If you have never seen him, and even if you have seen him, Roger Mapes puts on a great show.  He's a talented performer with outstanding music and a wonderful energy.  On Jan. 22nd he will be playing at the Laurie Beechman theater on 42nd Street, and you should go check him out.  Click here for more information!  and check out the video from his last concert.

When you are outside of New York City, hanging out with your friends on New Year's Eve, dinner is over, and it is still an hour or two until Elvis sings and the local ball drops, you find other ways to pass the time.  This is one of those ways: make a silly short film about an animal pandering to people who watch animals do tricks on Youtube.  

 Pass this video on to your friends and let's see if Garby can go viral!

The following could happen to you...

Here is one last video from the state of Maine, shot before I returned to NYC. Check out the ducks that landed on my friend's front yard on this cold and wet day. And, even better, listen to my friend give her son some sage advice. For those of you who have no idea what Cold Duck can be drunk, do a little wikipedia research. 

Wild turkey in Maine, and not the kind you drink.  But they do make a lovely Christmas dinner.   

Visit some large scale outdoor art in New York City, and take in the view of Manhattan.

 If you have never been to Santacon, I highly recommend it.  It is one of the best events of the year, and New York City does it right with THOUSANDS of Santas attending.  Everyone is in a happy holiday mood, and you can forget your care.  You have never seen so many people smile in New York City!  Take a peek at the video from this years event below.  And if you missed it this year, wait til January and buy yourself a cheap Santa outfit on ebay for next year!  Check out nycsantacon.com for more information.  And if you know of any great Santacon stories, pictures, or video, please tell us about them in the comments section below!

Santa does a conga line!

Santa jumps rope in Washington Square Park.

Shirtless dancing Santa!

After a year away, NYC Stories is coming back with a new video format.  We will be starting an on going series about NYC and things that go on here.  But first, here's a little holiday e-card for your enjoyment and laughter! 

 For the second year in a row, I woke up WAY too early on a morning just a couple of days before Thanksgiving.  Why?  Well, it was for a good cause, of course.  Once again, LivePerson was sponsoring an event to help out Feeding NYC, an organization that supplies food to families so they can make complete Thanksgiving meals.  This year, I heard they were putting together 2008 boxes of supplies, which was something like 500 more than they did last year.

And this year, luckily there were many, many more people helping out with this worthy project.  Above, you can see my friend Susie as she starts out the day assembling boxes.

Everyone pitched in and folded the boxes and lids.

Many, many boxes and lids!

Putting together that many boxes is dusty work that dries out your hands.  Don't forget to use some hand lotion afterwords.

Finally the piles of boxes and lids had reached great heights and widths.

And thanks to all those hands, in record time, the boxes were ready to go and we started to put food into boxes.

Each box got about 15 items... turkey, cranberry sauce, corn, stuffing, rice, yams, apple juice, cookies, etc, etc.

There is an old joke that goes, "How do you spot the owner of an off-off broadway theater? He's the one taking out the trash!"  Well, in the case,"How do you spot the boss? He's the one jumping in the dumpster!"  Someone had to pack down the trash so it could be hauled away!

Linda Church from CW11 showed up to forecast the weather live from the event.

I made her stop and take a picture with me so I could send it to my friends who couldn't get out of bed in time to help. Lazy bums.

And, as the first shift of volunteers left, the full boxes were all lined up in the hallway, waiting to be loaded into trucks for delivery.

If you would like to help out Feeding NYC, they can always use donations , or you could even volunteer for next year.

That's right!  The Great and Powerful Pumpkin has spoken.  He arrived in NYC at the Union Square Farmers Market a little bit early and left his message!

This free haunt provides great fun & scares for Cornwall-on-Hudson kids and parents.

It’s the time of year for a good scare, and for the second year in a row, the Corn House of Horrors will be presented on Halloween night on Duncan Avenue in Cornwall-on-Hudson.  This FREE home haunt scared so many people last year that the masterminds behind it (Charlie Quinn and Russell J. Dreher) have written a whole new interactive script and created all new frights.  In addition the haunt has been expanded and now includes a challenge.  Should visitors survive this challenge, they will be able to visit the entire haunt.  Those who fail the challenge will be turned away from seeing the deepest parts of the haunt.  

You can also help the Corn House of Horrors win $25,000 by going to www.fear.net and voting in the “Home is Where the Haunt Is” contest.  Look for the entry listed under TGTOTU and rate it 5 stars!

Please stop by on Halloween and enjoy a good scare!

The Legend of the Corn House:

Thadeus Corn, the notorious smuggler, con-artist, and murderer, once lived in the Corn House with his family.  One Halloween, many years ago, Thadeus was thought to be holding a captive in the basement of the house.  When the house was raided, everyone inside was killed, but the captive was never found.  It is believed that the house may have had a secret dungeon, though the entrance was never uncovered.  Each year, the ghosts of Thadeus and his family return on Halloween seeking revenge, and each year many brave souls try to enter the home to stop Thadeus once and for all.

Recently, a researcher discovered a document that describes three boxes with carved skulls on them that are supposed to contain the “heart” of the house.  No one has found the boxes, but it is believed that inside one of the boxes is the heart of Rosa Corn, Thadeus’ daughter.  If a brave soul were to find the heart and return it to Thadeus, he and his family might rest peacefully forever.  If you are brave enough to enter the Corn House to attempt to put the spirits at rest, good luck to you.  You will need it.

Corn House of Horrors
Cornwall on Hudson, NY
Halloween night only during Trick or Treating hours