7 Hours Till Doomsday
Free agency is looming and team execs are now packing their bags to court the best players on the planet. Well really they are just trying to get Lebron James and others shall follow. My mom told me growing up to be a leader and Lebron is doing that while Chris Bosh is basically waiting on Lebron’s move and is going to follow him wherever he goes. Here’s my predictions on what is going to transpire in the upcoming weeks:
Bulls: Lebron James takes the same path as his childhood idol and brings a new dynasty to Chicago. Chris Bosh follows and they win 3-5 championships but the great six that Michael Jordan won eludes him. O and one more thing. He will never pass Kobe, so who finishes as the best player in their generation?
Heat: Pat Riley keeps the king of Miami, Dwyane Wade and brings in Dirk to give him some help. Riley is a hell of a coach and is definitely a great sellsman in the NBA. Don’t get me wrong Dirk loves Dallas and Cuban but he knows if he teams with the guy that beat him out of a championship in 2006, he could get that NBA ring to go along with that 2007 MVP trophy. I see them winning one championship because Pat Riley will bring in some good role players to back them.
Knicks: The Greater Mecca of basketball is in need of some excitement and a championship as soon as possible. The Knicks don’t get Lebron but they still make out like thieves. David Lee will re-sign and Mike D’antoni will bring two of his former players together to make the Knicks a playoff contender, Joe Johnson and Amare Stoudemire. And if T-Mac can put together one more godly season this team can go some places.
Nets: Although they have the billionaire owner and Jay-Z on their side those 12 wins aren’t very appealing but they do pick up Carlos Boozer for a gazillion dollars giving Brook Lopez some much needed help on the frontline. Hello Brooklyn.
And Rudy Gay will become a Clipper and Paul Pierce will stay in Boston and try to make one more run at it.
For the times they are a-changin’
Journalism sure has changed a lot in the past two years. Journalism has changed as an industry and in terms of my own career.
The last time I was working in a newsroom was in 2008. Back then I was working as a staff photojournalist in Kansas City. Now I find myself a graduate student interning as a reporter. Instead of driving around town taking photographs I now sit behind a desk typing on a keyboard. Don’t get me wrong, there are definitely perks to being a reporter. For one, I finally get my own desk, computer and telephone. For years I often worked from a laptop in my vehicle using only a cell phone to communicate.
I also finally get to experience journalism from a words point-of-view. In undergrad my love of words was expressed in my creative writing classes. I often found the journalism style of writing to be bland and dry. However, I am now rediscovering that writing for newspapers and other media outlets does not have to be that way. News and information is readily available everywhere, things are more niche and media outlets are trying to stand out from the crowd. In fact, in my short career in journalism there have been many things that have changed.
I first picked up a camera in college in 2002 when I was a sophomore. I was the first photographer on our campus newspaper staff to use the new digital camera. In 2005, I was hired as a photojournalist at the Kansas City Star. A year later, a video camera was thrust into my hands. It was the start of what I like to call the “multimedia craze” because suddenly everyone in the newsroom was expected to shoot video. However, I liked multimedia and video and continue to embrace it. Then a year later, the recession hit and layoffs began.
People that had worked at the newspaper for years were suddenly gone. Whispers of layoffs that started as rumors were later solidified into reality during department meetings. It was at this time I decided to return to school to learn the art of reporting and writing.
The atmosphere in journalism at that time was you needed to be a jack of all trades. Today that trend is still evident, but now newsrooms have embraced social media and networking. As an intern at the Oklahoman we are expected to have a Facebook and Twitter profile. At my other internships prior to my first full-time job, these might have been discouraged and seen as a waste of time. Now these social sites are encouraged and utilized. We are even required to write blogs like this one chronicling our experiences here at the newspaper.
Journalism certainly has changed since my first days in undergrad to my first job and now my first internship as a reporter. First of all, I never anticipated working on the words side of journalism. I never saw myself picking up a video camera and learning how to edit. And I never predicted someday I would be expected to tweet, post and blog as a journalist.
I know I haven’t been in the journalism game that long, but I wonder what changes will come in journalism and my career in the next 10 years.
John Wall Hype
Finally, the Washington Wizards get a break, but as a Wizard fan, I’m almost positive that this fortune or luck will only last a year (maybe two). John Wall has not even played an NBA game, yet D.C. is playing him up like he’s Lebron James or Dwyane Wade. Wall is a great pick, however, the Wiz should be surrounding their 1st pick with a solid core.
General Manager, Ernie Grunfeld, needs to look at how Sam Presti makes things happen in OKC. Ernie has never put together a championship contending team (or a team that is at least 2nd or 3rd best in the East). Even when the Wiz had Caron, Jamison, and Arenas, the Wiz had no chance of doing anything. They couldn’t even get out of the second round and kept getting stuck with mid-level first round round draft picks, year, after year, after year. They had no defense, no leadership, the least intimidating jerseys ever assembled, and an icon and general manager that acted like clowns.
What I enjoy most about the Wiz franchise is how the people that caused the most trouble for the Wiz (GM and Arenas) stayed in town, but the players with character, veteran experience, and toughness were all shipped off to new cities. Now, even with a franchise player and a new owner (who knows a thing or two about success), the Wiz still have Grunfeld and Arenas. In addition, the team does not have a leader. They’re all young, into antics, and inexperienced. Who is going to take over when a game needs to be won and get the team to play as a unit in crunch time? The answer is simple: JACK!
Year after year, Wizard fans continue to get JACKED! The team’s biggest flaws were defense, toughness, big men, and veteran experience. And when the Wiz have a chance to wheel and deal during the draft (possibly picking up someone with a number 11 pick) we pick up other teams’ trash in their attempt to land Lebron James. Just like the Wiz were responsible for the Lakers acquiring Pau Gasol (through a three-way trade with Memphis, the Wiz, and LA), I have a bad feeling that the Wiz will be responsible for the Bulls picking up Lebron James.
The whole Wiz squad is as soft as the Smurfs at a picnic and to fix that, they pick up Kirk Heinrich from the Bulls and Yi from the Nets. I don’t see the sense in these moves being that we will have no toughness inside especially with the addition of Yi and now we have six PGs. That’s right, SIX PGs (Foye, Livingston, Boykins, Heinrich, Arenas, Wall)! What ever happened to adding depth to your team?
So far, it’s the same antics from the Wiz. I’m excited for the pick of John Wall, no doubt, but one man will not lead the Wiz to the promise land. I’m not an insane person, so I’m not going to keep hoping that things will get better fo
Photo Courtesy of TruthAboutIt.net
r the Wiz when the management keeps doing the same thing every year.
I’m happy for now, but once the season starts I have a feeling I’m going to be shaking my head in anguish for the next ten years. In the meantime, I will be cheering for a team that knows how to manage and scout, the Thunder, while the LA Lakers continue to dominate every aspect of the game.
Video: Ashlee Madison “My Escape” Tribute
Friends of Ashlee Madison gathered Thursday to rehearse for a Jazz in June memorial concert, and I thought it would be a good chance to not only film local music but also get some insight into Madison.
She died in April shortly before she was supposed to perform with Oklahoma rapper Jabee at the 2010 Norman Music Festival. I had never seen her perform, but her voice was something special.
Staff Writer Jane Cannon wrote a story previewing the Saturday performance.
-Poppe
Live Nathan: A little teamwork can create beautiful music
Illustration by Nathan Poppe
This column ran in the June 23 LOOK@OKC.
Whenever I wanted to volunteer for something in school, from kindergarten to college, I raised my hand as high as possible.
I think a lot of local bands are doing the same thing.
I recognized this trend after hearing about a fight breaking out in front of the Sooner Theatre in downtown Norman during the 3rd annual Norman Music Festival in April. A fan of The Non wrestled with a security guard in a desperate attempt to see the Oklahoma City instrumental quartet play with an orchestra.
People wanted to see this show, but hundreds were turned away.
This situation is ridiculous and awesome because this rarely happens in Oklahoma. I thought I’d witness a scissor-tailed fly catcher with two heads stealing a baby before I’d see people react to a local show like this.
Cool Quote #3: Jeen Keaf
‘Retardo El Dundo’ was my first movie.”
- Jeen Keaf about her film career and acting in her grandson’s films. Here’s the story she’s in.
How to handle awkward “Situations”
“Thanks for taking one for the team, Nathan.”
I heard those words several times Monday morning, but it wasn’t because I bought breakfast for the entire 9th floor or because I’m good at sports.
Last Friday, nobody could cover the visit of The Situation, the “Jersey Shore” star, to City Walk in downtown Oklahoma City, but I went because I’m always eager to practice shooting with my camera, even in the face of danger.
I got to City Walk early so I wouldn’t miss anything interesting, but ended up getting there three hours before The Situation. So, I filmed and tried not to be awkward.
That wasn’t easy.
Review: Drive-By Truckers at Cain’s Ballroom
Saturday night, the expanse of wood floor at Cain’s Ballroom hosted the people it was built to serve in 1924: Wearers of cowboy boots.
That’s because the South’s best and longest-running songwriting duo Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley had rolled into town with the other four members of Drive-By Truckers (all of whom were also clad in brown leather boots and pearl-snap ranch-hand shirts) and a stable of guitars in tow.
Their live catalogue plunges deep into the mid-1990s with eight studio records, though they’ve made their living and reputation on the road. With three singers (Hood, Cooley and bassist Shonna Tucker for that female touch) and just as many guitars, it wasn’t any surprise that the set was long. The Truckers kicked off at 9:30 and played well past 11:30 with a single interruption for encore.
“After the Scene Dies” set the tone for the night as a loud fist-pumper, one of the eight songs they played from their most recent record, The Big To-Do. Said tone was both loud and driven by soaring guitar play between the talented Cooley, Hood and quality third man John Neff, though they broke the monopoly up nicely by interspersing Tucker’s songs in with tracks from 2008′s omnivorous Brighter Than Creation’s Dark.
Tucker shined early in the set with “(It’s Gonna Be) I Told You So” and later dazzled in front of flashing lights and crashing drums on “Home Field Advantage”, one of the evening’s best. The band’s live chops and tendencies are well-honed; they appeared to be playing without a setlist, simply agreeing on the next song as they finished each one.
One was “The Wig He Made Her Wear”, one of the least subtle and most disturbing songs –it concerns the self-defense murder of a pervert preacher by his wife– in recent memory. Most disturbing though was the crowd’s reaction, which could only be described as extremely supportive, likely because of the song’s addictive swaying guitar rhythms and Hood’s emphatic singing. It was the best-received song of the evening.
After a short break around 11 p.m. they returned to play three Lynyrd Skynyrd homages but that just wasn’t enough. After “A Ghost To Most”, Hood delivered a brief sermon about the value of “persistence, persistence, persistence” which he said resulted in getting to open for Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers, the band he and Cooley had named their first band (Breakdown) after more than 25 years ago. It was a testament as powerful and moving as “Let There Be Rock”, the final song in the set.
–Carney
LA filmmakers choose Oklahoma for premiere
Hollywood filmmakers David Mueller, Bob Hicks and Lynn Salt wisely chose deadCenter Film Festival for the world premiere of “A Good Day To Die,” their documentary examining the rise of the American Indian Movement and its intrepid co-founder, Dennis Banks.
“We feel that (Oklahoma) is a very appropriate place to unveil the film because this is Native American country,” Mueller said.
Appropriate indeed, because the film — which premieres at 5 p.m. today at the Kerr Auditorium — promotes awareness of the little-known movement that eventually secured a better future for American Indians everywhere.
Produced in just over two years, “A Good Day To Die” combines archival footage with interviews documenting both the rise of the American Indian Movement (A.I.M.) and the life of Banks, its co-founder and leader.
“It’s a history that hasn’t been told and desperately needs to be told,” Mueller said.
Now retired and living in Okmulgee, the film’s associate producer, Bob Hicks, is of Creek and Seminole heritage and one such beneficiary of Banks’ hard work.
“I wanted to make a contribution in the sense that everything that I saw on the screen dealing with Native Americans was always being played by non-Indians,” Hicks said.
“I thought rather than griping about it, I should learn how to make the movies and make a movie about it.”
Originally from Okemah, Hicks traveled to Los Angeles in 1979 and received a degree from the American Film Institute.
Mueller said that Hicks’ 25-minute student film “Return of the Country” pushed the envelope in filmmaking.
“Bob’s film was an inspiration to me and Lynn, too, because it really broke ground,” Mueller said.
“It was a very progressive perspective at the time. I think it’s a very important film that will be recognized in the future.”
Salt is a 30-year veteran of the movie industry. “A Good Day To Die” is the product of her passions for recording history and championing American Indians in the arts.
She originally wrote the script intending for it to be a feature film, but after meeting with Banks, it was decided to turn it into a documentary.
The trio hopes the film educates the public about a neglected chapter in American history and the figure at the center of it, Banks, whom Salt compares to Martin Luther King Jr.
“He was the most significant figure in starting the American Indian Movement and I don’t think people know that,” Mueller said. “He’s a remarkable human being with a heroic story.”
Del City man flies Thunderbird home as part of Star Spangled Salute
Rick Goodman watched all sorts of planes fly in and out of Tinker Air Force Base when he attended high school in Del City.
Saturday he’ll be piloting one. And not just any one.
Rick Goodman, graduate of Del City in 1993, flies the number 5 plane for the Thunderbirds. On Thursday June, 15 2010 The Thunderbirds scouted the area of Tinker Air Force Base during the media preview day. Photo by Mitchell Alcala, The Oklahoman
Maj. Goodman will command an F-16 Fighting Falcon as it maneuvers through the air with the rest of the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds, the headlining activity at Tinker’s Star Spangled Salute Air Show.
“It’s like riding a roller coaster, except three times as powerful,” Goodman said of the force generated by the fighter’s acrobatic power — about nine times the pull of Earth’s gravity.
The Thunderbirds are at the top of the bill for Saturday’s air show, which boasts six hours of flying activities in addition to showings of static craft, ground entertainment and a fireworks show.
Goodman graduated from Del City in 1993 and said the decision to attend the Air Force Academy was heavily influenced by the time he spent at Tinker, where his father served as an Air Force chaplain from 1989 to 1993.
“I spent a lot of time on the base,” Goodman said. “I loved it growing up and so I decided that this was something I wanted to do.”
Now Goodman has returned to Oklahoma as an ambassador of the U.S. Air Force, a Thunderbird pilot.
He looks the part, too, all 6 feet, 3 inches of him, from his dark blue beret and clean-shaven chin down to the shine on his black, government-issue boots. “I’ve worn them so much, they’re about as comfortable as a pair of slippers,” he said.
Goodman has flown in England, Turkey and Kuwait for Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. He was plucked from a position teaching pilots at Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas to become a Thunderbird pilot, traveling the country to both perform and educate the public about the field of aeronautics.
Admission and parking is free for the air show, which runs 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday.
“It’s our way of saying thanks to the community for all their tremendous support over the years, so we have an open house. We invite people out and say ‘Hey, come on and see what your Air Force does,’” said Ron Mullan, chief of media operations at the base.
Tinker public affairs officials said plenty of free water will be available for patrons of the show, but visitors should remember to bring sun protection and chairs to carry around, because of the immense size of the base and a lack of seating.
