Scissortail Park is hosting the inaugural free TailSpin Music Festival this weekend for anyone looking for something to keep them outside in the August heat.
According to KOSU.org, the event will be headlined by Letters to Cleo, otherwise known as that band from Parks and Rec:
The festival will take place from 6 to 10 p.m. Friday, Aug. 7, and 4 to 10 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 8. Admission is free and open to the public. Food trucks will be available along S. Robinson Avenue.
Alternative rock band Letters to Cleo will headline the festival on Saturday, Aug. 8. The Boston-based group is best known for its hit song "Here & Now" and its memorable performances and soundtrack contributions to the film 10 Things I Hate About You. The band's music has also been featured in the film Josie and the Pussycats and the television series Parks and Recreation.
Did anyone else want to go to JJ’s Diner for a celebratory waffle or hit up the Snakehole Lounge for shots of Snake Juice after reading that?
You know, I’ve spent a lot of time comparing Oklahoma City to the fictional Pawnee, Indiana of the Parks and Rec series. Mostly because I’ve watched the series a solid eight times through. It was definitely a pandemic-era comfort watch for me. (That, and Peaky Blinders, oddly enough.)
And even though we’re just now getting a concert from Letters to Cleo in a park, we have a lot of similarities to Leslie Knope’s neck of the woods. Don’t believe me? Check out this list of five other ways OKC has gone full Parks and Rec…
We all eat like Ron Swanson.
Look. I know there are healthy options all around the metro. It’s not as hard as it used to be to find vegan and vegetarian options. But generally speaking, we’re all about the bacon and beef. You can’t throw a rock without hitting a Braum’s or a Sonic, both brands born right here. And both just the sort of place that cater to the carnivore.
Heart disease is the leading cause of death in Oklahoma. And we come by it honestly.
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Dedicated public servants have to fight against rich outsiders.
A big storyline in the fourth season of Parks and Rec was Leslie running for city council against Bobby Newport, played by Hollywood’s Dorian Gray, Paul Rudd. Even though Leslie had served in the parks and rec department for years, she had to campaign hard against a rich boy with family money to win.
Maybe I’ve been watching too many campaign ads lately, but it seems like every commercial that plays in our market screams about how we don’t need rich outsiders in Oklahoma. It’s much better to have rich insiders. Isn't Chip Keating looking for a job?
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OKC has a not-so-wholesome history.
A running joke on Parks and Rec is the history of the town depicted in the murals at City Hall. They’re violent paintings of the Wamapoke Tribe and the town’s settlers. And every time Chief Ken Hotate is in an episode, the jokes are about broken government promises and ancestral curses.
Much like Pawnee, OKC has a similar history. But, instead of reminders of broken promises, we get annual land runs executed by elementary school kids.
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Big government actually gets it done.
In season 6, Leslie finally breaks ground on the park she’s been trying to build for the entire series. And in season 7, she actually gets a national park in Pawnee. The whole series shows her strong-arming her way through red tape and doing what needs to be done to ensure the city gets the park it deserves. This is big government at its finest.
One could argue that MAPS projects are also big government. I know you’re not supposed to say things like that in Oklahoma lest the general populace show up to city hall with pitchforks and torches. But it’s true. Big government is also responsible for nice things. And that’s why all politicians that run on the idea of small government are basically slumlords.
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Both are overly optimistic at the expense of reality.
Parks and Rec’s biggest failing is it never talks about the issues that actually divide people. The emotional thesis of the series is that no matter what, people can come together and make things happen. That would be great if things actually worked that way in a very divided era of American politics.
Oklahoma City shares this optimism. We spend so much time gentrifying and making cool things happen at the expense of the cost of living. Look no further than the people who respond to any critical commentary with some trite diatribe about how we need to lift each other up rather than tear people down. As if holding anyone accountable is the real thing that’s holding Oklahoma City back.
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Anyway, maybe I’ll don my best blazer and attend TailSpin in full Leslie Knope regalia. Even though we all know I’m definitely more of a Greg Pikitis.
