For future interns,  some advice:

1. The company cars (or some of them) are very… flamboyant. You’ll be representing the paper throughout the summer but you’ll really be representing whenever you drive one of those cars.

2. You’ll probably get lost at least once going to the cafeteria. I think it took us about a week or so before we got used to it. Or you can just go to Sala Thai which was our favorite lunch spot (we still got lost going there too).

3.  Get to know people outside of your department. I did and I had a lot of fun conversations and got to provide input for things outside of what I would normally do. And they tell you about the good stuff (free food/book grabs etc.).

4. CCI is crazy. And crashes a lot or freezes or is otherwise troublesome. Get used to it.

5. Features and news are two different worlds. However, we do NOT have siestas on the ninth floor.

6. Never blog about bone marrow. Ever.

7. Work for other sections when you can. I think I hold the record for the number of different sections/editors I worked for.

8. There’s always something to do somewhere. Just ask.

9. Run people through the court system.  My editor advised me to do so for some “model citizens” who were not quite upstanding after all.

http://www.oscn.net/applications/oscn/casesearch.asp

10. Use Twitter. Most people at the paper have Twitter so that will keep you briefed on most happenings.

All the professionals who took me under their wing, thank you so much! I have learned so much from you and you all are great examples of the profession!

I can’t believe it is over but all the same, I’m excited to go back to OU and put what I learned into practice at The Oklahoma Daily.

The car’s packed. The iPod is charged. The cooler is full of drinks and snacks. And the road is clear.

I’m Detroit bound.

This experience has been incredibly unique. Completely on a whim, I applied for The Oklahoman’s newsroom internship, hearing it was a tremendous opportunity, but never really knowing what Oklahoma City entailed or what news it brought. Sure, it had the devastating Oklahoma City bombing and loads of tornados rip through it that made national news, but other than that, I was clueless. With a few dailies and a weekly under my belt, it was time to tackle a paper that was sent out to more than 250,000 people everyday.

Ten weeks later, I feel like a pro.

I’ve covered city council, cops and courts, national health care reform protests, debates, U.S. citizenship ceremonies and in-depth feature stories that helped me truly dive into peoples’ lives, digging deeper and deeper with every experience. I have city officials on speed dial and felt the relationships I created were genuine. The Oklahoman, at least in my two months, doesn’t baby or treat you like a newbie. You’re a reporter. The trust is there and they faith you can produce. This isn’t a college newspaper or small little daily that says, “Eh, give it your best shot and we’ll see what comes of it.” You’re brought here for a reason. They’re not just hopeful for you, they expect you to produce.

You’re a part of this team. It’s the fourth quarter and The Oklahoman’s down by 1. With four seconds left on the clock, the ball is inbounded to you.

The game is in your hands — what are you going to do?

That’s how it should be. Every idea I pitched came through and was turned into a story. I’m proud of our intern class because I felt that as if a day never went by without hearing a least one praise about one of us working hard.

It’s been a pleasure, guys and gals. Time to exit stage right, but keep in touch and keep showing your talents.

Time to hit the road.

Colourmusic at Blank Slate

George Lang and I caught Colourmusic before its show for an interview. Make sure to keep your eyes on newsok.com for that video and plenty more we plan on making. My secret weapon to approaching all these artists is…

Wristbands

Keep up with other Dfest updates here… http://twitter.com/NathanPOPPE or here… http://blog.newsok.com/staticblog/

New Song #1 – Silver Trembling Hands

NEW SONG #2 – Convinced of the Hex

Coyne and company also played a couple rarities that probably won’t be seen live anytime soon. Check out the videos below.
Enthusiasm For Life Defeats Existential Fear…
Bad Days

And many other classics…

Fight Test and Yeah Yeah Yeah Song and Race for the Prize

OKC garsurpunk (that’s garage, surf and punk put together) outfit The Boom Bang released a music video recently for the song “Tokyo Roll.” Make sure to check them at the Electric Circus at 7:10 p.m. on Friday at Dfest. Its tunes will in fact turn you into a zombie and rock you into submission until you are, in fact, a fully re-animated corpse. If you don’t believe me, give this a watch.

Photo courtesy NPR.com

Andrew W.K. is set to be the keynote speaker of Dfest, and I couldn’t be more pumped to hear what the heavy metal musicain has to say about anything music related. I stumbled upon a very interesting NPR recording where W.K. cites Sebastian Bach as a big influence. I want you to draw your own comparisons. Click here to give the story a listen.

I think J.S. Bach’s music stands among humankind’s greatest accomplishments. For me, Bach’s music is not only as good as music gets, but also as good as it gets, period — as good as existence, reality, life and the world. “

Until DFest begins, I’ll be posting updates about as many artists as I can. The first update highlights a local band that joined a group of California folk rockers known as Delta Spirit.

In April, Stillwater’s Other Lives sang a few songs with Delta Spirit for the famous French blog Blogotheque. It turned out to be a wonderful combination. Try finding Other Lives frontman in every video. It’s like a very indie version of “Where’s Waldo.” He looks like this.

Jesse Tabish

Delta Spirit – People Turn Around from La Blogotheque on Vimeo.

Delta Spirit – Strange Vine from La Blogotheque on Vimeo.

Delta Spirit – Trashcan from La Blogotheque on Vimeo.

If this new musical venture doesn’t work out for Mr. White, then he can always fall back on writing catchy jingles for Coca-Cola. Click below if you don’t believe me.