Teenage Improv Madness at Clark Theater

Saturday night the Yogi’s and NaNa ventured into midtown Tulsa to the Henthorne Community Center to see the Clark Theater’s Teen Laughing Matter Improv Show.

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It was all teenagers, led by adults, who have been working all Fall and Spring on their comedy improv skills. Everybody got to play in this fast paced show which went fast. This is SuperPizzaBoy’s second year in improv, his first in  the Improv group. He loves it and his mother and I are amazed about how much he comes out of his shell.

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SPB’s fellow Improvers are a very quick very personable bunch who are also a bunch of hams. Improv involves a lot of interaction with the audience who toss out suggestions for various things. Many of these things involve current events, pop culture, history and such. No video game references. It was amazing the breadth of these kids knowledge.

They have good teachers. The adult leaders of the group are demanding and but infinite patience as they whip their charges into shape.

We are big fans of Clark Theater and their leaders.

Perfect Pairings – Tulsa’s Temple Israel

Temple Israel is a reform congregation in midtown Tulsa just off Utica Square. Their synagogue is a beautiful midcentury modern building. Check their web site. They have a virtual walk through of their facility. They also have a very active congregation. Lots and lots going on there.

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(Great rules of life, regardless of your beliefs.)


I love their depiction of the Ten Commandments. From their website; “This sculpture of the Ten Commandments by Bernard Frazier shows the commandments superimposed on twin pillars to symbolize “The Pillar of Cloud by Day and the Pillar of Fire by Night.” This concept comes from Exodus, Chapter 13 Verse 21-22:”

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(Sorry for the bad photo, me and my camera are having issues)

They have a beautiful Menorah also. I am going to quote again directly from their web site:
“This menorah was designed by Calvin Albert and takes the form of a pedestal with seven unfolding limbs in the form of a Tree of Life (Proverbs 3:17 — “It is a Tree of Life to them that hold fast to it.”). Part of the sculpture shows a circular binding piece symbolizing the universality of God’s presence. The menorah is fueled with a specially prepared oil.“

Even their sign out front is beautiful.

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(I’m just hoping the mid-century modern mafia doesn’t hammer me).

Perfect Pairings

Tulsa Home and Garden Show

Friday was my day off so after scraping dropping off the brat SuperPizzaBoy off at school and eating breakfast Sweetie and I headed off to the Tulsa Home and Garden Show at the fairgrounds.

This year features a sand sculpture of the Golden Driller. It looks like he is emerging from the sand.

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And I liked this colorful take on Adirondack chairs.

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And where did you go to school? Let me see, Oklahoma State University, University of Kansas, University of Texas at Austin, and the University of Texas in Oklahoma.

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You don’t think that the economy is economy is doing better? Well look below, they are selling two story tornado shelters here in Oklahoma. I highly recommend these guys if you are looking for shelters and high quality roofing services.

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Back in the day when I was courtin Sweetie we played lots of shuffleboard. So we had a trip down memory lane. I still can’t beat her.

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This is part of Oklahomas response to Obamacare. In Oklahoma if you get your roofing contractor’s license you also get a medical license!  That’s the kind of out of box creative thinking we got going on here in the heartland.

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Puppies, I had to drag Sweetie away from this.

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I found this kind of creepy. First I couldn’t figure out what they are looking at, second, what is he trying to do with her hand, it looks like some sort of reverse handshake, third, why is he wearing the same dress as she?

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Now this is a bad pic below but I’m showing it anyway for a couple reasons. These are fellow gas company guys. They work in the gas distribution end of it delivering gas to our homes, businesses and factories, I work on the other end connecting natural gas wells to the pipeline system and processing the gas to make usable on the other end. Anyway, the man on the right, turned out I worked with him 20 years ago. He recognized me, I didn’t recognize him. The younger guys at work laugh at us older guys. Whenever old gas guys meet we always recite our past employers and there is almost always a connection there somewhere. In case you are wondering,

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The second reason I show this bad picture is that the striping on it happens in about a fourth of my pics with my Canon SX120 and has been going on for some time. I’ve changed to a faster memory card, keep fresh batteries in it,  reset the camera to the factory settings. Nothing seems to work. I have googled and and searched the Canon support pages. Nothing. So I would appreciate any advice you could give me.

Generally I take two copies of each picture that I really want and I’ve never had two pics that were both bad. I didn’t take a duplicate this time.

Anwaywho, Sweetie and I had a good time at the Home and Garden Show.

Weekend Reflections – Tulsa Garden Center

I was at the Tulsa Garden Center awating my assigned duties from Sweetie for carting stuff from the attic of the Center to the basement while I took this shots.

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The Garden Center was originally built by an Tulsa Oilman back in the day who then donated it to the city.

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Lots of events go on here but if nothing is going on they let the public wander through. It is quite interesting.

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Sweetie is involved in their “Little Green Thumbs” children’s gardening program there. She was getting everything ready for the coming season. They don’t have their schedule set yet but check the link above periodically if you are interested.

The Tulsa Garden Center is part of a complex that includes the Linnaeus Teaching Gardens, a huge rose garden, an arboretum, green house, and Woodward Park. They also share a parking lot with the Tulsa Historical Society. If you visit Tulsa you have to come by. You just gotta!

Weekend Reflections

Temple Grandin Came to Tulsa

Temple Grandin, Americas’s most famous person with autism, gave a talk in Tulsa Tuesday night at a packed house at Tulsa Community College’s Southeast Campus.

She talked for an hour over a wide range of topics. Much of it was centered on different ways of thinking among people and also on how animals think. She is as famous in the livestock facility industry  as she is in the autism world. Much of her success is because she is able to get inside a cow’s head and see what they see.

She talked about how that many people with autism and animals live in a sensory based world. They take particular notice and respond to the  details of the sights, smells, and textures around them. She calls that “bottom up” thinking as opposed to “top down” thinking. In her view top down thinking is driven by verbal thinking and tends to drown out notification of details.

She told us that she is a visual thinker and talked about the advantage of visual thinking. One example she gave was the Japanese nuclear reactor that failed during the tsunami last year. She said that a visual thinker would have never put the backup electrical generators in the basement of building so close to the ocean. She also talked about the BP Macondo oil spill and how BP was worried more about slips, falls, and scaldings than they were about well safety. On the day the well blew out BP personnel on the drilling rig could have been written up for drinking coffee in  a cup without a lid.

She spent some time on America’s educational system and how the “hands on” classes that are so important to sensory thinking people  like sewing, welding, carpentry, and auto mechanics are being eliminated. She talked about how American corporations are moving their research and development facilities overseas because they cannot find enough scientists and engineers here in the USA.

She covered a wide range of topics. She was lively, spunky, and interesting and had a great sense of humor. The hour was up in what seemed like fifteen minutes and she got a standing ovation afterwards.

Of course, what she said was important but  important, especially to those of us who are parents of children with autism, is the example she sets for us and our kids. She really is our hero.

If she comes to your city, I strongly recommend that you go see her.

ABC Wednesday – “H” is for …..

Hippotherapy!!

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Our son, SuperPizzaBoy, participates in Hippotherapy at Rogers State University’s Bit by  Bit Therapeutic Riding Program.

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Under a carefully controlled and safe environment SPB and his fellow students go through a series of exercises while on horseback. SPB loves it.

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Of course, you more knowledgeable readers spotted that SPB is actually riding a mule. Meet Jed, SPB’s mule. The program requires many volunteers to be lead the animal and be outriders for the participants. Other volunteers help take care of the animals and keep their stalls clean. We are appreciative for all these volunteers. The program wouldn’t be possible without them.

ABC Wednesday

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Our World – Looking for the Little People

Saturday afternoon I went geocaching all by myself on Turkey Mountain. Sweetie had things to do at the Tulsa Garden Center and SuperPizzaBoy was visiting a friend.

So off on the trail I went.
Turkey Mountain Trail

Turkey Mountain has a wild wooly history. An old oilfield and moonshiners hangout. Lots of relics that I don’t understand.

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Old campsite for “Occupy Turkey Mountain” maybe?
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Anybody need basic transportation.?
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Enough about the “things” on Turkey Mountain. Lets talk about the people. There is a pecking order on the mountain. Like the people below are strollers.

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And above them, are the hikers.

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And then above the hikers are the trail runners.Trail runners are very cool people. They have a lot going for them

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And then of course at the top you have Geocachers, such as the lady below. Sophisticated and Classy, the two most common adjectives applied to geocachers. Surely you agree.

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Sorry, I got off track. I did find something interesting. I didn’t know it before but I evidence of the little people on Turkey Mountain. Fellow geocacher M5 reported on them earlier. I knocked but nobody was home.

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I also found myself in a situation that no old fat guy ever wants to be in. Can’t go down!

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Can’t go up!

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The Little People were no help.

Thanks M5 for another two great caches in Turkey Mountain.

I wore my fancy schmancy Garmin watch during my hunt. Below is the track. If you hit the green button it takes you to the Garmin website. Hit the play button and you can see the route I traversed.

Our World