LTT on break

It’s time for the holidays so LTT will be going on a bit of a break, or lighter posting schedule if you will. Here’s hoping all of the trees will be cleared from the roads and yards before Christmas.

Power to the people

The electricity’s back! At least it is in my neighborhood. They turned downtown back on yesterday, which made for some really eery light effects when that was the only part of town lit up.
However, most of Tulsa and the suburbs are still without power. I know of one person in Broken Arrow who was told he wouldn’t get power back until the 18th. If you can, donate to Catholic Charities of Tulsa or send a donation to the ResCross specifically for Tulsa Storm Relief. I’m going to take the rest of the candles and non-perishable food I haven’t used down to the shelter tomorrow.

Power outages and oil lamps

This ice storm is terrible! There’s a more complete story here about everything that’s going haywire. For the first time last night, there was no view of downtown- the “black zone” stretches from downtown to east of Sheridan. I made a trip to the Walmart off I-244 last night, since it’s about the last place in Tulsa that’s got power still. The place was flooded with people searching for candles, flashlights, ice and water. Unfortunately those aisles had been cleared by the time we got there – about 6 or 7 pm. The worst part is that people were overreacting. Stay calm! Leave if you can, go stay with someone out-of-town. There’s two shelters open downtown and others in BA, Sand Springs and Claremore. The ice is melting today, hopefully that means the roads will be cleared and the electricity restored faster than a week.

So if you’re one of those people without candles or flashlights, here’s an easy and cheap way to make your own light:

Materials:

Vegetable oil, gravy boat (best) or bowl and plate, cotton string, matches

Get ready! You’re going to make your very own Oil Lamp! First: Fill your gravy boat or bowl with a pool of oil. Cut about 6 inches of string and soak it in the vegetable oil. Pull an inch or so of string out so it lies on the lip of the gravy boat or just over the edge of the bowl. Place the bowl on a non-plastic plate. Take a match and light the end of the string. That’s it!

Ice, ice baby

I’m completely iced-in! The Service Truck (So-called for its serviceability and anonymous white exterior) nearly took a hit from a falling tree. And the forecast doesn’t look good. PSO says it could take 7-10 days to restore power to the entire Tulsa area affected- that includes Sand Springs and Broken Arrow. There’s a few privileged customers like the University of Tulsa who’ve been promised electricity by Thursday or Friday. Everyone else should either flee to warmer climes or settle in for a few days’ vacation!

On my Christmas list: a long-handled ice scraper

A cheesy digression

I digress slightly from the regular posting topics for….Italian TV at its most shameless. You have every right to hold me in contempt for wandering from Oklahoma, but I promise this is well worth watching.

This is a tv commercial for Parmesiano Reggiano, one of Italy’s top products.

Some of the funnier bits from the ad: “I was bored, and there wasn’t anything on TV,” “I was alone and unhappy, I needed comany” and “I want a companion for the future who’s fragrant, that’s for sure.” Is anyone surprised there’s nothing on TV?

So wave your hands up in the air and shout pa-pa-pa, parmegiano!

Tulsa art round-up #1!

This is the first installation of some pictures I’ve snapped of public art in Tulsa.

Tulsa Garden Center – The entrance to the small but cute botanical gardens
Labyrinth – A maze based on the one in Chartres Cathedral. I discovered this one on a serendipitous expedition to Squirrel Park in South Tulsa
La Storia della Terra – Six gigantic sculpted books, each made from the stone of a different continent. By far my favorite work
Red Flame – Placed appropriately in front of a fire station.
Inverted fountain – Down in a sunken courtyard of downtown Tulsa. Near the big spiky bronze sculpture, if that helps.

Just another revenue unit

I haven’t posted for a few days! I’ve been busy starting some herb seeds (bad timing, I know) and wishing it would snow. Lately, the weather here has been doing everything but.

The Christmas decorations are up in Utica Square and they’ve since been giving off those cheery- warm- fuzzy -season’s discount- cinnamon -scented fumes stores so often do this time of year. As often as it’s bashed by Tulsans as a “faux European village shopping center for rich people” I can’t help but be charmed when it’s covered in snow and the ribbons, greenery and shiny decorations. I’ve given into the season’s consumer impulse! Ahh!

(RU’s -revenue units- are how Disney refers its visitors in the parks)

ORU finds money!

We can all stop speculating now. ORU will not become the Disneyland of the Midwest, nor will TU acquire a South campus. Mart Green has ridden into Tulsa on his white horse to save ORU with $70 million dollars and a regime change. There was a Tulsa World article today about him. Apparently he’s a nut, but a well-meaning nut. In the article, Matt Green talks about his affinity for fasting. He’s fasted on only juice for forty days and just water for 33 days. Is that possible, let alone healthy? I’ve heard of people dying after just two weeks without food.

I want to see this!

Did anyone see Four Sheets to the Wind? It looks fascinating, if only because it was filmed in Tulsa and about present-day American Indians. It doesn’t seem to be playing anywhere anymore, and it’s not out on DVD. How frustrating.
A review is here!

For all the TU fans staking out my blog

It looks like I was one of the few to post on the Rice-TU game last weekend, so I’ve gotten quite a bit of traffic since from people looking for more on that story.

Well here it is.

The Associated Press published an article today about TU filing a complaint to NCAA over the MOB’s half-time show. Here’s the story in the Houston Chronicle.

For once, I’ve got to say that TU is wrong on this one. Having grown up in Texas and knowing a few students at Rice, I’ll tell you that this is just the way Rice is. And filing a complaint won’t do any good, the MOB uses the same strategy with every team they play and clearly it hasn’t bothered the NCAA.

And the students aren’t upset anyway. As one TU student told me, “you’d be more offended if they didn’t do it.” So chalk it up to the Mob choosing the obvious for the spirit of their half-time show.