Here’s a quick review of what we are doing. Last January, State Speaker Lance Cargill created some weird thing called the Oklahoma 100 Ideas Initiative. Here’s how it was described:
The 100 Ideas initiative will change the way business is done at the State Capitol. Instead of legislation originating from lobbyists, special interests and government employees, this initiative seeks ideas from the private sector and from citizens across the great state of Oklahoma. Once the initiative is complete, the top 100 ideas will be published in a book and presented to the Oklahoma State Legislature.
Since we are citizens from the “great state of Oklahoma,” we decide to contribute our own 100 ideas for the initiative. But since we’re pretty sure that Speaker Cargill and his friends won’t put any of them in his book, we figured it would be better to share them here over the next few weeks.
P.S.- Please note that unlike our Top 100 Oklahoma Embarrassments, our 100 contributions are not “ranked” in any way. And if you have any ideas that you would like to see on our list, send us an email. We may include it!
50. To boost poor attendance, offer coin beer at all OU mens basketball games played at the Lloyd-Noble Center.
This would be a great solution to the attendance problem that tortures the mens basketball program. It would also possibly spark some life in what has become one of the Big 12’s worst student sections.
49. Ban Eddie Sutton from attending all OU mens home basketball games.
We know Eddie likes hoops, but we thing it’s the cheap beer that would get him down to Norman. That could be a liability issue.
48. Donate Ronnie Kaye and Danny Williams to the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History.
According to our oldies radio expert Clark Matthews, these two fossils are still deejays at KOMA. Plus they are about 300 years old. These guys need an exhibit and they need it now.
47. Save some old locomotive at the State Fairgrounds from being sent to California.
When I was thinking about the Sam Noble museum, it made me think of this (long and kind of confusing) email that a reader sent last week:
I know you guys don’t normally post stuff like this, but an important Oklahoma icon is being sold away secretly so the people of okc won’t find out. I’m trying to do everything I can to stop it. Please help any way you can.
There was rumor that I’d heard that the Santa Fe locomotive at the fairgrounds was being sold. Now it appears that it is a reality. This locomotive was given by the Santa Fe Railroad as a gift to the people of Oklahoma City for all they had done for the railroad. It has quietly served by the transportation building at the fairgrounds for years as a landmark to the old age of steam that once existed here in Oklahoma City. The current transportation building is under plans to be demolished and redesigned. The artifacts there were to be donated. Since wind of this first caught ORM, the museum has been trying very hard to work out the logistics of getting the engine to the current museum grounds.
The San Bernadino CA county Board of Supervisors last week agreed to give $25,000 toward buying the historic Iron Horse built in the 1897. The locomotive was supposed to be given to the ORM, who planned to restore it and get it working again to establish a train run from the museum grounds in the Adventure District to Bricktown. It seems to me like there might be something fishy going on here.
How could something like this be going on under our own noses?
This locomotive was supposed to be donated to our own Oklahoma Railway Museum. It is up to all of us to keep it here! Let us persevere to keep it in Oklahoma City where it belongs!
Jason
We’ve been wanting to champion some good obscure cause for a while, and this one seems pretty good. So lets save the railroad! Hooray!
46. Bring back the old dude that used to write the Oklahoma Gazette movie reviews.
Back in the good old days, the first thing I would read when I opened a Gazette were the movie reviews written by old dude with a beard. For nostalgia purposes alone, we should bring this guy back.
45. Do something about the Burlington Coat Factory parking lot at NW 63rd and May.
I don’t know too much about parking lot construction, design or planning, but I do know one thing: whoever designed this parking lot should be fired! This place is the cluster fruck of all cluster frucks! It’s the only parking lot in the city that’s mentioned on afternoon drive traffic reports.
44. Free Toby Rowland!*
For those that don’t know, Toby hosts what is probably the best local sports radio show each weekday morning. Unfortunately, a lot of people don’t know this because his show is stuck on KREF 1400am, which has about 100-200 listeners.
*This idea was not added simply because Toby invited us to join–and now totally dominate–his Fantasy Football League.
43. Ticket cars that still have Bush/Cheney campaign stickers.
Even if you still liked and fully supported these guys, how or why would you keep their sticker on your vehicle? It’s kind of like walking around with a “I heart Herpes” stamp on your forehead. Nobody will want to be near you, much less sleep with you.
42. Impound cars that still have Clinton/Gore campaign stickers.
If you live in Oklahoma and have one of these stickers still on your car, it’s a safe bet that your car has a lot of key marks. Since openly begging people to key your car is pretty stupid, you should probably just have you car impounded.
41. Imprison drivers of cars that still have Bush/Quayle campaign stickers.
I don’t think that anyone–Republican or Democrat–would or could argue with this idea.
That’s it for this week. To view the rest of our ideas, click the link:
I think the main issue with the bumper stickers is that they are campaign stickers. The campaign is over. If you want to show your support, get an “I support the President” sticker. As it is, these people are like the neighbor who leaves his Christmas lights up all year and the trash can at the curb all week. It’s just laziness.
What’s your neighbors name?
RE: Burlington Coat Factory parking lot
I’d sooner park across the street and cross 63rd wearing earplugs and being blindfolded than ever park in that lot again. The picture you’ve shown doesn’t do it justice, as both the Ford Expedition and GMC Envoy are well within their respective spaces.
Here’s another one I took. Does a little more justice:
http://www.thelostogle.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/burlington.jpg
I’d be all for Toby coming to WWLS and replacing the hideous Middle of the Day Show. I just would like to see it with a few conditions:
1. Toby needs to learn that incessant references to your producer are irritating and cause you to permanently lose some members of your audience. Toby is knowledgable. It’s also obvious that he is genuinely a huge sports fan. If he were to join WWLS, I’d hope that they would teach him to refer to his producer only sporadically. Toby, as good as he can be, lost me when I found his show to be too much of this: “Welcome back to the [insert name of whatever Toby's show was called]. TJ, did you see the Pistons/Wizards game last night?……….TJ?……………..TJ?…………………………………………TJ?………………………………..Teeeeee..jaaay?………TJ?………………..TJ!!!…………
Stay tuned. We’ll be back.” UGH.
2. Toby is not allowed to take phone calls. It’s been 6 months since I finally gave up on KREF, but I remember Brother Al and those calls were entertaining, if not terrifying. However, Toby has a segment of middle-aged female callers who call in and like to talk about the weekend plans of The Swarm, or how nice the Saltine Cracker Festival in Gene Autry is, or how good the parfait at Lulu’s Cafe in Davis is, or whatever. Those calls go on and on forever. And Toby is too nice to cut them off. He needs to take a page out of Eschbach’s book and move those callers off the air in a hurry.
are you saying that if i hang out in the burlington coat factory parking lot long enough, i might actually get to meet you guys? also, why are you at the burlington coat factory?
mondale/ferraro ‘84!
There’s a Furr’s Cafeteria right next to the Burlington–which I love, because I’m 80 years old at heart.
Um, have you been to the new Furr’s in Moore? My parents tell me it’s the place to be. Which it must be because they don’t invite me.
46: Good idea. Doug Bentin was a funny writer.
48: As sinful as it may be among the Lost Ogle staff/readership but Gary England needs an exhibit. Maybe Linda Cavanaugh and Bob Barry Sr., too.
48. Maybe we should just never, ever, ever let anyone know Mr. Kay is from Oklahoma…That means no more mentions of him on thelostogle.com…His hair is giving me night, scratch that, day-mares…
I was at a daddy-daughter dance with my 4th grader last spring, and Mr. Kaye was the DJ. He was freaking my daughter out, just being weird.
Then I explained to her that he hit on my MOM when she was in high school.
I’m looking again at the Bush-Quayle sticker and noticing the website. Did campaigns have websites back in 1992? That can’t be right.
That’s the website where I found the image. I guess the put the domain on their images so that great sites like this one can’t steal them.
Blythe Burlington has a nice ring to it.
RE # 46
John Pickard. John Pickard was the bearded gentleman who used to write movie reviews for the Gazette. He purchased my family’s old Pontiac.
doesn’t it, patrick? doesn’t it? although, i’m not quite sure what it means.
I remember the day Toby threw the chair
at Carey Murdock. Those were the days.
46. Bring Pickard back…only if you let him be the engineer of the train being sold to California. Pickard delighted in utilizing venomous comments and insults to “lowly” movie theater employees. At least we had some fun in seeing his face turn beat red when we referred to him as Mr. Picard (he did have the matching hair style).
Pickards favorite line to employees was “Don’t you know who I am!!” Now the next time I see him I can say “Yes, your the guy who bought Paul McCartney’s Pontiac”
John Pickard was my Humanities Professor at UCO. The guy gave the HARDEST open note, open book, matching test ever! He would come in reeking of alcohol and he would wear the SAME red flanel shirt and pale green trousers for weeks. Then he would switch it up to a white button up shirt and khaki trousers for about two weeks and then it was back to red flanel. I enjoyed his class simply because he would ramble on aimlessly for the entire our about stuff totally unrealated to our course. Here is a sample question from his exam…
A) a pain in the butt…its match? An ancient mesopotamian carving of a horse with an arrow stuck in its rear…
No lie folks…the guy was a cook of the highest degree!
Who knew so many people had John Pickard stories?
I had a class with John Pickard many moons ago. He was a slob. I even had a teacher make a point of showing me his
office to show me how messy he was.
Oh, John Pickard - I still remember your profanity-laced tirade aimed at S.G. the day you were fired from OKG. Good times.
Clark,
I will be your Furr’s buddy any day of the week. I too am 80 years old at heart when it comes to that place.
Mark,
It was not a chair but our table in the studio. Toby flipped it over almost severing my toes from my feet as I was probably wearing flip flops being that’s what I always wore at 6am in the morning.
Asking Toby to pick up a chair and throw it would be more like the feats of strength during Festivus.
Carey, this sounds like a good Sunday
School story for Toby. You think he would tell it the way it happened?
Good call on the burlington coat factory parking lot. On the other hand, I feel dirty after I go in that place, so I may quit going. I think the last time they cleaned or picked up misplaced items was in the 70’s…
Where is John Pickard these days…?
I saw him at Full Circle book store when I worked for cheap channel. I made it a point to go and say Hi to him. My kids were with me and he was actually quite pleasant…to my suprise.
John Pickard also taught me Humanities at the University of Central Oklahoma. Actually I have good memories of his class. He did spend a lot of time talking about art (especially paintings) in our textbook. And also seemed to have decent knowledge of philosophy. I remember he didn’t seem to be a big fan of Catholicism (a plus in my book) and didn’t seem to have much of a belief system except maybe he was a humanist, and also seemed to believe in “Chaos theory”. I attended all his classes (I had him for 2 classes Humanities and Japanese Cinema) and I NEVER SMELLED ALCOHOL ON HIS PERSON, but I never stodd up next to him, so I couldn’t say either way. I do remember in the Japanese Cinema class he showed a movie entitled “Grave of the Fireflies” and at the end of that movie 5 girls in the class were crying. He then went on to explain the movie and said that “Yes, animation movies can be emotionally moving, even for adults”. And went on to say that Disney couldn’t make animation movies as good as the Japanese could. And he was right. He could be extremely sarcastic at times, but I myself found it humorous. Professor Pickard—if you’re out there, some people did appreciate and enjoy your class.