Stateline 1104 Master Script

Stand Up

Hello I'm Robert Burch. There are dozens of world class events and museums in our state. But the public rarely gets to see the hidden collections at museums and never gets to go backstage at live events. But in this episode of Stateline we'll visit the J-M Davis Arms and Historical Museum in Claremore, the Civic Center Music Hall, home to the Oklahoma City Philharmonic and the Oklahoma Aquarium in Jenks.  Join us for a peek behind the curtain.

Opened in 2003, the Oklahoma Aquarium in Jenks is home to 18,000 species of sea life from every corner of the deep. There are fresh water fish here too, as well as river otters, beavers and raccoons. Salt water crowd pleasers like the red octopus and parrot fish keep the kids glued to the glass...but the real stars are the sharks. Visitors stare up in wonder from underneath the razor toothed killers into tanks filled with 500-thousand gallons of salt water.

Robert Burch

01:31:11    C0002     S-520

One of the most jobs here at the aquarium is keeping the water safe for the animals.  Richard prince is the full time chemist here at the Aquarium.  Richard Thanks for joining us to day.

Richard Prince

01:40:20    C0002     S-520

No problem.

Robert Burch

01:41:06    C0002     S-520

What do you do here and why is it important?

Richard Prince

01:44:08    C0002     S-520

Well my job is just basically running water samples.  To find basic water quality.  My job is to get those numbers and interpret those numbers for the biology staff and I tell them if they need to do something as simple as do a water change or something as important as change all the bio material out  to keep the system healthy.

Robert Burch

02:03:10    C0004     S-520

So now the Sharks are in this tank here.  What are you looking for when you take a sample.

Richard Prince

02:08:13    C0004     S-520

Right now what I am going to be doing is I am going to be grabbing a sample for bromine and what we do is we add ozone to a lot of our systems to keep the water clean.  Kind of like when people add chlorine to a swimming pool to keep the water clean.  And Bromine is a by product of  ozone and I am going to grab a sample  for that really quick. And on this sort of system we run main sorts of chems as well.  And we will be finding everything from ammonia to salinity to nitrates whatever the biologist think are important on this particular case.

Robert

02:44:29    C0003     S-520

In treating the water what are you looking to prevent?

Richard Prince

02:48:28    C0005     S-520

When we treat for chems we look for things like ammonia spikes nitrite spikes and nitrate spikes.  I try to prevent those by adding things like amquil to the system.  Or if I see a potential spike I will tell the husbandry staff to do a water change, or any thing like that to try to  get those numbers down because in high enough doses those three chemicals can actually kill our animals.

Richard Prince

03:10:19    C0008     S-520

Alright so basically what I will be doing here is these are the tests.  These are the samples I just grabbed.  And I am going to be putting ten ml. in each one of these and we are going to start it out on its three minute reaction time.

Robert

03:24:29    C0013     S-520

You have to do these pretty quick?

Richard Prince

03:26:01    C0013     S-520

Yep these tests are pretty time sensitive  because Bromine does dissipate from the water so we want to get a pretty accurate reading.  So we have to move as quick as we can.

Robert

03:41:09    C0013     S-520

Now what is this you are putting in.

Richard Prince

03:43:05    C0013     S-520

This is a reagent. It tests for iodine.  It tests for bromine and it tests for chlorine, and if there are any of those in the water then the sample will turn pink.  And we can tell right off the bat if the sample is too high or if it is too low.  If it doesn't have enough of whatever is in it.  So you can see here how one is pink and one is not.  One is the tank.  If it is too high in the tank it can potentially kill our animals.  So we run everything from the reaction chamber through carbon first to destroy all the bromine.  And so that is what we are looking for here.

Behind the tanks is a well ordered maze of filters and pumps that push the lifeblood of clean water back into the artificial marine environment.  The whole system was designed and built by the aquariums engineers.

Robert Burch

04:25:22 C0074     S-520

So as people walk through here, the public areas, They really, do they get a sense as to what it takes to keep everything running.

Richard Prince

04:34:17 C0074     S-520

Well some people do a lot of people don't really have any idea about what we do here as biologists and chemists.  There is a lot that goes on behind the scenes.  A lot of pumps a lot of different filters.  There is a lot of things that go into keeping an Aquarium running. That a lot of people just don't even think about.  When they see our animals yeah they are healthy.  They think that "oh they are in water they live in water that's what they do" I mean they live in water.  That is true to an extent but we have to create an artificial living space for them so we have sand filters protein skimmers.  I test all the water make sure that everything is good for them to live in. I mean there is a lot that goes into it that people just don't know about.

Just like everywhere else everyone's got to eat...and when the dinner bell rings at the aquarium sea food is always on the menu.

Robert Burch

05:32:13   C0199    S-520

Christa Clawson is the Assistant Curator at the Aquarium, and you are very busy today what is happening here?

Christa Clawson

05:39:09   C0199    S-520

Thursdays is the day that we feed our big shark exhibit we are in here today preparing all the food that they are going to need for the day.

Robert

05:46:29   C0200    S-520

So what is on the menu for the Sharks today?

Christa Clawson

05:49:06   C0199    S-520

Today we are doing Salmon and Bonita some herring some mackerel.  It just kind of depends.  We kind of try to give them a little bit of variety.

Robert

05:59:22   C0199    S-520

So what is she doing here?

Christa Clawson

06:02:03   C0199    S-520

Right now she is putting in Vitamins and nutrients that is lost when the fish is frozen.  So we need to put that back. So that the Sharks actually get the nutrition out of the fish.  She will be doing a whole bunch of different sizes depending on what size our sharks are.  So what they can actually eat easily.  With out making a big mess in the tank.  So then she keeps track of them by the vitamins we know how big the piece is.  So we can actually keep track of how much each shark actually eats.

Robert

06:34:20   C0199    S-520

How long does it take to get all of this prepared?

Christa Clawson

06:38:01   C0199    S-520

We have kind of gotten it down to a fine science now so we can usually get what they need done in probably less than an hour.  Usually the are in quarter pound chunks or half pound chunks.  Depending on the shark.  Sometimes one pound.  So that is all she is doing.  She will just go through and cut them up and she will put the vitamins/thiamin on them pt them in the container that we are going to need for the feed and that is it.

Divers feed most of the salt water fish by hand, and then scrub the tanks clean of algae. But there is one tank where the feeding is best done at a distance.

Christa Clawson

07:13:16    C0079    S-607

I am getting ready to feed the sand tigers and same as with our other sharks they need vitamins so we put a vitamin as well as an iodine pill that helps with their bone structure and everything. So I take a little bit of time.  I just have two out of all these Sharks that have got to feed.

The 20 minute feeding time is by far the most popular event of the week. It is a little unnerving to hear the shark's teeth hit the steal pole as it snaps up the fish.

Christa Clawson

Nat Sd Byte

08:06:44:27   C0083   S-607

Do you see the other sand tiger? What? Do you see a sand tiger? Is that the same one? Yeah, I just wanted to make sure its the same one.

Robert

07:55:01   C0080     S-607

So how much will they eat?

Christa Clawson

07:57:22   C0080     S-607

The Sand Tigers will eat about three and a half pounds a piece for this feed.  Everybody else it is kind of based on about how much they weigh.

Stand Up

The Oklahoma Aquarium is constantly adding new exhibits, all of them designed and built by the staff in Jenks. Just up the road is our next stop...the J-M Davis Arms and Historical Museum in Claremore. It's not hard to find...just look for the tank out front.

Robert Burch

08:13:21   C0009    S-207

To take us through the collections of the museum here today is the curator Mr. Jason Schubert.  Jason how are you today?

Jason Schubert

08:20:07   C0009    S-207

Good how are you doing Robert?

Robert Burch

08:21:09   C0009    S-207

So What do you have here at the museum?

Jason Schubert

08:22:26   C0009    S-207

Well we have the largest privately held collection of firearms in the world.  And we are also a lot more than just fire arms.

Robert

08:30:08   C0009    S-207

Like what?

Jason Schubert

08:30:26

Well we have a collection of WWI posters.  We have a collection of John Rogers Statuary, that is no relation to will or his father, but these were plaster statues from the 1860 to the 1890's.  That was small 3 dimensional art that could be kept in the home.

Robert

08:49:07

So when visitors come here what do they want to see?

Jason Schubert

08:51:17

Well there is a lot of different areas that a lot of people are interested in seeing.  In fact I could take you to show you one area.

Robert

08:57:08

Let's Go!

Jason

08:58:00

Ok!

Jason Schubert

09:03:03

As you see here at the museum we have an extensive collection of rifles and shotguns, as well as pistols. But we have fire arms from many different manufacturers as well as individual gunsmiths. Here we have a really nice collection of Colt revolving long arms.  The rifles and shotguns.  Some of the type that Sam Colt sold the republic of Texas for their naval and land forces, and also some that he was trying to sell to the US military at that time.

The collection is overwhelming, over 30-thousand guns. Add to that a huge collection of rare beer steins, animal heads and political memorabilia. When J.M. Davis bought the Mason Hotel in 1916 he brought his collection. Every wall was covered with weapons. Over the years he closed up rooms as he ran out of space for his guns. Wayne McCombs is the Executive Director of the museum.

Robert

09:38:16

Mr. McCombs thank you for joining us today.

McCombs

09:40:17

Hello Robert thanks for coming.

Robert Burch

09:43:13

Well this exhibit contains Mr. Davis' very first gun he received from his father back in 1895 as a child Mr. Davis was ill a lot of the time.  He didn't like to take his medicine.  So his dad promised him he would get him a 410 shotgun if he would take his medicine.  Mr. Davis took his medicine and overcame his illness, but still began to collect guns the rest of his life.

Mr. McCombs

10:12:00

In here of course we have the old cash register.  We have where they would get there keys in the mail. Then also over here we have Mr. Davis' desk that was in the lobby just off to the left.  That is where Mr. Davis would work on the guns himself. Where he would clean them work on the parts, and his original desk is right there.  We also have one of the items I remember as a child from the hotel.  The Jack-o-lope that is on the wall over there.  That was above there area where you would go into the coffee shop.  And I wondered for years was that real or not. About a Jack-o-lope you know.

Tourists come from all over the world to wander through row after row of Kentucky long rifles, muskets and machine guns. There are enough weapons here to equip two divisions. Some of the weapons belonged to the famous and infamous of American history.

Jason Schubert

19:52:24

Here at the Museum we have a large collection of outlaw and law man guns on exhibit.  A lot of famous names that you will hear; Bill Tillman, Jesse James, A lot of neat items.

Robert

11:07:00

So this is Bonny Parker's gun?

Jason Schubert

11:07: 08

Yes this was a pistol that was found in a hotel actually more of a travel cabin that Bonny and Clyde and Buck and Blanche shot their way out of on Missouri.

Robert Burch

11:25:25

So do you get that strong of an attribution for all of the guns that you have here?

Jason Schubert

11:29:14

Sometimes you do sometimes you don't.  One particular pistol we have in the back in the collection storage I could show you.  It has one of those stories that we don't have an affidavit for but the way it was told leaves pretty good credence to the... it makes me believe that it was probably fairly accurate story.  If you like I could show you.

Robert

11:52:26

Let's take a look.

Jason

11:53:09

Alright

Jason Schubert

12:14:03

This is out collection storage area. Where we keep the artifacts that are not currently on exhibit.

Robert

12:19:19

How many non exhibited items do you have?

Jason Schubert

12:23:06

Well as far as fire arms go we have about five thousand fire arms that are not on exhibit.  So they are here in this room.  But that leaves about 9000 fire arms that are on exhibit.

Jason Schubert

12:35:06

Here is that pistol that I was telling you about.  This came from a donor in Oregon.  He called us up and told us an interesting story.  His grandfather had been a law enforcement officer in eastern Oklahoma. And was involved in one of the times that Pretty Boy Floyd  was apprehended.  Now the story goes that the senior law enforcement officer was a Federal agent took this pistol off of Pretty Boy Floyd and gave it to our donor's grand father. For helping in apprehend Floyd, and so it is just a standard Smith & Wesson M&P Military and police .38 caliber revolver.  And while we have several fire arms like this with the unique history associated with this one we just couldn't pass it up.

Jason Schubert

13:30:19

Well as you can see we have quite a few pistols here.  These are the ones that are not on exhibit mostly because of duplication or we want t to do something else you have a future exhibit. Here we have is this is a Spanish Micolette Lock pistol.  As you see all the springs are on the outside it is kind of an early version of the flint lock.  This is what you might see as a pirate type pistol.  It is here because we have several others like it already on exhibit. So it is a nice piece very ornate.

Robert

14:04:27

Yeah.

Jason Schubert

14:08:29

Here is something you see in the movies a lot.  You probably don't see it up close and personal.  This is the Dessert Eagle 44 Magnum.  It is quite a big fire arm.  It shows up on camera real well.  I think that's why they put it up and you see Arnold Schwarzenegger with one.  There you go hold on to that.

Robert

14:26:20

Ohh Heavy it is like cast Iron.

Jason Schubert

14:30:00

Yes it has got to have a lot of medal there to hold the pressure from the .44 Magnum. It is a very powerful cartridge.

Robert

14:41:11

Quite a kick I am guessing too.

Jason Schubert

14:42:28

I am sure it is of course the weight helps with some of it.  But it does counteract some of the recoil, but you are going to feel it no matter how heavy the thing is.

Robert Burch

14:52:02

Now why wouldn't this one be off display?

Jason Schubert

14:54:00

Well we have one on display.  It is a duplicate.  We do have a couple here in the collection and we have got one on exhibit so.  So this one is just sitting in storage.

Robert Burch

15:04:27

Now you never fire any of these, right?

Jason Schubert

15:06:18

No, absolutely not.  These are museum artifacts. The purpose of them being here is to promote history is to preserve history and to be able to tell a story and when you operate an artifact you have the chance of breaking it.

Stand Up

Many of the weapons in storage will one day be put on display as the exhibits are updated.  Admission is free and be sure to give yourself a few hours to spend roaming through the collection.

Now our destination is Oklahoma City's Civic Center Music Hall where Brent Winters and his staff are preparing the stage for a performance of the Oklahoma City Philharmonic.

Brent Winters

25:38:12

Well you can see these huge doors and there is a reason for all this, because these are called sound locks. Every set of doors in the auditorium have two sets of doors so you have a sounds space and you keep it very quite.

Brent Winters

16:03:16

We can walk in here when the stage is completely bare, and the concert system is all the way down the shaper is down, now once again that is a fifty four ton piece but we can walk in here and just with four people we can set the shell up with in an hour and a half.  Probably in any configuration of the shell.  It takes that shaper ten minutes to go up to position.  It is lifted by two large wench motors. That will pick that whole piece up and once it is up we can roll the side walls out to where ever we need them.  And then we deploy the shell. The Orchestra acoustic pieces and depending on that configuration they just drop into the shell like you see out here now.

Brent Winters

16:49:06

Once the shell is up it takes another four people probably another hour to set up the entire orchestra

The band shells purpose is to project the sound onstage into the audience, once it is in place the lights are adjusted and any special audio settings are made.

Tom Robison

9:12:37:14

You can enhance it more that way and you get the feeling, the same feeling that the people have in their seats. When you feel good about your mix, you know that person down there is feeling good cause they're hearing and watching a good show.

Robert Burch

16:56:06

Now the philharmonic staff and the Civic Center staff are separate but, they work very close together right?

Brent Winters

17:02:09

Yes it is a very good partnership and the reason you say separate is just the fact that the building and the shell those things all belong to the City and the Civic center, and then all the risers and chairs every thing like that is the Philharmonics.  A stage in general is always a construction area. And that is a good way to look at it. In this particular construction area we can build so many beautiful things and we find more applications for everything.  We have been in here 9 seasons now and it amazes us how many applications come in for this space this shell. It was done very, very well I mean it is really a gift to the community to have this space.

Robert Burch

17:43:27

There is an enormous amount of preparation that goes into putting on a performance here at the Oklahoma City philharmonic. Joining us is the music director for the Philharmonic Mr. Joel Levine.  Thank you for joining us.

Joel Levine

17:56:01

My Pleasure

Robert Burch

17:56:25

What goes on in your day to prepare for this performance?

Joel Levine

18:01:03

Well people will be a little disappointed to hear basically you sit at home in casual clothes and study music. I mean it is a job and in many ways it is a great job. I am paid to study the great works of art in the field of classical music.

Joel Levine

18:21:08

I only have four rehearsals. Four rehearsals is not a lot of time. It is a two and a half hour rehearsal and there is a fifteen minute break.So the working time is two hours and fifteen minutes. And you have four of those and then you have the concert. And that is the same schedule that the greatest orchestras in the world follow; The Philadelphia orchestra the Chicago Symphony, the Vienna Philharmonic. It is not a lot of time.

Joel Levine

18:47:21

Tonight is the dress rehearsal so what we will do is. We will before we do each piece I will give them final notes. So any comments I have from things that have accumulated until now we will talk about before we play the piece. We may even rehearse a few spots.  But then we are going to run them now the idea is to connect the dots and make the piece get up and walk.

Saturday it's the real thing. The ushers are volunteers, and they meet early to talk over any last minute changes, and then it's off to their posts. Concessionaires quickly set up and the cash bar is pulled into place. The rack is stocked with programs as the box office opens. The excitement is building in the house and backstage as the musicians begin to arrive.

John Allen

21:25:21

Well it is very exciting we do four or five rehearsals then a concert on a week where we perform. Then by the time the performance comes you get really involved, and usually we have a good experience.

Angelica Pereira

21:45:01

Just knowing what the composer wants to communicate and you having his or her words and playing and just communicating to the audience is just the greatest feeling I can live.

Joel Levine

22:03:14

The idea is to let loose and let go of all of those little details that we have been looking at.  We have been looking at trees and we progressively pull back until we have the forest.

Joel Levine

22:18:11

For me personally the joy is to play the greatest music that the world has known, and to play it with terrific musicians, and we are very fortunate with the Philharmonic because we have the world's greatest guest artists. I mean the people that play with the Philharmonic as soloist are the same people that play Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center and all over the world so to have them on the stage with us inspires the musicians it inspires me. It is just a lot of fun.

TRT

Stand Up

As soon as the last curtain call is over, the work lights come on and they break it all down and begin to set up for the next show. Whether it is the Philharmonic, the Oklahoma Aquarium or the Gun Museum it is the hard work of skilled professionals that make the production possible.  For more information on these and other attractions check out the links on our website at www.oeta.tv. Until the next Stateline, I'm Robert Burch.  Thanks for joining us for this peek behind the curtain.