Mind Over Matter?

I have had many experiences with things that go bump in the night. Personally I do attribute these encounters as encounters with the supernatural. However; when I watched THIS video it did make me realize that the mind certainly can play tricks on you.

The most terrifying experience I have had to date with the phenomena of the unexplained was when I was visiting my friend Al in Maryland. He was staying in a very old house with 5 roommates. None of them really knew each other that well; it was more like a convenient living arrangement based on fiscal needs.

When we arrived at the house he said that his room was down in the basement. There was a front area like a living room, a bedroom where another guy’s room was and then Al was at the very back. The living room was carpeted and had no furniture. I asked about the lack of furniture and he said that the girl who recently lived in the room left the house abruptly. I immediately felt a cold chill when I walked into the room and asked him if the girl had displayed any weird habits. Right as I was asking the guy Steven who lived in the middle room before Al’s and his boyfriend came in. He gave his b-friend and Al a funny look and said to me why would you ask? I was like well this place feels a bit haunted to me.

Steven then told me that this girl Allison went from being a really normal bubbly sorority type into spending hours in the room standing at an ironing board ironing clothes that were not existent and fastidiously vacuuming the room, but never turning the vacuum cleaner on... Apparently when she started chanting she freaked the other roommates out so much that they asked her to leave.

That night I settled in on my air mattress and started reading my book. I could not shake the feeling that someone was in the room with me. When I finally got tired I turned out the light and closed my eyes. Not more than 20 seconds later the whole room went frigid and I felt something breathing in my face. There was no sound, just breath. I jumped up and turned the lights on. It was the weirdest thing – because the carpet in the room which was cream shag had been completely dry when I went to bed, and now it was all wet.

I decided that I was letting my imagination play tricks on me so I went to the window to see if it was raining out or if there was a logical reason for the wet carpet. The full moon was shining brightly outside and ‘there was not a cloud in the sky’. I was kind of not feeling as scared with the light on, and had gotten over my fright even though the carpet was now not only wet, but it had suds on it, like a carpet would be if you were shampooing it. I decided that I was being stupid, so I turned off the light by the mattress and tried to go back to sleep. This time I not only felt the breath on my face I felt someone literally trying to smother me – like I had to push against what ever it was to make it go away. I turned on the light again. It was the really weirdest thing this time because I could see a set of foot prints in the sudsy carpet that led from where the ironing board and the vacuum were that came directly over to my air mattress.

I was literally paralyzed. When I regained by composure I decided that I could not possibly go up the stairs to the main house as I did not know any of the room mates and did not know how they would feel about me sleeping on the couch upstairs.

I could not go and get Al because Steven and his boyfriend were bopping in the room that I would have to go through to get to Al. So I made an executive decision, grabbed my blanket and pillow and headed to the bathroom and slept in the shower. As soon as I got to the bathroom I knew that I would be safe from whatever/whoever possessed the basement living room. A big sense of relief swept over me.

I will admit that when Steven and his Boyfriend walked buck naked into the bathroom the next morning and we all met with a scream that I was rather embarrassed and wondered if I had made the whole thing up. By the way the carpet was completely dry in the morning looking as if it was professionally steam cleaned and vacuumed.

My friend Al did think I was rather batty, but all was confirmed by another roommate Jenny, who before hearing my story, told Al and me a similar experience that she had in the basement. Let us not forget poor Allison who went bonkers...

Who knows if it is the power of suggestion or an actual ghouly thing, all I know whether it is real or not it sure feels real at the time.

Discrimination Exists

I was having a conversation with a male friend who refused to believe that women are discriminated against in the work place. He proceeded to tell me that men’s brains work differently than women’s brains therefore no doubt why men made more than women in the same job was not a matter of discrimination but because men simply out performed women in certain jobs; therefore earning more.

I can not think of any career where a man on the basis of Brain power outsmarts a woman. If both candidates are equally educated and equally motivated there is no difference in performance. The difference lies in the old boy network that purposely excludes women from their network.

If anything women have to work harder than men to achieve the same success. I spent 13 years attempting to break through the preverbal glass ceiling in large corporations. I spent 13 years listing to sports analogies that were meant to isolate and confuse me in business meetings. I spent 13 years knowing without a shadow of a doubt that I was being paid less than my male counterparts. I spent 13 years in corporate America hell concluding that even a law was not going to change the system, because men did not want the system changed.

THIS

IS A LINK TO N.O.W.

No doubt my friend will say that the statistics on the site are bias. All I can say is: my friend I have lived through the reality of discrimination and it does exist even if you choose to believe differently.

I now work as an independent financial (CPA) advisor and am very happy that I am now calling the shots – nothing like being the Coach and owning the team…

I have no idea what brought this post to mind...

I am looking for a thread; Murphy’s Law and Law of Averages.

A couple of years ago my brother in law committed Suicide on August 31^st, my ex husbands birthday. As my husband was out of town I took care of the litany of paperwork that comes with an untimely death. The whole thing was quite an ordeal as the hospital was hand pumping his heart even though he was brain dead. All of his family was in California so my Father in Law told me to make the call. I said to stop pumping and let him go. John’s (my brother in law) girl friend Amelia was at the hospital and accused me of murdering John for making the call.

I flew out to California to see my in- laws and my husband who still there. I had never met his family before, but they seemed really nice even though they were going through this horrible death situation. I flew out Friday September 7, 2001 and was due back in New Orleans Tuesday September 11. The evening of September 9, 2001 I got this overwhelming feeling that I had to leave on the 10^th. When I told my husband’s family that I was moving up my reservations I think that they just assumed that I did not like them. All I can say is that I am glad I was not stuck somewhere between San Diego and New Orleans the morning of 9-11-01

When my husband returned to New Orleans his brother’s girlfriend Amelia decided that she needed to start calling him 24/7. Some sort of issue about needing to “comfort” him and herself because they were going through the same “thing”. Hmmm yes well calling led to going to drinks which led to going to dinner which led to the ultimate form of “comfort”. I think that I was fully aware of what was going on, but was so tired of living a lie with a controlling bastard that I let the affair go. If he was out with her he at least was not in my house driving me slowly insane.

On January 2 of 2002 I slipped off the attic stairs at my gallery and did a compound fracture to my ankle. I was in the hospital for 4 days and underwent 2 surgeries. I remember before the first operation the doctor saying “where’s your husband- this is a serious operation and you need a family member here.” I was too embarrassed to call my family because I did not want to admit that my husband was such an ass hole. I checked my self out of the hospital on the 4^th day, but they would not release me unless I had someone pick me up and stay with me in my house. The cast came up over my knee and it was on my right leg which made driving difficult. I told my husband that he better come and get me or I was going to tell his parents who are very devout Christians what he was up to. He came and picked me up. Dropped me off at the front door of the house and promptly left.

Looking back at the situation it was probably a “blessing in disguise” that I broke my ankle because it prohibited me from being able to get in my truck and make a Public Scene in front of my husband and Amelia who were now living together. It also kept me away from having to hear all the gossip and unsolicited comments from friends and acquaintances.

The day after I got my cast off of my leg I was soundly asleep when my phone kept ringing and ringing. I finally picked up the phone and as it was 3am I thought – shit someone better be dead or my gallery better have been burglarized – something important better have happened. Be afraid of what you wish for. The Fire Chief in the other end of the phone said you better get over here now; your gallery is on fire.

The fire was a 6 alarm affair and destroyed 90% of my artists work. My husband’s computer business was in the same building – and was also completely destroyed.

I had very good insurance and after 7 months of negotiations was able to settle a claim and pay the artists. The claim also allowed me in part to pay off my bank note.

I think this came to mind as I attending a company Thanksgiving Lunch this afternoon. I am the CPA for the company and my EX is their IT person. He brought along his 26 year old new wife. It was all a bit awkward, but personally I am really happy that we are not married anymore and feel bad for his new wife. All of my co- workers were really concerned about how I felt about the new wife’s presence. I found this concern to be rather annoying, though well placed.

My thought is anything that can go wrong will, but everything evens out in the end and there in lays the thread.

The Ten Commandments

After reading another Blog it occurred to me that I really did not know what the 10 Commandments were.

I always thought that I was following the precepts, but after reading them it gave me a cause to pause and reflect.

#1 NO OTHER GODS.

I am not saying that I believe in other Gods, but the fact that I definitely believe there is only one God, Like Allah and God are one in the same probably means that I am breaking this commandment.

#2 NO IDOLS

Ok – I have a bunch of what I would call talisman that sit on my computer. I do not pray to them but, well I like to attribute good things happening to their presence in the gallery. I have a feeling that this might fall under the category of No Idols, so I am probably screwing up on this one too.

#3 LORD’S NAME IN VEIN

I definitely am not very good with this one. A friend of mine is reading books on a radio station for the blind. When I read that “God Damn” was right up there with “Fuck” for a FCC "no no" I was shocked. In fact I remember saying God Damn is bad? God Damn!!

#4 KEEP THE SABATH DAY

I do not go to church and I work at the gallery doing things for Accounting Clients on Sunday.

#5 HONOR YOUR PARENTS

Well now that I am older this is easier to do, but my parents are just people. I do not believe that everything they think, say or do is good. In fact, there were many years I thought that they were pretty ignorant and religiously tried to do every thing the opposite of what they wanted.

#6 DO NOT KILL

I would not have a problem killing someone who was trying to kill me or someone I cared about. I might feel bad about it, but would definitely feel justified.

In fact I just executed 3 big stingy type of bugs that dived bombed my desk. I did not feel remotely bad about this. Stingy types of bugs along with mice and rats need to stay outside and not invade my domain or death is their punishment.

#7 DO NOT COMMIT ADULTERY

I have never committed adultery –so I am good on this one!

#8 DO NOT STEAL

Does this apply to people’s lighters, pens and pencils? Does this apply to using the copier at work when I know they are charged 1cent for black and white and 8 cents for color copies? Does this apply to the Apples on my neighbor’s tree? How about finding $100 on the ground in a bar under the video poker machine and not reporting it to the bartender? The Bartender would probably just pocket it anyway…

#9 DO NOT FALSELY ACCUSE

When I was living with someone and I could not find where I put something I admit accusing them of moving it. In fact, If there is an inequity in my office at work I will accuse someone of moving my shit. Typically I will find that I was the one who put “it” whatever “it” might be in the wrong place. I rarely admit that it was me that erred.

#10 DO NOT COVET

I really wish I had a Mercedes like my neighbors. In fact I wish I had my neighbor’s house. I can not have conversations with people about how much money they make because I then covet their bank account.

In Conclusion other than the Adultery thing I am a complete moral failure according to the Old Testament of the Bible.

How do you stack up?

The picture is of my gallery talisman: A Nicorette race car, an angel stone, a mean nun who spits fire out of her mouth when you wind her up, a jewel, a turtle and yes a bottle of levy breach water from Katrina. I do not think this is odd at all :)

Nothing came to mind this evening...

Yes I know Nagin is a Mayor not a senator, but the same sentiment applies.



"While walking down the street one day a US senator is tragically hit by a truck and dies.

His soul arrives in heaven and is met by St. Peter at the entrance.

"Welcome to heaven," says St. Peter. "Before you settle in, it seems there is a problem. We seldom see a high official around these parts, you see, so we're not sure what to do with you."

"No problem, just let me in," says the man.

"Well, I'd like to, but I have orders from higher up. What we'll do is have you spend one day in hell and one in heaven. Then you can choose where to spend eternity."

"Really, I've made up my mind. I want to be in heaven," says the senator.

"I'm sorry, but we have our rules."

And with that, St. Peter escorts him to the elevator and he goes down, down, down to hell. The doors open and he finds himself in the middle of a green golf course. In the distance is a clubhouse and standing in front of it are all his friends and other politicians who had worked with him.

Everyone is very happy and in evening dress. They run to greet him, shake his hand, and reminisce about the good times they had while getting rich at the expense of the people.

They play a friendly game of golf and then dine on lobster, caviar and champagne.

Also present is the devil, who really is a very friendly guy who has a good time dancing and telling jokes. They are having such a good time that before he realizes it, it is time to go.

Everyone gives him a hearty farewell and waves while the elevator rises...

The elevator goes up, up, up and the door reopens on heaven where St. Peter is waiting for him.

"Now it's time to visit heaven."

So, 24 hours pass with the senator joining a group of contented souls moving from cloud to cloud, playing the harp and singing. They have a good time and, before he realizes it, the 24 hours have gone by and St. Peter returns.

"Well, then, you've spent a day in hell and another in heaven. Now choose your eternity."

The senator reflects for a minute, then he answers: "Well, I would never have said it before, I mean heaven has been delightful, but I think I would be better off in hell."

So St.. Peter escorts him to the elevator and he goes down, down, down to hell.

Now the doors of the elevator open and he's in the middle of a barren land covered with waste and garbage.

He sees all his friends, dressed in rags, picking up the trash and putting it in black bags as more trash falls from above.

The devil comes over to him and puts his arm around his shoulder. "I don't understand," stammers the senator. "Yesterday I was here and there was a golf course and clubhouse, and we ate lobster and caviar, drank champagne, and danced and had a great time. Now there's just a wasteland full of garbage and my friends look miserable. What happened?"

The devil looks at him, smiles and says, "Yesterday we were campaigning...... Today you voted."

One man's trash is another man's treasure...

Adoration of the Magi by Fra Angelico


Personally I get excited when I find $10.00 in my winter coat pocket the first cold snap of wearing it. If I found THIS I would probably drop dead.

I am tempted to go to thrift markets and buy all the Jesus/religious paintings that I can find. Maybe I will make a historic discovery! With all the renovation work I have recently done on my 1800's Victorian I feel that I am due. Maybe I will go into my back room and start sledge hammering the wall. Instead of a hidden vault filled with treasure with my luck all I will find is a million contented cock roaches and a bit of black mold...

A nice story for Sunday Afternoon...

I have been having an ongoing discourse between an artist of mine and his mother. There is nothing like getting stuck in the middle between a 70 year old woman and her 50 year old son.

This artist – I will call him Mark for a lack of a better name, and because I would not want for him to ever come across this blog and be offended that I spoke out of school.

Mark never actually has shown anything at the gallery as he has spent the past year in and out of mental institutions. However his likes to call me on a weekly basis to tell me about what is going on with his medications and just in general tell me any odd thought that happens to be currently wandering through his head.

I was very clear with Mark that I could not store any more of his Art in my very small gallery. I was also very clear that if he was not going to make an attempt to start getting his artwork framed for a show that instead of storing art at the gallery he was going to have to come and pick it up.

Last week his mother who is rather odd herself called and said that Mark told her to take all of his art work off the walls at her house and drop it off at the gallery. I’m like “no Mrs. Marks mom – I do not have room for it.” She is like” well Raspootin you do not understand he keeps calling me and threatening me that if I don’t give you the artwork he will – well I don’t know what he will do but my son is crazy ya know what I mean.” I said Mrs. Marks Mom – do not bring the artwork here. I will refuse it if you do.

So last night around 8:00pm Mark calls me from the psychiatric ward and says that I have to take the artwork because he has had a falling out with his mother. I again said no I do not have room for it. What did he not understand about our last conversation?

He ignored me and said let me tell you about the falling out with my mother. He said I have done a painting that is really cool about it. So I take the bait and say ok tell me about it Mark. What is the painting of? He is like well it is 84 x 60 inch oil on canvas depicting a woman with her breast exposed rocking and nursing her child. However the child has a large knife in its back and blood running out of its partially severed head which is leaning at a grotesque angle poised on the mother’s nipple. He then indicated that even though the chair is in motion, the mother is dead too.

Ok…

He then said that the piece was inspired by a child hood experience. When he was a child he would say: “ Mama rock me more” and she would say that she did not want to and he would say “please mama just five more minutes” and then she would rock him for five more minutes, but he knew that she really did not want to rock him. He the repeated, my mother and I have had a falling out and she will never rock me again.

I just felt the need to share this with everyone… I also went back and started looking at all of Mark’s Woman pieces today. The entire collection of woman pieces has oddly placed nipples and or breasts. The picture above is one that I find particularly disturbing. Evidently I did not really give it a good look when he dropped it off.

Have a nice weekend!

Just a few thoughts...

Salvador Dali: Person Am Fenster



Well the democrats have the congress and maybe when they count the votes in Virginia the Senate as well. So what does this really mean? It does mean that Nancy Pelosi will take over as speaker of the house which is a good thing. It does mean that Donald Rumsfeld after a “thoughtful” talk with GW decided to FINALLY resign, something that he should have done months ago. (As an aside if you spell check “rumsfeld” it changes it to “rusted” ya have to love the Microsoft humor?) It does not mean any discernable change in Iraq, but it does mean that the rest of the world is looking with more respect on as us a Nation for sending a message to Washington.

On a more personal level, I must say that the elections in Louisiana were very encouraging. All of our constitutional amendments were approved. My top 2 most important being Amendment 7 and Amendment 5; amendment 7 was for the long needed consolidation of our 7 Orleans Parish Assessors to 1 and Amendment 5 was to remove personal property tax on consigned art in galleries. #5 has stuck in my craw for years. Every time I was assessed at the gallery I would march down to the assessor’s office and complain. Our old Assessor Janice Degan started saying hello to me at the grocery store and asking if she could expect me for our annual meeting of the minds.

I can tell that a lot of people did not really understand amendment 5 as it was voted in on a tight margin. Just a quick explanation is in order. Personal Property tax is exempted on artwork in your home, whether you purchased the art or you are the artist. As soon as the same art is put in a gallery it is not exempt from property tax. So immediately this becomes a nightmare for the gallery owner, the artist or the consignor. At the end of the year, if you are honest you are supposed to break down all the consigned art that has traveled through the gallery in the past year and percentage break it out by the retail value and declare it as personal property to be taxed. I can assure you that no gallery was doing that, so typically what one would do it just say – all my art is consigned, but none of the consigned art for the past year is in the gallery, and typically the Assessor would leave you alone because the law sucked.

However, there were 3 occasions where I had revenue agents wander through my gallery and then call me on the consignment thing. When this happened they took names and addresses of Artists and people who were simply consigning previously purchased art – and then sent them the personal property tax bill. Of course this then makes the gallery owner extremely popular with them. The law was detrimental to art galleries and to our ability to establish good relations with consignors and artists who typically are not very business savvy. What I used to do to circumvent the problem was declare an actual inventory (even though the art was consigned) so that it would not flag the Assessors office. This was at a cost of $1000+ per year to the gallery. However, it was the only way to keep the artists and consignors safe. The bottom line being it was not really the gallery’s personal property tax, but their liability if I listed them on the personal property tax form for the gallery. I still do not know if the artists and owners of art consigned realize that this was not a tax benefit for the gallery, but a tax benefit for them.

One last thing on the issue that was not discussed in this Amendment; Say I purchase a piece of art inventory for $20,000.00 and it does not sell in the first year. I have to pay not only income tax via the inventory, but personal property tax. Then let’s say in year 2 I still have not sold the piece. I am taxed on it again via personal property tax. That is double taxation without a doubt. It is unfair and wrong. When I told Janice Degan’s office about the double taxation issue they said that art appreciates the same as your home… yeah right if that was true I would be a millionaire.


Once again I have run on with a long explanation, but so be it.

My last and final comment is in regard to the one UNFAVORABLE thing that occurred during our elections. William Jefferson the democratic congressman district 2 (my district) who has been thrown off the Ways and Means Committee for potentially taking a bribe of $90K and hiding it in his freezer, won over 30% of the vote. What are people thinking here? Whether the guy is indicted, whether he is found guilty, he is finished in D.C. He is powerless.

For anyone who reads this and actually voted for him, remember that Nancy Pelosi was the one who kicked Jefferson off the committee. She now wields the power, and I don’t think she is going to let our own slick willie slide – so just don’t waste your vote on him again.


My last, last final comment speaks to the topic of Oil Revenue Sharing. If you do not live in Louisiana we would greatly appreciate you emailing your representatives and asking them to vote for this before the session ends. The 2 most powerful Democrats come January 2007, Congress woman Nancy Pelosi and Senator Jeff Bingaman strongly oppose Louisiana getting any share of offshore oil royalties. The S—t is going to hit the fan here if we do not get our fair share. Please remember that the entire infrastructure for getting the oil out of The Gulf is here in Louisiana. If you would like more information please check out THIS .

Breaking News:

just added:

WASHINGTON - Democrats wrested control of the Senate from Republicans Wednesday with an upset victory in Virginia, giving the party complete domination of Capitol Hill for the first time since 1994, as NBC News reported that Democrat Jim Webb was the apparent winner.

Webb’s apparent squeaker win over incumbent Sen. George Allen effectively gave Democrats their 51st seat in the Senate, an astonishing turnabout at the hands of voters unhappy with Republican scandal and unabated violence in Iraq. Allen was the sixth Republican incumbent senator defeated in Tuesday’s elections.

Let's say Thank You

Show your support for the troops. Click on the below link to send a Free card. You can pick out a thank you card and Xerox will print it and it will be sent to a soldier that is currently serving in Iraq. You can't pick out who gets it, but it will go to so me member of the armed services. How AMAZING it would be if we could get everyone we know to send one!!! This is a great site. Please send a card. It is FREE and it only takes a second.Wouldn't it be wonderful if the soldiers received a bunch of these? Whether you are for or against the war, our guys and gals over there need to know we are behind them.

www.letssaythanks.com

Maybe he “aint “so bad!

I am certainly not a GW Bush fan, but as much as it distresses me to say it
THIS video has almost changed my mind.

A sign of intelligence is being able to not always take yourself seriously. I certainly think a person that uses humor and in this case humor to poke fun at them self is not all bad.

Reading Kerry's mind?

Did John Kerry make a Freudian slip? Or did he truly mean that all people who do not apply themselves in school are” losers” who will end up in the military.

My personal thought is that he said something even more damning than the thought that “dumb people join the military.” We all know that dumb people do not populate the military; in fact some of the best and brightest who do not have the means to further their education join the military.

Yes I voted for Kerry over Bush, but that was my choice for “the lesser of 2 evils.”

For those of you who know me and think that my “take” on Kerry’s remark has any party affiliation. It does not.

Look at the remark:

"(In his remarks, Kerry told a group of California students that individuals who don't study hard and do their homework would likely "get stuck in Iraq." He says he meant to say "get US stuck in Iraq" _ a botched joke intended to criticize President Bush, not troops.)"

Kerry is clearly lying to cover a bigger issue that no one wants to think about; and certainly not before an election. He was not insulting Bush, he should have gotten that out of his system in 2004. He was not trying to insult troops.

I really think that Senator Kerry was saying that if you do not stay in school, watch out, you will be drafted.

I understand that “no one” has mentioned the draft, but if you are not stuck with your head under a blanket, please explain where all of our troops are going to come from to maintain not only Iraq – there is Afghanistan, North Korea and even more to the point Iran. How is the US Government going to maintain its “war on terror” without soldiers?

The Bush administration has pulled thousands of reservists into active military. The reservists knew that this was a by product of their agreement with the US Government for funding of college educations.

I am certain that these people serve the Country well. However, you are now seeing reservists that were formally bankers, accountants, and policemen: any profession that you can name not called to duty once, but countless times with their tours in Iraq extended 2-3 years with no notice or care for their personal lives from the White House.

So back to Kerry and his supposed apology; yes what he said was crass. It did sound demeaning to our troops, but the message was not for our troops nor for Bush as that was not who he was addressing.

He was addressing college students. College Students who if they do not do well and do not stay in school will be the primary candidates for a draft process, I think he was giving them a timely warning.

I do think less of Kerry for not having the gumption to clarify his remark. Perhaps I am giving him too much credit and perhaps he was simply being elitist. I however, am buying into the Freudian slip that equates to: stay in college or you could get stuck in Iraq: drafted.

Please think about who you vote for very carefully on November 7, 2006. The writing is on the wall.

“Unless the next draft is different from those in the past, no one will be drafted to be in the Navy, Marines, Air Force or National Guard. Those more glamorous branches will have their populations increased by "volunteers" who don't want to be drafted into the Army. It is the Army that requires the most in numbers. And it is the Army that has experience training ordinary, reluctant young men to be soldiers. "Deborah White,

People who believe ?

Someone who I thought I knew sent me this email asking me if it was true.
No it is not true. It is a fabrication. It is ridiculous. Please do not send shit like this to me ever again. If you have to ask, then maybe you need to ask a psychiatrist.

However out of curiosity I did go look up Billy Graham just to see what happened during his Katrina visit to New Orleans.

I found the above posted picture. If Billy does not look exactly like what I thought the devil looked like when I was a child – well then the story below is true…


Billy Graham in New Orleans


In what might prove to be the crowning achievement of an illustrious career in ministry, the 87-year-old evangelist, Billy Graham shocked the 16,300 in attendance at the Celebration of Hope crusade in New Orleans Arena on Sunday Night. Touted in advance as possibly his last evangelistic crusade, Graham invited the packed house of evangelical Christians and the hundreds of new converts to join him on the one mile walk from the arena to New Orleans' infamous Bourbon Street."While we have seen God do tremendous things here the past couple of evenings. Yes, it is true that a great healing and a great many salvations have occurred within the confines of this auditorium. Still yet, there lies a great mountain in this city which needs to be conquered."Then taking from the Biblical Book of Joshua Chapter 14 he read, "I am this day, eighty-five years old. As yet I am as strong this Day as on the day that Moses sent me; just as my strength was then, so now is my strength for war, both for going out and for coming in. Now therefore, give me this mountain of which the Lord spoke in that day," his voice suddenly sounding more forceful than during his 22 minute sermon."I last preached in the City of New Orleans in 1954 and I felt then that there was some unfinished business. Tonight, in what very well might be my last evangelistic service, I aim to finish that business and lead as many of you that would follow me to the multitude of lost souls that fill Bourbon Street tonight. That is my mountain !
That is where we shall see the harvest!" said Graham as the stadium erupted in cheers that lasted the next several minutes. Utilizing a waiting mobility scooter, the elder Graham joined his son and heir to the ministry, Franklin across the Arena floor and through the opened doors leading towards the French Quarter. In a show of solidarity and determination reminiscent of civil rights marches of the 1960's, nearly the entire capacity crowd joined in the 20 minute trek while singing, "When the Saints Go Marching In".As the march crossed Canal Street and headed northward towards Bourbon Street, many onlookers stood in stunned silence as the massive crowd of people began singing in unison the Christian hymn, Amazing Grace. Upon entering the west end of Bourbon Street, Billy Graham was soon recognized by partiers.Soon those joining in the march began to approach those partying on Bourbon Street with the Gospel message that they had heard preached just a half hour before. Graham himself joined with a group of local street evangelist in ministering to a man who had survived Hurricane Katrina in the lower 9th Ward.Within 30 minutes the entirety of Bourbon Street was packed with Christians and the once blaring music of nightclubs and strip joints had been replaced by weeping and worship as people poured out their drinks and sought prayer from the Christians who were now reaching out to them."I have never seen anything like this in my life," said 20 years New Orleans Police Department veteran, Tom Phillips. "This is unbelievable! We thought a riot was going to break out, but this looks more like a revival than a riot!"Two hours later, a glowing Graham sat back down on his scooter and smiled. "Now I know how the Apostle Paul must have felt at the end of his ministry. Do the work of an evangelist; make full proof of thy ministry. For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith."Hours later hundreds of Christians remained on the street ministering to the many people eagerly waiting to receive prayer and ministry. New Orleans will never be the same. And the press remained mute on this "news item?" Did anyone see it on TV/heard on radio/read in the paper?