The Makers

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THE Creation is an act of defiance, and these five business start-up owners show us why.

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contents 33

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39

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LIFE

ON THE COVER

NEWS

LIFE

Creation is an act of defiance.

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Education: Bodine Elementary

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Where there is nothing, creation puts something. For a group of Oklahoma City creatives and entrepreneurs, there is no way of life but to make.

Whether sewing together felt robots, carving down giant blocks of wood or putting bubbles into a bottle of soda, they are driven to fill the void.

6

City: streetcar contract

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Story by Laura Eastes and Greg Elwell. P.25

14

Food & Drink: Gorditas Mexican Kitchen, Rococo Northpark, briefs, OKG eat: crazy dishes

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Performing Arts: Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Classic Radio Theatre

Chicken-Fried News

25

Cover: makers

34

Sudoku / Crossword

12

Commentary

27

Community: Fall Peace Festival

36

12

Letters

28

Culture: Amazing! Oklahoma City Comic Convention

37

Music: The Mavericks, Sex Snobs, Shane Smith & The Saints, listings

Religion: Oklahoma Conference of Churches Annual Dinner

42

Astrology

31

Visual Arts: Taste of Western

43

okc.BIZ’s Forty Under 40

58

Astrology

LIFE

OKG picks

30

Active: The Alpha Challenges OKC

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

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news education

Kid-approved With student suggestions, Bodine Elementary School shifts toward unique learning experiences.

When music teacher Richard McDonald tells his choir students the next song to practice, there are cheers followed by some chitchat.

But the Bodine Elementary School teacher doesn’t mind talkativeness.

His students are social, and they have meaningful things to say. After all, they select all the songs and choreograph the moves for the choir, comprised of fourth-, fifth- and sixth-graders with high marks in academics, attendance and behavior.

It was McDonald’s students who suggested the choir perform Mark Ronson’s pop hit “Uptown Funk.”

McDonald found a kid-friendly version with only a few lyrics altered but the spunky tune intact. On a nippy November morning, as the popular, catchy music began, the educator told his students, “This is a party song. You can’t be sad at a party.”

They smiled, swayed and raised their hands as they sang the very lively repeated lyric, “Don’t believe me; just watch.”

That line is quickly becoming the southside school’s mantra after efforts jolted it from a culture of high suspension rates to a community school with a number of programs to improve academics, attendance, disciplinary actions and student pride. The changes aren’t limited to spreadsheet reports.

Instead, they are visible when Principal Nikki Coshow walks the halls, which are decorated with student artwork and display messages of the schools’ learning environment. One reads, “Dear Student, I believe in you. I trust in you.”

Coshow greets students with hugs and meaningful conversations, which she didn’t see so much of her first year at the school. She started as an assistant principal during the 2012-13 academic year.

“This building has overcome so much,” Coshow said.

Tough doesn’t even begin to describe her first year with Bodine. As she recalled the challenges, her eyes began to fill with tears.

“It was beyond anything you could have ever imagined,” she said. “There were brutal fights every day.”

Quaglia partnership

Bodine is a prekindergarten through sixth grade school in the Oklahoma City

ph otos by Garett fis bec k

By Laura Eastes

Honor choir students help each other with their robes during a recent class at Bodine Elementary School.

Public Schools district. Just five years ago, it was a very different school with a student suspension rate of 40.5 percent.

Only Thelma R. Parks Elementary School held a higher student suspension rate at 42.1 percent. New safety measures, combined with administrators’ determination, began to transform the elementary school plagued by violence and bad behavior.

With the implementation of methods

by The Quaglia Institute for Student Aspirations, a nonprofit organization that offers schools a framework for lifting student goals, Bodine’s transformation gained traction.

“We were turning Bodine around, but Quaglia helped us get it there,” said Coshow, who reported that the school has only had two discipline referrals this school year.

Each year, Quaglia Institute collaborates with 10 school districts to establish Aspiration School demonstration sites. Last school year, OKCPS became one of those school districts and kicked off the program in Bodine, Britton Elementary, Jefferson Middle and Webster Middle schools. This year, Prairie Queen Elementary and U.S. Grant High

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School are implementing the program.

First, teachers surveyed students on their impressions of the schools and the roles of teachers. At Bodine, the results shocked school staff; however, the negative feedback was embraced as a stepping point highlighting the need to further change the learning climate.

Teachers joined the effort, replicating a teamlike mentality and reading the book Student Voice: The Instrument of Change

by Quaglia Institute founder Russell Quaglia and Michael Corso.

“It was a very inspiring framework,” Coshow said. “We’ve used other programs in the past, but this program allows our kids to be who they are. Because a student makes a mistake does not make them a bad child. That student just has a hill to climb and something to overcome to become successful. We don’t harp on those failures. We harp on the successes.”

The three guiding principles of the program are self-worth, engagement and purpose. The model calls for directly working with students by allowing them to actively engage in their learning and take responsibility for what they want their school to become. Pupils are encouraged to tell teachers exactly what

This program allows our kids to be who they are.

— Nikki Coshow

they want, and they do so by creating proposals within their leadership teams.

Student inspired

Two years ago, the students at Bodine pushed for a school garden, which school leaders welcomed. Now, before classes start, Coshow sees students in the vegetable and fruit garden, tending to the plants and pulling weeds from the radishes, watermelons and cantaloupe plants. The youth recently nicknamed the garden “vegucation station” and expressed interest in creating an outdoor classroom nearby.

With regard to school safety, students desired to work closely with the school resource officer and, through their partnership, created the Paw Program.

Similar to a junior officer program, pupils named it to match their school’s

Bobcat mascot. Now, youth monitor their classrooms and hallways. When a student misbehaves, like running in the hallway or being rude to a classmate, monitors issue a warning or write a citation, which is later reviewed by teachers.

“I hear students tell other students, ‘That’s not who we are,’ when issuing warnings and citations,” Coshow explained.

Students also pushed for establishing a school store, one that would accept accelerated reader points as payment for bicycles, games, basketballs and more.

When it came to rewarding students for perfect or near-perfect attendance, pupils requested a special treat of a snow cone vendor visiting their school. Not only do they order a frozen treat from the vendor, but students help pour on the flavors, explained fourth-graders Princess Oreu and Mary Eastman.

“You have to have a good and positive behavior to go,” explained Eastman, who is a member of the school’s leadership group, Q Team. “It is one of the ways we make the school a better place.”

Students suggested a partnership with neighbor Metro Technology Center. The tech school’s South Bryant Campus is a short walk from the elementary school. A select number of sixth-grade students visit the school for

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six weeks for welding lessons.

When it came to establishing afterschool programs, the youth wanted Bodine to develop sports teams, scouts, a choir, a Bible study and a science group called Saturday Scientists, which meets to conduct experiments and take educational trips on Saturday mornings. Teachers stepped up to volunteer as coaches and advisors, which was followed by donations from the community. A police officer is the school’s basketball coach in addition to overseeing the Paws Program. Local company Devon Energy Corporation awarded the school a $25,000 grant to make the Saturday Scientists program a reality. Area businesses and organizations also donated choir robes, sports equipment and student achievement prizes.

Just watch

Students have found greater meaning in their school experience thanks to the new influx of programs. The youth exhibit pride when they talk about their opportunities. They respect standards required in their classrooms.

The walls in McDonald’s music room are plastered with posters of well-known composers, instruments and inspirational messages, like “Dare to Dream.”

Like Coshow, McDonald began at the

Richard McDonald leads the honor choir at Bodine Elementary School in Oklahoma City. school four years ago. McDonald, who is a favorite among students, said it’s not the upbeat songs or off-campus performance opportunities that make students eager to audition for the honor choir. Instead, it’s the respect and love he offers each child.

He, too, remembers when hallway hugs and high-fives were not a common sight.

“You’ve got to respect them, and they’ve got to respect you,” McDonald said. “Students are looking for people they can trust. That’s the key to teaching students. When my students come in, I tell them I love them like my own

children. When they do something good, I tell them. When they mess up, they know.”

As the honor choir students take off their newly donated bright blue robes, Coshow stands ready to help the them put the robes away and remarks on how well they are performing. At the same time, she watches and waits for the next suggestion from her students.

“Kids are an amazing force,” Coshow said. “When that force is going the right direction with quality leadership, it is hard to tell the kids no.”

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news city

A streetcar named try again m a rk ha n coc k

The MAPS 3 streetcar project moves ahead after a Czech manufacturer fails to meet contract terms.

by Laura Eastes

Oklahoma City leaders and city staff undertook an extensive and complex process intended to bring a modern rail system downtown and to neighboring districts.

Contract negotiations took nine months, which is a reasonable timeframe. A quick Internet news search for the word “streetcar” shows about a half-dozen U.S. cities are experiencing hurdles, setbacks and delays as streetcar projects drag months behind schedule.

Inekon Group is the streetcar producer of choice for a number of U.S. cities, including Seattle, Portland and Washington, D.C. In late September, Oklahoma

City joined the list of American cities working with the Czech Republic’s Inekon for the MAPS 3 Modern Streetcar/Transit project. Damages clauses and insurance requirements were written into the $23 million contract. After approval from the Oklahoma City Council and two MAPS 3 boards, Mayor Mick Cornett signed the 69-page document.

A month later, however, the agreement is null and void, according to city attorney Amanda Carpenter.

Inekon failed to produce the performance and warranty bond requirements and requested an extension only days before its Oct. 30 deadline. Three days later, the

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Jeff Bezdek center discusses possible route changes with MAPS 3 Transit/ Modern Streetcar Subcommittee members during a recent special meeting. company sent another letter to city officials that requested an additional 45 days to obtain the necessary credit documents.

Moving along

Now, city leaders are shifting gears toward their second choice, Brookville Equipment. In 2012, the Pennsylvaniabased company introduced its first modern streetcar design and produced vehicles for Dallas, whose officials ordered two more after a successful four-month run. Additionally, Brookville is working to fulfill a six-

vehicle order from transit officials in Detroit, who also had negotiated unsuccessfully with Inekon.

Oklahoma City consultants from Jacobs Engineering Group expressed confidence in striking a deal with the U.S.-based manufacturer, as Brookville already is familiar with the project.

The recommendation came at a Nov. 5 special meeting called after the Inekon contract was broken. “(Brookville) came second in the evaluations,” explained Jacobs’ Rob continued on p.8

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Mark Gibbs

Edgcumbe, who addressed the MAPS 3 Transit/Modern Streetcar Subcommittee by phone to discuss the next step. “At no point did we see them as an inappropriate supplier … it was just that they didn’t win the first time around. Their ability to deliver the product is something we feel they can do. We have some areas we are going to work [on] with them, just as we did with other bidders and Inekon. It just worked out this way, and I think we can make it work.”

The subcommittee unanimously approved a resolution authorizing the city to negotiate a contract with Brookville. About 30 minutes later, the MAPS 3 Citizens Advisory Board approved the same resolution, moving the document to the council for its approval at the Nov. 10 meeting.

A representative for Brookville told Oklahoma Gazette the company was not “in a position to comment on this matter at the present time.”

New route

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If talks begin with Brookville, questions will center on vehicle design as well as how it fits into Oklahoma City’s rail infrastructure, already at 60 percent completion in the planning phase. The Brookville streetcar reportedly is heavier than Inekon’s product, which prompted questions about platform alterations and future maintenance issues.

A key component of Brookville’s design is its battery system, which is “similar” to Inekon’s. The vehicles will require battery power to run through some portions of the 4.6mile line.

Additionally, Brookville streetcars come with a higher price tag. In the company’s bid, vehicles were priced around $4.7 million each, compared with Inekon’s bid of around $4.4 million each. The difference of about $1.5 million for five planned cars doesn’t bother the streetcar subcommittee, as it holds a $3 million surplus from phase 1 of the project.

City leaders believe working with Brookville will be a smoother ride.

Company officials sent numerous letters to city leaders explaining

its interest in the project, even after Inekon edged it out in the proposal stage. Brookville is new to manufacturing modern streetcars, but its resume includes building locomotives, mining cars and heritage streetcars and trolleys.

Many subcommittee members viewed the company’s strategy as too “aggressive,” but now they hope to see that eagerness transition into the timely manufacture of five modern streetcars.

“One can only hope that they are as aggressive in their delivery and production as they are in their lobbying,” said subcommittee member Mark Gibbs.

Re-route

As contract talks continue, the subcommittee also plans to revisit route plans to determine the feasibility of connecting streetcar lines to other MAPS 3 projects like the new downtown convention center and neighboring public park.

Current plans show the streetcar will haul passengers through the central business district, with links to Midtown, Automobile Alley and Bricktown. The closest stop is six blocks away from the proposed convention center, according to Jeff Bezdek, subcommittee member.

“We have some serious work to do to make our system respond to this major public investment down there,” Bezdek said. “We don’t need to redraw the whole route, but certainly the southern portion needs to be revisited.”

Re-examining the route reflects subcommittee members’ diligence for ensuring the signature project of the MAPS 3 program meets its goal of improving transportation in Oklahoma City, he said. Alterations could further delay the service start date, but group members also don’t want to exclude key locations from the route.

“The subcommittee is dedicated to making this the best streetcar system the city has ever seen,” Bezdek contended, “since the first one was built over 60 years ago.”

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Chicken Thanks, lawmakers!

At the beginning of this month, 249 new laws went into effect.

Before you get excited about the new statutes, just know that none alter liquor laws, increase teacher pay, reform jail sentencing, reduce wastewater injection volumes, legalize medical marijuana or outlaw hoodies in public.

What did lawmakers do from February through May? They passed the following new laws.

Thanks to lawmakers pushing House Bill 2005, the average age of volunteer firefighters will now increase.

If you are 45 and older, you can now drive on over to the fire station, volunteer to fight some fires and rescue cats out of trees.

With Senate Bill 56, lawmakers helped take away that pesky requirement to list a Social Security number when buying a gun.

For the Oklahoma bees, they’ve created the

Fried news “pollinator protection plan” through Senate Bill 229. That plan will promote the health of bees. Yippee!

Finally — through Senate Bill 637 — it is now illegal for a foster parent to have sex with foster children 19 years old or younger.

And like the hoodie bill, the push to revoke watermelon’s status as the state vegetable died during committee.

So, Oklahomans are clear for another year to wear hoodies and celebrate watermelon as the state’s top vegetable.

Ugly reality

Clover dating app used its “proprietary scoring system” (snicker) to rank our great nation’s Most Attractive Cities & States. The company even created a blog post and four infotainment maps to illustrate the findings.

We’re No. 6! Congratulations, Oklahoma men! You almost got Oklahoma

into the top five Most Attractive States ranking, according to Clover’s “proprietary scoring system.”

Yay! You fell behind the men of Missouri, North Dakota, Utah, South Dakota and Montana.

Not one of our state’s cities, however, earned a “hot” dot on their maps.

We’re No. 1! You poor, frustrated, lonely male Clover app users. Why you choose to live here is unfathomable.

Clover’s “proprietary scoring system” discovered Oklahoma City women are the least attractive in the nation.

Mississippi’s female population helped earn the dubious honor of America’s Least Attractive State.

Hold your nonpretty lady head high, Oklahoma City, because you helped Oklahoma earn the No. 2 slot.

Speaking of scoring ... listen, guys.

It’s time for an ugly moment of truth.

If you’re using Clover to score, well, you probably won’t. Because Clover’s “proprietary scoring system” just gave

its female users the perfect reason to dump that app, and possibly you.

Expensive exertion

Governor’s daughter Christina Fallin might be many things, but she isn’t someone who works for free.

Fallin is once again under public scrutiny, but this time, she’s the one who’s angry.

Fallin filed a lawsuit against local janitorial company GT Clean and its owner, Ginger Sloan, claiming she’s owed thousands of dollars for work.

“She would do some marketing and promoting. She did some hiring and firing, setting up schedules, walking through buildings for cleaning contracts,” Bryan King, Fallin’s attorney, told KFOR.com.

Fallin claims GT Clean owes her “$42,000 in salary [and] $19,511 in commissions” and Sloan herself owes Fallin $1,819 for her work at Sloan’s medical transcription business and $16,943 plus interest for a personal loan, according to The Republic.

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KFOR.com reported that Sloan filed bankruptcy five days after Fallin resigned from her position and “is also facing a number of civil suits.”

Over the past few years, Fallin and Sloan appeared together at various public social gatherings, including highprofile Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in 2014 and events at the governor’s mansion.

The Republic also reported that Fallin requested the case to be sealed to keep it out of the public eye, but Judge Tim Leonard said it was “contrary to the presumption of openness of judicial records.”

Daily dose

Well, it looks as if decades of minimal infrastructure updates are finally working out for Oklahoma City.

Google, makers of that thing you use so often you almost don’t realize it, has announced it’s looking at Oklahoma City as a future site for its high-speed Internet service, Fiber.

After years

of swallowing Cox and AT&T’s monopolistic control of Oklahoma City’s access to the Internet, we might be in line for a deep drilling of Google’s high-speed fiber-optic cables, which promise download and upload speeds of 1,000 megabits per second.

By way of comparison, Cox’s Internet Ultimate package boasts “up to” 150 megabits per second download and only 20 megabits per second upload speeds.

AT&T has GigaPower, but it’s not in OKC. Google Fiber’s Director of Expansion Jill Szuchmacher said challenges could pop up, including topography issues and access to local, existing infrastructure.

Don’t worry, Jill! There’s little existing infrastructure!

Dig away.

You want us to dig?

We’ll do it.

Whatever it takes for that sweet, sweet Fiber.

Cat talk

“My first cat that I had, name was Sam, but Sam died in, let’s say, 2006,” said University of Oklahoma senior linebacker and cat enthusiast Eric Striker during a recent media interview session, reporters gathered eagerly around him. “Very emotional time.

You know, we loved him; me and my brother.”

Sam was, by all accounts, an outside cat. But he was friendly and playful before he met his untimely death at the hands of an automobile.

What does any of this have to do with OU football? Not a blessed thing, and thank the ancient Egyptian cat goddess Bastet for that.

Striker went on to describe the cat he adopted from an animal shelter in Oklahoma City, a kitten he named Django, and how he treated him more like a friend than a pet.

If you want to hear people talk endlessly about a game they barely

understand, played by students they treat as characters instead of actual humans, please enjoy any number of Oklahoma City’s sports talk radio programs, public venues or the offices of co-workers you no longer respect.

We Gazetteers would much rather watch and enjoy the games and then while away the afternoon with Striker, learning about the lives and loves of cats. Meow that’s entertainment.

Quote of the week

“It goes to show that the president is more interested in appeasing his wealthy environmental donors than helping the private sector create jobs for working families.”

— U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) on President Barack Obama’s rejection of the Keystone XL Pipeline

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commentary

P ROV I D ED

Stop quakes sooner, not later

By Johnson Bridgwater

It was just a few months ago, June 20 to be exact, when my daughter woke me up around midnight. She had just fallen asleep after celebrating her 16th birthday but was terrified. An earthquake had just awakened her.

Sierra Club Oklahoma and Public Justice, a public interest law firm that works to protect the environment, civil rights and the rights of employees and consumers, are working in conjunction to put an end to this type of fear and anxiety experienced by thousands of Oklahoma residents on a daily basis.

Our goal is not to “crush the oil and gas industry.” Instead, our mission is to give a voice to Oklahomans whose voices are being drowned out by companies that claim they are Oklahoma’s best friends.

Indeed, the threat caused poses a clear and present danger to the health of Oklahoma residents and their environment.

This is not how friends treat each other.

On Oct. 30, we filed a Notice of Intent to Sue. In that document, we state: “Defendants (oil and gas companies)

are violating RCRA [Resource Conservation and Recovery Act] as a result of past and present handling and disposal of Production Wastes in a manner that may present an imminent and substantial endangerment to health and the environment. Indeed, the threat caused poses a clear and present danger to the health of Oklahoma residents and their environment.”

The numbers back up this claim. In June, the journal Science published a study by University of Colorado, Boulder, and the U.S. Geological Survey. It reported an “unprecedented” surge in earthquakes across the central U.S., especially in Oklahoma, Texas and Colorado. About 10 percent of injection wells in the study area — more than 18,000 wells

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

— were found to be associated with earthquakes.

Plus, earthquakes stronger than 4.0 are becoming a regular occurrence in Oklahoma. This is not about financial gain; this is about taking stronger action to stop the earthquakes.

Do not let the oil and gas industry fool you. This issue is far from under control. On the very day we publicly announced our intent, a 4.4-magnitude earthquake struck Langston.

The oil and gas industry is using Oklahoma as a lab to figure out just how far it can go before our land splits open and destroys our homes and communities.

Johnson Bridgwater is director of the Oklahoma chapter of Sierra Club, proudly helping Oklahomans explore, enjoy and protect their environment since 1972.

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

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

Reality check?

Slow down there, David (Commentary, Letters, “Love story,” David R. Oliver, Oct. 28, Oklahoma Gazette). It looks like you missed a lot of pages in your love story.

Hillary Clinton may say she listens to you, but more than 600 times, she did not listen to her people in Libya, and the result was four dead Americans, including an ambassador. She also voted for the war in Iraq, as did others, but she worked for four years in the current administration as the Secretary of State, and they created the current foreign affairs mess; i.e. ISIS, just to name the biggest of her failures after Benghazi.

You do know that an awful lot of information online is biased and slanted, when it is not outright lies and propaganda, especially The New York Times? Which one of her mainstream cronies was wooing you? Sounds like

MSNBC or CNN. Am I right?

Hillary just proved this past fortnight how cunning she can be in a congressional hearing, where she was under oath, with one of her lawyers seated behind her.

So, before you ask her to leave Bubba so you can propose to her, you need to dig a little deeper. She also has two mortgages with him, and they were broke when they left the White House, after all those Bill Clinton accomplishments, which she is now disavowing. At first, I thought you might be writing in jest, but love is sometimes strange.

— John W. Hilmes Oklahoma City ‘God-given’

The forefathers using the phrase “endowed by their creator” to describe individual freedom is probably the most vitally important decision among the plethora of important decisions that they made in writing the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States.

They also declared that both documents are connected, not separate, which is equally vital. Whether you are a religious person or not, this phrase is paramount to your personal happiness and free existence.

The belief that individual rights are

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“God-given” means that they have been “endowed” to you by a higher power and, therefore, cannot be taken away, period. There is no leeway anywhere in this theology whatsoever, and that is paramount to its survival. It is the cornerstone to the “pursuit of happiness.”

As long as it doesn’t infringe on others doing the same, it’s a “God-given” right, and herein lies the problem.

Progressive socialists, atheists, secularists and liberals (generally the same folks) are at odds with this theocracy based solely on their belief system. It has to go in order to achieve their particular goals. Statism is in direct conflict with the idea of untouchable and true freedom, and the examples are many.

Again, whether religious or not, when we go down that road of saying other than “endowed by their creator,” we are now saying that “man” is in the position to decide the issue and define the parameters as he/she sees fit. “Man” historically sucks at this. It usually means the most power-hungry, arrogant and ignorant among us are the most enthusiastic about taking the reins, i.e. progressive socialists. History has certainly been consistent and in that has never been a good thing. So religious or not, embrace the idea of “God-given” rights. It is the only sure, philosophically sound way of keeping them.

— Doug Rixmann Newalla

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O k l a h o m a G a z e t t e | n ov e m b e r 1 1 , 2 0 1 5 | 1 3

We’ll show you a

NEW VIEW

okg picks are events

recommended by Oklahoma Gazette editorial staff members.

For full calendar listings, go to okgazette.com.

Helicopter Christmas Light Tours Take tours over Nichols Hills Downtown Lake Hefner The State Capitol

BOOKS Jennifer Linck Signing, after struggling to conceive a child, Jennifer Linck and her husband turned to God and began a journey toward international adoption; Bringing Home the Missing Linck is her memoir on faith, family, and navigating the system of international adoption, 6 p.m., Nov. 11. Full Circle Bookstore, 1900 Northwest Expressway, 842-2900, fullcirclebooks.com. WED Michael Hightower Signing, Michael Hightower’s book, Loyal to Oklahoma, follows the father-son duo who helped to build up the state of Oklahoma one community at a time, 6:30 p.m., Nov. 12. Full Circle Bookstore, 1900 Northwest Expressway, 842-2900, fullcirclebooks.com. THU

CALL 405.440.1053 BOOk YOuR HOLIDAY HANgAR PARTY! gROuPS Of 40-120

FILM The Assassin, (2015, Taiwan, dir. Hou Hsiao-hsien) during the ninth-century Tang dynasty, a young assassin returns from years in exile to complete her mission, but in doing so she must choose between love and duty, 8 p.m., Nov. 12; 5:30 p.m., Nov. 13 & 14. Oklahoma City Museum of Art, 415 Couch Drive, 236-3100, okcmoa.com. THU-SAT

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The Man from U.N.C.L.E., (2015, US, dir. Guy Ritchie) based on the popular 1960s television series, this film follows three unlikely companions who must team up to take on a mission to save the world from some wealthy Nazi sympathizers, 6 p.m., 9 p.m., & midnight, Nov. 13.

Meacham Auditorium, 660 Parrington Oval, Norman, ou.edu/upb.html. FRI The Keeping Room, (2014, US, dir. Daniel Barber) three women, two sisters and a slave, living in the South at the close of the Civil War must protect their homestead from rogue soldiers, 8 p.m., Nov. 13 & 14; 5:30 p.m., Nov. 15. Oklahoma City Museum of Art, 415 Couch Drive, 2363100, okcmoa.com. FRI-SUN

HAPPENINGS Plaza Pub Crawl, it’s the 5th annual Friends of the Plaza Pub Crawl, which will begin at District House at 6 p.m. and continue through all the tasty bars and pubs the Plaza District has to offer, 6 p.m., Nov. 11. Plaza District, 1618 N. Gatewood Ave., 367-9403, plazadistrict.org. WED

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McLoud Authors Visit, enjoy free refreshments and talk to and enjoy signings with the local Oklahoman authors, including novelist Linda Holmes Drew, children’s book author Glenda Kuhn, and many more, noon-2 p.m., Nov. 14. Best of Books, 1313 E. Danforth Road, Edmond, 3409202, bestofbooksedmond.com. SAT

Comrades & Coffee Fundraiser National Alliance for the Mentally Ill Oklahoma (NAMI) hosts this paint-and-wine fundraiser for its Comrades & Coffee program, which connects military service members and veterans with each other and community resources for education, friendship and help as they cope with mental illness. Tickets are $35 and include an 11x14 wrapped canvas. Join NAMI 6:30 p.m. Thursday at Wine & Palette, 201 NW 10th St. See page 21 for more information.

Thursday Paseo Arts Awards Dinner, join the Paseo Arts Association to celebrate and recognize artists and patrons who make strong contributions in our state; cocktails and dinner are included, 6:30 p.m., Nov. 11.

Skirvin Hilton Hotel, 1 Park Ave., 272-3040, skirvinhilton. com. WED

featuring a panel of local artists and educators, performances, art displays, and food and drink; help Norman become a more inclusive arts community, 6 p.m., Nov. 12. Scratch Annex, 428 E. Main, Norman, 3601162, normanarts.org. THU

Mistletoe Market, come check out this one-stop holiday shopping extravaganza featuring unique merchandise from more than 100 carefully selected vendors from Oklahoma and across the country, Nov. 12-14. Cox Convention Center, 1 Myriad Gardens, 602-8500, coxconventioncenter.com. THU

Decorative Gourd Class, no, we’re not just talking jack o’lanterns and colorful squash bowls over here; in this class you’ll learn about the ancient art of gourd-stitching with pine needles to create a story, like quilting but way more hardcore, 10 a.m.-4 p.m., Nov. 14. Oklahoma History Center, 800 Nazih Zuhdi Drive, 521-2491, okhistory.org/historycenter. SAT

Diversity in the Arts Discussion, share your voice at the Norman Arts Council Diversity in the Arts discussion,

Bluegrass Jam, the Greater Oklahoma Bluegrass Music Society presents its monthly concert and workshop,

Red Dirt Rising

PROV ID ED

This Red Dirt Rising dinner event helps raise funds for PAMBA Ghana, an Oklahoma-based nonprofit that partners local communities in northern Ghana with U.S. resources to help educate kindergartenthrough-sixth-grade youth at the La’Angum Learning Center in Ghana. The event speaker is nonprofit founder Alice IddiGubbles, and featured guests include local community and city leaders who traveled to the country this summer. Jamie Bramble will perform. Red Dirt Rising runs 6:309:30 p.m. Saturday in Dean Willey Hall at St. Paul’s Cathedral, 127 NW Seventh St. Tickets start at $50, and reservations must be made by Friday. Call 848-1415 or visit pambeghana.org.

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Saturday

MA RK HA NCOCK / FI L E

LIKE US!

Statehood Day Festival To celebrate our great state’s 108th birthday, The Oklahoma Hall of Fame and Gaylord-Pickens Museum hosts a Statehood Day Festival 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday at 1400 Classen Drive. Admission is free, and activities include family-friendly crafts, food trucks, face painting, inflatables and more. Visit oklahomahof.com/ statehooddayfestival.aspx or call 523-3231.

Saturday featuring music from the Rural Route Ramblers, the Bonhams, and the Mustang Ramblers as well as workshops, jam sessions, and more, 4 p.m., Nov. 14.

Oklahoma Country-Western Museum & Hall of Fame, 3929 SE 29th St., 677-3174. SAT Drop-In Art, contrary to what your mother probably told you, art can totally be made out of stuff you find on the ground, provided that stuff is leaves, and that art is leaf prints; come make some of your own at the OKC MOA, 1 p.m., Nov. 14.

Oklahoma City Museum of Art, 415 Couch Drive, 236-3100, okcmoa.com. SAT Neuro Night Forum, our brains are kind of a huge part of our lives, and this is your chance to learn all about what makes your neuro-noodle tick; join neuroscientists from across the state including Dr. Celeste Wirsig-Wiechmann, Erik Hodges, and Albert Orock and flex your thinking muscles at this informative discussion, 6 p.m., Nov. 17. The Fountains at Canterbury, 1404 NW 122nd St., Norman, 271-6267, ouhsc.edu/ocns. TUE

EASIER WAY

FOOD 8th Annual Chili Bowl, all-you-can-eat artisan chili is at your fingertips at the 8th Annual Chili Bowl, brought to you by the OU School of Art and Art History; help support the school and grab your very own one of a kind ceramic handmade chili bowl to fill with as much chili as you can physically handle, 11:30 a.m., Nov. 11. University of Oklahoma, 660 Parrington Oval, Norman, 3250311, ou.edu. WED Uptown Cooking Class, if you prefer your food to be prehistoric weapons-themed, Chef Gary Tow recommends his special fried pickle spears and homemade dipping sauce; learn how to make your very own, 10 a.m., Nov. 14. Uptown Grocery Co., 1230 W. Covell Road, Edmond, 509-2700, uptowngroceryco.com. SAT Taste of Western, celebrate local art, food, and wine, the way they were meant to be celebratedseeing, eating, and drinking them, that is, 6 p.m., Nov. 14. Will Rogers Theatre, 4322 N. Western, 604-3015, willrogerstheatre.com. SAT Battle of the Queso-Dilla, competition never tasted so cheesy; quesa-do yourself a favor and head down to sample for yourself and vote for your favorite, 10 a.m.-1 p.m., Nov. 14. Buy For Less, 3501 Northwest Expressway, 946-6342, buyforlessok.com. SAT Holiday Entertaining Show, it’s like Pinterest, but in person; join Buy For Less to learn everything you need to know – and buy – for the perfect holiday get-together and impress all your friends, 11 a.m.-5 p.m., Nov. 15. Buy For Less, 3501 Northwest Expressway, 946-6342, buyforlessok.com. SUN The ABC’s of What You Eat: Apples, they say continued on next page

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Located in the coLLonade shops

p rov id ed

9612 N. May ave. okc | 430-7915

AXIOM Three graduating art students of the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma (USAO) — Shauntel Cornaby, Sonja Ingram and Amanda Raymond — present their fall senior bachelor of fine arts exhibit, AXIOM, which runs through Friday inside the third floor Art Gallery in Davis Hall on the campus, 1727 W. Alabama Ave., in Chickasha. Admission is free. Hours are 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. WednesdayFriday. Call 574-1302.

Wednesday, Nov. 11-Friday an apple a day keeps the doctor away, but that only really works if you have a good arm and your doctor is terrified of apples; learn everything you need to know about choosing, storing, eating & preparing apples for your health, noon, Nov. 17. Buy For Less, 10011 S.E. 15th St., Midwest City, 733-4385, buyforlessok.com. TUE

YOUTH Hunger Games Science Overnight, inspired by the movies and bestselling books by Suzanne Collins, SMO is providing a unique insight into the science of survival; participants will learn how to create water filters and learn all about the organisms they’re filtering out, how to navigate with compasses, and get familiar with all sorts of dangerous creepy crawlies, all in the safety of a large air-conditioned and presumably security-alarmed facility, 7 p.m. Nov. 13-7 a.m. Nov. 14.

Science Museum Oklahoma, 2100 NE 52nd St. , 6026664, sciencemuseumok.org. FRI Crafts For Kids, if the home or restaurant or bar at which you will be spending Thanksgiving will have a door somewhere in it, and that door has a handle, then your holiday is about to get a lot more festive; join Lakeshore for and make your very own Thanksgiving doorhanger, 11 a.m.-3 p.m., Nov. 14. Lakeshore Learning Store, 6300 N. May Ave., 858-8778, lakeshorelearning.com. SAT Art Adventures, children can experience the world of art through stories and projects in this event series; this week’s story will be My Name is Georgia

by Jeanette Winter, 10:30 A.M., Nov. 17. Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, 555 Elm Ave., Norman, 325-3272, ou.edu/fjjma. TUE Tape & Tunnels, get psyched for recyclables at the newest exhibit at SMO, where kids can experience an interactive wonderland with packing tape tunnels, bungee cord mazes, and cardboard clubhouses where they can climb, build, and explore. Science Museum Oklahoma, 2100 NE 52nd St., 602-6664, sciencemuseumok.org.

PERFORMING ARTS Tony Tone, rambunctious and excitable, Tony Tone is a master of impressions and over-the-top antics; once he steps on stage the fun never stops, 8 p.m., Nov. 11 & 12; 8 & 10:30 p.m., Nov. 13 & 14. Loony Bin Comedy Club, 8503 N. Rockwell Ave., 239-4242, loonybincomedy.com. WED-SAT

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In The Wings, two aspiring young actors have their romantic relationship tested when the musical they were both cast in moves to Broadway, and only one of the actors is brought with it, 8 p.m., Nov. 12-14; 2:30 p.m., Nov. 15. Jewel Box Theatre, 3700 N. Walker Ave., 521-1786, jewelboxtheatre.org. THU-SUN Side Story: Just West of the Musical, neither ballet nor musical, this original production is lacking in song and dialogue and instead communicated through dance; it’s the classic story in a way never before seen, bringing new life to the musical and expanding the realm of physical communication, 7:30 p.m., Nov. 1214. UCO Mitchell Hall Theater, 100 N. University Drive, Edmond, 974-2000, uco.edu. THU-SAT The Dinner Detective, this improvised show is just another ordinary dinner, with one exception- someone in the midst is guilty of murder, and that person just might be sitting right across from you; guests of this super special Dinner Detective show are encouraged to come in costume, 6 p.m., Nov. 14. Sheraton Hotel, 1 N Broadway Ave, 235-2780, http://www.sheratonokc.com/. SAT Cuddle Party Comedy, get your warm fuzzies on most Sundays at the Opolis with Cuddle Party Comedy; this week’s cuddlers include Jeramy “Wuzzy Bear” Westbrook, Angel “Supasoft” Supastud, Amanda “Fluffmasta” Stonebarger, and Matt “The Human Snuggie” Raney, 9 p.m., Nov. 15. Opolis, 113 N. Crawford Ave., Norman, 673-4931, opolis.org. SUN

ACTIVE OKC Thunder vs. Philadelphia 76ers, Friday the 13th is widely considered to be an unlucky day, but we think that bad luck will fall on the 76ers; come watch the Thunder knock on wood- the hardwood floors, that is, 7 p.m., Nov. 13. Chesapeake Energy Arena, 100 W. Reno Ave., 602-8700, chesapeakearena.com. FRI Learn To Skate, become a master of the ice with the skating pros from Blazers Ice Centre and not only will you glide across the ice with ease, you’ll also be able to amaze your friends with several skills necessary for the basics of figure skating and ice hockey, Nov. 16, 7 & 7:30 p.m. Devon Ice Rink, 100 N. Robinson Ave, oklahomacitybotanicalgardens.com. MON Free Zen Meditation Class, find the zenith of zen in this free meditation and Buddhist teachings class offered every week until the end of November; the monastery is supported entirely by the generous donations of its students, 10 a.m.-noon & 7-9 p.m., Nov.17. Buddha Mind Monastery, 5800 S Anderson Road. TUE

Now BookiNg for BoardiNg School VISUAL ARTS All in All, you don’t make it onto the wall of the Chesapeake Arena Thunder Family VIP Lounge for nothing; boasting a BFA from State University of New York College, Christie Owen’s organic abstract and modern impressionist acrylic works are displayed all over Oklahoma draw inspiration from natural and industrial textures, from both the organic and the inorganic. Verbode, 415 N Broadway Ave #101, 7577001, verbodegroup.com.

Blast of Glass, it isn’t nearly as painful as it sounds; glass has many unique properties not found in other media: it shines, it can be blown into many shapes, it is smooth, and often reflects and refracts light in the most beautiful and unexpected ways; this month’s art exhibit showcases the many facets of glassworks. Jann Jeffrey Gallery, 3018 Paseo St., 607-0406, jannjeffrey. com.

Enter the Matrix: Indigenous Printmakers, exhibition exploring how printmaking has become a matrix for cultural and key figures of artistic exchange. Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, 555 Elm Ave., Norman, 3253272, ou.edu/fjjma.

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

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Small Works Great Gifts, if you are puzzled as to what to gift your artistic loved one for the holidays, check out this unique show featuring small works during the Holiday Season; the gallery shows a wide variety of styles as well as mediums; oils, acrylics, watercolor, photography, pen and ink, pencil as well as sculpture and glass, and will also have gift certificates and lay-away. Contemporary Art Gallery, 2928 Paseo St., 601-7474, contemporaryartgalleryokc.com.

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The 3 of Us, join resident artist Dana Powell, along with painter Mary Howard and jewelry crafter Andrea Kissinger for a unique multimedia exhibit featuring bright colors and shining necklaces. In Your Eye Gallery, 3005 Paseo #A. This Place We Have Become, Barry Snidow’s photographic prints, Shane Scribner’s paintings of brief ordinary moments, and Sara Scribner’s eternal women all combine the timeless with the distinctly dated; together, these artists fill the gallery with varied artworks, all asking the viewer how we know where we are in time. JRB Art at The Elms, 2810 N. Walker Ave., 528-6336, jrbartgallery.com.

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

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Little Prairies, Romy Owens’s uniquely sparse and innovative medium choices interpretations of miniature landscapes invite viewers to question what makes a landscape a landscape, what makes beauty, beauty, and what makes art, art. The Project Box, 3003 Paseo St., 609-3969, theprojectboxokc.com.

Photography From 1987 and Beyond, this exhibit includes works from across the globe, including Canada, the Czech Republic, Germany, India, Mexico, the U.S., and more, who have been exhibited worldwide in the MOMA, the Met, Tate Modern, and the Guggenheim; the decades encompassed in these photos were historic and revolutionary. Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center, 3000 General Pershing Blvd.

Mega Adoption Event Oklahoma City Animal Welfare hosts six metro-area pet adoption groups as hundreds of sweet critters paw and purr at you, until that special one looks in your eyes and asks, “Will you be my human?” Dogs and cats from the Oklahoma City Animal Shelter, which is participating in the event, are spayed or neutered, vaccinated and treated for fleas, ticks and worms. The Mega Adoption Event runs 9 a.m.-9 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m.-6 p.m.

Sunday in the PetSmart parking lot at NW 63rd Street and May Avenue. Visit thebellafoundation.org or call 297-3100.

Saturday-Sunday

For okg music picks see page 41

O k l a h o m a G a z e t t e | n ov e m b e r 1 1 , 2 0 1 5 | 1 7

Our wine pairs well with turkey and difficult relatives.

Cheers to Fall!

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life food & drink

Más Gorditas Take your love of gorditas and your cursory knowledge of the Spanish language to this OKC eatery.

Gorditas Mexican Kitchen 3264 SW 44th St. | 510-9888 What works: The pork crackling and chicken cream gorditas are top-notch.

What needs work: Communication is a little rough, but nothing terrible.

Tip: It’s so cheap, you should definitely take some back to your coworkers.

Do one thing, and do it well.

That is, apparently, the foundation of UNIX code. And nothing gets me hungrier than talking about operating systems. That sentiment — about doing one thing well, not about getting hungry talking about computer programming — is also at the heart of a lovely little eatery called Gorditas Mexican Kitchen, 3264 SW 44th St. Gorditas serves gorditas ($2.50 each).

Interrupting reader: You mean those things they serve at Taco Bell? Those are a real Mexican food?

Me: Yes. I mean, the ones at Taco Bell aren’t really gorditas. Those are like a taco in a pita.

Interrupting reader: Didn’t you write admiringly of a “taco in a pita” at Hugo’s Taquizas?

Me: True. But Hugo’s makes no bones about a tacone being a pita taco.

A gordita is a more like a fat tortilla— Interrupting reader: You mean like a pita?

Me: No. Shut up. A pita and a tortilla are not the same. And Gorditas makes its gorditas by stuffing fat tortillas full of flavorful fillings and then crisping them up on a griddle.

You can get flour or corn tortillas with beans and cheese, ground beef, carne asada, tender pork or— Interrupting reader: So it’s a taco, but instead of folding the tortilla, the good stuff is inside it. That doesn’t sound that great.

Me: Then maybe you should listen harder. These are fresh, fat tortillas. They are much closer to the Guatemalan delicacy pupusas than they are to tacos.

And the staff at Gorditas knows how to cook. Its chicken cream-stuffed gordita is like a handheld chicken enchilada. The cream cheese sauce is thick and rich, the chicken is delicate and inside a flour tortilla — it’s like eating a nap.

The pork crackling is another must-try. It’s insanely tender and has a sumptuous fatty quality that will make your heart beat faster even as it clogs your arteries. Douse it in green sauce and ride that flavor train until the taste conductor makes you get out at Second Helping Station.

The carne asada is tasty, but not exactly a standout. One thing lacking is

p hotos by m a rk ha n coc k

By Greg Elwell

Pork cracklings, chicken with cream and beef barbacoa gorditas with sauces

a bit of vegetable. Even a sprinkling of diced onion and cilantro — a taqueria staple — would give the dish a new dimension of flavor and texture.

The menu has two sides, and the English side has a few items missing, so dust off your Spanish phrasebook if you want to order more of what’s in the kitchen. Case in point: birria. I love that spicy stew of slow-cooked beef, but it’s not featured on the English menu.

The language barrier at Gorditas isn’t insurmountable by any means, but if you’re not a speaker of Spanish, it might take a hot minute to get an answer to some of your more complex questions.

Just in case, though, here’s one you’ll definitely need to know: Puedo pedir más? (That means “Can I order more?”)

Maria Nuria delivers gorditas to customers.

O k l a h o m a G a z e t t e | n ov e m b e r 1 1 , 2 0 1 5 | 1 9

OKLAHOMA CITY UNIVERSITY

life food & drink

THE BASS SCHOOL OF MUSIC

present

AND

405.208.5227

www.okcu.edu/tickets or

Tickets $12-$25

Opening night dinner

Tickets: $20 Bass Music Center Atrium 6:15 p.m. Friday, November 20

Performances

8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 20 8 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 21 3 p.m. Sunday, Nov.22

November

20-22

Mainstage Opera

Kirkpatrick Auditorium 2501 N. Blackwelder

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Northern exposure Seafood powerhouse Rococo Northpark basks in the love of its fifth anniversary.

Rococo’s crab cake

By Greg Elwell

Hang around Bruce Rinehart and Jason Bustamante for five minutes and you’re almost guaranteed to hear the word “love” at least once.

In five years, though, it has become a major theme of their business at Rococo Northpark, 12252 N. May Ave. It is all about the love.

Rinehart, who owns both Rococo Northpark and the original Rococo location at 2824 N. Pennsylvania Ave., worked with executive chef and managing partner Bustamante for years “on their little island” before the opportunity to expand into northern Oklahoma City presented itself.

A lot of things came together at the right time, and now, with five years in the rearview mirror, it’s clear they made the right choice.

Perhaps best known for its Italian food, Rococo is a bastion of East Coast-style eats and hospitality, said Bustamante. And while seafood has seen a recent explosion here, the Oklahoma City food scene owes a lot to the pioneering work he and Rinehart did bringing mussels, oysters and crab to the Sooner State.

“It used to be no one around here knew about belly clams or steamers,” Rinehart said. “We ate a lot of it back then because it didn’t sell. Now, we bring it in, I send a couple of texts and boom — it’s sold out.”

The restaurant was ahead of the curve on a few other trends, as well.

Bustamante pioneered a vegan menu at Northpark and was an early devotee of wild-caught, sustainable salmon. That attention to detail and customer needs has made Rococo a darling of the eat local crowd and foodies alike.

Though the menus share similarities, the Northpark location has come into its own under Bustamante’s leadership. One big draw remains the cruise ship-style brunch: a massive buffet of cold bar treats, freshly shaved meats, omelets and other favorites.

“There are people who come in

We bring it in, I send a couple of texts and boom — it’s sold out.

— Bruce Rinehart

every week,” Rinehart said. “Jason changes it up all the time, so there’s always some new spin. It keeps it fresh.”

When you’re in the business of seafood, fresh is everything. It’s especially vital to Rococo’s signature dish: the crabcake. Stuffed full of lump jumbo blue crabmeat, a little binder and seasoning, it’s one of the restaurant’s biggest sellers. So much so, in fact, that Rococo holds a contest each year to guess how many crabcakes it has sold, with the winner taking home a free one every week for a year.

It’s not easy staying in business for one year, much less five, and Rinehart said competition for restaurant dollars in Oklahoma City is always climbing.

But in Bustamante (and Penn location kitchen manager Josh Partain), he is looking to the future with a firm sense of Rococo’s legacy.

“I always say I want to take our guests on a rollercoaster ride of flavor,” Bustamante said. “But it really boils down to love.”

For those who love Rococo’s food as much as the people who make it, there’s also a free hug somewhere in there, too.

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G

Are you a Cowboy or a Sooner? Whatever your affiliation, National Alliance on Mental Illness Oklahoma is hoping you’ll grab a brush and a glass on Thursday for the Bedlam Wine & Palette Fundraiser.

NAMI Oklahoma executive director Traci Cook said the money raised from the event will go toward a crisis education project: an interactive website and downloadable documents that can help people before, during and after a mental health crisis.

The event is 6:30-8:30 p.m. at the Wine & Palette studio, 201 NW 10th St., and includes paint, canvas, an instructor and your choice of an University of Oklahoma- or Oklahoma State University-themed Oklahoma to make your own.

“I’ve only done it once, but it was really fun,” Cook said. “For me, the fun is just sitting there, trying to paint and having that social time with other people.”

The cost for the class and supplies is $35, and there will be a cash bar on hand for those who want wine or anything else to drink.

Sign up online at wineandpalette.com.

Core work

Smokeless Sip Anti-smoking group Free The Night is encouraging Oklahoma City adults to pack the house at Sipango Lounge (pictured), 4301 N. Western Ave., during the Club by Storm event Saturday to celebrate the historic bar going smoke-free. Originally called 42nd Street Beer Club, Sipango opened way back in 1936, and in the nearly 80 years since, not a day has gone by without a customer lighting a cigarette inside, said owner Mike Hyde.

“I think it’s time to change that,” he said.

Sipango gave customers a survey in September and found a majority said they’d come in more often if the bar was smoke-free. Responding to customers’ wishes, Hyde complied and banned smoking inside the bar.

As part of the party, Sipango partnered with Free The Night on a watch party during the OU-Baylor game on Saturday with food provided along with the usual drink menu. The game starts at 7 p.m.

More information is available at facebook.com/FreeTheNightOK.

gare tt fisbe ck

We all know the tale of Johnny Appleseed traveling across America, throwing seeds around like they grew on trees, but when’s the last time you actually ate an apple?

Yeah. Well, Natural Grocers isn’t going to let you get away with it much longer.

In-house nutritional coach Jessica Cox is teaching an Amazing Apples class at the 7013 N. May Ave. location of the grocery chain to help introduce everyone to a collection of apples that go beyond the simple garden variety.

In addition to learning about the different colors, flavors and textures, Cox will show off some apple-inspired recipes for customers to take home and try themselves.

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

Open Sundays 5pm - 9pm

1 block from Civic Center & OKC Museum of Art

305 N. WALKER

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405.702.7660

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SPONSORED PROGRAM

food briefs

Feeling frisky Sometimes you get a wild hair and you want to try some wild hare. The waitress hands you the menu, and your eyes are fixated on some insane combination of flavors or a dish so large, you’re sure a team of pack mules will drag it out to the table. Go for it. Get crazy.

Order something weird. If it doesn’t work out, there’s always Tums.

— by Greg Elwell, photos by Mark Hancock and Garett Fisbeck

Irma’s Burger Shack

Cattlemen’s Steakhouse

Picasso Cafe

1035 NW 63rd St. irmasburgershack.com 840-4762

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

3009 Paseo Drive www.picassoonpaseo.com 602-2002

Irma’s is primarily known for its burgers because the NoName Ranch burger is one of the finest ever produced on this earth, but Irma’s has a menu that digs deep to scratch other itches. Take the pairing of blackened fried egg and chicken breast with green chiles and pepperjack cheese on the Which Came First. Steak and eggs?

Fine. Pork chop and eggs? No problem.

But there’s just something odd about eating chicken with eggs ... if only this didn’t taste so good.

Continuing our tour of eggs paired with foods is Cattlemen’s, where the calf brains and eggs are, well, they are. They exist. For some, it’s a delicacy with a mild, mineral taste. (I recommend a lot of hot sauce.) Better are another kind of huevos: lamb fries. It’s the testicular treat that can’t be beat. Give one a nibble and you’re sure to be hooked.

Vegetarians claim they don’t miss meat.

Sure — theatrical wink — sure. That’s totally why the geniuses at Picasso Cafe created a vegetarian pulled pork made with jackfruit that really, really tastes like it contains slow-roasted pig meat.

Frankly, it’s a little mind-blowing how this concoction mimics some of the best barbecue around without including a single hoof or snout.

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

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

Expires 11/18/15.

Today I’m Thankful for

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Tommy’s Italian American Grill

The Shack Seafood & Oyster Bar

Tucker’s Onion Burgers

5516 W. Memorial Road tommysitaliangrill.com | 470-5577

303 NW 62nd St. theshackok.com | 608-4333

15001 N. May Ave. tuckersonionburgers.com 254-5555

Fish heads, fish heads, roly poly fish heads ... are delicious. I mean, fish tastes great anyway, but if you want to get into flavor country, swim toward the fish head. And for one of the few local restaurants that will serve you the whole fish, give Tommy’s Italian American Grill’s whole roasted branzino a try.

Seasoned, baked and finished with lemon and olive oil, this fish is a treat all the way down to the tail.

While it is allowed, the management of The Shack would like to inform diners that wearing overalls is not a requirement for ordering the fried alligator. (From personal experience, I can also tell you they don’t appreciate fake Cajun accents while ordering.) Fried alligator has a pretty mild flavor — not a lot of bite — so make sure you get plenty of delicious dipping sauces, even if you get them all over your overalls.

Oh, so you came to eat? Then let me tell you the tale of Big Mother Tucker.

She was a beefy gal, stacked three times as high as most ladies you might meet.

She was solid, but not impenetrable.

Some would even call her a bit cheesy.

You could ask her to come without her best friend Onions, but she just wouldn’t be the same. Are you man (or woman) enough to take her down? Maybe it’s time to try.

Mama Sinmi’s Chophouse 2312 N. MacArthur Blvd. mamasinmi.com | 947-6262

Ogedge and ogadamclayton never caught on in West Africa, but ogbono became a favorite and one you can find at Mama Sinmi’s Chop House. Ogbono is wild mango seeds sautéed with fresh-cut spinach, spicy broth and palm oil served over fufu, a dough made from the boiled and pounded flour of yam, cassava or plantains. It comes with beef or chicken, but if you really want to go big, spend $3 extra and upgrade to goat. It’s worth it.

LIKE US ON

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november

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creatures enter to win okgazette.com/gWW 2 0 1 5

Go to okGazette.com/GWW to enter to Win a pair of tickets

Gazette’s weekly winner will be announced each week in the table of contents. Printed winners have 7 days to claim tickets. must give email, full name & Phone number.

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life cover

Meeting makers OKC’s creative talent is avoiding mass-produced goods and picking up the tools and knowledge to make things themselves.

Creation is an act of defiance.

Where there is nothing, creation puts something. For a group of Oklahoma City creatives and entrepreneurs, there is no way of life but to make. Whether sewing together felt robots, carving down giant blocks of wood or putting bubbles into a bottle of soda, they are driven to fill the void.

Team player

“People don’t know how to do anything anymore,” Sarah Cowan’s grandmother told her.

It was one of the last coherent conversations the two had, and that message — to be able to make and do the simple tasks of a bygone era — stuck with her.

Cowan, a Forty Under 40 winner in 2014 (see this issue for the Class of 2015), founded Deluxe Winter Market as a showcase for a group of local Etsy sellers who wanted to connect with the community. Since its debut in 2008, the annual event has grown in popularity and shrunk in size as the strictures of the market have become more demanding.

“We have a strict anti-tutu and hair bow policy,” she said. “We want carefully curated collections. It makes for a more intimate, thoughtful experience for shoppers, and it’s more

special when vendors are chosen.”

A big criteria is originality. Cowan said there’s a difference in making something from a kit and creating something from your imagination.

This year’s market, scheduled Nov. 28 and 29, will feature 59 vendors, artists and collectives with a variety of wares. One booth that will be conspicuously missing is Cowan’s own.

Her output is too sporadic and eclectic to fit the guidelines Deluxe demands.

And that’s okay by her.

“I would much rather promote others’ work than my own,” she said.

“There are so many cool people doing things right now. If people enjoy it, I would like them to spread the word.”

Her crafts are more personal. She has a cross-stitch piece featuring Garth Brooks as Chris Gaines that she has been making for nearly eight years.

Maybe it’s not something everyone else is interested in, but that’s why she does it for herself.

“If it doesn’t have the creative germ, then what’s the point?” she said.

“Making something you saw is boring.

The challenge is doing something you came up with.”

That’s part of the impetus behind her OKC Art Team initiative: giving people permission to call themselves artists. Not everyone, she said, can put paint to canvas or sculpt, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t making art.

Cowan has been teaching herself to make clothes. She taught herself to make chicken coops. She has a compulsion to be productive, even if it isn’t bringing in income, and it’s spreading to others.

“I’ve been teaching a sewing class after school, and the kids in the class told me it was their favorite part of the day because they could sit together, working in quiet,” she said. “Sitting in quiet with others is very unique.”

And with that quiet circle comes a different satisfaction: giving another generation the ability to create.

For dogs

Handmade dog collars by Crystal Young of K9 Couture Co

As a veterinarian technician, Crystal Young sees her fair share of dog collars.

Mostly, she encounters pups with massproduced, solid-color, easy-clip, nylon collars wrapped around their necks.

Occasionally, a dog might sport a more

Making something you saw is boring. The challenge is doing something you came up with.

— Sara Cowan, founder of Deluxe Winter Market decorative or leather collar.

Like other pet owners, Young understands the lack of options when it comes to buying collars. She could never find collars that fit her three dogs’ personalities. So she switched collar shopping with buying fabric, nylon and metal buckles.

“I borrowed my mom’s sewing machine, and I taught myself how to sew,” Young recalled. “It just grew from there.”

About two years ago, Young launched K9 Couture Co, designing, making and selling colorful dog collars.

At first, a veterinarian clinic sold the stylish collars, but soon, local businesses took an interest. Today, K9 Couture’s products are found in about 20 OKC locations, including Blue Seven, Barking Dog Bakery & Boutique and Paint N’ Cheers, as well as online at k9couturecollars.com. Bethani Baum aids Young in the business venture.

K9 Couture offers modish, durable and often funny collars in six sizes. Like a typical collar, the dog owner will find a welded brass D-ring leash hook and a curved side buckle to contour the collar to fit the pet’s neck. What makes the collars a treat is the unique fabric sewed on the nylon. Soft fabrics feature designs of owls, foxes, wildflowers, colorful shapes and more.

There are even collars designed for fans of Star Wars, Harry Potter, Madonna and the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Thunder-themed collars are some of the most popular, along with the mint julep design. Additionally, Young creates custom orders, which translates to a dog sporting a one-of-a-

kind collar. A percentage of each sale benefits Oklahoma Humane Society.

The positive response to K9 Couture has transitioned Young to working part-time at the vet clinic and spending more time making the collars.

She admits the business takes time and hard work, but the reward is seeing happy dogs. Many customers take to social media to post photos of their dogs in the collars and tag K9 Couture.

“We have really been embraced by Oklahoma City,” said Young. “I think every city has a pocket of people that encourage and inspire other local artists.

We’ve been very lucky to fall into that.”

Buns, hon

“I was a terrible cook,” said Little in the Middle founder Katie Pennington.

Dinner had to get on the table, but her kids couldn’t eat frozen chicken nuggets every night. So she set about getting better through science.

“I started reading these very old Southern cookbooks, and they all had different ways to make things that are really convenient,” she said. “I didn’t know where to begin, so I thought, ‘What’s better to start with than dessert?’”

She settled on cinnamon rolls — oddly, because she never liked them. Giant mall cinnamon rolls; crappy, last-in-thedonut box cinnamon rolls; gross frozen, canned cinnamon rolls — they were either too dry or they were sugar bombs.

“Why can’t they be super-awesome?” she asked. continued on next page

O k l a h o m a G a z e t t e | n ov e m b e r 1 1 , 2 0 1 5 | 2 5

P H OTOS BY GA RET FI SBEC K

By Greg Elwell and Laura Eastes

life cover Michael and Hali Lawrence

We like the creative and making part.

We are trying to learn the business part.

PH OTOS BY GARET FIS BECK

— Hali Lawrence, co-founder of NorthRoad Creations

Jared Toay, owner of Jared’s ProPops

I didn’t know where to begin, so I thought, ‘What’s better to start with than dessert?’

— Katie Pennington

Initially, her family choked down some rough batches, but her recipes and methods evolved.

“I treated it like a science experiment,” she said. “My mom ordered some for the nurses at the office, and they said they were the best they’d ever had. So I thought I’d give it a try selling them.”

She set up a Facebook page (facebook.com/littleinthemiddleokc) and takes orders and makes pans of warm, gooey, sweet-but-not-cloying cinnamon rolls that put the state fair version to shame.

“It’s nice to make extra money, but this is satisfying on another level,” she

said. “I’ve tried different creative outlets.

But baking is fun for me. It doesn’t feel like work. It makes people happy.”

Pennington’s art has been featured on local prints and in Oklahoma City art galleries, but that’s not the same.

“When you draw or paint, you can put your heart into it and love it, but there’s no guarantee anyone will like it,” she said. “With baking, you know right away if it’s good. People can’t hide it.”

She’s not making a career out of it — though a little extra money is nice to have — but her adventures in baking are far from over.

Husband-and-wife makers

It wasn’t a traditional Christmas present by any means, but it was just want Hali Lawrence wanted.

On Dec. 25, 2013, her husband Michael woke up extra early to hook the couple’s laptop to the television. Later in the morning, when Hali entered the room, her eyes went to the television, which showcased the recently created homepage to NorthRoad Creations, the small business the two had dreamed of launching. As a Christmas gift, Michael

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Lawrence created the website and began the business’ social media campaign. The next step was to start selling their products.

Months earlier, the couple transformed their two-car garage into a woodshop. There, Hali refurbished furniture and Michael tinkered with broken lawnmowers and chainsaws.

Their crafts soon changed after Hali read a blog post geared toward creating wood Christmas ornaments with a jigsaw.

“I went on Craigslist that night, found one and we had it the next day,” recalled Michael.

The new equipment allowed Hali to create palm-sized cutouts of the continent of Africa, which she sold as ornaments to raise money for an upcoming mission trip to Uganda. The ornaments were a success, as the couple raised around $400, but it also sparked their interest to see what other items they could make.

With ingenuity, mixed with trial and error, the couple developed their distinct woodworking craft.

Today, the two produce Oklahomathemed decorative signs, cutting boards, ornaments and more. Items are listed on the couple’s website, but they also set up shop at local festivals and craft shows.

During booth sales, they showcase their wooden signs in designs of scissortails, the 405 area code and the word “homa.” Some signs are backlit with LED lights.

“It has been a fun avenue,” said Michael. “Not a lot of people are out doing what we are doing.”

The two say a tweet on Twitter turned the Plaza District’s DNA Galleries on to NorthRoad Creations.

About 14 months ago, the couple began bringing the shop Oklahoma cutting boards created from hickory wood.

“That kicked off a whirlwind,” said Michael. “It has been nonstop ever since.”

The Lawrences say they couldn’t have imagined the kind of success they’ve experienced. They are astonished when online orders come in requesting seven snowflake ornaments or a handful of Oklahoma cutting boards. To keep up with demand, the two dedicate all their free time — evenings and weekends — to their workshop. Both Michael and Hali maintain full-time jobs outside of their small business, but the two hope to expand into Tulsa boutiques.

“We like the creative and making part,” explained Hali. “We are trying to learn the business part.”

He’s the creator of Jared’s ProPops, a collection of probiotic popsicles, sodas and snacks, and he said it took years of poor health to set him on his current path.

“I tend not to eat,” he said. “It’s not a healthy look.”

Feeling terrible, Toay began researching nutrient-dense, fermented and probiotic-rich foods. The results were striking. In a year and a half, he was doing bodybuilding competitions with a physique crafted solely by his diet.

Getting his kids on board was another matter entirely. He turned to fruit and vegetable juices to make the fermented products less sour, and that’s when he hit upon a novel idea: freezing them.

“The health benefits don’t go away as long as the bacteria are in a cold state,” he said. “Bacteria hibernates in the cold, and putting the juice into popsicle form makes it more palatable.”

At Urban Agrarian and street festivals, Toay sells his probiotics-on-astick to rave reviews. His next step was using the effervescence of the bacteria eating sugar to create sodas in a variety of flavors.

Root beer and cherry cola are big sellers, he said, but as customers embrace the unique flavors, they get more daring.

His lavender lemon balm lemonade flies off the shelves — which is good since the soda, unlike the popsicles, has more of an expiration date.

The products bring joy and health to others, but the fire in Toay’s eyes and the excitement in his voice when he describes the sense of discovery and accomplishment in his creations belie a deeper sense of satisfaction.

Can anyone teach themselves how to make their own drinks, clothes, sweets, collars and furniture? Of course.

But makers are the ones who turn possibility into creation. Cowan’s grandmother would approve.

Bacteria bubbles

Bacteria got a bad rap.

For years, bacteria was lumped in with germs and viruses as the things we needed soaps and medicines to wipe from the face of the earth. Slowly but surely, we’re learning how important bacteria are to health.

That’s where Jared Toay comes in.

Katie Pennington, owner of Little in the Middle

Peace sells

prov i ded

life community

The community is ready for this year’s return of Fall Peace Festival.

Karen Sonntag of Norman donated her 2002 Ford Focus

By Christine Eddington

Fall Peace Festival 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday Meinders Hall of Mirrors Civic Center Music Hall 201 N. Walker Ave. peacehouseok.org 524-5577 Free

Organizers of the 30th annual Fall Peace Festival shopping event invite the community to add peace, social justice and handmade soaps and candles to this season’s holiday wish lists.

“Over the years, we’ve become almost crass in telling people to bring their checkbooks and lists and do all of their holiday shopping with us,” said Nathaniel Batchelder, director of The Peace House Oklahoma City.

The idea behind the festival is to showcase more than 60 Oklahoma human rights nonprofits and give them an opportunity to earn revenue while educating guests about what they do.

“The event is a break-even event for Peace House,” Batchelder said.

“We consider it a service event.”

Handicrafts, organic coffees and teas, T-shirts, woven goods from Central America, books, calendars, pottery, homemade candles and soaps, African carvings, jewelry, bumper stickers, buttons and more will be available at a variety of price points. There also will be a supervised youth craft area. Live music and entertainment is scheduled all day.

Often, Batchelder said, guests react with surprise when they first enter the festival because they aren’t aware Oklahoma is home to so many human rights and environmental groups.

The selection process begins months in advance, and Batchelder said space for vendors goes quickly.

“My 2002 Ford Focus was

just towed away from my driveway. I am thrilled to be supporting KGOU and I know it’s helping support some of my favorite programs.

Nathaniel Batchelder center celebrates at last year’s Fall Peace Festival with percussionist Jahruba left and guitarist Steve McLinn.

There often is a waiting list.

For many shoppers, the event has become an annual holiday tradition.

“The very first Peace Festival was held in 1985 at Christ the King Catholic Church,” Batchelder said.

“We’ve been at the Hall of Mirrors for 15 years.”

Oklahoma Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty will offer T-shirts and memberships, and Oklahoma’s chapter of Sierra Club will sell books and calendars.

The Peace House is a grassroots organization run by Batchelder and a group of volunteers.

“We’ve been advocates of universal human rights, like, forever,” Batchelder said. “[The Peace House is a] grassroots nonprofit organization dedicated to education and advocacy on peace issues, including social justice, human rights, civil rights, food and hunger and disease prevention.

We are actively involved in opposing military actions, and we make visits to members of Congress.”

It also supports women’s issues, LGBTQ rights, the NAACP and ACLU and “closer to Earth” and urban gardening movements and opposes the death penalty.

Recently, a spin-off coalition, Americans Against the Next War, has placed billboards around the city that plead Oklahomans to “tell Congress diplomacy works.”

The Fall Peace Festival runs 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday in Meinders Hall of Mirrors at Civic Center Music Hall, 201 N. Walker Ave. Admission is free.

”

TO DONATE YOUR VEHICLE, GO TO KGOU.ORG or CALL 855-277-2346 (855-2PRADIO)

lunch & dinner 6014 N. May 947.7788 ZORBASOKC.COM O k l a h o m a G a z e t t e | n ov e m b e r 1 1 , 2 0 1 5 | 2 7

life culture

Amazing! origins Planners behind Amazing! Comic Cons in other U.S. cities set up in OKC.

By Adam Holt

A new event gives local comic book pop culture fans something new to celebrate. Amazing! Oklahoma City Comic Con runs Nov. 20-22 at Cox Convention Center.

3-8 p.m. Nov. 20, 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Nov. 21, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Nov. 22 Cox Convention Center 1 Myriad Gardens amazingoklahomacitycomiccon.com $25-$200

Oklahoma City once again draws a new and exciting experience into its city limits. Amazing! Oklahoma City Comic Convention plants its flag Nov. 20-22 in the soil of Cox Convention Center, 1 Myriad Gardens.

Amazing! Comic Con is a familyowned business celebrating comic book pop culture in five U.S. cities throughout the year. Oklahoma City is the latest to be added to the list, which includes Phoenix, Las Vegas, Houston and Honolulu.

This is OKC’s first large-scale event based on comic book pop culture. 15,000 to 20,000 people are expected to attend, and planners intend to make it an annual event. The idea behind Amazing! Comic Con is to celebrate the culture’s creators and its foundation: the comic book.

“We believe all current pop culture originates inside the comic books,” said Jimmy Jay, co-founder of Amazing!

Comic Con and Jay Company Comics.

“Their creators are responsible for the movies that we see, the TV shows we that we watch, the toys that we collect,

the video games that we play, the cartoons that are on for our kids and everything in between.”

Though the event celebrates all forms of media produced by popular franchises such as Batman and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Jay insists that comic books are front and center because they are the soil from which all other media sprouts. Spider-Man’s tale was not written for the self-titled blockbuster in 2002; it started in 1963, when ink met the thin pages of a comic book, bringing Stan Lee and Steve Ditko’s superhero to life.

By celebrating comic books, Amazing! Comic Con brings comic convention culture back to its roots. Jay was inspired by childhood experiences when he and his brother created the event six years ago.

“I went to my first comic con at 13 years old in San Diego in 1986,” said Jay, 42. “My mother gave me a $20 bill and said, ‘Make this last the entire day.’ What I’ve been trying to do for the last 30 years is make that $20, that excitement that brings, last all this time.”

Jay said what made that day in San Diego special to him was meeting the creators behind the pages of the comic books. The influence of the experience is reflected in Amazing! Comic Con. The Oklahoma City event will host Kevin Eastman, co-creator of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise; Rob Liefeld, comic book legend and creator of Cable & Deadpool; and Mat

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Nastos, a talented writer whose hand is in everything from Phineas and Ferb to Star Wars.

You might expect a convention touring six cities across the country to be a large, corporate outfit, but that could not be further from the truth.

The business consists of six full-time employees who live across the U.S. and depends on family help as well as volunteers in each city. Jay and his employees are on-hand during the event and also tour and reach out to cities they deem as candidates for future Amazing!

Comic Cons.

“We are a family-based, tight-knit group,” Jay said. “There’s not one centralized headquarters where Doctor Doom is meeting or a Legion of Heroes are hanging out in a boardroom.”

Tech trouble

The popularity of comic books and superheroes in the last two decades marks a shift in the American trade and collecting culture. Throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, stores for trading and buying sports cards were not unusual across cities in America. Today, the sports card landscape is comparatively barren. The stores closed up or shifted to comic books and figurines.

Jay, an avid sports fan, believes technology is partially to blame for this shift.

ph otos BY b igstock.com

Amazing! Oklahoma City Comic Convention

“Maybe technology has filled that niche, that need [for sports cards],” he said. “Now that there’s about 10 ESPN’s, several Fox channels and several baseball games a night, where before, we had to imagine what Wade Boggs would look like at the plate. On the flip side, with comic books, the story originates with that material.”

Along with the pop culture creators, Amazing! Oklahoma City Comic Convention will feature dozens of exhibitors, panels and cosplay competitions. The final day of the event is kids day and will feature free sketches and other kids activities.

Single-day passes are $25 for Nov. 20 and 22 and $35 for Nov. 21. A three-day pass is $60, and VIP packages begin at $150. Visit amazingoklahomacitycomiccon.com.

red dot An art auction featuring and benefiting Oklahoma artists

SHARED SPACE

Saturday, November 14, 2015 7:00 p.m. to Midnight @ IAO Gallery 706 West Sheridan Avenue Oklahoma City, OK 73102

Kristy Boone, Emcee

Music by Sherree Chamberlain

Music by DJ Tom Hudson

Food by Aloft, Jazmoz, and Hilton Garden Inn

Sponsored by

M

A

R

K

E

T

I

N

G

Debbie Nauser • Lola & Sparkle • Dave Shannon • LZ’s Healing Hands Reynolds Neon • Cindy Miller • Urban Sapphire LLC Aloft • Jazmoz • Hilton Garden Inn • Blue Label Bartending

Shared Space: Photographs from 1987 and Beyond World’s top contemporary photographers in works from the Bank of America Collection

10/29 - 12/18 3000 General Pershing Blvd. | Oklahoma City, OK 73107 www.oklahomacontemporary.org | 405 951 0000 9 a.m.-10 p.m. Monday-Thursday | 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Friday-Saturday

Tickets available at individualartists.com/reddot Image: Wout Berger, Vietnam (Cat Ba Island), 1998. Color coupler print, 1998 negative, printed 2003, 4/12. Courtesy of the artist.

$25 in advance, $30 at the door

O k l a h o m a G a z e t t e | n ov e m b e r 1 1 , 2 0 1 5 | 2 9

life RELIGION

Interfaith fete Thursday’s Oklahoma Conference of Churches event features a keynote speech by religious scholar Martin E. Marty.

By Jennifer Chancellor and Greg Horton

Oklahoma Conference of Churches’ Annual Dinner

It’S yoUR DAy

NOW OFFERING

Facials

starting at $30 JUVEDERM • RADIESSE

BOTOX Always $10 Per Unit

Schelly’s Aesthetics

Schelly Hill, R.N.

Shoppes at Northpark, 12028 May Ave. 405-751-8930 Open Mon-sat www.skincareokc.com Gift Certificates Available

Finding yourself easily distracted?

If you’re easily distracted and restless, it could be Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Learn more about a medical research study evaluating an investigational medication in adults with ADHD. Researchers are evaluating the safety and efficacy of an investigational medication when it is taken once a day for 8 weeks. If you qualify, total study participation will last up to 13 weeks.

To pre-qualify, you must be:

• Between 18 and 55 years of age • Experiencing symptoms of ADHD or diagnosed with ADHD Additional criteria apply.

All study-related visits, tests, and medication will be provided to participants at no cost. In addition, compensation for study-related time and travel may be provided.

To learn more, please contact:

Paradigm Research 405-286-2104

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Respected Lutheran religious scholar Martin Marty leads Oklahoma Conference of Churches’ (OCC) annual dinner event Thursday as its keynote speaker.

OCC is a ministry organization that brings together mainline Protestant, Catholic, historically black congregations and interfaith and community groups to promote unity; fight racism and injustice; and cooperate with government agencies to provide disaster relief, said William Tabbernee, OCC executive director.

Marty has spent more than 60 years in ministry. He also is the Fairfax M. Cone Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus of the History of Modern Christianity at the University of Chicago Divinity School and has written hundreds of articles and more than 50 books.

At the event, Marty will receive the Bishop Floyd Schoenhals Distinguished Ecumenist Award, which is given to individuals “who have made an outstanding contribution to promoting and facilitating unity among the various Christian denominations and other religious traditions,” Tabbernee said.

He said that he knows of no other figure who is as articulate as Marty in “helping people from diverse religious backgrounds understand that their differences are not as important as the things they already hold in common.”

Marty said his keynote address, Ecumenical Difference Versus Spiritual Indifference, will include interfaith groups. In addition to its coalition of churches, OCC has interfaith partners, and an Interfaith Award will be given the night of the dinner.

For Marty, ecumenism — and by extension, the ecumenical movement — is an attempt to express “responsible diversity.”

“Christian ecumenism — there are other kinds — names the gift and effort of believers in diverse

Martin E. Marty

communities to relate to each other in prayer, thought and common action,” Marty said. “I am interested in ecumenism in which the various parties draw on the depth of their particular vision and share it, even as they listen to others. For me, the enemy to good Christian ecumenism can be summarized in an informal coinage: wishy-washy.”

Honorees

Thursday, Adam Soltani, executive director of the Oklahoma chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), will receive the 2015 OCC Interfaith Award. Tabbernee called Soltani a “calming presence” in Oklahoma, especially in terms of the state’s “alarmingly hostile anti-Islamic environment.”

Soltani is chairman of OCC’s Religions United Committee and a former board member of Interfaith Alliance of Oklahoma. He said he joined CAIR three and a half years ago.

“OCC has really solidified what it means to live ‘interfaith,’” Soltani said. “When you live it, it becomes a part of you. The OCC has stood by the Muslim community in Oklahoma, even when it was difficult. They did not waver.”

Terri White, Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services commissioner, will be honored with OCC’s Community Service Award.

Tabbernee called her “a passionate advocate for individuals experiencing mental illness and addiction.”

Reservations are required for the dinner. Learn more and register at okchurches.org/annual-dinner.

P ROV I DED

6 p.m. Thursday St. Luke’s United Methodist Church 222 N.W. 15th St. okchurches.org/annual-dinner 525-2928 $50

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life visual arts

Fresh-air flavor Murals are the special ingredients that make Taste of Western the toast of the town.

By Laura Eastes and Greg Elwell

6 p.m. Tuesday Will Rogers Theatre 4322 N. Western Ave. tasteofwestern.com $55-$75 21+

With a ladder and a dozen cans of spray paint, artist Dusty Gilpin went to work on the side of a beige building in an alleyway along Western Avenue in early November.

The wind lightly blew, and the afternoon sun peaked between the Rug & Carpet of Oklahoma and Ketch Design Centre buildings as Gilpin completed his first parallelogram-shaped space depicting a wilderness scene. He moved on to the next parallelogram and guided the paint spray as he created another scene of trees.

“Would you have ever looked at this wall before?” asked Gilpin as he stood back to study his progress.

Gilpin’s work starkly contrasted the neighboring shape, which reminds a viewer of colorful doughnut sprinkles.

That’s exactly what Gilpin was going for.

Created with fellow artists Kris Kanaly and Jerrod Smith, the mural titled “The Nature of Things” divided the twostory wall, much like a checkerboard, into various parallelogram shapes.

Each artist was tasked with painting about six of the shapes along the building at 4408 N. Western Ave.

District event

“The Nature of Things” is one of three murals being honored at Tuesday’s Taste of Western, an event dedicated to celebrating culinary arts in the Western Avenue District. Last year, the district’s association incorporated the “distinct flavor of local art” by recruiting nine artists to create five murals, turning the district into an outdoor art gallery.

Rachael Taylor, executive director of the district, said the association sought to expand the art ingredient, selecting eight artists to create three murals to tie into this year’s event.

“It was our hope that everyone would collaborate to create a mural,” Taylor said.

The association’s art committee paired artists based on style and mediums.

“We left it up to them to create whatever design they wanted,” she said.

After mock-ups were created, the association presented the mural designs to the property owners, who gave feedback.

The final designs were approved through Oklahoma City Arts Commission.

Mural materials

Continuing north on Western Avenue is “Vibratory Messages Generated by Tethered Bees,” a mural created by artists Scott Henderson and Ben Stookey. A similar painting created by Henderson inspired the mural, which neighbors Antique Avenue.

Henderson, a mural artist for more than a decade, described public art projects as growing in Oklahoma City, thanks to ongoing efforts by arts organizations and the Western Avenue

Scott Henderson works on a mural outside Antique Avenue in Oklahoma City in advance of the Taste of Western event.

p hotos by Ga rett fi s bec k

Taste of Western

Ben Stookey left and Scott Henderson work on a mural in the Western Avenue District.

District.

“It is really something special for the city, and I am glad that it is being pursued,” Henderson said.

The third mural is along the south side of a shopping center at 7200 N. Western Ave. Artists Nick Bayer, James Clark and Sam Douglas created “Wilderness on Western.”

Technology company Google is sponsoring the new murals and plans to announce a unique partnership at Taste of Western. Additionally, Midtown Rotary Club will highlight the 2014 mural artists, presenting checks to the artists.

Community response

District leaders believed the murals would energize and further distinguish the unique northern Oklahoma City district, which is home to retail, restaurants, service shops and churches.

“People feel ownership of these murals because they watched them happen,” explained Taylor. “They were present for their creation. … It is a little piece of their neighborhood.”

West feast

Western tastes good.

A quick stroll down increasingly walkable Western Avenue yields a bounty of delectable dishes of every sort, which has helped make the annual Taste of Western a must for food and wine lovers.

Now in its 13th year, this gathering has grown from a small cluster of restaurants to a roster featuring a revitalized VZD’s Restaurant & Bar, Iron Star Urban Barbeque, Bin 73 Wine Bar, The Wedge Pizzeria and The Coach House.

“It’s always exciting for the district to come together and to see what the restaurants have in store for us,” she said.

Taste is the district’s biggest fundraiser of the year and allows Western to provide

events like On the Lawn and WestFest for free.

“It also gives us the funds to do marketing and beautification for businesses and our public spaces,” Taylor said.

One participating restaurant is West, 6714 N. Western Ave., which has been a part of Taste for five years.

“We actually start planning our menu for the night in July,” said Kortney Haynes, communications director for the restaurant group. “We try to come up with something that the crowd will love and showcase new menu items.”

The restaurant plans to serve caprese salad skewers — mozzarella, cherry tomatoes, balsamic reduction and basil on a stick — and beef tenderloin sliders.

Taylor said restaurants choose their own small bites, both savory and sweet, to serve.

“It’s not always what’s on the menu,” she said. “The event lets them stretch their culinary legs and try something fun and different.”

Another big event draw is wine and beer from Glazer’s, Thirst Wine Merchants, Premium Brands Wine & Spirits, Republic National Distributing Company, Putnam Wines and Dynamic Brands. The tastings are a good way to sample several varieties before buying a whole bottle.

Taste also returns to the historic Will Rogers Theatre this year, so those who want a cocktail can nip out to The Lobby Cafe & Bar for something stronger.

General admission tickets are $55, and VIP tickets are available for $75. VIP tickets include access to a pre-party at 5 p.m. in The Tasting Room with hors d’oeuvres, full pours of wine, two raffle tickets and a crystal wine glass. Learn more at tasteofwestern.com.

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p hotos by A LLI E TA BBERER / PROVI DED

life performing arts

Stephen Hilton

Biblical alchemy

Thelma Gaylord Academy students rehearse scenes from their upcoming production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

Youthful energy and creativity combine for a magical production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

By Jack Fowler

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat 7 p.m. Thursday and Friday, 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.

Saturday Thelma Gaylord Academy Plaza Theatre 1727 NW 16th St. thelmagaylordacademy.com 524-9312 $10

Working with children during a theatrical performance can be like flipping a double-sided coin, said Oklahoma City director Stephen Hilton.

“On one side, they’re very free, very flexible and very energetic,” Hilton said.

“On the other side, they’re very free, very flexible and very energetic.”

He channels those energies into magic as Lyric Theatre’s Thelma Gaylord Academy presents Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat 7 p.m. Thursday and Friday and 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Saturday at Lyric’s Plaza Theatre.

Founded in 2001, the academy provides training and performance opportunities for young thespians interested in musical theater, and Dreamcoat, the latest in a full slate of productions this season, has become one of its most ambitious projects in recent memory.

“I’ve got a lot more people in the

show than most productions have,” Hilton said. “We have 65 students in the show. The script doesn’t call for near that many, but that’s very exciting to have that many bodies onstage, especially for a stage that’s relatively small.”

Hilton said he considers teaching and directing the young throng of actors an opportunity rather than an obstacle.

“I’m able to utilize them in several different ways now,” he said. “One of the main characters in the show is the narrator … and I actually have six different girls that are doing the narrator for me — any of which could’ve done the whole show by herself.”

Great pretenders

Hilton also said there’s an innocence in Dreamcoat that lends itself well to youth performances. A retelling of the biblical story of Joseph and his “coat of many colors,” Dreamcoat is a sugarcoated musical journey through country, calypso and even bubblegum pop. Hilton thinks older, more calloused actors could have trouble slipping into some of the play’s sillier scenes without being self-conscious.

“A cast of young actors still knows how to play,” Hilton said. “These kids still have an innocence about them that makes a show like Dreamcoat somehow more accessible, more real.”

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Hilton believes their youth is an asset to a show like Dreamcoat.

“A cast of young actors still knows how to pretend. When they’re up there being guards for Pharaoh, they’re actually guards,” he said. “I don’t have to teach them how to act like guards, because they’re not acting, not in their minds. They’re being guards. There’s a certain freedom in working with that.”

Hilton also said the freedom a kid can contribute to a performance is especially suited for a show like this one.

In one scene, for example, when Joseph sings, “I dreamed that in the fields one day / The corn gave me a sign / Your 11 sheaves of corn / All turned and bowed to mine,” girls dressed as sheaths of corn appear onstage and dance.

“That might not work with an adult cast,” Hilton said. “But so much of Dreamcoat is innocent, very simplistic.

So when you hear the corn line and see these little girls … there’s a perfect synthesis of childlike innocence with the telling of that story.”

Leading, learning

Like all good performances, however, Dreamcoat isn’t all rainbows and chocolate drops. Hilton said working with actors of varying ages also gives him certain advantages when casting.

“My two Josephs are just phenomenal. Both of them are sort of

veteran performers around here. I think the great thing about working at the Gaylord Academy is that I have a lot of students who’ve never done a show before and a number of them who are very experienced,” he said. “So, not only can those more experienced kids bring a kind of gravitas to a role that you wouldn’t necessarily expect a student actor to have, but when you have them all onstage together, the younger ones learn by watching the older ones.”

They’ll have several chances to learn this year. After Dreamcoat, Hilton and company don’t slow down. Productions of The Women by Clare Booth Luce, Lillian Hellman’s The Children’s Hour and The Compleat Wrks of Wllm Shkspr (Abridged) are on tap for audiences this season.

The Gaylord Academy also will stage the large-scale revue I Wish, a musical adventure through “songs [they] wish [they] could get the rights for,” Hilton said.

“We’re also premiering 21 Chump Street, based on an NPR story about an inner-city school in New York. We’re doing the school edition of Rent with the older kids. Then, of course, we have our summer camps,” Hilton said. “So it just goes on and on.”

Visit thelmagaylordacademy.com for more information.

Analog fantasies Classic Radio Theatre presents colorful radio tales of yore on Sunday.

Classic Radio Theatre

PROV I D ED

By Paul Fairchild

2:30 p.m. Sunday ACTS Theatre 30 NE 52nd St. classicradiotheatre.com 769-9876 $27.09

Flash Gordon still frees planets from the totalitarian grip of Ming the Merciless, Jack Benny’s timeless jokes still make audiences cry with laughter and the Lone Ranger and Tonto still draw down on train robbers.

This is the stuff of Classic Radio Theatre, performing live Sunday at ACTS Theatre, 30 NE 52nd St. “We do it because we think it’s just a whole lot of fun to begin with,” said voice actor Randy Kemp. “And our audiences, so far, have agreed. They’ve enjoyed this very much.”

In the small, intimate ACTS Theatre, some of the city’s most talented voice actors and personalities step up to the microphones and perform classic radio scripts from episodes of golden oldies like The Lone Ranger, The Adventures of the Thin Man, Red Ryder, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet and others, complete with music cues and sound effects.

Most Classic Radio Theatre shows are roughly three hours long with seven or eight segments, Kemp said.

To add to their old-school authenticity, the cast also performs old radio commercials between each segment.

The voice actors use hand gestures and expressions, but this theater group’s strength comes from the power of spoken word. Kemp said its goal to paint pictures, develop characters and build scenes in the listeners’ heads using only language.

“If voice actors, music cues and sound effects can deliver to you the

colors to paint the picture in your head, then we’ve done the job,” he said. “Frankly, if we do it well, the picture in the listener’s head, whatever they can visualize from what we perform, is going to be much better than anything we could ever shoot on television or film.”

To find works that best suit its cast, the show’s producer, Margie Madden, handpicks scripts from popular shows of the time. Kemp said actors add a little more panache by wearing costumes that make them visually compelling.

When originally produced in the 1930s and ’40s, radio shows were performed before live audiences, and a certain stage presence was expected.

Seeing an actor’s face or discovering that the role of a teenage boy was handled by a female voice actor delighted crowds, Madden said, and it’s a delight that Classic Radio Theatre is gunning for in its performances.

“We’re seeing a lot of older people coming to our shows who have memories of listening to the radio with their family. I think it brings back a lot of good memories,” Madden said. “I remember my mother telling me that when a program came on that they all wanted to hear, they would get in their pajamas and make popcorn and hot chocolate and all gather around the radio the way families gather around now to watch movies.”

Sunday’s Classic Radio Theatre show, in part, will feature episodes of

From left Karen Tims, Mike Waugh, John Q, Wilson and Bill Brewer perform as the cast of Classic Radio Theatre.

The Roy Rogers Show, The Jack Benny Program, The Whistler and Quiz Kids.

“Nowadays, we’re trained to see everything visually. … When you listen to the scripts, they’re more descriptive than television scripts because they have to set the scenes for you in your mind,” Madden said.

“As you listen to them, you get almost totally involved in the verbiage. You have to complete the picture in your mind. It’s a different experience from a play or movie.”

ACTS Theatre seats about 60 people and provides an intimate viewing experience. It also affords the actors the opportunity to gauge audience response as they perform.

“We can see the faces in the audience in many cases, and it’s interesting, especially to see the older folks sitting and either looking at the program or looking at their laps or sitting with their eyes closed, not even watching,” Kemp said. “They’re listening to the performance and the script.”

Complimentary beverages, including beer, wine and hors d’oeuvres, are included in the price of admission.

Learn more about this show and upcoming productions at classicradiotheatre.com.

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V I C A R S I N P I E C E S A O RyourEownCfree A printable R F O atO www.PrintMySudoku.com T N O T E N Make sudoku We WhaveEall the R free Esudokus W Oyou need!

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www.p ri ntm ys udoku.com

Give her

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15 2014 Emmy-winning 95 Homes for Gila woodpeckers

miniseries based on a 1996 film 96 Boasts 20 Relative of a bug 97 Weightlifting technique 21 Amu Darya outlet, once 103 Does in 22 Pop-up, sometimes 106 What a pitching wedge provides 23 No-hunting zone 107 Tip of Italy, once?

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26 Certifications in some college 109 Google SafeSearch target apps 113 Where Rigel is 27 Singular 115 Brazilian tourist destination 28 Part of the neck?

120 Algebraic input 30 Look shocked 121 Honored academic retiree 31 What might result from a 122 First name in Disney villains

minor hit 123 Apply 32 Longtime California senator 124 Force under Stalin 36 Computer-data acronym 125 Spousal agreement 40 Part of the biosphere

42 Flowed DOWN 43 Mt. Olive offerings 1 Goodie bag filler 44 Get tough 2 Long 45 Cursed 3 Xeric 49 “Helm’s ____!” (nautical cry) 4 Sleep stages 50 Marsh birds 5 Delta calculation, briefly 51 World Series of Poker’s Vegas 6 Damage director Louis home 7 Big name in printers 53 Order from a sports doc 8 Primatologist Goodall 55 Info on a parking ticket 9 Tolkien beast 58 Something that doesn’t follow 10 Giant image in the sky over

the letter of the law?

Gotham 60 Mars : Roman :: ____ : 11 Actor Gulager Norse 12 Andrews or Dover: Abbr.

61 Father figures 13 Tertius planeta from the sun 62 Expelled politely 14 Leo with the 1977 #1 hit “You 64 L. Frank Baum princess

Make Me Feel Like Dancing” 65 Kind of rock 15 Evaluator of flight risks, for short 67 Bar mitzvahs, e.g.

16 Used up 68 City from which Vasco da 17 “Chill!”

Gama sailed, to locals 18 Search blindly 71 Flower girl?

19 Furry frolicker 72 It might be full of baloney 24 Elementary-school-science74 “Try ____ might …” class item 75 Taipei-to-Seoul dir.

29 Distilled coal product 77 It contains a lot of balloons 31 Put-down 80 Rap-sheet entry 32 Fay Vincent’s successor as 84 Sun Devils’ sch.

baseball commissioner 85 Cooperated with, e.g.

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89 Kerry’s 2004 running mate 37 Foolish sort

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VOL. XXXVII No. 45

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

The cash value of this copy is $1.

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

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41 Like many OPEC nations 44 Survey unit 45 Junior in the Football

Hall of Fame 46 Plain to see 47 Voice-controlled device

from the world’s largest online retailer 48 1998 Jim Carrey

comedy/drama, with “The” 50 Minor setback 52 Managed-care grps.

54 Mrs. McKinley 56 Dump site monitor, for short 57 Fix, as a pool cue

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Stumped? Call 1-900-285-5656 to get the answers to any three clues by phone ($1.20 a minute). The answers to the New York Times Magazine Crossword Puzzle that appeared in the November 4 issue of Oklahoma Gazette are shown at left.

Oklahoma Gazette

8

59 Stick up 63 Lyme disease transmitter 66 Outdoor-sports store 67 Libertine 69 Golfer Aoki 70 What Marcie calls

Peppermint Patty in

Peanuts 71 Home theater option 73 “My mistake!”

76 Some collars 78 Macy’s, e.g.

79 “Stop kidding yourself” 81 Hair extension?

82 The tiniest bit 83 Crowd sound 86 88-Across + cuatro 90 Circuit for Serena and

Venus Williams, in brief 92 Derisive laugh sound 93 Ones putting on acts 97 Piece of garlic

1108

New York Times Magazine Crossword Puzzle Frame job By Zhouqin Burnikel / Edited by Will Shortz

98 Dr. Seuss environmentalist 99 Paperless I.R.S. option 100 More charming 101 Suffix with hippo102 Teased 104 Like black-tie affairs 105 Visible S O S 108 “Buy it. Sell it. Love it” company 109 Nut, basically 110 Like father, like son?

111 Home of the David

Geffen School of Medicine, for short 112 “____ she blows!”

114 After deductions 116 Parseghian of Notre Dame 117 Street-sign abbr.

118 Casino convenience 119 Staple of a rock-band tour

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O k l a h o m a G a z e t t e | N ov e m b e r 1 1 , 2 0 1 5 | 3 5

life active

Going alpha bi gstoc k.com

A “decathlon for the everyman” features a hatchet throw, a log saw, logic problems and more Saturday at Douglass Park.

By Brendan Hoover

The Alpha Challenges OKC 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday Douglass Park 401 N. Bryant Ave. thealphachallenges.com 717-925-7421 Free-$49.95

Some people relax in bars and watch World’s Strongest Man competitions on cable with friends while thinking, “I could totally toss a keg farther than them,” but they never had a chance to prove it. Here’s that chance.

A new athletic competition featuring events such as a log saw and a hatchet throw is coming to Oklahoma City. The Alpha Challenges start 9 a.m. Saturday at Douglass Park, 401 N. Bryant Ave., where participants can compete in 14 events that challenge their speed, strength, agility and

mental stamina. Designed as a “decathlon for the everyman,” The Alpha Challenges is a first-of-its-kind event, said organizer James Speegle.

“Nothing like this exists, which is kind of why we’re doing it,” said Speegle, who also owns the local WAKA Kickball & Social Sports franchise. “I searched the Internet high and low, and nothing like this existed. We wanted to do something that was a mix between World’s Strongest Man, lumberjack challenge and track and field events.”

The event lineup includes archery, a 100-yard dash, a long jump, a logic problem, a rock wall climb, a net climb, a log saw, a javelin throw, a memory game, a rope climb, a hatchet throw, a tire flip, a shooting gallery and a keg toss, Speegle said. Each event is worth the same

If you’ve ever wondered how your keg-tossing skills stack up against other metro residents, now’s your chance to find out. amount of points, so if someone’s good at one thing but not another, they’re still in the game. At the end of the competition, the man and woman with the most points will be crowned Alpha Male and Alpha Female and receive cash prizes. Other top finishers will also receive prizes.

“We wanted something that everybody could do but still would set the winners apart as being the most wellrounded,” Speegle said.

Participants also will receive a complimentary beer (to be enjoyed after the competition), a T-shirt and a swag bag. Competitions will be held in waves, which start at 9 a.m., 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. It takes about 90 minutes to

complete all the events. Participants must be at least 18 years old.

While everyone competes for the grand prize, players can create custom online scoreboards and compete against friends, personalizing the competition, Speegle said.

Another Oklahoma City Alpha Challenges event is scheduled for April, and if the concept takes off, Speegle said he plans to take the show on the road, hosting events in cities like Dallas, Denver and San Francisco.

Registration is $49.95, and spectator tickets are $10. Admission for guests under 18 years old is free. Speegle said registration is open until event day.

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Radical sounds The Mavericks

Don’t call The Mavericks’ new album country; call it a comeback.

By Wilhelm Murg

The Mavericks 8:30 p.m. Saturday Oklahoma Expo Hall State Fair Park 333 Gordon Cooper Blvd. aqha.com 948-6700 $40

When you first hear The Mavericks’ sweltering Latin dancehall grooves mixed with R&B, rockabilly and ska elements, it can be disconcerting to realize the band has been classified as country for a quarter of a century, and with great success.

Its latest album, Mono, named so because it is a monaural release, takes the band even further away from the beer, hats, and pick-up truck world of country radio and deeper into the kind of uncharted territory that comes about when cultural borders blur. Yet regardless of its multiple influences, its sound still remains 100 percent identifiable as its own trademark style.

According to Paul Deakin, the drummer and co-founder of the band, they are no longer just playing country.

“When we started, we might have fit into that genre, which was our starting point. Over the years, we let other things slip in, from ska to Latin to everything, so now, we’re kind of genre nonspecific,” Deakin said. “You can make up a name and call it nongen, or you can call it Americana. It

encompasses everything; American music is multicultural and all different influences. So, yeah, that’s the flag we’re flying these days, the Americana flag.”

Deakin said classic country is still a part of The Mavericks’ sound, but he feels the definition of country music has changed over the years. “As a genre, if you ask me, what’s on country radio isn’t really country either. I like Waylon and Willie, you know, and Patsy Cline; that’s my kind of country.”

The band was founded in Miami in the late-’80s/early ’90s as Miami’s famed South Beach was being renovated, which gave a boost to the local music scene. There were a number of venues in the area, but none that specialized in country music.

“There were a lot of original music clubs there; some of them were considered punk, but they were just loud music clubs,” Deakin said. “Our first gig was in Little Haiti at an English pub where they played punk music and we played country music, so it was all wrong, which is how it worked out.”

The Mavericks played on bills and shared a manager with fellow Floridian Marilyn Manson in those early days.

“It was definitely traditional country that we liked, but we had to rev it up a little bit because of where we were playing,” Deakin said. “That’s how the sound was honed. Playing those clubs with those people, you had

to put some stink on it.”

The band was signed in 1991, but it took a few albums before it finally hit double platinum success with its 1994 release What a Crying Shame, for which it won a Grammy and awards from the Country Music Association and the Academy of Country Music.

The band broke up in 2004.

Singer and guitarist Raul Malo, the only other founding member still with the group, went on to pursue a solo career. According to Deakin, there were no plans to get back together until someone offered them money to do a reunion tour. When Deakin called up Malo to find out what he wanted to do, Malo was ready to record another album and wanted to record it as a Mavericks record so they would not just perform their greatest hits on the tour. The resulting album was 2013’s In Time.

“Before we ever played another note together live, we were back in the studio and recorded In Time and now Mono, and we’re continuing on,” Deakin said.

“What started as 20 dates might turn into 20 years.”

The Mavericks perform 8:30 p.m. Saturday at the American Quarter Horse Association World Championship Show in the Expo Hall at State Fair Park, 333 Gordon Cooper Blvd.

2015 Lucas Oil AQHA World Championship Show American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA) is the largest single breeders association in the world, with over 260,000 members, and the Lucas Oil AQHA World Championship Show is the pinnacle event for the association.

American quarter horse owners and exhibitors from around the world will flock to Oklahoma City just to compete at the event, which will be held through Sunday at State Fair Park, 333 Gordon Cooper Blvd.

More than 4,760 entries from across the Americas and even from Germany and Switzerland are competing for 99 world championships and more than 75 Adequan Level 2 championship titles.

All of the owners and exhibitors have qualified to compete at this show; members spend the year traveling on weekends just to compete. This event is expected to bring more than $23 million to the Oklahoma City economy.

The Mavericks’ concert on Saturday in Oklahoma Expo Hall is a benefit concert for the American Quarter Horse Foundation, in conjunction with AQHA’s 75th anniversary.

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life music

Sex Snobs

Snob attack

Sex Snobs’ new album leads the band in a new direction without losing its punch.

By Adam Holt

2nd Friday Concert Series

Sex Snobs with VIDEO and The Electric Church 10 p.m. Friday Opolis 113 N. Crawford Ave., Norman opolis.org Free 21+

One listen to Oklahoma City alternative rock quartet Sex Snob’s 2015 release Pop Songs and Other Ways to Die and it becomes clear that this musical onslaught lends itself easily to the adjectives “forceful” and “aggressive,” but in no way is it “violent.”

This band’s weapons are volume and melody, and the album’s songs are unleashed for the purpose of enjoyment and energy rather than pain. While listening, there is little warning for any upcoming track; the first note, or in some instances, noise, sends the bars of your music player’s equalizer straight into the red.

When listening to Sex Snobs, you’ll find no doubt about the authenticity of its sound. Its next show is Friday at Opolis, 113 N. Crawford Ave., in Norman.

The band members met during their high school years. “[He] and I began playing together at age 16,” said bassist James Hammontree, 28, of vocalist and guitarist Alex Barnard, 28.

They met guitarist Daniel Weaver, 29, and drummer Billy Reid, 25, through mutual friends during that time.

In 2010, the musicians came together and formed Chud.

Hammontree said though Chud’s lineup was identical to today’s Sex Snobs, their sound was drastically different.

“We were noisier, harder and aggressive, intonal and angular,” he

said. “Back then, we were listening to a lot of Melvins, Drive Like Jehu and Hot Snakes.”

The intensity and speed of posthardcore outfits Drive Like Jehu and Hot Snakes still influence the act’s sound, and elements of the Melvins jagged, sludge-metal sound can be heard on Sex Snobs’ first album, 2013’s Lonely.

Chud disbanded near the end of 2012, and Barnard and Hammontree moved to San Francisco. During the one and a half years they lived there, they began the Sex Snobs project and recorded Lonely with a drummer they were working with at the time.

“We wanted to experience living in a different place,” Hammontree said. “We wanted to live in a major city with a lot of art and music.”

On Lonely, the crossroads between Chud and Sex Snobs can be heard.

The sludge and lyrical impact of bands such as the Melvins can be sensed at times, while the volume and intensity of Sex Snobs is readily apparent.

Expenses led the duo back to Oklahoma City and, through an initial rotation of band members, back full circle to Weaver and Reid.

The title Pop Songs and Other Ways to Die isn’t misleading. Compared to past recordings, the album’s tracks have instrumental and vocal hooks meant to draw you in.

“We have gotten into more melodic and catchier stuff,” Hammontree said.

“We’re writing poppier songs and lyrics but still maintain a lot of noisy stuff and crazy sounds, but something you can hum to.”

The band will be recording with legendary audio engineer Steve Albini at Electrical Audio studios in Chicago next January. The tracks will be used for a future album with cover art provided by Steak Mtn. For more information, visit sexsnobs.bandcamp.com.

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life music

Spirits’ spirits This band bonds with an Oklahoma brewer — and their fans — over beer and a bottle of bourbon.

Shane Smith & The Saints

Shane Smith & The Saints 9:30 p.m. Nov. 20 Wormy Dog Saloon 311 E. Sheridan Ave. wormydog.com 601-6276 $8 21+

Oklahomans have beer and whiskey to thank for songwriter Shane Smith’s strong bond with the state.

Shane Smith & The Saints is a multifaceted band out of Austin that melds elements of rock, Cajun folk, Celtic music and Americana. The group returns to Oklahoma City for the first time since the debut of its new album, Geronimo, for a Nov. 20 show at Wormy Dog Saloon, 311 E. Sheridan Ave. In addition to the strong fan base the five-piece has found across the Red River, Smith attributed much of the act’s early success to the support of Mustang Brewing Company and its founder, Tim Schoelen.

“He’s gone over the top in making sure we’ve got a place to stay every time we’re in Oklahoma,” Smith said.

“He makes sure that there is a plethora of alcohol every time we’re ever around him. I’ve passed out standing up ... a total of six times at this point on different occasions.”

Smith first met Schoelen at a show in Fayetteville, Arkansas; he approached the band after watching them play.

“A bottle of bourbon later, we’re good friends,” Smith said.

Smith said Schoelen immediately took an interest in the musicians, finding them a host of show opportunities in Oklahoma, from corporate events to their first Wormy Dog gig. He also got them a new trailer after they outgrew their old one.

The band, Smith said, is thankful for the warm welcome and hospitality that has come to define supporters who call Oklahoma their home.

“They’re the types of fans where, if you don’t have a fan base the next time you come back, they’re trying like hell to get you a fan base just by word-ofmouth,” he said.

4 0 | n ov e m b e r 1 1 , 2 0 1 5 | O k l a h o m a G a z e t t e

“All out”

Patronage might have given the band a boost, but the real gains The Saints made with Oklahomans were more likely the result of their passionate performances.

Smith said they try to “leave it all out there” every night.

“It’s a pretty sweaty show, I guess is the best way of wording it,” he said.

“It’s usually a pretty rowdy, sweaty environment.”

Geronimo radiates the heat and rhythm previously only available at a concert. Successful bands, Smith said, either exploit an already-popular sound or go completely against the grain to find and define success on their own merit. The Saints hope Geronimo accomplished the latter.

“We’re probably not going to have some of the radio singles off it,” Smith said, “but at the end of the day, we can walk away from that and say, ‘That is our sound, and not too many people sound the same.’”

While recording, the band went through a trial-and-error process as the members learned how to capture the sound and energy of their concerts.

Some days, they recorded together live as a band, with minimal overdubs added later. Other days, they took a more piecemeal approach.

The strength of their musicianship and road-dog dedication is apparent; The Saints took only one weekend

off to record Geronimo. The rest was recorded as the band toured through cities like Nashville, Dallas, Austin and San Marcos, Texas.

Life on the road influenced Geronimo, too. Rustic-yet-modern tunes evoke images of the red-rock American West.

“It’s a really visual record,” Smith said. “The music itself, I feel like, really paints a picture of what the words are talking about.”

The power of Smith’s methodical lyrics is palpable. The track “Right Side of the Ground,” inspired by his brother’s attempts to bounce back from some bad-ending relationships, is dark but overwhelmingly human.

Smith said he hopes those human elements continue to endear the act to fans in Oklahoma City and beyond.

Shane Smith & The Saints will travel to Dublin, Ireland, later this year for a series of shows and hopes to set more overseas tour stops the near future.

Looking ahead, Smith hopes The Saints’ winning formula of touring, songwriting and local brews will help the group further establish its sound and fan base.

“Even though it’s kind of like a ‘Shane Smith-plus-band’ or whatever, it’s really become a pretty tight-knit family of me and the guys,” he said, “and hopefully, the music is sounding like that as well.”

AM Y S C ARBORO U GH / A L GAW LIK P HOTOGRA P HY / P ROVID ED

By James Benjamin

Drive, Riverwind Casino, Norman. ROCK

WEDNESDAY, NOV. 11

Hosty Duo, Grady’s 66 Pub, Yukon. COUNTRY

Blood On The Dance Floor, 89th Street Collective.

ELECTRONIC Edgar Cruz/Kyle Dillingham, UCO Jazz Lab, Edmond.

ACOUSTIC

Emerald Flame, Back Alley Gallery. FOLK

Justin Echols Trio, Hefner Grill. JAZZ Peter Case, The Blue Door. SINGER/SONGWRITER Ravens Three, Full Circle Bookstore. FOLK Replay, Remington Park. COVER

Grant Wells, Skirvin Hilton Hotel. JAZZ

Sensitiv Southside Boi/Lust For Youth, Blue Note Lounge. INDIE

Jackyl/Left To Die, Diamond Ballroom. ROCK

Shortt Dogg, UCO Jazz Lab, Edmond. BLUES

Jonathan Byrd, The Blue Door. SINGER/SONGWRITER

Street Kings, Oklahoma City Limits. ROCK

Lower 40, Baker Street Pub & Grill. COUNTRY

The Music of the Eagles, Civic Center Music Hall.

SYMPHONY

Maurice Johnson, R&J Lounge and Supper Club.

Scott Lowber/Will Galbraith/Ed VanBuskirk, Friends Restaurant & Club. COVER

PROVI DED

Live Music

Video/Sex Snobs/The Electric Church, Opolis, Norman.

VARIOUS Young the Giant/Wildling, Diamond Ballroom. ROCK

Seth Walker, The Blue Door. SINGER/SONGWRITER

THURSDAY, NOV. 12

SATURDAY, NOV. 14 Banana Seat, Riverwind Casino, Norman. COVER

Capsize/Gatherers, 89th Street Collective. ROCK

Boogie Fever, Remington Park. COVER

Casey & Minna, Cox Convention Center. FOLK

Chad Todd, Sliders. COUNTRY

Justin Echols Trio, Hefner Grill. JAZZ

Don and Melodee Johnson, Twelve Oaks, Edmond. FOLK

Kyle Reid & Daisy O’Connor, The Blue Door. SINGER/ SONGWRITER

Drive, Newcastle Casino, Newcastle. ROCK

That 1 Guy, Opolis, Norman. SINGER/SONGWRITER

pick

Saturday

Two lead vocalists — one male, one female — lead DT5, a merry band of music makers that performs current and standard pop, rock and R&B tunes. The quartet’s request list includes more than 50 songs spanning from Beyonce to The Clash.

Catch it 9:30 p.m. Saturday at Kamp’s Lounge, 1310 NW 25th St. Admission is $5. Guests must be at least 21 years old. Visit dt5band.com.

DT5, Kamps 1310 Lounge. POP Josh Jones/Siamese/Jacob Metcalf, Opolis, Norman.

ROCK

William Clark Green, Wormy Dog Saloon. COUNTRY

Lisa & Laura, Full Circle Bookstore. VARIOUS Michael Kleid, Fuze Buffet & Bar. JAZZ

Mountain Sprout, The Blue Door. BLUEGRASS

SUNDAY, NOV. 15

Avenue, Mickey Mantle’s Steakhouse. COVER

Stars, Russell’s, Tower Hotel. COVER

Claire Piersol, Uptown Grocery Co., Edmond. JAZZ

Band of Lovers, Red Brick Bar, Norman. INDIE

Stereo Deck, Oklahoma City Limits. COVER

Diana Krall, Civic Center Music Hall. PIANO

Chad Todd, Sliders. COUNTRY

The Mavericks, Oklahoma State Fairgrounds; Oklahoma Expo Hall. ROCK

Earl Day, Hefner Grill. PIANO

Alesana/IWrestledaBearOnce, 89th Street Collective.

ROCK

Daniel Jordan, Fuze Buffet & Bar. ACOUSTIC DJ Six, Russell’s, Tower Hotel. VARIOUS

Band of Lovers, Red Brick Bar, Norman, Friday

Trey Rosenthal, Toby Keith’s I Love This Bar & Grill.

COUNTRY

Justin Echols Trio, Hefner Grill. JAZZ

FRIDAY, NOV. 13

DT5

music

Avenue, Tapwerks Ale House & Cafe. COVER

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

Shmu, Blue Note Lounge. ROCK

okg

Anthony Snape, Post 352. SINGER/SONGWRITER

Miss Brown to You, UCO Jazz Lab, Edmond. JAZZ

provided

Tony Schwartz, Hefner Grill. JAZZ

Edgar Cruz, Skirvin Hilton Hotel. ACOUSTIC

The Sisters Sweet/Kyle Reid & the Low Swingin’ Chariots, Blue Note Lounge. FOLK

Lindi Ortega, ACM@UCO Performance Lab. COUNTRY

Young the Giant, Diamond Ballroom, Friday

p rovi ded

Mike Hosty, The Deli, Norman. ROCK Scott Lowber/Will Galbraith/Rick Toops, Friends Restaurant & Club. COVER Soulfly/Crowbar/Shattered Sun/Incite, Farmers Public Market. ROCK Terry Buffalo Ware/Gregg Standridge, The Blue Door.

ROCK

WEDNESDAY, NOV. 18 Edgar Cruz/Jeff Nokes, Avanti Bar & Grill. ACOUSTIC Grant Wells, Skirvin Hilton Hotel. JAZZ Jake Gill, Baker Street Pub & Grill. COUNTRY

MONDAY, NOV. 16

Keys N Krates, Subsonix at the Market. ELECTRONIC Maurice Johnson, R&J Lounge and Supper Club.

Ice Nine Kills/Wage War, 89th Street Collective. ROCK

Scott Lowber/Will Galbraith/Ed VanBuskirk, Friends Restaurant & Club. COVER

Rick Toops, Friends Restaurant & Club. ROCK

TUESDAY, NOV. 17 Eilen Jewell, The Blue Door. COUNTRY LUCKY/Shaun Suttle, Skirvin Hilton Hotel. COVER Mike Hosty, JJ’s Alley. ACOUSTIC

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

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

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

O k l a h o m a G a z e t t e | n ov e m b e r 1 1 , 2 0 1 5 | 4 1

FREE WILL ASTROLOGY

by ROB BREZNY

Homework: What’s your most beautiful or powerful hidden quality? Testify at FreeWillAstrology.com.

ARIES (March 21-April 19) “I demand unconditional love and complete freedom,” wrote Slovenian poet Tomaž Šalamun.

“That is why I am terrible.” In accordance with the astrological omens, I’m offering you the chance, at least temporarily, to join Šalamun in demanding unconditional love and complete freedom. But unlike him, you must satisfy one condition: Avoid being terrible. Can you do that? I think so, although you will have to summon unprecedented amounts of emotional intelligence and collaborative ingenuity.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) You have the answers you need, but you keep sniffing around as if there were different or better answers to be had. Moreover, you’ve been offered blessings that could enable you to catalyze greater intimacy, but you’re barely taking advantage of them — apparently because you underestimate their potency. Here’s what I think: As long as you neglect the gifts you have already been granted, they won’t provide you with their full value. If you give them your rapt appreciation, they will bloom.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20) Edgar Rice Burroughs (1875-1950) tried to earn a living by selling pencil sharpeners, but couldn’t make it. In frustration, he turned to writing novels. Success!

Among his many popular novels, 27 of them were about a fictional character named Tarzan. The actor who played Tarzan in the movies based on Burroughs’ books was Johnny Weissmuller. As a child, he suffered from polio, and rebuilt his strength by becoming a swimmer. He eventually won five Olympic gold medals. Burroughs and Weissmuller are your role models in the coming weeks, Gemini. It’s a favorable time for you to turn defeat into victory.

CANCER (June 21-July 22) Artist Andy Warhol had an obsession with green underpants. In fact, that’s all he ever wore beneath his clothes. It might be fun and productive for you to be inspired by his private ritual. Life is virtually

conspiring to ripen your libido, stimulate your fertility, and expedite your growth. So anything you do to encourage these cosmic tendencies could have an unusually dramatic impact. Donning green undies might be a good place to start. It would send a playful message to your subconscious mind that you are ready and eager to bloom.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) In the coming weeks, take special notice of the jokes and humorous situations that prompt you to laugh the loudest. They will provide important clues about the parts of your life that need liberation. What outmoded or irrelevant taboos should you consider breaking?

What inhibitions are dampening your well-being?

How might your conscience be overstepping its bounds and making you unnecessarily constrained? Any time you roar with spontaneous amusement, you will know you have touched a congested place in your psyche that is due for a cleansing.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) For each of the last 33 years, the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in Los Angeles has selected a “National Hero Dog.” It’s an award given to a canine that has shown exceptional courage in helping or rescuing people. In 2015, the group departed from tradition. Its “National Hero Dog” is a female cat named Tara. Last May, she saved a four-year-old boy by scaring off a dog that had begun to attack him.

I’m guessing you will soon have an experience akin to Tara’s. Maybe you’ll make a gutsy move that earns you an unexpected honor. Maybe you’ll carry out a dramatic act of compassion that’s widely appreciated.

Or maybe you’ll go outside your comfort zone to pull off a noble feat that elevates your reputation.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22) According to cartoon character Homer Simpson, “Trying is the first step towards failure.” I don’t agree with that comic advice. But I do think the following variant will be applicable to you in the coming weeks: “Trying too hard is the first step toward failure.” So please don’t try too hard, Libra! Over-exertion should be taboo. Straining and struggling would not only be unnecessary, but counterproductive. If you want to

accomplish anything worthwhile, make sure that your default emotion is relaxed confidence. Have faith in the momentum generated by all the previous work you have done to arrive where you are now.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21) Elsie de Wolfe (1859-1950) was a pioneer in the art of interior design. She described herself as “a rebel in an ugly world.” Early in her career she vowed, “I’m going to make everything around me beautiful,” and she often did just that. In part through her influence, the dark, cluttered decor of the Victorian Era, with its bulky draperies and overly ornate furniture, gave way to rooms with brighter light, softer colors, and more inviting textures. I’d love to see you be inspired by her mission, Scorpio. It’s a good time to add extra charm, grace, and comfort to your environments.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) At the age of 36, author Franz Kafka composed a 47-page letter to his father Herman. As he described the ways that his dad’s toxic narcissism and emotional abuse had skewed his maturation process, he refrained from lashing out with histrionic anger. Instead he focused on objectively articulating the facts, recounting events from childhood and analyzing the family dynamic. In accordance with the astrological omens, I recommend that you write a letter to your own father — even if it’s filled with praise and gratitude instead of complaint. At this juncture in your life story, I think you especially need the insights that this exercise would generate. (P.S. Write the letter for your own sake, not with the hope of changing or hurting or pleasing your dad. You don’t have to give it to him.)

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Shizo Kanakuri was one of Japan’s top athletes when he went to compete in the marathon race at the 1912 Stockholm Olympics. Partway through the event, fatigued by sweltering heat, bad food, and the long journey he’d made to get there, Kanakuri passed out.

He recovered with the help of a local farmer, but by then the contest was over. Embarrassed by his failure, he sneaked out of Sweden and returned home. Fast forward to 1966. Producers of a TV show tracked him

down and invited him to resume what he’d started. He agreed. At the age of 74, he completed the marathon, finishing with a time of 54 years, eight months. I think it’s time to claim your own personal version of this opportunity, Capricorn. Wouldn’t you love to resolve a process that got interrupted?

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) In most sporting events, there’s never any doubt about which competitor is winning. Each step of the way, the participants and spectators know who has more points or goals or runs. But one sport isn’t like that. In a boxing match, no one is aware of the score until the contest is finished — not even the boxers themselves. I think you’re in a metaphorically comparable situation.

You won’t find out the final tally or ultimate decision until the “game” is complete. Given this uncertainty, I suggest that you don’t slack off even a little. Keep giving your best until the very end.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20) One night as you lie sleeping in your bed, you will dream of flying through the sunny summer sky. The balmy air will be sweet to breathe. Now and then you will flap your arms like wings, but mostly you will glide effortlessly. The feeling that flows through your body will be a blend of exhilaration and ease.

Anywhere you want to go, you will maneuver skillfully to get there. After a while, you will soar to a spot high above a scene that embodies a knotty problem in your waking life. As you hover and gaze down, you will get a clear intuition about how to untie the knots.

Whether or not you remember this dream, the next day you will work some practical magic that begins to shrink or dissolve the problem.

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.

LIKE US ON

4 2 | N ov e m b e r 1 1 , 2 0 1 5 | O k l a h o m a G a z e t t e

A

s the Forty Under 40 Class of 2015 was assembled, we learned a number of remarkable things about them.

It was exciting to discover their depth of commitment to living in Oklahoma City and their positive feelings about the community.

Millennials define the Class of 2015, as each

of this year’s honorees was born between 1975 and 1995.

Many have old-fashioned reasons for deciding to live in Oklahoma City, such as family values, friendliness and its strong sense of community. Others are drawn to its emerging urbanism, dynamic growth and opportunity.

Their dreams and aspirations bode well for the future of our city. There’s hardy commitment to fostering the arts, supporting transportation enhancements and building businesses that broaden our urban mosaic.

Oklahoma Gazette is pleased to introduce to our readers forty citizens who are building their city’s future. continued on next page

O k l a h o m a G a z e t t e | n ov e m b e r 1 1 , 2 0 1 5 | 4 3

4 4 | n ov e m b e r 1 1 , 2 0 1 5 | O k l a h o m a G a z e t t e

index Akash Patel.....................48 Alice Young.....................49 Amanda Storck...............49

www.okc.biz

Annie Lillard....................48 Ashley Terry....................49 Audrey Falk.....................48 Azadeh Adlamini.............48 Barbie Smalley................48 Ben Davis........................54 Bethany Marshall............ 55 Bonni Goodwin...............54 Cameron Brewer.............54 Cary Anne Holton............54 Cayla Lewis.....................54 Christa Ryckbost............ 55 Danielle McKenzie........... 55

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CONGRATULATIONS, MALLORY! We are so proud of and impressed by your work in the Bricktown community, and this award is much deserved. You’re a great team member and friend to our organization and to Oklahoma City!

David Hardy.................... 56 Dustin Akers................... 56 Erin Cooper..................... 56 Ersin Demirci................... 56 Hunter Wheat.................. 57 J. Taylor Tribble............... 57 James Varnum................. 57 Jeff Dixon........................ 53 Joe Slack......................... 53 Jon Haque....................... 53 Jonathan Dodson............ 51 Jonna Whetsel................. 53 Kalif Gallego.................... 51 Kevin Daniel Bundy......... 51 Lani Gunderson.............. 51 Leslie Hensley................. 53 Mallory O’Neill................. 47 Marcia Gallant.................46 Marla Deann Cook..........46 Megan Radford............... 47 Paije Fauser....................46 Sean Evans.....................46 Tony Meazell................... 47 Zane Z. Woods................ 47

CONGRATULATIONS, CAMERON! Thank you for your invaluable service to Downtown Oklahoma City, Inc. and for being a fantastic pal and colleague. We appreciate and admire you every single day, and we’re are honored to work with you!

O k l a h o m a G a z e t t e | n ov e m b e r 1 1 , 2 0 1 5 | 4 5

What aspect of your line of work do you believe makes the biggest impact in our community?

Marla Deann Cook age 38

Marcia Gallant age 34

Owner, Ladies & Gentlemen; social activist

Project architect and senior associate, MA+ Architecture

I have been working to add weather shields to bus stops, and I started the Umbrella Project: For each hat purchased, I give an umbrella to someone waiting at a bus stop. There is no reason anyone should be forced to suffer the elements without dignity in Oklahoma City.

When you enter a building, an architect has affected you.

I take that to heart every day at work, especially as I design storm shelters, knowing that buildings have to withstand storms and add to the physical and emotional well-being of the occupants.

Sean Evans age 34 President and co-founder, Serve Moore

Where did you attend college?

other out of state 10%

3035+10718

The greatest impact of my work is empowering people to realize what can be done together. I really want to be a part of shining a light of hope in neighborhoods where people previously have only known darkness and isolation. Neighbors who know one another and volunteer together make their own communities great!

If we can be one voice encouraging the garage doors to stay open a few minutes longer and the cookouts to move into the front yard, I think we’ll see relationships that build strong neighborhoods and strong cities.

other in-state 35%

OSU 18%

Paije Fauser age 37 Director, Office of Academic and Student Services, University of Oklahoma College of Allied Health It is being able to help others reach their educational goals while pursuing a healthcare profession. Healthcare professionals are vital in our society, and without them, we would not be where we are.

4 6 | n ov e m b e r 1 1 , 2 0 1 5 | O k l a h o m a G a z e t t e

Relationship Status single 27%

engaged 5%

married 63%

did not attend 7%

OU 30%

domestic partnership 5%

other 0%

Tony Meazell age 39

none 55%

Sales and marketing director, TimberCraft Homes

1 18%

We’re building homes with luxury amenities and the latest green energy technology, and we’re making them affordable for the middle-class buyer. We’re making homes that are top-of-the-line and actually achievable for the vast majority of working families.

2 15% 3 7%

How many children do you have?

4 or more 5%

Mallory O’Neill age 31 Bricktown district manager, Downtown OKC, Inc. I am fortunate to work for an organization whose purpose is to advocate for downtown Oklahoma City. I go to work every day and work on projects with various organizations, boards and community leaders all striving to improve all aspects of our downtown community. I get to be the voice for stakeholders in Bricktown, listen to what they want out of the district and work toward making those ideas become a reality.

87+10+3N

How many hours a week do you work?

around 40 10%

less than 40 3%

40 or more 87%

Megan Radford age 29 Marketing strategist, VI Marketing and Branding In my career, I have worked with numerous nonprofit and for-profit businesses to help them reach their business objectives and move forward within the community.

Building strong brands builds a strong community.

Zane Z. Woods age 35 Founder and CEO, ZZW Global, Inc. The creation and retention of jobs for hardworking citizens of our community, the ability to contribute and be active in civic organizations and being involved in Oklahoma Independent Petroleum Association (OIPA) and Domestic Energy Producers Alliance (DEPA) in order to support our industry in Oklahoma City.

O k l a h o m a G a z e t t e | n ov e m b e r 1 1 , 2 0 1 5 | 4 7

What do you most love about living in Oklahoma City?

Azadeh Adlamini age 33

Akash Patel age 24

Data strategist

Founder and executive director, World Experiences Foundation

I love the big-city/small-town feel of Oklahoma City and that we really do live by the Oklahoma Standard. People here really do care about one another. I also love that I am getting to experience Oklahoma City evolve and grow.

What I love the most about the city is its people. By and large, we are a kind, considerate and personable bunch, always willing to strike a conversation and treat others with respect. I absolutely love that Oklahoma spirit and that Oklahoma Standard.

Audrey Falk age 32 Barbie Smalley age 32

Owner, Shop Good I love living in a big city that still has plenty of small-town charm. Oklahoma City has come a long way in the last 10 years, with fantastic redevelopment downtown, big improvements in walkability, family-friendliness and incorporated green space.

Community organizer, Neighborhood Alliance of Central Oklahoma I love that you are connected to multiple districts that envelop various events, eateries and, in general, fun places to meet friends within a 10-mile radius. Oklahoma City is growing at a rapid rate that is almost overwhelming to keep up with. You can literally find something of your interest to do every night of the week. Also, Oklahoma City is affordable and full of opportunities!

Annie Lillard age 35 Owner and strategist, &compannie My love for the city has grown as its opportunities, events, districts and attractions have grown. Our people are what make this city buzz, and without their hard work, we wouldn’t have the incredible opportunities that this city has given to each one of its residents and businesses.

4 8 | n ov e m b e r 1 1 , 2 0 1 5 | O k l a h o m a G a z e t t e

What is your birth order? oldest 32%

middle 25%

youngest 33%

only child 10%

Amanda D. Storck age 38 Chief of administration and chief financial officer, Oklahoma Water Resources Board The ease of access that Oklahoma City provides. To be so accessible to people in terms of things to see and do and opportunity is phenomenal.

Don’t be a giant squid.

This elusive creature can grow up to 30 feet in just a few years.

The only problem?

It doesn’t survive much longer than that.

Ashley Terry age 30 Project administrator, Wheeler District We are rapidly embracing ideas that make us a big-league city, but somehow, in true Oklahoma fashion, we are still able to maintain the small-town feel that fosters community.

Alice Young age 34 Owner, Brown O’Haver of Oklahoma; senior professional public adjuster I love being able to help people by adjusting their claims on their behalf. I love watching people succeed and come up on top of a devastating loss. Living in Oklahoma, I get to see this time and time again.

Grow smart with UMB Commercial Banking.

We believe in thoughtful planning, measured growth and partnering with your business every step of the way.

Commercial Loans Treasury Solutions International Services

umb.com/GrowSmart

Member FDIC

O k l a h o m a G a z e t t e | n ov e m b e r 1 1 , 2 0 1 5 | 4 9

220 SE 19th St. | Moore, OK, 73160 405.735.5510 | Toll Free 1.800.224.3373 www.brown-ohaver.com

Have you experienced an insurance loss?

Call us for answers!

We are state licensed advocates who specialize in the adjustment of claims on your behalf, not for the insurance company.

call for a free evaluation of your insurance claim 5 0 | n ov e m b e r 1 1 , 2 0 1 5 | O k l a h o m a G a z e t t e

What’s one piece of advice you would give 20-year-old you?

Kevin Daniel Bundy age 36 Senior project manager, HSE architects Don’t ride wave runners. Ever. I had an accident on a wave runner when I was 21.

It took several back surgeries and years to recover from, and I now live with chronic pain.

Lani Gunderson age 27 Project manager, Timberlake Construction Company, Inc. Don’t trust that things will simply work out on their own. Be your own advocate and ensure your own success.

8%

47% Jonathan Dodson age 35 Partner, Pivot Project; founder and partner, Cenam Consulting

Where do you live?

7%

oklahoma 5% county 3%

12% 8% cleveland county

Be willing to get involved in something bigger than yourself and give yourself to that work for at least five years.

5% other 5%

Kalif Gallego age 28 Owner and director of operations, Studio XII To follow my artistic instincts and merge them with the corporate world! That I am able to have it both ways.

What is your political affiliation?

Republican Democrat Libertarian Independent none 25% 45% 7% 18% 5%

O k l a h o m a G a z e t t e | n ov e m b e r 1 1 , 2 0 1 5 | 5 1

MA+Architecture congratulates Marcia Gallant, AIA, CDT, LEED AP on being named one of oklahoma city’s FORTY UNDER 40 www.maplusarchitecture.com

5 2 | n ov e m b e r 1 1 , 2 0 1 5 | O k l a h o m a G a z e t t e

What’s one piece of advice you would give 20-year-old you?

Jon Haque age 36 Business manager, Oklahoma City Repertory Theatre (CityRep) Feed the wolf you want to live, like in the old story of the two wolves fighting within each of us. The one that wins is the one you feed. Go with the positive one.

3%

32%

Where do you work?

5%

oklahoma county

10%

35% 5%

cleveland county 5% other 5%

What is your religious affiliation?

Leslie Hensley age 33

Christian 70%

Jewish 0%

Muslim 3%

other 10%

none 17%

Visual art coordinator, Boys & Girls Club of Oklahoma County Don’t be afraid to fail.

Joe Slack age 37 Sculptor The one piece of advice I would give is two pieces of advice. Trust your gut, and don’t sweat the small stuff.

Jonna Whetsel age 31 Administrative technician II, Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation Savor every second, because someday, those moments will be mere memories.

O k l a h o m a G a z e t t e | n ov e m b e r 1 1 , 2 0 1 5 | 5 3

What was the “magic moment” in your life when you decided to do what you do and stay here in Oklahoma?

Cameron Brewer age 29

Cary Anne Holton age 31

Director of finance and administration, Downtown OKC, Inc.

Owner, Cary Anne Photography

I knew I wanted to be in the middle of the momentum, and when I was offered a job at Downtown OKC, Inc., I knew that dream had come true. There is so much stemming out from the center of the city, including the surrounding neighborhoods and commercial districts, and I could not be more fortunate to be a part of it all.

I don’t know that I ever had one single magic moment. It has been a process over the years, and everything has ultimately led me to where I am today, and I’m grateful for that every day.

Ben Davis age 38 Co-owner of Urbane Home & Lifestyle; director of planning at the State of Oklahoma’s Office of Management and Enterprise Services

Cayla Lewis age 26

There were a couple. The first was when I worked at Neighborhood Alliance of Central Oklahoma and the sincerity I encountered, coupled with the work I was doing, inspired me to stay and pursue a graduate degree in urban planning with an emphasis on community and economic development. I put down deeper roots a few years later, when a local city councilperson inspired my husband and me to start our own business.

Bonni Goodwin

age 34

Counseling supervisor, Deaconess Pregnancy and Adoption Services When we moved here three years ago, I realized that I was joining one of the oldest and most respected ministries in Oklahoma.

I am immersed in a world of helping kids and families who have experienced loss, trauma or transitions through adoption and foster care.

Executive director, Plaza District I grew up in Yukon and always escaped to Oklahoma City and the Plaza District.

The local artsy culture of the Plaza District lured me in, and luckily, I landed my job a few years later, after basically stalking the area while I was in college at the University of Oklahoma.

80%

60%

40%

20%

0

5 4 | n ov e m b e r 1 1 , 2 0 1 5 | O k l a h o m a G a z e t t e

somewhat optimistic 87%

100%

extremely optimistic 8%

How much confidence do you have in the economy? not very optimistic 3%

N/A 2%

Danielle McKenzie age 32 Assistant director of finance, administration and personnel, University of Oklahoma Advanced Programs I was born in Oklahoma City. My plan was to go to college and then move far away. I wouldn’t call it a magic moment; I realized that there are ways to touch people and build a life here in Oklahoma City. As the first woman in my family to complete a bachelor’s degree, I have a deep appreciation of the benefits and power of education. Working at a university, I get to be part of one of the most memorable times in a person’s life: college.

Bethany Marshall age 26 Print project manager, Outlook Magazine I never wanted to leave Oklahoma.

I grew up here and fell in love with the community at a young age. I started my civic engagement in elementary school, volunteering at my local library. I could never leave such an inspiring state.

Christa Ryckbost age 30 AE business development manager, Healthcare Division, Guernsey I wish I’d had a magic moment when I decided what I wanted to do! I grew up in this industry. My dad holds a similar title at a large firm in Dallas.

It’s in my blood, and it felt right.

O k l a h o m a G a z e t t e | n ov e m b e r 1 1 , 2 0 1 5 | 5 5

What’s the one thing you’d like to see happen in Oklahoma City in the next three years?

Dustin Akers age 29 Owner and consultant, Redefine: Transformative Planning & Development Consulting I would like to see Oklahoma City become a more equitable place. There has been incredible success with Oklahoma City’s evolution in the recent past, but many areas of the city have been left behind.

How prepared for retirement are you?

25+52+23 nowhere near prepared 23%

very prepared 25%

somewhat prepared 52%

Jeff Dixon age 34

Erin Cooper age 36

Chief financial officer, Provision Concepts

Co-owner and designer, CooperHouse

That’s easy: A Thunder NBA championship!

As a designer, I’d like to see a tech community grow and rival the energy companies in terms of creating jobs for Oklahoma City. As an artist, I’d like to see more public art opportunities throughout the districts. I’d love to be known as the city of beautiful murals.

Ersin Demirci age 31 Executive director, Dialogue Institute of Oklahoma City First and foremost, I would like the Oklahoma City Thunder to win the national championship.

David Hardy age 34 CEO, Oklahoma Region, UMB Bank One of the competitive advantages of Oklahoma City is the public-private partnership that exists. Over the next three years, I would like to see this continue.

With the down cycle in the energy industry, now, more than ever, is the time for all sectors to work together to keep the momentum we have.

5 6 | n ov e m b e r 1 1 , 2 0 1 5 | O k l a h o m a G a z e t t e

Congratulations, Kevin Bundy!

J. Taylor Tribble age 39 President, Eduskills I would like to see more opportunities for Oklahomans to learn languages other than English. To stay relevant in the global economy, we must foster more opportunities for children and adults to learn languages other than English.

914 N. Broadway, oklahoma City, 405.526.1300 hSEarchitects.com

Congratulations to all Forty Under 40 winners from OKC’s Best Chef.

Oklahoma Gazette Best of OKC 2009, 2013, 2014, 2015

James Varnum age 31 Founder and CEO, TradeShare; co-founder and director of vision, SixTwelve, Inc. I’d like to see more community spaces.

I believe the more spaces people have as a community to come together and share ideas and resources, the happier, more creative and more interconnected and resilient we become as a society.

Hunter Wheat age 28 Founder, The Bleu Garten I would like to see more growth and new weird, eccentric, local ideas to our Oklahoma City entertainment industry.

Congratulations to the Forty Under 40 Class of 2015.

To read their full Q&A’s, visit okc.BIZ or okgazette.com and click on the Forty Under 40 icon today!

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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 d v e r t i s i n g @ t i e r r a m e d i a g r o u p. c o m

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The company has been in business since 1951 and offers a full range of window treatment products and related services.

Motorization has been a specialty at Design Resources for three decades.

Requirements for this position: • Be familiar with construction plans and specifications • Strong communication and leadership skills • Punctual and have organized work habits • Desire for advancement • Have job site management experience • Work well in a team environment • Accurate • Detail and quality oriented • Reports to the General Manager/Owner

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Are you a well-spoken, Gazette-reading, idea-driven, local Oklahoma business-lover with the desire to help metro OKC businesses grow and succeed? Then we are looking for you!

Oklahoma Gazette is actively seeking resumes for an

outside advertising sales position.

Sales experience in retail or service industry a plus.

“LET ME HELP FIND THE HOME OF YOUR DREAMS! CALL ME FOR A FREE CONSULTATION”

Real Estate Auction Red River Ranch Retreat Offered in 7 Parcels Prime hunting and ranching properties on the North Fork of the Red River

Saturday, Nov. 14th 10:00 am • Sayre, OK

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Please send cover letter & resume to cduane@okgazette.com

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5 8 | N ov e m b e r 1 1 , 2 0 1 5 | O k l a h o m a G a z e t t e

– BRENDA MENDOZA REALTOR

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

Facial & Massage Therapist Call for Appt. 213-7745 $10 - Beginning Hot Yoga Wednesdays at 6:30pm and Sundays at 10:30am

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.

OCC-09708

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

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O k l a h o m a G a z e t t e | N ov e m b e r 1 1 , 2 0 1 5 | 5 9

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