This Is Framingham

When I was a student at Framingham State this building was painted bright purple and called the “Psychedelic Emporium” (9 Main st.).  I never went in there (I really didn’t) but I know they sold bongs and other marijuana accessories- BUT, they had to call everything “tobacco” accessories.
I remember driving by with a classmate of mine who was a pot smoker and even he shook his head and said “that building must bring the property value down around here by thousands of dollars”. uno rules That’s a pretty strong statement for a non-homeowner-pot-smoking-college-student to say about this place.
I guess they got busted, someone must have asked for a bong and the person behind the counter didn’t say “we don’t have bongs, just “tobacco pipes” and instead said “oh sure, right this way, we have a great selection of bongs. What? What’d I say wrong?”.  I don’t know if that’s exactly how it went down but I heard it was something along that line.
I had to actually look up the permits for this address to remember the name of this place, for the life of me I couldn’t remember it.  I kept thinking it was something like “House of Bong” but of course I knew it couldn’t be that.  Anyway, I thought it was funny that the license type listed in the permit for this store was “JUNK – JUNK DEALER LICENSE”. ????? ??? ??????
To the best of my knowledge this building hasn’t been used as anything since.  Maybe some stoners put a curse on the building but according to work permits looks like a couple of construction permits were filed last month so maybe something new will finally go in there. ????? ???

Going through some pictures at my mom’s house I found this photo from July 1983 of me, my sisters, our friend Kim and her little brother.  I think Kim, who is dressed in all red, just came from dance class or something involving a costume, as she often did.
I forgot how much we liked playing on that thing.  I haven’t been to Farm pond in forever so yesterday I went to check it out and see the snail.

Most of the yellow paint is gone but those red eyes are hanging in there.  In all, it’s a pretty sturdy structure.  I wonder if it had ever been repainted at all or it’s been left untouched (by paint) since it was installed.  I also liked the late 70’s/early 80’s simplistic jungle gym in the background.  Nothing fancy but it kept us busy.

The snail has a cousin, the catepillar, down at the other end but it was too muddy to go near.  The catepillar seems to be in much better condition since it’s blue paint can be seen from the street.
Some more shots of  the playground:

The giant CVS at the corner of route 9 and Temple street used to be Finally Michael’s, a restaurant that had great food and pretty classy interior.
I only went there a few times but from what I remember it was somewhat of a special occasion place.

One of the best bar mitzvahs I ever went to was there in 1987. My Hebrew-schoolmate, Mitch had a chess themed reception with giant styrofoam chess pieces, huge (or what seemed to be huge) dance floor and an unlimited make-your-own Shirley Temple bar.  Shirley Temple’s (or simply “Shirley’s”) were just one of many benefits of going to bar/bat mitzvahs. In fact, that is one way I would remember a bar mitzvah, by shirley quality.  If you had to wait a while for a waiter to come around and tell them you want one and to put extra grenadine and/or extra cherries in it (as most kids did) and it came out with just a drop of grenadine and one cherry that wasn’t as good a time as say, the help-yourself-as much-as-you-want-as-long-as-you-want smorgasbord like Mitch’s bash.
We were out of our minds with sugar and took over the dining room, the dance floor and at certain times the parking lot just to cool off.  I can tell you everyone did indeed Wang Chung that night to the wee hours of probably 11pm.

Also, my sister and I had our High School graduation dinner here, although I think Mitch’s Bar Mitzvah out shined it by far. I debated posting this picture on here but, it’s one of the few photos from graduation day taken inside Finally Michael’s.
This is me, my aunt and my sister Elaine in the dining room with bookshelves. 

Please, PLEASE keep in mind that (besides being a little chunky) this was 1992, I had a lot of mousse in my hair and it was 90-something degrees that day but for the sake of this post I thought it’d be nice to share the interior of the building.
My little sister also authorized this picture from our table.

This Bed Bath and Beyond used to be the Marshall’s Mall.  I forget if that was the official name of it, but that’s what we called it.

In the late 90’s it was turned into the BB&B that it is today.  It’s an ok store, I don’t really have anything against it besides the fact that it’s there instead of the mall. It’s kind of an overkill too.  Since when did we need a store the size of a small mall for bed and bath products?  Ok, I know it’s goes “beyond” to kitchen stuff but still, it just seems like there should be room to share the space with some other shops. 

Although I didn’t have the foresight to take pictures when it was there, I’ve wasted about a half hour on the computer creating what I remember the mall looking like (and this was the best I could do):

 The Marshall’s Mall was great because it was small enough that it wasn’t super hectic, parking was easy and was it well lit (I think they had sky lights).  Plus it had a nice variety of stores.  Along with Marshalls, some of the tenants were a card store, shoe shop, hit or miss and Bop City comics had lived there for a while at one point too.
Even though I never made it into either of these, I distinctly remember the Pewter Pot restaurant and the Big and Tall men’s store that got street exposure.  I also remember in the late 70’s/early 80’s there was some sort of health food cart in the middle of the mall and they had soft serve frozen yogurt.  My mom asked me if I wanted some and I said ok because it was in a cone and looked just like ice cream but this was before frozen yogurt tasted like it does today.  I took one lick and was disgusted/shocked that it was so sour.  That turned me off of health food for a while.

It’s too bad a lot of the small malls have been turned into mega-stores, it’s nice to have a little variety. 

Flipping through the channels last night I came across our new cable access again, not that I counted it out because of the victrola but I usually forget to even check what’s on there or I just never happen to catch anything that keeps me there for a while unless I count Jim Pillsbury’s last show which I was so mesmerized by I didn’t even answer my phone. (Note to self: Never tick-off Jim Pillsbury)

To my surprise there was a documented trip to Shoppers World in it’s final days.  The program’s host talked about it’s glorious past and a little about it’s “warehouse” future and took the viewer on a tour inside and out. ?????? ?????? 2022


I think this was such a great use for Framingham public access and just goes to show there really is something for everyone on it.  The more local people get involved in it the better it will be. ????? ???? ???????   I’m still thinking of a show to contribute myself. ????

If anyone is interested,”Shopper’s World- A Look Back” is on again at 6pm tonight(1/21) and 11am tomorrow.

I still cringe sometimes when I drive by the courthouse on Concord St.

It was 1998, I was 24 years old (not that it’s an excuse but I was probably zoning out to Pearl Jam or something) and going 35 in a 20 zone and got pulled over.
In one of my less proud moments I was informed that I had not paid a ticket from a while ago.
I specifically remembered getting that unpaid ticket too.  I got out from waitressing at 1:30am and just wanted to get home and go to sleep since I was working brunch the next day and got pulled over. The officer asked me if I had a good reason for speeding and I said (still wearing my stupid apron and uniform) I just want to go home and go to sleep.  I guess that wasn’t good enough because he gave me the ticket and SOMEhow I forgot to pay it.
Fast forward a couple of months and I get pulled over and after a few minutes was told that I’m driving with a suspended license and to get out of the car.
It all seemed to happen so fast.  One minute I was a normal person driving down the street and the next I was standing next to a cruiser in handcuffs watching my car get towed away.  I was told “watch your head” as an officer put his hand on my shoulder to place me in the back seat and we were off to a jail cell where I sat for about 35-40 minutes.  They took away my shoes while I was in there and had me fingerprinted and took a mug shot.

I was in total disbelief and still trying to process what was happening and they told me I get my 1 phone call. ?????? ????   This was before I or anyone I knew had a cell phone so I called my sisters at my mom’s house hoping they’d get the message before my mom got home from work.
I left some stupid message trying to act like it was ok but just to let them know where I was since we were supposed to meet for lunch.  I forget exactly what I said but my sisters told me I basically said “Uh…hi, I got pulled over and I’m in jail, I get one phone call so uh…I won’t be able to meet you for lunch, I’m guessing I’ll be out later though.  Bye.” Of course they panicked when they heard this message, I didn’t even say what town’s jail I was in or anything.
Next I was given back my shoes and transported to the courthouse holding cell in the basement where I was told that I would wait here until my turn came up to go in front of the judge.  I was in the company of some MCI ladies who were talking about how the pancakes that morning were pretty good.
If you ever want to feel time stand still, go in a jail cell and sit and wait.  There was no clock and I didn’t have a watch and there was no direct sunlight, just cinderblock walls.  Its amazing how much I took freedom for granted before this.

I was there a good portion of the day and finally told it was time to go upstairs.  They put back on the handcuffs AND ankle shackles before leading me up a tall and steep staircase. ?????? ?????? ??? ????   I almost tripped two times walking up with the shackles.
I sat there in the court room with all the other people in my cell and the judge and a bunch of other people (lawyers?)  I was looking around the room and saw these big doors that lead out to the hallway.  In the doors were two small square windows and in those windows were two pairs of eyes glaring at me in disgust.  I realized both my sisters had figured out where I was and watching this embarrassing scene from the courthouse hallway.
Someone must have told them they could come in because then they came in and sat down and glared at me more, shaking their heads.  I shrugged my shoulders and mouthed “Sorreee!!”
About 35 minutes and $400 later, I was released and could go pick up my car.
Now we laugh about it but to this day my twin sister still tells me what little punk I looked like wearing cut off jean shorts and my dad’s old Kmart pajama top.
Not one of my shinier moments but this building triggers memories of that day every time I go by it.

Lesson learned by the way : )

In the early/mid-80’s there was the poor man’s MTV called “V66” (aka “The V”, aka holding your fingers like peace sign). 
We didn’t have cable when we were kids, so my sister and I would turn the TV to V66 as soon as we got home from school everyday to be hip to what videos kids were talking about at school.  They had great VJs and you could also call in and request videos and sometimes even get on the air.
I remember my sister and I were at the Lechemere mall and one of the V66 VJs was there holding some kind of contest. We were so star-struck!  I forget his name but it was the guy with the beard.  We talked to him and he was such a nice guy, we always remembered that.

This building at 111 Speen St. is said to have been the home of the V66 studios.  You can correct me if I’m wrong but so many people have told me it was that I trust this little factoid.