..on prytania street in new orleans last night... ....the brothers three in new orleans, a dive on prytania street that you have to be buzzed in and they reserve the right not buzz. spoke to a prophet in a there last night his name was chuck he was born in sasquatchiwan oh boy thats bad spelling. well he and a few of his buddies were all that inhabited this place. we took the pool table at the back and quietly enough set to a friendly game of stick. nothing happened till my blonde friend went to bar and asked for some new beers she was quickly noticed and questioned..."life is what you make it". rang over the room like irony's own voice. my friend returned unscathed and with a few new pals at the bar. one of which eventually made his way back to us as we had stopped playing pool now and were sitting in full discussion of something or nothing or most likely both. he roughly worked his way into our conversation sphere and we opened out to meet him. it took him by such surprise that two humans would that easily open up a meeting of two into a meeting of three. stranger he is used to friend he was not. but he gave in to it and quickly we were all three away on an adventure of three spirits communicating in public places. he talked a lot about god and crossed himself continually told us he was in vietnam, twice, both times voluntarily after that he became a merchant marine and traveled the world working as a chef on ship but now he has seizures so he has retired and takes his pennies from the government that he served for two very important and life changing years of his life. now he spends time in his bar( he is one of the three brothers) and speaks to whomever he pleases. actually he asked if we minded that he had interrupted our conversation and we of course said no we knew he was there because he was supposed to be. that really sent him he told us about his religion and taught us his sacred way to cross himself . he spoke of his father "god rest his soul" and what a good man he was and chucks blue eyes filled with water as he spoke "sorry" he said. he bought our next four or five rounds and kept repeating certain things again and again. they were things that he told us openly and matter-of-factly that he had been sent to tell us. first that "life is what you make it." that was his fight song. his ultimate bitching bluff call which he has lived by since april 26th 1947.and he planned on living a lot more. he continually stopped, crossed himself, looked up and smiled his thankful look. he actually would have made a pretty good tv preacher...the biker version. the next of his messages he mixed in throughout the conversation he said it repeatedly to me and looked into my eyes as if he was watching the message until it disappeared in the dark tunnel of my pupils. "waste not, want not". simple enough but it was about this time that the messages started looking like truth, chuck had said there were two things he didn't do- lie or steal- and then demonstrated how his two fingers he was holding high made a peace sign and another sign when it was turned the other way around like the english archers sign to piss off the french. "the truth is the truth and a lie is a lie, i know" he said "i know" continually "and do you know why i know? cause i been there",  and that lead into his third mantra "you wont know until you been there." after he would pause and say," and i know, i know." he sounds brilliantly egotistical and he was in a way, but at the same time there was someone speaking through him...remember, the best magic we do, we don't even know we do it. "let not thy right hand know..." we closed the bar. chuck shook our hands on the way out like a preacher and said "i do hope you two will come back" and we might... but... sometimes magic is best off just left as magic... thankfully,