead fulfilling lives,” Goodwin said. “As long as they get the support.”

Receiving support is becoming increasingly difficult in Oklahoma’s fiscal climate.

Deeper look

More than half of those on the waiting list have waited for services for more than six years. Nearly 1,500 children, ages 7 to 18, have waited longer than five years, according to DHS data provided to Felty.

For the past decade, the Norman resident has coordinated waiting list meetings. Not long after Felty became involved, she requested specific DHS data, like ages, years waited and if the people utilize other state or federal programs.

There are limits to the amount of information available. For example, there is no record of services requested when individuals sign up for the list. A needs assessment comes when a person comes off the list to receive services.

That’s where Felty sees a conundrum. She finds most families are waiting for help, but don’t know what

exactly that help will be. For the state, there is a chance people are waiting for services that could be offered in communities or thorough programs outside of the waiver.

“Every person with a developmental disability does not need long-term support and services through the waiver,” Felty said. “It can be met in the community, not all through state services.”

At a waiting list meeting last year, a woman from Idabel said she had a Hoyer lift to help get her disabled daughter into the bathtub, but the device wouldn’t fit through the bathroom door. The petite women picked up her preteen daughter in the hallway and carried her into the bath.

The family was hopeful for a solution through the Medicaid waiver. Instantly, Felty connected the woman with faithbased groups, who perform work on homes to help people with disabilities.

For Felty, the first Medicaid service her daughter received, Personal Care Services, didn’t require the waiver. All she needed was a Medicaid card.

“I wish someone would be the go-to for every one of the families,” Felty said, describing a DHS position responsible for checking routinely on individuals and connecting them to other services while waiting.

Why wait?

This fiscal year, fewer dollars streamed into DHS’ Development Disabilities Services Division. State funding doesn’t match the need and providers saw a percent reduction in reimbursement rates. With a $1.3 billion budget hole for the next fiscal year, DHS leaders don’t expect any additional funding,

Beutler said.

“Last year, providers took a three and one-half percent rate cut,” Beutler said. “If they take any more cuts, the big question is: Will those providers be able to stay in business, and if not, who will take care of the clients they serve?

The next fiscal year is shaping up to be rather bleak. This year was bad, but next year has the potential to be worse.”

Additional rate cuts would hurt providers, who are already operating on limited budgets, Goodwin said. Another cut could impact the care and services provided to clients.

“The providers are very fearful,” Goodwin said. “Every one is discouraged. We spent so many years developing this fantastic system with DHS. It looks like, ‘Why did we do that?’ Here we are at a crossroads and all the progress we made is in jeopardy.”

Meanwhile, more than 7,300 individuals with developmental disabilities are without state assistance and waiting. In total, the state estimates more than 60,000 individuals with developmental disabilities live in Oklahoma.

Felty advocates for state leaders to commit additional funding to help move people into services. She said she strongly supports efforts to restructure the list. Also, there are opportunities for community groups to contribute and ease the load on the state’s providers.

Creating more adult and children day care programs for individuals with developmental disabilities would help immensely.

“We have to work together,” Felty said. “This is not just a developmental disabilities problem; it’s an Oklahoma problem.”

INTEGRIS is proud to be Oklahoma’s first Mayo Clinic Care Network Member, bringing you the expertise of more than 4,200 Mayo Clinic physicians and scientists.

When INTEGRIS doctors work with Mayo Clinic doctors, we call it

Excellence.

Working Together.

Oklahoma Gazette | march 30, 2016 | 13 UNI_15-IN-271_Working_Together_Strip_Vertical.indd 33/4/16 5:04 PM

Chicken

Fried news

Snobbiest suburbs

Wine, food, movies, performing arts — the snobs are everywhere.

Just ask self-proclaimed “regional infotainment” website RoadSnacks, which recently released its list of 10 Snobbiest Places in Oklahoma.

Topping the list is — hold on to your britches — Piedmont. The Oklahoma City suburb boasts a population of about 6,000, according to the 2010 census. Twenty-eight percent of residents have college degrees, according to RoadSnacks.

Median home price is $167,000.

RoadSnacks analyzed data from more than 80 places across the state and said, “Actually, if we had their wealth and lifestyle, we’d probably be a little snobby, too.”

Aw, shucks.

The website weighed metrics such as median home

prices and household incomes, the number of private schools and fine arts venues per capita and the percentage of the community with college degrees.

Edmond ranked No. 2. Thirtyone percent of its residents have college degrees. Median home price is $235,000.

Jenks ranked No. 3, Bixby ranked No. 4 and Owasso ranked No. 5. For the full list and more information, visit roadsnacks.net.

Baller or bailer?

Home is where the hoops are.

It’s no secret that teams across the country covet Oklahoma City Thunder megastar Kevin Durant, especially with his contract ending in July. Everybody wants the guy.

He’s like the Kevin Durant of basketball.

But maybe play it a little cooler, other NBA cities. Every time KD plays

in New York, Boston, Los Angeles, Portland, Miami — anywhere, everybody asks him, “How do you like our city?”

Have some self-respect, you floozies!

No. 35 knows what you’re up to. Don’t throw yourselves at him.

You could even play coy, like you’re way more into LeBron or that other basketball player with the hair and the shoes. You know the guy.

Don’t worry, though. Oklahoma City’s inferiority complex was on display at a recent fundraiser for KD’s foundation (held at the baller’s restaurant, Kd’s Southern Cuisine, in Bricktown) when someone asked the titular star what he thinks of OKC. “It’s home,” he said.

Make no mistake: Oklahoma City loves Durant. If it puts a statue of him holding the Ten Commandments at the State Capitol, nobody would

complain. We hope and pray and throw all our pennies into wishing wells trying to keep him here, but when some other city offers him the moon to win a championship there, he just might take it.

Storm warning

Speaking of OKC Thunder, local fans and media outlets are rumbling in a warning that a storm of disappointment could rain down on anyone who buys game tickets anywhere but from the team’s official website.

The anticipation for postseason tickets to Thunder basketball games are super high right now, even though it hasn’t begun yet.

“We want to see our fans in their seats, not stuck outside the arena because they purchased counterfeit tickets,” warned Brian Byrnes, Thunder senior VP of marketing and sales, in a

connect to

Central

U N I V E R S I T Y TM

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(405) 974-2000

14 | march 30, 2016 | Oklahoma Gazette

•

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media release posted to its website.

That means the only way to know for sure that your tickets weren’t counterfeited on an inkjet printer in someone’s garage is to order them through the team’s official website, okcthunder.com.

The Thunder plays the Los Angeles Clippers Thursday in Oklahoma City and the Los Angeles Lakers April 11 in Oklahoma City. Tickets for the team’s first two 2016 NBA playoffs home games go on sale 10 a.m. April 14.

Supreme dilemma

A bird in the hand might be worth two in the bush, but some U.S. Senators are eyeing two fat turkeys.

The Republican-led Senate has vowed not to hear any United States Supreme Court nomination until after this year’s election. Practically, they argue a president nearing the end of his term should not make such a generational impact on the judicial system. Politically, the chance to bag both a conservative executive and justice in the same year sounds awfully appealing.

What might not be as appealing to these legislators?

Whomever Hillary Clinton might choose to nominate, should she win in November.

President Barack Obama has nominated Merrick Garland to fill the vacancy left by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia. Garland, chief judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia circuit, is a politically middle-ground choice with a sterling track record. He has won high praise from both sides of the aisle and stepped forward to lead the prosecution against Timothy McVeigh after the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, resulting in a death sentence. Stephen Jones, McVeigh’s defense attorney and a staunch Republican, even told KGOU that he supports the nomination.

Officers are traditionally trained to pull their weapons only in dangerous situations in which lives are at stake, and this incident didn’t pass muster.

“There were a lot of witnesses; a lot of credible people saw what had happened, and they didn’t feel that was right either,” Ward said.

Moss pleaded guilty in the case, and KFOR reported that he was quiet in the courtroom and after his sentencing. As part of his plea deal, he resigned from the Oklahoma City Police Department March 15. He received a deferred five-year sentence and two years of probation. CLEET (Council on Law Enforcement Education and Training) is reviewing the case and will decide if he will lose his certification.

“He’s lost his job and the career he worked so hard for, but that’s what happens when you let your emotions control your actions,” District Attorney David Prater told KFOR. We would love it if OKC police officers stayed out of the media spotlight for a while or just ended up on the news for saving small children and cats from danger.

Garland sounds like a good compromise for Republicans over the nomination of Clinton, who would be free to nominate someone more left of center.

Even if Republicans do win the presidency in November, likely GOP nominee Donald Trump’s potential appointment would be a wild card.

Could it be newly signed Court TV judge Sarah Palin? Poison singer Bret Michaels? Those shabby resumes make Garland look as golden as Trump Tower.

Off-duty pointing

Former Oklahoma City Police Sgt. Cecil Moss made local headlines recently when he was convicted of pointing a gun at someone while off duty.

KFOR.com reported that Moss was in the midst of a heated family argument with his grandchildren’s father in April 2015 when he “pointed [his] gun at Kurt Ward as he tried to drive away.”

Networking Trade Show We invite you to attend Seminole’s 8th Annual Made in Oklahoma Festival Sat, April 2nd, 9am - 5pm | Seminole Municipal Park on Milt Phillips

Some of the activities include: Car Show • OBI Blood Drive • 5K Fun Run - 382-0731 • Poker Run 382-5690 All different kinds of food vendors Oklahoma grown and produced products & businesses Seminole’s Made In Oklahoma Festival, Business Expo & Car Show will be open from 9:00 am - 5:00 pm. We will feature over 100 vendor booths including but not limited to: handmade jewelry & clothes, soaps, candles, and furniture.

Tuesday, April 5 | 4 to 7 p.m.

State Fair Park, Oklahoma Expo Hall | Free Parking More than 100 booths Sample specialty restaurants Live music

$10 Per person

Visit us at www.okcchamber.com/schmooza

Oklahoma Gazette | march 30, 2016 | 15

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.

Both ways

Gov. Mary Fallin and the Republican Legislature blame the bleak state of the state and our billion-dollar deficit on the “collapsed oil and gas industry” and associated “loss of jobs and revenue.”

But wait a minute. The unemployment rate is lower today that it was during the gas/oil “boon” days of 2010-2014, all while fossil fuel production in the state is taxed at 1/7th the rate as in Texas.

Could there be another cause of our bleak economic outlook? Like the billion dollars lost in state revenue over the past five years due to Fallin giving all those tax cuts to the wealthy and corporations? And where is all the economic prosperity promised to us by Fallin from her “trickle down” tax cuts that don’t even trickle anymore?

Or what about denying billions of Fed dollars for Medicaid expansion while other states have used this to boost their economies? Or how about Fallin’s cuts in government spending (including her 30-percent reduction in education funding) when worldwide examination indicates that government spending is a major driver of economic prosperity?

And with respect to jobs, Fallin and the Republican Legislature has killed thousands of high-paying jobs in sustainable energy by legislatively blocking wind and solar and biofuel industries in the state.

And now that same group is blaming our bad economy on loss of jobs. You can’t have it both ways; kill jobs on one hand and turn around and blame job loss for our problems.

Republican oil monopolist John D. Rockefeller had a famous or rather infamous quote: “Competition is a sin.”

Obviously, fossil fuel-controlled and earthquake-ignoring Fallin and the Republican Legislature agree with John D. — Jay Hanas Edmond Violent campaign

The “chickens have come home to roost” for the Republican Party for having tolerated and even encouraged fascist and racist rhetoric for at least the last 15 years. Now they have

16 | March 30, 2016 | Oklahoma Gazette

created a monster literally beyond their control. They really, really, really can’t stop him. Unfortunately for the rest of us, we are about to witness the most violent election campaign in our history.

— Frank Silovsky Oklahoma City

You can get a lot of kennels in a small area, but don’t build too many because the need may shrink quickly once employed. A pilot project would make too much sense. Then cut back on traditional prison amenities.

— Michael Moberly Oklahoma City

Kennel inmates?

Blaming parents

In Laura Eastes’ article “Beyond arrest” (News, Feb. 10, Oklahoma Gazette), Oklahomans for Criminal Justice Reform spokesman Kris Steele suggests reducing incarceration costs by simply reducing the number of prisoners.

Not many citizens I know are willing to “reclassify certain low level offenses, such as drug and simple property crimes.” I wonder if Mr. Steele has experienced a “simple property crime” or had a loved one killed by a speeding “low level” alcohol or drug abuser.

Among the alternatives to incarceration is one good suggestion in the article: lesser sentences. May I suggest lesser sentences with a twist?

Put those lower level offenders in a 3-foot by 8-foot by 8-foot chain-link cage in a heated and cooled, concrete floored metal building with eastern European toilets (straddle holes in the floor of each cage) and minimal food and water.

They stay locked up 24/7 for a week for first offense, two weeks for second offense, etc. Five things will happen. First, offenders will think twice about repeating their crimes.

Second, Oklahoma will maintain a positive deterrent and reputation for the definition of “tough” on crime.

Third, shorter incarcerations will help low-level criminals get back to work more quickly. Fourth, incarceration costs will shrink compared to the home-away-from-home jails and prisons we have now. Finally, prisoner interaction and shared criminal training will be discouraged.

I am not sure what all the racial statistics often quoted about suspensions and incarcerations mean (News, “Inclusionary education,” Brett Dickerson, Feb. 24, Gazette). Whites compose 69 percent, blacks 7 percent and Latinos 9 percent of Oklahoma’s overall population.

Does that mean every time a black student is disciplined 10 whites must be suspended also and when a Latino is suspended seven whites must go?

That would keep it even, and everyone would be happy with the percentages.

I cannot believe administrators look at a disruptive student and say, “He is black, so we will suspend him. She is white; we’ll let it go.”

A lack of discipline cannot be traced back to race, but must be traced back to culture. If at home there are no limits, then at school there are none. If there is a lack of discipline in a disproportionate number of homes, then that is reflected at school.

The same goes for incarceration.

If the right values are taught at home, that is transferred to behavior.

The percentages of who is cooperating and who is not is not the job or the schools or the courts. They must simply respond to inappropriate behavior no matter whom it comes from.

I cannot think that their decisions are made according to color.

When I cut school, the football coach busted my butt with a board, and I didn’t cut anymore.

When the parents care not just that their child is in school, but that they

are there for a purpose, things will change.

Don’t blame the school system; blame the culture of the home.

— John Harris Oklahoma City Faltering Hope

In a recent article by Laura Eastes, the issue of statewide budget cuts has begun to affect local nonprofit organizations (News, “Domino effect,” Laura Eastes, March 9, Gazette). State leaders have announced a budget shortfall of $1.3 billion coming.

In the article, the services by Hope Community Services, Inc. are brought into focus concerning the budget cuts.

The Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (ODMHSAS), its 15 mental health centers and its patients are waiting for the final vote in May on budget cut amounts, wondering how the vote is going to impact them.

Hope provides psychiatric rehabilitation services, counseling, substance abuse services and several other wellness services for nonprofit.

Hope gets some of its funding from the ODMHSAS, but with budget cuts approaching, how will Hope continue to provide these services to the community?

With more than 7,400 clients helped by Hope last year, how will Hope be able to reach the same number of clients served or more?

Without the appropriate funds to the mental health services, there may be more crimes in the streets of Oklahoma by the mentally ill who could not get the help they are needing.

State spending is being cut by 7 percent, leaving citizens without professional help they deserve.

— Ashley Pyle Choctaw

2016 T

he readers of okc.BIZ have spoken and have selected the winners for this year’s Best of Business.

Each year, okc.BIZ asks its readers to vote for their favorite businesses in Central Oklahoma.

This year, there was an overwhelming response.

Categories ranged from commercial real estate and architecture to event planning and auto fleet sales.

Readers cast their votes online in 24 categories.

After collecting thousands of votes, the winners were determined. In all, 113 companies were either winners or finalists, as some were in the top five in more than one industry category.

“When you are championed by your customers, you deserve to be proud of your successes and accomplishments,” said Publisher Bill Bleakley.

“The group honored as Best of Business represents a high level of dedication and service.”

Visit okc.biz to see the full Best of Business presentation Oklahoma Gazette | march 30, 2016 | 17

We don’t pull punches.

We’re bold. Brazen. Bright. And our no-holds-barred attitude has helped us earn nominations for Best of Business in OKC yet again.

Thanks to our clients and to everyone who nominated us.

You’re real knockouts.

18 | march 30, 2016 | Oklahoma Gazette

2016

E

ach year, okc.BIZ presents Best of Business, a readerdriven nomination, voting and awards process that spans more than 20 categories, hundreds of nominees and thousands of votes. Below are 2016’s winners.

BEST COMMERCIAL BANKS OR FINANCING SOURCES BancFirst Bank of Oklahoma MidFirst Bank NBC Oklahoma Republic Bank & Trust BEST HEALTH CARE COMPANIES BlueCross BlueShield of Oklahoma INTEGRIS Health Mercy Health Center Orthodontic Associates TrueVine Healthcare Services BEST ADULT EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS Dale Carnegie Training Francis Tuttle Technology Center OU Outreach Sandler Training of Oklahoma University of Central Oklahoma BEST COMMERCIAL ARCHITECTURE OR DESIGN FIRMS Allford Hall Monaghan Morris LLC fitzsimmons architects Frankfurt Short Bruza GSB, Inc. Krittenbrink Architecture LLC BEST INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT COMPANIES DMC Services InterWorks Inc. Smart Computing Technology, LLC Standards I.T. TeamLogic IT BEST COMMERCIAL INSURANCE AGENCIES OR BROKERS CPC Insurance Agency The Cornerstone Insurance Group Garner Insurance Company Gary Baccus, State Farm Insurance Trevor Randall Insurance Agency Inc.

BEST COMMERCIAL SECURITY OR ALARM SYSTEMS COMPANIES ADT Security Alcolm Security Services, LLC Cox Business IEP Guardian Security PSI Security

BEST CATERING COMPANIES A Good Egg Dining Group Abbey Road Catering Aunt Pittypat’s Catering Ned’s Catering Sooner Legends Banquet & Catering Services

BEST CPA OR ACCOUNTING FIRMS Don W. Armstrong CPA, Inc. Early & Means CPAs Eide Bailly LLP Hyde & Company CPAs PC Regier, Washecheck & Jones, PLLC

BEST AUTO FLEET OR AUTO LEASING COMPANIES Bob Howard Auto Group Bob Moore Auto Group Cooper Automotive Group Fleet Sales Enterprise Rent-A-Car Hertz Rent A Car

BEST COMMERCIAL LAW FIRMS Crowe & Dunlevy Attorneys and Counselors at Law Fuller, Tubb, Bickford & Krahl, PLLC Hopson and Copeland Law Firm John W. Cloar PC McAfee & Taft

BEST ADVERTISING AGENCIES Ackerman McQueen McMahon Marketing Saxum STAPLEGUN VI Marketing and Branding

BEST WEB DESIGN AND SERVICES Levant Technologies McMahon Marketing Ocean Graphic Design Saxum VI Marketing and Branding BEST STAFFING OR HR COMPANIES Accel Financial Staffing Solutions Express Employment Professionals Onward Solutions, LLC Paycom People Source Staffing Professionals BEST PLACES FOR A COMPANY EVENT Broadway 10 Bar & Chophouse Events @ Madison Square National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum Topgolf Vast BEST PLACES FOR A COMPANY RETREAT The Artesian Hotel, Casino & Spa Chickasaw Retreat & Conference Center Dust Bowl Lanes & Lounge and Fassler Hall Gaillardia Country Club Topgolf BEST INVESTMENT ADVISORS OR PROVIDERS ChappelWood Financial Services DM Wealth Management, Inc. Jordan E. Henricks, Edward Jones Opes One Advisors Rick Folmar, Wells Fargo Advisers BEST EVENT RENTAL & PLANNING COMPANIES Conventions & More Cory’s Audio Visual Services, LLC Events @ Madison Square factor 110 | 110 events Marianne’s Rentals for Special Events BEST RESTAURANT SUPPLY OR COMMERCIAL FOOD SOURCE COMPANIES Ben E. Keith Foods FSW Market Source Restaurant Supply Oswalt Restaurant Supply Sysco Oklahoma US. Foods CHEF’STORE

BEST PUBLIC RELATIONS FIRMS Anglin Public Relations Jones Public Relations, Inc. Koch Communications McMahon Marketing Saxum BEST COMMERCIAL SIGN COMPANIES Blue Diamond Signs FastSigns J&B Graphics Jack Pratt Signs Vital Signs of Oklahoma BEST COMMERCIAL LANDSCAPE COMPANIES CityScapes Lawn & Landscape Services Echelawn Complete Lawn & Landscape Groundwork Applied Design Metro Building Services, LLC Pitzer’s Lawn Management, Inc. BEST COMMERCIAL WASTE MANAGEMENT OR RECYCLING COMPANIES Ferguson Environmental Resources Oklahoma City Big Blue Recycling Republic Services / Allied Waste Waste Connections Oklahoma Waste Management Recycle America BEST COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE OR PROPERTY MANAGEMENT COMPANIES Baker First CRE Services Midtown Renaissance NAI Sullivan Group Northstar Properties ONEprop Oklahoma LLC

we’re all smiles, because you voted.

2016 best healthcare company

oasmiles.com

Practice areas: Business Law | Civil Litigation | Bankruptcy Probate | Wills & Trusts | Civil Rights Guardianship | Divorce Personal Injury | Employment Law

These are the Top 5 honorees in each category listed in alphbetical order; the company that received the most votes are in bold. oKc office

11 NE 11th St., Ste. 216 • Oklahoma City, OK 73104

NormaN office

124 East Main Street • Norman, OK 73072

OffiCE: (405) 701-1994 fax: (405) 701-1960

h c l aw o K . c o m

2016 BEST OF BUSINESS Best Commercial Banks or Financing Sources BancFirst | Bank of Oklahoma | MidFirst Bank NBC Oklahoma | Republic Bank & Trust

B

ank of Oklahoma’s mission is to bring the best financial expertise available to customers with its nationally competitive products and services delivered in personalized and responsive ways. Members across the state rely on Bank of Oklahoma for its expertise, especially when the economy presents unique financial challenges. Bank of Oklahoma’s goal is to adapt quickly to changing financial needs with diverse banking products and employees you can trust. As a member of BOK Financial, the bank has a global reach with a customer-focused approach and a reputation as a bank that is heavily involved in the communities it serves.

Best Health Care Companies BlueCross BlueShield of Oklahoma | INTEGRIS Health Mercy Health Center | Orthodontic Associates TrueVine Healthcare Services

O

klahomans have looked to Orthodontic Associates to protect their smiles for almost 30 years. Its board-certified orthodontists keep up-to-date with the latest technology and training. They work at two metro locations to prepare treatment plans that integrate options that best fit patients’ health needs and lifestyles. Even health care professionals recommend Orthodontic Associates — it is proud to have served many dentists, physicians, health care staff and their families. No matter your health needs or schedule, Orthodontic Associates will make sure your experience is fun and rewarding.

20 | march 30, 2016 | Oklahoma Gazette

Best Adult Education Institutions Dale Carnegie Training | Francis Tuttle Technology Center | OU Outreach | Sandler Training of Oklahoma University of Central Oklahoma

I

t’s never too late to learn new things, and nobody knows that better than Sandler Training of Oklahoma. The training company uses reinforcement, business coaching and accountability to ensure students have the best learning experience possible whether they’re learning by themselves or as part of a team or organization. Sandler stresses an effective, efficient, no-nonsense approach to sales and management that produces results and removes counterproductive communication and behaviors. Sandler’s students have excelled in more than 200 industries over four decades and have cemented the company’s status as a global education leader.

Best Commercial Architecture or Design Firms Allford Hall Monaghan Morris LLC fitzsimmons architects | Frankfurt Short Bruza GSB, Inc. | Krittenbrink Architecture LLC

B

ased in London, Allford Hall Monaghan Morris LLC is an international architecture firm that specializes in working with ambitious clients around the globe and has ongoing projects in Amsterdam, Netherlands; Ghana; and Oklahoma City. The Oklahoma City outpost’s team of seven has put its stamp on some of the metro’s most recognizable projects, including shipping crate-based OK Sea retail center and large downtown living space Level. Allford Hall Monaghan Morris is dedicated to the regeneration of blighted buildings as part of the ongoing downtown renaissance.

Best Information Technology Management Companies DMC Services | InterWorks Inc. | Smart Computing Technology, LLC | Standards I.T. TeamLogic IT

W

ith a history of providing top services while building strong client relationships, InterWorks Inc. continues to overshadow its competitors in the fast-growing field of information technology management. InterWorks was founded in 1996, and its staff has a passion for technology and people. The company delivers the best in full-spectrum IT and data solutions to a diverse client base. From servers and storage to development and visualization, InterWorks can do it.

Best Commercial Insurance Agencies Or Brokers CPC Insurance Agency | The Cornerstone Insurance Group | Garner Insurance Gary Baccus, State Farm Insurance | Trevor Randall Insurance Agency Inc.

300 S. VERMONT AVE. | 949-0641 CONVENTIONSANDMORE.COM

Your Premier Event Company Tents | Tables | Chairs | Dance Floors | Tablecloths And More!

I

n its three years in business, Garner Insurance has seen a lot of success.

It makes educating customers on the many aspects of insurance a top priority with great customer service along the way. What sets Garner apart is its commitment to maintaining a best-possible shopping experience while still making sure it meets each customer’s insurance needs. With access to more than 75 companies, Garner can custom tailor a policy to fit many different needs.

A growing staff allows the company to handle customer interactions even more efficiently.

Oklahoma Gazette | march 30, 2016 | 21

Best Commercial Security or Alarm Systems Companies ADT Security | Alcolm Security Systems, LLC Cox Business | IEP Guardian Security PSI Security

F

or more than a century, ADT Security has been one of the most trusted brands in the industry, serving more than 6 million customers. It’s the biggest company of its kind in the U.S. and Canada. ADT’s expansive set of products and services continues a legacy of excellence in home and business security and health care monitoring tailored for today’s increasingly mobile lifestyles. Headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida, ADT provides peace of mind with a national network of nearly 16,000 employees.

Best CPA Or Accounting Firms Don W. Armstrong CPA, Inc. | Early & Means CPAs Eide Bailly LLP | Hyde & Company CPAs PC Regier, Washecheck & Jones PLLC

TO OUR AMAZING CLIENTS! It’s an honor to have customers choose us for their personal and professional development; so to be voted one of one of the best in the category of Best Adult Education/ Professional Development Institution for 2016 lets us know we are getting it done right!

We are truly grateful for your business, loyalty, and referrals that help us to continue to grow.

oklahoma.dalecarnegie.com (405)947-2111 @how2win Copyright © 2016 Dale Carnegie & Associates, Inc. All rights reserved. thankyou_030916_ok 4.5x6

22 | march 30, 2016 | Oklahoma Gazette

P

eople and businesses seeking personalized financial guidance have been wise to trust full-service accounting firm Hyde & Company CPAs PC. Businesses and high net-worth clients can trust their finances to be handled with care by competent employees. With expertise, experience and the most advanced technology available, they anticipate clients’ needs. The teamminded staff handles individual and business tax return preparation, auditing, accounting and other types of financial planning. The firm takes pride in operating ethically and forming personal relationships with each client.

2016 BEST OF BUSINESS Best Commercial Law Firms

Best Staffing or HR Companies

Crowe & Dunlevy Attorneys and Counselors at Law Fuller, Tubb, Bickford & Krahl, PLLC | Hopson and Copeland Law Firm | John W. Cloar, PC | McAfee & Taft

Accel Financial Staffing Solutions | Express Employment Professionals | Onward Solutions, LLC Paycom | People Source Staffing Professionals

C

rowe & Dunlevy Attorneys and Counselors at Law’s statewide reach is based on a history of trust. With offices in Oklahoma City and Tulsa, it’s one of the state’s largest and most recognized law firms. In 2016, U.S. News & World Report and Best Lawyers named Crowe & Dunlevy one of the best law firms in the nation.

It has one of the highest referral rates in the region and more than 80 attorneys who earned distinctions as the best lawyers in America, a ranking reserved for the top 4 percent of practicing attorneys. With experts in nearly every facet of law, including energy, health care, public finance and banking, Crowe & Dunlevy has successfully defended Oklahomans’ interests for over a century.

N

o matter where a client is in the Oklahoma City area, they can get help with job searches and staffing needs at one of six metro Express Employment Professionals locations. Recruiters work with local businesses to unite them with the skilled workers they require. Express works with employers and jobseekers alike. If there’s an employment need, the staffing company has a solution. Express is ambitious, too. The company’s mission is to put a million people to work annually.

Best Web Design and Services

Best Places for a Company Event

Levant Technologies | McMahon Marketing Ocean Graphic Design | Saxum | VI Marketing and Branding

Broadway 10 Bar & Chophouse | Events @ Madison Square | National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum | Topgolf | Vast

I

t starts with listening to clients’ needs and ends with custom websites and apps accessed by thousands. Levant Technologies is the key for getting local businesses, nonprofits and entrepreneurs messages online. With a personalized approach and a commitment to extraordinary customer service, the experts at Levant are who hundreds have turned to for compelling website designs. Now, those businesses and organizations watch as the clicks roll in, increasing their presence and ability to reach Oklahomans and those across the globe.

A

nnually, Oklahoma City’s National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum greets thousands of visitors to the facility, which is dedicated to preserving and interpreting the evolving history and cultures of the American West. Additionally, the museum is one of the state’s most elegant and glamorous venues for fundraisers, galas and special events. Staff consistently rise to meet the needs of businesses and organizations whether at a formal gala, meetand-greet or business lunch. With multiple rental options — including outdoor Western States Plaza — to choose from, the venue is a spectacular choice for almost any upcoming event.

Oklahoma Gazette | march 30, 2016 | 23

2016 BEST OF BUSINESS Best Places for a Company Retreat

Best Event Rental & Planning Companies

The Artesian Hotel, Casino & Spa | Chickasaw Retreat & Conference Center | Dust Bowl Lanes & Lounge and Fassler Hall | Gaillardia Country Club | Topgolf

Conventions & More | Cory’s Audio Visual Services, LLC Events @ Madison Square | factor 110 | 110 events Marianne’s Rentals for Special Events

W

hy not make your business retreat a truly memorable experience?

Gaillardia Country Club offers incredible space for company and private events in its impressive Old World-style clubhouse. Gaillardia also hosts tournaments on its championship golf course. The venue is ideal for business retreats, nonprofit galas, once-in-a-lifetime social events and corporate seminars.

Gaillardia caters to a group’s every need through dazzling rooms, tantalizing menus and gracious staff. Experience one of Oklahoma City’s most elegant venues that has hosted special occasions for nearly 20 years.

Best Investment Providers or Advisors ChappelWood Financial Services | DM Wealth Management, Inc. | Jordan E. Henricks, Edward Jones Opes One Advisors | Rick Folmar, Wells Fargo Advisors

W

hen planning investments, like any journey into uncertainty, it’s best to have a guide. Who better than someone who teaches classes on the subject? Peggy Doviak founded DM Wealth Management, Inc. in 2003 to provide financial planning and portfolio management to individuals and businesses.

Doviak teaches for the College for Financial Planning and is active in Financial Planning Association, Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Oklahoma Council on Economic Education and other professional and civic groups. The Norman-based company also tries to leave a positive impact on its community and regularly participates in 2nd Friday Norman Art Walk.

24 | march 30, 2016 | Oklahoma Gazette

W

hen organizing a big event, a little help goes a long way. That’s why factor 110 puts service first, priding itself in the ability to reduce the stress of planning with open communications and creative thinking. Its team takes the time to listen to client needs and develop innovative solutions that fit within a given budget. In addition to event planning, factor 110 provides destination management services to clients across Oklahoma. Founded in 2006, the company is proud of its track record and prides itself as an industry trendsetter.

Best Restaurant Supply or Commercial Food Source Companies Ben E. Keith Foods | FSW Market Source Oswalt Restaurant Supply | Sysco Oklahoma US. Foods CHEF’STORE

B

en E. Keith Company is a distributor of food service products with a wide regional reach. The food division supplies a full line of produce, frozen foods, meats, dry groceries, refrigerated foods, paper goods, equipment and supplies to restaurants, hospitals, schools, nursing homes and other institutions. The food service division serves 11 states out of its Oklahoma location. There are seven different distribution facilities across the southwest.

The company employs more than 450 people in the state.

Best Catering Companies A Good Egg Dining Group | Abbey Road Catering Aunt Pittypat’s Catering | Ned’s Catering Sooner Legends Banquet & Catering Services

S

ooner Legends Banquet & Catering Services has everything you need when it comes to professional catering, including outstanding food and quality service. Over a decade, the family owned and operated business built its reputation from its Norman base. From intimate get-togethers to groups upward of 10,000, simple to extravagant, Sooner Legends helps you design the perfect menu for the perfect occasion. Its skilled staff advises you on selection, whether its barbecue, steaks, seafood, Mexican, Mediterranean, Italian or specified meals, or served onsite or off-site. The company also offers professional bartending services.

Best Auto Fleet or Auto Leasing Companies Bob Howard Auto Group | Bob Moore Auto Group Fleet/Commercial Sales | Cooper Automotive Group Fleet Sales | Enterprise Rent-A-Car | Hertz Rent A Car

B

ob Moore started in the auto industry in the early 1950s with an Oldsmobile dealership in Wichita, Kansas. In 1970, he relocated to Oklahoma City to open the first Cadillac dealership — the cornerstone of the Bob Moore Auto Group. Bob Moore is a people-focused company. In fleet sales, where other businesses must take care of their employees, Bob Moore is committed to the same level of customer service that has grown the group to 17 dealerships, 17 brands and two collision centers in Oklahoma City and Tulsa.

Allford Hall Monaghan Morris LLC Architects 29 East Reno Avenue Suite 440 Oklahoma City, OK 73104 info@ahmm.co.uk www.ahmm.co.uk

AELP Fitness Center, Oklahoma City

Oklahoma Gazette | march 30, 2016 | 25

2016 BEST OF BUSINESS Best Advertising Agencies

Best Commercial Sign Companies

Ackerman McQueen | McMahon Marketing | Saxum STAPLEGUN | VI Marketing and Branding

Blue Diamond Signs | FastSigns | J&B Graphics Jack Pratt Signs | Vital Signs of Oklahoma

V

I Marketing and Branding’s team of motivated and highly skilled marketing and branding professionals redefine the meaning of success.

The pursuit of innovative marketing and branding solutions for clients is both satisfying and consuming. From its first day, VI has become an early adapter of the belief that every company, product and service has a story to tell. Each brand is worth its salt and should have a voice and unique position in the marketplace. And with offices in Oklahoma, Colorado and Missouri, VI has consummate knowledge of standards across the region.

Best Public Relations Firms Anglin Public Relations | Jones Public Relations, Inc. Koch Communications | McMahon Marketing | Saxum

N

ever underestimate a proper sign. A quality sign can make all the difference for a business, and that’s why the J&B Graphics team stands ready to design, create, install and stand behind its clients’ signs. Satisfaction is guaranteed with the personal services of a small company that has the capabilities of a large-scale operation. For 30 years, staff has crafted the right look for the right price, aiding businesses across the metro.

Best Commercial Landscape Companies CityScapes Lawn & Landscape Services | Echelawn Complete Lawn & Landscape | Groundwork Applied Design | Metro Building Services, LLC Pitzer’s Lawn Management, Inc.

W

hen it comes to metro PR firms, Jones Public Relations, Inc. is known for making its clients heard in Oklahoma City and throughout the nation. Established 15 years ago, the firm provides clientele with integrated communication plans that include political policy, branding, digital and social media and creative and consumer marketing. Recently, the agency was honored as a finalist for PRWeek’s national campaign awards and made the 2015 Inc. 5000 list of fastest growing companies in America.

26 | march 30, 2016 | Oklahoma Gazette

T

he team at Metro Building Services, LLC strives to be a one-stop shop for businesses or office complexes by offering a variety of services. In addition to landscaping, the team tackles roofing, paving, construction, electrical, plumbing and HVAC jobs. Its passionate team can take on any landscaping job, transforming an outdoor space into something truly special.

O Best Commercial Waste Management or Recycling Companies Ferguson Environmental Resources Oklahoma City Big Blue Recycling | Republic Services / Allied Waste | Waste Connections Oklahoma Waste Management Recycle America

For more information call our offices at 528-6000

kc.BIZ recognizes contributions by companies and individuals that enhance and advance the business community in central Oklahoma. okc.BIZ endeavors to accomplish this through three annual programs: Best of Business, Best Places to Work in Oklahoma and Forty Under 40. All programs are available online at okc.BIZ.

W

aste Management Recycle America is on a mission to maximize resource value while minimizing or eliminating environmental impact so our economy and our environment can thrive. Based in Houston, Texas, Waste Management is one of the U.S.’s leading providers of comprehensive waste management services. It serves residential, commercial, industrial and municipal customers throughout North America. In March, Ethisphere Institute named the company one of 131 honorees recognized as the most ethical companies on the planet.

Best Commercial Real Estate or Property Management Companies Baker First CRE Services | Midtown Renaissance NAI Sullivan Group | Northstar Properties ONEprop Oklahoma LLC

F

or the last 12 years, Northstar Properties has thrived as a reliable, revolutionary property management company overseeing apartment complexes and storage space all over the Oklahoma City metro area and Tulsa. Its staff is determined to deliver maximum results and works to increase profits in fields such as property management, finance, administration, construction, development, rehabilitation and modernization. Northstar maintains its acclaim as an industry leader by focusing on employee education and fostering honest, profitable relationships with investors and clients.

Oklahoma Gazette | march 30, 2016 | 27

Congratulations for being

The Best of Business from your friends at

“Quality Never Goes Unnoticed” 405.843.3185 • www.AccessComtech.com

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28 | march 30, 2016 | Oklahoma Gazette

405.488.6262

info@midtownR.com

Stick around

A mild intro to Pakistani/Indian cuisine makes Kabob-n-Curry a beginner’s destination.

By Greg Elwell

My first thought was, “Where’s the stick?”

It shouldn’t have been. As the cook brought plate after plate of food to my table at Kabob-n-Curry, 4101 N. Portland Ave., I should have been thinking about how good the food smelled (it did) or how wonderful it looked (it did) or how I was going to fit all of it into my stomach (I didn’t).

platter was done well, but the only tools at my disposal to eat the chicken seekh kabob, beef chapli kabob and chicken tikka kabob were a knife and fork.

Where’s the fun in that?

It turned out the fun was in the food. For those worried about too much spice, the chicken tikka kabob is your best bet in a Pakistani/Indian restaurant. It’s big chunks of marinated white meat chicken grilled until done, but Kabob-n-Curry not overly flavorful.

The beef chapli kabob, 4104 N. Portland Ave. | 405-601-3454 however, has lots of flavor from kabob-n-curry.com the vegetables and spices that come with it. This meatloaf-like patty could make a killer burger, What works: Daal maash is mild, but it pairs well with the basmati filling and tasty. rice and cilantro and chili chutney served with the platter.

What needs work: The chicken The texture is the downfall of seekh kabob’s texture is a bit rubbery. the chicken seekh kabob, which simply felt too spongy to me.

Tip: Kabob-n-Curry does a brisk callThe heat on it is mild and the in and online takeout business if you’re taste is good, but it had too eating on the run. much chew for my liking. Your mileage might vary, though.

But looking at my kabob platter The platters are a ($11.75), I wanted to know where the wonderful way to introduce yourself sticks were. Because that’s half the fun to Kabob-n-Curry, which likely serves of eating shish kabobs — eating your many of your old favorites and a few food off a stick. dishes you’ve not yet seen. Getting a Maybe it’s an obsession borne of sampler like this gives you some rice, years visiting the Oklahoma State Fair naan bread, a little salad and lots of or just a deeply ingrained love of corn ways to try a new food without feeling dogs, but I am absolutely enamored too locked in for the whole meal. with foods on sticks when they’re done If you’re still nervous about what well. The to get, let me point you to the shami kabob kabob burger ($3.99), which takes a pretty simple setup of hamburger bun with the usual fixings and subs in a beef-andlentil patty for the normal burger.

The lentils add a mild earthiness to the sandwich and crispness to the patty, while the beef brings a welcome heft to each bite. This might be as kidfriendly as taking your family to a Pakistani restaurant can get.

Butter chicken

Kabob platter

Daal maash

But if you’re willing to step outside your comfort zone, switch over to the n-Curry portion of the restaurant’s menu, where there are a bevy of enticing options to tingle your taste buds — or straight-up set them on fire.

On the milder end, I really enjoyed the daal maash with white lentils ($4.99). Don’t let the peppers and spices studded throughout scare you off. There’s heat, but it accentuates the creamy-white lentils that nearly melt against the tongue.

Any of you looking to remove meat from your diet for a meal or two a day should definitely explore lentils, which are packed with protein and easy to cook. Vegetarian stews, called daals, are a huge part of that region’s cuisines and quite filling. When I go back, I’ll definitely ask them to bump the heat level on the daal maash or switch over to a spicier dish like chana masala ($4.99), which is a bit thinner and uses chickpeas instead of lentils.

I don’t want to get into any arguments about how authentic chicken tikka masala/chicken malai/butter chicken is. Let’s just all agree this dish of chicken bites cooked in a creamy, aromatic sauce is a delight and get on

with our lives. Some think of butter chicken ($5.99) as starter Pakistani food, and they might be right. But what does it matter when it tastes this good?

Peanut butter and jelly might be a starter sandwich, but it’s still wonderful.

Just eat what you like, folks.

Though I love naan bread ($1) so much it might be unhealthy, my favorite starchy treat at Kabob-n-Curry is the pratha bread stuffed with potato ($2.99).

Think about a whole wheat Frisbee stuffed with seasoned potatoes and panfried until golden. That is a pratha. Dip it in sauces, pile your kabobs on top or just stare ahead and eat it, thinking of the future. That’s how the Internet was invented.

Finally, a shoutout to a food I still think should be Oklahoma’s official fried treat: the samosa ($1.25 each).

It’s a baseball-sized hunk of crisp, fried dough with seasoned vegetables inside, and I can’t stop ordering it.

Don’t be one of those folks who “can’t eat” ethnic cuisines. Yes, you can.

And there’s no easier place to start than Kabob-n-Curry, even if they don’t leave the sticks in your kabobs.

Oklahoma Gazette | march 30, 2016 | 29

PH OTOS BY G AR E T T FI S B E CK

food & drink

RAM S E Y WALCHE R / P ROVI DE D

food & drink

Culinary creativity Chef Jonathon Stranger brings innovation to the Oklahoma Creativity Ambassadors Gala menu.

By Greg Elwell

2015 Ambassadors Gala

is a nonprofit focused on improving the state’s economy with entrepreneurship and innovation, said marketing and project manager Stéphanie Coderre Porras.

“We hold the gala to show people that we have nationally and internationally renowned Oklahomans in business, music and culture,” she said. “We try to reward five of them each year.”

This year’s honorees are Chickasaw Nation Governor Bill Anoatubby, former OGE Energy Corp. chairman and CEO Pete Delaney, country star Toby Keith, NextThought co-founder and CEO Ken Parker and J. Michael Prince, president and COO of Cole Haan.

Stranger said Creative Oklahoma is a “strong arm” for business and culinary relationships. When he went to Belgium with the organization last year, it helped him make connections around the world.

The Oklahoma Creativity Ambassadors Gala 6-9 p.m. Monday Meinders Hall of Mirrors Civic Center Music Hall 201 N. Walker Ave. stateofcreativity.com 405-232-5570 $250 (sponsorships available)

Ludivine is known as one of Oklahoma City’s most adventurous and innovative restaurants. It is not, however, one of Oklahoma City’s most adventurous and innovative caterers.

But when Creative Oklahoma asked chef Jonathon Stranger to cook for 300 guests at Monday’s Oklahoma Creativity Ambassadors Gala, he said, “For you guys? Anything.”

One of 13 regions in the World Creativity Forum, Creative Oklahoma

Next month, he cooks in the Netherlands and London.

It’s up to the professionals to show their skills, but Stranger said Creative Oklahoma does an excellent job of putting people in the right place to impress a global audience.

“I have a great history with Creative Oklahoma,” he said, “so I wanted to do what we do at Ludivine, but for 300 people at once.”

Using locally sourced ingredients, Stranger plans to serve a salad of gently cooked root vegetables with pecan mousse, crispy chicken skin and buttermilk, a braised wagyu short rib with savory oats, tomato fennel jam and puffed corn and a terrine of chocolate with cherries and pine nuts.

“It’s just a way of showing off what we do in Oklahoma. It’s not your usual banquet food,” he said.

Preparing the meal will require even more creativity, though — Civic Center Music Hall, where the event is held, doesn’t have much of a kitchen.

“I want to support Creative Oklahoma because of what it means to creative people both inside and outside the state,” he said. “They do it for lots of people. Anybody can become a member.”

Students can join the organization for $20, and regular membership is $50.

One project the organization is especially excited for is Oklahoma Creative Communities, which brings together residents from a defined geographic area in different ages, backgrounds and skill sets to work through a creative problem-solving process to benefit their community.

The gala is 6-9 p.m. Monday at Civic Center Music Hall, 201 N. Walker Ave.

LIKE US!

VISIT OUR BELLE ISLE LOCATION! I-44 & NW Expressway OTHER LOCATIONS IN MOORE, NORTH MEMORIAL & THE OUTLETS

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FREE SIDE

WITH PURCHASE OF AN ENTRÉE

Expires 4/30/16. Free side with the purchase of an adult entrée. Limit one per person per visit. Not valid for alcohol sales. Not valid for online orders. Not valid with other offers or discounts, Taxes not included. No photocopies. No cash value. Offer valid at participating restaurants only. ©2015 Smashburger IP Holder LLC. PLU 6372

winners will be announced in the

SOUNDCHECK annual music focus issue publishing april 6th

CALL 405.528.6000 FOR INFORMATION AND ADVERTISING OPPORTUNITIES Oklahoma Gazette | march 30, 2016 | 31

PH OTOS BY Ga r ett fisbe ck

Food & drink nd sa . w U ne GO th K rg ep on o d . u n n t i atio go r k o t pp form e a u t S in na o D

Get Swirled with us

Still burning A decade in, The Wedge Pizzeria keeps the fire going with a new menu.

ON THE PATIO!

By Greg Elwell

OPEN DAILY 11AM - 2 AM CORNER OF CLASSEN & BOYD, NORMAN 329.3330 | THEMONT.COM

Over the last 10 years, The Wedge Pizzeria, 4709 N. Western Ave., has changed a lot of things. Staff has come and gone. A second location opened at 230 NE First St. Breakfast became a daily occurrence. It added a patio to nearly double the size of the dining room.

But general manager KC Ortega said there’s one thing the city’s original wood-fired artisan brick-oven pizza place hasn’t done. It hasn’t changed the menu — until now.

“We’ve had the same menu and same prices as we did 10 years ago,” she said. “I wanted to streamline it and make it more user-friendly.”

Permanent specials

Before hordes of Wedge-heads take to the streets with pitchforks and torches, don’t worry; the Truffle Shuffle and the Prosciutto e Formaggi aren’t going anywhere. But there are a few new options for diners to consider.

More than anything, the changes give some favorite specials a permanent home on the menu. Little tweaks like allowing customers to get three meatballs instead of five or two or three prosciutto-wrapped pears instead of four or codifying the always-available appetizer platter ($25) into law are meant to help servers.

“Sometimes, it gets so busy, you forget to tell people about stuff like that,” Ortega said. “Then they look over during a meal and say, ‘Hey, I didn’t know we could get that.’”

The much-loved Brussels sprouts salad ($7) is now a permanent

32 | march 30, 2016 | Oklahoma Gazette

The Brandon pizza is a new vegan menu item.

We’ve had the same menu and same prices as we did 10 years ago. I wanted to streamline it and make it more user-friendly.

— KC Ortega fixture, as is the option to make any of the pies into a calzone or a personal pizza.

When The Wedge opened in fall 2006, there wasn’t anything like it, Ortega said. When she returned to the state with her family seven years ago, she visited the restaurant and was amazed at the level of excitement and chaos.

Over the last few years, dozens of new pizzerias have opened, but Ortega said customers still find their way back to The Wedge.

“People tell me they tried other places, but this is still their favorite,” she said.

Cooking credits

Much of that credit is due to Jesus and Armando Cortez, the head cooks at the Western and Deep Deuce locations, respectively. Each has been

RUSTIC ITALIAN FOOD AND ITALIAN WINE

Tues-Thurs 5PM-10PM | Fri & Sat 5PM-11PM Sun 5PM-9PM 1 block from Civic Center & OKC Museum of Art

Gift Cards now Available Brussels sprouts salad

with the restaurant for five years and made the menu his own.

The new Brisket Pizza ($15) was created by Jesus and includes a roasted garlic cream sauce, brisket, poblano peppers, red onion and mozzarella.

On the other end of the spectrum is The Brandon ($14), a vegan pizza designed by the Deep Deuce location’s weekend manager Brandon Malone.

The pie is covered in pesto, roasted red onion and red bell peppers, spiced walnuts and pepperoncinis.

Though it’s the only vegan pizza explicitly listed on the menu, Ortega said the restaurant makes several vegan options for a number of customers on restricted diets. The Wedge also makes a gluten-free crust.

Another addition is pasta ($8), which gives the rare diner who doesn’t want pizza an added choice.

The noodles come with a choice of meatballs, chicken or vegetables tossed in marinara or Alfredo sauce.

After 10 years in business, Ortega said, it was past time to redo the menus. But that doesn’t mean more changes won’t come. The restaurant

305 N. Walker

patroNookc.com

405.702.7660

Brisket pizza

still serves seasonal off-menu specials and will add more to the mix as ingredients become available.

“I’ve been here four years, and I still believe in us,” Ortega said. “We continue improving the patio and the playground. As a parent, I think it’s important to give people a place to go where the kids can run around and be safe while everybody enjoys a good meal.”

That’s the kind of thinking that just might keep The Wedge in business well through a second decade.

Learn more about the updated menu at thewedgeokc.com.

Pasta with Alfredo sauce is now available at The Wedge.

Oklahoma Gazette | march 30, 2016 | 33

by Greg Elwell

CHECK OUT OUR NEW MENU ITEMS! Valid on dinners up to $11 99 only.

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

Expires 4/6/16.

11AM-9PM | Mon-Sat • 11aM-4PM | SUN

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

Food Network recognized the work of Ludivine bartenders Colby Poulin and Chris Barrett when it named Poulin’s Stockyard Roots as Oklahoma’s entry into 50 States of Cocktails.

“It was exciting that they called it by name when they wanted to use it,” Poulin said. “I was surprised, but we put our time in over here at Ludivine, and that means our cocktails, too.”

The bar staff is small, with either beverage manager Barrett or Poulin there at all times, meaning consistency in drinks and room to bounce ideas off one another.

Stockyard Roots is one of the district-specific drinks served at the restaurant, 805 N. Hudson Ave., and it’s made with heavy bourbon, bittersweet root liqueur, honey and orange and chocolate bitters.

“It’s definitely in the ‘bitter and boozy’ category,” Barrett said. “That’s the one that took us to Stockyards City. It’s almost reminiscent of the Old West.”

Gazette / FILE

oKLaHoMaStatIonBBQ.coM

Roots down

Smoked out WSKY Lounge patrons told the upscale bar to go nonsmoking in an interesting way, said Outside the Box Hospitality Group chief operating officer Clayton Bahr.

“Our customers asked for it by

34 | march 30, 2016 | Oklahoma Gazette

not staying,” he said.

The cocktail bar will continue selling cigars for use outside the Deep Deuce location, 228 NE Second St., but the inside has been remodeled to go smoke-free. Everything has been taken apart and cleaned, reupholstered and repainted, Bahr said, to get the lingering smoky smell out of all the nooks and crannies.

The owners considered going half-and-half with smoking and nonsmoking sections but decided this is the way the culture is going.

“When you see smoking bars that are known for smoking going nonsmoking, you know something’s happening,” he said.

Sipango Lounge, 4301 N. Western Ave., went smoke-free in November after being a smoking venue for almost 80 years.

P R OVI DE D

food briefs

Food truck lovers must be feeling lucky, as the Oklahoma City metro area continues to embrace meals on wheels with the introduction of Riverwind Casino’s Beats & Bites 6-10 p.m. April 9.

Located in the casino’s west parking lot, 1544 State Highway 9 in Norman, Beats & Bites continues May 14, June 11, July 9 and Aug. 6 with a rotating lineup of food trucks.

In April, trucks include Chef Ray’s Street Eats, Dippin Dots, La Gumbo Ya Ya, Murphy’s CookShack, Parking Lot Party, Phill Me Up Cheesesteaks, The Candy Basket, A Latte Love Coffeehouse and Kona Ice from Oklahoma City and Nacho Biznez from Ada. Guests are encouraged to bring lawn chairs and umbrellas, though pets and outside food and beverages are prohibited.

The Justin Fox Band and Southern Company will perform.

for diners.

“When it started, there were just 200 people, so it’s so exciting that it’s doubled in size and is selling out so fast,” she said. “Personally, it’s our favorite. It’ll be a relaxing night, if there’s no wind, with incredible food.”

Green Salmon

Ga r ett fisbe ck / FI LE

Beats & Bites

Join us for daily lunch & dinner menu specials UCO student discount

1333 N. Santa Fe • Edmond 405-471-6587

AARON SNOW PHOTO GRAPH Y / P ROV IDED

Saving Sunday

Starry sellout It only took nine hours for the fourth annual Starlight Supper to sell all 450 tickets.

“It’s insane,” said Downtown OKC Inc. marketing manager Staci Sanger. “Last year, it was three days, which is still incredibly quick for an event. We couldn’t even give people a full 24 hours’ notice.”

The April 7 event benefits Downtown Oklahoma City Initiatives, a nonprofit that combats community deterioration through art.

That’s why it needs to be held outside, Sanger said — so people truly feel they are in the district they’re helping.

The program funded underpass murals and artist invitationals.

Chefs from Rococo, Nourished Food Co., Museum Cafe, Broadway 10 Bar & Chophouse and Guernsey Park will prepare a multicourse meal

With nearly 10 years under his belt at The Red Cup, 3122 N. Classen Blvd., chef Patrick “Beave” Clark expands his repertoire and brings dinner back to the restaurant once a month.

“When we closed our nights, due to lack of business, which is rooted in the lack of a liquor license, we always wanted to do something to give the vegan population of Oklahoma something/somewhere to eat,” he said.

“So I decided, after attending pretty much every long-lasting pop-up around, that it was an idea that could work for me, allowing me to put myself in a situation where the people could really see my vision, both in flavor profile and presentation.”

That vision led to Red Cup Supper Club, a 100-percent sustainable, BYOB, hyper-local, multicourse vegan dining experience for 18 diners the second Sunday of each month.

“I’m trying to change the way people view vegan cuisine, and I think I can. “I’ve taken it upon myself to push further into vegan cuisine than I would have ever thought.”

Dinners are $60 per person, and the next is April 10. Tickets are available through eventbrite.com.

Pad Thai lunch special

3 ENtrEES with soup $6.50 OCU student discount

1614 Nw 23rd • OKC • 405-528-8424

Taste of Thai

Thai combo lunch special Military discount 1801 S. Air Depot MwC• 405-732-1519

Oklahoma Gazette | march 30, 2016 | 35

Top chop March comes in like a lion and out like a lamb, which is a pretty neat magic trick.

Ladies and gentlemen, look at this perfectly normal lion!

Madam, would you like to inspect the li— No? OK. How about you, sir? I assure you there is no danger. Let’s get right to the trick! Abracadabr— Oh no! The lion ate the lamb. Well, you can’t blame him. Here are a few places for you to eat one, too.

— By Greg Elwell Photos by Garett Fisbeck

Camilya’s Cafe

Travel By Taste

Cattlemen’s Steakhouse

10942 N. May Ave. 405-418-4141

4818 N. MacArthur Blvd., Warr Acres travelbytasteok.com | 405-787-2969

1309 S. Agnew Ave. cattlemensrestaurant.com 405-236-0416

Mary had a little lamb, little lamb, little lamb. Then she had a little more. She also ate a little potato, little potato, little potato, but she switched right back to lamb. So juicy. So flavorful. Such a tender bite of meat. If you’ve never had lamb, it’s time to expand your palate at Camilya’s Cafe, where the lamb chops are so artfully presented, you and Mary might have to take a picture for Instagram before you dig in.

There’s nothing quite as succulent as a slowly braised lamb shank. This flavorful method, used at Travel By Taste, infuses the meat with plenty of herbs, concentrates the natural juices of the meat and makes for a bite so tender it doesn’t take much work to get it off the bone. Pour the broth over the accompanying dill and herb saffron rice to soak up even more flavor and you’ll be thinking of when you can come baaa-ck for more.

Lamb fries are testicles. Let’s get that out of the way. And before you say, “No way. I’m not eating that,” can we talk about the other foods you regularly put in your mouth? Fast food tacos that are probably equal parts beef and carpet remnants. Hot dogs that might include real dog. Whatever Pop-Tarts are made of. Meanwhile, lamb fries are just meat from an animal, meticulously cleaned, fried and incredibly delicious. Grow up and eat a pair.

It’s time for

Spring (rolls)

WRAPS|SOUP|SALAD & MORE

YummyMummyOK.com

Mon – Sat • 11:30 – 8:30 13415 N PENN • 405-752-6055

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lunch buffet M-F | 11am-2pm

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A lA CArte | Wine & Beer | HAlAl MeAt PrivAte Dining UP to 60 | CAtering AvAilABle 709 N. MOORE, MOORE 701-3900 WWW.HIMALYASOK.COM 36 | march 30, 2016 | Oklahoma Gazette

Asian Bistro & Sushi Bar

all you can eat

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Mon-Sat | 5pm-9pm

$20.99

6600 North olie

840-1234

NW 65th, 1 Block eASt of WeSterN

Pizzeria Gusto 2415 N. Walker Ave. pizzeria-gusto.com | 405-437-4992

They say pizza is like sex — you’re probably thinking of it right now. But if you want to have a truly orgasmic pizza experience, check out Gusto’s delightful lamb sausage pie. The flavor combination of lamb, mint ricotta cheese, eggplant, spinach and roasted peppers will leave an indelible mark on your taste buds. And if you’re nervous because it’s your first time at Gusto, don’t worry — the staff is very gentle.

Broadway 10 Bar & Chophouse 1101 N. Broadway Ave. broadway10okc.com | 405-212-3949

New Zealand has given us many things: Flight of the Conchords, all the Lord of the Rings movies and lambs — racks and racks of lambs, like the beauties from Broadway 10’s primal cuts menu. There are plenty of delicious choices at this restaurant, but you’ll draw envious stares when the server slides this immaculate dish in front of you. With a red wine demi sauce and a load of mashed potatoes, it’s almost enough to feed a Hobbit.

Argana Cafe 2908 NW 23rd St. arganacafemenu.com | 405-602-6938

Getting served your dinner in a tagine is kind of magical. Not only has the serving dish and conical covering cooked the meal inside perfectly, retaining all the juicy flavors within, but there’s also an air of mystery. “What will be in there?” you might ask. “It’s probably the lamb and vegetables I ordered, but what if it’s a new car?!” It’s the lamb. We promise. And it tastes way better than a new car.

The Meat Market Refectory 2920 NW 63rd St. meatmarketrefectory.com | 405-608-8866

Australia has given us many things: actor Yahoo Serious, rock band 30 Odd Foot of Grunts and lambs. Yes, of the many eternal battles between Australia and New Zealand, a big one is which country raises better lambs. It looks like you’ll have to check out The Meat Market Refectory and dig into those tender lamb chops to decide for yourself. You can get them as appetizers or entrees, but beware: No matter how many you get, you’ll still want to gnaw on the bones.

Oklahoma Gazette | march 30, 2016 | 37

Featuring SchoolS and claSSeS oF all typeS.

Publishes APril 20, 2016 inside Oklahoma Gazette and at okgazette.com.

DeADline APril 13. call today! 528.6000

The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum® invites you to

The Cowboy Returns: Photographs by Bank and John Langmore

John Langmore, Ken Saucier, Diamond A Ranch – Seligman, Arizona, 2013. Gelatin silver print, Collection of the artist.

See it now through May 8, 2016

Sacred Arts of Tibet Tour April 10-16, 2016 Norman

INterfAIth GAtherING & WelCome Sunday, Apr 10, 2:00pm

First American United Methodist Church

tIbetAN moNAStIC lIfe: SlIdeShoW q&A monday, Apr 11, 7:00pm

Sam Noble Museum of Natural History

leCture SerIeS Apr 13-15, 7:00pm

St. John’s Episcopal Church

Sand Mandala Creation April 12-16 St. John’s Episcopal Church

An intimate view of the cowboy in a collection of 100 black-and-white plus color photographs, depicting the iconic cowboy’s gritty reality of working and living in the American West. Includes select work from Bank Langmore — considered a preeminent photographer of the American cowboy in the 1970s — and his son, John Langmore, a celebrated artist in his own right, who spent the last three years photographing many of the same people and ranches his father documented over 40 years ago.

opeNING CeremoNy

tues. 7:00pm

dAIly VIeWING

10:30am-6:00pm

CloSING CeremoNy

Sat. 3:30pm

The Oklahoma Humanities Council (OHC) is an independent, nonprofit organization whose mission is to promote meaningful public engagement with the humanities—disciplines such as history, literature, film studies, ethics, and philosophy. The humanities offer a deeper understanding of ourselves and others by confronting us with the questions, values, and meanings of the human experience.

As the state partner for the National Endowment for the Humanities, OHC brings people together to explore these ideas through programming and community grants that support book groups, exhibits, film festivals, teacher institutes, and more. OHC engages people in their own communities, providing forums for education, critical thinking, and productive civil discourse.

A nationally traveling exhibition organized by the Briscoe Western Art Museum.

1700 Northeast 63rd Street Oklahoma City, OK 73111 Open daily 10:00 a.m. — 5:00 p.m. www.nationalcowboymuseum.org 38 | march 30, 2016 | Oklahoma Gazette

Sponsored by Norman Cultural Connection, Inc.

For event details find us on Facebook or visit:

www.normanculturalconnection.org

For additional info contact Marial Martyn:

(405) 201-9991 marial.martyn@gmail.com

City of Gold

Golden hour

A documentary about Los Angeles Times food critic Jonathan Gold takes a bite out of the City of Angels.

By Greg Elwell

City of Gold 5:30 and 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 2 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. Sunday and 5:30 and 8 p.m. April 7 Oklahoma City Museum of Art 415 Couch Drive okcmoa.com 405-236-3100 $5-$9

There is a moment early in City of Gold, director Laura Gabbert’s documentary about influential Los Angeles Times food critic Jonathan Gold, that captures exactly what it’s like for a food lover to drive around a city.

Gold, crossing the sprawling metropolis in his green pickup, suddenly turns around in his seat to glimpse a sign he just passed. A new restaurant, perhaps? An empty storefront with a logo etched on the door? It’s another mental note for a man who maps out his world in landmarks of food.

“Everybody in the world has an idea of what Los Angeles is,” said Gold in the film. “If you live in Los Angeles, you’re used to having your city explained to you by people who come in for a couple of weeks, stay in a hotel in Beverly Hills and take in what they can get to within

10 minutes in a rented car.”

City of Gold is not food porn, though it could easily veer that direction. Instead, it’s an exploration of one of the world’s best-known cities by a man who studied it over decades of meals and conversations.

There’s a reason Gold was the first food critic to win a Pulitzer Prize.

In an interview with Oklahoma Gazette, he said he fought against doing a film or any sort of reality TV for years, but when the director won a silent auction for “dinner with a restaurant critic,” he was faced with a much greater challenge.

“It’s hard to say no to someone you see every day in the pickup line at your kid’s school,” he said.

Unlike many “message documentaries” out now, City of Gold doesn’t have a political bent, though audiences do learn more about Gold’s philosophy.

“It’s not a social justice thing, but people are taking it as a social justice thing,” he said. “It’s coming out at a time when the most basic message — don’t be afraid of your neighbors — is political.”

Celebrating similarities

Because a documentary about food in Los Angeles has to be about the magic of immigrant communities and what they add to American culture. Taco shops stacked on Thai restaurants next to classic French cuisine down the block from Ethiopian fare might seem a unique story to LA, but it actually reflects many American cities, including Oklahoma City.

As hot-button an issue as immigration has become, Gold said the path to understanding and acceptance is often through the stomach.

“If you’re looking to immerse yourself in a culture, you can do a lot worse than going to a restaurant,” he said. “The smells and the tastes, the sounds of different languages. Strike up a conversation. Talk about the 15 different kinds of biriyani you’ve had.”

While other critics focused on the biggest names in LA, Gold made his mark by focusing on small, hard-to-find restaurants that define the in-between spaces where communities mesh.

This is a place where restaurateurs do not cook for tourists or critics, but to fill the needs of the community around them. In many cases, they

reinvent a sense of home for thousands of immigrants who are working for the American dream, and need the sense of fraternity that shared meals provide.

The role of Gold, then, is to guide.

While Yelp and Zomato are full of explorers, the knowledge and focus of a critic like Gold creates a map and tells a story about who we are as Americans.

“Really, nobody lies about food,” he said. “They will lie up and down about their motivations, what they did, but they will never lie about what they had for breakfast.”

Gabbert’s film tends to lionize Gold, but it’s not a far jump from the words of his contemporaries and those of chefs across the country who recognize how his talent makes their talents so vital.

“He knows every place,” chef David Chang said in the documentary. “I don’t know any Korean who knows more about Korean food than Jonathan Gold.”

Beautifully shot, City of Gold is less a travelogue and more a paean to the hidden Los Angeles of all-night taco trucks and pop-up restaurants — the one loved so fully and explained so eloquently by the food critic driving across town in his green pickup.

Oklahoma Gazette | march 30, 2016 | 39

I FC-S UN DANCE S E L ECTS / P ROVI DE D

arts & culture film

arts & culture film

City reels Oklahoma Urban Cinema Festival explores modern life and issues.

p h otos by OKL AH O MA U RBA N C I N E MA FESTI VAL / P ROVI DE D

By Ben Luschen

College Life Atlanta

Oklahoma Urban Cinema Festival April 8-10 okurbancinema.com $4-$20 7 p.m. April 8 Bricktown Hotel & Convention Center 2001 E. Reno Ave. 12:35 p.m., 3:10 p.m. 5 p.m., 6 p.m. and 8 p.m.

April 9 Metro Technology Centers 1900 Springlake Drive 5 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. April 10 Sauced on Paseo 2912 Paseo St.

Music Video Competition 6:30 p.m. April 9 The Sandwich Club 3703 N. Western Ave. $4

Marcus Hayes doesn’t want Oklahoma Urban Cinema Festival to be limited to a select community. Instead, he wants the fest to be Oklahoma City’s open invitation to the world of film.

Hayes is the director of the festival that begins its second year 7 p.m. April 8 at Bricktown Hotel & Convention Center, 2001 E. Reno Ave. The festival runs through April 10 at three other venues. More than 20 short and feature films will be screened.

“In America, sometimes, the word ‘urban’ can have an ethnic connotation,” Hayes said. “We don’t use it that way. We use it as urban as opposed to rural. You won’t see any countryside, rural-themed films at our festival. It’s about life in the city and what goes on.”

In the festival’s second year, Hayes said he and his small, hardworking staff have a better idea of what it takes to run the event. That includes a more creative marketing approach and a tightened lineup of screening venues. Last year, films were screened at eight sites.

“It was fun, but it was exhausting,” Hayes said. “We pared it down, and

40 | march 30, 2016 | Oklahoma Gazette

Rose

there’s not a lot of overlap. Last year, there was a great deal of overlap.”

This year, the festival also features a music video competition 6:30 p.m.

April 9 at The Sandwich Club, 3703 N. Western Ave. Hayes was so surprised by the great interest shown by filmmakers from overseas last year that he decided to create a foreign film category. This year’s fest includes selections from Israel, Ireland, North Africa, Chicago, California and, of course, Oklahoma.

“We didn’t just want to be an Oklahoma film festival,” Hayes said.

“What we wanted to do is incorporate our culture, our Oklahoma sensibilities, into the film festival sphere.”

Hayes is equally excited about every selection in the 2016 lineup, but he’s especially interested in The OKC 13. It’s a documentary short inspired by the trial of former Oklahoma City police officer Daniel Holtzclaw and screens 12:35 p.m. April 9 at Metro Technology Centers, 1900 Springlake Drive. Two-hour feature College Life Atlanta, screening 8 p.m. April 9 at Metro Tech, is equally exciting.

One of the festival’s goals this year is to establish credibility among filmmakers and local moviegoers.

“We want people to know we’re serious about what we’re doing and it’s a professional, very entertaining weekend,” Hayes said. “We want to provide for people who like to go watch films.”

For tickets and film schedules, visit okurbancinema.com. Single tickets are $4. All-festival passes are $20.

ph tos P ROVI DE D

ow

some love wi th

Mother’s Day

Love Notes

3 lines (115 characters) of love note. No Charge!

Click on the Mother’s Day Love Notes banner on okgazette.com to place a FREE message to your Mom, wife or that special person that puts up with you.

A Place to Stand

Your Love Note will publish in the May 4, 2016 issue in the Oklahoma Gazette What Mama Wants section.

Oklahoma City University’s latest film series examines three documentaries and three iconic storytellers.

by Mark Beutler

Thing and Spirit Both Documentary Film Series 2 p.m. Sunday, April 17 and May 1 Kerr McGee Auditorium Oklahoma City University 27th Street and McKinley Avenue okcufilmlit.org 405-208-5472 Free (donations appreciated)

April marks the 18th year of Oklahoma City University’s annual documentary film series. This year’s theme is Thing and Spirit Both. The series is traditionally held following spring break and upon completion of its annual OCU Film Institute.

Film screenings are 2 p.m. Sunday, April 17 and May 1 in Kerr McGee Auditorium at Meinders School of Business, NW 27th Street and McKinley Avenue.

“We selected each of these films ultimately because they are great documentary films that enlarge our sense of the world and, thus, ourselves,” said Harbour Winn, director of Oklahoma City University’s (OCU) Center for Interpersonal Learning through Film and Literature. “So a poet, a film critic and a photographer will explore this year’s theme.”

The series launches Sunday with Daniel Glick’s feature-length documentary A Place to Stand. It follows the life of Jimmy Santiago Baca, a native of Santa Fe, New Mexico, who spent five years in an Arizona state prison. While incarcerated, Baca taught himself to read and write and discovered a passion for poetry, which ultimately saved his life. The film is based on Baca’s 2001 memoir of the same name.

“Baca came to OCU in 2008,” Winn said.

While here, he led a workshop at the Mabel Bassett women’s correctional center in McLoud.

“The women there were so moved that he returned three times in the next year to continue what he had begun,” Winn said.

A Place to Stand is now touring the film festival circuit and has not yet been released commercially.

“We are able to offer the premiere in Oklahoma because of our close history with him,” Winn said.

April 17’s featured documentary is Steve James’ Life Itself, which chronicles the life of acclaimed Chicago film critic Roger Ebert and focuses on the months before the journalist’s death as he continued working while fighting cancer.

The Salt of the Earth, an Oscarnominated film displaying the work of photographer Sebastião Salgado, screens May 1. German Director Wim Wenders brings to life Salgado’s story of traveling the world capturing iconic and harrowing moments for National Geographic and other major publications.

“Mr. Salgado gave us views of misery from war and famine as well as views of the majesty of the earth’s natural wonders,” Winn said.

Each spring, a major American poet is invited to attend the festival. This year’s guest is Marie Howe, who speaks 10 a.m. and 9 p.m. April 6 at Kerr McGee Auditorium.

“Thing and spirit both” is a line from Howe’s poem “Once or Twice or Three Times, I Saw Something,” published in her 2009 collection The Kingdom of Ordinary Time: “It was a thing and spirit both: the real world: evident, invisible.”

“She often writes about the world filled with spirit, spiritual meaning,” Winn said. “In things, she sees deep essences or the workings of the divine, or at least she ponders that this could be so.”

For more information, visit okcufilmlit.org.

Okl ahoma Gaz ette | march 30, 2016 | 41

p hotos by OKLAHOMA URBAN CI N EMA FESTI VAL / PROVI DE D

Serious cinema

Sh

$2 BUD & BUD LIGHT MONDAY - FRIDAY 5PM - 8PM

$2 COORS & COORS LIGHT SATURDAY & SUNDAY NOON - 8PM

$2 BUD & BUD LIGHT SUNDAY 10PM - 12AM

Neverland adventure This year’s Ballet Ball carries guests to Neverland and beyond.

By Mark Beutler

2016 Ballet Ball: A Night in Neverland

OPEN MONDAY - FRIDAY 5PM - 2AM SATURDAY & SUNDAY 12PM - 2AM

ote ugly y o c r u o t u o k c e h c merchandise NO COVER FOR LADIES OR MILITARY WITH VALID ID

121 E CALIFORNIA AVE | IN BRICKTOWN NEXT TO MICKY MANTLES | 405.602.UGLY FACEBOOK.COM/COYOTEUGLYSALOONOKC COYOTEUGLYSALOON.COM

6:30-11:30 p.m. April 9 Chevy Bricktown Events Center 429 E. California Ave. okcballet.com 405-843-9898 $250 21+

Ballet Ball After Dark 9:30-11:30 p.m. April 9 Chevy Bricktown Events Center 429 E. California Ave. okcballet.com 405-843-9898 $50 (free with paid admission to A Night in Neverland) 21+

For around 30 years, Ballet Ball has been one of the most anticipated spring social events for arts patrons.

The black-tie gala is Oklahoma City Ballet’s largest fundraiser, and proceeds support its roster of performances, education and outreach.

This year’s event is 6:30 p.m. April 9 at Chevy Bricktown Events Center, 429 E. California Ave. Since OKC Ballet debuts its production of Peter Pan just one week after the ball, this year’s event theme is A Night in Neverland and features an exclusive show performance for guests, said Robert Mills, OKC Ballet artistic director.

“It will be a fun and fanciful evening with food, drink and a sneak peek from our new production,” Mills said.

Upon their arrival, guests will be offered champagne before being whisked away for a full-course dinner in Neverland.

This year’s event chairs are Phil and Maggie Clayton, who also will be honored for their contributions to the dance company. Diana Hampton, who will be honored for her many years of service to Oklahoma City Ballet, is honorary chairwoman.

“Diana was especially transformative for the organization in those early years when we were trying to recover from the missteps of the past,” Mills said. “She was a tireless leader who helped us get to where we are.”

42 | march 30, 2016 | Oklahoma Gazette

Peter Pan and Wendy dance in OKC Ballet’s production of Peter Pan. Mills is a driving force behind the ballet company’s artistic endeavors.

He also offers a unique perspective.

Not so long ago, he was onstage as a regular performer.

“The biggest difference today from when I was performing is the company is much more of an international product now,” he said.

“The company used to be a very provincial entity that hired many local dancers, produced its sets and costumes locally and choreographed the majority of its productions in-house.”

Oklahoma is still in high ranks, Mills said. OKC Ballet employs dancers from 13 different countries and many different states. The company also brings in internationally recognized choreographers.

Production sets and costumes are locally produced or rented and shipped to Oklahoma City.

“The company has more dancers today,” Mills said. “It does more performances, tours more and has three times the budget it had when I was performing.”

In addition to its lavish productions, OKC Ballet has a number of educational initiatives for younger performers. The company teaches dance classes in seven elementary schools around the metro.

Additionally, its Project Plié program offers professional dance training through its afterschool programs at Boys & Girls Clubs of Oklahoma County. The Dance Center of Oklahoma City Ballet has about 300 students enrolled in its classes.

Ballet Ball tickets are $250.

Complimentary valet parking is available. Younger professionals who desire a less formal event option can attend Ballet Ball After Dark, which runs 9:30-11:30 p.m. at the event center.

After Dark tickets are $50, or free with Ballet Ball admission, and include an open bar, a silent auction and music from SquadLive.

Visit okcballet.com or call 405843-9898 for more information.

P R OVI DE D

HAPPY HOUR

Arts & Culture

Queen quintet

BR I GH TMUS I C CHAM BER E N S E M B L E / P ROVI DE D

Performing arts

COMING SOON

okcres t aurant week .com

Brightmusic Chamber Ensemble honors the music of Queen with a woodwind arrangement.

A woodwind quartet performs at a Brightmusic Chamber Ensemble performance.

By Ben Luschen

Quintets, Sextets & Queen 7:30 p.m. Tuesday St. Paul’s Cathedral 127 NW Seventh St. brightmusic.org Free-$20

Freddie Mercury famously said people could do what they wished with his music and legacy as long as they “never [made him] boring.”

Brightmusic Chamber Ensemble takes that message to heart.

Queen’s unorthodox use of different musical styles under the general rock umbrella often baffled critics of the day, but it makes the band’s music a logical fit in a chamber music setting.

Brightmusic closes out its season with Quintets, Sextets and Queen 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at St. Paul’s Cathedral, 127 NW Seventh St. A Queen arrangement by Carl Rath includes parts of the songs “The Show Must Go On,” “Somebody to Love,” “Crazy Little Thing Called Love,” “Fat Bottomed Girls,” “The March of the Black Queen,” “Radio Ga Ga” and “You’re My Best Friend.”

“Bohemian Rhapsody” runs all the way through.

Chad Burrow, co-artistic director of Brightmusic and former principal clarinet at Oklahoma City Philharmonic, said Brightmusic is always looking for new and exciting ways to mix musical styles when preparing a season. It opened its season in September with an arrangement of songs by The Beatles.

“I personally am a huge fanatic of Queen, and I have always wanted to find some way of performing their music,” Burrow said.

He called Queen, led by iconic frontman Mercury, a unique rock band in the history of popular music.

Its 1975 album A Night at the Opera is known for combining elements of hard rock, musical theater, balladry, ragtime, progressive rock and opera.

“The arrangement of Queen songs for a traditional classical woodwind quintet is a kind of homage to a band that prided itself on breaking through genre and stylistic stereotypes to create a truly unique soundscape,” Burrow said.

Queen bravely combined rock and opera, so why not mix chamber music with popular music? Mercury would approve.

The night’s performance also features more traditional offerings.

Anton Reicha’s early 19th-century work “Wind Quintet Op 88, No. 2” was specifically constructed to highlight the five flavors of the classic woodwind quintet: flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon and horn.

“Mládi,” or “Youth” in English, is a sextet by Czech composer Leoš Janácek. The piece brings an Eastern European folkloric color to the program and adds a bass clarinet.

The event’s other sextet, by Ludwig Thuille, adds piano to the woodwind quintet. Burrow called it the masterwork of the mostly unknown composer.

“It is filled with audacious Romantic-era harmonies, extravagant melodic writing and a powerful dramatic scope,” he said. “This is sure to be an audience favorite.”

He said when he helps set up Brightmusic seasons, he tries to find a great mix of standard chamber music and winds and strings covering a broad repertoire from the Baroque era to modern day.

“We at Brightmusic strive to offer the public something that they cannot get anywhere else,” he said.

For more information or to order tickets, visit brightmusic.org.

Oklahoma Gazette | march 30, 2016 | 43

Ga r e t t fi s b e c k

arts & culture books

Ay, kids!

Henry Winkler reaches a new generation of fans with a children’s book series.

By Ben Luschen

Proudest accomplishment

Winkler has played one of the most ubiquitous characters in television history and was also on Arrested Development, but in the author bio on his book’s jacket cover, Winkler lists his Hank Zipzer series as his most satisfying career accomplishment.

“Outside of my children and my grandchildren, I am the proudest of these books,” he said. “That they exist in the first place, that I’m part of a writing team, that we are intertwined in the process, every detail is ours, knocks me out of my shoes.”

Winkler never pictured himself as

44 | march 30, 2016 | Oklahoma Gazette

an author before. His inability to focus on a book or any written words felt like a great personal failing, despite his fame. When his agent, Alan Berger, first suggested he write about his struggles in a children’s book, the actor dismissed the idea. He wanted to help kids like him, but he thought there was no way a dyslexic person could write a book. That’s when Berger introduced him to Oliver.

Winkler and Oliver have developed a fun, team-based writing process.

Winkler dictates his thoughts as Oliver interjects. Both put quality humor as a top priority.

“Whereas most novels are probably written in a cave by someone acting miserable, ours is the opposite experience,” Oliver said. “We collaborate, we write together, we listen to each other, we laugh. If we’re not laughing, it doesn’t get in the book. So it’s really a very joyful process.”

Okie heart

This was Winkler’s second visit to Oklahoma City, but he has felt a long-standing attachment to the state, mostly because friend Ron Howard won’t stop talking about it.

Howard, born in Duncan, met Winkler while playing Richie Cunningham on the Happy Days set before going on to become the famed Hollywood director of A Beautiful Mind and The Da Vinci Code.

Winkler’s affection for the state is also strengthened by his love of Ada-born Blake Shelton. The actor is a dedicated fan of The Voice TV talent show and said he is disappointed Shelton’s girlfriend, Gwen Stefani, is absent from this season.

“I went last year to hear [The Voice] live because that guy, Jordan Smith — and I just downloaded his album — when he sang the Freddie Mercury song [“Somebody to Love”], I got out of my chair,” Winkler said. “That was astounding.”

His enthusiasm for The Voice is matched by his confidence in his signature snack.

In You Can’t Drink a Meatball Through a Straw, Hank Zipzer finds himself in a cooking contest without the slightest idea how to cook or the ability to recognize all of his given

Henry Winkler speaks during a recent Oklahoma City visit.

PENG UIN RANDOM HOU SE / P ROVI DED

When people think of Happy Days, they remember Arthur Fonzarelli. The Fonz’s few weaknesses are not as easily recalled.

Fonzie, played by actor Henry Winkler, became a television and American icon during the sitcom’s run in the ’70s and ’80s. He was the coolest guy in town, he could fix anything and he got all the girls. But he also was a slow learner and had trouble in school.

Winkler, who is dyslexic, could relate to his Fonzie character in that way. The Fonz’s learning disabilities didn’t come to define him because his character wasn’t represented. He was a neighborhood champion, and above all, he was funny.

Decades later, Winkler revisits that formula to impact a younger generation. He is co-author of the Here’s Hank book series featuring Hank Zipzer, a character loosely based on a childhood version of Winkler.

Winkler and co-author Lin Oliver spoke with Oklahoma Gazette at a publicity event promoting the newest book in the series, You Can’t Drink a Meatball Through a Straw. All the books in the series are written in a special font designed for dyslexic readers. But Winkler’s immediate concern was not the novelty of the book; it was the quality of its content.

Did it make you laugh? he asks.

He earnestly waits for an answer, as if seeking validation.

“We write comedy,” he explained.

“These are not self-help books. These are not, ‘Oh, isn’t it terrible? The guy’s got a problem.’”

Yes, the book is funny.

ingredients. Winkler said he has never found himself in a cooking contest, but he imagines he would not be any better off than Zipzer.

He said he’s skilled at preparing breakfast, but he’s especially proud of the treat he often prepares for his friends and family: a bowl of brown mustard with thinly sliced cheese and prosciutto folded around the edge, to be dipped together or separately.

“It will blow you away,” he said. “It also looks good.”

Being yourself

Winkler appreciates the power of humor, but he couldn’t be more serious about this book series. It’s obvious that Here’s Hank is much more than a side project.

Winkler’s goal is to use humor as a gateway to enjoying a reading experience. A message of selfconfidence is also an underlying theme.

He said it doesn’t matter how a child does in school; it doesn’t mean they are brilliant or resourceful.

“That is the takeaway,” Winkler said, “that every kid is great and our job as adults is to support them, buoy them so that they are confident and

You Can’t Drink a Meatball Through a Straw by Henry Winkler and Lin Oliver comfortable enough to meet their destiny.”

The eighth book in the Here’s Hank series, The Soggy, Foggy Campout, is set to be published later this year.

PHI L I P PE MATSAS / p rov ide d

Francophone festival

Alain Mabanckou

2016’s Puterbaugh Festival of International Literature & Culture features Alain Mabanckou.

By Kaley Patterson

2016 Puterbaugh Festival of International Literature & Culture April 6-8 University of Oklahoma campus 600 Parrington Oval, Norman puterbaughfestival.org 405-325-4531 Free

People often assume Norman and Oklahoma itself are far away from the outside world, disconnected from international realities and cultures.

But Daniel Simon, assistant director and editor-in-chief at World Literature Today, begs to differ with the dose of connectedness the annual Puterbaugh Festival of International Literature & Culture offers each year.

“A lot of people think, ‘Oh, Norman is kind of this isolate backwater town on the plains. It’s not New York or Los Angeles,’” Simon said. “But there’s so much culture here, and there’s great opportunities for international education at [the University of Oklahoma (OU)] that it’s really quite a remarkable opportunity for anyone who might be able to attend.”

This year’s spring festival April 6-8 features novelist, poet and essayist Alain Mabanckou and other visiting scholars from the University of Pennsylvania and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

The three-day event explores francophone literature with poetry readings and a film screening on opening night, public talks and Q&A sessions with Mabanckou, lectures by visiting scholars Lydie Moudileno and Dominic Thomas and francophone culture roundtable discussions.

Mabanckou is a French citizen

born in Pointe-Noire, Congo, who currently lives in Los Angeles and teaches literature at UCLA. He has authored six volumes of poetry and six novels and won the Grand Prix de la littérature Henri Gal from Académie française in 2012, the Sub-Saharan African Literature Prize, the prix Renaudot and recently the French Voices Grand Prize for 2016.

He was also a 2015 finalist for the Man Booker International Prize.

Mabanckou’s works translated to English include African Psycho, Broken Glass, Black Bazaar, Tomorrow I’ll Be Twenty, Letter to Jimmy and The Lights of Pointe-Noire.

Simon said part of the Puterbaugh festival’s history from its early years is to focus on Spanish and French writings and boasted that Mabanckou is “regarded as one of the most vibrant [francophone] voices” in the world.

“We wanted to connect students to a living writer who has a really brilliant career already and is really known for his exuberant and flamboyant style,” Simon said. “He speaks English perfectly well, so he can speak in French or English to anyone who attends. He’s really kind of a hot writer on the francophone scene right now.”

The Puterbaugh Festival is free and open to the public and happens on the OU campus in Norman.

An opening reception 6:30-8 p.m.

April 6 is in Beaird Lounge in the Oklahoma Memorial Union, 900 Asp Ave. in Norman.

World Literature Today is a bimonthly literature and culture magazine published at the University of Oklahoma. It is one of the oldest continuously published literary periodicals in the country.

For a full list of venues and events, visit puterbaughfestival.org.

Oklahoma Gazette | march 30, 2016 | 45

A SEASONAL GUIDE TO CENTRAL OKLAHOMA P U B L I S H I N G M AY 4 , 2 0 1 6

Summer never seems long enough so Gazette is giving its readers the go-to guide for filling every second with fun across the state.

FEATURING A 3 MONTH CALENDAR INCLUDING: Fairs and Festivals Concerts Museums

Art Exhibits Theater Day Trips

Classes Workshops Summer Camps

ALONG WITH EXPANDED EDITORIAL CONTENT

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arts & Culture calendar BOOKS Harper Lee: Reprised, OCU President Robert Henry and professor Robert Roensch hosts a retrospective of Harper Lee’s life and work, 6:30 p.m., March 30. Full Circle Bookstore, 1900 Northwest Expressway, 405-8422900, fullcirclebooks.com. WED

HAPPENINGS

An Afternoon with Oklahoma Authors, hear Joe Washington and Tom Lindley along with civic leader Gene Rainbold and others talk about and sign their books, 1-3 p.m., April 2. Best of Books, 1313 E. Danforth Road, Edmond, 405-340-9202, bestofbooksok.com. SAT

Design Appétit, this multiday event showcases the unique, one-ofa-kind dining spaces created by the metro’s most creative minds, including architectural firms, interior designers, colleges and collaborative design teams; proceeds benefit Focus on Home, March 31-April 2. Cox Convention Center, 1 Myriad Gardens, 405-602-8500, coxconventioncenter.com. THU -SAT Art After 5 Murder Mystery Night, the paintings are at it again; interview the suspects who are dressed as characters in the paintings and follow the clues to discover who murdered Mr. Hancock, 5:30-8:30 p.m., March 31. Oklahoma City Museum of Art, 415 Couch Drive, 405-236-3100, okcmoa.com. THU

Julia Mitchell Book Signing, author signs her latest book, The Way Home: Growing in Relationship with God and Humanity, 3 p.m., April 2. Full Circle Bookstore, 1900 Northwest Expressway, 405-842-2900, fullcirclebooks.com. SAT

Medieval Fair, entertainment for the whole family includes minstrels, dancing, theater and reenactments, jugglers, knights jousting on horseback and human chess games; brightly costumed characters include King Arthur, mermaids, and the fair’s royal court, April 1-3. Reaves Park, 2501 S. Jenkins Ave., Norman, 405-366-5472, visitnorman.com. FRI -SUN

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Jerry Wilson Book Signing, author signs Across the Cimarron, 6:30 p.m., April 5. Full Circle Bookstore, 1900 Northwest Expressway, 405-8422900, fullcirclebooks.com. TUE

DIY Scrub Station, learn a fun, easy way to slough off dull, dry skin to reveal a healthy, hydrating glow; take home your own customized DIY salt and sugar scrub and oneof-a-kind recipes, using all-natural ingredients and signature oil blends, 1-3 p.m., April 2. Natural Grocers, 7001 N. May Ave., 405-840-0300, naturalgrocers.com. SAT ONE: Noche Cubana, an evening celebrating the arts and culture of Cuba supporting Norman Arts; art auction featuring works by some of Oklahoma’s finest artists, dance lessons, a cigar lounge, live music, great food and drink and more surprises that unfold throughout the evening, 7-11 p.m., April 2. Mainsite Contemporary Art, 122 E. Main St., Norman, 405-360-1162, mainsite-art. com. SAT

Thatcher Hoffman Smith Poetry Series Acclaimed American poet Marie Howe is the special guest at this year’s Thatcher Hoffman Smith Poetry Series April 6 at Oklahoma City University (OCU).

Howe received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1998, and her poems have appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic and Harvard Review. She leads a workshop 10 a.m. that day and reads from her work 8 p.m. at Kerr McGee Auditorium in OCU’s Meinders Schools of Business, NW 27th Street and McKinley Avenue.

An open-mic poetry reading is 6:15 p.m. Admission is free. Visit okcufilmlit.org or call 405-208-5472.

April 6

FILM Two Women, (US, 1999, dir. Tahmineh Milani) based on a script that was banned from production for more than seven years, presents the lives of two architectural students during the first years of the Islamic Republic, 5:30 p.m., March 31. Oklahoma City Museum of Art, 415 Couch Drive, 405236-3100, okcmoa.com. THU

Live Blacksmithing and Brunch, enjoy a day of blacksmithing, bloody marys and brunch; start the day at the Iron Masters production facility and view a blacksmithing demonstration, 10:30-11:30 a.m., April 3. Iron Masters, 401 N. Tompkins Drive, 405-787-0211, ironmasters.com. SUN Open Streets OKC, local health and wellness project that promotes healthier residents with closer ties to the community; 23rd Street is closed and visitors are invited to walk, bike skate or skateboard while they meet local business owners and celebrate the unique charm of a historic Oklahoma City neighborhood, noon4 p.m., April 3. Uptown 23rd Street, NW 23rd St. SUN

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FRINGE Annual Member’s Group Show FRINGE brings contemporary female artists together to promote progressive ideas in Oklahoma. It’s a network of women with a wide array of knowledge working in many mediums. Its annual show features 19 artists’ works including contemporary paintings, multimedia, installations, meal, glass, ceramic and wood sculptures, jewelry, collages, prints, works on paper and large-scale paintings. The show runs Tuesday-April 27 at Graphite Elements and Design, 1751 NW 16th St. The opening reception is 7-11 p.m. April 9. Visit facebook.com/fringeokc or call 405-919-0578 or 405-3211007. Tuesday-Wednesday, ongoing Wind Nursery in Norman, 6:30 p.m., March 31. Urban Agrarian, 1235 SW Second St., 405-231-1919, urbanagrarian.com. THU Art of the Cocktail, a night of craft cocktail tastings and light hors d’eouvres, 7 p.m., March 31.

R&J Lounge and Supper Club, 320 Northwest 10th St., 405-602-5066, rjsupperclub.com. THU ARTini Arcade, martini and food tastings with proceeds benefiting Allied Arts and the nonprofit arts organizations it supports, 7-11 p.m., April 1. OKC Farmers Public Market, 311 S. Klein Ave., 405-232-6506, okcfarmersmarket.com. FRI Grilled Cheese Showdown, third annual showdown featuring six Wisconsin Cheese brand representatives, you decide who makes the best, 10 a.m.-1 p.m., April 2. Uptown Grocery Co., 9515 N. May Ave., 405-242-6080, uptowngroceryco.com. SAT The ABC’s of What You Eat: Grape Tomatoes, learn the facts about grape tomatoes including nutritional benefits, how to select, store and serve them in this class; prepare and enjoy healthy and delicious Greek salad kabobs, 9:30 a.m., April 5. Uptown Grocery Co., 1230 W. Covell Road., Edmond, 405-509-2700, uptowngroceryco. com. TUE Champagne Tasting, taste a variety of champagnes from around the world along with heavy

hors d’ouvres, 6-8 p.m., April 6.

Oklahoma City Museum of Art, 415 Couch Drive, 405-236-3100, okcmoa.com. WED

YOUTH OKC Zoo Smile Safari, young zoo goers learn the importance of good dental hygiene through fun activity stations, 10 a.m.-2 p.m., April 2.

The Oklahoma City Zoo, 2000 Remington Pl., 405-424-3344, okczoo.com. SAT Once Upon a Time Princess Party, explore Orr Family Farm and wear your favorite costume and meet princesses like Cinderella, Rapunzel, Elsa and Anna; pizza lunch with cookies and a candy bar, 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m., April 2. Orr Family Farm, 14400 S. Western Ave., 405-7993276, orrfamilyfarm.com. SAT Drop-In Art: Oil Pastel Drawing, join guest artists each Saturday as they interact with families to create extraordinary works of art inspired by the museum’s collection, exhibitions and special occasions, 1-4 p.m., April 2. Oklahoma City Museum of Art, 415 Couch Drive, 405-236-3100, okcmoa.com. SAT

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Children’s Opera: The Ring of Fettucines, this delightful spoof of opera features bits and pieces of themes and plots from famous operas woven together into a hilarious patchwork, 2 p.m., April 2-3. University of Central Oklahoma,

...all the cool kids are doing it! facebook.com/okgazette Provid ed

Knighton Meade Book Signing, signing of the fifth installment of the Simon Rush Mystery Series, Duchess Takes Deauville, 5:30 p.m., March 31.

Full Circle Bookstore, 1900 Northwest Expressway, 405-842-2900, fullcirclebooks.com. THU

A Place to Stand, (2014, US, dir.

Daniel Glick) the story of celebrated poet and Santa Fe, New Mexico, native Jimmy Santiago Baca, who was a petty thief and a drug dealer when he was sentenced to five years in one of the deadliest prisons in America, the Arizona State Prison, 2 p.m., April 3. Meinders School of

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Business, NW 27th Street & McKinley Avenue. SUN

Oklahoma Gazette

The Changing Landscape of Fashion & Retail, Oklahoma Innovation Series with guest speaker J. Michael Prince, President and COO, board member at Cole Haan, 4-5 p.m., April 4. Oklahoma City Museum of Art, 415 Couch Drive, 405-236-3100, okcmoa.com. MON Influence & Brown Bag, lunch and learn and networking meetup for business owners in Oklahoma City who are interested in expanding their knowledge of digital marketing while expanding their personal networks, 11:30-1 p.m., April 6. The Barn, 1601 N. Blackwelder Ave. WED

FOOD Farm to Table Dinner, five-course meal with a focus on pasture raised lamb and herbs, each course is paired with wines from Putnam Wines; guest speaker from Prairie

Next Course! A taste of the epic life that awaits One person’s heaping piles of recklessly thrown away junk are another person’s art supplies. A giant TV dinner chicken made of action figures and a polar bear constructed from found objects spend their second lives in the spotlight in Next Course!, Shel Wagner’s new exhibit at Multi Arts Center, 1001 S. Duck St., in Stillwater. Wagner’s pop and folk pieces are created using found objects, clay, paint and whatever else she can get her hands on. An opening reception is 6-9 p.m. Friday. The show runs through June 23.

Multi Arts Center is open 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday-Thursday, noon-5 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday and 1-5 p.m. Sunday. Admission is free. Call 405-747-8084 or visit multiartscenter.org. Friday-Wednesday, ongoing

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Drop-In Yoga, yoga class in the museum’s galleries, 5:45-6:45 p.m., March 31. Oklahoma City Museum of Art, 415 Couch Drive, 405-236-3100, okcmoa. com. THU OKC Thunder vs LA Clippers, NBA basketball game, 8:30 p.m., March 31. Chesapeake Energy Arena, 100 W. Reno Ave., 405-602-8700, chesapeakearena.com. THU

O. Gail Poole: Flora & Felines Renowned Oklahoma artist O. Gail Poole got his start in Southwestern art and eventually moved on to learn the techniques of European masters. After his death in 2013, his daughter took over his catalogue and prepared it for continuous public exhibition. O. Gail Poole: Flora & Felines features works of cats in nature and is on display in the south lobby of the Crystal Bridge Tropical Conservatory at Myriad Botanical Gardens, 301 W. Reno Ave. An opening reception is 6-8 p.m. April 7. The lobby is open 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday and 9 a.m.-5 p.m.

Monday-Saturday. The show runs through May 26. Visit ogailpoole.com or call 405-445-7080. Monday-Wednesday, ongoing 100 N. University Drive, Edmond, 405-974-2000, uco.edu. SAT-

Daniel the Tiger and more, 9 a.m.-1 p.m., April 5. Oklahoma City Zoo, 2000 Remington Pl., 405-424-3344, okczoo.com. TUE

SUN

Red vs the Wolf, the story of Little Red Riding Hood told from the wolf’s point of view; he is determined to tell the story as it really happened, of the true nature of Red Riding Hood and his own good intentions, 11 a.m. & 12:45 p.m., March 31 & April 5, 2 p.m., April 2 & 3. Oklahoma Children’s Theatre, 2501 N. Blackwelder Ave., 405-606-7003, oklahomachildrenstheatre.org.

THU/SAT-SUN/ TUE

Art Adventures, children experience the world of art through stories and projects in this event series; this week’s story is Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes by Eric Litwin with illustrations by James Dean, 10:30 a.m., April 5. Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, 555 Elm Ave., Norman, 405325-3272, ou.edu/ fjjma. TUE

Peter and the Wolf and Friends, a classic for all generations; get to know all the sounds of the instruments in the orchestra as you follow the story of Peter and the Wolf, plus a few surprises with other forest friends that are sure to please, 2 p.m., April 3. Civic Center Music Hall, 201 N. Walker Ave., 405-297-2264, okcciviccenter.com. SUN

PERFORMING ARTS Ricky Reyes, one of the freshest rising comedians in the country. With a perfect combination of likeability, stage presence and relentless joketelling, its no wonder he is one of the most sought-after acts in comedy venues today, 8 p.m., March 31; 8 & 10:30 p.m., April 1-2.

Loony Bin Comedy Club, 8503 N. Rockwell Ave., 405-239-4242, loonybincomedy.com. WED -SAT

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Read Across Oklahoma 2016, preschoolers and guests enjoy a day of storytelling, readingrelated activities, dancing, meeting PBS KIDS character

Stuart Woods novel debut Bestselling author Stuart Woods debuts Family Jewels, the newest book in his Stone Barrington series, at two fundraising events.

The first is a private fan event 4:30 p.m. Tuesday at Best of Books, 1313 E. Danforth Road, in Edmond.

Admission is $50. The second is 7 p.m. Tuesday at Patience S. Latting Northwest Library, 5600 NW 122nd St. Tickets are $40 and must be ordered in advance. Proceeds benefit Oklahoma Center for the Book. Visit bestofbooksok.com or call 405-340-9202. Tuesday

Kaleidoscope Dancers in Concert, University of Centeral Oklahoma’s Kaleidoscope Dancers present a one-ofa-kind dance performance featuring new and innovative choreography from UCO faculty and guest artists, 7:30 p.m., March 31-April 2. UCO Mitchell Hall Theater, 100 N. University Drive, Edmond, 405-974-2000, uco.edu. THU -SAT Clybourne Park, comedy-drama

by Bruce Norris explodes in two outrageous acts set 50 years apart: Act one takes place in 1959, as nervous community leaders anxiously try to stop the sale of a home to a black family. Act two is set in the same house in present day, as the now predominantly AfricanAmerican neighborhood battles to hold its ground in the face of gentrification, 8 p.m., April 1-2. Carpenter Square Theatre, 806 W. Main St., 405-232-6500, carpentersquare.com. FRI -SAT The Fantasticks, “Try to Remember” what it’s like to be young and fall in love with this classic musical fable; the world’s longest-running musical enchants guests with its universal story and charming music, 7:30 p.m., April 6. Lyric Theatre, 1727 NW 16th St., 405-524-9312, lyrictheatreokc. com. WED

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OUCHA Health Dash, 5K and 10K races; seventh annual Health Dash benefiting Good Shepherd free clinic, 9 a.m., April 2. HSC David L. Boren Student Union, 1106 N. Stonewall Ave., 405-2713606, students.ouhsc.edu/ StudentUnion.aspx. SAT Urban Hike, join Trailhead OKC for its first hike of 2016; explore the sites of Oklahoma City on this six-mile hike, 4:30 p.m., April 3. Bicentennial Park, 500 Couch Drive, 405-2973882. SUN

VISUAL ARTS Affinity Works: Home Lands, paintings by Michael Nicholson, who uses a technique combining on-site plein air painting with tradional studio painting. Oklahoma State Capitol, 2300 N. Lincoln Blvd.

Artist Talk & Demonstration, join Stacey Miller, a mixed media artist with a primary focus in printmaking, as she talks about and demonstrates her techniques which include using natural materials, pulling together elements of color and embellishment with drawing media, lithography and the etching process, 2-4 p.m., April 3. The Depot, 200 S. Jones Ave., Norman, 405-307-9320, pasnorman.org. SUN

GROW, an art sale with local and OKC Girls Art School artists; garden-themed items including handmade plant stakes and a clay and paper mache mushroom garden created by the girls, 6-9 p.m., April 1.

SixTwelve, 612 NW 29th St., sixtwelve.org. FRI Honeybadgers, Blair Thurman’s works emphasize his broad range of media with neon being one of his main materials; exhibit inspired by the design on a favorite T-shirt and is reminiscent of totem poles first created by indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America. Oklahoma City Museum of Art, 415 Couch Drive, 405-236-3100, okcmoa.com.

In One Ear, a kaleidoscope of overlapping video clips in constant flux, ruled by a soundtrack broadcast on radio frequency 99.9 FM; David Steele Overholt chose more than 200 mostly '80s and '90s video clips to conjure nostalgia among the generations raised in front of the TV, as images from Saved by the Bell, Full House, Seinfeld and more comingle on the screen.

Oklahoma Contemporary Showroom, 1146 N. Broadway Drive, 405-951-0000, oklahomacontemporary.org.

Lawrence Naff at Studio Six, using methods of decoden learned in Osaka, Japan, Lawrence Naff displays work meticulously covered in crystals. Jewel encrusted clutch bags, jewelry and other accessories are displayed Paseo Studio Six, 3021 N. Paseo St., 405-528-0174.

focus in printmaking. The Depot, 200 S. Jones Ave., Norman, 405-307-9320, pasnorman.org.

Our City, Our Collection: Building the Museum’s Lasting Legacy, tells the story of the museum’s history as a series of transformative gifts, bequests and acquisitions; including artists such as Georgia O’Keefe, Rembrandt van Rijn, Gustave Courbet and many more.

Oklahoma City Museum of Art, 415 Couch Drive, 405-236-3100, okcmoa.com.

Philip Van Keuren: Murmurations, although each work stands on its own the entire body of images is considered one work of art. Artspace at Untitled, 1 NE Third St., 405-815-9995, artspaceatuntitled.org.

em/BARK: A Migratory Experiment, a sequel to Christie Hackler’s popular installation FOR/give; exhibit celebrates the monarch butterfly as a symbol of freedom, of release from the past and joy for the future with 300 brightly colored enameled butterflies. The Project Box, 3003 Paseo St., 405-609-3969, theprojectboxokc.com.

First Friday Gallery Walk, an opportunity to view the galleries in the Paseo Arts District featuring over 60 artists in more than 17 galleries, 6-10 p.m., April 1. Paseo Arts District, 3022 Paseo St., 405525-2688, thepaseo.com. FRI Forgotten, Isaac Harper aims to preserve what people once called their homes and show the legacies that are left behind by these families. Artspace at Untitled, 1 NE Third St., 405815-9995, artspaceatuntitled. org.

Q&A with Making a Murder Defense Attorney The Netflix documentary series Making a Murderer didn’t win freedom for Steven Avery, but it did make his defense attorney a star. Dean A. Strang won over many fans with his demeanor, eloquence and devotion.

A Q&A with Strang is noon April 4 in the Dick Bell Courtroom at University of Oklahoma’s College of Law, 300 W. Timberdell Road, in Norman. Admission is free, but seating is limited. Public overflow seating will be available in simulcast rooms, and Strang will visit those guests after the event. Visit law.ou.edu or call 405-325-9175.

Photography Exhibit, showcasing Ron Brandon.

50 Penn Place Gallery, 1900 Northwest Expressway, Suite 113-R, 405-848-5567, 50pennplacegallery.com.

Posed & Composed: Portraits of Women from the Permanent, exhibition of 12 portraits by 11 American artists covers the period from just before World War I through the early 1980s; The paintings are not arranged chronologically, but according to commonalities in pose, gesture, color, composition and subject matter. Oklahoma City Museum of Art, 415 Couch Drive, 405-236-3100, okcmoa. com.

Pry the Lid Off, immersive exhibition by Summer Wheat explores history, revealing “the world behind the white

Monday

a painting demonstration by Cletus Smith. 11 a.m.-4 p.m., April 2-3. The Summer Wine Art Gallery, 2928-B Paseo St., 405831-3279, summerwinegallery. com. SAT-SUN Ted West Exhibit, Oklahoma City photographer whose photo collages draw on free associations and creative accidents to create unusual stories. IAO Gallery, 706 W. Sheridan Ave., 405-232-6060, iaogallery.org.

The Banjo World of Steve Martin, exhibit features a look at the musical side of one of America’s favorite entertainers and features his private collection. American Banjo Museum, 9 E. Sheridan Ave., 405-604-2793, americanbanjomuseum.com.

Beth Hammack and Pat Edwards, showcasing works in oil, watercolor, acrylic and mixed media, The Studio Gallery, 2642 W. Britton Road, 405-752-2642, thestudiogallery. org.

Ceramic Sculpture, Jean Keil, resident artist at In Your Eye Gallery, unveils her latest collection of ceramic pottery; an exploration of surface using texture highlighted with color on forms made with hand-building techniques. In Your Eye Gallery, 3005 Paseo St. #A, 405-5252161, inyoureyegallery.com.

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The Oklahoma Creativity Ambassadors Gala It’s no secret that Oklahoma is full of creative people. Creative Oklahoma is a nonprofit that promotes imaginative innovations that drive the economy. At its ambassadors’ gala, Creative Oklahoma honors citizens who have a positive creative impact on the state. This year’s inductees country music star Toby Keith (pictured) and others. Singer-songwriter Chase Kerby, cellist Erin Yeaman and classical composer and pianist Jerod Tate will perform. The event is 6-9 p.m. Monday in Meinders Hall of Mirrors at Civic Center Music Hall, 201 N. Walker Ave. Tickets are $250. Sponsorship opportunities are available. Visit stateofcreativity.com or call 405-232-5570. Learn more in our story on P. 30. Monday March Featured Artists, Arden Barrett and Sally Burpee display works including acrylic landscapes, portraits, oil paintings and other mediums.

The Studio Gallery, 2642 W. Britton Road, 405-752-2642, thestudiogallery.org.

Native American Bolo Ties: Vintage and Contemporary Artistry, explores the bolo ties unique Western sartorial adornment’s history and revival.

National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, 1700 NE 63rd St., 405-478-2250, nationalcowboymuseum.org.

Natural Impressions-Evolved, Oklahoma City artist Stacey Dianne Miller creates mixed media artwork with a primary

kitchen wall” of Johannes Vermeer’s "The Milkmaid"; depicting the four rooms of the maid’s personal chambers and includes a variety of 2- and 3-D media, from faux stained-glass panels made of mylar and mesh to silhouetted dishes and a peek inside imagined dresser drawers. Oklahoma Contemporary, 3000 General Pershing Blvd., 405-951-0000, oklahomacontemporary.org.

Red Clay Faction, student ceramics exhibition. The Lightwell Gallery, 520 Parrington Oval, Norman, 405325-2691, art.ou.edu.

Southwestern Exhibit & Sale, featuring a presentation from sculptor Heather Kaiser and

Through the Eyes of the Lynx: Galileo and Microscopy, the second of two Galileo’s World exhibitions; the Academy of the Lynx, or Accademia dei Lincei, were responsible for the first published report of observations made with a microscope (Apiarium, 1625), as well as with the telescope. At the same time Galileo was making his telescopic discoveries, he was also experimenting with lenses to magnify the small. Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History, 2401 Chautauqua Ave., Norman, 405-325-4712, snomnh.ou.edu.

Western Skies, artist Gene Dougherty; watercolors of cattle, horses, Indians and all that typify Oklahoma and the American West, painted in his unique, realistic style. Paseo Gallery One, 2927 Paseo St., 405-524-4544, facebook.com/ paseogalleryone.

Willard Stone Centennial: A Legacy of Art Through Family, multimedia exhibit showcases artwork by the late Willard Stone and his family. Oklahoma Country-Western Museum & Hall of Fame, 3929 SE 29th St., 405-677-3174.

For music calendar see page 56

Unfurling Folds

After three decades in the music business, Ben Folds has no patience for disingenuous crap.

Ben Folds

By Ben Luschen

Ben Folds 8 p.m. April 13 Chevy Bricktown Events Center 429 E. California Ave. chevyeventscenter.com 405-236-4143 $35.50-$221

Few artists appear as comfortable in their own skin as suburbia’s poet laureate Ben Folds. The piano man has maintained a steady, 31-year music career since launching Ben Folds Five in the ’90s.

He brings his time-honored act to Oklahoma City 8 p.m. April 13 at Chevy Bricktown Events Center, 429 E. California Ave. While Folds has maintained relevance, it’s not without change.

These days, the notably unfiltered musician finds himself in pristine philharmonic concert halls as frequently as rock venues. His last solo album, 2015’s So There, was a collaboration with New York chamber sextet yMusic.

He also takes time to share his wisdom with the industry’s up-and-comers and frequently speaks at music schools across the country.

In a recent Oklahoma Gazette interview, Folds reflected on the artist he has become, how he handles “fucking it up” while performing and what it really

means to be considered “cool.”

Oklahoma Gazette: The most recent thing I saw you do was NPR’s Feb. 16 Tiny Desk Concert. What do you think of that performance? Because you stumbled a little on the lyrics [to “Phone in a Pool”], but you always play things off so cool.

Ben Folds: Well, I like to get things right. On one hand, I’m a good musician, but I fuck up a lot. But I don’t ever want to lull myself into thinking that’s OK, even though I’m always patted on the back for it. I’m glad I get applause when I fuck up; that’s really lucky for me.

OKG: Not everyone gets applause.

BF: I did try really hard to get it right.

You get to a point in your career when you realize — or maybe not everyone does — that you become an example of some kind. It gets to the point when a few generations of musicians have been watching what you do. I’m actually a really big stickler for “get it right,” yet here I am, fucking it up all over the place.

I remember a long time ago, a friend of mine pointed out that I had mentioned in an interview I didn’t practice. It was a Rolling Stone interview or something like that. She was horrified

It’s never going to be perfect when you mix art and education, like when we mix art and commerce or when we mix government with anything.

— Ben Folds

that I would say something like that in an interview when she’s got students who look up to me. I kind of thought, “Oh, yeah, she’s right. I kind of have a responsibility.”

OKG: Most people realize every artist they watch is human. They appreciate when people can play it off. You could have made a big deal about it or said, “This can never reach air.”

BF: Coming up in the ’90s, I saw a whole school of artists, even people you would never think were like that, who pored over all their photographs, edited stuff out, chewed publicists out for not making them look the right way. I’ve never had that. I’m too fucking lazy. It’s like, “Oh well. I messed up.” But I’d

rather get it right.

I’m always afraid these things that I do will become a shtick. At a rock concert, you’ll play the first few notes and everyone’s like, “We recognize it together! Yay!” and lighters go up, but no one listens to it anymore because it means something different; the meaning has been hijacked. If I ever feel, even in the smallest room, that I’m playing and that’s happened, I stop at the introduction. I talk about the song a little bit and I go back and I start it again. The reason for that isn’t a shtick so much, but I want to remember the reason I wrote something. You know?

You can forget what a song is about. I’ve tried to hang on to that, and I’ve tried to write songs I’ve thought would weather the repetition.

OKG: Several years ago in Oklahoma City, you gave a master class at the Academy of Contemporary Music at the University of Central Oklahoma (ACM@UCO). You went to school for percussion. What are your thoughts on formal music education?

BF: It’s never going to be perfect when you mix art and education, like when we mix art and commerce or when we continued on next page

Oklahoma Gazette | march 30, 2016 | 49

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AnimAl

ColleCtive sunday,

may 1 | 2016 cain’s

ballroom enter to win okgazette.com/gWW gazette’s weekly winner will be announced each week in the table of contents Printed winners have 7 days to claim tickets

must provide email, full name & phone number.

50 | march 30, 2016 | Oklahoma Gazette

OKG: Your most recent album, So There, is a collaboration with yMusic. Do you think that album accomplished everything you wanted it to?

BF: Anymore, if I felt like I made something and expressed myself, yeah, then it did it. I can try to push it like a campaign to an extent, and that’s exactly what they end up being. Being in the political season, it always strikes me how an album is, in fact, launching a campaign that costs a fuck-ton of money. There’s a whole system that you can be a part of, or it can be stacked against you.

I couldn’t tell you on a commercial or a critical level how it was received.

I expect if it had blown all the doors open, I would be accepting my Grammy and would have gotten a big check in the mail. People seem to like it, and I keep cruising. It was the No. 1 classical album for, like, weeks, so that’s cool. I never expected it to do that.

OKG: As you age, do you find yourself being less or more self-conscious about your music?

BF: I’m not sure people change too much in that regard. I think you have to loosen up a bit. If you’re overly, G re g Fio re / Provid ed

win 2 tickets to

mix government with anything. There are mixtures people don’t like because nobody wants to be told how to be an artist. But despite that, I’m for as much formal training as a musician can stand, a little bit more than they can stand.

I know as well as anyone else, maybe even better, that it’s frustrating, they’ll suffer, they’ll be told to be basically cookie-cutter versions of the school of music — all these things.

I remember getting kicked out of a music history class for sleeping on the desk. And the lesson had been about what a bad student Mozart was. I thought, “Oh, well that’s a nice compliment.” In my 17-year-old mind, I’m thinking that means I’m Mozart.

The thing is, it just means I was an artistic being trying to get through a system. No one wants to do that. …

The thing about going to a proper music school is you also surround yourself with the best of your age, which I think is important.

One more thing I’ll say about it is it can homogenize a musician. But I would consider that to be almost Darwinian. If you allow a music school to homogenize or sterilize your artistry, maybe you weren’t ready for the real world because that’s going to be a lot tougher than the fucking music school was.

unhealthily concerned with how you’re coming across, then it stands to reason that when you get it, quote, “right” and you’re being patted on that back, you should continue to strive for that. The problem is the world changes and you change and it’s a pretty sad-looking and sounding musical career when someone keeps trying to get patted on the back for something they did before.

I guess since we’re still in the wake of David Bowie, you could use him as a great example. Listen to even the tone of his voice in the mid-’70s and then listen to it in the early ’80s. It’s like the man’s nuts dropped. And he didn’t try to do what he had been doing at all. Most people do, and you hear it all the time.

That’s a bummer.

OKG: The cool thing about Bowie and his new album, Blackstar, is that a lot of artists his age could settle in to, “This is what I did when I became famous,” but he made progressive music through his dying days.

BF: We see this as cool at the moment, but I guarantee you Bowie’s last however many albums have been up against an incredible uphill perception.

His people or someone had to be incredibly frustrated at times that he couldn’t get certain opportunities

you think that he would. And now that he’s dead, he’ll certainly have those opportunities and people will appreciate it more now.

We’re talking about the coolest motherfucker of all time. Everyone knows that. But even he would have that problem. …

It’s sort of like Paul McCartney going out and doing a thing with Kanye West and having all these kids saying, “Oh, it’s really nice of Kanye to help this old man out.” But as soon as the terrible day comes that Paul McCartney dies, years of him weathering, being the most uncool motherfucker on the planet, that’ll be over. It’ll be, “Can you believe how cool this guy was?”

As you age in the music business, you have to take a lot of back seats. It’s very humbling. It’s harder to get certain things that used to be things they would just give you. You look at the person who’s getting those opportunities, and you’re like, “Are you shitting me? This fucking guy sucks! Really? They’re not going to have us? No!” That’s the thing about Tiny Desk.

It’s great. They gave me an opportunity by having me on, but that’s really not that normal for me. I have a hard time in this era. My people have a real hard time getting me on lots of stuff. So I go out on tour and do my thing.

OKG: You call Bowie the “coolest motherfucker of all time.” I came across a headline that called you “the subtly cool Ben Folds.” Do you think that’s apt?

BF: Subtly? Oh, I don’t know. You know, it’s really funny because I’m working on a book, and it’s basically just my thoughts on shit. It should just be called that, My Thoughts on Shit.

And one of the things I’m trying to address is this whole cool thing.

People talk about what makes the music business go ’round. Is it greed or fame or the art? A lot of people would assume there’s a bald, greedy motherfucker in an office somewhere that’s counting his dough.

Actually, I think all the unexplainable is quickly explainable in that they’re all just trying to be cool. They’re all

Gr e g Fi or e / P r ovi de d

Ben Folds

People talk about what makes the music business go ’round.

Is it greed or fame or the art?

— Ben Folds just trying to be cool. Right down to the fucking accountant who had his top five playlist ready to go, it looks coiffed and ready for an album cover.

Everyone’s so fucking cool, and they have been the whole time.

I used to just marvel showing up at these expensive video shoots where even the guy bringing in the craft service and the assistant to the makeup artist — they looked like they needed to be in the video, not me [with] my wrinkled clothes, walking in, fucking up.

I don’t know. I don’t even know what cool is. I remember William Shatner asking me that. We were working on his record [2004’s Has Been, arranged by Folds], and everyone would say, “Cool,” or, “That’s cool” or “That’s not cool.”

This guy was 75 years old at the time.

Now he’s 85, but he was like, “What is cool? What is cool? What is not cool? Do I give a fuck? Should I give a fuck?” I was like, “I don’t think you do; that’s why you’re cool.” But he was like, “But what is cool?”

OKG: That’s a good point. Everyone talks about it, but what is cool, really?

BF: You know, it’s probably best described in some sort of anthropological terms. It’s almost pheromonic. I think it may be a constant game of social chicken. “Is he going to back down on his opinion?

No, he’s not? Well he’s not cool and we’re sending him to the edge of the village.” Then it’s like, well, he’s standing there at the end of the village just in a fucking penis gourd, hanging out. That’s pretty cool. I think we’re going to go join him picking berries and shitting on the ground. Let’s go hang out with that guy. … It’s all bullshit.

Oklahoma Gazette | march 30, 2016 | 51

music “WHAT’S NEW!” The latest in contemporary big band music!

Featuring the Oklahoma Youth Jazz Ensemble.

MOndaY, april 4, 2016 aT 7pM pETrOlEuM Club 100 n. broadway (Chase Tower, 34th Floor)

Significant sound OKC’s Forum picks up the pace on its second album.

by George Lang

8 p.m. April 8 Anthem Brewery 908 SW Fourth St. facebook.com/forumisaband 405-604-0446 Free

TiCkETs aVailablE aT ThE dOOr $20.00 Optional buffet begins @ 6pM

TiCkETs: adults $20.00 students $5.00 with id

okcjazzorchestra.com

52 | march 30, 2016 | Oklahoma Gazette

When Oklahoma City post-rock band Forum convened for its second album, Take Yourself Too Seriously, the group wanted to create kinetically powerful songs that would instantly put crowds into motion. Guitarist Tyler Evans said he hopes fans who see Forum’s album release show 8 p.m. April 8 at Anthem Brewery, 908 SW Fourth St., will feel the difference.

“With this, we tried a little more, from the onset of every song to just have something that moves a lot better,” said guitarist Tyler Evans. “It has a lot more changes in dynamics, like Clay would say, from song to song.

It’s just quicker and more fun for people at live performances to move to.”

Before debuting with a self-titled album in 2014, Forum’s wall of glorious noise came as the result of a 20 percent loss of personnel in the quartet’s previous band, Map the Sea. When singer Joe Hopkins parted ways with Map the Sea, Evans, bassist Joe Rigazzi, drummer Clay Vaughan and guitarist Alex Fatkin decided to move forward with 100 percent fewer words.

“We just decided, ‘Let’s get it going again,’ so we decided to do all-new songs, no singer this time, change up the name and restart as a brand-new project,” Evans said.

While the sense of drama and dynamism remains from the first album, most songs on Take Yourself Too Seriously clock a little shorter and move through more changes than their predecessors. But while Forum made a concerted effort to punch up its new material for the sake of great live

shows, the creative process remained largely unchanged.

“We talk songs out before we do them a lot of times,” Fatkin said. “We’ll have one basic idea that I did by myself that is about a minute long, and then we’ll jam that out and talk among ourselves about where we want to go from there.”

Evans said this often involves long stretches where the rhythm section and the guitarists go their separate ways in order to get parts nailed down.

“We go back and forth until something lands, and then the other guys will come back in and we’ll try it out,” he said.

The band treats Forum and Take Yourself Too Seriously as calling cards or enticements to see it perform live, and while the group will have discs available for purchase at the Anthem Brewery release party, album sales are not a priority. Forum does sell copies and occasionally receives donations through NoiseTrade, but Vaughan compared the band’s philosophy to that of Radiohead circa In Rainbows, when Thom Yorke and company offered their 2007 album on a “pay what you like” basis.

“We just want people to hear it.

People might be more inclined to download it and share it with their friends if they don’t have to pay for it,” Evans said.

Fatkin said that fits in with the band’s origins.

“Forum definitely started at a place where we just wanted to play for our friends in bars,” Fatkin said. “That was a lot of the thought process when we started. Everything past that point, with picking up listeners who don’t know us and people who want to pay for our record, that’s just the cherry on top.”

P rovi ded

Forum with O Fidelis

Black magic

JOS EPH LLANES / P ROVIDED

music

The Black Lillies

This Tennessee six-piece blends roots rock, alt-country and more to create its distinctive blend of boot-stomping music.

By Wilhelm Murg

The Black Lillies 9:30 p.m. Friday Wormy Dog Saloon 311 E. Sheridan Ave. wormydog.com 405-601-6276 $8 21+

The Black Lillies brings its unique fusion of country, rock and jazz music to Bricktown with a gig 9:30 p.m.

Friday at Wormy Dog Saloon, 311 E. Sheridan Ave. The best description of its sound is Americana, the blanket term that covers traditional and alternative country, roots rock, rockabilly and progressive bluegrass and incorporates influences from multiple genres and cultures.

Hard to Please, the act’s fourth album, is a heady mixture of all the above and alternates between dance floor boot-stompers and tender love songs. It was released last year.

The Black Lillies is the brainchild of singer, songwriter and multiinstrumentalist Cruz Contreras, who recently spoke to Oklahoma Gazette about the band’s music, which he admitted is hard to label.

“That is something I’ve done on purpose over the years; I never wanted to pigeonhole the band,” he said. “I wanted us to have the freedom to create in different styles. Being from Knoxville, Tennessee, we are exposed to so much great roots music, rock ’n’ roll, blues, soul, bluegrass, country and mountain music — we just try to take elements of

all of that and put it together.

“Certainly, if someone calls what we do country music, I don’t have a problem with that,” Contreras continued. “I love country music and … it’s a huge part of our tradition. But our fans understand that if you come to one of our shows where we play two or two and a half hours, you’re going to go on a ride. We’re going to cover a lot of musical territory.”

We’ve done it the old-fashioned way.

We’ve just gone out there and played music and made records.

— Cruz Contreras

Moving forward

The band received some unwanted publicity in January after its tour van was stolen. While the vehicle was returned, vintage instruments, gear and personal possessions were not recovered.

“It was our last Texas tour, our last night. We played in Houston, we had a great show, stayed in a hotel by Bush Airport,” he said. “When we woke up, it was gone. It was all on camera. In 120 seconds, they had it stolen and drove off.”

The musicians received an outpouring of support from fans and gained a number of new ones. Over the last three months, Contreras has dealt with fundraisers, insurance and rebuilding the band’s gear, but he would much rather be writing songs and recording.

“It took us six months to solidify the new lineup, which is stronger than ever,” he said.

The act’s core lineup includes Bowman Townsend on percussion, Trisha Gene Brady on vocals and Contreras on guitar, keys, vocals and

mandolin. While recording Hard to Please, they were joined by bassist Bill Reynolds of Band of Horses, pedal steel player Matt Smith of The Honeycutters and young, Nashvillebased guitar phenom Daniel Donato.

“What we are excited about is moving forward and capturing that and making some new recordings.

It’s time, no doubt. This lineup has something really special to offer,” Contreras said. “There’s a pretty cool story with this band. We’ve done it without a record label and without moving to a major industry town.

We’ve done it the old-fashioned way.

We’ve just gone out there and played music and made records. It takes a little bit longer to make fans that way, but I feel like when we do make fans, most of them are going to stick with us for the long haul and support us in continually stretching and being creative, which is a real honor and a cool way to go about it all.”

For more information, visit theblacklillies.com.

Oklahoma Gazette | march 30, 2016 | 53

PHIL CLAR KIN PHOTO G RAP HY / P ROVIDED

music

Jacob Tovar

Primed picker Jacob Tovar and the Saddle Tramps bring classic country to Norman Music Festival in April.

By Ben Luschen

Norman Music Festival April 21-23 E. Main Street, downtown Norman normanmusicfestival.com Free

Editor’s note: Oklahoma Gazette will feature one Norman Music Fest performer a week in the lead-up to the festival.

Go to BestPlacestoWorkOK.com to register Application deadline: May 20, 2016

(405) 605-6789 Partners: okc.BIZ, Oklahoma Gazette, OK HR, The State Chamber of Oklahoma, Oklahoma Center for Non-Profits, Greater Oklahoma City Chamber

54 | march 30, 2016 | Oklahoma Gazette

When Jacob Tovar isn’t flexing his golden voice at late-night gigs in Tulsa, he can probably be found riding a horse in the rural town of Perry.

“I’m obsessed with it,” he said. “I love horseback.”

Honky-tonk guitar trio Jacob Tovar and the Saddle Tramps performs 7 p.m. April 23 on the Depot Stage at Norman Music Festival. The act released its self-titled debut in August.

Tovar doesn’t own a horse. He lives the city-slicker life in Tulsa and focuses on his music, though he spent most of his youth in the country. For now, Tovar rides his dad’s horses in Perry.

His goal is to earn enough money to return to the country, where he can ride to his heart’s content.

That’s not to say he doesn’t enjoy being part of the city’s vibrant music scene.

Tovar’s classic country style often gets him labeled as a throwback act.

It’s a label he embraces.

“I’m not much of a Red Dirt artist,” he admitted. “I don’t play a lot of that kind of country music, and I damn sure don’t play pop country.”

The picker got a late start in music.

He said he started seriously playing guitar when he was 19 or 20 years old as a way to honor his late brother, Josh, a talented player.

Tovar was a quick study. It helped that he was raised in a family with good musicians and lovers of choice country music. He also practiced tirelessly.

Last year, he toured Netherlands and France with fellow Oklahoma musician Wink Burcham.

Tovar said he was unsure of how his honky-tonk sound would be received in Europe, but it was warmly embraced.

Crowds were familiar with iconic American acts like Hank Williams, but most had never heard it live.

Europe’s live-show culture, compared to America’s bustling one, also was a welcome change for Tovar.

“Over there, every bar we went to, the bartenders would come up to us and say, ‘Hey, when are you going to take a break? We’d like you to take a break so people will order drinks,’” Tovar said. “They take it so seriously over there. The second you start playing, they give you their full attention.”

Tovar always assumed he would draw fan support from 40- and 50-year-olds. Over the years, however, he has been pleasantly surprised by how many 20-somethings attend his shows.

Part of that, he said, could be attributed to the popularity of purer country acts like Sturgill Simpson and Chris Stapleton. With that trend, Tovar expects to see the demand for honky-tonk rise.

“It’s probably not ever going to be the most popular thing,” he said, “but I think people enjoy it and like hearing something that doesn’t sound like a computer singing to them.”

PROVIDED

Modern nostalgia

Rick Springfield

Pop culture icon Rick Springfield brings music, storytelling, a fan Q&A and, yes, even “Jessie’s Girl” to an OKC concert.

By Mark Beutler

8 p.m. April 9 The Criterion 500 E. Sheridan Ave. criterionokc.com 405-308-1803 $35-$85

A generation grew up with Rick Springfield. Whether it was singing along to his music on FM radio or watching him on TV, he became synonymous with the 1980s.

However, the rocker is not stuck in the past. Springfield changed with the decades and released Rocket Science, his 18th studio album, earlier this year. The project showcases Springfield with rock and elements of country and R&B. He brings his Stripped Down tour to Oklahoma City for one show 8 p.m. April 9 at The Criterion, 500 E. Sheridan Ave. The stop includes music, storytelling and a special Q&A with the audience.

“I will be playing some of the tracks from the new album,” Springfield said during a recent Oklahoma Gazette interview. “Of course we will play the hits and have some other surprises, and I will probably smash a few roses.”

The Australia-born musician reminisced about his early days performing in the United States. His first television appearance was on a 1972 episode of The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour.

“It was all pretty surreal,” he said.

“I’d really just landed in the country, and didn’t know much about how things worked. I just accepted it all and figured everyone was there to help me with my career.”

His early musical influences, he said, were The Beatles, The Who and The Kinks.

“I listened to English bands mostly,” he said. “I still have some of the old records I bought back then, but they’re

probably warped or broken. I never took care of my records, and once I’d learned how to play the song, I never really played the record again.”

When the 1980s rolled around, his album Working Class Dog became the soundtrack for teenagers everywhere.

The single “Jessie’s Girl” hit No. 1 in the summer of 1981. In 1982, it earned him a Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance.

In 1981, he also took on a pivotal role as Dr. Noah Drake on ABC-TV’s General Hospital and become every housewife’s heartthrob. He played Drake on the show through 2013.

Through the years, Springfield continued to record and act. Last year, he portrayed Dr. Irving Pitlor in the HBO crime drama True Detective. He also hit the big screen with Meryl Streep.

He costarred as Greg in the summer hit Ricki and the Flash, which earned over $40 million at the box office, according

to tracking site Box Office Mojo.

“I just finished a movie called Traces, and we are all actively looking for the next project,” he said. “There is such great writing now on TV, like the show True Detective that I was just in, so the prospects are very exciting.”

During his music career, Springfield racked up 17 Top 40 hits, including “Don’t Talk to Strangers,” “I’ve Done Everything for You,” “Rock of Life” and “Affair of the Heart.”

He has sold 25 million records and said his fans are what keep him going.

“My shows are really a party,” Springfield said. “I’m grateful that albums like Working Class Dog didn’t fall on deaf ears. I never get tired of playing the old songs because it really is the energy from the audience that gives them their power live.”

Find Stripped Down tour tickets at criterionokc.com.

tempo beat but becomes a pulsing overload. “Many into One” feels like a cousin to “Mono Flurries” with its wavy synths and undertones of futuristic wonder.

One of the best things about this album is that tracks are given ample time and room to fully explore concepts.

It doesn’t feel like a sampler of beats hustled together in one package. All of these sounds belong in the same family, and we get to watch them grow.

Still, it feels like there was more room on the project to be even more daring.

The sound on Memories is gorgeous, but often familiar. A hint of aggression could have been a great contrast to the album’s overall dreaminess. Nothing’s really breaking the mold here, which is fine, because it’s a good mold and clearly in artistic hands.

“One and Then” does offer some distinct sounds.

It’s a glistening transitional flash coupled with hollow percussion and some more organic treats. It’s one of the best moments on Memories. While there’s a lot to love about the actual closing track, “The Eye of Yesteryears Tomorrow,” a time-lapsing space traveler jam, “One and Then” might have been a better finale.

Modified Memories is a success because every listen feels like a real experience with a set destination. The title suggests an attempt to make the old into something new. That would make sense. It’s a futuristic soundscape, but one that’s rooted in a place everyone knows.

Find the album at iTunes and weatherpeople.bandcamp.com.

PROVIDED

Rick Springfield

Timeless Memories WeatherPeople’s Modified Memories takes listeners on a cool, electric journey.

By Ben Luschen

Music should take the listener places.

There are songs tied in to certain memories or songs that are arranged in a way that remind us of a certain time or setting. But there’s nothing like music that grabs the listener by the arm and pulls them along on a journey.

WeatherPeople’s Modified Memories does just that.

The experimental, electronic release backed by Henry McMinn (a local producer and mastermind of electronic indie rock band Tele Mori) is at times minimal and at others dense and lush.

At no time is its sound unwelcome.

When listening to electronic music, especially that which attempts to be atmospheric, two things to listen for are progression and diversity.

Memories has progression. This is an album with motion; it floats along at a blissfully relaxed pace. It doesn’t bounce from concept to concept on stop-and-go

One of the best things about this album is that tracks are given ample time and room to fully explore concepts. checkerboard squares, but passes through on chutes and ladders.

The opening track, “Mono Flurries,” is an infectious head-nodder and the most replayable song in the collection.

It makes the listener want to get up and move, but there’s also a general spaciness to it, casting a Brave New World tone over the track and those that follow.

The odyssey continues across the next two selections. “Daydream Rewind” starts out as a horn-led, down-

Oklahoma Gazette | march 30, 2016 | 55

P ROVIDED

music calendar are events recommended

by Oklahoma Gazette editorial staff members.

For full calendar listings, go to okgazette.com.

WEDNESDAY 3.30 Geoff Muldaur, The Blue Door.

FOLK

Grant Wells, Skirvin Hilton Hotel. PIANO Harumph, The Deli, Norman.

JAZZ

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

UPCOMING EVENTS AT FIRELAKE ARENA

Mayday Parade/ The Main, Diamond Ballroom. ROCK The Central Jazz Jam, UCO Jazz Lab, Edmond. JAZZ Tech N9ne/Krizz Kaliko/ Rittz, Cain’s Ballroom, Tulsa.

HIP-HOP

THURSDAY 3.31 Corey Smith, Wormy Dog Saloon. COUNTRY Dave Thomason Band, Grady’s 66 Pub, Yukon. COVER David Morris, Skirvin Hilton Hotel. PIANO Derek Harris, S&B Burger Joint NW OKC. ROCK

Paseo Street Walkers There is no more appropriate time or place for Paseo Street Walkers to unveil new music than during Paseo Art District’s First Friday Gallery Art Walk. The jazz-rock band celebrates its self-titled album debut 8 p.m. Friday at Sauced on Paseo, 2912 Paseo St. Drink and pizza specials will be available. Admission is free. Visit paseostreetwalkers. com or facebook.com/Paseo.Street.Walkers or call 405-521-9800. friday

The Blue Cats, Riverwind Casino, Norman. R&B The Choke/Pauly Creepo/ Esoteric, HiLo Club. ROCK John Mellencamp/Carlene Carter, Brady Theater, Tulsa.

SINGER/SONGWRITER

Aaron Watson/Jon Wolfe/Bryce Dicus & The Mercenaries, Cain’s Ballroom, Tulsa. COUNTRY The Dirty River Boys/BC and the Big Rig/Suede Panther, The Vanguard, Tulsa. ROCK

SUNDAY 4.3 Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, Chesapeake Energy Arena. ROCK Rome Hero Foxes/Magic Munchbox, First Pastafarian Church of Norman, Norman.

ROCK

Tyler Lee/Open Jam, Oklahoma City Limits.

SINGER/SONGWRITER

Zac Brown Band, BOK Center, Tulsa. COUNTRY

DJ Josh Tullis, Flint.

VARIOUS

The Weathermen, Baker Street Pub & Grill. ROCK The Weathermen, Baker Street Pub & Grill. ROCK Yonder Mountain String Band/Horseshoes & Hand Grenades, Cain’s Ballroom, Tulsa. BLUEGRASS

FRIDAY 4.1

29

Weatherbox/Enemies/ Wallclouds, 89th Street Collective. ROCK

Emalea Hudgens/Charles Hickman/Mallory Jackson, Rodeo Opry. COUNTRY K.C. Clifford, The Blue Door.

SINGER/SONGWRITER

Kristen Stehr, Riverwind Casino, Norman. COUNTRY

WEDNESDAY 4.6

Orthodox/Left Behind/ Lowered AD, 89th Street Collective. ROCK

August Burns Red/Between the Buried and Me, Diamond Ballroom. ROCK

Rock Island Band, S&B Burger Joint, Midwest City. ROCK

Cave Singers, Opolis, Norman.

Smilin’ Vic, UCO Jazz Lab, Edmond. BLUES

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

Steve Crossley Solo, Bellini’s Underground. VARIOUS

Seepeoples, The Deli, Norman. VARIOUS

PIANO

Steve & Neil, Grady’s 66 Pub, Yukon. COUNTRY

The Central Jazz Reading Band, UCO Jazz Lab, Edmond.

Daniel Jordan, Fuze Buffet & Bar. ACOUSTIC

Stoney LaRue, Tumbleweed Dancehall. COUNTRY

Avenue, Mickey Mantle’s Steakhouse. COVER Bowlsey/Cherry Death/Sardashhh, Opolis, Norman.

Casey & Minna, Paseo Arts District. FOLK Chuck Whetstone/Gary Johnson, Skirvin Hilton Hotel.

DJ Josh Tullis, Russell’s, Tower Hotel. VARIOUS Erick Taylor, S&B’s Burger Joint, Midtown.

SINGER/SONGWRITER

Max Ridgway, Full Circle Bookstore. JAZZ Mike McClure/Dylan Stewart, The Blue Door. COUNTRY

56 | march 30, 2016 | Oklahoma Gazette

Forever Came Calling/ Keeper/Paper Planets, 89th Street Collective. ROCK

Miss Brown to You, Full Circle Bookstore. JAZZ

Anchor The Girl, Blue Note Lounge. ROCK

VARIOUS

405-273-1637 • FIRELAKEARENA.COM 18145 OLD RANGELINE RD • SHAWNEE, OK @FIRELAKEARENA /FIRELAKE.ARENA

TUESDAY 4.5

MisterWives/The Mowgli’s, University of Tulsa Reynolds Center, Tulsa. POP

COUNTRY

BRETT ELDREDGE THOMPSON SQUARE

MONDAY 4.4

Chad Dorman/Zac Copeland Open Mic, Hillbilly’s. ROCK

Midas 13, Newcastle Casino, Newcastle. ROCK

1 Stone Band, Sliders.

APRIL

SATURDAY 4.2

HIP-HOP

Superduperkyle, ACM@UCO Performance Lab.

The Blend, Remington Park.

ROCK

The Bright Light Social Hour/ Helen Kelter Skelter, Opolis, Norman. ROCK

Shortt Dogg, UCO Jazz Lab, Edmond. BLUES

The Guess Who/Grand Funk Railroad, Grand Casino Hotel & Resort, Shawnee. ROCK

Street Kings, Oklahoma City Limits. ROCK

Third Eye Blind/Bad Bad Hat, The Criterion. ROCK

The Blend/The Mills Band, Remington Park. ROCK

Wino Browne, Oklahoma City Limits. ROCK

INDIE

JAZZ

Mumford & Sons, BOK Center, Tulsa. ROCK

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.

sudoku/crossword

By Joel Fagliano / Edited by Will Shortz

ACROSS

1 Joke’s target 5 Own (up) 9 One of the Five Pillars of Islam 13 French film award 18 Phlegmatic 20 Prefix with distant 21 Black-and-white, in sneaker lingo 22 More than enough 23 Folded food 24 111-Across’s partner 25 They “don’t lie,” in a No. 1 Shakira hit

26 Not be able to sleep 27 *Doctor’s orders?

30 ____ fraîche 31 Regenerist brand 32 Capital of Kazakhstan 33 Streaming-video giant 35 Fareed Zakaria GPS airer 36 Up in years 37 ____ pull (sports injury) 38 *1999 rom-com based on Shaw’s Pygmalion 42 *Manhattan Project site 44 Cook in charge of 110-Across 45 Engine part, briefly 46 “____ Tag!” 47 Drink served in a flute 50 Razz 53 Popular tech review site 55 Money of Peru 56 *Lawyer 58 *Event with rainbow flags 62 Went on to say 63 Caribbean area, once: Abbr.

64 ____ jacet (phrase on tombstones) 65 Often-torchlit events 66 Requirement for one going into labor?

67 Impudence 68 “Speaking personally …,” in texts 69 Supporting the idea 70 *Pressured 73 *Makes wedding plans 75 Geometry- textbook symbols 76 Big fund-raising effort 77 One-stanza poem 78 Green day?

80 Expression in a toothpaste ad 83 Shade of blue or green 85 “Feliz ____ Nuevo!”

1

2

3

4

18

5 19

DOWN

1 Wharton, e.g., informally 2 Maurice who painted Parisian

street scenes 3 Grippers for geckos 4 At risk of capsizing 5 Scary 6 Math term that uses all five

vowels exactly once 7 Things taken home from the beach?

8 Protest type 9 Deep laugh 10 Lavish Vegas casino opened in 2009 11 Lowest part 12 Book before Judges 13 Deliberate 14 Robe-wearing ruler 15 Certain balloons 16 Smith graduate, e.g.

17 Start on a righteous path 19 CNBC interviewee, maybe 28 Ring figure?

29 Old Spanish kingdom 34 Cousin of inc.

37 Muscle strengthened by a

StairMaster, informally 39 “That guy?”

7

9

24

27

28

31

32

36

38

59

64

25

26

60

39

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69 Dangerous rifts 70 “I could go with whatever” 71 Like Mount Rushmore at night 72 Kicked oneself over 74 S.N.L. bit 79 Country singer Lee ____ Womack 80 Nursed 81 1990s craze 82 Chatting online with, for short 84 Bedroom shutter?

86 Ukraine neighbor 87 Some 88 Secrecy, with “the” 89 Those saying “somethin’,” say 90 Capital that’s home to the

world’s largest castle, per

Guinness 91 Take umbrage at 92 Multistory temple

93 Small-capped mushrooms 99 Out of favor 100 Motorcyclist’s invitation 102 Hero of kid-lit’s The Phantom Tollbooth 104 Ballpark figs.

105 Part of the “everything” in an

everything bagel 106 “Super cool!”

Note: When this puzzle is completed, take the answer to each starred clue and cross out all the letters used twice. The leftover letters will spell an appropriate word, reading top to bottom.

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G U T G O O

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Assistant EDITOR Brittany Pickering Staff reporters Greg Elwell, Laura Eastes, Ben Luschen Contributors Mark Beutler, Brett Dickerson, George Lang, Wilhelm Murg, Kaley Patterson Photographers Garett Fisbeck Marketing & Editorial Intern Kylie Kallsen

Art Director Chris Street Print Production Coordinator Ashley Parks

Puzzle No. 0320, which appeared in the March 23 issue.

print mysudoku.co m

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EDITOR-in-chief Jennifer Palmer Chancellor jchancellor@okgazette.com

ASSISTANT Circulation Manager Duke Fleischer

New York Times Crossword Puzzle answers

Fill inn°2147458504 the grid so that every Grid easy row, column and 3-by-3 box contains the numbers 1 through 9.

Account EXECUTIVES Stephanie Van Horn, Saundra Rinearson Godwin, Elizabeth Riddle, Sarah Brigance Nathan Ward

Circulation Manager Chad Bleakley

Stumped? Call 1-900-285-5656 to get the answers to any three clues by phone ($1.20 a minute).

Sudoku Puzzle Easy

Accounts receivable Sue Auld

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40 My Chemical Romance and others 41 Mine transport 43 Up in years 47 Chat-room policers, informally 48 ____ Hawkins dance 49 Spirit 51 Fairly recent 52 Some game-show prizes 53 Peninsula in 2014 headlines 54 Quitting aid, of sorts 55 Relative of a skillet 57 Fix 58 Band with a Ben & Jerry’s flavor

named for it 59 Trudge 60 Glows 61 “Something to Talk About”

singer, 1991 66 Sports teams wear them, informally

Associate Publisher James Bengfort

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VOL. XXXVIII No. 13

Please address all unsolicited news items (non-returnable) to the editor.

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Oklahoma Gazette is circulated at its designated distribution points free of charge to readers for their individual use and by mail to subscribers. The cash value of this copy is $1. Persons taking copies of the Oklahoma Gazette from its distribution points for any reason other than their or others’ individual use for reading purposes are subject to prosecution.

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100 “That’s just ____ roll” 101 “Same here” 103 *Hides out 107 Arrive 108 South side?

109 Portend 110 See 44-Across 111 See 24-Across 112 Face with numbers 113 Skin So Soft maker 114 Sadness 115 Cultural values 116 Kind of prof.

117 Agent Scully on The X-Files 118 “____ to me”

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New York Times Magazine Crossword Puzzle Double-crossed

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Advertising/Marketing Design Coordinator Erin DeMoss Graphic Designer Anna Shilling www.okgazette.com Order mounted or ready-to-frame prints of Oklahoma Gazette covers, articles and photos at okgazette.yourheadline.com 3701 N Shartel Ave Oklahoma City, OK 73118-7102 Phone (405) 528-6000 Fax (405) 528-4600 Copyright © 2016 Tierra Media, Inc. All rights reserved.

Okl ahoma Gazette | March 30, 2016 | 57

Make your own free printable sudoku at www.PrintMySudoku.com

FREE WILL ASTROLOGY

by ROB BREZNY

Homework: What conditions would you need to feel like you were living in paradise? Testify: Truthrooster@gmail.com.

and multifaceted and well-rounded. But you’re probably not capable of expressing 28,000 varieties of anything.

ARIES (March 21-April 19) According to my astrological analysis, you would benefit profoundly from taking a ride in a jet fighter plane 70,000 feet above the earth. In fact, I think you really need to experience weightlessness as you soar faster than the speed of sound. Luckily, there’s an organization, MiGFlug (migflug.com), that can provide you with this healing thrill. (I just hope you can afford the $18,000 price tag.) APRIL FOOL! I do in fact think you should treat yourself to unprecedented thrills and transcendent adventures. But I bet you can accomplish that without being quite so extravagant.

CANCER (June 21-July 22) “Whatever it is you’re seeking won’t come in the form you’re expecting,” warns Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami. If that’s true, why bother? Why expend all your precious yearning if the net result won’t even satisfy your yearning?! That’s why I advise you to ABANDON YOUR BELOVED PLANS! Save your energy for trivial wishes. That way you won’t be disappointed when they are fulfilled in unanticipated ways. APRIL FOOL! I was messing with you. It’s true that what you want won’t arrive in the form you’re expecting. But I bet the result will be even better than what you expected.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) “People only get really interesting when they start to rattle the bars of their cages,” says philosopher Alain de Botton. If that’s true, Taurus, you must be on the verge of becoming very interesting. Metaphorically speaking, you’re not just rattling the bars of your cage.

You’re also smacking your tin cup against the bars and trying to saw through them with your plastic knife.

APRIL FOOL! I lied. You’re not literally in a prison cell. And I got a bit carried away with the metaphor.

But there is a grain of truth to what I said. You are getting close to breaking free of at least some of your mind-forged manacles. And it’s making you more attractive and intriguing.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) You’re due to make a pilgrimage, aren’t you? It might be time to shave your head, sell your possessions, and head out on a long trek to a holy place where you can get back in touch with what the hell you’re doing here on this planet. APRIL FOOL! I was kidding about the head-shaving and possessions-dumping. On the other hand, there might be value in embarking on a less melodramatic pilgrimage. I think you’re ready to seek radical bliss of a higher order — and get back in touch with what the hell you’re doing here on this planet.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20) If I had to decide what natural phenomenon you most closely resemble right now, I’d consider comparing you to a warm, restless breeze or a busily playful dolphin. But my first choice would be the mushrooms known as Schizophyllum commune.

They’re highly adaptable: able to go dormant when the weather’s dry and spring to life when rain comes.

They really get around, too, making their homes on every continent except Antarctica. But the main reason I’d link you with them is that they come in over 28,000 different sexes. Their versatility is unprecedented. APRIL FOOL! I exaggerated a bit. It’s true that these days you’re polymorphous

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) Are you ready to fight the monster? Do you have the courage and strength and stamina and guile to overcome the ugly beast that’s blocking the path to the treasure? If not, turn around and head back to your comfort zone until you’re better prepared. APRIL FOOL! I lied. There is a monster, but it’s not the literal embodiment of a beastly adversary. Rather, it’s inside you. It’s an unripe part of yourself that needs to be taught and tamed and cared for. Until you develop a better relationship with it, it will just keep testing you.

(P.S. Now would be a good time to develop a better relationship with it.)

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22) Your advice for the near future comes from poet Stephen Dunn. “If the Devil sits down,” he says, “offer

companionship, tell her you’ve always admired her magnificent, false moves.” I think that’s an excellent plan, Libra! Maybe you’ll even be lucky enough to make the acquaintance of many different devils with a wide variety of magnificent, false moves. APRIL FOOL! I lied. In fact, I think you should avoid contact with all devils, no matter how enticing they might be.

Now is a key time to surround yourself with positive influences.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21) In 1841, a British medical journal prescribed the following remedy for the common cold: “Nail a hat on the wall near the foot of your bed, then retire to that bed, and drink spirits until you see two hats.”

My expert astrological analysis reveals that this treatment is likely to cure not just the sniffles, but also any other discomforts you’re suffering from, whether physical or emotional or spiritual. So I hope you own a hat, hammer, and nails. APRIL FOOL! I lied. The method I suggested probably won’t help alleviate what ails you. But here’s a strategy that might: Get rid of anything that’s superfluous, rotten, outdated, or burdensome.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) To begin your oracle, I’ll borrow the words of author Ray Bradbury: “May you be in love every day for the next 20,000 days, and out of that love, remake a world.” I have reason to believe that this optimistic projection has a good chance of coming true for you. Imagine it, Sagittarius: daily swoons of delight and rapture from now until the year 2071. APRIL FOOL! I lied, sort of. It would be foolish to predict that you’ll be giddy with amorous feelings nonstop for the next 54 years and 10 months. On the other hand, I don’t think it’s unrealistic for you to expect a lot of that sweet stuff over the course of the next three weeks.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) “I am tired of being brave,” groaned Anne Sexton in one of her poems. “I’m sick of following my dreams,” moaned comedian Mitch Hedberg, adding, “I’m just going to ask my dreams where they’re going and hook up with them later.” In my opinion, Capricorn,

you have every right to unleash grumbles similar to Hedberg’s and Sexton’s. APRIL FOOL! The advice I just gave you is only half-correct. It’s true that you need and deserve a respite from your earnest struggles. Now is indeed a good time to take a break so you can recharge your spiritual batteries. But don’t you dare feel sorry for yourself.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) In 1991, hikers in the Italian Alps discovered the well-preserved corpse of a Bronze Age hunter. Buried in the frigid terrain, the man who came to be known as Otzi the Iceman had been there for 5,000 years.

Soon the museum that claimed his body began receiving inquiries from women who wanted to be impregnated with Otzi’s sperm. I think this is an apt metaphor for you, Aquarius. Consider the possibility that you might benefit from being fertilized by an influence from long ago. APRIL FOOL! I was just messing with you. It’s true you can generate good mojo by engaging with inspirational influences from the past. But I’d never urge you to be guided by a vulgar metaphor related to Otzi’s sperm.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20) Caligula was an eccentric Roman emperor who had a physical resemblance to a goat. He was sensitive about it. That’s why he made it illegal for anyone to refer to goats in his company. I mention this, Pisces, because I’d like to propose a list of words you should forbid to be used in your presence during the coming weeks: “money,” “cash,” “finances,” “loot,” “savings,” or “investments.” Why? Because I’m afraid it would be distracting, even confusing or embarrassing, for you to think about these sore subjects right now.

APRIL FOOL! I lied. The truth is, now is a perfect time for you to be focused on getting richer quicker.

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

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

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58 | March 30, 2016 | Oklahoma Gazette

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Oklahoma Gazette | March 30, 2016 | 59

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