365 THINGS TO DO IN OKC

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SUMMER TRAVEL PLANS

If you're looking to travel this summer, TravelOK actually has a nifty website. You can pick which region you'd like to go to and what all you find interesting and it'll narrow it down for you, complete with a summary and photos. Check it out for a nice weekend staycation!

http://www.travelok.com/

THE ELBOW HEARD 'ROUND THE WORLD

So we've all seen (or heard) about this... personally, (and I know I'm mostly alone in this) I do think it was an accident... slowed down it looks AWFUL... but if you were actually watching the game as it happened, it truly did seem like an accident. The only thing, though, Artest (I REFUSE to call him by his new name) could have shown remorse by saying 'sorry' afterwards rather than running down the court and trying to fight Ibaka.

Anyhow, with that being said.. I saw this on Jimmy Kimmel last night. I don't necessarily think Jimmy Kimmel is funny (at all), nor do I try and catch his show (ever) but it happened to be on while I was at work and I happened to catch this skit.

Post number 25... DONE!

POST NUMBER 24.

4 POSTS AWAY! WAHOO!

HEARD IN THE NEWSROOM 4/24

So far it's been a slow night tonight - thank goodness.. lately there have been a ton of shootings! I'm starting to realize, however, that people will call 911 for just about anything. Below is a question... see if you can guess which one(s) is/are true!

Caller is requesting 911 assistance because of...
a) a toothache
b) calling party said her trashcan moved and she didn't move it
c) somebody looked at them funny
d) all of the above


Can you guess the corret answer?!










it is D! people are CRAZY.

SWEET BROWN REMIX!

No Time For Bronchitis

I've been recieving numerous calls and E-mails regarding this woman... Sweet Brown. It seems she has taken Oklahoma by storm. We love her here in the newsroom, and it seems like the viewers love her as well. Enjoy!

HEARD IN THE NEWSROOM

So of course, now that I change my blog to 'HEARD IN THE NEWSROOM', there is absolutely NOTHING coming across the scanners or phone lines!! Hoping for better luck tomorrow evening, but for now... time to go and run prompter for 4 hours and hate my life. (joke... I don't hate my life. I just hate running prompter). Have a good day, ya'll.

HEARD IN THE NEWSROOM overnight 3/27

DISPATCH

• "please be advised... subject is eating glass."
• "they'll be on the corner... 2 men in suits claiming to be conducting a seat belt effectiveness survey?"
• "caller says her grandson is being destructive ... does not seem to know her grandsons name"
• "he goes by T-Rex... he's got two small arms"

CALLS TO NEWSROOM

• "Yeah... I'm trying to figure out ... where did the moon go? .. I looked up, it was there, and now it be gone."
• "You all are a [bleep] disservice to news. I'm going to call the [bleep] governor on you guys. And then I'm going to blog about you mother [bleep] to every [bleep] person I know"

HEARD IN THE NEWSROOM

I recently accepted a job at News Channel 4 (I love it!) and I work night shifts here. Since I'm not doing too much going out these days... as I'm mostly a vampire who sleeps all day and then works all night... I decided to do a new 'segment', if you will, to this blog titled 'heard in the newsroom'.

Basically, all night I listen to about 17 different police scanners and answer calls from people, most of whom just want to talk or curse at you. I'm going to start compiling a list and posting all the crazy and hilarious things that happen... let me just say - people are CRAZY!

BLOGGING PRESENTATION: overview

I plan on doing my presentation over a blog I've been following for close to a year now, A Quick Succession of Busy Nothings. I found this blog after watching the Travel Channel's "House Hunters International" (which I'm OBSESSED with). This particular show featured a sweet Utah couple who were moving to England to pursue the husbands dream career. While trying to find the link to the show (so I could send it to my mom... who is also obsessed with the show but said she missed that particular episode), I stumbled across her blog.

I think what initially drew me to this blog is that I've always wanted to live in another country, but I've always been semi-terrified at the thought of leaving my family behind. I also think I identify myself with the woman who writes the blog, and so it's interesting to read of how she adapted to living in a place so different from home.

You guys should definitely check it out!

Thunder Games

So, I know that most people think Thunder games are expensive... and you are right to think that. BUT! Last Friday, some friends and I made an impulsive decision around 2 PM to go to the Thunder game that night (we played the Cavs. Spoiler Alert: we lost).

I didn't know that you could go and line up outside of the Chesapeake Arena and get $10 tickets. I'd heard of that before, however, I thought it was only for playoff games or something. Granted, it is an all day event... -You must be there 4 hours before the game, you stand in line, get a wrist band and a raffle ticket (each wristband gets you 2 game tickets)... and then get back in line an hour before the game where they randomly draw 25 tickets, and the holders of those tickets get to get in for free!! If you don't get your raffle ticket called - you still get $10 tickets.
However, there is a downside to the raffle ticket thing, as my friends and I found out. I've never won anything in my life... I'm just not that lucky. But! the very last raffle ticket they called just so happened to be my ticket... therefore, my friend and I got our tickets for free. Awesome, right? Well... Not if you're with a group of 6. We all ended up getting separated, and while my friend and I didn't get any better seats (Loud City row Q.. IE: the row right before the very top of the stadium... IEE: The second worst seats in the arena) we still didn't get to enjoy the game with our friends.

But we still had fun, and granted, if you are on a budget, $10 seats in the nosebleeds doesn't sound all that bad.

As I mentioned, you need to be there 4 hours before the game... possibly sooner. Only the first 100 in line get $10 tickets. If you are number 101 in line... tough luck. I can't imagine how early people get in line during playoff games... but I'm sure it starts pretty early... as we got there at 2:30 and there were probably already 75 people in line (and it was only vs the Lebron-less Cavs... no one that important) But still, its a fun experience... and trust me, you'll meet some interesting characters while standing in line... I'm talking Oklahoma State Fair worthy characters.

Have Fun! :)

FOX&HOUND

The past few weeks, my friends and I have been meeting up at Fox and Hound to watch the Thunder games. I've always heard everybody talking about this bar, however, I must say I was slightly disappointed.

(note: the above statement is a polite way of saying that I do not recommend this place)

Heres a little checklist:
- The service sucks.

- The seating is terrible...just a bunch of bars stools and pub tables strewn about. To go to the restroom you have to basically walk through a maze of bodies and legs.

- It is smokey. There is not a separate smoking section. While most of the time, smokey places don't bother me (I'm assuming because of filtration systems) the past two times I've been to Fox & Hound, I've practically been choking on smoke. I could taste it in my food. It also doesn't help that last time I was there, the table next to me was sucking on cigars all night and blowing them in our direction. Yuck.

-$9 an hour for shuffleboard?! Are you freaking kidding me?!

-$9 an hour for billiards?! Are you freaking kidding me?!

- $9 an hour for darts?! Are you freaking kidding me?!

- Typically, spinach and artichoke dip is about the same everywhere you go... it's not that hard to screw up. Leave it to Fox and Hound, though, to give me the lumpiest, most lukewarm spin dip I've ever had. And the chips were stale. Double Whammy.

While my company seemed to enjoy the beer, I'm not really a beer drinker...however I like girly cider beers. I asked the server for my typical Woodchuck Amber Cider and she said they no longer carried it. I asked her if they had anything similar, and she told me she didn't know... - she'd find out.

 I waited a good 10 minutes (I think she forgot about me) and finally someone else came to the table and recommended to me some kind of Amber lager. I don't think they knew that Woodchuck Amber Cider tastes like freaking apple juice, and the stuff they were trying to give me was some stout, strong, full bodied beer. (I don't really know what those words mean that I just used to describe that beer, however, I hear them on the Samuel Adams commercials often)

Luckily, my company seems to know more about beer than those who worked there, because they told me that whatever it was that was recommended to me was NOT similar to the adult apple juice that I was looking for.

So I decided to settle on a mixed drink. Let me just make a disclaimer that, as previously mentioned, I was a server for 6 years. I am always polite and never act like there is a problem to my servers (even when I basically ask for milk, and they tell me they're out but that pepsi tastes exactly like milk).
With that disclaimer, let me continue.

I decided on a mixed drink and my server just gushed over some cream soda concoction. Now, I like soda, and I certainly like cream soda, so I was all in. What she gave me was pink and thick like pepto-bismal and tasted like strawberry milk. If you like strawberry milk... order this. I, for one, DESPISE strawberry milk ever since I threw it up on the bus in 3rd grade.


Needless to say, I barely touched my drink, and my company didn't care for it either. The server came back around and she said, 'aw... you didn't like it?!' I politely told her that I did not, and she recommended me a different drink, which I obliged to. Because she offered me a different drink and saw that I clearly didn't like it, I guess I expected to not have to pay for my pepto-bismal.

The rest of the evening was pretty uneventful, I liked the other drink I got, and then the game ended, so we tabbed out. To my dismay, my pepto-bismal was still on my tab.. and yes, I had to pay for it. I didn't ask about it, because as that point I was over the whole ordeal and just wanted to go home and wash the cigar smoke off.

Case in point is, I really don't like Fox and Hound.

TIPS FOR SERVERS.

I'm a stickler for good service, however, there is little difference between bad service and overbearing service.

People know what bad service is - being ignored all night, wrong orders, rude server, blah blah blah. One thing that isn't usually covered is overbearing service. 

The other night at Fox and Hound, my server was a very sweet girl, but, she came up to our table just about every 5 minutes to ask us the same question, 'are you all doing okay?'

Let me make one thing clear - I was a server for a good 6 years at a high end restaurant and at a country club. I am therefore entitled to give my opinion on serving, whereas someone who has never been a server is not.
I know that there is that awkwardness of, 'I don't want to ignore my table... but I don't want to annoy them either.' I get that. But as a server, one must also keep in mind different factors.

1. Is it a bar? - if yes, it is more laid back. People will typically flag you down if they need you. Just keep yourself visible, walk around every 5 minutes or so and QUIETLY (this means don't talk to them) do a table check - are the drinks low? if yes, ask if they'd like another. if no, don't talk to them.
    -If their drink is low, but they don't want another one right now... don't ask again unless its at least 45 minutes later. Then, resume keeping yourself visible and walking around doing checks every 5 minutes.
2. Is there a game on? - if yes, tables are more likely to sit around longer and linger, because they are watching a game. People are obviously there for the game, and don't want to risk missing a play because you won't stop talking to them. The best service is silent service. If there is no game on and it looks like some kind of business meeting or old friends catching up, again... silent service. Keep yourself visible.

3. This all my be redundant so let me just make one fact clear in case you didn't get it: keep yourself visible. Even if your table doesn't need or want anything from you, there is nothing more annoying than knowing if you DID need or want something, your server is nowhere to be found. And don't keep yourself visible by chatting up another table for hours. If they chat you up, be polite, talk with them for a bit, but make it clear you are not there to slack off and that you have a job to do and other tables to attend. I can't stress that enough how annoyed I get whenever my server is being Chatty Cathy with a table all night and I feel rude interrupting them. I also get annoyed if I feel like that table is getting better service than me.

finally,


4. Always put yourself in the position of your guests. Do they look deep in conversation? If you were one of those sitting at the table, would you want to be interrupted at that point? Keep this in mind.

CLASS REQUIRED POST: David Rhea, Guest Speaker

On Tuesday, we were by guest speaker, David Rhea, from the Journal Record. The thing I got most out of his lecture was that you shouldn't update your blog too little... but you should also not update it too much. He said that if you updated it too much, you lack valuable content and 'regurgitate' information... a blogger should build up good content. One way that he does this is by thinking of blogging as 'writing a song'... Rhea said he has ideas throughout the day and will jot down ideas.

He also told us to keep things brief, people don't have time to sit down and read a 1200 word story on a blog..-Focus really tight on one single subject.

So, taking the advice of Rhea, this concludes my post.

EAT: Old Chicago in Edmond

Okay, so I know that Old Chicago isn't necessarily a 'hidden' spot, but it's one that I notice most college students don't take full advantage of.

First things first, DAILY happy hour from 4-7 and 10-close (midnight). Did I mention that it's DAILY? as in, everyday? This also isn't just for all you drinkers out there, they have different happy hour menu items as well as different items for each day. I'm not entirely sure on pricing, as they don't advertise it on their menu, and last time I was there I didn't 'take notes', but I know that you can get mozzarella sticks, a buffet, or a "mini" pizza for extremely cheap. And hey, thats exactly what all of our starving college kids need.

One other thing, your server won't mention this to you ... so remember this next time you're there: ALL UCO students and faculty get 10% off food with a valid UCO I.D.

Happy eating!

CLASS REQUIRED BLOG ENTRY: KURT HOCHENAUER

On Tuesday, Kurt Hochenauer of the popular political OkieFunk blog came and visited our class. OkieFunk is described as "...a blog of populist and liberal information and ideas, advancing the cause of truth and justice while fighting the ugly tyranny of right-wing oppression in Oklahoma and its surrounding environs."
While I don't necessarily care about politics, nor do I have any idea what the above statement means, I thought that "Doc Hoch" was very interesting. He said that his blog had a lot of hits during 2008, probably due to the election, and that he keeps his blog posts organized in an easy-to-find archive so that he could be easily cited.

One thing that I would change about his blog is that I feel like the format is way too much. I like things simple and clean, and with his blog I felt that there was way too much stuff to look at and it was a little overwhelming.

Basically what I took away from this is that for one to be successful in blogging, they need to be passionate about their topic, but also knowledgable.

That is all.

Where do YOU go?

I have been having such a good time (okay, maybe too good of a time) staking out different bars and hole-in-the-wall eateries here in Edmond and in the surrounding Oklahoma City. 

While I doubt that I’ll run out of bars or hangouts to review any time soon, I wanted to pose this question to my fellow classmates… What is your favorite hang out spot? Where do you and your friends like to go on the weekends, and why?  

EAT: RePUBlic GastroPUB

Recently I took a trip to the RePUBlic. The person who accompanied me insisted that I try the appetizer pretzel. Now, I'm kind of a frugal person... Why would I pay $7+ for a soft pretzel that I can get at a baseball game for 75 cents? "But it's GOURMET", said my friend. I caved and I ordered it.

That was the day my life changed.


Just kidding. My life didn't change over a pretzel, but I'm telling you, it was the best damn pretzel I've ever had. I wanted to lick the plate it came on. Having filled up on the pretzel and their large selection of brew, I didn't eat much of my entree, but that in itself was also amazing. I got the fish and chips, while my friend got a burger. Both were amazing but, by that point, I didn't really even want to look at the food.

In all, the atmosphere was great, there are TVs visible from all tables, and the service is nice and fast. You may have a little bit of a wait, as when I went, it was Saturday at lunch time and it was still packed, so I can only imagine how it is for dinner hours, but all the same, it is worth it.


Have you been to RePUBlic? What are your thoughts on it?

51st Street Speakeasy

Often lovingly referred to as 'The Speak' or 'Speakeasy', this will soon be your next favorite hangout. Located between Western Ave and Classen Circle, the Speakeasy is convenient and close to other bars, should you happen to want to bar hop.

• No Cover
• Smoking and Non Smoking 
• Different Rooms and Bars throughout 
• What I love about the Speakeasy is that there are different rooms one can explore upstairs and down, including the 'Couch Room', a room full of plush couches that are almost always taken. 
• There are 3 different bars, making it easy to get a drink on a busy night. You can also tab out at any bar, meaning, if you start a tab at the main bar and then want to tab out upstairs, it's no problem.
• Friendly bartenders 
• Trivia, Live Music 
• Patio 

Be sure to go on a Thunder game night - whether home or away. There is always a large projector screen set up in the non-smoking bar, making it convenient and comfortable to eat food and chat with friends or make new friends at surrounding tables. 

Also, try the veggie quesadillas. You will not regret it. 

Click here for more information 

Assignment - 10 Secrets for Writing Good Blog Posts

For todays assignment, we were asked to find a site that will help us improve our blogs. I get overwhelmed by reading long posts. I like bullet points and stuff that is quick, simple, and to the point. The article I found was just that. You can look at it by clicking here, but for this purpose of this assignment I will summarize it.

1. DO write about what matters to you.
2. DON'T take a too-formal tone.
3. DO edit yourself.
4. DON'T use tired cliches.
5. DO spell check your posts before you click 'Publish Now."
6. DON'T forget basic principles of good text layout.
7. DO use lists. Most blog readers skim copy rather than read it all the way through.
8. DON'T use the same format in every post.
9. DO create descriptive headlines that let readers know what to expect from your posts.
10. DON'T sweat it.

I plan on using this information, along with the information provided to me in our class lecture today, to improve my blog.

Information Overload

A CLASS-REQUIRED BLOG THAT IS NOT RELATED TO THINGS TO DO IN OKC. 

For class, we looked at the website technorati.com, and read the 'State of the Blogosphere' report from 2011. It was interesting at first, however, it soon became information overload. I enjoy looking at graphs and charts, as I am a very visual person, however, I think I may have looked at about 300 and I still can barely remember what they were all about. They had studied different types of bloggers, whether they were hobbyists, entrepreneur, corporate, etc. I think the thing I found most interesting was the time that people spent blogging. Typically, for a hobbyist (which I guess would define those of us taking this class), the average amount of time spent blogging was 1 to 3 hours a week, and they would post up to 3 blog entries a week. It was interesting to see that those who blogged full time for a corporate (which, I didn't even know you could do that. Please sign me up for that job), spent up to or even over 40 hours a week blogging. Also, studies showed that most who were blogging for a business felt that it tremendously helped the business out. Most bloggers are also male, which was a surprise to me because of the blogs I've heard about or have read, most have been directed towards females. Bloggers were also typically college graduates (which will be me in a few months, thank God). I've often thought about how it would be fun to get paid to blog, but most showed that they would not get paid for advertisements and for product reviews. Another thing I found interesting was that some felt they would only allow advertisements that were in line with the values of their blog. If you ask me, that's just dumb. Money is money, and, no one looks at advertisements any way. Somewhere in the 90% range of bloggers said that if they were reviewing a product, they disclosed that it was a sponsorship or that they were getting money. The other 10%, I'd like to know where there ethics are. Surely they aren't the ones who are concerned with who advertises on their sites - Heck, they'd probably even allow the Westboro Baptist Church or Satan to advertise. 

In all, I felt that the graphs were too much to understand, and, oftentimes, too boring to care, but I'm glad that the information is there and that someone is probably happy with it all. One more thing that I found interesting on the site was the top 100 blogs. Most were corporate, the Huffington Post, or TMZ (gag me with a spoon) but some were blogs that I think belonged to normal people who blogged about their normal lives, and that gives me hope! 

The Other Room

Located next door to the Picasso Cafe in the Paseo, the Other Room offers guests a contemporary lounge-like atmosphere.While it is not very large, as it literally is just another room, guests can feel like VIPs in their own private lounge areas complete with curtains. If you're just wanting to watch the game or grab a quick drink, the bar is also great, with friendly bartenders and fun drinks. On some nights, there is a live band outside in the enclosed patio that connects The Other Room to Picasso Cafe, and guests can warm up by the Chiminea. Be sure to try the large selection of vintage cocktails. Also of interest, the old Egyptian decor left behind by the Hookah bar that once accompanied the space. There is no cover, and the average price is about $4-$6 for a drink.

An Introduction

This blog is a requirement of my 'Blogging for Journalists' class. I'm a Senior Broadcasting student at the University of Central Oklahoma, and after my summer internship with Discover Oklahoma, I've found that my passions lie in exploring the world around me. As a college student, my friends and I don't always have as much time or money as we'd like, so this blog is dedicated to finding those cool (and cheap!) college hangouts. They don't have to be any place fancy, and they certainly aren't in the likes of 'CityWalk' or 'RokBar'. Most of the time they are just hole-in-the-wall hangouts, smoky pubs, or even family friendly spots. If you're a hipster, you'll surely want to follow this blog, at least until I get really popular as a blogger, and then you'll have to stop liking me.