Nestled among the chains and big box restaurants along Memorial Road is Nunu’s Mediterranean Café & Market, a haven for those who love traditional Mediterranean favorites like hummus, tabouli and pita along with deliciously seasoned meats, veggies and rice.
Nunu’s signature hashwa is browned ground beef mixed with rice, butter and toasted almonds and seasoned with traditional Mediterranean spices and served alongside dishes such as beef tenderloin and on the sampler platter. Another favorite, the falafel sandwich served in a pita with a cucumber sauce and topped with lettuce and tomato, manages to stay light and refreshing.
Nunu’s also operates a market that sells meats, cheeses and prepared foods by the pint. The next time you are looking for a quick, delicious dinner, swing by the market to pick up containers of hashwa, hummus and Nunu’s tasty pita chips.
Nunu’s Mediterranean Café & Market, located at 3131 W. Memorial Rd. in Oklahoma City, is open 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and closed Sunday. 405.751.7000
It’s never too late to focus on your health. The National Center for Health Statistics reports that life expectancy rates have hit an all-time high at 77.9 years, so it makes sense that our longer lives should be as full and vital as possible. From modifying eating habits to incorporating a fitness routine and trying something new, there is something out there for everyone.
“The most important thing a person can do is take care of this preventative medicine,” says Dr. Charlyce Davis with INTEGRIS Family Care Edmond – Coffee Creek Clinic.
“Establishing a physician, going in for annual checkups, discussing your past medical history and any family history is important for life-long health and to catch any potential issues early.”
Davis also says that immunizations are very important and often overlooked elements of being healthy. She recommends that at a minimum, seniors should receive an annual flu shot and the shingles vaccine.
Dr. Serena Mitroo, an internal medicine specialist with OU Physicians in Edmond, says that prior to beginning any fitness routine, setting a schedule and allotting time helps to keep focused on specific goals.
“If a senior wants to work out to lose weight, he should do at least 50 minutes of exercise five days a week. If he has never exercised or it’s been a long time, 30 minutes three times a week is recommended to start.”
Arthritis, osteoporosis and joint issues are most commonly associated with aging, but seniors with any of these challenges can find a workout that fits their capabilities and limitations.
St. John Siegfried Health Club aquatic coordinator Brooke Rusher believes that the only limitations we have are the ones we set for ourselves.
“There really is no excuse. There are many programs that can accommodate anybody,” she says.
Rusher knows a thing or two about not accepting excuses, having designed a swimming program for a patient who had become blind and deaf.
“This gentleman had mentioned that he had previously enjoyed swimming. I would write in his palm – he could discern letters – and give him directions like ‘swim 10 laps.’ It got to the point where he could count the number of strokes before he reached the end of the pool so he wouldn’t bump the edge.”
St. John offers two pools with three entry methods – a ramp, stairs and a lift for wheelchairs. But before starting any fitness routine, it is highly recommended to consult a physician to discuss your plans, goals and what types of exercises are appropriate.
According to Rusher, the aquatic classes are the most popular among seniors since 75 percent of their body weight is supported in chest-deep water, helping with arthritis, back pain and similar ailments.
“Because weight is supported by the water, you can do more, like running or kicking. It definitely allows for an increased range of motion and increases balance and stability. Since water is denser than air, it’s a great cardiac workout.”
If getting into a swimsuit sounds like an exercise in awkwardness, there are also chair workouts available for those who can’t stand and exercise that utilizes dumbbells, resistance bands and tubing, creating an excellent cardio workout.
“In group classes, you’re also getting a social network,” Rusher says. “I think that’s what keeps people coming. A class-type setting builds camaraderie. Our class members care if someone is missing – they want to know what’s going on in each person’s life. It’s a support system.”
Exercise is just one part of the equation to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Nutrition is equally important to keep the body’s systems firing on all cylinders.
“There are two main things that seniors need to focus on – water and balanced nutrition,” says registered dietician Suzanne Forsberg at St. John Healthy Lifestyles
“We see a lot of urinary tract infections. Most seniors really do need to drink more water.”
According to Forsberg, as you age, your taste buds decrease, leaving primarily the sweet area of taste. Many older Americans prefer sweet or sugary foods, resulting in a lack of varied nutritional foods.
“I like to use the Basic Four guidelines – fruits and veggies, dairy, bread and meat – when working with seniors,” she says. “Most remember the Basic Four from before the Food Pyramid was established.”
Forsberg speaks with everyone about dietary pitfalls she calls “zingers” – foods that are high in sugar, salt and fat.
“Fat, sugar and salt hits the Hedonist hotspot – the pleasure center of the brain. Fries are a good example of a zinger. Doughnuts as well. If you take two of the three out of a meal, like replacing milk and butter in mashed potatoes with onions, you are full without feeling like always going back to the dish for more.”
Breakfast food can often be loaded with zingers. Replacing fattening and sugary foods in the morning with healthier options can set the tone for the rest of day.
“I suggest protein like non-fat Greek yogurt with blueberries for breakfast, or egg whites and soy sausage,” says Forsberg. “Protein is very important in the morning – it gives you that alertness. Once you get the fat, sugar, salt combo out of your system, you start wanting healthier foods.”
Another tip she offers is to get colorful with your meals. Easy to remember, eating fruits and vegetables of red, yellow, green, blue and purple are essential to getting much-needed antioxidants.
“Seniors tend to go to restaurants all the time,” Forsberg says. “I recommend more homemade meals. Going out is a social activity, but you can have that same social interaction with meals at home. Host a dinner party. People tend to eat with people who have the same eating habits.”
While organic and non-processed foods are receiving a lot of attention, Forsberg doesn’t believe that you have to remove pre-packaged foods from your diet to be healthy.
“You don’t have to eliminate processed foods – they have their place. Not everything has to be organic or fresh – frozen veggies are just as good. Packaged food can work in a healthy meal, and they are good for people with orthopedic issues who can’t stand and cook all the time.”
The best side effect of exercising in a group setting or hosting dinner parties is the socialization it promotes.
Being around groups of people helps combat one of the quietly discussed issues of aging: depression.
“I think most senior patients have some mood issues – depression, being isolated,” says Mitroo. “Being active and social is very important. Volunteering is a popular method of interacting and most of my patients feel good that they are giving back to the community.”
Adds Davis, “I have many older patients who are starting new careers. I really don’t accept age as an excuse. It’s just a number.”
When she moved into a Midtown condo, this long-time Tulsa resident had the vision of seamlessly blending a Country French style with the more modern feel of the condo setting, and she knew exactly who could help her.
“We gave the entire place a facelift and put her stamp of design on it as well,” says Tulsa-based interior designer Charles Faudree of his work with the owner.
In the redesign, the entire space was changed in color to feature signature tones of the style, such as blues and reds in varying shades.
Every room in the home received a complete reworking in color and style. While vibrant reds are used in the main space, soothing blues and whites are utilized in the master and guest suites.
Extensive work was also done in the complete overhaul of the kitchen. The space features all new granite counter-tops, hardwood flooring and cabinetry.
“He can do anything,” the owner says of Faudree’s many talents.
One of the main goals in achieving the blend of two styles – Country French with a big city air – was also to create a space unique to the owner. To that end, bold choices were made in the main living area, which includes the sitting and dining rooms. A vibrant oriental wallpaper with shades of geranium, pinks and salmon serves as quite the conversation piece in the living area.
“Charles warned me I might get tired of it because it’s bright red,” the owner says, “but I haven’t yet.”
A Coromandel screen the owner brought back from a trip to Hawaii is also featured in the dining room and was yet another bold choice.
The centerpiece anchoring the entire living space and a favorite of the owner is the antique fireplace. Originally there was no fireplace, but Faudree helped orchestrate the creation of one when he located a stunning old French mantelpiece.
“It really is the focal point of the room,” Faudree says.
Adding the finishing touch to the space is Faudree’s own signature fabric design from Vervain used in the drapery accentuating the traditional elements in the condo. Faudree made extensive us of drapery in this project, both as an aesthetic choice and to provide protection from, what can at times be harsh, sunlight.
Draperies in the living space and master suite will be featured in Faudree’s forthcoming design book, Charles Faudree Details, out in September.
Faudree and the owner have a long-term working relationship with previous collaborations on two homes.
As a long-time fan of Country French design, the owner has spent decades collecting pieces and furniture that embody the sensibilities of the design aesthetic.
“She has incorporated a lot from her previous home,” Faudree says. “And she has accumulated a great collection of artworks and furniture.”
One of the owner’s favorite furniture pieces is a nearly 100-year-old ornate French sofa that belonged to her mother. The sofa is a focal point in the master suite, which also has drapery and bed hangings from Faudree that the owner has kept nearly 25 years.
The master bath continues the soothing aqua blue tones found in the mater suite and adds a touch of glamour – marble flooring and vanity space, along with mirrored ceiling and walls create a definite sense drama.
Adding to the uptown feel of the condo are two spacious balconies, one is off the library where the owner enjoys the view of the nighttime skyline in a space that is uniquely her own.
“When you look out from the balconies at the skyline at night, you can’t tell if it’s Tulsa, New York or Chicago,” she says.
Valentine’s Day is a holiday for the proverbial romantic heart, but with the coming of American Heart Month in February, is also a good time to give the physical one some TLC.
Thanks in large part to our less-than-healthy diet and exercise habits, heart disease is the No. 1 killer in America, and it kills more women each year than all of the various types of cancer combined.
“The good news is that lifestyle changes, particularly when enacted early, can prevent heart attacks and strokes,” says Dr. Michael Fogli with Oklahoma Cardiovascular Consultants in Tulsa.
“People make broad resolutions for health and diet in the new year that aren’t very trackable,” says Nellie Kelly with the American Heart Association.
“We might have made ‘get healthier’ our New Year’s resolution, or maybe it was ‘lose weight’ – those aren’t very specific. It’s hard to tell if they’re doing things that make a difference in the prevention of heart disease.”
A better, longer life, lower health care costs and a healthier heart are just on the other side of these seven common-sense tips – or, as the American Heart Association calls them, Life’s Simple 7.
1 Get Active
Here’s the exciting part about turning off the TV and getting off the couch: It doesn’t take much to make an impact on the risk factors for heart disease. In fact, a mere 150 minutes of moderate exercise or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise each week does the trick – that’s little more than 20 minutes per day.
“One of easiest things people can do is walk,” Kelly says. “It’s free, and it’s something you can do with a friend. Plus, it turns out that walking 10 minutes three times a day – say, during your breaks at work – is almost as good as walking 30 minutes all at once.”
“You don’t have to belong to a health club,” Fogli adds. “Buy a used treadmill or exercise bike off of Craigslist and use it for 30 to 45 minutes while watching the evening news or your favorite TV show, and do it at least five days each week.”
If a healthy heart and the promise of a long life aren’t enough of an incentive to exercise, try Zumba, or take a ballroom dancing class.
“The best kind of exercise is the kind you’ll actually do,” Kelly says.
Just be sure to consult your doctor before you start an exercise program, advises Dr. George Chrysant with INTEGRIS Heart Hospital, especially if you have a familial history of heart disease.
2 Control Cholesterol
Much of the work of preventing heart disease has to do with what we eat. When attempting to control cholesterol, opt for lean meats and ditch the fatty cuts of beef.
“Americans consume beef in huge quantities, and that is unhealthy,” says Dr. Lubna Wani with OU Physicians. “It’s high in cholesterol and it will increase your risk for heart disease. Follow the Mediterranean diet – get plenty of whole grains, fresh fruits and vegetables and nuts and replace fats in cooking with olive oil.”
Another way to control cholesterol is to know one’s numbers, Wani adds, and keep in mind that total cholesterol is not the number to know.
“There’s the bad, or LDL cholesterol and then there’s the good, triglycerides. We need to know both so that we can keep them in a healthy range. For a person without a history of high cholesterol in the family, get a baseline cholesterol check at age 30,” Wani says. “Get it done sooner if there is a family history.”
3 Eat Better
“It’s about fruits and veggies, and fiber is very important,” Kelly says. “Unrefined whole grains can help the body to lower blood cholesterol, and cutting back on foods containing partially hydrogenated oils reduces trans fats.”
“Many of us are eating better but are still eating too much,” Chrysant says. “You can eat the healthiest thing you want, but if you eat 10 servings of it, that still adds up to a lot of calories.”
The American Heart Association has whittled some healthful eating tips down to brass tacks: Less than 300 milligrams of cholesterol per day; less than 1,500 milligrams of sodium per day and fish on the menu twice per week.
Fogli adds that men should consume 35 grams of fiber each day, and women 25 grams. Substitute the usual bagel or donut with high-fiber cereal in non-fat yogurt with fresh strawberries, he says, and swap mashed potatoes and French fries for a spinach salad or hummus.
4 Manage Blood Pressure
Known as the silent killer, high blood pressure is one of the leading risk factors that can lead to heart disease.
“High blood pressure is almost universally present in those with coronary disease,” Chrysant says.
“Your blood pressure is an important number to know not just because high blood pressure means the heart is pumping harder, but because the blood vessels can be injured if blood is pumped through them at a pressure that’s higher than normal,” Kelly says. “The body then reacts as it does with any injury – it builds scar tissue. That scar tissue can contribute to hardened arteries and to blood clots.”
The number we all want to hear at our check-ups is 120/80, according to the AMA.
High sodium diets are associated with a higher chance of having a heart attack or stroke, especially if you already have high blood pressure, Fogli says. On average, Americans consume about two times the recommended daily amount.
Cut sodium intake by limiting processed and canned foods, sauces and salad dressings, chips and crackers and restaurant food. Consume instead fresh fruits and vegetables, fresh meats, low-fat dairy products and season with herbs rather than salt, Fogli says.
Oklahoma ranks sixth in the nation for obesity, another leading cause of preventable death in the U.S. and worldwide. Those with a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or greater should focus on portion control and calorie reduction in their diets, Fogli says.
“You will need to consume 500 calories less than you normally do to lose one pound each week,” Fogli says. “For the average person, if you exercise regularly and eat four small meals a day, each containing 400 calories or less, you will get there.”
Here’s an example of what a 400-calorie meal looks like, from www.prevention.com as suggested by Fogli: a half-cup of dry oats, cooked; one-fourth cup of semisweet chocolate chips; and one cup of raspberries. Voila! Chocolate raspberry oatmeal – now that’s hard to argue with.
6 Reduce Blood Sugar
Diabetics are at twice the risk of heart disease than are the general population, and according to Wani, 40 percent of Oklahomans are diabetic.
Diet can go a long way to reduce blood sugar, Wani says. Nixing sodas and opting for water instead is a good first step.
“Some cardiovascular risk factors do not produce symptoms,” Fogli says. “You could have diabetes or very high blood pressure and cholesterol and not even know it until you have a stroke or heart attack.
“Get your fasting blood sugar and cholesterol checked at age 35 and your blood pressure checked at least once each year to determine if medication will help,” he says.
7 Stop Smoking
Cigarette smoking is the most important preventable cause of premature death in the U.S., Fogli says, and Oklahoma ranks third in the nation for prevalence of tobacco use.
“The chemicals in cigarette smoke are blood vessel poison; there is no better way to put it,” Fogli says. “It’s amazing in our youth-obsessed culture how many people continue to smoke, which accelerates the aging process like nothing else.”
Cigarette smoking accelerates the build up of cholesterol in all arteries, including those that carry blood to our heart and brain.
“It’s an addiction, and it’s very hard to give up, but it’s not impossible,” Wani says. “Call 1.800.QUIT.NOW, try a nicotine patch, nicotine gum or even more tea or coffee, which is actually good for your heart in quantities less than five cups per day.”
The Tanglewood Music Center is an annual summer music academy in Lenox, Mass., where young, developing musicians come to receive training and display their prodigious talents during the Tanglewood Music Festival, a series of outdoor concerts and the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
Tanglewood’s lush lawn, regal trees and unparalleled views of placid lakes and rolling hills provide the perfect seats from which to listen to enchanting orchestra performances. Nature’s symphony harmonizes with musicians. Birds nesting nearby accompany with warbles and chirps.
As Boston Symphony Orchestra cellist Owen Young puts it, it is amazing.
“There’s the physical beauty of the place plus that extra feeling that in those trees, in those tanglewoods, are the spirits of so many musical conductors,” he says.
“I remember as a student at Tanglewood, Leonard Bernstein would conduct us, and he would stop and look up and say, ‘I feel the spirit of (Serge) Koussevitzky here.’”
James Levine will lead the BSO in an all-Italian opening night concert of music by Verdi, Rossini and Respighi on July 8, Berlioz’s Monumental Requiem on July 9 and Mahler’s thrilling Fifth Symphony on July 29.
Other BSO highlights include Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess, Aug. 26; Yo-Yo Ma, in one of his four Tanglewood appearances, performing Schumann’s Cello Concerto on Aug. 13; an all-Baroque program with Susan Graham singing arias of Handel and Gluck, Aug. 22; Joshua Bell in Bruch’s Scottish Fantasy, July 10; and Rafael Fruhbeck de Burgos leading an all-Spanish program with guitarist Pepe Romero, Aug. 12.
Several popular artists return to Tanglewood this summer: Christoph Eschenbach conducts two programs, July 30-31; Itzhak Perlman conducts and performs as a soloist in an all-Beethoven program, Aug. 27; and Lorin Maazel leads the BSO in their season finale performance of Tanglewood’s signature piece, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, on Aug. 28.
Other high points of this summer’s schedule include the Boston Pops performing a Cole Porter tribute on July 17 and singer/songwriter James Taylor returning to Tanglewood for four performances, alone with his guitar on June 30, with the Boston Pops July 1 and with his band on July 3 and 4.
Tanglewood 2011 also presents some of the best from the worlds of jazz, pop and rock. Grammy Award-winning band Train will make their first-ever Tanglewood appearance on Aug. 8.
The Tanglewood Music Festival, now in its 74th year, closes its summer season with the annual Labor Day Weekend Jazz Festival, Sept. 2-4. For detailed information about the 2011 Tanglewood season, including how to purchase tickets, priced from $9-$115, visit www.tanglewood.org.
Tanglewood takes place on a beautiful 550-acre estate that is also the home of Hawthorne Cottage, where Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote several books. The Berkshire summer resort town of Lenox is small but charming with lots to see and do, including the Berkshire Scenic Railway Museum, a restored 1902 depot; a live playhouse called Shakespeare & Company; the Frelinghuysen Morris House and Studio, featuring paintings by Picasso, Georges Braque and Juan Gris, along with lazy nature trails; plus many “cottages,” which are actually the summer mansions of the 19th-century rich and famous. Among the most notable is The Mount, the estate of celebrated designer and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Edith Wharton.
There are many very good places to stay in Lenox, but two boutique country inns stand out: the Blantyre, a converted 1902 Tudor mansion which now resembles a Scottish manor, and the Wheatleigh, built during the Gilded Age in the style of an Italian palazzo.
These inns are pricey, though. The Wheatleigh’s Dining Room is a AAA Five Diamond-rated restaurant serving magnificent French cuisine, such as Scottish salmon and black truffles wrapped in puff pastry with foie gras and gateau of wild mushrooms.
Chuck Mai is the Vice President of Public & Government Affairs? for AAA Oklahoma.
It’s the first day of college. Students are trying to figure out where their first classes are, professors are passing out syllabi and the student activities committee is hosting a back-to-school celebration. With so many new experiences, freshman can get overwhelmed, but being prepared can help them adapt to college life.
The shift from high school to college is crucial and sometimes daunting, but there are several ways students can make it successful, according to a variety of college experts.
David Barron, executive director of enrollment management at Rogers State University, suggests that students should be aware of the differences between high school and higher education.
“High school isn’t college,” he explains. “There is a greater need for critical thinking skills. You’re expected to understand and remember what you read, draw your own conclusions, form opinions and be able to evaluate the ideas of others.”
Barron also says students should realize class sizes, study habits and the amount of classroom time is very different at a university than in high school. Because of these things, there is a greater need for the students to have personal responsibility, he advises.
“When students come to college, they have a tremendous amount of freedom,” he says. “No one is monitoring their progress or if they’re going to class, so they have to be responsible for their own academic progress. Those who are successful in college have to develop self discipline and work hard.”
Barron says finding the right balance is key, which includes becoming part of the college community. As you develop relationships or become part of the social fabric you feel accepted, which helps in the transition, he says.
“Make your own smaller group within the larger one,” he emphasizes. “Develop friendships, relationships and networks.”
Students should be aware of who they surround themselves with while attending a higher education institute, Barron adds. If a student surrounds his- or herself with people who aren’t concerned with being successful in college he or she is more than likely not going to thrive.
“The key for a lot of students is establishing a point of contact or a relationship with either an upperclassman, administrator or advisor,” Barron suggests. “Don’t be afraid to explore other avenues because college is where you get the most exposure to other cultures, experiences and different ideas than any other time in your life.”
Connecting The Dots
Missy Wikle, director of New Student Orientation at Oklahoma State University, says it’s important for freshmen to connect with the campus, their studies and people.
“The better the connection the student has the more he makes the college his home,” she explains. “It becomes more than just that place where they go to school. They feel more a part of the school.”
Part of connecting to the campus is utilizing the resources available to students when they’re having a difficult time adjusting to life at a university, Wikle says.
“Some students don’t struggle, but for those who do they should ask for help,” she advises. “You’re not saying you’re a failure if you have to ask for help. I think using the resources around them is probably the best way to have that successful transition.”
Being committed to an academic major is an important factor in succeeding in higher education, Wikle says. The students who really make that personal connection to continuing their academics are the ones who are committed to learning how to do well, she continues.
“Those students are the ones who will not only find the degree area that they’re interested in faster, but they’re so tied to it, it becomes a part of them,” Wikle explains. “Being connected to their major does help in being successful.”
Wikle also suggests that preparation is key. Students must understand that they will need to think about time management, study skills and budgeting.
“I think the preparation for the realities of college is really important,” she adds.
Taking the initiative and being responsible for their own lives are another way freshmen can make a smooth transition, Wikle states. It starts with the student taking that responsibility for his future and realizing he’s about to be an adult.
“There is a depth of learning that is expected that (students) may not have had before and realizing that that takes a lot more effort than it did in high school.”
Understanding It All
Lee Hall, director of Student Life at Oklahoma City University, says students need to learn early on to think and act independently. She also advises students to utilize what is available to them.
“It’s just simple things like understanding the syllabus, taking advantage of the professors’ office hours and really taking advantage of the services offered on campus that can help students successfully transition,” Hall says.
Understanding and learning time management is essential in college, according to Craig Hayes, executive director of Recruitment Services at the University of Oklahoma.
“In high school time is mapped out, but in college it’s different,” Hayes emphasizes. “I think the primary thing is students need to organize their time and make sure they’re taking care of things that are important in order for them to be successful. Taking the time to do that is an important tip for students.”
Not only should students figure out how to adapt to new academic schedules, but they also have to adapt to the social aspects of college. Hayes agrees with other experts on the importance of students being involved on campus.
“I tell students all the time, they should come to the University of Oklahoma to major in an academic degree program, not to major in student involvement. At the same time, students need to plug into the community and find other students who share interests, whether it’s academic or social. It’s important for students to get involved.”
Extensively researching the college of your choosing is highly suggested by Hayes. Students should do their homework on universities that they’re interested in attending, he says.
“Getting acclimated with the university before attending is essential,” he explains. “Learn the history, the traditions and the services available as soon as possible. This helps students adjust to the college, which makes them feel more comfortable.”
Ultimately students should realize there are resources and support networks within a university to help assist them in thriving in the college atmosphere, but it takes initiative to successfully transition.
If you’re driving along on an Oklahoma highway and you see a big, red farm truck on your tail, and if it’s pulling a fancy rig and sporting on its roof the most enormous set of longhorns you’ve ever seen, then it’s time to move over. Odds are it’s the internationally known cowboy and Shidler’s own One-Arm Bandit, John Payne, and his path isn’t one in which to dilly dally.
Payne’s on the road more often than not with his namesake One Arm Bandit & Co. show, which also features his son Lynn and daughter Amanda, and highway driving is nothing compared to the danger they face in the arena.
The show, performed at more than 40 events across North America last year, features Payne as he rounds up the largest and most wild of plains-roving animals, from mustangs to longhorn steer and full-grown buffalo, and drives them to the top of his oversized horse trailer. Then he blocks them in and stands with both feet on his saddle, his hat high in his left hand to salute the crowd.
Payne has also been known to run his horse in tight circles on top of that trailer, all while the truck drags them through an arena to the sound of a roaring crowd.
“I was a hardcore cowboy, and when I was putting this show together I impressed myself with a few things. I figured it’d impress other people, too,” Payne says.
Now the show is a 10-time winner of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association’s Specialty Act of the Year award.
But it almost never was. About 15 years before he got the idea that became One Arm Bandit & Co., Payne grabbed onto a live power line during a building project on his father’s ranch, which sent 7,200 volts coursing through his body. He fell 25 feet to the ground.
He lost his right arm below the shoulder in the accident, and he nearly lost his right leg. He was just 20 years old.
“I just couldn’t see myself as a fencepost for the rest of my life,” Payne says.
A life-long Oklahoman, Payne had grown up on horseback. After five weeks in the hospital, he learned to steer horses with his left arm. When he needed his hand for the bullwhip, he’d ride with his legs.
Payne’s love of a dare and what he calls “cowboy ingenuity” helped him turn his new physique from a handicap into the cornerstone of his award-winning rodeo show.
“I’d seen one rodeo act and it was horrible – I said I’d show up late just to miss it,” Payne says. “The guy dared me to come back the next year with something better.”
That was in 1987. Now Payne and his children split the country three ways, performing their death-defying stunts at rodeos and exhibitions from here to Mexico and back up to Washington state and Canada.
One Arm Bandit & Co. has performed for a variety of persons of note, including several governors, heads of state from as far away as Yemen and even royalty – namely, Prince Phillip of England. In late 2010, he traveled to Oman to perform for the sultan there.
“It’s the farthest away I’ve ever taken the show,” Payne says. “Once you go that far around the world, you can’t go any farther away without starting to come back again.”
It’s standing room only at Tulsa’s Joe Momma’s Pizza. Dressed in black, all Western, sporting aviator sunglasses and a bolo tie, Simply Irresistible turns and faces his audience. Underneath the disco ball, the crowd, stippled with light, is already clapping.
He steps up to the mic. There’s no band behind him, but the music is there. On cue, he adds the vocals. And they are amazing. He owns his audience by his sixth note. A fixture in Tulsa’s thriving karaoke scene, he does not disappoint. His singing lives up to his name and the product comes as advertised.
Simply Irresistible – widely known as SI on the karaoke circuit – also plays the black hat in The Rock ‘n’ Roll Dreams of Duncan Christopher. The film, a product of Oklahomans Jack Roberts and Justin Monroe, follows a confused and hapless Duncan, played by writer Jack Roberts, through the bars and cafés of the Tulsa karaoke scene as he searches for love, himself and a place in the world.
The awkward but nuanced story chronicles Duncan’s efforts to step out from underneath his wildly famous father’s shadow and move past his father’s music to find his own. But Duncan doesn’t find his dreams on the big stage. He finds them on the karaoke stage.
The film’s faithful recreation of Oklahoma’s karaoke scene is fun and a quirky backdrop for the film’s more serious moments. But it also hints that while karaoke is a passing amusement for many, it’s much more for others. For many singers, the karaoke stage is a place to find themselves. It is a place to be a star. And it is a place to make an almost schizophrenic break from the real world, if only for just a few hours.
Made in Japan
What began as a small Japanese diversion in the 1970s became, over the space of a decade, a national obsession. Infectious, karaoke spread to other countries in the early 1980s. Nobody disputes that karaoke first hit American shores in 1982 at Dimples, an upscale bar in Los Angeles. From there it fanned out across the country, arriving in Oklahoma in 1985.
Nobody’s entirely certain, but karaoke veterans generally agree that the birthplace of Oklahoma’s love affair with karaoke was Tulsa’s Elephant Run. The level of certainty is the same for Oklahoma City, but the pros believe that karaoke first came to the city at Russell’s or Henry Hudson’s on 58th Street.
It’s fitting that Duncan finds himself on the karaoke stage. While his father made magic with musical instruments, Duncan’s not that good. He can’t even sing that well. And the karaoke stage, with its own brand of awkwardness – unless you’re a pro or haven’t had enough drinks – fits Duncan’s perfectly. He opens up and puts his heart into it. And it provides him with a safe way to pull out of his shell and engage the world.
“Karaoke is sort of like church. You go and release all of the stress of your daily life. All you’ve really got to do is commit. And that’s all anybody cares about. If you show up and commit, people will appreciate the fact that you gave it a go,” says Roberts.
For sure, there are more Duncans out there than hardcore karaoke veterans. To be good at karaoke means belting out a tune as well as its original singer. Being a karaoke superstar means performing – not just singing – a song better than its original performer. That’s a lot of pressure. It starts getting a little competitive. Especially if it is, in fact, happening at a karaoke competition.
“Pretty much every time I go, I feel like it’s a competition. Even though there may not be prizes, there’s always glory. There’s always glory. So when I’m performing up there on the stage, it’s always a competition,” says SI.
The film, shot in Tulsa and its surrounding suburbs, features an almost entirely Oklahoman cast. And a completely Oklahoman production crew, along with a totally Oklahoman soundtrack. It was even produced with Oklahoma money. The very fact that a film like Duncan Christopher could be shot entirely in Oklahoma testifies to the vitality of the state’s karaoke scene. And showing off Oklahoma’s karaoke scene is showing off Oklahoma itself.
“We wanted to shine the metaphorical belt buckle that is Oklahoma,” says Monroe. “There are stereotypes in Hollywood of Oklahoma being ‘too bumpkin’ or boring or a definite ‘fly-over’ state. Jack and I know a very different Oklahoma. A very alive Oklahoma. A very creative and artistic Oklahoma. This state is magical, and we knew that music would infuse itself into our movie.”
Roberts and Monroe are carrying Oklahoma’s flag around the nation and the world. The film has picked up major awards at five important film festivals, and only halfway through the festival season. The producers are hoping for more as they travel to Buenos Aires and London.
International and national acclaim is nice, but Roberts and Monroe have harbored plans from the beginning to debut the film in Oklahoma theaters first. They can’t go into detail about their plans, but Oklahomans can look forward to seeing Duncan on the big screen very soon.
It’s Showtime
Kari Brummet’s KariOkie Café & Bakery, only three years old, sees its fair share of lip-syncing characters on Thursday and Saturday nights. Located in Kiefer, it’s a little off the beaten path, but still a vital part of Tulsa’s karaoke scene. The cafe’s original location in Bixby was too small to hold the crowds. The new location holds 100 people, and performers enjoy a bigger stage.
Brummet didn’t fall into karaoke. She wasn’t particularly interested in it. But during a business trip to Detroit she was angered into it.
“Some friends and I ended up in a karaoke bar. A guy was singing Garth Brooks and I was appalled. It was the KJ (karaoke jockey) that was running the thing and he didn’t know the song. I went up and told him I needed to help out before Garth Brooks found him and killed him,” she says.
It was a good experience for Brummet, and after she returned, she hunted down some karaoke bars and became a regular at Remington’s in Tulsa.
Karaoke became her new hobby. She accumulated karaoke CDs, a good set of KJ equipment and eventually moved up to hosting her own karaoke night. After a few years, she decided to leave her career as a math teacher and open up her own karaoke cafe.
The KariOkie Café & Bakery serves no alcohol and is smoke-free. This, Brummet says, gives kids a place to do their karaoke thing.
“High school kids love to sing karaoke,” she says. “They don’t have to be asked or begged. They do it at the drop of a hat.” The cafe also sets itself apart from the competition by offering, along with a massive standard karaoke book, a selection of Christian contemporary and gospel music.
Pat Hyde, a manager at Oklahoma City’s Cookie’s, brought karaoke to the bar after years of performing at other clubs.
“I’d been singing karaoke for about 16 years at various places around the city and thought that it might go over really well at Cookie’s, considering that we have a good college crowd there,” says Hyde. “We have a lot of Oklahoma City University students in theater that come to Cookie’s to sing.”
Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays bring out the pros who grace the crowd with renditions of everything from Broadway show tunes to Led Zeppelin. But, Hyde emphasizes, newbies shouldn’t be intimidated by the regulars. Cookie’s gets an accepting crowd that appreciates any singers who give it their best. After all, those pros started out as newbies.
Cookie’s unusual venue contributes to the fun.
“Cookie’s is a little hole-in-the-wall neighborhood bar that, on most nights, is just a place where people can come and meet and have a drink or two and watch sports,” says Hyde. “But on karaoke nights it transforms into one of the hottest karaoke spots in the Oklahoma City area. During the summer, it’s standing room only to sing. The atmosphere changes from a neighborhood bar to a really hot, eclectic spot for karaoke.”
Fred Anderson has been a KJ at Tulsa’s Remington’s for 15 years. Tulsa’s karaoke veterans put his show easily in the city’s top five. He’s seen plenty of newbies grow into full-fledged performers. The key is an accepting audience, the kind of audience that doesn’t boo singers off the stage, the kind of audience that lets it go and hopes the next singer is better. That’s where first-timers need to be. After that, the rest takes care of itself.
“Once you get up and sing and hear people clapping, it’s in your blood,” says Anderson.
This is the kind of audience that nurtures Duncan as he moves out of his father’s shadow. It is the kind of audience that makes the city a welcoming place for a small-town boy. Those are the kinds of crowds that singers find in most of the karaoke clubs in Tulsa and Oklahoma City. Sure, there are pros out there. The next American Idols are singing to these crowds. But in Oklahoma it’s not so much about winning as it’s about showing up, committing to the stage and singing your heart out.
“We’ve met people that treat karaoke like church,” says Monroe. “They go every single week. They have their own entourage that they bring in. They go up there and rock the stage, pour out their souls. Whether they’re great singers or not doesn’t really matter. As long as they commit fully to the music.”
The Gong Show
The hottest karaoke scene in Tulsa comes around on the last Wednesday of every month. Joe Momma’s Pizza transforms itself for Charity Okie, a karaoke fundraising event supporting the Make-a-Wish Foundation of Oklahoma. It’s SI’s favorite venue, where he likes to bust out his favorite crowd pleaser, Blackstreet’s “No Diggity.”
SI’s won a handful of Charity Okie contests, but he hasn’t won them all. Several of Tulsa’s karaoke regulars turn out for the event, and the competition is stiff.
Charity Okie founders Jonathon Bolzle, Wes Alexander, Bart Yount and Jon Schroeder do it up – fog machines, big screen projection TVs, the works. They want every performer, new or pro, to feel like a superstar on Joe Momma’s stage.
“It’s the best karaoke experience that someone can have here in Tulsa. We go over the top with lighting, fog and effects,” says Bolzle. “We try to make everyone’s performance as awesome as possible so they can have as much of a true to life performance as possible.”
Bolzle, a longtime karaoke fan, developed the idea behind Charity Okie after visiting a number of Tulsa’s karaoke clubs and deciding that they just didn’t deliver the goods. He and his co-founders began the search for the ultimate karaoke experience. Somewhere along the way, they decided to incorporate a charity.
“What the charity does is bring out people who might not normally enjoy karaoke and gets them to set their pride and dignity aside and do something for the cause. So we get a lot of people who’ve never done karaoke getting up there and doing it because they want to support the cause,” Bolzle adds.
The audience members vote for the best performers at Charity Okie with their wallets. Volunteers walk through the audience with buckets. Every dollar in the bucket is a vote for the performer on stage. The top three earners win prize packages. Those incentives, along with the good times, bring in enough money to support one child’s wish each year. And don’t forget the gong. Is a performer turning a great tune into a weapon of mass destruction? Pay $5 for the privilege of gonging them off the stage.
There are plenty of places to check out Oklahoma’s thriving karaoke scene – even if only for the spectacle. But as long as you’re there, you might as well step up to the stage. A little stage fright is normal. Having that much fun is not.
First-timers should take it from Kari Brummet: “It’s always the timid ones that have the best voices.”
People in their 40s, 50s and 60s are well into middle age, but that doesn’t mean they’re ready to give up on their looks. Experts believe that many people have delayed cosmetic surgery because of the struggling economy and will delay no longer as things improve.
According to the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgeons, the number of people seeking anti-aging procedures such as facelifts and eyelid lifts is on the rise. Demand for noninvasive procedures such as Botox and fillers rose dramatically in the past two years.
The most popular procedures being done these days are liposuction, eyelid surgery, breast implants, nose jobs, facelifts and Botox injections. Following are brief descriptions of various cosmetic surgery procedures along with expected recovery times.
Liposuction, or body sculpting, removes stubborn pockets of fat such as saddlebags and love handles. The surgeon vacuums out the fat through a small incision. Recovery time: a few days, depending on how much fat is removed.
Eyelid surgery, or blepharoplasty, removes bagginess and tightens loose skin around eyelids. Swelling usually subsides in a week; bruising clears up in a week to 10 days.
Breast implants are saline-filled bags slid between your breast tissue and chest muscles or between your chest muscles and chest wall. Recovery time is a few days to a week.
A facelift stretches sagging skin up toward your scalp, tightening and smoothing it. Bruising fades in about two weeks; swelling may last longer. Recovery time for returning to your normal routine is two weeks.
Botox injections smooth frown lines and wrinkles around the eyes. The procedure paralyzes the muscles in the forehead. There is no recovery time, but the results are not permanent, usually lasting three to four months.
Board certified plastic surgeons that are members of the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS) predict the following for 2011:
As the number of people having gastric bypass increases, the number of patients seeking body contouring (abdominoplasty, lower body lift, upper arm lifts) following dramatic weight loss will also increase.
Many women who have aging breast implants will replace them and have breast lifts.
The popularity of cosmetic surgery will continue to grow among minorities. Among racial/ethnic groups, cosmetic surgery is most popular among Asians, followed by Hispanics and African-Americans.
The popularity of cosmetic injectables (Botox, Dysport, Sculptra, Radiesse, Evolence, Juvederm, Restylane, Perlane, etc.) will continue to increase as products evolve and new ones are developed.
Celebrities such as Kim Kardashian, Beyonce and Jennifer Lopez have made a shapely rear-end the latest must-have accessory. This year, more patients will seek posterior body lifts, buttock lifts and buttock augmentations.
Liposuction will continue to be the gold standard in fat reduction, but there will be interest in experimental techniques for non-invasive fat removal (freezing, zapping, lasering) as a future alternative or adjunct to surgery.
As the popularity of non-surgical and minimally-invasive procedures continues to increase, surgeons and manufacturers will develop new techniques and products that advance science, produce better results and shorten recovery time.
Finally, the physicians of the ASAPS advise anyone considering cosmetic procedures to do plenty of research on risks, benefits and patient outcomes, especially if the technique or product is new to the market.
Cinderella and The Perfect Ten
Blame it on Carrie Bradshaw.
Despite stern warnings from orthopedic and podiatric groups, more women are having cosmetic surgery on their feet. Their goal? Looking good in sandals and Jimmy Choos, of course.
It all began about the same time Sex and the City debuted in 1998 and is becoming more popular as new procedures are developed.
The menu of cosmetic foot procedures includes a trademarked “Cinderella procedure,” a preventive bunion correction that makes feet narrower. Some women have foot fat removed, making high heels look and fit better; others have fat removed from their abdomen and added to the balls of their feet so heels feel better.
For sandal and open-toe shoe wearers, there is a Perfect 10 procedure to invisibly trim overlong toes or lengthen short, stubby ones.
Those who don’t want an invasive cosmetic procedure can opt for a “foot facial” that includes microdermabrasion, chemical peel and toenail whitening.
It should be noted that the American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society and other medical groups strongly oppose any type of cosmetic surgery on feet. The human foot has 33 bones and many tendons, making any foot surgery potentially risky. These doctors believe potential risks of surgery to improve the appearance of the feet far outweigh the potential benefits.
Foot doctors also observe that many painful foot conditions are self-inflicted. A significant number of their female patients suffer from “high heel syndrome” caused by years of wearing shoes designed for sex appeal rather than foot comfort and support.
A recent study done by a doctor at the University of Southern California found that an astounding 88 percent of women wear shoes that are one or even two sizes too small for their feet.
Cosmetic Dentistry: A Reason to Smile
People with bad teeth once had few options other than not smiling in photographs. Today, thanks to development of sophisticated, high tech and affordable procedures, dentists can tackle almost any problem.
People who are confident about their looks are usually more successful in their personal and professional lives, and nothing boosts the confidence like a great smile. A full menu of procedures is available to give you the healthy, attractive smile that nature did not. Procedures range from gentle reshaping of chipped teeth to full replacement of teeth.
Development of better dental materials means treatments are more durable and natural looking. More dentists are using technologies such as lasers to perform cosmetic procedures in their offices without referral to a specialist.
The menu of cosmetic dental procedures available to today’s patients include:*
Inlays/Onlays – The use of porcelain or composite materials to provide filling for teeth with tooth decay or other structural damage.
Composite bonding – A composite material which looks like enamel is applied into a cavity or onto the surface of a tooth.
Teeth whitening – The most commonly recommended cosmetic dentistry procedure, bleach is used to whiten the teeth.
Dental veneers – Composite or porcelain laminates are bonded to the surface of a tooth to correct chips, cracks or severe tooth discoloration.
Dental implants – Replacement of missing teeth with prosthetic teeth.
Smile makeover – The dentist does a comprehensive assessment of your smile and makes recommendations to improve your “smile esthetics.”
Full mouth reconstruction – Treatments which correct functional problems with your bite, muscles, teeth or bone structure.
The internet is a wonderful resource for people considering cosmetic dental procedures. Websites of dentists who offer cosmetic dentistry give the latest information about specific procedures. Some websites offer videos and the opportunity to ask questions.
To Bill Bartmann, the image is both memory and metaphor.
There he was, a teenage high school reject, leaning against a parking meter outside a pool hall in his small Iowa hometown. In the wider world, things were changing, propelled by the energy of the 1960s. But in small town Middle America of the day, a dropout from a dysfunctional family who was already in the habit of eating from garbage dumpsters was headed nowhere.
But something happened that day outside that pool hall – something that would change everything.
“Walking down the street, literally right towards me, was the principal who had expelled me from school,” Bartmann recalls.
“He comes right up to me and asks me what I was doing and that he meant what I was doing with my life. I told him that I was working part-time at a packing plant. He told me that I was bright enough that I should go to college. Now, to that point, no Bartmann had ever even graduated from high school in the whole family tree. But he very seriously encouraged me and told me that he could help. He said I would have to take the GED, but that if I passed it, he would help me get into college.”
It was a seminal moment for Bartmann and a formative one for the development of the principle and philosophy that subsequently propelled him through some alpine-high times and desperately low ones.
“I want to instill in the hearts and minds of everyone I come in contact with that you are capable of doing more than you think you can,” Bartmann says.
“I look at is as exactly the same as me standing against that parking meter. And then an opportunity came along.”
The young Bartmann hardly seemed the type to seize that opportunity when it did come along in the form of one committed educator, particularly since hanging out on the street outside a pool hall was a major improvement on the youngster’s life to date.
“I just like to explain it as – we had a dysfunctional family,” Bartmann says. “My parents had eight children, and I think they loved us as much as they knew how. They just didn’t know how. They did the best job they could. With eight kids, though, just getting by took everything they had. There was not a lot left for bonding.”
Although Bartmann’s farming family was hardly The Waltons, he says that contrary to what others might have thought, he was neither kicked out of his house nor did he run away when he was 14 years old. He just left home, and his parents waved goodbye.
“People hear that and they think there has to have been a scandal or that I was some kind of anarchist and that wasn’t the case,” Bartmann says. “I was literally living on the street, and it was an upgrade.”
Bartmann crashed at friends’ houses, ate from dumpsters and was barely skirting by in life when a temp job working at a traveling carnival offered a first glimmer of opportunity. He accepted a job offer and spent the next two years traveling the country with a group of carnies. He grew up fast – and learned the first of the lessons he would carry with him.
“I learned early that there are some good people out there and also that there are people who can hurt you,” Bartmann recollects. “Your job is to learn to evaluate people quickly. At 14, I learned some skills that have served me well. I have a pretty good read on people.”
Bartmann returned to Iowa more mature but no more focused. He was involved with a gang and he washed out of both his hometown’s high schools.
The Fork in the Road
Bartmann took his old principal up on his offer and began working with a tutor to prepare for his GED.
“You have to be slightly brighter than a bottle of water to pass the GED, but for me it was hard. I passed it and for me, that was a new high water point. I’d actually passed a test.”
Bartmann’s mentor kept his word and the younger man graduated community college despite being on academic probation the entire time.
“A couple of things happened,” Bartmann says. “I came to the conclusion that I was not as dumb as they said I was and that I could learn – I just had to work harder than everyone else. I wondered how far I could go. What did I want to do?”
Growing up in poverty, Bartmann says he knew what it was like to feel powerless. It was also the era of Kennedy and of Nader’s Raiders.
“The psyche of the moment was that you could do anything and that you could control your own destiny,” Bartmann says.
So Bartmann parlayed some connections he’d made dabbling in politics to get into law school at Drake University despite initially being rejected by all 48 law schools to which he applied.
“They let me in and I was on academic probation the entire time,” Bartmann says.
After earning admission to the Iowa Bar, Bartmann entered a practice dealing with various consumer issues – yet another brush with the experiences of people struggling to control their own destinies.
However, fate would take Bartmann to Oklahoma when he and his brother invested in the Country Club Apartments off Highway 69 in Muskogee. The real estate project required the brothers to be on-site, prompting the relocation to Oklahoma, where Bartmann has spent most of his time since.
“We did really well,” Bartmann says. “It was really just timing and luck. We bought in the late 1970s and sold in the mid-1980s.”
Having succeeded in real estate, it was little surprise when a local bank, with whom Bartmann did business, asked him to intervene in a problem they were having with a client who was operating an oil field pipe manufacturing company. The bank thought it needed to foreclose on the loan, but Bartmann looked into the situation and had a better idea. Bartmann persuaded the company owner to sell it to him and received financing from the very bank that had been threatening to foreclose.
Initially, driven by oil market forces, the company did well and Bartmann earned his first fortune.
“Over the course of my ownership we grew the company significantly,” Bartmann says.
But market forces give and take and when oil prices dropped, Bartmann was in a bind. He had personally guaranteed more than $1 million in loans for the failed company and just as quickly as he had made a fortune, he had lost it.
Cashing in on Bad Debt
Around the time Bartmann lost his first fortune, he stumbled upon an advertisement placed by the FDIC seeking to sell bad loans.
“At first, I thought who would want to buy bad loans? But I investigated. So many banks in the mid-‘80s were going under that the FDIC couldn’t handle the inventory of bad loans. It was the first time that the FDIC had ever sold bad loans because they just couldn’t handle it.”
Bartmann saw an opportunity and took it. He and his wife became the first people in the United States to buy bad consumer loans from the FDIC. They paid $13,000 for a “box full” of bad loans. Utilizing an approach fueled by Bartmann’s impoverished background and from his belief in opportunity, he parlayed that box into $63,000.
“These were small balance consumer loans – the kind of loans people had for vacations and Christmas,” Bartmann says. “I thought that if you treated people nicely and not harshly, if you used compassion and logic, that it would work. That was certainly not how collection people had conducted business, but that’s how because of my background, I felt it should be done. People will do the right thing if given the opportunity.”
Bartmann continued going back to the same well for the next 12 years, buying loans first from the FDIC and then from the Resolution Trust Company, which was created in the wake of the national savings and loan failure. But he then found what he calls “the mother lode” – charged-off credit card loans. His became the first company to ever buy those types of bad debts too.
In 1986, Bartmann launched Commercial Financial Services, and until the company’s collapse in 1999, he presided over one of the most revolutionary and successful business ventures in recent economic history.
“From the very beginning, I have had the same philosophical approach – that these are customers and not deadbeats. These are people who needed some help.”
Tulsa-based CFS grew to employ almost 4,000 people with revenues in excess of $1 billion and earnings in excess of $182 million. Bill and wife Kathy graced the covers of magazines such as Forbes and Inc. They were listed individually on the Forbes 400 Wealthiest People in America list. One national magazine ranked them No. 25.
Bartmann’s approach to treating people and his belief in the value of seizing opportunities extended to CFS employees too. CFS provided 100 percent free health care to employees and their families – with doctors and nurses on site. Free day care was on site. Salaries were twice the industry standard and the company provided a 250 percent 401k match. Stories of CFS’s magnanimity abounded – company-wide trips on cruise ships and to the Bahamas and Vegas to watch Bartmann wrestle Hulk Hogan.
To Bartmann, it was only logical that CFS’s success meant personal success for employees.
“You treat clients with dignity and respect and you treat employees the same way,” he says. “I had 4,000 amazing employees who did great work and I practice what I preach. They seized the opportunity, did well, helped people get out of bad situations – they deserved the best.”
Fall From Grace
In 1999, Jay Jones, a CFS business partner, committed fraud and sent the company into bankruptcy. Even though Jones told prosecutors he had acted without Bartmann’s knowledge, admitted his guilt and was sent to prison, U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft indicted Bartmann. Five years later, after a two-month-long trial where the government called 53 witnesses and produced more than 1,000 exhibits, Bartmann rested his case without calling a single witness or producing a single exhibit. The jury acquitted Bartmann on all counts. Only afterward did the bankruptcy trustee declare that CFS was not a fraud.
Bartmann does not speak ill of others easily and even though his excoriation was more publicized then his complete exoneration, he bears no ill will toward the government.
“I choose to think of it as the system working – they took their time looking through everything before they decided I had done nothing wrong,” Bartmann says.
“For every education, there is a tuition. In my case, that tuition was $3.5 billion. I look back on everything that we went through and I remember those days, but those days aren’t us. They are just things that happened along the way.”
Bartmann says everything he learned with CFS mirrored things he already knew but these are lessons it is always good to learn a second time.
“People are inherently good. We’re responsible for our own actions. People will do the right thing if given the opportunity. We get what we deserve.”
A New Day
Bartmann is turning those lessons into yet another opportunity. Just last year in Tulsa he launched his new company, CFS2, which duplicates the business and philosophy of the first CFS – only without any business partners this time. Also based in Tulsa, Bartmann says this is a “chance to do it all again.”
“The economic environment is different,” Bartmann says. “There is a lot more debt, so there is more inventory and it is less expensive to buy. On the other hand, some of it is less collectable because of the environment. We’re going to go at it the same way we did before, treating people with respect and helping them out of bad situations.”
Finding employees has not been a problem. Bartmann says 90 percent of the resumes the company has received are from former CFS employees.
“One guy left a higher paying job in Iowa because he wants to do it all again,” Bartmann says. “He might be making less money today, but he knows if he does what he needs to do, he will do well again.”
Dana Bell is one of the former CFS employees who is happily back with CFS2. The company director of training and development said that when Bartmann finally decided to launch CFS2, she knew she was in.
“Not one single doubt,” she says. “It’s been a roller coaster from the very beginning, but I had no doubt.”
Bell says that working for Bartmann is not for everyone – it requires complete commitment, long hours and total investment in the philosophy.
“It’s all about above average people pushing themselves to limits they didn’t think they could reach,” Bell says. “It is not for the average person. Bill is a very generous person when you deserve it. You’re not going to come here for a job for a year, make some money and then get a slight increase next year for doing well. Bill will reward you. But it isn’t just an individual thing. You’re also helping people and you have to work hard and have a heart. We’re also fast to identify and weed out people who aren’t cut out for it. That’s not cold. We worked on New Year’s Eve…this isn’t for just anyone.”
Bartmann says his goal is to grow the company fast and furious and to, once again, share that success with employees.
“I believe that the more you share, the more you get,” Bartmann says.
e living space and a favorite of the owner is the antique fireplace. Originally there was no fireplace, but Faudree helped orchestrate the creation of one when he located a stunning old French mantelpiece. 
“The chemicals in cigarette smoke are blood vessel poison; there is no better way to put it,” Fogli says. “It’s amazing in our youth-obsessed culture how many people continue to smoke, which accelerates the aging process like nothing else.”
