Fall From Grace by Oklahoma Gazette

free every wednesday | Metro OKCâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Independent Weekly | june 14, 2017

BALLOT ISSUE

GRACE FALL FROM

Tate Publishing authors speak out By laura eastes p.4

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inside COVER P.4 Oklahoma’s Tate family launched Tate Publishing and Enterprises in 2001 and quickly grew into a Christian-based company promoting and publishing authors and musicians. Its meteoric rise as an author- and employee-focused local business, however, has crumbled into mounting claims of misconduct, lawsuits and criminal charges. By Laura Eastes. Cover by Christopher Street.

NEWS 4 Cover Tate Publishing operators

face charges as clients speak out

8 City Page Woodson School

reopens as apartments

helps improve women’s health

11 Health OKC Indian Clinic grant 12 Chicken-Fried News 14 Letters

EAT & DRINK 17 Review The Crawfish Pot

18 Meet the Brewer Battered Boar 23 Briefs

24 GazedibleS Edmond eateries

ARTS & CULTURE 26 Art OFF-SPRING: New Generations at 21c Museum Hotel 27

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Making and Claiming Mexican American Identity

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NEWS

COv e r

Blurred lines

In 2001, Mustang’s Tate Publishing set out to discover and market unknown authors. That’s what it did, but not all customers are happy with the services provided by the nowclosed company. As Richard and Ryan Tate face criminal charges, authors and a former employees share their Tate experiences. By Laura Eastes

The chant started slowly. A Tate Publishing and Enterprises employee rattled off the four-word phrase and then demanded the 60person crowd join her. “I am an author!” they repeated. The cry grew more insistent as it pulsed louder. That was the moment Paul Bortolazzo decided he was done with the Christianbased, family-owned publishing company. “They wanted us to feel like we were real authors,” Bortolazzo, a credentialed minister of the Assemblies of God,told Oklahoma Gazette. “They were preying upon people’s dreams.” It was 2008, and the seven-year-old vanity press publishing company was entertaining Tate authors at the National Christian Booksellers Convention in Atlanta. Only those with personal invitations, like Bortolazzo, author of Tatepublished The Coming of the Son of Man: After the Tribulation of Those Days, earned a spot in the meeting room. The Montgomery, Alabama, man was different from the individuals he mingled with over coffee and doughnuts before the Tate presentation. While he shared a connection by publishing works at Tate, Bortolazzo didn’t view himself as an author; he was a pastor who published a biblical message. Others were aspiring authors who wanted their work widely known and appearing on bookshelves across the country.

We simply want to create the best environment and opportunity for you to have success. Ryan Tate As the chants ended with the crowd erupting into applause, several people made their way to nearby tables to sign new contracts. Tate was often called a vanity press, meaning authors paid the company to have their books published. The acquisition of a manuscript was a sale that guaranteed clients services such as editing, design and production, publicity, royalties and more. Tate Publishing’s sales strategy discomfited Bortolazzo, who believed the company was playing off emotion to 4

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lure people to commit thousands of dollars to book projects. Such a strategic hook had at least worked to get him to publish a 400-page book with the company. After receiving 70 rejection letters from other publishing houses, Bortolazzo received a personal letter from Richard Tate in 2007. Tate Publishing wanted his project, and more importantly, the co-founder had chosen it from the many submissions received. Of those hundreds, only a small percentage of authors were offered contracts. Nearly a decade later, Bortolazzo still has that letter and his own analysis of how Tate Publishing signed more than 35,000 clients during its nearly 17 years as a company. “The sobering reality is the vast majority would never sell enough books to make a living. ... The Tates knew this. Most books they produce sold less than 200 copies. Richard Tate also knew he could make millions preying on the dreams of those desperately wanting to be full-time authors. All in the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ,” Bortolazzo told the Gazette.

Richard Tate | Photo provided

‘God-ordained and God-maintained’

Husband and wife Richard and Rita Tate traveled across the country presenting their marriage and family counseling ministries to church congregations. When the couple decided to turn their ministry into a book, they did so through the publishing industry. Through it all, they watched and learned. In 2001, Richard and Rita Tate cofounded a publishing company, hiring their son Ryan Tate as president and daughter Trinity Tate as an editor. Billing itself as a Christian-based company working with aspiring authors, Tate Publishing management used their experience with a mainstream publisher to mold their business to serve authors by providing an array of services to produce and promote highquality books. Each contract guaranteed the highest royalties “in the business.” “We simply want to create the best environment and opportunity for you to have success,” Ryan Tate stated in the company’s 2013 promotional video, The Story of Tate Publishing. “If you are willing to work, we are willing to work hard.” With a sales pitch that included authors, or clients, receiving as much of their earnings back as possible, the Tate Publishing

Ryan Tate | Photo provided

model fathered a flourishing company. As a Christian business, the Tate family incorporated the spirit of faith into their work. The family referred to their business as “God-ordained and God-maintained.” After a decade in business, Tate employed hundreds at its Mustang corporate headquarters and boasted a catalogue of thousands of books and music recordings. Honors, including being listed in the Best Places to Work in Oklahoma, published by okc BIZ magazine, stacked up. Growing business While the company continued to attract more clients, Tate executives preached

that its authors were part of an exclusive club in which only “a single-digit percentage of authors who submitted manuscripts for publication” were offered contracts. Employees doubted such a claim, said Marisa Mohi, who joined the editing department in 2011. Neither literary merit nor strong storylines were required to land a Tate contract, she said. The only real requirement was money. “It was not uncommon to hear someone on the phone explaining to an author why they needed commas,” said Mohi, who was a ghostwriter at Tate and edited a book continued on page 6

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Edmond resident Richard Daniel published Momma Loved Us This I Know with Tate Publishing and Enterprises in 2014. Daniel said the company assured him his memoir would be sold at bookstores across the country. That never happened. | Photo Garett Fisbeck

continued from page 4

with an author about Hezbollah stealing a child from the scene of a car wreck. “I don’t think the Tates intended for us to be editors or adhere to the ideals of editing,” said Mohi, who began searching for a new job six months after being hired for Tate Publishing and Enterprises because of what she believed were unrealistic workloads and an increasing number of manuscripts and assignments. “Us doing our jobs was a wrench in the system.” In Mohi’s final weeks with Tate, rumors began to brew that the company had plans to outsource work. In June 2012, Ryan Tate called a company meeting to address the rumors and an anonymous email received by all employees. After issuing insults and threats to employees, the meeting ended with a warning that 25 employees would be fired later that week if nobody confessed to sending the email. An audio file of the meeting was leaked to the press, setting off an international media storm with coverage on a Christian company who bullied and belittled employees before issuing pink slips. Additionally, the rumors proved to be true: The company opened an office in the Philippines in 2012. Following negative media coverage and an exodus of employees from the Mustang headquarters as jobs were shipped overseas, Tate Publishing’s next four years were without much outside attention. No longer did local media list Tate among Oklahoma’s top businesses to work for. As new titles pumped from its 24-hour print operations, it appeared evident that Tate was continuing to deliver on its mission to discover, market and assist unknown authors. Did Tate Publishing and Enterprises meet contractual obligations? Consumer complaints led the Oklahoma Office of the Attorney General to launch an investigation in 2015. A year later, Xerox Corporation filed a lawsuit 6

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against Tate Publishing seeking $2 million in unpaid printing services. In September 2016, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division confirmed it was investigating the business.

Unhappy customer

Richard Daniel’s memoir Momma Loved Us This I Know wasn’t written for an audience. Instead, the retired law enforcement officer who has also worked in the entertainment industry recorded his memories of his mother raising him and his siblings in Oklahoma and Texas in the 1940s and 1950s. The children spent their childhood in an abusive home but were encouraged by the love of their mother, who was abused by multiple husbands. After publishing his manuscript online, he was encouraged to seek a publisher. “The book is about Oklahoma, about my mother raising us in Oklahoma. It would be good to publish a book in Oklahoma,” said Daniel, who resides in Edmond after spending decades in southern California. “I asked Tate what they could do for me, and they responded they would put my book in all the bookstores [and] I would be on TV. I believed them.” When his book was printed, Daniel was ready to start publicity. Phone calls to Tate were rarely returned. When they were, the company encouraged him to buy more books, which would be required for a book signing event. Daniel said employees also pushed additional services, like building a website and setting up a Facebook page. He did agree to pay $300 for the production of a 16-second commercial to promote his memoir. More than three years later, Daniel has yet to see copies of his book in a major bookstore. Press coverage included one story by a single local media outlet. He said he couldn’t access the commercial to share it. “It only hurt me here,” Daniel said as he placed his right fist over his heart. “I don’t like that. I trusted them. It hurt me

here in Oklahoma. Their name hurt me.” Past connections in the entertainment industry led to interest in his memoir, which is in pre-production as a film by a German company.

No more victims

“The public needs to know about this,” Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter said as he ended the May press conference announcing that criminal charges had been filed against Richard and Ryan Tate. Consumer complaints, including Tate failing to deliver products and services or pay royalty earnings, led the agency to launch an investigation in June 2015. When the company ceased operations Jan. 17, complaints mounted at the AG’s office. Between Jan. 17 and May 4, 849 complaints were lodged against Tate Publishing and Enterprises. The investigation paused following the Tates’ May announcement to reopen their publishing company. Hunter’s office responded with four felony embezzlement charges, a misdemeanor embezzlement charge, three felony extortion by threat charges and a felony racketeering charge against the father-and-son operators of Tate Publishing.

The sobering reality is the vast majority would never sell enough books to make a living. The Tates knew this. Paul Bortolazzo AG office agents had uncovered financial documents showing transfers from company accounts into the personal accounts of Richard and and his wife Rita Tate and Ryan and his wife Christy Tate. Additionally, charges are based on evidence that Tate Publishing did not fulfill contract obligations, including book production, book orders and royalty payments. “We don’t need any more victims,” Hunter said during the press conference. “Folks, we are going to do everything we can to make these people held accountable for what they’ve done. We also are going to do everything we can to get your money back.” The Tates’ attorney, Thomas Adler of Atkins & Markoff law firm, said that neither he nor his clients would be commenting on the criminal complaints. “The Tate family is committed to working together with the State of Oklahoma to address each and every complaint filed against them on a case by case basis,” Adler wrote to the Gazette. A pretrial conference for the criminal charges faced by Richard and Ryan Tate was scheduled for June 14 before Canadian County District Court Special Judge Jack McCurdy II. A

spokesperson with the AG’s office said the hearing could be postponed.

No answers

Around the first of the year, Betty Marinello was worried. Six months earlier, she sent her second manuscript and a $4,000 check to the publishing house after receiving a phone call from an elated Richard Tate. The Wisconsin resident was expecting a production update for her second book and a shipment of copies of Miracles, her first book published by Tate. The update came Jan. 17. Marinello opened an email sent to Tate Publishing clients announcing it was no longer in business. Authors and musicians had two options: pay a $50 processing fee to recover files “or not to pay the fee and have their files deleted/destroyed by Tate,” shows the AG’s office affidavit of probable cause, filed May 4 in the district court of Canadian County. The email left so many questions for Marinello and other authors. Should she pay the fee? Would she actually receive the files? Could she take her manuscripts to another publisher? Nearly six months later, after hours spent on the internet, seeking advice and hearing from other Tate authors, Marinello still has no answers. It’s not so much about the money as it is the manuscript. Marinello would like to see it published but admitted she lost interest and faith in the project after her experience with Tate Publishing. “It’s unbelievable, and I am still in awe,” Marinello said. “It took years for me to get brave enough to send it out to somebody. … I am at a crossroads where I don’t know where to turn.” Editor’s note: For journalistic transparency’s sake, Gazette assistant editor Brittany Pickering is a former Tate Publishing and Enterprises book copy editor and one of the 25 employees fired by the company in June 2012. Her role in this news report included fact-checking and copy editing. She has worked at the Gazette since late 2012.

Rita and Richard Tate | Photo Gazette / file O kg a z e t t e . c o m | J u n e 1 4 , 2 0 1 7

cit y

NEWS

Community dedication

A former northeast OKCPS school site with a storied history becomes the latest address for urban living. By Laura Eastes

“We didn’t know what we would do with the building,” developer Ron Bradshaw explained to Oklahoma Gazette when standing in the newly renovated auditorium lobby in the 90,000-square-foot building, historically known as Douglass High School and last known as Page Woodson School, in northeast Oklahoma City. With the auditorium doors open as workmen made some final touches inside, Bradshaw stood a few yards away from where OKC legends like Charlie Christian and Jimmy Rushing performed in school concerts and NAACP attorney Thurgood Marshall, later a U.S. Supreme Court Justice, offered a community update in the legal battle between Ada Lois Sipuel and the University of Oklahoma Law School. The 1910 Classical Revival-style, red brick school building, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places a decade ago, was sold to Bradshaw in 2013. Part of the father-son team responsible for the Maywood Apartments and Civic Center Flats, among other downtown living projects, Bradshaw held a desire to bring living accommodations to the neighborhoods surrounding University of Oklahoma (OU) Health Sciences Center and east of downtown. After the purchase, Bradshaw turned to the northeast community for aid in determining the building’s future. There was an introduction by Ward 7 Councilman John A. Pettis Jr. for Marjorie Young and Gina Sofola, the two who fought to save the historic building a decade earlier with dreams to preserve and reestablish it as a community hub. There were community meetings where nearby residents and

alumni added their ideas. There were realities that had to be faced as the 100-year-old building was falling further into disrepair and neglect. Now, nearly four years after acquiring the property, Bradshaw and his team, which includes Sofola as project manager, are delivering 60 residential apartments, a restored 1930s auditorium and five classrooms-turned-meeting spaces to the community. Additionally, a new 68-unit apartment building rises in the east, while seven three-story walkup apartment buildings are under construction to the north. It’s just the beginning of a six-phase redevelopment, Bradshaw explained. “We found out the school meant a great deal to the community, the AfricanAmerican community and this neighborhood,” he said. “What we’ve learned is this is not a project but a neighborhood redevelopment and a catalyst for more.”

Urban living

Called The Douglass, the building’s first resident is expected to move in later this week, and others will soon follow. Prospective tenants who tour the building at 600 N. High Ave. will find a blend of art deco styling and the latest in urban apartment living. Inside the studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom units are chic kitchens with sleek, white countertops and modern stainless steel appliances. Bathrooms floors were laid with hexagon tiles, a style popular in the 1920s and 1930s. In living areas as well as bedrooms, large windows flood the former classrooms with natural daylight. Some of the rental units feature restored chalkboards or the original gym

The former Page Woodson School at 600 N. High St. in the John F. Kennedy neighborhood recently underwent extensive renovations to turn into 60 apartments, a restored auditorium and classrooms for the community. The building is now known as The Douglass. | Photo Garett Fisbeck

rafters. Additionally, many of the apartments offer postcard views of downtown OKC. In the hallways, the mosaic tiles from the building’s drinking fountains remain. What makes this project unique in addition to its renovations is the developer’s use of a low-income tax credit. The Douglass provides a range of affordable living options, and tenants must qualify to access the affordable living price. Similarly, The Douglass Next Door, 601 N. Stonewall Ave., a brand-new apartment building, offers affordable living price points. Along NE Sixth Street, seven threestory walk-up apartments are under construction. Called The Seven at Page Woodson, the market-rate rental units are slated for completion in August. With its close proximity to downtown, the Innovation District and OU Health Science Center, the development was designed to attract young adults beginning their careers, working adults with lower incomes and small families. Additionally, The Douglass and The Douglass Next Door will draw seniors looking to downsize into a smaller place with less upkeep.

School of firsts

In the fall of 1933, the first Douglass students began to attend classes in the old Lowell school building where white grade-school students previously were taught. As OKC’s first segregated African-American high school, building plans were drafted to add an auditori-

um, a swimming pool, a gymnasium and classrooms. Once complete, it was an impressive institute for learning and a central gathering place for the AfricanAmerican community. “This really was the community hub,” Sofola explained. “It was not only a place of educational excellence. In Douglass’ heyday, it was known as the school of firsts.” The memorable phrase is a catchall to honor the school’s alumni and faculty who left a mark on OKC, the state and the nation in areas of education, music, entertainment, literature, sports and more. Now, the building with a storied history becomes a first once again as the first abandoned northeast school building to be brought back to life. Gates remain locked, and windows and doors are still boarded up at school sites like nearby Dunbar, Creston Hills and Harmony elementaries. As he looks upon the former school building, Bradshaw says he hopes it’s the first of many.

For more The public is invited to tour The Douglass at Page Woodson, 600 N. High Ave., at 3:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. Thursday. Visit pagewoodsonokc.com for information on the three properties: The Douglass, The Douglass Next Door and The Seven at Page Woodson.

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Saving lives

Oklahoma City Indian Clinic lands an Avon Breast Health Outreach grant. By Brian Daffron

Breast cancer is a leading cause of death for Native American women. Over the last two decades, Oklahoma City Indian Clinic (OKCIC) has sought partnerships and grants in order prevent and treat this disease. Recently, OKCIC gained a new partner in its efforts to educate and screen more Native American women through the Avon Breast Health Outreach Program. The foundation wing of the health and beauty company awarded the metro Indian Health Service clinic a grant of $48,000 to help fund outreach and screenings. OKCIC applied for the grant over one year ago. “What we are able to do now with the Avon partnership is it gives us some funding to support our programs,” said Ashton Gatewood, OKCIC public health director, who is a member of the Choctaw and Chickasaw nations. The grant helps fund things like educational mail-outs, hosting events such as mother/daughter night and its “lunch and learn” program to promote breast cancer screening to provide education and information about the breast care process and how to navigate that system. This grant is in addition to some of the clinic’s other area partnerships. It also has a 20-year relationship with OU Medicine’s Breast Health Network, which brings a mobile mammogram unit to the clinic at least five times per month.

Postitive experience

A great deal of the clinic’s efforts include making screenings part of the preventative process, hosting breast cancer support groups and participating in women’s health fairs at the clinic and within Oklahoma’s tribal communities. “We think it’s a community mindset change from a negative to more of a positive experience,” Gatewood said. OKCIC education programs are for Native Americans of all ages. For screen-

One of Oklahoma City Indian Clinic’s breast health programs is a mother/daughter banquet where daughters took photos with their mothers and loved ones to help spread Breast Cancer Awareness. | Photo Photo Oklahoma City Indian Clinic / provided

ings, the clinic follows IHS guidelines as well as the those established by the Centers for Disease Control and the American Cancer Society. These guidelines state, on average, that women age 40 and up should get screenings. Exceptions for younger ages are made if women have direct family history of breast cancer, such as a parent with the disease. According to Gatewood, the clinic gives an average of 1600 mammograms per year, with an average of 40 per month that might require follow-up imaging. “This year, our goal is to screen 90 percent of our patients for screening mammograms,” Gatewood said. “Our strategy to reach that goal is we do mailouts, we do phone calls, we look at our studies from a year back or two years back, and we’ll call them.” The education efforts of OKCIC are important, Gatewood said, because in many Native American communities, cancer is still a subject that is not discussed. For this reason, OKCIC wants to make breast cancer — and breast cancer awareness as a whole — as positive an experience as possible in order to open lines of communication between the clinic and their patients. “Breast cancer is something that Native American communities traditionally do not talk about,” Gatewood said. “It’s not something that has a very positive history with our people. What we’re trying to do is get people who have more education to become more comfortable talking about how they can prevent breast cancer, how they can survive breast cancer and providing that support system. It’s still cancer, but it can become a more positive experience.” O kg a z e t t e . c o m | J u n e 1 4 , 2 0 1 7

chicken

friedNEWS

New boss

Here’s a sentence no one around Chicken-Fried News’ hallowed halls expected to be writing anytime soon: The University of Oklahoma (OU) has a new head football coach. Oh, and he’s just 33 years old. If you didn’t catch the news as soon as it broke on the afternoon of June 7, chances are someone soon texted, tweeted, emailed, faxed or telegraphed you the shocking announcement that former head coach Bob Stoops is retiring from the school after 18 seasons. The shocking retirement left many to speculate. Why leave like this just a few months away from the football season? Was Stoops’ health in decline? Was the football program facing some kind of unknown investigation or penalty? Or perhaps Stoops, like seemingly everyone else these days, is hiding secret ties to Russia. The coach released a public statement later that day clarifying his decision, saying that he is in good health and merely felt the time was right to move on. As noted in Chicken-Fried News a few weeks ago, Stoops recently bought a house in Chicago. The coach had said publicly on several occasions that he did not want to coach forever. Apparently, not that many people believed him. “The Bible says, ‘To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven,’” Stoops’ statement read. “I’m grateful for this season of my life, and feel I’ve fulfilled my purpose here at OU as its head football coach.” Stoops will continue to serve the university as a special assistant to athletic director Joe Castiglione. Stepping into the shoes of the school’s winningest coach of all time is former offensive coordinator Lincoln Riley. At 33, he is the youngest head coach in the Big 12 conference. Riley might not be old enough to be president of the United States (the age requirement is 35), but a legion of football faithful now look to him to lead Sooner Nation while hoping the only numbers that matter are yards, touchdowns and win totals.

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Dead body

Finding a video store is hard enough these days without also finding a dead body. Oklahoma City Police were called to Eastern Avenue Video & Novelties, 1105 S. Eastern Ave., in the early hours of June 4 on reports of a dead man inside the store. Enid resident Dirl Cunningham, 52, was found inside the business at about 1 a.m. Eastern Avenue Video & Novelties is a 24-hour adult novelty store with three locations in Tulsa and Oklahoma City. Police said Cunningham appears to have suffered a medical issue and that his death is not considered suspicious, according to NewsOK. com. Cunningham’s family told KFOR he suffered a heart attack. Before police allayed suspicions, shoppers at the nearby Old Paris Flea Market seemed nervous about the situation. “That don’t make me feel safe, especially bringing the kids around,” flea market shopper Zachary Corbrow told KFOR. “Things like that shouldn’t be hap-

pening when you’re bringing your family around places like this.” Yes, finding a dead body anywhere can be pretty disconcerting and probably more so when you’re just trying to locate a VHS copy of A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors. So we at Chicken-Fried News have put together a quick guide for what to do if you run into a corpse. 1. Call 911. Nobody likes finding dead bodies, but the operators at 911 probably have the most experience. 2. Do not touch it. This seems obvious, but people in movies are always doing this. 3. Create a perimeter. Until the cops arrive, do your fellow shoppers a solid and keep them from making their own morbid discovery. 4. Take a deep breath. Feel that? You’re still alive. Seize the day! But not the dead body. Seriously, do not touch it.

Hopeful highways

Oklahoma Highway Patrol (OHP) is an important part of public safety in the state. Troopers drive around the state, keep an eye out for dangerous drivers and chase down criminals on the run. But since December, each trooper has been dealing with a 100-mile driving limit per shift as part of cuts to save the department money. We don’t condone breaking the law, but until recently, theoretically, a troop-

er who just started his or her shift could chase you about 100 miles and then have to hit the breaks and head back to the office since you wasted all their miles for the day. On May 31, Gov. Mary Fallin signed a $6.8 billion budget bill that “minimized cuts to core services,” reported KFOR.com. So the agency’s money problems have been partially relieved — for now, at least — and the mileage restrictions were lifted. In addition to the mileage restrictions, troopers were looking at possible furloughs, which are now off the table. “With 26 percent of an alreadystrained workforce considering retirement, furloughs would have been devastating to our ranks,” OHP chief Ricky Adams told KFOR.com. “I also want to extend my genuine gratitude to the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority

for funding the 64th OHP Academy in 2016 and now the 65th OHP Academy in 2018. Without this partnership, our losses though retirements, injury, and deaths would be completely demoralizing.” Tulsa World reported that the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority (OTA) gave OHP $5 million to fund its 2018 training academy, which will add 28-30 troopers to its ranks and make Oklahoma highways safer. Adams said OHP currently employs 790 state troopers, the minimum number the state needs is 960 and, ideally, OHP needs 1,104 troopers. Maybe we could all do OHP a favor and stop driving like lunatics for a little while — at least until its 2018 training academy class graduates and dons their uniforms.

Ideal budget

Days before lawmakers passed a $6.8 billion spending plan, which cuts most state agencies by about 5 percent and holds funding flat for core services in areas of education, health and human services and public safety, Gov. Mary Fallin called the plan “not an ideal budget.” In a press statement, Fallin also stated the budget “does not address the structural budget challenges that [she has] been working to fix since [she] took office.” Fallin’s warnings have fallen on

deaf ears. A week after that spending plan was passed by lawmakers, there was a sign that some were coming around to that warning. Tulsa World reported that top Republicans, including House Appropriations and Budget Committee Chairman Leslie Osborn, are siding with Democrats saying Oklahoma government has a revenue problem. “We truly have a structural imbalance,” Osborn, R-Mustang, said at the Tulsa Regional Chamber legislative breakfast. “We have a revenue problem. We do not have a spending problem.” Sen. Eddie Fields, R-Wynona, said, “I believe there are targeted areas where we could find more efficiencies. But we have state agencies that have been cut 40 or 50 percent over the past few years. There is a revenue problem.” This must have been music to House Minority Leader Scott Inman’s ears. “We’ve been saying for a while, ‘Hey, guys, we’ve got a revenue problem. We’ve been screaming it,” the Del City Democrat said. We at ChickenFried News can only hope this means the 2018 Legislative

Session will include Republicans and Democrats coming together to work on revenue-raising bills and fix those structural challenges. Maybe teachers will get a raise. Maybe classroom spending will increase. Maybe rural hospitals will stay open. Maybe the state can hire more troopers. Maybe the state’s VA centers will expand services. Maybe state college and university tuition will remain flat. Maybe the Department of Human Services can hire more caseworkers. Oh, the places Oklahoma could go! Wait a second! Not all lawmakers are coming around to this revenue problem. “When you talk about raising taxes, when you talk about raising fees … they also have economic impact,” Sen. Dan Newberry, R-Tulsa, said. “What we tried to do this year in the Senate was to make sure we didn’t tinker with the engine of the economy and make us go into a tailspin.” It doesn’t look like we are there yet.

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letters

NEWS Creation crimes

Oklahoma Gazette provides an open forum for the discussion of all points of view in its Letters to the Editor section. The Gazette reserves the right to edit letters for length and clarity. Letters can be mailed, faxed, emailed to jchancellor@okgazette.com or sent online at okgazette.com. Include a city of residence and contact number for verification.

Broken cycle

Senate Bill 860 has been sent to the governor, outlining next year’s budget, or budget cuts depending. Will next year finally be the year our state breaks the cycle? The answer is no. Our legislators that we vote in every election are going to keep making the same repetitive mistakes year after year. Next year’s proposal doesn’t look awful on paper, but history shows that it will be. The only reason Oklahoma legislators formulate a budget plan right now is to decide where budget cuts will be made and where to give relief from previous budget cuts. Our state needs money! Yes, our legislators hear what we are saying, and no, they cannot do anything about it. The money must come from somewhere, and our state is not producing. The same people we keep voting in every elec-

tion are the same ones who opt for a shortterm fix instead or a long-term solution. Perhaps the next election will finally be the year our voters break the cycle. Shannon Taylor Midwest City

No more equal rights!

Nathaniel B. (letter May 31 issue), the day of equal rights in America is over. You are fooling yourself if you think LGBT people will ever get the kind of “equal” you want, unless you can beat the Islamic terrorists from taking over the American justice system. No, I’m not talking about the bombing, torturing, raping and murdering terrorists. I’m talking about the alien influx of rapidly reproducing Islamic citizens, legal and illegal, who are influencing

now open

and participating effectively in our local governments and schools. Do you think that their Sharia law will treat you more kindly than Judeo-Christian laws and judges? And where will LGBT rights be then? Dream on and find joy, mercy and forgiveness in Jesus. I have many Muslim friends, associates, customers that are good, everyday people, but when they also come under the rule of Sharia influence, their American dream will also fade away. The American dream is dying, but hope for heaven is still available through faith in the Lord Jesus, who died for all diverse types of sinners. Like the Hebrews in the wilderness, you will wish for the days of “Egyptian” luxuries. Mike Moberly Oklahoma City

Conservatives’ willful denial of the consensus of world scientists on global warming and climate change is irresponsible, criminal and crazy. Atmospheric warming threatens all of nature, including humanity’s future. Conservatives say, “No problem!” Melting polar ice, more extreme weather events and rising seas are just the beginning of its ultimate impact on all of us. We are living in the Sixth Great Extinction, this one caused by humanity’s disregard for the complex balance of nature. Thousands of species are going extinct as humanity blindly despoils Earth. Millions of Americans were too disgusted with politics even to vote in 2016 … so we got a president and Congress committed to accelerating fossil fuel development, weakening environmental protections, cancelling the Clean Power Plan and threatening to withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement. The solutions needed are far simpler than landing on the moon, which humanity did 50 years ago. Only politics, greed and willful ignorance threaten life on Earth. Every elected official must be replaced in 2018 who is not committed to reversing global warming and climate change. Nathaniel Batchelder Oklahoma City

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EAT & DRINK

Review

Boiled crawfish with potato and corn on the cob | Photo Garett Fisbeck

Boiling over

The Crawfish Pot offers Cajun favorites in an environment where it’s okay to make a mess. By Greg Elwell

The Crawfish Pot 2142 W. Interstate 240 Service Road 405-601-3314 | facebook.com/thecrawfishpotokc What works: Boiled seafood options are excellent, as are the po’boys. What needs work: The gumbo left me numb-o. Tip: Ask for a bib and gloves.

The staff at The Crawfish Pot are ready for a mess. The southside restaurant, 2142 W. Interstate 240 Service Road, is full of clean lines and a carefully constructed faux backwoods chic. The tables are lined with plastic and white butcher paper because there are very few dainty dining options at this eatery. E’s Crab Wontons (four for $5.99) are the exception, not the rule. Large triangular folds of crisp wonton wrapper are filled with a familiar blend of crab and cream cheese. After so many blah versions from Chinese buffets, it’s a joy to have a freshly fried taste of this sweet appetizer. One warning, though: Being freshly fried means the cream cheese filling is hot enough to burn. Give them a second to cool off if you can. How anyone can resist chicken wings (six for $6.99) is beyond me. The wings are deep-fried, and the skin puffs up and gets crispy while the dark meat gets juicy and tender. The Crawfish Pot serves three flavors of sauces with its wings: Cajun, lemon pepper and Saigon, which is a sticky, sweet lacquer with mild spice. One of my favorite things about the wings was the way the cook left some of the extra skin on them before dropping them in the oil. More

skin means more flavor and more surface area for the sauce to stick to. Flavor was sadly lacking in the gumbo ($6.99). When the crock arrived at the table, steam whipping off the scoop of rice waiting to be stirred in, everything looked in order. The gumbo was full of sausage and chicken with nice chunks of vegetables in the thick broth. There was even a little twinge of heat coming from the background spices slowly climbing up my throat, but it was largely flavorless. A little added salt could go a long way. One fun detail is the grilled cheese sandwich served with the stew. It was extremely thin and crispy with grooves left by the metal press it was cooked in. I generally don’t eat grilled cheese with gumbo, but this was a perfect accompaniment. The texture of the bread helped hold on to the liquid like a supplemental spoon. While the gumbo was a minor letdown, I was majorly impressed by the fried shrimp po’boy ($9.99). As with most great sandwiches, this one started with the bread. The hoagie roll was split top to bottom all the way through. The bread was soft without feeling insubstantial — the perfect weight to hold a mountain of fried shrimp while still easy to bite through. I recommend you get the po’boys fully dressed, with mayonnaise, lettuce, tomato and pickle. The toppings keep the sandwich pleasantly moist and have just the right amount of chew to go with the crunch of the shrimp. My fears of being skimped on shrimp were allayed as soon as I saw the sand-

wich emerge from the kitchen. Not only was the po’boy stuffed full of gorgeous, golden shrimp, but they were literally overflowing into a pile on the plate. But one of the main draws of The Crawfish Pot is its classic Cajun-style seafood boil. Diners can look over the chalkboard menu on the wall, which lists specials and by-the-pound prices for clams, king crab, snow crab, whole Dungeness crab, crawfish and jumbo shrimp. They come to the table dripping with seasonings inside a heavy-duty plastic sack. “Go ahead and make fun of me in your review,” said my mother, who cringed at the head-on jumbo shrimp ($14.99 per pound) as she pulled one out of the bag. First of all, the name jumbo is accurate. The shrimp were monstrously large. It’s a bit of work releasing the meat from the shell, as everything in the bag was smothered in The Don garlic butter sauce. But once you tear off the head, rip off the legs and peel back the shell, you are left with a mighty large piece of beautifully boiled seafood. Warning: The shrimp are not deveined. I didn’t notice a grainy texture, but your mileage might vary. Even more difficult to extricate from their carapaces are crawfish ($8.99 per pound). I legitimately googled “how to eat crawfish” while I was at the table because I couldn’t figure it out. Here’s the short version: Grab the

crawfish by the head with one hand and the tail with the other. Squeeze and pull. The head comes off, along with its pincers, pretty easily. You can suck the head for a little extra flavor or just tear off the first few rings of shell around the tail and then suck the meat out of the remaining tail while pinching it. The amount of work compared to the amount of meat is ridiculous. Crawfish must be a diet food, because you will absolutely burn more energy getting the meat out of the shell than you will gain eating it. If that sounds too taxing but you still need to eat those tiny crustaceans, the restaurant serves fried popcorn crawfish ($9.99), crawfish étouffée ($8.99) and a fried crawfish po’boy ($10.99). The boiled crawfish came in The Maria seasoning, which is a blend of Cajun spices. On either sauce, you can choose the heat level — medium, spicy or extra spicy. Adding some corn on the cob is $.79, and a potato is $1.29 extra. While the sauces don’t necessarily penetrate the seafood, they do soak into the vegetables quite readily. I recommend both to make it a more rounded meal. The server will probably offer you a bib and rubber gloves. Take them. When the seafood first arrives at the table, it’ll be too hot to handle otherwise. Plus, it’s fun to pretend you’re a surgeon in an ER catering specifically to shrimp and crawfish, especially when someone else is there to clean up the mess.

Fried chicken wings in Saigon sauce | Photo Garett Fisbeck

Chicken and sausage gumbo with a grilled cheese sandwich | Photo Garett Fisbeck O kg a z e t t e . c o m | J u n e 1 4 , 2 0 1 7

EAT & DRINK

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F E AT U R E

Meet the Brewer: Battered Boar Brewing Company The stories behind Battered Boar Brewing Company are almost as good as its beers.

By Greg Elwell

1116 N Robinson Ave. OKC | 405.601.9234 @nicsplacedinerandlounge

Editor’s note: As part of our continuing coverage of Oklahoma craft beer, Oklahoma Gazette presents “Meet the brewer,” a monthly feature profiling beermakers. Mike Sandefur is a natural raconteur. A man with both a past and a beard that are long and varied, he is something akin to a giant treasury of entertaining stories. Follow any one of them and you’ll soon arrive at one of Edmond’s Battered Boar Brewing Company’s signature beers. Even the brewery’s name begins with a thrilling tale. “It is an unusual name,” Sandefur said. “In 1998, I killed a 400-pound Russian boar with a knife. Don’t worry; he was trying to kill me, too.” Not only did the boar give its name to the brewery, it gave its head to the taproom, 14700 Metro Plaza Blvd., Suite E, in Edmond that is under construction.

Sharp stuff

Sandefur is an imposing figure well before he begins telling you about knife fighting. The big man can look deadly serious when he wants to. Were Sandefur just a giant, he’d be scary enough, but it only 18

J u n e 1 4 , 2 0 1 7 | O kg a z e t t e . c o m

Battered Boar Brewing Company owner Mike Sandefur | Photo Garett Fisbeck

takes a short conversation before you realize the sharpest blade in his repertoire is his keen mind. In the past, he has held several jobs, including more than a decade teaching law enforcement and military personnel about close-quarter knife fighting. Since 2009, he has been dedicating his brains to a different kind of pursuit: brewing amazing beers.

The great thing about beer is that for a few dollars, you can buy some of the best stuff on the planet. Mike Sandefur That’s its own story. Sandefur was teaching knife combat when one of his students came to him looking for inspiration. “There’s artistry in everything you do, continued on page 21

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EAT & DRINK continued from page 18

F e atur e

whether it’s making furniture or brewing your own beer,” he said. “So we went to The Brew Shop and I bought a brew kit.” Though his student didn’t get into making beer, Sandefur was immediately obsessed. “The first year, I think I brewed about 200 batches of beer,” he said. “Every flat surface in the house had a fermenter on it.” That was when his wife Michelle said it was time to make a go at brewing beer in a professional setting or at least get it out of the house.

Coming home

Battered Boar is a small craft brewery known for big beers. It’s not well-known locally, though. For the past few years, the company focused on selling outside of Oklahoma, garnering sales in Georgia, Texas and Arkansas. But Sandefur said that changed last year with the passage of Senate Bill 424 and other alcohol modernization legislation. “It’s frustrating to not do business in Oklahoma,” he said. R e g u l at i on s made the cost of selling beer in-state an onerous task. But with a slew of rule changes, it’s becoming much easier to return to the market. Sandefur was Battered Boar’s Lion’s born and raised just Tooth Floret | Photo a few miles away Garett Fisbeck / file from the brewery. Nowhere is home to him like Oklahoma, and finally, Oklahoma is ready to be a real home to Battered Boar, too. As the state’s thirst for craft beer grows, the brewery is poised to introduce a variety of different beer styles to consumers. Best sellers like LaPadite Farmhouse Ale and Lion’s Tooth Floret will certainly continue. Sales of Coconut Cream Stout are so strong that every drop Battered Boar brews is quickly out the door. Sandefur hopes the same will be true for his new creation, Boarchata, a beer made with a type of Mexican cinnamon he found immediately alluring. “It has this delicate flavor that is so expressive I had to build a beer around it,” he said. “All of our beers are ingredient-driven.” Special cocoa nibs and Oregon cherries (the same kind used in Ben & Jerry’s Cherry Garcia ice cream) are the basis for his Chocolate Cherry Porter.

Vote us best “Remember that day, Michelle?” he asked his wife. “We spent an hour on the phone just tasting chocolate. That was a good day.” Aptly named Dantes Porter features 112 different types of chilies that provide a burst of heat that quickly fades, leaving behind the fruity undertones of peppers on the drinker’s palate. All of Battered Boar’s brews require inspiration. Sandefur’s not interested in creating a type of beer just because other breweries are making it. He needs an idea, a way to twist the formula and give customers a taste of something unexpected. He is able to wait for his imagination to run wild because Battered Boar belongs solely to his family. His son Jordan is the lead brewer and chief advocate for the company, helping bring in new sales as the brewery expands its reach. “The great thing about beer is that for a few dollars, you can buy some of the best stuff on the planet,” he said. “It’s an attainable luxury item. Try doing that with wine.” As the taproom nears completion — Sandefur predicts it will be open within the next month — he is looking forward to establishing Battered Boar as a favorite among local beer enthusiasts. While Chocolate Cherry Porter and seasonal Ultimo Hombre, a dryhopped wheat beer named for a line in Battered Boar’s Coconut No Country for Old Cream Stout | Photo Men, might not be Garett Fisbeck / file feasible for bottling and shipping, he’s going to make sure visitors to the taproom can have a try. He’s putting his expert palate to work creating new beers, as well. In the coming months, Battered Boar will release Funky Mime, a grapefruit sour beer, and Stumbling Goat Imperial Coffee Stout, which gets its name from a legend of how coffee was first discovered in Ethiopia. Sandefur proved he can develop the recipes. His encyclopedic knowledge helps give the beers intriguing names. And when guests enter the taproom, he can regale them with tales of how the brews came to be. For a man so adept at storytelling, it’s the perfect situation. What goes better with a good beer than an interesting story?

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EAT & DRINK

Dogfish Head Craft Brewery founder and CEO Sam Calagione waves the Oklahoma flag to celebrate the brewery shipping beer to the Sooner State. | Photo Dogfish Head Craft Brewery / provided

•Gone (Dog)fishing

Celebrated Delaware-based beermaker Dogfish Head Craft Brewery begins shipping to Oklahoma this month. “We’re excited to introduce the Sooner State to our off-centered family of ales, from our continually hopped beers like 60 Minute IPA and 90 Minute IPA to our culinary ingredient-focused, fruit-centric ales like Flesh & Blood IPA to our super crushable session sour SeaQuench Ale brewed with lime peel, black limes and sea salt,” said Dogfish founder and CEO Sam Calagione said in a media release. “Dogfish Head is also excited to begin a new partnership with Oklahoma Beer Imports LLC. We have a shared passion for craft beer and look forward to working together to make Dogfish Head beer more readily available to our awesome Oklahoma fans.” For those who haven’t tried the company’s beers before, Dogfish provided a handy pairing guide. 60 Minute IPA goes well with fried okra, and 90 Minute IPA is excellent with biscuits and gravy. The iconic chicken-fried steak pairs nicely with Indian Brown, according to the brewery. Visit dogfish.com.

Homemade celebration

Support local makers and try some great beer, wine and food at Made in Oklahoma Fest on Saturday. Hundreds of vendors will pack Reed Conference Center, 5750 Will Rogers Road, in Midwest City 10 a.m.-6 p.m. for the free, all-ages event. Browse food, crafts, art and beverages made in the state by local producers. For $20, festivalgoers can get commemorative glassware and 10 tasting tokens to sample Oklahoma-produced wines and beers. Those interested in learning to make their own libations can watch homebrew

and wine-making demonstrations from The Brew Shop. The festival also features made in Oklahoma music on a pair of stages. The outdoor stage will have eclectic Stillwater musicians Ten Pound Turtles, country music by Ross Clayton Band and country and classic rock-inspired Mary-Heather and the Sinners. The indoor stage features Americana folk group O Fidelis, singer-songwriter Maggie McClure and country artist Zac Wenzel. Visit madeinoklahomafest.com for a full list of artists and show times.

•Revealing Ramadan

In a time when religious differences seem to be growing, sometimes the best advice is to listen and learn. The Oklahoma chapter of the Council on AmericanIslamic Relations (CAIR-OK) hopes to enlighten Oklahomans about the religious tradition of Ramadan with a program and dinner 6-8 p.m. Thursday at the Islamic Society of Greater Oklahoma City, 3815 N. St. Clair Ave. Inviting non-Muslims to learn about Ramadan is a way to quash misconceptions and show the community that Muslims are just people, too. The evening includes a tour of the Islamic Society mosque, a program explaining A Day in the Life of a Fasting Muslim and a panel discussion about the experiences of young professionals during Ramadan. Afterward, a Ramadaninspired halal meal will be served. Ramadan is the Islamic holy month of fasting. This year, Ramadan began at sundown May 26 and continues through sundown June 24. Revealing Ramadan is free and open to the public. Register at cairoklahoma.com. Oklahoma City Muslims gather for iftar, the meal eaten after sundown during Ramadan. | Photo CAIR-OK / provided

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Edible Edmond

When will we finally put aside our nonsensical geographical hostilities and agree that the few miles that separate us don’t actually make much difference? People might joke they get a rash if they drive north of Memorial Road, but the biggest difference between Edmond and Oklahoma City is the color of the trash cans. So if you find yourself heading north and desiring something delicious, there are more than a few excellent options to ponder. Give Edmond a chance and save your distaste for someplace that deserves it, like Texas. By Greg Elwell Photos Cara Johnson, Garett Fisbeck and Garett Fisbeck / file

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For fine dining in Edmond, look no further than Signature Grill. Start off with an appetizer of seared foie gras on a grilled baguette with decadent melted Cambozola cheese, prosciutto di Parma and cranberry-clove port wine jam before digging into a plate of seared sea scallops in a lemon, butter and white wine sauce or succulent duck breast in a sweet wine reduction. If you’re looking to make a night of it, the restaurant is a few steps away from Kickingbird Cinema.

One of the great ironies of Chicago-style deep-dish pizza is that people from Chicago don’t actually eat it very often. Don’t let that warn you away from Humble Pie, though. Regardless of who eats it most, deep-dish pizza is an amazing meal almost like a savory tomato-and-meat casserole. Humble Pie’s crust is almost too buttery to be believed. Treat yourself to a Death Star starter: a cheese-stuffed one-pound meatball.

1315 E. Danforth Road signaturegrilledmond.com 405-330-4548

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The One Cafe 122 E. 15th St. 405-340-0333

If I had to guess why the owners of The One Cafe gave it that name, it would be because they put so many different cuisines under one roof. Serving lots of different foods isn’t always a good thing, but The One Cafe does them so well — breakfast crêpes and grilled panini and delicious salads. One of the most unique items is also the best: poke bowls. Build your own on rice or salad with different kinds of raw fish and other savory options.

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16 S. Broadway thezusportsgrill.com | 405-330-1833

There’s a menagerie of animals in The Zu, and all of them are tasty. Obviously, there are the basic farmyard types — Baja chicken enchilada soup, grilled cheese panini with bacon and a beer-battered bacon onion burger — but there are other creatures about, too. Delicate fried cod sandwiches and spicy Buffalo calamari both taste great, but they’re even better with The Pink Zebra made with Deep Eddy grapefruit vodka topped with Curious Traveler Grapefruit Ale.

Hidalgo’s Cocina & Cantina

200 S. Santa Fe Ave. hidalgosrestaurant.com | 405-285-2424

“I don’t like Peruvian food” is a phrase uttered so infrequently that it almost sounds like gibberish. How can anybody not like lomo saltado, a dish of steak, peppers, onions and potatoes? That’s one of the specialties at Hidalgo’s, along with fresh Peruvian ceviches and gorgeous, crispy-skinned roasted chicken. The restaurant also serves a wonderful selection of Mexican dishes and makes a mean margarita.

The Cow Calf-Hay

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Most people love German food without ever knowing it. A Hamburg-style steak sandwich is, after all, one of the best-selling dishes in America. And one of the finest places for this Teutonic delicacy is Edmond favorite The Cow Calf-Hay, where diners can sup upon a variety of exquisite burgers. The Maui Cowi is topped with a teriyakigrilled pineapple ring and smoked bacon while the Juicy Lucy is simply drowning in cheese. Look at you! You just found out you love foreign food!

Climb to new heights of flavor at Mt. Everest Cuisines, which serves both Nepali and Indian food. Start with steamed momo, meaty Nepali dumplings, or lovely fried samosa chat. One of the restaurant’s alltime great dishes is chicken makhani, or butter chicken, which has a similar flavor to chicken tikka masala. First-time visitors should look at the vegetarian and meat samplers, which can give you a taste of all kinds of different dishes.

3409 Wynn Drive thecowcalfhay.net | 405-509-2333

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ARTS & CULTURE “Clarysse” by Sofie Muller | Photo provided

piece and her other work as an indictment against sister-wives but as an opportunity for them to take possession of their own lives and destinies. The Seer Bonnets function as a metaphor for the rest of OFF-SPRING. “They draw you in,” Stites said. “They’re very beautiful. Then they hit you with that sharp pin.”

art

Challenging perspectives

Evolving rituals

21c Museum Hotel celebrates one year in OKC with its new exhibit OFF-SPRING: New Generations. By Ben Luschen

A trip to see the new exhibition at Film Row’s 21c Museum Hotel might prompt a return visit in the not-too-distant future. It is nearly impossible to adequately take in every aspect within a onehour viewing session. OFF-SPRING: New Generations made its Oklahoma City debut June 1. The comprehensive multimedia exhibit includes work from more than 40 artists from more than a dozen countries. Works occupy the entirety of the museum hotel’s 14,000-square-foot gallery space. The exhibition is on display through March 2018 at 21c, 900 W. Main St. Guest speakers and other events are scheduled to occur throughout its run in OKC. The museum portion of the hotel is always free and open to the public with guided tours at 5 p.m. Wednesdays and Fridays. The first-floor gallery is open 24 hours a day. OFF-SPRING is a traveling exhibit that has grown and morphed over time. Alice Gray Stites, chief curator and museum director at 21c, said the show’s overall message has refined and emboldened itself as various works have been added. Different types of rituals come into play throughout OFF-SPRING. The works explore cultural and religious customs and the complexity of the ties that bind. It also shows how those customs and connections are forever changing, especially in the internet era. “The show is very much about exploring the nature of familiar ritual plus the communal rights that happen in sacred 26

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spaces,” Stites said.

Being connected

A closer look at some of OFF-SPRING’s individual works further clarifies the theme. The first thing most guests will notice as they walk into 21c is a big, white dinner table adorned with an elegant wedding cake. Two chairs are on opposing ends of the table. Instead of people, the chairs hold display screens, one showing a man’s face and the other showing a woman’s. The two are engaged with their phones, almost unaware of the other’s presence. The multimedia piece by New Yorkbased artist Rachel Lee Hovnanian is titled “Dinner for Two,” but the only one eating is a model mouse nibbling at the wedding cake. The couple featured in the displays never talk, but clicking and phone noises can be heard. “If you think it’s your phone going off, you won’t be the first person,” Stites said. Near the entrance is an ornate pair of 19th century-style bonnets made entirely of about 40,000 pearl-colored corsage pins. American artist Angela Ellsworth made “Seer Bonnet XXI (Eliza) and Seer Bonnet XX (Emily)” as a statement on sister-wives within the Mormon church. Ellsworth is a descendant of Lorenzo Snow, the fifth president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The two bonnets rest facing each other, joined by a single band — forever in opposition but also forever connected. Stites said Ellsworth does not view this

Belgian artist Sofie Muller provokes more thought with her multimedia piece “Clarysse.” It depicts a young girl sitting at a partially charred school desk. The student’s head is missing. “We don’t know if it’s an internal experience that has made her lose her mind or if it is the boredom of school,” said Stites. “Is it the tedium or pressures of conformity as a child in school, or is it some sort of external tragedy that has caused her to lose her head?” Stites said Muller was very interested in the idea of the martyrdom of Catholic saints, which has often occurred by fire. Fire and burning has significance in Catholicism and many other religions as a symbol of purification, destruction and more. In the piece, Muller establishes Clarysse as a martyr, but the viewer must decide the cause. OFF-SPRING is loaded with exciting photography, including some work from celebrated American artist Carrie Mae Weems. The exhibit includes “Untitled (Woman and Daughter in Make-Up)” from her acclaimed Kitchen Table series and chromogenic print “May Flowers.”

The show is very much about exploring the nature of familiar ritual plus the communal rights that happen in sacred spaces. Alice Gray Stites The largest piece in the OFF-SPRING collection is one that is new for the exhibit’s OKC incarnation. South African artist Frances Goodman collected dozens of donated wedding dresses and hemmed them together for “The Dream,” a large, sail-like canopy that hangs from the 21c ceiling and drapes across the floor. Goodman interviewed several South African women between the ages of 20 and 60 about their thoughts on marriage. Their thoughts and ideas are embroidered across the dresses to form a collage. “You can see everything from joy, desire, longing, excitement to angst, envy and misery,” Stites said. “The voices begin to overlap each other so you get this complex portrait of the meaning of the wedding day and people’s understanding of marriage, both from the individual perspective and the

Alice Gray Stites | Photo Garett Fisbeck

larger institution of marriage.”

One-year milestone

The opening of OFF-SPRING also marked the Kentucky-based hotel chain’s one-year anniversary in OKC. Stites said the first year was very successful and the museum hotel was able to establish a few vital community connections with institutions like Oklahoma City Museum of Art and Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center. A new 21c hotel in Nashville, Tennessee, marks the company’s seventh location. Stites said the local facility is one of the chain’s premier additions. “We have more space in Oklahoma City than we do at any other 21c,” she said. Stites is also happy that 21c has connected with several talented local artists, some of whom have been featured in the hotel’s gallery space. “The community has embraced 21c — attendance at events and tours has been excellent,” she said. “We’re really excited to get to know other members of the arts community.” The art mission for 21c is to purchase, collect and borrow the most compelling and dynamic examples of modern art. A lot of those images tend to be thoughtprovoking, because that’s what art does. Stites said locals can expect more engaging exhibits like OFF-SPRING in 21c’s future. “[Art] can welcome us in with a beautiful image, but a beautiful image can illuminate other aspects of reality and our world,” she said. “That’s the function of art: to provoke us into asking questions and creating conversations with each other.” Visit 21cmuseumhotels.com/oklahomacity.

OFF-SPRING: New Generations Open 24/7 through March 2018 21c Museum Hotel | 900 W. Main St. 21cmuseumhotels.com/oklahomacity 405-982-6900 Free

NOMINATIONS ARE NOW OPEN! Oklahoma City’s first and longest-running readers’ poll, Best of OKC, is back for its 33rd year! We need your input to tell us the best our city offers, so nominate your favorites in print, at bestofoklahomacity.com, via Facebook or on our Best of OKC app until June 19. CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE O kg a z e t t e . c o m | J u n e 1 4 , 2 0 1 7

For your ballot to be counted: + You must fill out at least 40 categories. + Oklahoma Gazette must receive your

+ there cannot be multiple

handwritings on the ballot.

+ make sure your selections are

ballot (one per envelope) by mail no later than June 19, 2017.

locally owned (unless otherwise noted) and your choices do NOt appear on the ballot more than three times.

+ the ballot may NOt be typewritten, photocopied or hand-delivered.

+ all contact information must be complete.

people

places

Best radio personality or team

15.

Best place to volunteer

Best local feed to follow on social media

16.

Best Business that gives BacK

Best local weBsite or Blog

17.

Best free entertainment

Best local singer / songwriter (not national)

18.

Best live music cluB

Best chef

19.

Best concert venue

Best waiter or waitress (and their restaurant)

20.

Best puBlic art/mural (give intersection and district)

Best Bartender (and their Bar)

21.

Best place to Buy local art

Best participating restaurant staff in

22.

Best museum

23.

Best fine Jewelry

24.

Best thrift store

25.

Best clothing consignment

26.

Best furniture

27.

Best womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s clothing Boutique

28.

Best place to dine Before a show

29.

Best place for continuing education

30.

Best place to get fit

oKc restaurant weeK (June 9-18, 2017)

Best local Band

10.

Best performing arts group (ex: theater company, dance company, orchestral group)

11.

12.

13.

14.

Best visual artist

Best local annual event or festival

Best charity event

Best local homeBuilder

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31.

Best Bicycle shop

32.

Best med spa

33.

Best place to get an aesthetic update

34.

Best place to fix your smile

35.

Best local district

36.

Best naughty Business

37.

Best new retail estaBlishment to open after 6/1/16

38.

Best nonprofit

39.

Best vapor shop

40. Best place to Buy a vehicle

41.

Best pet-friendly patio

42.

Best place to treat your pet (ex: supplies, vet, parK)

43.

Best place to hiKe with your dog (dirt trail only)

44. Best credit union

45.

Best casino for gamBling

46. Best casino for live entertainment

save the dates For these issues:

47.

nomination ballots June 7 & June 14

results issue august 23

runoFF ballots July 19 & July 26

thank you issue august 30

Best LGBt Bar or cLuB

62.

Best Beer seLection

78.

Best Liquor store

48. Best post-Game or post-concert spot

63.

Best cocktaiL (and the restaurant/Bar that serves it)

79.

Best seafood restaurant

49.

Best farmers market or farm stand

64. Best Breakfast

80. Best dessert shop or Bakery

50.

Best opticaL shop

65.

81.

Best mexican restaurant

51.

Best fLorist

66. Best meaL for a deaL (restaurant, not the deaL)

82.

Best Latin restaurant

52.

Best tourist attraction

67.

83.

Best itaLian restaurant

53.

Best puBLic Bathroom

68. Best hamBurGers

Best Brunch

Best Late-niGht eats

84. Best western european restaurant, not itaLian (danish, enGLish, french, German, irish, scottish,

54.

Best Bar for Live music

69.

Best sandwich shop

55.

Best open mic/comedy niGht

70.

Best BarBecue restaurant

56.

Best BowLinG aLLey

71.

Best pizza pLace

57.

Best pLace for a kidâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s party

72.

Best steakhouse

58.

Best pLace for a Grown-upâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s party

73.

Best sushi

74.

Best souL food

75.

Best chicken-fried steak

76.

Best veGan, veGetarian, GLuten-free

Food & drink 59.

Best tea or coffeehouse

spanish, etc.)

85.

Best mediterranean restaurant

86.

Best indian restaurant

87.

Best Japanese restaurant

88. Best chinese restaurant

89.

Best thai restaurant

90. Best vietnamese restaurant

91.

Best pho restaurant

92.

Best new restaurant to open since 6/1/16

93.

Best fine dininG estaBLishment

or heaLthy menu options 60. Best LocaL winery 77. 61.

Best LocaL craft Beer

Best patio dininG

continued on next page OOkg kgaazzeettttee. c . coOmm | | Jjuunnee 1 8 4, 2 0 1 6 7

29 3

Food & drink continued

national*

102. Best paseo arts district restaurant

103. Best automoBile alley district restaurant 111.

94. Best neighBorhood puB

Best national or regional gym

104. Best Bricktown district restaurant 95.

112. Best national or regional hotel

Best dive Bar 105. Best midtown district restaurant

113. Best national or regional restaurant you

96. Best upscale Bar

wish was locally owned 106. Best western avenue district restaurant 97.

Best new Bar to open since 6/1/16 114. Best national or regional sandwich shop 107. Best downtown restaurant (includes arts, film row and farmers market districts)

98. Best diner

115. Best national or regional mexican restaurant 99.

Best food truck or food cart (cannot have a Brick-and-mortar)

108. Best participating restaurant in okc restaurant week (June 9-18, 2017)

100. Best uptown 23rd district restaurant

109. Best restaurant overall

101. Best plaza district restaurant

110. Best national or regional retail estaBlishment

116. Best national or regional steakhouse

you wish was locally owned

* this category allows voting for national establishments that support the local economy.

contact inFormation * (required for your votes to be counted) and to be entered to win a $30 gift certificate from a best neW restaurant nominee

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Vote online at bestofoklahomacity.com, in the Best of OKC app or via Facebook! 4 30

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ART

ARTS & CULTURE

Pop break

An art piece designed by Mike Allen for 808s & Solid Snake: A Kanye West/Metal Gear Art Show | Image provided

808s & Solid Snake joins hip-hop and video game crowds June 24 at 51st Street Speakeasy. By Ben Luschen

Together, Mike Allen and James Nghiem craft a series of local art shows dedicated to certain aspects of popular culture. Their own interests always play a role in the themes that are chosen. Past shows have paid tribute to the Street Fighter video game series, the film catalogues of directors Wes Anderson and Quentin Tarantino, anime series Cowboy Bebop and mysterious, world-renowned protest artist Banksy. Naturally, each show caters to a new niche audience, but perhaps none of Allen and Nghiem’s co-produced shows have come as hyper-specific as 808s & Solid Snake: A Kanye West/Metal Gear Art Show. The show combines elements from the creative output of Chicago-repping rapper and fashion designer Kanye West with the Cold War-themed video-game universe of Metal Gear, which usually follows the adventures of elite soldier protagonist Solid Snake. 808s & Solid Snake runs 7:30 p.m.-2 a.m. June 24 at 51st Street Speakeasy, 1114 NW 51st St. A lot of art shows are unique, but locals will be hard-pressed to ever find another show specifically dedicated to Kanye West and Metal Gear in Oklahoma or anywhere. “We’re both into those things, and it’s

here and there’s a lot of effort behind it,” Nghiem said. “It’s going to be pretty unique and pretty well put together.” None of Allen and Nghiem’s previous art shows have been so specific to the pair’s particular set of interests, perhaps to the detriment of some outside participation. Still, 808s & Solid Snake might best embody the duo’s commitment to creativity and bravery in local event booking. “I don’t think there had been a Cowboy Bebop show or a Banksy show, but somebody could probably do that,” Nghiem said. “But this is us.”

Creative merger

Nghiem so far has heard from around 30 visual artists who expressed interest in submitting work for this show. Overall, interest is tempered compared to some other art shows he has recently hosted but still strong considering the specificity of the exhibit. All art is for sale, and $10 from every sale is donated to Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma. One of the most exciting additions to 808s & Solid Snake is its themed fashion show, which invites designers to submit West- and Metal Gear-themed outfits for the runway.

Allen is one of the show’s participating designers. He is planning a Cold Warstyled outfit inspired by Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, which takes place in 1974. While the game series might have been his direct inspiration, he said there is a West tie-in as well. “Kanye, when he came out with his first clothing line, he had a lot of the same colors like olive drab, and it looked very Jedi or Star Wars,” Allen said. “But there’s some crossover there in terms of color.” Upstairs at the Speakeasy, comedian Ryan Drake hosts a live play-through of Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes. Drake and other comics will make jokes and comments as the game progresses. The hope is that it will feel like a casual hangout with friends playing video games on a lazy weekend afternoon. Allen said of all the Metal Gear games, Twin Snakes might be best suited for this kind of commentary. “If they wanted to riff over it, that’s the game to do it,” he said. Music for the night is catered by rapper Teflo $ (pronounced Dollar) and experimental hip-hop/rock band Flock of Pigs. Tricknology Beats presents a special blend of West’s music with music from Metal Gear soundtracks, which are often art-focused mixes, like much of West’s work. Some of Allen and Nghiem’s other Speakeasy art shows included special themed menu items from the bar. Nghiem said there are plenty of opportunities to develop specialty drinks based on these two pools of inspiration and the Speakeasy staff is working to develop a menu now.

Distinct style

The uniqueness within the 808s & Solid Snake mashup poses a quandary for participating artists, but sometimes working within a strict set of constraints and rules can lead to increased creativity. “I think we’ve done that in the past,” Allen said, “but this one is less straightforward, so it really presents a challenge.” The pop-culture combination might not make sense on its surface, but Allen

and Nghiem said there are certain parallels to draw between the “Gold Digger” rapper and Hideo Kojima, the Japanese creator, director and writer for the Metal Gear series. Both West and Kojima are known for being visionary creatives. Just as each of West’s albums is concept-driven (or at least has a distinct and characteristic theme or style), Kojima approaches each installment in the Metal Gear series with a new angle. Each game occurs in a distinct year and features a distinct plot. Perhaps fans will not find each of these artists’ projects relatable, but both fearlessly produce their vision without giving too much consideration for what the masses might want. Their art is a true expression of their individuality. In a meta sense, 808s & Solid Snake represents a similar attitude. Allen and Nghiem are producing the show because it is something that truly appeals to them. They hope that earnestness is apparent to guests who might or might not have a vested interest in both or either components. “Kanye West is never boring — that’s the thing,” Allen said. “It’s like a 12sided die; there’s just always something to look at and you never know what you’re going to get.”

Local spark

Allen and Nghiem’s track record of success has helped produce a small core of dedicated art show fans, but most guests will be newcomers interested in the event’s theme. Nghiem said while there might not be a lot of overlap in fans of Metal Gear and Kanye West, that is part of the point. “I don’t mind if they don’t like both or not,” Nghiem said, “because if you like one or the other and people from both sides show up, I think it would be a good mix of people.” In addition to mixing creative and social circles, Nghiem also wants the art shows to inspire others in the community to put on unique events. The producing duo intentionally keeps the art series unbranded so no one comes to rely on it or feels like the void for creative shows has already been filled in the city. Nghiem, in fact, hopes the city becomes densely saturated with oddball art shows and distinct cries of expression. “I’m going to be 70 one day and I’m still going to want to go the shows,” he said. “I don’t want to book them, but I want to be able to come to shows.”

808s & Solid Snake: A Kanye West/Metal Gear Art Show 7:30 p.m. June 24 51st Street Speakeasy | 1114 NW 51st St. 51stspeakeasy.com | 405-463-0470 $3 suggested donation

James Nghiem | Photo Garett Fisbeck / file O kg a z e t t e . c o m | J u n e 1 4 , 2 0 1 7

ART

ARTS & CULTURE

Creative instinct

Norman Arts Council’s Undercover Artists workshops expose the ingenuity within all of us. By Ian Jayne

Who is an artist, and what is art? Such questions have preoccupied artists and critics for centuries, but they find an answer in Undercover Artists, a new workshop series by Norman Arts Council (NAC). And that answer is everyone. Created by a programs committee at NAC, the premise of Undercover Artist is that an artist lurks inside all of us — it just might take some coaxing to unleash creative potential. Norman-based photographer Shevaun Williams leads the next Undercover Artists workshop 9 a.m.-2 p.m. June 24 at Mainsite Contemporary Art, 122 E. Main St., in Norman. Capped at 12 attendees, the session includes a light lunch. Guests should bring a camera (or phone) and laptop with photo editing capabilities and know how to transfer photos between the two. Tickets are $25 per person. Visit normanarts.org to register. In an era of increasing access to create and view art, the distinction between someone who enjoys making art and an ‘artist’ continues; this dichotomy informed the creation of the Undercover Artists series, according to Cher Duncan, events coordinator and programs assistant at NAC. Duncan, who is in charge of the workshop series, said that the programs committee found inspiration from one of its members, Mariann Lawson, who recounted her mother’s ability to knit. “Her mother had this fantastic gift to create art,” Duncan said, “but would have never referred to herself as an artist.” Inspired by Lawson’s mother and her pursuit of artistry, the committee decided to create Undercover Artists as a way to foster a sense of creative exploration for beginners as well as 32

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Shevaun Williams has taken photographs all over the world, including Cuba. | Photo Shevaun Williams / provided

experienced artists. The workshops focus on everyone’s capacity for creativity instead of their previous hours of training. “We all have artistic abilities, and some of us are a little intimidated by displaying or showing off those skills, thinking that we’ve never been professionally taught or that we don’t have an art degree,” Duncan said. The committee decided that local artists in Norman would lead the workshops with the goal of increasing confidence and creating more artists among attendees. In February, artist Enoch Kelly Haney kicked off the Undercover Artists series with a workshop about sculpting in clay. Shevaun Williams’ workshop, the second of the series, will provide an overview of the entire photographic process, beginning with technical specifications about cameras and editing apps. After learning about image capturing and photography basics, workshop attendees will take a walking trip through downtown Norman in order to experiment and take pictures. The group will reconvene at Mainsite for photo selection, editing and critique.

Pictorial paths

Williams, who has had her studio, Shevaun Williams & Associates, in Norman for about 20 years, became seriously interested in photography when she was in college at the University of Oklahoma. After spending a summer abroad in France, taking pictures, Williams said

Model Ina Quintanilla | Photo Shevaun Williams / provided

she fell in love with photography. At the time, she was a languages major, learning French, German and Russian, but the signs of her infatuation with photography had already appeared. “I was always the one with the Instamatic camera, taking pictures of my girlfriends,” Williams said. When she returned from her summer, she said she quit school and went to work and her life took a different path than she had imagined it would. On that path, Williams has continued to fuse her mutual love of travel and photography, looking through her lens to capture the sights, scenes and people from all over the world, from Cuba and London to Paris, Morocco and South Africa. Williams’ breadth of work also includes fashion editorial spreads, a photographic examination of movement and athleticism and a documentation of The Russell School in Zambia. When her neighbors at NAC contacted her about leading one of the Undercover Artists workshops, Williams said she thought it was a great idea. “People are always wanting to take better photographs, especially in this day and age, since everyone’s carrying a camera in their pocket,” Williams said. She considers ease of access and enjoyment as two of the main factors for photography’s increased ubiquity. “Is there anything more fun than taking pictures?” she asked. For Williams, the advent of smartphone and DSLR photography and its corresponding social media presence also means that content is always highlighted, sometimes at the expense of compositional and structural knowledge. “The story you’re telling is important, but the content is reinforced by technical execution,” Williams said. “And if you know a little bit more about your camera … then you’re just going to take better pictures.” Williams’ Undercover Artists workshop will aim to address photographers’ familiarity with their cameras. Attendees will learn about technical

Shevaun Williams | Photo Norman Arts Council / Shevaun Williams / provided

details, such as seeing the entire frame — quarter to quarter and top to bottom — in order to take better photos, Williams said. A would-be photographer who lacks technical knowledge is like a painter who doesn’t know what different brushes do. “If you know the rules, you can break the rules with forethought, intentionally, and come out with a better product,” Williams said. The workshop will also focus on avoiding what Williams calls the “postcard image” and instead help people take more nuanced, unique pictures that ring true to the photographer. One of Williams’ goals for the workshop is to replicate an experience she once had at a workshop where an attendee described a personal revelation after discovering the camera’s foot switch. Williams said she hopes workshop attendees have a similar moment — whether small and technical or large and revolutionary — that shifts their perspective.

Looking ahead

Artist Skip Hill will lead the next Undercover Artists session in September. While the exact date and time for Hill’s workshop are still being worked out, Duncan said he will focus on mixed media collage. NAC plans to host a few workshops in 2017 and then gauge action for the future. After only one workshop, Duncan said reception has been positive, with some attendees traveling from Choctaw and Shawnee for Haney’s session. “It is definitely something we would like to see continue,” Duncan said.

Undercover Artists: Shevaun Williams 9 a.m.-2 p.m. June 24 Mainsite Contemporary Art 122 E. Main St., Norman normanarts.org | 405-360-1162 $25

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c u lt u r e

ARTS & CULTURE

On display

Oklahoma City’s smaller museums deliver big cultural and learning experiences. By George Lang

It’s easy to rattle off the most prominent museums in the Oklahoma City area, but once you get past Oklahoma City Mu seu m of A r t , Ok la hom a Contemporary Arts Center, the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, Sam Noble Museum and 21c Museum Hotel, the rest don’t readily trip off the tongue. But research and word of mouth can reap great rewards when it comes to finding unique museum experiences. Museumgoers could fill an entire summer’s worth of weekends visiting collections in central Oklahoma. We’ve assembled a starter tour of metro museums that provide unique, expertly curated deep dives into specific interests.

also hosts regular jam sessions for bluegrass, jazz and old-time banjo players and displays a trove of videos, printed music and other memorabilia from the banjo’s 400-year history. But American Banjo Museum is not just for the ardent lovers of the instrument — as the ornately designed jazzage banjos prove, it contains work that anyone who appreciates timeless art will enjoy.

Photo provided

Oklahoma Railway Museum

Photo provided

American Banjo Museum

11 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday noon-5 p.m. Sunday 9 E. Sheridan Ave. americanbanjomuseum.com 405-604-2793 Free-$8 In the 1920s, the banjo was omnipresent in popular music, achieving a level of ubiquity only matched by the guitar’s current dominance. While it was largely pushed out of the spotlight by its sixstringed cousin, the banjo is at the heart of bluegrass music and is currently enjoying a renaissance thanks, in part, to American jam bands, folk revivalists and the eternal genius of Steve Martin. Banjo lovers can be almost religious about their instruments, and for such enthusiasts, American Banjo Museum in Bricktown is a sacred reliquary containing over 400 instruments ranging from early banjo prototypes to a recently acquired Gibson TB-18 Mastertone valued at over $100,000. The museum 34

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9 a.m.-5 p.m. Thursday-Saturday 3400 NE Grand Ave. oklahomarailwaymuseum.org 405-424-8222 Free In the early stages of railway travel, scientists worried that human bodies might not sustain the pressures of traveling over 25 miles per hour. Once people realized their bones would not be crushed at such high velocities, train travel became a major transportation and economic force that helped power the Industrial Revolution and shape the Western growth of the United States. Many European-American settlers in Oklahoma came to the state via railroad, and Oklahoma Railway Museum tells the story of the majestic machines that brought them here. The museum, which is currently undergoing an ambitious expansion project, includes locomotives like an 1879 Santa Fe Railroad steam engine that was in service for nearly 80 years and Pullman cars dating back over a century. In April, the museum acquired a historic 100-foot Frisco turntable used to rotate cars 180 degrees in Sapulpa, substantially adding to the facility’s extensive array of equipment and memorabilia. The museum also offers train rides on the first and third Saturdays of each month April through August, and for two weeks in September and October, children can enjoy A Day Out with Thomas featuring PBS’ Thomas the Tank Engine.

Photo provided

Red Earth Art Center

10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday 6 Santa Fe Plaza redearth.org 405-427-5228 Free In 1992, two important organizations celebrating the culture and artistry of Native American tribes — Center of the American Indian and Red Earth Festival — merged to create Red Earth, Inc., an organization that promotes Native arts through education, fine art markets, its annual festival and its comprehensive and inclusive museum. Recent exhibits include Spirits Rising, a collection of thrown pottery by contemporary Choctaw artist Carolyn Bernard Young, and a collection of photography by Otoe-Missouria photographer Lester Harragarra chronicling the Kiowa Black Leggings Warrior Society. The museum’s permanent collection includes over 1,000 paintings, beadwork, textiles, pottery and basketry works ranging from the ancient to the modern.

Photo provided

Jim Thorpe Museum & Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame

10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday 4040 N. Lincoln Blvd. oklahomasportshalloffame.org 405-427-1400 Free Every year, the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame inducts a new class of legendary athletes who distinguished themselves on the field of college or professional sports. On Aug. 14, University of Oklahoma Heisman Trophy winner

Jason White and Oklahoma State University basketball legend Bryant “Big Country” Reeves will be inducted into the hall. They join over 160 members memorialized in the hall of fame, including Jim Thorpe, who grew up in the Sac and Fox Nation in Oklahoma and went on to win two Olympic gold medals in 1912 and play professional football, baseball and basketball. As such, Thorpe is the gold standard by which all Oklahoma athletes are judged, and at the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame, their triumphs and glories are displayed for posterity.

Photo provided

The Ninety-Nines Museum ofWomen Pilots

10 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday-Saturday 4300 Amelia Earhart Drive ninety-nines.org 405-685-9990 Free-$5 Nearly 90 years ago, 99 women — including aviation legend Amelia Earhart, the first elected president of The Ninety-Nines, Inc. — took part in an all-female transcontinental air race. The Ninety-Nines Museum of Women Pilots, located near Will Rogers World Airport, celebrates the accomplishments of not just Earhart and the original Ninety-Nines, but the great journeys of female pilots throughout history, from Harriet Quimby, the first woman to fly across the English Channel, to U.S. Air Force pilot and current Department of Defense official Kim Campbell, who sustained damage to her A-10 in a 2003 mission over Baghdad. Part of her plane is on display at the museum alongside documents and memorabilia from 106 years of female aviation history.

Skeletons Museum of Osteology Oklahoma City

8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday 1 p.m.-5 p.m. Sunday 10301 S. Sunnylane Road museumofosteology.org 405-814-0006 Free-$8 No bones about it; Skeletons Museum of Osteology is one of the great recent success stories of Oklahoma City’s museum community. The largest private

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collection of osteological specimens in the world, the Museum of Osteology grew out of Skulls Unlimited, an Oklahoma City-based skeletal cleaning and restoration business founded by lifelong collector Jay Villemarette. Over time, Villemarette collected over 300 skeletons from around the world, ranging in size from field mice to humpback whales. The museum covers a wide range of subjects, with exhibits geared toward deeper understanding of how animals move, how their skeletons are similar and how their bones adapt under external conditions. Following its 2010 opening, the Museum of Osteology quickly became a hit with young visitors for its interactive, kid-friendly exhibits that make them think differently about what exists under skin.

modern examples. Some of the highlights include the Fort Cobb Fire Truck, a 1928 Chevrolet Chemical Truck that served Fort Cobb until 1941. Four decades later, the truck was recovered from the back of the Fort Cobb Fire Station and restored by the Anadarko Fire Department. In addition, visitors can see a 1920 Stutz, a replica of a classic mid-20th century fire station and the Oklahoma Rescue Memorial, which pays tribute to the women and men who responded to the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building on April 19, 1995.

Photo Garett Fisbeck

45th Infantry Division Museum

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Oklahoma Firefighters Museum

9 a.m.-4:30 Monday-Saturday 1-4:30 p.m. Sunday 2716 NE 50th St. osfa.info/museum 405-424-3440 Free-$6 Many kids go through a phase where firefighter is their top career choice, and fortunately for the rest of society, some of them display good followthrough on their goals. But few ever lose their fascination with firefighting equipment, and Oklahoma Firefighters Museum is filled with antique and

9 a.m.-4:15 p.m. Tuesday-Friday 10 a.m.-4:15 p.m. Saturday 1-4:15 p.m. Sunday 2145 NE 36th St. 45thdivisionmuseum.com 405-424-5313 Free In World War II and the Korean War, the 45th Infantry Division of the National Guard was called up to fight, and they did so with uncommon bravery, taking part in the liberation of Dachau Concentration Camp and fighting alongside the 7th Army in Sicily. The division’s valor prompted General George Patton to tell the soldiers that the Thunderbirds were “one of the best, if not the best division in the history of American arms.” Though the 45th Infantry Division was disbanded 48 years ago, the museum keeps its history alive. The 15-acre Thunderbird Park features over 60 pieces of large military equipment, including tanks, aircraft and large guns, while exhibits inside the museum offer a wide-ranging history of the Thunderbirds, from the liberation of Dachau to the world’s largest collection of wartime cartoons by Pulitzer Prize winner Bill Mauldin.

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National Softball Hall of Fame and Museum

8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Monday-Friday Check USA Softball Hall of Fame Complex for weekend hours. 2801 NE 50th St. teamusa.org/usa-softball/about/national-softball-hall-of-fame.aspx 405-424-5266 Softball’s ever-growing popularity at the collegiate level and Oklahoma schools’ standing in the game makes the National Softball Hall of Fame and Museum an essential destination. This is especially true during the Women’s College World Series held the first week of June at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium/ OGE Energy Field. Inside the museum, visitors can see lively displays detailing the accomplishments of the 394 players, coaches, umpires and administrators who left an indelible mark on the game, along with team photos and exhibits celebrating Olympic victories.

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Oklahoma Territorial Museum & The Carnegie Library

9 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday 406 E. Oklahoma Ave., Guthrie okterritorialmuseum.org 405-282-1889 Free-$7 A trove of information about Oklahoma’s settlement history, the Oklahoma Territorial Museum & The Carnegie Library displays document archives and artifacts from the Land Run of 1889, the experience of homesteaders in the pre-statehood era and the formation of territorial and state governments in Guthrie. In the Oklahoma or Bust gallery, visitors can see historic photos of the 1889 land run and everyday clothing items and implements from the period. In addition, the museum hosts fascinating exhibits on territorial medicine, the African-American settlement of Oklahoma and painful Victorian fashion ideals like corseting. Adjacent to the museum, the Carnegie Library was built in 1902 and was the site of the inauguration of Oklahoma’s first governor, Charles Haskell. One of the over 2,800 libraries endowed by Andrew Carnegie, the library served as Guthrie’s public library until 1972 and now serves as part of the museum, offering materials for researchers looking into Oklahoma’s early days. O kg a z e t t e . c o m | J u n e 1 4 , 2 0 1 7

ARTS & CULTURE

Fun times

Wiggle Out Loud TV brings big music talent to The Children’s Hospital’s closed-circuit programming.

By Ben Luschen

As unlikely as it might sound, a closedcircuit television program filmed inside a children’s hospital often gets better music bookings than many of Oklahoma City’s venues. The Flaming Lips’ Steven Drozd, former Chainsaw Kittens’ vocalist Tyson Meade, rapper Jabee, pop vocalist Lincka, singer-songwriter Carter Sampson and television personality and banjo enthusiast Lucas Ross have all made recent guest host appearances on Wiggle Out Loud TV, a live call-in music variety show for kids hosted by Chris Wiser, one-half of the youth-centric “kindie rock” band Sugar Free Allstars. The show airs 1-2 p.m. most Fridays on In the Zone TV, the closed-circuit television station for The Children’s Hospital at OU Medical Center. Wiser launched the show in partnership with the nonprofit organization The Children’s Hospital Volunteers in August 2016. The show brings in new guest hosts nearly every week. While many of them are known local performers, Wiggle Out Loud sometimes invites in doctors, nurses and other hospital staff members to sit, laugh and wiggle alongside Wiser. Many performers are easily lured into an appearance because it is a fun and unique opportunity. A lot of people dream of appearing on a show like Sesame Street or Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. Wiggle Out Loud is a chance to turn those dreams into reality. 36

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“I was more nervous doing this than doing most [stage gigs],” Meade said after a recent guest appearance. Wiser mainly draws from his pool of musician friends and contacts when setting up a guest appearance, but he also makes an active attempt to branch out and connect with a diverse group of performers. Working with a new guest host is as fun for Wiser as appearing on the show is for invited musicians. “Some weeks, something has happened and the co-host can’t be here, so I’ve had to do it alone,” he said. “That’s fine, but it’s a lot more fun with them, especially with different personalities coming in.”

Getting started

Wiser plays keys and sings for Sugar Free Allstars. His bandmate is drummer Rob “Dr. Rock” Martin. The band started out as a bar/club rock group but transitioned to “kindie rock” — music that merges age-appropriate themes with indie rock styles that can be enjoyed by the whole family — in 2007. Sugar Free Allstars found greater success in its new format than it could have ever imagined playing for adults. The band won a 2012 Grammy Award for its contribution to the children’s album All About Bullies…Big and Small. The act has played with Oklahoma City Philharmonic and tours nationally when it can. It’s currently celebrating its 10th

Chris Wiser left and co-host Tyson Meade perform during a live episode of Wiggle Out Loud TV. | Photo Travis Doussette / provided

anniversary as a kindie rock band with a free tour of shows across the OKC’s Metropolitan Library System. Wiggle Out Loud TV came to be shortly after Sugar Free Allstars began working with The Children’s Hospital Volunteers to help put on its annual Wiggle Out Loud festival, a free, familyfriendly music fest slated to make its return Sept. 17 on Myriad Botanical Gardens’ Great Lawn. In working with the nonprofit group, Wiser learned they wanted to start producing their own music show. He soon offered his services as host. To an extent, the show is still evolving, but a few features have come to define each episode. Wiser banters back and forth and plays music with the episode’s co-host while, ideally, interacting with callers. In the vein of Pee-wee’s Playhouse, Wiser or the guest host introduces a Word of the Day, and everyone on camera must wiggle every time it is mentioned. “We play some songs, we tell some jokes and try to get kids to tell better jokes,” Wiser said. “We show a video and ask kids to call in about that.” Wiser said hosting the show feels sort of like playing a live gig with Sugar Free Allstars, just with less shouting. “There’s a lot of the same things — just the silliness,” he said. “I tell the co-host, ‘This is what you’re doing,’ but the bottom line is you’re just there to be silly.”

‘Public-access’ chic

Unlike recording live TV on a widely broadcast station, there is less pressure involved in each new episode of Wiggle Out Loud inside the hospital’s on-site recording studio. The show does not need to start right on the dot at 1 p.m. and could end a little early if needed. If Wiser or a guest host is unable to come

in, they can skip a week. The host said he recently missed a show because he had a slight cold. “We have to be super careful,” he said. “You could have a little tickle or cough that you could do anything else with, but here (at The Children’s Hospital), you have to stay home.” Music programs like this exist at some other children’s hospitals around the country. While other places might have a trained staff and high-end equipment to produce their episodes, The Children’s Hospital operates its programming with more limited resources. Technical glitches and malfunctions are bound to occur and must sometimes be dealt with on-air. “My team is total novices,” said Sara Jacobson, executive director of Children’s Hospital Volunteers. “Some hospitals have whole programs and technicians and studio producers. We are bare-bones.” Wiser said he has sometimes knocked off his mic during the episode or the camera might run out of battery mid-show. Mistakes happen on occasion, but the show runs very smoothly, all things considered. Wiser puts his all into each episode. “It’s public-access TV chic,” he said. “We just need a couple of ferns on either side.”

Brightening days

Jacobson said the hospital tries hard to engage the children there, but there are a lot of factors that go into participation. “Every day is really, really different in terms of if you want to participate in social activity or if you’re not really feeling it,” she said. “Sometimes people just got some really bummer news. We always try to make sure people understand you’re meeting kids where they are and they might be in a really tough spot.” Ideally, children are not staying at the hospital for multiple weeks at a time. That means Wiggle Out Loud must play to an ever-changing audience. Some weeks, they might be flooded with callers and have kids walk into the studio to participate. Other weeks, they might not hear from much of anyone. Jacobson said the goal of Wiggle Out Loud TV and other Children’s Hospital programs is to show youth staying at the hospital that they are not in a scary place. When a child sees one of their doctors having fun on TV and not wearing a white jacket, it can brighten their perspective. “That normalizes people,” Jacobson said. “It makes the kids think, ‘Oh, you don’t live here and you’re not going to poke me. You actually have a sweet guitar.’” Visit wiggleoutloud.com or facebook. com/sugarfreeallstars.

O kg a z e t t e . c o m | J u n e 1 4 , 2 0 1 7

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ARTS & CULTURE

Cultural homecoming

In Mestizos Come Home!, Robert Con Davis-Undiano recovers the nuances of Mexican-American and Latino identity through art and conceptions of the body. By Ian Jayne

What do you do when the essentials of identity — your body, voice and homeland — are both yours and not yours? This is one of many questions MexicanAmericans face in an often culturally hostile climate and one that preoccupies Robert Con Davis-Undiano in his new book, Mestizos Come Home! Making and Claiming Mexican American Identity. Mestizos Come Home! was published in March as part of the Chicana and Chicano Visions of the Américas series through University of Oklahoma (OU) Press. At OU, Davis-Undiano is a presidential professor of English and the Neustadt chair. He is also the executive director of World Literature Today. Davis-Undiano said the book — written over five years — arose from his realization that mainstream white American culture did not understand Latino or Mexican-American culture. While he initially did not see great urgency in the project, an uptick of racist behavior and rhetoric after the election of President Barack Obama spurred Davis-Undiano to work. “This book really addresses the problems that make up this dark time for Latinos,” he said. “I think I saw the dark time coming way back then, and I never dreamed it would get even worse.”

American identity

Mestizos Come Home! examines six areas of interest: mestizo identity, connections to the land, Mesoamerican depictions of the body, Latino connections to popular culture, the rise of Mexican-American cultural voices and the Chicano renaissance begun in the 1960s. The book moves temporally and geographically across North America and Latin America to combat cultural amnesia by focusing on MexicanAmericans and mestizos, those who have both indigenous and Spanish heritage. In one chapter, Davis-Undiano looks at the racially coded casta portraits from the Spanish colonial past to show how race has been culturally constructed and how negative perceptions can continue today. Later, he picks up with other representations of the body made through text and sculpture during the Chicano renaissance. Much of Mestizos Come Home! focuses on reclaiming history and the pride in it by flipping the script on negative stereotypes of Mexican-Americans as invaders who threaten mainstream culture. Davis38

J u n e 1 4 , 2 0 1 7 | O kg a z e t t e . c o m

Mestizos Come Home! Making and Claiming Mexican American Identity | Image provided

Undiano said cultural recovery and information provide new ways of seeing Mexican-Americans and their historical place in the Americas. “The whole Southwest, historically, just about a minute ago in 1848, was Mexico. In one fell swoop, Mexico lost about half of its land,” he said. “A lot of Latinos living in the Southwest really are from there. They really are home.” According to Davis-Undiano, the contradiction of historically and literally belonging but not feeling like it manifests for Mexican-Americans and Latinos today. “The Mexican-American community hasn’t taken any longer than any other community to assimilate into the culture, especially given the huge numbers,” Davis-Undiano said. The nearly 34 million Mexican Americans currently living the United States comprise about 10 percent of the country’s population and offer a cultural vitality that Davis-Undiano said remains integral to the country. He said there will always be friction in the Mexican-American experience because there is friction in any democratic experience. “The American idea, from the beginning, was this multicultural democracy. If you’re here, you’re family,” Davis-Undiano said. “If it succeeds only partially, there’s going to be a dynamism to the culture that is then the dynamism of American culture.”

Robert Don Davis-Undiano published Mestizos Come Home! Making and Claiming Mexican American Identity through University of Oklahoma Press in March. | Photo provided

Hybrid existence

This inherent hybridity of MexicanAmerican culture becomes clear on holidays like Cinco de Mayo, which Davis-Undiano positions as fundamentally dual, a layered phenomenon through which the resilience and pride of Mexican-Americans becomes apparent. By furthering political and educational opportunities for Latinos and by recovering and reclaiming culture, he retains a sense of optimism for future comings-home.

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A lot of Latinos living in the Southwest really are from there. They really are home. Robert Con Davis-Undiano “There is no invested voice,” DavisUndiano said of current Latino political representation. “I want the book to be a plea to communicate to Latinos that the country can understand who they are. Mexican-Americans are as much a part of this culture as anybody else, and their contributions are there.” A key part of “coming home,” in Davis-Undiano’s view, is the ability for Mexican-Americans and Latinos to put down roots, to cement their identities in the American landscape in ways they have previously been unable. He said that his book wouldn’t change everything, but he wants it to be a voice in the right direction for Mexican-Americans and Latinos, with stakes for the entire country. “They’re not only not the enemy,” Davis-Undiano said of Latinos, “but they’re the fulfillment of the American idea.” Mestizos Come Home! is available on Amazon as a hardcover and Kindle e-book and as an e-book through Barnes & Noble, Google Play and Kobo. Visit oupress.com.

O kg a z e t t e . c o m | J u n e 1 4 , 2 0 1 7

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ARTS & CULTURE

Yo ut h

The Comets, Asteroids, Meteors: Great Balls of Fire! exhibit teaches visitors the difference between reality and fiction surrounding the celestial bodies. | Photo Sam Noble Museum / provided

Amazing space

A new exhibit at Sam Noble Museum explores the science of comets, asteroids and meteors. By Megan Prather

Have you ever caught yourself considering the potential consequences of a comet’s collision with earth? What about an asteroid or a meteor? Look no further for the answers to this question and plenty of others than the Comets, Asteroids, Meteors: Great Balls of Fire! exhibit on display until Sept. 10 at Sam Noble Museum, 2401 Chautauqua Ave., in Norman. “At the heart of it, what [this exhibit] does is differentiates between comets, asteroids and meteors,” Morgan Day, the museum’s PR and marketing officer, said. “A lot of the time, people don’t really know the difference between the three of those, so it really drives home those definitions and gives you real life examples of what they are.” This is a traveling exhibit presented through the Space Science Institute National Center for Interactive Learning with funding from the National Science Foundation and NASA. It’s broken up into four areas for visitors to explore: origins, asteroids, comets and impact. Visitors interact with the Great Balls of Fire! exhibit. | Photo Sam Noble Museum / provided

“We get a lot of exhibits here that are really geared towards kids,” Day said, “but with this one, you have a kid aspect where children are fascinated by what’s in the sky, and I think the same goes for adults too.” This exhibit is approachable for any age group and demographic but will be of special interest to those who like to debunk the things they see on the silver screen. “A particular piece of this really has to do with pop culture and the things we see when we go to the cinema and when we’re watching Netflix,” Day said. The exhibit takes examples from popular movies and TV shows and sets the record straight in regard to what would actually happen in the event of a collision between Earth and a hunk of iron, carbon or ice from our solar system. “The thing that comes to mind for me is Gravity,” Day said. “I see a lot of stuff that Sandra Bullock and George Clooney are going through, and you wonder, ‘Is that just movie magic? Are they just trying to tie things together for us in a pretty bow, or could that really happen?’” One display has visitors watch a short Simpsons clip in which a meteor

is heading straight for the town of Springfield. After watching the clip, visitors take what they learned about asteroids, meteors and comets from the rest of the exhibit to determine whether or not the town could have been saved in the way it was portrayed in the clip. The exhibit explores other real-life aspects and also includes a display that shows visitors how a crater is made as well as one that enables users to enter their ZIP code to see what would happen if something were to strike where they live. “We’re really focused on finding the exhibits where kids and adults alike can get hands on with these displays,” Day said. “Things get real when you start talking about if it were to happen right here, right now, whether it would be devastating for all of humankind or whether that object would be small enough to burn up in the atmosphere.”

A particular piece of this really has to do with pop culture and the things we see when we go to the cinema.

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Morgan Day Overall, Day hopes that this exhibit will spark an interest in people to go out and learn more and believes that it’s helping shape our children’s futures. Day pays attention to what visitors write in the guestbook and was pleased to read one entry in particular. “Somebody had written, ‘I’m going to become an astrophysicist,’ and it was written in such a way that you knew that child wasn’t in high school or college, but they were just young enough to be shaped by what they were seeing here,” she said. “I just think that’s really special, and that’s something we also keep in mind when we bring an exhibit. We want people to be inspired by them and to want to learn more.” Sam Noble Museum is open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Saturday and 1-5 p.m. Sunday. Admission is free-$8. Visit samnoblemuseum.ou.edu.

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Comets, Asteroids, Meteors: Great Balls of Fire! 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Saturday, 1-5 p.m. Sunday Through Sept. 10 Sam Noble Museum 2401 Chautauqua Ave., Norman samnoblemuseum.ou.edu | 405-325-4712 Free-$8

for more information about this program call 405.605.6789 O kg a z e t t e . c o m | J u n e 1 4 , 2 0 1 7

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

Sonic Summer Movie Night: Sing, (USA, 2016, Christophe Lourdelet and Garth Jennings) in a city of humanoid animals, a hustling theater impresario’s attempt to save his theater with a singing competition becomes grander than he anticipates, 8-10p.m. June 21. Myriad Botanical Gardens, Crystal Bridge Tropical Conservatory, 301 W. Reno Ave., 405-445-7080, myriadgardens. com. WED

HAPPENINGS Fiction Writers Retreat, providing fiction writers an opportunity to network and hone their craft while surrounded by mentoring professionals and successful award-winning authors, presentations and one-on-one discussions, 8a.m.-5p.m. June 17. Tom Steed Center, 6191 Hudiburg Drive, Midwest City, fictionwritersretreat.com. SAT 2nd Annual Car and Bike Show, featuring cars, trucks, bikes, themed-vehicles and more with door prizes, raffles and food trucks, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. June 17. Moore High School, 300 N. Eastern Ave., 405630-9472, cityofmoore.com. SAT Gift of Love Gala, raising funds to provide care to adults with intellectual and physical disabilities while providing quality lifetime care to individuals in need, 6 p.m. June 17. National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, 1700 NE 63rd St., 405263-4658, cflinc.org. SAT Purple Sash Gala, celebrating survivors of domestic violence for healing women and children with proceeds benefiting YWCA OKC programs and raising awareness for those still fighting to break the cycle of abuse, 7p.m. June 17. The Criterion, 500 E. Sheridan Ave., 405-948-1770, purplesash.org. SAT

Fresh stART Fresh stART, a program by Homeless Alliance and City Care, Inc., is designed to give those in a state of homelessness with the platform and resources needed to create and exhibit art. Participants’ work will be on display at a daylong show later in June with other shows slated for later in the year. The show is 11 a.m.-7 p.m. June 22 at Homeless Alliance, 1724 NW Fourth St. Admission is free. Visit homelessalliance.org or call 405-415-8410. June 22 Photo Homeless Alliance / provided

BOOKS

Safari Soiree, experience an evening of food, exotic drinks and wild entertainment at Oklahoma Zoological Society’s debut event, a unique event where guests will have the opportunity to experience the entire zoo with the option of a behind-the-scenes adventure, 7-11 p.m. June 17. Oklahoma City Zoological Park and Botanical Garden, 2000 Remington Place, 405-424-3344, okczoo.org. SAT Father’s Day Cruise, dads ride free on a relaxing ferry cruise on the Oklahoma River, 11:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. June 17-18. Exchange Landing, 1503 Exchange Ave., 405-702-7755, okrivercruises.com. SAT-SUN SPWLA 58th Annual Logging Symposium, three days of technical sessions, workshops, evening social events, activities and more, 5 p.m. June 17-21. Cox Convention Center, 1 Myriad Gardens, 713-9478727, spwla2017.com. SAT-WED Strong Neighborhoods Initiative Annual Celebration, celebrate the accomplishments of 2016, discuss what’s coming next for the 2017 year, meet your city council person, learn about programs and enjoy free snacks and snow cones, 6p.m. June 20. Harn Homestead, 1721 N. Lincoln

Ave., 405-297-2911, okc.gov/sni. TUE Civil War Research Lunch & Learn program, helping researchers identify available resources including books, free and subscription websites, covering both Union and Confederate materials where the records are located and how they can be accessed, 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. June 21. Oklahoma History Center, 800 Nazih Zuhdi Drive, 405-5212491, okhistory.org/historycenter. WED

FOOD Wine & Howl, fundraiser benefiting The Central Oklahoma Humane Society with a casual cocktail party open to anyone who wants to lend a hand to pets in need. Wine, beer and food provided by local businesses with a silent auction, raffles and more 5:30-8 p.m. June 15. Central Oklahoma Home Builders Association, 420 E. Britton Road, 405843-1508, cohba.org. THU Tuttle Ice Cream Festival, spend the day enjoying a scoop of Braum’s ice cream; bring your hot rod to the car show; enjoy a variety of vendors, food trucks, a parade, all-day entertainment and see who will be crowned as the 2017 Tuttle Ice Cream Princess, 9a.m.-3p.m. June 17. City of Tuttle, 221 W. Main St., 405-381-2335, cityoftuttle.com. SAT The Art of Brunch, mimosas, music, a chef-curated menu, lawn games and a VIP curated tour through the outdoor sculpture exhibition at Guerrilla Art Park, 10:30a.m-12:30p.m. June 17. Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center, 3000 General Pershing Blvd., 405-951-0000, oklahomacontemporary. org. SAT OKC Pride Picnic, enjoy food and drinks provided by PFLAG Norman, activities for children and adults like a tie-dye craft station to prepare for the first-ever float in this year’s OKC Pride parade, 11a.m.-1p.m. June 17. Rotary Park, 1501 W. Boyd St., 405-360-4497, pflagnorman.org. SAT Eats on 8th, food truck festival between Robinson and Harvey Avenue with various food vendors and family friendly events, 12-8p.m. June 17.,Midtown OKC, NW 8th St., 405-234-7960, visitokc.com. SAT Brew Better Workshop, learn how to brew better coffee at home or at work while testing out new skills on Kones, Chemexes, French Presses and Acaia scales while receiving discounts on retail items, 2-3:30p.m. June 17. Coffee Slingers Roasters, 1015 N. Broadway Ave., 405-609-1662, coffeeslingers.com. SAT Evening of Rum Tasting, experience a relaxing evening downtown while trying fourteen rums and hors d’oeuvres, 6-8p.m. June 20. Museum Cafe, 415 Couch Drive, 405-235-6262, okcmoa.com/ cafe. TUE

John Joseph Mathews: Life of an Osage Writer, author Michael Snyder signs his book about one of Oklahoma’s most revered 20th-century authors, an Osage Indian who was also one of the first Indigenous authors to gain national renown, 121:30p.m. June 17. Best of Books, 1313 E. Danforth Road, 405-340-9202, bestofbooksok.com. SAT

FILM

Father’s Fun Run Father knows best, unless he hasn’t heard about Father’s Fun Run 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday at Myriad Botanical Gardens, 301 W. Reno Ave. Run, jog or walk around the perimeter of the gardens three times for one mile of quality time with your dad. The action then shifts to the Great Lawn and Sheridan Lawn for a watermelon-eating contest, sack races and three-legged races. To give fathers a minute to cool down, kids can take to the Imagination Playground for more fun. Guests can also enjoy a $10 barbecue lunch by Pitchfork Kitchen. Tickets are $8-$15. Visit myriadgardens.com or call 405-445-7080. SATURDAY Photo Carl Shortt Photography / Myriad Botanical Gardens / provided

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Ugly Bugs!, Oklahoma Ugly Bug contest with an exhibition of larger-than-life photos of insects all captured by the contest’s 2016 winners, through June 18. Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History, 2401 Chautauqua Ave., 405-325-4712, samnoblemuseum.ou.edu. WED -SUN OKCMOA: Drop-In Art, celebrate the opening of Kehinde Wiley: A New Republic, inspired by the bold and luxurious patterns depicted in the exhibition. Use stamps, ink, colored pencils and more to create colorful patterns, 11a.m.-4p.m. June 17. Oklahoma City Museum of Art, 415 Couch Drive, 405-236-3100, okcmoa.com. SAT Girl Power Summer Art Camp 2017, campers experience visual arts taught by teaching artists while visiting the Paseo Arts District. Students are introduced to high-quality visual arts techniques, including weaving and fiber arts, paper marbling, acrylic painting on canvas and much more while enjoying daily yoga, confidence-building and mindfulness, 9a.m.-4p.m. June 19-23. SixTwelve, 612 NW 29th St., 405-996-8372, okcgirlsartschool. org.

Western Explorers Summer Camp, campers have the opportunity to learn about photography, leather-making, gardening, weaving and beading, nature and more while exploring the museum’s collections, exhibitions, gardens and trails providing the foundation for creative selfexpression, through July 28. National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, 1700 NE 63rd St., 405478-2250, nationalcowboymuseum.org.

Some Like It Hot, (Japan, 1959, Billy Wilder) when two male musicians witness a mob hit, they flee the state in an all-female band disguised as women, 2p.m. and 7p.m. June 14. Cinemark Tinseltown, 6001 N. Martin Luther King Ave., 405-424-0461, cinemark.com. WED

YOUTH

Summer Camp 2017, youth ages 3-7 can enjoy canvas painting, tie-dye, creating super hero personas, obstacle courses, playing instruments and plenty of education hidden within art, through June 27. Artsy Learning Center, 1215 36th Ave. NW, 405-343-4064, artsylearningcenter.com.

Build a Better World, read for fun and earn badges all summer long, log reading time and earn prizes, through July 31. Metropolitan Library System, 300 Park Ave., 405-231-8650, metrolibrary.org.

Bachelors and Bombshells: Six Films by Frank Tashlin, a series of six cult comic masterpieces from one of classical Hollywood’s most wildly inventive visual stylists, Frank Tashlin who brings a stylized cartoon aesthetic to his comedies and blurs the line between adolescent and the avant-garde, June 15-18. Oklahoma City Museum of Art, 415 Couch Drive, 405-236-3100, okcmoa.com. THU -SUN

Photo American Motorcycle Association / provided

Okietales, a one-of-a-kind reading and storytelling time where kids hear and see history while diving into history with books and stories that explore topics from the Wild West and cowboys to land runs and pioneer life, 10:30-11:30a.m. June 21. Oklahoma History Center, 800 Nazih Zuhdi Drive, 405-521-2491, okhistory. org/historycenter. WED

Singing: New Ink!, meet Oklahoma’s newest authors: Michael Mangrum, author of Tale of the Sharp-Dressed Man; Carol Muirhead, author of You & Me; and Joelisha Goggins, author of Let Me Spit, 3-5p.m. June 17. Full Circle Bookstore, 1900 Northwest Expressway, 405-842-2900, fullcirclebooks.com. SAT

RiffTrax Live: Summer Shorts Beach Party, a night of comedy during a summer-themed night of crazy riffed shorts broadcasted live from Nashville with RiffTrax regulars and special guests, 7p.m. June 15. Cinemark Tinseltown, 6001 N. Martin Luther King Ave., 405-424-0461, cinemark.com. THU

OKC Mile Get ready to rumble, because flat-track motorcycle racing is back in Oklahoma City. American Motorcycle Association returns as fast and rugged as ever with OKC Mile. Opening ceremonies are tentatively scheduled to begin 6 p.m, with racing set to begin 6:30 p.m. Saturday at Remington Park Racing & Casino, 1 Remington Place. Gates open at 2 p.m., and free pit access is 4:30-5:30 p.m. Tickets are free-$42, and general admission seating is first come, first served. Visit okcmile.com or call 888718-4253. Saturday

go to okgazette.com for full listings!

Super Summer Program, activities for children including self-defense training, science camp, moonwalks, Sugar Free Allstars, Mad Science, Extreme Animals, Minute to Win It, STEM Challenge, yoga and more, through July 4. King’s Gate Christian School, 11400 N. Portland Ave., 405752-2111, kingsgateschool.com. TUE ,THU Art Works, summer arts fun for 8-12-year-olds with specialized programs, theater, dance, music,

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Ice Down with Gazette’s Summer

Brew Review featuring seasonal brews in OKC. Drink in the Gazette’s favorite local, regional and national summer seasonal beers. Extended coverage helps readers stock the coolest brews for the hot summer!

PUBLISHES JUNE 28 DEADLINES JUNE 21

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CALENDAR c a l e n da r

continued from page 42 visual arts and Lego robotics, through July 15. First Christian Church of Oklahoma City, 3700 N. Walker Ave., 405-525-6551, fccokc.org.

TradeShare and ReFuse Summer Camp, weekly events imbued with theater, media and communication, visual arts, gardening, cooking, dance, sports, and more with daily instruction from guests spanning from circus performers, local farmers, food producers and visual artists, June 19-24. and July 24-29. OKC Farmers Public Market, 311 S. Klein Ave., 405-727-0977, roundaboutokc.org. Comets, Asteroids & Meteors: Great Balls of Fire, the threat of a catastrophic impact from an asteroid or comet is a staple of popular culture, learn about asteroids, comets and meteorites and where come from, through Sept. 10. Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History, 2401 Chautauqua Ave., Norman, 405-325-4712, samnoblemuseum.ou.edu.

PERFORMING ARTS Ricky Reyes, Reyes can be heard on XM/ Sirius Radio, El Chupapodcast with Pedro Lima and on The SBK Show on RealRadio 104.1 in Orlando. He has been seen on Rooftop Comedy’s Road Trip on Mav TV and is frequently in the rooftopcomedy.com’s Daily 8, June 14-17. Loony Bin Comedy Club, 8503 N. Rockwell Ave., 405-239-4242, loonybincomedy.com. WED -SAT Thursday Noon Tunes, bring your lunch to the downtown library atrium and enjoy Summer Strings Kids, noon-1 p.m. June 15. Ronald J. Norick Downtown Library, 300 Park Ave., 405-231-8650, metrolibrary.org. THU Oklahoma City Burlesque Festival, the 5th annual festival featuring over 30 internationally recognized burlesque performers, 7p.m. June 1617. Lyric Theatre, 1727 NW 16th St., 405-673-6162, okcburlesquefest.com. FRI -SAT Sunday Twilight Concert Series, presented by the OKC Arts Council featuring live entertainment by JMK and Saint Loretto, 7:30-9p.m. June 18. Myriad Botanical Gardens, Crystal Bridge Tropical Conservatory, 301 W. Reno Ave., 405-270-4848, artscouncilokc.com. SUN Summer Breeze Concert Series, enjoy the bluegrass band The Railsplitters, 7:30 p.m. June 18. Lions Park, 450 S. Flood Ave., Norman, 405307-9320, pasnorman.org. SUN Chris Killian, his innocent and laid-back demeanor compounded with aggressive hilarity has been seen on Spike TV and has shared the stage with some of comedy’s biggest names, including Greg Giraldo, Jon Reep and Steve-O, June 21-24. Loony Bin Comedy Club, 8503 N. Rockwell Ave., 405-239-4242, loonybincomedy. com. WED Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, joined by his Grandpa George, Charlie receives the prize of a special tour of the mysterious Wonka Chocolate factory and soon learns that surprises await, and not everything is how it seems, June 21-25. Oklahoma Children’s Theatre, 2501 N. Blackwelder Ave., 405-6067003, oklahomachildrenstheatre.org. WED

Coffee with a Council Member Those living in northwest Oklahoma City’s Ward 1 can grab a piping-hot cup of joe and talk local government with their city council representative. Councilman James Greiner wants to hear from community members and is inviting all constituents to chat with him. The meeting runs 8-10 a.m. Wednesday at the McDonald’s at 8001 Northwest Expressway. Attendance is free and open to the public and includes coffee. Call 405-297-2404. Wednesday Photo provided

The Taming of the Shrew, Oklahoma Shakespeare in the Park presents the comedy of the delirious tangles of masquerades. Enjoy the classic play on the scenic water stage, through June 24. Myriad Botanical Gardens, Crystal Bridge Tropical Conservatory, 301 W. Reno Ave., 405-445-7080, myriadgardens.com. Bring it on: The Musical, bitingly relevant, sprinkled with sass and inspired by the hit film, the musical takes audiences on a high-flying journey filled with the complexities of friendship, jealousy, betrayal and forgiveness, through July 1. The Pollard Theatre, 120 W. Harrison Ave., Guthrie, 405-282-2800, thepollard.org.

ACTIVE Baseball, OKC Dodgers vs Omaha, through June 16. Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark, 2 S. Mickey Mantle Drive, 405-218-1000, milb.com. WED - FRI Run for Recognition, join the sixth annual run

Win a Night Out On Cadillac Sweepstakes 1. Snap a photo of yourself in front of the restaurant

(name of restaurant must be visible) or of your meal

2. Post to Instagram with #OKCRWContest 3. One winner drawn randomly will receive a night at an

amazing Oklahoma City hotel, two tickets to a premium event at Civic Center Music Hall, chauffeured Cadillac from dinner to the show and back, and breakfast for two.

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED. Must be at least 18 years of age at time of entry and a legal resident of Oklahoma. Photo entries must be received on Instagram between 6:00 pm Central Daylight Time on 6/9/17 and 11:59 pm CDT on 6/18/17 and include #OKCRWContest. Limit three posted images per Social Media Account. The picture can include a “selfie” of the entrant, but that is not required. Value of prize $1,000. Winner chosen randomly from all valid entries. Subject to official rules available okcrestaurantweek.com/sweepstakes. This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with Instagram.

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Bricktown Beach Volleyball Tournament Twelve teams are set to unleash their inner Kerri Walsh Jennings at the Bricktown Beach Volleyball Tournament 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday at Bricktown Beach, 2 S. Mickey Mantle Drive. Teams of eight players will compete for dominance of the temporary beach while crowds enjoy snow cones, concessions from the Oklahoma City Dodgers and music by a live DJ. Visit downtownokc.com or call 405-235-3500. SATURDAY Photo Bigstock.com

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in conjunction with the OK Runner store with all proceeds benefiting Special Olympics Oklahoma. Enjoy a 5K and one-mile fun run, a free pancake breakfast and recognition with medals and awards, 7:30-10:30a.m. June 17. Automobile Alley, 1015 N. Broadway Ave., 405-609-6817, runforrecognition. com. SAT Freedom Oklahoma Equality Run, the fifth annual Equality Run brings together hundreds of diverse runners, walkers, pets and attendees from around the region, 8 a.m.-noon June 17. Myriad Botanical Gardens, Crystal Bridge Tropical Conservatory, 301 W. Reno Ave., 405-802-8229, freedomoklahoma. org. SAT

The Studio Gallery, 2642 W. Britton Road, 405-7522642, thestudiogallery.org. In Designs, Contemporary Abstract, Brian Allan, Christopher Pendleton and Stephen St. Claire dissect abstract design through progressive applications in a new exhibit, through June 25. Kasum Contemporary Fine Arts, 1706 NW 16th St., 405-604-6602, kasumcontemporary.com.

Vote Lush! Best Women’s Clothing Boutique

Learn-to-Swim Program, giving residents of all ages and financial situations the opportunity to learn to swim with proper technique and basic water safety at their own pace offered by the King Marlin Swim Club, ongoing, Lighthouse Sports, Fitness and Health, 3333 W. Hefner Road, 405-845-5672, marlinswimamerica.com.

VISUAL ARTS Art After 5, enjoy a late-night art gallery experience and live music on the roof terrace with the best views of downtown OKC and a relaxing atmosphere, 5-9 p.m. June 15. Oklahoma City Museum of Art, 415 Couch Drive, 405-236-3100, okcmoa.com. THU Bodies Revealed, exhibition showcasing real human bodies preserved through a revolutionary process allowing visitors to see themselves in a fascinating way like never before, through October. Science Museum Oklahoma, 2020 Remington Place, 405-602-6664, sciencemuseumok. org. Sole Expression: The Art of the Shoe, features the creations of 25 local, national and international shoe designers and artists; guests examine how the shoe has been interpreted in art throughout history and the science and engineering behind specific shoe designs, through December. Science Museum Oklahoma, 2020 Remington Place, 405-602-6664, sciencemuseumok.org. National Weather Center Biennale Art Show, international juried exhibition focusing on weather in contemporary art in the forms of painting, works on paper and photography, through June 19. National Weather Center, 120 David L. Boren Blvd., 405-3253095, ou.edu. The Complete WPA Collection, the museum’s Works Progress Administration collection features a large proportion of rural American landscapes and depictions of labor, infrastructure and industrial development. All are figurative, as was favored by the WPA and there are significant representations of female and foreign-born artists in the museum’s holdings, through July 2. Oklahoma City Museum of Art, 415 Couch Drive, 405-236-3100, okcmoa.com. Lowell Ellsworth Smith: My Theology of Painting, featuring watercolor studies and Smith’s own words and observations, it introduces the man, his methods and his belief in the power and potential of creative energy, through July 9. National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, 1700 NE 63rd St., 405-478-2250, nationalcowboymuseum.org. Off the Beaten Path, a photo documented joint art exhibit by Scott and Katie Henderson; tour many of the state’s unusual, intriguing and lesserknown areas, though July 28. Science Museum Oklahoma, 2020 Remington Place, 405-602-6664, sciencemuseumok.org. Picher, Oklahoma: Catastrophe, Memory, and Trauma, exploring the otherworldly ghost town and reveals how memory can be dislocated and reframed through both chronic and acute instances of environmental trauma, through Sept. 10. Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, 555 Elm Ave., 405-325-3272, ou.edu/fjjma. Kehinde Wiley: A New Republic, highlighting the range of Kehinde Wiley’s career with examples of early paintings executed around the time of his 2001 residency at the Studio Museum in Harlem and figurative canvases of African-American men, inspired by Wiley’s observation of street life in Harlem, marking the beginning of his focused exploration of the male figure, June 16-Sept. 10. Oklahoma City Museum of Art, 415 Couch Drive, 405-236-3100, okcmoa.com. Exhibit C Ledger Art, four contemporary artists experienced in ledger art display their distinctive artwork. Discover a captivating scene showcasing the creations by Paul Hacker, George Levi, Dylan Cavin and Lauren Good Day Giago, through June 30. Exhibit C, 1 E. Sheridan Ave., 405-767-8900, exhibitcgallery.com. Blake Little: Photographs from the Gay Rodeo, serving as a stunning example of black-and-white portraiture and rodeo photography, while exploring the diverse and complex natures of individual and community identity in the West, through June 20. Melton Gallery, 100 N. University Drive, 405-9742000, uco.edu. Spring show exhibit, enjoy the works of oil-painter Phebe Kallstrom and handmade jewelry artist Whitney Ingram, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. through November.

ll listings!

14101 N. MAY AVE SuitE 114 405.936.0680 MON-SAT 10AM - 7PM CLOSED ON SUNDAYS One-Man Star Wars Trilogy Audiences will have to Force themselves to stifle their laughter when Oklahoma City Repertory Theatre (CityRep) brings One-Man Star Wars Trilogy back to Oklahoma City Wednesday-Sunday. Creator Charles Ross presents his rendition of the three original Star Wars films, playing all the characters, performing music and even fighting battles with himself, all in about an hour in Freede Little Theatre at Civic Center Music Hall, 201 N. Walker Ave. Ross hits the stage 7:30 p.m. WednesdayThursday, 1:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Saturday and 1:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $37-$42. Visit cityrep.com or call 405-848-3761. WEDNESDAY-SUNDAY Photo Dean Kalyan / provided

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.

For okg live music

see page 53

10:30 a.m. Saturday, June 17 Campbell Art Park | NW 11th & Broadway Special menu | Bottomless mimosas Music, art, games and more

LEARN MORE AND BUY TICKETS

bit.ly/ArtofBrunch Ages 21+ | @okcontemporary | oklahomacontemporary.org | 405.951.000

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Better together Fiddle folk band Casey and Minna brings a soothing sound to the metro as a family. By Ben Luschen

For those who go out and about in Oklahoma City, it’s not a question of if but when they will encounter folk-centric family band Casey and Minna. The husband-and-wife duo — sometimes a trio with the addition of 13-yearold son August Biggs — can be frequently spotted out in the area, playing live music at open-air festivals, private parties or wherever people like to gather and feel good. Casey Friedman plays guitar and upright bass while Minna Biggs handles fiddle. August mostly plays tin whistle, but with some trumpet and guitar as well. Casey and Minna incorporates folk styles from across the globe, including Europe, Asia and the United States. The band can be seen 3-5 p.m. Saturday at Anthem Brewing Company, 908 SW Fourth St. Some might wonder how a band could possibly function as a family outside show hours. The family wonders how it possibly couldn’t. Working together as a unit is the only thing that makes playing music full-time a viable family business. “We’re not splitting money up,” Minna Biggs said. “It’s all going to support one home.”

Match met

Both halves of the couple grew up around Oklahoma City, but they did not meet until their 30s, despite running in somewhat close circles. “Casey and I often reflect about the many unknown encounters we must’ve had growing up in Oklahoma City,” Biggs said. Biggs moved to Colorado after high school and spent her 20s in the state before returning to Oklahoma around 2009 to be closer to her family. Her first official gig back in Oklahoma was in Civic Center Music Hall’s Meinders Hall of Mirrors. Friedman, whom she did not know at the time, was her soundman. She was curious about him, but Friedman and Biggs’ lives diverged for about a year until they worked together again to record a video as part of Friedman’s YouTube series Acoustic Oklahoma. Friedman’s video series led to a weekly live acoustic showcase, and he would often call Biggs to book her band for the show.

“His calls to book my band were lasting longer and longer,” she said. “It finally became pretty clear that we were developing more than a business relationship.” Biggs had not been on the Oklahoma music scene long when they officially started dating. “I had no idea he was a bass player or really even a musician,” she said. “What a nice surprise the first time I saw him onstage with his band, Burlap Tuxedo.”

Family band

Casey and Minna launched as a guitarfiddle duo in 2011 but became a full family act in 2013, when Biggs’ son August played with the band for the first time as an 11-year-old. “When not in school, August is the star of the show,” she said. His mother described him as a natural musician. August grew up around her rehearsals and performances and feels at home on stage. Biggs said her son’s musical journey began in elementary school, where he was having a tough time. “We kind of bribed him and said, ‘Hey, if you learn an instrument, we’ll think about homeschooling you,’ which was kind of an empty bribe,” she said. “He went ahead and he learned it. He enjoys playing music, but he still goes to public school, only he’s much happier now.” The Belle Isle Enterprise Middle School student primarily plays tin whistle with Casey and Minna now, though the first instrument he learned to play was the recorder. It would be easy to picture August as a future career musician, but Biggs said he dreams of becoming an orthodontist. “I’m so proud and grateful August still wants to make music with us,” she said. “He’s gained self-confidence, courage and a vivid experience as a professional musician working hard in Oklahoma.”

When not in school, August is the star of the show. Minna Biggs

Finding folk

Biggs remembers being 3 years old and hearing about her brother’s dream to play the violin. Because she wanted to do everything he did, she was not far behind in lessons. The siblings learned classical music growing up, but Biggs enjoyed listening to the radio, specifically local station KJ103. She loved Cyndi Lauper, Madonna and The B-52s. Folk music was not yet a big part of her life. “It’s funny growing up in a place renowned for some of the world’s best folk fiddle music that I wasn’t exposed to it,” she said. “But I was a latchkey kid in the suburbs of northwest Oklahoma City before the internet.”

Her first meaningful exposure to fiddle in a folk context came, fittingly enough, on the radio — only this time it was on a National Public Radio (NPR) affiliate in Colorado. She heard Cajun band BeauSoleil and was thunderstruck. “A big light came on in my head,” she said. “I discovered fiddle in a whole new way after having taken a break from music for several years.” A similar music-discovery process now fuels Casey and Minna, only now YouTube has replaced the radio. The couple uses a Roku media player to stream music from the site to their television. Casey and Minna primarily represents Cajun and Celtic styles, but through the band’s continual search for new music, it has also come to incorporate other European, Chinese and West African sounds. Biggs said they also enjoy playing Christmas music and oldies, with some alternative and pop music blended in. “Basically, it’s all our favorites interpreted and improvised in our own way,” she said. “We hope to create music everyone enjoys.”

Local love

No one can accuse Casey and Minna of being idle. The band has averaged around 17 shows a month in the last several months. That is already a lot, but the duo said it is always looking for more gigs. In an ideal world, they would like to play around 25 shows per month. The spaces the band can be seen in are varied. Casey and Minna plays art galleries, weddings, restaurants, senior living centers and nearly anywhere one can find live acoustic music. Biggs said the band has written a

Casey and MInna | Photo Garett Fisbeck

number of original songs within the last few years and is currently looking around at studios where it can produce its first project. “We’re really excited about it,” she said. “We’ve had these original songs for a long time, and it would be so great to record them.” Still, the live performances are what have endeared Casey and Minna to many. Its fiddle folk is a fun, easy, feelgood listen that many different types of people can enjoy. Biggs said the most common feedback she hears about the music is that it’s “soothing.” “If it makes them feel good, I’m happy with it,” she said. “Soothing people, it’s a nice thing.” Because the family spends so much time out in the city, performing shows, they can’t help but feel especially rooted in the local music and Oklahoma City communities. Similarly, there are plenty of people who know the family as a city fixture. “Often, we’re performing unplugged and off stage,” she said. “It feels personal, and people remember being face to face. Our community knows us just like they know their mail carrier or grocery store cashier. We’re their local family folk band.” Visit caseyandminna.com.

Anthem Live Music Series: Casey and Minna 3-5 p.m. Saturday Anthem Brewing Company | 908 SW Fourth St. facebook.com/anthembrewing | 405-604-0446 Free

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Maiden voyage

British heavy metal royalty Iron Maiden defied the odds and got bigger with age. By George Lang

Earlier this year, as President Donald Trump fought a media war over aerial photography comparing attendance at his inauguration to that of President Barack Obama’s swearing-in ceremony in 2009, a new meme began to circulate. The first two entries in the triptych of photos showed the inaugurations, but then the final entry showed a sea of humanity that unquestionably dwarfed both presidential celebrations. The caption read, “Iron Maiden: Every Show.” For those who weren’t paying attention or simply moved on from their fistpumping teenage obsession with heavy metal, the meme probably read like joking hyperbole, but Iron Maiden, which performs 7:30 p.m. Monday at Chesapeake Arena, 301 W. Reno Ave., performed for over 2 million fans on each of its last two world tours. This level of global popularity is generally presumed to be reserved for solo superstars like Beyoncé or Taylor Swift, but neither of those acts play 100 shows per tour. Discussions over the primacy of bands in their respective genres can grow contentious and tiresome, but in any verbal battle royale over which group towers over the varied and sectarian world of heavy metal, Iron Maiden is the name that usually shuts down all arguments. Formed by bassist Steve Harris in London’s East End in the late 1970s, the band gigged heavily and went through a few lead singers and guitarists while it honed its musicianship for maximum brutality, becoming the standard bearers for the subgenre known as the new wave of British heavy metal (NWOBHM). Rising at the same time as the British punk movement, NWOBHM bands were far more apolitical than their punk counterparts. The punks lashed out at the social and economic injustices of the Margaret Thatcher era with blunt music 48

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and brutal truth. Meanwhile, NWOBHM bands provided a kind of escape through precise musicianship deployed with operatic grandeur and jet velocity. Iron Maiden split the difference; the cover of its second single, 1980’s “Sanctuary,” featured the band’s ghoulish mascot Eddie crouching over Thatcher’s lifeless body.

World domination

Iron Maiden secured a strong following with 1980’s Iron Maiden and 1981’s Killers, but singer Paul Di’Anno did not possess either the vocal chops or the resistance to cocaine needed to achieve long-term success with the group and was fired by the band following the Killers World Tour. His replacement, Bruce Dickinson, proved instrumental in crafting Iron Maiden’s signature sound, and with 1982’s The Number of the Beast, Iron Maiden became godheads of metal. From that point, the band won the concert T-shirt domination sweepstakes in the 1980s and, at least for a while, also won the ire of record-burning Christian groups who took “The Number of the Beast” as a glorification of Satan. The group’s next album, Piece of Mind, continued the winning streak thanks to the heights scaled by the single “Flight of Icarus,” which further proved that Iron Maiden could create indelible melodies that expanded the band’s audience beyond the metalhead core. Throughout the 1980s, Iron Maiden dominated critically and commercially with 1984’s Powerslave, 1986’s Somewhere in Time and 1988’s Seventh Son of a Seventh Son, an enviable run of first-rate metal albums that hold up shockingly well.

Fickle fortune

But by 1990, Metallica had ascended the metal mountain and Iron Maiden contended with a near-total loss of mojo. Early 1990s albums such as No Prayer for

Iron Maiden performs 7:30 p.m. Monday at Chesapeake Arena. | Photo John McMurtrie / provided

the Dying and Fear of the Dark suffered from a lack of material and imagination that seemingly departed with guitarist Adrian Smith, and after Dark, Dickinson left as well. For the next several years, Iron Maiden existed in a purgatorial state, having lost its major-label deal with EMI and two core members. The group recruited singer Blaze Bayley of Wolfsbane and signed with CMC International, a kind of boneyard label for down-and-out metal bands capsized by the grunge wave. The two albums with Bayley, The X Factor and Virtual XI, neither sounded nor sold like Iron Maiden, eschewing the Dickinson-era prog leanings in favor of a stripped down, entirely unheroic sound. Bayley lost his voice on the Virtual XI tour and lost his job in January 1999. Within weeks, Iron Maiden’s manager, Rod Smallwood, convinced Harris to approach Dickinson about returning. After Dickinson agreed at a band meeting, Smith rejoined via phone conference a few hours later. The reconstitution of the classic lineup revitalized Iron Maiden’s music, performances and fortunes. Back on a major label with a new Sony contract, the band released Brave New World in 2000 and received its best reviews in a dozen years. Iron Maiden tours became massive undertakings with Dickinson, a commercial pilot in his downtime, taking the helm of a 747 dubbed Ed Force One to fly the band and its crew to huge concerts in South America, Asia, Europe and anyplace else with a massive metal head population. Iron Maiden’s latest album, The Book of Souls, earned the group some of its strongest accolades since the 1980s, a rare feat for a band in its 42nd year of existence. It might always be “2 Minutes to Midnight” for Iron Maiden, but now it seems like the band has all the time in the world.

Iron Maiden 7:30 p.m. Monday Chesapeake Arena | 100 W. Reno Ave. chesapeakearena.com | 800-745-3000 $36.50-$305

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Jazz jubilee

A compelling list of performers highlights the return of Norman’s Jazz in June. By Ben Luschen

At Jazz in June, quality comes before quantity. The Norman-based music festival in its 34th year might not feature the largest roster of performers, but the event consistently books top talent that gives audiences something more to ponder beyond passive listening pleasure. The outdoor festival returns 7:30-11 p.m. Thursday-Friday at Brookhaven Village, 3700 W. Robinson Ave., in Norman. The conclusion of Jazz in June’s three-day jaunt is 6:30-11 p.m. Saturday at Norman’s Andrews Park, 201 W. Daws St. Norman-based National Public Radio affiliate KGOU produces Jazz in June each year. Jim Johnson, KGOU program director and host of the station’s The Weekend Blues show, said booking the

fest’s acts is less about fulfilling a particular yearly theme and more about exploring areas within jazz and music that the event has not touched on before, or at least has not approached in some time. “We may not have the most bands on the stage, but we try to get the most out of them,” he said. As an example, Friday’s headliner is Dr. Lonnie Smith Trio. Smith is a New York-based jazz organist known for playing the Hammond B-3 organ. Johnson said part of their reason for booking the trio is because it has been so long since Jazz in June featured an organist. In April, Smith was one of several musicians honored at a Kennedy Center tribute concert as a 2017 National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master, considered the highest honor any jazz musician can earn. Other 2017 honorees included Dee Dee Bridgewater, Ira Gitler, Dave Holland and Dick Hyman. “[Smith] is still going after it hard and heavy despite being a stalwart on the B-3,” Johnson said. “We’re fortunate enough to be able to bring him in.” Saturday’s headline performer is Harold López-Nussa Trio. López-Nussa is a Cuban jazz pianist and, like the organist preceding him, Johnson said it has been a while since the festival featured any jazz performers on piano. López-Nussa is considered one of the

KALO performs at last year’s Jazz in June event in Norman. | Photo Jazz in June / provided

great performers in a proud line of Cuban pianists including Rubén González, Gonzalo Rubalcaba and Chucho Valdés. “We’ve really got a young monster that we’re going to be able to showcase,” Johnson said. “He’s flying straight from Cuba to here and straight back.” Thursday’s featured performance is from Mike Hosty & Jamie Oldaker. Johnson said guitarist Hosty is very representative of Norman’s music culture. He teams with drummer Oldaker, a key contributor to the historic and eclectic Tulsa Sound scene who made his name playing with Eric Clapton. “This year will make the first year that [Hosty] has performed at Jazz in June,” Johnson said, “so it’s a long time coming and well overdue.” Johnson said he loves Jazz in June because while it attracts many out-of-staters, it is one of the year’s biggest parties for Central Oklahoma’s jazz-, blues- and live music-loving community. The crowd is always energetic and engaged. A broad appeal can partially be attributed to jazz’s unifying nature. Johnson said most quality musicians outside the genre have at least some jazz influence in their backgrounds. Elements of the music can be spotted all over contemporary rock

and popular music. “What this music represents is something everyone can appreciate,” Johnson said. “To me, jazz is a fusion of musical influences more so today than maybe ever before.” Visit jazzinjune.org.

Jazz in June 7:30-11 p.m. Thursday-Friday Brookhaven Village 3700 W. Robinson Ave., Norman 6:30-11 p.m. Saturday Andrews Park | 201 W. Daws St., Norman jazzinjune.org | 405-659-2126 Free

Simplify your life. Change another. • Best place to volunteer • • Best non-profit • • Best local festival •

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O kg a z e t t e . c o m | j u n e 1 4 , 2 0 1 7

MUSIC

Welcome to Pet Gazette, a quarterly Glossy maGazine published by OklahOma Gazette.

PublishinG:

January 31, 2018 | aPril 24, 2018

For more information call 405-528-6000 or email specialsections@okgazette.com

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July 26, 2017 | october 25, 2017

Southern study

Soulful vocalist Amy Black brings her Memphis blues to The Blue Door. By Ben Luschen

It can be tempting in the modern saturated market for some musicians and music fans to focus only on the present and not spend much time delving into the sounds that came before them. Nashville-based vocalist and singersongwriter Amy Black is not the type to get afraid of a little music history. The naturally curious soul and roots performer spent the last several years diving into the music of Memphis, Tennessee, for her upcoming album, a sonic tribute to a place sometimes called Blues City. Black released Memphis, her newest studio album, June 2 and began her tour in support of the album June 5 in Cleveland, Ohio. As part of that tour, Black performs 8 p.m. June 23 at The Blue Door, 2805 N. McKinley Ave. During a recent phone interview with Oklahoma Gazette, Black was preparing to visit Cleveland’s Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. The vocalist has visited the attraction in the past, but several of her band members were first-timers. For a fan of music history, she said there is no better place. Black, who was raised in Massachusetts with roots in Alabama, was not always a Southern-style soul and blues crooner. Within the last few years, the vocalist has modeled her sound more closely to classic-sounding R&B and soul performers like The Staple Singers and Ann Peebles. A casual interest in the music snowballed into an artistic obsession. Black 50

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feels at home in the Southern soul style. “It’s kind of nice to have a path like that to be on and to dig into all this amazing music,” she said. “A lot of it is forgotten.”

Making Memphis

Black’s last album was 2015’s The Muscle Shoals Sessions, named for the historic Sheffield, Alabama, recording studio in which it was made. She relocated from Massachusetts to Nashville in the same year. The Sessions project was the first time Black really explored her Southern roots. The blues and soul sounds worked well for her. Memphis, recorded in analog in the eponymous city’s Electraphonic Recording studio and mixed to tape at Ardent Studios, represents a natural branching off from the sonic direction Black took on Sessions. “If I hadn’t been living in Nashville, I probably wouldn’t have recorded this album in Memphis,” she said. “It just made it so easy for me to get

Field study

Amy Black | Photo Stacie Huckeba / provided

there and to meet people, check out studios and connect with that whole scene there.” While The Muscle Shoals Sessions featured more covers, seven of 10 songs on Memphis are original works. Still, Black fills out the city vibe on the album with covers from Bobby “Blue” Bland (“Further on Up the Road”), Otis Clay (“If I Could Reach Out (And Help Somebody)”) and Ruby Johnson (her version of “Need Your Love So Bad”). In her original work, Black was focused on broaching a number of influences she found within Memphis music without limiting herself to a particular lyrical theme. “I didn’t approach it as a singersongwriter writing all this introspective stuff,” she said. “It’s a mix. There’s some depth there ... but I also tried to keep it on the lighter side.”

Black feels like she has found her groove in Southern soul. The music allowed her to express herself in many new ways. “It’s gutsy,” she said. “It’s kind of gritty. It’s super soulful — it grooves. It just grabs you right in your gut.” Though she had seen the city on a couple of other limited visits, Black had not spent much time in Memphis itself before starting work on the album. She made a point to make up for lost time. She temporarily relocated to the city and, in addition to her musical research, tried to get a grasp on what it was all about. “It was like full immersion,” Black said. “I was out hearing music every night, and then I went back multiple times after that for the album.” What she found was honesty, a gritty but charming community that seemed to mirror the music it has produced. The straightforward attitude reminded Black of her former New England home. By taking the time to submerge herself in the city’s music history and culture, she said Memphis gained a sense of depth that exceeds her other works. “I get to come in and, in my own small way, become a part of something that was really special and bring that music to other people,” she said.

Continued education

Black’s most recent — and only previous — trip to Oklahoma City was on her tour promoting The Muscle Shoals Sessions, in which she also played The Blue Door. Some of her musician friends had played the venue before, but she otherwise went into Oklahoma without any preconceived notions of what she might find here. Her trip made a lasting impression. “We just didn’t know what to expect, and it turned out to be a pretty packed house,” she said. “Just the energy level — the audience just gave so much. When their energy is high, it sends mine through the roof.” Black said she is vaguely aware of the city’s own blues history but is eager to learn more about it. And when Black says she is interested in learning music history, it is a safe bet that she is offering more than lip service. “It’s like going to music history class, and I love both history and music,” she said. “Digging into Oklahoma’s blues history is something I’m totally interested in doing.” Visit amyblack.com.

Image provided

Amy Black 8 p.m. June 23 The Blue Door | 2805 N. McKinley Ave. bluedoorokc.com | 405-524-0738 $20

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MUSIC Steel City Jug Slammers | Photo M.R. Photography / provided

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Americana magic American Banjo Museum hosts its second annual Americana Fest. By Brian Daffron

Many attempt to define the Americana music genre. For American Banjo Museum, it’s simple: The banjo should be present. “We look at the banjo itself, and it’s the only true American instrument, the only instrument that was conceived and defined in America,” said Dustin Pyeatt, the museum’s outreach and development manager. “You look at Americana, you look at folk, you look at roots music, you look at bluegrass and country and even alternative rock of today — you can see the banjo running through all of that. We try to assemble a group of bands that are diverse, but they all have a banjo in them.” There are many who try to limit the banjo within specific genres such as bluegrass or country. However, the instrument refuses to be kept within those barriers and finds its way into songs as diverse as Led Zeppelin’s “Gallows Pole” or the experimental tones of Bela Fleck. Simply put, the banjo will not be stifled. “It seems that every genre of music in every generation rediscovers the banjo as an instrument,” said Pyeatt. “You can go all the way back to the Civil

War. You have everything from classical music to bluegrass to jazz to country to even alternative rock today. You have Mumford & Sons, Judah & the Lion and bands like that, bringing the banjo with them into modern music.” Last year, when American Banjo Museum hosted its inaugural Americana Fest, Pyeatt said they only expected 50 people. Instead, over 250 people showed up. With high hopes for this year, the second annual Americana Fest is 11 a.m.-5 p.m. June 24 at the museum, 9 E. Sheridan Ave. This year’s set includes three bands: Steelwind, Kyle Dillingham & Horseshoe Road and Birmingham, Alabama-based Steel City Jug Slammers. In addition to the featured performers, an outdoor stage features sing-along performances by Lucas Ross of KFOR-TV, arts and crafts, door prizes and a Deering Goodtime banjo giveaway. Oklahoma Gazette caught up with Steel City Jug Slammers by phone while they were traveling through Cincinnati, Ohio. The three-piece ensemble includes Ramblin’ Ricky Tate, Washtub Jay and Maxwell Honeycup. A fourth member,

Tate’s brother Byron Barry Tate, is currently taking a break from traveling due to the birth of his new child. While the band members grew up together playing punk and rock, Tate said a particular set of circumstances steered him from punk-style drums toward the 1920s-’30s washtub sound. “[I was] rolling around the country with people who were playing acoustic music,” he said. “I had to find a way to make music with them so I could make money to eat. I started brushing a peanut can with a brush drumstick, kind of like a jazz drum. That led me into the washboard.” Playing the washboard then evolved into learning other instruments such as the washtub bass, jug, mandolin and guitar. By 2012, Tate and his childhood friends formed Steel City Jug Slammers and went full-time in 2015. The band began getting nationwide media exposure when one of its performances aired on a Christmas episode of Animal Planet’s Pit Bulls & Parolees. Eventually, its music made its way to the NPR airwaves through A Prairie Home Companion before Garrison Keillor retired. The musicians’ stage personas would fit right in with the jazz bands or Appalachian bands of the early 20th century, right down to their flat caps (which the band jokingly calls its “Beatles hair”) and wool trousers. While the band’s music is rooted in this style, Fats Domino tunes and conversations about video games are also a part of their set. Tate calls it “new-timey.” Its original material’s subject matter might be modern at times, but the 1920s-’30s framework helps shape the music. “When I’m writing, it’s based on things that I’ve done traveling around,” said Tate, “the things I’ve seen in my travels, incorporated with the aspect of heartbreak in the blues and the whole subject matter of things I like about old country tunes and the old blues music. I take those elements and incorporate some of my own stories and experiences.” The three musicians rotate instruments that include washtub bass, vintage jugs, mandolin, guitar and, of course, banjo. While Tate said the band wants people to see them play, he is more interested in them experiencing American Banjo Museum itself. “[Oklahoma City is] lucky to have a place like that collecting and preserving our musical history,” he said. Tickets are $10 for adults and free for children 15 years old and under. Visit americanbanjomuseum.com or call 405-604-2793.

Americana Fest 11 a.m.-5 p.m. American Banjo Museum | 9 E. Sheridan Ave. americanbanjomuseum.com | 405-604-2793 Free-$10

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

WEDNESDAY, 6.14 Andy Adams/ Kyle Reid, The Lobby Bar. SINGER/SONGWRITER

Harumph, The Deli, Norman. JAZZ Jessie Williams/ Elecktra/ Felina and more, The Unkempt Beaver. FOLK Unwed Sailor/Astral Planes, 89th Street-OKC. ROCK

THURSDAY, 6.15 Antsy McClain/Edgar Cruz, UCO Jazz Lab, Edmond. ACOUSTIC Born Animal, Red Brick Bar, Norman. INDIE Dan Martin/Brad Fielder, The Root. FOLK In Her Own Words/Northbound, 89th StreetOKC. ROCK Midas 13, Oklahoma City Museum of Art. POP Sunny Sweeney, The Blue Door. ACOUSTIC The Joy Formidable/Radkey, ACM Performance Lab. ROCK

FRIDAY, 6.16 Amanda Cunningham/Brent Krueger, Bricktown Brewery. SINGER/SONGWRITER

Beaver Sausage Fest Day Do-ityourself music culture observes Father’s Day, too. The folk-punk home venue hosts its first Beaver Sausage Fest including a cookout and music by Patrick Newkirk Combo, Gross Dads, Brian Cagle, Ike Fonseca and Lucas Oswalt. The grill fires up at 5 p.m., and music begins 6:30 p.m. Saturday at The Unkempt Beaver, 800 NW 89th St. The event is BYOB (bring your own beverage) and BYOPS (bring your own potato salad). There is a suggested donation of $5. Visit facebook.com/theunkemptbeaver. Saturday Photo Garett Fisbeck / file

Bruce Benson, Jazmo’z Bourbon St. Cafe. JAZZ Dirty Red and the Soulshakers, Mooney’s Pub and Grill, Norman. BLUES

Scott Ellison, Jazmo’z Bourbon St. Cafe. BLUES The Grahams, The Blue Door. FOLK

Elix Risqu/Ink’d Int/Stephen Hooks and more, 89th Street-OKC. HIP-HOP

The Well/Wo Fat/Cobrajab, Blue Note Lounge.

Fist of Rage/Black and Blue/Bang Tango and more, Diamond Ballroom. ROCK

Vince Neil, Frontier City. ROCK

JMK/Special Thumbs, 51st Street Speakeasy. ROCK

ROCK

SUNDAY, 6.18 Broncho/SpaceFace/Daydrinker, Opolis, Norman. VARIOUS

Jordan Law, Noir Bistro & Bar. SINGER/SONGWRITER

Layken Urie, Classics Bar & Grill. COUNTRY

Eric Herndon, Full Circle Bookstore. ACOUSTIC

Randy Cassimus, Full Circle Bookstore. ACOUSTIC

Johnny Manchild and the Poor Bastards/Lead Pony, Red Brick Bar, Norman. ROCK

Seasons After/Bridge to Grace/Gears and more, Oklahoma City Limits. ROCK

New Orleans Swamp Donkeys, The Chameleon Room. JAZZ

Shelley King, The Blue Door. BLUES

Slow Season, Blue Note Lounge. ROCK

Siberian Traps/Em & the Mother Superiors, Your Mom’s Place. ROCK The Arbitrary/Amnesty Please, Thunder Alley Grill and Sports Bar. ROCK The Outer Vibe, Anthem Brewing Company. VARIOUS

Vintage Pistol, Blue Note Lounge. ROCK

TUESDAY, 6.20 Collective Soul/Our Lady Peace/Tonic, Zoo Amphitheatre. ROCK Hellbilly Homicide/David Wayne Broyles, Red Brick Bar. FOLK Rotten Mangos/Helen Kelter Skelter, Blue Note Lounge. ROCK

Y.A./Conscious Music, 89th Street-OKC. HIP-HOP

SATURDAY, 6.17 Beau Jennings/Klipspringer/Locust Avenue, Opolis, Norman. ROCK Buffalo Rogers, Noir Bistro & Bar. SINGER/SONGWRITER

WEDNESDAY, 6.21 Sean Rowe, The Blue Door. FOLK Squelch/O.D.D./Trash Lobster, Warehouse B. PUNK

Calledonia Fox/Glenn Sulley/Jillian Sulley and more, Rodeo Opry. COUNTRY Chad Todd Band, Wicked Piston. COUNTRY Echo 21, Oklahoma City Limits. ROCK Equilibrium, UCO Jazz Lab, Edmond. JAZZ Howard Brady, Full Circle Bookstore. ROCK Jim the Elephant, Belle Isle Restaurant & Brewery. ROCK

Kent Fauss Trio, S&B’s Burger Joint, Mustang. COUNTRY

Kierston White/Ali Harter, Bedlam Bar-B-Q. SINGER/SONGWRITER Micah McCaslin Trio, The Lobby Bar. JAZZ

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.

Orthodox, 89th Street-OKC. HIP-HOP

go to okgazette.com for full listings!

O kg a z e t t e . c o m | j u n e 1 4 , 2 0 1 7

puzzles New York Times Magazine Crossword Puzzle Advice to writers By Tim McCoy | Edited by Will Shortz | 0611

ACROSS 1 Drawing tool 8 One not acting alone 14 Literally, “great O” 19 Ackbar’s rank, in Star Wars films 20 Relating to an eye layer 22 What fan fiction is not 23 Writing tip No. 1 25 Accessory 26 Plant anew 27 Lo ____ 29 So 30 Contractor’s guidelines 33 Writing tip No. 2 38 Yearn for 39 Unlike the wind 40 Lead-in to guess or game 41 Got up there 42 Balneotherapy site 45 Bi- and bi-? 48 Train part 49 Writing tip No. 3 54 Relating to a major vessel 55 Hexagonal state 56 Invalidate 59 Restaurant chain with a flag in its logo 62 Band aids 65 Make suitable for indoors, as a plant 67 Home of Ithaca, Athens and Olympia 68 Writing tip No. 4 74 They go from town to town: Abbr. 75 That, in Tijuana 76 Ed.’s request 77 Cell parts 78 “Uh-huh” 80 German auto co. 82 Flew off the handle 85 Writing tip No. 5 93 Bill Clinton or Barack Obama 94 ____ group (structure found in proteins) 95 Old English letter 96 Shoot the breeze 97 Turn on 101 4,840 square yards 103 Cylinder-shaped pasta 104 Writing tip No. 6 109 Regarding 110 Large Hadron Collider org.

111 Hoity-toity sort 112 Became adept in 114 1983 Michael Keaton title role 116 Writing tip No. 7 123 Operative 124 Less watertight 125 Energetic pooch 126 Graph parts 127 Knights’ needs 128 Primes DOWN 1 Give the ax 2 Poem of homage 3 2005, to Cato 4 Ring bearers, maybe 5 Bring in 6 Droops 7 It “knits up the ravell’d sleave of care,” per Macbeth 8 Doctrines 9 Atop, poetically 10 RR stop 11 Up to 12 Jungian inner self 13 Knocked to the ground 14 Andean tuber 15 Like the movies Brian’s Song and Sharknado 16 Circumvention 17 It uses the PageRank algorithm 18 Irritates 21 Classic camera brand 24 Prefix with liberal 28 Vice President John ____ Garner 30 Digitize, in a way 31 Bounce along, in a way 32 Anticipatory days 34 Gala 35 Where to find some very wet sponges 36 Gives in confidence 37 Gosling of La La Land 42 Tried 43 Favorite 44 Santa ____, Calif. 46 Templeton from “Charlotte’s Web,” e.g. 47 Visibly awed 50 “Me, neither,” formally 51 Refuse to talk, with “up” 52 Conductance quantities

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

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Assistant EDITOR Brittany Pickering Staff reporters Greg Elwell Laura Eastes Ben Luschen editorial interns Megan Prather. Rachel Schaub Contributors Brian Daffron, Jack Fowler Ian Jayne, George Lang

Photography intern Cara Johnson Circulation Manager Chad Bleakley

New York Times Crossword Puzzle answers Puzzle No. 0604, which appeared in the June 7 issue.

B U Y S

EDITOR-in-chief Jennifer Palmer Chancellor jchancellor@okgazette.com

Photographer Garett Fisbeck

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

Sudoku Medium | n°8461

Advertising advertising@okgazette.com 405-528-6000 Account EXECUTIVES Stephanie Van Horn Saundra Rinearson Godwin Christy Duane Elizabeth Riddle

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81 Bill Clinton or Barack Obama, informally 83 It’s mined, all mined! 84 Stayed on the shelf 86 Homework lover, maybe 87 Military stints 88 Like some audiobooks 89 Romance writer Roberts 90 “Yikes!” 91 When repeated, an old sitcom catchphrase 92 Leave in 97 Character that goes “waka, waka, waka …” 98 Exceed 99 Wriggled 100 Punitive 102 Goes in

53 Like a good proof 57 “Makes sense” 58 ____ Day (June event, informally) 59 Not needing a cane, say 60 Commanded 61 Syria’s Bashar al-____ 63 Person of note? 64 Fee-free spot, briefly 66 Unruly hair, metaphorically 69 Jacob’s twin 70 Composer of many patriotic tunes 71 Conveyor part 72 Course part 73 Something tacky to hang on the wall? 79 Stroke of luck?

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P h o n e (4 0 5 ) 5 2 8 - 6 0 0 0 | E - m a i l a dv e r t i s i n g @ o kg a z e t t e . c o m

free will astrology Homework: Do a homemade ritual in which you vow to attract more blessings into your life. Report results at FreeWillAstrology.com. ARIES (March 21-April 19) You have to admit that

salt looks like sugar and sugar resembles salt. This isn't usually a major problem, though. Mistakenly sprinkling sugar on your food when you thought you were adding salt won't hurt you, nor will putting salt in your coffee when you assumed you were using sugar. But errors like these are inconvenient, and they can wreck a meal. You may want to apply this lesson as a metaphor in the coming days, Aries. Be alert for things that outwardly seem to be alike but actually have different tastes and effects.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) Here's a possible plan

for the next ten days: Program your smart phone to sound an alarm once every hour during the entire time you're awake. Each time the bell or buzzer goes off, you will vividly remember your life's main purpose. You will ask yourself whether or not the activity you're engaged in at that specific moment is somehow serving your life's main purpose. If it is, literally pat yourself on the back and say to yourself, "Good job!" If it's not, say the following words: "I am resolved to get into closer alignment with my soul's code -- the blueprint of my destiny."

GEMINI (May 21-June 20) Actress Marisa

Berenson offers a line of anti-aging products that contain an elixir made from the seeds of a desert fruit known as prickly pear. The manufacturing process isn't easy. To produce a quart of the potion requires 2,000 pounds of seeds. I see you as having a metaphorically similar challenge in the coming weeks, Gemini. To create a small amount of the precious stuff you want, I'm guessing you'll have to gather a ton of raw materials. And there may be a desert-like phenomena to deal with, as well.

CANCER (June 21-July 22) There are three kinds

of habits: good, bad, and neutral. Neutral habits are neither good nor bad but use up psychic energy that

might be better directed into cultivating good habits. Here are some examples: a good habit is when you're disciplined about eating healthy food; a bad habit is watching violent TV shows before going to bed, thereby disturbing your sleep; a neutral habit might be doing Sudoku puzzles. My challenge to you, Cancerian, is to dissolve one bad habit and one neutral habit by replacing them with two new good habits. According to my analysis of the astrological omens, cosmic forces will be on your side as you make this effort.

next to the ruined barn if you stay in your command center and keep staring at the map instead of venturing out to the barn. Likewise, a symbol of truth may be helpful in experiencing deeper meaning, but it's not the same as communing with the raw truth, and may even become a distraction from it. Let's consider one further variation on the theme: The pictures in your mind's eye may or may not have any connection with the world outside your brain. It's especially important that you monitor their accuracy in the coming days.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) "Dear Dr. Astrology: Good

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21) Maybe it wasn't such

fortune has been visiting me a lot lately. Many cool opportunities have come my way. Life is consistently interesting. I've also made two unwise moves that fortunately didn't bring bad results. Things often work out better for me than I imagined they would! I'm grateful every day, but I feel like I should somehow show even more appreciation. Any ideas? -Lucky Leo." Dear Lucky: The smartest response to the abundance you have enjoyed is to boost your generosity. Give out blessings. Dispense praise. Help people access their potentials. Intensify your efforts to share your wealth.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) Years ago, a fan of my

work named Paul emailed to ask me if I wanted to get together with him and his friend when I visited New York. "Maybe you know her?" he wrote. "She's the artist Cindy Sherman." Back then I had never heard of Cindy. But since Paul was smart and funny, I agreed to meet. The three of us convened in an elegant tea room for a boisterous conversation. A week later, when I was back home and mentioned the event to a colleague, her eyes got big and she shrieked, "You had tea with THE Cindy Sherman." She then educated me on how successful and influential Cindy's photography has been. I predict you will soon have a comparable experience, Virgo: inadvertent contact with an intriguing presence. Hopefully, because I've given you a heads up, you'll recognize what's happening as it occurs, and take full advantage.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22) You'll never get access to the treasure that's buried out under the cherry tree

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a good idea to go gallivanting so heedlessly into the labyrinth. Or maybe it was. Who knows? It's still too early to assess the value of your experiences in that maddening but fascinating tangle. You may not yet be fully able to distinguish the smoke and mirrors from the useful revelations. Which of the riddles you've gathered will ultimately bring frustration and which will lead you to wisdom? Here's one thing I do know for sure: If you want to exit the labyrinth, an opportunity will soon appear.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) Over the years

I've read numerous news reports about people who have engaged in intimate relations with clunky inanimate objects. One had sex with a bicycle. Another seduced a sidewalk, and a third tried to make sweet love to a picnic table. I hope you won't join their ranks in the coming weeks. Your longing is likely to be extra intense, innovative, and even exotic, but I trust you will confine its expression to unions with adult human beings who know what they're getting into and who have consented to play. Here's an old English word you might want to add to your vocabulary: "blissom." It means "to bleat with sexual desire."

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Your life in the

coming days should be low on lightweight diversions and high in top-quality content. Does that sound like fun? I hope so. I'd love to see you enjoy the hell out of yourself as you cut the fluff and focus on the pith . . . as you efficiently get to the hype-free heart of every matter and refuse to tolerate waffling or stalling. So

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strip away the glossy excesses, my dear Capricorn. Skip a few steps if that doesn't cause any envy. Expose the pretty lies, but then just work around them; don't get bogged down in indulging in negative emotions about them.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) Inventor, architect,

and author Buckminster Fuller lived to the age of 87. For 63 of those years, he kept a detailed scrapbook diary that documented every day of his life. It included his reflections, correspondence, drawings, newspaper clippings, grocery bills, and much other evidence of his unique story. I would love to see you express yourself with that much disciplined ferocity during the next two weeks. According to my astrological analysis, you're in a phase when you have maximum power to create your life with vigorous ingenuity and to show everyone exactly who you are.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20) You have a cosmic

license to enjoy almost too much sensual pleasure. In addition, you should feel free to do more of what you love to do than you normally allow yourself. Be unapologetic about surrounding yourself with flatterers and worshipers. Be sumptuously lazy. Ask others to pick up the slack for you. Got all that? It's just the first part of your oracle. Here's the rest: You have a cosmic license to explore the kind of spiritual growth that's possible when you feel happy and fulfilled. As you go through each day, expect life to bring you exactly what you need to uplift you. Assume that the best service you can offer your fellow humans is to be relaxed and content.

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.

EQUAL HOUSING OPPORTUNITY All real estate advertising in this newspaper is subject to the Federal Fair Housing

Act of 1968, which makes it illegal to advertise any preference, limitation or discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, national origin or an intention to make any such preference, limitation, preference or discrimination. This newspaper will not knowingly accept any advertising for real estate which is in violation of this law. Our readers are hereby informed that all dwellings in our newspaper are available on an equal housing opportunity basis.

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