Indian Restaraunts In Albany NY

Ready my article here:

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Columbus Day in Albany NY

My article on Columbus Day Activities in Albany NY:

Read it here

Fall Road Trips

Good spots for Fall Road Trips in Albany and the Capital Region:

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My review of the 2008 Mitsubishi Lancer

Read my review here:
2008 Lancer

Pic of the day

A picture from my Feb 2010 trip to the Mayan ruins of Chichen Itza in Mexico.

Survival Kit

Interested in putting together a survival kit for camping, your car, emergencies or whatever? Some ideas here .

My adlib story

I had the idea of doing an adlib for a story. I had the starting few sentences in mind, then went off the top of my head from there. I wrote in about 3 minutes and I'm sure it shows lol. Let me know what you think:


The three boys wandered through the forest. Bright green trees surrounded them, trees everywhere. Green trees but sometimes they looked blue. Blue like the ocean. But the ocean was far, far away. They boys did not speak to each other. Could not and would not. But they weren't angry. Far from it. Anger did not begin to describe the way they felt. Birds were in the trees. Bright red birds that clashed with the green of the trees. Or was it blue? Who could tell. The cold wind stung their faces. They weren't dressed for the weather. They were not expecting to be in the cold.

The sound of the birds was overwhelming. But they did not sing, they growled. And muttered darkly. Like things possesed. Because they were possesed. They approached the mountain that stood in the middle of the forest. Hard and gray, with it's dark snowcapped peak. That was the only way to go. There was no turning back now. Even if they wanted to, the birds would not let them.

The stone lions stood still at the base of the mountain. One path reaching far far upwards loomed before them. The lions glared at them and followed their every movement with eyes like burning coals. But the lions were statues. How could they stare. But they were staring, and that's all that mattered.

As they climbed, the path got steeper and the wind got colder. One boy started trembling . No food or water will do that. And the cold. So cold!

When he died, the other two buried him next to the path. They showed no emotion. They couldn't even if they had wanted to.

The two boys kept climbing, up and up. As it grew dark, the muttering of the birds began again. But these were different birds, large and black. When they swooped down and attacked the second boy, neither tried to fight them. This was what was supposed to happen. But they didnt harm the third boy. Not a scratch. He buried him along the path, like the first one. He wanted to cry but he couldn't, wouldn't.

The darkness was all consuming. Except for the path which stood out vividily. But could he really see it or was it his imagination. All that mattered is that he could follow it. He must.

The walk seemed miles, seemed eternal. But finally he reached the top. He had been trying to so for so long it seemed. Or was it only a few moments. He couldn't remember. He felt old and tired. Because he was. And at the top was absolutely nothing. As deep down he knew there would be. The boy knelt in the gray snow at the top of the mountain. And he cried.

Check out my brother's art page

Good stuff on there and more to come:

http://deadrat117.deviantart.com/gallery/

12/4/08

Eliot Ness - What happened after "The Untouchables"

Everyone knows the story of Eliot Ness and how he and his group of US Treasury Agents known as "The Untouchables" took down Chicago Mafia head Al Capone. But what happened to Ness after those events. Here is the true story:

A few years after Capone went to prison, Eliot Ness moved to the city of Cleveland, OH and became the Head of Public Safety...basically the police chief. He was very good at his job and introduced alot of improvements into the Cleveland police force. For example, his was the first department to have radios in squad cars. He was so popular that he decided to run for mayor of Cleveland. At about the same time a srial killer called the "Torso Killer" started terrorizing the city. This guy basically killed people, chopped of their arms, legs and head and left the torso in the street. Despite his best efforts Ness and his police department were never able to capture this criminal. Because of his failure Ness not only lost his bid for mayor, but was asked to step down from his post as chief.

He then went to work for a company that made bank checks. His job was to make the checks more secure from forgers, a job his previous treasury experience made him an expert at. After being at that job for a while, he was invited by his boss to fly with him to a convention. He went along, and while they were there his boss ran into an old friend who was a writer. This writer was working on a book about crime in the Prohibition era. Keep in mind that Ness and his gang of agents were only in their early 20s when the events of the "Untouchable stories took place. Al Capone was in his late 20s. So basically these were a bunch of kids shooting eachother up over booze.

But back to the story, the boss says to this writer, "See that guy over there at the bar. That's Eliot Ness. He was a Treasury Agent and was the main guy responsible for sending Capone to prison." So the write goes over and starts talking to Ness. Ness tells him a few stories and the guy says, "This stuff is really incredible but do you have anything to back it up?" And Ness says, "Well I have a scrapbook." This scraobook had everything from photos to newspaper clippings and old business cards. So the writer says he'd love to have it and when Ness get's back home he sends the guy this scrapbook.

A little time goes buy and Ness dosn't hear anything, so he figures oh well whatever. ness is middle aged now, and he and his family are going through a little financial hardship at this time and he's thinking the extra money woulda been nice but it wasn't meant to be. A little more time goes by and Ness is sitting at home one night when het gets a phone call. It's the writer. He basically says that the scrapbook was a goldmine. There's gonna be a book, a movie maybe even a TV show. And he tells Ness that he will never have to worry about money again. Ness hangs up the phone and goes into the livingroom. He tells his wife what happened and finishes by saying, "You know what, I feel pretty good tonight." Then he goes into the kitchen for a drink and drops dead on the floor from a heart attacl. He never saw the book, thhe movie, the TV show, never saw himself become the American Legend that we know him as today.

And that is the true story of Eliot Ness.