Me, on Good Morning America Thursday. No – really.

UPDATE: I was on MSNBC at noon, and I’ll be on the NBC Nightly News tonight (assuming I’m edited into reporter Lisa Meyers’s piece on this silliness. 6:30 eastern if you’re near the tube.)

I know, I’m just as baffled as you. But the folks at ABC News interviewed me this evening for a piece that will be on Thursday morning’s “Good Morning America.” So watch for your fellow WAEer at 7:02 AM in reporter Ron Claiborne’s piece on the ruckus in Boston that was caused by a cartoon character. Why am I involved in this? Simple. I’m a camera whore.

Me, with the terribly nice ABC News reporter Ron Claiborne.

First learn stand, then learn fly

Although the Pelham’s Island sitcom was short lived, Mike Short’s brief turn as Pelligan did attract attention from a certain Hollywood agent. Said agent coldly dropped Gary Gray from consideration (quote: “You will never be more than a furtive sock buyer”) and quickly signed Mike Short to the Italian version of the Karate Kid.

The fact that Mike Short had both the looks and the real-life skills as an honest-to-goodness black belt, Chinese herbal medicine practitioner, and acupuncturist, sealed the deal.

Your WAE video news update

Tasker Head

The year is 1991, I had driven a van from Mexico City to Vancouver, and was now flying back to New York. I missed my connecting flight and so I had an overnight layover in Minneapolis. Tasker was living there at the time, and says I can crash there. I thought it was a bit strange that the taxi driver knew the place and referred to it as the “Norman Bates House” but then he got nervous and wouldn’t say anything else except to yell out of the window “be careful” as the cab peeled away.

Tasker in front of Norman Bates House

So we go out for drinks and when we come back I find the head. It is an exact replica of Tasker’s own head, down to the unfortunate facial hair. Very creepy.

When it was finished, he made a book detailing how he made it, and had shown up unannounced with the head and the book. After the police had been called and explanations given, the owner had hired him on the spot, although he explained to Tasker that his techniques needed to be updated. The gambit was a success. In that job, Tasker went on to work on such critically acclaimed effects as  a Froot Loops commercial where a kid gets sucked out of his bedroom window in a cloud of Froot Loops.

Ashley’s Travels: A memo from the field

Editor’s Note: This is Ashley Welch’s first entry here at WAE or at any other blog for that matter. We’re still working out some technical difficulties for her… OK, she forgot her password… so I’m posting for Ashley. We hope to have her brain fixed shortly.

Steve has prodded me into blogging – my first venture into this space. It sounds like a cross between something sexual and a rock-climbing technique (Editor’s note: it is.), but I will give it a whirl b/c I love this site and like staying connected to my fellow Waylandites. It is Sunday and I am on a plane to Minneapolis for work for 2 days. I am continually unimpressed by security. I routinely walk through security with many bottles of lotions, etc. This time I had even intended to hand them over and had them in a plastic bag but left them in the front zipper of my suitcase by mistake. They stopped me to check out the tin of tea I had but completely missed the lotions. It’s a joke.

Brad Cracks Up

This video of Brad Akerman singing shows Brad with the audience in the palm of his hand. He can crack them up at will with a simple twitch of his eye brows. This is impressive unless you know that this performance was at a nitrous oxide convention and everyone was doing whippets at the time. Actually it was for a Fussfactory art show but people probably were doing whippets.

This song was written by Brad and his now deceased college friend Donnie (inset) about a girl who ended up cheating on Brad. One of many I am sure.

The clarinet on stage is a tradition, it is always put out in case Todd Brunel shows up he can just jump on stage and start playing. He never has shown up, but now it has become a superstition and it must be there.

Take a listen.

Failed Sitcom Casting: The Origination of “Schneider” from “One Day at a Time”

Not many people know this, but the origination of the “One Day at a Time” character “Schneider” came from the WHS class of ‘86. Tapped to play opposite Valerie Bertinelli, Mackenzie Phillips, Bonnie Franklin and That Dude Who is in Every ’80s Sitcom But You Don’t Know His Name, Craig Schneider was originally supposed to play the building superintendent. Sadly, it was decided Craig’s moustache wasn’t weasely enough, so they recast the part but kept the name as a tribute.

(Photo courtesy of Mackenzie Phillips selling it for drug money.)

Craig Gets Patched

So in college Craig Schneider goes off into the hinterlands of Nepal and interns with a master healer. This guy is amazing, he scoffs at Craig’s incipient medical knowledge, and seems to heal people almost with the power of his will. They make these little prayer symbols on parchment, and Craig is awed by the power of pouring your intentions into symbols made real. As he travels around to the villages with the shaman, he observes how meaningful a simple gift can be when it is given without reservation. He comes back to Wayland, and at a New Years party, he offers a special parchment square he had made to one of his old friends.

Then he makes the mistake of falling asleep early… next to a shelf containing a tube of superglue….

Whose Toes are Whose?

This historic photo from August 1990 shows the toes of Deb Reck, Tasker, Courtney, Anna Maria, and Tim.  The obvious question is who does each set of toes belong to, the less obvious question is who does each toe resemble.

For example, Tasker’s middle toe bears a striking resemblance to Mark Allara (whose regretably homely toes are a liability to his political aspirations).

Failed Sitcoms: “Pelham’s Island”

It seemed like a surefire hit at the time: the tale of the WHSers who became trapped on Pelham Island every spring when the damn road flooded over. With Anne Bennett as the sweet and innocent “AnnieAnn” and Mike Short as the lovable goofball “Pelligan,” the network thought “Pelham’s Island” was a winner. Sadly, it was doomed to failure the moment the network decided on a controversial new process: “Decolorization.”

From season 1 (episode 2, the finale) of “Pelham’s Island.” AnnieAnn and Pelligan make a DUKW boat out of straw and coconuts to take them to school. Predictably, it sinks.

Parenting tips from Ashley Welch

Whenever Ashley’s kids start to get out of line, she simply mentions “The Panda.” One trip was all it took. Now… they listen.

WAE cracks 1,000 views: we attribute it to the babes

Friday saw record traffic to WAE: 245 views. That puts us over 1,000. That’s some school spirit! And we want none of that here! I can only assume the record Friday traffic was due to babes seeking out the shweet pic of Brunel. I’ve added a little counter widget on the right over there so we can all keep track for fun and wagering. Keep telling your friends, emenies and frenemies about WAE. Send in your pictures, thoughts, hate letters, etc. Remember: the only cool clique is the “Click Clique.” I’m sorry. That was terrible. No wonder I never dated.

True Cat, Heavy Pro

So Todd Brunel plays Carnegie Hall at the beginning of April, and more prestigiously he plays with “American Music Revolution” at the world renowned coffee shop, Brewed Awakenings in Lowell on Feb. 10th at 8PM. Don’t be worried, this doesn’t have anything to do with overthrowing the state, I believe the revolution in the title refers more to the turning of the wheel of life or of time or some other wheel.

He also has some great quotes on his site, for example:
“Sweeping solos blown in a diverse stream of study nothingness………played by true cats, heavy pros.” — The Gods of Music .com

Sounds good, but then there is this one:
” The Hurtado was nimbly traversed by………clarinetist Todd Brunel” — David Cleary, the New Music Connoisseur
Hmmm, I am not too sure about those elipses, it could have originally said:
” The Hurtado was nimbly traversed by some fat guy in a plaid sport jacket and a fedora, meanwhile fetching drinks from the bar was ex-porn star and wannabe clarinetist Todd Brunel”

But any suspicians are blown away when you listen to the song that loads when you visit the MySpace page of his other band, The Circadian Rhythm Kings. OK, I am convinced, that track actually does kick the shit out of the universe. When are they playing?

Todd was also duly impressed by my reminiscence about how Andrew Frantz and I stayed up all night and then picked up jazz-great Anthony Braxton at the Providence airport for a concert at Brown…

Caption contest – win big!

[Your Caption Here]

I haven’t had my matcha yet today so I don’t have any energy to come up with a snarky caption for this stunning photo of Pat, Brad and Craig. Come up with the best caption and you will win. The prize? Steve Safran’s car. This deluxe vehicle will get you around town in style, and if you are in the Metro West region you might even be mistaken for a TV personality. (I hope this is OK with you Steve)

Tim reviews grand prize of caption contest:  Steve’s “space-bug 2020″

Holy Crap! The Wayland Police Log

Here are some highlights from the recent files of CSI: Wayland Police

Tuesday, Jan. 2
10:02 a.m. A caller reported a found BMX bike on Main Street.

Wednesday, Jan. 3
3:16 p.m. A caller reported youths playing in a large dirt pile on Old Sudbury Road.

Thursday, Jan. 4
10:22 a.m. A Loker Street caller reported an abandoned bike lying in the road the last five days.

Friday, Jan. 5
10:02 a.m. Outside odor of gas, Snake Brook Road. Keyspan notified. Akerman questioned.

Wednesday, Jan. 10
7:38 p.m. A Commonwealth Road driver reported a barrel in the middle of the road.

Saturday, Jan. 13
3:12 p.m. A Concord Road business reported a person driving off without paying for gas.

Monday, Jan. 15
6:11 a.m. Police reported the front lawn at Weston High School was driven over. (So? You saying WE did it? No way!)