Blagojevich & His Last Hours

“The fix was in,” this is what former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich said in response to his ousting from public office.

During the proceedings on Thursday the former Governor gave a 47 minute appeal to his colleagues covering every facet of his life from fetching coffee in Washington D.C. to proclaiming his innocence, all was delivered in an Academy Award winning fashion.

This seemed to have no affect on the outcome for “Blago” as the final vote read 59-0. “They pitched a shutout” the impeached politician said after his hearing when asked about the unanimous vote. He then made comparisons between himself, Ghandi, Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela.

Immediately after the hearing the media followed and swarmed the former Governor outside his home as he went on to say, “If they can do this to me they can do this to you.”

The cautionary words seemed to fall on deaf ears as the immediate questions to follow all revolved around whether Mr. Blagojevich ever considered resigning or his plans to write a book.

At one point “Blago” quit answering questions, serpentined through the crowd and directed the photographers to capture a moment between himself and the children he had just found to exploit. It was a photo-op right out of the Nixon playbook. When the reporters responded by telling him that the parents of the minors needed to be present to give consent “Blago” took it in stride.

After about thirty minutes the sideshow came to an end and the first impeached Governor in twenty years parted the crowd and made his way up the drive to his house…….. But not before asking the coven of reporters if they would show up to cover him if he had something to say. The overwhelming response from the crowd of journalist was nothing more than a collection laughs and sighs of relief that the days of covering this absurd story had come to an end

The Best Little Prostitution Ring In Tulsa

I recently began researching the history of Tulsa and the nightlife of it’s different eras. To my good fortune in the process I began to find traces of an underbelly to which our city pays no mind. I felt this subject matter interesting, and more importantly unrepresented. So I re-fixed my focus on darker themes and those things not discussed in mixed company for fear of becoming a social pariah. In delving into these topics I hope to raise an awareness, as well as start a movement to embrace the elements of our city that we may not understand but must retain in order to have a culture rich in decadence and depravity. Rich in exuberance and excess. Rich in all that we as Americans may hold dear!

In this weeks post we will be discussing brothels.

Now please try to imagine (or remember) a time before cell phones, pagers and the internet. Now for the sake of this article try to imagine you are back in this pre-technological age, and you are a “john”. You’re out and about, you’re looking for action, some excitement, the thrill of a lifetime. Without the ability to drunk dial and order brides from overseas you would think hope was far from alive and well in Tulsa, in all actuality nothing could be farther from the truth. Spanning at least 10 years was a call-in escort service which operated out of a building in the approximate location that Empire Bar now stands. The process was simple, you would dial “RIDESHY“, a machine would pick up and you would leave a message. If those who screened the messages felt you were a potential threat or a police officer they would simply not respond. This racket ran through the 60’s and 70’s until it was finally shut down.

The next featured brothel holds a record for the longest running operation of its kind. The magic began in 1936 when Pauline Lambert began the May Rooms. It was located at 326 1/2 east 1st street. The empire grew into four hotels, all of which gave service with a smile, as well as happy endings. The business thrived over forty years until 1979 when Madam Pauline was finally arrested and the brothels closed. It’s rumored she was able to keep her business running so long without police raids because many city officials were regular clients. There is now a May Rooms Gallery of art located at 328 east 1st street.

Hopefully this brief lesson in the history of our local sex trade has moved and inspired you to taking up arms in the fight against our oppressor. Hopefully this has opened the eyes and given a dream to some young entrepreneur and given Tulsa its next Pauline Lambert.

Until Next Time!

The Districts of Brookside

When I first moved to Tulsa in ‘02 and I was learning my way around town, I remember people telling me about Brookside. At the time, I would receive vague descriptions about where Brookside began and where it ended, but was never completely clear on exactly where Brookside was. Of course when I would drive between 31st and 41st on Peoria I was very aware that I was in the heart of Brookside. What I did not know at that time is that Brookside extended well beyond that 1 mile stretch of commercial development on Peoria between 31st and 41st.

As I lived in Tulsa longer, Lower Brookside to be exact, I started to realize what a hot place Brookside was. That businesses south of the highway claimed to be in Brookside and that the borders of Brookside were somewhat debatable. Then a couple of years ago I heard someone refer to “Upper Brookside.” Which was the first time I had heard anyone ever describe a sub-district of Brookside. In fact I believe I remember a friend scoffing at the fact that someone would describe their area of Brookside UPPER BROOKSIDE, as if it were pompous.

All of that is what has led to this post, which I feel is the ultimate district breakdown of Brookside, Tulsa Oklahoma. So now, if you would, please honor me by referring to Brookside according to the sub districts that I have outlined below.

Click this image to see a larger version of this map.

Feel free to leave feedback and comments about my breakdown if you see room for improvement or refinement. I have the layered PSD so I can easily update this map.

Tulsa Club Building - Blight on Downtown Tulsa

The historic Tulsa Club building, on the corner of 5th street and Cincinatti, Downtown, Tulsa faces an uncertain future. This beautiful building with a great history and equally great potential sits vacant, graffiti adorned and collects city fines as the owner stubbornly resists all reasonable offers.

The building has been cited for violation of fire, electrical and plumbing codes as well as collapsed ceilings and evidence of trespassing and other possible criminal activity. The city had assessed a $1,000 fine each day since August 2007 until a Tulsa County judge awarded the city a $331,815 civil judgment in October for the unpaid charges.

The current owner, Carl J. Marony, of California picked the property up for around $125k sources say and has not done a thing with it. Rather than put it to good use he has opted to negligently let it sit unattended while homeless people smashed their way in and desecrate the structure.

A neighboring building manager, who opted to stay off the record, shared that he had made numerous attempts to assist the situation. From purchasing the building to forming a partnership, Marony has been quite unreasonable in his opinion. His asking price is said to be $3 million for the building in its current state, which is a huge exaggeration based on the current condition and occupancy in the neighboring buildings.

The building was designed by Bruce Goff, noted Oklahoma architect, for his Art Deco and Modern designs and is highly regarded for its original Art Deco design and downtown location. Built in 1927, it was home to the once prestigious Tulsa Club and Tulsa Chamber of Commerce, who had originally commissioned the project.

Loose Leaf Co. Grand Opening

Tulsa birthed a new urban art gallery on Friday night as Loose Leaf Co. opened it’s doors for the first time. To mark the occasion, the illustrations of David “HEK” Rogers marked their territory along the white walls of this otherwise sparse venue. Although the event ran from 7 to 10pm, I showed up relatively early to avoid the bustle of the blue dome crowd, but to my surprise the room had already filled-in.

Something refreshing about the throng of artgoers was the mixed bag of age brackets. There was no particular demographic on display this particular night, as is usually the case with more traditional institutions, and most everyone seemed to be familiar with the crowd in attendance, indicating a tightly knit creative community.

The color on the wall was courtesy of the aforementioned artist, and while the illustrations were a familiar genre for anyone who’s ever ventured outside of Tulsa, the technicality and vibrancy of Mr. Rogers work did not disappoint. At times the work represented a style reminiscent of Sailor Jerry tattoos, or even popular body art in general. Stylistically, the vernacular also included motifs from both Asian and Spanish-Catholic cultures as made evident by the depiction of dragons and effeminate skull and cloak characters.

Although the work on display was already familiar territory for the urban art scene, the one recurring element that really impressed was a faux-wood grain effect that HEK brought to life by creating a lively maze of delicate strokes that would ebb and flow across the page. Anyone who bothered to stay awake during their art history course in college would likely compare this treatment to the woodcut masterpieces of old, and they would be right. More than a couple of compositions showcased this gorgeous effect and I marveled at each of them.

While rubbing shoulders with the patronage, a dialog commonly overheard was how much Tulsa needed more places like this. That sentiment can’t be overstated. One correlation that’s constantly being reaffirmed is between the health of a community and the vibrancy of it’s art crowd. Tulsa, like many comparable cities, is looking to integrate itself with the progressive 21st century mindset of the more metropolitan areas.

Those who forego the trite migration to NYC in favor of making a community of their own right here in T-Town should be applauded for not giving in to one of our more prevalent cultural cliches. There is nothing stopping Tulsa from becoming a scale model of the notable metro areas scattered along the coast, and although such a transformation will take many more years, it’s apparent that we are heading in that direction.

The new Loose Leaf Gallery and all of the other haunts that make up the bohemian-like pockets of Cherry St., Brookside, Blue Dome & Brady will continue to sprawl, consume and enrich the outlying areas. I look forward to the coming years in North Tulsa and Loose Leaf is just one more reason to maintain faith in that direction.

Interested in experiencing Loose Leaf? Make your way over to 328 E. 1st ST. in downtown, just North of all the Blue Dome attractions. You’ll be glad you did.

- Trevor_B

Decadence & Depravity; A Road Paved By Press

In recent months national press has named Tulsa a hotbed of “indie” music. Having this spotlight cast on our city creates a responsibility to support a scene that we all know will undoubtedly flourish and then self-destruct.

With this unknown expiration date looming in the near future the usual hipsters have all reported for duty while they still can. They’ve come in droves, poking and prodding, hoping to see the next big thing rise from the ashes left behind by Hanson and countless other frauds. Conversations ranging from originality to who found what band first can be heard echoing from one SUV to another.

These are all the signs of a feeding frenzy, the exodus from Brookside to downtown has begun. Newcomers to the music district shuffle down brightly lit streets in hopes of finding “the concert” and being seen in “the bar”. The hipster uniform is also present, being worn and exploited by the masses that now descend upon the city scene on a weekend only basis.

The natives are getting restless, the clouds are growing dark, a tension now fills the air and our lungs. We feel it getting thicker as we carefully slip past the doughy-eyed suburbanites that seem to have been cloned for the sole purpose of taking up space and making it increasingly more difficult to order drinks in your favorite bar.

Fortunately among all this there is a silver lining. Fortunately there are those few elite individuals that have helped shape and promote the Tulsa (original) music scene. They are bar owners and concert providers, they are visionaries. These are the people that should have keys to the city.

At times of frustration and dismay I often ask, “What would Soundpony do?”, and the answer I always find is to be tolerant of those I do not naturally embrace. I believe this philosophy put into action is our only chance to slow and possibly halt the implosion of our city’s musical treasure trove.

So please join me downtown, be yourself, bring your friends, wear your clothes and bring your appetite, because this slice of history is waning, it’s fragile and needs your support.

Brandon Douglas

Old School

featured artist: Nathaniel McKnight

Nat McKnight creates fresh images using traditional media.

“I am a firm believer in following the rules,” declares Nat McKnight, painter and printmaker.

“In art school, you have people who want to dive right into abstract expressionism, minimalism, all the new styles. And that’s totally valid, but what some fail to realize is that those movements were a response to, and an evolution from, the tradition of naturalism. If you take a look at the early works by modern, non-traditional artists, like the infamous Picasso, you will see that they all were very proficient in depicting the natural world as is.”

Nat’s work is very natural in appearance. He uses clean, well-intended lines and bright, fresh colors in his work. His figurative paintings and prints appear as if they could be in a magazine advertisement.

“To me, the canvas or paper is like a window to another dimension. I paint in order to capture what I see in reality, and my interpretation of reality allows the viewer to see how my mind processes the information.”

When asked about inspiration, Nat prefers fashion, natural beauty and the classics.

“Eye contact, posing, monumental figures…I wanted these paintings of my friends to be reminiscent of Archaic Greek Kouroi. There is a steadfastness, a monumental solitude in those statues that I try to instill into my paintings. The kouroi were treated like votive figures, objects of veneration. Painting is comparable to a religious experience for me.”

Indeed, the son of a preacher man, Nat has been somewhat sheltered from the world. Yet he interprets this as advantageous, for it has kept him from becoming desensitized in a world full of chaos.

“I never want to be overstimulated. There is so much trash and negative imagery proffered by the media. It can be too much. I pretty much gave up on television at school.”

Graduating from OU with a BFA in studio art last year, he has yet to figure out what to do professionally. “I’ve just always dreamt that I would be a painter, and it would be all romantic like the Renaissance; I would get a patron and paint my own Sistine Chapel. And then I graduate, and it’s like…oh. That’s not gonna work. Time to become a member of the real world.”
When asked why he doesn’t show his work on a regular basis, or even attempt to get his name out there, Nat gets tongue-tied. However, I get the impression that he knows exactly what’s going on.

“Well, it doesn’t help that I am somewhat reclusive by nature. And I tend to hoard. It’s not that I don’t want to profit from my work. But stage fright is a very real and powerful thing.”

Based on his body of work, I think Nat has little to worry about. Not only does he seem like a nice guy, his work stands out because it is good, ol’ fashioned realism. In an art world that gets off on shock value, political statements, and genre-pushing, it’s refreshing sometimes to just see things the way they are. Every viewpoint is valid.

“That’s not to say that I won’t ever divulge from the straight and narrow,” he says, continuing with, ”Like I said earlier, I believe in following the rules. Now that I feel I have a good, solid grip on realism, I am interested in breaking all that down and challenging myself to see and interpret the world in new ways.”

One way Nat has already done this is with his spiral drawings. Composed of one continuous line, these pieces are dizzying, and somewhat mathematical in their compositions.

“Umm, I don’t really know the meaning of these yet, or if I ever will. I started doodling this stuff as an eighth-grader. It’s crazy to see how it has evolved.” This could be Nat’s signature expression, like a new fingerprint. Besides on paper, he incorporates the spirals onto t-shirts.

“I love V-neck t-shirts and I usually customize them by hand with puff paint. I guess that’s pretty old school too,” he laughs.

“My favorites are the metallic, glitter, neon and glow-in-the-dark puff paints. They are SO AWESOME. I like the idea of taking a plain, fitted tee and transforming it into something luxe and “couture”. These shirts are one of a kind. No one else will have the same shirt…That is until I start mass producing!”

Nat has teamed up with local fashion house Weslet to market his designs, where he has his current line of 9 screen printed designs and several hand painted custom designs.

“For now, you kinda have to know me in order to get my work. But I like meeting new people and would love to share my visions with others.” HE WOULD . . .

Interested in Nat’s designs?
View and purchase his fashion line online at www.weslet.com