August 2015 – Dennis Spielman

With the students back at OU, I’m going to write about the Library–not the one with the books, the one with the booze. The Library Bar and Grill (807 W Boyd St in Norman, OK) is a beloved destination for dinner and drinks on the patio.

I am a personal fan of their pizzas. Ranging around $10, the personal size pizzas are delicious and filling. The crust is hand-tossed, rubbed with olive oil, and sprinkled with a mixture of herbs and cornmeal. Pizza choices include Four Cheese, Pepperoni, Veggie Pie, BBQ Chicken, and more.

The Library’s signature dish on their menu is The Library Burrito Supreme ($9.95). It starts with chips and salsa and then comes this huge post roast burrito with beans, chili, cheese, and pico, all covered in even more melted cheese. It’s one of my good-to-favorites if our group is wanting a meal to go with our drinks.

If you are wanting something lighter for dinner, keep in mind that even their salad portions are generous. The Library Salad ($5.95), is a basic (but filling) large bowl of fresh greens, cheese, tomatoes, and mushrooms. For $3 more, chicken or turkey can be added.

The Library has a wide selection of house, bottled, and draft beers from around the world, including a $6 Made in Oklahoma Beer Flight of four local beers.

So while customers won’t find any books here (or even drinks named after authors), the Library Bar and Grill has an excellent selection of good food and drinks, and is a perfect place to catch up with your friends.

If being locked in a room with your friends for an hour while finding clues to solves puzzles and ultimately getting the code to escape sounds like fun, then I recommend visiting The Escape. In my latest Uncovering Oklahoma video, I interviewed Bridget Trowbridge, James Gibbons, and Shey Ramsey about the live action escape the room game in Oklahoma City. The Escape also has locations in Tulsa and Omaha, with the OKC location being the flag-ship store. This video has been approved to contain no spoilers!

For some history, real life escape rooms are based off computer games of the same theme, but brought into real life. It’s all hands on, but also there’s no cheat sheet as it’s all up to you and whoever you bring. Also just so I’m clear: you’re not going to get murdered in these rooms. There’s nothing that can injury or hurt anyone. No one other than your team will actually be in the room, unlike some other escape places.

This is was my first video shot in 4K with my Panasonic GH4! There was no difference in my workflow. Rendering on my MacBook Pro didn’t take long either. While filming, I did encounter an issue I’ve never faced before with the florescent lighting creating bars on my video. It drove me nuts because at the time I had no idea how to fix it, so I worked around it or with it. The best way to learn things is to do things.

Overall, I’m happy with this video. I especially loved the introduction for it. I don’t care to use my voice, but with that modulation it worked so well. This was actually a happy accident. I had recorded audio to act as a place holder and have Leslie do the lines, but I was playing about with the audio effects and ended up with what you hear. I did consider doing the whole project in the style of the intro, but decided against it for timing, annoyance, and how other Uncovering Oklahoma interviews flowed.

For the first time, Uncovering Oklahoma’s The Escape OKC video featured music by a local band, Larry Chin. (I usually used a royalty free track.) I had told Jennifer Maynord of Cellar Door Music Group I was planning to do a video on The Escape and asked for recommendation for a song to use with it. She sent me a pre-release version of a song Larry Chin were working on and got me in touch with the band. I look forward to our continued partnership and working with more local bands in the future!

The real and imaginative adventures of Dennis Spielman

Month: August 2015

Library Bar and Grill – Norman, OK

The Escape OKC