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 Wow, I sure wish that I could have heard these leadership sermons when I was a young man. These will impact your life. Leadership is a way of THINKING that determines BEING who you are. It is about elevating your thinking beyond your normal thought process. It is thinking in a way that you never allow the good to be the robber of the best. It is about focusing on the solution more than the problem. It is thinking the best is yet to come when the worst has been displayed! You were created by God on PURPOSE for a PURPOSE! The Law of Sowing and Reaping Shortcuts can cause you lots of pain, and successful people avoid the trap of taking shortcuts. Selfish or selfless? Leadershipology 101 By Keith Craft Hardcover – Special Limited Edition Book - $29.99 @ Amazon.com - Order Here At times, taking shortcuts is a sign of being lazy or not thinking of anyone else but yourself. In order to be successful people, we should purpose to do things right. For example, when going to a grocery store ...

 Akira Kurosawa's 1954 film Seven Samurai is one of the greatest films ever made! Most film historians considered Kurosawa's 1954 epic Seven Samurai a true cinematic masterpiece and this past Saturday Terri and I found out why. It is indeed brilliant on almost every level. The story is compelling and the actors are true masters of the craft. We were so drawn into the story that I actually feel that I experienced the events portrayed on screen alongside the warriors and the villagers that the swore to defend from raiders. Rarely does such a film leave such a personal impact. Film critic Roger Ebert wrote this about Seven Samurai in 2001: Seven Samurai (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray] - $28.99 @ Amazon,com - Order Here Akira Kurosawa's "Seven Samurai" (1954) is not only a great film in its own right, but the source of a genre that would flow through the rest of the century. The critic Michael Jeck suggests that this was the first film in which a team is assemble...

Horror fans worldwide know of the famous tale of the Headless Horseman (or Galloping Hessian) who author Washington Irving immortalized in the pages of his novel The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, yet most Louisiana residents are unaware that there is a legendary ghostly rider right here in the Pelican State. Down a lonely and winding stretch of Louisiana State Road 451 sits the Sarto Old Iron Bridge constructed in 1916 over Bayou de Glaises. As the legend goes a worker, known to locals as a cowboy, fell into the concrete while one of the pillars was being poured and was engulfed by the mixture while his coworkers helplessly looked on in terror.  Weird Louisiana: Your Travel Guide to Louisiana's Local Legends and Best Kept Secrets Hardcover Book - $19.99 @ Amazon.com - Order Here Over the following decades people on or around the bridge have seen and felt the presence of 'The Marlboro Man' (so named by locals because he is said to resemble the famed cowboy in Marlboro cigarette ...

 Photo By Ken Hulsey A true Louisiana ghost story! Sarto Old Iron Bridge. The bridge is reportedly haunted by the ghost of the "Marlboro Man" a worker who died during construction. His image has been seen atop the structure for decades along with the sounds of a phantom horse crossing the bridge. - Ken From the Big Bend Museum Visit the historical Sarto Iron Bridge and learn its haunting history of the legend we call "The Marlboro Man" and how the Sarto Iron Bridge became his final resting place. Watch a thrilling paranormal experience unfold in a play written and told by Mr. Jimmie "Boo" Bernard and find out why the ghost still haunts the bridge till this day and whether or not he wants out this time! Join Us: October 28, 2023 6:00pm The Sarto Iron Bridge 8554 Highway 451 Moreauville, LA 71355 Featuring: Martin Entertainment with "The Undertaker" Hearse! $5.00 Per Person CASH ONLY Bring Your Own Chair NO ALCHOHOL Check Out: Abandoned Louisiana: ...

 New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs (Press Release) The New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science (NMMNHS) will soon be unveiling a new exhibit showcasing New Mexico’s oldest lifeforms in a brand-new way. Starting later this week, the museum’s Origins Hall will close as part of a comprehensive re-imagining of the exhibit space. The new hall will feature hundreds of never-before-seen fossils from NMMNHS’s Research Collections and be the largest exhibition of its kind in the Southwest. The coming hall, titled Ancient Life, is the first renovation of this exhibit space since 1987, just a year after the museum opened to the public. “Across our 15 museums and historic sites, our focus is making sure our exhibits stay relevant, current, and engaging for all New Mexicans,” said New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs Cabinet Secretary Debra Garcia y Griego. “We’re thrilled that the $800,000 that the Department of Cultural Affairs has been able to secure for this upgrade ...

 I just learned of this great classic horror movie themed event happening here in Alexandria this weekend! Being a huge fan of both the classic Universal Monster Films of the 30s and 40s and classic movie advertising art this event is right up my alley.  From the press release: The spotlight is set, the curtains are about to rise, and the spirits of Hollywood's golden era are ready to make an appearance! Yes, you guessed it! The Annual Van Gogh Gala, Central Louisiana’s most awaited Halloween-themed event, is making its grand return on October 28th, 2023, at River Oaks Square Arts Center. With the tantalizing theme of ‘Haunted Hollywood: A Spectral Tour of Filmland’, this year’s gala promises to be nothing short of spectacular. In our best movie trailer voice: “Dive into an eerie fusion of art and cinema, where guests will traverse the echoing corridors of old Hollywood mansions, meet the phantoms of films long past, and be immersed in a world where classic silver screen glamo...

DAYLIGHT SPECIAL - Ready To Run Electric Train Set - HO Scale. There are few trains more evocative of the golden era of railroading than the Southern Pacific™ Daylight. Displaying vibrant tones of orange, white, and red, evoking a Pacific Coast sunset, the Daylight streamliners operated express services between Los Angeles and San Francisco, while locomotives carrying the same scheme could be found across Southern Pacific™ rails, from Portland, Oregon, to New Orleans, Louisiana. With the Daylight Special set, you can relive the glorious era of western streamlined steam in HO scale. Features Include; Southern Pacific™ GS-4 4-8-4 steam locomotive with smoke and operating headlight, 72’ smooth-side baggage car, 85’ smooth-side coach with interior lighting, 85’ smooth-side observation car with interior lighting, 81” x 45” oval of snap-fit E-Z Track, power pack and speed controller, illustrated instruction manual. $333.92 @ Amazon.com - Order Here Complete Ready To Run Passenger Train Set P...

 I've been busy over the last couple of weeks taking random photos with my phone. I believe that I have been able to capture some beautiful and peaceful landscapes here in central Louisiana.  The first of my photos were taken at sunrise at the England Air Park in Alexandria.  My second set of photographs were taken around Bayou Boeuf and what remains of the old Campbellite Church (erected in 1840) in Cheneyville.  My last set of photos were taken on a rainy afternoon along the banks of Bayou Boeuf in an area that once was the small town of Meeker just south of Lecompte. I hope that these images bring you some peace before starting another work week. Cheers. Check Out: Abandoned Louisiana: Cheneyville The fate of towns like Cheneyville was written on the wall when the new Interstate Highway 49 was built just to the west. Just like when Interstate 40 was built in the west, the towns along the famous Route 66 simply dried up due to the lack of traffic. Cheneyville ...