November 18 2008 at 12:01:58
Name: Lee Woodward
Topic: Bars from Mars
Comments: Where were you Richard when I needed you?

When the author of the just-released definitive biography of Willie Nelson, Joe Nick Patoski, called and asked for some memories of Willie, one came up from one of his visits to Tulsa. It must have been in the 60s, because it was during his down period. He was playing this club I couldn't remember the name of for Joe Nick.

All I remember was that it had a lava rock front. The bar was up front on the left and the small stage was all the way to the back. It was a beer bar. It must have been the Fondalite, but something tells me it had a different name. But that's WAY back.

Willie was staying at the Mayo and we were to play golf the next day at Indian Springs C.C. I had to call that morning and cancel due to storms coming in. It was 10:30 a.m. and Willie was not awake nor amused.

Lee knew Willie when they both worked at KDNT. See page 1 of the history of Lee and Lionel.

November 17 2008 at 23:41:43
Name: Richard Wilson
Topic: More on Green Country
Email: riccolites@yahoo.com
Comments: While the state had indeed been divided up into the various "countries" aforementioned, the chambers of commerce of several northeastern Oklahoma communities (Muskogee, Tahlequah, Miami, perhaps....{it was so long ago}...and several others got together in a summit type confab and created Green Country, Inc. in order to promote tourism and commerce within the Northeastern Oklahoma area that was made so green by the natural watershed.......well, the grass still turned brown in the winter ...... and sadly, also in the heat of summer, and into the fall, but for one brief shining moment, in the springtime you could still find some green grass if you looked quickly enough.......

The Meeting was held in Muskogee, Oklahoma at the Civic Center, and James C. Leake, Sr. was elected, appointed, anointed, or otherwise dubbed as the chief promoter of the idea. After all, he owned a Television Station, and that trumped any newspaper in town, dontcha know?

Green Country was a relatively small area compared to what it currently occupies on the state map, but it still is the premiere organization, of all the countries that make up this great state of ours. (And it was WAY BEFORE Texas, decided that it was a "whole 'nother country")

November 17 2008 at 23:21:37
Name: Richard Wilson
Topic: The Fondalite Club
Email: riccolites@yahoo.com
Comments: The bar next door to the Bowen Lounge (10th & Denver)....(Opening shot of the Outsiders) was the infamous Fondalite Club....lovely lava rock facade on the walls leading to an off-center, off-angle doorway to an amazingly dark interior. Used to be a rockin' joint on the weekends, and quite an interesting crowd inhabited the place during the weekday afternoons.

And a big hi, howdy doo to Lucy McAuliffe, too!!

November 17 2008 at 22:31:17
Name: Mike Miller
Topic: Green Country
Email: michaelmmiller@hotmaildotcom
Comments: Erick is correct. According to Wikipedia, Green Country can be traced back to the Oklahoma Department of Tourism which coined the name in the 60s. However, I don't recall hearing about Green Country until the 1970s.

Northeastern Oklahoma should promote and construct windmill farms. It would be a great ecological addition to Green Country.

November 17 2008 at 18:30:28
Name: Erick
Topic: Green Country
Email: ericktul@yahoo.com
Comments: Wasn't "Green Country" part of a state tourism/marketing campaign? Every part of the state is "Something" Country. The panhandle and northwestern part of the state is Red Carpet Country, southwestern Oklahoma is Great Plains Country, the central part of the state is Frontier Country, south-central Oklahoma is Arbuckle Country, the southeast is Kiamichi Country, and northeastern Oklahoma is Green Country.

TravelOK.com/cities/list.asp

November 17 2008 at 11:57:35
Name: Lucy (McAuliffe) Bailey
Topic: Horn Brothers
Email: LBailey44@cox.net
Comments: You have the name of the owner wrong. His name was Ike Ikehorn...not Ike Horn...and Ike was a nic name. I wish I could remember his real first name. He and his family were close friends with mine. My father was Leon McAuliffe.

Hi, Lucy.

We had previously noted on the Horn Bros. page that M.A. Eichhorn received a belated Bronze Star in 1995 for his participation in Operation Varsity (WWII).

My dad took a picture of your dad around 1950 at the Cimarron Ballroom.

November 17 2008 at 09:33:31
Name: Lee Woodward
Topic: G.M.s
Comments: Need some help from ex-KOTV staffers: what are the names of General Managers after Alan Howard? If you also happen to know where they went and where they might be now would be helpful.

Thanks in advance.

November 15 2008 at 17:19:46
Name: Mike Miller
Topic: Green Country
Comments: Former KTUL-TV owner and tourism promoter James C. Leake was the founder and CEO of Green Country USA. I'm not sure if he coined the phrase. But the first I heard it was at Channel 8 where it was heavily promoted.

November 15 2008 at 14:49:57
Name: Dave
Topic: Green Country et al
Comments: A guide to Frank Morrow: Green Country came into popular usage in the 1970s, although I don't know who originated it. I don't think it was a coordinated marketing/branding campaign. I do recall that Clayton Vaughn and everyone on KOTV used it all the time when referring to what otherwise might have been called northeastern Oklahoma or greater Tulsa. Maybe they started it as a style matter and it caught on.

Midtown is what was once south Tulsa. The new south Tulsa is what was once woods and farms. Jenks is a former distant country town that's now a suburb bordering the new south Tulsa. Union is a big school district where there's no place actually called Union but instead a crossover of Broken Arrow and the new southeast Tulsa, which used to be more woods and farms.

The river is still where it was, but it has more water in parts and doesn't smell as bad as it did. Downtown has more buildings, some nightlife and a bunch of detractors on the Tulsa World message boards. Many of the radio stations sound alike and seem similar to their counterparts throughout the USA.

That's about all that's new.

November 15 2008 at 12:31:27
Name: Mike Bruchas
Topic: "Witch-EE-taw"
Comments: Wichita, KS now has a neat photo web site on then and now pix.
Go to: WichitaVortex.com/ict

As previously noted here - years ago - somebody at CBS NEWS (TV not radio), often confused Wichita Falls with Wichita for cg locator graphics on stories and no one seemed to ever notice but us Southwest natives.

I guess when you are in NYC - one Wichita is as good as another!

November 14 2008 at 22:20:24
Name: Mike Bruchas
Topic: New Bond Film (review by Gary Chew)
Comments: Dr. Chew has it right. Good flick but moves awful fast.

Went to a 12:40 pm show (at $8!) today and the house was half full of guys in their 20s and 30s - boys afternoon out?

Liked the movie but half of the coming previews were for end of time/end of earth movies, now THAT'S a bummer. Even the new Will Smith movie....

November 14 2008 at 11:27:00
Name: Frank Morrow
Topic: Green Country
Email: frank.morrowatcoxdotnet
Comments: I recently moved back to Tulsa after being gone for 51 years. The Rip van Winkle years are here.

My "Tulsa" is now called "mid-town," and there are prominent, strange names such as Jenks, Broken Arrow, Mingo Road, and Garnett Road. The city limits apparently have been moved from 51st street to Coweta. Most amazingly, the tuition at TU has jumped to $35,000 a year from $400.

The Easter Pageant (if it is even presented now) has spoken parts instead of narration and has been banished from Memorial Park. The Tulsa Oilers are now a hockey team instead of playing baseball at Texas League Park. There are no longer just six AM radio stations in town, and there are FM radio receivers so that people now can actually listen to KWGS.

Perhaps most amazing of all is that KFMJ, I have been told, is just a black box nailed to a wall of another station. KRMG is just one of about five stations in town owned by the same company.

I do have a question, though. This new term "Green Country." When did it start being used?

November 13 2008 at 20:00:16
Name: Mike Miller
Topic: Rex Brinlee
Email: michaelmmiller@hotmaildotcom
Comments: Richard Wilson was my photographer that day and as Rex was being led off to face a lifetime in Big Mac he took a swing at me. I ducked and he accidentally hit Richard who was more intent on filming, than ducking.

Rex had been angry with me ever since I played an interview in court that I had shot with him about the Bristow Bombing. Actually, Brinlee denied planting the bomb on film but had told Channel 8 reporter Judy Clayton over the phone that "the wrong horse got in the stall." That was a not so subtle reference to school teacher Fern Bolding who decided to drive her husband's pickup truck that day. Rex intended the bomb for her husband who had testified against him in an earlier case.

Rex and Tom Lester Pugh certainly made life interesting while covering the courthouse. And let's not forget Cleo Epps, Queen of the Bootleggers and ultimately a victim of Pugh and sidekick Albert McDonald. (They were a rather rough crowd.)

Mike covered the Pugh/McDonald/Brinlee stories as a reporter in the 60s. He talked about them in GB 22 (scroll up and down on that page for more), and in his book, How High Can A Guy Stoop? (highly recommended).

November 11 2008 at 21:25:48
Name: Frank Canton
Topic: Rex Brinlee
Comments: From Tulsa World article on arrest of RB in 2007:
"Although he was stoic at first, he hit KTUL-TV photographer Richard Wilson in the head while in the Okmulgee County courthouse. As he was being returned to the Tulsa County Jail, he attacked Tulsa World photographer Don Hamilton as Hamilton shot a picture.

Richard Wilson's claim to fame.

November 11 2008 at 13:15:02
Name: DolfanBob
Topic: Rex Brinlee
Email: MiamiPhin@yahoo.com
Comments: Here is a story about him from the Tulsa World 2007.

Doesn't Rex look like "Three Stooges" Curly Howard's evil twin?

November 11 2008 at 11:23:42
Name: Mike Bruchas
Topic: R B Jr.
Comments: He was her son, I was told, and we were to NEVER talk about him when Odene was around.

Did he die in prison or was killed?

November 09 2008 at 23:20:01
Name: Lee Woodward
Topic: Rex Brinlee
Comments: I believe that Rex was at best, Odene's brother, who shared none of the redeeming traits of Odene.

November 09 2008 at 21:15:16
Name: Frank Canton
Topic: Odene Brinlee
Email: Frank.Canton at yahoo dot com
Comments: Odene Paxon Brinlee was preceded in death by her husband, Rex Brinlee (from Tulsa World obituary).

Was she married to THE Rex Brinlee?

November 08 2008 at 22:49:03
Name: Gary Chew
Topic: Bardgett & Brinlee
Comments: Funny thing about Ralph. Several years ago, I attended a TU Homecoming and participated in a nostalgic discussion with some other TU-ers: Bob Losure (then of CNN Headline News), Ken Greenwood, Ben Henneke, Edward Dumit and a few other noteworthy Green Country denizens partial, as I, to the Golden Hurricane.

I had come to the event with Mike Flynn (a colleague most noteworthy, too) and his (then) new bride, Laura. Several of us had gathered near the front door of KWGS in new Kendall Hall near where the station's satellite dish was planted in about '76 just behind the DG House.

Someone in the group (can't remember who) mentioned that Ralph Bardgett had passed away. None of the rest of us had heard that, and were lamenting the 'fact' when....guess who walks through the door(?)...yip, Maestro Bardgett, director extraordinaire of KOTV fame. Ultimately, Ralph was laughing more about that than any of the rest of us. I'm sure Ralph said something to the effect that, "News of my death is premature." What a guy. Loved working with him. And that news is still premature, I'm happy to learn.

And yes, Odene. What a trooper! I was saddened to read Woodward's obit on her here. I learned from it that she was the same age as my mother, who is just now recovering from her second bout with pneumonia in as many years. She too, like Odene, is a trooper.

Anybody have an update on Faye. Remember? She was watching Channel 8 when the infamous flip-off took place near the close of Mannix on an unforgettable Saturday night at 9:57 on the corner of 3rd and Frankfurt.

Delmeaux de Gillette du Coffeyville

November 08 2008 at 18:29:22
Name: John Hillis
Topic: Errata
Comments: Again, I'm delighted to be wrong and pleased to hear Ralph is still making it to the TU games.

November 08 2008 at 09:23:16
Name: Brian Clark
Topic: Ralph Bardgett
Email: clark4266atymail.com
Comments: Ralph Bardgett's name was mentioned by John Hillis along with Buddy Allison and Henry Lyle. Both of which are passed.

Ralph is very much alive! He recently attended a TU game. Being a season ticket holder he rarely missed a game.

November 08 2008 at 08:37:17
Name: Jim Ruddle
Topic: Odene Brinlee
Comments: Reading the obit was such a downer. Odene, small though she was in stature was huge in the history of KOTV. Lee Woodward was definitely correct in saying she didn't suffer fools--gladly or otherwise.

She had a wonderful laugh which was heard often, but she attended to business and, I think, scared the hell out of all general managers.

At station Christmas parties, Odene would hoist a few jars of illegal juices and before the evening was over would have told off her bosses for their major shortcomings. Nobody questioned her accuracy.

One attribute that's often in short supply with those who serve as assistants to the mighty is the ability to connect with those much younger. Odene was friend to any who played straight, didn't take themselves too seriously, and who were willing to extend the effort to get a job done. Younger employees admired her candor and honesty.

November 07 2008 at 20:15:12
Name: John Hillis
Topic: Odene
Comments: Sorry to hear of Odene's passing. She could be sharp-witted in a way that would just sail over a lot of people's heads in the hallway to the left of the front door. I didn't realize she went back to the Petersmeyer era

I think the general manager who followed Duane Harm was Al Howard, but I've been wrong before (see "Green Hornet" theme discussion).

No doubt she's swapping jokes with Buddy Allison, fussing at Ralph Bardgett, and hollering at Henry Lyle in that big studio up yonder.

November 07 2008 at 13:43:36
Name: Lee Woodward
Topic: Odene Brinlee
Email: ObeWanDotKanobe
Comments: I know anyone who worked at KOTV from at least the Petersmeyer era will remember Odene Brinlee, Executive Secretary to all the GMs while I was there: Petersmeyer, Richdale, Stevens. My memory seems to think, even Harm, which makes me segue to "Odene didn't suffer fools gladly." I don't know who came after him?

I liked Odene a lot because of the above-mentioned attribute in dealing with people including me. Her advice for and against me aided in my staying around as long as I did because as you might suspect, someone who gains in popularity immediately gains detractors.

Odene had a great sense of humor and liked a good joke but when it came to business, she was...all business. She must have been very good at what she did because she may have worked there longer than anyone else?

I'm sorry to say, I did not have a picture of her in the Flickr file of the 1997 KOTV Reunion although she was there, but I do know that she was instrumental in its success and enjoyed it as much or more than anyone there. She was 93 years young. I know she had a legion of fans.

Here is Odene's obituary in the Tulsa World today. I met her at the 1999 reunion and she was a sweet lady.

Her tenure at KOTV dated back to the beginning of the station. She was the secretary of Helen Alvarez, the lady responsible for starting the station in 1949. Odene was interviewed for the KOTV chapter of the 1967 masters thesis by Gregory Corarito about Tulsa TV history (see footnotes).

I found this 1997 photo by Lee Woodward of Odene Brinlee and George Stevens.

November 06 2008 at 12:37:39
Name: Jim Ruddle
Topic: Studs
Comments: I first met Studs in 1963 and thought I had time-warped back to the 'thirties.
He was wearing, as always, his red-checked shirt, a bow to the May Days of the past.

Saul Bellow, who grew up in the same Humboldt Park area of Chicago where Studs' parents ran a hotel/boarding house that catered to theatrical sorts, told me that it wasn't always thus. He said a common sight in the summer was Studs, dressed in a white suit, straw-hatted, and with a copy of "Variety" stuffed in his pocket boarding a streetcar to go to the Loop to troll for stage work.

As years went by, I found myself tiring a bit of the usual harangue Studs delivered on WFMT. He never interviewed anyone whose views were different from his, that is a frozen-in-amber, left-of-New Deal attitude. He was stuck in the romance of hoboes and railroad "bulls", of strikes and scabs and shouting orators in Bughouse Square.

When I told him I was going to work at WGN, owned by the Chicago Tribune, he lectured me about Bertie McCormick and insinuated that I was some right-wing sell-out doing the Devil's business.

I once submitted an imaginary story to the then incarnation of "Chicago Magazine" in which I told of having found the only person in Chicago who had not been interviewed by Terkel, and that the man's life was one of furtive daytime forays, always fearful that he'd be trapped by the ubiquitous Studs. The story ended with the poor fellow hanging himself because, despite all his constant changing of abodes and disguises, he learned that some guy with a tape recorder had been spotted in the neighborhood.

I got a plaintive rejection letter from the editor who said they couldn't print it because "it might upset him."

Ah, well. I don't think he ever hurt anyone. He was a pretty good story teller, and it's always--or usually, at any rate--a good thing to have a nattering gadfly who doesn't side with the establishment.

It's a bit ironic that the latest election results were credited to the call for "Change," but Studs, who didn't live to see it, never changed in at least seventy years.

November 05 2008 at 19:38:05
Name: Rick M
Topic: James R. Jones
Comments: I remember when Jones ran for Congress in 1972 far too well! He and my dad were high school chums from Muskogee. When Jones got into politics, ole dad wanted to help out. As a 12 yr. old boy, I was pretty valuable to them. Making signs, riding in the back of trucks delivering signs, planting signs, and everything else. Dad agreed to up my allowance for my efforts. Looking back it was kind of fun. I remember being in Jones former home (old Skelly Mansion), election night of that first campaign. The watch party was huge and the air electric. TV station cameras recording the events. When the win was announced that mansion erupted. Lucky it's still there.

November 05 2008 at 17:18:37
Name: Webmaster
Topic: Kid Baltan and Fantastic Theater
Comments:

Here is the MySpace page of Dick Raaijmakers, aka Kid Baltan.

In 1957, he and Tom Dissevelt created the electronic music ("Sonik Re-Entry") which later became the theme music for "Fantastic Theater".

The "Kid Baltan" moniker was adopted for copyright reasons related to his work at the Philips Laboratories, aka NATLAB. NATLAB backwards is BALTAN, and DICK backwards is KID (phonetically, anyway).

In 1965, Raaijmakers got a letter from Stanley Kubrick, asking if he could compose and produce electronic music for his film then in production, "2001: A Space Odyssey". Raaijmakers declined.

November 04 2008 at 15:39:14
Name: Mitch Gray
Topic: Guvnuh
Comments: I don't recall the Belcher campaign but I do remember a feller by the name of David Hall. Seems he got caught with his hand in the cookie jar and spent a little time in the pokey afterwards (Wikipedia).

I still have a couple of pristine David Hall bumper stickers stashed away with 4 copies of the last edition of the Tulsa Tribune. Ebay maybe?

November 04 2008 at 13:51:31
Name: Kristi (Conrad) Stewart
Topic: "Tex"
Email: ok-kid@rogers.com
Comments: DolfinBob. In response to your question regarding my question to Matt Dillon in "Tex". Matt actually did ad lib his answer. I believe we actually shot that scene a couple of times.

I also forgot to mention, that the videographer, was shooting video during our scene as well, so we had quite the nifty tape of the days events! I wonder where that old tape is today? Hmmm.

November 04 2008 at 11:11:51
Name: Mike Bruchas
Topic: Election flashback
Comments: How many of you remember Jim Jones run against Page Belcher?

"Who ya gonna vote for? A Lyndon Johnson LIBERAL or a Page Belcher Republican??".

November 03 2008 at 17:00:49
Name: Gary Chew
Topic: Studs 'n Stuff
Comments: Shout-out to Mr. Bruchas. Yeah, I remember digging Studs' act on his show on WFMT via Tulsa FM Cable when we were tuning-up KCMA-FM in Owasso to broadcasat classical music under the tutelage of the late Dr. John Major, who'd worked for FMT. Maestro Turkel was a bit more progressive than most radio hosts one could find on the radio dial in Green Country. Nothing like a balanced spectrum, I always say.

Just this morning, out on some errands, I was listening to the radio show, 'Democracy Now' with Amy Goodman on the UC-Davis FM. She was reminiscing on Studs and played an interview she'd done with him about a year ago.

In the conversation, Studs said that the most remarkable thing that's occurred over the last near-century he had been breathing is technology. It's what allowed him to live as long as he had (then 95), commenting that his dad and brothers all died of heart problems in their 50's.

Many years ago, when in Chicago for a classcial sales meeting at WFMT, I stopped by Studs' office. He wasn't there. But all of the books he read were. I think he might have been about as well-organized as I. His office was not exactly the paragon of orderliness.

Studs Terkel, the man in the red-checkered shirt, RIP.

Delmeaux de Gillette du Coffeyville

November 03 2008 at 11:43:07
Name: Mike Bruchas
Topic: Elex Day Eve
Comments: As we say in Chicago - for tomorrow,"....vote early and vote often!"....I early voted in Illinois along with about 550,000 in Northern Illinois. Highest turn-out EVER for early voting.

Studs Terkel - the man who kinda re-defined oral history into several great books - died this weekend at age 96. He was an early 1950's NBC TV star whom Joe McCarthy's hearings wrecked his career. He later spent many years on WFMT radio here. In Chicago - the word ICON seems to appear before Studs' name - naturally!

November 01 2008 at 16:23:45
Name: roy lee
Topic: Pink Lady
Email: royleeshouseatgeemaildotcom
Comments: My cousin Skip owned the Pink Lady! He was the in and out of prison older cousin, and I remember being in there with my dad and my uncle when I was maybe 8 years old. I remember not being the least bit scared of the rough-looking crew in there. Probably part of the reason I turned out so weird.

I'd really like to hear other comments about the Cognito Inn. I've been thinking about my experience there. It was like something out of a movie to me.

November 01 2008 at 09:46:47
Name: Mitch Gray
Topic: Bowen
Comments: Roy, I think the other lounge close to the Bowen was called "The Pink Lady". I also had a father who worked the bars and we would make the rounds together visiting the local watering holes (Yes I was under age.)

He tended bar at the Boston Beer Garden and hung out at the Club Lounge that used to be across from the Osage Hills apartments. The Pink Lady was near 6th and Peoria.

Cheers!

October 31 2008 at 16:34:06
Name: Kenny Bolen
Topic: Haunted Hay Ride
Email: bojoker@att.net
Comments: Do they still have the Haunted Hay Ride? I think it was somewhere in Bixby. The name escapes me.

October 31 2008 at 13:34:45
Name: Webmaster
Topic: Streaming Halloween music
Comments:

From Stevo Wolfson:

30th Annual Nightmare City Halloween
October 31, 2008 from 7 pm - 2:30 am
Live webcast direct from Stevo In Yr Stereo studio.

"Tune in on Halloween for the Best of NCH all day long!"

"Thirty-five years ago in 1973 I worked at 'Scream In The Dark', Tulsa's ultimate Halloween haunted house attraction. Every night, all night long, the most incredible music played throughout the entire house. It was a cassette tape, looping the album 'Black Mass' by Lucifer (Mort Garson), an incredible electronic music tour de force. I thought it was the most incredible music I had ever heard and that's when my love of Halloween music was born."

October 31 2008 at 09:36:24
Name: DolfanBob
Topic: Tex
Email: MiamiPhin@yahoo.com
Comments: Kristi. What a great behind-the-scenes story. I just want to know if they wrote in Matt Dillon's response to your question or was it ad-libbed ? As I remember it was something like, "Ya, I don't think they're all bad."

My girlfriend at that time was a aspiring model and she submitted her portfolio to the casting director through her photographer and was chosen for a small part in "Rumble Fish". The part called for a semi-nude makeout scene at a lake house with Matt Dillon. I was totally against it and she turned it down. A friend of hers got the part and the scene was cut from the final print. And as I recall just like you she made a whopping $50 for the work.

October 31 2008 at 09:33:02
Name: Angelique Keenon
Topic: Ma-Hu Scream In The Dark
Comments: As we survive another Halloween, I always think back to the Scream In The Dark at the Ma-Hu.

A friend talked me into going, and I"m glad to have experienced it.

We were standing in an incredibly long line and my friend was babbling, as usual, to anyone who was unfortunate enough to be next to her in line.

Her parents had painted the rooms of their house and the fumes had not dissipated as quickly as they thought. The only room they hadn't painted was her brother's room, so she had been sleeping in there, and her brother was spending the nights at a friend's house.

Unfortunately, she usually didn't exactly articulate things the way she was thinking. She also never really listened to herself babble on, just happy to have a fresh audience to talk to. What she ultimately said was that she was sleeping with her brother.

People stared, whispered, and frowned at us in disgust. Time seemed to stop. I"m amazed I stood there long enough to tour the mansion.

Yep, Halloween brings back memories all right. :-)

October 31 2008 at 01:25:36
Name: roy lee
Topic: Bowen Lounge
Email: royleeshouse@gmail.com
Comments: I hung out at the Bowen Lounge a few times when I was probably too young to be there. Cheap pitchers of beer and cheap pool tables. I think my dad worked there for a bit in the 50s but it might have been the place next door. I can't remember the name of that one.

My parents met in a bar called the "Daisy May" where Kitchen Korner is now. I always heard that neighborhood was really happening with bars and small low budget apartments back then.

I went to the Cognito Inn a couple of times too and was amazed! They were very kind even though I looked pretty wild (punk rock) and the piano playing old lady who did old standards and singalongs was just incredible. I wandered in there one afternoon. Truly a strange trip for me, and I went back for more.

October 29 2008 at 18:05:23
Name: Kristi Stewart
Topic: "Tex", S.E. Hinton movie
Email: ok-kid@rogers.com
Comments: I haven't checked in here for a while. Life's been keeping me quite busy. But, I'm glad I did. Good to see you guys are still keeping those Tulsa Memories alive. I'm trying to keep warm up here in Toronto. We had our SECOND snow fall today!

I noticed on your main page, you are advertising the Walt Disney Movie "Tex" - amazing! Just seeing the movie poster brought back so many memories to me. I was in "Tex" (although it was a very minor, minor role)

I happened to be a senior at T.U. at the time, and working on my internship at KJRH-TV in the news department. The film crew just happened to call our newsroom one afternoon looking for a reporter and a cameraman to appear in a scene shot just outside of BIXBY. Lucky me, I happened to be chosen as the person to go and play reporter alongside one of our news camera ops. Little did I know it would be quite the adventure. We wound up spending the whole day alongside a stretch of highway watching the film crew shoot a chase scene with police.

Matt Dillon and Jim Metzler picked up a hitchhiker who happened to be an escaped convict trying to skip town. They wound up being forced by gunpoint to escape police in their old broken-down pickup truck. Eventually the pickup truck carrying Dillon ends up on the side of the road surrounded by police cruisers, and the fugitive is arrested. Of course, the Media arrives on the scene!

That's where "we" come in. I, my cameraman (I believe Rick Scott was his name) and a few other chosen journalists, along with S.E. Hinton's creative writing teacher, T.U. professor, Fran Ringold ( and she just happened to be mine as well!) were gathered around MATT DILLON.

The only scripted line was that of S.E. Hinton's teacher - "Tex, where did you get that cute nose?" - I believe was the line. I found out later, S.E. Hinton credited Fran for inspiring her to become a writer, so she wanted her to appear in the film. Everyone else was asked to ad lib. My line? Well... the only thing I could come up with was "Will you ever pick up a hitchhiker again?"

It was a day I won't soon forget. I remember watching Emilio Estevez off set riding his ATV along the countryside during breaks and watching a scene with Meg Tilly. In fact, one of my friends from T.U. (Janine Burns) played Meg Tilly's double in the film and another T.U. theatre student and friend, Phil Brock, actually had a speaking role in the film. He later went on to have an acting career and even appeared in an episode of M*A*S*H.

After the film was completed, we were all invited to the Tulsa premiere. The anticipation was huge... and, when our scene came up? All you hear is my question...and see a wasp of my blonde hair blowing into the scene.. other than that? Ms. Ringold and Matt Dillon were center stage.

If you haven't seen the film, you should; great shots of Tulsa. Fun to watch a young Matt and realize you were there when he was just starting out!

Oh yes, and by the way, I got a check from Disney for $50. It had Mickey's ears and everything! Did I keep it you ask? Why would I do that? I was a young starving University Student. I cashed it, of course. Too bad.

Thanks for the memories Tulsa,
Kristi

October 29 2008 at 17:57:41
Name: James
Topic: The Corner of Dreams
Email: greasersocproject@yahoo.com
Comments: I was looking for that key person to help with remembering The Corner of Dreams, Bowen Lounge, Chapparal Club. I would like someone to join me at the original location at 11th and Denver and on camera reflect on memories and insight to what it was like in the area. This is for a segment to be included in my documentary.

Webmaster: James interviewed me a year or so ago at St. Michael's Alley for his documentary about "The Outsiders" (I lived in the Rogers HS/Bell JHS district in the early 60s). If you have something to say on this topic. please contact James.

October 28 2008 at 17:32:51
Name: Webmaster
Topic: APHC slideshow
Comments:

Slideshow from last Saturday's Tulsa performance at the PAC Chapman Theatre of Garrison Keillor's radio show, A Prairie Home Companion. Listen to the entire show at the top of GroupBlog 274.

October 28 2008 at 02:03:28
Name: Webmaster
Topic: Previous GroupBlog summary
Comments:

Archived GroupBlog 274, where there is A Tulsa Prairie Home Companion player, a Lee Woodward "arrest" warrant and "Tulsa Time" cover, a couple of Beryl Ford photos of Tulsa bowling alleys, the Green Hornet theme, bowling alley arcade game YouTubes, and a Tulsa Cable box pic, among other curios.