June 2013

SLICE THE MAGA ZINE OF CENTR AL OKL AHOMA

MEN’S FASHION TAKES A GATSBY TWIST A DERBY DYNASTY Local Sports’ Best-Kept Secret FILM BUFFS, REJOICE deadCENTER Is Back

among other things …

XY HIGHLIGHTS

Men: Shape Up (Your Scruff), Clean Up (Your Act) and Eat Up (Your BBQ)!

Beauty

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by William Shakespeare Directed by Kathryn McGill

July 25, 26 and 27 at 8:00pm, July 28 at 2:30pm Oklahoma City University, Burg Theatre

September 12- 28 Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00pm Myriad Gardens Water Stage

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FEATURES

33

June 2013

The Summer of Great Style A true classic never really goes out of fashion; witness the way one of the great American novels provides inspiration for the crisp, colorful, Gatsby-esque attire in our compendium of summer menswear.

38 The Biggest Local Sports Story

On the cover

You’ve Never Heard

A central Oklahoma team is zeroing in on a spot among the nation’s elite competitors – and we’re not talking Thunder, nor Sooners, nor Cowboys. These powerhouses play under the name Victory Dolls (for good reason), and they and their sisters are drawing more and more eyes to the thrilling sport of roller derby.

44

The Hit Parade

Independent cinema’s best and brightest are headed to OKC for the 13th annual deadCENTER Film Festival. With options ranging from locally filmed shorts to star-studded dramas and documentaries, the choice of what to see is up to you ... with a little help from our full schedule.

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Montedoro Giacco blazer, Aspesi striped shirt, Mason’s Clothing white cotton pant, Cantini knit tie and Armstrong & Wilson pocket square from Spencer Stone Company, with Mykita Mylon glasses from Black Optical. Photo

by Simon Hurst

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JUNE 2013 // SLICE 5

DEPARTMENTS 81

SUMMERTIME FLAVOR Nothing beats top-notch barbeque for a Father’s Day feast, and with this slow-cooking oven recipe, even the chef can beat the heat.

12 From the Editor 14 Perspectives UP FRONT 17 Chatter Considering the appeal of the threeday beard, expanding knowledge of Oklahoma’s native peoples, anticipating Hanson’s latest and other topics of conversation.

24 Retrospective Remembering the way we were with a look back at the dining-anddisco groove of Michael’s Plum.

28 Details As examples from local retailers show, using blue accent pieces can leave homeowners tickled pink.

30 Exchange A give and take about spreading happiness, learning to juggle (that’s unrelated) and more with fourthgeneration jeweler Coleman Clark.

SPACES 51 Caution: Splendid When Wet Beauty flows freely in homes across the metro on the Water Garden Society of Oklahoma’s Pond Tour.

17

52 Live (in) the Dream A magical opportunity takes shape in Edmond as the St. Jude Dream Home Tour approaches.

TRAVEL 54 77 Counties In her ongoing travels through Oklahoma, author and photographer M.J. Alexander investigates a vanishing lake and the lost city it has revealed.

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56 Girlfriends’ Weekend Wondrous window shopping, distinctive cuisine and entertainment options from dinner theater to a huge wine festival – Grapevine,

June 2013 Texas, demands far more time than a mere layover.

COMMUNITY 59 Facing Pain Head On In an excerpt from his recent book “Vibrant,” behavioral psychiatrist Dr. R. Murali Krishna recalls a dark time from childhood and offers advice for dealing with trauma.

MINGLING 62 Making an appearance on central Oklahoma’s social scene.

PRACTICAL MATTERS 65 Potent possibilities for future advancements and present-day progress in the realm of men’s health, plus a tech-lover’s roundup of summertime gadgets.

PURSUITS 71 A rundown of local events and entertainment, including a top 10 list of must-see attractions and closer looks at Lyric’s golden season and the sweet sounds of summertime blues.

FARE 84 Sweet Sensation Already a prime venue for discovering the joys of wine, Edmond’s Vin Dolce boasts a savory new menu, giving guests ample reason to raise a few glasses in celebration.

86 Eat & Drink Take a gastronomic tour with Slice’s citywide dining guide.

94 Last Laugh 96 Last Look

71

JUNE 2013 // SLICE 7

June 2013

Volume 4 Issue 6

PUBLISHER Elizabeth Meares EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Mia Blake EDITORIAL Features Writer John Parker Associate Editor Steve Gill Contributing Writers M.J. Alexander, Mark Beutler, Timothy Fields, Lauren Hammack, R. Murali Krishna, M.D., Michael Miller, Caryn Ross, Elaine Warner, Sara Gae Waters ART Art Director Scotty O’Daniel Graphic Designer Brian O’Daniel Contributing Stylist Sara Gae Waters

by Yousef Khanfar From behind prison walls, powerful images and messages – not to condemn or commiserate, but to serve as bridges of understanding.

MAY 30 - SEPTEMBER 7

Contributing Photographers M.J. Alexander, Justin Avera, Simon Hurst, Claude Long, Michael Miller, Elaine Warner, Carli Wentworth ADVERTISING Executive Director of Advertising Cynthia Whitaker-hill Account Executives Robin Eischeid, Jamie Hamilton, Doug Ross, Christin Scheel Account Manager Ronnie Morey ADMINISTRATION Distribution Raymond Brewer

1400 CLASSEN DRIVE | OKLAHOMA CITY, OK 405.235.4458 | www.oklahomaheritage.com This project was made possible by The George Kaiser Family Foundation and The Dr. Raniyah Ramadan Foundation.

8 SLICE // JUNE 2013

WEBSITE AND SOCIAL MEDIA sliceok.com

13

JUNE 2013 // SLICE 9

June 2013

Volume 4 Issue 6

READER SERVICES Mailing Address 729 W. Sheridan, Suite 101 Oklahoma City, OK 73102 Phone 405.842.2266 Fax 405.604.9435 Subscription Inquiries info@sliceok.com Advertising Inquiries dwalker@openskymediainc.com Job Inquiries jobs@sliceok.com Internship Inquiries jobs@sliceok.com

EARTHLY DELIGHTS.

Story Ideas editor@sliceok.com Letters to the Editor Your views and opinions are welcome. Letters must include your full name, address and daytime phone number. Email to letters@ sliceok.com; fax to 405.604.9435; mail to the address listed above. Letters sent to Slice magazine become the magazine’s property, and it owns all rights to their use. Slice magazine reserves the right to edit letters for length and clarity.

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After years of doing business as both companies, Young Brothers has retired the Southwest Tile name.

Back Issues To order back issues of Slice magazine, please send $9.50 (includes P&H) to the mailing address above or call 405.842.2266 to order by phone.

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CORPORATE Chief Executive Officer & President Richard M. Franks Chief Financial Officer Todd P. Paul Chief Marketing Officer Forbes C. Durey ADVERTISING Director of Sales Darla Walker Director of National Advertising Nathen Bliss MARKETING AND EVENTS Corporate Director of Marketing & Events Cathy Hale Director of Audience Development Kerri Nolan

VISIT OUR SHOWROOM: 100 N. CLASSEN, OKC

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www.youngbrosinc.com MARBLE • GRANITE • TILE EST 1969

10 SLICE // JUNE 2013

Director of Events & Community Relations Meredith Parsons Marketing & Events Coordinator Meghan Athnos ©2013 Open Sky Media, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction of Slice magazine content, in whole or part by any means, without the express written consent of the publisher is strictly prohibited. Slice magazine is not responsible for the care of and/or return of unsolicited materials. Slice magazine reserves the right to refuse advertising deemed detrimental to the community’s best interest or in questionable taste. Opinions expressed in this magazine are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of ownership or management.

JUNE 2013 // SLICE 11

From the Editor

HOT FUN IN THE SUMMERTIME

SIMON HURST

S MIA BLAKE

Editor-in-Chief mia.blake@sliceok.com

12 SLICE // JUNE 2013

o, dear reader. We meet again. I guess this is going to be an every-monthkind-of-thing. Great! I think I like going steady.

First, thank you for all the nice cards, voicemails, emails and general well wishes. It means a lot to me. Keep ’em coming … I’ll never tire of hearing from you. I read and reflect upon each missive – often sharing your words with the talented team here at Slice. We all appreciate you and love to hear what you think about the magazine.

June seems to be the month of “The Festival.” There is a festival for just about any interest and our town does put on a great party. We’ve tried to highlight some of our favorites in this issue to point you in the right direction.

Music lovers shouldn’t miss the Charlie Christian Music Festival (page 74) and Jazz in June (page 75), film enthusiasts need to make plans to attend the deadCENTER Film Festival (page 44) and every Oklahoman should experience the Red Earth Festival (page 72) to celebrate the important heritage of this place we call home.

The summer solstice ushers in true summertime after a “normally abnormal” spring. As an avid gardener, Oklahoma’s weather likes to keep me on my toes and this year is no exception. Who knew that my tomatoes would go in the ground almost two months later than in 2012? And that those wet things would fall from the sky, repeatedly? What are those called again?

Raindrops? I remember those! At press time, the metro has felt some relief from the drought, but parts of our state have not been as fortunate. The latest installment of M.J. Alexander’s “77 Counties” series takes us to Greer and Kiowa counties to inspect the condition of manmade Lake Altus-Lugert and the slow reveal of the town beneath the waters (page 54). Let’s all pray for rain.

Features writer John Parker explores the birth of a dynasty with his examination of the media-neglected sport of roller derby. Let’s just say another one of our hometown teams has a shot to make it big on the national stage, albeit with a smaller platform than, say, NBA basketball or college football. The fascinating story of the little leagues that could begins on page 38.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the main holiday for June … Flag Day, June 14! Just kidding, that’s actually my 10th wedding anniversary, so that’s the reason I remember it so well. Oh, no one else is celebrating my anniversary?

How about Father’s Day, then? In honor of the XY chromosomes in our lives, we’re bringing you a few men-centric articles, including a look at the “The Right Scruff” by Mark Beutler on page 22 (this includes a personal favorite, Mr. Editor-in-Chief Michael Blake), Caryn Ross’ Father’s Day feast on page 82 and a men’s health wake-up call on page 65. We want to keep you around as long as possible, so take care of yourselves, OK? Everybody hug somebody this month. And happy Father’s Day to my two dads. Love you guys.

Perspectives

Where readers do the writing.

comm un

ity | For

the Kids

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Stand ing Ta ll

68

MOTION SUSTAINED

I want to thank you so very much for running the story on OLFC! I can’t tell you what it means to our little organization that works so hard for kids. Your article reaches so many, and we’ve had so many calls and comments after it was released. It’s just been a great boost for us.

I was out of town when the magazine went out, but we started getting calls right away! Many have come forward about volunteering and others wanting to learn more about OLFC generally. That type of attention does so much for a group like ours. You’ve done more for OLFC than just about anything I can imagine, and I am more grateful than you will ever know.

Tsinena Thompson, Oklahoma Lawyers for Children, via email

A SHOW OF SUPPORT

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Thanks so much for the great article by Steve Gill on this year’s Symphony Show House Trio. Paint Inspirations appreciates the nice photo of our room and the credit given for all the hard work we put in to it. It truly is an amazing room! Thoroughly enjoy your magazine!

Deb Johnson with Paint Inspirations via Facebook

The com fortable the trad living room in of Stev itional home, cour tesy e Calonkey and Kate , Susie Robert lynn Calonkey Pickett Fine Furn of Mister iture, the desi gners’ loveshowcases imagery and talen for animal t at bring together ing multiple patterns on sum ptuo Lighthea us rted touc materials. as well hes abou – sculptur look for the whim nd e of a sical the blue flying pig betw een alligator armchai rs.

52 slic e // May 2013

Send your letters to the editor to letters@sliceok.com.

14 SLICE // JUNE 2013

The fixtu res to the hous in this epic e; the mag ally luxuriou Jeannie s master ic is by Kind of bath are Deb and eye-catc the original Stev hing coro aptly named example Paint Inspe Johnson and na abov of irations, strength working with e the tall bath whose tub is a what’s s. Even in a room prime letting the show the user enjoy the er is enclosed to accentuate entirely its luminous with glas view. s,

Honoring Tradition Since 1947, Casady School has developed excellence, confidence and integrity in our students by equipping them with the skills and knowledge that serve as the foundation for success.

This is CASADY. 9500 North Pennsylvania Ave. • Oklahoma City, OK 73120 • 405.749.3185 • www.casady.org • Casady School admits students of any race, color, creed and national or ethnic origin.

JUNE 2013 // SLICE 15

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16 SLICE // JUNE 2013

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UP FRONT

House of Blues

Cerulean, robin’s egg, cobalt … call it what you will, the serene shade can easily steal the spotlight when used as an accentuation in home décor. For a peaceful punch of color, try bringing home the blues. See page 28.

CARLI WENTWORTH

Blue lamp from Mockingbird Manor

CHATTER The joys of stubble and other topics of conversation 18

RETROSPECTIVE A quick look back at the heyday of a local hot spot 24

EXCHANGE Sharing sparkling repartee with jeweler Coleman Clark 30 JUNE 2013 // SLICE 17

UP FRONT | Chatter

ON THE PAGE STORIES FROM THE SOONER STATE HANSON

How long has it been since “MMMBop” ruled the airwaves? Zac Hanson was 12 at the time and the youngest songwriter ever nominated for a Grammy; now he’s 27 and a father of two. While the Tulsa trio hasn’t maintained that level of radio ubiquity since, they have continued to record and develop as musicians, because at a fundamental level they love what they do. “We have always been in awe of the ability music has to engage people, whether it’s a song that makes you want to dance or … inspires you to take action for a cause,” Taylor Hanson said. “We want this record to be an anthem for all of those moments.” He’s referring to Hanson’s sixth album, not coincidentally named “Anthem,” which drops June 18. Still harmonious, still energetic … a little more mature.

His band After Five shared stages with Nancy Wilson and Al Green; he co-founded a company to hand-craft and market acoustic guitars; he wrote guidebooks to help organize musical careers; now he’s a solo recording artist. Music is a daily part of Maurice Johnson’s life, and a passion that radiates from every track of his second CD, “Peace, Love and Jazz.” It’s broader in scope and more stylistically diverse than his debut “Tonight,” featuring 15 different musicians compared to the first album’s three, unified by Johnson’s soul and lifelong-honed performance chops. Signed copies available at mauricejohnsonmusic.com.

18 SLICE // JUNE 2013

A small-scale epic based on a footnote in modern history, Russell Ferrell’s latest book is proof that fascinating stories are unfolding all around us all the time, and that real-world conflicts can be more compelling – if messier – than fiction. “The Bone War of McCurtain County” is a tale of greed, ignorance, stubbornness and politics centered around what is still the only extant complete skull of ferocious prehistoric predator Acrocanthosaurus, discovered by amateur paleontologists in southeast Oklahoma. Get your talons on a copy when Ferrell holds a signing at Hastings in Norman June 15.

“Superman is one of the greatest superhero icons of all time, and his universal messages of truth and hope have made him one of the most popular pop fiction characters of the last 75 years. I’m proud to have contributed to the Man of Steel’s lore.”

- Sterling Gates, DC Comics writer and Oklahoma native, who will be at the Midwest City Library June 15 to celebrate Superman’s 75th anniversary with a workshop and discussion; call 732.4848 for details.

STERLING GATES PHOTO BY RICHARDSON FRY PHOTOGRAPHY

Getting in Tune

Most Oklahoma natives can name the socalled Five Civilized Tribes (which is an egregiously patronizing label, by the way) that are part of our state’s culture … but that’s just the beginning. What is now Oklahoma has been home to native peoples for over 10,000 years, and more than three dozen tribes still call it home today, a panoply of cultures and legacies collected and shared in “Indian Tribes of Oklahoma: A Guide” by Blue Clark.

Dr. Clark, an OCU professor and himself a member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, covers the alphabet from A to Yuchi and provides for each an overview of their name’s derivation, current location, economic status and population, as well as a brief accounting of their tribal history and notable figures like Comanche chief Quanah Parker, the artists of the Kiowa 5, Cherokee actor and entertainer Will Rogers and more. The result is simultaneously a reference book and a surprisingly compelling read, especially for those of us who share in the story of the “Land of the Red People.”

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JUNE 2013 // SLICE 19

UP FRONT | Chatter

Calendar Watch June 14 Flag Day June 16 Father’s Day June 18 International Picnic Day; don’t forget the sunscreen June 21 First day of summer (music to our ears after the spring we had)

CREATING BUSINESS

We can’t all be Renaissance men and women – great skill in one area of endeavor often goes hand-in-hand with a relative lack of aptitude in another. So where nature fails to provide, we must learn to fend for ourselves. This fall, the Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition will host Artist INC, a program that trains aspiring and established artists in business skills – such as finance, law, marketing and technology – specific to their industry.

The eight-week course begins in October and is limited to 25 participants.

Interested? Remember to hit ovac-ok. org before the June 14 deadline part of the entry qualifications.

ON THE JOBS

Oklahoma City finished the first quarter of 2013 with the nation’s lowest metropolitan unemployment rate (4.6 percent), the result of three months of steady drops. Sounds like something is working right.

20 SLICE // JUNE 2013

Shower Power WHEN RAINDROPS KEEP FALLIN’ ON YOUR HEAD

June is one of the wettest months in our calendar, but fear not – in exactly the kind of development a forward-thinking urban area ought to have, VI Marketing and Branding has introduced the Pop-Ins umbrella sharing program to downtown OKC. No membership cards, no monthly fees, just stocked umbrella stands in high-traffic areas and the honor system: grab one when you need it, put it back when you’re done. So smile … and let a free umbrella be your umbrella. Visit popinsokc.com for locations.

Hail and Farewell

Congratulations to Mitzi Hancuff on her new job: not being the executive director of the Fine Arts Institute of Edmond. She stepped down May 17 after 25 years at the FAI, leaving longtime assistant Shannon Price in the big chair and herself with the opportunity to catch up on quite a backlog of writing, traveling and personal interests.

"ABSTAINER: A WEAK PERSON WHO YIELDS TO THE TEMPTATION OF DENYING HIMSELF A PLEASURE." AMBROSE BIERCE

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JUNE 2013 // SLICE 21

UP FRONT | Chatter

THE RIGHT SCRUFF

By Mark Beutler // Photos by Carli Wentworth

The scruffy bunch, clockwise from top left: Mark Myers, Tyler Smith, Robert Mills, Scott Hines, James Siderias and Michael Blake 22 SLICE // JUNE 2013

WHEN IT COMES TO MEN’S TRENDS, I HAVE TRIED MOST OF THEM. IN THE ’80S, I WAS ONE OF THOSE GUYS WITH THE PREPPY DOUBLE-LAYERED POLO SHIRTS WITH UPTURNED COLLARS. AS A COUNTRY DISC JOCKEY IN THE ’90S, I HAD SOME SUCCESS WITH THE “GARTH BROOKS-WRANGLERS-AND-MOBETTASHIRT” LOOK. THEN A FEW YEARS AGO THERE WAS THE WHOLE “ABERCROMBIE/HOLLISTER SURFER STUD” LOOK. LET’S NOT EVEN GO THERE. Therefore, the trendy no-shave scruffy look intrigued me – until I tried it for a week.

It looked like Anderson Cooper threw up on my beard.

Through the years, I’ve learned that I am not suited for every new trend (see above “Abercrombie/Hollister” reference). So out came the Gillette Mach 3 Turbo and the Edge Power Gel, and I was back.

But some dudes can pull it off, and they do it well. What is it about the halfinch whisker growth that they enjoy?

Let’s find out.

razor for my neck and cheeks when I feel like it.

As a teenager I couldn’t wait to get my hands on some shaving cream and a razor when I started growing those first wisps of hair on my upper lip. But after so many years of shaving I’m definitely over it. A little scruff never hurt anybody, but goatees and “flavor savers” kill, so choose your facial hair wisely, fellas!

ROBERT MILLS

ARTISTIC DIRECTOR, OKLAHOMA CITY BALLET

MARK MYERS

PUBLIC INFORMATION DIRECTOR, OKLAHOMA COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE It’s the greatest feeling to wake up in the morning and think “I’m not going to shave today!” Usually if I have stubble it means I have done absolutely nothing for a few days and have let myself go, which in my book is a good thing.

There is a difference, though, between stubble and full-on “Duck Dynasty.” I usually only allow three-to-four days’ growth before I shave, and that gives me the optimum “shadow effect.”

Shaving is pure agony. When I do shave, it’s not only my face, but I also shave my head. It’s not an easy task doing that every morning. Plus, the older you get - and when you have a mug like mine - you do everything possible to conceal just how ugly you are! Stubble is like an all-natural concealer.

JAMES SIDERIAS

CLEVELAND COUNTY ASSISTANT DISTRICT ATTORNEY I think what I like the most is how much it cuts off my morning routine. It’s one less thing I have to worry about, and when it comes to time management and mornings, I need all the help I can get.

Plus, I just like the way it looks.

The thing about scruff is there’s really not a wrong way to wear it. Normally I use my trimmers with a guard set at two or three. I will do that once a week, and a

I am really not trying to be trendy, and I don’t care so much about how it looks; it’s just that I enjoy not having to shave every day. I am not really one to groom it at all unless I shave my neck to create a clean line. Typically I shave it all off before it gets to the point where it would qualify as a beard.

As an artist, I am lucky in that I get a lot of leeway in terms of how I look or dress at work. I am in front of a group of dancers who are working hard and sweating. I need to be able to move freely so my attire is much more casual than most in the workplace. Many times I simply allow my facial hair to follow suit.

I was never excited about shaving.

I absolutely hate it and would be very happy if I never had to shave again!

MICHAEL BLAKE

MANUFACTURING SYSTEMS MANAGER, LUCAS COLOR CARD What I enjoy most about scruff is not shaving every day – not that I was a faithful daily shaver anyway. But I do like the look of it as well. It’s amazing the difference some stubble can make to your appearance.

To keep it from looking like a full beard I use a trimmer with an adjustable blade a couple times a week. I trim the neck pretty short for a cleaner look. Some of the responses I get are interesting, everything from “Oh, are you trying to grow a beard?” to “Whoa! Russell Crowe!” Which is odd because I look nothing like Russell Crowe.

Men are generally more accepting. Some can’t grow a beard, or it comes in patchy. I used it as a conversation piece for a while.

Not shaving is great; I imagine it’s like a bald guy who just gets out of the shower and is ready to go – no hair prep, no gel.

Always ready. I encourage all men to try a beard at least once in their life. Give it a month and see how it looks. It’s part of the male experience!

TYLER SMITH

PRESIDENT, TRACTION MARKETING GROUP Beards are a sign of virility. There’s a reason guys like Chuck Norris, Abraham Lincoln and every hockey player all have beards: Testosterone is literally spilling forth from their face. But in all seriousness, it’s a healthy mixture of not feeling compelled to shave every single day and liking the look.

My facial hair isn’t very dark, so it keeps its “stubblish” appearance for a while. I could probably get away with a couple of weeks between shaves, but I prefer to use a beard trimmer every four to five days to keep it clean-looking and tidy. Of course, the neck must be clean shaven with a razor every couple of days. Nobody desires neck beards; fuzzy turtlenecks just aren’t a good look for anyone but Graham Colton.

And if you’re going to grow something on your face, grow something uniform or don’t grow it out at all. A few sporadic Keanu patches do not a beard make!

SCOTT HINES REPORTER, KFOR-TV

I am so not a beard or mountain-man type of guy. I don’t hunt, camp or fish. But I am a huge fan of the stubble look. I love the confidence it gives me. A little stubble goes a long way. It lets everyone know “I am a man, hear me roar!” Just kidding. Sort of.

Seriously though, I love how it ages me a bit and makes me appear more masculine.

Typically I try to trim once or twice a week. I’m all about grooming, shaping and maintaining my 5 o’clock shadow, although it’s kind of a sad shadow and doesn’t always grow consistently. Plus, when my stubble starts to transition into a beard, I start scratching the heck out of my face. Ain’t nobody got time for an itchy facial rug!

I mostly get compliments on my facial hair. It’s all positive feedback. So hey, I’m just a guy, rocking a lil’ stubble in a corner!

JUNE 2013 // SLICE 23

o r t Respective

Blame It on the Boogie FOR ONE BRIEF, STROBE-LIT MOMENT, it was Oklahoma City’s answer to Studio 54.

Michael’s Plum, the legendary disco and fine dining establishment at N.W. 63rd and Grand, invokes memories of the Bee Gees and life in the fast lane. Men in threepiece suits with open shirts and shimmering gold jewelry; women with big shoulder pads and even bigger hair dined on gourmet dishes, then partied into the wee hours.

A plum-colored membership card got you in the door.

Once inside, the mirror-enclosed, elevated dance floor reverberated with the hottest disco of the day. Patrons tried out their best John Travolta moves, and “liquor by the wink” was the name of the game.

The restaurant closed in 1980, and by 1985 the end of disco fever signaled the final demise of “The Plum.”

24 SLICE // JUNE 2013

PHOTOS COURTESY OKLAHOMA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

By Mark Beutler

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JUNE 2013 // SLICE 25

OKLAHOMA FILM

BY T HE NUMBERS 1904

year Thomas Edison’s film crew made Oklahoma’s first motion picture, “A Brush Between Cowboys and Indians”

1979

2,379

year the Oklahoma Film & Music Office (ok.gov/oklahomafilm) was established to attract film, TV, video and music industries to the state total productions in 2011 (including feature films, TV and commercials), according to the OF&MO

2001 50

$50,600,000

total economic impact of the film production industry on Oklahoma in 2011 (OF&MO)

6,201

Oklahoma jobs in the motion picture and television industry, according to the MPAA

$193,600,000

wages paid to Oklahomans as a result of those jobs

70

films OK native Ron Howard has directed since 2001, including “The Da Vinci Code” and “A Beautiful Mind,” for which he won best director

3

number of those films that grossed more than his previous film, “How the Grinch Stole Christmas”

most film credits OK native Brad Pitt has had in a year (5 times) since graduating from roles like “Waiter” and “Guy at Beach With Drink”

10 40

most film credits OK native Will Rogers had in a year (1924), including “Going to Congress,” “High Brow Stuff” and “Don’t Park There”

students currently majoring in OCU’s Moving Image Arts program

144

students majoring in Film and Video Studies/Film and Media Studies at the University of Oklahoma as of fall 2012

26 SLICE // JUNE 2013

176 students enrolled in OCCC’s Film and Video Production Program

inaugural year of the deadCENTER Film Festival

total attendance of that one-night screening

12,000

total attendance during 2012’s five-day festival

$1,400,000 economic impact on the OKC metro from the 2012 festival

100+

129

Body count in OK native Carlos Ray “Chuck” Norris’ 1985 classic “Invasion U.S.A.”

films to be screened at the 2013 festival

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JUNE 2013 // SLICE 27

UP FRONT | Details

Accent

onBlue

By Sara Gae Waters // Photos by Carli Wentworth

CAN YOU THINK OF A COLOR MORE REFRESHING THAN BLUE? It instantly conjures thoughts of oceans and clear skies and feelings of calm and peace. The specific names for blue are just as beautiful as the color itself: sapphire, azure, periwinkle, indigo, Tiffany and many, many more. Not only is it the “coolest” color around, it’s pretty “hipster” for the home as well.

An accent piece for your coffee or side table, dining room or nightstand would do well to host an item or two in any blue shade. There are just as many pieces out there to choose from as there are names for the hue.

Whether it’s a new lamp for light, an urn for flowers or coffee table books for reading, try adding some blue to your repertoire. I think you’ll find that it becomes the star of the show!

This page: Colette Delft blue goblet by Juliska from Antique Garden, Norman; Blue and white garden stool and glass knot from Mockingbird Manor, OKC; Blue eggs and blue resin lotus container with Danielle Rollins and Allegra Hicks books from Lucca, OKC & Norman Facing page: Two’s Company trays and mercury blue tea light from Lucca; Drake bottles

by Roost from Tulips, Norman; Greek key pillow from Mockingbird Manor 28 SLICE // JUNE 2013

JUNE 2013 // SLICE 29

UP FRONT | Exchange

A MAN WITH MANY FACETSwConveArsa

By Lauren Hammack // Photo by Carli Wentworth

tio ith C olem n Clar an k

AS THE TRADITIONAL MONTH FOR WEDDINGS, June calls to mind our favorite trappings for glad occasions – mostly, the sparkly sort. Who better than Coleman Clark to tell us a thing or two about celebrations?

As president of BC Clark Jewelers in Oklahoma City, Clark has a role in decorating many a left hand, as three generations of Clarks have done before him. But when we learned that Clark is also a father of four daughters, we instantly imagined four very lucky left hands – no doubt, to be decorated in Junes to come.

First things first – what does the “B.C.” stand for? Benton Clyde.

And Benton Clyde would have been your … great grandfather. His son, BC Clark Jr., is my grandfather. We recently celebrated his 100th birthday over Easter weekend.

How old is the jingle? We think it’s the longest-running jingle in the U.S. 57 years.

What’s it like to be connected to what most Oklahomans consider to be a Christmas standard? Surreal.

I heard once that the advertising agency wanted to change the jingle at one point. They actually did produce a new one many years ago. It aired for one day. We had so many complaints, we put the old one back on the very next day!

Are you married? Yes, to Melissa. We have four daughters.

FOUR girls?! Besides waiting to get into the bathroom, what has having four daughters taught you? To like – or at least, to live with – pink.

Where did you meet Melissa?

We met in Dallas when we both lived there, but we learned that we’d previously lived right across the street from each other while we were at OU. 30 SLICE // JUNE 2013

What were you doing before you officially joined the family business? I worked for Sprint for several years.

What did growing up in the jewelry business teach you as a kid? Gift wrapping, cleaning showcases and polishing silver!

Years later, I went to Carlsbad, California, and earned my GIA (Gemological Institute of America) certification before returning to work here.

You’re sort of a professional day-maker! Is that the best part of your job? Definitely – helping people celebrate happy moments in their lives.

Is your most treasured possession a piece of jewelry?

No. It’s actually a video that I’ve never actually seen.

Each year, my wife and I shoot two or three minutes of video wherever we’re traveling to celebrate our wedding anniversary. One day, we’ll put it all together and have a good laugh watching it.

That’s very sentimental.

Are you sentimental about anything you no longer have? Yes. I used to have a little metal flip calendar that I loved. I gave it to my brother Mitchell and sometimes I wish I’d kept it and given him something else!

Mitchell Clark – are you reading this?

What else is hard to live without? Dr Pepper and dark chocolate. Sometimes I give those things up for Lent.

Are you Catholic? No, but occasionally I’ll give up things for Lent anyway. After I gave up Dr Pepper one year, I ended up drinking more Dr Pepper than I ever did before Lent!

ance.” There’s a very touching moment in that movie.

Are you a night owl? Yes, I’m often up past midnight.

Are you a good cook? I can reheat really well!

What can’t you resist watching on TV? Any kind of sports.

OU, especially, and I always watch the Thunder when I can’t go to the game. But I’ll watch any sport – even if it’s the middle school girls’ Lacrosse state finals somewhere.

Do you have any hidden talents? I can juggle, but only with three.

What do you value most in your friends? Honesty. Being real.

Do you have a favorite holein-the-wall in Oklahoma City? Tim’s Drive Inn (5037 N. MacArthur in Warr Acres) – great hot dogs, burgers and chocolate shakes.

What do you hope people don’t assume about you?

That I’m conceited or arrogant. I’m a very quiet person, and I hope people don’t take that the wrong way.

What do you read? I read the sports page every day.

Are you shy? Yes.

What’s the last movie that made you cry? I don’t really cry at movies, but sometimes my eyes well up – and unless a tear falls, it’s technically not crying! It was actually a comedy with Billy Crystal and Bette Midler called “Parental Guid-

What are you most grateful for? Good health and being able to work in this business with my family. We’re lucky that we work so well together.

What advice would you put inside a fortune cookie?

Be nice.

Designs for Colorful Living

Red

Chateau

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WMPB_030713_WealthAdvis_Slice.indd 1

3/1/13 12:50 PM

JUNE 2013 // SLICE 31

Favorite

dress

FIND YOUR

SUMMER

32 SLICE // JUNE 2013

The

SUMMER of GREAT

STYLE

By Tim Fields // Photos by Simon Hurst

Men’s fashion rarely changes in dramatic ways and the current trend is case in point.

Today’s attire is reminiscent of a scene from F. Scott Fitzgerald’s 1925 novel, “The Great Gatsby,” and arrives just in time for this summer’s remake of the 1974 film. For those occasions when you need a more refined look than cargo shorts and flip-flops, we’ve turned to the past for some inspiration.

JUNE 2013 // SLICE 33

Ted Baker London silk tie, Baird McNutt white linen vest, Hart Schaffner Marx suit, Daniel Cremieux shirt, Johnston and Murphy Carlock wingtip oxford shoes (shown on previous page) from Dillard’s, with Thom Browne glasses from Black Optical

34 SLICE // JUNE 2013

Montedoro double-breasted sport coat, Steven Alan plaid cotton shirt, Mac Jeans Nantucket red chinos, Robert Talbott pocket square and Bailey straw hat from Spencer Stone Company, with Thom Browne sunglasses from Black Optical

JUNE 2013 // SLICE 35

Hart Schaffner Marx linen sport coat, Daniel Cremieux sweater vest and seersucker pant, Roundtree and York Gold Label shirt, Ted Baker London purple dot bow tie, Cole Haan Air Colton wingtip oxford shoes and Stetson straw hat from Dillard’s, with Barton Perreira sunglasses from Black Optical

“Can’t repeat the past?

Of course you can!”

- JAY GATSBY

36 SLICE // JUNE 2013

Vineyard Vines coral shorts and bow tie, Southern Tied plaid shirt and Hey Dude gray suede bucks from Cayman’s, with Stetson straw hat from Spencer Stone Company

JUNE 2013 // SLICE 37

omen’s rol ler derby doesn ’t get much respect from metro sports media. If it’s covered at all, it typ ical ly fal ls along the lin es of, “She’s an accounta nt by day, but Sharon Mi ser y by night.” Maybe a paragraph on an upcom ing bout, or a fundraisin g exhibition for charit y.

As far as covering it as a sport – with top athlete training five days a week s when necessary, enduri ng dangling ankle fractures cobbled back together with titanium rods, religiously adhering to protein-rich diets or pushing thems elves to earn, or hang on to, competitiv e spots on all-star travel ing teams – roller derby gets no respect at all.

The Oklahoma Victor y Dolls are on the verge of changing all that. Becoming a nation ally ranked team among the likes of dominating squads from Ne w York Cit y, Chicago, Ca lifornia and Texas can’t be ignored as an ath letic feat. It’ll be an Ok lahoma first and fulfill a dream six years in the making.

At the end of April, all eyes were on the OK C Thunder as the team tipped off for a sec ond consecutive shot at the NBA Finals.

Favored as one of the tea ms that could realistica lly win it all, its prospects plummeted wh en three-time All-Star point guard Russell Westbrook ripped the meniscus in his right kn ee in the second game. He was out for the playoffs, but the Thunder would stand off the Houston Rockets any way to advance to the nex t round.

Meanwhile, amid the dim lighting inside Star Skate roller rink in Norman, the Oklahoma Victory Dolls were traini ng and aiming for national glory, too. Their current season, which beg an in February and continues through Augus t, has been phenomenal. No t one professional sports reporter was raisin g a lens or tapping keys to tell the story.

Most of their star athletes weren’t aroun d in 20 07 when their founders set the tea m’s reason for being: To compete at the national level. Now it’s act ua lly happening. Aft er winning the regional Clover Cup in Da llas in March, the Do lls were the fastest climbers among the top 50 teams in the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association. The 170 + team association only recalculates team

38 SLICE // JUNE 2013

FlatTrackStats.com nths, but the respected rankings every two mo h a similar algowit e ris the Dolls’ rocket ing ent cum do n bee has ek. rithm ranking every we y in the making. t week of April was histor las the lls, Do For the rank from No. ts Sta improved its FlatTrack The team of 20 skaters nt is based on me ess ass l 34. The unoff icia 44 in the nation to No. victor y and other opponents, margins of the rankings of the Dolls’ by-speak for games. anctioned “bouts” – der statistics from league-s

JASON K. LOTT

By John Parker

t track is a monuthreshold in women’s fla Crossing the No. 40 are in that numsport. If the Victor y Dolls mental distinction in the the first Oklabe y’ll es marching in, the ber when their rank com al Division I. homa team in the nation end of the seay in the Top 40 through the sta lls Do y If the Victor ional champinat omatically qualif y for the son in August, they’ll aut e changer. gam a led vernacular, that’s cal rts spo In fs. yof pla hip ons no one ignores a like central Oklahoma, And in sports territory and crushes the odds. team that earns its due

JUNE 2013 // SLICE 39

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40 SLICE // JUNE 2013

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oday, metro roller derby isn’t the smeared-lipstick, rejected debutante of seven years ago that crashed the male-dominated social scene of spectator sports not affiliated with schools. She’s taken some critical hits, lost a few body parts, but she’s still kickin’ ass.

The Mother League of metro derby is Oklahoma City Roller Derby. Eight women formed the league in 2006. Interest was so high that the first four teams – Victory Dolls, Valkyrie Vixens, Cell Block 9 and Homewrecking Harlots – emerged in a few months. They practiced in skating rinks and parks. The first bout – the Derbytaunt Brawl – was on Jan. 7, 2007. More than 1,500 alternative-sports-hungry fans jammed the Rockin’ Roller Rink in Edmond. Today’s metro teams operate under three leagues: Oklahoma City Roller Derby (OKCRD), the OKC Outlaws and the Victory Dolls.

OKCRD’s premier All-Star team is Tornado Alley Rollergirls. They play for national rankings at home and away against other all-star teams. The league’s second-level team is Lightning Broads. They travel, too, and some players are skilled enough to advance to Tornado Alley, but also include skaters with less time for travel and practices. OKCRD maintains its status as the biggest league, with other, morecasual home teams Cell Block 9 and Valkyrie Vixens.

Like the Victory Dolls, the OKC Outlaws are an offshoot team from OKCRD. Breaking off in 2011, they pursued a variation of roller derby – banked track bouts. They own a $20,000 oval track of plywood, Masonite and steel with f lat straightaways and banked curves of up to 45 degrees. You can see this track in the major Hollywood movie “Whip It.” At the moment, though, it’s in storage in OKC. Banked track derby is a more expensive proposition, but its players love it. The OKC Outlaws are looking for an angel landlord to house the track for practices and bouts. Without a home for the track, the Outlaws have been playing f lat-track games, says player/ coach Melissa Hedlund, a commercial traffic manager for a local TV station.

To her, banked-track is the Daytona 500 of derby and something f lat-trackers often fear.

“It’s so much more exhilarating,” she says with a danger-loving glee common among roller girls. “Higher speeds. Harder hits. If you take a hit from someone dropping down from the high side, you can take some seriously hard hits.”

The Victory Dolls spun off from OKCRD in 2007, only months after they were crowned the league’s undefeated champion. They wanted more. Brooke Upshaw, team spokeswoman and skating as Sally Strych9 at the time, explained: “We want to take Oklahoma roller derby to the national level, and we want someday to compete in the national championships.” Now living in Alaska, she said it’s been a long journey for the Dolls: “I am so proud of how far the Victory Dolls have come over the last few years.

I’m sure the other founding members would agree. I hope the Victory Dolls finally get the recognition they deserve.”

Get a Lit

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ORY DOL All double L S -headers Doors 5 p Fairgroun .m. Bouts ds Cente nnial Build June 22 6 p.m. ing.

July 27 August 10 OKLAHO M All double A CITY ROLLER D E -h Doors 5 p eaders Cox Con RBY vention C .m. Bouts enter.

June 15 6 p.m.

July 13 August 17 As of pre ss OKC Wolf time, no home ga m Pack (me n’s derby es were schedule ) or OKC Outlaws d for

JUNE 2013 // SLICE 41

A nd just to see t. or sp en iv dr nme “It’s really a wo d how hard-hitting an m is ic et hl at e the level of th ty for growth, ni u rt po op e th d it was, an enamored by it.” be t bu lp he t n’ d I coul LLS COACH

42 SLICE // JUNE 2013

ALL PHOTOS THIS PAGE BY AMAND A SMITH OF SUZY SMITH PHOTOG

y the time you read this, the Vi ctor y Dolls’ fate second round of in the season’s rankings will be known. Check it com. The Dolls at WFTDA. will either be th e first national-c en’s derby team aliber womin Oklahoma, or still the first to at the door. knock The curren t all-star roster of 14 players rose blazing status to their trailthrough ways ranging from drive to savv y sheer personal analysis of spor ts tactics. In 20 coach Ralph M 11, current cKenzie starte d out as a wat hanging around er boy, his then-girlfrie nd, now-wife, Pr cess Panic. His infanatical apprec iation for OU football gradua lly transformed into a fascination for learning all things derb y and breaking it down to its strategic elemen ts.

“The thing that really stru ck me the mos was the fact th t at it’s not a m ale-emulated sport,” he says . “It’s really a women-driven sport. And just to see the level of the athleticis hitting it was, an m and how ha d the opportun rdity for grow th, enamored by it.

I couldn’t help bu ” t be Star blocke r Cassie Knox, aka Impending it ta kes to be a Doom, sums up Victor y Dol l. In what April, top player a-day practices s were doing tw to get ready for otwo games in N a top 40 spot if ebraska that en they won both. sure “Prett y much, you won’t mak if you don’t wor e the top 14 on k out, our team,” the won’t play in ra 23-year-old said nked games. Al . “You m os t al l of the girls and work out on I skate w ith do our ow n. If they 5Ks don’t like to ru dance classes.” n, they do push yoga, Off-duty nu trition is emph asized too. Prot – the players w eins and lean fa ho tr y to stop ga re. Blockers zelle “jammers” lapping oppone from scoring po nts around the ints by track – are ofte Dolls emphasiz n bigger gals. Th e speed and fitne e Victor y ss even in those Back in 2007 positions. , the Victor y D olls’ split inclu local skating ri ded taking away nk that the Torn the ado Alley Rolle tice. That left a r Girls used for kind of scar of pracresentment. Ri metro roller de valr y today betw rby teams is la een rgely left to the After games he track, during bo ld in venues ra ut s. nging from th Center to the St e Cox Conventio ate Fairgrounds n , jo in for home and vi t after-parties ar siting teams. e the norm Nonetheless , some lingeri ng rivalr y re OKCRD and its mains among upstart offsho ots. Twenty-fo Melissa Heying ur-year-old is a documents specialist for a company by da mortgage y, and a slim, st ar Victor y Dolls who goes by M blocker olly Menace (and , unofficially, “M Buns”) at night. ennie “We feel we are the better te am, but they se get coverage,” sh em to e said. “In Texa s, we had all th articles written ese about us. Then we were drivin back to Oklahom g a and we’re like, ‘Yep, going back to Oklahoma, w here no one care s.’”

RAPHY

, VICTORY DO - RA LPH MCKE NZIE

TANYA LOCKE

al umbrella of the nation s has been under the rting Sta 07.

20 ce sin Roller derby for guy a”) sociation (aka “murd niel Boom) and Brian Men’s Roller Derby As 2011, Daniel Covey (Da Pack. Today, the in o tw of m tea a lf off as Wo C OK the ed s) found Hudson (Wheel Roger s for bouts against other men’s teams. vel tra m tea much larger

Besides seeking new recruits, the Wolf Pack is big brother to the metro’s women’s teams, scrim maging with them, staging exhibition bouts and welcoming roller girls to their practices. Clashing in the rink with male skaters helps in bouts versus women, says Cassie Knox , aka the Victory Dolls’ Impending Doom. “Whenever I have to hit a guy who’s three times my size, and then I go back to bout with girls who are more my size or smaller, it makes it just a little bit easier for me, I think.”

JUNE 2013 // SLICE 43

HIT THE

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 5TH

9:30pm The Rolling Stones: Charlie Is My Darling Documentary, 64 min, Grand Lawn at the Myriad Gardens (free screening)

THURSDAY, JUNE 6TH

7:30pm COMEDY SHORTS The Come Up Girl Clown Stanley Gets Fired Voodoo Child Yeah Kowalski!

Un Regalo (A Gift) Martha!

America 101 It’s Not You, It’s Me 120 min, Harkins Bricktown Cinema 3

PARADE One of the most formidable parts about enjoying the 13th annual deadCENTER Film Festival, June 5-9th, is arguably the best possible problem to have: there’s just too much happening to see it all. We highly recommend an All-Access Pass, which grants priority entrance to every film, party, panel and special event throughout the whole shebang (and which are available at two for the price of one to OK City Card holders) – visit deadcenterfilm.org/buy.

If you prefer to create your own individually tailored plan, do so at deadcenter.festivalgenius.com/2013, where you can finalize a personal schedule and download it to your calendar. Plan ahead and enjoy!

9:30pm CUTTING EDGE SHORTS Oh Willy I’ll Be Your Mirror Thinking About You Parasite Choi Coma The Darkroom #PostModem 120 min, Harkins Bricktown Cinema 3

8:30pm I Am Divine Documentary, 90 min, Harkins Bricktown Cinema 2 44 SLICE // JUNE 2013

7:00pm The Kings of Summer Narrative Feature, 93 min, Devon Auditorium

7:00pm Pit Stop Narrative Feature, 80 min, Harkins Bricktown Cinema 11

8:00pm Some Girl(s) Narrative Feature, 90 min, OKCMOA Noble Theatre

FRIDAY, JUNE 7TH

2:00pm The Taiwan Oyster Narrative Feature, 107 min, OKCMOA Noble Theater 6:00pm Furever Documentary, 81 min, Harkins Bricktown Cinema 2

8:00pm The Cherokee Word for Water Narrative Feature, 98 min, OKCMOA Noble Theater

6:30pm Down and Dangerous Narrative Feature, 93 min, Harkins Bricktown Cinema 6

6:00pm LOVE, SEX & DEATH PART UN SHORTS Double or Nothing Natives Dimensions Brightwood Sweetly Broken Where Does It Go From Here You and Me 120 min, Harkins Bricktown Cinema 3

FUREVER FRI 6:00PM, HARKINS BRICKTOWN CINEMA 2

Coping with loss is one of the fundamental human experiences – no man is an island, after all – and a deeply personal experience, as there is no single correct way to grieve. Even when the deceased loved one is a pet. Incorporating personal interviews with bereaved owners as well as experts from taxidermists to religious scholars, Amy Finkel directs a look at losing animal companions in contemporary America in a film that’s more than a maudlin tearjerker; it’s an examination of our cultural mindset.

THE SPECTACULAR NOW FRI 9:00PM, DEVON AUDITORIUM; SUN 1:00PM, HARKINS BRICKTOWN CINEMA 6

That’s where Sutter Keely (Miles Teller) lives – his chutzpah and charm are making high school too enjoyable to worry about the nebulous future or his nascent drinking problem, until a chance meeting reveals a new possible path. Based on a novel from OU and OSU alumnus and current Rose State instructor Tim Tharp, this coming-of-age teen romance drew raves at Sundance, including the Special Jury Award for Acting for the outstanding ensemble cast.

8:30pm OKIE SHORTS Stanley Gets Fired Broken Boy Tower by Night Park Cooler Josephine Waystation Going Dark: The Final Days of Film Projection Threading the Needle Magnolia by Lushlife Sherman and Pacifico 120 min, Harkins Bricktown Cinema 2 8:30pm VAMPS, GHOULS & HAUNTS SHORTS Black Metal The Cub The Horrible Life of Dr. Ghoul In the Shadows Child Eater Old Man Deadbeat Sleep Now in the Fire 120 min, Harkins Bricktown Cinema 3 9:00pm The Spectacular Now Narrative Feature, 95 min, Devon Auditorium

9:30pm The Muslims Are Coming!

Documentary, 85 min, Harkins Bricktown Cinema 11 9:30pm The Last of the Mohicans Narrative Feature, 112 min, Grand Lawn at the Myriad Gardens (free screening)

12:00pm THE VAGABONDS SHORTS Sherman and Pacifico Dotty The Treehouse Jamon Refuge

SATURDAY, JUNE 8TH

10:00am KID’S FEST SHORTS Deflated La Force de la Musique Abracadabra!

You and Me King Tigermore in Strawberry Fields 120 min, Ronald J. Norick Downtown Library 11:30am Finding Hillywood Documentary, 58 min, Harkins Bricktown Cinema 2 12:00pm Dear Mr. Watterson Documentary, 88 min, Harkins Bricktown Cinema 6

Native Boy 120 min, Harkins Bricktown Cinema 3 12:30pm Making Light In Terezin Documentary, 88 min, Harkins Bricktown Cinema 11 1:00pm Sister Pauline Quinn & The Dogs of Lexington Documentary, 12 min The Battle of amfAR Documentary, 40 min Devon Auditorium 2:00pm Home, James

Narrative Feature, 83 min, Harkins Bricktown Cinema 2 2:00pm Out of Print Documentary, 54 min, Ronald J. Norick Downtown Library 2:30pm THROUGH SPACE AND TIME SHORTS Branch Line Supervised Rose, Mary and Time 120 min, Harkins Bricktown Cinema 3 3:00pm The New Public Documentary, 88 min, Harkins Bricktown Cinema 6 3:30pm Left of Center Narrative Feature, 80 min, Harkins Bricktown Cinema 11 3:30pm OKIE MEDIUM SHORTS Dancing in the Chamber #140Characters: A Documentary About Twitter Running Deer 120 min, Devon Auditorium JUNE 2013 // SLICE 45

LILLIAN SCREENS WITH EQUALITY SHORTS, SAT 5:00PM, HARKINS BRICKTOWN CINEMA 6

Summer sings, if for a little while, in this tender tale of a deep emotional connection between two young women of differing racial and social backgrounds who meet by chance and quickly form a bond, but whose budding romance can never blossom in their 1920s society. Inspired by the poetry of Edna St. Vincent Millay and directed by Amanda Pennington, it’s presented as a hauntingly beautiful memory in a later life dappled with regrets.

WORM

SAT 6:00PM, HARKINS BRICKTOWN CINEMA 6 SUN 12:30PM, OKCMOA NOBLE THEATER

The story, by writer Andrew Bowser, is described as a Southern neo-noir centered around a small-time hood trying to unravel a murder rap in which he finds himself enmeshed. The Guthrie-filmed execution, by director Andrew Bowser (yup, same guy) is every bit as compelling – because it’s genuinely centered around that man; the actor is strapped into a “Snorricam” setup that maintains a constant perspective while the events unfold in one continuous 90-minute take. Get hooked.

46 SLICE // JUNE 2013

5:00pm Favor Narrative Feature, 102 min, Harkins Bricktown Cinema 2

6:00pm The Hot Flashes Narrative Feature, 103 min, Devon Auditorium

5:00pm EQUALITY SHORTS Sabbatical The Painted Girl Barry’s Bespoke Bakery Fighting For Love Deflated Lillian Yeah Kowalski!

Natives Losing Luke 120 min, Harkins Bricktown Cinema 3

6:30pm OKIES IN YOUR CORNER SHORTS Push Heaven’s Rage Gypsy Café This Is Normal Raw Umber Tyson Meade Mannford Fire 120 min, Harkins Bricktown Cinema 11

5:30pm Computer Chess Narrative Feature, 92 min, OKCMOA Noble Theater 6:00pm Worm Narrative Feature, 93 min, Harkins Bricktown Cinema 6

7:30pm LOVE, SEX & DEATH PART DEUX SHORTS Open City Time 2 Split Jenny and Steph Christmas Day I Spy With My Little Eye It’s Not You, It’s Me Losing Luke

Jenny and Steph Christmas Day I Spy With My Little Eye It’s Not You, It’s Me Losing Luke Cinephilia 120 min, Harkins Bricktown Cinema 3

THE BATTLE OF AMFAR

SAT 1:00PM, DEVON AUDITORIUM SUN 1:00PM, HARKINS BRICKTOWN CINEMA 11

Formed in 1985, the American Foundation for AIDS Research has since invested over $360 million in prevention and education programs and awarded more than 2,000 research grants worldwide … but it could easily not have come about. This black-andwhite documentary directed by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman and replete with archive footage shows how scientist Dr. Mathilde Krim and Hollywood icon Elizabeth Taylor joined forces to warn of an invisible threat and begin the work to save lives.

Brightwood Sweetly Broken Where Does It Go From Here You and Me 120 min, Harkins Bricktown Cinema 3 Cinephilia 120 min, Harkins Bricktown Cinema 3

12:30pm Worm Narrative Feature, 93 min, OKCMOA Noble Theater

8:00pm Yellow Narrative Feature, 103 min, OKCMOA Noble Theater

12:30pm Making Light In Terezin Documentary, 88 min, Harkins Bricktown Cinema 2

8:00pm Down and Dangerous Narrative Feature, 93 min, Harkins Bricktown Cinema 2

1:00pm The Spectacular Now Narrative Feature, 95 min, Harkins Bricktown Cinema 6

8:30pm The Jogger Narrative Feature, 72 min, Devon Auditorium

1:00pm Sister Pauline Quinn & The Dogs of Lexington Documentary, 12 min The Battle of amfAR Documentary, 40 min Harkins Bricktown Cinema 11

SUNDAY, JUNE 9TH

12:00pm LOVE, SEX & DEATH PART UN SHORTS Double or Nothing Natives Dimensions

2:30pm LOVE, SEX & DEATH PART DEUX SHORTS Open City Time 2 Split

2:30pm I Am Divine Documentary, 90 min, OKCMOA Noble Theater 3:00pm Some Girl(s) Narrative Feature, 90 min, Harkins Bricktown Cinema 2 4:00pm The Muslims Are Coming!

Documentary, 85 min, Harkins Bricktown Cinema 6 4:00pm The Hot Flashes Narrative Feature, 103 min, Harkins Bricktown Cinema 11 5:00pm OKIE MEDIUM SHORTS Dancing in the Chamber #140Characters: A Documentary About Twitter Running Deer 120 min, Harkins Bricktown Cinema 3

6:00pm Pit Stop Narrative Feature, 80 min, Harkins Bricktown Cinema 2 6:30pm Yellow Narrative Feature, 103 min, Harkins Bricktown Cinema 6 7:00pm A Year in the Life of Wayne’s Phone Documentary, 80 min, Harkins Bricktown Cinema 11 7:30pm OKIE SHORTS Stanley Gets Fired Broken Boy Tower by Night Park Cooler Josephine Waystation Going Dark: The Final Days of Film Projection Threading the Needle Magnolia by Lushlife Sherman and Pacifico 120 min, Harkins Bricktown Cinema 3 9:30pm Stevie Nicks: In Your Dreams Documentary, 95 min, Grand Lawn at the Myriad Gardens (free screening)

SHERMAN AND PACIFICO SCREENS WITH OKIE SHORTS, FRI 8:30PM, HARKINS BRICKTOWN

CINEMA 2; SUN 7:30PM, HARKINS BRICKTOWN CINEMA 3, AND WITH THE VAGABONDS SHORTS, SAT 12:00PM, HARKINS BRICKTOWN CINEMA 3

Change can be frightening, but stasis isn’t the same thing as life. University of Tulsa alumnus Daniel Tarr introduces Pacifico, an immortal jellyfish weary enough with his undersea existence to try exploring the mysterious world above the waves. He meets and befriends the elderly shut-in Sherman, only to realize he and his new pal are each trapped within four walls, and new choices await them both. What, asks the film, is life without discovery?

JUNE 2013 // SLICE 47

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Liquid Assets | SPACES

CAUTION:

Splendid When Wet

By Steve Gill

Backyards tend to be private areas; little oases of personal space sequestered from the bustle of society where homeowners can draw solace from arranging everything to their individual satisfaction. The Water Garden Society of Oklahoma’s members understand that impulse, but they’re also all about the flow of ideas, so dozens of aquatic gardeners are opening their gates to visitors June 15-16 for the WGSO’s annual pond tour – an event that proves even more illuminating this year than ever before.

FLUID DYNAMICS There are 36 ponds on the 2013 tour, a nearly 30 percent increase from 2012. The ponds span the entire OKC metro, stretching from Yukon to Edmond to Choctaw to Moore, and since it’s self-guided, visitors can stop at one home, or four, or 20, in any order – there’s no wrong way to go.

Tour-goers will see a wide variety on display, from small water features to vast installations to multiple ponds, presented by new members and experienced “ponders” (as they’re called) alike. This year includes a new feature: those ponds that have lights will have special night hours on Saturday to show off a different and often unseen aspect of the watery wonders.

WGSO President Joe Hogan explains, “This year’s tour should be really special due to the night hours; in the past we have held special ‘members only’ nighttime chartered bus tours, but this will be the first time we are opening up our homes to the public after dark. It will be a real treat, as the ponds look so different at night.”

THE RIPPLE EFFECT Hogan acknowledges that preparing a water garden to be on the tour is hard work, but says that since a great deal of time, money and effort have gone into members’ projects already, they’re generally thrilled to show off the results … and doing so often happens to be one of the WGSO’s best recruitment tools.

“Members welcome the opportunity to meet new people, answer questions and possibly help inspire someone to become a ponder. In fact, my wife and I joined the club after going on the tour four years ago and seeing the various ponds. We came away with a lot of ideas that we have incorporated into our own yard.

“I highly encourage everyone to come and see our ponds.

Whether they currently have a pond or not, they will have a great time … In fact, we get a lot of people that are thinking about building a water feature in their yard but don’t know how to start. We

would love to help them with tips and tricks to make their experience easier.”

The WGSO has monthly meetings, activities through the year and side projects like their current plans for building a pondless waterfall feature at the Oklahoma Veterans Center nursing home in Norman. This tour represents one of the high points of their year, and a great opportunity for inspiration. Relax, enjoy and go where the water takes you.

WGSO POND TOUR 2013 June 15-16

Saturday 9 a.m. - 6 p.m.

Sunday 1-6 p.m.

Special Saturday night hours for select homes: they close at 3 p.m. and reopen 9-11 p.m.

A guidebook including a map to each tour home is available for $3 from local retailers; visit wgso.org for locations.

JUNE 2013 // SLICE 51

SPACES | Discerning Design

Live (in) the Dream

A 10 PERCENT OFF SALE IS A NICE BONUS ON A SHOPPING TRIP. Forty percent off is practically worth a trip by itself. For a real discount, how does 99.97 percent off sound? A $100 investment will net someone a $425,000 reward in the form of a set of keys to a gorgeous new home in Edmond’s Fallbrook community: the St. Jude Dream Home tour and giveaway is back.

Here’s how it works: Beginning May 30, tickets go on sale for $100 apiece. The grand prize home will be open to the public for tours every weekend July 13-August 21, and the lucky winner of the house, as well as 14 other high-end prizes, will be announced on KFOR News Channel 4 during the live giveaway special August 22. That means the winning ticket could theoretically be purchased as late as August 21, but there are two excellent reasons not to delay: only 7,500 tickets will be sold in total, and tickets reserved by June 28 are eligible to win the Early Bird prize: a new car from Jim Norton Toyota. Be sure to take the tour even if you’ve already reserved tickets, though – it’ll give you a chance to start mentally planning how to decorate what might become your new house, and just for visiting the house, you can register free to win a $10,000 shopping spree at Edmond Furniture Gallery.

Speaking of decorating, the winner will have a lot to work with: the TimberCraft Homes creation is a four-bedroom, three-and-a-half bath masterpiece with a study, porch, three-car tandem garage and 52 SLICE // JUNE 2013

more, and is loaded with amenities like the upgraded plumbing fixtures throughout provided by national sponsor Brizo.

Amanda Orrell of TimberCraft describes the home’s style as transitional. “We wanted to build a contemporary home that fits in with the more traditional homes that are currently in Fallbrook,” she explains, “a classic design with a contemporary twist. It is somewhere between Old World rustic and the world of chrome. By eliminating the heavy, overstated textures and finishes and combining curves with straight lines, we are able to provide a simple yet stylish home with the perfect balance of masculinity and femininity. A transitional home provides the comfort and practicality to meet the lifestyle of an active household.”

Orrell also touts the open floor plan and flex spaces – “They can be used as guest suites, an office, a play room or additional bedrooms; really whatever the homeowner needs to use the space for” – as well as the master suite’s massive shower space, relaxing jetted tub and direct connection between the huge master closet and the laundry room. Her favorite part about this house, though, is the assistance that proceeds from its giveaway will give St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Orrell got to tour the facility in Memphis to learn more about its mission and was struck both by the forward-thinking design of the building (it’s what she does, after all) and the importance of its no-cost health care to young patients and their families.

By Steve Gill

“From this point I was sold! I came back from Memphis on fire for St. Jude. TimberCraft loves being able to be part of the global difference that St. Jude is able to make by providing care for children around the world and researching multiple diseases. We are so excited to partner with St. Jude on the Dream Home Project.”

Dreams do come true. Watch and see.

Visit dreamhome.org or call 800.592.1596 to reserve tickets or get more information.

MIRACLES IN ACTION

One of the world’s premier pediatric cancer research centers, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is dedicated to finding cures for children with cancer and other catastrophic diseases through research and treatment. Research is focused on cancers, sickle cell disease, infectious diseases and genetic disorders, and includes work in gene therapy, bone marrow transplantation, chemotherapy, radiation treatment, blood diseases, resistance to therapy, viruses, hereditary diseases, influenza and pediatric AIDS, as well as the psychological effects of these and other catastrophic illnesses.

About 7,800 active patients are seen at St. Jude yearly, and most are treated on a continuing outpatient basis as part of ongoing research programs. St. Jude has treated children from all 50 states and from around the world, and it is the only pediatric cancer research center where families never pay for treatment not covered by insurance. No child is ever denied treatment because of the family’s inability to pay.

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405-350-6558 JUNE 2013 // SLICE 53

TRAVEL | Wanderlust

77 COUNTIES: GREER AND KIOWA COUNTIES

By M.J. Alexander LAKE ALTUS-LUGERT IS SHRINKING. Once nearly 50 miles around, the reservoir in far southwestern Oklahoma often shimmers an improbable sapphire blue, cradled between contrasting rugged red and pink rock of the western Wichitas near Quartz Mountain.

Though the land is ancient, the lake has been around only 65 years.

It was created after World War II by damming the North Fork of the Red River, once the natural boundary between Kiowa and Greer counties. The idea: control flooding, help out the water supply for the city of Altus, provide irrigation for crops, conserve fish and wildlife, and create a camping and boating area to bring in tourist dollars.

The lake now spreads a bit over both counties, covering more than 6,200 acres when full.

But it has not been full, not for a long time.

The waters are receding, decimated by drought. At the end of April, the lake was at 16.7 percent capacity. Water levels are more than 26 feet below normal. The rugged granite basin that has contained the lake appears streaked with outsized bathtub rings, marking the water’s steady descent.

Re-emerging from the bottom of the lake, the lost town of Lugert again bakes in the sun, its rectangular rock foundations far from shore. The early statehood boomtown, founded after a 1901 lottery opening the Kiowa-Comanche-Apache lands, was flattened 11 years later by a tornado. The headline in the May 2, 1912, Hobart Republic declared “Lugert Erased From the Map,” reporting: “Lugert can properly be spoken of only in the past tense. It was.” Though the

In happier, wetter days: Lake Altus-Lugert, photographed from Quartz Mountain State Park, June 21, 2010

town’s namesake, Frank Lugert, rebuilt many of the structures, few of the survivors opted to stay. The town was condemned to the rising waters of the new dam, completed in 1947.

Today, Lugert has re-emerged. Bricks, broken crockery and beach glass are embedded in the moonscape of the old lake bottom, along with the crumbling foundations of the old buildings, demoting the ghost town from its previous incarnation as a mysterious Atlantis of the Prairie to a weed-strewn plain.

Walking from Lugert’s remains toward the lake shore, specks of what appear to be driftwood dot the beach. Dozens of pieces, it seems.

Maybe hundreds. Drawing nearer, it becomes apparent the dots are not driftwood at all, nor remnants of the town beneath the lake. They are dead fish, washed ashore and left behind by retreating waters.

The fish were killed by a force more lethal than the 1912 tornado.

Golden alga, a fast-growing one-celled plant, spread into Oklahoma by way of Texas in 2004. The carcasses are of crappies, catfish, bass, walleye, shad. The golden alga toxins, said to be harmless to birds and mammals, are deadly to creatures that breathe through gills, such as fish and clams.

The state has canceled this year’s trout fishing season for the area, opting not to keep stocking rainbow trout in waters where the fish are doomed.

The lake remains square in the darkest area of the Oklahoma drought monitor map.

The boat ramps are closing.

Lake Altus-Lugert is shrinking.

Editor’s Note: This is the 10th installment in a continuing series as author and photographer M.J. Alexander chronicles her travels across the state of Oklahoma.

54 SLICE // JUNE 2013

Lake Altus-Lugert, photographed from Quartz Mountain State Park, April 7, 2013. From the same vantage point, the drought’s impact is dramatically obvious. A metal walkway has been built for people to reach the receding waterline.

Left: The foundations of the lost town of Lugert have emerged once again.

Right: A doublewhammy: Golden alga has resulted in an enormous fish kill, and the retreating lake leaves nothing to the imagination.

“The records go back to the 1890s, but you can look at things like tree rings to see it’s pretty specific the way the cycle goes. It was dry in the ’10s, the ’30s, ’50s, the ’70s, and goes up in between. But then we got into a real wet cycle from ’83-’97. So when things got back to normal, and then started getting real dry again, it seemed a lot worse. Then we dropped into a spike drought in 2011, and extreme drought has been going on ever since ... we don’t know what’s going to happen next. Keep your fingers crossed, and pray for rain.”

– Ron Smith, biologist at Sandy Sanders and Altus-Lugert Wildlife & Land Management Areas, interviewed May 3, 2013.

JUNE 2013 // SLICE 55

TRAVEL | Getting Away

GIRLFRIENDS’ WEEKEND

By Elaine Warner

THERE’S NOTHING BETTER THAN A GOOD FRIEND. Nancy Smiley and I have been friends since our children were babies. And since we’re now grandmothers … that’s more years than we’re willing to admit. Back in the day our idea of a getaway was piling our kids in her car and making a TG&Y run.

We’re all grown up now – and have more cars – and when the Grapevine Convention and Visitors Bureau suggested we take a girlfriend trip to their city, we jumped at the opportunity.

Lots of people know Grapevine as the location of the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. Nan and I were looking for a more intimate experience of the town.

the Heart

56 SLICE // JUNE 2013

Giddens Gallery in Grapevine

the back of the store were racks of greeting cards – some on the risqué side – which had us rolling with laughter.

Eat, Drink, Play

Grapevine has restaurants galore but we stuck to the historic downtown area.

Chef/owner Wayne Turner’s Into the Glass is tucked inside an 1896 building. He says, “Everything’s fresh, made in house. I make upscale Southern comfort food – the things I grew up eating. I just California-ized the recipes.” An example is brie and chicken nachos with cranberry salsa – Tex-Mex goes

Main Street

ELAINE WARNER

Our bed and breakfast was just off Main Street so we didn’t need a car to explore. The main drag, lined with lovingly restored turnof-the-last-century buildings, many with plaques detailing their histories, is the perfect place to stroll, window-shop, stop for a bite or a meal or pop into a unique boutique.

Nan and I did all those things – starting with a great lunch at Into the Glass Wine Bar and Café. We loved the gift items at One Posh Place – with 80 percent of the inventory made in America and many items by local artists. Napoli’s (one part café and one part confectionary) features, in addition to Italian food, homemade gelato and artisan chocolates. The blinged cowboy boots at Ooh la la! were appealing – but I’m more of a bunny-slipper girl.

We checked out the art at Giddens Gallery, Great American West Gallery and Morgan Dane Art Gallery and Studios. Glass blowers were at work in Vetro Glassblowing and Art Glass Gallery and we chatted with metal artist Will Frary in his Grapevine Blacksmith Shop.

It was February when we visited, and Nan and I fell in love with Good Things for All Seasons. The front of the store was a Valentine’s wonderland of pink and red.

Our favorite thing: a heart-shaped wreath made of milk- and dark-chocolate hearts (non-edible, or we might have edded!) accented with one shiny red heart. And at

ELAINE WARNER

We

Eating, drinking and playing are not mutually exclusive in Grapevine. Our group tried several combinations. It’s true that Grapevine was named for the wild mustang grapes that once grew in the area but it’s even more applicable now with the burgeoning Texas wine industry. And Grapevine’s Grapefest in September is the largest wine festival in the Southwest.

Grapevine Wine Tours offers lunch or dinner packages with visits to three wineries, rotating among the eight in the vicinity. The elegant Delaney Vineyards has its tasting room in a French chateau-inspired building while rustic Cross Timbers Winery Tasting Room is situated in one of the oldest farmsteads in Grapevine. Farina’s Winery and Café downtown served us lunch and more wine. This is the perfect place for a pairing. At each winery we had a different experience – and enjoyed them all.

For a casual evening we made a stop at EatZi’s – a European-style market and bakery with a wide variety of prepared dishes – picking up bread, cheeses, dips and wine then heading for Painting with a Twist – one of those everybody-paints-the-samething places. Art it’s not, but it was a lot of fun. Rules included “No negative comments about your painting or we ring the bell and everyone takes a sip of wine!” The more the bell rang, the better our efforts looked. My painting will never hang in my

GRAPEVINE CVB

Delaney Vineyards

house – it may make a great Dirty Santa gift – but, oh my, we had a great time.

Another evening’s entertainment combined dinner with theater at the Texas Star Dinner Theater. The food was better-thanaverage catered dinner fare. The play (no stage – the actors played through the tables) was a corny melodrama with characters with names like Catastrophe Kate and Sissy Mae Prissbottom. The actors did a great job with the hokey material and – unless you’re a theater purist with no ability to bend to low humor – you’ll have fun.

DFW North/Grapevine was our second night’s stay. Handy to giant Grapevine Mills Mall, it’s a good choice for that area of town.

The massive Gaylord Texan is an experience and families flock to the Great Wolf Lodge.

And don’t miss the Old West Glockenspiel downtown. Whatever you like to do, chances are, you can do it in Grapevine.

Nan and I kicked back, walked, wined, ate, shopped and giggled. I recommend it.

And So to Bed

There are lots of beds in Grapevine but only one bed and breakfast – Garden Manor B&B owned by Judy Barnett.

Just a quick walk from Main Street in a quiet neighborhood – and cater-corner to Renata Day Spa where we indulged in luxurious massages – Garden Manor is of Greek Revival design with smatterings of Shadows-on-the-Teche. The rooms were comfy, the amenities excellent and the breakfast of Texas Eggs Benedict – a homemade buttermilk biscuit topped with smoked bacon, eggs over easy and Monterrey Jack, cheddar and Asiago cheeses – was a real treat.

This was our weekend and we chose the things we enjoy most. There are so many other options. The Hampton Inn and Suites

Garden Manor B&B

ELAINE WARNER

Al fresco dining on Main Street

GRAPEVINE CVB

uptown. He sources locally when possible and serves local, grass-fed beef. The walls are covered with pieces by local artists and the wine list is extensive.

Make a beeline for Main Street Bistro and Bakery for breakfast (or lunch or late afternoon treats). Nan’s Dallas daughters met us at this local favorite. The motherdaughters rendezvous was the icing on our getaway cake. With Main Street Bistro’s French influence, crepes were an appealing option, but I like to kick start the day and the Tex-Mex migas – scrambled eggs with crisp tortilla strips, onion, chorizo, Swiss cheese, corn and tomato topped with homemade salsa – hit the spot.

JUNE 2013 // SLICE 57

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From India to Oklahoma City | COMMUNITY

FACING PAIN HEAD ON Behavioral psychiatrist Dr. R. Murali Krishna is president and COO of Integris Mental Health, as well as co-founder and president of the James L. Hall Jr. Center for Mind, Body and Spirit. The following excerpt, part of an ongoing series, is from his recent book, “Vibrant: To Heal and Be Whole,” co-authored by Kelly Dyer Fry, in which Dr. Krishna recounts the difficult journey of his own life and uses those experiences to encourage readers toward choosing to become happier, more purposeful people.

Where Is My Amma?

THE WOODEN GATE IN FRONT OF THE FAMILY HOME in Kakinada creaks when it opens. That’s how Amma knows her children are home from school.

She greets them at the door with a warm smile, homemade crackers and sweetened lemon water. Neighborhood children know the house well. It is a warm house with a redtiled roof.

Young Murali loved his mom’s greeting every day after school. Neighborhood children trailed behind him so they too could share in the after-school treats. The children crowded around the table as she helped them all with their homework. Amma held court. She only had a fifth-grade education, but Murali knew his mother was smart.

After homework and a snack, the children returned to the streets to play cricket and soccer while Amma continued preparing the evening meal for her family.

One day, 9-year-old Murali bounds through the creaky gate and through the front door of his two-room house.

Where is my Amma?

Surprised and a little disappointed that his hug and snack are not waiting in the threshold of his home, he goes to the family’s bedroom. He is stunned by what he sees. His always-vibrant mother, his beautiful loving mother, is lying on the bed staring at the ceiling. She is silent. She won’t talk. Something is wrong. Murali had never seen his mother sick.

He’s scared. He pokes and prods and gets Amma to respond a little, but she’s not the same. He didn’t know it then, but life will never be the same. Life is changing. It is changing for everyone. Forever. After that day, his mother comes and goes without ever leaving the house. The houses in the neighborhood were close together. The shared wall does little to prevent the sounds of Amma from reaching the neighbors. They can hear the young mother rambling incoherently —

sometimes loudly. Murali goes from fear to shame and back to fear. His mother is often uncommunicative and unreachable.

Where is my Amma?

One day, young Murali enters the house carrying his school books. No sign of Amma.

He lets his books fall to the floor as he goes to the bedroom in search of her. No one. Just empty beds. He can feel his heart quicken, knowing he has only one place left to search.

Maybe she is in the backyard in the small bathroom.

As he enters the backyard trimmed with rose bushes, he sees his mom.

She is standing in the middle of the yard.

Smoke is rising from her yellow sari with black trim. Flames.

She is setting herself on fire.

Murali grabs his mother and hugs her to his chest to smother the flames.

“Amma! Amma!” He is sobbing. Murali’s cries trigger her maternal instinct, overpowering her despair. She quickly begins to tend to her little boy.

one is on the street. He can see the cow man a couple streets over. Amma keeps walking. She passes the large statue of Gandhi and heads toward the river. The river that is usually bustling with handmade boats hauling bright colored vegetables from one town to another is silent. Colorful boats stacked with potatoes, tomatoes, eggplant and greens have not yet begun their daily rituals. He starts yelling for her to stop.

“Amma! Amma!”

He waves his arms and sees that she is entering the water. She is dressed in a dark sari, and the water is rising around her. The sides of the river are shallow, but the center is rushing. If she reaches the center, she will be swept quickly away.

He won’t be able to save her.

Murali rushes into the water behind her as she continues forward. He cannot swim. As the water rises he begins to choke, gasping for breath. He is reaching for his mom, but she is just beyond his grasp. He lurches forward and manages to wrap his arms around her waist.

He will not let go.

Once again, a mother’s love overcomes the depth of her sorrows. She is just two steps away from the swift moving current when her maternal instincts take over. She stops. She turns. Her son clings to her, chok-

She has a strong grip on Murali’s right hand. He’s not sure if she is trying to steady herself or comfort him. His tiny hand may be her only grip on reality.

Why? Why? How can this be happening to my beautiful mother?

She takes him by the hand and leads him into the house. She is calm, lucid. She removes his white cotton shirt, which is now blackened and singed. She gives him sweetened lemon water and small homemade crackers. When Murali’s father returns home from work, he tells his father of the fire. The exchange of pain between father and son is palpable.

That night, the family settles into bed in their small bedroom. Murali’s bed is next to his parents. He sleeps very little, rising periodically to check on his mother. In the early dawn, he sees her slip quietly from her bed.

His father is still asleep.

Where is my Amma going?

He too slips from the bedroom and begins to follow her outside. He keeps his distance in the beginning. The morning is chilly and no

ing. She hangs on to her little boy, and they return slowly to shore. Her sari is wet and heavy. They walk hand in hand back toward the Gandhi statue. She has a strong grip on Murali’s right hand. He’s not sure if she is trying to steady herself or comfort him. His tiny hand may be her only grip on reality. They pause at the statue of Gandhi. Silence. Murali understands at this young age that Gandhi was in search of truth.

What is the truth for my Amma? The family dynamic has been forever altered. Questions remain unasked.

Unanswered.

What has happened? How will we go on?

Of course they do go on. But the new normal has less laughter. Happy times are stitched together between bouts of sadness.

Deep sadness.

Where is my Amma?

JUNE 2013 // SLICE 59

COMMUNITY | From India to Oklahoma City

Dr. R. Murali Krishna on

TRAUMA, GRIEF AND LOSS THERE ARE EVENTS IN LIFE that are seared into our memory. Events that touch our soul.

Trauma. Death. Loss.

Events of soul-tearing magnitude can happen at any age, but the ones that happen to us in childhood can have lasting ramifications well into adulthood. Children do not have the mature logic to deal with bad situations. Therefore, the feelings may be left to fester like a boil. Eventually, they must be dealt with.

We must face the pain head on. Examine every aspect of life at the time of the traumatic event. How old were you? Who was in

As adults, we can see how innocent they are and ill-equipped to handle life’s tragedies and assaults.

Once you have fully examined the trauma, ask yourself how you overcame the tragedy.

What strength did you tap into? How did you survive? There must be some reason you made it through.

Deep in every human being is core strength. Look for it. Tap into it. Use that same perseverance as an adult to survive and keep going forward.

Self-examination and introspection are central to healing your spirit. A hurt will stay

Find someone you trust and open up to them. It may be a friend, a spouse, a neighbor – find at least one other human being and share your story with them.

your family? Where did you live? Who were your neighbors? Your friends? Your relatives? What was your support system? Who was caring for you? Was there an adult in your life that you trusted? Who was guiding you, teaching you?

Then try to remember as much as you can about the traumatic event. Try to picture as much detail as possible. For my own trauma, I had to remember even minor details, like smelling the smoke of my mother’s sari on fire. Recall as much as possible.

Finally, share. Find someone you trust and open up to them.

It may be a friend, a spouse, a neighbor – find at least one other human being and share your story with them. Share your memories, your pain, your anger and your fears. You may want to join a support group or keep track of your thoughts in a journal.

You can always turn to a professional to help you through your journey of discovery and recovery.

As an adult, we have mature logic to reexamine our childhood traumas. I traveled back to India one time and went to the school where I attended as a child. I was amazed at how small it was. Years ago, I was looking at the building through a child’s eyes, but as an adult it appeared totally different. The same can be said of childhood trauma, it must be reexamined through adult eyes. Children are so helpless and so trusting.

60 SLICE // JUNE 2013

with you at some level, but it is not good to let it impact your daily life. If you are preoccupied with something from your past every second of every minute of every hour of every day, it will have a dampening effect on your functioning, concentration and ability to live a productive life.

Once you understand the roots of where your hurting is coming from, you begin to resolve the internal feelings that are of a dysfunctional nature. Grief is normal, but prolonged grief has a negative impact on us. You can’t allow it to be your uppermost thought. And you cannot numb the pain with alcohol or drugs, which will only lead to even larger problems.

If the trauma involves something you feel guilty over, ask forgiveness from the person you harmed. If that is not possible, ask forgiveness from God and move on with your life.

We must be brutally honest with ourselves.

We learn and grow through suffering.

If you continue to have dominating negative thoughts, try reframing the situation.

Look at it from a different perspective. Try to process it differently. You must retrain yourself to push negative thoughts away. This can be done with cognitive restructuring, better known as self-talk. You can repeatedly tell yourself that you have already addressed it and it is time to move on. Training the mind is like training a muscle; it takes repetition.

Today is all you can control. Remind yourself that you have acknowledged the past and cho-

sen to move forward with your life. Tap into the core strength that has kept you going all these years.

Pain and struggles can be powerful motivators. Through my mother’s suffering, I found my life’s work. I look into the eyes of the very sick and I see her looking back at me. Suffering can lead you to a greater purpose. Look for it. Through loss, we gain. If we are victims, we must let go of our resentments in order to reject our victimization.

Often, those who have dealt with trauma choose to take up a cause and try to make a difference in the world. If your trauma deals with the death of a loved one, you can incorporate their spirit within you to honor their life.

I think there is often a misunderstanding in our society that real love means never letting go of the person you lost – never moving on with your life. You must let go and move on.

But, you can reframe your life, incorporating their spirit within your life and finding your own individuality. Find what gives you energy and drive toward a goal. By touching one life, you never know how many other lives can also be impacted. It is like a ripple effect.

Anchor your survival in something greater than yourself. Who is breathing for you at night when you are sleeping? Who is healing you? For every cell in your body there are 10 different bacteria, some good, some bad; yet we still survive. Who is taking care of you? Is all this because you are intelligent? No. It is because our Creator is greater than we are.

Throughout my practice, I have prayed each and every night for my patients who were hurting the most. I have asked God to use me as a conduit to reach and heal them.

Without fail, the answers come to me. Prayer has helped me help others.

I often remind myself of Mother Teresa’s message: God truly comes to us through suffering people.

Proceeds from “Vibrant: To Heal and Be Whole” endow the Dr. R. Murali Krishna Family Eliminate the Stigma Award. Visit sliceok.com/ vibrant to order ($24.99) and receive a complimentary copy of Dr. Krishna’s “Natural Relaxation” CD while supplies last. Find Dr. Krishna online: web: drkrishna.com // fb: rmkrishnamd // tw: @drrmkrishna

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Mingling Ryan Cannon, Gina Mitchell, Jim and Suzanne McAuley

MICHAEL MILLER

JUSTIN AVERA

Alena Olsen, Jana Bugher, Cheryl Borelli, Viera Holly

MITCHELL’S GRAND OPENING

WINE, WOMEN AND SHOES

The cause improves the lives of women across the globe via more than $60,000 raised for World Neighbors’ Work of Women program; the event improves the wardrobes of ladies enjoying a fun, fashion-filled night out.

After 30+ years as a downtown Norman fixture, the family jewelry store moves to a new location – and marks the occasion with a party and Vahan trunk show.

BOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS CHAMPIONS OF YOUTH

CLAUDE LONG

JUSTIN AVERA

Doug Gibson, Jane Sutter, Marnie Taylor, Shawn Null

Tina Dobson, Kendrick Perkins

A NIGHT FOR AFRICA

Honorees, like Marnie Taylor and Mathis Brothers Furniture, and guests make the future brighter for kids – donors’ generosity yielded over $260,000 and untold inspiration for the Boys and Girls Clubs and its members.

Thunder players and caring citizens help Thabo and Bertille Sefolosha raise over $250,000 to fund after-school meals, programs and activities for impoverished South African children.

FAI SPRING SAMPLER

A new season of nature’s rebirth prompts the Fine Arts Institute of Edmond to share in celebrating creativity during an elegant Oak Tree evening that raised over $78,000 to keep the FAI excellent.

62 SLICE // JUNE 2013

Lou Kerr, Mike Turpen, Mary Jo Watson

ARTS2

Creative OU students let their powers combine to entertain guests at the newly renamed annual fundraiser for the Weitzenhoffer Family College of Fine Arts.

More photos, gifts, reprints ... all at sliceok.com

COURTESY KRIS SMITH

CLAUDE LONG

Tom Davies, Janet Hoppe, Clark Jolley

JUSTIN AVERA

COURTESY LAYNE MURDOCH

Russell Westbrook helps a tiny fan line up her shot.

Ryan Houser, Erinn Gavaghann

ONE EVENT

WHY NOT? CELEBRITY BOWLING

A wild night sampling the Norman Arts scene provides surreally great entertainment, visual spectacle and food, plus a financial boost of over $20,000 to the Norman Arts Council.

Thunder star Russell Westbrook’s foundation brings together local luminaries and members of the Boys and Girls Clubs for a fun community-boosting event.

Sharen Jester Turney, Anastasia Pittman, Angie Wright, Ajay Pittman

GIVING WITH STYLE

Victoria’s Secret CEO Sharen Jester Turney gives the keynote address at the OU Women’s Philanthropy Network’s business charity-themed symposium.

NAMI LUNCHEON

Team captains and event organizers discuss plans for the National Alliance on Mental Illness’ fundraising walk over a lunchtime fiesta.

The Rockwood family: Angie, Brent, Kaitlyn, Addison

JUSTIN AVERA

MICHAEL MILLER

Honorary event chair Dr. R. Murali Krishna

FAIRY TALE BALL

The Petroleum Club becomes a Hall of Justice as pint-sized royalty and super-beings gather for the Oklahoma Children’s Theatre’s annual gala: Heroes, Heroines and Happily Ever Afters.

JUNE 2013 // SLICE 63

ESTABLISHING A HIGHER STANDARD

PRECISION VISION SURGERY CENTER Darrell J. Pickard, MD is the first and only surgeon in the Oklahoma City Metropolitan area to offer bladeless, laser cataract surgery. This is available using the LenSx laser at Precision Vision Surgery Center in Oklahoma City. The LenSx laser from Alcon is a computercontrolled femtosecond laser which delivers more precision and accuracy than traditional cataract surgery. This laser assists the surgeon in performing the most delicate parts of the cataract procedure. High-definition imaging helps the surgeon customize each patient’s surgical treatment to their eye’s unique anatomy.

Femtosecond lasers are a proven technology, having been used for over a decade in corneal eye surgery like LASIK. Advances in imaging and computer technology have allowed for its expanded use in cataract surgery.

Dr. Pickard has been performing eye surgery in Midwest City and the Oklahoma City metro for 19 years. “I’ve performed over 12,000 traditional cataract surgeries using a blade to manually make the small incisions. After investigating this technology, I’m in agreement with other thought leaders in Ophthalmology that LenSx offers patients the most advanced treatment for cataracts.” says Dr. Pickard. “As a refractive cataract surgeon, I not only want to safely eliminate the cataract but to also deliver the best vision possible to my patients after cataract surgery.”

If you have been diagnosed with cataracts and would like a consultation for candidacy for traditional or laser cataract surgery, feel free to call McGee, Pickard and Robinson Eye Associates at 405-733-4545.

McGEE, PICKARD, & ROBINSON EYE ASSOCIATES 405.733.4545

1455 S. DOUGLAS, STE. D • MIDWEST CITY MPREYE.COM • FACEBOOK.COM/MCGEEPICK ARDROBINSONEYE

Valir Health is based in Oklahoma and provides uncompromised service to each patient and client we serve.

“Think Pilates is girly?

I assure you it is not.”

From inpatient and outpatient physical rehabilitation and workforce wellness to end-of-life care, Valir ensures that patients are treated in the right place, at the right time, with the right care.

Sharin Wolfe MS, RD/LD

Licensed Dietitian Pilates Method Alliance® Certified Instructor

405.609.3600 | www.valir.com 15 Metro Locations 64 SLICE // JUNE 2013

Private and Duet Pilates Small-Group Equipment Classes GYROTONIC® Exercise Method 128 EAST MAIN STREET, SUITE 201, NORMAN 405.701.8140 | COREDINATIONPILATES.COM

Men’s Health | PRACTICAL MATTERS

ATTENTION METRO MEN

Diseases Are Kicking Our Butts. Who Wants Some Payback?

By John Parker

A lot of central Oklahoma men (way too many) don’t get motivated by emotional appeals to exercise or eat right. Even if they grudgingly realize that, yes, someday they’ll probably be paying in excruciatingly painful or catastrophic ways for not making good health habits part of their lives now, there are so many distractions ... “Hey, was that a hamburger joint at the last intersection?”

If it’s so important, we’d rather cut the gab and get to the hard facts. Whatcha got?

bully cousin in town who’s itching to jump over your backyard fence. Wait ’til you get a load of stroke, another swell pal if your heart thinks you’re mean to it.

As a central Oklahoma male, you’re lucky you live near some of the top hospitals and health professionals in the country. That’s a major factor in metro men over 35 having the lowest rates of heart disease deaths in the state, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Edmond, Oklahoma City and most surrounding counties are doing relatively well, but Cleveland County is slightly worse off. Wazzup, Moore and Norman?

CANCER It might have been your favorite sign

when picking up chicks in high school, but you’re all grown up now, so get serious. In Oklahoma, prostate cancer is the wicked pissa drum major in a parade of cancers you never want to flip off because they’re not playing “Free Bird.” In marching order of frequency, prostate cancer’s loyally followed by a brass section called lung cancer, a noisy drum line of colon and rectal hooligans, then some aimless (probably high) bladder bullies. Let’s just ruthlessly cleave the power cables and shut this stadium down.

The metro-area men’s leagues going the distance in lifestyles that fight all cancers, according to CDC data, are: No. 1, Logan County and its Edmond hub. They must be eating their kale, groaning through rubberglove stabbings and living righteously with exercise. Cleveland County is striving to overtake, though, with Oklahoma County huffing along close behind.

DIABETES Or as Wilford Brimley calls it, “Die-

WARNING, WARNING, WILL ROBINSON! HEART DISEASE It kills one in four Oklaho-

mans, the majority of them men. The top factors are fatty deposits in your arteries (mmm, hamburgers again), combined with

lack of exercise and high blood pressure.

Smoking’s out by the dumpster high-fiving Vanilla Ice. So is downing sugar regularly, which can lead to diabetes – heart disease’s

a-beatus.” Listen to that mustachioed man.

He’s right. “Die-a-beatus” is or will be the bane of many a metro man, or something that will jump out and pound you to blue in a dark alley. Whatever.

Gentlemen, let’s go to the leader board.

In the metro, Oklahoma and Canadian counties have diabetes rates higher than the national median. That’s not good, but let’s JUNE 2013 // SLICE 65

PRACTICAL MATTERS | Men’s Health be clear – even our counties that rank better are afflicted with Type II acquired diabetes, which is derived from bad health choices. There’s no state championship for “least unhealthy team.”

TAKE CARE OF EACH OTHER – AND YOURSELVES AMERICAN DIABETES ASSOCIATION

JIM DANDY TO THE RESCUE

The good news: More central Oklahoma men are manning up, according to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Despite its low heart stats, Cleveland County is the second-healthiest county in the state, just behind Kingfisher, immediately northwest of the metro. Edmond’s Logan County is No. 9, while Canadian County, to the metro’s west, ranks sixth.

That’s a pretty good cluster of Grade A manhood.

Oklahoma County, meanwhile, falls a little deeper on the curve – 30th out of 77 counties. But the most centered men in the state are on the move – up two spots on the rankings from the year before.

Read on, o health pioneers, for a healthier, happier destiny awaits thee and thy fellow men.

Over 25 million Americans have it, seven million don’t even know it, and the ADA estimates nearly 80 million are developing it. With it comes increased risk for stroke, hypertension, kidney disease, blindness … diabetes is bad news. But a cure could make it old news; that’s why hundreds of cyclists are gathering in Mustang June 22 for the Tour de Cure, a bicycle-based fundraiser offering jaunts from 5 to 100 miles. Organizers call it “the ride of your life.” diabetes.org/tourdecure, 840.3881

INTEGRIS MEN’S HEALTH

Stubbornness isn’t necessarily genetic (though some argue insistently that it is), but men do have a tendency to ignore their own pains and health concerns. That’s a big part of why they tend to die six years younger than women, and at higher rates in each of the 15 leading causes of death.

Hoping to boost wellness, Integris Health provides free health checks and cancer screenings in a tailgate-style party atmosphere at the 10th annual Men’s Health University September 21 at Crossroads Mall. integrisok.com/mens-health-oklahoma, 951.2277

DIABETES Here’s an alarming stat: American boys born in 2000 have a one-in-three

chance of developing diabetes in their lifetimes. Obesity is a major factor, to the point that moderate weight loss and 30 minutes a day of physical activity reduced the chance of diabetes by more than 50 percent in high-risk men. Amazingly, the weight loss may not necessarily have to be the result of increased exercise or an improved diet – a 2012 study in the New England Journal of Medicine showed that diabetic patients who underwent bariatric weight loss surgery showed a marked decrease in symptoms, as well as lowered blood pressure and cholesterol.

PROSTATE CANCER Preliminary results in March from a multinational study involving

over 1,000 scientists offered hope for incredibly early detection of genetic indicators pointing to future risk for prostate cancer development. Within five years, the study predicts, quick and inexpensive tests could be able to give ample advance warning to those at high risk for the most common cancers, especially prostate. In the meantime, new drugs like abiraterone, cabazitaxel and densumab have been FDA-approved in the last two years to treat advanced prostate cancer, prompting speculation that the deadly disease may soon become a manageable chronic condition.

SKIN CANCER Golfing, grilling, working in the yard … studies have shown that men tend to spend more time in the sun than women, and are far less likely to use sunscreen while doing it. The combination too often leads to skin cancer: over 8,600 American men will die this year from melanoma, and men over 50 are more than twice as likely as women to develop and die from skin cancer. To assist in detection, a new FDAapproved handheld scanning device uses imaging technology developed for missile guidance, repurposed to target suspicious areas of the skin, compare them to a database and identify the results as cancerous or benign – with 98 percent accuracy in clinical trials.

66 SLICE // JUNE 2013

OKLAHOMA SPORTS SCIENCE AND ORTHOPEDICS

Sometimes “walk it off” just isn’t enough in the way of treatment. That’s where OSSO comes in: a network of doctors and specialists who have spent nearly 20 years providing advanced care for injured muscles, joints and ligaments to professional athletes in peak condition and amateur weekend warriors alike. They show off their own conditioning annually as the OSSO Outlaws battle Mark Harmon’s Bombers in the Stars and Strikes weekend, set this year for May 31-June 1. ossonetwork.com, 427.6776

UCOOK / ZERO THE PROJECT TO END PROSTATE CANCER

Urology Centers of Oklahoma, part of the Oklahoma Multispecialty Group, is a team of expert urologists who partner each year with the nonprofit ZERO to host an annual half marathon and 5k – ZERO Prostate Cancer Run Oklahoma – that raises funds to provide education, research and free testing with a goal toward wiping out the disease entirely; not a single case remaining. The 2013 run is set for October 27 in Stars and Stripes Park near Lake Hefner. zeroprostatecancerrun.org

When your husband is diagnosed with prostate cancer, it impacts you and your marriage as well.

And so do the potential side effects of some of the most popular and traditional treatment options.

But now there’s proton therapy, an advanced form of radiation treatment from ProCure. Unlike traditional (x-ray) radiation that penetrates well beyond a tumor, damaging healthy surrounding

Women get prostate cancer too. tissue, proton therapy precisely targets the tumor, leaving the surrounding healthy tissue virtually unaffected. In fact, in most cases, patients report little to no side effects, such as incontinence, damage to the bowel, and other unwanted consequences. Learn more about the advantages of proton therapy by visiting procure.com/ok or calling 877.917.7628.

Proton Therapy Center

procure.com/ok Copyright 2013 Š ProCure. All Rights Reserved.

JUNE 2013 // SLICE 67

O N H C E T OL CO

r Mille hael c i M By

TOYS OF SUMMER STARTING ABOUT THE TIME OF THE IPHONE 4S, THERE WAS A NEW STANDARD FOR BLUETOOTH which used a lot less power. This has been a boon to inventors who’ve been busy coming up with toys to link to your phone and apps to help you in a myriad of ways this summer.

For the master grillers out there, there is the iGrill.

An all-purpose cooking thermometer that pairs via Bluetooth with your iPhone, iPad and some Androids with an app that alerts you when your food has reached the desired temperature. It also has an upper and lower temperature alarm, in case things get too hot, too fast (think fire).

Additionally, an available ambient temperature probe allows you to monitor the internal temperature of your smoker or oven to let you know when you forgot to start the oven (which people here in the Miller household have been known to do).

Do you keep your iPhone in your purse? The Cookoo watch supports icons, beeps and vibration notifications for all the events you keep on your phone. Incoming calls, missed calls, calendar alerts and reminders are all connected with Bluetooth, and even include Facebook notifications and battery alarms for the totally connected hipster.

Does your circle include a golf enthusiast? Swingbyte attaches to your club and transmits data about your swing back to your smart phone, giving you the feedback needed to improve your game. It includes a full 360 degree view of your swing, club head speed and acceleration, your club’s true plane from address to impact, club face angle relative to swing path, static and dynamic loft and lie at address and impact, angle of attack and club path swing tempo. There are also online tools to help analyze and understand your swing and how to improve.

OutRide by Mophie is a case with an attachment to turn your iPhone into a wide angle camera. You can upload your video at 30fps or 60fps directly to Facebook and YouTube and share those adventures with everyone.

The case will protect your iPhone from the road and is waterproof up to 15 feet deep. While it’s designed for biking, it will work with a tripod mount or any flat surface to which you can mount the adhesive. I can see a lot of future “America’s Funniest Videos” coming from this case, all beginning with the same words: “Hey, watch this!”

68 SLICE // JUNE 2013

top to bottom: A colorful assortment of Cookoo watches, the iGrill, Swingbyte, OutRide

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I-40 EXIT 178, SHAWNEE | 405-964-7777 W W W.G R A N D S H AW N E E .C OM

70 SLICE // JUNE 2013

Scan with your phone to go to jazzinjune.org

MATTHEW MITCHELL

PURSUITS

Sax to the Max Star sax-wielder Najee is part of a constellation of top-tier musicians converging on the metro, during the Charlie Christian Music Festival in Bricktown and Norman’s Jazz in June. See page 74.

TOP TEN Prime starting points for making the most of the month 72

SPOTLIGHT Lyric Theatre comes out swinging to start its 50th season 76

SEE & DO The music, theater, visual arts and other delights on June’s calendar 77 JUNE 2013 // SLICE 71

PURSUITS | High Points

The Top

By Steve Gill

IT’S A BIG, BUSY METRO OUT THERE – IF YOU CAN’T MAKE IT TO EVERYTHING, HERE’S WHERE TO START.

THERE’S THE BEEF

June 1, David Stanley Chevrolet, Norman Barry Switzer, star chef Kurt Fleischfresser, Slice’s own Caryn Ross and other celebrity judges determine once and for all (until next year) who can prepare the premier patty at the third annual mouthwatering melee known as the Battle of the Burger. Guests can enjoy samples and live music, and all proceeds will help the OK Kids Korral house pediatric cancer patients.

EARTHLY DELIGHTS

June 1, Nichols Hills After a tenacious winter and unpredictable spring, with the prospect of a harsh summer in store, these six homeowners remain committed to helping nature make their corners of the world more beautiful. Visit the Bozalis, Gray, Mahaffey, Rother, Carlson and Stockton homes on the Nichols Hills Garden Tour to see what dedication can do, and get inspired. For ticket info, call chair Elyse Hatcher at 620.4432.

GRAND PRIZES

June 7-August 4, National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum

June 5-9, downtown OKC A comedy crime caper called “The Taiwan Oyster,” a rampaging B-movie monster flick called “Big Ass Spider,” documentaries about subjects from Liz Taylor’s efforts to help fight AIDS to Wayne Coyne’s phone and so, so, so much more. The 13th annual deadCENTER Film Festival is here; for the metro’s film fans, it’s the most wonderful time of the year. See page 44.

An event with a rich appreciation for history, especially as 2013 marks its 40th anniversary, the focus of the museum’s prestigious Prix de West show is undoubtedly art, given the hundreds of carefully selected depictions of Western lands and characters – both human and animal – it displays. Reservations are required for the opening weekend of expert seminars and elegant awards banquet.

The American Way

June 7-9, Cox Center Calling the grand parade “distinctive” or “impressive” would be a vast understatement; it’s a monumental commingling of resplendently attired representatives of hundreds of Native American tribes from across the continent … and it’s just the beginning of the Red Earth Festival. Three days of handmade crafts and vibrant art, mesmerizing dance competitions and cultural spirit give this annual experience a truly unsurpassed atmosphere.

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PHOTOS: RED EARTH DANCER COURTESY RED EARTH MUSEUM, MUDFACTOR RUN COURTESY MUDFACTOR.COM

LOCKED ON TARGET

Walt Gonske, “Waiting on Spring”

Soiling Point

June 8, Oklahoma Motorsports Complex, Norman You know those great-looking new shoes?

Yeah, don’t wear those. Whatever color contestants’ clothes are going in, they’ll come out reddish-brown, because while the 5k course demands actions as varied as climbing cargo nets, crawling through concrete pipes and wading across waistdeep pits, the constants in the Oklahoma Mud Factor Run are soaking wet earth … and the thrill of overcoming its obstacles.

ART INDICATES LIFE

June 11-August 23, OK Contemporary Arts Center

Lots of artists are passionate about their work. Many would even say they live and breathe their craft. Laurie Frick can take that sentiment a step further: her living and breathing is her art, because the intricate collages and installations she creates for the solipsistic show “Walking, Eating, Sleeping” are based on biometric data – like graphs of her heart rate and body weight – that she records about herself.

“Making Tracks”

THEY’RE ALIVE!

June 14-23, UCO Mitchell Hall Theater The hills, that is. Summerstock Productions seizes the season’s hiatus from classes to fill the UCO theater with students, pros and audiences of all ages for singing stage entertainment – proving in this case that even soldiers can’t stop the music if the heroes are plucky and true and have resourceful nuns as their aces in the hole: listen for “The Sound of Music.”

LET EDMOND RING

Jun 22-July 4, Throughout Edmond Happy birthday, America – and then some. Edmond celebrates the ongoing life of the land of liberty by pursuing happiness all over town, as over 125,000 celebrants flock to the patriotic concert, car show, rodeo, pageant, tasting event, group kite fly, cardboard boat regatta and spectacularly huge parade and fireworks show that make up the yearly weeklong treat known as LibertyFest.

DREAM TEAM June 29, Chesapeake Arena

New Kids on the Block

Millions upon millions of fans.

Dozens of albums that have sold well over 100 million copies. Twelve sets of the best-loved pipes in the business. One stage. Oklahoma City hosts an unprecedented lineup of harmonious talent as New Kids on the Block, 98 Degrees and Boyz II Men perform in a single show. It’s clear why promoters dubbed this The Package Tour.

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PURSUITS | Spotlight

LIVE & LOVELY

By Steve Gill

YOU SAY YOU’RE STAYING INDOORS TO AVOID A SUMMER SCORCHING? FEAR NOT: MUSIC HATH CHARMS TO SOOTHE THE SAVAGE HEAT, AND IT DOESN’T GET MUCH MORE SOOTHING THAN THE SULTRY SOUNDS ON EXHIBITION IN THIS DUO OF FREE OPEN-AIR MUSIC FESTIVALS. CONSIDER THEM EVIDENCE THAT STAYING INSIDE MEANS YOU’RE LEFT OUT OF A LOT OF FUN.

Najee

Joe McBride

Grady Nichols

CHARLIE CHRISTIAN MUSIC FESTIVAL

Kirk Whalum

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It’s tempting to dub this event “A Tale of Two Icons,” since the 28th annual tribute to the musical legacy of OKC’s own Charlie Christian presented by the Black Liberated Arts Center (BLAC) Inc. also examines his connection with influential Oklahoma author Ralph Ellison – but that would give short shrift to the stature of the musical guests; a Who’s Who of titanic talents headed to Bricktown to show audiences how it’s done.

The festival begins by looking to the past. In partnership with the Ralph Ellison Centennial Celebration, the Oklahoma History Center hosts an exploration of overlapping legacies called “Ralph Ellison Understood Through Charlie Christian” June 4. The author was a friend of Christian’s family and a fan of the guitarist’s music; he wrote often about jazz and its implications for the concept of freedom in America, including one notable essay titled, “The Charlie Christian Story.” This free event provides a wealth of personal details about the two men and should foster a deeper appreciation for the cultural importance of the festival’s music.

Speaking of which: the Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark is on the site of the original Douglass High School, which Christian and Ellison both attended and where they shared iconic music teacher Zelia N. Page Breaux. June 7-8 it will ring with music again, courtesy of some of the country’s elite talents. Friday night opens with Joe McBride, an incredibly gifted pianist who has been blind since his teens, followed by Edmond guitarist Matt Stansberry and his brawny backup band the Romance, and impeccably smooth jazz saxophonist par excellence Najee.

Saturday’s jam-packed lineup consists of Arkansas-born saxsmith Grady Nichols, the ebulliently guitar-driven Robert Banks Band, a bounty of beautiful boogie from the 11-piece All Funk Radio Show and – last but never least – Grammywinning songwriter and saxophone virtuoso Kirk Whalum. Get out and enjoy … there’s no substitute for being there.

PHOTOS: KIRK WHALUM BY RAJ NAIK, NAJEE BY MATTHEW MITCHELL, JOE MCBRIDE BY JOHN A SECOGES, GRADY NICHOLS COURTESY GRADYNICHOLS.COM, DIRTY DOZEN BRASS BAND AND DUKE ROILLARD COURTESY JAZZ IN JUNE

June 4, Oklahoma History Center & June 7-8, Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark, charliechristianmusicfestival.com

Dirty Dozen Brass Band

JAZZ IN JUNE

June 20-22, Brookhaven Village & Andrews Park, jazzinjune.org

Duke Robillard

To paraphrase an Ian Fleming line, once is happenstance, twice is coincidence, 30 times is excellence itself. The venerable outpouring of worldrenowned sound completes its third decade of free entertainment for Norman audiences with one of its all-time great performance slates.

The Thursday and Friday night sessions, held at the corner of Robinson and 36th Avenue N.W. in Brookhaven Village, are dubbed “Blues Under the Stars” and “Jazz Under the Stars” respectively, appellations that could refer either to the celestial bodies dotting the sky overhead or the stellar talents filling that sky with music. The stars of the stage include Parker Millsap, a songwriter, acoustic guitarist and harmonica player who is in the very early days of what demands to be a long and storied career; venerable blues guitar master Duke Robillard (B.B. King called him one of the greats); Tijuana Brass tribute group A Taste of Herb; and jazz guitarist Fareed Haque, who with his backup MathGames! slings out “jazztronica,” a technologically influenced sound of his own devising that’s carefully calculated to dazzle listeners.

On Saturday, after a series of free musical clinics, the groove moves to Andrews Park, where the Paseo Street Walkers, Norman High School Jazz Combo and soulfully crooning pianist Justin Echols set it up, and the Dirty Dozen Brass Band bring it home. The festival headliners incorporate all kinds of styles into their raucously joyful jams, using everything from funk and bebop to R&B and Caribbean beats to flavor the brassy jazz of their native New Orleans. If you haven’t seen them before, heads up: You may have trouble tearing yourself away until they’ve hit their last exuberant chord to cap off this milestone festival in marvelous style.

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PURSUITS | Spotlight

The Golden Age

By Steve Gill

HOPEFULLY, ON SOME LEVEL, THEY KNEW. It’s hindsight that’s 20/20, but it would be nice to think that some of the 14 friends who met in the Beacon Club that day early in 1963 had enough foresight and confidence in their agenda to catch a fleeting glimpse of their progeny’s glittering future. Fresh off a sold-out production at OCU, the group of prominent citizens had decided the previous winter to consider forming a professional theater company; they met January 9 to put their idea in motion. Today, 50 years later, Lyric Theatre is still moving audiences with high-caliber musical productions, encouraging and educating future talent and continuing that original group’s commitment to enrich the quality of life for the people of Oklahoma. That’s entertainment, and then some.

The current Lyric Theatre includes the Thelma Gaylord Academy, a professional training ground for students ages 5-18 offering classes in all aspects of musical theater; Lyric’s Musical Interactive, a traveling program that visits schools across the state, serving over 45,000 children annually; and four smaller-scale offseason works staged at its Plaza Theater headquarter. But the summer season celebrating its 50th anniversary kicks off with a bang at the Civic Center, where director Michael Baron is set to take audiences to new heights: the treetops that are home to the Lord of the Apes. Nicholas Rodriguez stars in “Tarzan,” a musical based on the Disney adaptation that combines Phil Collins’ award-winning music with national and local talent as well as stunning scenery and acrobatics. OKC mixed media artist Erin Latham is collaborating with Helen Hayes Award-winning scenic designer Adam Koch on the intricately decorated original set, and aerialist Daniel Stover, director of acrobatics performance group AntiGravity Orlando, will train Lyric’s performers to create the high-flying effects the show requires. Baron calls the production “a truly stunning presentation and a wonderful homage to Lyric’s 50th anniversary and how much the theater has grown over the years.”

After “Tarzan” ends its run and the Civic Center undergoes a bit of deforestation, the summer season continues with the romance of “The King and I” July 9-13, good-humored goofing around and impressively deft dancing in “The Will Rogers Follies” July 23-27 and the slice of Americana called “Big River” August 6-10. There’s a lot to look forward to, both in the short term and farther ahead – because the outlook has only gotten brighter for Lyric Theatre so far, and the present is already golden.

Theater lovers will have plenty of opportunities to witness the magic of Lyric’s 50th season … assuming they act now, as tickets are already on sale for all four productions. Visit the box office at 1727 N.W. 16th Street, call 524.9312 or visit lyrictheatreokc.com, and enjoy!

Max Brooks as young Tarzan

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PHOTO COURTESY LYRIC THEATRE

ON WITH THE SHOWS

See & Do DANCE

Park, 701 S Lincoln Blvd, OKC, 702.7755, okrivercruises.com

SummerDance Jun 28-30 Just because it’s summer doesn’t mean dancers stop honing their skills; the dance majors performing in these ballet and modern dance pieces choreographed by OU faculty are as sharp as ever. OU Reynolds PAC, 560 Parrington Oval, Norman, 325.4051, ou.edu/finearts/dance

Annie Oakley Society Luncheon Jun 6 Founded to laud female leaders with Western spirit, the society welcomes a European flair and charitable spirit by honoring Oklahoman Nadia Comaneci with its third namesake award. National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, 1700 NE 63rd St, OKC, 478.2250, nationalcowboymuseum.org

EVENTS OKC Nationals Through Jun 2 Fire it up!

One of the largest drag boat races in the nation returns to the river as fans soak up demonstrations, concerts and the spectacle of competitors struggling for supremacy at over 200 miles per hour.

Oklahoma River, 725 S Lincoln Blvd, OKC, 630.7668, okcmotorsports.com

Cocktails on the Skyline Jun 6-27 Fancy a drink? On Thursday evenings the museum’s roof terrace boasts a full bar, complimentary snacks and a killer view

museum’s overnight campout takes kids behind the science of really gross things.

Science Museum OK, 2100 NE 52nd St, OKC, 602.6664, sciencemuseumok.org Le Tour de Vin Jun 7-8 Raise a glass to the ideal of service above self as Norman’s Rotary Clubs leverage over 200 domestic and foreign varietals toward celebrating wine, food and generosity, all benefiting Food and Shelter for Friends Inc. Riverwind Casino, 1544 W Hwy 9, Norman, 310.9121, letourdevin.com Red Earth Festival Jun 7-9 A commingling of representatives

CASA Playhouse Parade Jun 14-23 Local builders exercise their talents on a smaller scale by building lavish playhouses for the public to explore and then attempt to win via raffle, with proceeds benefiting the child advocacy of CASA. Penn Square Mall, 1901 NW Expressway, OKC, 713.6612, okcountycasa.org

Canterbury Sapphire Soiree Jun 1 Its members’ extensive vocal training and well-developed lungs will come in handy when the Canterbury Choral Society blows out the candles at the lavish gala marking its 45th anniversary.

Montgomery Event Center, 500 W Main St, OKC, 232.7464, canterburyokc.com

Purple Sash Gala Jun 15 Technically this splendid soiree that serves as the YWCA of OKC’s largest annual fundraiser is a black-tie affair, but don’t be surprised to see the regal shade symbolizing power and determination present in abundance.

National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, 1700 NE 63rd St, OKC, 951.3333, ywcaokc.org

Nichols Hills Garden Tour Jun 1 Nature presents its finest radiant beauty (with a little help from the homeowners’ careful tending) in a temporary visual spectacle - act before the bloom is off the rose.

Throughout Nichols Hills, nicholshills.net

Shakespeare on the River Jun 2-Jul 28 Stratford has the Avon, London has the Thames, OKC has the Oklahoma.

A promising young playwright by the name of Shaxberd (or something like that) recites poetry and chats with passengers during this series of catered Sunday afternoon river cruises. Regatta

Live on the Plaza Jun 14 Vendors, artists, residents and passerby unite for a monthly fiesta. OKC Plaza District, 1618 N Gatewood Ave, OKC, 367.9403, plazadistrict.org

Oklahoma Senior Follies Jun 14-16 Age ain’t nothing but a number - preferably one with singing and dancing. Wes Lane and Robert Henry emcee a Ziegfeldinspired extravaganza of well-seasoned stars of stage, screen and radio, all to benefit Mobile Meals of OK County.

OCU Kirkpatrick Auditorium, 2501 N Blackwelder Ave, OKC, 208.5227, okseniorfollies.com

Battle of the Burger III Jun 1 The gauntlet (well, padded glove) is down - who will take up the tongs and prove themselves Chief of All Beef? The third annual benefit for OK Kids Korral is the ultimate test of grilling skill, and a great place to score samples. David Stanley Chevrolet, 1221 Ed Noble Parkway, Norman, 321.7150, battleoftheburger.com

Luncheon on the Grass Jun 2 You bring your lunch; nature brings the grass; the entertainment in the form of arts, activities and musical guests The Gourds comes courtesy of the Firehouse Art Center, Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, Jacobson House and the Norman Arts Council. Lions Park, 450 S Flood Ave, Norman, 329.4523, normanfirehouse.com

2nd Friday Circuit of Art Jun 14 A monthly community-wide celebration of creativity, focused on historic downtown Norman. Norman Arts Council, 122 E Main St, Norman, 360.1162, normanarts.org

POP! Champagne Tasting Jun 14 The St. Anthony Foundation and longtime supporters Byron’s Liquor Warehouse sponsor a mingling fueled by small bites, live music and more than 20 sparkling wines and champagnes to sample. St. Anthony Rapp Center, 535 NW 9th St, OKC, 272.7070, givetosaints.com

American Tourist’s “A Night in New Orleans” Jun 1 Travel broadens the mind, but being transported to exciting destinations via Upward Transitions’ annual soirees broadens the nonprofit’s capacity to give the metro’s homeless and needy a boost up to self-sufficiency.

National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, 1700 NE 63rd St, OKC, 232.5507, upwardtransitions.org

Sit. Stay. Art! Jun 1 A fur-bedecked exhibition of animal artwork inspired by pets awaiting adoption at local shelters, with proceeds and art sales benefiting Pets & People Humane Society - what’s not to love? IAO Gallery, 706 W Sheridan Ave, OKC, sitstayart.org

A Taste of Culture Jun 9 The YMCA’s annual international wine tasting event boasts fantastic food and global vintages while helping to fund Ys operating in other nations. Café do Brasil, 440 NW 11th, OKC, 297.7710, ymcaokc.org

Sylvia Browne Jun 15 Supposedly seeing is believing … but what about people who assert they see things others can’t? Selfdescribed spiritual teacher and psychic Browne visits the Shawnee casino to get a feel for what’s on the audience’s minds.

Grand Casino, 777 Grand Casino Blvd, Shawnee, 964.7777, grandshawnee.com

Le Tour de Vin

June 7-8, Norman

of the downtown skyline. OKC Museum of Art, 415 Couch Dr, OKC, 236.3100, okcmoa.com 1st Friday Gallery Walk Jun 7 The historic arts district’s name means “stroll,” which happens to be the preferred form of locomotion while taking in its wonders during a monthly display of arts and culture. Paseo Arts District, 3022 Paseo St, OKC, 525.2688, thepaseo.com Bright Night of Grossology Jun 7 This stuff may be nasty, but it’s still educational. A joy for little thinkers who don’t mind getting their hands sticky, the

from more than 100 Native American tribes across the continent makes for unparalleled spectacle in ceremonial dancing, music, art and cultural celebration. Cox Convention Center, 1 Myriad Gardens, OKC, 427.5228, redearth.org June Bug Jam Jun 8 Enjoy the music of JC Hopkins, Melissa Hembree and more local talent at an evening of entertainment that changes lives: proceeds fund Norman’s Transition House in its mission to help the city’s mentally ill. Sooner Theatre, 101 E Main St, Norman, 360.7926, thouse.org

Water Garden Society of Oklahoma Pond Tour Jun 15-16 Rigid rows of tilled earth can certainly produce beauty, but so can an environment that’s a little more fluid. Aquatic wonders in dozens of locales from Arcadia to Piedmont comprise this exceptional annual flood of possibilities. Throughout OKC metro, 206.1272, wgso.org Cowboy Cantina Jun 18 An after-hours, adults-only tour of the museum’s wonders in a monthly event offering drinks, conversation and live music.

National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, 1700 NE 63rd St, OKC, 478.2250, nationalcowboymuseum.org Science Lounge: Ghastly Evening of Grossology Jun 20 Science is for adults only in a special themed evening with live

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PURSUITS | See & Do

music, appetizers, a cash bar and handson experimentation. Science Museum OK, 2100 NE 52nd St, OKC, 602.6664, sciencemuseumok.org Splendor in the Gardens Jun 20 The Myriad Gardens marks its shining past and sterling future with a 25th anniversary soiree centered around a lavish outdoor feast created by the metro’s premier chefs. Myriad Gardens, 301 W Reno, OKC, 445.7080, myriadgardens.org Zoobilation Jun 21 The dress code is casual - they call it a “no-tie” fundraiser - but the entertainment is seriously amazing: drinks, dining from area restaurants, sweet auctions, a rocking set from Avenue and more. OKC Zoo, 2101 NE 50th St, OKC, 425.0612, zoofriends.com LibertyFest Jun 22-Jul 4 An Independence Day celebration that long ago outgrew the fourth itself, this citywide fete encompasses all kinds of good times, from kite flying to gourmet dining. Throughout Edmond, 340.2527, libertyfest.org

celluloid. Downtown OKC, 246.9233, deadcenterfilm.org

Gallery, 2928 Paseo St, OKC, 831.3279, summerwinegallery.com

GALLERIES

June at the Elms Jun 1-30 Explosively colorful paintings by primitivist Jim Keffer fill the Elms this month, starring alongside exquisitely detailed paintings by Jason Cytacki and Jenny Gummersall and feminine studies by sculptor Shirley Thomson-Smith. JRB Art at the Elms, 2810 N Walker Ave, OKC, 525.6336, jrbartgallery.com

Locus Through Jun 10 Subtitled “A Journey of Culture and Cultivation,” this show in diverse media from the skilled female artists who collaborate in the Fringe collective focuses on the ways in which a sense of place can inform and inspire creativity. Istvan Gallery, 1218 N Western Ave, OKC, 604.7947, fringeokc.com Geatches Studio Artists Through Jun 29 The Performing Arts Studio exhibits paintings and sketches encompassing nearly every style and subject, with the common link their provenance: artists who do their work at the venerable converted grocery in OKC. Santa Fe

On the Rise II Jun 7-30 Multitalented collage artist Michelle Junkin continues her series of studies on her high hopes for the state’s future; the word “Oklahoma” cut hundreds of times from local print sources forms a prime ingredient. In Your Eye Gallery, 3005 Paseo St, OKC, 525.2161, inyoureyegallery.com Walking, Eating, Sleeping Jun 11-Aug 23 There’s a lot to process in Laurie Frick’s

Stirring the Fire Through Jul 28 Subtitled “A Global Movement to Empower Women and Girls,” it’s an illuminating compendium of photographer Phil Borges’ efforts to call attention to gender issues worldwide. Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, 555 Elm Ave, Norman, 325.3272, ou.edu/fjjma

National Square Dance Convention Jun 26-29 Panels, seminars, clinics and roundtables, plus a special concert from ‘50s throwback Johnny Rogers and plenty of promenading, allemanding right and bowing to your corners. Cox Convention Center, 1 Myriad Gardens, OKC, 62nsdc.com

FILM 333 Jun 2 A documentary exploring the historic importance of ancient manuscripts from Timbuktu, and the efforts to preserve them amid strife in present-day Mali. Armstrong Auditorium, 14400-B S Bryant Ave, Edmond, 285.1010, armstrongauditorium.org deadCENTER Film Festival Jun 5-9 Independent cinema reigns supreme in this vast collection of works in all kinds of genres: multiple venues, hundreds of films, one incredible celebration on

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Red Earth Master Artist Show Through Jun 28 The monumentally magnificent Red Earth Festival is on the horizon - get a taste of things to come by enjoying some of the best of what has been in this retrospective exhibit featuring prominent artists from previous years. Red Earth Museum, 6 Santa Fe Plaza, OKC, 427.5228, redearth.org

Into the Void Through Jul 28 A studentcurated printmaking exhibition of visual spectacle paying homage to the founders of the Optical Art movement - it’s pretty much a must-see. Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, 555 Elm Ave, Norman, 325.2691, ou.edu/fjjma

Biltmore Wine Dinner Jun 26 On this special evening, diners can satiate themselves in surpassingly excellent style with a five-course feast prepared

by Chef Joel Carlson, each element of which is expertly paired with a delectable Biltmore wine. Bon appetit! Nonna’s EuroAmerican Ristorante, 1 S Mickey Mantle Dr, OKC, 235.4410, nonnas.com

Stars & Stripes River Festival Jun 29 Thrilling river races (including one contested among rubber ducks), family activities, a live concert and fireworks to close out the day make a great way to celebrate America’s birthday just a trifle early. Oklahoma River, 725 S Lincoln Blvd, OKC, 552.4040, oklahomariverevents.org

National Weather Center Biennale Through Jun 2 It is the first exhibition of its kind: an international juried show of art about weather and the role it plays in shaping our lives. Nearly 400 artists submitted works; this free exhibit features the top 100 pieces. National Weather Center, 120 David L. Boren Blvd, Norman, 325.1496, nwcbiennale.org

Beauty and Celebrity Through Jul 28 Herb Ritts, though self-taught, was one of the most successful celebrity and fashion photographers of the latter 20th century - this exhibition of over 80 photographs explores his gift for capturing nature, texture and the beauty of the human form.

OKC Museum of Art, 415 Couch Dr, OKC, 236.3100, okcmoa.com

OMRF 241 Jun 23-24 It’s two events for one cause as the OK Medical Research Foundation fights MS through a Sunday wine festival featuring the Charlie Daniels Band and a Monday golf tournament at Oak Tree. Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, 825 NE 13th St, OKC, 271.7400, omrf.org

H&8th Night Market Jun 28 Midtown becomes a primetime paradise in this after-hours street festival boasting live music, a convoy of awesome food trucks, craft beer and free socializing. Elemental Coffee, 815 N Hudson Ave, OKC, 633.1703, h8thokc.com

experiment shows what might have been and prompts contemplation on the intersection of art and politics. Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, 555 Elm Ave, Norman, 325.3272, ou.edu/fjjma

Oklahoma @ the Movies Through Aug 10 Help commemorate the beautiful friendship between the Sooner State and the silver screen. Oklahoma History Center, 800 Nazih Zuhdi Dr, OKC, 521.2491, okhistory.org

June at the Elms June 1-30, OKC

Depot, 200 S Jones Ave, Norman, 307.9320, pasnorman.com Istvan Summer Show Through Jul 28 Those who must, create. Two educators - Edmond North’s Bjorn Bauer and Scott Henderson from Science Museum Oklahoma - lend their experienced perspective to Istvan’s exhibition that also includes the reclaimed assemblages of Tony Westlund, tattoo-influenced sketches from Ashley Smith and Tanner Frady’s graffiti-inspired aerosols. Istvan Gallery, 1218 N Western Ave, OKC, 831.2874, istvangallery.com Bhupinder Obhrai Jun 1-30 Indian native Obhrai came to painting later in life, combining the perspective of years with the enthusiasm of one to whom creation is still a new and powerful joy. That’s an emotion the student of Dennis Parker is eager to share with viewers and visitors to the Paseo gallery. Summer Wine Art

Jim Keffer, Walking in the Rain collages and installations - because they’re handcrafted around the results of daily self-measurements in biometric categories like number of steps taken, body weight or duration of sleep. Think of it as life encapsulated in art. OK Contemporary Arts Center, 3000 General Pershing Dr, OKC, 951.0000, oklahomacontemporary.org Bombs Away Jun 14 Woodcut-like works exploring themes of the fragility of life and the importance of seizing moments

by Dustin Oswald, the creative mind behind OKC’s Bombs Away Art Company. dna galleries, 1709 NW 16th St, OKC, 525.3499, dnagalleries.com

Invisible Eve Through Aug 31 Powerful images from the lens of renowned photographer Yousef Khanfar, whose new book of the same name depicts insights and images of women incarcerated for nonviolent crimes. OK Heritage Museum, 1400 Classen Dr, OKC, 523.3231, oklahomaheritage.com Beautiful Beasts Through Sep 16 Macrophotographer Thomas Shahan takes a closer look - closer than that … no, way closer - at the forms and faces of our tiny neighbors in an exhibit subtitled “The Unseen Life of Oklahoma Spiders and Insects.” Sam Noble Museum, 2401 Chatauqua Ave, Norman, 325.4712, snomnh.ou.edu

MUSEUMS

Faces of Bettina Steinke Through Dec 22 Looking back at Steinke’s life involves seeing many other lives as well, since she spent over 60 years capturing the faces, aspects and emotions of people from all walks of life. National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, 1700 NE 63rd St, OKC, 478.2250, nationalcowboymuseum.org

Art Interrupted Through Jun 2 Organized in the 1940s and then quickly torpedoed by conservative mindsets, this reunion tour of a national

Reigns Supreme Through Dec 30 Extravagant in impact if not subject matter, the Oklahoma History Center’s exhibit draws on the Oklahoma Historical

Society’s fashion collection to portray over 75 years of the little black dress.

Oklahoma History Center, 800 Nazih Zuhdi Dr, OKC, 521.2491, okhistory.org Prix de West Invitational Jun 7-Aug 4 Two days of informative seminars and a landmark sale kick off the prestigious exhibition of over 300 selected paintings and sculptures portraying the beauty and character of the American West, an event marking its 40th anniversary in 2013.

National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, 1700 NE 63rd St, OKC, 478.2250, nationalcowboymuseum.org [Un]bound Jun 14-Sep 7 A septet of artists and educators bring printmaking off the flat page and into the third dimension through captivating installations. [Artspace] at Untitled, 1 NE 3rd St, OKC, 815.9995, artspaceatuntitled.org Art After Hours: All That Jazz Jun 28 An evening’s investigation of the influence jazz’s spontaneity and fluid form exerted on the visual art of painters Romare Bearden and Stuart Davis. Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, 555 Elm Ave, Norman, 325.3272, ou.edu/fjjma

Noon Tunes Jun 6-27 Free lunchtime serenades in the Downtown Library: Albert Grey Eagle Jun 6, the Rice Dance Band Jun 13, Jim Garling Jun 20 and Adam and Kizzie Ledbetter Jun 27.

Downtown Library, 300 Park Ave, OKC, 231.8650, mls.lib.ok.us

Nichols Hills Band Concert Jun 20 You don’t have to have a record deal to be tunefully talented, as the community members of this volunteer ensemble prove by sounding off in a monthly set of concert standards. Kite Park, 1301 Camden Way, OKC, nicholshills.net

Jerry Jeff Walker Jun 7 Born in New York but a Texan through and through, the perpetually evolving Walker is one of the cornerstones of outlaw country music and has been a staple of the Austin scene for decades and counting.

Riverwind Casino, 1544 W Hwy 9, Norman, 322.6000, riverwind.com

Jazz in June Jun 20-22 Happy birthday, JIJ! To celebrate the free festival’s 30th go-round, sublime performers like The Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Duke Robillard and Justin Echols are happy to lend a hand (or a horn) and plenty of soul.

Brookhaven Village and Andrews Park, 3700 W Robinson St and 201 W Daws St, Norman, 325.2222, jazzinjune.org

Charlie Christian Music Festival Jun 7-8 An OKC original lives on through the strength of his influence on blues guitar playing, and through the listening pleasure brought to thousands by the special guest performers during his namesake festival. Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark, 2 S Mickey Mantle Dr, OKC, charliechristianmusicfestival.com Theory of a Deadman Jun 8 Politeness is often touted as a Canadian character

Night Ranger Jun 22 Indeed you can still rock in America - the proof is right here, as the ‘80s legends, their sound undimmed by years, rock in Frontier City.

Frontier City, 11501 N I-35 Service Rd, OKC, 478.2140, frontiercity.com Son Volt Jun 28 Thoughtful with a tinge of somberness and driven by an achingly beautiful combination of twin fiddles and pedal steel, the Uncle Tupelo offspring’s

Dropkick Murphys Jun 1 Raucous, rowdy, roisterous and proudly Irish, the punkflavored Boston rockers make every album sound like a party - and every live show sound like a joyous near-riot.

Diamond Ballroom, 8001 S Eastern Ave, OKC, 866.977.6849, dcfconcerts.com

Opolis Performances Jun 1-28 Metro, meet Opolis. You’ll make beautiful music together, like the song of laughter during comedy night Jun 1, Night Beds, The Staves and Mike Musikanto Jun 4 and Lord Huron Jun 28. The Opolis, 113 N Crawford Ave, Norman, opolis.org Purple Bar Performances Jun 1-29 A cozy setting, ample menu and outstanding music from local artists.

Nonna’s Purple Bar, 1 S Mickey Mantle Dr, OKC, 235.4410, purplebarokc.com Twilight Concert Series Jun 2-30 The Arts Council of OKC helps listeners end the week in style with a free openair show from local talent. Myriad Gardens, 301 W Reno, OKC, 270.4848, artscouncilokc.com Blue Door Shows Jun 4-15 Self-billed as “the best listening room in Oklahoma,” it certainly has some of the best music: The Trishas Jun 4, The Nicholas Tremulis Orchestra Jun 5, The Stray Birds Jun 6, Anne McCue Jun 8 and Zoe Muth Jun 15. The Blue Door, 2805 N McKinley Ave, OKC, 524.0738, bluedoorokc.com Creedence Clearwater Revisited Jun 6 As tribute bands go, having two of the original four members is pretty solid.

Two decades after CCR broke up, Stu Cook and Doug Collins put a band back together and have spent the last 18 years proving yet again that the classics never go out of style. Newcastle Casino, 2457 Hwy 62, Newcastle, 387.6013, mynewcastlecasino.com

OKC ProAm Classic Jun 1-2 Two days of racing for amateurs and elites alike as Film Row and Automobile Alley fill with cycles and spectators, and coffers fill with funds to benefit the White Fields home for abused and neglected boys.

Downtown OKC, okcpac.com Wish Upon a Par Jun 3 A clinic from PGA pro Jim Woodward, food, gear and all the trimmings and a round on the top-flight course, all to help make wishes come true for seriously ill children. Oak Tree National, 1515 W Oak Tree Dr, Edmond, 286.4000, oklahoma.wish.org Endeavor Games Jun 6-9 Athletes of all ages and classifications compete in 11 events despite their physical disabilities in an officially sanctioned meet that provides a stirring testament to the strength of the human spirit. UCO Wellness Center, 100 N University Dr, Edmond, 974.3160, ucoendeavorgames.com Oklahoma Mud Factor Run Jun 8 A little beer, a little music … and 5k of dirt-covered obstacles participants must climb, wade through, conquer or collapse upon. Can you dig it? Oklahoma Motorsports Complex, 3501 S Interstate Dr, Norman, mudfactor.com

MUSIC

Neon Trees Jun 1 Glossy, high-energy and catchy as can be, the up-andhappening Trees are fresh off their second album and a perfect opener to an extremely busy month in the Sonic Summer Concert Series. Frontier City, 11501 N I-35 Service Rd, OKC, 478.2140, frontiercity.com

Fairgrounds, 333 Gordon Cooper Ave, OKC, 440.0694, okqha.com/redbud

Mayors’ Golf Tournament Jun 10 That’s mayors, plural, as Mick Cornett joins Ron and Jim Norick in hosting the 14th annual tourney benefiting the aesthetic endeavors of OKC Beautiful. Ask about the Helicopter Golf Ball Drop! OKC Golf & Country Club, 7000 NW Grand Blvd, OKC, 525.8822, okcbeautiful.com

Dropkick Murphys June 1, OKC

trait, but no one told these post-grunge British Columbians; they specialize in high angst levels and crashing hooks.

Frontier City, 11501 N I-35 Service Rd, OKC, 478.2140, frontiercity.com

newest album is still a glad occasion, especially since it brings Jay Farrar and company to OKC. Diamond Ballroom, 8001 S Eastern Ave, OKC, 866.977.6849, dcfconcerts.com

OU Clarinet Symposium Jun 13-15 The 36th annual conclave of clarinetists includes over two dozen guest performers from near and far, plus a special tribute to the symposium’s founder D. David Etheridge. OU Catlett Music Center, 500 W Boyd St, Norman, 672.2329, ouclarinetsymposium.ou.edu

NKOTB, 98 Degrees & Boyz II Men Jun 29 Three of the best-selling vocal groups of all time team up to bring fans the Package Tour, including music from New Kids on the Block’s new album 10. Chesapeake Arena, 100 W Reno Ave, OKC, 800.745.3000, chesapeakearena.com

Hillsong United Jun 15 The Christian rockers call themselves ordinary people in service to an extraordinary God, but their musical success in the form of sold-out arena shows is far from run-of-the-mill. Chesapeake Arena, 100 W Reno Ave, OKC, 800.745.3000, chesapeakearena.com Huey Lewis & the News Jun 15 Can you believe it’s been 30 years since “Sports”?

Still in tune with the heart of rock and roll, Lewis and crew are swinging through town to mark the anniversary by pounding out some of the old favorites.

Frontier City, 11501 N I-35 Service Rd, OKC, 478.2140, frontiercity.com Summer Breeze: Parker Millsap Jun 16 The term “gut-bucket” doesn’t get thrown around a lot these days, but Millsap’s throwback vibe and gravelly voice are a perfect fit for those bygone blues stylings. Lions Park, 450 S Flood Ave, Norman, 307.9320, pasnorman.com

Summer Break Tour Jun 30 Teen pop darlings Big Time Rush, fresh off filming the fourth season of their Nickelodeon show, stop into OKC with network comrade Victoria Justice. Chesapeake Arena, 100 W Reno Ave, OKC, 800.745.3000, chesapeakearena.com

SPORTS NCAA Women’s College World Series Through Jun 5 The nation’s best have battled their way to OKC; now they’re ready to duke it out one pitch at a time until there’s only one team left celebrating. ASA National Softball Hall of Fame, 2801 NE 50th St, OKC, ncaa. com/wcws OQHA Redbud Spectacular Though Jun 9 Whatever the age of the rider or mount, horsemanship in its purest form is on vivid display at the Oklahoma Quarter Horse Association’s summer show. State

RedHawks Baseball Jun 10-25 Take yourself out to the ball game - OKC’s Triple-A titans take on Iowa Jun 10-13, Round Rock Jun 14-17 and Omaha Jun 22-25. Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark, 2 S Mickey Mantle Dr, OKC, 218.1000, oklahomacity.redhawks.milb.com OKC Roller Derby Jun 15 Part graceful race, part all-out brawl, the month’s slate of spectacle includes the Tornado Alley Rollergirls lacing up to battle West Texas as the Valkyrie Vixens face off against Cell Block 9. Cox Convention Center, 1 Myriad Gardens, OKC, 496.1348, okcrd.com OK Victory Dolls Jun 22 Blazing speed, deft athleticism and occasional boneshaking violence ... hitch your eyes to these rising stars as the Victory Dolls lace up for a doubleheader bout. State Fairgrounds, 333 Gordon Cooper Blvd, OKC, oklahomavictorydolls.com Relay for Life Jun 28 You can’t go it alone, and you don’t have to, because together teams make it through the 12-hour event, commemorate survivors and lives lost and raise funds so that we can all beat cancer. Together. Putnam City High School, 5300 NW 50th St, OKC, 841.5819, relayforlife.org/okcok

THEATER Something Intangible Through Jun 8 The frustration of reifying inspiration, the burden of enabling someone else’s genius, the surprising resilience of family ties and a hefty dose of humor propel this tale of two brothers building a movie empire around a successful

JUNE 2013 // SLICE 79

PURSUITS | See & Do

Endeavor Games June 6-9, Edmond

cartoon character. (Pssst! They’re Disney analogues!) Carpenter Square Theatre, 800 W Main St, OKC, 232.6500, carpentersquare.com Greater Tuna Through Jul 7 Life in the tiny Texas town of Tuna is anything but sleepy - the more so since hardworking CityRep actors Donald Jordan and Jonathan Beck Reed manage (somehow) to portray the dozens of oddball members of the dramatis personae all by themselves. Civic Center Music Hall, 201 N Walker Ave, OKC, 848.3761, cityrep.com Measure for Measure Jun 6-22 Justice is supposed to be blind, but it’s administered by human beings and there’s another old adage about power corrupting. A crooked judge, forlorn young lovers, a disguised ruler watching in the wings … sounds like the makings for a perfect Oklahoma Shakespeare in the Park production. Myriad Gardens, 301 W Reno, OKC, 235.3700, oklahomashakespeare.com The Sound of Music Jun 14-23 Summerstock tells of an endearingly offkilter nanny-slash-chanteuse who finds a new family with a crop of lonely children, and a lasting love with their lonelier widowed father, in the face of Nazi encroachment. This is why we can’t have nice things! UCO Mitchell Hall Theater, 100 N University Dr, Edmond, 974.3375, summerstockok.com

Because when you support the arts, you’re actually supporting work for thousands of Oklahomans.

Parade Jun 20-29 If sad songs say so much, what about sad musicals? Personal politics and mob predjudice conspire to wrongly convict a Jewish factory manager of murder in a grim saga in which a tender love story blossoms. Mitch Park Amphitheater, 1501 W Covell Rd, Edmond, 359.4360, upstagetheatreok.com

Think of it this way. When you support the arts, you help fund programs that help to improve our community. Not just in creating works of art, but creating a thriving economy.

Because the nonprofit arts industry in Oklahoma supports more than 10,000 jobs in our state.

Tarzan Jun 25-29 Lyric Theatre takes viewers into a wholly different world - a planet of the apes, if you will - as Michael Baron directs a soaring production based on the Disney musical. Civic Center Music Hall, 201 N Walker Ave, OKC, 524.9312, lyrictheatreokc.com

Desmond Mason Artist, Former NBA Player

And you can help by supporting Allied Arts. It doesn’t take a big donation to make a big difference.

A little give ... is all it takes.

Donate Today 405.278.8944 alliedartsokc.com

Suessical the Musical Jun 26-30 Horton the Elephant, Gertrude McFuzz, a fancy-hatted cat and a host of other characters from the Geisel mind and pen provide entertainment and imaginative inspiration by, and thanks to, kids and adults alike. Sooner Theatre, 101 E Main St, Norman, 321.9600, soonertheatre.com Ring Round the Moon Jun 27-Jul 13 Identical twins with polar opposite

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personalities may seem like improbable components for a love triangle, but then again artifice is a key ingredient in the midcentury French high society where Oklahoma Shakespeare in the Park goes exploring among murky emtional depths.

Myriad Gardens, 301 W Reno, OKC, 235.3700, oklahomashakespeare.com Out of Sterno Jun 28-Jul 20 Journeys of self-discovery aren’t generally quite so literal, but when an unwitting recluse decides to leave her house for the first time in seven years of marriage, she quickly discovers how one-dimensional her existence had been. Carpenter Square Theatre, 800 W Main St, OKC, 232.6500, carpentersquare.com

ON THE RADAR Justin Bieber Jul 2 You may have heard of him: he has over 33 million (not a typo) Twitter followers and Forbes recently named him the third most powerful celebrity in the world. He also sings a little.

Bieber’s OKC show should be a sight to see, and those interested are encouraged to get tickets early. Chesapeake Arena, 100 W Reno Ave, OKC, 800.745.3000, chesapeakearena.com Beyonce Jul 5 Ms. Knowles, if you’re polite.

The strutting chanteuse’s star has only continued to rise after leaving the wildly successful Destiny’s Child to go solo, and after conquering the Super Bowl halftime show she’s ready for the real big time: Chesapeake Arena. Chesapeake Arena, 100 W Reno Ave, OKC, 800.745.3000, chesapeakearena.com

SPREAD THE WORD Like to list your upcoming event in Slice? Visit sliceok. com/calendar, click the link for “Submit an event” and tell us about it – and remember that submissions must be received two months prior to publication for consideration.

CARLI WENTWORTH

FARE

Dad’s Delight When it comes to putting together a surefire summer meal, slow and savory wins the race. This ovenbaked brisket, accompanied by a zesty slaw, makes an exceptional Father’s Day feast. See page 82.

MATTERS OF TASTE Vin Dolce branches out into dinner service; glad tidings that call for a drink 84

EAT & DRINK Variety is on the menu in Slice’s citywide dining guide 86 JUNE 2013 // SLICE 81

FARE | In the Kitchen

Romney’s Brisket 4 lb brisket, trimmed 3 T Head Country seasoning salt 1 T freshly ground pepper 1 bottle hickory liquid smoke 1 bottle Head Country Bar-B-Q Sauce Heavy-duty foil Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Place a sheet of heavy duty foil in a large metal baking sheet, double the size of the pan, so that the excess comes up the sides. Cover the brisket thoroughly with the seasoning salt and pepper, and then place fat side up onto the foil-covered baking sheet. Finish by pouring liquid smoke over the top and then cover the brisket with another piece of foil. Crimp the foil all around, creating a tent with the meat inside. Place into the hot oven and bake for five hours. Remove from oven, and then pour about two cups of barbeque sauce over the top and reseal the foil tent. Return to the oven to bake for another hour. Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 20-30 minutes so juices can return to brisket. Slice thinly and serve.

Summertime Flavor

By Caryn Ross // Photos by Carli Wentworth

SUMMER HAS JUST BEGUN and I can’t help but love the smell of barbeque. It sounds silly to associate a season with the scent of hickory and barbeque sauce, but you have to admit it makes sense … especially because we celebrate Father’s Day this month. Many of us will be showing our love for the daddies in our lives with ties, coffee mugs and even “Best Dad” T-shirts. Why not make your dad dinner?

This is my friend Romney Hall’s recipe for brisket. I think of Romney every time I make it because after being served this dish she told me of her love of her “Bonus Daddy.” I remember saying, “What in the world is a bonus daddy?” She explained, “I have a perfectly good daddy but when my mom remarried when I was little I got a bonus daddy.” So, I am dedicating this recipe to all daddies, bonus and otherwise.

One of the best things about this meal is that it does not require firing up your grill or smoker. In fact, you make it in your oven on low and slow heat for six to eight hours. Slather it with Head Country Bar-B-Q Sauce for the last hour of cooking, and then serve it with this fabulous slaw that’s guaranteed to be a favorite at many future barbeques.

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Festive Slaw 1 head Napa cabbage, shredded 3 c cabbage, shredded 1 ½ c dried cranberries ½ c green onion, chopped ½ c green pepper, chopped Dressing ½ c mayonnaise 1 T sweet relish 1 T honey mustard 1 T honey ½ t salt ½ t pepper In a large bowl, combine the cabbage, cranberries, green onion and green pepper. In a smaller bowl, mix together the mayonnaise, sweet relish, honey mustard, honey, salt and pepper. Stir until well combined.

Pour over veggies and toss. Refrigerate for at least four to six hours for flavors to develop before serving.

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JUNE 2013 // SLICE 83

FARE | Matters of Taste

SWEET SENSATION

By Steve Gill // Photos by Carli Wentworth

SOMETIMES FLEXIBILITY IS A KEY TO SUCCESS; keeping a firm core concept while remaining open to supplementary improvements over time can yield positive results, especially for Edmondites seeking a new fine dining option. When Vin Dolce Wine Bar opened in August of 2011, its dining options were restricted to small plates and desserts (hence the “Dolce” part of the name), and it developed an appreciative clientele on those terms. But change can be a good thing: While retaining its identity as a wine bar, in March of this year it expanded to full dinner service.

There’s an extent to which reviewing the menu isn’t particularly efficacious, since its selections rotate weekly; any one highly recommended dish – like the absolutely incredible appetizer of dates stuffed with gorgonzola, wrapped in bacon, grilled and drizzled with a sweetly tangy balsamic reduction – might not be available during a subsequent visit. That shouldn’t be

84 SLICE // JUNE 2013

a problem, though, as the current menu is always available at vindolcewinebar.com and prospective diners can expect to find a number of entrée options among beef (the Burgundy steak tips are succulent biteand-a-half-sized morsels in a rich red wine sauce atop a bed of cheese polenta with fresh asparagus for company), fish, pork or chicken and a “flat bread” – essentially a sauceless pizza on a light, chewy crust.

Cross your fingers for the Sicilian version, which features Genoa salami, spicy capicola, fresh mozzarella, basil and grape tomatoes. And for further assistance with what the venue does best, each entry on the menu also has a recommendation for an accompanying vintage.

Vin Dolce’s cozy, softly lit atmosphere (the fixtures are hand-blown glass from a studio across the street) encourages lingering, making it even more of a pleasure to add the prospect of dessert … it’s surely not a coincidence that the decadent French

chocolate espresso mousse is served in two matching miniature cups.

Already home to a robust selection of wines available by the glass, its new dinner menu serves as the icing on the grape.

Give it a try – you may well find you’ve been missing out on la dolce vita.

Vin Dolce 16 S. Broadway Avenue Edmond, 405.285.5333 Sunday-Monday Closed Tuesday-Friday 4:30 - 10 p.m.

Saturday 5 p.m. - Last Call

Quick tips Only one, but it’s a biggie: enjoy the experience.

Wine can be a bewildering business for neophytes, and wine culture is often mocked for its seeming pretentiousness – but you don’t have to be able to tell a Grenache from a Syrah while blindfolded in order to “qualify” as a wine drinker, and you can recommend a brand to friends without discussing its flinty nose or resonant bottom or insouciant appendix. On the other hand, absently gulping down half a glass like water or iced tea does it a disservice. Care and craft went into making this beverage; it rewards a little extra attention. Taking a deep preliminary whiff actually does help prime your palate, and letting it flow around in your mouth yields a more nuanced flavor than swallowing immediately. Find a kind you like (the Vin Dolce staff can help with that) and try taking a few extra moments to really enjoy your wine. It is possible to go overboard in oenophilic appreciation, but that shouldn’t prevent you from getting your feet – or your whistle – wet.

JUNE 2013 // SLICE 85

Eat & Drink KEY $ $$ $$$

most entrees under $10 most entrees $10 to $25 most entrees over $25 outdoor dining reservations accepted new or updated entry

Have an addition that you’d like us to consider?

Send establishment name, address, phone number and a brief description (40 words or less) to dining@sliceok. com. Submissions must be received two months prior to publication.

AMERICAN ANN’S CHICKEN FRY HOUSE This Route 66 classic provides a blast from the past in its copious decorative memorabilia, and excellent chicken fried steak big enough to sate the hugest appetites. 4106 NW 39th, OKC, 943.8915 $ CAFÉ 7 A fast, casual restaurant with a very cool concept: widely varied salad, sandwich, pizza and pasta options, all priced under $7 and served up in 7 minutes, 7 days a week.

14101 N May, OKC, 748.3354; 120 N Robinson, Suite W 175, OKC, 748.3354 $ CAFÉ 501 Rustic stone oven pizzas, fresh, uniquely designed salads and delicious specialty sandwiches on house-made artisan breads – add classic atmosphere and enjoy. 501 S Boulevard, Edmond, 359.1501; 5825 NW Grand, OKC, 844.1501 $$ CLASSEN GRILL Don’t be thrown by the seen-better-days exterior; the food inside is deftly done diner deliciousness, especially the breakfast options. The eggs benedict and cheese grits can make your day in advance. 5124 N Classen Blvd, OKC, 842.0428 $ DEEP FORK GRILL The dimly lit, crisply elegant atmosphere perfectly complements the contemporary menu of superb seafood (wood-grilled cedar plank salmon is the house specialty), steaks and accoutrements.

5418 N Western, OKC, 848.7678 $$ FANCY THAT No longer restricting customers to a quick lunch and bakery treats, this Main Street café’s robust expansion into evening and weekend hours is cause for celebration … over dinner. 215 E Main, Norman, 307.0541 $$ FLINT Approachably casual style in the front of the house, with impeccably serious attention to detail in the kitchen; it’s the Colcord Hotel’s winning combination for contemporary cuisine. 15 N Robinson, OKC, 601.4300 $$ INTERURBAN CLASSIC GRILL It’s a simple concept: serve good food at a reasonable price in comfortable, casual surroundings.

Favorites like chicken-fried steak are always on the menu, but there are plenty of options

86 SLICE // JUNE 2013

for the health-conscious as well. 4 metro locations, interurban.us $$ KAISER’S AMERICAN BISTRO Founded in 1918 and serving contemporary classics like a top-notch buffalo burger, Kaiser’s boasts a great view… if you can tear your attention away from the ice cream & soda fountain.

1039 N Walker, OKC, 232.7632 $ LEGEND’S A Lindsey Street landmark for over 40 years, this casually upscale, three-diamond AAA restaurant still serves exceptional seafood, steaks and more downto-earth fare amid welcoming surroundings.

1313 W Lindsey, Norman, 329.8888 $$ MUTT’S AMAZING HOT DOGS Now this is a hot dog – Mutt’s inspired creations feature prime meats like chicken, bison and duck, topped off with tantalizing and unexpected flavor profiles. 1400 NW 23rd, OKC, 525.3647 $ NEBU You shouldn’t have any trouble finding this airy, accommodating provider of chef-prepared sandwiches, sushi, pizza and more – it’s in the garden wing of the colossal Devon tower. 280 W Sheridan, OKC $ PACKARD’S NEW AMERICAN KITCHEN They’re not kidding about the “new” – the entire menu, from appetizers to complicated cocktails, is infused with thoughtful, innovative ideas and ingredient combinations for a tasty and truly unique dining experience. 201 NW 10th, Suite 100, OKC, 605.3771 $$ PICASSO CAFÉ Its neighbors are painters, potters and sculptors, so it’s no surprise its management strives to make their cuisine a work of art. Creative arrangements of pizza, sandwiches, salads and surprises abound. 3009 Paseo, OKC, 602.2002 $ POPS A little out of the way but undeniably worth going the extra mile, the Good Egg Group’s roadside café has burgers, salads, shakes and the irresistible draw of an unbelievably broad soda selection. 660 W Highway 66, Arcadia, 233.2020 $ REDROCK CANYON GRILL Rotisserie chicken, Southwestern enchiladas, pork chops and steak by the lake served expertly in a casual, energetic, haciendastyle atmosphere of stone walls and mahogany beams around an open kitchen.

9221 E Lake Hefner Pkwy, OKC, 749.1995 $$ SATURN GRILL A star of the lunchtime stage, its surprising daily specials and inspired, tasty twists on ordinary sandwiches, salads and pizza keep it crowded on weekdays. Fortunately, the line moves quickly and calling ahead is encouraged. 4401 W Memorial, OKC 463.5594; 6432 Avondale, OKC, 843.7114; 1012 N Walker, OKC, 606.8182 $ SYRUP The most important meal of the day is also the most enticing at this unique breakfast boutique serving a heaping helping of signature dishes (the crunchy French toast is something special) and Stumptown coffee. 123 E Main, Norman, 701.1143 $

hoisin barbecue duck pizza and ample sushi options. 2541 W Main, Norman, 310.6110 $$ DOT WO GARDEN With an elegantly appointed new location, Dot Wo continues its crowd-pleasing legacy of over two decades by pairing sumptuous classics of Chinese cuisine with fiery, fresh sushi. 6161 N May, OKC, 608.2388 $$ GRAND HOUSE A number of Chinese restaurants concentrate on their cooking to the exclusion of any other aspect of dining – Grand House is the happy exception that goes the extra mile to provide enjoyable ambiance alongside its excellent cuisine.

2701 N Classen, OKC, 524.7333 $$ O ASIAN FUSION Sublime quality in a wide span of culinary influences – freshly rolled sushi to fiery curry – in a cool, vibrant environment. Call ahead; it becomes a packed house in a hurry. 105 SE 12th, Norman, 701.8899 $$ SAII ASIAN BISTRO & SUSHI BAR With a dark, rich ambiance that elevates it over its surroundings, Saii serves expertly prepared Japanese, Thai and Chinese dishes plus an extensive and adventurous sushi menu. 6900 N May, OKC, 702.7244 $$

BAKERY BROWN’S BAKERY An incredible selection of delicious traditional and specialty cakes, cookies, breads and other baked goods. 1100 N Walker, OKC, 232.0363 $ GREEN GOODIES BY TIFFANY Specialty organic cupcakes for all – even those adhering to vegetarian and vegan diets or coping with food allergies or other dietary concerns can enjoy these high quality, flavorful treats. 5840 N Classen Blvd, Suite 5, OKC, 842.2288 $ KITCHEN NO. 324 The venerable Braniff Building on the SandRidge campus downtown hosts this seasonally inspired café, coffee curator and craft bakery serving rustic American cuisine. Aroma alone summons crowds. 324 N Robinson, OKC, 763.5911 $ LA BAGUETTE BAKERY & CAFÉ A spacious, comfortable seating area combined with the exquisite baking mastery that is the brand’s trademark makes this a tres chic, and very popular, destination for brunch and beyond.

1130 Rambling Oaks, Norman, 329.1101; 924 W Main, Norman, 329.5822 $ NONNA’S BAKERY Family recipes are the foundation of these unbelievably scrumptious treats – walk in and pick or call ahead and special order cream pies, decadent cakes and much more. 1 Mickey Mantle Dr, OKC, 235.4410 $ PRAIRIE THUNDER BAKING CO. In this house of carbs, the bread baked on-site is the star of the show: on its own to take home, repurposed into breakfast pastries and desserts or accompanying the deli sandwiches and soups in the cafe. 1114 N Classen Dr, OKC, 602.2922 $

VAST Keeping your attention on the steaks, seafood and other globally inspired American cuisine might be surprisingly difficult: the view is truly unparalleled in Oklahoma. 280 W Sheridan, 49th floor, OKC, 702.7262 $$

SARA SARA CUPCAKES Located in a charming little converted house, the ambiance and milk bar make great atmospheric additions to the varied menu of specialty cupcakes – selections range from traditional chocolate to blueberry honey and even bacon, egg and cheese. 7 NW 9th, OKC, 600.9494 $

ASIAN

BAR // PUB FOOD

180 MERIDIAN GRILL Intended to unite east and west through blending the essence of Asian cuisine with culture, its intriguing menu spans sirloin with teriyaki butter,

51ST STREET SPEAKEASY A converted house with a perpetually packed porch and patio, the joint jumps with energy and the top-shelf spirits and beers flow with

abandon. 1114 NW 51st, OKC, 463.0470 $ ABNER’S ALE HOUSE Beers and whiskies of the best, plus knockout renditions of accompanying dishes, with the aim of recreating the true English public house vibe.

121 E Main, Norman, 928.5801 $$ BELLE ISLE RESTAURANT & BREWERY Live music, handcrafted beers and a great burger selection fill this bustling bar in the landmark 50 Penn Place. 1900 NW Expressway, OKC, 840.1911 $ BLU FINE WINE & FOOD A popular bar option among OU students and Normanites, blu stands out due to quick, courteous service and a menu with gourmet range – try the hummus. 201 S Crawford, Norman, 360.4258 $$ BRICKTOWN BREWERY Only here for the beer? Not so fast – an amped-up menu of temptations demands a sampling at lunch or dinner… or both. 1 N Oklahoma, OKC, 232.2739 $$ CLUB ONE15 The nightclub vibe is in full effect with energetic music and three bars, though the robust menu including fajitas, pasta bowls and seafood is quite a draw of its own. 115 E Sheridan, OKC, 605.5783 $$ DEEP DEUCE GRILL The funky, comfortably run-down vibe of its namesake district lingers in this alternative to Bricktown crowds, featuring burgers, beer and a people-watching patio. 307 NE 2nd, OKC, 235.9100 $ JAMES E. MCNELLIE’S PUBLIC HOUSE Designed to bring Ireland’s pub culture to our city, this Midtown hotspot features 350 varieties of beer, including difficult-tofind options from all over the world. 1100 Classen Dr, OKC, 601.7468 $$ MONT, THE Though frequented by many purely for its primo patio and Sooner Swirls from the bar, the Norman landmark also boasts a tempting suite of pub food with a zing of Southwestern flavor. 1300 Classen Blvd, Norman, 329.3330 $ O’CONNELL’S IRISH PUB & GRILLE Beloved by students, alumni and townies alike, this OU Campus Corner landmark has been serving up burgers, beer and festive atmosphere since 1968. 769 Asp, Norman, 217.8454 $ REPUBLIC GASTROPUB Dedicated to bridging the gap between beer bar and upscale eatery, this contemporary public house in Classen Curve pairs a vast selection of quality brews with imaginative menu items designed to complement one another. 5830 N Classen Blvd, OKC, 286.4577 $$ SAINTS An inviting Irish bar nestled in the Plaza District, its whiskey and beer selection dovetails nicely with classic dishes like shepherd’s pie, bangers and fish and chips.

1715 NW 16th, OKC, 602.6308 $$ SEAN CUMMINGS’ IRISH RESTAURANT & PUB Classic Irish fare (lamb stew, bangers and mash, even beef or salmon boxtys) mixed with favorites and delivered with engaging and gracious service. Plus, naturally, there’s Guinness on tap. 7523 N May, OKC, 755.2622 $$ URBAN WINEWORKS If its delicious madein-Oklahoma wine isn’t draw enough (and it should be), the haute culinary creations featuring rabbit, duck, pork belly and more should certainly entice diners to the Plaza.

1749 NW 16th, OKC, 525.9463 $$ VZD’S RESTAURANT & CLUB Live music is a staple on weekends, but the unusually broad, tasty bar menu draws a substantial lunch crowd as well. Try the turkey burger, the chili or both. 4200 N Western, OKC, 524.4203 $

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JUNE 2013 // SLICE 87

FARE | Eat & Drink

BARBECUE

to the ambiance of this classic eatery, which features a tasty spate of entrees under $10.

9401 Lake Hefner Pkwy, OKC, 751.2298 $

cheesesteaks. 1150 W Lindsey, Norman, 701.5635; 200 S Oklahoma, OKC, 208.4000 $

EARL’S RIB PALACE Beloved by locals in a setting far from starved for competition, the award-winning barbecue chain pounds out hit ribs, pulled pork and smoked turkey as well as a top-tier burger. 6 metro locations, earlsribpalace.com $

MULE, THE Solid beer and beverage selection plus a delectable array of gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches and melts (ingredients range from fontina to figs) fill the menu at this relaxation destination in the Plaza District. 1630 N Blackwelder, OKC, 601.1400 $

TUCKER’S ONION BURGERS With one burger (and variants), one side dish (fries), one salad and beverages, the menu is easy to remember. With this level of bravura execution, the meal is hard to forget. 324 NW 23rd, OKC, 609.2333; 5740 N Classen Blvd, OKC, 286.3331 $

NIC’S GRILL It’s small, it’s crowded, it’s cash-only… and it’s incredible. The colossal burgers, easily among the metro’s best, and mounds of fresh fries make this holein-the-wall diner pure paradise. 1202 N Pennsylvania, OKC, 524.0999 $

COFFEEHOUSE // TEA ROOM

S&B’S BURGER JOINT Good news: these burgers’ exquisite flavor combinations – including such showcase ingredients as peanut butter or a coffee crust – come in slider form as well, the better to sample

ALL ABOUT CHA Universal standards and more adventurous concoctions (the sweet potato latte is a wonder) in a bright, bustling atmosphere that still has room for quieter lingering. 3272 S Broadway, Edmond, 340.9959 $

IRON STARR URBAN BARBEQUE Named for notorious outlaw Belle Starr, Iron Starr specializes in “a unique and tasty spin on comfort food.” The entrees are excellent, but the sides are equal players here as well. 3700 N Shartel, OKC, 524.5925 $$ LEO’S BAR-B-Q Dense, rich flavor and tender texture through and through, delivered in genuine unpolished style for commendable value – no wonder it’s a recurring favorite among OK connoisseurs.

3631 N Kelley, OKC 424.5367; 7 Harrison, OKC 236.5367 $

BISON WITCHES BAR & DELI The monster sandwiches are loaded with standout flavors, but the best way to enjoy them is in halves, accompanied by a bread bowl of fresh hot soup and a bag of pretzels. 211 E Main, Norman, 364.7555 $

JOHNNIE’S CHARCOAL BROILER Fresh-ground hamburgers cooked over real charcoal set Johnnie’s apart. Try the incredibly popular Cheese Theta or Caesar burgers, and don’t forget a side of their outstanding onion rings. 4 metro locations, johnniesok.com $ LOUIE’S GRILL & BAR Casually cool and come-as-you-are, these popular neighborhood bar-type hangouts excel at inexpensive burgers, sandwiches and pizzas.

12 metro locations, louiesgrillandbar.com $ LOUIE’S ON THE LAKE An unbeatable view of scenic Lake Hefner from the patio adds

88 SLICE // JUNE 2013

RED CUP Comfortably ramshackle surroundings encourage curling up for conversation over spectacular PrimaCafe coffee, baked treats, vegetarian-friendly breakfast and lunch specials and live music.

Highly recommended! 3122 N Classen Blvd, OKC, 525.3430 $

BIN 73 WINE BAR Diners can fill up on filet mignon or simply top the evening off with tapas while enjoying the full bar and chic ambience. 7312 N Western, OKC, 843.0073 $$ BLACKBIRD A Campus Corner gastropub pairing delectably creative food – pot roast nachos! – with an expansive beer, wine and whiskey list. 575 S University, Norman, 928.5555 $$

CHARCOAL OVEN The smoke-filled flavor of a backyard cookout without having to fire up your own grill – get ’em while they’re hot!

2701 NW Expressway, OKC, 842.8911 $

IRMA’S BURGER SHACK Hand-cut fries, hand-breaded onions rings and simply great burgers. Try the No-Name Ranch burger – lean and flavorful, thanks to a unique breed of cattle raised in Wynnewood using organic techniques. 1035 NW 63rd, OKC, 840.4762; 1120 Classen Dr, OKC, 235.4762 $

PARAMOUNT, THE A Film Row joint with a screening room attached, it serves a few options for breakfast and lunch and snacks to go with its movies, but it’s the all-day beverage menu that delivers the stuff dreams are made of. 701 W Sheridan, OKC, 517.0787 $

CONTINENTAL

CAFÉ PLAID & BAKERY Fresh sandwiches begging to be combined with a sensational selection of salads (veggie, tuna, pasta…) make it an ideal spot for lunch when you’re near OU. 333 W Boyd, Norman, 360.2233 $

GARAGE BURGERS & BEER, THE It gets noisy in the low-lit sports bar atmosphere, but even if your focus isn’t on a televised game, conversation would probably revolve around the huge, juicy burgers and fries – both available in several tempting flavor possibilities – anyway. 307 E Main, Norman, 701.7035; 601 S Bryant Ave, Edmond, 341.5801 $

MICHELANGELO’S COFFEE SHOP & WINE BAR Enjoy exceptional coffees, a wellstocked pastry case with chocolates and sweets, a surprisingly robust wine catalog and even breakfast and lunch selections. 207 E Main, Norman, 579.3387 $

T, AN URBAN TEAHOUSE Proving that an establishment’s focus can be narrow and broad simultaneously, this endearing retreat doesn’t do coffee or sandwiches, but does offer over 100 varieties of tea and expert counsel to explore a world of possibilities.

7518 N May, OKC, 418.4333 $

BURGERS // SANDWICHES

FLATIRE BURGERS Beloved by (and generally crowded with) UCO students, this bravura burger joint excels at innovative additions to the classic patty and bun, like sauerkraut, carrots, pineapple relish and habanero salsa. 100 N University Dr (at UCO), Edmond, 974.4638; 6315 NW 39th Expressway, Bethany, 603.2822 $

ELEMENTAL COFFEE Seriously spectacular coffee roasted in-house - the passionate staffers are always eager to share knowledge about the process - augmented with locally sourced treats, including a variety of crepes on weekends. 815 N Hudson, OKC, 633.1703 $

CARLI WENTWORTH

RUDY’S COUNTRY STORE & BAR-B-Q It’s hard to get more casual than a set of picnic benches, where food comes on cafeteria trays with plastic utensils and paper towels... but as the lines attest, the brisket and other barbecue staples speak for themselves.

3450 Chautauqua, Norman, 307.0552; 3437 W Memorial, OKC, 254.4712 $$

vibe and more, park around back and take a peek. 727 NW 23rd, OKC, 528.2122 $

CAFÉ NOVA Lunch, dinner and late at night, the simple but innovative fare and hopping bar in this Western Avenue spot aim to please hipsters, families and whiteand blue-collar joes and josephines. 4308 N Western, OKC, 525.6682 $$

Carrot Cake Donut Kitchen No. 324, OKC

more selections. 20 NW 9th, OKC, 270.0516; 5929 N May, OKC, 843.8777; 7745 S Walker, OKC, 631.0983 $ SERVICE STATION Once a filling station, the building still has vintage décor and is home to Bentleys, Packards and dipsticks, but now they’re the names of its delicious half-pound burgers and fries. 502 S Webster, Norman, 364.2136 $ SMASHBURGER Billing itself as a place with a burger soul, this savory hot spot provides 100 percent Angus beef in three sizes amid a panoply of tasty toppings and sides, plus similarly varied chicken sandwiches and salads. 2127 W Memorial, OKC, 418.8416; 7642 W Reno, OKC, 787.5700; 1841 Belle Isle, OKC, 767.9771 $ SOONER DAIRY LUNCH The menu’s masthead, “Serving Norman since 1954,” should serve as a fairly strong recommendation all by itself – this modest little drive-in has been cheerfully feeding its staunch fans burgers, fries, tots and shakes for six decades and counting. 1820 W Main, Norman, 321.8526 $ TEXADELPHIA Popular hang-out spots inside and out due to the numerous flatscreen TVs and patio seating. The menu draws raves for burgers and wraps, but especially the monstrous made-to-order

ARAVALLI This weekday waystation in the Devon Energy Center is a prime spot for breakfast pastries and coffee, lunch gelato and desserts and a daily rotating handful of grab-and-go entrees. 333 W Sheridan Ave, OKC, 278.7000 $ BEATNIX CAFÉ, THE While it’s certainly possible to get a sandwich, cup of hearty soup or powerhouse latte to go, doing so would mean missing out on the lovely laid-back vibe that pervades this stressless dawdling spot. 136 NW 13th, OKC, 604.0211 $ CAFÉ EVOKE Outstanding coffee drinks and other beverages from one of the area’s great caterers; if patrons wish to stick around for soup, sandwiches, snacks or sweets, so much the better. 103 S Broadway, Edmond, 285.1522 $ COFFEE SLINGERS Rocking a brisk, urban vibe thanks to its Automobile Alley location, this has become a gathering place for genuine java enthusiasts, especially during the monthly educational sampling seminars called “cuppings.” 1015 N Broadway, OKC, 606.2763 $ CUPPIES & JOE The name’s not really a misnomer, but if it listed all their features it’d be too long. For cupcakes and coffee and pie and live music and a cozy, trendy

CHEEVER’S Dress up or down for the Southwestern-influenced recipes and love of seafood that drive the contemporary comfort food found in this converted florist’s; truly one of the city’s finest destinations for dining out. 2409 N Hudson, OKC, 525.7007 $$ COACH HOUSE, THE Definitively among the metro’s most refined, elegant, upscale dining experiences, the rotating menu of seasonal cuisine highlights regional specialties prepared with classical perfection by master chef Kurt Fleischfresser. 6437 Avondale, OKC, 842.1000 $$$ LOTTINVILLE’S WOOD GRILLE Rotisserie chicken and wood-grilled salmon are the featured players among a host of Southwestern-influenced entrees, salads and panini; the Sunday brunch is epic. 801 Signal Ridge, Edmond, 341.2244 $$ MANTEL WINE BAR & BISTRO, THE Marvelous steaks, seafood and other specialties (don’t miss the lobster bisque), combined with a refined, intimate atmosphere and outstanding service, make a truly memorable meal. 201 E Sheridan, OKC, 236.8040 $$$ MELTING POT, THE If the occasion is special, here’s where to make a meal into an event. Specializing in four-course fondue dinners, this elegant restaurant rewards time investments with delectable memories. 4 E Sheridan, OKC, 235.1000 $$$

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JUNE 2013 // SLICE 89

FARE | Eat & Drink

Mas terpieces Made He r e

METRO WINE BAR & BISTRO, THE A perennial favorite that feels comfortably upscale without exerting pressure to impress on its clientele, the far-reaching menu covers culinary high points from vichyssoise to crème brulée. 6418 N Western, OKC, 840.9463 $$ MICHAEL’S GRILL Thoroughly urbane dining in an elegant, intimate setting – the steaks, chops, seafood and pastas are excellent, and the Caesar salad prepared tableside is legendary. 2824 W Country Club, OKC, 810.9000 $$$

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MUSEUM CAFÉ, THE A setting as inspiring as the Oklahoma City Museum of Art warrants something special in terms of cuisine… et puis voila. Ethereally light or delectably robust, this European-inspired menu delights for lunch, dinner and Sunday brunch. 415 Couch, OKC, 235.6262 $$ NONNA’S EURO-AMERICAN RISTORANTE & BAR A cozily appointed, thoroughly opulent atmosphere housing distinctive cuisine, specialty drinks and live music in The Purple Bar and fresh-baked goodies to top off a grand evening. 1 Mickey Mantle, OKC, 235.4410 $$$ PARK AVENUE GRILL A one-of-a-kind dining experience inside the luxurious Skirvin Hilton, blending traditional steak and seafood cuisine with the high style of its original 1930s setting. 1 Park, OKC, 702.8444 $$$ PASEO GRILL Quiet and intimate inside, cheerful and comfortable out on the patio, with an award-winning menu full of distinctive flavor combinations – try the duck salad. 2909 Paseo, OKC, 601.1079 $$$ ROCOCO RESTAURANT & FINE WINE An “east coast-style” restaurant, built around a diverse menu of hand-crafted international dishes from Penne Bolognese to Petrale Sole, set off by carefully selected wine and exceptional service. 12252 N May, OKC, 212.4577; 2824 N Pennsylvania, OKC, 528.2824 $$ SEVEN47 A Campus Corner hotspot boasting sleek, swank décor, an appealingly broad menu including a tantalizing brunch and a consistently celebratory vibe make this winning combination. 747 Asp, Norman, 701.8622 $$ SIGNATURE GRILL Unassuming locale; magnificent culinary rewards. Chef Clay Falkner’s expertly considered menu mixes French and Italian techniques, presenting a wide spectrum of amazing flavors in a few select dishes. 1317 E Danforth, Edmond, 330.4548 $$$ VIN DOLCE Primarily a venue for the endless, joyous pursuit of discovering the perfect glass of wine, downtown Edmond’s hot spot also serves gourmet tapas and homemade sweets. 16 S Broadway, Edmond, 285.5333 $$ WEST The staff is speedy, the décor sleek and modern, and the entrées – like bucatini with meatballs or roasted salmon and ratatouille – are wide-ranging but elegantly simple. 6714 N Western, OKC, 607.4072 $$

FRENCH LA BAGUETTE BISTRO Brothers Alain and Michel Buthion have firm roots in the city’s culinary landscape, and La Baguette combines fine dining (linger over multiple courses whenever possible) with an exceptional bakery, deli and butcher shop on site. 7408 N May, OKC, 840.3047 $$

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90 SLICE // JUNE 2013

WHISPERING PINES B&B A secluded getaway on the south end of Norman, this inn houses a treasure of a restaurant serving sumptuous, savory Frenchinspired cuisine in quiet comfort with firstclass service. 7820 E Highway 9, Norman, 447.0202 $$$

GERMAN DAS BOOT CAMP Longtime fixture for Deutsch festivities and feasting Royal Bavaria has brewed up a second round of the same exceptional cuisine (and magnificent beer) for a faster-paced location in downtown Norman. 229 E Main, Norman, 701.3748 $ INGRID’S Authentic German fare at its best, including outstanding Oklahomamade bratwurst. Join the Saturday regulars for breakfast and try the apple French toast, and no one can resist Ingrid’s bakery counter. 3701 N Youngs, OKC, 946.8444 $$ OLD GERMANY RESTAURANT Justly renowned for its Bavarian delights – the schnitzels, soups and cevapcici sausages are spectacular. Reservations strongly recommended; it’s a small place and dinner’s already a lengthy process without waiting in line. 15920 SE 29th, Choctaw, 390.8647 $$$ ROYAL BAVARIA Excellent renditions of traditional dishes like Wienerschnitzel, Jagerbraten and a variety of sausages, plus fantastisch house-brewed beers, make the time consumed a worthy investment. 3401 S Sooner, Moore, 799.7666 $$$

HEALTHY // ECLECTIC COOLGREENS This health-conscious establishment has a menu, but customization is encouraged; every available component in their salads, wraps and frozen yogurt is naturally delicious. 4 metro locations, coolgreens. com $$ EARTH NATURAL CAFÉ & DELI, THE Super, super fresh sandwiches, salads, soups and baked goods in one of the most vegetarian- and vegan-friendly menus you’ll ever see, plus organic fairtrade coffee and tea. 750 Asp, Norman, 573.5933 $ LOCAL Utilizing some of the finest, freshest regionally sourced ingredients available to fuel chef Ryan Parrott’s creative cuisine, its menu changes seasonally but its welcoming full-family atmosphere is constant. 2262 W Main, Norman, 928.5600 $$ LUDIVINE The experience is never the same on successive visits, because the menu adjusts constantly to reflect availability of elite-quality, locally sourced ingredients. 805 N Hudson, OKC, 778.6800 $$$ PINK ELEPHANT CAFÉ On Main Street but off the beaten track, the green, health-conscious labor of local love has a small menu and constantly rotating daily specials to complement its earth-friendly vibe. 301 E Main, Norman, 307.8449 $

ICE CREAM // YOGURT IL DOLCE GELATO Rich, creamy and decadently delicious, with two dozen flavors daily handmade from scratch on location; the cioccolato scuro is unbelievably sublime.

937 SW 25th St, Suite B, Moore, 794.7266; 1318 N Interstate Dr, Norman, 329.7744 $ ORANGE LEAF FROZEN YOGURT Dozens and dozens and dozens of decadent-tasting, waistline-friendly flavors, topped however you like since you’re making it yourself.

Just don’t try them all at once, since it’s charged by the ounce. 9 metro locations, orangeleafyogurt.com $ PEACHWAVE YOGURT A full 50 flavors – every one low-fat or non-fat – conveyed to your taste buds via the finest, freshest ingredients in completely delicious customized combinations. 3 metro locations, peachwaveyogurt.com $

A SHORT DRIVE WELL WORTH YOUR TIME

INDIAN

historic location and customers’ culinary contributions. 1 S Broadway, Edmond, 330.9045 $$

GOPURAM – TASTE OF INDIA A full-service Indian establishment whose richly appointed interior and attentive staff give the feel of fine dining, even during the inexpensive and plentiful lunch buffet. 4559 NW 23rd, OKC, 948.7373 $$

PIZZA 23 The tempting selection of specialty pies is available for takeout, but dining in is recommended: the crisp, urban décor and good beer selection add savor to the flavor.

600-B NW 23rd St, OKC, 601.6161 $$

KHAZANA INDIAN GRILL Don’t let the thought of a buffet throw you off this place.

The food is superior and very fresh; the staff is delightful. New to Indian food? Alert a server and you will be guided through the cuisine. 4900 N May, OKC, 948.6606 $$ MISAL OF INDIA BISTRO A Norman institution for over 30 years, specializing in tandoori-cooked delicacies and boasting healthy, natural, delicious cuisine, served amid splendid ambiance. 580 Ed Noble Pkwy, Norman, 579.5600 $$ TAJ CUISINE OF INDIA A tremendous selection of Indian staples and delicacies – the menu has sections for vegetarian, tandoori, South Indian and Indo-Chinese specialties – plus full lunch and dinner buffets. 1500 NW 23rd, OKC, 601.1888 $$

ITALIAN // PIZZA BELLINI’S RISTORANTE & GRILL Tasteful in décor and Italian offerings alike, this romantic nightspot quietly, confidently exudes elegance. 6305 Waterford Blvd, OKC, 848.1065 $$ BENVENUTI’S Subtly flavored minestrone to rich, hearty ragouts, the splendid menu keeps the booths full and diners planning return trips; don’t overlook the Sunday brunch. 105 W Main, Norman, 310.5271 $$ CAFFE PRANZO The atmosphere raises first-time diners’ hopes; the execution exceeds them. Classic dishes, as well as less ubiquitous options that should be better known, are elevated to greatness. 9622 N May, OKC, 755.3577 $$ FLIP’S WINE BAR & TRATTORIA Managing to feel rustic despite its location in a busy corridor of OKC, this cozy Italian joint keeps extended hours, and tends to get busier and louder as the hour gets later. 5801 N Western, OKC, 843.1527 $$ GABRIELLA’S ITALIAN GRILL AND PIZZERIA A fresh chapter in the Giacomo family’s delectable legacy of success in Krebs, McAlester and South Padre; one bite of the chicken piccata or homemade Italian sausage should win diners’ hearts with ease.

1226 NE 63rd, OKC, 478.4955 $$ HIDEAWAY PIZZA If you’ve been serving pizza to a devoted following for over half a century, then you must be doing something right. In this case, that something right is incredible pizza in jovial surroundings. 7 metro locations, hideawaypizza.com $$ HUMBLE PIE PIZZERIA There’s really no need to be humble about pizza made the way a true Chicago pizzeria would make it. Take your choice of toppings and relish what is quite possibly the best crust known to man.

1319 S Broadway, Edmond, 715.1818 $ JOEY’S PIZZERIA A creative pizzeria on OKC’s Film Row, Joey’s serves first-rate appetizers and salads along with its mouthwatering pies. Can’t get enough? Have your pizza, then have another for dessert; The Surfer Dude can pinch hit as entrée or dessert. 700 W Sheridan, OKC, 525.8503 $$ OTHELLO’S ITALIAN RESTAURANT Garlic bread and mussels to tiramisu and coffee – everything you’d hope for from a romantic, comfortably shabby Italian café. The adjoining bar regularly hosts live local music.

434 Buchanan, Norman, 701.4900 $$ OTHELLO’S OF EDMOND A sister restaurant to the original Othello’s in Norman, it offers a similarly welcoming atmosphere and menu, with its own spin courtesy of a

SOPHABELLA’S CHICAGO GRILL A quiet, classy gem offering premier tastes from Chicago and beyond – the menu includes Coquilles St. Jacques alongside pepperoni rolls – in comfort and style. 7628 N May, OKC, 879.0100 $$$ STELLA MODERN ITALIAN CUISINE A luscious spate of modern Italian cuisine for a casual lunch, romantic dinner or brunch that’s a bit of both, framed by stylish surroundings. 1201 N Walker, OKC, 235.2200 $$ UPPER CRUST WOOD FIRED PIZZA A chic, contemporary restaurant in Classen Curve, this uptown pizzeria and wine bar specializes in wood-fired, thin crust New York-style pies complemented by a full menu and wine list.

5860 N Classen Blvd, OKC, 842.7743; 1205 NW 178th, Edmond, 285.8887 $$ VICTORIA’S PASTA SHOP A shabbycomfortable atmosphere with local art on its walls and the art of pasta on its plates – the chicken lasagna and linguine with snow crab are especially excellent. 327 White, Norman, 329.0377 $ VITO’S RISTORANTE Homestyle Italian cuisine in an intimate setting where the staff and management treat customers like guests in their home. It’s a small space, so calling ahead is recommended. 7521 N May, OKC, 848.4867 $$ WEDGE, THE Wood-fired pizzas crafted from fresh ingredients and made-from-scratch sauces; there’s a build-your-own option if the house specialties’ unconventional toppings (figs, truffle oil, walnuts) don’t appeal. 230 NE 1st, OKC, 270.0660; 4709 N Western, OKC, 602.3477 $$

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JAPANESE // SUSHI FULL MOON SUSHI Mango salsa, chive oil, crème fraiche, “cherry death sauce”… you won’t find fresh, marvelously creative combinations like these elsewhere. Expect to spend some time poring over the extensive menu, and definitely try the Devil’s Advocate. 326 E Main, Norman, 535.6548 $$ GOGO SUSHI The name reflects the restaurant’s attitude toward speed and convenience, but doesn’t mention the robust menu or tantalizing specials. Go go check it out! 1611 S Service Rd, Moore, 794.3474; 432 NW 10th, OKC, 602.6333 $$ IN THE RAW DUNWELL SUSHI A chic, colorful, open-concept restaurant on the Bricktown canal offering excellent sushi, even more impressive specialty rolls and a wide assortment of sake. Try the bananas tempura for dessert. 200 S Oklahoma, OKC, 702.1325 $$ MUSASHI’S Exquisitely flavorful Japanese cuisine prepared with genuine artistry, thanks to the skilled chefs performing at tableside hibachi grills. Nobody does the onion volcano better. 4315 N Western, OKC, 602.5623 $$ SUSHI BAR, THE Sushi staples done with élan, as well as options starring more adventurous ingredients like sweet potato and jack cheese, in a bustling, comfortable environment. 1201 NW 178th, OKC, 285.7317 $$ SUSHI NEKO An established OKC favorite combining style (sleek, brisk, classy) with substance (in the form of an especially wide-ranging and creative sushi menu).

Flavor favors the bold! 4318 N Western, OKC, 528.8862 $$

Over a pot of chocolate, conversations go much longer than 140 characters.

Father's Day Endless Fondue June 9-16 Treat Dad to an all-you-can-eat "meat-lovers" fondue experience all week. Dad will leave with a family picture and The Melting Pot's signature garlic and wine seasoning to grill with all season. $44.95 per adult * $24.95 for kids 7-12 Kids 6 and under are free with adult entree.

RESERVATIONS RECOMMENDED • (405) 235-1000 4 E SHERIDAN AVE., OKLAHOMA CITY, OK 73104 • MELTINGPOT.COM

TOKYO JAPANESE RESTAURANT It’s neither huge nor lavishly appointed, and

JUNE 2013 // SLICE 91

FARE | Eat & Drink the menu focuses more on traditional dishes than experimental flights of fancy; it is, however, palpably fresh and routinely cited as among the metro’s best. 7516 N Western, OKC, 848.6733 $$

MEDITERRANEAN AVANTI BAR & GRILL Gather around the hammered copper bar for the casual elegance of Italy and the Mediterranean with contemporary twists: crab falafel, bolognese pizza, osso bucco and more. 13509 Highland Park, OKC, 254.5200 $$ CAPERS There’s no menu per se; it’s more a case of deciding what delicacy you’re in the mood for – gyros, shawarma, fresh tabouleh, falafel, homemade Mediterranean-style pizzas, baklava – and then retrieving it from the massive buffet. 6317 N Meridian, OKC, 720.2600 $$ MEDITERRANEAN IMPORTS & DELI Selected groceries and a menu stocked with options from a simple Greek salad to eyewatering cabbage rolls; the food is authentic, quick and spectacular. 5620 N May, OKC, 810.9494 $ NUNU’S MEDITERRANEAN CAFÉ & MARKET The tangy, tantalizing, fresh and healthy flavors that characterize the cuisine of Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine and their neighbors, faithfully reproduced from generations-old recipes. 3131 W Memorial, OKC, 751.7000 $ QUEEN OF SHEBA Practically the definition of a hidden treasure, an excellently spiced, extremely vegan-friendly menu of varied Ethiopian delights awaits the adventurous.

Bring friends and be prepared to linger. 2308 N MacArthur, OKC, 606.8616 $$ ZORBA’S MEDITERRANEAN CUISINE For over 20 years, Zorba’s has satisfied appetites and pleased adventurous palates. Serving traditional and modern dishes from recipes passed down through generations, they proudly showcase the flavors of Cyprus, Spain, Greece and Morocco. 6014 N May, OKC, 947.7788 $

MEXICAN // LATIN AMERICAN 1492 1492 offers authentic Mexican cuisine in an elegant atmosphere, a fusion decor with an open bar, possibly the best mojitos in the universe and a romantic setting. 1207 N Walker, OKC, 236.1492 $$ ABUELO’S MEXICAN FOOD EMBASSY In a word: huge. The restaurant itself, the variety, the plates, the flavors, the experience. No passport required. 17 E Sheridan, OKC, 235.1422; 3001 W Memorial, OKC, 755.2680 $$ BIG TRUCK TACOS It’s nearly always standing room only at lunch, but don’t let that stop you – shove an elbow in at the counter and enjoy fast, fresh, imaginative taco creations. 530 NW 23rd, OKC, 525.8226 $ CAFÉ DO BRASIL OKC is a long way from Rio, but the supremely savory menu in this Midtown hot spot covers the distance in a mouthful. Even brunch is a spicy, inimitable treat. 440 NW 11th, OKC, 525.9779 $$ CAFÉ KACAO A sunlit space filled with bright, vibrant flavors from the zesty traditions of Guatemalan cooking. Lunch possibilities beckon, but it’s the breakfast (and brunch) specialties that truly dazzle.

3325 N Classen, OKC, 602.2883 $

92 SLICE // JUNE 2013

fastest, most frequented Tex-Mex? Look around – there’s probably a Chelino’s nearby. An Oklahoma flavor empire spanning from Norman to Edmond, its substantial menu includes a bevy of lunch specials. 11 metro locations, chelinosmexicanrestaurant.com $$ CHUY’S If you’re just feeling a trifle peckish, you might have your hands full with this one – the portions are substantial, the Hatch chile-fueled flavors are strong and the vibe is playfully enthusiastic. 760 N Interstate Dr, Norman, 360.0881 $$ DIEGO’S MEXICAN RESTAURANT The proprietors’ personal investment (there’s a family tree on the menu) and pride in their Central Mexican culinary heritage fuel the marinades and specialty dishes in this charming little café. 1501 NW 23rd, OKC, 525.1700 $$ FUZZY’S TACO SHOP At home in hightraffic areas because it helps create crowds, Fuzzy’s dishes up jumbo burritos and big, flavorful salads – and, with special serious emphasis, shrimp tacos – quickly and in plenitude. 752 Asp, Norman, 701.1000; 208 Johnny Bench, OKC, 602.3899 $ IGUANA MEXICAN GRILL Whether “down by the railroad tracks” or returning to its roots in Nichols Hills Plaza, Iguana offers unique Mexican flavor in a fun atmosphere at reasonable prices, including awesome deals on Iguana Tuesdays. 9 NW 9th, OKC, 606.7172; 6482 Avondale, OKC, 607.8193 $$ INCA TRAIL Maintaining a cultural culinary heritage that includes flavors from around the world results in great variety, from piquant ceviches to silky-smooth homemade flan. The Pollo a La Brasa comes highly recommended. 10948 N May, OKC, 286.0407 $$ LA LUNA MEXICAN CAFÉ Its cantina-style atmosphere is undeniably festive, and only adds to the enjoyment of classic fajitas, enchiladas and bolder dishes like the carne ranchera. 409 W Reno, OKC, 235.9596 $$ MAMA ROJA MEXICAN KITCHEN A festive atmosphere on the scenic shores of Lake Hefner sets off a menu loaded with handrolled tamales, vendor-style tacos and signature dishes. 9219 E Lake Hefner Pkwy, OKC, 302.6262 $$ MAMAVECA MEXICAN RESTAURANT A tasty take on familiar Mexican favorites plus a rare treat for culinary explorers: the diverse delights of Peruvian cuisine, which incorporates the combined flavors of four continents. 2551 W Hemphill, Norman, 573.4003 $$ PURPLE BURRO Casual and lighthearted (if you couldn’t guess from the name), it specializes in New Mexican cuisine fueled by the heat of green chiles in classics like chicken enchiladas and chile verde stew. 231 S Coltrane, Edmond, 359.8400 $$ TARAHUMARA’S CAFÉ & CANTINA Beloved by locals (there’s usually a line but it moves quickly), this airy, unassuming ristorante serves huge, tasty portions of Tex-Mex classics plus less ubiquitous fare like carnitas de puerco and mole poblano.

702 N Porter, Norman, 360.8070 $$ TED’S CAFÉ ESCONDIDO The gold standard of OKC-area Tex-Mex: residents may prefer another eatery, but when they attempt to make converts, Ted’s is the point of comparison. Fast, fresh and amply portioned, it’s often very crowded and always supremely delicious. 4 metro locations, tedscafe.com $$

CANTINA LAREDO A sophisticated take on traditional Mexican food, specializing in fresh fish specials and certified Angus beef dishes. 1901 NW Expressway (in Penn Square Mall), OKC, 840.1051 $$

YUCATAN TACO STAND Fast, fresh and often fiery Latin fusion cuisine like paella and tamales wrapped in banana leaves alongside signature nachos and taco combinations… plus a selection of over 75 100-percent-agave tequilas. 100 E California, Suite 110, OKC, 886.0413 $

CHELINO’S MEXICAN RESTAURANT How do you find some of the metro’s

ZARATE’S LATIN MEXICAN GRILL And now for something a trifle different: In addition

EDMOND’S FAVORITE WINE BAR NOW SERVING DINNER! to the familiar joys of enchiladas and chimichangas, the chef’s Peruvian heritage shines in South American dishes featuring plantains, yuca and imported spices. 706 S Broadway, Edmond, 330.6400 $$

SEAFOOD

MAHOGANY PRIME STEAKHOUSE The service is outstanding and the ambience casually welcoming, but the star is the steak: the finest hand-selected custom-aged beef, broiled to perfection and served sizzling and delicious. It’s where great steak is the rule, not the exception. 3241 W Memorial, OKC, 748.5959 $$$

FISH CITY GRILL Shrimp and grits, tilapia po boys, oysters on the half shell… anyone who secretly wishes Oklahoma had a coastline should feel right at home in this Spring Creek Village stopover. 1389 E 15th, Edmond, 348.2300 $$

MICKEY MANTLE’S STEAKHOUSE Named after a legendary Oklahoman, this lushly atmospheric social spot in Bricktown serves powerhouse entrées, sides and amenities that have become the stuff of legends themselves. 7 S Mickey Mantle, OKC, 272.0777 $$$

JAZMO’Z BOURBON STREET CAFÉ Its upscale yet casual environment and Cajun and Creole-inspired selections provide a nice backdrop for both a night out in Bricktown and watching the big game at the bar with a bowl of gumbo. 100 E California, OKC, 232.6666 $$

OPUS PRIME STEAKHOUSE Aspiring to the ultimate in upscale dining via hand-cut USDA Prime Black Angus steaks, a wine selection comprising over 1,000 labels and an ambiance of intimate elegance. 800 W Memorial, OKC, 607.6787 $$$

PEARL’S CRABTOWN A 20,000-foot Bricktown warehouse is home to Crabtown, where the Cajun Crab Boil is a favorite and guests are encouraged to “leave the silverware at home and dig in.” 303 E Sheridan, OKC, 232.7227 $$ PEARL’S OYSTER BAR A perennial winner in “best of the metro” polls for its fresh, flavorful seafood and spicy Creole-inspired dishes: Shrimp Diablo, Tabasco Caesar salads and more. 5641 N Classen, OKC, 848.8008 $$ SHACK SEAFOOD & OYSTER BAR, THE A massive selection of nicely spiced Cajun and Creole cooking, plus fried and grilled seafood, in an atmosphere that’s as casual as can be. 303 NW 62nd, OKC, 608.4333 $$

SOUL FOOD BIGHEAD’S Fried alligator appetizers and frog leg platters, oyster po’ boys with a tangy remoulade and simmering, savory seafood gumbo – it’s a bayou treat right nearby. 617 S Broadway, Edmond, 340.1925 $$ MAMA E’S WINGS & WAFFLES Now with two locations after a star turn on The Food Network’s “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives,” this labor of love is adored by locals looking for classic Southern dishes flavored with authenticity. 3838 Springlake, OKC, 424.0800; 900 W Reno, OKC, 231.1190 $

STEAKHOUSE BOULEVARD STEAKHOUSE Perfectly soigné ambiance down to the least detail and cuisine easily ranking among the metro’s elite – a sumptuous, if expensive, masterpiece. 505 S Boulevard, Edmond, 715.2333 $$$ CATTLEMEN’S STEAKHOUSE The very definition of an Oklahoma institution – it’s over 100 years old in a state that’s only 105 – its immense corn-fed steaks and irreproducible atmosphere are history served anew every day. 1309 S Agnew, OKC, 236.0416 $$ HOLLIE’S FLATIRON STEAKHOUSE This plush, cozy restaurant in front of the Warren Theatre features fresh, tasty entrees seared on a flatiron grill and a kick of Southwestern spice running through the menu. 1199 Service Rd, Moore, 799.0300 $$

JAMIL’S STEAKHOUSE Saving room for your steak, lobster or prime rib is difficult when your gratis appetizers arrive in the form of a Lebanese bounty, but make the effort. Jamil’s has been feeding Oklahoma exceptionally well since 1964.

4910 N Lincoln, OKC, 525.8352 $$ JUNIOR’S Some of the biggest oil deals in boom and bust days were finalized at this landmark Oil Center building restaurant, where hand-cut Angus steaks and lobster fight for attention with knockout fried chicken. 2601 NW Expressway, OKC, 848.5597 $$$

16 S. Broadway Downtown Edmond 405.285.5333 vindolcewinebar.com

FURNITURE FOR LIFE

RANCH STEAKHOUSE Driven by customaged hand-cut USDA Certified Prime tenderloins and ribeyes, the effortlessly opulent Ranch offers exceptional food, warm hospitality and unbridled Southern comfort.

3000 W Britton, OKC, 755.3501 $$$ RED PRIMESTEAK Visionary design and atmosphere house super-premium steaks that are among the state’s very finest, accompanied by vibrant, imaginative flavors and refined amenities to make world-class dining. 504 N Broadway, OKC, 232.2626 $$$

MADE IN NORTH AMERICA

THAI

7318 N. Western Oklahoma City, OK 73116 405.843.3900 www.livingtruenorth.com

PAD THAI Dine in comfortably or quickly carry out beautifully executed exemplars of the form: delicately flavored or searingly spiced soups, curries, fried rice and noodle dishes like its namesake. 119 W Boyd, Norman, 360.5551 $ SALA THAI Pineapple curry, basil squid, fried rice with crab, cinnamon beef with rice noodles... the variety is exceptional, and the inexpensive create-your-own lunch special makes it a popular midday option. 1614 NW 23rd, OKC, 528.8424 $ SWEET BASIL THAI CUISINE The enormous aquarium adds to Sweet Basil’s cozy ambiance, which when coupled with its outstanding curries and soups recommends it as a date spot. Be aware that it is on the higher end of Norman’s price range for Thai.

211 W Main, Norman, 217.8424 $$ TANA THAI BISTRO There’s a lot to like about the food in this little spot, from the red snapper filet to the plain old (so to speak) pad thai. Pay attention to the soups, and do not play chicken with the spice level. 10700 N May, OKC, 749.5590 $$

VIETNAMESE CORIANDER CAFÉ Updating traditional Vietnamese recipes with modern sensibilities via local ingredients, this vegetarian-friendly café makes a quick, casual, comfortable dining alternative. 323 White, Norman, 801.3958 $ LIDO Spring rolls to vermicelli bowls, this venerable diner runs the gamut of Vietnamese and Chinese cuisine, and even finds room for a few French specialties. 2518 N Military, OKC, 521.1902 $$ PHO BULOUS Super fresh, super fast, reasonably priced and perhaps Edmond’s finest take on the namesake soup… although some of the specialties like Honey Ginger Chicken or Wasabi Salmon also merit closer inspection. 3409 S Broadway, Edmond, 475.5599 $ SAIGON BAGUETTE Fast and flavorful – and unbelievably cheap – this cash-only counter in the Milk Bottle Building just north of Western packs a Vietnamese punch into fresh sandwiches and knockout egg rolls.

2426 N Classen, OKC, 524.2660 $

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Last Laugh

By Lauren Hammack

FOR CITY DWELLERS, MY FAMILY HAS HAD MORE THAN ITS SHARE OF UNWELCOME ENCOUNTERS WITH WILDLIFE. It’s not that we don’t appreciate nature’s creatures, big and small; we simply prefer creatures upon which we can put sparkly collars. All others need not apply.

To control the burgeoning squirrel population on our street, we’ve armed almost every neighbor with a cat to patrol the periphery and keep the furry-tailed rodents from setting up house in the attic. Until recently, the cats had been handsomely compensated for their efforts – there’s not a skinny one among them.

During the dozen or so years we’ve lived in our current house, however, the encroachment of wildlife has included a waddling procession of possums that somehow deem our surroundings to be fit for their own broods.

Despite what this implies about the curb appeal of our home, the beady-eyed squatters – who frequently slip under the cracked garage door for a midnight snack from the cat’s bowl – do little more than drive up the cat food bill. There’s been no hiding it from the cats, who have now figured out they’re doing the same work for less tuna.

The possums typically find their way to the space beneath our backyard shed: a cozy, private area where they’ll be sheltered and they can relax in darkness during the day. That is, until the McNuggets – our two half-pint dogs (in sparkly collars) – come outside.

Combined, the McNuggets weigh about one-tenth of what the shed possum weighs, but what they lack in mass, they make up for in their perceived badassery. When they’re not sounding their high-decibel, eardrumpiercing call-to-arms at the sight of a squirrel, the McNuggets are almost Lassie-like in their shrill warnings of the presence of a possum. “Something’s alive under the shed!” they seem to yelp. “I see you!” “You don’t live here!”

“You’re mine now!” “Hey! A stick!”

As it becomes more complacent about the goings-on in our backyard, the occasional possum doesn’t even bother with the sanctuary of a sub-shed hideaway. One evening a few years ago, two very young possums made themselves at home right in the open, in the firewood rick on our patio – mere inches away from where I sat at my computer, on the other side of the glass.

It was a tense exchange. The three of us locked eyes. I shrieked, disturbing the napping McNuggets who merely yawned, stretched and rolled over. The possums, perhaps due to their adolescent sense of entitlement, were unfazed as I banged on the glass, screaming, “I see you!” “You don’t live here!” “You’re mine now!” “Hey! A stick!” Instead, they casually dismissed me with a scoff that suggested they now knew where the McNuggets got their training.

Inspired by a “Possum Trapping for Dummies” book, my husband took a field trip to the feed and seed store to buy a live trap (the E-Z One-Step Vermin Spring Trap: set it and forget it!), guaranteed to corral our backyard nemeses for good. For the uninitiated, setting a spring trap is a lot like configuring a Rube Goldberg machine. Worse, the performance of the trap is closely connected to the skill of the trapper – we spent weeks fattening up a particular possum on tuna and salmon bits. When we finally “trapped” him, it was because the possum had decided it was more convenient just to hang out in the trap and wait on dinner than to go all the way back to the shed.

One night last week, after spotting a blue ribbon-sized possum picking tuna out of his pointed little teeth on the way from our garage to the backyard shed, my husband set the trap again, strategically baiting it with the come-hither scent of Meow Mix tuna paté toppers. The following morning, he looked out to discover that the catch o’ the day was our own cat, Cleo, who was not the least bit amused by the folly of putting cat food into traps.

The live trap on the patio sits empty now, as does the tuna bowl inside. Given shelter and a regular feeding schedule, the possums are practically pets now. Like generations of possums before them, they have outwitted us at nearly every turn. Knowing we can’t properly set a live trap, they roll their beady little eyes at the hollowness of our threats to catch them and carry them off to Martin Park Nature Center one day.

There’s only one thing left to do … I’m off to buy a few more sparkly collars.

94 SLICE // JUNE 2013

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Last Look

Shine On

There’s something about the vast, richly painted Oklahoma skies at dawn and dusk that draw the eyes of Slice readers – or at least their lenses. As the longest days of the year approach, this compilation indicates why sunrises and sunsets are by far the most popular subjects for submission.

Photos (left to right, top to bottom) by Glenn Fillmore, Eric Bloemers, Christopher Crowder, Michelle Valantine, Kayti Lopez, April Ryland, Charles E. Grubbs, Ruthann Lach, Kimberli Robberson, Caleb Wood, Steve Wilkes, Major Todd Judice.

To submit your photo for Last Look (sunset or not), visit sliceok.com/last-look 96 SLICE // JUNE 2013

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