Use as directed

free every wednesday | Metro OKC’s Independent Weekly | july 18, 2018

T BALLO E U ISS

A closer look into how medical marijuana will go into effect in Oklahoma

by George Lang, Ben Luschen and Jacob Threadgill, P. 4

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7/10/18 1:21 PM

inside COVER P. 4 Oklahoma Gazette speaks to the medical community and proponents of State Question 788 to find out what’s next after the Oklahoma State Department of Health released its emergency rules for the implementation of medical marijuana.

By George Lang, Ben Luschen and Jacob Threadgill Cover by Kimberly Lynch

NEWS 4 Cover the future of medical

marijuana in Oklahoma 6 City Defend OKC 8 Education Positive Tomorrows moves into a new facility 10 Chicken-Fried News

Carter Sampson W AT C H O N L I N E PL AYITLOUDSHOW.COM

episode 3 june 25

AN ORIGINAL MUSIC SERIES

EAT & DRINK 13 Review Cajun Corner

14 Feature Humble Donut Co.

15 Feature Wheelhouse Pizza

Kitchen

16 Gazedibles summer salads

ARTS & CULTURE 23 Art Harvey Pratt design chosen for

national memorial

24 Art A Sense of Time and Place:

Work by Greg Burns at Oklahoma History Center

26

Best of OKC runoff ballot

downtown Norman

28 Art Resonator Institute moves to 29 Theater Mamma Mia! at Civic

Center Music Hall

f o y l ormer

31 Film VHS and Chill at 51st Street

Speakeasy

32 Community Fiesta Fridays at Calle

Dos Cinco Historic Capitol Hill 34 Community Winchester Drive-In celebrates 50 years 36 Community Pete White Health & Wellness Center 38 Culture Express Clydesdales 40 Calendar

MUSIC 45 Event Jason Eady at The Blue Door 46 Event Wheeler Summer Music

Series: Beau Jennings, Vonna Pearl and The Lunar Laugh at The Wheeler District

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FUN 49 Astrology

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NEWS

cov e r

One of multiple State Board of Health amendments to Oklahoma’s medical marijuana regulations was a ban on the sale of smokable marijuana products. | Photo bigstock.com

No smoke

Oklahoma’s 788 proponents and medical community come to grips with what’s next following controversial marijuana restrictions.

By George Lang, Ben Luschen and Jacob Threadgill

Medical marijuana activists were dealt a blow when the Oklahoma State Board of Health added amendments not written in the final draft of emergency regulations submitted to the board.

A pair of amendments — one banning smokable marijuana, which appears to be on shaky legal ground, and another requiring dispensaries to hire full-time pharmacists — would require prospective small business owners to incur heavy extra costs and put pharmaceutical licenses in violation of federal law.

A Florida ban on smokable medical marijuana was ruled unconstitutional by a state county circuit court judge in May. Five other states require a medical marijuana dispensary to have a registered pharmacist: Connecticut, Arkansas, New York, Minnesota and Pennsylvania.

A day after the Oklahoma State Health Department board voted on the regulations and the day Gov. Fallin signed them into law, Oklahoma Cannabis Trade Association held a press conference.

“Our civil rights were violated by the Oklahoma State Department of Health in that meeting,” said Chip Paul, founder of Oklahomans for Health. “We had been working in good faith with the department in the last few weeks … and the board of directors spit in our faces.

We don’t feel the spirit of 788 has been reflected in these actions.”

Health department board members Timothy Starkey, R. Murali Krishna, Jenny Alexopulous, Charles E. Skillings and Terry Gerard II voted in favor of banning smokable marijuana, according to Oklahomans for Health.

In a lawsuit filed late last week in Cleveland County District Court, Green 4

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the Vote — a separate pro-medical marijuana group from Oklahomans for Health — alleged that five members of the board violated open meeting laws by discussing the last-minute amendments behind closed doors.

Eight individuals that intend to apply for medical marijuana licenses, arguing that the board overstepped its authority with “arbitrary and capricious” rules, filed a second lawsuit in Cleveland County.

Megan Dedmon is co-owner of Yukon’s Wild Woman Wellness and is not part of the second lawsuit but said any hopes she might have had for turning her store into a dispensary are out the window with the new regulations.

“What has happened with the new regulations has taken us completely out of the picture,” Dedmon said, estimating that the new regulations would require an additional $1 million in capital to become compliant. “Small business owners were crippled.”

The state will begin accepting dispensary applications Aug. 25. Dispensaries will have a week grace period to locate or find marijuana seeds that will then each be registered with the state and tracked through the maturation process and how much flower it produces. It will take at least six months for marijuana to go from seed to its fully cultivated and dried forms, Dedmon said.

At the Wednesday press conference, Paul cautioned the use of legal action that would delay the implementation of the emergency rules because it only keeps medicine out of patient use.

Paul urged voters to sign the SQ797 petition for a constitutional amendment for recreational marijuana that would

take its final wording out of the hands of legislators. He also urged voters to return to the polls in November, noting that more people voted in favor of SQ788 than did in the entire 2014 governor’s election.

“Ask Senator [Ervin] Yen what happens to politicians who aren’t in our favor,” Paul said of the Oklahoma City legislator who lost in the June primary.

The emergency regulations also cap marijuana at 12 percent THC. Oklahomans for Health member Ray Jennings is a throat cancer survivor who used medical marijuana from Colorado to beat three months of radiation treatments doctors predicted would kill him.

He said that smoking was the only way he could consume marijuana because his throat was burned from the treatment and he needed marijuana with levels as high as 55 percent THC to cure his nausea.

“I tried everything else known to man, and none of it works. [Nausea] is what kills people when they’re fighting chemo because you can’t hold anything down,” he said at the press conference.

“Without [medical marijuana], I would be dead, no doubt. I’ve had numerous doctors tell me that.”

Those are real people’s lives that can be affected and can be changed.

Scott Michener

Physician’s view

Part of the reason the Oklahoma State Board of Health voted to restrict the sale of smokable marijuana products from state dispensaries was to put an emphasis on medical products like edibles and oils that can be measured in doses — the method that commonly exists within the federally regulated pharmaceutical world.

“The problem is that is not the way it works,” said Comanche County Memorial Hospital urologist and chief medical officer Scott Michener.

Michener, based in Lawton, has been an outspoken proponent of cannabis’ medical benefits throughout the SQ788 process. Edible products can be more easily measured for doses, but Michener said they also have a longer duration and a much longer duration of action than smoked cannabis. He said in some cases, smoking can be the most appropriate form of treatment.

“You’re limiting some of the milder forms, the less psychotropic forms, because we’re just pushing dose,” he said.

And while smoking cannabis can lead to coughing and bronchial infection, Michener said he has never seen a study correlating marijuana smoke with

COPD (chronic obtrusive pulmonary disorder) or lung cancer.

He also disagrees with the regulations’ emphasis on merely limiting THC (the chemical component in cannabis that can get users high) as opposed to encouraging dispensaries to vary THC and CBD levels and give more flexibility in treatment options. Michener said THC has medical benefits in addition to its potential for recreational use.

“They’re hung up on THC like all these people just want to get high,” he said. “But it’s no different from when I see people in my office who want pain medications; it’s because they have pain. Sure, there’s occasional people who just want pain medicine just like there’s people who just want to take Xanax bars.”

Michener feels restrictions to the medical marijuana law represent missed opportunities to help some people. He said those who feel strongly about medical marijuana should talk to their doctor about it.

“I think the best thing is for patients to speak up,” he said. “For some reason, physicians are hesitant to speak up, and it’s probably because they don’t have the knowledge base.”

While cannabis is not a cure-all for everything, Michener said there have been studies showing a statistical decrease in opioid overdose deaths in areas where medical marijuana has been made legal.

“Those are real people,” he said.

“Those are real people’s lives that can be affected and can be changed.”

Major medical groups

As Oklahomans who supported SQ788 recently discovered, legalization is not always a straightforward path to access.

One cloud hanging over the heads of potential users is marijuana’s continuing status as a Schedule I drug under the federal Controlled Substances Act of 1970. While individual states like Oklahoma have moved forward with varying forms of legalization, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) under the U.S. Department of Justice reserves the right to enforce federal law and override pro-marijuana state laws.

This creates an uneasy balancing act for medical providers, especially large medical groups. In other states like Ohio, which legalized medical marijuana in 2016, providers are split on whether to allow their affiliated physicians to issue licenses to patients. Medical marijuana was signed into law by Gov. John Kasich after full legalization failed the previous year by a two-to-one margin, partly as a result of opposition led by medical groups.

According to Cincinnati Enquirer, Ohio physicians are required to complete a two-hour course to achieve certification for recommending medicinal cannabis to their patients. As of July 11, only 185 of Ohio’s 46,000 doctors have taken the course, and according to recent polling, more than 40 percent of all Ohio doctors are unlikely to recommend THC-based treatments.

As a fellow red state, Ohio could be seen as a bellwether for how Oklahoma medical groups will act regarding medical marijuana. Oklahoma Gazette asked three major medical groups operating in Oklahoma City to state their current policies regarding affiliated physicians issuing licenses.

While Mercy Health in Ohio is not recommending that its doctors undergo the certification, Jim Gebhart, president and regional strategy officer for Mercy Hospital Oklahoma City, said in a statement to Gazette that Mercy will be following the guidelines set forth by Oklahoma State Department of Health but left open an internal determination on how it will move forward with its physicians.

“State agencies and lawmakers continue work to establish an infrastructure for dispensing of medical marijuana,” Gebhart said. “When that infrastructure is in place, Mercy will follow the law while keeping the highest priority on patient safety and quality care. Mercy physicians and patients will work together to decide what treatment options are appropriate for the patient’s medical condition, as is the case with any mode of treatment.”

SSM Health Medical Group, which operates St. Anthony hospitals and clinics in the OKC metro area, issued a statement: “[SSM] has not yet formalized all policies related to the passage of State Question 788. With the final emergency

UNI_18-RP-136_Racing_Club_Gazette.indd 1

Scott Michener is a urologist and chief medical officer at Comanche County Hospital. | Photo provided

rules now available from the Oklahoma State Department of Health, we will use that as input into our process of finalizing guidelines for our providers.”

Integris Health also issued a statement, but its initial policy is to operate within the law and without any additional restrictions.

“We are not going to impose a system prohibition that prevents physicians

Megan Dedmon is the co-owner of Wild Woman Wellness in Yukon and member of the Oklahoma Cannabis Trade Assocation. | Photo provided

from issuing recommendations for licensure in accordance with the new law and emergency rules,” said Integris Health media relations lead Brooke Cayot in an email to Gazette. “We are developing a new system policy on medical marijuana consistent with the requirements of State Question 788 and Oklahoma Health Department Emergency Rules adopted Tuesday. The

Jim Gebhart, president and regional strategy officer of Mercy Hospital Oklahoma City, said the medical group will be working with its staff to determine best practices for medical marijuana licenses. | Photo provided

intent will be to have our physicians and hospitals adopt safe, best-practice protocols for health conditions that warrant the therapy.”

Visit ok.gov/health for up-to-date information on the status of medical marijuana.

5 7/11/18 11:24 AM

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NEWS

PRESENTS

THE CAMPER

cit y

SHOWCASE

Fist fight

Many find the intent behind lifestyle brand Defend OKC unclear in social media’s murk.

By Ben Luschen

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A logo of brass knuckles and a mission statement some believed romanticized the state’s land run history helped contribute to widespread social media suspicion the fledgling Defend OKC T-shirt and lifestyle brand represented — or at least was sympathetic to — white supremacist ideals. The brand has repeatedly refuted the association.

“I’ve explicitly reiterated to anyone who has asked that I’m not interested in white supremacist beliefs because I am not,” Defend OKC founder Timothy Warren told Oklahoma Gazette via email exchange.

Though Defend OKC’s original “about” bio has since been removed from its online store, it originally stated that “since 1889” — the year several prominent land runs opened Oklahoma’s Indian Territory up to claim by white settlers — the city has been a place hard workers could stake ownership.

“This opportunity for ownership is available to those who are willing to work for it,” the bio said.

There were other reasons people associated Defend OKC with white nationalist ideals. Citywide attention around the brand first grew when Defend OKC stickers started popping up around the Midtown and downtown areas. For a time, the brand was promoted on the Instagram account of a blog called Folk and Fork, which claims to promote traditional European culture and classic gender roles.

Folk and Fork’s post promoting the brand has since been removed at Defend OKC’s request. The blog’s Instagram account has gone from public to private. Its bio says the move is to “avoid a witch hunt.”

Warren told Gazette that the only thing his brand is interested in defending is OKC’s unique architecture and

sense of pride.

“I went through the broody teenage angst of feeling like OKC was an old crusty place that progress had passed by,” he said. “But since growing up and starting a family, I’ve come to appreciate the cultural history of the city and want to cultivate (and defend) a sense of ownership and responsibility for the growth we want to see happen here. The ‘defense’ comes in defending the uniqueness and spirit of the city itself, not against anyone or thing in particular.”

The primary thing driving suspicion of the brand’s possible covert white power goals was a Twitter post by Paul Zimmerman, a former friend of Warren and his family who claims he grew apart from them after he heard Warren and his brothers express conspiratorial political views and opinions on the existence of fundamental differences between the races, with which he disagreed.

When Zimmerman became aware of Defend OKC and its messaging, he said his mind immediately reverted back to those alleged conversations. On Twitter, he posted several screen captures of photography from Defend OKC’s web store along with a message alluding to past talks he had with Warren and his associates.

“Last year a good friend [of] mine started sympathizing with white nationalist ideas,” Zimmerman wrote.

“We met once to talk and they voiced concerns that ‘whiteness was in danger,’ ‘blacks just have different values’ etc. I’ve consistently reached out to them since and no response.”

Whether Defend OKC intended to be just a seller of novelty merchandise or something more sinister, Zimmerman’s tweet helped shape the impression many local social media users had of the brand.

Warren was bombarded with questions

Defend OKC stickers were spotted several weeks ago around the Midtown and downtown areas.

Some people have accused the brand of representing white nationalist ideals, but its founder denies the association. | Photo provided

of whom exactly he wanted to defend OKC against. Many encouraged their followers to remove the Defend OKC stickers wherever they saw them in public.

After his initial tweet, Zimmerman spoke with Warren about the brand and backed off his hard stance on the intentions behind Defend OKC. But Zimmerman and other people he has spoken with remain wary of its messaging. He points to Defend OKC’s Instagram follows, which Zimmerman said at one point included survivalist Varg Freeborn, author of the book Violence of Mind: Training and Preparation for Extreme Violence, and Russian mixed martial arts fighter Nikita Fedorenko, who was charged with organizing a neo-Nazi gang in the country.

“They follow zero architects or designers or city planners [on Instagram],” Zimmerman said. “With the optics and everything, it’s not a reasonable interpretation to look at this and say, ‘It’s just a T-shirt company.’”

Unexpected response

Defend OKC is far from a unique brand concept. Warren said the idea was directly inspired by existing brands Defend

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Brooklyn, Defend Paris and Defend New Orleans. Both the Brooklyn and Paris brands have incorporated the image of an AK-47 assault rifle onto their shirts, but neither has been tied to white nationalism or an advocation of violent means. Both websites claim their brand’s messaging is about preserving their city’s unique identity — though from what they are preserving the city is still somewhat vague.

Warren said he is the only person directly involved in Defend OKC and that other people have been incorrectly associated with the brand online.

Defend OKC began about a month ago.

Warren said he started it as a way of conveying his excitement for the growth of the city and the hope that it preserves its identity in the process. “[OKC] is definitely different in the areas of activity and growth,” he said.

“When I was growing up, there was a ton of suburb and strip mall sprawl going north and west. My family followed that, and I hated it. After I moved back here several years ago, it’s been very encouraging to see people investing in downtown, Midtown and Uptown areas.”

Warren said the social media reaction to his brand was a lot wider and harsher than he ever could have imagined. He denies an interest in white nationalism and claims Defend OKC does not advocate violence.

“I do not wish the backlash myself

and my family members are receiving because of these allegations on anyone else, ever,” he said. “It’s been stressful.”

For now, Warren plans to keep his brand going, continuing to clarify its messaging.

“This was never intended to be an end in and of itself; it was just a project I wanted to do for fun,” he said. “I didn’t have and still do not have a grand vision for Defend OKC other than sell some T-shirts and get people excited about preserving the spirit and uniqueness of Oklahoma City.”

Shifting meaning

Zimmerman is no longer convinced Defend OKC was founded with clear white nationalist intentions, but he remains concerned about past conversations he has had with Warren and his associates.

The reaction to Defend OKC might be best seen as a study on how things spread over social media and the loss of nuance in the process. The original intent behind Zimmerman’s post was to express his sorrow for a friend he believed had lost his way and to illustrate the proximity of views he deems “dangerous.” He never hoped lives would be damaged in the process.

“It’s a lesson learned for me, too,” Zimmerman said. “I’m mostly bummed that people I’ve been close to in the past have bought into these terrible and dangerous ideologies. Sharing my story in that, the main point is to encourage

people that this isn’t a thing that’s way out there. This isn’t a thing that’s only in Charlottesville. People you know are sympathetic to these ideas.”

Zimmerman believes those who would like to eradicate potentially dangerous views in their community would be better off speaking directly with people they know who might sympathize with those opinions rather than drag strangers online.

“Saying stuff on Twitter generally isn’t super effective unless you’re talking to people you have audience with,” he said. “It’s really vitally important that you engage your family and your friends and the people you can talk to. It’s easy to be on the internet and say really hard things to the sky because there’s no consequences to that. There’s also no effect.”

Zimmerman’s post commenting on the latest development in a personal relationship was interpreted by people without the same connection as a plain and static characterization of a group of people and the views they represent.

Likewise, Defend OKC’s loose brand messaging seems to have lent itself to uncharitable interpretation.

The large-scale game of telephone that unfolded is something Zimmerman chalks up to the nature of social media.

“The louder a thing gets, the more watered-down it has to be,” he said. “The group that did this thing is probably really frustrated about that, too.”

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PM

NEWS A rendering of Positive Tomorrows’ new facility. The school is scheduled to open for the fall 2019 academic semester. | Image Positive Tomorrows / provided

e d u c at i o n

Meeting needs

Bright future

Positive Tomorrows breaks ground on a new and improved campus, nearly quadrupling the school’s size. By Ben Luschen

In 2019, Positive Tomorrows — Oklahoma City’s only school for homeless children — celebrates its 30th anniversary. The milestone year also happens to be when the school will open doors on its large new facility east of State Fair Park, nearly quadrupling the size of its current building.

“The timing is excellent,” said Positive Tomorrows president Susan Agel.

The current school facility houses a maximum of around 75 children at a time. The new site, to be built at 901 N. Villa Ave., will eventually grow into a school that will offer middle school, special education and early head start young childhood programs from its current elementary school offerings.

Positive Tomorrows currently turns away around 100 students each year due to space limitations.

Positive Tomorrows development officer Rachel Durham said the new facility’s architect spoke with students and staff before finalizing his plans.

The most common feedback from the children was that they wanted the new school to look and feel a lot like the one they go to now.

“Of course, some kids wanted a place for lightsaber fights or a bigger playground, but I think what translated from that meeting is that the kids feel really safe here,” Durham said. “They feel like it’s a home, and it’s a constant.”

The 30,000 square-foot new school site will indeed include a larger playground. There will also be a soccer field, an open-air stage and an outdoor learning area. To add to the homely feel, each classroom will have its own front porch area.

The increased school space will also feature an upgraded clothing closet, with new shoes, shirts and other items that students can use for no charge. A A rendering of an interior family room inside the new Positive Tomorrows facility. | Image Positive Tomorrows / provided 8

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couple of the classrooms have also been reinforced as storm shelters.

The planned special education area will carry the name of a donor many Oklahoma City Thunder fans are sure to recognize: Kevin Durant.

“He always says that it’s bigger than basketball, and he keeps showing us that it is,” Durham said.

While there is space for additional grades, Positive Tomorrows plans to gradually expand into its new digs, adding a class a year until it reaches capacity. Staffing the new school in its full form will double the number of Positive Tomorrows employees to around 50.

The new site will also include space for a library and indoor gymnasium. In the past, Positive Tomorrows has bussed students out to local libraries or the nearby Boys & Girls Clubs of America to use their services, but the greatest advantage of the new location is that nearly everything the school could ever need is on campus.

“When it’s library day, you just walk down the hall to the library,” Durham said. “You don’t have to take a bus downtown to the metro library.”

Agel has worked at Positive Tomorrows for the last nine years. Even from early on, she could tell the school was in need of a new facility.

“I could see very clearly that we needed a new building, that this one just wasn’t adequate for what we were needing,” Agel said.

When the school finally resolved to move into a new facility, it began a capital campaign that met its $10 million goal in February 2017. Positive Tomorrows will use an additional $5 million in new market tax credits to complete the $15 million project. An official groundbreaking ceremony was held at the new site in June.

There are a variety of ways students might become enrolled in Positive Tomorrows. Parents are often contacted through enrollment days at homeless shelters or rehabilitative services. The school also sees plenty of self-referrals.

“It’s a lot of word of mouth,” Agel said. “A lot of people talk to each other and they’ll meet somebody somewhere.”

Positive Tomorrows often gets calls from parents interested in enrolling their children in the school. In those instances, a staff social worker will meet the parents where they’re at and help them fill out the paperwork.

As eager as Positive Tomorrows is to get children in need into its facilities, the school simply does not have the space to serve most of those who apply.

“We hate to turn kids away,” Agel said. “We don’t like to see that.”

In addition to an increased capacity for admitting students, Agel is thrilled that the new campus will include more space in general. “[At the current location] teachers can’t really spread out and do some of the things they’d like to be able to do in a classroom because there’s just not enough space,” she said.

Growing optimism

Positive Tomorrows’ goal is not to admit students and keep them enrolled through the course of their education.

The school works with parents to get families into stable situations that

would no longer require their services.

“We want them to be here for a year or two while they get up to speed academically and socially,” Agel said. “We want them to like school. ‘Academic optimism’ is a term that our director of education uses.”

A major goal is to expose students to as many new things as possible: basketball, swimming lessons, music lessons.

Agel said they want to find an interest for the students.

“We find some really talented kids,” she said, “but no one would ever know it because they’ve never been able to try these things.”

Durham said a lot of students come into Positive Tomorrows with the idea that playing on something like a basketball team is only for someone with the money to pay for a uniform or that joining an organization like Girl Scouts is only for those whose parents can drive them to after-school activities. The school wants to open up their world of possibilities.

“If they get to do those things here, it gives them that hopefulness,” she said. “‘Oh wait; I can do these things.’”

In the past, students have taken field trips to grocery stores or movie theaters.

Durham said the point is to make them feel at home in places they might not have previously visited. Society should feel like a place they are always welcome.

“What’s the point in working hard in the classroom if you don’t believe tomorrow can be better?” Durham said.

“Our kids don’t have control over their circumstances, so we give them that hope to go along with education that you can go out there and do this.”

Visit positivetomorrows.org.

Positive Tomorrow’s student Maleiyah poses for a photo. The elementary school currently serves about 75 students each semester. | Photo Positive Tomorrows / provided

COMMENTARY

NEWS

Transcendent moment

Westbrook’s Summer Hype House Party delivered an inflection point for Oklahoma City. By Matt Stansberry

There’s not anyone more loved or influential in Oklahoma City right now than Russell Westbrook.

His impact on our city is mind-blowing, especially for someone who has grown up witnessing OKC go from complete uncertainty to a confident, thriving and developing city on the rise. So when the man himself personally invites you to a house party, it’s simple — you cancel your plans and you go.

That’s what I and 499 other “surprised to be on the invite list” guests did on Saturday, June 30.

We showed up at a house in the middle of Arcadia knowing very little about what the night was going to entail.

In fact, Russ had been extremely cryptic. There was a random address, a dress code of “stylish summer swag” (which if you Google-searched would reveal nothing) and some vague details along the lines of beats, bites and booze.

This sounds just like Russ though, right? Doing things his own way with little reverence for how things are supposed to be, all the reason we were excited to be there in the first place.

Russell Westbrook is larger than the game, and on June 30, he lit a spark. Now it’s our job to fan that flame.

Little did we know that we would be witnessing history firsthand.

Upon arrival, it was obvious that this was no ordinary party. We pulled up and were immediately greeted with sparkling cocktails at the front door.

The party flowed from inside the house and transitioned seamlessly into the

backyard, where the main feature was a large stage completely decked out, including a branded, backlit DJ booth.

As music was spinning, everyone was eating incredible food, enjoying the open bar and having a complete blast mingling in what turned out to be a magical night with perfect, unprecedented low temperatures.

Then everything got crazy.

Around 10:30 p.m., Russ and Paul George took the stage. The crowd rushed to fill up the space. We were all ready to show our appreciation for PG in hopes we could help convince him to stay in Oklahoma, but he beat us all to the punch.

“If you didn’t hear me the first time … I’m here to stay!” George said.

The crowd exploded! As we were cheering, I looked around at an audience full of artists, creatives, makers and doers who are all helping shape the city

I love so much. Nas took the mic and we celebrated together, along with Russ and PG on stage, cigars in hand.

Then the real meaning of the evening dawned on me. It’s much bigger than me and even bigger than Westbrook himself. I believe that in the days, months and years to come that people will look back at his Summer Hype House Party as a turning point in our city’s history, a moment that transformed us, this current generation that’s responsible for transforming our city and bringing it forward for the next generation. Russell Westbrook is larger than the game, and on June 30, he lit a spark. Now it’s our job to fan that flame.

Matt Stansberry is the founder & CEO of branding agency Nominee and a recording artist and frontman of Matt Stansberry & The Romance.

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

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9

chicken

friedNEWS

Breaking the NBA bank

Although it was only a select few in attendance for the July 1 party where Paul George announced that he was returning to Oklahoma City Thunder, most of the city might’ve said they were there to see George and Russell Westbrook smoke cigars and watch Nas perform.

Gamble Thunder general manager Sam Presti’s trade for George from the Indiana Pacers paid off. With no guarantees that George would re-sign after last season and the emergence of traded pieces Victor Oladipo (who was named the NBA’s most improved player) and Domantas Sabonis, it’s a rare case in which both teams are happy with a trade.

Of course, it feels somewhat like basketball purgatory because of the dominance of the Golden State Warriors, but it’s better than the alternative. Had George left, the Thunder would’ve had no money to spend on outside free agents and it would’ve lead to a season of “Should they trade Russell Westbrook?” headlines from the national media and possibly even people wondering about the future of the franchise in the city.

George’s four-year, $137 million deal (with a player option after year three) guarantees the Thunder will be in the national spotlight into the next decade.

With the re-signing of George, Jerami Grant and Raymond Felton and bringing in former top-10 selection Nerlens Noel on a minimum contract, the Thunder is left with the highest payroll in league history, factoring in Carmelo Anthony opting into a $27.9 million deal for next season. The

Thunder’s projected payroll is $300 million because of the league’s luxury tax. Owner Clay Bennett is spending money like oil is still $100 a barrel. It’s ironic for a franchise that used dodging the tax as reason for trading future-MVP James Harden following an NBA Finals appearance.

The team will save $108 million in tax by using its stretch provision on Anthony this season, which would allow the team to space out contract payments and potentially allow Anthony to join the Houston Rockets and be on the way

to re-uniting with Chris Paul on the famous Banana Boat Team from 2015. Given Anthony’s reluctance to come off the bench, where his scoring ability would provide a boost and hide his defensive shortcomings, jettisoning Anthony makes financial and basketball sense.

Off script

OK, readers; it’s Chicken-Fried joke time! Get ready for a real knee-slapper!

Ahem ahem. Why didn’t the SUV know not to drive into the bookstore?

We’ll wait …

Are you ready for this answer?

You’re not ready for this answer; you can’t be.

Oh, so you really want the answer, huh?

Well, here goes.

Because it was tired!

Get it?! Tired? You get it, right?

Right? Hey, what are you doing?! Don’t flip that page on us just yet! There will be plenty of time to read local restaurant features in a minute. For just one moment, can you please appreciate the devastating double entendre that could only possibly be deployed by a crafty and devilishly handsome scribe?

Of course, it was no joking matter July 10 when a black Mercedes SUV literally drove through the storefront glass window of Commonplace Books in Midtown. Thankfully, there were zero injuries.

The SUV apparently came to a stop in the children’s section. Owner Benjamin Nockels said in an interview with NewsOK.com he was happy the vehicle burst through at a time the area was vacant.

“It sounded like a truck hit the

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hop out of the driver’s seat asking for a copy of Go, Dog. Go! We here at ChickenFried News have read our fair share of pop-up books, but this sudden burst breaks too many fourth walls for our taste.

This SUV should reverse course and try another draft, one that really drives it all home.

(Not so) golden anniversary

building. It was explosive,” Nockels told NewsOK. Apparently, the frazzled driver of the SUV had just hit another car at a nearby intersection and was pulling into a curbside parking spot when they slammed the accelerator instead of the brake pedal. That person should definitely be thanking their lucky stars the situation wasn’t a lot worse. We’re sure some store patrons were half-expecting an Irish Setter to

The big golden anniversary! It has been 50 years since Braum’s opened and brought every Oklahoman that much closer to diabetes. Braum’s wouldn’t be around today if it didn’t deliver greasy hamburgers that hit the spot through its drive-thru window and offer delicious pints of ice cream for sale in its Fresh Market.

In fact, we’re pretty sure the Braum’s Fresh Market is the only way some of its customers might encounter a fresh fruit or vegetable. Things with the chain around here are pretty great except for that time last year

they tried to demolish a historic building in the name of another location.

Now that the protests are in the past, we should all be gearing up for a new Braum’s celebration. What is the franchise doing for the big 5-0? Do customers get 50 cents off an order? What about selling frozen yogurt cones for two quarters every day? Of course not; that requires them to cut into their bottom line.

According to a recent blog post on its website, Braum’s wants you to celebrate its anniversary by buying its ice cream and hosting your own ice cream social. The five-part post provides a list of items to buy to accentuate its ice cream (Capitalism!) and provides hints on how to decorate and games to play.

We’re not expecting Braum’s to give away a gold clock to its customers in

honor of the anniversary, but hosting an ice cream social in your home requires you to hide all of the empty wine bottles and dust before company arrives. Who wants to do that?

Of course, this is the same company that thought promoting its milkshakes as being healthy because it is a source of protein, so maybe we’re asking too much.

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EAT & DRINK Fried oyster po’boy served with fries and hushpuppies | Photo Jacob Threadgill

review

was the star of the sandwich. Nguyen said he got the idea to mix a hard-boiled egg with coleslaw while thinking about sushi at Guernsey Park. The combination of textures in addition to a spicy mayonnaise kicked up with house-made blackened seasoning is a nice addition to the sandwich or any of the restaurant’s entrees as a side. The fries and hushpuppies served with the po’boy were pretty generic Sysco entries but were well seasoned and hot.

Okie Cajun

Cajun Corner isn’t trying to be truly authentic, and it delivers well-seasoned seafood in a fast-casual concept. By Jacob Threadgill

Cajun Corner 9200 N. Council Road, Suite A cajuncornerokc.com | 405-792-2588 What works: Fresh oyster on the po’boy is expertly fried and spicy coleslaw stands out.

What needs work: The étouffeé needs bread to complement the dish.

Tip: The draft beer is only $3.

The children of Vietnamese refugees, Nam and Rick Nguyen were born in Beaumont, Texas, where their family found their footing in the shrimp boat industry.

The Nguyens moved to Oklahoma in the late 1980s, and brothers Nam and Rick became partners in successful restaurant Covell Park and transitioned Guernsey Park into Okie Pokie and Noodee.

Nam Nguyen found himself craving Cajun food and noticed that the Oklahoma City area doesn’t have a ton of Cajun options. The craving led to the creation of Cajun Corner, a fast-casual eatery at 9200 N. Council Road, which is an 8-mile journey down Northwest Expressway from the city core.

“We decided we wanted to open a Cajun restaurant because it’s comfort food,” Nam Nguyen said. “It’s not traditional Louisiana or Southern Texasstyle Cajun, but Okie Cajun because we’re up in Oklahoma.”

The end result is a style that isn’t exactly Asian-Cajun fusion or authentic Cajun, but the results are tasty all the same.

The Asian influence is certainly there. Seafood egg rolls are the most popular appetizers, its étouffée is served over jasmine rice and a bright red bottle of Sriracha is among the bottled hot sauces on the table, but what is authenticity anyway, especially when something tastes good?

Nguyen said that he was attracted to Cajun food while getting introduced to it in southeast Texas and then became even more intrigued while tracking the common French influence in both Cajun and Vietnamese cuisines. The nexus of that shared heritage is showcased with the seafood egg rolls ($4.49 for two pieces).

Served with a house-made chili sauce, the egg rolls were better in concept than in execution. They were served quickly and hot, but the filling was made with previously frozen shrimp and what seemed to be the bits of crab sticks — the imitation crab found in California sushi rolls that is made from pulverized pollock.

I’m certainly not belittling the use of frozen fish, especially in Oklahoma, but I found the egg roll somewhat unremarkable. Perhaps if the filling had a crunchy element like red bell pepper or even water chestnut, it might’ve been more memorable. I assume they wanted a softer filling to contrast the crispy wonton wrapper.

We’ve had a very good approval rating from Southerners. To us, that’s a positive thing.

Nam Nguyen So much of a good po’boy comes down to the bread. I missed a nice crusty French roll that’s crunchy on the outside and soft on the interior. Cajun Corner uses a bun that is a soft potato roll, kind of like an oversized hot dog bun.

Nguyen said they tried 8-10 different buns from their supplier but couldn’t get a consistent product out of the French roll.

“The ones closer to French roll almost tasted stale,” Nguyen said. “The fried breading [on oyster, chicken or shrimp] has crunch to alleviate the noncrunch to the bread. It’s not a true po’boy bread because we decided to go that way. We’re more concentrated on the flavor profile.”

The seafood étouffée caught my attention because of the variety of seafood used in the dish: catfish, shrimp and crawfish.

At that price point, it shouldn’t be a sur-

prise when it was served with frozen seafood. The addition of cream sauce is important because, as Nguyen admits, they aren’t trying for Cajun authenticity.

The result is something that resembles a Cajun Alfredo served over rice rather than an étouffée. I only tasted cream and its excellent blackened seasoning, and it missed the depth provided from a fresh seafood or chicken stock.

I also missed not having a slice or two of toast to facilitate eating of the dish.

I went to Cajun Corner at dinnertime on a Friday, and the place was popular.

A line formed behind the register, but the staff quickly worked through orders and food was delivered within minutes.

It’s a very well-run restaurant that features deals like $3 draft beer on the weekends. It has earned enough business that Nguyen said he and his brother are eyeing a location in the Uptown 23rd District for a second location next year.

“We’ve had a very good approval rating from Southerners. To us, that’s a positive thing,” Nguyen said, noting that they’ve had more tips from Cajun Corner customers than at Guernsey or Covell Park. “A lot of people won’t say definitively, ‘I know sushi,’ the same way they say, ‘I know gumbo.’ They want it to do well because good Cajun restaurants up here are few and far between.”

As a Mississippian for more than 10 years, I’m still searching for a great authentic Cajun restaurant in the city.

Brent’s Cajun Seafood & Oyster Bar definitely does things well but left me wanting more on a few other things. Da Gumboman food truck is probably the best bet for truly authentic Cajun food in the metro area, but Cajun Corner’s Okie Cajun version tastes good, and at the end of the day, that’s what matters.

The cream sauce seafood étouffeé is served over jasmine rice. | Photo Jacob Threadgill

Oh boy, po’boys

Despite my slight disappointment in the egg rolls, that feeling was assuaged when the server brought out entrees of cream sauce étouffée ($10.99) and a fried oyster po’boy ($9.99) topped with spicy egg coleslaw.

The oysters are one of the few seafood products that arrive at the restaurant fresh, and it shows on the sandwich. The breading is a nice mixture of cornmeal and flour, and the oyster has plenty of its distinct natural flavor.

Fried oyster and braised roast beef in gravy are my two favorite po’boys.

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New Leaf

Orange Leaf Frozen Yogurt expands hours and offerings with Humble Donut Co. By Jacob Threadgill

Oklahoma City-based Orange Leaf Frozen Yogurt is one of the most successful frozen yogurt chains in the country with more than 200 locations across the nation.

With the latest frozen yogurt trend in the rearview mirror, the brand is using its 5900 W. Memorial Road, Suite D location as a model for co-branding its Humble Donut Co., allowing Orange Leaf locations to diversity their offerings, use pre-existing ingredients and expand business hours.

The company was in the early stages of exploring co-branding opportunities when Kendall Ware took over as president and COO in December of last year after spending two years as its vice president of operations and training.

At the beginning of this year, Orange Leaf began in earnest to narrow down the product that best expands its reach without taking up too much space. Ware said management tried a variety of products like cookie dough and cupcakes but eventually settled on doughnuts.

“Being a frozen yogurt chain, about 75 percent of our business happens after dinner,” Ware said. “Knowing that, we wanted something that could bring people back earlier in the day.

The doughnut came to mind, and we wanted something unique to fit Orange Leaf’s model, and that’s where the mini doughnut came in because we knew

that it wasn’t mainstream yet.”

Orange Leaf found a supplier for its yellow cake doughnut mix. Doughnuts are fried in-house and topped with five classic flavors (glazed, chocolate, powdered, cinnamon sugar and maple) and 15 “favorite” toppings that were created

by Orange Leaf’s operations and marketing team and utilize many of the toppings available for its self-serve frozen yogurt. Ware said that they added a few toppings to round out the menu.

We wanted something that could bring people back earlier in the day.

Kendall Ware Toppings include double chocolate, birthday cake, peanut butter cup, coconut caramel cookie crunch, cereal and French toast, among others.

Doughnut influx

Sales at the Memorial location are up over 40 percent during the same period last year, Ware said.

That location began serving Humble doughnuts in June and is a co-branding test run for Orange Leaf’s franchisees. A Humble Donut location in Sarasota, continued on page 17

Humble Donut Co. has partnered with local coffee roaster EÔTÉ to provide its coffee service across the country. | Photo provided

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Florida, recently opened, and Ware said plenty of other franchisees are interested.

“We’ve got a lot of interest coming from Missouri, Ohio, Florida, Texas. We’re trying to seal those deals,” he said, noting that franchisees have been asking for a co-branding opportunity for quite some time.

Orange Leaf works with franchisees to install new equipment and branding in stores, which means a boost in advertising after signing a new franchise agreement.

“We built a majority of [Orange Leaf locations] during the yogurt boom.

There was a lot of attraction and excitement around frozen yogurt in 2010 and 2011,” Ware said, noting that many of the early locations were built in large spaces that didn’t fit the contemporary clientele needs.

The second great frozen yogurt craze began in the late 2000s with the expansion of Los Angeles-based Pinkberry, which differentiated from the TCBY-led introduction on the product in the late 1980s with a tart frozen yogurt and sleek, uncomplicated interior.

Pinkberry inspired plenty of imitators across the country, including Orange Tree Frozen Yogurt, which Kevin and Jin Moon opened 2008 in Edmond.

Former Gulfport Energy chairman Mike Liddell saw Orange Tree’s booming business and bought it in 2009, changing its name to Orange Leaf.

As recently as 2015, Orange Leaf was the fifth-largest frozen yogurt franchise in the country with about 8.1 percent of the market share compared to industry leader Menchie’s 14.2 percent, according to Guidant Financial.

Orange Leaf grew as large as 300 locations in 2013 but has stabilized and added 20 locations in 2017.

“It’s been going very well, and despite that [frozen yogurt] craze and boom fading off a little bit, we’ve done

Mini doughnuts at Humble Donut Co. utilize the toppings available at its Orange Leaf Yogurt locations. | Photo provided

well as a company and experienced the most in-store sales increase as a brand so far in 2018,” Ware said.

Branding opportunity

Orange Leaf isn’t the first frozen yogurt chain to attempt to diversify in a crowded market, but it is the most dramatic overhaul and the first to extend its business hours to the morning. Dallas-based frozen yogurt chain Red Mango added juicing in 2014 while Pinkberry experimented with a cookie dessert the same year, according to Business Insider.

Orange Leaf added milkshakes and smoothies to its menu as well as announcing a partnership with Oklahoma Citybased EÔTÉ Coffee, which becomes the required coffee service for any franchise expanding to Humble Donut. EÔTÉ is also offered as an optional service for franchises that are not yet adding Humble.

There are several Orange Leafs across the country already selling EÔTÉ cold brew and drip coffee, Ware said.

“We’re excited to partner with this new mini doughnut franchise and look forward to the growth opportunities for EÔTÉ,” said EÔTÉ founder Todd Vinson.

Since the opening of Humble Donut Co., Ware said that he has been surprised by its effect on frozen yogurt and smoothies. Orange Leafs used to open at 11 a.m. but now open at 7 a.m. to accommodate the breakfast crowd. Originally, they were planning to turn on the frozen yogurt machines at 10:30 a.m., but demand dictated that everything open at 7 a.m. In fact, Ware is considering expanding the opening to 6 or 6:30 a.m.

“We’ve had plenty of people order mini doughnuts and a smoothie at the same time,” Ware said. “We have to figure out the [opening] time that makes sense. We’ve had an influx of people waiting outside for us to open at 7 a.m.”

Visit humbledonuts.com.

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Fresh dough

Veteran restaurateurs collaborate on by-the-slice Wheelhouse Pizza Kitchen. By Jacob Threadgill

Oklahoma City’s robust independent pizza market received a new addition from some of the city’s most experienced restaurateurs with the opening of Wheelhouse Pizza Kitchen at 11109 N. May Ave. at the end of June.

The by-the-slice and New York-style whole pies with creative toppings are a joint concept from Jimmy’s Egg founder Loc Le and managing partner Michael Jones. Jones was the chef and founder of Lottinvilles Wood Grille and Flatire Burgers.

“We thought that if we could offer really good, quality pizza at a rapid pace with solid customer service and reasonable price points, we felt we could set the market,” Jones said.

Le approached Jones after he closed Lottinvilles in 2017 after 18 successful years in Edmond. Jones said he jumped at the chance to build on his experience at San Francisco Baking Institute to create a signature for Wheelhouse. Jones baked all of the bread at Lottinvilles, including ciabatta from a sourdough starter, and was eager to build on his baking skills.

“After doing bread for so many years, it really helped me out even though pizza dough is a different idea,” Jones said. “We felt there was enough competition that we wanted to veer [from what was already offered].”

Finding perfection

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After many experiments, Jones settled on a New York-style made with Caputo 00 flour (often referred to as double O), which is finely ground and has a low gluten content, meaning the dough has less elasticity.

The dough for the pizza is made fresh every day and then goes through a 24-hour proofing process — about twice as long as the standard pizza dough proof — and is rolled out, piled with sauce and

The Yaya Veg is one of the most popular specialty pizzas at Wheelhouse Pizza Kitchen. | Photo Jacob Threadgill

toppings and cooked in a 1000-degreeFahrenheit oven. A 10-inch gluten-free pizza is also available for a build-yourown-pizza option (starting at $11.99). “[The extra proof] gives the outside crisp and the inside chewiness of the crust,” Jones said. “As the yeast starts to heat, it makes the dough rise differently. New York crust is heavier on the water content. I backed off on the sugar; there is not much sugar or salt. It is yeast, olive oil and flour.”

Every time you come in, it is a different slice and it gives you an exotic experience.

Michael Jones Jones was responsible for creating the conceptual design of the restaurant, recipe, kitchen and menu design. He leaned on his experience at Tony’s Via Roma and his wife Lory, who is Italian.

Jones used his wife’s recipe for a meatball appetizer served on garlic bread topped with red sauce, mozzarella and Parmesan ($7.99). The meatballs are made with two types of Italian sausage and seared before being basted in pomodoro sauce.

The meatballs are also available as an individual topping on a build-yourown pizza or on the specialty pizza Guido’s Speedo ($25.99) Crushed meatballs join Canadian bacon, applewood smoked bacon, fried pepperoni and Italian peppers on Guido’s Speedo.

Jones said that the addition of fried pepperoni is a nod to a tradition started

2610 W. Memorial Road | Oklahoma City 73134 Across the turnpike from Quail Springs Mall 405-608-0825 | mamaritasmexican.com

at Nomad II and continues at Sussy’s in Bricktown.

“I saw the fried pepperoni at the Nomad, and I didn’t know how they did it,” Jones said. “The difficulty with it is that the oil in the pepperoni comes out in the frying process, so it’s easy for it to be chewy. When it comes out successful, you get almost a jerky flavor.”

Sliced right

Traditional pepperoni is the top-selling slice and pretty much the No. 1 seller at any pizzeria in the country, Jones said, but he has been happy to see that a few specialty pizzas have earned favor from customers looking for a whole 20-inch pie.

He said the Mushroom Molly ($23.99) with a Parmesan white sauce, mushrooms, caramelized onions, spinach and herbed goat cheese is a customer favorite. The Yaya Veg ($23.99) with a pesto sauce, red onion, tomato, black olives and herbed goat cheese topped with balsamic glazed arugula and bruschetta tomatoes once it comes out of the oven is another top-seller. “‘Yaya’ stands for ‘grandmother’ in Italian, and my wife is Italian and a grandmother, so this is a nod to her,” Jones said.

Wheelhouse’s 10 signatures pizzas comprise only a portion of its sales.

Large slices sell for $3.79 with six

The Guido’s Speedo pizza is topped with crushed meatballs, fried pepperoni, two types of bacon and Italian peppers. | Photo Kimberly Lynch

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options each day: cheese, fried pepperoni, Italian sausage and three rotating options from its signature pizzas.

The building’s former life as a Taco Cabana comes in handy, as Wheelhouse uses the old drive-thru to serve call-ahead takeout orders and by-the-slice orders.

“A text message is sent when the pie is ready to come out of the oven,” Jones said. “It’s pretty successful; it’s out of the oven and into their hand.”

Wheelhouse includes full liquor service and a rotating selection of 25 on-tap craft beers.

Jones said that he and Le are happy with the reception from customers at Wheelhouse. A high-traffic location on the border between Oklahoma City and The Village has worked well. “[At other pizzerias,] sometimes one person at a table has to yield to a type of pizza that they want,” Jones said. “Every time you come in, it is a different slice and it gives you an exotic experience. I need to give a nod to other people in the [OKC pizza] industry because there are a lot of good pizza places. We wanted to give it a shot and come at it in a different angle.”

Visit wheelhousepizza.com.

Wheelhouse PIzza Kitchen is located at 11109 N. May Ave. | Photo Kimberly Lynch

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Refreshing greens

It is a peak time of the year for fresh fruit. Summer salads using fruit are a great way to fill up with nutrients without carrying a food baby while you’re moving quickly from your car air conditioning to office air conditioning. These seven salads pack in the fruit.

By Jacob Threadgill with provided and Gazette / file photos

Charleston’s Restaurant 224 Johnny Bench Drive charlestons.com | 405-778-8868

Charleston’s is an Oklahoma City institution that now has 20 locations in six states, including six in the OKC metro.

Walt’s Champagne Chicken Salad gets a summer boost with the inclusion of strawberries and pineapples. According to a company spokesperson, the “Walt” refers to Walt Disney because the salad is inspired by the magic of Disney. It is summery, sweet and savory all at the same time.

LUNCH

DINNER

Stuffed Olive Cafe & Catering

12215 S. Pennsylvania Ave. stuffedolivecafe.com | 405-735-7593

In addition to offering some delicious and inventive sandwiches, Stuffed Olive offers nine salad variations that range from a spinach salad with fresh fruit to a broccoli salad that also has cauliflower, carrots, onion, cheddar and tomatoes. If you don’t like spinach, go for the Bonsai salad that pairs mixed greens with oranges, spiced nuts, apples and feta with ginger sesame dressing.

Saturn Grill

6432 Avondale Drive, Nichols Hills saturngrill.com | 405-843-7144

With eight salad offerings and about half of its menu comprised of vegetarian and vegan options, Saturn Grill is a go-to for eaters who don’t want to be weighed down. The strawberry spinach salad adds coconut and a sweet limepoppy seed dressing. The Asian broccoli salad combines green beans, carrots, soba noodles, sesame and sunflower seeds with a sweet soy dressing.

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You never know what kind of tasty specials the owners of Nourished Food Bar will unveil each day, but four salads are among the staples. One of the most popular is the cabbage, carrot and fig salad that tops the fresh ingredients with chili-spiced pepitas and lemon vinaigrette. The beet salad will make you rethink beets as a feature by pairing them with roasted chickpeas, fresh greens and avocado.

Much like another sign of the summer, fresh gazpacho, a panzanella salad is like summer on a plate. Each dish shares many ingredients: bell peppers, tomato, cucumber, red onion and bread (bread is used to thicken gazpacho), but the panzanella puts each individual ingredient in the spotlight. Hall’s offers a fresh panzanella in addition to its excellent pizza.

Lunch and dinner at All About Cha offers a mix of two Korean marinated meat wraps and a few other more traditional wraps and sandwiches with freshly made sushi. Its orange chicken pairs spinach and romaine with fresh citrus, onions, feta cheese and toasted walnuts. The “All About” Salad gives guests the option of added shrimp, scallops or chicken to a hearty mix of green and vegetables.

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art

ARTS & CULTURE

Native design

Native Oklahoma artist Harvey Pratt was chosen to design a memorial at a Smithsonian Institute museum in Washington, D.C. By Krystal Yoseph

Cheyenne/Arapaho artist, 2017 Oklahoma Creativity Ambassador and El Reno resident Harvey Pratt almost didn’t submit a design for the very contest for which he was recently awarded a unanimous selection designation. Last month, Pratt was named winning designer during a competition process for a federally authorized commission by Congress to complement the grounds at Smithsonian Institute’s National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI).

His winning work, “Warriors’ Circle of Honor,” features multisensory elements and encompasses traditional features shared by a range of tribes across American lands. The National Native American Veterans Memorial will break ground on Sept. 21, 2019, the 15th anniversary of the museum; however, as a recent retiree, it took a close friend to enlighten Pratt, a Marine Corps veteran, about the gravity of his accomplishment.

“After I won, someone said, ‘Harvey, you’re going to be on the [National] Mall with 11 other national memorials,’” Pratt said. “I’d never thought about it.

At that point, I was trying to do a good job and be competitive. [He said,] ‘You’re going to be there as long as there is an America.’”

Luckily, Pratt started on a design concept in December and the rest will very well be history.

Lasting design

Rebecca Trautmann, project curator for the memorial, shed light on the selection process, which began with an advisory committee of about 30 members, including co-chair lieutenant governor of the Chickasaw Nation Jefferson Keel and fellow Native American veterans, family members and tribal leaders.

From 2015 to 2017, representatives from NMAI traveled across 16 states and the District of Columbia, consulting with 1,200 people across the country to gain insight for drafting the design guidelines.

The process helped them better understand what the most vested parties wanted to see in the memorial, what story needed to be conveyed and what the takeaway of visiting the memorial should be.

Pratt attended one of the conversations conducted in Oklahoma.

Discussions were hosted by Choctaw Nation, Cheyenne & Arapaho Tribes, Comanche Nation and Cherokee Nation.

That collective nationwide conversation and feedback is what directly shaped the criteria, including a desire for the tribute to be inclusive of indigenous people and veterans across the

country (including Native Americans, Alaska Natives and Native Hawaiians), for men and women to be honored and for all branches and eras of service — from the Revolutionary War up to the present and through the future — to be recognized. Additionally, the support of families and guidance of spirituality was paramount, as was a designated space for remembrance, reflection and healing. Native Americans willingly serve in the military at a higher rate per capita than any other population group since the American Revolution.

The competition was announced on Veterans Day 2017. 120 Stage 1 design entries were received, which were narrowed down to five Stage 2 finalists.

“Then the jury spent a few days really discussing, deliberating over these five designs,” Trautmann said. “Each of the [finalists] also presented their designs to the jury. The jury really talked about which of the five designs they felt best accomplished [needs] based on what we’d heard in our consultations.”

There was a unanimous agreement that Harvey Pratt’s design did just that.

Something in this memorial will fit everybody.

Harvey Pratt

Animated elements

Pratt is an internationally renowned forensic artist, painter and sculptor who was born in Oklahoma and retired in March 2017 after 50 years in law enforcement. He recalls hearing that there was going to be a memorial to honor Native American veterans after attending one of the Smithsonian’s early discussions with Cheyenne & Arapaho Tribes’ director of veteran affairs’ Russell Willey while helping with research on Cheyenne Code Talkers in WWI. “So we went, and I listened and he said, ‘Harvey, you oughta do that,” Pratt said. “I said, ‘No, there will be huge companies, architectural firms working for that. There’s just no way you could compete with guys who do that thing for a living.’”

Willey continued to encourage Pratt to submit for the Smithsonian bid. He thought about it. He slept on it. Then he dreamed about it and a concept appeared that seemed to fit the requirements once they were announced.

The thought centered on the idea of water, fire, earth and wind.

“Those are things that all tribes have

Harvey Pratt was chosen to design the National Native American Veterans Memorial. | Photo Neil Chapman / Smithsonian Insitution / provided

a reverence for, and they use those things in their ceremonies, so I thought, ‘Well, that’s a start,’” Pratt said. “I got the idea that things evolve in circles — [it’s] a timeless thing and endless; you can step into it at almost any part and circle back and do it again. I said, ‘A vet or war mother could come in there and choose their direction.’”

Acknowledging the ceremonial songs that contribute to honoring veterans, Pratt included a speaker system in his design. Uniquely, that hadn’t been done before. The memorial will be equipped to play those songs, with auditory attributes coming from the beat of drums, the sound of voices and the water element. An eternal fire component wasn’t allowable; however, a ceremonial fire might be lit for special occasions.

“So I included directions, five military seals, we had the four elements, cardinal points and I thought I’d include the sacred colors,” Pratt said.

“Something in this memorial will fit everybody so they [can] come in and do it the way they do it and not what someone else is doing.”

Pratt’s designs started on lined yellow legal paper, and he began drawing in December 2017 right before Christmas.

He expanded materials to grid paper and enlisted his son and wife for the design team. It was his son who suggested that they animate the process in order for it to really come to life. The family affair

The veterans memorial honors Native Americans who have served in the U.S. armed forces. | Photo Smithsonian Insitution / provided

grew to include help from local, yet nationally recognized animation and design firms Skyline Ink and Butzer Architects and Urbanism to bring the designs to life and has continued to encompass various other architects.

By June 1, the team had to have everything submitted, including designs, plans, exhibits and 34 pages of dialogue explaining what they wanted to do and what exactly it meant. There will be some slight modifications along the way and many visits to D.C. in the meantime to ensure that the core values remain intact.

Helping hands

Pratt’s gratitude and pride resonates in the tone of his voice. Upon returning from Vietnam, he maintained his warrior mentality as a Marine and still wanted to help people. Though he’s retired, Pratt said it’s hard to say no to someone in need. He’s one of the Southern Cheyenne chiefs and said he first gained respect for veterans as a child and is thankful to teachers for helping him recognize his talents at an early age.

The National Native American Veterans Memorial is slated to open in late 2020. To date, close to $3 million has been raised of the $8 million needed to cover the cost of building the memorial.

Visit nmai.si.edu.

A rendering of Harvey Pratt’s “Warriors’ Circle of Honor” | Image Harvey Pratt / Smithsonian Institution / provided

O kg a z e t t e . c o m | j u ly 1 8 , 2 0 1 8

23

ARTS & CULTURE

art

Greg Burns’ exhibit is on display at Oklahoma History Center through Sept. 29. | Photo Greg Burns / provided

Permanent trademark

A Greg Burns exhibit at Oklahoma History Center highlights the artist’s ability to capture the feeling of a moment. By Joshua Blanco

The ability to capture the essence of a certain setting is a unique talent few artists possess. In Oklahoma City, a lifelong painter is tracing his roots back to the heartland in a nostalgic installation beaming with color and sentiment.

A Sense of Time and Place is an attempt to leave viewers with the serenity belonging to the places that will one day be gone but never forgotten.

Born in 1947 in Fort Worth, Texas, Greg Burns was diagnosed with arthrogryposis, a rare joint disorder. Seeking the care of an orthopedic surgeon, the family moved to Oklahoma City in the early 1950s in an effort to provide their son with the best care possible. Around that time, he discovered his love for the visual arts, an interest that would allow him to turn his passion into a career.

From an early age, Burns was creating pieces of his own, absorbing himself in the sketches and drawings that he made on a regular basis.

“I don’t remember not doing it. I’ve always done it,” Burns recalled. “Since I couldn’t do a lot of other things, it’s what I’ve done to change myself just for myself. And then it became something that I could do that other people had an opinion about.”

While attending high school, Burns won his first national award. And though he would go on to win several more, he wasn’t introduced to watercolor, his preferred method of painting, until 1964.

“It was really wishy-washy-looking stuff,” Burns said in regard to his earliest works.

He was an artistic natural, and it wasn’t long before he was able to master his signature style.

His description of watercolor is reminiscent of a love at first sight.

“I thought, ‘That’s for me,’” Burns said. “It’s good to find something to do for the rest of your life that you can’t learn it all in one fell swoop. And watercolor is definitely one of those things. It constantly changes. Some people find it very difficult. It suits me very well because once you put everything down, it’s permanent. It doesn’t seem like it would be, but it is. …You can’t paint over watercolor, and so you have to live with whatever happens, which suits me. You don’t try to change things with the paint, which is maybe a good philosophy.”

In the late ’60s, Burns enrolled at University of Oklahoma, establishing himself as an artist and continuing to win awards for his work. He was already on the path to becoming a successful artist prior to his 1972 graduation; however, his work for Oklahoma Foundation for the Disabled helped launch his career.

“They asked me if I’d consider doing a series of drawings that they could use as postcards that they could sell for the foundation,” Burns said. “And so I did.

I was on all these local television channels with these ads, and it was a successful thing. They made a bunch of money for the foundation. A lot of people ordered them. One thing led to another.”

Driving force

Since his initial success, the spry painter has traveled often, participating in a variety of art shows like the local Festival of the Arts and enjoying the competition with other artists. He even ran his own gallery for twenty years, despite the fact that it wasn’t necessarily his plan to do so.

“I really didn’t plan on being an artist,” Burns admitted. “I was thinking I would try to get a regular job. I was kind of interested in using art as a tool to help psychologically malformed children … to use the artwork and art as a way to make them feel better about themselves. That’s kinda what I thought I was going to do, but you don’t always end up doing what you think you’re going to do.”

He cites his own disability as a driving force for his determination.

“In some ways, it’s been a big benefit.

I’ve been determined to, you know, to show not only can I do something, but I honestly think it’s good stuff,” he said.

“I’m happy with my artwork.”

It has also allowed him to be more innovative while he works.

“I use my hands to draw with because the ink dries really fast, but one of the difficulties with my physical disabilities is I can’t raise my arms,” Burns said. “I do all the color with my teeth.

Sometimes I do a little drawing too … whatever it takes to get the job done.”

But that’s more of a means to an end.

According to Burns, the true talent of a painter lies within.

“I don’t really paint with my teeth; I paint with my brain,” Burns said. “I use my mind. That’s what I’m doing. And you know, that’s what everybody does.

They may paint with their hands, but they’re really painting with their brain. … It doesn’t make a difference. Whatever it takes, whatever it is, whatever you want — the line, the color — that doesn’t make any difference, don’t you think?

The end result is the important thing. … If I have to crawl along the floor to do

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“Grocery” by Greg Burns | Image Greg Burns / Oklahoma History Center / provided

it, I’m going to do whatever I have to do to get it done.”

Aside from his art, Burns’ devotion seems to have carried over to other aspects of his life, earning him lasting friendships and Patricia, his wife of 40 years.

Historical marks

Recently, the couple returned to Oklahoma City from their home in Florida. Shortly after their arrival, Burns agreed to open an exhibit of his work exclusively showcasing historical paintings of Oklahoma, his self-described trademarks.

“I think the beauty of his art and the reason he’s had such an appeal for people is that it’s more than a photograph. … What Greg does is he puts that emotion in there and you can sense it because he feels it,” said Bob Blackburn, executive director of Oklahoma Historical Society. “He’ll take buildings, and he’ll use pen and ink and watercolor to create something that’s really more than just the image.”

And for those who appreciate his

work, the pictures tend to evoke the warmth of simpler times.

“His work gives you a sense of time and place,” Blackburn said. “It takes you back to a certain time — shared memory is what I call that — and then a sense of place that’s a community. And he combined shared memory with sense of community and suddenly we’re all family. And we need more of that in our society today. That’s something to really celebrate.”

A Sense of Time and Place is scheduled to run 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Saturday through Sept. 29 in Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation Gallery at Oklahoma History Center, 800 Nazih Zuhdi Drive. Admission is free-$7. Visit okhistory.org.

A Sense of Time and Place: Work by Greg Burns 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Saturday Through September 29 Oklahoma History Center 800 Nazih Zuhdi Drive 405-521-2491 Free-$7

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Runoffs ARe now open!

Oklahoma City’s first and longest-running readers’ poll, Best of OKC, is back for its 34th year! You nominated your favorites last month and we tallied them up, so now we need you to tell us who is the Best of oKC! Vote online at bestofoklahomacity.com, or on our Best of oKC app until July 30.

save the dates for Best of oKC voting and the results!

Runoff voting July 18-30

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Results issue august 22

offeR up thAnKs issue august 29

CAtegoRies food & dRinK Best tea or coffeehouse Best oklahoma winery Best local craft Beer Best Beer selection Best cocktail Best margarita Best happy hour Best Breakfast Best Brunch Best patio Brunch Best meal for a deal Best late-night eats Best Burger Best sandwich shop Best BarBecue Best pizza place Best soul food Best chicken-fried steak Best steakhouse Best sushi Best vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free or healthy menu options

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art

ARTS & CULTURE

Achieving resonance

Resonator Institute’s new downtown Norman location furthers the nonprofit’s artistic goals.

By Daniel Bokemper

A staple of Norman’s artistic community migrates closer to the city’s epicenter this month. Founded in 2016 out of the remnants of Dope Chapel, Resonator Institute has challenged artists and cultivated creative growth through engaging programing and art education.

Though the nonprofit grew exponentially in its past home, a converted fabrication warehouse, the recent move brings new opportunities and heightened visibility to the collective.

Resonator’s mission to “inspire and nurture” creative endeavors of all sorts grows only more certain with its recent transformation. Despite a nominal distance from events like Norman Music Festival and the 2nd Friday Norman Art Walk, the institute was able to bring a supplemental experience to the city’s pre-existing happenings. Resonator’s new home at 325 E. Main St., however, pulls it away from the periphery and to the forefront of Norman’s artistic focus.

“The move will expand the scope of what we’re doing by reaching a lot more people,” executive director Curtis Jones said. “While we do many things where we are, this allows us to keep doing what we do while also engaging a lot more wandering people because of our location.”

The shift is not only a tremendous boon for Resonator itself, but also the community at large.

“We decided that this would not only be an ideal move because the new space was within the same guidelines of the old warehouse, but also because it gives us the opportunity to be an active community member along Main Street,” said Jacob Sargent, Resonator’s treasurer and secretary.

Though the relocation might seem

to punctuate the collective’s metamorphosis, several recent administrative developments have also allowed Resonator to harness its impact. For instance, the institute’s recent registration as a nonprofit in tandem with the formation of its advisory board has yielded several new opportunities.

“Before we registered as a nonprofit, we had virtually no contracts for artists to sign and no clear volunteer manual for community members wishing to help; we didn’t set out our expectations in writing,” Sargent said. “The development of our advisory board and continued development towards a platform for fundraising forms us into an organization with a solid foundation to continue off of into the future.”

Despite the past space offering many of the accommodations needed to keep Resonator alive, some of the facilities’ limitations hindered the prospect of year-round and consistent activities.

However, even the slightest additional amenities have given the collective a new lease on its mission.

“Before, we just didn’t have a functional shop,” Jones said. “The old space was an oven in the summer and a fridge in the winter, and given most of us are printmakers, we could only work in that way a few months out of the year. Now that we actually have climate control, we’re now working to get our education initiative going on a regular schedule.”

Achieving continuity

With the established consistency of the studio, Resonator is able to ensure one of its primary objectives — the ability to share, challenge and cultivate artistic expression is a constant for the in-

stitute. Built on a base of proactive Normanites, students and other prospective instructors both domestic and international, Resonator is able to channel its impact locally while also spreading its mission.

Unlike many for-profit galleries and spaces, the success of Resonator is contingent upon continual and diverse communal involvement.

“Many of our instructors aren’t ‘Resonator insiders,’” Jones said.

“They’re artists just out there in the community. It’s important we connect with them, as these classes, such as our Alternator courses, are a way to allow people to share a unique experience.

We have to tap into the resources that aren’t being used by other institutions.”

Resonator looks to ensure its longevity with a thoughtful and evolving curriculum.

“Our focus right now is to expand the diversity and frequency of the classes we offer, and we’re looking to expand that by incorporating additional qualified art teachers to charge reasonably for classes,” Sargent said. “It’s a tall task of trying to get as much community involvement and support in way that

Resonator Institute’s new facility in Norman helps expand the group’s mission and reach. | Photo provided

has never happened before in Norman.”

For now, Resonator seeks to establish itself as a beacon of localized artistic ingenuity and development. From there, Resonator can shift to loftier agendas.

“After we’re more established, we can plan towards more specific growth,” Jones said. “For now, we’ll do whatever we can to make the Resonator not just an isolated thing derived from the Norman scene. Instead, we want to think about how we can take the positive parts of our scene and better connect it to local and global communities.”

Resonator is already implementing programming within its new space, and the move is expected to be finished by the end of July. Aug. 10, Resonator will play host to Keyhole Nebula, an exhibition by Derrick Adams, and the institute will serve as a hub for art from Norman’s LGBTQ+ community during the first Norman Pride Festival Aug. 25-26.

Visit resonator.space.

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from left Renee Anderson (Rosie), Meredith Inglesby (Donna) and Barb Schoenjofer (Tanya) star in Mamma Mia! | Photo KO Rinearson / Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma / provided

said. “I feel like — and maybe it’s because I’m still a college student and not a professional, so to speak, yet — but being able to work with Lyric has been the single greatest job I’ve ever had.

Possibly ever will have.”

t h e at e r

‘Cut above’

Lyric love

Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma offers Oklahomans an escape full of energy and upbeat music.

By Krystal Yoseph

There is a matter of sheer happenstance brewing this month in Oklahoma City.

Moviegoers and theater fanatics alike will soon have the distinct opportunity to see hit musical Mamma Mia!, the nostalgic yet timely production featuring songs of the Swedish pop group ABBA, either on the big screen or iconic local stage this month when Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma opens its production July 24 and Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, the sequel to 2008’s Mamma Mia!, hits theaters Friday.

Besides the talented local cast and crew at Lyric, there are some obvious pros to this scenario, as pointed out by the stage production’s director and choreographer Lyn Cramer. And it starts with what might be a not-so-obvious tip from the local dynamo. “[In the movie,] they cast three men as the dads who [aren’t singers],” Cramer said. “So what you end up getting is when they do sing, they sing badly and mostly what they do is start cutting music. [But] when you come to see the live show, you get ‘Knowing me, Knowing You’ and so much more. You get everything ABBA because you have

a cast full of singers.”

Summer loving

Oklahoma City University senior and music theater major Jessica Martens stars as Sophie, the young bride-to-be who desires to uncover the identity of her father in advance of her wedding day. Raised by a single mother, Sophie conjures up a plan that results in three prospective paternal candidates arriving on the small Greek island on which she’s set to be married.

“I’m excited to create the little world that they have on the island,” Martens said. “[I’ve] never seen a live production of it, but I think that’s kinda special that I get to go in and be exposed to it all for the first time. I’m pretty excited to see how Lyn creates this world and helps me create the character of Sophie. It’s such a sweet story.”

The Iowa native has worked with Lyric for three summers in a row, and it’s not difficult to align the feel-good whimsy of the hit songs in the musical to mirror the almost love letter-like quality of the cast’s sentiments for this particular production.

“Absolutely incredible,” Martens

That’s how Cramer enthusiastically describes the cast across the board, and she should know.

By coincidence, Cramer, a recurring resident at Lyric Theatre, speaks about the local talent and staff only days removed from directing Mamma Mia! for a different company in Oregon last month. Cramer has worked with Lyric since 1992 and has lived in Oklahoma City for 30 years.

Initially, she was set to only direct the Oklahoma City show for Lyric, and casting took place in March. From there, she worked on production through April, a little bit every day outside of her day job, setting the pace for a family vacation in May. As a fulltime professor of musical theatre and dance at the University of Oklahoma (OU), Cramer returned from muchneeded rest and relaxation with 10 days remaining in the month to prepare for rehearsals in OKC. Then she left for Oregon on June 1.

After almost three weeks in the Pacific Northwest, she returned to Oklahoma to find the original choreographer accepted another position with a Broadway show. Cramer dove right in without missing a beat. Having great local talent to pull from aided in her quick search for an assistant.

“I came back on a Saturday. On that Monday morning, I met my assistant.

Lyric Theatre puts up shows faster than anybody I’ve ever been involved with, but I’ve done [Mamma Mia!] once recently, so I’m not going to be worried.”

“Thank you for the music”

While the musical promises an “enchanting tale of love, laughter and friendship,” the timing of the high-energy, feel-good musical dropping in on Oklahoma is not lost on Cramer.

The cost of a ticket and two and a half hours out of an afternoon or an evening seems a nominal exchange for the level of theatrical reprieve and sheer enjoyment that compounds the director’s take on this particular experience.

“It’s such a fun, fun show,” Cramer said. “And you know what; we need it. The world from left Meredith Inglesby (Donna), Renee Anderson (Rosie) and Barb Schoenjofer (Tanya) star in Mamma Mia! | Photo KO Rinearson / Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma / provided

is a mess and we need some frivolity, some laughter, some joy without having to think. Everybody can enjoy it. It’s multigenerational.”

She said the creator of both the Mamma Mia! musical and film productions, Judy Craymer, infused “so much story in every song.” “[She] took songs and linked them together with the storyline, and we haven’t cut anything,” she said.

“Nothing is repetitive but the chorus.

People are going to have a ball and will be dancing in the aisles. I guarantee it.”

Family affair

Summer is wedding season, which sometimes includes family drama that could rival any script, but Cramer and Martens are quick to share the love with fellow cast members.

“The absolute draw is the music for sure,” Cramer said. “And what makes it great for Lyric is not only do we have great music, a great conductor, wonderful singers, but we have actors so we’re enhancing the story because they can deliver the story better, too.”

Cramer explains that ABBA has copyrights on the show that mandate the sound to remain at a quality that reflects what fans have been hearing on the radio for decades, forcing specific provisions for recorded voice overlays.

This attention to detail transcends job titles and adds to the overall technicality, which raises the level of expectation for the production.

“We have a beautiful set,” Cramer said. “Helena Kuukka, our lighting designer, has the look feeling like a concert. We have the best costumer in the world, and that’s Jeffrey [Meek]. So the show, visually, will be stunning too.”

Cramer has known Martens for years and speaks highly of the other cast members as well. Aside from a range of students from OU, Oklahoma City University, the University of Central Oklahoma and Florida State University, the ensemble also features myriad Lyric production alums.

“Lyric enables people to stay in Oklahoma and do what they love,” Cramer said. “We have so much talent to draw from here. [Lyric is] the quintessential musical theater company in the state, and it’s my second home.”

Mamma Mia! runs 7:30 p.m. TuesdayJuly 26, 8 p.m. July 27, 2 p.m. and 8 p.m.

July 28 and 2 p.m. July 29 at Civic Center Music Hall, 201 N. Walker Ave. Tickets are $42-$98. Call 405-297-2264 or visit lyrictheatreokc.com.

Mamma Mia! Tuesday-July 19 Civic Center Music Hall | 201 N. Walker Ave. lyrictheatreokc.com | 405-297-2264 $42-$98 O kg a z e t t e . c o m | j u ly 1 8 , 2 0 1 8

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ARTS & CULTURE

Rewind revival

VHS and Chill events make nostalgic movies on tape cool. By Jeremy Martin

In the beginning, there was RoboCop, a VHS copy in a cardboard box full of old movies and episodes of Star Trek and Buffy the Vampire Slayer taped from television. For “like $10,” Sean Peel, founder of VHS and Chill and theater manager at soon-to-open Rodeo Cinema, bought an old VCR/TV combo from a thrift store to watch these artifacts from his youth. Seeing RoboCop again and the bank of TVs in antagonist Dick Jones’ office gave Peel a bigger idea.

“I figured, ‘Hey, it’s 2016,’” Peel said. “‘That can’t be that much, to get a bunch of old TVs together and build a TV wall.’

So I hit up a bunch of thrift shops and pawn shops, and for five-to-10 bucks a pop bought, I think it started with nine CRT TVs and just in my garage built a TV wall, wired them all together with coax cables and splitters, hooked it up to a VCR. That was the birth of it, building that TV wall in my garage. After that, we just started having what we called VHS and Chill parties, where we’d have a couple of friends over and I’d have a couple of VHS tapes that I’d scrounged around and gotten a hold of.”

Peel’s collection expanded exponentially when he saw a Craigslist ad selling “a garage full” of VHS tapes — Peel estimates between 1,100 and 1,200 — and

bought the entire lot for $100. He sold a few valuable rarities (Blockbuster exclusives, an original first printing of Labyrinth) and installed shelving in his own garage for the rest of the collection.

Meanwhile VHS and Chill events were becoming more popular.

“It just kept getting bigger and bigger and people kept coming to my parties,” Peel said. “Then my friends started wanting to invite other people, and they were bringing friends that they knew that we didn’t know. ... We’d have people sitting out in the driveway on folding chairs and stuff, just doing showings.

It was pretty much just like, ‘OK, now there’s too many people in the house, people you don’t know. It’s getting too big.’ So the wife is like, ‘You’ve got to take this out somewhere,’ and we did just try to find some shows around town, publicly.”

Roll it back

At the request of his wife, Jessica, Peel started an LLC under the VHS and Chill name and began hosting public screenings in August 2017, beginning with a Jeff Goldblum double feature (1984’sThe Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension and 1988’s Vibes) at IAO Gallery and followed by screenings

at 51st Street Speakeasy. Even after the popularity of his house parties, Peel said he was surprised at the response the public VHS and Chill screenings had.

“I was amazed at all the other tape heads I ran into in Oklahoma City — like there was other people out here doing this — and connecting with them and helping them and trading tapes with other cats,” Peel said. “Anything old like that people really dig. Just for one of my shows, I’ve brought a completely unopened sealed tape and people want to be the first one to open it, something that’s been sealed since it was first printed.”

Peel said watching old VHS tapes takes him back to the earliest days of his film fandom.

“I was born early ’80s, grew up in the ’90s and I’ve been a big movie kid since I think ’93 when I saw Jurassic Park for the first time,” Peel recalled. “When I saw that, it was over. I wanted to watch every movie ever made. I ended up working at video stores, Blockbusters, Video Update, Movie Gallery, Hollywood [Video]. I worked for the movie theater AMC back before Quail Springs was even built, at that little Northpark AMC. I worked there as an usher. I just fell in love with movies, and I had this giant VHS collection back in the day. I sold that when DVDs came out.”

A History of Violence (2006) was the last movie to get an official major release on VHS, but Peel said the continued fascination with the outdated medium means newer films can be found through unofficial channels.

“There’s a culture where people put modern things on VHS,” Peel said. “I’ve got Blade Runner 2049. I’ve got the new It. I’ve got the Guardians of the Galaxy movies on VHS tapes with VHS covers, cardboard and everything, just like they came out in the ’90s. … I’ve got the Blu-ray 4K copy of Blade Runner 2049, but still, if I have the choice, if it’s right there, I’ll put in the VHS of it and kick back and have just the same experience, the same good time as I would watching it in a Dolby Theatre or whatever.”

Getting creative

The VHS and Chill screening of Birdemic: Shock and Terror (2010) 8:30 p.m.

Sean Peel’s TV wall | Photo VHS and Chill/provided

The Peels’ tape collection | Photo VHS and Chill/provided

Thursday at 51st Street Speakeasy, 1114 NW 51st St., will utilize a DVD copy of the never-released-on-VHS film, which horror film fan site Bloody Disgusting called “a flick that’s so mind-numbingly inept and awful in every conceivable way that it’s mesmerizing.” However, Peel will be putting together a special preshow “mixtape” on VHS, a procedure complicated by obsolete technology.

“It is ridiculous,” Peel said, “because I don’t have a VCR or anything hooked up to my computer right now, what I’ll do is actually edit it together with modern editing software. I’ll put together a show, and then I’ll have to upload that to YouTube, just privately, I don’t publish it, and then I’ll run into the garage where I’ve got an old XBox 360 hooked up to a VCR because the Xbox 360 still works and it’s got a YouTube app, and I’ll play the YouTube video and hit record on the VCR, and then I’ll hit stop when it’s over. That’s the process I’ve got right now.”

When Rodeo Cinema opens, Peel said he will be lobbying to screen some films in his beloved old format in the new theater.

“Of course I’m going to try and sneak in some late-night VHS shows,” Peel said. “Of course I’ve already got a VCR in there hooked up that I’ve tested out and it works great in the theater on the big screen. The only thing is the audio quality is a bit rough. There’s a little hiss to it, but yesterday I was watching Days of Thunder with Tom Cruise on VHS, and the surround sound was great. It was perfect.”

Visit vhsandchill.net.

VHS and Chill: Birdemic: Shock and Terror 8:30 p.m. Thursday 51st Street Speakeasy | 1114 NW 51st St. vhsandchill.net | 405-463-0470 Free O kg a z e t t e . c o m | j u ly 1 8 , 2 0 1 8

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Block Fiesta

Fiesta Friday blends the importance of higher education with family fun. By Jacob Threadgill

What started as a small, middle-of-theweek gathering of taco trucks in a Historic Capitol Hill vacant lot has become a full-fledged block party to kick off the weekend.

The sixth year of Fiesta Friday organized by Calle Dos Cinco, which promotes economic development in the historic district, is back in action starting 7 p.m. July 27.

The event is now held on S. Harvey Avenue between SW 24th and SW 25th streets as a new brightly colored mural by artist Sergio Ramirez overlooks the event.

“We outgrew the vacant lot,” said Miriam Ortega, promotions coordinator for Calle Dos Cinco. “We’re able to activate Harvey by closing it off between 25th and 24th streets. It’s a beautiful night; we bring out the string lights, and having the mural there adds so much color and place-making.”

School starters

For the first time, this year’s Fiesta Fridays are organized around separate themes. The June celebration gathered fans around the FIFA World Cup. The July 27 event is designed to promote higher education around a Back to School theme.

Fiesta Friday started as a Taco Tuesday collection of food trucks and moved to the weekend. Food vendors are still an important part of the event. | Photo provided

Ortega said local universities will have booths set up to provide information about attending college and receiving scholarships.

“When we planned it, we were like ‘It’s July; don’t the kids go back to school in August?’ When we realized that they go back to school that next week, we realized that it’s actually perfect,” Ortega said. “There are activities for all ages, but we’re doing this so that local students will be encouraged to pursue higher education.”

The Oklahoma City Dodgers and Oklahoma City Thunder representatives will be in attendance. The Dodgers will bring inflatable games, and the Thunder will bring the OG&E Thunder Bolt truck that is designed to provide an interactive experience.

There will also be a variety of food vendors and a classic automotive show with at least 20 vintage cars.

Stepping up

To further enhance the Back to School theme, Calle Dos Cinco has invited the

Isabelle de Borchgrave, Marie de’ Medici, 2006, based on a 1595 portrait by Pietro Facchetti in the collection of the Palazzo Lancellotti, Rome.

Photo: Andreas von Einsiedel.

A classic car show is one of the reoccurring features of Fiesta Friday. | Photo provided 32

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Xi Beta Chapter of Sigma Lambda Gamma from the University of Oklahoma to lead a strolling competition.

Strolling is a form of dance similar to stepping but with more fluid motion than angular stepping. Both forms of dance were started by National PanHellenic Greek organizations at historically black colleges and universities. The dances have been embraced by multicultural Greek organizations with large growth in Latin American Greek organizations in the past decade.

Ortega said that they will take applications for dance teams until July 20 and they have six teams already scheduled to participate for the prize of $150 and $75 second-place finish.

We’re doing this so that local students will be encouraged to pursue higher education.

Miriam Ortega The competition will be two rounds: old and new. In the first round, contestants dance to a throwback song wearing retro outfits and pick more contemporary music and styles for the second, with each performance ranging from one to two minutes.

By showcasing strolling and highlighting the charitable efforts by each Greek organization, Ortega said they hope to expose the community to positive aspects of Greek life that go beyond the hard-partying stereotypes portrayed in the media.

“We’ve all seen the movies, but I know that a lot of [pre-college] students may not know what a fraternity or sorority is, but we’re also doing it for parents because a lot of them, especially in the

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Fiesta Friday features games and appearances by the Oklahoma City Thunder and OKC Dodgers interactive games. | Photo provided

Hispanic community, don’t understand that purpose of the organization,” Ortega said. “We want kids to make connections and be able to walk up and say hello once they get to college.”

More plans

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Ortega said the themed event in June led to increased turnout and helped target a new demographic that hadn’t attended Fiesta Friday in the past. She said the organization will continue with themed events in the coming years.

The Aug. 24 Fiesta Friday event will be organized around a Summer Lovin’ theme as a nod to the musical Grease.

Ortega said they’re encouraging guests to dust off a leather jacket or pull a poodle skirt out of the closet.

The 13th annual Fiestas de las Americas will be held 10 a.m.-8 p.m.

Sept. 29 and will feature a Hispanic heritage parade, an all-day street festival and live entertainment.

Capitol Hill predates Oklahoma statehood and was once slated to become the Capitol of the state. It was a center for economic activity with big department stores like J.C. Penney until the introduction of indoor shopping malls in the 1970s drew retailers from Main Street.

Capitol Hill Main Street was established in 1997 to promote economic development and has garnered $14.8 million in public and private re-investment into the district.

Visit historiccapitolhill.com.

Fiesta Friday 7-10 p.m. July 27 and Aug. 24 Calle Dos Cinco Historic Capitol Hill SW 25th St. and Harvey Ave. historiccapitolhill.com | 405-632-0133 Free

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ARTS & CULTURE

The Ultimate Feel Good Musical in an All-New Production!

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Golden screen

Winchester Drive-In Theater celebrates its 50th anniversary. By Daniel Bokemper

An icon of the Great Plains celebrates its 50th anniversary throughout July.

Established July 3, 1968, in southern Oklahoma City, Winchester Drive-in Theater has offered an authentic and comfortable cinematic experience more consistently than any other establishment in the metro. Notable for its giant and welcoming neon cowboy, Chester, and a similarly gigantic projection screen, the theater has been owned and operated by the same proprietor since its inception.

Lindy Shanbour opened the theater alongside his late brothers, Farris and George, shortly after his family established several traditional theaters throughout Oklahoma. However, after more than a half-century in the business, only the Winchester, 6930 S. Western Ave., remains.

“I remember back then, we would show movies for $1.25 a ticket and kids got in for free. Gasoline was about 33 cents a gallon, if that’s put anything into perspective,” Lindy mused.

The Winchester prides itself on an experience Lindy has carefully curated over his career. The facilities, screen and feel of the drive-in has been a constant. Chester, the Winchester’s iconic mascot designed by Insignia Signs, epitomizes the friendly demeanor Lindy has strived to maintain throughout the years.

However, Lindy wouldn’t be able to maintain such an experience without acknowledging when it’s time to adapt.

“After fifty years, Chester needs a new pair of britches,” Lindy said, laughing.

Expert experience

Though the Langston’s Western Wear for a giant, illuminated cowboy might prove elusive, Lindy has been able to maintain the quality of his establishment by continuing to upgrade his equipment. The projector the

Winchester Drive-In Theater has been in business for 50 years. | Photo Gazette / file

Winchester currently boasts exceeds the quality of many IMAX experiences. More recently, Lindy made vast advances to his audio equipment, fully encapsulating his theater’s stadium with industrial-grade speakers as well as an improved FM transmitter to listen to in the car.

The quality of the Winchester has echoed throughout the theater industry. Often, Lindy finds himself to be one of the most influential voices of insight to fellow drive-in operators.

“Over this time, I’ve learned the drive-in experience very well, and I know what people want,” Lindy said.

“We are consistently listed as one of the top 10 drive-ins in the country.

People are always calling me, wanting to know my opinion on changes and trends, even executives from MGM and Disney. If you can continue to stick a good product out there, people will continue to come.”

Part of maintaining an exceptional experience, Lindy found, was to adapt to an ever-changing audience. When the theater first opened, a trio of films was often shown as opposed to the now commonplace double feature.

Premiering with The Secret War of Harry Frigg starring Paul Newman, the drive-in has played host to thousands of different pictures.

A lifelong fan of film himself, Lindy lives for the atmosphere the Winchester fosters, often watching movies alongside his patrons out of his office window overlooking the theater. Even with the transformation of content and moviegoers, Lindy still finds a consistent glow when it comes to his customers.

“I’ve had customers that are 60 years old and have come to my drive-in since they were children,” Lindy said.

Forever Starts Now. “All those little kids are grown up now, and they revisit me with their own children, often for their first time at a drive-in. It’s hard to explain but an absolute thrill to see.”

Consistent quality

Previously a year-round establishment, Lindy now closes the theater in December before bringing the lights back on in early April. When the theater is in mid-season, he is present every day of the week, often until 2 a.m. His diligence is born from a love for his craft and a feeling the drive-in conveys something that he finds can’t be felt anywhere else.

“I’m here seven nights a week, and after all these years, that’s come down to one reason: I enjoy it,” Lindy said.

“There’s no other way to answer it. The atmosphere you get when there’s a full moon out there, everyone out there with lawn chairs and blankets. The Winchester is one of the most beautiful things in the world when you come in, and it’s even prettier by the time you leave.”

Lindy’s passion comes from a lifetime of experiences and lessons. He began his journey when he was 15 years old at the Midwest Theatre, and a quick ascent through nearly every possible position one could hold at a theater brought perspective. Such an experience gave Lindy an appreciation for the business, but perhaps more importantly an appreciation for the staff helping keep Chester’s smile bright.

“We have the best service, and my employees are very good at what they do,” Lindy said. “Most of my employees have been with me for over 10 years, and they do so because I take care of them. That’s what you got to do when you’re running a drive-in; take care of your people.”

In the era of theaters constantly shifting the nature of the business,

especially how a theater is managed, Lindy has found one of the most surefire ways to ensure quality is to simply remain consistent.

“When you get a place that changes hands three or four times, it’s never going to be the same,” Lindy said.

“That’s why the Winchester is so consistent and the way it is now. There’s not a thing in the theater that I don’t know about and that isn’t right. It’s updated, maintained and cleaned all the time.

You change hands often, you can never expect things to stay the same.”

He understands change for any business is necessary for its survival.

However, at the same time, he cannot envision a Winchester in which he’s not involved. After 50 years, he has had multiple occasions where retirement would have been an option, but he has turned the prospect away repeatedly.

“I don’t think I’ll ever retire,” Lindy said. “Age is just a number. You go out there to the Winchester, and I promise you it will change your attitude if you’re feeling down. I can’t explain it, but I feel so much better sitting in my office, looking at all the posters and movie stars I have up on my wall, so much more than sitting at home. I even enjoy being there with the people half-asleep in the early morning. If I love it and I’m still healthy enough to do it, why should I retire? I love it too much.”

There is a certain air that permeates not only from Lindy, but through the Winchester itself. It’s both a time capsule and a nursery for new memories.

It’s a place for people to cheer, laugh and grow close within a slice of Americana.

For Lindy, the last 50 years have proven the Winchester to be a place of love and enjoyment, a place where “memories will never go away.”

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Newly opened Pete White Health & Wellness Center hopes to make an impact on southwest OKC health outcomes. By Ben Luschen

Pete White Health & Wellness Center officially opened to the public May 4.

Ernie Schmidt was one of the very first people in line to utilize the Capitol Hillarea health facility for residents age 50 and older.

“I signed up the first day,” Schmidt said. “I had the paperwork before [the center opened].”

The 37,000 square-foot project located at 4021 S. Walker Ave. has been a highly anticipated addition for many south Oklahoma City residents. The NorthCare-operated facility named for former Ward 4 city councilman Pete White is one of several senior health and wellness centers commissioned through city funds as part of MAPS 3 (Metropolitan Area Projects Plan). The first facility, Healthy Living OKC, opened early 2017 at 11501 N. Rockwell Ave. in northwest OKC. Two additional MAPS 3-funded health and wellness centers are also planned, one set to open in 2019 and the other in 2021.

The Pete White facility is fully equipped for meeting not only health needs, but other distinct challenges facing those older than 50. Sign-up for new members can be done at the front desk.

Memberships start at $30 per month.

Schmidt mostly comes in to use the gym, walking at least 30 minutes uphill on the treadmill. He also enjoys sitting in the pool area’s heated whirlpool, which helps relieve the neuropathy in his hands and feet.

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Nikki Dieball, director of the Pete White facility, said the center has had people from 36 different ZIP codes sign up.

“We’ve got some people driving in all the way from Harrah,” she said.

A major focus of the health facility is, of course, its gym area. There are weights on one end of the room and

Pete White Center’s pool uses a salt-generated chlorine that is easier on swimmers’ skin, eyes and hair. | Photo NorthCare / provided

cardiovascular machines, such as treadmills and stationary bikes, on the other. Nearby is the group fitness room where people can join yoga, spin, tai chi and other classes.

Looping around the gym area is a walking track. Seventeen laps equal one mile, and an enormous glass window gives walkers a great view of the surrounding city.

“Everybody in the community has been really excited about this because it’s just a cool place to come walk,” Dieball said. “And the climate control is always real nice in the Oklahoma heat.”

Perhaps the most popular area — particularly in the hot summer months the Pete White Center has been open — is the heated indoor pool. The water uses salt-generated chlorine, which is easier on skin, eyes and hair.

The pool does not get any deeper than 4 feet 6 inches. Water aerobics classes hosted in the area are very well attended, usually with more than 30 participants.

“It’s kind of bursting at the seams,” Dieball said.

But the facility offers members much more than exercise opportunities. A healthy smoothie, salad and wrap snack bar opens mid-July near the entrance. A computer lab teaches basic tech and internet curriculum.

There is also an on-site health clinic, a community room for various programming, an art room with a working kiln and a demo kitchen where members can learn meal-prep and healthy cooking techniques.

Dieball said the Pete White Center aims to be an all-purpose resource for community members.

“We know that everybody who walks through that front door needs something different,” she said.

The Pete White Center has a different operator from the previous MAPS health and wellness center the city

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Pete White Health & Wellness Center is named for longtime Ward 4 city councilman Pete White. | Photo NorthCare / provided

built in northwest OKC. Dieball said while they are not related, the two keep a close working relationship.

“Let’s develop a program to meet every need that someone could possibly want when they walk in the door,” she said. “It’s a really cool idea, a really cool concept to this place.”

Great addition

Everything inside the Pete White Center feels fresh and new. The hallways are well-lit and spacious. Occasional flashes of bright orange in the center’s color scheme set a vibrant tone.

“There’s just this really cool energy when you walk in,” Dieball said. “People’s faces just light up and they’re like, ‘Oh my goodness! It’s so beautiful in here.’”

The director is particularly excited to be operating in south OKC, which she said is known for poor health outcomes.

Dieball also hopes the Pete White Center will be part of larger revitalization efforts in the area. Overall health can be key in establishing greater economic and cultural outcomes. “[This center] is something this community has desperately needed,” she said.

“We’re thrilled to be in this community, which has typically been underserved.”

Dieball said the Pete White Center is the most direct approach possible to improving the health of the community’s over-50 population.

“The health outcomes in this area have been so poor for so long,” she said. “What better way to help change health outcomes than to put a health and wellness center right here in the middle of it?”

Vital improvement

Member Nancy Howard said the new

facility has been more than a convenient addition to her life.

“It’s been a lifesaver to me,” she said.

Howard contracted the flu earlier this year while visiting San Diego, California. Before that, she already had asthma and compromised lungs. The sickness weakened her to the point at which she was not able to travel home.

Howard had to do eight weeks of rehab in San Diego before she was well enough to get back to Oklahoma.

Even when she arrived back home, she still needed some way to continue recouping and improving her overall health. It also needed to be something that fit her price range. Eventually, she found out about the recently opened Pete White Center and saw that it fit her every need.

“As a retired person, you’re on a fixed income,” she said. “Even [other health and fitness facilities] have become out of range for me.”

Howard has been very impressed with the facility and its instructors.

She is a regular user of the treadmill and also takes regular aquatic and chair fitness classes. Howard said she visits the center five days a week for at least two hours.

Overall, she said she is excited to see how the place develops and what things might be added over time. She said the price cannot be beat and the facility is a great thing for the community.

“This gives me the activity I need on a daily basis to keep from going downhill,” she said.

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culture

ARTS & CULTURE

High-stepping

Yukon’s Express Clydesdales undergo fitness regimens to maintain strength for their performance schedule. By Joshua Blanco

Draft horses originally from Scotland, Clydesdales are a gentle breed easily recognized by their playful personalities and bushy feathered legs — the breed’s mark of distinction. After only a quick visit with these animals, it was plain to see why they are some of the most sought-after horses in the world.

Bob Funk, owner of Express Ranches and CEO and chairman of Express Employment Professionals, is one of the individuals who fell for the horses while on a trip to Canada some time ago. In 1998, Funk launched a Clydesdale program that is still going strong 20 years after its founder laid the groundwork for its ongoing success.

Express Employment Professionals is a staffing franchise with locations across North America and South Africa with a total of 800 locations. The horses are expected to make between 150 and 200 appearances annually, achieving a sort of celebrity-like status internationally.

A ranch in Yukon has the privilege of caring for these horses, training them for a number of shows and events across the country. With only eight employees, the staff works hard year-round to ensure the horses are kept in tip-top shape so they will be ready to perform when the time comes to once again begin their tour across the continent.

When I first stepped foot on the Yukon ranch, I was greeted by a young Clydesdale who had been passively grazing on a nearby patch of grass. He walked slowly in the hot sun, though he carried about him a quality of humbled confidence. As he approached, I reached across the white-railed fence and, for the first time, gently laid my hand on the snout of a Clydesdale horse. Within three minutes of my arrival, I had made a friend.

As I made my way toward the stable, 38

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it was clear there was a lot going on. The team was preparing to leave for a show in Shipshewana, Indiana. Still, Josh Minshull, Express Clydesdales general manager, took the time to educate me on the life of a professional trainer.

“The hardest part is just keeping up with the demand of the schedule. It’s just busy all the time traveling,” Minshull said. “When we’re not traveling, we’re usually getting ready for the next trip.”

Full gallop

Moving ahead, these trainers aren’t pulling the reins on their schedules.

“In fact, we have two teams traveling all year this year. The other team is on their way home from Minnesota,” Minshull said.

I associate it with running an athletic club almost because you’re always working to get your teams better and train.

Josh Minshull In spite of the hours of preparation ahead, Minshull outlined the routine of a typical trip.

“It takes us about an hour to get all the horses loaded up,” he said. “Usually, we can do it a little quicker, but we load ’em up and hit the road. We stop every three or four hours and get a coffee or use the restroom ourselves, but we also want to utilize the time to give horses a break because they’re constantly shifting and, you know, they’re not

Vote Us Express Clydesdales perform 150-200 times a year, including marching in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. | Photo provided

sleeping in the trailer. So if you can stop for 30 or 40 minutes, give them a break, let them rest. Because they’re standing, you know, they’re trying to balance.

“We try to travel no more than 10 to 12 hours a day with the horses, and we usually layover at another stable somewhere. So we unload the horses and put them in stalls.”

Learning to handle the trials and tribulations of life on the road is only part of the work that goes into mobilizing the Clydesdales.

“I associate it with running an athletic club almost because you’re always working to get your teams better and train. When you’re at home, you’re training and you’re trying to get the horses in peak performance,” Minshull said.

Loren Mast, assistant trainer, works with Minshull both on the road and back at the ranch. Training the horses is another the task the workers are faced with if they want to ensure optimum performance. Mast comes from a family of Belgian draft horse trainers, making him the ideal man for the job.

He summarized the training regimen.

“Basically, weight training early on just to get their muscle mass built up. … Getting close to show time, we’ll do more aerobic just to get their lung capacity and their air built up,” he said.

The training eventually pays off as the horses participate in shows ranging from parades to rodeos. One of their most popular events is in New York City for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. They also compete. However, parades comprise the majority of the action for these horses.

“By the time they’re 5 years old, they’re usually physically and mentally ready to handle it,” Mast said. “A lot of them we start training when they’re 3. But usually, mentally, they’re just not ready for it.”

They must be both purebred and blackand-white in color, a rare occurrence in the Clydesdale community. A combination of documentation and DNA testing is used to ensure the horse is legitimate. After the purchase, it stays at the ranch until it’s ready to travel.

For the most part, all horses are taken on the road eventually. There are 30-35 horses currently on-site, and fortunately, they are quick to adapt.

“It’s like giving your toddler a haircut the first time,” Minshull said.

Similar to people, these horses have personalities of their own, providing the trainers with more laughs than troubles.

“We spend a lot of time with them, so you get to know their individual personalities for sure. They are all completely one of a kind. They may have some running similarities, but they’re different,” said Tabitha Hageman, stable hand. “Some just like to eat really, really quickly; some like to pick at it slowly and take their time. Some like to walk fast outside, and some like to take their time. And just like people, some days they might be different. …

One day, they’re tired, and the other day, they’re refreshed and ready to go, just like people.”

It’s this sort of understanding that allows the trainers to excel at their work. Without having a relationship with the horse, it would be difficult to carry out the daily tasks required on a ranch of this caliber.

“If you have a passion for the horses, it keeps the drive,” Hageman said. “Even when you’re tired, you’re like, ‘But I love this horse, so I’m gonna get out of bed.’

You know, ’cause a lot of times, we’re more worried about getting them breakfast than ourselves breakfast.”

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CALENDAR These are events recommended

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

Books

Ladies’ Night Out: Floral Designs learn about the art of floral arrangement and make your own bouquet; bring pruners and a bag to take your arrangement home, 7-8:30 p.m. July 20. Myriad Botanical Gardens, 301 W. Reno Ave., 405-445-7080, myriadgardens.com. FRI

Books & Brews browse for books while listening to live music and enjoying craft beer from COOP Ale Works, 7-9 p.m. Full Circle Bookstore, 1900 Northwest Expressway, 405-842-2900, fullcirclebooks. com. SAT-FRI

Lip Sync Battle compete to be the best at pretending to sing popular songs, or just enjoy the show, 9-11:30 p.m. Mondays. Lumpy’s Sports Grill, 12325 N. May Ave., 405-286-3300, lumpyssportsgrill.com. MON

Brunching with Books a book club meeting every other week, with reading selections chosen by group preference, 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturdays.

Buttermilk Paseo, 605 NW 28th St., 405-605-6660, buttermilkokc.com. SAT

Meditation Tuesday learn guided meditation techniques in this all-levels group class, 6:45 p.m.

Tuesdays. Chi Gallery, 2304 NW 17th St., 405-4010540, facebook.com/chi.gallery. TUE

Chris Kelsey Book Signing the author will autograph copies of his novel Where the Hurt Is, a murder mystery set in rural Oklahoma during the social upheaval of the 1960s, 6:30-8 p.m. July 24.

Full Circle Bookstore, 1900 Northwest Expressway, 405-842-2900, fullcirclebooks.com. TUE Donate Books to Incarcerated Immigrant Children bring new and gently used books to incarcerated immigrant children and families; easyto-read books in Spanish and English are especially requested, noon-7 p.m. through July 22. Nappy Roots, 3705 Springlake Drive, 405-896-0203, facebook.com/pg/nappyrootsbooks. WED-SUN Leslie Blanchard Book Signing the Edmondbased author will autograph copies of Lose the Cape, Ain’t Nothing But a Teen Thang, her humorous book about raising adolescents, 2-3 p.m. July 19.

Best of Books, 1313 E. Danforth Road, 405-3409202, bestofbooksok.com. THU Mid-Oklahoma Writers a meetup for local writers featuring guest speakers and literary discussions, 7-9 p.m. Eastside Church of Christ, 916 S. Douglas Blvd., 405-732-0393. WED Reading Wednesdays a story time with naturethemed books along with an interactive song and craft making, 10 a.m. Myriad Botanical Gardens, 301 W. Reno Ave., 405-445-7080, myriadgardens.com. WED

Film

A SeASonAl Guide to CentrAl oklAhomA

Intro to Magic: The Gathering learn how to play the popular card game and get a free intro deck, 7-10 p.m. Fridays. PB&J Games, 1201 NW 178th St. #117, 405-696-5270, pbandjgames.co. FRI

Filmography: Only God Forgives (2013, France, Nicolas Winding Refn) a drug smuggler finds serious trouble while attempting to avenge his brother’s murder, 8-10 p.m. July 20. 21c Museum Hotel, 900 W. Main St., 405-982-6900, 21cmuseumhotels.com. FRI

Mindful Yoga Happy Hour practice mindful meditation with Bhante Santhapiya, followed by coffee, tea and conversation, 5-7 p.m. Fridays.

Oklahoma Buddhist Vihara, 4820 N Portland Ave., 405-810-6528, okbv.org. FRI Miss Black Oklahoma City Crowning Ceremony see the winner of this year’s scholarship pageant announced and celebrated, 5-7 p.m. July 21. Metro Technology Center, 1900 Springlake Drive, 405-844-8324, metrotech.edu. SAT OIGA Conference and Trade Show Oklahoma Indian Gaming Association brings almost 3,000 vendors with guest speakers to celebrate and advance the gaming industry, July 23-25. Cox Convention Center, 1 Myriad Gardens, 405-602-8500, coxconventioncenter.com. MON-WED OKC Vintage Flea Market get your shopping done at the flea market with antiques, collectibles, vintage, crafts and more, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturdays through Dec. 9. Crossroads Event Center, 7000 Crossroads Blvd. SAT Open Fiber Night a weekly crafting meet-up for knitters, crocheters, spinners and weavers, 5-8 p.m.

Thursdays. Yarnatopia, 8407 S. Western, 405-6019995, yarnatopia.com. THU Pick-A-Tune with Lucas Ross learn to play the banjo; instruments provided, 2-3 p.m. July 21. American Banjo Museum, 9 E. Sheridan Ave., 405-604-2793, americanbanjomuseum.com. SAT Pin-Up Bazaar buy, sell and trade vintage and custom-made clothing, jewelry and accessories from several local vendors, noon-6 p.m. July 22.

IAO Gallery, 706 W. Sheridan Ave., 405-232-6060, iaogallery.org. SUN

The King (2018, USA, Eugene Jarecki) a road trip in Elvis Presley’s 1963 Rolls Royce becomes an exploration of the decline of the American dream in this documentary, July 20-22, July 20-22. Oklahoma City Museum of Art, 415 Couch Drive, 405-236-3100, okcmoa.com. FRI-SUN Sonic Summer Movies: Space Jam (1996, USA, Joe Pytka), to win a basketball match, the Looney Tunes seek the aid of retired basketball champion Michael Jordan, 9 p.m. July 18. Myriad Botanical Gardens, 301 W. Reno Ave., 405-445-7080, myriadgardens.com. WED

There is a lot to see and throughout Autumn, and Gazette gives its readers direction on where to find the best festivals, shows, foods and more!

FeAturinG A 3 month CAlendAr Along with expanded editorial content

PubliShinG SePtember 19, 2018 Ad deAdline tueSdAy, SePtember 18, 2018

Attention publicity seekers!

Submit calendar events at okgazette.com or email to listings@okgazette.com

Please be sure to indicate ‘Fall Guide’ in the subject line. We do not accept calendar items via phone.

Deadline to submit items for our Fall Guide calendar is Wednesday, August 30, 2018 by 5 p.m.

Happenings 3rd Friday Vegans Meet and Drinks meetup with meat-free Oklahomans at this monthly get-together, 7:30-11:30 p.m. July 20. The Jones Assembly, 901 W. Sheridan Ave., 405-212-2378, thejonesassembly.com. FRI All Day Frosé Bday Partay celebrate the first anniversary of the restaurant and venue with local craft beer, live music, food and more, 11 a.m.-midnight July 21. The Jones Assembly, 901 W. Sheridan Ave., 405-212-2378, thejonesassembly.com. SAT Biggest Latin Party in OKC! dance to salsa, bachata, merengue and kizomba music, 10 p.m.-2 a.m. Fridays. Salsa Maritza, 7312 Cherokee Plaza, 956-457-4270, salsamaritza.com. FRI Designing Your Fall Garden plan for autumn planting with this class taught by Backyard Kitchen Gardener Lori Coats, 10 a.m.-noon July 21. Myriad Botanical Gardens, 301 W. Reno Ave., 405-4457080, myriadgardens.com. SAT Friday Evening Glow take in the OKC skyline at sunset from the bank of the Oklahoma river with live music, food and drinks at this weekly patio concert series, 6-11 p.m. Fridays. RIVERSPORT Rapids, 800 Riversport drive, 405-552-4040, riversportokc.org. FRI Geeks Who Drink Trivia Night show off your knowledge on a variety of topics for a chance to win cash prizes, and enjoy locally brewed craft beer, 7-9:30 p.m. July 19. Twisted Spike Brewing Co., 1 NW 10th St., 405-301-3467, twistedspike.com. THU

Call 405.528.6000 or email advertising@okgazette.com to reserve ad space or for additional information.

40

J u ly 1 8 , 2 0 1 8 | O kg a z e t t e . c o m

History Comes Alive learn about Oklahoma’s past from a colorful cast of characters on this interactive ferry ride, 11:40 a.m.-1:10 p.m. Saturdays.

Oklahoma River Cruises, 1503 Exchange Ave., 405702-7755, okrivercruises.com. SAT

Mid-South Rumble A few names from the card for this local promotion show will let you know what’s in store: Matrix vs.

Angel Camacho, Bad Boy and Rick Russo vs. V.A.N.G.O.H. in a tag-team match, Aeronaut vs. Xavior in the championship match and Colby Black vs. Double D in an express championship match. Faces and heels, slams and spills. “Wrestling” is for old Greeks. This here is rasslin’.

The rumble begins 7:30 p.m. Friday at Farmers Public Market, 311 S. Klein Ave. Tickets are $10-$12. Call 405-232-6506 or visit okcfarmersmarket.com. friday Photo provided

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Sonic Summer Movies: The Muppet Movie Convinced by a talent agent that he oughta be in pictures, Kermit the Frog heads out to Hollywood, picking up lots of familiar furry friends along the way and risking his life to avoid getting cast as the spokes-amphibian for a fried frog leg restaurant in Jim Henson’s first foray into major motion pictures. Blink and you might miss a celebrity cameo or a fourth-wall mashup, but it’s really the only way to get that pesky thing out your eye whenever “Rainbow Connection” starts playing. The movie begins at 9 p.m. Wednesday at Myriad Botanical Gardens, 301 W. Reno Ave. Admission is free. Call 405-445-7080 or visit myriadgardens.org. Wednesday Photo provided Red Tent Oklahoma share stories, experiences and knowledge with women in a sacred, safe space, 6-9 p.m. July 21. Beautifully Connected, 13524 Railway Drive, Suite J, 262-753-6852, beautifullyconnectedwellness.com. SAT Sabacc Tournament compete in the card game from the Star Wars franchise at this tournament hosted by JediOKC to benefit Spencer Integris Children’s Hospital, 3-10 p.m. July 21. McKinley Design Studio, 220 NW 59th St., 405-607-5902. SAT Saloon Series experience happy hour at a recreation of a vintage wild west saloon with live music and whiskey flights, 5:30-7:30 Thursdays through Aug. 30. National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, 1700 NE 63rd St. THU Saturday Market shop local vendors for clothing, art and more, and enjoy locally brewed craft beer, noon-6 p.m. July 21. Anthem Brewing Company, 908 SW Fourth St., 405-604-0446, anthembrewing.com. SAT Toga! Toga! celebrate the 40th anniversary of National Lampoon’s Animal House with live music, dancing, door prizes and a cash bar, 8 p.m.-1 a.m. July 21-22. The Paramount Room, 701 W. Sheridan Ave., 405-887-3327, theparamountroom.com. SAT Train Rides Take a ride in a historic passenger coach pulled by a diesel engine. third Saturday of every month, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. through Sept. 1.

Oklahoma Railway Museum, 3400 NE Grand Blvd., 405-424-8222, oklahomarailwaymuseum.org. SAT Trans Friendly Game Night PFLAG Norman invites trans gamers and allies to meetup and play an extensive selection of board games at this community building event, 7-11 p.m. July 23. Loot&XP, 2228 W Main St., (405) 310-3230, lootandxp.com. MON Trunk Show and Pop-up Shop shop a wide selection of items created by members of OKC Modern Quilt Guild, 6-8 p.m. July 20. [Artspace] at Untitled, 1 NE Third St., 405-815-6665, 1ne3.org. FRI Worms Make Me Happy: Composting & Vermicomposting Allen Parleir has been building compost piles, as well as composting with worms, for many years and has a profound appreciation for rot!

Allen discusses the difference between a worm bed and a compost pile and demonstrate how to build one successfully to make that beautiful, rich, black substance we call “gardener’s gold,” 11 a.m.-noon July 21. CommonWealth Urban Farms, 3310 N. Olie Ave., 405-524-1864, commonwealthurbanfarms.com. SAT Youth National Arabian & Half-Arabian Championship Horse Show young equestrians demonstrate their horse sense by competing in variety of events for national honors, July 21-28.

Oklahoma State Fair Park, 3220 Great Plains Walk, 405-948-6700, okstatefair.com. SAT

Food Automobile Alley Walking Food Tour take a guided food-centric tour through a district that was once home to early pioneers and evolved into an auto-dealership hub, 11am-2pm Saturdays through Nov. 24. Automobile Alley, 1015 N. Broadway Ave., 405-488-2555, foodiefoottours.com. SAT

Foodie Foot Tours Happiest Hour Cocktail Tour take a guided tour of historic Route 66 and visit local gems in this newly revitalized area with stops at local bars for cocktails, 6-8pm Fridays, Every other Friday, 6-8 p.m. through Nov. 23. Uptown 23rd Street, Northwest 23rd St., 405-831-0177, foodiefoottours.com. FRI Foodie Foot Tours Walking Food Tour explore African-American history on a food-focused tour in this district with deep jazz roots, 4-7 p.m.

Saturdays. Deep Deuce District, 100 NE Third St., 405-235-3500, foodiefoottours.com. SAT Locals Night an Oklahoma-centric farmers market featuring local vendors, live music, food tastings and more, 5-8 p.m. Thursdays. Green Acres Market, 7301 S. Pennsylvania Ave., 405-681-6060, greenacres.com. THU Paseo Farmers Market shop for fresh food from local vendors at this weekly outdoor event, 9 a.m.-noon Saturdays. SixTwelve, 612 NW 29th St., 405-208-8291, sixtwelve.org. SAT Wednesday Night Trivia put your thinking cap on for a night of trivia, beer and prizes with Geeks Who Drink, 7 p.m. Wednesdays. Anthem Brewing Company, 908 SW Fourth St., 405-604-0446, anthembrewing.com. WED

Youth Early Explorers toddlers and preschoolers can participate in fun scientific activities they can repeat later at home, Thursdays, 10-11 a.m. Science Museum Oklahoma, 2100 NE 52nd St., 405-602-6664, sciencemuseumok.org. THU Explore It! get your questions answered of what, why and how about the natural world we live in, 11:30 a.m -noon Saturdays. through Dec. 29. Sam Noble Museum, 2401 Chautauqua Ave., 405-3254712, samnoblemuseum.ou.edu. SAT Family Workshop: Sun Prints learn about one of the earliest forms of photography and create your own without using a camera, 2-4 p.m. July 21.

Myriad Botanical Gardens, 301 W. Reno Ave., 405445-7080, myriadgardens.com. SAT Fit For Youth Day Camp a camp of engaging activities including sports, arts and crafts, swimming, recreation games, nature and outdoor activities and more, 7:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Mon-Fri. $90/ week. Foster Recreation Center, 614 NE Fourth St., 405-297-2409, okc.gov/parks. MON-FRI History Pioneers Junior Curator Camp students age 8-12 will have the chance to go behind the scenes at the Oklahoma History Center to learn about the role a museum’s curator plays and to create their own exhibits at this week long camp, 10 a.m-3 p.m. July 1620. Oklahoma History Center, 800 Nazih Zuhdi Drive, 405-521-2491, okhistory.org. MON-FRI Kimberly Anderson-Lewis book signing the Midwest City-based author will autograph copies of Be Kind, a book written to help improve children’s social and literary skills, 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. July 21.

Best of Books, 1313 E. Danforth Road, 405-3409202, bestofbooksok.com. SAT

continued on page 42

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O kg a z e t t e . c o m | J u ly 1 8 , 2 0 1 8

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CALENDAR CALEN DAR

continued from page 41 Leafy Living: Garden Camp for Kids children age 6-10 can learn how to help out in the garden and create healthy snacks for themselves, 8 a.m.noon July 23-24. Myriad Botanical Gardens, 301 W. Reno Ave., 405-445-7080, myriadgardens.com. MON-TUE

Living History Summer Camp children age 6-12 are invited to learn about life in the early days of Edmond by making tin-can phones, sending Morse code, typesetting newspaper headlines, playing horseshoes and having a tea party, 9 a.m.-noon trough July 26. Edmond Historical Society & Museum, 431 S. Boulevard, 405340-0078, edmondhistory.org. TUE-THU Mural Workshop an art class for students age 1118, who will be allowed to paint the alleyway behind the 400 block of E. Main Street, 11 a.m.-2 p.m. July 20. Oil & Clay Studio, 410 E. Main St., 405-928-9339, oilandclaystudio.com. FRI Summer Camp Contemporary children in grades K-9 can learn about clay, robotics, hip-hop, and many other artistic topics in a variety of camps, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. through August 10. Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center, 3000 General Pershing Blvd., 405-951-0000, oklahomacontemporary.org. MON-FRI Summer Explorers: Grossology age 5-6 conduct experiments and become an expert in the sticky, stinky and slimy, 11 a.m.-1 p.m. July 23. Sam Noble Museum, 2401 Chautauqua Ave., 405-325-4712, samnoblemuseum. ou.edu. MON-FRI Summer Explorers: Ologist 2.0: Behind the Scenes take a peek behind the scenes to discover how museum exhibits are put together, 2-4 p.m. July 16-20. Sam Noble Museum, 2401 Chautauqua Ave., 405-325-4712, samnoblemuseum.ou.edu. MON-FRI Summer Explorers: Science figure out the solutions to several scientific puzzles such as why compasses point north and how crystals get their shapes, 8-10 a.m. July 23-27. Sam Noble Museum, 2401 Chautauqua Ave., 405-325-4712, samnoblemuseum.ou.edu. MON-FRI

YMCAOKC.ORG

Summer Thursdays presented by the Oklahoma Hall of Fame, this free family event features movie screenings, story times and crafting projects, 10:30 a.m. Thursdays through Aug. 30. Gaylord-Pickens Oklahoma Heritage Museum, 1400 Classen Drive, 405-235-4458, oklahomaheritage.com. THU Western Explorers Summer Camp Campers age 8-15 can explore trails, view museum exhibitions and participate in crafts, games and art projects in week long sessions, June 18-July 27. National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, 1700 NE 63rd St., 405478-2250, nationalcowboymuseum.org. MON-FRI

Performing Arts The Battle a hip-hop face-off pitting Gary Thomas against Yung Dotta and Dre. Gains against J. Rocc and more, 9 p.m.-1 a.m. July 21. The Root, 3012 N. Walker Ave., 405-655-5889, therootokc.com. SAT Cory Michaelis the touring standup comic makes an OKC stop, 7 p.m. July 25. Loony Bin Comedy Club, 8503 N. Rockwell Ave., 405-239-4242, loonybincomedy.com. WED

The Dinner Detective Murder Mystery Dinner Theater eat a four-course dinner while attempting to solve an interactive murder mystery, 6-9 p.m. Saturdays. Skirvin Hilton Hotel, 1 Park Ave., 405-272-3040, skirvinhilton.com. SAT Faithiest: A New Play a small-town schoolteacher becomes the object of unwanted scrutiny after a heroic act thrusts her into the spotlight, 8-10 p.m. July 20-29, The Venue OKC, 1757 NW 16th St., 405-283-6832, thevenueokc.com. FRI-SUN Gospel Brunch hear contemporary and classic gospel music performed by The Judge & The Jury accompanied by brunch cuisine and a Bloody Mary bar, 12:30-2:30 p.m. Sundays. Stella Modern Italian Cuisine, 1201 N. Walker, 405.235.2200, stella-okc.com. SUN Kountry Wayne & Friends see the Georgiabased standup comic and several others perform, 7 p.m. July 21. Tower Theatre, 425 NW 23rd St., 405-708-6937, towertheatreokc.com. SAT My Brilliant Divorce a comedy about an American in London whose British husband leaves her. Through July 21. Carpenter Square Theatre, 806 W. Main St., 405-232-6500, carpentersquare.com. FRI-SAT The Revolutionists Lauren Gunderson’s comedic quartet chronicling the fates of four women during the French Revolution, Through July 21. Shakespeare on Paseo, 2920 Paseo St., 405-235-3700, oklahomashakespeare.org. THU-SAT Shelly Phelps Blues Revue a monthly variety show featuring music, comedy, performance art, drag and more, 7-10 p.m. Sundays. Frankie’s, 2807 NW 36th St., 405-602-2030, facebook.com/FrankiesOKC. SUN Songs of Rodgers and Hammerstein John Schwandt will play a vintage 1930s-era Kilgen organ at this concert celebrating the iconic musical partnership, 7 p.m. July 23. Oklahoma History Center, 800 Nazih Zuhdi Drive, 405-521-2491, okhistory.org. MON Victim of Retirement a murder-mystery comedy produced by Whodunnit Dinner Theater and appropriate for all ages, 405-420-3222 whodunit.net, 6-9 p.m. July 20, Cattlemen’s Steakhouse, 1309 S. Agnew Ave., 405-236-0416, cattlemensrestaurant.com. FRI

Active Hooplahoma Hoop Workshop instructor Chelsea Ryan teaches hula-hooping tricks and techniques at this class for all skill levels, 6-8 p.m. July 24. Stars & Stripes Park, 3701 S. Lake Hefner Drive, 405-297-2756, okc.gov/parks. TUE How to Stop Shoulder Pain join physical therapist Dr. Ryan Copley for a free discussion about how to prevent rotator cuff discomfort and other types of shoulder pain, 9-10:30 a.m. July 21. Mitch Park, 1501 W. Covell Rd., 405-359-4630, edmondok.com/parks. SAT John Marley Scholarship Golf Tournament the Oklahoma Indian Gaming Association’s Conference and Trade Show hosts this tournament to raise funds for scholarships to trade schools, colleges and universities throughout the country, July 23. Lincoln Park Golf Course, 4001 NE Grand Blvd., 405-4241421, okcgolf.com/lincoln. MON MDA MUDD Volleyball 2018 play volleyball shindeep in mud to raise funds to fight muscular dystrophy, 8 a.m.-7 p.m. July 21. Wake Zone Cable Park, 3501 NE 10th St., 405-702-4040, cablewakezone.com. SAT

DocLAHOMA If you like your movie reels served with a side of extra realness, this documentary film festival is for you. Collecting experimental, poetic, observational and other kinds of documentaries, DocLAHOMA seeks to educate and entertain simultaneously and offer viewers windows into other perspectives. Local photographers will also have their work on display in the theater. The festival is noon-9 p.m. Sunday at The Paramount Theatre, 701 W. Sheridan Ave. Admission is free. Call 405-637-9389 or visit doclahoma.com. sunday Photo bigstockphoto.com 42

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Four Paws Pet Grooming, Boarding, and Boutique

In the Principles Office: Tom Ryan the Art Student Learn the principles of art as Tom Ryan did with his instruction on “general illustration” with famed teacher Frank Reilly. Through Nov. 11.

National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, 1700 NE 63rd St., 405-478-2250, nationalcowboymuseum.org. SAT-WED Ink & Draw a weekly meet-up for illustrators, artists and comic book creators, 4-6 p.m. Sundays. The Paseo Plunge, 3010 Paseo Plunge, 405-315-6224, paseoplunge.org. SUN Irmgard Geul and Cheri Wollenberg an exhibition featuring the works of abstract painter Geul and Wollenberg, who paints farm animals and flowers, through July 18. Whispering Willows Art Gallery, 226 E. Main St, 405-928-5077. THU-WED

Ruthless! The Musical Eight-yearold Tina Denmark (Erin Heatly) would kill to get cast as the lead in the school play — literally — in Joel Paley and Marvin Laird’s dark comedy musical that spoofs classic Broadway hits including Gypsy and Mame and makes many pointed jabs at stage moms, theater critics and anyone else who gets in the way. Ruthless! is right. The show is 8 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays through Aug. 25 at The Boom!, 2218 NW 39th St. Tickets are $25. Call 405601-7200 or visit ticketstorm.com. friday-Saturday, ongoing Photo provided OKC Dodgers vs Albuquerque July 24-April 26, 7:05 p.m. Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark, 2 S. Mickey Mantle Drive, 405-218-1000, okcballparkevents.com. TUE OKC Dodgers vs New Orleans Through July 19, 7:05 p.m. Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark, 2 S. Mickey Mantle Drive, 405-218-1000, okcballparkevents.com.

MON-THU

Twisted Dragon Beer Yoga participate in a class taught by Hidden Dragon Yoga then enjoy locally brewed craft beer, 6:15-7:15 p.m. July 20.

Twisted Spike Brewing Co., 1 NW 10th St., 405-3013467, twistedspike.com. FRI

Visual Arts

Longarm Quilting Demo & Popup Sale join Emily Ramsey from Bernina OKC for a demonstration of long-arm stitching and shop handmade items from various vendors, 4-8 p.m. July 20 free.

[Artspace] at Untitled, 1 NE Third St., 405-815-9995, facebook.com/ModQuiltShow/. FRI Print on Paseo Among the works by more than 80 artists on display in more than 20 galleries at this month’s First Friday Art Walk will be several Oklahoma printmakers selected to participate in the fourth annual Print on Paseo, which seeks not only to display the varied types of print art but to inform the public about the different methods used to make them. While you’re looking, keep an ear out for live music by singer/songwriter Paxton Pennington. The art walk is 6-9 p.m. Friday, and the prints will be on display at Paseo Art Space, 3022 Paseo St. Admission is free. Call 405-525-2688 or visit thepaseo.org. Paseo Art Space, 3022 Paseo St., 405-525-2688, thepaseo.com. FRI-SAT Reflection: An Exhibition of Glass and Light featuring works by artists Rick and Tracey Bewley using glass and light to creative reflection of colored geometric shapes mixed with metal structures., Through Aug. 24. Oklahoma City University School of Visual Arts, 1601 NW 26th St., 405-208-5226, okcu.edu/artsci/departments/visualart. WED-FRI Sojourning features fiber installations by Chiyoko Myose, a Japanese artist, expressing her experiences living in a foreign country, Through August 12.

Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center, 3000 General Pershing Blvd., 405-951-0000, oklahomacontemporary.org. SAT Space Burial an exhibit using satellite dishes as a burial object for a space-faring culture and facilitates the dead’s afterlife journey, through Sep. 2. Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, 555 Elm Ave., 405325-3272, ou.edu/fjjma. TUE-SUN

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Visual Voices: Contemporary Chickasaw Art an exhibition featuring more than 65 works in oil, watercolor, textiles, metals and more by 15 contemporary artists, June 8- Sep. 9, Through Sept.

9. Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, 555 Elm Ave., 405325-3272, ou.edu/fjjma. FRI-SUN

The 46th Annual Prix de West Invitational Art Exhibition & Sale features more than 300 Western paintings and sculptures by contemporary Western artists of landscapes, wildlife and illustrative scenes, Through Aug. 5. National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, 1700 NE 63rd St., 405478-2250, nationalcowboymuseum.org. FRI-SUN The Art of Oklahoma celebrate the 110th anniversary of Oklahoma statehood with a diverse collection of art created by or about Oklahomans and the cities and landscapes they call home. Enjoy works by John Steuart Curry, Oscar Brousse Jacobson, Nellie Shepherd, David Fitzgerald and Woody Big Bow, Through Sept. 2. Oklahoma City Museum of Art, 415 Couch Drive, 405-236-3100, okcmoa.com. THU-SUN Beyond ART: Artist Talk with Ginna Dowling the printmaker and installation artists will discuss her work in the gallery’s Contemporary Hieroglyphy exhibition, 2-3 p.m. July 21. JRB Art at The Elms, 2810 N. Walker Ave., 405-528-6336, jrbartgallery.com. SAT Big, Bold, and Beautiful an exhibition of acrylic paintings by Norman-based artist Vikki McGuire, who specializes in colorful nature scenes, July 6-29, Through July 29. Contemporary Art Gallery, 2928 Paseo St., 405-601-7474, contemporaryartgalleryokc.com. FRI-SUN A Burst of Color artist Tim Kinney’s latest exhibition features brightly colored and thickly textured paintings, Mondays-Fridays. through Sept.

1. Norman Santa Fe Depot, 200 S. Jones Ave., 405307-9320, pasnorman.org. FRI Chiyoko Myose: Sojourning Gallery Talks a staff-led tour through the artist’s ongoing exhibition, Free, Tue., July 24, 6-7 p.m. Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center, 3000 General Pershing Blvd., 405-951-0000, oklahomacontemporary.org/ exhibits/upcoming-exhibits/chiyoko-myose/. TUE Connie Seabourn Wonderful Watercolors Workshop learn to paint in watercolors from an award-winning artist in this class for all experience levels, 9:30 a.m.-4 p.m. July 18-19. Norman Santa Fe Depot, 200 S. Jones Ave., 405-307-9320, pasnorman.org. WED-THU

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MUSIC

Universal feelings Country singer/songwriter Jason Eady brings his newest album to The Blue Door before its Aug. 10 release. By Jeremy Martin

Learning Arabic as an Air Force translator helped Jason Eady write better country songs.

“It definitely made me realize that everybody is the same,” said Eady, who’s scheduled to play with his band Saturday at The Blue Door. “Everybody has the same concerns and the same day-to-day thoughts and things that they want out of life. All this stuff that we kind of try to blow up as being different and our differences, that’s a pretty manufactured concept. It doesn’t really exist. The average person is the average person. They just want a good life for their family. They just want to provide for their family. They want to enjoy life and have positive experiences. It’s a pretty universal theme that we have here as humans.”

While studying other cultures helped Eady discover universal themes and desires, writing about the actual positive experiences people strive for has proven difficult.

“There’s two things that it took me a while to figure out as a songwriter,” Eady said. “Writing positive lyrics is harder to do, and writing simple lyrics is harder to do. … It’s easier to get bogged down and sad, depressed.”

I Travel On, slated for an August 10 official release but available for purchase at Saturday’s show, finds the Fort Worth-based musician — whose previous work beginning with self-released 2005 debut From Underneath the Old, has frequently examined topics like alcohol abuse and failed relationships

and earned favorable comparisons to Willie Nelson and Don Williams — drawing more inspiration from the happiness in his personal life.

“That was very intentional,” Eady said. “I’ve sung sad songs and written sad songs and written serious and really deep songs. That’s kind of my natural place to go with things, but this is my seventh album, and I just can’t do that every single time. It’s too much. I didn’t have a lot of intentional things going into writing this record. It was very much a ‘Let’s see how this goes’ type of process, but that was the one thing that was very intentional. I definitely want this record to feel good and I want it be one that if you want to listen to the lyrics, if you want to get something out of them, it’s there and you can do it, but if you don’t and you just want to put it on and have something that feels good, then that’s there too. There’s a lot of negative going on right now in the world in general … and the last thing I wanted to do was add to that.”

Eady said his own life is going so well that writing songs about heartbreak or depression would feel false.

“The band is the exact band that I’ve been looking for my whole life,” Eady said. “I’ve got a great marriage. I’m touring around the country and people are showing up at shows. I have the freedom now to go into the studio and make any kind of record I want to make. … I’m very much in a good place right now, and if I’m going to be authentic in my lyrics and be authentic in what I’m

saying, it has to reflect that. If I were to go out now and write a sad record or something, then that’s not me being me; that’s me doing something because I think that’s what people want to hear, which is what I really try not to do.”

Live takes

Joining Eady and his four-piece touring band on I Travel On are bluegrass duo Rob Ickes and Trey Hensley and Eady’s wife, singer/songwriter Courtney Patton, who Eady describes as “a genius musically.” Eady was so excited by the energy of the band playing in the studio that he quickly resolved to compile his latest album from live, self-contained takes.

“When we got in the studio and sat down with those other two guys and did that first song, we knew what it was going to be,” Eady said, “and once it started happening, we thought, ‘If we go in and start doing a bunch of overdubs and retakes and punches and all these things that you do in the studio, we’re just going to start messing it up.

We’re going to muddle it up. We’ve got to just let it be what it is.’”

Tracks such as “Always a Woman” and “The Climb” find the singer exploring new territory, sonically and lyri-

Jason Eady performs at The Blue Door 8 p.m.

Saturday. | Photo Scott Morgan/provided

cally. By focusing on the music first this time, Eady said he was able to enjoy how lyrics sounded instead of fretting over what they meant.

“Some of my favorite writers, Paul Simon and John Prine and guys like that, their lyrics feel good, and sometimes you don’t even know what they’re talking about and sometimes I don’t even think they know what they’re talking about,” Eady said. “I think they just say things because it sounds good in the meter and the melody of the lyric and the rhythm pattern of the lyric. It feels good to sing, and it feels good to listen to. I’ve never really approached it like that. I’m an editor. I’ll go back and edit my lyrics and make sure I’m saying exactly what I want to say, but this time I laid off of that part of it.

“I didn’t really change my writing process. I changed my editing process on this one. If it felt good to say it a certain way, and it felt like it was really working with the meter and the music and things like that, I would just leave it alone because this is the first record I’ve done where the music definitely came first. I’m still very proud of the lyrics, and every song says something, and every song I still definitely stand behind each one of the lyrics and intentionally try to do something with each song, but the music was the reason the songs came into being. I knew what the sound was. I knew what we were doing with the band on the road. I knew what was going on and I wrote around that idea, that feeling of, ‘Just let the music lead it. Just let it feel good.’”

Eady and his band return to The Blue Door, 2805 N. McKinley Ave., which the singer calls “a special place” and one of the first venues he ever performed at outside of Texas, 8 p.m. Saturday. Tickets are $25$30. Visit bluedoorokc.com.

Jason Eady 8 p.m. Saturday The Blue Door | 2805 N. McKinley Ave. bluedoorokc.com | 405-524-0738 Jason Eady’s latest album, I Travel On, will be for sale at Saturday’s show before its official Aug. 10 release date. | Photo Scott Morgan/provided

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Well rounded

Vonna Pearl’s Taylor Johnson talks about his productive year ahead of this month’s Wheeler Summer Music concert. By Ben Luschen

The Wheeler District is most commonly associated with the Wheeler Ferris Wheel, but this summer, it has built up a strong reputation for live music through its seasonal music series.

In the past few months, Wheeler Summer Music Series has featured headline performers like rapper Jabee and singer-songwriter Jose Hernandez.

The music continues with another powerhouse lineup this month when singersongwriter Beau Jennings performs with alt-folk band Vonna Pearl and pop band The Lunar Laugh. The free event runs 7-11 p.m. July 27 in the Wheeler District, located at 1701 S. Western Ave. near the Oklahoma River. In addition to live music, the event will also feature food trucks, beer and pop-up shops like MENT Apparel, Cargo Room, OKcollective Candle Co., Tawnya Rene Corrente and Lucky LuLu. While Jennings is the event’s headlining performer, Taylor Johnson, one of Vonna Pearl’s two co-vocalists alongside Chelsey Cope, is quietly having one of the best years in the local music scene. Johnson, previously known mostly for his longtime (and currently inactive) rock band The Wurly Birds, is the inventive production mind behind most of the eclectic and energetic soundscapes on Vonna Pearl’s self-titled debut, released in January.

Johnson is a production engineer at Lunar Manor Recording Studio, located near Belle Isle. He helped produce bandmate Cope’s solo full-length debut Where Nobody Goes, also released in January, and is the bassist in Student Film, which put out its synth-flavored until we are in fashion again in May. In late 2017, Johnson also became one of the founding members behind the pop

quartet Chair Model, which has had music licensed for use by T-Mobile and other commercial efforts.

Oklahoma Gazette recently caught up with Johnson via email Q&A about his current musical efforts, finding early inspiration from Queen and being “a big theme park guy.”

Oklahoma Gazette: Is The Wurly Birds still a thing? What’s the status of that band? Is there a possibility of hearing more from that band in the future?

Taylor Johnson: Well, Wurly Birds never officially broke up. We spent a lot of time together, on tour et cetera, and I think we were all at points in our lives where we were interested in venturing out into different avenues. The Wurly Birds started when I was 18 or so, so it was a growing thing. However, we did record an album at Sonic Ranch in El Paso that a ton of effort was put into, and for some reason, we never released it. I’ve been sitting on it for three years now. Maybe I’ll release it soon — who knows?

Vonna Pearl’s debut self-titled album | Image provided

Taylor Johnson | Photo provided

OKG: Give me some background on the formation of Vonna Pearl. How long has that band been around, and what were the circumstances around its formation?

Johnson: Vonna started with a song that I was intending to use for WBs and asked Chelsey to sing on it just as an experiment. We both really liked how our voices sounded together, and thought “Hey, why don’t we do a whole album like this?”

OKG: Several projects you’ve been involved in this year have been pretty impressive: the Vonna Pearl album, Chelsey Cope’s full-length debut, the new Student Film record.

What else have you been involved with recently — either from a production or band-member standpoint?

Johnson: Well, I created this group called Chair Model with my friends Chad Copelin, Abbey Philbrick and Joe White back in December as a licensing project, and for the last six months, it’s pretty much been my sole focus. I honestly think it’s had better reception than any music I’ve ever made, which is always nice. Gives you a sense of forward momentum in your “career” or whatever you’d like to call it. We released a self-titled album that you can check out on Spotify, iTunes, or if you listen hard enough, you might hear it on a T-Mobile commercial, MTV or anywhere else really.

OKG: I sense that maybe you’ve been on an experimental tip recently. Are there any specific musical influences you would point to that have recently affected you? That could be actual pieces of music or artists or it could also be just life things that have inspired you in some way.

Johnson: I always am, man! I constantly am trying to take something away from everything I hear, or even my surroundings. However, I feel like after doing this for so many years, it becomes a job of sorts. I don’t mean that as in it becomes any less enjoyable, but you get more comfortable with your craft. You know what shortcuts to take and which ones not to take. One of my friends recently told me a quote that said, “Inspiration is for amateurs; the rest of us show up and get to work,” and I believe there’s definitely some truth behind that.

OKG: Are you still involved with Lunar Manor studios? How are things going there?

Johnson: I’m here right now! Along with every other day. Things are great!

I’ll use this interview as an opportunity to say, “Hey, everybody! Come record a song with me!”

OKG: Describe briefly what got you started in music. And have you always had an interest in production?

Johnson: My mom gave me A Night at

the Opera by Queen when I was 5 or 6, and it terrified me. But, like, in a good way. That’s what initially made me want to play guitar, et cetera. I mainly got into production from recording Wurly Birds albums. I’ve always recorded other people’s music; it’s just been in the last few years that I’ve really ramped up the volume of people I work with.

OKG: This might be a challenge, but can you single out one song released in the last year that you’ve worked on that you are particularly proud of? And what about that song makes you proud?

Johnson: “Barely Shook” by Chair Model! [The song] was one of those little ditties that I come up with while I’m just driving or something. I still have the original voice note. I’m a big fan of the iPhone voice memos. I still have the actual voice memo of the melody from the chorus of “Barely Shook.” I’ll be driving, or walking or whatever and have a little melody idea that pops in my head, so I’ll stick it down on a voice memo. I usually come back to them a few hours later once I can’t remember the thought and try to imagine what the instrumentation and production would sound like. I try to make it up to the studio within a day and hash it out; that way, I’m still excited about the idea. Abbey’s voice is spectacular and just makes every song like 100 percent better. The chorus is a gang vocal with all of us, I believe.

The whirring atmospheric sounds in the background are two Wurlitzer electric pianos that I recorded at half speed, so when the song is played at full speed, they are technically being played at 200 percent the speed they were recording. It makes for some really great textures in the background.

OKG: This being in advance of the Wheeler District show, I have to ask if you’re a fan of Ferris wheels.

Would you rather be riding a Ferris wheel or something more intense, like a rollercoaster? Or maybe no rides at all? Are you generally proamusement rides?

Johnson: Oh, I am absolutely a fan of any ride. I’m a big theme park guy. I think I may have ridden on the Wheeler Ferris wheel when it was still in California. I’ll see if it remembers me.

July 18

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July 19

COOP SHOWCASE July 26

RAY WYLIE HUBBARD July 27

BOOK OF LOVE July 28

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LIVE MUSIC These are events recommended

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

Wednesday, Jul. 18 Langhorne Slim, Tower Theatre. COUNTRY Lydia Can’t Breathe, Red Brick Bar. METAL Reverend Hylton, Bluebonnet Bar. SINGER/SONGWRITER

OKG

@okgazette

Seether, Diamond Ballroom. ROCK Stephen Clair & the Pushbacks, The Blue Door.

SINGER/SONGWRITER

Sworn Enemy/Thy Will Be Done, 89th Street-OKC. METAL

Thursday, Jul. 19 Broke Brothers, Oklahoma City Museum of Art. REGGAE

The Cake-Eaters, Bluebonnet Bar. ROCK Cicada Rhythm, The Blue Door. FOLK Eagle Claw/Turbo Wizard, Blue Note Lounge.

METAL

Jack Helsley, Saints Pub. JAZZ Koolie High & the Tap Band, Ice Event Center & Grill. JAZZ Kyle Dillingham & Horseshoe Road, UCO Jazz Lab. GIVING ARTISTS THE FREEDOM TO CREATE

FOLK

Ottrepop/Tall Tales, Opolis. POP Palisades/Letters from the Fire, 89th Street-OKC. ROCK Sativa Prophets/Miillie Mesh/Speak, Memory, Tower Theatre. HIP-HOP/ROCK

Friday, Jul. 20 Chris Blevins/Caleb McGee, Bluebonnet Bar. SINGER/SONGWRITER

Dog Party/Brain in the Sky/Little Kicks, 89th Street-OKC. ROCK Elizabeth Speegle Band, VZD’s Restaurant & Bar.

The Octopus Project The experimental synth-pop party music The Octopus Project is best known for is nowhere to be found on its latest release, the soundtrack for the Zellner Brothers’ Western Damsel, which sounds more like Ennio Morricone with open spaces and ambient noise. Listen live for the genuine creative weirdness that must’ve caught Flaming Lips producer David Fridmann’s ear and convinced him to help engineer its last proper album, 2017’s Memory Mirror. This year, The Octopus Project also released an 11th anniversary deluxe edition of Hello, Avalanche, which sounds like the perfect excuse to break out some old favorites. The show starts 10 p.m.

Friday at Opolis, 113 N. Crawford Ave., in Norman. Tickets are $12$15. Call 405-673-4931 or visit opolis.org. friday Photo provided

JAZZ

The Flannels, Oklahoma City Limits. COVER

Sunday, Jul. 22

Jonathan Marshall, Nappy Roots. FOLK

Hall & Oates/Train, Chesapeake Energy Arena. POP

Modest Mouse, WinStar World Casino. ROCK

Kee Avil/Jarvix/Laine, Opolis. EXPERIMENTAL

Monogamizer/Among the Missing, Blue Note Lounge. METAL

Scott Keeton Band, Myriad Botanical Gardens.

Professor Fuzz 63/Fire Bad!, The Drunken Fry.

BLUES

Slim Bawb/Steve Judice, The Blue Door. SINGER/

PUNK

SONGWRITER

SONGWRITER

Sissy Brown & Bailey Gilbert, The Root. SINGER/

Monday, Jul. 23

Slaid Cleaves, The Blue Door. SINGER/SONGWRITER

Anthony Picone, Anthem Brewing Company.

Saturday, Jul. 21

Jason Hunt, Sean Cumming’s Irish Restaurant. FOLK

Amanda Cunningham, JJ’s Alley Bricktown Pub. SINGER/SONGWRITER

SINGER/SONGWRITER

Tuesday, Jul. 24 Kyle Reid, Scratch Kitchen & Cocktails.

Atlantis Aquarius/Acie James, Blue Note Lounge.

SINGER/SONGWRITER

ROCK

Black Label Society/Corrosion of Conformity/eyehategod, Diamond Ballroom. METAL

Pentatonix/Calum Scott, The Zoo Amphitheatre.

Dan Martin, Bluebonnet Bar. FOLK

Weedeater/Zeke, 89th Street-OKC. METAL

POP

Evan Michaels Band, Bedlam Bar-B-Q. COUNTRY Fit For a King, 89th Street-OKC. METAL Foxburrows/Speak, Memory/Giant Stride, The Deli. ROCK Keith Sweat, Riverwind Casino. R&B Owen Pickard/Angela Littell/Haley Miller, Rodeo Opry. COUNTRY Stain the Skin, Brewskey’s. ROCK Teach Me Equals, The Loaded Bowl. EXPERIMENTAL The Killings/Some Kind of Nightmare, Red Brick Bar. PUNK

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Live music 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 to listings@okgazette.com.

Sorry, but phone submissions cannot be accepted.

go to okgazette.com for full listings!

free will astrology Homework: Tell a story about the time Spirit reached down and altered your course in one tricky, manic swoop. Freewillastrology.com

your own messages and receive and respond to other people’s messages.

ARIES (March 21-April 19)

Self-described skeptics sometimes say to me, “How can any intelligent person believe in astrology? You must be suffering from a brain dysfunction if you imagine that the movements of planets can reveal any useful clues about our lives.” If the “skeptic” is truly open-minded, as an authentic skeptic should be, I offer a mini-lecture to correct his misunderstandings. If he’s not (which is the usual case), I say that I don’t need to “believe” in astrology; I use astrology because it works. For instance, I have a working hypothesis that Cancerians like myself enjoy better-than-average insight and luck with money every year from late July through the month of August.

It’s irrelevant whether there’s a “scientific” theory to explain why this might be. I simply undertake efforts to improve my financial situation at this time, and I’m often successful.

“Take a lover who looks at you like maybe you are magic.”

Whenever that quote appears on the Internet, it’s falsely attributed to painter Frida Kahlo. In fact, it was originally composed by poet Marty McConnell. In any case, I’ll recommend that you heed it in the coming weeks. You really do need to focus on associating with allies who see the mysterious and lyrical best in you. I will also suggest that you get inspired by a line that Frida Kahlo actually wrote: “Take a lover who looks at you like maybe you are a bourbon biscuit.” (If you don’t know what a bourbon biscuit is, I’ll tell you: chocolate buttercream stuffed between two thin rectangular chocolate biscuits.)

TAURUS (April 20-May 20)

Here’s what author Franz Kafka wrote in his diary on August 2, 1914: “Germany has declared war on Russia. I went swimming in the afternoon.” We could possibly interpret his nonchalance about world events to be a sign of callous self-absorption. But I recommend that you cultivate a similar attitude in the coming weeks. In accordance with astrological omens, you have the right and the need to shelter yourself from the vulgar insanity of politics and the pathological mediocrity of mainstream culture. So feel free to spend extra time focusing on your own well-being. (P.S.: Kafka’s biographer says swimming served this role for him. It enabled him to access deep unconscious reserves of pleasurable power that renewed his spirit.)

GEMINI (May 21-June 20)

Am I delusional to advise a perky, talkative Gemini like yourself to enhance your communication skills? How dare I even hint that you’re not quite perfect at a skill you were obviously born to excel at? But that’s exactly what I’m here to convey. The coming weeks will be a favorable time to take inventory of how you could more fully develop your natural ability to exchange information. You’ll be in robust alignment with cosmic rhythms if you take action to refine the way you express

CANCER (June 21-July 22)

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22)

Here are some of the fine gifts you’re eligible for and even likely to receive during the next four weeks: a more constructive and fluid relationship with obsession; a panoramic look at what lies below the tip of the metaphorical iceberg; a tear-jerking joyride that cracks open your sleeping sense of wonder; erasure of at least 20 percent of your self-doubt; vivid demonstrations of the excitement available from slowing down and taking your sweet time; and a surprising and useful truth delivered to your soul by your body.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22)

During the last three months of 2018, I suspect you will dismantle or outgrow a foundation. Why? So as to prepare the way for building or finding a new foundation in 2019. From next January onward, I predict you will re-imagine the meaning of home. You’ll grow fresh roots and come to novel conclusions about the influences that enable you to feel secure and stable. The reason I’m revealing these clues ahead of time is because now is a good time to get a foreshadowing of how to proceed. You can glean insights on where to begin your work.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22)

A reader asked Libran blogger Ana-Sofia Cardelle, “How does one become more sensual?” I’ll ask you to meditate on the same question. Why? Because it’s a good time to enrich and deepen your sensuality. For inspiration, here are some ideas that blend my words with Cardelle’s: “Laugh easily and freely. Tune in to the rhythm of your holy animal body as you walk. Sing songs that remind you why you’re here on earth. Give yourself the luxury of reading books that thrill your imagination and fill you with fresh questions. Eat food with your fingers. Allow sweet melancholy to snake through you. Listen innocently to people, being warm-hearted and slyly wild.

Soak up colors with your eager eyes. Whisper grateful prayers to the sun as you exult in its gifts.”

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21)

“If people aren’t laughing at your goals, your goals are too small.” So says bodybuilder Kai Greene. I don’t know if I would personally make such a brazen declaration, but I do think it’s worth considering -- especially for you right now. You’re entering into the Big Bold Vision time of your astrological cycle. It’s a phase when you’ll be wise to boost the intensity of your hopes for yourself, and get closer to knowing the ultimate form of what you want, and be daring enough to imagine the most sublime possible outcomes for your future. If you do all that with the proper chutzpah, some people may indeed laugh at your audacity. That’s OK!

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21)

This mini-chapter in your epic life story is symbolically ruled by the fluttering flights of butterflies, the whirring hum of hummingbird wings, the soft cool light of fireflies, and the dawn dances of seahorses. To take maximum advantage of the blessings life will tease you with in the coming weeks, I suggest you align yourself with phenomena like those. You will tend to be alert and receptive in just the right ways if you cultivate a love of fragile marvels, subtle beauty, and amazing grace.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19)

that you have license to make the following requests: 1.

People from your past who say they’d like to be part of your future have to prove their earnestness by forgiving your debts to them and asking your forgiveness for their debts to you. 2. People who are pushing for you to be influenced by them must agree to be influenced by you.

3. People who want to deepen their collaborations with you must promise to deepen their commitment to wrestling with their own darkness. 4. People who say they care for you must prove their love in a small but meaningful way.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18)

You will never find an advertisement for Nike or Apple within the sacred vessel of this horoscope column. But you may come across plugs for soul-nourishing commodities like creative freedom, psychosexual bliss, and playful generosity. Like everyone else, I’m a salesperson -- although I believe that the wares I peddle are unambiguously good for you. In this spirit, I invite you to hone your own sales pitch. It’s an excellent time to interest people in the fine products and ideas and services that you have to offer.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20)

Would you do me a favor, please? Would you do your friends and loved ones and the whole world a favor? Don’t pretend you’re less powerful and beautiful than you are.

Don’t downplay or neglect the magic you have at your disposal. Don’t act as if your unique genius is nothing special. OK? Are you willing to grant us these small indulgences? Your specific talents, perspectives, and gifts are indispensable right now. The rest of us need you to be bold and brazen about expressing them.

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.

I swear the astrological omens are telling me to tell you

List your event in 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.

Submit your listings online at okgazette.com or email them to listings@okgazette.com.

Sorry, but phone submissions cannot be accepted.

O kg a z e t t e . c o m | J u ly 1 8 , 2 0 1 8

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puzzles 1

New York Times Magazine Crossword Puzzle Person / Place / thing

By Bruce Haight | Puzzles Edited by Will Shortz | 0708

ACROSS 1 Beguiled 6 Carnival performer 10 Heavy hit 15 Popular self-help website 19 Make a good point?

20 Three Sisters sister 21 The Gold-Bug author, for short 22 Princess with superpowers 23 Singer / City / Home feature 26 “Safe!” in baseball, or

“Safety!” in football 27 Beachgoer’s souvenir 28 Leg-press target, informally 29 Third-most- abundant gas in

the atmosphere 30 Emerald or aquamarine 31 “Don’t move!”

34 Dog tag?

35 Finished behind 36 Socialite / Resort / Store 41 “Keystone” character of old comedy 42 Sacred symbol of ancient Egypt 43 Word after who, what, when,

where, why or how 44 Message in a bottle, maybe 45 Roman orator 48 Gangster tracker 49 How a gangly person might be described 52 Political commentator /

Geographical area / Fitness routine 58 World Cup cheer 59 Lots 60 Show extreme instability 61 Alpo alternative 63 NPR’s Planet Money or How

I Built This 65 Ceiling 66 Related stuff 69 Texter’s sign-off 70 “Shoo!”

72 Cheer with beer 74 ____-Magnon man 75 Actor / Transportation hub /

Part of a broadcast 81 Holy terror 82 Unwitting accomplice 83 Suisse peak 84 Young Sheldon airer 87 Scott of Charles in Charge

88 “With ____ ring …”

89 Way cool 91 Comedian / State capital /

Record-store section 97 “It’s a deal!”

98 Some singles 99 Big name in vodka 102 Blockage reliever 103 “Roger that” 105 Upscale hotel chain 107 Father of octuplets on The Simpsons 108 Haunted-house sound 109 Actress / Mideast area / Crime 113 1960s “It Girl” Sedgwick 114 Longtime Inside the N.B.A.

analyst 115 Primary concern 116 Speed-the-Plow playwright 117 RCA competitor 118 Some sports prizes 119 Professor Trelawney in the

Harry Potter books, e.g.

120 “Is this really necessary?”

DOWN

1 What some Kaplan guides help

prep for 2 Dash 3 Take a few pointers?

4 Three-time NHL MVP 5 Once named 6 Get crazy 7 English actor Idris 8 “Holy moly!”

9 ____ Graham, Meryl Streep’s

role in 2017’s The Post 10 Crackpot 11 “Wait just a sec” 12 Many a pageant coif 13 Titan, Triton or Titania 14 Seat at many a wedding 15 “Nothing succeeds like ____”:

Oscar Wilde 16 Warm, cozy spots 17 Quite, despite expectations 18 Clobbers 24 Plenish 25 Theme park annoyances 30 Barrio grocery 32 ____ Perelman, classic

Russian science writer 33 For 34 Lighter igniter 35 Zapped, in a way

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94 Shines 95 Fashion 96 Insurance filings 100 Ticked off 101 All together, in scores 103 Food drive collection 104 Uriah of David Copperfield 105 High wind 106 Half of a pair 109 The Godfather mobster who

was shot in the eye 110 Staples of waiting rooms 111 “I’m thinking …”

112 ____ de vie

66 What’s got ewe covered?

67 Flying Solo 68 Clerical wear 70 Condescending sort 71 The Situation Room airer 72 Unflappable 73 Stand-alone business?

76 Kernel 77 Like many a kilt 78 Computer menu option 79 Dumas dueler 80 Contact, in a way 84 Hits the hay 85 Major fuss 86 Like most light bulbs 88 Difficult journeys 89 Cubist of note?

90 Twit 92 Regatta site since 1839 93 Slack

Advertising advertising@okgazette.com 405-528-6000 Account EXECUTIVES Saundra Rinearson Godwin Christy Duane Kurtis DeLozier

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37 Words mouthed on a Jumbotron 38 Some girders 39 “That’s pretty obvious!”

40 Fashion monthly 45 Take over 46 Divvies up 47 1960s Haight-Ashbury wear 48 Summer swarmer 49 Per unit 50 Myrna of Love Crazy 51 Lather 53 Obama ____ 54 Hi or lo follower 55 Upscale hotel chain 56 Undo 57 Hip-hop subgenre 62 Add fuel to 64 Part of a crane 65 Try this!

Digital Media & Calendar Coordinator Jeremy Martin

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Accounting/HR Manager Marian Harrison Accounts receivable Karen Holmes

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First-class mail subscriptions are $119 for one year, and most issues at this rate will arrive 1-2 days after publication.

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VOL. XL No. 29

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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Assistant EDITOR Brittany Pickering Staff reporters Ben Luschen Jacob Threadgill Jeremy Martin contributors Joshua Blanco, Daniel Bokemper Krystal Yoseph Circulation Manager Chad Bleakley creative director Kimberly Lynch Graphic Designers Karson Brooks Ofelia Ochoa

Stumped? Call 1-900-285-5656 to get the answers to any three clues by phone ($1.20 a minute).

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Sudoku hard | n° 2162 Fill in the grid so that every row, column and 3-by-3 box contains the numbers 1 through 9. www.printmysudoku.com

3701 N. Shartel Ave. Oklahoma City, OK 73118-7102 Phone (405) 528-6000 Fax (405) 528-4600 www.okgazette.com

New York Times Crossword Puzzle answers Puzzle No. 0708, which appeared in the July 11 issue.

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graphic designer

wanted!!!

Responsibilities

ServerS Needed MeMoriAl locAtioN

Apply in person 2p-4p Tues-Sat 3241 West Memorial Rd

• Knowledge of press operations and four-color setup requirements • Demonstrated knowledge and experience in InDesign, Photoshop, and Illustrator • Ability to utilize minimal HTML coding in uploading to web and building email newsletters • Photography experience a plus • Excellent communication and interpersonal skills • Layout editorial articles following strict design standards This position requires a combination of desktop publishing, graphic design, pre-press production, and some administrative experience.

Interested candIdates should submIt theIr resume and lInk to portfolIo to klynch@okgazette.com

Oklahoma Natural Gas Company, a division of ONE Gas, Inc., was founded in 1906, and is the cornerstone of one of the oldest corporations in Oklahoma. We are the largest natural gas distribution company in the state, providing clean, reliable natural gas to more than 847,000 customers.

We are currently hiring for a Maintenance Specialist Auto Repair Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Performs entrylevel mechanical repairs on automobiles and equipment. Assist with and/or perform mechanical work on company vehicles and special equipment including but not limited to: • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Internal combustion, diesel, and natural gas-powered engines Boring machines, trenchers, and augers Dozers and tractors Generators and electric motors CNG equipment Welding and fabrication Assist and/or service, troubleshoot, maintain, and repair company vehicles and special equipment.

Order and/or secure parts and supplies.

Clean garage/service bay area.

Maintain and/or prepare reports and/or records including but not limited to: Work logs and service orders Engine/equipment maintenance and repair records Pressure readings Material and supply orders Time sheets Regular and reliable attendance is required in performance of job.

Employee may be required to perform additional duties as assigned

As a premier employer in the communities where we do business, we offer competitive compensation, career development and excellent benefits, including three weeks of vacation, stock award programs, and a 401(k) match, and many more.

Please visit www.onegas.jobs to view additional details about the job requirements and to register and apply for this position. Only applicants who meet minimum qualifications will be considered. Only those applicants considered for an interview will be contacted.

Reference Requisition 566 We are an Equal Opportunity Employer and do not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, color, sex, age, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, status as a veteran, and basis of disability or any other federal, state or local protected class.

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