People always say I should be locked up...

Alcatraz is a prison island in the middle of San Francisco bay. Surrounded by swift, cold currents, sharks and home to a high security prison, its not the most hospitable place I've ever been to. Its been the home to a number of notorious criminals including Al "Scarface" Capone and since what I do with an Omaha hand is crime against poker according to some, I felt a visit was a must.

The first thing that hits you, even while the boat is docking, is the smell. Its the smell of bird shit. Its acrid and sharp and unpleasant. The whole place is unpleasant in fact. Its been turned into a history lesson and is well worth the visit but its not Disneyland, its quite a bleak place and I can only imagine how bleak it must have been to be incarcerated there.

They've done a terrific job of the educational tours and recreating what life was like there, not only for the inmates but also for the prison warders and their families. You can even get locked in The Hole, the infamous isolation cells where they locked men up for 24 hours a day without light or sound or interaction.

I left Alcatraz with a profound feeling of something. I can't really put my finger on it but its a strange, unique place. Grim and a monument to how distorted life can get sometimes but brushing away the cheesy souvenirs and listening an ex-inmate talk about the routine of life there was a deep feeling that places like this shouldnt exist. Shouldn't *have* to exist.