Sauce>Goose. Sauce>Gander?

(Yep, those ARE headlights you see reflected in his eyes....)


The citizens of my beloved hometown of Tulsa just elected themselves yet another dipsy millionaire as their mayor (past honorees of note? See Sen. James "9/11 was retribution from God for the US not supporting Israel" Inhofe). Tulsa's new blow-dried Hizzoner has been intent on breaking the policemen's union and the firemen's union and forcing the people who protect the city of Tulsa to take sizable cuts in staffing, pay and benefits, but assured everyone that all parts of city government would take similar hits. But notsofast:

The Mayor’s Office is not sustaining a budget cut and, in fact, is projected to need an infusion of cash before the end of the fiscal year so it is not over budget, Tulsa’s City Council learned Wednesday.

Budget Director Pat Connelly told councilors during a special meeting that budget amendments incorporating more than $10 million in cuts to the general fund will be brought to them next week.

But it will not include a 4.4 percent reduction for the Mayor’s Office as all other city departments have taken, he said. Such a cut would have decreased the executive office’s annual budget of $1,048,000 by $46,000.

This development comes in spite of Mayor Dewey Bartlett having maintained throughout the process that all city groups would share equally in addressing the city’s budget crisis.

Connelly said the payroll for the current staffing level in the Mayor’s Office will exceed its appropriations. The council soon will have to transfer more money into its budget.

“So it doesn’t make any sense to cut them now when you’re just going to have to go back in and provide some additional dollars,” he said.

The staffing expenses come from a combination of then-Mayor Kathy Taylor’s administration and Bartlett’s new administration, which took over less than two months ago, Connelly said.

Some councilors laughed at the revelation in disbelief.

“Good luck with that,” Councilor Bill Christiansen said...

Muh-huh. Just what you expect from a guy named after one of Donald Duck's nephews.

Sad news for all Tulsa baby boomers....

Uncle Zeb has died.

Carl Bartholomew, better known in the area as "Uncle Zeb," the host of a popular childrens' show from Tulsa, has died. He was 78.

Bartholomew is recognizable to two generations of Tulsans for his enduring role on the Unlce Zeb's show, famous for its "Cartoon Camp" had two runs on the airwaves — the first on KTUL, channel 8, from 1969 to '79, and then on cable from 1990 through '97.

Bartholomew also executive-produced, directed, co-scripted and starred in a 1988 vigilante movie called "Cole Justice," whose popularity in the home video market got him an improbable gig as the grand marshal of a holiday parade in Florala, Ala., sharing the spotlight "with a guy who could pick up 20 chickens," he recalled.

"Cole Justice" also played on Showtime and the Movie Channel and is still available from the Tulsa-based VCI Home Entertainment.

Bartholomew spent many years as the promotions manager for channel 8, where he created the well-remembered "Eight's the Place" campaign. In those brief spots — Bartholomew called them "micro-mini-movies" — he put the station's news team on horseback, into a '30s convertible, and even in Hower's biplane.

"That's kind of where I got bitten by the movie bug," he said. "Now, everything I write, I see in my mind as a film. This book is no different." Bartholomew was also an accomplished childrens' author. In 1998, his debut book, "Granmax: The Saving of a Steam Train," came out. He also released "Plane Phenomenon: The Pawnshop Mysteries," which mixed "Twilight Zone"-style thrills with
a plot line about a boy whose passion is remote-control planes, especially a Stearman biplane.

For those of you who don't understand, let me try to explain. Your boy scout/girl scout/ bluebird group would book a visit to the Cartoon Camp. You would then ride up a twisty road in the back of a station wagon to the top of Turkey Mountain in west Tulsa to the studios of Channel 8. You would walk onto the set, and there was Uncle Zeb. He'd tell jokes. He made squirrels out of handkerchiefs and made them jump at you with his fingers. You'd watch classic cartoons. At the end, you all got to line up and say your name into the microphone and get your 2 seconds of fame. Then you'd all jump around during the closing credits.

It was a blast. He was the nicest man.He was just so fun, and it never felt like he was talking down to you, even if you were six years old.

A while back I actually found some website about Tulsa TV personalities, and actually found a way to email him. Here I was, definitely middle aged, and I was thrilled that I got an email from Uncle Zeb. He was a true gem, and a gentleman. Now I just wish I'd asked him how to make those squirrels out of a handkerchief.

God bless you, Carl. You gave thousands of kids the gift of laughter.

We're Number One! We're Number One!

My beloved alma mater was given the honor of the first football game of the season last Thursday at 6 pm against the University of Louisiana-Monroe, and we won 35-17! It was just wonderful that it was televised on ESPN-2, as well, so that those of us who are Okie-expats actually got to see the game!

Then it occurred to me: for a few minutes, probably from about 9:45 to 10:30, we were the only Division I college football program with a 1-0 record. So that makes us Number One in the nation, which is the first time we could say that since my sophomore year in college, when we were number 16 in the nation. Heady days! I was the girl in the front of the band in the ugly blue polyester flared-leg uniform screaming her head off. You might have seen me. I assure you I am much calmer now.

But we're number one! I wanted to say that while I could!

Go Hurricane!

And by the way, a small note to the TU athletic department: since we're known as the Golden Hurricane, perhaps a bit more gold on the uniform might make some sense. I mean, c'mon, you've got blue and gold.... and red.... and white???????

Another chance for drop-outs in Tulsa

Tulsa Public Schools have opened up a new alternative program in town for those who are close to graduation:

On Saturday, the [Tulsa Public Schools] district held a grand opening for its new high school credit recovery program, called Tulsa Learning Academy, as well as a Back to School Rally, where student groups from schools across Tulsa performed.

High school students or dropouts needing fewer than 12 credit hours can earn their high school diplomas through TLA, which offers 4-hour morning or afternoon sessions.

Two of the first students to apply for admission said they learned about TLA when they were hired by a temp agency to move furniture into the program's newly leased space at Tulsa Promenade.

Jerrod Grayson and Elizha Whitney said they recently completed their senior years at East Central High School lacking two half-credits and one half-credit, respectively.

"I was going to try to find another way to earn my diploma because I didn't want to go back to East Central and do seven classes when all I need is a half-credit," Whitney said.

Grayson and Whitney were accompanied at the TLA grand opening by Carolyn Duhart, the lead supervisor for furniture and labor in the TPS maintenance department, who told them about the program.

"I found out how close they are to graduating and I just stayed on them," Duhart said. "I want everybody's child to earn a high school diploma. The world is changing so much, you've got to have this."

Duhart vowed to keep encouraging the young men while they're completing their credits at TLA.

"The best thing will be when they get that piece of paper (at graduation) in December," she said.

At the grand opening ceremony, Richard Palazzo, the director of alternative programs and social services for TPS, called TLA a unique and innovative program.

"This program is precisely what we need," Palazzo said. "Our phone is ringing off the wall with people asking how they can get into this program."

There's more to the story, too.

This could be a wonderful program.

IF substantive learning is expected. IF discipline is addressed so that kids who want another chance can concentrate on learning. IF it is an accelerated program. IF earning a diploma means EARNING the diploma.

When I was a kid, TPS had Street School, and one of my friends went to it and did very well for herself. I have often pondered moving to a model in which school attendance is not mandatory and what the effects of that would be. Perhaps kids who don't value education and disrupt the learning environment would then try living in the big world for a while. When they finally realized the value of an education, they could choose to come to programs like this one, and be more focused and dedicated. It could be win-win for everyone. We could actually have real standards for behavior and academics in US public schools. Kids could find out whether or not education is really important for themselves, since we all know kids who don't believe teachers or other adults when WE tell them an education is vital for success.

When you're sixteen years old, you may think that eight to ten bucks an hour is perfectly fine. But I have had former students of mine try that route and then suddenly have that epiphany that maybe mean old Ms. Cornelius wasn't kidding. Sometimes this has happened when they have aged out of attendance at a public school, and so they have had to pay for classes at a community college or prep work for the GED. For those that AREN'T too old, programs like the Tulsa Learning Academy seem like they could be just the ticket.