“Cars” inspiration Dawn Welch named Oklahoma’s Woman of the Year; Carrie Underwood a finalist
Dawn Welch
The Oklahoman has named Stroud resident Dawn Welch, owner of the Rock Cafe, Oklahoma’s 2009 Woman of the Year.
In 2008, Welch watched helplessly as the historic cafe, which she has owned since 1993, burn down. A year and nine days later, in May, she triumphantly reopened the Route 66 landmark. (In the meantime, the ever-busy Welch published a cookbook.)
The Rock Cafe has been around for 70 years, and it is one of Stroud’s top attractions and an immense source of community pride. The community has experienced a decade of hard times since it was ravaged in the May 1999 tornado that destroyed the town’s Tanger outlet mall, and it could ill afford to lose a landmark like the Rock Cafe.
Welch not only saw that the cafe was rebuilt, she is again filling the walls with community memorabilia, from newspaper clippings about the high school football team to artwork from customers.
She recently got some help filling the wall space from Pixar chief John Lasseter, who based the Porsche character Sally from his 2006 film “Cars” on Welch after meeting her on his Route 66 travels. Lasseter recently sent Welch a box of new “Cars” stuff to replace what burned in the fire.
Oklahoma country music star Carrie Underwood was among the five finalists for Oklahoma Woman of the Year. The 2005 “American Idol” winner experienced a breakout year musically, winning the Academy of Country Music’s entertainer of the year title, notching her third straight chart-topping album with “Play On” and earning a place in the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame. But she also started the Checotah Animal, Town and School Foundation to facilitate her charitable efforts in her hometown. Her first act with the foundation was to donate $117,000 in musical instruments to Checotah Public Schools.
The other finalists are Ree Drummond, the blogger and cookbook author known as the Pioneer Woman; Darcie Harris, who helps train women entrepreneurs from war-torn countries in business practices; and Brenda McDaniel, the active and influential first lady at Oklahoma City University.
To read more about the Oklahoma Woman of the Year and the finalists, click here.
And many congratulations to all five.
-BAM
Top 10 sleeper films of 2000s listed
“Paranormal Activity”
Rom-com “My Big Fat Greek Wedding,” geek comedy “Napoleon Dynamite,” Oscar winner “Slumdog Millionaire” and this year’s “Paranormal Activity” are among the top 10 sleeper movie hits of the decade, as listed by The Hollywood Reporter.
Here is the trade publication’s top 10 list. (The HR’s story also delves into the audience appeal and cultural impact of each film and posts trailers for each one.)
On Friday, my colleagues Gene Triplett and George Lang and I will list our 10 favorite films of 2009. See my list here on BAM’s Blog Friday.
10. “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” (Sony Pictures Classics, 2000)
Budget: $17 million
Domestic gross: $128 million
9. “Diary of a Mad Black Woman” (Lionsgate, 2005)
Budget: $5.5 million
Domestic gross: $50.4 million
8. “Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight, 2008)
Budget: $15 million
Domestic gross: $141.3 million
7. March of the Penguins (Warner Independent/National Geographic, 2005)
Budget: $8 million
Domestic gross: $77.4 million
6. Jackass: The Movie (Paramount, 2002)
Budget: $5 million
Domestic gross: $64.3 million
5. “Juno” (Fox Searchlight, 2007)
Budget: $7.5 million
Domestic gross: $143.5 million
4. “Saw” (Lionsgate, 2004)
Budget: $1.2 million
Domestic gross: $55.2 million
3. “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” (IFC, 2002)
Budget: $5 million
Domestic gross: $241.4 million
2. “Napoleon Dynamite” (Fox Searchlight/Paramount 2004)
Budget: $400,000
Domestic gross: $44.5 million
1. “Paranormal Activity” (Paramount, 2009)
Budget: $15,000
Domestic gross: $107.6 million
-BAM
BAM’s college football favorites: Special bowl edition
OSU quarterback Zac Robinson (Photo by Nate Billings/The Oklahoman Archives)
Like many fortunate college football fans, I’ll be spending much of my New Year’s holiday weekend watching my favorite teams play in bowl games.
The Oklahoma Sooners play the Stanford Cardinal at 1 p.m. today in the Brut Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas. The game will air on CBS.
The Florida Gators, the traditional favorite team of the McDonnell family, will take on the Cincinnati Bearcats at 7:30 p.m. Friday in the Allstate Sugar Bowl in New Orleans. The game will be the last for Florida Coach Urban Meyer before he takes a leave of absence to deal with stress-related health issues. The game will be broadcast on Fox.
My Oklahoma State Cowboys will play the Ole Miss Rebels at 1 p.m. Saturday in the AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic in the new Dallas Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The matchup will air on Fox.
Good luck to OU, UF and OSU in their post-season contests.
The 2009-10 college football season ends Jan. 7 when Texas and Alabama play in the Citi BCS National Championship Game in Pasadena, Calif.
-BAM
Taddy Porter playing New Year’s Eve show in Times Square
Stillwater band Taddy Porter will perform tonight during the New Year’s Eve festivities in Times Square in New York City.
The band will go at about 5 p.m. Oklahoma time, or 6 p.m. Eastern. The show will be streamed live at www.timessquarenyc.org.
It’s been a big year for the rockers, whose music has been twice featured on “Monday Night Football” this season. For more information on Taddy Porter, go to www.myspace.com/taddyportermusic.
Back in fall, Oklahoma State University student and sometime NewsOK/The Oklahoman contributor Nathan Poppe featured Taddy Porter on his interview/performance video show “on.” Check out this acoustic performance of “Long, Slow Drag”:
on. Episode Three Taddy Porter - Long Slow Drag from Nathan Poppe on Vimeo.
-BAM
Weekend Warmup for Dec. 31, 2009-Jan. 3, 2010: Special New Year’s Eve edition
Flaming Lips frontman Wayne Coyne performs at last year’s New Year’s Eve Freakout. (Photo by John Clanton/The Oklahoman Archives)
Happy New Year! It’s New Year’s Eve, and there are many festivities planned around the state for today and throughout the weekend. Here is the special New Year’s 2009-10 edition of the Weekend Warmup (for Dec. 31, 2009-Jan. 3, 2010). For more events, go to www.wimgo.com:
- Celebrate the start of 2010 with psychedelic music, confetti cannons and a giant balloon drop at The Flaming Lips New Year’s Eve #3, featuring Stardeath and White Dwarfs, at 8:30 tonight at the Cox Convention Center in downtown. After the midnight countdown, the Lips and Stardeath will return to the stage to perform Pink Floyd’s famed album “The Dark Side of the Moon.” Click here to read Gene Triplett’s story on the event. Information: www.coxconventioncenter.com.
- NORMAN — Listen to the legendary B.B. King at 8 p.m. Friday at Riverwind Casino, 1544 W State Highway 9. Information: 322-6464 or www.riverwind.com.
- MIAMI – Mark the end of the year with local country singer Keith Anderson, along with Cowboy Troy, Della Rose and Boogie Fever dance band, at Buffalo Run Casino’s New Year’s Eve Celebration at 7 tonight. Information: www.buffalorun.com.
- Take in the children’s area, Tornado Alley Rollergirls bout and performances by The Non, The Uglysuit, PowerHouz and more at Opening Night 2010 from 7 to midnight tonight at 10 venues in downtown Oklahoma City. Click here to read George Lang’s story on the event. Information: www.artscouncilokc.com.
- Hear Cody Canada, Mike McClure, Stoney LaRue, Jason Boland and more at the sixth annual Hangover Ball at 6 p.m. Friday at the Wormy Dog Saloon, 311 E Sheridan. Information: 601-6276 or www.wormydog.com.
- STILLWATER – Party into 2010 with Jason Boland & the Stragglers at 8 tonight at Tumbleweed Dance Hall, Lakeview and Country Club roads. Information: www.tumbleweedconcerts.com.
“Untitled (landscape)” by Joe Andoe
- See the works of Oklahoma-connected artists Shelley Horton-Tripe, Joe Andoe and Marko Krakohvil from 1 to 10 p.m. Friday during the seventh annual New Year’s Day Opening at JRB Art at the Elms, 2810 N Walker.
- View new exhibits opening at other galleries in the Paseo Arts District from 6 to 10 p.m. Friday and noon to 5 p.m. Saturday during the monthly Paseo Gallery Walk. Information: 525-2688 or www.thepaseo.com.
- Watch American Indian dancing at the Oklahoma City Pow-Wow Club’s Annual New Year’s Dance at 2 p.m. Saturday in the Centennial Building at State Fair Park. Information: 919-1572 or www.okstatefairpark.com.
Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey
- TULSA – Spend New Year’s Eve listening to Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey and The Panda Resistance at 8 tonight at The Eclipse, 1336 E Sixth Street. Information: www.myspace.com/eclipsetulsa.
- Take advantage of the last weekend for Downtown in December, which includes the Devon Ice Rink, Chesapeake Snow Tubing at the Brick and the new Automobile Alley Lights on Broadway. The festivities end Sunday. Information: www.downtownindecember.com.
- THACKERVILLE – Hear the Zac Brown Band at 8 p.m. Saturday at WinStar World Casino. (I’ll have an interview with Zac Brown Band fiddler Jimmy De Martini here Friday.) Or catch Earth, Wind & Fire in concert at 9 p.m. Friday at WinStar. Information: (800) 622-6317 or www.winstarworldcasino.com.
Hosty Duo (The Oklahoman Archives photo)
- NORMAN – Celebrate the New Year with the Hosty Duo at 10 tonight at The Deli, 309 White Street. Information: www.thedeli.us.
- Bring in the New Year with Little League Hero, Oida and Green Corn Revival at 8 tonight at 51st Street Speakeasy, 1114 NW 51 Street. Information: www.myspace.com/51speakeasy
- Watch the Oklahoma City Thunder take on the Utah Jazz in a New Year’s Eve game at 7 tonight at the Ford Center, 100 W Reno. Information: www.thunder.nba.com.
Aelbert Cuyp, “Herdsman with Cows”
- See the special exhibit “The Dutch Italianates: 17th-century Masterpieces from Dulwich Picture Gallery, London” Saturday or Sunday before it closes at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art, 415 Couch Drive. The final day for the exhibit is Sunday. Information: www.okcmoa.com.
- Ring in the New Year with special shows featuring comic Rahn Ramey at 7:30 and 10 tonight at the Looney Bin Comedy Club, 8503 N Rockwell Ave. Information: www.loonybincomedy.com/ok.
- TULSA – Catch the sixth (and possibly final) Copy Copy Holiday Extravaganza, also featuring Algebra, Popular Culture and Lizard Police, at 6 p.m. Friday at The Marquee, 222 N Main. Information: www.myspace.com/themarqueetulsa.
- BAM
What to do in Oklahoma on Dec. 31, 2009
Flaming Lips frontman Wayne Coyne poses for a photo in the NewsOK studios. (Photo by Chris Landsberger/The Oklahoman)
Today’s featured event:
Celebrate the end of 2009 and start of 2010 at The Flaming Lips New Year’s Eve Freakout #3 at 8:30 tonight at the Cox Convention Center in downtown. The opening act will be another Oklahoma City psychedelic rock band, Stardeath and White Dwarfs.
After the confetti cannons have fired, thousands of balloons have dropped and the countdown to midnight has been completed, the Lips and Stardeath will again take the stage to perform the Pink Floyd album “The Dark Side of the Moon” in its entirety.
Lips frontman Wayne Coyne recently talked to Entertainment Editor Gene Triplett about the NYE Freakout. To read Gene’s story, click here.
I’ll be covering the Freakout this year, so expect to see my review of the show sometime in the wee hours of the New Year.
For more information, go to www.coxconventioncenter.com.
For more events, go to www.wimgo.com.
-BAM
“Lord of the Rings” director Peter Jackson knighted
Peter Jackson (Associated Press photo)
Filmmaker Peter Jackson has been knighted in his native New Zealand, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Jackson, whose “Lord of the Rings” trilogy earned 17 Oscars, has been made a knight in New Zealand’s New Year Honors’ list. On the annual list honoring the country’s worthy citizens for, Sir Peter Jackson is lauded for ”services to film.”
New Zealand knights and dames are sanctioned by Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II, who is New Zealand’s head of state because the country used to be a British colony.
For the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, Jackson used New Zealand’s natural scenery as the landscape for J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantasy land Middle Earth. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the films broke box office records worldwide, won Jackson international accolades and caused a spike in tourism to New Zealand.
Jackson is working on the two-movie “LOTR” prequel “The Hobbit” with celebrated Mexican director Guillermo del Toro. Jackson finished the screenplay for the first “Hobbit” film in summer. He told fans at Comic-Con in August that the films would be based not only on Tolkien’s book “The Hobbit” but also on other stories about the characters drawn from the “LOTR” trilogy.
Jackson’s latest film, the big-screen adaptation of “The Lovely Bones,” which he wrote, directed and produced, will open in Oklahoma City next month.
-BAM
Taylor Swift, Beyonce, Black Eyed Peas to perform at Jan. 31 Grammy Awards
Beyonce (Associated Press photo)
Grammy Award nominees Beyoncé, The Black Eyed Peas, Lady Antebellum, Maxwell and Taylor Swift recently became the first performers announced for the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards.
The awards show will air live from the Staples Center in Los Angeles from 7 to 10:30 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 31 on CBS. Additional performers, presenters and special segments will be announced later.
Ten-time Grammy winner Beyoncé leads with 10 nominations: Record Of The Year and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for “Halo”; Album Of The Year and Best Contemporary R&B Album for “I Am…Sasha Fierce”; Song Of The Year, Best Female R&B Vocal Performance, and Best R&B Song for “Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)”; Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance for “At Last”; Best Rap/Sung Collaboration for “Ego” (with Kanye West); and Best Song Written For Motion Picture, Television Or Other Visual Media for “Once In A Lifetime” (from “Cadillac Records,” with Ian Dench, James Dring, Amanda Ghost, Scott McFarnon and Jody Street).
Taylor Swift has eight nods: Record Of The Year, Song Of The Year (with Liz Rose), and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for “You Belong With Me”; Album Of The Year and Best Country Album for “Fearless”; Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals for “Breathe” (with Colbie Caillat); and Best Female Country Vocal Performance and Best Country Song (with Liz Rose) for “White Horse.”
Maxwell and three-time Grammy winner The Black Eyed Peas and each are up for six awards. The Black Eyed Peas are nominated for Record Of The Year and Best Pop Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals for “I Gotta Feeling,” Album Of The Year and Best Pop Vocal Album for “THE E.N.D.” and Best Dance Recording and Best Short Form Video for “Boom Boom Pow.”
Maxwell is nominated for Song Of The Year, Best Male R&B Vocal Performance, and Best R&B Song for “Pretty Wings,” Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for “Love You,” Best Pop Instrumental Performance for “Phoenix Rise” and Best R&B Album for “BLACKsummers’night.”
Lady Antebellum has two nominations: Best Country Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals and Best Country Song (with Tom Douglas) for “I Run To You.”
As previously announced, music fans can upload a 20-second video of themselves singing along to a portion of The Black Eyed Peas’ “I Gotta Feeling” for a chance to have their video appear as part of the Peas’ performance on the Grammys. Videos may be uploaded to www.cbs.com/specials/grammys/upload and http://bepgrammys.dipdive.com/extrapages/11896 through Jan. 15.
For more information on the Grammys, go to www.cbs.com/specials/grammys.
-BAM
Bonus Video Spotlight: “Toy Story 3″ clip
Disney/Pixar last week released an intriguing new clip from the anticipated sequel “Toy Story 3,” due in theaters June 18.
The long-awaited film is set 10 years after 1999’s “Toy Story 2,” as Andy prepares to go off to college, leaving the fate of his toys Woody the Sheriff, Buzz Lightyear and the rest in flux.
For more on the sequel, also check out the first trailer, which was released a couple months ago:
-BAM
Wednesday Video Spotlight: Holidays with The Flaming Lips
Oklahoma City music luminary Wayne Coyne recently visited the NewsOK studios to talk about The Flaming Lips New Year’s Eve Freakout #3. The show, featuring Stardeath and White Dwarfs, will ring in 2010 starting at 8:30 p.m. Thursday at the Cox Convention Center.
The Lips frontman talked with Entertainment Editor Gene Triplett at length about the concert. Check out the NewsOK video posted above.
The event is sure to bring 2009 to a stunning close, with otherworldly music, confetti cannons and what Coyne believes will be the world’s largest balloon drop.
Following the countdown to midnight, the Lips and Stardeath will start off the new decade by performing the seminal 1973 Pink Floyd album “The Dark Side of the Moon” in its entirety. The bands recently released their rendition of the album, featuring Peaches and Henry Rollins, through digital outlets such as iTunes.
While at NewsOK, Coyne and bandmate Steven Drozd appeared on the very first Christmas episode of George Lang’s excellent interview/performance video series Static. They did a musical reading of “Twas the Night Before Christmas” and performed “White Christmas” (a fine choice considering Oklahoma City was blanketed by a blizzard on Christmas Eve) and “Silent Night.”
Though Christmas has passed, this bit of Lips-style holiday cheer definitely is worth sharing:
I’ll be covering the New Year’s Eve Freakout this year, so expect to see my review of the show sometime in the wee hours of New Year’s Day.
Happy Holidays!
-BAM
