Guestroom Records

The city of Norman is a college town filled to the brim with cool art galleries, bars, great restaurants, music venues, indie shops and a ton of other stuff that any young hip go-getter can stand behind. While there's plenty of material to choose from, I feel the need to highlight a place that's very near and dear to my heart: Guestroom Records.

Guestroom Records is an Oklahoma hipster* institution, serving the general cool faction of the state since it first opened back in 2003. It's hard to go anywhere in the OKC metro area without seeing one of their stickers on the back of a car or a Guestroom t-shirt being worn by an impossibly beautiful girl with glasses and cute bangs. Hell, I even have a friend who's lawnmower has a few Guestroom stickers on it.

The permeation of Guestroom's image is certainly no accident. Owners Travis Searle and Justin Sowers started Guestroom in college as a humble record distribution enterprise. In less than a decade they've managed to open two stores (the other being in Oklahoma City) and are seeing their sales rise in a time where most other record stores are barely getting by. The guys have cultivated an incredibly loyal clientele of music lovers through love of the game, and good ol' fashioned business sense.

If Size Records is the diggers paradise, then Guestroom is for those with a well planned record shopping agenda. Their catalog is impeccably organized, digitally inventoried, and voluminous. Guestroom reliably carries new releases, and has an excellent track record for keeping the classics stocked on the shelf at all times.

Guestroom also runs a record label from the store under the same moniker, and has put out some wonderful records from locals like The Starlight Mints, Rainbows Are Free, The Boom Bang, and Shi++y/Awesome.

Ten years ago, I used to take vacations just for the purposes of finding a decent record store. Now when I travel, I don't even bother. Between Size Records, and both Guestroom locations all of my record needs are fulfilled inside and out. Whether searching for obscure collectible rarities, or just making sure I have a run of the mill copy of Meat is Murder I can rest assured that my record consumption is taken care of on a very local level.

What I find more comforting however, is that both shops have a deep involvement in our local music scene. Sure, business is business, and there's money to be made, but I can honestly say that my town's record stores care about, and help foster the local counter culture.

-Austin

* I mean hipster in the non-pejorative sense, as in general bohemian types.

And This Week's Snapshot Answer is...

The Kenton Mercantile in Kenton, OK! Congratulations to the folks who answered correctly...

This little treasure located in the panhandle is just about as old timey and Americana as you can imagine (although they do have wifi!).

The info on Travelok.com says it all:

"The Kenton Mercantile, otherwise known as "The Merc," is one of the best little cafes and general stores in the Oklahoma panhandle. One of the last old, small-town general stores, the Kenton Mercantile serves as an anchor point for sightseeing around Kenton and Cimarron County. Stop at The Merc to stock up on food, refreshments and supplies for your trip and camping needs.

The Kenton Mercantile also serves as a small-town museum featuring dinosaur artifacts, unusual jar and bottle collections and the largest collection of dinosaur toys in the five state area. In addition, group tour services include self-tour information on local sites and a pre-arranged tour to historic Robbers Roost.

The Merc also offers homestyle cooking, postcards, souvenirs and "Kabins" for rent. Dine at the Kenton Mercantile and feast on hamburgers, cheeseburgers, grilled cheese sandwiches, chili, stew and hand-cut french fries."

-Austin

Snapshot: 01.26.11

Alright dispatchers, its time again for another snapshot! Can you tell us where we were when we took this shot?

POPS

It's been gray, snowy and cold in Oklahoma for the last couple of days. Not exactly the type of weather one would typically idealize for a road trip, but us Dispatchers are prone to cabin fever (that is unless we're in an actual cabin) and hitting the road tends to be the only cure.

We've mentioned a few of our favorite go-to places when we need a quick getaway, but none come up quite as much as a little place called POPS on Route 66.

The 66 foot toll soda monolith lights up at night...

Ok, so I'm obviously kidding when I call POPS little. Since opening a few years ago on Route 66, POPS has developed itself into one of Oklahoma's biggest and most widely recognized tourism destinations.

For those not in the loop, POPS is a hyper-modern gas station that carries hundreds and hundreds of different sodas. Everything from the big name standards to the wildly obscure (see the Judge Wapner Root Beer below) can be found stocked in the many coolers within. POPS also houses a restaurant that serves up sandwiches, burgers, salads, and other traditional diner meals.

While these elements could easily play out in a tacky tourist trap fashion, POPS takes every precaution to make sure its name is revered in the highest regard amongst travelers of all kinds. For starters the building itself mixes the old timey Route 66 Americana template typical of Oklahoma, but funnels it through an incredibly modern architecture style that's not likely to be found at any other gas station (or anywhere else for that matter). The restaurant, which in less competent hands could be treated as an afterthought, is pretty freaking delicious and staffed better than a lot of the high-end eating establishments found in the city. The place is always meticulously kempt, both inside and out and the actual layout of the place is eye-catching, yet tasteful.

While POPS has all of this going for them, the real star of the show is soda. We're talking root beer, cream soda, fruit flavors, novelty sodas, colas, pretentious sodas, sodas that make you say "huh?", organic sodas, synthetic sodas, locally made sodas, sodas of every color, creed, shape, size, taste, and variety you can imagine... POPS has it all.

I am a man who certainly appreciates novelty, and POPS has a way of fulfilling that need quite sufficiently.

Rain Man's favorite soda?

Snacks for the old at heart

As an Oklahoma City resident, POPS more than anything acts as the perfect short term afternoon road trip when a change of scenery is needed. It's only a twenty minute drive away, and it's always easy to find someone willing to go with. Everyone comes home full, and has a few crazy treats to take home with them. What more could you ask for?

-Austin

Holidays at Boiling Springs State Park

The Woodward Countryside

It's January, and the holiday season is quickly fading into the recesses of our collective memories. Not a moment too soon for the scroogey types out there, but I personally feel a little sad once the Christmas tree is packed away, and the egg nog cartons are bled dry.

There's just something comforting about twinkling lights, crisp winter air, and Santa's image plastered across the landscape. I'm unapologetically in love with the aesthetic, but must admit to absolutely despising the non-stop consumerism that comes with it. Christmas should be about spending time with the one's you love, while taking the time to truly appreciate how privileged we are in our everyday lives.

For the last three years in a row Lacey and I have forgone shopping malls and obligatory gift giving and opted instead to get a little peace and quiet by ourselves at an Oklahoma State Park. This year we opted for Boiling Springs State Park near Woodward, a serene little park known for its natural springs and abundant wildlife.

The plan for our Christmas getaways couldn't be any more simple. Its a perfect combination of sleepily lounging, cooking our favorite comfort foods, and maybe some exploring depending on how energetic we feel. The cabins at Boiling Springs are perfect for this plan, providing an adorable kitchen, a cozy fireplace, and a lakeside view which can be easily enjoyed from the comfort of the couch.

Deer are a common sight at Boiling Springs

The springs themselves are really cool, but I must admit we spent more time relaxing than exploring the park...

So cozy!

Pancakes with real maple syrup for breakfast!

While we spent most of the trip getting some much needed quiet time in the cabin, we did make a point to explore the very cool wind farms just a little north of Woodward. Pictures don't really do a good job of conveying how massive the turbines are, but take it from me, they're huge!

The turbines look quite majestic, particularly set against the wide open skies of the Woodward prairie. The vast amounts of rolling land harken back to the area's frontier days, and anyone who sees it will certainly be taken back to a different time and place.

Lacey cooked up an amazing Christmas dinner on our last night there. Here are a few pics just to make you jealous!

The holidays may be over, but that doesn't mean you still can't enjoy a similar break away from everything. I know most people really don't think of the winter as a great time to explore State Parks, but honestly its a fantastic way to get a little peace and quiet... especially during the holidays.

-Austin

Dancing Lights

I'm a sucker for a good light display around the holidays and we've discovered an amazing one, the Downs Family Christmas lights in Norman.

Some friends introduced us to it last year, but we took Grayson this year and all he could say was, "pretty lights...dancing." Then he would sit there in silence trying to take it all in. I must say his parents were pretty mesmerized too.

The light display is at a beautiful home which sits on an acreage just off Highway 9 and 72nd Ave SE. According to their website, when dad Chuck Downs retired in early 2007, his engineering brain needed something to do, thus the spectacular light display was born.

When you pull into the drive, there is a sign telling you what station to tune your radio to so you can hear the songs that correspond to each light show. I believe there are five different songs in this year's rotation. The show is professional quality and is free to the public. They do take donations for the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma and last year alone collected 9,891 pounds of food and cash donations totaling $17,492.65!

I took some video with my iPhone, but YouTube is blocking the audio because of copyright issues. That said, I was able to find a video that was uploaded by the Downs family directly.

They also have a cool time lapse video of their family building one of the large tree light displays. Each one takes two hours to set up by the family. Check out the video on the bottom of their homepage here.

Size Records

Kraftwerk next to King Crimson... Kanye isn't working that hard when you think about it.

North Western Avenue in Oklahoma City is probably best known for it's boutique shops and upscale dining, but just a few blocks north, quite literally past the wrong side of the tracks, you'll find one of OKC's most infamous bohemian legends: Size Records.

The story of Size stretches all the way back to the mid 90's, where Size co-owner Jim Paddack ran the indie record store Music Dimensions. Catering to the fringe culture of the time, Music Dimensions was a haven for punk rockers and metal-heads back in the day when being punk was still a pretty dangerous venture. The small store consistently hosted punk, metal, and noise shows for years, helping to solidify a consistent underground music scene in OKC. The store was a popular destination for music fans of all kinds, but eventually lagging sales, location changes, and complaints from neighboring businesses who didn't appreciate loitering punk rockers led the store to close its doors by the early 2000's.

By 2001, a new independent venue called The Green Door would open up on Western filling the void left by Music Dimensions' absence. The Green Door hosted shows from local and touring acts almost nightly, and in no time was the unofficial home base for Oklahoma City's underground music scene.

Jim considered seeking normal employment around this time until a friend and local part-time show promoter, Dustin Wallace, approached him to start a new record store.

In 2002 Size Records opened adjacent to the Green Door selling records to music fans who would pop in to kill time between sets next door. Within a few years the Green Door would change locations to Bricktown, a downtown commercial district catering mostly to families and tourists (needless to say, the move didn't fare well for the Green Door).

Dustin was quick to take over the Green Door's old location, and soon a new venue under the Size team's (including Little Mafia Records owner Gianni Santillie) control would take its place as "The Conservatory".

The Conservatory will get its own post on here someday, but like Music Dimensions, and the Early days of the Green Door, The Conservatory has been an immense part of the underground scene in Oklahoma City hosting multiple shows of all genres every week.

The store itself is a record nerd's paradise. CDs used to take up a fair amount of shelf space in Size's formative days, but they've all been cast aside to a dark corner of the store to make room for the immense amount of vinyl they've collected over the years. Everything from classic rock and country to extreme noise and metal, indie rock of all types and eras, funk, soul, electronic - you name it, Size has it.

Size primarily deals in used vinyl, meaning that the store caters more to "digging" types who like to come to the store with no real shopping agenda. Rummaging through the constantly changing stock means you're sure to find plenty of oddball obscurities you never even new you wanted. This is a blessing for collectors like me who find far more pleasure in discovering overlooked LPs than going straight to the new release rack.

Disorganization is one of Size's strong points. Stacks of records, old concert posters, cassettes, promotional materials, and way more can be found piled in various corners of the store. Since Jim and Dustin are the only employees between the shop and the club, non essential tasks tend go a bit unnoticed. You'll still have an easy time navigating the racks as the records are divided by genre and are more or less alphabetized. Still having the drive to dig helps a lot when it comes to the Size experience.

Size loyalists also get a kick out of the various hand written notes taped to the plastic LP sleeves. Phrases like "OVERLOOKED EARLY 90S EXTREME THRASH NOISE EXPLOSION" and "KILLER DRUG-CORE FREAKOUT ESSENTIAL CLASSIC, HARD TO FIND MUST HAVE!" are fairly typical.

Of course, sometimes its best to get musical advice directly from the source, and Jim and Dustin (especially Jim) aren't ones to shy away from a great musical discussion.

METAL!

Size is a great place to look for obscure and bizarre odds and ends like zines, weird VHS, and tons of other stuff.

Talking to Jim about music is a part of the Size experience...

A digger's paradise.

Soda is Size's newest venture.

More than anything, Size stands apart as a truly DIY enterprise that functions more as a labor of love than a money making venture. Jim and Dustin will be the first to tell you that the store isn't making anyone rich, but as long as they're doing what they love they'll still be in the game.

Honestly, this little blog entry doesn't really begin to tell the whole story of the Size/Conservatory impact on the OKC music scene. There are plenty of important people, places, and bands to discuss... but I'll save most of that for a future post about the Conservatory.

-Austin

And This Week's Snapshot Answer is...

The Chickasaw Cultural Center in Sulphur, OK. Congratulations, several of you got it right!

Here are a few more shots of the Center, which sits on more than 100 acres adjacent to the Chickasaw National Recreation Area. The exhibits and campus utilize the latest technology, ancient artifacts and natural outdoor spaces to tell the Chickasaw story.

The complex beauty and spirit of this place is difficult to capture in a photograph, so I hope you will add the Chickasaw Cultural Center to your list of places to visit. If any of you have been there, please share your experience in the comments section or on our Oklahoma Dispatch Facebook page.

 The Stomp Dance Exhibit

The Honor Garden

A traditional village which includes the council house, two summer houses, two winter houses, a corn crib, ceremonial mound and traditional stockade fence

 The Kochcha’ Aabiniili’ (“outdoor seating”) Amphitheater