There’s a cosmic hum resonating in downtown Tulsa and if you dare put your ear to the ground, you might hear it. From inside a damp, dark and windowless warehouse room on the east end of downtown, the band Fake Camping is looking to surf the new and growing wave of original music that has recently been showing a resurgence in Tulsa.

Fake Camping has a unique approach to their songwriting process, striving to break the pop-rock mold of verse/chorus/verse/chorus rock and usher in a fresh taste of unconventional and unpredictable Space Rock and a psychedelic effect pedal Open House. The band also definitely doesn’t take themselves too seriously, as evident by future plans to “beef up” stage shows by incorporating true camping activities, snacks and merit badges, camp-fire sing-a-longs and visuals.

Fake Camping may not be the flashiest act in town or have throngs of teenage girls snapping pictures of them on their camera phones, but listeners who turn out, give them a chance and 45-90 minutes, walk away feeling refreshed, surprised, entertained and glad they came.

To hear songs or to learn more about Fake Camping, log on to fakecamping.com. In the meantime, dig out that old lawn chair and go check out a show.

by: Wesley Winston Cox

Skinny Bitch! It is an incredibly fun phrase to say, especially when you are able to say it out loud in a restaurant in polite company. I first heard about the book during OU/TEXAS weekend while sitting around the table with my family at a Thai restaurant in Dallas.

When my mom first told us the title of the book she was reading, she murmured the title under her breath, obviously bashful, almost whispering. I could barely hear her, “Pardon?!” – my mom said it a little louder, but the next time she said it I was still unsure that she had actually said “Skinny Bitch.” So, just to clarify I asked her to repeat it one more time, “Yes, the name of the book is SKINNY bitch.”

To which my brother and I started mocking all social sensitivities, “So the name of the book is skinny BITCH?!”. Repeating and re-phrasing the question, incrementally putting louder emphasis on ‘BITCH’ in a bout to outdo the other until everyone in our section had heard us practically scream “skinny BITCH.” Rascally I know, but typical of my brother and I.

After the ensuing conversation that night about Skinny Bitch, I picked myself up a copy back home in Tulsa. It was an easy read; I read the whole thing in a few days. I have been a vegetarian my entire life, so many of the concepts and paradigms in the book were familiar to me, however the authors did a spectacular job of presenting the facts and their opinions about the state of health awareness in America with a unique and ‘saucy’ flair. Their “We don’t give a shit if this offends you because you need to hear it” attitude are an appropriate and effective communication style considering the sad state of health in our culture today.

They call it like it is, shining a huge spot light with exciting flair on the entrenched and unconscious lifestyle habits of Americans. Without delay, they start the tough love on the third page: “Brace yourself, girls: Soda is liquid Satan. It is the Devil. It is garbage. There is nothing in soda that should be put into your body.”

The book reveals a litany of oversights by the government, corporate cover ups and scandalous science that has played a part in formulating our miss-informed paradigm of what constitutes a “healthy” diet. The truths revealed in Skinny Bitch are indeed SHOCKING. Before you read the book, you need to be prepared to set aside everything you think you know about health and wellness and be receptive to a new consciousness.

Skinny Bitch is not just for women. Every person, man and woman old and young alike could benefit from the insight and truths revealed. I can attest to the effectiveness of the truths they reveal – after reading the book, I followed just one of the minor tips and tricks. The book helped me fully understand that cheese is a fattening junk food with hardly any nutritional value. After reducing and almost eliminating it from my diet, I lost 15 pounds in less than 4 weeks, down from 200 to 185. With no exercise!

If more Tulsans would read this book and adjust their diets accordingly, it would be a big step forward to improving the types of restaurants and healthy offerings on the Tulsa dining landscape.

I office downtown and it is practically impossible to get a healthy light salad, a fresh alive sandwich on wholegrain bread or a wholesome cup of soup anywhere. However, if I want a Coney, some brisket or a bologna sandwich I have an abundance of choices. Everyday people vote with their money and patronage to determine what restaurants our community chooses to continue to support.

Unfortunately for our community the majority of consumers are ignorant about health and totally unconscious of what they eat. Lets be honest, the majority of Tulsans are overweight and unhealthy, rapidly consuming the red meat, the processed foods and other toxic JUNK that is served up for us at our local restaurants. All the while we remain completely oblivious that we are sleepwalking while making our food choices instead of being discerning about what types of foods and lifestyles we continue to support in our town.

IT’S TIME TO WAKE UP! Do we need more fast food? Do we really need another Coney stand? Do we really want another sandwich shop that serves us white bread, processed meats, cheese and ice burg lettuce?! Why are we still so ignorant about our food? It is 2008 and we still eat like it is 1958.

Just because we live in Oklahoma, does not mean that we have to eat like Oklahomans.

Read Skinny Bitch, tell your friends to read it, and let’s raise the consciousness of our community and stop eating like Oklahoma Billies.

I have eaten meat for the entirety of my life; however, I recently converted to vegetarianism. Vegetarianism in the raw form was not an unpleasant leap for me, since I never preferred meat in the first place. It was a typical start to something that I thought may or may not have worked out. After a couple of months, I was invited to a vegetarian restaurant by my colleague. I was completely on board to furthering my vegetarian lifestyle. So, we met at Be Le Vegetarian Restaurant. I ordered something simple, vegetable lo mien…it was a safe bet. My partner ordered an assortment of appetizers and dishes that I loosely paid attention to until the words “mock meat” spat out of his mouth. Mock meat; I absorbed the concept before questioning.

At a table of five, little was said about this simulated animal flesh. Then, it was sitting in front of me, on a stick. I presumed it was an imitation of oriental meat kabobs. Urged to try it, I slowly lured the kabob into my mouth. I asked, “Are you sure this isn’t meat?” Sure enough, the mock meat was a perfect simulation of the oriental meat kabobs that I had once held in high regard. Needless to say, I enjoyed the lo mien, the mock meat and many other deliciously foreign-to-my-tongue foods. Be Le’s fresh twist on healthy cuisine and its inviting atmosphere provide for an impressive dining experience. Try something healthy and new; drop into Be Le’s on 66th and Lewis.

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Be Le - Vegetarian Restaurant
6634 S.Lewis Ave., Tulsa, OK 74136
918.499.1414
Mon-Fri 11:00am-2:30pm / 5:30pm-9:00pm
Sat 11:00am-9:00pm