Tuesday May 21st, 2013 • 10:06:07am
For singer-songwriter Ali Harter, being a musician was always what she wanted to do with her life.
"I liked the way the lifestyle looked," Harter said. "I eventually learned the business aspects of being a musician and I liked the challenge of that too. Eventually, you get so involved and so much time goes by that you can't think of yourself as being anything else. It's pretty consuming."
Harter will perform twice at the Mayor's Red Dirt Ball this weekend in Medicine Park. A Choctaw native, the cobblestone community is in Harter's backyard. She said she loves coming to the resort town because it offers an environment like no other and the people are one of a kind.
"There are no other people in the world like the 'parkies,'" she said. "It's such a change of head space to be out there. People are grateful and respectful and are just good people. I consider a great deal of them my friends."
The 27-year-old singer first signed with a label in 2006, but had been singing since she was 15 years old. She said she was just pursuing a passion to sing. After two albums and a calendar booked with performances, she's now recognized both nationally and internationally. Looking back at when she first got her feet wet in the scene more than seven years ago, Harter said she never thought she would be as successful as she's become, but she knew she wanted to try.
"Little Mafia is not a 'label' the way people tend to think of the word 'label,'" she said. "They are definitely a cog in my machine, but I knew I would have to keep working to attain more than what I had."
Dig out the dancing boots, jeans and cowboy hats, because the Mayor's Red Dirt Ball is around the corner.
The annual Memorial Day music festival was started by Medicine Park Mayor Dwight Cope, who has embraced music and shared it with the community. This year, about 15 bands and singers will perform on three stages across Medicine Park, with the kickoff party at 7 p.m. Friday at the Main Stage. Cope said he's proud of the gamut of talent the town was able to secure for this year's festival.
"You look at the list of who's playing and there's not a lot of big names," he said. "But every one of them are great performers and they've got a lot of talent. I think that's what's more important. I'd rather have tremendous talent than big names."
Oklahoma native singer-songwriter Ali Harter will lead off the kickoff party. The Quaker City Night Hawks, based in Fort Worth, Texas, will perform at 10 p.m. Saturday. Festival favorites The Bobby Dale Band and The Damn Quails are also scheduled to perform.
Cope said the music this weekend is something that won't be heard at any other Medicine Park festival.
For a year and a half, I have heard warnings of how busy the senior year is. For the parent, I mean. What they didn't tell me was that all that busyness was going to take place the last week of school.
Ever since I figured it out, I have complained every year about how every single kid activity culminates in the month of May. December is a close second. But for the senior and parent, this last week of school is like May on steroids, with an attitude, and the Roid-Rage is definitely a-ragin'.
There is the issue of out-of-town guests. Family and friends start to make the trek to Oklahoma, which means that we need to clean up our act a little bit. Now, normally, the very best way to get my house in order is to have my parents come visit. Stacks and clusters that have been there for months magically disperse and find their home when they really need to.
Not so this time. And I can blame it all on one thing.
The Scrapbook Project.
It is a tradition at our school for most seniors to have to do a 15-page scrapbook for their English class. They know it going into their senior year; that it is due on Monday the last week of school. What I didn't know is that apparently it is also a tradition for the seniors to underestimate and procrastinate this project, and not tackle it until the night before, thus resulting in an all-nighter for the student, and in some cases, for the parent as well.
At my house there were two seniors working on the project, which means double the fun and double the mess. They not only trashed my house the day my parents rolled into town, but they also were up most of the night, leaving me going into this busy week with a raw edginess that probably is not going to serve me well.
This is one of those fond memories that will be SO much more fun as time goes by. Right now it leaves a parent slightly concerned about that kid that's going off to college to seek their fortune and have to manage their own time and schedule.
Not to mention there is the stress that those of us with other kids and a full-time job are feeling, because life goes on and the usual demands don't go away just because it is graduation week. Murphy is at work here, and things are going wrong at exactly the same time that my house is not getting cleaned for company.
Still, it is best to be mindful of the big picture, not sweat the small stuff, and try, at least, to savor these moments. The good ones, anyway.
Special prayers go out this week to the families of all the graduating class of 2013 and that special group of kids. Even though they are mighty procrastinators, we still love 'em.
A whole bunch.
Instead of staying cooped up at home day-in and day-out, active seniors have a weekday destination to join with others in fun, games and various activities.
The Center for Creative Living, 3501 Dr. Elsie Hamm Drive, has served the Lawton-Fort Sill community for 31 years providing a safe and fun environment for silver-aged residents. With dozens of activities ranging from dominoes to bridge to exercise and more, director Dick Huck said there is something for every active senior at the center.
"We wanted to provide a place for seniors to come and enjoy life," he said. "We've got health education and wellness programs here, games and activities for them to participate in and companionship with others of their own age."
The center was opened in 1981 and continues to operate independently of any organization in the area. It's funded by a combination of United Way allocations, state and federal funds and private donations. The gamut of funding allows the center to offer all of its services at no charge to seniors. They can simply show up at any time during the day, have a good time and leave when they're ready with no commitment, contract or obligation.
"This is a stress-free environment for them and they are under absolutely no pressure to come if they don't want to," Huck said. "The only drawback is that they have to have their own transportation. We simply can't afford to offer a shuttle service."
A LATS system bus stop is outside the center, so seniors without their own vehicles can take the bus to and from the center. But Huck said many will often join up and create their own little carpools.
It's not just about accepting a new job for Shelley Lytle.
For her, becoming the new managing director of the Lawton Community Theatre means much more. She said it is her chance to give back to her community, help a major cause and simply do what she loves.
It is a dream come true.
"I feel great about it," Lytle said. "For me, it's an incredible honor for me to come back to Lawton, establish myself in my hometown and be able to serve my community in this way. My solid ambition in life is to be happy, and a big part of what makes me happy is feeling that I'm making a positive difference in this world. There is no place I wanted to do that more than here."
The theater's board of directors unanimously voted to offer the position to Lytle on Monday. On June 17 she will succeed Cynthia Kent, who has served the theater as managing director since 1993.
"Cindy's shoes aren't easy to fill; she's good at what she does," Lytle said. "I have confidence in my abilities. I feel honored to be able to take her place."
The new managing director has her roots in Lawton. She has been involved in LCT productions since she was a teenager.
"Before I could drive, I was coming to LCT," she said. "I was doing tech work mostly, and I was able to spend time watching and observing."
The time spent at LCT made a big impact. She said it gave her the inspiration to continue to focus on her passion for the theater arts. After graduating from Lawton High School, she went on to earn a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Oklahoma's School of Drama before returning home.
"When I was in my early 20s, I was able to do a few shows here ... I even got my first paid directing job here," she said. "The theater has grown. I've seen a lot of changes here."
Summer camps offer many opportunities
School is almost out and summer break is looming.
Now what?
Several organizations will hold a variety of camps for residents in the Lawton-Fort Sill Area. From acting to hiking, many camps are ready to keep students busy throughout summer 2013.
FINE ARTS
Children's Summer Art Camp. 10 a.m. to noon every Thursday during June and July at the Lawton-Fort Sill Art Council Center, 1701 NW Ferris. Camp is open to all ages. Cost is $10 per child; costs for families with multiple children are $10 for the first child and $5 for each additional child. The children's camp will include painting, bead working, papier mache, coloring and various other summer crafts. Costs include a year membership to the council, cost of supplies and refreshments. Adults must remain with their children. Call Desirae at 585-7073 for information.
Teen Summer Art Camp. 10 a.m. to noon every Thursday during June and July at the Lawton-Fort Sill Art Council Center, 1701 NW Ferris. Camp is open to ages 13 and older. Registration fee is $10 per participant; fees for families with multiple attendees are $10 for the first participant and $5 for each additional registration. Teen camp activities include more structured lessons of painting, print making, mosaic and drawing techniques. Costs include a year membership to the council, cost of supplies and refreshments. Call Claudia at 284-9354 for information.
"Just So Stories" at the Lawton Community Theatre. Auditions for LCT's summer production will be at 7 p.m. June 10-11 at the John Denney Playhouse, 1316 NW Bell, and are open to students in grades 3-8. The production will be Rudyard Kipling's "Just So Stories" and will have evening rehearsals leading to three productions on July 12-14. Call 355-1600 for information.
Creative Expressions Summer Art Camp 2013. Four sessions will be from 8:30 a.m.-noon June 3-6 and 10-13, June 17-20 and 24-27, July 1-3 and 8-11, and July 15-18 and 22-25 at the Cameron University Department of Art, 2800 W. Gore. All sessions are open to ages 6-12; campers will be separated into four age groups. Registration is $125 per session; families will receive a 20 percent discount for each additional child. Session registrations end the day before the beginning of each session. Campers will explore creative expression through visual art. Lessons include traditional art media, such as painting, drawing, printmaking, mixed media, sculpture and paper and bookmaking, as well as creative expressions through computers and digital art. Refreshments and art supplies are provided. Participants will design an art portfolio, and digital artwork will be printed and recorded on a CD for each participant. For more information, contact the Department of Art, 581-2450; Sue Bolton at cboltoncameron.edu; or Edna McMillan at ednamcameron.edu.
Fine Arts Summer Art Institute 2013. Two sessions are scheduled: Session I Fundamentals of Drawing and Portfolio Development will be from 9 a.m. to noon Fridays on June 7, 14, 21 and 28; and Session II Digital Art and Portfolio Development will be from 9 a.m. to noon Fridays on June 5, 12, 19 and 26. Both sessions will be at the Cameron University Department of Art, 2800 W. Gore, for ages 13-18. Registration is $40 per session; registrations end the day before the beginning of each session. Session I will cover a variety of drawing assignments under the direction of professional artists. Areas of artistic development include drawing, traditional subject matter and abstraction and thematic variations. Drawing materials provided include a spiral bound sketchbook; drawing paper; ebony, graphite and charcoal pencils; and kneaded erasers. Session II will cover several graphic software programs, including Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator. Students will use Wacom drawing tablets for production of computer-generated imagery. For information, contact the Department of Art, 581-2450; Sue Bolton at cboltoncameron.edu; or Edna McMillan at ednamcameron.edu.
Art & Clay Summer Enrichment Camp. Weekly day sessions from 10 a.m. to noon each Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from June 4 through Aug. 8 at A Pigment of Your Imagination, 10 N. Sheridan Road. Ages 6-16. Projects will focus on using bisque, glass and canvases with a different theme each week. Registration fees are $30 per day or $80 for the week. Special arrangements and discounts are available. Call 248-2700.
Sherri's Dance Center Summer Dance Camps. Two sessions are available: June 3-June 21 and July 8-25 at 2112 SW E. Ages 3-adult. Registration fees are $95 per session for school-age children and $150 per session for preschool children. Visit www.sherridance.com or call 357-3886.
Well, now we know. The Global War On Terror - GWOT, in the jargon - which we once thought deliberately excised from the Pentagon's vocabulary, on the contrary is alive and well. Moreover, according to senior Pentagon officials, we should expect it to continue for years to come.
At a hearing Thursday before the Senate Armed Services Committee concerning possible changes to the Authorization for the Use of Military Force, the nominal legal authority for all U.S. overseas combat operations since 9-11-01, Assistant Defense Secretary Michael Sheehan insisted that such operations would be necessary for "at least" another 10 to 20 years, and might be mounted anywhere in the world "from Boston to the FATA" - Pakistan's tribal areas - without further Congressional authorization.
That assertion prompted one senator to declare Thursday's hearing "the most astoundingly disturbing hearing that I've been to since I've been here." "You guys," he complained, referring to the Pentagon, "have essentially rewritten the Constitution here today."
Rammed through Congress in the panicky days after 9-11, the AUMF authorized President Bush to use whatever force he considered necessary against those who "planned, authorized, committed or aided" the 9-11 attacks or "harbored such organizations or persons."
The AUMF's principal target, of course, was Afghanistan, whose Taliban rulers refused demands to surrender Osama bin Laden and his henchmen to justice. In that respect only, the AUMF amounted to a declaration of war, although we'd have been better off in many ways had the Bush administration asked for, and Congress declared, just such a formal state of war.
Of course, no one at the time contemplated that the AUMF would later help to justify invading Iraq, still less to conduct a global campaign of assassination-by-drone against anyone even remotely associated with groups hostile to the U.S., not excluding American citizens such as Anwar al-Awlaki and his teen-age son, killed by a CIA drone in Yemen two years ago.
The sheer light-heartedness with which Sheehan described the Pentagon's view of its reach under the AUMF disturbed some senators. Asked if any terrorist group affiliated however loosely with Al Qaeda automatically constituted a threat to the U.S., Sheehan replied, "Yes, sir, although it's a bit murky."
A bit murky. And for the next 10 to 20 years, according to Sheehan, that "murkiness" will suffice to justify U.S. military action anywhere in the world, without any further legal sanction, and at whatever cost to America's reputation as a nation of laws.
No wonder even hawkish senators such as Arizona's John McCain were disturbed. For McCain, of course, the appropriate answer is to reissue the AUMF in expanded form intended explicitly to permit if not encourage outright future U.S. military intervention in situations such as Syria that are only remotely related to the GWOT.
Others worry about the opposite problem. What would happen, one senator asked Sheehan curiously, were the Afghan government to make peace with the Taliban's Mullah Omar - he, of course, being the fellow who, by refusing to hand over Bin Laden, justified the invasion of Afghanistan in the first place.
Would we continue under the AUMF to be at war with Omar, hence the Taliban, even though Afghanistan itself no longer was? To which Sheehan replied, "That could be the case, yes." The exchange probably would have made perfect senseÖto Alice in Wonderland's Red Queen.
But the real problem with Sheehan's testimony, and his open-ended view of both the AUMF and the GWOT he claims that it authorizes, is how in the world we'll know when they end. Asked at the same hearing, "Does the AUMF expire by presidential declaration, congressional action or the occurrence of an actual event in the world," acting DoD General Counsel Robert Taylor replied, "Precisely how that would be written and established is unclear."
The irony of the AUMF, passed at a time of rare political unity, is that, in today's poisonous climate, the same congressional gridlock that prevents the president from achieving anything useful domestically also frees him effectively to do whatever he chooses militarily.
So the GWOT will continue apace, even though no one seems able to define precisely who our enemies are or how we expect to defeat them. Instead, the Pentagon apparently is quite comfortable prosecuting a "murky" war for decades to come, with no further congressional approval of its activities required or desired, and above all, with no clear idea of how they or we will know when it ends.
For those historically inclined, it's hard not to wonder whether we've regressed to the 17th century and the 30 Years' War pitting Protestants against Catholics, and that ended by killing millions and devastating large swathes of Europe.
But at least that war produced the Peace of Westphalia, which established the modern state system and the foundations of international law - the very foundations, it should be noted, that we now seem to be bound and determined to undermine.
A Lawton mother and her two daughters won national titles for Today's American Woman 2013 during a pageant last week in Greenville, S.C.
Roseanna Hamilton was crowned as National Curvy and Classy 2013 and also won a Ms. Ambassador title. Her daughters also earned titles at the national level: Tia Shelton as Curvy Teen Ambassador 2013 and Sasha Shelton as National Today's American Woman Miss 2013.
Each of them achieved national titles after winning titles at the state level. Hamilton was crowned as Curvy and Classy Ms. Oklahoma while Sasha Shelton was Miss Oklahoma Today's American Woman and Tia Shelton was Curvy Teen Oklahoma.
The women competed against other contestants from across the nation for an overall title in categories such as beauty, talent, photogenic glamour and fitness.
"For me it seemed like a coming out party to show everyone you want the title," said Tia Shelton.
"It's a huge sisterhood of women in all sizes and ages, and having a great experience of uplifting and encouraging each other," Sasha Shelton said. "Every lady in each division walked away with some title." Those titles included first runner-up, Ambassadors, Division of the Winners, Queen of Queens, Royal Ambassador and Queen of States.
"I enjoyed the pageant. It gave every woman a voice about their platforms," Hamilton said. "It was very uplifting to see everyone pulled together, yet being competitive."
Hamilton said she and her daughters have new titles following their winning of national honors.
"We are no longer called 'The Oklahoma Triple Threat' we are now the Senior Queens," she said.
What is wrong with Nintendo's Wii U?
That's what the heads of the Japanese video game giant are asking themselves as they watch the sales continue to stumble following its November launch. The NPD tracking group released the April sales for the industry Thursday evening and it doesn't paint a very rosey picture for the next-gen console. Microsoft's stalwart Xbox 360 sold 130,00 consoles nearly 45 percent below the same month last year. It was the highest selling console of the month, even with that abysmal total. Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter estimates around 55,000 Wii U consoles were sold during the month. Nintendo's predecessor console, the "dead" Wii, sold an estimated 70,000 consoles.
These totals are absolutely embarrassing for the Mario house even more so coming off the breakout success of the Wii, which went on to move 100 million consoles worldwide faster than even the Playstation 2. Many fans touted how the Wii U was still tracking ahead of the Playstation 3 in terms of units sold post-launch, but it has since fallen way behind. That's also not considering the Playstation 3 launched in 2006 at $599. The price of the current two Wii U units are $299 and $349 as much as $150 more than certain Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 units.
Despite releasing seven years after the Xbox 360, the Wii U still has a similar amount of horespower. Ports from some of the most popular titles last year including "Batman: Arkham City," "Call of Duty Black Ops II" and "Assassin's Creed III" were absolutely despicable on the new console. The only aspect that sets it apart from Microsoft and Sony's offerings is the touch-screen controller and off-television play capabilities. Much like the motion control capabilities of the Wii, Nintendo opted out of the technological arms race for a "different" approach to designing a game console. But whereas motion control took off in popularity creating an entirely new demographic of "casual" gamers and spurring Nintendo's two competitors to offer similar gimmicks of their own the tough-screen capabilities of the Wii U have been met with apathy across the board.
Nintendo is struggling to support a console that is at best on a similar power level as its two competitors, while being as much as $150 more expensive. But the company is also in a serious bind. For the first time in Nintendo's existence, it's selling a console at a loss. It can't cut the price of the Wii U, similar to what it did with the 3DS following its lukewarm reception in 2011, because it would incur even sharper losses. It's already released a "New Super Mario Bros." title at launch, which has an impressive near 100 percent attach ratio. But it's simply not moving systems like the Nintendo DS, Wii and 3DS versions did with their respective hardware.
During its "Nintendo Direct" online conference Friday, president and CEO Satoru Iwata said the company will discuss the Wii U versions of its popular titles, like "Mario Kart," "Super Smash Bros." and a new 3D "Mario" title at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in June. But are these games going to be enough to salvage the system? Both the Nintendo 64 and the Gamecube were bolstered with some of the most impressive first-party software lineups of any console ever. Titles like "The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time," "Super Mario 64" and "Goldeneye 007" defined many childhoods on the N64. The Gamecube, which sold less than 30 million consoles in its lifetime, had one of the greatest games ever made, "Metroid Prime," alongside classics like "Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door" and "Pikmin."
The Wii U needs games plain and simple. But as efficient and excellent as Nintendo's first party output is, it cannot sustain a console on its own. But third parties have continued a steady exodus away from Nintendo consoles since the N64. Even with the Wii's dominating sales, it didn't receive many major titles that the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 did. It appears now, despite an initial push at launch, third parties have all but abandoned the struggling system.
A group of members from The Salvation Army Boys & Girls Club of Lawton, 1315 SW F, were accepted to the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education Precollegiate Summer Learning Program.
Students selected were: Spring Byington, Madison Wilson, D'nae Turner, Cedric Newkirk, Adolpho Garcia, Jerome WIlliams and Monique Monroe.
Students will attend the programs in various sessions throughout the summer; each application required a 250-500 word essay in order to be considered for acceptance.
For more information about this and other opportunities at TSA Boys & Girls Club, call 357-7541.
