ROCK & ROLL AT THE OKLAHOMA HISTORY CENTER

The exhibit may be called "Another Hot Oklahoma Night" but it was a rainy afternoon for the grand opening of the Oklahoma History Center's look at the history of rock and roll music in Oklahoma.

Displays included items from the Flaming Lips, All American Rejects, the Red Dirt Rangers and numerous other musicians from Oklahoma.



Click here for the Oklahoma History Center's rock and roll blog.

AURORA CEMETERY - ALIEN GRAVE ?

On Friday, April 3rd, we again visited the Aurora (TX) Cemetery, which is about 10 miles west of the Texas Motor Speedway. An alien was allegedly buried in the cemetery following the crash of his spacecraft on April 19, 1897.

Why had Birdie O. Bradshaw's gravesite been burned recently?

CANADIAN GEESE AT LAKE HEFNER

Photos of Canadian geese near the lighthouse at Lake Hefner, Oklahoma City OK. The mother is on a nest and the father is pacing around the nest.

KINCAID'S HAMBURGERS - WHERE FRIENDS MEET TO EAT

After a long day last Saturday at the Texas Motor Speedway, we had to check out the original Kincaid's Hamburgers at 4901 Camp Bowie Blvd. in Ft. Worth TX. Kincaid's is one of Hamburger America's "100 Great Burger Joints."

At the counter in the back of the restaurant, your order is written on a white sack and when your name is called, your food is inside the same sack. We had a hamburger and cheeseburger with a side of fried okra. Add in a $6 tee shirt and the order was less than $20.

DALLAS COWBOYS NEW STADIUM

Photos of the Dallas Cowboys new stadium, still under construction, near the Texas Rangers' Ballpark at Arlington.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY !!

ROUTE 66 - OKLAHOMA MUSEUM

ROUTE 66 - LUCILLE'S

ROUTE 66 - 66 WEST TWIN DRIVE IN

ROUTE 66 - PONY BRIDGE

Photos of the bridge over the South Canadian River west of Bridgeport OK, on historical Route 66. The bridge consists of 38 "pony" trusses each 100 feet long. In the movie The Grapes of Wrath, Grandpa dies before the Joad family leaves Oklahoma and is buried near the west end of the bridge. For more info, check out TravelOK, Waymarking, and Legends of America.

ROUTE 66 - BRIDGEPORT HILL

West of El Reno and just east of the Pony Bridge is "Bridgeport Hill." This stretch of historic
Route 66 has the curbs that seem to be common in Western Oklahoma, but I haven't seen east of Oklahoma City. Route 66 legend has it that the hill was hard for some cars to climb and dangerous in bad weather.

ROUTE 66 - YUKON OK

ROUTE 66 - OVERHOLSER BRIDGE

Old Route 66 went west out of Oklahoma City on what is now the 39th Street Expressway. Just west of Bethany OK is the Lake Overholser Bridge. It is no longer used, but you can park nearby and walk out onto the bridge. These photos were taken on a chilly January afternoon.

OKLAHOMA HISTORY CENTER

These are photos of various items outside the Oklahoma History Center on a cold January morning, including the Allen Houser sculpture "Unconquered" and views of the State Capitol and an oil field exhibit.

ROUTE 66 - BRISTOW TO ARCADIA

A couple of gas stations on Route 66, near Bristow OK.














This is a section of the original US Route 66 that parallels the current OK 66, and acts as a frontage road for a few residences.














The Rock Cafe in Stroud OK approximately 8 months after it burned down in May 2008.














Gas station near Davenport OK.














The Lincoln Motel, still open in Chandler OK.














Phillips 66 "cottage" style gas station in Chandler OK.














Privately-owned section of old Route 66 that you can get to from the current OK 66 and actually drive on for a short distance.














Views of the pop bottle at dusk at Pops in Arcadia OK.

NEW YEAR'S EVE WITH THE FLAMING LIPS

ROUTE 66 - INSIDE THE ROUND BARN - POPS

Photos of a quick trip out to Arcadia OK for lunch at Pops and a look inside the Round Barn on Route 66.

OKLAHOMA CITY MUSEUM OF ART

Today, RKC and I went to the Oklahoma City Museum of Art for the "American Impressionism from the Phillips Collection" exhibit. Visitors were not allowed to photograph the paintings, so here are photos of some of the Museum's large Dale Chihuly glass collection, including the Museum's Eleanor Blake Kirkpatrick Memorial Tower, which is his tallest installation to date.

COLDPLAY

Sunday night, November 16th, Coldplay returned to the Ford Center in Oklahoma City as part of the "Viva La Vida" tour.

VIOLET HILL
Was a long and dark December
From the rooftops I remember
There was snow, white snow
Clearly I remember
From the windows they were watching
While we froze down below

THE HARDEST PART
And the hardest part was letting go, not taking part
It was the hardest part
And the strangest thing was waiting for that bell to ring
It was the strangest start

VIVA LA VIDA
I hear Jerusalem bells a-ringing
Roman cavalry choirs are singing
Be my mirror my sword and shield
Missionaries in a foreign field
For some reason I can’t explain
I know Saint Peter won't call my name
Never an honest word
But that was when I ruled the world

THE SCIENTIST
I was just guessing
At numbers and figures
Pulling the puzzles apart

LOVERS IN JAPAN
Tonight maybe we're gonna run
Dreaming of the Osaka sun
Dreaming of when the morning comes

YELLOW
Look at the stars, Look how they shine for you.
And everything you do. Yeah, they were all yellow.
I came along, I wrote a song for you.
And all the things you do, And it was called yellow.

Here is a link to a review of the concert at Newsok.com.

And Coldplay.com blog # 54 had this to say about the OKC show:

It's pretty common for shows in more out of the way places to be the ones with the most enthusiastic crowds. Oklahoma then, has potential to be a right good night out. We arrive late in the day, as soundcheck has been bypassed yet again. At the top of the ramp that leads us into the bowels of the arena are three young ladies holding banners who giddily bounce and wave as the band's vehicles swing around the corner. This is obviously not the only time this has happened, however when we emerge some hours later after the show, they are still there and they are just as excitable. I really do hope that they saw the show in between. Not just because they clearly were wonderfully bonkers about the band, but because it was a particularly good night.

Being in the hometown of the Flaming Lips means a lot at a Coldplay gig. Not only are the band great friends with the Lips guys, but so too are some of the crew. Hoppy, who looks after Chris's guitars worked for them many years ago. So did keyboard tech Neill Lambert (also now infamous as Chris's spooky Halloween attacker). I pass Neill in the corridor just as Wayne Coyne is making his way into the arena. Somewhat fittingly, Neill is in the middle of building a robot out of some metal electrical casings he's rescued from the dumpster. Proof if it were needed that we're heading now onto the beautiful slippery slope into what is commonly referred to as tour madness. I can only imagine that by Christmas, there are going to be a lot of inane grins and wonderfully skewed mental states. In the meantime, Neill's as yet unamed creation has been given a job in the Production Office dispensing setlists. I'm not sure he's even seen the Talk video. Maybe it's just subconscious...

The show itself is most enjoyable. As predicted, the crowd goes berserk even from before the intro tape and they're clearly out for a good time. Never ones to shy away from joining in, the fellas are lifted into the high gears early on. Will particularly, seems to be attacking the kit like it's something personal. I wouldn't wanna be a snare drum in Oklahoma tonight...

It only remains for the butterfly confetti to fall and it's pretty much all over. I remember doing a festival some years ago where The Flaming Lips were playing. I think I may still have some of the confetti in the back of my racks even now. It was an utterly joyous experience watching them play. I wonder what Wayne thought of the butterflies. I hope he liked 'em. I'm just hoping Chris doesn't decide that he wants to do the encores in a huge bubble so he can walk over the audience's heads from now on. How the hell would we get the piano in there...?

.

GARBER OKLAHOMA

On the way to a Sterling College soccer game at Friends University in Wichita KS, we went north out of Oklahoma City on Highway 74. Here are some photos taken in Garber OK.

REFLECTIONS

GALVESTON TX

Here are some views of Galveston Island Texas during a vacation in the summer of 2004. It's now dark on Galveston, so I guess we won't know what damage Hurricane Ike does until daylight Saturday morning. Let's hope for the best.

HURRICANE GUSTAV EVACUEES IN OKLAHOMA CITY

Hurricane Gustav evacuees from Louisiana have begun arriving in Oklahoma City. They are being housed at the old Western Electric/Lucent Technologies building in west OKC. While we were there, we saw a press conference with information officer Sgt. Balderrama of the OCPD, one bus leave and one arrive, lots of folks walking to and from the nearby fast food restaurants and spoke with a couple from Abbeville LA.

CAMERA CRITTERS 8-31-08

Martin Park Nature Center, Oklahoma City OK, Sunday, 11:00 a.m. CDT, 78 degrees F, very humid after thunderstorm last night. Click on the bumblebee photo to see the pollen covering his body.

NEW ORLEANS

Photos of New Orleans LA, taken in late October 2005, two months after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita hit the area.

AUGUST 28, 1963

"I HAVE A DREAM"

I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.
Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.
But 100 years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. And so we've come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.
In a sense we've come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men - yes, black men as well as white men - would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check that has come back marked "insufficient funds."
But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. And so we've come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and security of justice. We have also come to his hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.
It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end but a beginning. Those who hoped that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.
But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone.
And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating "for whites only." We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no we are not satisfied and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.
I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.
Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed.
Let us not wallow in the valley of despair. I say to you today my friends - so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification - one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.
I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together.
This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.
This will be the day, this will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning "My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my father's died, land of the Pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring!"
And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true. And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.
Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado. Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.
But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.
Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.
Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi - from every mountainside.
Let freedom ring. And when this happens, and when we allow freedom ring - when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children - black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics - will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: "Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"

Distribution statement: Accepted as part of the Douglass Archives of American Public Address (http://douglass.speech.nwu.edu) on May 26, 1999. Prepared by D. Oetting (http://nonce.com/oetting).

Permission is hereby granted to download, reprint, and/or otherwise redistribute this file, provided this distribution statement is included and appropriate point of origin credit is given to the preparer and Douglass.

MARTIN PARK NATURE CENTER

Sunday morning at Martin Park Nature Center in northwest Oklahoma City.

CLARA LUPER

"50 YEARS AGO, OKLAHOMA CITY CHILDREN HELPED CHANGE NATION WHEN THEY SAT DOWN"

"On August 19, 1958, Clara Luper led 13 children into Katz Drug Store. They took seats at a nearly empty lunch counter. They ordered hamburgers and Cokes, but the waitress said they would not be served. They stayed for hours. They returned the next day, then the next, when finally they were served at Katz. "

[Daily Oklahoman & Newsok.com]

45th INFANTRY DIVISION MUSEUM

These are photos of the 45th Infantry Division Museum in Oklahoma City OK. The indoor part of the museum has a large collection of items relevant to the military history of the State of Oklahoma, especially the "Thunderbirds," and includes more than 200 original Bill Mauldin cartoons. Outside, Thunderbird Park has over 60 types of equipment.

J&W GRILL - CHICKASHA OK - HAMBURGER AMERICA

George Motz' book, Hamburger America, includes J&W Grill in Chickasha OK. For other Hamburger America related photos, see my posts for Hamburger Festival, Meers Store and Santa Fe NM.

CHICKASHA OK

Forty five minutes southwest of Oklahoma City is Chickasha OK, county seat of Grady County. Shown are the Grady County Courthouse, Chickasha City Hall, former Rock Island train station and Washita Theater.

LAND RUN STATUE

This statue memorializing the Land Run of 1889 is located in downtown Oklahoma City east of Robinson Avenue, across the street from Leadership Square.

ECLIPSE OF THE MOON

LAKE HEFNER

Photos of Lake Hefner in northwest Oklahoma City, taken on a hot sunny day at approximately 11:00 am, near the East Wharf area.

BRICKTOWN BALLPARK MOSAIC MURALS

These photographs were taken outside the Johnny Bench/home plate entrance to the Oklahoma Redhawks' Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City. Three murals are to the left of the entrance; three are to the right. The plaques describe the scenes depicted in each panel. This is a link to a photo on the Redhawks site, which shows the murals, entrance and Johnny Bench statue.

FAMOUS OKLAHOMANS MURAL AT BRICKTOWN

This is a mural of famous Oklahomans on Broadway Avenue in downtown Oklahoma City, on the west side of Bricktown. Various celebrities are shown waving from a train. These photos are of political, social and entertainment personalities. For my photos of the sports personalities depicted on the mural, check out my other blog at KHC's Sports Photos.

Shown top to bottom, left to right, are :

Garth Brooks - James Garner
The Flaming Lips - Clara Luper
Mat Hoffman - Reba McEntire
Ron Howard - Thomas Stafford
Leon Russell/Blake Shelton - Vince Gill
Jimmy Webb - Toby Keith
Enoch Kelly Haney - Dale Robertson/Shannon Lucid
The Gap Band/Carrie Underwood - The All American Rejects

MORE KILL HANNAH PHOTOS

These photos were taken at Bricktown Live on July 9th. The green photo is Jonny, all others are Mat.

KILL HANNAH AT BRICKTOWN LIVE IN OKC 7-9-08

ROSWELL NM

Sixty-one years ago today, on July 8, 1947, the Roswell Daily Record reported the capture of a flying saucer that had crashed near Roswell NM.

On July 3, 2006, we travelled from Santa Fe NM to Roswell NM during the annual UFO festival. Here are some photos of our visit in 2006.

KILL HANNAH RETURNS TO OKC 7-9-08

The Oklahoma Gazette has previewed the July 9, 2008, Kill Hannah show at Bricktown Live, in this article.

TINKER AIR FORCE BASE - MIDWEST CITY

These photos were taken this afternoon at the Charles B. Hall Memorial Air Park at Tinker Air Force Base in Midwest City OK. Note the AWACS plane in the background of the next to last photo.
The Air Park is named for one of the Tuskegee Airmen. Major Hall was the first African-American to down an enemy aircraft, in July 1943.

The planes in these photos (left to right, top to bottom) are:

B-47 Stratojet; F-104 Starfighter
C-135 Stratolifter; C-47 Skytrain
B-52 Stratofortress; B-52 Stratofortress
B-29 Superfortress; B-1B Lancer
B-52 Stratofortress; E-3 Sentry (AWACS)

GRANDFATHER'S BIRTHDAY

Today would have been my maternal grandfather's 100th birthday. He is shown here with his dachsund (left photo) and my son and me at his 82nd birthday party (right photo).

ALL AMERICAN REJECTS - STILLWATER OK

Stillwater OK's All American Rejects are supporting the "Rock the Vote" campaign and also have a "Demand It" contest where the top 5 voting cities get added to AAR's tour.

THE GIRL SCOUT MURDERS

Oklahoma's most infamous "cold case," the "Girl Scout Murders," has once again been in the news. After 30 years additional DNA testing was conducted, but results were "inconclusive." The current District Attorney's press release discusses results of the testing. Additional articles about the case and testing are available here, here, here, here, here and here. A slideshow of photos by The Daily Oklahoman is available here.

Escaped prisoner Gene Leroy Hart was charged with murdering the three Girl Scouts but was acquitted after a three week trial. I took this photo of Hart as he was being led from the Mayes County jail to the courthouse in March 1979.

HARRAH OK

Today, I needed to drive to Harrah OK. Pictured are Harrah High School and Evans Field, home of the Harrah Panthers. Baseball Hall of Famers Paul Waner and Lloyd Waner were born in Harrah.

PLAZA DISTRICT

This weekend is "Live on the Plaza" in Oklahoma City. The photographs are of a mural that is painted on the outside wall of a building in the Plaza District, near NW 16th and Blackwelder.

INSIDE THE STATE CAPITOL

Views from inside the Oklahoma State Capitol in Oklahoma City. Photos include:

Jim Thorpe - Mickey Mantle - Sequoyah
Sen. Robert S Kerr - Will Rogers - Wiley Post

OKLAHOMA STATE SEAL TAKEN 6/11/1910

Today is the anniversary of when the official Oklahoma State Seal was "moved" in the middle of the night from Guthrie and taken by horseback to Oklahoma City, which then became the capitol of Oklahoma. Photographs include:
Row 1: the courthouse in Guthrie, from where the seal was taken
Row 2: the state capitol in Oklahoma City
Row 3: views from inside the dome
Row 4: "The Guardian" statue by Enoch Kelly Haney, which was added to the capitol along with the dome in 2002.

99s MUSEUM OF WOMEN PILOTS

I read in the "Oklahoma Gazette" that the "99s Museum of Women Pilots" located at 4300 Amelia Earhart Road, near Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma City, had an open house to introduce the museum, so of course we went. We especially wanted to see the Amelia Earhart exhibits and were not disappointed. Here are some photos.

ROBERT F KENNEDY

November 20, 1925 - June 6, 1968

http://rfkmemorial.org/