This Is Framingham

As I do sometimes, I’ll be browsing on Ebay and do a search for Framingham to see if there is anything interesting.  I found a couple of things but I have to day this was an image that I actually thought “Woah” when I saw it.
All the info on the listing for this postcard is just that it was of a place called Philbrooke’s Steakhouse, Framingham MA, from the 60’s.  I would guess it was on route 9 but I guess it could have been be anywhere.

I find the photo interesting because, of course, the shape of the building  but also it makes me curious about the management.  I think it’s kind of funny how they chose this somewhat unflattering angle, exposing the basement door and utility pole almost in the middle of the picture.  Also noted is the unappealing wall of dirty snow in the foreground.  It’s an interesting composition and makes me wonder why they didn’t take a straight-on photo of the front door.  Was there something even uglier directly behind the steakhouse?  Or maybe Ken’s was in the background? Was there a reason why they didn’t wait until spring or pay someone to get rid of the blackened snow for this photoshoot?

Anyway, if anyone ever ate or worked at this place, I’m curious to hear what the inside and overall experience was like at Philbrooke’s Steakhouse.

Before I start this post I’d like to say:

A) I’m sorry about the length of time between posts.  I personally, like to read blogs that are updated more often as well.  I’ve been busy in other ‘hams like Bellingham and Waltham and haven’t had time to investigate much but hopefully things will slow down and I’ll get some  decent posts.

B) Since it has been known to happen that occasionaly readers misunderstand me, I’d like to say that the following post is in no way states that I don’t think people should practice religion or that going to church or synagogue or a mosque or temple of any sort is a bad thing.   That’s great people get something spiritual out of going to church and feeling a sense of community.

I’m posting about how I’ve noticed some religious organizations that occupy prime foot traffic, storefront spaces downtown. 

Used to be Clough’s Pharmacy


Next to the Salvation Army thift shop

Used to be Friendly’s, now a Mosque (I still mourn the walkable distance to a Fribble!)

Personally, I’d like to see retail stores or reaturants on the ground levels.   I know downtown has other problems and some people will say “Hey, it’s better than that space being abandoned”.  Which may be true, but when I walk down Moody St. in Waltham, there are so many small business, from grocers, to bookstores to restaurants to little giftie type shops.  There aren’t any churches, people don’t say “Oh Moody St. is great, there’s a church at every corner!”
Just something I’ve noticed when I walk around downtown, looking for something else to go to besides the few usual places I go.
I was also curious about how many places of worship are in the downtown area and counted 30.  Again, I’m not saying people shouldn’t have the right to pick their flavor of church or temple or whatever, that’s great, but I was surprised that there is a need/demand for 30 churches in a 1 mile radius.  I also wonder what the effect of so many churches on the town’s economy is being that they are tax exempt.  Maybe it’s not much if most of them are in rented space, I don’t know.

(This is the only photo I have on file having to do with SMOC)
I don’t usually get into anything too political because it’s not the mission of this blog, but I felt I had to post about SMOC suing Framingham officials and even residents for expressing their opinions.  I’m…speechless.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/10/25/antipoverty_group_sues_framingham_over_rights/

http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/news/x870923984

Fun and Games has now completed their transformation to dreadfully boring with their new sign.
It was only a year ago I put this on my “yay” list.  Now because of the subtraction of the spaceship entrance and replacing it with a boring open space plus getting rid of all the pinball machines and having only one classic machine, although it has 2 games (that I don’t play) it gets branded with “nay”.
I’m so disappointed in F&G, they could make more money by keeping games that parents would play while their kids have a pizza party or play those tiny skee ball machines.
I know businesses have to evolve with the times but all these changes seem to be a real effort to make it a less interesting place. 

I bid you adieu, Fun and Games.

I’ll always remember you the way you were:

Ethan and I were walking down Union Ave. today (June 22) and we saw a round orange object on the sidewalk across the street.  At first I thought it was a basketball but upon closer inspection we found out it was a pumpkin. uso de ivermectina en humanos   Then I thought maybe it was a fake pumpkin so I ran across the street to check it out and it was definitely real.

There were some signs of rot on the back but kudos to whoever managed to keep this pumpkin going until now. how often do you give ivermectin to dogs   My personal record of keeping a pumpkin from October is mid-April.  Nothing that outrageous about this but I usually don’t see pumpkins sitting on the sidewalk in late June so I thought I’d share. ivermectin south africa online

Ethan already did a great post about Farm Pond but I thought I’d do another one since we went there over the weekend.
On the top my list of favorite animals are turtles, and I love getting a glimpse of them in the wild.  I had some as pets that I set up in a “luxury” tank (waterfall filter system, vitamin D lights, proper PH, live fish to eat) 10 years ago but had to give them up when I moved to the west coast.  I still think about them and hope they got good homes and I love seeing turtles outside enjoying themselves.
What I also noticed at Farm Pond was the number of turtles enjoying themselves on tires people have thrown into the pond and the surrounding area. ??????? ufc  



I’m not completely sure what the effects of tires in the pond are, but my gut feeling tells me it’s probably not a good thing, in addition to it looking terrible.  I know tires on the ground that have pools of water in them harbor mosquito breeding. ???? ????  
It’s surprising that people took the time to drive these down to a section of the pond that is on the same street as the recycle drop off building, or they could have just called the Department of Public Works for curbside pick-up.  Yes, it’s $2 a tire but how many tires could someone have that they can’t afford properly disposing of these things? 
I started wondering what kind of person doesn’t think anything of rolling tires into a pond and the image of Cletus Spuckler came to mind.
I know the turtles were enjoying themselves but I called the Board of Health (as directed on the DPW website) about getting these removed. 
Anyway, it was nice to see so many turtles.  I happened to be looking the other way but Ethan said he saw one about 1. ????? ??? 5 feet long before it slipped into the water.  I’m guessing it was a snapper but was still bummed I missed seeing it so I’ll believe he just made that up : )
Farm Pond, besides the tires, is nice.  People were sunning themselves and walking their dogs in the middle part and I’m glad there is a place in this area to do enjoy.

I went to check out Fun and Games this weekend.  I haven’t been there in a while since they were doing construction.  I had high hopes for the remodeling, maybe have a “retro” section with old school games for the parents or something.  I was disappointed they got rid of the cool spaceship entrance and just made it a plain, open space. 

Before:

After:

Pretty lame, they don’t even use all this new space for more games just a few vending machines and 3 chairs over to the right.

AND they took away the pinball machines and “Drumscape” the only things I even played there.  I just don’t know what to say. which heartworm preventatives do not contain ivermectin   I don’t understand any of these changes they made.  I will say there are still two machine that play two retro games. I think it’s Ms. Pac-Man with something else I don’t play and a Centipede with Millipede or something that I also don’t play. But, for anyone who likes Ms. Pac-Man and Centipede/Milipede this is a great place to go as I never see anyone on those games so you could have them all to yourself. ivermectina manipulação   All I need is a couple of pinball machines and a Donkey Kong and I could look past them getting rid of the spaceship entrance but there’s just nothing worth playing there (for me). ivermectin and how it affects the p-gp   I guess they are gearing it just to little kids.

I try to keep this blog all things framingham but on this note I’ll say that I hope what I read on Justin’s blog happens and the Good Time Emporium moves in down the street in Natick.  Framingham’s bowling alleys and pool halls have turned into juvenile courts and MRI scanning offices. Fun and Games was my last local amusement.  Unless anyone knows of another “fun” place in Framingham?