Route 66 Bridge Over Lake Overholser ~ by Michael Stano (all images in this post are copyrighted exclusively by the featured photographer)
When highlighting Oklahomans for our Silent Sunday series, I’m always amazed at the variety of backgrounds covered by those who are also excellent photographers. Such is the case with Judge Michael Stano, or…Michael Stano the photographer, of Stillwater.
I like signing into his “Zenfolio” website just to hear the relaxing threads of music accompanying me while searching through his images. I also like the way his “Photographer” section begins the story of how he was introduced to his first camera. Here’s an excerpt:
A way of seeing….
While in Cub Scouts, which must have been in the mid-50s, I used plans in Boys’ Life to build a pin-hole camera. The camera “body” was a Folger’s one-pound coffee can. The “lens” was a nail hole poked through the can, and the “shutter” was a piece of electrical tape over the hole. The inside of the can was painted black, and there was a sheet film holder made of cardboard. I don’t remember if I actually took any photos with the Folger’s can, but I was obviously interested in photography at an early age. Continue reading Silent Sunday: The Work of Michael Stano→
Toy Gun's most recent release, "Paper Flower," is a film about "compensated dating," a social issue with widespread implications in Japan.
This is not a movie scene:
Nine years ago I was sitting in a small office with my boss, next to a young Columbian. He was interviewing to become our Latino community service coordinator. His white shirt shone against his olive skin, he answered questions passionately and smiled often. He had raised the issue of “family” and mentioned he had many brothers and sisters. Jokingly he was sharing a story about his mother and his father who lived in his home country, and then his sister who lived in Oklahoma. He mentioned his older brother was a role model to him. One of us followed up with a question: “What is it about your brother you admire?”
The smile left his face. An indiscernible emotion took its place, and he began to tell us that his first brother had been “promised to the Church” and had become a priest. One day he was talking with his brother on the street, a gang ran up to him, and shot him point blank in the head. I’ll never forget this young man’s face when he said with his Latin’ accent, “There…you, you could see his brains.”
There are certain types of floor polish that smell just like my old elementary school in Apache, Oklahoma. On rare occasions I will walk into a building to the perfect combinations of soaps, cleaners and mop bucket — boom! Ahhhhh, there it is—the long hallway that takes me down to Mrs. Alexander’s fourth grade classroom. A thousand images flood my mind when I get a certain whiff of my youth.
I’m surprised we could smell anything at all back in the sixties. Everybody smoked. Part of my job as the barber shop shoe shine boy was emptying ash trays. Let’s just say, I emptied them a lot. These days I nearly gag whenever anyone within a quarter-mile lights up a cigarette.
I can smell my memories. I think that’s why I’m always looking for a barber shop that smells right. If I walked into something like Spring-Fresh-Potpourri I would turn around and leave. Surely there’s a man law about this: There shall be no potpourri in a barber shop. So what makes a barber shop smell right? Jeris Hair Tonic, Butch Wax and clipper oil—these contribute basic components to real barber shop smell.
On Fridays, several customers would make their way in from the Sale Barn where cattle had been auctioned. The Angus, Herefords and multi-various bulls, cows and calves were fond of leaving green souvenirs which the men’s boots would inevitably pick up. The barber shop took on even more character when the farmers and ranchers came to town. Smells good don’t it?
Don’t ask me why I love some of the aromas of my youth so much. My best answer will be nostalgia, sentimentality, or perhaps a coping mechanism which works to suppress my neurosis. Saddle soap, leather dye and cowboys boots dipped in a cow lot—man if somebody would bottle that I’d wear it as cologne! Continue reading Barbershop Theology, Pt. 4: “The Nose Knows”→
The coaching carousel is at full tilt this time of year. The sports world is a vicious cycle of hirings and firings. Now, the college basketball carousel is spinning fastest, but soon the NBA will pick up speed, followed by the NHL, college football, the NFL, and round and round we go.
At this very moment there are high profile basketball vacancies at Oklahoma, Missouri, Tennessee, Georgia Tech, and Utah just to name a few. Athletic Directors are faced with the delicate task of finding not just a good coach, but a coach who is the right fit within the program and within the university. Choosing a coach wisely means wins, money, fan support, national prestige, and more TV time. Making a poor choice means losses, fans in retreat, revenues in the red, and the possibility of setting the program back for years to come. Not to mention how bad it makes the Athletic Director look when the guy he hired turns out to be a bust.
The process of finding the right man for the job is at best, an inexact science. There is no secret formula, no perfect path to follow when on the hunt for someone who is going to become not only a head coach, but a very well compensated representative of your university. So many factors can go into a coaching search, but here are the very basics when narrowing down that long list of possibilities.
Even with Pearl gone, Tennessee may continue to suffer the consequences of his actions. (courtesy marioncountymessenger.com)
1. CHARACTER AND INTEGRITY
Some might say winning is the most important thing and even trumps character. However, the “win at all costs” mentality can be great for a while, but in the long run it can have devastating effects on a program. Schools can overcome a couple of down years, but it takes much longer to overcome the public relations disaster brought on by a coach involved in a legal, sexual, or recruiting scandal. Even if a coach avoids the police, the courtroom, and manages to keep himself out of incriminating Facebook photos, he can still take down a program by violating NCAA rules. Just ask Indiana. The once prolific Hoosiers aren’t competitive thanks to Kelvin Sampson’s NCAA transgressions. Even though Tennessee fired Bruce Pearl, the Vols could be facing serious consequences thanks to Pearl’s lies and poor judgment. Look at all the instances in the past where the coach had to deal with adversity. How did he handle players who violated team policy? Did he stick to his principles or did he lower his own standards in the name of winning? Listen Athletic Directors of America, save yourself the embarrassment later by doing your research now. Look at a coach’s past, examine his family life, check and triple check references, and make sure you have all the details on any and all run-ins with the NCAA. Know what kind of man you’re getting from the very beginning and you limit the chances of an unpleasant surprise down the road.
Wow! Thursday sure came fast this week. It could be because I have been busy the last 8 days helping my husband install some antique pine flooring, helping strip the sealer off the kitchen floor and resealing/sealing it. Why is it that what you think will be a small job turns into way more than you have time for? All that aside, there is nothing more rewarding than being involved in a project that you are proud of when it is completed.
The recipe I am reviewing this weeks is: Easy Chicken Rice by Evelyn Gray
1 3/4 Cups uncooked rice
1 can Cream of Chicken Soup; 6-8 Chicken breasts
1 can Cream of Celery Soup
1 can Cream of Mushroom Soup; 1 stick of Butter
1 can of Water
Melt butter in saucepan, add soups and water. Heat. Put rice in oblong cake or casserole dish. Pour 1/2 soup mixture on top of rice. Put chicken on top of soup and rice. Pour remainder of soup mixture on top. Bake at 225 for 2 hours and serve.