» On 4/03/2025 12:01:00 AM Mountain Standard Time, Alan wrote:
Zoomiversary #5, 03April2020 - 03April2025. 

The first ZoomFest was among four members of our Westfield [MA] High School track team. We've kept in touch over the years, but the pandemic brought us a lot closer together, in a series of semimonthly Zoom meetings. The group quickly expanded to six, and then ten, regulars, and often included special guests, like our spouses, partners, kids, pets, classmates, and even our old coach. The next get-together is this coming Friday, with participants Zooming in from Lakewood Colorado, Mesa Arizona, Philomath Oregon, Suffield Connecticut, Niwot Colorado, Fougères France, San Diego California, Virginia Beach Virginia, and Swampscott Massachusetts. Special thanks to Jim Gusek, who sparked the whole idea, and to COVID-19, for creating this unexpectedly welcome side benefit.

Remember the old TV shows from the 50s and 60s, when a group of guys would get together for Poker Night? They smoked cigars, drank beer and told dirty jokes. Well, some of us see the ZoomFest as Poker Night, without the cigars. 😉

--1968-71, top 2 rows, L-R: Jim Gusek, moi, Patrick Kamins, Michael Rood, Bert Cashman, Robert Grace, Michael Kay, Stephen FitzGerald, Bruce LaPointe, and Bill Walthall.
--5 decades later, bottom 2 rows!

Founding members of Westfield High's Cross-Country team in the Fall of 1968, L-R:
Al Baird, Coach Reign Rix, Jim Gusek, (Bob Grace), Dan Fountain, Bert Cashman, Mike Rood.

WHS Track, Spring 1969, Row-Column, Front-Back: Bert Cashman 1-1, Bob Grace 1-2,
Mike Kay 2-2, Al Baird 2-9, Bill Walthall 2-10, Steve FitzGerald 2-12, Mike Rood 3-1,
Bruce LaPointe 3-2, Jim Gusek 3-9. (Pat Kamins graduated in 1968.)

Glory Days, Friday Night Lights, 01Apr2024 Facebook posting, 05Apr2024 ZoomFest, 1969 track records

Labels: whs, z5, ZoomFest

 
» On 3/11/2025 11:40:00 AM Mountain Standard Time, Alan wrote:
R.I.P. Michael Francis Thompson (11 Feb 1951 - 10 Mar 2025; Age 74). 

We jokingly called him Sri Mikey. He was a seeker of spiritual wisdom, and lived in a yoga house for several years. While I stayed there, he taught me to say The Sufi Prayer at mealtimes. I can still recite it by heart: "All life is one / and everything that lives is holy: / plants, animals, and beings. / All must eat to live / and to nourish one another. / We bless the lives that have died / to give us food. / Let us eat consciously, / resolving by our work / to pay the debt of our existence. / -Amen." Earlier, he and I had been workout partners on the Chelmsford [MA] HS track team. We were fairly evenly matched, but he was always just a little faster. At one point, Mike amazed me by sailing across the Atlantic in a 30-foot ketch. His first fiancée died unexpectedly, and I attended the funeral to support him. His father was walking with me, as we went to our seats in the church. Mike was in front of us, and reached back to take my hand. Dr. Thompson misunderstood, and grabbed Mike's hand instead. It was a lovely moment. Mike had been estranged from his Dad for a long time, and this was the perfect way for them to reconnect. Mike pulled me aside later, saying, "That was weird." I replied, "Yeah. Weird, but wonderful!" Sri Mikey subsequently married a woman at Sedona's Cathedral Rock, which is reportedly located on one of the Arizona town's famous Vortexes. The marriage didn't last very long, and I lost track of him for a few years. When we found each other again, he was living with a powerhouse political activist. Julia O'Connell led the resistance against monochloramine implementation by the Kittery [ME} Water District, and was elected to the entity's board of trustees. Anikó and I went to visit them, during our first post-Covid vacation. They were very happy together, and I was relieved that Mike had finally found a lasting love. Last year, he and I commiserated through our respective Prostate Torture experiences. It looked like his surgery results were a bit better than mine, and I envied him. But he had a weak heart, which gave out last night, at home with Julia.

1969: Chelmsford HS yearbook [above, tap to enlarge]
1960 (circa): The Thompson brood - Mike is holding Peggy [below]
1979 (circa): Sailing Garret Almeida's Kittiwake on Buzzards Bay [MA]
1980: Mike & Ed Withycombe (1951-2017) in Marblehead [MA]
2013 (circa): Mike was a master cabinetmaker
2019 Jan: Old Orchard Beach [ME]
2021 Jul: Julia, me & Mike, Kittery Point [ME]
2023 Dec: Nice pants!








Obituary. Grave. Also: Chris Worth.

Labels: mt

 
» On 3/01/2025 12:05:00 AM Mountain Standard Time, Alan wrote:
Heroes in the family. 

My late stepdad, John E. “Jack” Cauley (1930-2021), earned a Silver Star in Korea in August 1950, for conspicuous gallantry in exposing himself to enemy fire as he knocked out a tank with a rocket-launching bazooka. He also received multiple Purple Hearts for his service in Korea, 1950Sep12 & 1951Jan30, when he was seriously wounded in action by missiles.

My late uncle, Harley Stuart Baird (1921-1997), earned a Silver Star in World War II, for gallantry in action against the enemy while serving as a combat crew member of a B-17 bomber in the Battle of Midway between 3 and 7 June 1942.

Another late uncle, Harold Octave “Hal” Buzzell (1932-2007), hiked the 2,190-mile Appalachian Trail in 1993 (northbound), an impressive feat for a 61-year-old.

Labels: fam

 
» On 2/16/2025 05:34:00 AM Mountain Standard Time, Alan wrote:
2025 Oscar Nominated Screenplays w/Trailers. 

Original Screenplays:
Anora by Sean Baker -- WINNER
https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/25469615/anora-read-the-screenplay.pdf
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1HxTmV5i7c
The Brutalist by Brady Corbet, Mona Fastvold
https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/25479235/the-brutalist-read-the-screenplay.pdf
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdRXPAHIEW4
A Real Pain by Jesse Eisenberg
https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/25450252/a-real-pain-read-the-screenplay.pdf
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2et8Vpu7Ls
September 5 by Tim Fehlbaum, Moritz S. Binder, Alex David
https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/25453399/september-5-read-the-screenplay-3.pdf
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Azud40CQ3IE
The Substance by Coralie Fargeat
https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/25444991/the-substance-read-the-screenplay.pdf
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNlrGhBpYjc

Adapted Screenplays:
A Complete Unknown by James Mangold, Jay Cocks
https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/25476291/a-complete-unknown-read-the-screenplay.pdf
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdV-Cs5o8mc
Conclave by Peter Straughan -- WINNER
https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/25444705/conclave-read-the-screenplay.pdf
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JX9jasdi3ic
Emilia Pérez by Jacques Audiard
https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/25448400/emilia-perez-read-the-screenplay-spanish.pdf
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4h7j_EcZ5fU
Nickel Boys by RaMell Ross, Joslyn Barnes
https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/25475201/nickel-boys-read-the-screenplay-2.pdf
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2qZ429rUZw
Sing Sing by Greg Kwedar, Clint Bentley
https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/25451485/sing-sing-read-the-screenplay.pdf
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3dXc6P3zH8

Streaming Emilia Pérez: https://www.netflix.com/title/81901696

 
» On 2/14/2025 09:45:00 PM Mountain Standard Time, Alan wrote:
Student # ±22 (a Valentine's Day story). 

When I arrived at Michigan State University in 1969, the size of the campus was intimidating. Two miles or more, from corner to corner. Forty thousand students. Classes scheduled from eight in the morning to ten at night.

While leafing through the MSU phonebook, I noticed there were a lot of Bairds. This was a new experience for me. I had always been the only Baird, in the six school systems I attended. When I looked closer, one of the female Bairds had a student number that was only 22 away from mine. In a universe of six-digit student numbers, that was quite unusual.

So I called her up. I was real smooth: "You don't know me, but your student number is only 22 away from mine, and I think we should go for coffee." Apparently, K was as adventurous as I was, because she chuckled and accepted. We got along pretty well, and started a romance that lasted nearly four months. I couldn't afford to fly home to New England for Thanksgiving, so she invited me to drive with her to her family's home outside Chicago. I got along with her folks pretty well. Her dad loved to pun, and punning was one of my specialties. So we all chuckled. A lot.

When K and I arrived back at MSU, she said, "You know, if we got married, I wouldn't even have to change my name." We both chuckled, but that's when I suspected the end was coming soon.

A few years went by, but I never forgot K. In fact, during one of my cross-country hitchhiking trips to California, I dreamed about her. At the time, I was nearly freezing to death in a blizzard, at an I-70 rest area outside Topeka. The next morning, I looked her up, and her family was now living less than two hundred miles north of the interstate, so I made a screeching right turn and spent several hours hitching up into Nebraska. When I got close, I wangled her work phone number from her mom, and rang her up. I said, "Your student number is only 22 away from mine, and I think we should go for coffee." She chuckled, then replied, "Well, I'd have to ask my bank manager for permission. He's my fiancé." So we both chuckled, and I made a screeching U-turn, back down to the I-70 in Kansas. 😉

K had a well-defined Relationship Roadmap implanted in her brain:
1) empinning - receiving the boyfriend's frat pin;
2) friendship ring - receiving a special ring from the boyfriend;
3) engagement - receiving a diamond ring from the boyfriend;
4) marriage - self-explanatory, involving a wedding ring.

While I was just floating heedlessly through my freshman year, happy as a clam, she was secretly hatching a plan for bending me to her will. When we returned from Chicago, K sat me down for The Roadmap Talk. Since I hadn't pledged a fraternity, she graciously allowed me to skip over step #1, but she was intent on extracting my high-school graduation ring from my hot little grasp. It was too big, of course, so she spent several days winding yarn through it, to make it snug on her finger. She wore it proudly, and showed it to all her friends. After we broke up and she returned the ring, she saw it on my finger, and asked me how I removed the yarn. "Scissors," I replied. She smiled bitterly, and said, "Do you know how many hours I spent, winding that yarn onto your crappy ring?"

And that's when I knew, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that I had pulled the ripcord just in time. 😉

PS: I proposed quickly to the next MSU woman I dated, but she put me off for 11 years. Then we were married in a hot-air balloon over Napa. A few months later, we got a divorce. 😉

PPS: Anikó and I both have 3 weddings under our belts. We celebrate our 25th anniversary in June. I've been told that true love is sorta like a fairy tale. Some folks find their happy ending in the first person they meet. Others have to fight dragons. And some need to kiss a lotta frogs. 😉

Labels: msu

 
» On 2/12/2025 12:05:00 PM Mountain Standard Time, Alan wrote:
My Lorne Michaels Story From Pagedom, 1978. 

Saturday Night Live was doing a cold open in the 8H entrance, the long hallway that goes from the elevators to the studio door. I saw my chance to get on TV, so when Lorne wandered into the hall a few minutes before air, I bravely accosted him: "Do you mind if I stand in that doorway over there?"

It was the first time I had ever said anything to The Great And Powerful Lorne. He didn't reply, but looked at me with a bemused smile and quietly walked away. A few minutes later, stage manager Joe Dicso was counting down from 10, and noticed me standing in the doorway. He pointed his finger at me and waggled it, indicating that I should get out of camera range. I whispered to him, "Lorne okayed it."

And that was how I got my precious three seconds of national exposure on SNL. 😉

UPDATE: With SNL50 nearly upon us, there are a lotta great Lorne stories in this article:

https://www.vulture.com/article/snl-future-after-lorne-michaels-leaves-retires.html

And here are 3 of my faves:

Michaels invited Dave Chappelle to host at a moment when Chappelle’s jokes about trans people had made him a lightning rod. A non-binary member of the writing staff told producers that they preferred to sit the week out. Michaels didn’t have a problem with it, but “Page Six” blew up the story when it reported incorrectly that multiple writers were boycotting. During dress rehearsal, Chappelle told a joke about the situation. “The papers got it wrong,” Chappelle said, according to SNL staffers who watched the performance. “Only one person has a problem, but the paper got confused because that person is a they.”

Michaels is so infamous for blithely dropping the first names of his famous friends into conversation that when he mentioned Cher during a lunch with Steve Martin and Kevin Nealon, Martin stepped in to quip, “Cher who?”

“With Lorne, you always feel like there’s an NBC page hanging upside down in the closet with his blood slowly draining into him,” a person who has known Michaels for years said.

Labels: acbpage

 
» On 2/09/2025 08:05:00 AM Mountain Standard Time, Alan wrote:
The family that flies together... 

Tap images to enlarge:
1990Feb03, Tehachapi, CA:
Me & The Bro (Chris), takin' the ol' jalopy out for a spin.
Facebook: facebook.com/10160542203247477
Sailplane: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grob_G103

The top certificate (front & back, which shows Orville & Wilbur Wright) is actually 3 FAA Private Pilot licenses: (1) Airplane, Single Engine Land; (2) Glider, Aero Tow; and (3) Glider, Ground (Winch) Launch. When a pilot has both 2+3, the FAA truncates them into a simple "Glider." The round blue DoT logo (upper right) means the holder is qualified to fly by reference to instruments.

The bottom certificate (black logo) is a Ground Instructor, Basic.

1975: My brother and his instructor, our Dad, on the day of his first glider solo. Chris was the youngest person in the country (14yo) to achieve this feat. What a kid!

Chris now has the same licenses that I have, plus an FAA Mechanic license, Airframe & Powerplant. Yep, he flies 'em and fixes 'em.

Another pic of Chris from that article.

Chet & Chris:
1972, July - Schweizer sailplane.
1981, June - Cessna airplane.
Flight instruction from father to son.

After I spent ten years fighting my father tooth and nail when he forced me to fly powered planes, he finally found a small soaring club that provided a lot of enjoyable family-outing weekends. Chris and I worked on accumulating enough hours for our flight tests, Chet would go up with one or the other of us, and Ma would sit contentedly in her lawn chair, watching her men have fun in the sky. I think it was one of my Dad's proudest moments, when Chris and I earned our glider ratings on the same day. I went on to get 3 more FAA licenses, and Chris carved out an amazing career in aviation. But it all started two decades earlier, when Chet took a huge risk and sold one of the freezers from his tiny grocery store to buy a small used airplane and take some lessons. (Pic: Xmas 1989, giving Ma a ride in the Grob @ Tehachapi, 2 years after Chet passed.)

Also: The Last Lesson.

Labels: fam