Anybody that knows me knows I'm a closet computer nerd. I've always been learning programming...maybe longer than I've played guitar. How crazy is that? Anyway, my inability to draw even a passable smiley face has always kept me from having any real fun with it.

Now that has changed though, because Nancy can draw. So we decided to try out making a few games. We had a real lot of fun and I think we made 2 nice games for everyone to try out.

One game is rather simple, GLOBE BUSTER - you just click on a globe as it moves around in a rather tricky way. When you get it you get 10 points. You run out of time at the end of our song Even Stephen.

The other game SPACE PANIK is a little more complex. It is a space shooter where you have to help Malaker & Baransky save the world from the Evil Witchman. It's got our voices, our songs, and even a video at the end if you beat it. It's a lot of fun and you can use your joystick if you have one!


You can download them and try them out at our Malaker & Baransky website at:
www.malakerbaransky.com just go to the free games tab. You should see it there.

We already started on another game so we decided to go ahead and call them dED & BURYd Games which I think is pretty cool. :)

Let us know what you think.
Ed

Fortunately I'm in a band that plays out a lot and fortunately we know enough material to get through a 4 - 5 hr. show. One thing that comes up a lot is that we don't take any breaks during our show, and many argue we should.

We used to take breaks but that was when we smoked and now when we stop playing we feel a bit strange as ...we don't know what to do lol. I know we should talk to fans, but I'll be honest, like many musicians I'm extremely introverted, shy, quiet, and if I'm not under the bright lights of the stage I'm probably somewhere dark. If you get me to talk chances are great you won't understand what I say because I mumble.

Frank and Martie are much better at this but many times we play far from home, where there are no fans, and when we think someone is coming to shake our hand they are just asking us to turn it down LOL. Just kidding now (even though it did happen once), but what I'm saying is some places we play aren't exactly packed with people wanting our autograph at this time. We talk as we set up and tear down and that seems fine to us. No one seems to feel left out or ignored.

Nancy is always there with the cameras and the mics and the t-shirts and the CDs and she is really good at making sure anyone in the crowd gets what they want. Many times the crowd comes right to us, I've had to think very fast and play some nice long solos while Frank talked to several fans about what they thought we should play right in the middle of a song. :)

We don't drink before or during our shows because our music is our job! It is a job we love, and are very lucky to have. Alcohol will only attempt to take it from us.  Frank has his bottle of water and we all get soda before the show.

So what I'm saying is I can't think of a reason to take a break except to pee or grab a FAST smoke, and that's not going to be a "play two 50 minute sets take a twenty minute break" thing like we see so often...unless you have a very strong crowd or you run your 3 foot square spot like the tazmanian devil. That's my opinion.

To me when I'm an audience member and they put that jukebox on in the middle of your show it's like getting halfway through a movie, getting up putting a different movie on for 20 minutes, then going back to the first movie. Now I don't know what I want to watch.

I'd love to hear opinions on this.

Thanks,
Ed

........

Hello, this is Ed from Malaker &
Baransky. Sunday is our only day off from the band and on that day me
and my girl Nancy like to watch lots of horror movies and some
sci-fi, Also, we like to travel a bit and seek out crazy places to
find our own answers to all things "unexplained". This blog
is to tell about where we have been and to hear from other ppl who
have been there or have interesting places we can check out.

The topic this time is a road called
Elmhurst Boulevard

I have heard 2 different stories about
Elmhurst Boulevard. The first I heard as a kid, and it said that a
woman had been raped and killed on the road by a satanic cult. That
now you can sometimes see her ghost walking the road at night in a
ripped white gown looking for a ride. If you stop to pick her up she
will cause your car to drive off the road and fall to certain death.
If you choose to pass her by you will continue down the windy road
until you notice you are back at the top coming down to pass her
again... over and over forever, unless you pick her up.

The next story is a much newer story I
did not hear until I was google-ing the first story. It says that you
drive to the circle in the road and after driving around the circle 3
times and stopping to face the way you came a set of truck lights
will appear behind you and appear to be chasing after you. The faster
you go the faster the truck goes....until you wreck. There is a
disclaimer on this story that says if you just drive slowly the truck
will still not catch you and you can get to safety.

To be honest I drove this road hundreds
of times. I worked in Moscow a small town next to Elmhurst where the
the road is located. I always new the story so I would drive it a lot
to see if I ever saw the lady. I did not.

I can say I see why people would want
this road to be haunted. It's really windy, dark, narrow and for a
lot of it one mistake and your over a cliff. If you want to be really
scared go as a passenger.

Since I never heard the second story,
we decided to go try it out. The circle looks like what once was the
end of the road. Just a large paved circle where you would turn
around. Since the circle was made the road has been continued on past
it. It does look like the road is telling you to turn around while
you still can! Now there is a guard rail in this section that runs
right through the circle and there are some benches put there, making
it a little less of a circle and a little harder to see.

So around and around we go. Nothing.
Around and around we go again. Nothing! Now I'm very dizzy and get
out to walk to those benches and wouldn't you know it a brand new
Ford pickup drives by in a slightly hasty manner. Coincidence?

To sum it up, I don't think this is a
haunted road. There are houses going up on the road that light and
widen it making it less spooky. In a few years it will probably be
just another road.

Thanks

Ed

Hello, this is Ed from Malaker & Baransky. Sunday is our only day off from the band and on that day me and my girl Nancy like to watch lots of horror movies and some sci-fi, Also, we like to travel a bit and seek out crazy places to find our own answers to all things "unexplained". This blog is to tell about where we have been and to hear from other ppl who have been there or have interesting places we can check out.


The place discussed in this part is the West Mountain Sanatorium. A supposedly haunted and abandoned hospital in Scranton that used to treat Tuberculosis in the early 1900's. Many people died there from the disease and some, it is reported, died from the treatments. West Mountain Sanatorium closed in 1974 and was the subject of a few fires since, sparking false stories of people dying in the fire.

We visited this place on a "warm for winter" Sunday. The ground was snow covered but snow was melting adding to the creepiness of the place....and it is creepy. Most of the buildings are gone, and the buildings that are left are in very bad shape.

Roofs and floors are caved in, some floors have large holes. I wouldn't suggest climbing around inside, though by the amount of footprints in the snow I can see many people do.

We took a digital mic., a video camera, and a digital still picture camera. One thing that was strange is that all the batteries plus the batteries in a flashlight, all fully charged, were dead in minutes, though my cellphone was not affected. We still did get some photos, film, and audio recording as we walked around the site before the batteries went out. Sadly, we did not record any evidence of hauntedness, except possibly one photo on my cellphone camera that was taken in the cellar where all the beds are still lined up. In the photo it looks like a person standing at the bottom of a bed looking straight at the camera to some ppl who see it, to others they see nothing.



Why I would go again:

There is a breathtaking view of the entire Scranton valley from this place, you can see for miles from there and it seems it would be a great place for sky watching as well, though you might get in trouble being on the property at night.

The basement with all the old beds lined up and a desk at the end is really creepy, and there is a pond/wishing well that is really cool. I would like to see if all the batteries would go dead again.

The whole place looks like a great place to film a horror movie.




Why I would not go again:

It is extremely dangerous and someone will get hurt someday causing the place to be closed off or completely torn down.

Falling through a floor and breaking something a mile from the car thats in the middle of no-place is not exactly my idea of a good time. Also, after we left this place we both got "coincidentally" so sick that we actually found ourselves google-ing tuberculosis to see if we somehow contracted it. Not Fun!




That's all I have to say about it really. I would like to see some pictures of what the place used to look like when it was in operation, some blueprints of the layout of the place, and some pictures of what the people would have been wearing while it was running to compare them with my cellphone photo. If anyone knows where I can find these things please let me know.


One more quick note about this place - Dick Smith, the writer of the Christmas song "Winter Wonderland" was a patient here for an extended period and wrote the song while a patient. He did not recover from tuberculosis and died here in 1935.

Thanks,
Ed


      

We thought it was time to give a shoutout to 2 of the greatest friends and fans anyone could ask for.....

First there is Karen, you can find her on our friends list in the top 8. She was the very first person to say something nice about us here on myspace, and has been very helpful and supportive ever since. She is a painter, and we think her paintings are great! Everyone go have a look, you will not be disappointed.

Second there is Joanne, also on our top 8, and a long time supporter of Malaker & Baransky. Without her constant encouragement we would have probably given up long before we even got to myspace. She is responsible for trying to save the Woodstock site, and easily has the most comprehensive website on the subject. You will never learn a true fact about Woodstock that is not already on her website, we personally guarantee it! She is the hardest working woman we have ever known, and that is very inspiring. If you want to learn something (and you will) go to her profile to get the link to her website.

We have alot of great friends on myspace and we are thankful for every one of them. But these two not only take time out of almost every day to help us, they are truly amazing people themselves.

Thanks for your time,

Malaker& Baransky

TAG!!

The game: If you have been tagged, you must write a blog listing 6
strange/unusual things about yourself. Then, you choose 6 other people
to tag. Leave them a comment telling them that they have been tagged,
and to check your blog for details.

1. When they were very small children, Ed once stabbed Martie
   right through the hand with a screwdriver, cause she was winning
   at a game called Mr. Mouth.

2. Frank has been known to walk out on stage wearing...Indian Moccasins,
   black spandex pants, and a white button down shirt.

3. Ed buys video games, and then watches them play out on their own
   (he doesn't want to interfere with the game characters).

4. Frank has been known to walk out on stage wearing...
   Nothing but red paint!

5. When we finally got to see "KISS" (Franks favorite band)
   with their make-up , we were late for the concert
   and when we were walking in we saw Paul Stanley in full
   outfit waving for us to come over. Frank said "That's just
   some guy in make-up tryin to hit on Martie", so we walked
   right by.  

6. Ed didn't always want to be a musician, he used to want to
   be a NINJA! and therefore he was forced to put Martie through
   many hours of training to become one.

I tagged:

Karen

Andy-O

Anarchys not chaos, but
order with out control

kadie-bug

Steve

Brian