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BUSINESS Q&A: Driving academy owner is driven to teach
Businessman sees lessons of safety behind wheel as public service
SAN ANGELO, Texas - What: Teen and adult driver's ed, minor in possession and drug and alcohol driving awareness program, defensive driver safety.
When: noon to 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday. Classes by appointment.
Where: 400 W. Avenue N.
More info: 325-658-2975 or angelodrivingacademy.com.
As owner of Angelo Driving Academy and a longtime instructor there, Luther Pittman often is the first line of defense against his students' driving mistakes.
Fortunately, Pittman has brakes on his side.
"I'm training some new instructors now, and they often say, 'You make it look so easy,' " he said. "I say, 'The student's not really driving that car; I'm driving that car.' I'm always in control. If you go in with that mentality, you can actually relax a little bit."
Nearly 15 years ago, Pittman became an instructor at the longtime driving academy, now at 400 W. Avenue N, after meeting its previous owner, Anita Webb, while his son was enrolled in a driver's education course there.
"I got certified through (Webb) to be an in-car instructor," Pittman said. "I'm fascinated with cars and I always wanted to do something with vehicles, cars, transportation."
Though Pittman did not have previous experience as a business owner, he said his longtime career with the military — from which he is now retired — prepared him to take over the business when Webb retired in 2002.
"When I was at Goodfellow, I taught the basic instructor course; I've always been a teacher in one aspect or another," Pittman said. "My great uncle, he's 90 years old, and I remember when I was 7 years, 8 years old, helping him out. Every morning I got up early with him, helping him do janitorial work and lawn maintenance, so …(he) is a big influence on my work ethic."
Pittman's wife, Mae, and their daughter, Adrien, comprise the office staff, and seven teachers are trained to observe and drive with students. Along with driving with the students, Pittman also teaches driver's education, minor in possession and drug and alcohol driving awareness courses and defensive driver safety.
Pittman said he's not a comedian, but he tries to make his students — many of whom are teenagers — laugh.
"I try to make it fun, light-hearted," he said of the course material. "I try to tell some of my stories. We show some videos."
Pittman's June driver's education course took on a more solemn tone, however, in light of the crash in Christoval that killed two students, one of whom was once a student of Pittman's.
"There was a stillness over the class when we heard of that," he said, adding that some of his students knew the victims.
The tragedy, perhaps, underscored the necessity of obeying traffic laws and driving defensively and safely — all skills Pittman said he tries to instill in his students.
"I have a declaration I have all my students make," he said. "I tell them, 'You're dismissed' and I have them make the statement, 'I'm a safe driver, and I obey the law.' Any one violation of the law can cause you to be unsafe. The laws are there for a reason."
Vigilance also is a crucial component of safe driving, Pittman said, because distractions are the No. 1 reason for motor vehicle crashes.
"Over the last 30 years, we had 40,000 to 50,000 deaths on the highway," he said. "In 2010, it was 31,000 or 32,000 deaths a year. We attribute that to training, cars being safer and additional experience we've given our drivers. I like to think I'm doing my part as far as teaching to help reduce that number."
Standard-Times: Is Angelo Driving Academy the only place in town for driver's education?
Pittman: You must take driver's ed either through a public school (or commercial driving school or a parent). … and the TEA governs all three types, and they set the criteria for the content. Years ago the public school got out of offering it here because of budget constraints. We're the only commercial driving school in San Angelo, and it seems like we get a fair majority of teens (from here) and surrounding areas coming through our school. We normally meet during the fall, Monday through Friday, for six weeks.
Parents can do online courses and order videos (to teach their children). A lot of parents say once they get into it and see how much work it is, they're overwhelmed. We take that burden off them. I always feel like it's a partnership between me and the parent. A lot of times the teens will listen to what I have to say rather than the parent. It just sounds better coming from a different person.
What's your busiest time of year, and how do you keep the business going during the slower times?
We see a big peak during the summer because students are out (of school), but we stay busy during the school year because we offer the after-school programs. The adult 18- to 24-year-old class has sustained the business pretty well. In the past, you could be 18 and go to the DPS, get a handbook, study the handbook and take the test, but the state (started requiring) a six-hour class. I'm seeing 10 to 15 students for the adult class every month.
How long do your other two classes last?
Defensive driving is 32 hour classroom training and 14 hours in the car — seven of which must be observation and seven of which must be driving. Defensive driving is a six-hour course. It's more of a refresher. A lot of the times people who attend are seasoned drivers. Sometimes with seasoned drivers, people become complacent. My goal is to make them more conscientious about how they drive.
Are you ever fearful of the responsibility of training these drivers — especially the younger, inexperienced ones?
There's been a couple of times I've flinched because it's been a close call. I laugh at it because it's fun to me and I enjoy it. When you do something you're called to do, it's therapeutic. When I get in the classroom, I get my mojo. It's not fearful to me. My son was 17, so I've been doing this almost 15 years now so it's almost like second nature. I do view it as a service to the community.
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NOTE: This article was updated on Friday, May 4.
So, what's making you upset this week? Is there something you want to get off your chest?
We're again offering a forum here this week to give everyone a chance to weigh in on the topics you choose. Last month, we had more than 40 comments -- and we've left those here if you want to catch up.
But feel free to jump in on some new topics. Sure, we'd like the topics to be locally focused, but go ahead and add in any thought you have that you believe will start up a good, civil online community discussion.
Sometimes the rants lead to action.
Last month, for example, North Street resident Mark Goff complained about the lack of a four-way stop sign at the intersection of North and Fitch streets. A
Please keep it clean and refrain from personal attacks and/or name-calling. Address the issue without attacking the person and we're all good to go.
So, what are you waiting for, let your ideas fly!
Oh yeah, what if you have something positive to say, someone you want to praise? We have a new forum called

subset: commoncrawl


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And now this just got weirderBy
Brian McNamee claims that Roger Clemens' wife Debbie used HGH before her 2003 Sports Illustrated with her husband. With this strange turn comes more headlines, and I wonder if Congress and Commissioner Selig regret ever opening this can of worms. Maybe Mark McGwire was right when he didn't want to talk about the past.
23 Comments»
So HGH improves your appearance, muscles, vision, anti aging etc and its not harmful under a doctors care so tell me again why the hub bub?
Everyone should be on it
Thus spake Sylvester Stallone
I guess it has gotten personal between McNamee and Roger. Where is TMZ when you need the scoop?! This is just getting dumber by the day.
I wonder if Ric Flair is on HGH. I wanna look like him when I'm 60, without the orange leather-like skin. LOL. Wooooo!
No doubt Ric Flair is on something. To be the man, you've got to …. take HGH?
By the way, I love the fact that you can go to Debbie Clemens' Web site and buy autographed copies of the SI issue in question. I hope it's for charity, at least.
This whole thing is a joke, McNamee and his lawyers are laughable as is and this now on top of McNamee's lawyers saying that photo's of a syringes, vials and gauze prove that Clemens is guilty of using PED's. How does someone make that leap? It one thing to say that what's in those photo's will will be incriminating but act as if the photo's are proof is asinine especially when his client has a track record of being a liar.
BTW, I swear I just had a threesome with Heidi Klum and Scarlett Johansson and I have photographic proof and as long as you guys promise for this not to get to TMZ then I will post the following photos. But in the meantime I will describe the proof of this beautiful act that. It's a wide angled shot of my king sized bed and the black silk sheets are completely disheveled the pillows are partially seen scattered on the floor and a massive wet spot. On the only bedpost that can seen in the photograph there is a tiny white g-string hanging there and btw there Heidi's, Scarlett doesn't wear panties. So there you have it the proof of my threesome with these 2 beautiful ladies. VBG.
I think it's premature to trust either McNamee or Clemens, but we should at least get the facts straight (whatever "facts" there are) if we're discussing this stuff.
McNamee (and his counsel) did not take some pictures of drug-paraphinilia and say those pictures were evidence that Clemens used PEDs. According to media reports, the items in the pictures were turned over by McNamee to the authorities last month. They just took the pictures to show the public what they turned over to the authorities.
Ricochet, I'll have some of whatever you're having!
I have re-thought my position on the wisdom of Mitchell naming names in the report, but given that he did, imo, Clemens's has contradicted himself enough to make me think that he has used PEDs, irrespective of anything that McNamee has said.
The contradticions:
1) He said that if he had known that there were allegations against him in the Mitchell Report that he would have cooperated, but we later found out that he did know before the report was released.
2) He also asked how he would ever gain access to syringes, but then later admitted that he used syringes to inject B12 and Lidocaine.
When you set these revelations against the backdrop of a near epidemic of PED usage in MLB, it's virtually impossible to believe that he didn't use them.
Travis, It's easy and you don't have to take anything you just have to be as delusional as McNamee and his lawyers and say whatever and the media runs with it, no matter how outrageous it may be.
So if you say it's so then it is, it's as easy as that. So I'm claiming I had a threesome with those two wonderful ladies. If they can play this game why can't we?
Rich, I don't know if Roger is guilty or not but as someone who's been an been a top athlete and exposed to this culture for 15+ years now as well as being around it pro athletes my entire life because of what my father and other friends and family are apart of I know all to well other than actual experience of using steroids and HGH.
What I can tell you about Clemens is that he shows no signs of being a user however that said that doesn't mean he hasn't used but what I' saying is that he's never been a user to the point where he's altering his body ie. Barry Bonds. He really doesn't show any signs. If he used then he didn't do it very much and to the point that it's going to build up his body to the point where it's performance enhancing.
Guess what a lot of people have tried it but most don't like the negative effects and players that tried it and quit soon after won't ever admit to trying it because they don't want to be thrown into that bunch of users and thats why I've compared it to smoking or smoking weed. I'm sure there are plenty out there that tried it once or twice and realized that it wasn't for them and I use the analogy of well because they tried it a few times when they where young does that make them former smokers and/or drug users? I say no, there's a difference between trying and some that was using and using it to the point where there is a difference.
As for the contradictions well IMO there weak, he didn't know until it was all said and done but before it was published thats big difference and getting syringes at the stadiums are readily available and getting those shots in the clubhouse are quite common.
As someone who knows what to look for and doesn't see it with Clemens as well as knowing the info is coming from a guy thats a known liar and has had mental health issue's I'm going to give Clemens the benefit of doubt before I give it McNamee. I also believe being innocent until proven guilty but on top of that my 2nd cousin (My mom's cousin) was one of his former trainers and he like all the others with the exception of McNamee say they all saw no signs of steroid use.
Wow…I just laughed when I read this post. What more can you do. Nutty.
This is just disgusting. What does his wife have to do with anything? First we had the garbage with Mattingly's wife and now this. McNamee has proven nothing except that he's a total and complete creek, and Clemens was stupid to employ him.
And what happened to the McNamee party line that it was with great regret and sorrow that he "ratted" out Clemens. That he hated to do it but he didn't have a choice. Blah blah blah, oh yeah, I threw your wife in there as a user too.
Now is his maid next on the McNAMEe world tour?
No WAY Debbie Clemens gets into the HoF now. NO WAY!!!!
well played.
I just want to know what purpose that information served McNamee.
re: McNamee's "evidence" – How in the hell is he going to show chain of custody and proper storage over 7 years? LAPD can't even do that half the time.
And I loved the idiot congressmen who claim to be doing all this "for the children".
As for the issue of if he did it, I can't think of any reason why he didn't. But that isn't proof.
I keep wanting to believe Roger. Especially since McNamee is clearly a lying, low-life scum (which doesn't necessarily mean he is lying now, just that he does have a checkered past when it comes to telling the truth). But what disturbs me about this story (besides how ridiculous it is for McNamee to bring Mrs. Clemens into it) is that reading the Daily News story I don't see any outright denials from anyone in the Clemens camp. No one said straight out that she didn't do it, rather they say the she is not the issue. True, she's not the issue but why not then deny the allegation if its not true and not an issue? Did I miss something?
The real crime here is the disgrace we call Congress wasting taxpayers time and money on this nonsense. Two words, so what!
What's waiting on the other size of this maze, not even a piece of cheese. Congress wants to do something for children, and this is what they come up with!
Congress wants to do something in the world of sports for kids, how about investigating the coast to coast scam known as the NCAA.
I'd like to give Debbie a high hard one.
I think that bringing his wife into it is crossing yet another line…though I can't believe there were any lines left to be crossed. When do the kids come in? When does Roger just find Brian and beat the snot out of him?


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If you believe Annapolis needs a new public library, mark your calendar to attend a meeting at the branch on West Street on March 5 at 7 p.m.
As libraries across Anne Arundel County move toward modernization, they will host a series of town hall meetings to talk about their needs and answer questions from the public.
Skip Auld, executive director for Anne Arundel County Public Libraries (AACPL), will discuss the need for expanded hours, technology upgrades and the new Annapolis and Glen Burnie libraries.
Auld will seek approval this year from Anne Arundel County Government for a new, two-level, 65,000-square-foot Annapolis Regional Library.
"After submitting this request each of the past six years, we believe it's time to build a new library in the Annapolis area. Approval of this project will signify a commitment on the part of the County to modernize its public libraries," Auld said in the release.
Auld will also talk about reasons and remedies for AACPL's shortcomings compared to other Maryland libraries, according to a release.
Click here to see a list of other town hall meeting dates.


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Moon Spotlight Ventura & Santa Barbara Beaches
By Alan Bisbort and Parke Puterbaugh
First Edition, September 2009
Pages: 70
Price: $6.95 USD
Moon Spotlight Ventura & Santa Barbara Beaches is a 70-page compact guide covering the beaches of Ventura and Santa Barbara, including the Channel Islands, Oxnard, Seacliff, Montecito, and Isla Vista, among many others. Authors Alan Bisbort & Parke Puterbaugh offer their seasoned advice on what sights are must-sees, with tips on swimming, surfing, diving, and boating. This lightweight guide is packed with recommendations on sights, entertainment, shopping, recreation, accommodations, food, and transportation; and helpful maps guide travelers through the best beaches of the Central California coast.
This Spotlight guidebook is excerpted from Moon California Beaches.
Alan Bisbort is a writer, editor, and researcher who has authored or coauthored nearly 20 books of history, biography, travel, and poetry, and contributed to numerous other books. He has worked for the Library of Congress, on staff or on contract, since 1977. As a freelance journalist, he is a regular contributor to The New York Times, the Hartford and Valley Advocates, Yale Environment Journal, Yale Medicine, Connecticut, American Politics Journal, AMP and Ugly Things. His work has also appeared in The Washington Post, Rolling Stone, American Way, Los Angeles Times, City Paper, Creem, Biblio and Washingtonian. Though Alan lives on the East Coast, he has spent a great deal of time in California over the past ten years, researching three previous editions of California Beaches with Parke Puterbaugh. Since high school, he has also been guilty of unrepentant California dreaming. Alan lives near New Haven, Connecticut with his wife, the award-winning journalist Tracey O'Shaughnessy, their son Paul James, and their ageless dog, Sam.
Parke Puterbaugh is the author, coauthor, or editor of nine books, including a volume on wetlands for the US Environmental Protection Agency and two books on the music and culture of the 1960s. He is a former senior editor and longtime contributor to Rolling Stone magazine. His writing has also appeared in USA Today, Outside, Men's Journal, Stereo Review, and many other national publications. A graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Parke holds bachelor's degrees in English and sociology and a master's degree in environmental science, with an emphasis on the study of shorelines. He lives in Greensboro, North Carolina, with his wife Carol and daughter Hayley.
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CULTURE DIGEST: Biola president apologizes to pro-lifers, affirms sanctity of life at univ.
CULTURE DIGEST: 'Soul surfer' Bethany Hamilton marries
CULTURE DIGEST: California's Brown vetoes egg donor bill
International Digest
INT'L DIGEST: Chavez facing major opposition
INT'L DIGEST: Mexico City ponders 'temporary' marriages, Saudi women may not get to vote
INT'L DIGEST: Chavez prepares for re-election
INT'L DIGEST: Chavez, facing cancer, grants health parole to opponent; ...
INT'L DIGEST: Iran pastor to be executed?
INT'L DIGEST: Muslims destroy church in Egypt, but Christians quickly rebuild
Life Digest
LIFE DIGEST: More than 700 saved in 40 Days
LIFE DIGEST: Abortions drop after law passed
LIFE DIGEST: Fed gov't to fund N.H. Planned Parenthoods after N.H. says it won't
LIFE DIGEST: D.C. funds 300 abortions
LIFE DIGEST: Alabama bans abortions after 20 weeks; U.S. House stops 'telemed' funds
LIFE DIGEST: States continue targeting abortion clinics, funds
Marriage Digest
MARRIAGE DIGEST: With military policy reversed, gay couples want family benefits
MARRIAGE DIGEST: Marriage amend. blocked in Iowa; French court rejects 'gay marriage'
MARRIAGE DIGEST: Obama signals his views on 'gay marriage' could change
MARRIAGE DIGEST: Prop 8 hearing on TV
MARRIAGE DIGEST: Calif. gov., AG races could affect Prop. 8; ...
MARRIAGE DIGEST: Glenn Beck taken to task for libertarian 'gay marriage' position
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CULTURE DIGEST: Casino mogul funds Gingrich
Posted on Feb 10, 2012 | by Staff
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NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP) -- Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich is staying in the race despite dismal support largely because of money he is receiving from a casino mogul.
The gifts concern Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, who said "gambling money is terribly corrosive." He added, "Normally, when you give $10 million, you expect something in return."
Sheldon Adelson had his first big score as co-owner of the annual computer trade show COMDEX. When Adelson and his partners sold COMDEX in 1995, his profits exceeded $500 million.
By then Adelson was heavily invested in the gambling industry. He owned casinos in Las Vegas and Macao, a former Portuguese colony -- now part of China -- and gambling mecca for the Far East. His holdings expanded to gambling resorts in the Philippines, and he took his company public in 2004. Forbes estimated his net worth in 2011 at $23.3 billion, making him the 16th-richest man in the world.
Adelson has supported Gingrich's nonprofits for years, but in the past two months alone, he and his wife Miriam gave at least $10 million to super-PACs associated with Gingrich. Nearly $4 million went to buy advertising in South Carolina alone.
The Adelsons claim they simply like Gingrich's policies, especially his support of Israel. The Adelsons have been longtime supporters of pro-Israel causes. Since 2007, their family foundation has given $100 million to Birthright Israel, which funds trips to Israel for Jewish youth.
But it's also true, Grove City College professor Warren Throckmorton said, that Gingrich has been a longtime friend of gambling. When Gingrich was speaker of the House, he "gutted" a House commission investigating the gambling industry by refusing to give it subpoena power, Throckmorton said. Gingrich also fought attempts by the IRS to tax as income the meals casinos provide their workers.
"Gambling destroys families," Throckmorton said. "So while none of this is illegal, it is ironic, to say the least, that Gingrich is courting evangelical and family values voters with money that comes directly from the gambling industry."
PREGNANCY CENTER SIGN LAW STILL WRONG -- The Austin, Texas, City Council repealed an ordinance that pregnancy help centers had challenged in court as a violation of their freedom of speech and religion, but it approved another one the pro-life organizations protested.
In 2010, the council approved a measure that requires pro-life pregnancy centers to display signs saying they do not provide abortions or contraceptives or make referrals for those services. The ordinance did not require abortion clinics to display signs indicating what services they do not provide.
The council repealed the law Jan. 26, citing federal court rulings against similar ordinances in other cities. It then voted 6-0 to require signs that no longer use the words "abortion" and "birth control" but indicate if the centers provide medical services at the direction of a licensed health care professional, according to The Austin American-Statesman.
Lawyers for the four pregnancy centers affected by the ordinance said they will amend their lawsuit and proceed with it. They also said they would ask a federal judge to block enforcement of the new law.
"Pregnancy centers, which offer real help and hope to women, shouldn't be punished by political allies of the abortion industry," said Matt Bowman, legal counsel with the Alliance Defense Fund. "The city should recognize that using a sleight-of-hand to force pro-life centers to post the message the city wants does not solve the First Amendment problems with the law."
Federal judges have blocked enforcement of laws similar to the original Austin ordinance in New York City; Baltimore, Md.; and Montgomery County, Md.
Many pro-life pregnancy centers offer such free services as pregnancy tests, ultrasound exams, prenatal care, child birth classes, testing for sexually transmitted diseases, abstinence education, post-abortion counseling and material assistance. Abortion clinics typically do not provide many of these services.
VA. SENATE APPROVES ULTRASOUND BILL -- The Virginia Senate has passed legislation requiring women to have ultrasounds before undergoing abortions.
The Senate's 21-18 vote Feb. 1 effectively guarantees the bill will be enacted. The Republican-controlled House of Delegates likely will approve the measure quickly, and Gov. Bob McDonnell has said he would sign it into law, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported.
Pro-life advocates received a setback in a Senate committee the same day, when a 7-7 vote blocked progress of a ban on abortions after 20 weeks based on evidence unborn children feel pain by that point in the pregnancy.
Under the ultrasound proposal, a woman is not required to view the image of her unborn baby.
The narrow Senate majority on the ultrasound measure consisted of 19 Republicans and two Democrats. The parties are equally divided -- 20-20 -- in the Senate.
Victoria Cobb, president of the Family Foundation of Virginia, said her organization is "very pleased that the state Senate has recognized the need to update our existing informed-consent practice with the most advanced medical technology available, including an ultrasound," the Times-Dispatch reported.
The pain-capable abortion ban failed Feb. 2 in the Virginia Senate Education and Health Committee when a Republican member abstained.
In the House, a committee approved a prohibition on state funding for a low-income woman whose unborn child is diagnosed to have "gross and totally incapacitating physical deformity or mental deficiency," according to the Times-Dispatch.
TAIWAN CRACKDOWN ON SEX-SELECTION ABORTIONS WORKS -- Taiwan's crackdown on sex-selection abortions protected about 1,000 female unborn babies from death last year.
Government statistics showed 108 male babies were born for every 100 females in 2011, Taiwan health officials said Jan. 31, according to the Agence-France Presse (AFP) news service. In 2010, the male-female birth ratio was 109-100. The worldwide sex ratio typically is 104-106 males to 100 females.
"That's the same as 993 female [babies] saved last year," Lee Tsui-feng of Taiwan's Bureau of Health Promotion said of the decline in the ratio. "The strict measures have paid off."
The Asian country's health officials instituted stronger checks last year on sex-selection abortions, although the practice has never been legal. Sex-selection abortion has become common because of a historical desire in the culture for male children, according to AFP.
EUROPEAN COUNCIL FAVORS EUTHANASIA BAN -- Euthanasia and assisted suicide should be outlawed in every European country, the Council of Europe has decided.
Those acts "must always be prohibited," said the council, which seeks to harmonize human rights laws among 47 member countries, The Telegraph reported Jan. 28. Belgium, The Netherlands and Switzerland permit physician-assisted suicide.
The decision came in a 34-16 council vote on an amendment to a nonbinding resolution. The council's decision will serve as an important impediment to assisted dying promoters in Britain, The Telegraph said.
Compiled by Warren Cole Smith of World News Service and Baptist Press Washington bureau chief Tom Strode. Get Baptist Press headlines and breaking news on Twitter (@BaptistPress), Facebook (Facebook.com/BaptistPress) and in your email (baptistpress.com/SubscribeBP.asp).
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Coming in March:
Los Angeles Public Library Research Bus Trip
We will be revisiting the Los Angeles Public Library on Saturday, March 20, 2010 (previously scheduled for March 6) If you could not make the December 2009 trip or want to return for more research see the flyer that came with this newsletter or our website to sign up.
San Diego History Mystery Tours Update
January: Since the deadline date for the February newsletter came before the date of our January tour, we will review our January adventure in the next newsletter.
February: We will be visiting a location in the South Central area of San Diego (not to be confused with the infamous South Central L.A.!), followed by lunch at a local American-style restaurant. The event will be from 10:30am until end of lunch (approximately 1pm).To sign up or make any questions/suggestions email Special Events Director Kristeen McCollough at firstname.lastname@example.com or call 619.820.2552.
Jamboree and Salt Lake City in 2010: Now On-Line
Information about the Southern California Genealogical Society's Jamboree at the Los Angeles Marriott Burbank Airport Hotel, June 11- 13, can be viewed at www.scgsgenealogy.com. Like past years, the San Diego Genealogical Society will be travelling as a group by train and staying at the hotel. Be sure to mark your calendars and look for the sign-up flyers in the March newsletter and on our website.
Family History Library in Salt Lake City Research Trip: New Dates
The SDGS Research trip to the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah, previously scheduled for Oct. 10-17, has been moved to Oct. 17-24. Please make a note on your calendars.
Check the SDGS website, library and future newsletters for more information.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Special Events News for February 2010
Posted by SDGS at 5:08 PM
Labels: Special Events
1 comment:
- AnonymousJanuary 26, 2010 at 9:16 PM
From Kris McCollough, Special Events Director:ReplyDelete
The date for the February History Mystery Tour will be Saturday February 20, 2010.
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)


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Save Money on Your Dental Care with a Discount Dental Plan
(Planes Dentales de Descuento).
Note: These plans are not insurance plans. (No un plan de seguro.)
(1) Dental Savings: Save Money on Your Dental Care with a Discount Dental Plan from DentalSave:
Click to go to dental save>>>DentalSave<<<<
(2) Discount Dental Plans from Dental Plans.com:
Save 10% Coupon Code: "HUR10" (first time customers only)
Ahorre 10% con el codigo de cupon: "HUR10" (afiliación sólo la primera vez)
For Individuals and For Families.
Also available are Coast to Coast Vision Discount Plan, Bonus Benefits Discount Plans (hearing, vision and Rx). (not an insurance plan)
♦Planes Dentales De Descuento:
Ahorre 10% con el codigo de cupon: "HUR10" (first time customers only) (afiliación sólo la primera vez). Ahorrar Dinero. Individuos y Familias.(No un plan de seguro)
You can Save Money on other Services:
Bonus Benefit Plan:
Vision, Rx and Hearing.
(not insurance Plans)
(see website for details and fees)
"Bonus Benefits are additional health care benefits that are included FREE with any UNI-CARE dental plan or may be purchased separately. These benefits offer savings through a network of approximately 40,000 pharmacies and 12,000 eyecare professionals. This benefit also includes savings on hearing and chiropractic benefits in one of the largest networks in the United States." (from DentalPlans.com) .
"Coast to Coast Vision (CTC) has over 12,000 participating eye care locations nationwide. Members save on eyeglasses, contacts (excluding disposables), eye exams and surgical procedures. The CTC provider network is the most comprehensive in the U.S. and includes ophthalmologists, optometrists, independent optical centers and national chain locations such as Pearle Vision, JC Penney Optical, Sears Optical, LensCrafters, and EyeMasters stores." (from Dental Plans Website)
Use Coupon Code: HUR10 for a 10% Discount on the plan. (first time customers only/
afiliación sólo la primera vez)
♦Discount Dental Plans are also available in the UK.
(Importante:Las polizas proveidas por DentalPlan.com no son polizas de seguro dental y no pagan directamente a los proveedores de servicios dentales. La Poliza de Descuentos para Servicios de Vision ("Discount Vision Plan") y la Tarjeta de Descuentos para Recetas Medicinales tampoco so polizas de seguro de salud.)
-No un plan de seguro. -Estoy un Afiliado autorizados de este compania.
Note: Plans offered by DentalPlans.com (planesdentales.com) are not dental insurance policies and the plans do not make payments directly to the providers of dental services. (The Discount Vision Plan and the Prescription Discount Card are also not insurance plans.) . Disclosure: I am an Authorized Affiliate of this Company.
The DENTALPLANS.COM website is administered by DENTALPLANS.COM, INC., 8100 S.W. 10th Street Suite #2000, Plantation, FL 33324. Plans and Programs marketed by DentalPlans.com are not health insurance policies. Plans and Programs marketed by DentalPlans.com provide discounts at certain health care providers for medical services. Plans and Programs marketed by DentalPlans.com on behalf of the network owner/administrator do not make payments directly to the providers of medical services. The Plan or Program member is obligated to pay for all health care services but will receive a discount from those health care providers who have contracted with the Plan, Program or discount plan organization.
Disclaimer for Affiliate blogs:(www.Glennishere.com "the Internet Affiliate"), is an independent contractor for Dentalplans.com, Inc., and is providing internet affiliate services to the company via the internet for which they may earn financial compensation from Dentalplans.com, Inc.
1999-2012 DentalPlans.com, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Patents Pending.
Note: Plans offered by Dental Save are not dental insurance policies and the plans do not make payments directly to the providers of dental services. Disclosure: I am an Authorized Affiliate of this Company. Offers subject to change without notice. See Dental Save website for complete details.Note: Authorized affiliate of dentalplans.com Offers subject to change without notice.. See Discount Dental Plans Website for complete details. coupon code is for first time customers only (codigo de cupon: afiliación sólo la primera vez)


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December 4, 2011
11:25 am
The Buccaneers promoted QB Rudy Carpenter from the practice squad today and waived Zac Diles. The move may be an indication Josh Johnson will start Sunday at home against Carolina as Josh Freeman was limited this week due to a shoulder injury.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers announced today that they have promoted QB Rudy Carpenter to the active roster from the practice squad and waived LB Zac Diles.
The move makes it appear even more likely Josh Freeman will be unable to play Sunday or at the least, be very limited, and that Josh Johnson may get his first start since 2009.
Freeman was injured on the last play of the game at Tennessee last week and has been extremely limited in practice all week, throwing only in Friday's practice.
Carpenter has spent the first 13 weeks of the 2011 season on the Buccaneers practice squad. He originally joined the Buccaneers in 2009 after being signed off of the Dallas Cowboys practice squad on November 24. He spent the entire 2010 season with Tampa Bay as the third quarterback.
Raheem Morris said Johnson is ready to play if Freeman is unable to go against Carolina.
"Josh Johnson had a really spectacular week of practice," Morris said. "We talked about the kid being very motivated and going out there and being really prepared. When we have a week like this and he takes all the reps, you really can see how prepared he really is and how much he really wants it."
Teammates also praised Johnson.
"I feel like Josh [Johnson] is very cerebral," right tackle Jeremy Trueblood said on Friday. "I think he's athletic, but people think he's just athletic. But he's really smart. A lot smarter than he gets credit for. I tell you what is one of the most impressive things with him is when we're doing our plays and he's five yards behind Josh [Freeman] doing the exact same thing. [Essentially] he has been taking first-team reps the whole time. He shadows what Freeman does."
Diles has played in seven games this season for the Buccaneers since joining the team on September 5, 2011.
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Misfits confirmed as ending after series 5
E4 has confirmed that Misfits will end after the soon-to-be-filmed series five, which is due on air in autumn 2013...
After five series, the launch of numerous careers in front of and behind the camera, and an identity so strong we'll still be talking about it long after DVD box-sets have been replaced by cerebro-retinal implants, E4's Misfits deserves a Viking funeral more than it does talk of having been "axed". Leaving that legacy behind is no mean feat, so it's with a sad, respectful salute that we report the show is due to end after the soon-to-be-filmed fifth series.
Eight new episodes of the final series will be on air this autumn, starring the renewed cast of Joseph Gilgun, Karla Crome, Nathan McMullen, Matt Stokoe and Natasha O'Keeffe. According to E4 commissioning editor Roberto Troni, "Howard and co have some BIG plans for the last series, and like the characters in the show, it won't be going quietly. Strap in and enjoy one final glorious ride!"
Murray Ferguson, Chief Executive of Clerkenwell Films, shared much the same sentiment, "Misfits was a bold and confident commission that backed original ideas and new talent, quickly becoming a hit with its audience on E4 and around the world. It's been great to produce a show that has been able to innovate on screen and online, and that broke new ground premiering with huge success on Hulu in America. Misfits has been an exciting and rewarding ride for us all and we now look forward to ending the show with a bang!"
Misfits creator Howard Overman has been busy working on the BBC's forthcoming Saturday teatime adventure show Atlantis, and is yet to comment. We'll bring you more as it arrives.
Follow our Twitter feed for faster news and bad jokes right here. And be our Facebook chum here.
Disqus - noscript
A show about supernatural goings on focused on a group of normal-seeming, unassuming misfits that gets axed the same year that every member of the original cast has left? Never heard that one before....
I loved Misfits but stopped watching after the half man half rabbit golf club serial killer episode.
I've been meaning to catch up on it, but it just never seemed that interesting or important to watch again after the original cast had all gone.
While reasonably enjoyable, the 4th season was a pale shadow of the first 3. Slightly sad to see it go, but perhaps it's time has come. 5 Seasons for a niche show isn't that bad
It's not a surprise since Overman has an exciting and quite ambitious new project. Bring on Atlantis!
An awesome show ending after 5 seasons? Hmmmmm
Why does British TV keep on making me sad?
Why are they axing it? they've done great work with just one new bad guy every week, but there are so many more stories they could go with, they could explain the storm, get the government involved as antagonists, have a character who believed he was god get struck by the storm and actually gained the powers of a god (while still believing he is.) They could do so much more with it, it's sad that it has to end.
TRUSS!! Im VERY sad to see it go! Maybe you should direct it! Create history!
If I could write that show, I would write the hell out of it like it was finn possessed by the devil.


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Tornado: Obituaries
- Tornado: Obituaries
Trentan Maurice Steven Caton
Trentan Maurice Steven Caton, age 6, of Joplin Mo., died on Monday, May 23, 2011, at Childrens Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Mo., as a result of the tornado.
Shante Marie Caton
Shante Marie Caton, age 10, of Joplin, Mo., died on Sunday, May 22, 2011, as a result of the tornado.
Edith "Edie" Moore
Edith "Edie" L. Moore, 48, passed away on May 22, 2011, due to injuries sustained in the Joplin tornado.
Robert S. Fitzgerald
Robert S. Fitzgerald died at his home in Joplin, Mo., as a result of the tornado on Sunday, May 22, 2011.
- LaDonna S. McPurdy LaDonna S. (Journot) McPurdy, 68, passed away Tuesday, May 31, 2011.
Amonda Sue (Brashear) Eastwood
Amonda Sue (Brashear) Eastwood, 49, of Joplin, Mo., formally of Miami and
Commerce passed away May 22, 2011, in Joplin, Mo.
- Charles E. Oster Charles E. Oster, 77, Joplin, died May 22, 2011, from injuries sustained in the May 22, 2011, tornado.
- Faith C. Dunn Faith Constance Dunn, age 71, of Joplin, Mo., passed away Sunday, May 22, 2011, at her home from injuries sustained in the Joplin tornado.
David Kendrick
James "David" Kendrick, age 63, Joplin, passed away May 22, 2011, at the Elks Club during the tornado.
- Abraham H. (Abe) Khoury Abraham H. (Abe) Khoury, age 26, of Joplin, went to be with his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Tuesday morning, May 31, 2011, at University Hospital in Columbia, from injuries sustained in the Joplin tornado.
- More Tornado: Obituaries Headlines
- Trentan Maurice Steven Caton


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1. Solange Knowles
After featuring Solange Knowles in our May Girl of the Month story, our inboxes were flooded with questions about the singer/DJ's many inspirational ensembles. The obvious reader favorite was the color-block outfit she wore to DJ at the Merah Club in London last week. Knowles--who is the new face of Rimmel London--looked stunning in a Lanvin bright orange one-shoulder top, taupe trousers from Zara, and Fendi's Grosgrain Mix Sandals ($625). For an equally standout ensemble, start with a bold top--ASOS' Drape Twisted One Shoulder Top ($24) and Bebe's One-Shoulder Soutash Top ($79) are two of our favorites--and wear it with the Addison Story's Rub Cuff Silk Pants ($86). For those of you who fancy her multi-colored Fendi footwear, be sure to check out Nine West's Stylin Sandals ($47) and Zara's Three-Tone Medium-Heel Sandals ($50) today. Finally, to achieve Knowles' vivid pink lips, pick up Rimmel London's Moisture Renew Lipstick ($6) in Latino, which will surely give you a Knowles-inspired knockout finish!
2. Nicole Richie
Nicole Richie was spotted out and about in Los Angeles late last month wearing a seriously enviable outfit, comprised of a breezy floral and lace dress by Topshop and a studded Levi's denim vest. To complete her warm-weather ensemble, Richie accessorized with a Givenchy bag, as well as House of Harlow 1960's Veronica Wedges ($233) and Carmen Sunglasses ($138). Fortunately for you, dear readers, achieving a similar look is rather simple! All you have to do is snag a lightweight frock, like Kimichi Blue's Lace-Trimmed Crinkle Dress ($69) or 4 Love and Liberty's Thais Printed Dress ($298), and layer on a Genetic Denim The Beau Denim Vest ($100). If you want to give your look some height a la Richie, True Religion's Sue Strappy Wedges ($165) and MIA's Paparazzi Strappy Wedges ($68) both fit the bill perfectly!
3. Claudia Schiffer
While we can't bear the thought of wearing a sweater dress and scarf in the middle of summer, we do think this combo makes for an excellent transitional outfit. Accordingly, we were quite pleased to see that so many of you were inspired by Claudia Schiffer's latest between-seasons look. The German supermodel caught your attention when she was spotted making a school run in London last week wearing a Sweater Dress ($382) from her eponymous knitwear collection with J Brand's Major High-Rise Skinny Leg Jeans with Zippers ($187) in Navy Luxe Twill and a Zadig & Voltaire multi-colored scarf. Neutral accents, including Reiss' Sandy Honey Flat Sandals ($175), Chloe's Temple Sunglasses ($355) in Brown Horn, and an Anya Hindmarch satchel, give her on-the-go ensemble a polished finish. To recreate this featured outfit, start by picking up American Apparel's Knit Sweater Crew Neck Dress ($65) and a pair of slim jeans, like Forever 21's Ankle Zip Skinnies ($18) or Rich & Skinny's Zip Leggings ($80) in Navy. Next, grab Pieces' Dolly Graphic Scarf ($28), and then round out your look with J. Crew's Liora Sandals ($130).
4. Alexa Chung
Alexa Chung always seems to know how to dress for the occasion, and summer music festival attire is clearly her forte! The stylish Brit impressed onlookers at the Wireless Music Festival in London earlier this month wearing a black shirt and denim romper from her collection for Madewell, over which she layered a Balenciaga quilted leather jacket. While sporting a pair of stilettos at this kind of event is definitely not practical, Chung's footwear choice--a pair of Maje wedges, which are no longer available--is an excellent alternative, especially if you're going to be spending a majority of the time on grass! For a few in-stock alternatives, we suggest picking up Forever 21's Stretch Denim Romper ($25) or Moto's Indigo Pinafore Playsuit ($80); either option would look smart worn with a leather topper, and we think Leifsdottir's Savoy Quilted Leather Jacket ($498) and Topshop's Faux Leather Bomber Jacket ($106) are both spot-on picks. Finally, if you found yourself lusting after her Maje wedges, you definitely don't want to miss Jeffrey Campbell's Maddox Wedges ($175), which are equally covetable in our opinion.
5. Fearne Cotton
Though we've noted a bevy of memorable ensembles coming from Fearne Cotton over the last few weeks, there was one particular outfit that inspired a handful of reader inquiries. You saw the stylish Brit leaving the BBC 1 studios in London last week, and were quite intrigued by her vintage green button-down dress, especially the way she grounded it with a Topshop black denim jacket and Mulberry ankle booties. While you won't be able to pick up her exact vintage find, you can always try Diane von Furstenberg's Tunisa Print Jersey Shirtdress ($345), which has a similar print, or go for a likeminded silhouette with MinkPink's Trim & Terrific Maxi Dress ($118). And while it's hard not obsess over her Mulberry boots, we think Chinese Laundry's Wicked Platform Booties ($96) are a worthy alternative indeed!--Jessica Baker, with Calin van Paris
Photos of Solange Knoles, Fearne Cotton, Alexa Chung, and Claudia Schiffer, courtesy of Splash; Photo of Nicole Richie, courtesy of X17
Next Up:
Celebrity Feature: Jennifer Lawrence


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Topic: blogs
VOTD: Me, myself and JT
Timberlake + Fallon = another hilarious hip-hop medley.
From here on out, it's a pretty safe bet that a Justin Timberlake late-night appearance equates to another installment in the "History of Rap" series, which, as of last night, is now up to three. I think "Part I" will always remain the best just because:
1. it was completely unexpected,
2. that two white guys slipped from Eminem's "The Real Slim Shady" straight into Missy Elliot's "Work It," each with its little nonsense-isms, and
3. they capped it with the crowd spontaneously singing the chorus to Jay-Z's love letter to New York.
De La Soul, Sir Mix-a-Lot, Young MC, House of Pain, Coolio, The Fugees, OutKast, Snoop, Kanye, Nicki Minaj and "H.O.R." mainstays Beastie Boys all get the treatment here. Decide which one you like best:
by Matt Carney
11.01.2011 2 years ago
at 08:20 AM |
Sterlin's sterling work
Harjo to be honored with state film award Saturday.
Oklahoma City Museum of Art has a slew of interesting documentaries, both shorts and feature-length, lined up between Thursday and Saturday for its
American Indian Cinema Showcase
If you can attend only one night, why not Saturday, when the Oklahoma Film Critics Circle will honor state filmmaker Sterlin Harjo
with an award? Here are the full details in the form of a press release, complete with quotes of things I didn't really say. (Oh, those PR peeps!)
—Rod Lott
Oklahoma Film Critics Circle Honors Sterlin Harjo with Award for Achievement in Film
Oklahoma City, Nov. 1, 2011
— The Oklahoma Film Critics Circle has honored filmmaker Sterlin Harjo with the 2011 Tilghman Award celebrating achievement in cinema in the state.
The OFF will present Harjo with the Tilghman Award in a short ceremony Friday, Nov. 5, after a screening of his most recent works, a series of documentary shorts for Tulsa's This Land Press. The screening, which begins at 5:30 p.m., will be at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art as part of the museum's American Indian Cinema Showcase from Nov. 3 to Nov. 5.
Harjo, a 31-year-old member of the Seminole and Creek Nations, has earned international acclaim for films examining contemporary life of Native people. But his feature-length narratives – "Four Sheets to the Wind" in 2007 and "Barking Water" in 2009 – are emotionally rich motion pictures populated by complex characters.
"Sterlin's films are invested with a humanity and depth of emotion that eludes many of his older, more experienced peers," says OFCC President Rod Lott. "In a short period of time, Sterlin has really raised the bar for Oklahoma filmmakers. He more than deserves the Tilghman for his commitment to his art."
OFCC's 19 member critics choose as recipients of the award those individuals who have made significant contributions to film, advanced awareness of film in Oklahoma or highlighted Oklahoma as the home of talented and productive filmmakers, actors and others in the industry.
Raised in Holdenville and now living in Tulsa, Harjo began his filmmaking career while he was an art student at the University of Oklahoma. He credits a film class of Misha Nedeljkovich there with introducing him to the motion pictures of John Cassavetes and other independent-minded directors.
"It really opened my eyes to foreign films and independent films," Harjo says. "He (Nedeljkovich) introduced me to all these different filmmakers and … the fact that you could make your own kind of film and it didn't have to be like the stuff you see coming out of Hollywood."
After launching into film, Harjo was selected to the Sundance Institute Filmmaker Lab. There he met producer Chad Burris, a Weatherford native, and the pair collaborated on a short film, "Goodnight Irene," before tackling a larger project based on Harjo's screenplay.
That resulting work, "Four Sheets to the Wind," premiered at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival. The film tells the story of a young man named Cufe Smallhill (Cody Lightning) who goes to live with his troubled sister after the death of their father. The movie drew strong critical acclaim and earned a Sundance Special Jury Prize for Tamara Podemski, who portrayed Cufe's sister. The actress later earned an Independent Spirit Award nomination for her performance.
In 2009, Harjo wrote and directed "Barking Water," a haunting road film about a dying man and his ex-lover traveling across Oklahoma to visit the man's estranged son. The movie also premiered at Sundance and has been screened around the world.
"I just don't see myself making films about any other place," Harjo says. "I mainly tell stories about contemporary Native people from specific tribes — usually Seminole and Creek — and the history of those tribes are that they were displaced from their homeland and put in Oklahoma. There's a whole dynamic there that's already created; it's already complex, and it's already going to influence my storytelling."
Previous Tilghman Award recipients are documentary filmmaker Bradley Beeseley, Oklahoma City Museum of Art film curator Brian Hearn and Circle Cinema Foundation president Clark Wiens.
The Tilghman Award is named for William Matthew "Bill" Tilghman, widely credited with being the first individual to make a feature-length movie in what is now Oklahoma. He served as a deputy U.S. marshal and police chief in Oklahoma City, among other law-related positions. Tilghman also served as a state senator. In 1908, he made "A Bank Robbery," which starred real-life bank robber Al Jennings recreating one of his crimes.
It was the first of several films Tilghman set in the state. In 1915, the lawman-turned-filmmaker made "Passing of the Oklahoma Outlaws," again starring actual criminals and the good guys who chased them. He is known for his attempts to deglamorize the outlaw villain and for striving to prove there are no outlaw heroes.
by Rod Lott
11.01.2011 2 years ago
at 01:10 PM |
VOTD: Girls aplenty
Watch eight beautiful, grainy videos of Girls' Christopher Owens at an SF gallery.
Stereogum pointed out late Tuesday that a bunch of videos of mushy-gushy bedroom songwriter Christopher Owens of Girls performing songs both released and unheard showed up on the
openingceremony.us blog
this weekend.
"I wrote this song a coupla days ago, hadn't played it for anybody yet," he said before dedicating "Key to My Heart" to his girlfriend. The song (and several others here) didn't appear on last year's "Broken Dreams Club" EP, nor on this year's fantastic "Father, Son, Holy Ghost," suggesting he's probably got a wealth of scribbled-in notebooks full of lyrics stashed away somewhere.
The filters on the video (it's almost exclusively black-and-white, except for "Cold Again," with splices of sepia color), Owens' jean jacket and the folkie setup make these performances seem really timeless. Watch for yourself:
"Mr. Blue"
"Saying I Love You"
"Nobody's Business"
"Keys to My Heart"
"End of the World"
"Cold Again"
"Back to London"
by Matt Carney
11.03.2011 2 years ago
at 08:00 AM |
Master Folds
Miss Ben Folds's ACM@UCO master class last night?
Worry not, for OKSee was there taking notes for you.
The quick hits: ACM@UCO head honcho Scott Booker tossed open-ended questions Folds' way for about an hour, which he spent detailing his start and several of the early business decisions he made. About 500+ sat in rapt attention, cheering and occasionally even gently heckling the two men on stage. Wayne Coyne sat front row, which Folds acknowledged during the interview.
Booker ended his bit, opening the floor to questions from the audience. The line formed long quickly, and OKSee took off for the Ra Ra Riot show a few questions in. However, it was more than enough time to hear some great, enlightening banter from Booker and Folds, particularly the nature and function of the artist within the modern music business. Also, he made a buncha
I've gone through my notes and assembled a highlight reel of sound bites that are below. Enjoy.
On growing up singing in the South, where the stereotype that musically minded boys were all homosexuals:
"My father said I had a terrible voice."
On breaking his hand while defending his roommate from bullies at the University of Miami, and subsequently flunking a test and losing his music scholarship:
"I threw my drums in the lake."
On his experience working on a music publishing deal in Nashville:
"I enjoyed it, sort of. I didn't get any royalty money for three or four years because of the bad contract. ... Ben Folds Five happened because I got so scared of the Nashville thing."
On the transfer from working on a Nashville hit-making assembly line to his own solo project:
"Suddenly I realized all the things that were getting me rejected were suddenly valued. ... Then I heard Liz Phair's 'Exile in Guyville' ... and that set me off. I knew about The Replacements, but I didn't really know about indie stuff."
On the piano he lugged around during those earlier BF5 years:
"I borrowed a lot of money to pay for that first piano. It was in constant danger of getting repossessed."
On the business end:
"We got a business manager who explained we needed to borrow money to pay taxes."
On 550 Music's (a division of Sony Music Entertainment) promotion of the single "Brick":
"They treated 'Brick' like 'Every Rose Has Its Thorn': Release two rockers, then a power ballad. And it worked."
On signing to a major label:
"It was a relief. It meant I didn't have to move my piano anymore."
On working as a producer:
"I like being the producer when I'm brining to life something that wouldn't be music otherwise. The Nick Hornby collaboration, for instance."
On certain of his works being considered "novelty" or a joke:
"My biggest frustration is the words 'novelty song.' I don't know what that means."
On Elliott Smith, with whom he toured (and whom Booker briefly managed):
"He's such a great songwriter technically. He was trying to write Beatles songs, and people heard him for what he was, which was desperate."
Odds and ends:
"I was writing waltzes about Howard Cosell and stuff."
"We got a tour manager who'd worked for Slayer."
"We spent money on a producer; we liked his name, Stiff Johnson."
"After 'Brick,' I started pulling favors. Like, 'OK, I want to make a spoken-word record with William Shatner.'"
"Rivers [Cuomo, of Weezer] was off on an island somewhere, laying in the sun. I think that's where he got the song."
"['Weird Al' Yankovic] is the most not-weird man I've ever met."
"One of my best friends is Bob Saget."
Folds performs tonight with the OKC Philharmonic at the Civic Center. Tickets are still available at the box office and online at
. "
The Best Imitation of Myself: A Retrospective
" is out now.
by Matt Carney
11.03.2011 2 years ago
at 01:15 PM |
OKS Chatter: Future Islands
The indie-lit popsters' singer talks songwriting, Wye Oak and pent-up aggression.
In case it isn't clear from Future Islands singer Sam Herring's unabashedly outward and dramatic performances, he recently underlined the fact that his band is all about applying their art-school convictions to infectious music over the phone.
"We're a synth-pop band," he said. "And yet we're trying to add our own voice to the conversation. What do we as artists have to put into this?"
While there's nothing in contemporary pop music that can claim similarity to Herring's guttural, direct register, Gerrit Welmer's keyboard melodies float high and clear above the guitars and drum machine sounds, just the way you'd expect from a great New Wave band that pours emotive, literary lyrics over pulsing, Joy Division rhythms (see "
Vireo's Eye
They're playing at Opolis tonight, but OKSee caught up with Herring last week to discuss fellow Baltimoreans Wye Oak, songwriting and just why they sound so aggressive.
Where are you guys on the road right now?
We're just leaving Pittsburgh right now on our way to Cleveland. It's a short drive, so we got an amazing breakfast and we just actually got out of the Warhol Museum.
Tell me about the music scene in Baltimore right now, because it seems to be teeming with experimentation in a whole lot of different styles, not just one or two. There are guys like you,
Wye Oak
and band I happened across a couple of months ago called
Small Sur
that are all just wonderful and fearless and different.
One of the things that's beautiful about the scene there is the variation in the music people are making. In our group of friends, it's not like people are making music that's comparable to us necessarily. The thing that unifies everybody the most is the want to play and support each other, to see what others are doing, and to get inspired off of that. We've been told that by a lot of musicians and friends.
That's the beauty of the community. There's a lot of genuine curiosity. In some scenes they're known for a certain sound, but in Baltimore ... if you look at the band's coming out of there, it's all very different and I think what runs common through them is their hard work.
I don't know if it's because it's a small enough city that there's a collective consciousness-type thing — like in New York where you've got 10 bands doing this sound, 10 bands doing that sound, and 10 bands doing another sound — maybe there is a bit of that art-school mentality where people are adding to the conversation instead of canning things. It's a healthy competition. Everybody's very supportive. It makes us a stronger scene.
I saw Jenn Wasner from Wye Oak contributed vocals to your album. She's played here in the OKC area like three times in the last five or six months, and I still wish I could see them more.
They're amazing. They play real hard.
Agreed. What'd she bring to "The Great Fire" that you can't hear on the track?
The song was written and then, after playing it live a few times, we decided that it might be nice to bring in a female vocal as a new dynamic. I got the guys' blessing to ask Jenn if she was up for it. She was really excited.
I sent her the song and said, "I want you to sing the second verse and then follow me on the choruses. Do you want to rewrite the second verse? What works for you?" and she said, "No, I like the verse, I like the words." It was her idea to intertwine the vocals so it'd sound like they were shadowing each other, which I think was beautiful. She brings a softer side to what I think people imagine we're like. I toned down my vocals to let her be the strong character.
She lifted that song with her vocals. We went into the studio, she sang it a couple times and I asked if she could do a sonic scale at the end and she just blew it away. I think she did five or six takes and me and Chester, our producer, were sitting in the other room just jumping up and down, high-fiving each other like "This is gonna be awesome!"
Now I kinda sing the lines the way she sings them, 'cause I like the way she does it better. It was a lot of fun.
It doesn't sound too much to me like you guys write lyrics while strumming a guitar or playing a piano. Walk me through your process.
Some songs come along easier than others. Right now, we're working on a new song and I'm workshopping it and playing with melodies, but that's only one out of three songs where I take a couple days on it to try to figure out what I'm trying to say.
Oftentimes, it is pretty much just us sitting in a room, with Gerrit playing keyboard or piano or organ, and William plucking a bass, with me just sitting back and seeing if anything happens, seeing what words pop up. Sometimes Gerrit will come up with a really strong song structure and then William and I will work on our respective parts to go with it.
I enjoy writing like that because I feel like it's a really solid process. It's however they pop up, and they yield different results. I think it's good to have variations in writing styles and seeing what happens.
Usually, I'll feel out the music for myself, see where it takes me and freely write fine melodies that speak to me. And like I said, sometimes they come really easy — I'm like, "How did I write that?" — and then there's other songs where I'm like, "I know exactly how I wrote that: I fought over those two lines for days and days and days trying to decide if it was bullshit or not. Or if it was worth it, or if I was taking a chance, or if I was taking too much of a chance, those kinds of things."
You have to be a critic as well as an artist. You have to trust it when you're right on point, questioning if you're doing something new, or if you're using a cliché for yourself or against yourself. I think there's a lot to be said for talking about clichés. I love to flip a cliché. Like, "I'm going to make this mine."
All these songs on "In Evening Air" sound really tense in that all the aggression and drama seems subterranean. It's not always easily evident, and it's not angry either. Why is that?
In telling a good story and allowing a buildup of tension, then breaking that ... the punk aesthetic's a big part of us, from way back. We've always made music with whatever means were possible, and we've done it hard, done it sweaty and done it dirty.
There is that force, but I'd chalk it up to building tension within a song, because it's gripping. I really want to grab people onstage. Not physically, but I want the performance to be gripping and to affect. We want to move people physically and emotionally. If we can get one of those it's great, and if we can get both, it's amazing. Having that catharsis is the goal.
Long Flight
" is the perfect example of that, where it's just kinda smooth, there's this repetition, then the second verse which is a little bit heavier, some repetition, then the third verse and the last chorus just breaks everything — it's all out. While it builds to this climax of force and anger, we're also letting go of it all. That's what it's like in writing — especially for me — writing a song so you can understand certain aspects of myself, so I can put it out, I can perform that song and build to that release.
Or I don't know, maybe Gerrit and William have a lot of rage inside of them that I don't know about.
Future Islands play Opolis Friday, supported by fellow Baltimoreites Ed Schrader's Music Beat and Mike and Mike. Their third full-length album, "
In Evening Air
," is out now.
by Matt Carney
11.04.2011 2 years ago
at 10:00 AM |
Celebrate boys, b-days and 'staches
This month, give cancer the middle finger.
Do you like boys? I do.
You've probably noticed your Facebook and Twitter feeds filled with the pleas of your men who are growing 'staches in honor of "Movember."
They want you to donate to their cause. Now, if you're like me, you are generally inundated with the pleas of many for some sort of financial support. After the budgeting and balancing of that hard-earned paycheck, sometimes there's only a meager sum left for the good of mankind.
I urge you to consider the
Movember Madness
. This movement funds awareness for men's health, specifically prostate cancer.
Think about your favorite man. Who is it?
Well, I'll tell you who mine is.
It's this guy right here – my grandfather, who the family lovingly refers to as "Pawpaw."
You might be wondering what this has to do with 'staches and such. I'll tell you:
1. He's a man.
2. He's a prostate cancer survivor.
3. It's his 75th birthday today.
Without the amazing research done, my Pawpaw might not be here today. And I wouldn't have pictures like this:
As you can see, I'm not the only person who would miss him. His honey of 53 years (and counting) would, too.
The point is: Cancer sucks and research costs money. So, get involved if you love your men as much as I love mine!
Though Pawpaw doesn't have a Facebook and isn't growing a 'stache in honor of the cause, there are many people who are. Find yourself a participant and give a little love so we can have more moments like this:
Oklahoma boys growin' 'staches:
• musician
Ryan Lawson
• OK native
Johnny Perkins
• the
Oklahoma City Barons
by Jenn Scott
11.04.2011 2 years ago
at 09:40 AM |
Pole position
This wild local video is just what Dr. ordered.
Many a restless night, I've wondered what would happen if I were wearing a Batman T-shirt and awakened by a whispered line from "Field of Dreams," and then while I was brushing my teeth, a floating head would appear, but I'd go about my business anyway and finish installing that stripper pole in the bedroom.
Now that we were tipped to local rock band Dr. Smith's
, gotta-watch-it-all-twice video for "The Time Is Right," I have the answer: A bespectacled man with a gray beard that splits into two would start playing his flute, whose notes would magically transport you to a dream world otherwise known as Teaze Dance & Fitness, 1112 N. Broadway, where the lithe, scantily clad ladies would perform around me in provocative slow motion and sometimes using boas, all of which the teenage me would have been
And then I'd probably have a pizza delivered.
—Rod Lott
by Rod Lott
11.10.2011 2 years ago
at 01:00 PM |
'Tin man
A classic cartoon character, without the creepy-eyed look of motion-capture technology.
Because Steven Spielberg's first animated film as director, "The Adventures of Tintin," doesn't open until Dec. 21, you still have ample chance to arm yourself with answers to the sure-to-be-asked question of, "What the hell is a Tintin?"
in Europe (like, 350 million copies huge), Tintin is a classic comic-book character, created by Belgian artist Georges Rémi in 1929, and reprints are readily available for purchase. Movies and cartoons have been made before of the young investigative reporter, too, but American audiences will find them tough to locate.
Except for the "
The Adventures Of Tintin
" animated series of the 1990s, come Nov. 22. On that day, Shout! Factory will release the show's first season on a double-disc DVD.
Until then, enjoy this colorful, advance look of Conan O'Brien, Boy Detective — er, Tintin. I meant Tintin. —Rod Lott
by Rod Lott
11.11.2011 2 years ago
at 01:00 PM |
R&R Q&A with Jason Segel
It's felt up, as the Muppets prime for a comeback.
Anticipation is high for "The Muppets," Disney's reboot of the Jim Henson crew, opening just in time for Thanksgiving. Its star and screenwriter, Jason Segel, is much too busy to talk to outlets like lil' ol' us, so the Mouse House sent a canned interview to me. Rather than be a corporate puppet and run it as is, I thought it'd be more fun to change the questions, but leave Segel's answers intact, so I feel like I actually contributed.
Personally, I think it makes for a better read. The studio should be paying
. Enjoy.
Jason — if I may call you Jason — can you please discuss the inception of this film, but using a phrase that a woman might use to let others know that she's pregnant?
The Muppets were my first comic influence and I was in love with puppetry. I just thought it was an amazing art form. We ended "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" with a lavish puppet musical, and The Jim Henson Company designed the puppets. Something started growing in my belly, and Nick (Stoller) and I came up with this idea and pitched it to Disney. Disney liked the idea, so we wrote the script.
"Belly," good one! I also would've accepted "I was craving raw meat" and "Oops, I missed my period." Now, whenever you tell anyone about taking on characters as beloved as these Muppets, what is their response? Scratch that: What are
of their responses?
Whenever I tell anyone, the response is always twofold: "Oh my God, that's awesome." And then, "You better not mess it up."
How about that Amy Adams? She seems super-sweet and super-innocent, and with credits like "Enchanted," she seems just perfect for this role. You really lucked out.
Amy Adams is super-sweet and super-innocent, and with credits like "Enchanted," she was just perfect for this role. We really lucked out.
If you could compare Kermit to ... oh, I don't know, say an iconic Gregory Peck character, who would he be?
Kermit's the everyman. He's like Atticus Finch. He just wants to be an upright citizen and be kind. It's all about laughter and love and doing what's right.
Let's cut to the chase. Miss Piggy: She's a diva, am I right?
Miss Piggy is the ultimate diva.
Do you think you could talk about Animal while making a Shakespeare reference that no one but English-lit majors will get? Bonus points for a Freud reference, too. You realize that if you pull this off, the academic world may stop thinking of you simply as the guy who wiggled his wang around in "Sarah Marshall."
Animal is the part of all of us that is unhinged. Animal is like our Id. He's like Caliban from "The Tempest."
Touché, Segel, touché.
—Rod Lott
by Rod Lott
11.15.2011 2 years ago
at 11:10 PM |
Lon in the tooth
Before he was the Wolf Man, Frankenstein's monster and Dracula, Lon Chaney Jr. was an Okie.
By popular demand — OK, one person's feedback from
this week's cover story on Herschell Gordon Lewis
— I resurrect our feature on another master of horror with Sooner State ties: Lon Chaney Jr. The below was part of a cover story I wrote for the Oct. 25, 2006, issue of
the same story that profiled "Children of the Corn" director Fritz Kiersch
, if you want to read that, too.
In 1941's "The Wolf Man," legend has it a full moon causes Lon Chaney Jr.'s character to transform into a werewolf. Equally as apocryphal is the legend of Chaney's birth right here in Oklahoma City.
Chaney Jr. — in a story perpetuated by himself — was born two months premature on Feb. 10, 1906, "black and dead," until his father, Lon Chaney Sr., dunked him into the icy waters of Belle Isle Lake to revive him.
According to Chaney Jr.'s grandson, Ron Chaney, he was then kept alive in a homemade incubator made out of a shoe box lined with cotton.
But Michael F. Blake, the author of three books on the elder Chaney, said "according to (other) family members, the story is complete fiction."
"(Chaney Jr.) started it himself, because it got him attention. There's no other proof that it happened," said Blake, an Emmy-winning makeup artist currently at work on "Spider-Man 3."
Oklahoma City remains about the only undisputed element of the story, as Chaney Sr. — not yet the famed silent-film actor — met his wife, Cleva Creighton, in OKC during a 1905 tour of the Columbia Musical Comedy Repertoire Co. He performed; she, only 15, auditioned as a chorus girl despite the protests of her mother, a local nurse. She didn't get the dancing job, but she won his heart, and state court records reportedly show the couple as having married on May 31 of that year when she was 16.
Less than nine months later, their son — dubbed Creighton Tull Chaney — was born. According to a 1907 city directory, they lived at 312 W. Washington. Chaney Sr. made $15 a week in the rug department at Grand Rapids Furniture Co., until they left Oklahoma for good in 1908.
Hollywood followed. And, after Chaney Sr. died in 1930, Creighton dumped plumbing to take his father's career path … and, reluctantly, his name.
"He was starved to take the name Lon Jr., essentially forced to by the studios," Blake said. "Unfortunately, like many children of famous actors, he had to bear the brunt of being compared to Daddy. It was hard for him. He wanted to make it on his own."
Said Ron Chaney, a swimming-pool contractor in California, "He knew his father was a tremendous star, but wanted to make it under his own name. It upset him at the time, but that's the way it is."
With one of Chaney Sr.'s most famous roles being 1925's frightfest "
The Phantom of the Opera
," it perhaps was inevitable that Chaney Jr. eventually find his way to horror as well.
After scads of cheap Westerns, that opportunity came in 1941, when he was cast in the title role in Universal Pictures' "The Wolf Man." The film was a massive hit for Universal's horror machine, and Chaney Jr. was tapped to reprise the role in 1943's "Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man" (and again in 1948's "Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein").
But the studio wasn't content with having him just sprout facial hair. Within two years, he was called upon to sport neck bolts, bandages and fangs in the title roles of the sequels "The Ghost of Frankenstein," "The Mummy's Tomb" and "Son of Dracula," respectively. According to the Internet Movie Database, this gave Chaney Jr. the distinction of being the only actor to portray all four of Universal's classic monsters.
But "The Wolf Man" is the film with which he will be forever linked. The role earned him pop-culture placement, being name-checked in Warren Zevon's 1978 hit song "Werewolves of London" and having his visage on a 32-cent stamp in 1997 — albeit under tufts of hair.
"Like (Bela) Lugosi's Dracula and Boris Karloff's Frankenstein, even if you don't know Lon Chaney's name, you can show people a picture and they know he's the Wolf Man," said film scholar Gary D. Rhodes. "He has an iconic status."
Chaney Jr. parlayed that success into a series of six "Inner Sanctum" mysteries for Universal, but as the years went on, the quality of his films plummeted. Witness "Indestructible Man," "The Alligator People" or "Hillbillys in a Haunted House." Or rather, don't.
"Horror geeks like to think he was as big a star as his dad, but he wasn't," Blake said. "I think Creighton always resented or regretted horror films, really, because he got trapped in them, and then couldn't do good work. He got stuck in a rut. You get typecast. That's the nature of the beast."
Blake said this was unfortunate, because if one looks at Chaney Jr.'s attempts at drama — most notably, the screen adaptation "Of Mice and Men" or the classic Western "High Noon" — he proved himself rather adept as a character actor.
"There's solid supporting work there, but he was trapped in all this other garbage. And unfortunately, he had a battle with the bottle and didn't quite win it," Blake said.
Substance abuse problems plagued Chaney Jr. A 1948 article in The Oklahoman reported the actor was rendered unconscious and in serious condition from an overdose of sleeping tablets, but alcohol was his lifelong demon, particularly in his later years.
"There were drinking exploits with (actor) Broderick Crawford. He got into trouble here and there," Ron Chaney said. "He was a very complex person, I believe. He saw an awful lot in his lifetime."
His final film was 1971's "Dracula vs. Frankenstein" (aka "Satan's Bloody Freaks"), but being a no-budget schlockfest, it was a far and rather desperate cry from his Forties heyday. While his late-career star may not have shone as bright, it didn't matter to his family.
"He was just Gramps to me," said Ron Chaney, who was a teenager when Chaney Jr. died on July 12, 1973. "I knew he was the Wolf Man, but it didn't really occur to me. He loved to cook and he wrestled with us — those were my memories of him. He was a gentle giant."
—Rod Lott
by Rod Lott
11.16.2011 2 years ago
at 10:15 AM |
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text:
Held on September 26, 2007 in primary state New Hampshire, the debate was moderated by Tim Russert, host of NBC's Meet the Press.
The event was geared in game show format, replete with "lightning round" questions and 30-second time periods for responses on such complex issues as the Iraq War, Middle East policy, solvency plans for the Social Security system, and personal statements of religious faith.
In hopes that the ills of 2007 political debates will be corrected as we move toward 2008, I've selected the five worst moments of this disastrous debate.
- WORST MOMENT #5 - Biden and Dodd Mocking Other Candidates
- WORST MOMENT #4 - Religious Litmus Test
- WORST MOMENT #3 - No-Hope Candidates
- WORST MOMENT #2 - Tim Russert: Judge, Jury & Limelight Hog
- WORST MOMENT #1 - Spineless Top Candidates on the Iraq War
WORST MOMENT #5 - Biden and Dodd Mocking Other Candidates
Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE) and Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) condescendingly snickered as Gov. Bill Richardson explained his approach to dealing with solvency of the Social Security system.
I might have taken little notice of their boarish behavior had the two senior, sixtyish senators not also have openly scoffed at Sen. Barack Obama as he delineated his Iraq War policy plan at the Iowa debate on August 19, 2007.
Chris Dodd and Joe Biden are the very essence of the old-white-boys' D.C. establishment, and the heart of the Senate old guard. Dodd has been a member of Congress since 1975, and Biden since 1973. Both wield enormous power as chairs of important Senate committees.
To see these two Democratic leaders smirking, shaking their heads and even laughing at fellow candidates says much more about them than it does about Barack Obama or Bill Richardson.
What their blatant rudeness screams is that they're closed to new ideas and fresh approaches. What their unbecoming disrespect says is that they support status quo, and that their vision is limited to stale, inside-the-beltway thinking.
Do Biden and Dodd not remember that when they mock a fellow candidate, they're also mocking the judgment of the supporters of those candidates?
Mind you, Dodd and Biden have been on the wrong side of plenty of issues over the decades. Most glaringly, both voted YES in 2002 to give George Bush the authority to attack, invade and occupy Iraq. (See Iraq War Vote in 2002: 156 Congress Members Who Voted NO).
I now understand why neither senator has been able to muster more than 2% of Democratic support in national polls: these two self-appointed guardians of Democratic political truths assume a certain seniority entitlement to the 2008 nomination.
While the two senators' arrogance causes them to mock presidential candidates under age 55, they fail to focus on sharpening their own dying campaigns.
For complete debate coverage, see:
Rating Hillary Clinton - Cumulative Scoreboard for the Debates
Rating Barack Obama - Cumulative Scoreboard for the Debates
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Everyone's favorite noise making revolutionaries Animal Collective released the new track "Crimson" yesterday on Zane Lowe's BBC Radio 1 show. In keeping with their sound, the song bubbles and burps and features some nice high singing by Avey Tare. The song will be featured as a b-side track on the single "Applesauce." Animal Collective alsoRead more...
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