With the temperatures outside reaching the century mark, what better way is there to cool off than an evening at the hockey rink? The Tulsa Area Police Hockey Team has challenged the Tulsa Area Fire Department Hockey Team to a game this Saturday, August 7 at the Oilers Ice Center located at 6413 South Mingo Road. Face-off is set for 7:00 p.m. with all proceeds from the contest going to the Jeff Stiles Memorial Fund. 

Stiles, a Wagoner County Deputy, was killed in an off-duty traffic collision on July 9. He began his career in law enforcement with the Coweta Police Department. Friends and co-workers have described him as a "well-liked, respected deputy who worked closely with surrounding agencies." He left behind a wife, two small children and many friends in the law enforcement community.

The game, billed as "Guns-N-Hoses" will be the third time the two squads have met head-to-head, the hoses owning a 2-0 record. Police team spokesman Chris Walker promised that the game will be exciting and competitive. "We’re 0-2 in the games, but we plan on winning the trophy back this year," he said. Walker said that the talent level will be a step above what most people would expect to see at an amateur game. Both teams play competitively, and regularly travel to tournaments, some as far away as Dallas. 

In the two previous Guns-N-Hoses games, proceeds went to The Burn Camp and Special Olympics Oklahoma. Walker said that they decided to play the game for the Jeff Stiles Memorial Fund because several of the participants and co-workers of the participants knew, and worked along side Stiles.

Aside from the game, Walker said those in attendance will have chances to win door prizes and a raffles that include gift cards and other prizes. More prizes await at the official after party at The Twisted Lizard, located at 6901 South Mingo Road. Members of both teams will be at the after party where items such as golf memberships, golf passes, golf clubs, and Budweiser memorabilia will be auctioned.

Admission is $10 for adults and $5 for children 12 and under. Tickets are available at the door on the night of the game, the Oilers Ice Center, The Twisted Lizard or from any player. 

What can be said about a rap concert?  I mean it is what it is.  Lots of profanity, lots of crowd chants, and plenty of mixture in the crowd.  Red, yellow, black, white and even what some would say are undefinable will show up and have their fists and fingers pumping in the air.  That will be seen at almost any hip hop show out there.  

Now throw in rap royalty and it amps up to a level somewhat unheard of.  That being said, Snoop Dogg and Ice Cube brought their "How The West Was One" tour to Tulsa this past Wednesday night and did not disappoint the few thousand in attendance.

This twin bill is very much in the rap royalty category.  Ice Cube being a founder on NWA and one of pioneers of "gangsta rap" can pretty much do no wrong these days.  Being a hugely successful solo artist as well as a respected actor, and director carries with it keys that open all kinds of doors.  Those doors and the keys belonged to the Osage Million Dollar Elm Casino on this night and Cube wasted no time in making himself right at home. 

Ice Cube stated that he had never been to Tulsa before, but would definitely be back.  Cube could have easily carried the night all by himself.  With a huge arsenal of hits and his charisma he could have put on his own festival. 

He brought his hits out to play, from "Check Yo Self" to "Good Day" he had the crowd whipped into a frenzy.  Cube is a heck of a showman with his partner Dub C he didn’t miss a lick and had the crowd wanting plenty more at the end of his hour long set.  It appeared that he didn’t want the set to end, at one point stating "They are gonna have to kick me out of here."  If you have never seen Ice Cube you really owe it to yourself to do it while you can.  Having never been to a rap show before, he made me want to go to more of his shows.

Snoop was up next and after a lengthy intermission that had lots of traffic flowing in and out of the event center, he hit the stage with his usual slow walk.  Immediately taking command with his full band and DJ.  Snoop does a very good job of interacting with the crowd, at times it seems like it is a milking to keep the crowd with him.  Nonetheless, he has earned his audience and gives them what they showed up for. 

He shifted from hard hitting cuts like "Gin and Juice" and "Ain’t Nothin But G Thang" to his more "romantic" songs like "Sensual Seduction",  he grabs you by the hand and leads you into his world of gangs, drugs, and women.  He along with his Dogg Pound through in some cool covers including "Jump Around" and also gave a great tribute to former label-mate and friend Tupac, doing one of Pac’s songs as well as the collaboration "Gangsta Party."

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Photos by: Kevin Pyle

Snoop has managed to make himself a household name and has found his way in mainstream America and yet still remain true to himself and his roots.  Both he and Ice Cube have seen all there is to see in the rap game and continue to represent the West Coast style as a badge of honor.  Oh Yeah,yeah!

For those of us who have kids, you know that in recent years we have been inundated with animated movies. 

This year is no exception.

No longer are they schmaltzy affairs with lions singing Elton John tunes, they are cartoon with an edge.  Something that to my mind is LONG overdue.

Comes now Despicable Me, the newest 3D animated offering from Sony Pictures Animation, chronicles the life of Gru, an evil genius voiced by Steve Carell, who while he’s not masterminding various “crimes of the century” he resides hidden in plain sight in the manicured lawn, white-picket wasteland of suburbia.  The movie beings with a sweeping shot of a Bedouin man and his camels moving across the high desert nearly getting run over by a family in a minivan who are blowing across the dunes blasting Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Sweet Home Alabama”. They are tourist hoping to see the pyramids and while they are taking pictures and reeling in hick delight Junior climbs a scaffold and falls into an inflatable replica. 

 It’s that kind of opening that signals to the viewer that this movie is NOT going to be a fluffy, cutesy movie just for the kids in the audience.

This is not to say it isn’t obvious that the producers of the movie did not have the lucrative toy market in mind when they made the film.  This is evidence by  the appearance of the Minions, the goggle wearing, little yellow guys who number in the hundreds and are assistants (and lab rats) for Gru and his scientist Dr. Nefario voiced by Russell Brand.  If ever there was a character meant to be stuffed into a kids meal box at a fast food restaurant, it’s a Minion.  A source of comic relief in the film, they provide a manic edge to the story that keeps you laughing.

Once Gru gets wind of the theft of the pyramids, he hatches a plot to steal the moon. In order to do that, he has to travel to China to steal a shrink ray.   This takes a considerable amount of capital so he goes to a bank for supervillains (the Bank Of Evil, formerly Lehman Brothers…get it?), to take out a loan and meets his rival Vector, who has a thing for weapons that shoot…umm, fish.  Okay, nerdy villains are allowed their quirks.  Anyway the short tempered Gru is pestered by Vector and Gru freezes his head.  Just as Gru’s minions get their hands on the shrink ray, Vector steals it and locks it away in his fortress.

Of course, Gru wants it back and he hatches an elaborate plan that involves three orphans, Margo (Miranda Cosgrove of ICarly), Edith (Dana Gaier) and Agnes (Elsie Fisher).  In the beginning they attempt to sell Gru cookies and after he rebuffs them he enlists their help after he sees them get into Vectors fortress with ease after he is violently repelled several times.  He adopts the girls from the orphanage and restarts his elaborate plot.

The movie is a nice mix of manic “Chuck Jones”-style slapstick comedy mixed with a nice story about how three orphan girls warm the heart of an icy-heated supervillain bent on world domination.  Sure, this movie is for kids…and I saw it worth my 10 year old son, who loved it…but as evidenced by Lehman Brothers being renamed the Bank Of Evil there is plenty of inside jokes for the adults in the audience.  If you plan to take the kids to this one, they will enjoy it and you won’t be disappointed or bored either.

A word on the versions of this movie.  Yes, there is a 3D offering as well as a 2D version.  I saw the 2D version, mainly because there was an upcharge at the theatre for…something. Not exactly sure what for.  The thing about that is that while there are points in the movie where 3D would definitely heighten the experience you don’t really miss much in 2D.  To save a rant on that, I will recommend BOTH versions because this movie is worth your time.

The concept is intriguing.  Imagine being able to enter a person’s dream.  Actually enter their subconscious mind and take whatever you wanted from it.  Such is the premise of Inception, a new movie from Warner Brothers, and directed by Christopher Nolan, the acclaimed director of the 2008 box office smash “The Dark Knight”.

If the plot took off that way, the movie might be called “Extraction”, which is what Leonardo Di Caprio‘s character Dom Cobb does for a living.  he and his assistant Arthur, played by Joseph Gordon-Leavitt sleep in close proximity to people, project themselves mentally into their dreams to steal information.  “Inception” occurs when the subject has an idea implanted in his or her mind instead of having something taken from it.

The idea is first proposed by an Asian corporate magnate named Saito, played by Ken Watanabe, who subjects himself to an extraction from Cobb and Arthur in order to “audition them to perform an “Inception” on a rival, Robert Fischer, played by Cillian Murphy.  Fischer’s father Maurice (Pete Postelwaite) is gravely ill and Saito would profit greatly if Robert Fischer would dissolve his father’s empire, which is the idea he wants Cobb to implant. 

There the film takes after the classic “heist” storyline, where Cobb recruits a crew to help him get the job done. Cobb recruits Eames (Tom Hardy), a forger who shifts identities inside dreams, Yusuf (Dileep Rao), a chemist who develops sedatives and dream architect Ariadne (Ellen Page).   Ariadne discovers during a training session that Cobb’s missions are continually sabotaged by his deceased wife Mal, (Marion Cotilliard), whose murder Cobb is implicated in.  Cobb has lived in exile for the years following his wife’s death away from his children, and that pain coupled with witnessing his wife’s suicide allows the vision to thwart his dream activity.

Visually, the film is a masterpiece.  those familiar with director Christopher Nolan’s work will recognize his use of urban cityscapes as backdrops, along with jarring images that leave you amazed.   I am no Leonardo DI Caprio fan, but I found his performance of the troubled leader of the Inception team compelling.  His supporting cast was also excellent, with Joseph Gordon-Leavitt and Ellen Page delivering outstanding performances, but equal praise should be given to Tom Hardy in the role of the forger Eames, who provides comic relief as does Rao’s chemist.  Look for cameos by Michael Caine, who plays Cobb’s former mentor and Tom Berenger, who plays Peter Browning, Robert Fischer’s godfather and CEO of Fischer’s father’s empire. 

I highly recommend Inception to anyone.  You will see this one on the nomination lists next spring, I dare say.  I do suggest however that you be ready to THINK on the points discussed in the movie because this is not a true “popcorn” summer movie.  It is long too, clocking in at 2 hours and 28 minutes, so it’s not recommended for kids attention spans. 

Two of the most successful and controversial rap acts of the genre are making their way to the Osage Million Dollar Elm Casino Event Center, 951 West 36th Street in Tulsa, OK.

Snoop Dogg and Ice Cube, two rappers who helped shape the West Coast style and have sold millions of albums grace the stage in a show that is not to be missed.  The "How The West Was One Tour" stops in Tulsa Wednesday, July 28.

Snoop Dogg, who burst upon the scene as a featured guest on Dr. Dre’s monster album The Chronic and hasn’t look back since.  Snoop’s debut album DoggyStyle released in 1993 went quadruple platinum thanks to the hits  "What’s My Name?" and "Gin & Juice."  In addition to music, Snoop Dogg has starred in motion pictures and hosted several television shows.  He keeps himself busy by making new music, cameos in music videos and by coaching a youth football league and a high school football team.  Never one to shy away from the spotlight he has had his brushes with the law as a result but still remains a true constant in hip-hop.

Ice Cube is responsible for one-fifth of the gangsta rap group N.W.A.  at one time known as "The World’s Most Dangerous Group."  He left the group in 1989 and has had very successful career in music and film. 

Cube’s music has slowed considerably with more of an emphasis on his acting, but his still remains a top player in the gangsta/hip-hop game.  His AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted album in 1990 was an instant hit and helped to catapult hip-hop into the stratosphere, but was met with controversy and called misogynistic and racist.  That same year he co-starred in the inner city drama "Boyz n the Hood" as Doughboy.  In addition to these accomplishments, he released the EP Kill at Will which became the first hip-hop EP to reach Gold and Platinum status.

His film work includes the hit films:  The Friday series, Anaconda, Are We There Yet?, Are We Done Yet?, Three Kings and the Barbershop movies to name a few.  Chances are you have seen him and have laughed with him.

Both of these heavyweights of rap are sure to be bringing their A game.  You will not want to miss this show.

How The West Was One Tour with Snoop Dogg and Ice Cube

Osage Million Dollar Elm Casino Event Center

Wednesday, July 28, 2010 7:00 pm

No One Under 21 Allowed

To get your tickets, call 918.699.7667 or stop by the Osage Event Center Box Office in Tulsa.