Saturday, April 25, 2009

Do You Realize



. . . that we have an official state Rock Song?

We do, the Flaming Lips' Do You Realize, but thanks only to our Governor Brad Henry. The Senate voted 46-0 "Aye", but the House only voted 48-39 in favor, a "Nay" vote since 51 votes were needed for passage of the Senate Resolution. More about that below.

"What has this to do with Oklahoma City history," you ask. The Flaming Lips is an Oklahoma City based band and its leader, Wayne Coyne, still lives right here in Oklahoma City. The band even has its own alley in Bricktown. We like 'em!

Here are the lyrics:
Do You Realize - that you have the most beautiful face
Do You Realize - we’re floating in space
Do You Realize - that happiness makes you cry
Do You Realize - that everyone you know someday will die

And instead of saying all of your goodbyes - let them know
You realize that life goes fast
It’s hard to make the good things last
You realize the sun doesn’t go down
It’s just an illusion caused by the world spinning round

Do You Realize - Oh - Oh - Oh
Do You Realize - that everyone you know
Someday will die

And instead of saying all of your goodbyes - let them know
You realize that life goes fast
It’s hard to make the good things last
You realize the sun doesn’t go down
It’s just an illusion caused by the world spinning round

Do You Realize - that you have the most beautiful face
Do You Realize
Great song and powerful lyrics, that's for sure.

But, how did it happen to become our state's official rock 'n roll song?

It certainly didn't happen back in the 1950s when rock 'n roll was said by many adults, pastors, parents, and community leaders, to be a work of the one and only most evil one, the Devil, himself. I was a lover of rock 'n roll in its beginnings, way back then when I was a youngster in junior high school ... I snuck off to see Blackboard Jungle and listen to Bill Haley's Rock Around The Clock and I was entranced by the Diamond's Little Darlin' and got jittery by Jerry Lee Lewis' Whole Lotta Shakin' Going On ... name that tune and I can tell you want I was doing in that time of my life, just as many of you other old timers can do, as well.

I pretty much figured that those "devil" times gone by were very ancient history. I mean, who doesn't like those great rock 'n roll tunes today?

Silly me, I hadn't taken the Republicans in the Oklahoma Legislature into account. I'd kinda forgotten about them, as high as I am on Oklahoma City and living in a non-Republican district that actually has a gay representative in the Legislature. Silly silly me. In those Republicans, the "evil" is still alive and well.

A resolution came up for a vote about adopting Do You Realize as the state's official rock song.

And, so, I paid only passing attention that a vote was being or had been cast for the state's official Rock Song. Kinda like the having an official state bug (yes, we have one, it's the black swallowtail butterfly, adopted in 1996). State bugs, state songs, state whatevers, it really just doesn't matter.

Or, so I thought.

And then I dropped in on Steve Lackmeyer's OKC Central blog to see what I'd been missing lately. To my amazement, the Flaming Lips was a hot topic and my mind got awakened. See this article and this one -- Governor Henry will sign an executive order as well as his post containing Ed Kelley's video, shown below.

As for the state's official rock song, an unofficial referendum had apparently been put to the people at this website. We didn't have one of those things ... so let's have one and what should it be? While I adore the Flaming Lips and Wayne Coyne in particular for his loyalty to Oklahoma City, as well as the group generally, I didn't get caught up in the vote and didn't even realize that one existed, so I didn't even vote.

This official state rock song thing was going on well below my radar. According to the Rolling Stone,
According to a press release from the Oklahoma Historical Society, the state’s legislature voted to affirm the track’s importance, putting Wayne Coyne and Co. in the history books for real as part of Senate Joint Resolution 24.

The 2002 track from Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots beat out some stiff competition: the 10 finalists that were “representative of the pervasive influence of Oklahoma and Oklahomans on the development of rock & roll” included “Let’s Have a Party” by Wanda Jackson (1958); “Walk Don’t Run” by The Venture (1960); “Endless Oklahoma Sky” by John Moreland and the Black Gold Band (2008); “Home Sweet Oklahoma” by Leon Russell (1971); “Move Along” by the All-American Rejects (2005); “Never Been to Spain” written by Hoyt Axton (1971); “Oklahoma” by The Call (1986); “Heartbreak Hotel” written by Mae Boren Axton (1956); and “After Midnight” by J.J. Cale (1965).

An official Official Oklahoma Rock Song Advisory Panel was convened in 2007 to recognize the role the state has played in rock history and after the nominations were gathered in 2008 (2,498 were submitted for 458 different tunes) and narrowed down to 10 by the panel, the public voted on the Website oklahomarocksong.org. When the 21,061 votes were counted, the Lips were on top.
My inattention changed when I visited Steve Lackmeyer's par excellence OKC Central blog yesterday evening. It was there that I noticed what I'd missed and my ancient ostrich ears and fuzzy eyes got perky really quick.

First, I noticed an embedded video there of Ed Kelley, the Oklahoman's managing editor. Frankly, Mr. Kelley, I have thought, is not all that well suited for public video ... do you ever see any real emotion in Ed's face as he says what he has to say? Have you ever seen anything in his videos that makes you think of something sexy ... no disrespect intended, but we're talking about what captures public fancies here, and, in those respects, Ed will never likely be a video king.

But ... wait ... this time, at least for me, I noticed something different. If the tune is still playing above, go up and click the Stop button and then listen to what Mr. Kelley had to say ...


What's that? The managing editor of the Oklahoman, a powerful conservative voice in the city, lambasting the Oklahoma conservative House of Representatives? Are my ears totally messed up? Are yours?

No, Ed Kelley's words are still the same even if you get the wax out of your ears and listen again. Yep, I owe Ed Kelley an apology for stereotyping him and thinking that he was kinda boring to listen to. No, he wasn't, not this time.

"Wow," I thought, "I've been underestimating this guy, big time."
They voted to override the will of the people they so piously claim to represent.
* * *
This latest temper tantrum at the Capitol is another black eye for Oklahoma.
Did a guy representing the Oklahoman really say those things? Maybe it's time that I rethunk some things about the Oklahoman.

The State Senate passed the state rock song resolution 46-0. In the House, the vote was 48-39, with 51 needed to pass. Some members were apparently offended by According to Oklahoman capitol reporter Michael McNutt, here are the 39 who voted "No," should you wish to consider them in your next voting opportunity:

THE OKLAHOMA HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
HALL OF SHAME

NamePartyWhere From
Ames, DonRepublicanFaxon
Coody, AnnRepublicanLawton
Cooksey, MarianRepublicanEdmond
Dank, DavidRepublicanOKC
DeWitt, DaleRepublicanBraman
Denney, LeeRepublicanCushing
Derby, DavidRepublicanOwasso
Duncan, RexRepublicanSand Springs
Enns, JohnRepublicanOKC
Faught, GeorgeRepublicanMuskogee
Hickman, JeffreyRepublicanDacoma
Holland, CoreyRepublicanMarlow
Johnson, DennisRepublicanLawton area
Jordan, FredRepublicanTulsa
Joyner, CharlieRepublicanMidwest City
Kern, SallyRepublicanOKC
Key, CharlesRepublicanOKC
Liebmann, GuyRepublicanOKC
Martin, ScottRepublicanNorman
Martin, SteveRepublicanB'ville
McCullough, MarkRepublicanTulsa area
McNiel, SkyeRepublicanTulsa area
Miller, KenRepublicanEdmond
Moore, LewisRepublicanArcadia
Murphey, JasonRepublicanGuthrie
Nelson, JasonRepublicanOKC
Ortega, CharlesRepublicanAltus
Osborn, LeslieRepublicanTuttle
Ownbey, PatRepublicanArdmore
Peters, RonRepublicanTulsa
Peterson, PamRepublicanTulsa
Reynolds, MikeRepublicanOKC
Richardson,PhilRepublicanMinco
Schwartz, ColbyRepublicanEl Reno area
Shannon, TWRepublicanLawton
Tibbs, SueRepublicanTulsa
Watson, WeldonRepublicanTulsa
Wesselhoft, PaulRepublicanMoore
Wright, JohnRepublicanTulsa

What Ed Kelley said about bad press was prophetic ... the black eye part. With all the good things being said about Oklahoma City these days in the national media, it's sad that the Oklahoma House of Representatives offered fodder for those who think of us, as Ed Kelley said, as just a bunch of backwater hicks.

Here's a sampling of reports: The Los Angeles Times wondered, "Flaming Lips: Are they too communist for Oklahoma?" here; the Dallas Morning News covered the story here and here. Hartford, Connecticut picked up the story here; heck, even the people way up northwest were talking about the matter in Snohomish County, Washington, as did the Rolling Stone. Yes, and Fox News.

Thanks a hell of a lot, 39 Republican Legislators, thanks a lot.

NOT.The real thanks goes to Governor Brad Henry, and, yes, to the Oklahoman via its Editor, Ed Kelley. Thanks, guys!

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Monday, April 20, 2009

The Ultimate Deep Deuce Collection

Welcome to the Ultimate Deep Deuce Collection!
Enjoy your visit. I welcome any feedback.

Click a button for where you want to go (the full article needs to be open).

FLASH MAP. Move your mouse over the map to open pages. I recommend that you press F11 for full screen view. This should eliminate the need for vertical scrolling to see the full flash file on your display. Press F11 again to return to your regular display. If the map "locks up", press F5 to refresh the map. To use the longer list of main articles instead of the map, click here.




ARTICLE LIST. They are these and more will be added as knowledge and time allows:

ABOUT THE COLLECTION. What a presumptuous title! Why "ultimate" and why is my chosen title so damn vain? Well, it contains the most, and most accurate, Deep Deuce content you will find anywhere on the web. Anywhere. It collects and compares, sometimes corrects, written press media and book information previously published, and if the assembled information is ambiguous, in error, or contradictory, and if I know that, this collection says so. A good bit of what's been published states things as "fact" which statements are either erroneous or are not necessarily so. This is also true for some of the articles contained in the generally nice collection of history articles in OHS's Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History & Culture. I'm not at all saying that the project isn't a good one, it is a very good one, particularly in its concept and breath. But, it would be a mistake to assume that all of the content you read there is correct, because it is not. To use that resources' search engine, click here.

While the chosen title of this collection is somewhat immodest, I am, nonetheless humbled by the very generous comments received from two of the best Oklahoma City history buffs and bloggers that there are, Steve Lackmeyer in his OKC Central and Charles G. Hill of Dustbury fame (at this moment, 1,757,021 hits and counting), and to each of them I extend my thanks and appreciation.

I also add that this should be considered a work-in-progress. For example, as a spin-off, it includes a 18-19 page article telling the story of Oklahoma City's Jim Crow laws and this city's attempt to avoid the edicts of the United States Supreme Court and simultaneously placate a bigoted and heavy-handed Governor, Alfalfa Bill Murray, both of which endeavors ended in failure though it was a long time coming. That article is here.

This collection contains two parts: (1) the flash file which appears near the top of this page -- it provides a quick glance at Deep Deuce; and (2) a list of the much larger and more substantive articles which are linked directly to articles below the flash map -- those articles are also accessible through the flash map.

In all, 36 items are presently shown in the map -- I expect that the number will grow. Most are buildings but 4 are areas -- Walnut/Finley Bridge, NE 2nd street Street & Map views, Riverside Park, and Aerial views.

An example page is shown below:


A rounded rectangle appears in the map to show a building's location, together with a transparent red arrow. Click within the rounded rectangle and a web-html page will open which contains more and larger pictures as well as historical information.

Despite my claim for "ultimacy," if I've made mistakes, I want to know so that I can make corrections, so please comment as needed.

Enjoy!

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Monday, April 13, 2009

Vintage Map Index

Newest Mini-Pages as of 4/16/2009 - focusing on the Deep Deuce Area: DONE


For convenience, I've added links to them below, as well as in the complete list which follows this one. And, of course, they are accessible through the main Vintage Clickable Map.

Most of the buildings or areas are in the cropped portion of the map, below, but a few like the Douglass Schools are not shown in the truncated crop:
  • Finley Building
  • Hall's Hall
  • Haywood Building
  • Irving School
  • Littlepage Building
  • Lodge Hall/Ruby's Grill
  • Luster, Melvin Home
  • Monarch/Canton Hotel
  • NE 2nd, generally
  • Rolater Hospital
  • Slaughter Building
  • St. John's Baptist Church
  • Tabernacle Baptist Church
  • Utopia Hospital (1 & 2)
  • Walnut/Finley Bridge
  • YMCA - Eastside
  • During the months ahead I'll continue working toward substantial completion of the Vintage Clickable Map which is coming along nicely.

    THE COMPLETE VINTAGE MAP BUILDING/PLACE INDEX. The table below lists the buildings or areas which are presently in the clickable vintage map. The list will expand considerably over time. Items marked in crimson red below are items which already include mini-articles. Those not crimson red are just links to place-holders where mini-articles will soon appear. Eventually, all items in the list will have mini-articles. Before I put this baby down, the list should include around 200-250 vintage buildings or places, or more.
    Aerials, Deep Deuce
    Aerials, Downtown
    Aerials, Bricktown
    314 NE 2 - Deep Deuce
    Aberdeen Apartments
    Alamo Hotel
    Aldridge Theater
    American National Bank Building
    Avery Chapel
    Apts on Central - Deep Deuce
    Baptist Sanitarium
    Bass & Harbour (Insurance) Building
    Baum Building
    Bethany Presby. Ch.
    Biltmore Hotel
    Black Dispatch (1st location)
    Black Dispatch (2nd location)
    Black Hotel
    Board of Education
    Braniff Building
    Broadway (Lamar, Noble) Hotel
    Bryant School
    Calvary Baptist Church
    Campbell Building
    Canton Hotel
    Capitol Theater
    Carpenter Square (Skyline) Theater
    Centre Theater
    City Hospital
    City Hall (Couch Drive)
    Cline Hotel
    Classen Boulevard
    Classen Jr/Sr High School
    Cleaves CME Church
    Colcord Building
    Commerce Exchange Building
    Cotton Exchange (Leonhardt, Court Plaza) Building
    Cotton Compress
    Crippled Children's Hospital
    Criterion Theater
    Culbertson Building
    Culbertson School
    Davis Brothers
    Delmar Garden
    Douglass (originally Lowell) School
    Douglass (originally Webster) School
    Dunbar Library
    Egbert Hotel (Bassett Building)
    Emerson School
    Epworth University
    Eugene Field School
    Federal Reserve Branch
    Fidelity Bank (Park Harvey Apartments)
    Finley Building
    First National Center
    Franklin School
    Fred Jones Ford Manufacturing
    Frisco Passenger Depot
    Garfield School
    Gladish Building
    Goodholm (Baltimore) Building
    Halliburton's Department Store
    Hall's Hall - Deep Deuce
    Harbour Longmire (Main Place)
    Harrison Avenue
    Haywood Building
    Hefner Mansion
    Hell's Half Acre
    Herskowitz Building
    Hightower Building
    Huckins Annex
    Hudson Hotel
    India Temple
    Irving School
    Iten Biscuit Company
    John A. Brown Department Store
    Juprenka Apartments
    Kaiser's Ice Cream
    Katy Passenger & Freight Depots
    Kingkade Hotel
    Lawrence Hotel
    Lee Building
    Lee (Lee-Huckins, Huckins) Hotel
    Leonhardt Apartment Hotel
    Levy Building
    Liberty (Harber, Cooper, Cooper Cinerama) Theater
    Libraries (on Robinson)
    Lincoln School
    Little Flower Catholic Church & School
    Littlepage Building
    Lodge Hall - Deep Deuce
    Lowell (2nd Douglass) School
    Luster (Melvin) Home
    McKinley School
    Main & Walker Properties (Coney Island, Pizza Town)
    Majestic Building
    Marion Hotel
    Martinique Hotel
    Masonic Temple
    Mayfair Apartments
    Maywood Presbyterian Church
    Medical Arts (100 Park Avenue) Building
    Mellon's (Rothschild's) Department Store
    Melrose Apartments
    Midcontinent Life Insurance Company
    Mideke Supply Company
    Midwest Theater & Building
    Monarch Hotel
    Montgomery Wards
    Moon Jr. High
    Music Hall (Couch Drive)
    National Weather Service
    NE 2nd - Deep Deuce
    New State Ice Company
    Odd Fellows Building
    Oklahoma Savings & Loan
    Oklahoma Gas & Electric Company
    Oklahoma County Courthouse (Park Avenue)
    Oklahoma City Police & Jail (Shartel)
    Oklahoma City (Central) High School
    Oklahoma Club (Tivoli Inn)
    Oklahoma Natural Gas (Elks Temple)
    Oklahoma County Courthouse & Jail (Old)
    Oklahoman (on Broadway)
    Oklahoman (1st, Main east of Broadway)
    Olivett Baptist Church
    Osler Building
    OU Medical School
    Overholser Opera House (Orpheum, Warner, Warner Cinerama Theater)
    Parking Garage (Hudson)
    Parking Garage (Park Avenue)
    Patterson Building
    Perrine (Cravens, Robinson Renaissance) Building
    Petroleum (Dowell) Building
    Pioneer Building
    Plaza Court
    Plaza Tower Hotel
    Polyclinic Hospital
    Post Office (1st, Main & Santa Fe)
    Post Office (2nd, Main Street)
    Post Office (3rd, Broadway)
    Post Office & Federal Court (NW 3rd)
    Ramsey Tower (Apco Tower, Liberty Bank, City Place)
    Riverside Park
    Rock Island Passenger Depot
    Rock Island Roundhouse
    Rolater Hospital
    Roosevelt Jr. High
    Ruby's Grill
    Santa Fe Station
    Sealy House
    Sears & Roebuck (Grain Exchange Building, Miller Bros. Department Store)
    Security Building
    Security National Bank
    Shidler School
    Sieber Apartment Hotel
    Sinclair/Firestone
    Skirvin Hotel
    Skirvin Tower Hotel
    Slaughter Building
    Southern Club
    Southwestern Bell
    Spriggs Hotel
    St. Nicholas (Earl) Hotel
    St. Anthony's Hospital
    St. Elijah's Orthodox Church
    St. George's Orthodox Church
    St. John's Baptist Church
    State Theater
    State Baptist Hospital
    State National Bank (Hales Building)
    Stiles Circle Park
    Swan (Howard, New Albany, Wren) Hotel
    Tabernacle Baptist Ch.
    Terminal Building
    TG&Y
    Threadgill (Bristol) Hotel
    Tradesmen's National Bank (City National, City Center)
    Trolley Car Barn
    Uncertain (as to name) Building south of Bass & Harbour Building
    Union Bus Station
    University Hospital
    USO, Civic Center
    USO, Eastside
    Utopia Hospital
    Victoria Apartments
    Walnut Bridge
    Walnut Grove School
    Washburn-Lytle (Kerr Dry Goods) Building
    Washington School
    Webster (later Douglass) School
    Webster Jr. High
    Wells Fargo Building
    Wells Roberts Hotel
    Wesley Hospital
    Wheeler Park
    Wolford Apartments
    YMCA (2nd Street)
    YMCA (5th Street)
    YMCA (NE 4th Street)
    YWCA (NE 2nd Street)
    YWCA (Park Avenue)
    Go To Top

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