(Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
A Massachusetts high school was the subject of an NPR story over the weekend and even got a mention on Saturday Night Live.
On the Friday, January 20 edition of NPR's Morning Edition, host Steve Inkeep spoke to the subject of why the lights at a Massachusetts high school can't be turned off. The school in question? Minnechaug Regional out in Wilbraham. Said Inkeep:
"Students in Massachusetts are stuck in the limelight. The lighting system at Minnechaug Regional High School malfunctioned back in August of 2021. Ever since then, the building has been lit 24/7. Taxpayers are relieved to hear the necessary replacement parts have finally arrived and will be installed next month. The company says they will be sure to install a system override switch."
I'm sure the taxpayers are elated, sure. But what about the neighbors? Those poor souls on nearby Tinkham Rd. and Evangeline Dr. and Federal Ln. have had their neighborhoods lit up for over a year now! And this is Western Massachusetts we're talking about, so imagine all the wildlife running around, wondering what the hell is going on.
Massachusetts High School Makes Headlines, SNL 'Weekend Update'
The story landed on the radar of the writers at Saturday Night Live, too. And that, in turn, landed on the Weekend Update desk. Update cohost Colin Jost covers the news item right around the :30 mark of this clip:
"Due to a computer error, a school in Massachusetts has been unable to turn off its lights for over a year and a half. The students are doing fine, but the classroom hamster has gone insane."
You know you've made the big time when Saturday Night Live is dedicating a Weekend Update piece to you. Best of luck to Minnechaug Regional High School and the fine folks out in Wilbraham. Now you can finally get some sleep.
Boston City Hall Ranked 4th Ugliest Building in the World
Boston City Hall is ugly. You'd be called a fool if you said otherwise. But is it the fourth ugliest building IN THE WORLD?
According to this survey from Buildworld, not only is Boston City Hall the 4th ugliest building in the world, it's the second ugliest building in the United States of America. It it just me, or does that all seem a bit harsh, even for our beloved, brutalist City Hall? I mean, sure it's pretty tough to look at. But you're telling me there are only three other buildings worldwide that look worse?
That's what Buildworld says. And here's how they went about making that claim:
Buildworld curated a long list of buildings from around the world, the UK and the U.S. that are often said to be ugly. We identified all the design-themed tweets about these buildings on Twitter. Then we used a sentiment analysis tool called HuggingFace to analyse the percentage of tweets that were negative about each building’s design.
Look, I'm not going to sit here and pick apart the methodology. We all know the story: Kallmann McKinnell & Knowles designed the centerpiece of City Hall Plaza and the Plaza itself back in the 1960s as part of urban redesign efforts in the city of Boston. And they went with the brutalist style. All these years later and it's still brutal to look at. So yeah, Top 5 in both the U.S. and the world makes sense, now that I think about it.
Boston City Hall Ranked 4th Ugliest Building in the World
Before we take a look at some of the Top 10 Eyesore Buildings in the World, just a quick note about the Boston Calling redemption arc. When the festival debuted a decade ago, it was a twice-annual festival that took place on City Hall Plaza. And that, to me, was the first time the space made sense. Plus, it helps to have great bands to look at instead of that upside-down wedding cake of a City Hall.
