I was pretty excited to be on a real movie set. A more scholarly educated person would appreciate the historic aspect of this place, but I will always think of the 1996 Nicolas Cage/Sean Connery movie that elevated this island into cinematic stardom. Sure, there have been countless movies filmed about or on this island but none of them kicked as much ass as The Rock did. I dare you to find another Alcatraz themed movie that rocks this hard for over 2 hours and never lets you down.

These cells are tiny and dingy, and very cramped. I couldn't imagine staying here for more than a couple of hours. I think I'd be pissed if I was incarcerated here, but I guess if I was a prisoner of Alcatraz, then I deserved to be here, and it was my own fault. Luckily, I've never done enough to warrant jail time, so I can come here as a visitor.

Ever since I've seen Anchorman, I can't help but wander around looking for the lady in the red hat. (Click to see me searching unsuccessfully for her at State Fair '05.) I guess I wasn't looking in the right places because I found her in one of the most remote and impenetrable places in the United States. It was very odd.

Jenny calls our Mom back home in Milwaukee to demonstrate that she was better than the Alcatraz inmates because she had the freedom to make a phone call while being outside. Those privileges just weren't allowed to the most heinous people ever incarcerated within the walls of a United States maximum security prison.

Certain prisoners (the lesser of the maximum security ones) were allowed to go outside, but they were confined to this section of the island and probably were under the watchful eyes of the guards and the deadly barrels of their guns. Once outside, you can see the city of San Francisco and the rest of the free world, which must have made those inmates crazier than they already were.

This is the famous Alcatraz baseball diamond, where I recreate Babe Ruth's called home run shot that cleared the prison walls and made its' way into history. Most people believe that Babe hit the ball out of Wrigley Field during game 3 of the 1932 World Series, but he actually did it here and they faked it using camera trickery (just like they did with Neil Armstrong's moon landing) to make it appear as if it was taking place in Chicago. Ruth, an Alcatraz inmate at the time, was not allowed to leave these grounds, so they brought the game to him.