WHS installing artificial turf: Smoking area installing artificial grass

They’re putting in artificial turf at WHS, presumably to run up some business for the nurses’ office and local orthopedic surgeons. The Wayland Boosters Club raised $700,000 for the $1 million project from private donations. It was expected that the remaining $300k would come from Community Preservation Act funds, but there’s a stink over that (this being Wayland, ya know) so who knows? I say what could preserve a community better than making it out of plastic? (TownOnline photo by Gabriel Leiner)

Ray Charles made of Post-It Notes

From CNN.com: Using more than 2,000 Post-It Notes, 19-year-old David Alvarez of Leavenworth, Washington composed a three-dimensional representation of Ray Charles. The piece has just gone on display at Wenatchee Valley College in Wenatchee, Washington, where Alvarez is in his second year of studies.

… and now for something completely different

BREAKING NEWS: Ned tracked down. Possibly.

A commenter known only as “Dan” left a note in one of our older posts saying “Ned Jennison lives in Vermont.” A Google search turned up this article, which does indeed mention a guy by that name who takes “The Champlain Flyer” train daily:

The bulk of the Flyer’s passengers are commuters that arrive in Burlington in the morning and leave Burlington in the afternoon, but the numbers there are still lagging. On recent weekdays, approximately 20-25 people arrived in Burlington on each of the line’s busiest morning trains: the 7:23 a.m. arrival in Burlington and the 8:23 a.m. arrival in Burlington. Just three passengers took the trip to Burlington for the 9:23 a.m. arrival.

Shelburne resident Tracy Monelle boarded the train to Burlington at Shelburne’s station at 8:07 a.m. with about 10 others on Wednesday. Monelle, who works on Church Street with fellow Flyer traveler and Shelburne resident Ned Jennison, takes the train every day. Monelle said the Flyer makes her whole day better.

This could be the Ned-related breakthrough… With Mark Poirier and Starr Sinnett now found, Ned’s the MIA Loker Holy Grail. We will keep Krissy Blom updated as events warrant…

Who is a townie?

I mean, If I have to ask, am I disqualified. Even though I grew up here, and came back here, and am raising my family here, I still have to ask, does that make me a townie? Or do I have to give up my degrees to become one. I mean, as Russell’s, we have been in town for over two hundred years, yet no one has ever reffered to me as a townie. Hey. I have been to the Chat!( pronounced shat). What is it that makes a true townie what they are. Looking at the movie “Breaking Away”, the townies were the “cutters”, the native stone workers. Their rivalry was with the local college folks. Who should our rivalry be with? The McMansion owners…who?
So who is a townie? Who is not? And if I am a townie how do I make it work with the town boards?

POLL: Who has the oldest kids?

My daughter goes into Sixth Grade this fall, making her eligible for the 1980 production of “Bye Bye Birdie,” although she can’t reprise my role. (But Katie – she’s all yours if you need an understudy.) She’s 11. This has me wondering which WHS 86er has the oldest child(ren). At the risk of stirring up stories of teenage pregnancy or other ill-conceived (sorry) adventures, let’s hear it.

Help me out here…

“Why the late-30s are a man’s misery years”…explains the writer in this article:

“Researchers found that it takes men until they reach the age of 65 to start enjoying life as much as they did in their late-teens and early-20s.”

“It makes them the least satisfied members of society, scoring well below teenagers, the elderly – and women of all ages.”

Help me out here…aka…WTF?!

Van Halen Reunion

There has to be some opinions out there about this long-awaited VH reunion.

I can say that I saw DLR with Bad Company in 1999 and Roth’s voice was shot  (a mid-show high kick attempt caused half of the Tweeter Center crowd to double over in laughter).

 I also saw the so-called reunion with Sammy around 2004 and that was God-awful.

And now we learn that Michael Anthony is out and Wolfgang is in.  That can’t be good.

So in the end, will I go see this train-wreck of a reunion?  You bet!

 A preview? 

(This was the last collaboration with Roth, put together for the “Best Of Album” in 1996.)

My Favorite Merv Griffin Moment…

The passing of Merv Griffin brings me to my favorite memory of the ol’ showman. No – not from his talk show or game shows. The Best Merv Moment Ever is from Steve Martin’s “The Man With Two Brains.” Throughout the movie, we’re trying to track down the infamous “Elevator Killer.” He strikes an unsuspecting Kathleen Turner… then Steve Martin discovers the killer’s identity…

Unsung Heroes

Okay, so hero may be a little exaggerated, but…………..we all know that high school was filled with some not so nice incidents, awkward relationships and sometimes pure meanness.  But, thinking back on it, there were some minor moments, some glimmers of kindness, people who did something nice and perhaps never knew that it meant something, or people who didn’t even know that they were doing something nice.  So, I wondered if anyone out there has an unsung hero, someone they want to thank for saving their ass, for boosting their confidence or for just making them laugh on a day when high school was really beating them down. 

I guess if I am putting this out there, I have to partake, so………………..I want to thank Gary Gray who actually was the reason I had friends my first year in college.  So, Gary, the first day at Columbia University, I was standing in line, alone, for some ridiculous orientation week magic show.  The girl in front of me, Michelle Gottlieb, turned around and started talking to me.  Turns out you guys went to camp together and while you and I never knew each other well, Michelle became my instant best friend simply because we both knew you.  We remain in touch 20 years later and her roommate is now one of my best friends in the world.  So, thanks Gary!

V66: Feelin’ Alright with Cocker and Belushi

Shem inspired me to find a great video. How does it get better than Joe Cocker singing a duet with John Belushi-doing-his-Joe-Cocker? Then Cocker does Belushi-doing-Cocker. It’s way too cliche to remember SNL’s glory days for its classic skits. But lost in that whole thing are the amazing performances. Here are Cocker and Belushi and Belushi-as-Cocker and Cocker-as-Belushi-as-Cocker singing “Feeling Alright.”

Interesting Videos

This site needs a place to post interesting videos.  Here it is.

The WAE Straw Poll: Who you want for prez, yo?

The Iowa Straw Poll is this weekend. (What – you haven’t made plans?) Screw those corn-eating, catfish-frying, Herbert Hoover-loving, home-of-Ashton-Kutcher-ing hawkeyes. If Wayland were in Iowa, it would be the 25th largest city there. Let’s have the WAE straw poll. Who would you pick for president? Keeping in mind that this is WAE, you need not limit yourself to actual candidates, as they pretty much all suck. Who do you want to lead this land? (Remember not to piss off our robot masters when voting. All hail ED-209! ) Comment below.

Game Time: Name an obscure ‘86er

UPDATE: This truly is the thread that keeps on giving. I started it when I started the site, and every few months, it seems to pop. 130+ comments? Insane. Obviously, you guys like the topic, so I’m putting it back up at the top.

Thanks to this blog, WAE has re-found:

• Starr Sinnett
• Mark Poirier
• Doug Ansuini 

Ned’s still MIA. Mercifully. -SAS

You know those kids – the ones who were in Wayland for a year or two? Maybe they moved away in third grade? Maybe they came for 7th then left in 8th? They’re ‘86ers. (Hell, if I am, anyone is.) So let’s make a group effort here, in two parts: In the comments below, everyone name an obscure ‘86er. Then we’ll vote on a winner and try to use the web to find and re-adopt them. Instead of a “Whatever Happened To…?” section, this is more of a “No, seriously, what the hell happened to…?” section. Start naming…

Report from the 3Day Walk, Part 1

Rather than glomming up a lot of space here, I present to you a link to the report on the blog I keep for my sister. Happy reading!

And thanks again to all of you who donated, you rock. And if you didn’t get a chance to donate (or are just a stingy bastard) you too can still rock! You can still donate on the website, see large blue link on your right.