Yearly Archives: 2008

Hallmark® Alumni show and sal

Staff Report

Monday, 27 October 2008
The Scissortail Gallery of Fine Art is featuring a show and sale with artists from the Kansas City area with over 90 years combined experience in artistic excellence.  The show will be held on November 9th at Scissortail Gallery from 12:00 to 4:00 PM, 11230 North Garnett, Owasso, OK 74055.  All three of the artists will be on hand to discuss their work during the show.

Joni Johnson-Godsy studied fine art at Ohio State University, and went on to art school at the Art Institute of Pittsburg, PA where she graduated with honors.  Upon graduation she secured a position as a greeting card illustrator with Hallmark Cards Inc. which required a re-location to the Kansas City area.

An avid dog lover, Joni focused her spare time on training her own dogs for obedience, conformation and tracking trials hosted by the AKC (American Kennel Club).  Her outstanding art work resulted in numerous awards, resulting in the American Kennel Club hiring her to illustrate dogs for their magazine the AKC Gazette.  Joni maintains memberships in the Society of Animal Artist and World Nature Artists Group, in addition to the many Awards, magazines, shows and exhibitions that she participates in throughout the year.  (www.jonijohnsongodsy.com)

Ron Raymer spent 38 years with Hallmark Cards of Kansas City.   Ron learned the engraving trade, and worked the last 25 years in Research and Development, which led him to develop the staff of Hallmark’s huge creative force.  An avid musician, wood carver and wood turner, Ron is a multi-faceted artist.  Ron’s work has been collected by collectors throughout the nation from individual and group shows, galleries and private collections. (www.raymerstudio.com)

James R. Smith attended the AIS, Inc of Minneapolis, Minnesota and the Ringling Schools of Arts in Sarasota, Florida.  He has participated in artist workshops with well known artist/illustrators Bob Peak, Mark English and Richard Schmid.  Jim served four years as an illustrator with the U.S. Air Force, joining Hallmark Cards for the next 35 years as an artist/illustrator designing cards, wildlife calendars and illustrating books.  He has won several awards, including the Missouri Trout Stamp Competition, with his favorite mediums of watercolor, acrylic and alkyd oil.

For more information about the show, please visit www.scissortailart.com or contact Rebecca Hutton at 918.371.7278 or 918.274.6633.
Last Updated ( Monday, 27 October 2008 )

Nick and Norah teen tunes

Luke Harrington

Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist
United States, 2008
Directed By: Peter Sollett
Written By: Adam Brightman, Nathan Kahane
Starring: Michael Cera, Kat Dennings
Running Time: 90 min.
Rated PG-13 for mature thematic material including teen drinking, sexuality, language and crude behavior
2 out of 5 stars
An hour or so into Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist, one character refers to a record producer as “A former hippie, current yuppie, spoon-feeding the masses the same old garbage,” and I’m sorry to say that that’s not a bad description of the people behind the film. Nick and Norah sports a title that would seem to suggest a quirky, indie-esque comedy, and the cast (which features Michael Cera of Juno and Superbad, as well as Kat Dennings of The 40-Year-Old Virgin and Charlie Bartlett) seems to have been assembled to back that up. Unfortunately, it’s nothing more than a formulaic teen-oriented romantic comedy that happens to have latched onto a trend that might have been cool and edgy about five years ago.

The trend to which I refer, of course, is the iPod (as implied by the word “playlist” in the title). No doubt, the idea for the film took hold when one of the writers was admiring his own iTunes library and noticed that the total running time came to several days. From there it was only a small step further: What if a couple of New York teens of the “I like music!” variety stayed up all night swapping songs from their iPods, mixes, and albums, and then fell in love? The answer turns out to be “Nothing interesting would happen”—but then, I’m getting ahead of myself.

I’ve pretty much given you the whole premise, but I may as well flesh it out a bit, for those of you looking for justification (you’re not likely to find any). Michael Cera plays Nick, the bassist for a local band, who recently broke up with his girlfriend Tris (Alexis Dziena, Fool’s Gold) and has been attempting to ease his pain by sending her CD mixes (all titled The Road to Closure, Vol. [x]). She never listens to them, but her friend Norah (Dennings) often takes them, and has found that Nick (whom she’s never met) has excellent taste in music. When she goes to see his band perform, they bump into each other, and end up spending the rest of the night together, hanging out all over the New York club scene.

The problem with all this is that it never really feels like two people staying up together in a single night. On the one hand, the pace is far too lackadaisical; it just doesn’t possess enough of an immediacy to feel like a few continuous hours. On the other hand, the writers just haven’t come up with a compelling reason for the two characters to stay up all night; it feels as if they got set on the premise and then struggled—and failed—to think of an impetus for it.

They’ve attempted to remedy this by adding a couple of MacGuffins to the plot. The first is a friend of Norah’s (played by Ari Graynor) who gets drunk and runs off; the second is a popular band called Where’s Fluffy?, whose shtick apparently consists of never telling anyone at which venue they’re actually going to play on any given night (you’d think that would serve to thin out their fanbase, but apparently not). The problem with the friend is that they find her halfway through the film; the problem with Where’s Fluffy? is that there’s absolutely nothing interesting about the band (and yes, the scene cuts out as soon as their show begins). In other words, the cast’s problems aren’t compelling, so we can’t possibly care about them.

Really, none of this would have come as a surprise to me if I had thought about the premise for more than a couple of seconds. The teen set, at which this movie is solidly aimed, might want to buy into these comforting lies, but the fact is that your personal taste in music is one of the most irrelevant things in the universe (and I’ll gladly admit that my taste in movies is just as unimportant). Similarity of musical preference isn’t the sort of foundation that makes for a lasting or meaningful relationship, even (perhaps especially) if it does result in multi-orgasmic sex in a recording studio the first night you meet. (Oops, was that a spoiler?) But if you’re still wondering if you’ll enjoy this movie, I have the perfect way to know for sure: are you the sort of person who still sits around patting yourself on the back for how eclectic your iPod is? If so, run (don’t walk!) to the multiplex.

About the author:

A graduate of the University of Nebraska, Luke Harrington currently resides in Tulsa and works in the aerospace industry–but, at any given moment, would probably rather be reviewing movies and music.  In his spare time, he’s off playing blues piano, pretending to be Assistant Editor for MovieZeal.com, or reviewing the many musical events in Northeastern Oklahoma for Tulsa Today.

Murphy rips Roth in response

Mike McCarville

Republican Corporation Commission candidate Dana Murphy responded to mudslinging by her opponent Jim Roth today by questioning Roth’s ethics and his alliance with Aubrey McClendon of Chesapeake Energy Corp.

Murphy said that Roth’s attempt to smear her name with accusations from a 15 year old divorce is nothing but “good ole’ boy politics at its worst.” That accusation came in a Roth television commercial this week.

Murphy says the smear “is being done with hundreds of thousands dollars of campaign contributions from his special interest friends inside and outside the state.

“As a career bureaucrat, he has relied on his powerful, special interest friends to get where he is today,” said Murphy. “He’s panicked because he won’t be able to deliver more favors for powerful friends if he is not elected to the job that was given to him.

“Unlike everyday Oklahomans like me who have earned their way by hard work and persistence working in the real world, he has made his living by delivering favors to his powerful friends using tax dollars while a public official.

“My opponent is using this personal attack mudslinging to divert voters’ attention from the issues and who’s most qualified to serve on the Commission. As a geologist, energy attorney and former Commission administrative law judge, I have the education and real world experience to be the best Corporation Commissioner. He’s reverted to good old boy mudslinging in the hopes people will forget he has no qualifications for office and that he’s been acting like a lapdog for special interest groups since he was handed the job of Corporation Commissioner.”

Murphy says Oklahomans should demand answers from Roth about his ties to those donating to his campaigns for public office: “He’s taken tens of thousands of dollars from officers and CEOs from the largest public utilities in Oklahoma who have regularly had cases in front of him. What are they paying for?

“He’s received over $100,000 in contributions that come from those at one large natural gas company. Didn’t the same company oppose the coal fired plant that Roth voted against, one that would have saved Oklahoma consumers billions of dollars? Why did Mr. Roth, as a sitting Corporation Commissioner, take campaign contributions during a time when Oklahoma law expressly forbids sitting Commissioners from taking contributions? Why as a County Commissioner did he sponsor the building of a road and bridge that runs to the tree farm of one of his campaign chairmen? Do Oklahomans really want to elect a lapdog for the special interests or do they want an everyday Oklahoman just like them to stand up as a watchdog, someone who is not afraid to stand up to the powerful special interests?”

Here is the text of Murphy’s prepared opening statement for today’s news conference:

Jim Roth is a desperate, frightened man. As almost half of Oklahomans know, divorce is an ugly, horrible thing and sadly, it brings out the absolute worst in people. My opponent is bringing up allegations against me from a 15 year old divorce case because he cannot match my qualifications for this job.

Let’s set the record straight once and for all. I have never been charged with or convicted of forgery or any other crime. Period.

These last minute smear tactics are reminiscent of the schoolyard bully ambushing kids on the playground.

The people of Oklahoma deserve better.

This smear campaign is costing big bucks.

The real question here is where are the hundreds of thousands of dollars coming from that are being used to smear me? From campaign contributions by powerful special interest groups outside and inside the State who want their lapdog at the Commission looking out for their interests, not the interests of all Oklahomans.

Roth has proven to be that lap dog.

Roth is panicked because this is the best job that he has ever had. He has no place else to go. When he loses this election, it will only be a matter of time before he has a job with one of those special interest groups contributing the big bucks to support his campaign.

It is not a coincidence that Jim Roth has as his campaign chair, a man who received amazing benefits as a result of his contributions.

First, the Red Rock Power Plant decision. That was a done deal as soon as Roth was appointed to the OCC.

Second, when a tree farm (owned by Aubrey McClendon in Arcadia) needed a road and a bridge, it was Roth who made sure it was paid for by taxpayers.

The list of favors for special interests goes on and on.

I have the education, the experience and the qualifications earned during a 15-year career in the oil and gas industry and almost six years as a Law Judge at the Corporation Commission. I have forgotten more about the oil and gas industry than he will ever know and Jim Roth knows it. His special interest supporters know it too and they are scared to death.

My only special interest group is everyday Oklahomans who need a watchdog on the Commission, not a lapdog.

There are 12 days left in this election, I have run a clean campaign focused on the issues and my qualifications for office.

I see no reason to change that strategy.

If Mr. Roth wants to run a dirty campaign, wallow in the mud and sling it – that’s his choice.

Mr. Roth’s mudslinging has given Oklahomans a clear-cut choice as to who they want for Corporation Commissioner.

They can have someone like him, a mudslinging bureaucratic lapdog or they can have me, someone who shares their conservative Oklahoma values and has the experience and qualifications to do the best job for all Oklahomans at the Corporation Commission.”

 

About the author:
Mike McCarville has covered Oklahoma politics and government since he became State Capitol Correspondent for The Tulsa Tribune in 1966. Since, he has been a governor’s press secretary, investigative reporter, television station news executive, radio station program director and talk show host, and political consultant. In 1980, he founded The McCarville Report and it is the nation’s longest-running state political publication. In its online version, it has been called “The best political blog” by Dr. Keith Gaddie, pollster and pundit and “Oklahoma’s venerable McCarville Report” by The Arkansas Times.  McCarville, also a real estate investor and commentator for the National Rifle Association on NRANews.com and Sirius Satellite Radio, is a regular contributor to Tulsa Today.

So long, suckers

Staff Report

The UK’s Guardian is reporting that the leader of a successful American hedge fund has left the industry with a farewell letter dismissing rivals as “over-privileged idiots” and thanking “stupid traders” for making him rich.
Andrew Lahde’s $80 million Los Angeles based firm Lahde-Capital Management bet against subprime mortgages.  He was right and Friday October 17 admitted he hated the business and was only in for the money.
"The low-hanging fruit, ie idiots whose parents paid for prep school, Yale and then the Harvard MBA, was there for the taking," he wrote. "These people who were (often) truly not worthy of the education they received (or supposedly received) rose to the top of companies such as AIG, Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers and all levels of our government," he said.

"I will let others try to amass 9, 10 or 11 figure net worths. Meanwhile, their lives suck," he wrote, citing a life of back-to-back business appointments relieved only by a two-week annual holiday in which financiers are still "glued to their Blackberries".
Some 350 of the funds have liquidated this year, according to Hedge Fund Research the Guardian reported.
In his farewell letter, which concluded with an appeal for the legalisation of marijuana, Lahde said he was happy with his rewards and did not envy those who had made even more money.  His final words of advice? "Throw the Blackberry away and enjoy life."
To read the Guardian story, click here. 

To read Lahde’s letter, click here.

Riley’s party promotion confusion

Mike McCarville

Bunny Chambers, Oklahoma’s immediate past Republican National Committeewoman, longtime Republican activist and leader in the Oklahoma Federation of Republican Women, today thanked Democrat State Senator Nancy Riley for promoting a Republican Women’s organization in her campaign materials by using a photo showing her wearing a GOP brooch.

It’s unclear whether that’s a Riley photographic gaffe or an intentional act designed to deceive GOP voters.  Senator Riley was elected in her last senatoral election as a Republican then switched to Democrat.  This is her first race as a Democrat.

"I’d like to think it’s gracious of Nancy to use a photo of her wearing her Oklahoma Federation of Republican Women’s (OFRW) First Ladies brooch along side her Senate member pin on her campaign materials," said Mrs. Chambers, "but I’m not confident her motives are pure."

Riley, has used a photo of her wearing her OFRW First Ladies cameo brooch on several direct mail pieces and on her website over the past several months. Republican women are suspicious of her motives, perhaps trying to send messages to female Republican voters in her district that she’s still "one of them," but Chambers and others in her organization aren’t fooled.

"We appreciate her efforts to promote our organization and our cause," Chambers continued, "but the truth is, Nancy Riley ceased being a member in good standing of our organization over two years ago when she switched to the Democrat Party after finishing third in the Republican primary for Lieutenant Governor.

"And sadly, her voting record reflects her change in allegiance," Mrs. Chambers continued. "We don’t want any Republican women in Senate District 37 to be confused.

"She may be using an old photograph of her days as a Republican woman, but Nancy Riley is decidedly not a Republican anymore, and I along with Republican women around the state of Oklahoma heartily endorse Dan Newberry for Senate in District 37," Chambers proclaimed.

About the author:
Mike McCarville has covered Oklahoma politics and government since he became State Capitol Correspondent for The Tulsa Tribune in 1966. Since, he has been a governor’s press secretary, investigative reporter, television station news executive, radio station program director and talk show host, and political consultant. In 1980, he founded The McCarville Report and it is the nation’s longest-running state political publication. In its online version, it has been called "The best political blog" by Dr. Keith Gaddie, pollster and pundit and "Oklahoma’s venerable McCarville Report" by The Arkansas Times.  McCarville, also a real estate investor and commentator for the National Rifle Association on NRANews.com and Sirius Satellite Radio, is a regular contributor to Tulsa Today.