nWynethe' 1 Flaming L f Redefi ) Oklah4qmI Music . " Plus; rs with' HlKe ldf0~ tk,'ICi ss ~i~titiii~ain~*$ This 1 oklahornatc corn $.- - ~Upr-~,WByrnCaynr,ondMlchadMnr oklahomal&afChtirhnar &A- I -,y;km Christw Parade NOVEMBER 19THRUJANUARY 2 Lawton Fort Sill presents the Bouleva )f Liqhts Display enchantment of the holiday season with a variety of memory-making I events and performances. Bring a friend, bring your family, and enjoy all we have to offer during this special time of year. For a completelisting of events, maps and brochures come visit www.lawtonfortsillchamber.com u4CEMBER 2-4 Y- I Csmmu* re.mACharley's La 629 SW CAvenue Lawton, Oklahoma 73501 .580.355354 - SQO.d?+ % Supporting medical resea always been a no-braine making the decisio~l+" the Oklahoma Mdkdl fh Foundation has never Bee attractive. For every donaa make to OMRF, you'll eaq credit worth half that (up to a total credit of $1, It's simple-t give, the more you sabe. h NOVEMBER DECEMBER 2005 1 VOLUME 55, NUMBER 6 TODAY Onthe cover. In an exclusive !E Oklahoma Today shoot, OI5 J. Michelle Madn-Coyne photographedthe Flaming Lips at the Christmason Mars set in early September. I FEATURES A High Gloss Lip Service Red-Dirt Holidays Cenhrry City At the Gloss Mountain State By many accounts, the Who is this bright-eyed Oklahoma was never the same Park, one writer finds what Flaming Lips may be the youngster? Turn to page 46 after the 1905discovery of oil it means to return home and greatest band in the world, to find out which Oklahoma in northeastern Oklahoma. reconnect with the essence of and that's no joke. Join us celebrity didn't have enough See how one oil field created a freedom, an old pickup truck as we see what makes this turkey at Christmas dinner. town, Glenpool, and changed and a hike to the top of a red- legendary group, led by Plus, eleven more intimate the world's economy. dirr mesa. charismatic Wayne Coyne, so holiday photos of your favorite By .she&& Brigbt By Steven Mackie wonderful. Oklahomans. By St&e Corcoran Research by Brooke Adcox DEPARTMENTS Contributors..........4 Calendar .............1 1 The Range........... 19 Events Guide...... .58 J. Michelle Martin-Coyne, Ring in the holidays at the A high-flying Chessie wins Going, going, gone! Partake of Steffie Corcoran, and Steven CORD Festival in Mustang big; Bradley Beesley gives an action-filled auction to help Mackie November 19; tiptoe to OKT his director's commen- the rescued animals ofYukon's the Tulsa PerformingArts tary; Sunita Sitara's holiday Pets & People and curl up with Editor's Letter ........6 Center for Be Nutcracker open house in Shawnee; and a frosty poem by Ken Hada. Why Wayne Coyne and December 23. Will Rogers's birthday bash the Flaming Lips matter to The End .............. .64 Oklahoma Marketplace ...... .14 Getaway Guide..55 ?his Veterans Day, remember Crack into our selection of Fall is the perfect season to those who've made the ultimate Feedback ..............8 Oklahoma-grown pecan trek the trail at the Ouachita sacrifice. Letters from Hardy Sum- products. National Forest. mers and Cynthia Huston CONTRIBUTORS OklahomaSince 1956 TODAY orJ. Michelle Mattin-we, pho- BRAD HENRY, &emor tographyis but one component ofher Fcreative life. "I have always thought of myself as an artist who sometimes takes photographs," she says. An eighteen-year portfolio of Flaming Lips images have put Martin-Coyne on the map. Her photos have JOAN HENDERSON Mlirhrr been published inworldwide newspapers and LOUISA McCUNE magazines and a coffee-table book "Looking Editor in Chd at the photos of the band are, for me, like STEVEN WALKER lookingat Myphotos," she says. Between WALKER CREATIVE, INC. a Labor Day concert in Ireland and the final Art Dimtor days ofshootingChmzasonMan,Martin- STEFFlE CORCORAN, Smior.!%or BROOKE ADCOX, horiate Editor Coyne squeezed in an exclusive Okhhoma MEGAN ROSSMAN, Ediorialhistant TOM HOYT andMEAGAN MACKIN, Z&y cover shoot on the movie set inside Ed& Inm her home, in what she hopes one day will Conm'butorr be her master bedroom. She is married to SHEILAH BRIGHT, JOHN ELK 111, GORDON GRICE, Lips lead singer, Wayne Coyne. ROBERT HENRY, IOHN IERNIGAN, YOUSEF KHANFAR R.E. LINDSEY,ctiAD LOVE,TOM LUKER, MICHAEL WALLIS, andMARY LOGAN WOLF COLLEEN MCINTYRE, Prod& Manager will never have another assignment like KIM RYAN, AddngArrount Eucutiw LAURA BEAM. AdvmirineAccmmt EvnY'w this as long as I live:' says senior ediror USA BREC~NRIDEE,Accounranr St&e Cornran ("Lip Service," page KATHY HEHNLY. Manaerr I REGINA SMITH, ~i&tion hLnt 34)."I really believe the Flaming Lips are one TourinnandRecreation of the most important Oklahoma stories." KATHRYN L. TAYLOR Gtbinrt Sem'y Corcoran was already an admirer of the band ROBB GRAY, Eucutiivc Dinmr when, after several intimate interviews (i- LT. GOV. MARY FALLIN, Chair duding two at Wayne and Michelle Cope's ROBYN BATSON, JENNIFERCOLBERT, JERRY DOW, JOE Oklahoma City home), she discovered that HARWOOD. MELVIN MORAN. TIM SCHLIMPERT. FRANK everyone involved in the Lips operation is To contact Oklaboma Today dbyemall: the genuine Oklahoma article: humble, [email protected] gracious, and "completely uncelebrity-like." [email protected] [email protected] Corcoran, who says alternative music is her OklabmM T awa& indade: favorite genre, traveled to Sari Diego to see 2005 San Francisco Hononry%licatiOns Award for Best Fiction; one of their infamous live shows. "How 2005 Maggie Award, Black & White Editorial Layout; 2005 Silver District and Three Addy Awards; 2005 IABC Award of Wence, many people cansay Wayne Coyne hugged Feature Writin 2004 Oklahoma SPJ Fit Pkce, Feature Writin 2003 IRMA [old for ktam ~eature;2003 0klahoma SP~ them?" asks Corcoran. "I can!" First Place, Overall Excellence; 2003 Oklahoma SPJ FitPlace, Featute Writing; 2002 IRMA Gold for Best Profile; IRMA oftheyear, 1991,1993,1994,1996; 1999 Folio Editorial z: Award; 1998 Wilbur Ad For a comprrhmriwI!log on ro ok~dqcom. ravel and teaching are Steven Mackie's two greatest passions. T"And the combination of both, together, is a double whammy," he says. HOMA CITY,OK, AND ADDITIONAL ENTRY OFFICES. ''Imagine if all high schoolers had to do a Send address chan to Oklaboma T Cinulation, PO. Box 1468. oklahoma &ty, OK 73101.0%oma City Advertisi semester abroad. This world would be better Sales Office, PO.Box 1468, Oklahoma City, OK 73101, (403 understood and seem a little smaller." After a 230-8450 or (800) 777-1793. Subscription prices: $19.95 per year in the U.S.; $29.95 er year outs~deU.S. U.S. co yright Peace Corps stint in Africa, the Enid native O 2005 by Oklabonra gda Reproduction in whoi or in part without permission is ro$ibited. OfilrrbmM Today is not taught English, history, and geography in responsible for the care an&r retum of unsolicited manusuipa, amvork, photogr;tphy, books, or any other mated submid for Mexico and northern Arizona He recently poss~blepublicat~on. Never send ori .rial photography, manu- returned stateside to pursue his doctoral scripts, or amvod~1n no event shall sufksion of such unsolicited mated subjea OWabaM T+ to any daim for holding fees or studies in education at the University of es. Payment is upon publication. Virit W- Oklahoma. On weekends, Mackie, who e;$ o%e Internet at ao~.u)m. wrote "High Gloss" (page 28) about the Gloss Mountains, usually can be found at his cabii near Am. I OKLAHOMATODAY. NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2005 \klahoma's greatest treasure is its Ehildren. F e, help, and protection. provided hope and erienced abuse, ' ue, - Baptist Children's Home, Oklahoma City OBHC dois not charge for its services or accept government funds. We help Boys Ranch Town, Edmond children without regard to religious aaff iation. OBHC is Bependent upon the Baptist Children's Home, OW~SSO generosity of caring people and churches. To find out how you can make Baptist Home for Girls, Madill -- a difference in the life of an Oklahoma child, visit www.obhc.org. Our children's gift to you: Drive-Thru Christmas Pageants , C'. ;,:s:<<; I nJ~-dl: December 2, 3, & 4 Boys Ranch Town, Edmond - 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM #,: , , *r*!cib I, ' :!f~aJr?,~~~~~b~~9, 10 & 11 Baptist Chilldren's Home, Oklahoma City - 6:30 PM to 9:00 PM e, Owasso - 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM you a set of free Christmas Cards! et and/or an Annual Report, 0-942-3559, Extension 4628. EDITOR'S LETTER "We are going to sing some songs about death and life and what it means to really be alive." -Wayne Coyne in The Fearless Freaks VERY ONCE IN A WHILE, vative values, Oklahoma breeds originality, seek it out. Wayne Coyne and his Flaming we encounter someone who given opportunity and encouragement. We're Lips identity-visionary, relentless, humble, reminds us of the best of our- an incubator for talent precisely because and enthusiastic-are indistinguishable from selves and generally makes us of what we're not-an already-established one another. happier people. This person's media and music mecca like ~kv~orkor an When someone with as much international veryE presence, large or small, makes us simply artistic assemblage of social refugees like San influence as Coyne chooses not only to live more winning.- Wayne. Coyne of the Flaming Francisco. We go to places here but to create herehis Lips is one of those people. like New York to soak up forthcoming- film, Christ- Steffie Corcoran's masterm profile on the the riches; we stay in places Simply the Best mas on Mars, was shot Flaming Lips ("Lip Service," page 34) may like Oklahoma to create entirely in Oklahoma-all Make room in the trophy case.