Mind of Bert

Music that makes you dumb!

2009-03-07T00:13:00.006-05:00

Hello Fellow Bloggers...

My brother in law showed me this article today in which a college student in california mapped out chart showing the SAT scores of a bunch of college students. Now the interesting thing is that when interviewing the students he also asked them what kind Musical artist(s) or band they enjoyed listening to the most. According to the chart, the "smartest" students liked listening to Beethoven while the "dumbest" students listened to Lil' Wayne. It was awesome to see that among the "smartest" alternative bands was my Radiohead! (woot woot). Read the entire article here.

There are quite a few bands on this chart, I enjoy (some I'm not particularly proud of) but overall I guess I could consider myself a pretty smart music listener.

Does intelligence choose the band? Or does music define how smart we become? Where do your favorite bands appear? Do you think that music can make you dumb? Does rap rot your brain?

Working hard at hardly working!

2009-02-16T22:43:00.011-05:00

Hello Fellow Bloggers...

Well, today was presidents day and my job thought it would be a nice idea to be open all day as our way to stick it to the competition. Needless to say, it was absolutely dead all day. I was so bored that in an attempt to keep myself busy for a while, I decided to hijack my co-workers phone and pimp it up a little.

The funny thing is that it actually started vibrating right after I put it back!

Stylin - Stage 4

2009-02-16T00:28:00.002-05:00

Hello Fellow Bloggers...

Saturday I did something I have been dreading for a while now. I went and cut my hair. I now look kinda like the banner at the top of this blog again. You see, for those of you who don't know, I work at a bank and apparently the bosses don't like the idea of a banker with crazy hair. I wasn't forced to cut my hair but decided to just go ahead and do it on my own because, well I appreciate having a job...especially in these times! While I have received a bunch of compliments, I liked having long hair. I didn't grow my hair out to please others. I did it because I liked how it looked and I would be lying if I didn't say that I miss it already. It's the end of an era!

Goodbye old friend...or should I say friends!

I LOVE MY CHURCH!

2009-01-26T00:58:00.005-05:00

Hello Fellow Bloggers...

I am what you would call pretty passionate volunteer at my church and though I like having my weekends off every now and then, I have no problem serving every weekend. However, this past weekend, I happened to be off and I am still kicking myself in the butt for only experiencing the service once all weekend.

Immediately upon parking my car and walking up to the building, I saw a bunch of these signs all over the lawn. I thought to myself, "Oh man! this is gonna be interesting". I WAS NOT WRONG!

I won't go into too much detail of what went down but all I can say is that this was hands down one of the most memorable services I have been too. We kicked off a new series called "24" (Yup just like the TV show) and the service included some pretty surprising elements including but not limited too:

Dr. Evil (along with some other bad bad guys)
Some pretty crazy stunts (with no stunt doubles)
Dynamite
Explosions

I am not going to tell you what happened. Instead, I am going to wait for the video and show you all that. Ponder on these in the mean time.

Lost Party!

2009-01-22T22:23:00.003-05:00

Hello Fellow Bloggers...

Last night I, along with a plethora of other LOST fanatics got together to watch the season premier of LOST season 5. This is about the 3rd or 4th time we do this. I absolutely love these parties and every single one ends up being even better than the last! We usually get together to watch the premiers and the finales and this was the first time we actually made it a costume party. Hats off to the Garcia's for throwing a great party. We had almost every LOST character imaginable present from Daniel Faraday and Kate to Sayid and Mikhail. We even had a polar bear (the same one from the atm machine below). I was the black smoke monster. We even had the honor of having a Dharma doctor there. You can read his account of the night here. This photo comes to you courtesy of him.

Why oh Why?

2009-01-22T01:39:00.004-05:00

Hello Fellow Bloggers...

It is 1:40am and I am about to head off to bed after a long but super fun day but I thought I would leave you with these for now.

Most of you may know exactly what the meaning behind these photos are, where as some of you may be totally perplexed as to why there is a giant cotton ball at an atm and what looks like a burnt up oompa loompa standing in shock. You will know tomorrow.

Good Night and Namaste!

Random thoughts and Re-caps

2009-01-20T14:04:00.005-05:00

Hello fellow Bloggers...

Consider this my mind dump from the last 2 months. It's a big one so brace yourselves.

I am at my lowest weight so far. 205 to be exact. I put on some over the holidays and have gotten rid of it already and even a little more. Woot Woot!
I GOT AN IPHONE!!! and I absolutely love it. I really don't know how I have gone without it for so long. I just don't understand how it performs the most complex of tasks but cannot do simple things like multimedia messaging. It's ok though. It still beats a blackberry anyday. Thanks Mr. Jobs!
Hillsong United is coming back to the U.S. in April and they are coming to Miami! I already have my ticket thanks my awesome sister and brother in law. That was probably the best christmas gift they have ever given me!
I am officially 22. Life is good on the second floor.
I have always wanted to love in Nashville, Tennessee but recently I have pondered on the idea of living in New York City.
I got a new Car!!! Well not really new but definitely better. I traded in my faithful little corolla for a faster and hotter Scion TC. I always have said that I am not a fast driver but I realize that it was because I drove a slow car. Vroom Vroom!
Did I mention I GOT AN IPHONE!
Football season is just about over. The superbowl is around the corner but I don't really care much for any of the teams playing. The dolphins had a magical season and I am proud of them but I still think we need to replace Chad Pennington (he has no arm). I attended a total of 4 home games, including the playoff game in which we were slaughtered. Go fins!
I love leading people in worship. I can't imagine myself doing anything else!
I am so frikkin excited for tomorrow (you will know why eventually)
This blog totally needs a new look. However, being that I no longer have access to photoshop, I will be updating my blog look as soon as I can aquire a legal version of the software. (Say no to cracks)

That is all...for now!

Here I am!

2009-01-20T12:04:00.004-05:00

Hello Fellow Bloggers...

I hope this post is not written in vain since I half expect most of my readers (if I can call them that) have packed up and left to some other more populized blog. To this I can only say one thing.

I'm Sorry...

I really have no excuse to not blogging except that I didn't feel like it. After closely analyzing it, I realized that blogging is alot like going to the gym (for me at least). This is why.

Phases - Much like the gym, I tend to go through phases in which I might do it very well and consistently for a while and then go through other phases where I don't really care.
Better things to do?? - Much like the gym, blogging isn't something I really get excited about. I enjoy it but I don't stare at the clock at work counting down to when I can go home and blog about my day. I can think of about 37 better things to do of which about 9 of them are actually productive.
I need a push - Much like the gym, sometimes I need someone to push me a little bit. I have a co-worker who calls me at least once a week and says to me, "C'mon Robert, get your fat a$$ off the couch and let's go to the gym" (his words. not mine). And sometimes I call him and make him get off the couch. Just in a nicer way. Likewise, I Sometimes have freinds from church tell me, "hey, how come you haven't blogged lately?". Keep the pushin!
Satisfaction guaranteed - Much like the gym, I always get that satisfied feeling after blogging. I hate having to go the gym but I love that feeling I get when I'm driving home all sweaty and sore.

So consider this my formal apology for my dissapearance. I plan on blogging again. Thanks for sticking around.

The Psalmist!

2008-11-11T02:40:00.001-05:00

Hello Fellow Bloggers...

One of my favorite bible characters is David. He was a killer musician, he wrote amazing songs, he was shepherd and he was a king! I guess you could say I really yearn to be like him!

No cocker spaniels were harmed in the making of this post!

Childhood Memories

2008-11-08T02:21:00.000-05:00

I was watching old home movies the other day when someone told me "wow that looks nothing like you" so what do you think?

Do I look any different?

Project Complete!

2008-10-18T00:13:00.001-04:00

Hello Fellow Bloggers...

Well, I finished fixing up my new bass. Here it is. I will be playing it this weekend at church.

I replaced the pickguard with a black one and changed the volume and tone knobs. I also added some strap locks to secure my strap.

The "Love" sticker was included in a sticker pack I ordered from TWLOHA a while back and I haven't been able to find a good place to put it....until now at least. I think it looks pretty cool. What do you think?

Keep it or lose it?

Greater Things

2008-10-12T22:57:00.000-04:00

Hello Fellow Bloggers...

For the past 5 weeks, we been in a series at my church called "Greater Things". This has pretty much been the most important series we have ever had here as a church. Greater things is our people campaign that will be going on for the next 3 years. God is doing greater things in our lives, the lives of our family and our church and are excited to be part of what's coming. Let me show you what I mean.

Here is another video of a super powerful moment we shared last weekend at CBG.

My new project!

2008-10-06T23:05:00.000-04:00

Hello Fellow Bloggers...

So a friend of mine called me yesterday to tell me he was interested in purchasing one of my guitars (The one in the header on the left). Being that I am not really much of an electric guitar player and my friend has played it more than me, I decided to sell it to him. I immediately thought of a bass I had seen at a pawn shop near my house a few months back. I had fallen in love with it when I saw it but didn't have the money to pay for it. Well now I do so here it is.

For those of you who know about guitars/basses and know me, you know I have been wanting this particular model for quite a while. I do, however, have some work to do on it. It needs some hardware replaced as well as some cleaning up. I really wish MAE was open this late so I wouldn't have to wait for tomorrow to go get the parts. I won't go into details but I'll post the picture of the finished product when I'm done. Peace for now!

P.S.

GO TENNESSEE AND GO FINS!

My College Pick!

2008-09-27T10:48:00.001-04:00

Hello Fellow Bloggers...

So here it is. My 0fficial college football team is... Sorry it took me so long to post.

(Cue drum roll)

Ok so I picked the Tennessee Vols a few weeks ago. Why you ask? well here it is.

I am in love with the state of Tennessee and still have hopes of one day living there (particularly in Nashville).
My friend Heather, knowing I have a strange love for Tennessee, gave me a Vols sticker a few months back after a trip she took to Tennessee. I put the sticker on my Guitar Case and ever since then I have had alot of people ask me if I am a Vols fan. I just say "No I just really like Nashville". Well now I am a Vols fan. Be proud Heather!
One of my favorite NFL quarterbacks, Peyton Manning who currently plays for the Indianapolis Colts used to play for Tennessee.

GO TEAM!

2008-09-24T08:03:00.000-04:00

Hello Fellow Bloggers...

I am so excited that football season is finally here. I have always been a fan of football but never really got into it until a few years ago when my friend Miguel got me into really following the season. I've been hooked ever since. Last season I was able to make it to 2 dolphins and hopefully this year I will be able to go to more. Here are my top 5 the teams.

Miami Dolphins

Philadelphia Eagles

Seattle Seahawks

Indianapolis Colts

New York Giants

Now when it comes to college football, I have never really been a fan. One of my friends told me, "Just pick a team and root for them". Seems easy enough so I picked one. I won't tell you who though. I will reveal that tomorrow. Stay tuned!

Fighting!

2008-09-20T23:40:00.000-04:00

Hello Fellow Bloggers...

I have spent all this week fighting and fighting a cold. It hit me right on Sunday morning last week and hasn't left ever since. I have taken tons of medicine, fruit, liquids, vitamins and it has not gone away. Today it finally seemed to settle down a bit. However, this weekend is the first weekend I play acoustic guitar and lead a song at my church in the main service. I have been pretty excited yet worried that I worried I wouldn't be able to sing due to my sore throat. Well, I made it through today but I cannot talk anymore and my throat is once again killing me. As I write this I am drinking fresh squeezed lime juice and honey to help soothe my throat. All I can do now is go to sleep, pray, and hope that I'll wake up with a voice. Goodnight Blog world!

Back from Vacation!

2008-09-16T01:03:00.000-04:00

Hello Fellow Bloggers...

Well, unfortunately my vacation time is officially over. I spent 4 days in Ocala, Fl with my dad and a few days relaxing at home. At Ocala, I pretty much did nothing but sleep, eat, watch tv, surf the net, sleep some more, eat some more and sleep even more. It wasn't like your typical vacation where you go to a million places and are always out. I relaxed so much and am now nice and refreshed and am ready to back to work. It was my dad's birthday on the 11th (I know...what a day right?) and we spent it fishing. Fishing has been something my dad and I have loved doing ever since I was a little kid. And since I was little, I always catch more fish than my dad! We didn't catch any this time but still had a good time. Here are a few photos of my vacation.

Back to Work!

Lots to do!

2008-09-09T23:44:00.000-04:00

Hello Fellow Bloggers...

As many of you know, I am currently in Ocala, Florida visiting my dad for the week. His birthday is this week, So I thought I would spend the week with him. For those of you who don't know where Ocala is, it's about an hour and a half north of Orlando.

The bad thing about Ocala is that there is nothing to do but eat, sleep, watch tv and surf the net.
The good thing about Ocala is that there is nothing to do but eat, sleep, watch tv and surf the net.

I always look forward to coming to Ocala because it gives me a chance to relax and do nothing!

Today, however, I discovered one more thing to do in this small town.

Oh yea and there's also fishing. We're doing that on Thursday!

Follow me!

2008-09-09T16:32:00.001-04:00

Hello Fellow Bloggers...

Today I discovered a pretty cool widget to add to my sidebar. It's my follower widget. According to my sources at google, I have 11 subscribers to this blog and I have no idea who they are. So, if you are a reader of "Mind of Bert", then do me a favor and add yourself to my follower list on the left sidebar.

Take that worpress!

Anyone like Impressions?

2008-09-04T01:56:00.000-04:00

Hello Fellow Bloggers...

Well, today I did something new. I went to the Audiologist (that's fun to say) to get impressions of my ear canal. Why you ask? I have finally decided to order my first pair of custom fit IEM's or IN EAR MONITORS. Recently, I have been finding myself using in ears alot, especially at church. Now custom molded EIM's generally can run anywhere between $400.00 - $1200.00 so it's not really something I have been able to do, however, last time Anthony Evans led worship with us, he told me about some that he uses. They are much more affordable and according to the reviews I have read, they sound and feel great. Getting the impressions done felt wierd to say the least. It was like someone shoved play dough into my ears and I couldn't hear a peep for 5 minutes until it hardened. I absolutely cannot wait to get them in. I'll let yall know when they come in.

Did I really just use the word yall???

...Aaaannndd I'm back!

2008-09-02T01:34:00.000-04:00

Hello Fellow Bloggers...Thanks for sticking around!

As you've probably noticed, I have not blogged in exactly one month. I was planning on doing so a few weeks back but instead decided to not blog for a month. So here I am!

Here are a few of the things I have been holding in.

1. I am still in shock about the Michael Guglielmucci Healer Scandal. I first heard about it from this blog. This sucks to say the least but I still believe this is a powerful song and has so much power to transform lives. Guglielmucci has released a statement recently. Read it he re.

2. I FINALLY HAD MY GRADUATION.

3. My music sight is officially up. Check it out here. I am still working on it so be patient.

4. September 25th. Enough said there.

Made with bits of real panther so you know it's good!

2008-08-02T11:50:00.001-04:00

Those of you who enjoyed the movie "Anchorman" are probably the only ones who will appreciate this find!

Random Thoughts and Re-caps

2008-07-28T22:56:00.001-04:00

Hello Fellow Bloggers...

It was a great weekend at church. I have been off for the last 2 weeks and really was missing leading worship with my fellow CBGers.
I am playing bass the next few weekends and I can't frikkin wait! (I don't play bass much)
I returned my new bass. I absolutely loved how it looked and sounded but I couldn't handle the weight. WAY TOO HEAVY!
I love student ministry.
I need to find a better job. (Preferably in the area of music)
Twitter is spreading like crazy. In fact, my church just wrapped up a series called twitter. Check it out here
My diet is going slowly but going good. Check sidebar for details.
Being done with school is such a good feeling. My graduation is gonna be at the end of next month...then comes the party
I don't see what the big deal was with "Dark Night". I watched it and it was a great movie but definitely not "THE BEST MOVIE I HAVE EVER SEEN" like people said it would be.
This band is awesome.
I am toally hooked on this restaurant.
I won't be able to go to this year's Hillsong United Conference after all. I couldn't get enough money together and I couldn't get anyone to go with me but it's cool though. God has his reasons!
Switchfoot is coming back along with some other really cool bands!

What I do on Wednesday Nights!

2008-07-24T01:07:00.001-04:00

Don't worry, I shaved and cut my hair shortly after

making this video

"Locos"

2008-07-20T02:18:00.000-04:00

Hello Fellow Bloggers...

Well, it's about 1:30am, I just took a shower and am about ready to hit the sack. I am dead tired. Today I got a really cool opportunity to help out my brother in law, Carlos with a gig he had today. You see Carlos is the sound engineer for a local latin/funk/reggae/cumbia band called "Locos por Juana". He goes everywhere with them. He has been to Virginia, New York, L.A. and many other places. Thankfully, I get to help him out sometimes when he has local events with the band and today they had an showcase event at the Seminole Hard Rock. The band is signed with Universal and it was a private event with about 5 really good bands. Actually this was the first time a Latin band is invited to play at this type of showcase event for Universal so it really was awesome to be able to be there. It wasn't too long of a set and I got to mix the last 2 songs (see video below). For the most part, however, I served as guitar/bass tech and helped with set up.

"Locos por Juana" has gained popularity really quickly and they have worked hard to earn it. They are featured artists on MySpace Latino, have been featured on MTV TRES and were even nominated for a latin grammy last year.

check them out here

Me Mixing

Here is the Rig we used

Check it out!

2008-07-15T00:01:00.000-04:00

Hello Fellow Bloggers...

I got this yesterday

Woot Woot!

Follow them here

I Caved!

2008-07-10T02:06:00.001-04:00

Hello Fellow Bloggers...

Sorry I have been gone for so long. I hope there is still someone alive out there in mindofbert land!

So I finally did it and I caved and bought the bass I have been wanting. Check it out.

It is a Fender Mike Dirnt Precision Bass!

For those who don't know, Mike Dirnt is the Bassist for Green Day. If you don't know who Green Day is then I can't help you. Now I am not even a little bit of a Green Day Fan or much less a Mike Dirnt fan and I have seen this bass many times but didn't really fall in love with it until I saw Deon Rexroat playing it. Deon is the bassist for a band called Anberlin who I absolutely love! I researched it, played it and it sounded even sweeter than it looked. It has been on my wish list for quite a while now but I couldn't resist any longer. Fortunately I had some money left over from my stimulus check (Thanks George Bush...I think). So I called up my good friend Jeffrey D. and he hooked it up. Thanks man!

I have this poster hanging in my room. My friend Martin gave it to me a while back. He said he got it because it had the bassist I love, the Bass I love, the band I love and it advertises an organization I love

Heredes insists it needs an Heredes.com sticker....ummm we'll talk later, H!

Reason to love a mac #3497

2008-06-29T02:23:00.000-04:00

HFB...

I just found this really old picture while attempting to clean up my documents folder.

Planting a Seed

2008-06-26T01:02:00.000-04:00

Hello Fellow Bloggers...

I usually don't post sappy or inspirational posts like this but I have to tell you guys about something pretty frikkin awesome I experienced recently. I know this quite a long post but I am sure you won't be disappointed. Trust me!

Let me start from the beginning

Back when I was in high school, during my Junior year, there was a girl who sat behind me in my Geometry Class (yea I was pretty bad at math). I won't disclose names so we will just call her Regina. Anyways, as I got to know Regina, I felt the strange need to talk to her about Jesus. It was one of those things where you don't know why but you just feel the need to do it. So I spent alot of time talking to her about God, Jesus, Death, Heaven and other topics. Now at the time I was attending my old hispanic church but would go to FRC every now and then on Saturday nights and First Wednesdays. One day I finally told her, hey you should come to church with me and my sister. I explained to her how I attended a hispanic church but I knew about a great American church she would enjoy. Well, needless to say, she quickly shot me down (not the first time I get shot down by a girl). She said she didn't really feel the need to go to church and thanked me anyways. I told her the offer was always on the table.

Progress

As time passed I continued to keep her in prayer and knew that God wasn't done with her. That same year, "The Passion of the Christ" came out in movie theaters and everyone and their mother had gone to see it. So one day in geometry class, Regina approached me and said what I had been wanting to hear for a while. She said, "hey Robert, I went to go see Passion of the Christ this weekend and I cried like a baby" I was like yea ok so did everyone else. She then said, "I want to go to church!" I was like WHAAAAT! I was so happy I couldn't believe it. So I told my sister about it and my sister took her to church. My sister was attending Calvary Chapel at the time and decided to take her there. All in all they went to church once together had a cup of coffee and pretty much never saw each other again. Unfortunately, we kinda lost contact once we went on to our Senior year and eventually graduated.

Here's where it gets good

Now I would be lying if I said that I constantly thought about and prayed for her after high school. To be quite honest, I just figured it to be like most of my high school friends that I would never see again. Every now and then I would think, "I wonder how Regina is doing" but that's it. Now about a week after Easter, I was going through my usual blogs on my RSS reader when I found a particular video on someone's blog. The Video was an Easter Recap from FRC. So I was watching the video when suddenly who do you know shows up on the video?

THE ONE AND ONLY REGINA!

She talked about how it was the best Easter she had experienced because she gave her life to Jesus. Ok, now I must say that if it wasn't for me using my sister's laptop at the time I probably would have thrown it across the room and started jumping for joy. I immediately called out for my sister to come watch the video. She too was in awe and we both had chills. We were ecstatic at the fact that the person we were trying bring to Christ in high school not only went to church again, but she went to the church I was constantly inviting her to, and got saved there.

It gets even better!

During the next 2 weeks, I was praying hard for God to let me bump in to her somewhere or somehow. I wanted to see if she was kept going to church and congratulate her on her new birth. I spent hours looking her up on myspace and had no luck. I had pretty much given up. One day I went to the gym on a Tuesday night as usual and as I was getting off the treadmill, who do you think I spot on the treadmill behind me?

THE ONE AND ONLY REGINA!

She didn't recognize me at first(thinner, long hair, beard, ears pierced, and glasses....who could blame her?) but once I waved she recognized me. I couldn't believe I finally found her. Seriously people, I have bumped into maybe 10 people since I graduated 3 years ago. She told me she lives in Miramar and is never in my neighborhood but came to that gym because her sister had invited her (If that's not a God thing, I dunno what is).

Ok so here's where it gets crazy

We got to talking and I asked her if she was still going to church. What she answered almost floored me. She said she was still going to church and was now officially on staff. HUH!!! "excuse me did you just say staff?" I couldn't believe it! She explained to me how she was volunteering in the pre-school ministry at FRC's Hallandale Campus. She said she has been learning and growing alot at FRC and that God has blessed her big time. She said that they decided her to offer her a official position the pre-school director at Hallandale.

Almost Done!

Words cannot describe how it feels to see that the girl God was tugging me to talk to about him not only ended up getting saved at the very church that I had been inviting her too but was on staff and was now impacting lives herself. She told me that she had been thinking about my sister and I alot lately and wanted to thank us for what we did back in high school. It just goes to show you that even when you might not see the fruits of what you sew immediately, God is working as long as you obey and plant the seed!

- being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

Philippians 1:6 (New International Version)

Finally!

2008-06-22T01:07:00.000-04:00

Hello Fellow Bloggers...

This week, I received a letter I have been waiting for for almost 2 years now!

18 months of hard work, long nights and lots of prayer have finally paid off! THANK YOU JESUS!

My graduation won't be until August!

Random Thoughts and Re-Caps

2008-06-17T01:25:00.000-04:00

Hello Fellow Bloggers...

Here is what is on my mind lately

I am down to 225lbs. Someone told me that when I don't blog about my weight they just assume I am not doing good. Well Booyah! Slowly but surely.
I miss LOST and The Office
I love my church
I can't wait till the Hillsong United Conference
Everyday I literally day dream about the day I work full time doing music.
At church this weekend, I was sitting in on one of the services when I leaned over and told my sister that the guy in front of us looked like Ed Young. Well, it turned out it was him. Nice guy too!
An Ostrich's brain is smaller than one of its eyeballs (I just thought that was interesting)
I finally got my Stimulus Check (Woo Hoo)
Ever since I switched back to Tiger, Guitar Hero III won't run on my laptop anymore. (GRRRRR)
I need a new phone. Preferably an iphone (More details in future post)
Thanks to Stacie, SCL has now become one of my favorite Blogs.
I am finally happy with my hair. I get at least one customer a day at my job that compliments me on my hair. An old guy told me I should invest in a comb and a girl from my youth group asked if she could touch it (Weird!).
If I could be like anyone in the Bible, it would be David because of his song writing skills (Better than Bono). He also had wicked Bowstaff skills. Or was that a slingshot?
Youtube is addictive.
Some people still need to read my Twitter Rant (and no I wasn't mad)

That is all

My first LOST Discovery!

2008-06-06T19:49:00.000-04:00

Hello Fellow Bloggers...

//DISCLAIMER//

If you have not seen the season 4 finale of LOST, then disregard the following post. Mindofbert.com and it's affiliates will not be held responsible for spoiled episodes or emotional distress caused from reading this post. Furthermore, if you do not watch LOST and do not even care about the show than continue reading post.

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED! (ipastor)

As many of you know, LOST is quite an exciting show that has crazy twists and turns. Every now and then there are little details in the episodes that most people don't catch until you re-watch the episode or slow it down (Like the writing on Charlie's hand in the beginning of season 4). Well, ladies and gentlemen, I am proud to say that I have finally discovered one on my own. Now don't get me wrong, I'm sure many other people have discovered this. But no one I know!!

In the season 4 finale, as you all remember Martin Keamy straps a heart rate monitor to his arm which is linked to a C4 Bomb on board the freighter. Now, while we were watching the episode a few weeks back at Carlos' house and Martin first flashes his "heart rate monitor" I immediately yelled out, "Hey that looks like a guitar tuner!" The only one that seemed to agree with me at the time was Yoel (And they wonder why bassists are so smart). Well a few days back I was re-watching the finale and when I saw the "heart rate monitor" I remembered that it looked like the tuner so I paused it and examined it. The guitar tuner it reminded me of was a Korg Guitar/Bass tuner that I happen to own. After carefully comparing the two I discovered that I was wrong. The item on Martin Keamy's arm was not a Korg Guitar Tuner. It was actually a Korg Metronome. That's right people, the Genius prop artists for LOST decided to use a $30.00 Cheap metronome that you can find at any music store, painted it gray, added some designs and a flashing green light and VOILA you have just made yourself a C4 detonator/Heart rate monitor. Seriously though look at the two pictures very carefully and you will see that they are literally identical. The buttons, the screen, the arch on the side, and even the moving needle are exactly alike.

So there you have it folks. I have discovered my first LOST hidden detail. Now I don't think this detail will help us or give us any clues (e.g. Martin bought it at a guitar center in L.A. where Charlie happened be to working at the time as a guitar salesman) but still I thought it was pretty cool.

My Twiiter Anal-ness!

2008-06-03T19:40:00.001-04:00

Hello Fellow Bloggers...

For those of you who don't know what Twitter is, it is s a free social networking and micro-blogging service that allows users to send "updates"or "tweets" answering the question, "What are you doing". I have been a twitter user for almost a year now thanks to Miguel and although I am not the most frequent twitterer, I try to always twitter correctly. Now when I say, "twitter correctly" I mean that I try to answer the question "What are you doin". This is why twitter is called a micro-blog.

Here is the statement found on twitter's home page.

Now, I am not to picky about how people twitter but there are 3 types of twitterers that annoy me:

1. The Shadow Twitterer - This is the twitterer who feels the need to update the world on every move they make.

For Example:

10:00am - Entering my car
10:02am - Driving
10:26am - Exiting my car
10:28am - Walking through front door

2. The ichat Twitterer - This refers to the twitterers who decide to use twitter as their new instant messaging application. Seriously people, text messages and IM' are much more effective than this. And if making your conversation public is what you want, just send an email.

3. The "Huh?" Twitterer - This is the twitterer who chooses to answer someone else's tweet with one word like "Turkey", or "Superman". Whenever I see these types of tweets I am forced to scroll down to all my other friends' tweets to see what the heck they are talking about. Then I find another twitterer's tweet saying "Wondering what I should have for lunch" or "Wondering what a good movie to rent might be". I ain't a psychic!

Here is an example of how not to tweet:

John: Does anybody know what's good playing at movies?
Amy: Ironman
John: @amy Thanks

Here is an example of how to have the same dialogue in twitter language:

John: Wondering what good movie is playing at the movies
Amy: Thinking John would enjoy Ironman
John: Watching Ironman thanks to Amy's recommendation

Ok so there you have it. That is my twitter rant! Hopefully this helps. If there are still some of you out there saying, "what's this guy talking about. That's just his opinion" Here is a video directly from Twitter.com. And if you don't have twitter and are a blogger, look into it. You might just like it.

I sang on a Hillsong United Album!

2008-05-29T09:58:00.000-04:00

Hello Fellow Bloggers...

Last week, I finally went and bought the new Hillsong United Album entitled "The I heart Revolution: With hearts as one" The album was inspired by the I heart revolution movement and is a complilation of songs recorded all around the world. I have had this CD for about 5 days now and I can't get enough of it. The beauty of this album is that unlike their previous "live" albums this one is truly raw and live. No overdubs, no mixing whatsoever (not as clean sounding). This album has alot more crowd participation and also has some talking. Basically it is the closest one can get to experiencing hillsong united worship in person. Listening to this Album made me feel like I was at the conference again and it got me even more excited about this year's conference.

As I mentioned earlier, the album has songs recorded all over the world inluding 2 songs recorded at last years Hillsong United Conference in Orlando I attended. The songs are "Mighty to save" and "More than Life". In mighty to save there is a part about a minute into the song where Reuben Morgan backs away from the mic. and the crowd sings the chorus "Saviour, he can move the mountains. My God is Mighty to save, he is mighty to save". So there you have it folks. I have officialy sung on a hillsong United Album. I can't wait for the DVD to come out.

Seriously....if you haven't checked out this album, you must. It also features the musical stylings of Olivia, Miguel, Gerson, Pepe, Ian, Rebecca, Carolina, Pamela, Danny and Willy...among others.

Weekend Re-Cap

2008-05-26T22:07:00.001-04:00

Hello Fellow Bloggers...

This weekend was a pretty cool one. We had 2 special quest singers come lead worship with us. Anthony Evans and Melissa Greene (from multi Dove Award winning group, Avalon). Worship was absolutely awesome. Anthony and Melissa have some powerful voices. At one point I think I heard my glasses crack. This was the third time Anthony Evans comes to worship with us and we love it when he comes. I played piano this weekend and I was hitting the keys so hard that my fingers are still hurting today. I am very excited I will be playing bass next weekend. Here was our set list:

Go Big Offering!

2008-05-24T09:35:00.000-04:00

Hello Fellow Bloggers...

This year on Mothers' Day, my church decided to do something a little different and even a little risky. My pastor felt that God wanted him to talk on the subject of generosity, giving, and the big eye roller: MONEY!! Now I know what your thinking, why the heck would a church talk about money on one of the biggest days of the year. I mean this was the weekend when a lot of people brought loved ones for the first time and for some people, it was the very first time they stepped foot in a church. Well, needless to say, pastor Dave spent the first 20 minutes of the teaching ticking people off. He talked about the importance of giving, and generosity and he talked about how most of us are already rich even though we fail to notice it. Towards the end of the teaching he announced that everyone was going to parcipate in an offering (and he meant EVERYONE). He called the ushers to the front and they passed the plate. Now here is where the twist comes in. Rather than have everyone put something in the plate, he had each person take an envelope from the plate. Church by the glades did what was called a "Reverse Offering". In each envelope, there were different amounts of cash. Some envelopes had 5's, some had 10's, there were 20's, 50's, 100's and there were even a few envelopes that contained 1000 dollars in cash. After 20 minutes of ticking people off, they gave out money to the congregation (40,000 dollars to be exact). Now why would they do this you ask. Well, the purpose of the Reverse offering was to jump start the act of generosity in people's lives so that they can experience the joy and blessing God brings to our lives when we give. Now there were a few rules each person was asked to follow regarding the envelopes. They were the following:

You must not open the envelope until you leave church grounds (in your car, at home, etc. )
You cannot tell anyone about the Reverse Offering or that Church is giving away money.
You MUST use the money to bless someone else's life. (e.g. pay someone's rent who can't, or buy someone groceries, etc.)
You cannot keep the money.
You must tell us what you did with the money!
You can only come to one service.

The church created a website called mygobigstory.com where people can post what they did with the money. The stories I have read have been absolutley amazing and I am so proud of what CBG has done. Alot of lives have been touched due to this and after 2 weeks since mothers' day, people are still posting stories. Check them out here. You can also hear the teaching here.

Weighing in...

2008-05-20T02:26:00.001-04:00

Hello Fellow Bloggers...

Well, it has been quite a while since I blog on the topic that is my weight. I owe you all a sincere apology for not keeping to what I vowed to do. It all started when I had my rude awakening from school. I stopped going to the gym due to the fact that I was in school 24/7. I told myself I would continue to eat healthy but who was I kidding. The holidays rolled along and not only did I put on the 10 pounds I had lost but I also put on an additional 8 pounds. By January, I was weighing in at 248lbs. (Talk about taking 1 step forward and 2 steps back). Well, I worked hard on trying to get back to my previous success. I am currently weighing in at 227lbs. (my lowest weight since I started my weight loss journey...cue the woot woots). It's been a few weeks now since I dropped the "holiday weight" and I figured that before I continue, I should check in with my accountability partners which are you readers. I have found that the best way to keep myself disciplined is by keeping myself accountable to you guys. Now I won't be posting every week like I was before but I will still keep you all updated whenever I can. Here is my weight re-cap:

Starting Weight: 240

Goal Weight: 190

Current Weight: 227

Weekly Plan:

Monday: Eat Right - Gym
Tuesday: Eat Right - Football
Wednesday: Eat Right - Gym
Thursday: Eat Right - Football...and then watch LOST!
Friday: Eat Right
Saturday: Eat Right
Sunday: WHAT DIET?

I found that the thing that has made me lose the weight the most is staying active by either playing football or going to the gym. I am also drinking tons of water.

Ok...so there it is. I will have my weight tracker posted on the sidebar on the left again. Thanks for all the support and if anyone wants to join along in the journey please by all means JOIN!

Birthday Wishes

2008-05-16T18:01:00.000-04:00

Hello Fellow Bloggers...

Well, I am very happy to announce that today, May 16th is my dearest annoying big sister's 24th birthday. She has always been there for me and it seems like the older we get, the closer we become! She really is the coolest sister I could ask for. She also happens to be modest so I took the liberty of hacking her blog and posting a birthday post so be sure to stop by and drop a happy birthday comment!

Narnia Review/Music Recommendation

2008-05-15T23:36:00.001-04:00

Hello Fellow Bloggers...

Last night, I went to go see The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. A customer from work gave me and some other co-workers some tickets to an early premiere of the film. My opinion was this:

Overall Great movie
Has quite a bit of killing to be a PG kids film
good message
A bit long
Good sequel but not as good as the first.

My friend disagreed and thought it was better than the first. Lemme know what you all think when you watch it (you know you want to).

After the movie, we sat in the theater and watched the credits (just like those old people that wait for everybody to leave and then go). As we were reading the credits (which I never do), a really cool song started playing. The voice sounded really familiar and I got it within about 3 seconds. It was Jon Foreman from Switchfoot. I remember a friend telling me a while back that they made a song for the movie but I totally forgot. You can check out the song here. Switchfoot also just performed the song on Leno Tuesday night. Enjoy!

Stylin - Stage 3

2008-05-11T21:25:00.000-04:00

Hello Fellow Bloggers...

Well, I did something a little crazy today. That's right, I pierced my ears! I have wanted to do it for a while but have never had the guts to go through with it. It started on saturday when I went to go get a haircut. My friend Cristian has been telling me about how awesome his hair stylist is and that if I want that hillsong untited look, I have to go to him. So I finally decided to give it a shot. I must admit that at first, I was kinda not loving the new hair because it was much shorter than before and it's taken me a while to get it that long. But once I messed around with it, I actually started liking it alot. Anyways, my sister saw it and said that's cool, all you need now is the ear piercings. I went to a place that night but they told me that I had to have these ugly giant hoops in for 6 weeks until it heals. I didn't wanna wear hoops because I don't like how it looks and I don't think my job would be too crazy with it. So I left a little disappointed. Today, I was walking around sawgrass mall with my family when one of my cousins said, hey why don't you see what they tell you at claire's. Ok so, I am going to have too give up my man card here and confess that I did go into Claire's. I asked them about it and they told me they could do the piercings and just put small studs for 4 weeks. Long story short...I did it. It wasn't really that painful (just an after-sting). I know this is kind of a controversial thing and not too many people are gonna like it but hey I did. Lemme know what you think. Don't worry, I can take it. By the way, I will just have these studs in until my ears heal and I could wear the ones I want.

Before the haircut

The piercing

Aftermath

Radiohead Recap continued...

2008-05-11T01:35:00.001-04:00

Hello Fellow Bloggers...

Ok I got a hold of some more Radiohead photos (These were actually taken by us)

We ran into Radiohead's drummer, Phil Selway by the merchandise stand. You can tell by looking at the background that not many people recognized him. (lucky us!)

It was hard to smile with my sister's head crushing my lung

This was the view from where we were

During the final song

Radiohead Recap

2008-05-06T22:12:00.000-04:00

Hello Fellow Bloggers...

Sorry...I know it's been a while so thanks for sticking around.

Well, Radiohead was yesterday and it was absolutely AMAZING! The lights and sound were by far the best I have seen and heard ever! Hats off to the sound engineer!. The lights looked like a gigantic pipe organ when they were off, but once turned on looked like a giant light cube....It looked SICK! (the good type). I would post the set list, but it was too long for me to remember and I didn't know the names of some of the songs. I have more photos to post later on but for now enjoy these. (We were on the lawn but I scored these photos from flickr). Also, I found a video of what was probably one of my favorite songs last night "Idioteque"

Yet another blogger newbie!

2008-04-30T23:28:00.000-04:00

Hello Fellow Bloggers...

I am proud to say my worship pastor, Justin is officially blogging. It is pretty refreshing to see more CBGers blogging. So far, the only CBGers I know of that are blogging are

If there are any more of you out there, please make yourself known so I can show you some link love on my blog roll.

Anyways, don't forget to pay Justin a visit and drop him a comment.

They're coming!

2008-04-29T00:55:00.000-04:00

Hello Fellow Bloggers...

Today I got the email I have been waiting for for a while.

Check it out!

Ok...you can imagine how excited I am and even if nobody goes to this with me, I will go by myself. But if you are even remotely interested, drop me a comment with your email so I can start making plans. Words cannot explain how life changing this event was for me last year. Check out the details here.

New Blogger Alert!

2008-04-25T09:44:00.000-04:00

Hello Fellow Bloggers...

I am very proud to introduce a new blog today. It is the blog of one of my best friends. He was my very first worship pastor ever and was pretty much the guy who got me started in ministry. He always believed in me and helped me develop as a musician. This guy has probably been one of my most influential leaders I have had. He's a great guy and his blog is absolutely awesome! I should probably mention he's a web designer and the man responsible for the FRC website so you can only imagine how pimped out his blog is. Most of you probably already know him but I won't tell you who he is so you will just have to head over to his blog to find out. Make sure to show him some love, drop him a comment and add him to your blog roll.

Check it out here...

Friend of a friend!

2008-04-24T11:29:00.001-04:00

Hello Fellow Bloggers...

As many of you know, a few months ago, I attended a "Lost Launch Party" with a small group of people from my former church's worship team. Well, I got an interesting email today from a dear friend, Ernie, who also happens to be former FRC worship team member. I figured that rather than explain it to you, I would show you the email.

Greetings my friends and fellow LOST devotees!

I have a friend from high school who happens to be a first cousin of Josh Holloway. I sent her the pictures from your awesome premiere party, and she forwarded them to him. He was kind enough to send back an autographed picture for the FRC worship team. I'll mail the original but here's a scan of it.

Enjoy the new episode tonight. I love and miss you all very much!

-Ernie

How awesome is this! Thanks Ernie!

I think Sawyer is now my favorite lost character!

Results!

2008-04-23T21:28:00.009-04:00

Hello Fellow Bloggers...

I PASSED

(88%)

(Refer to post below)

The big day!

2008-04-23T12:18:00.000-04:00

Hello Fellow Bloggers...

Well this is it. Today is the day I take my FINAL EXAM! This is the big one and this is the one that determines whether I graduate or not. Everything I have studied and learned for the last 18 months add up to today. I for the most part feel ready but at the same time, I am scared to death. I will be taking my final exam on the monster you see below.

The test consists of this:

I have 2 hours to complete a full drum recording session on my own. I will be supplied with a drummer and a song with no drums. Simple enough right...WRONG! I will also have an instructor in my face for most of the test asking me questions, pressing buttons to throw me off, trying to confuse me and even swearing at me just to make me more nervous. They say if we can handle a session with them, we can handle a session in the real world. A few months ago I was standing outside a studio watching a student take his final when he suddenly broke down and started crying in front of the board. A grown man crying and ultimately failing. That was was the day I said to myself "oh man, this is serious stuff". Everyone I have seen take this test has left the room literally dripping with sweat. Oh and I should probably mention that the temperature in the room is about 60 degrees.

The more I think about this the more nervous I get. I requested the day off from work so I could prepare both mentally and academically. I have my test from 6:00pm-8:00pm. This is where you (the readers) come in. Please if you have a hint of being the praying type, say a quick prayer for me today (especially around 6pm...ish). And be sure that I will be blogging about my results tonight.

United as one

2008-04-22T23:24:00.000-04:00

Hello Fellow Bloggers...

Tonight was a powerful and memorable night. We had a meeting at my church with some members of the worship team to basically get together and talk about our role as worship leaders. We watched different videos from worship teams all over the world and saw that they all had one thing in common. They were all united in spirit and in truth and all had one common purpose. We all had a discussion about how worship is not just singing a few songs on the weekend but worship is lifestyle. A lifestyle we need to be living out day by day. My worship pastor, Justin talked about how we need to be united and encouraging to one another in all aspects. He also talked about how we need to project a life of true worshippers both on and off stage. This was so refreshing to hear and is something I have been praying about and stressing for a while now.

Making the switch to Church by the Glades was not an easy one, but if I had any doubt at all about being here, I am now more sure than ever that CBG is my home and God has truly blessed me. I am in awe of how God works in our lives and I am truly honored to be part of a ministry that is truly united with one purpose to be instruments for God's glory and be able to impact lives through the gifts he has given us.

Weekend Re-cap

2008-04-21T21:19:00.000-04:00

Hello Fellow Bloggers...

- I hurt my back pretty badly on Thursday while playing football with some co-workers. At first it was just a little pain but by Friday morning, I literally could not even stand. I ended up staying in bed all day Friday and all Saturday morning and was on some pretty powerful drugs. I am much better now.

- This weekend I got to play keys at my church. It's been quite a while since I have played keys but was very fun nonetheless. Here is a picture of the rig I used. Special thanks to Heredes for loaning me his Fender Rhodes for the weekend. I got alot of comments on how awesome they sounded...and looked.

I Love Laminin!

2008-04-15T22:01:00.000-04:00

Hello Fellow Bloggers...

A good friend sent me this video today and I just had to share it. I honestly have never heard Louie Giglio preach before and this Video just made me wish I could have gone to passion even more. This video proves how amazing our creator is in the way he made us.

Being a Light!

2008-04-14T09:18:00.002-04:00

Hello Fellow Bloggers...

One thing I am very proud of is the fact that over the last 18 months, I earned myself the reputation of "The Christian guy" in class. I am so thankful that I have been able to be a light (or at least try) to my class mates. Even the instructors know me as the christian guy. One day an instructor told the class to watch their fowl language in front of guests, then he yelled out sarcastically "Especially you Robert". And the other day I was in the school lobby on a phone call when I overheard another student asking around for me. I heard him ask the school cleaning lady, "have you seen Robert around? you know, the Christian guy...". Yesterday, all the guys in class were talking about going to a strip club after graduation when one of my classmates said, "Oh wait, Robert cant' go because Jesus won't like it" followed by classroom laughter. I must admit those were some pretty proud moments for me.

"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

- Matthew 5: 14-16

Are you being a light?

Final Stretch!

2008-04-10T09:10:00.001-04:00

Hello Fellow Bloggers...

Well, last night was my official last day of "Class". I still have to go back for the next 2 weeks for final exams so technically I am not done yet but I can see the Finish Line. It feels so good to finally be finishing school. It's hard to believe that it's already been 18 months since I started going to school. I must admit, it has been a bumpy journey full of stress, long nights and Car accidents but God really used this season to teach me alot. I am so grateful to have been given the opportunity go to a school that alot of people could only dream of going to. I have spent the last 3 weeks cramming as much info as I possibly can and I have once again started staying until 2am every night and I have even had full 12 hour sessions from 10am to 10pm. These next 3 days are going to be long but crucial and even though it sucks that I won't be able to go to Passion 08 this weekend with the gang, I am grateful that I am finally finishing school!

random thoughts and recaps!

2008-04-03T01:03:00.000-04:00

Hello Fellow Bloggers...

Well, I have had a few things on my mind since I'm too lazy to put into multiple posts, I'll just spit everything out at once. So here it is...

This past weekend, I had the opportunity to play at my church for the first time. I played bass and it was an awesome experience both technically, musically, and spiritually.
Pastor Dave gave a great teaching on marriage that hit home even for us single folks and many lives were touched.
I have met alot of really awesome people at Church by the Glades and am looking forward to getting to know them better.
It's crunch time at school and I have about 8 days left to do labs. Can you say stress?
I cannot frikkin wait for Lost and The Office to start airing again.
My hair is finally starting to look good (my co-workers still make fun of me though)
I have finally gotten rid of all the "holiday weight" I put on from last year. (more info to come)
I am itching for a certain guitar and am fighting with myself on whether I should get it or not.
Credit Cards are creations of satan.
I can't wait for Radiohead and Switchfoot!

Ok, I just realized that I totally copied Stacie with this post. (Hope she'll forgive me)

Stick around!

M&M Yourself!

2008-03-29T23:22:00.000-04:00

Hello Fellow Bloggers...

Presenting the M&M version of me. (I wish my hair looked that cool though). Try it here

Costume Party

2008-03-26T01:27:00.000-04:00

Hello Fellow Bloggers...

A few weeks ago I went to a birthday party and the theme was "Spanish TV/Movie Characters". Here is a little taste of who was spotted.

//Warning//

Some of you might have no idea who these characters are (just google them)

Cristian = Cantiflnas

Annette = La Cuatro

Olivia and Carlos = Dora and Diego

Roberto and Martin = Gordo y la Flaca (Kudos to martin for doing this)

Miguel = Diego Maradona

Santi = Carlos Valderama

Aisle 3A

2008-03-24T15:40:00.000-04:00

Hello Fellow Bloggers...

Check out what I saw at the supermarket the other day!

Don't you just hate it when you go to the supermarket and they are all out of hispanics?

Happy Anniversary!

2008-03-19T11:44:00.005-04:00

Hello Fellow Bloggers...

I am very happy to announce that today is my big sis and her hubby's 3 year wedding anniversary. It's hard to believe that it has already been 3 years already. It's awesome to see how they are still standing strong, although a few pounds heavier! (hope they don't kill me for that)

Congrats guys!

Love ya!

Farewell FRC

2008-03-18T01:26:00.000-04:00

Hello Fellow Bloggers...

Well, to be quite honest I have been kinda avoiding writing this post because it is not easy to write. This year, I have really been praying for God to help me fulfill his will in my life and though this is easier said than done I feel he truly doing just that. God has really been speaking to me and my family and in that God has decided to move me from Flamingo Road Church. It's been a few months since I felt this tug from God and though I have been trying hard to ignore it, I just can't. While I was at the Hillsong United Conference last year, Brooke Fraser said something that has stayed in my mind ever since. She said that when God has a plan in your life, you just can't run from it no matter how hard you try. And that's exactly what I tried to do. I have no doubt in my mind that it was God who brought me to FRC, and in the same way, there is no doubt in my mind that it is God that is taking me out and though this has not been an easy transition, I am at peace with God because I know I am fulfilling his will. I will miss every single one of you FRC readers like you have no idea and I am so thankful for each and everyone of you guys. FRC has been an amazing place to worship and you have all taught me something. I have truly found a family at FRC. My new church home is now Church by the Glades. I have been attending the church for about a month and a half now as I have prayed for God to speak to me and he clearly has confirmed that this is where he wants me. I am so excited about this new journey and am even more excited that you readers will be along for the ride so stay tuned!

For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Jeremiah 29:11

AMEN!!!

Gettin Dizzy with it!

2008-03-13T11:04:00.000-04:00

Hello Fellow Bloggers...

I originally posted this photo a few years ago. Is it just me or do you actually get dizzy when you scroll up and down enough times? I dunno how it's done, but if any of you photo geniuses out there could reveal the secret, that would be awesome! Don't forget your barf bags!

Cool Toys

2008-03-12T01:51:00.000-04:00

Hello Fellow Bloggers...

I recently found these pictures on my phone. I found these action figures at the mall while Christmas shopping this past December. Are these the coolest dolls or what?

Stylin - Stage 2

2008-03-09T16:56:00.000-04:00

Hello Fellow Bloggers...

Sorry for my habitual disappearances. I really have no excuse so I'll just say sorry. Anyways, as you all know I have been trying to grow my hair out and while it hasn't been easy, I am finally starting to the see the light at the end of the tunnel and I am getting through that "I hate my hair stage". I'm still not sure what look I'm trying to go for but I really like the hillsong united look. Especially since they are very influential to me. So what do you think??

Music Discovery

2008-03-03T00:29:00.000-05:00

Hello Fellow Bloggers...and thanks for sticking around...

Well a few posts ago, I shared my itunes shopping cart with you guys and there were 2 songs in there by a group named Meg and Dia. I discovered them a while back when I was looking through the list of bands that were going to be playing in the Vans Warped Tour. I looked them up on itunes and liked the 30 second previews of the songs so I added them to my cart. Well, I purchased the songs and I must say it is good stuff. I don't want this to be perceived the wrong way but I am not really into chick bands however these girls know how to rock. The music is absolutely awesome and the lyrics are poetic and edgy(Not Christian). I'm totally hooked on the 2 songs I bought and I am considering buying the whole album! Check em out here!

Stylin!

2008-02-24T19:18:00.001-05:00

Hello Fellow Bloggers...

For those of you who haven't seen me or haven't noticed yet, you should know that a couple weeks ago I made the decision to grow my hair out. I had been wanting to do it for a while but everytime I start getting to that "ugly phase" where it's not long or short, I ending up wimping out and cutting it off. Well, I am at that hard phase right now, and although I am not crazy about how my hair looks, I am starting to get used to it. Well today I was hanging out at my sister's house and she thought it would be fun to straighten my hair. I figured, "what the heck, why not". Well this was the result...

My brother in law said I looked like David Crowder's little brother

To download or not to download?

2008-02-22T23:42:00.000-05:00

Hello Fellow Bloggers...

It's been about 3 years since I decided to start actually purchasing my music rather than "limewiring" it and I am so glad I did it. I have become pretty accustomed to regularly purchasing like 2 or 3 songs a week from itunes. I like purchasing my music little by little for 2 reasons.

Reason #1 - I'm broke
Reason #2 - I have found that I appreciate the songs more when I only have 2 or 3 new songs to listen to rather than 20. (unless I buy an album)

So check it out. Below is my itunes shopping cart and I can't decide which songs I should buy. To be honest, there are a few songs in there that have been in my cart for a loooong time and I probably will never end up purchasing them because I just like listening to the 30sec. previews. But nevertheless, I can't decide.

Any suggestions?

Bass Debut!

2008-02-22T01:37:00.001-05:00

Hello Fellow Bloggers...

One of my favorite things to do in my spare time is to look up song covers of my favorite bands as played by other people. I literally can sit in front of the computer for hours playing song after song. I have found that it's good practice and a great way to learn songs. Well, yesterday I was searching YouTube for a bass cover of a mute math song called typical. I had no luck, so I decided to be the first. So without further due, here is my YouTube bass debut. Enjoy!

That's it!

2008-02-20T00:47:00.002-05:00

Hello Fellow Bloggers...

Well, it's official. Today, I switched back to Tiger. Don't get me wrong, I thought leopard was really cool and all but the Kernel Panics are getting way too annoying and there are certain audio programs I use alot and have been compatibility problems since I upgraded. At first I thought it was worth it but it's not. I guess for now I'll just keep my leopard dvd safely stowed away for a while. Tiger is good enough for me!

Disclaimer:

If you are a PC user, the last blog entry probably made absolutely no sense to you so rather than try and explain it to you, just hit alt+F4 and walk away from your computer. Mindofbert.com and it's affiliates would like to apologize for any confusion caused.

News Flash

2008-02-14T23:22:00.000-05:00

Hello Fellow Bloggers...

Today I got some extremely great news...and I would like to share it...

RADIOHEAD IS COMING!!

That is all...

more info here

Work with what you got

2008-02-13T23:30:00.000-05:00

This is Duce...

This is Duce's Office...

This is Duce's Laptop!

You would figure that once your screen falls off your laptop...It's time for a new one.

But not Duce...He even found use for the broken screen...MAD PROPS!!

I think this gives new meaning to the saying "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade"

Bold Confession

2008-02-11T22:32:00.000-05:00

Hello Fellow Bloggers...

Well, there is no easy way to say this so I'll just come out and say it.

I am in Love with Miley Cyrus a.k.a Hannah Montana!!!

Wow that felt good to get off my chest. You see less than a month ago, I had no idea who Miley Cyrus was and didn't really care. But when I we were on our way to winter camp this year, they ran out of movies to play on the bus so they just busted out the Hannah Montana dvd. I figured, "what the heck. Let's see what the big deal is with this chick". All I can say is that show is freaking hilarious. Well after coming home from camp, I made the mistake of looking her up on youtube and now I can't get her songs out of my head. They sure are catchy...and positive (which is rare these days). So there you have it. I am a Hannah Montana fan. There I said it. Ahhhhhhhhhh!

New Friend

2008-02-07T01:35:00.000-05:00

Hello Fellow Bloggers...

Last night, I got home from work and found a little creature slithering around by front door. Believe it or not these little guys don't really freak me out, so I picked it up and took it inside. I figured rather than tell you about it I would let you see for yourself. It was funny how my dog was acting with it.

after making the video and playing with it a bit more, I took it back outside and set it free.

Lost Party

2008-02-02T23:24:00.000-05:00

Hello Fellow Bloggers...

Well, I was planning on blogging about my experience at a recent Lost party I attended this past Thursday, however since I took so long to do it, some fellow bloggers beat me to it so I figured that rather than tell you myself, I would let you guys read about it from them. Check it out here and here. All I would like to say is KUDOS to Michelle Garcia for planning the coolest Lost Party I have ever been to. Actually it's the only Lost party I have ever been to. Her creativity just amazes me. She is actually the "Famous Designer" that made me my tuxedo shirt I wore to the My Naked Pastor launch party. It ended up being pretty popular and people couldn't believe it was handmade. Thanks Mickey!!...Oh yea and the second half of the party was Rock Band. All I would like to say about that is you absolutely cannot play Rock Band or Guitar Hero without Kyle Johnson!

Cheap Date?

2008-01-29T23:53:00.000-05:00

Hello Fellow Bloggers...

As many of you know, I got the opportunity to go to winter camp with FRC's High School students. Well, on the way back home, we stopped at a what I think is the nicest freaking McDonald's I have ever been to. Seriously folks, this place had gold ceilings, a warm fireplace, and even a baby grand piano playing classical music. I was surprised there wasn't a concierge at the door offering to take our coats. I have talked to friends that are so cheap that they've told me that if they could, they would take their dates to McDonalds. Well, my cheap friends, I have found that place. All I know is it is somewhere between North Carolina and South Florida. Good Luck finding it.

I did it!

2008-01-29T19:26:00.000-05:00

That's right...I did my patriotic duty!...did you???

U23D Review

2008-01-28T00:24:00.000-05:00

Hello Fellow Bloggers...

Ok, so I don't want to offend anyone, but believe it or not I am not the biggest U2 fan. Don't get me wrong, I really like them and I know like 15 songs of theirs (out of the 100,000), but I wouldn't really consider myself a die hard fan. A few weeks ago, I saw that U23D was coming out and I was like, "huh, that looks pretty interesting". But I wasn't counting the days until it came out like some of my friends. However, this Sunday when I went to church, I spoke to some friends who had gone to see it the day before. They told me it was an emotional experience, and my brother in law even said it was "the most amazing musical experience of his life". Another friend even told me he cried. Ok, they convinced me so I went.

All I can say is ___________________!!!!!

In other words, I was speechless. I honestly thought it was gonna feel like I was at a U2 concert, but it was totally different than any concert I have ever been to. There are about a million different angles and I felt like I was right there on stage with them. The sound and picture quality was absolutely jaw dropping. There were times when Bono would reach out to the crowd, and I'm not lying when I say I had goosebumps! I won't say anymore because I don't wanna ruin it for you guys but all I can say was it the best 12 bucks I have spent in a while...And I'm going to watch it again on Tuesday. WATCH IT!!

Winter Camp Re-Cap

2008-01-25T20:07:00.000-05:00

Hello Fellow Bloggers...

Sorry for disappearing for a while but it's been pretty hectic around here lately. As most of you know, I came back from Winter Camp this week. I must say it was an awesome experience. I got the opportunity to go as a leader and helped in the tech area, PLUS I got to lead worship one of the nights due to Duce spraining an ankle. It was an awesome weekend full of skiing, worship, and life changing moments. I even got to witness one of the guys from my room make the decision to follow Christ (that was so freaking cool). As far as the skiing went, I must admit that after 2 days of "trying" to ski, I got pretty stinking good. The first day I did terribly, however the second day I did much better and managed to only plow down about 4 or 5 people. Oh yea and it was 10 degrees outside (not including the windchill factor on the way down the mountain). The second day we went skiing, I went down the mountain once and when I got to the bottom of the mountain, my face was literally numb so I went inside and bought a ski mask (it really did help). Actually, a funny thing worth mentioning (or not so funny) was that while I was on the slopes, every time I would see a paramedic van driving to the lodge or ski patrol people carrying a body in a stretcher down the mountain it was an FRC person every single time. I'M NOT EVEN KIDDING!!! We had a total of 5 people go to the emergency room in 2 days. I'm not sure if this is totally accurate, but I believe we had 1 person with strep throat, 2 sprained limbs, 1 concussion, and some other bad injuries. Maybe the slopes are just not for us Floridians. Read more about it here.

Announcement

2008-01-16T18:24:00.000-05:00

Hello Fellow Bloggers...

Today I found out I will be going to Winter Camp with FRC's Student Ministry "The Road". I will be doing tech and will be serving as a leader to the high school guys. All I can say is that I am FREAKING EXCITED!!! I plan to share plenty of pictures and experiences so stick around. in the words of IE, "WOOT WOOT"

Blog Contest Winner

2008-01-15T23:32:00.000-05:00

Hello Fellow Bloggers...

Well, the numbers are in and we have a winner for the first ever mind of bert Blog Contest.

After carefully examining the answers, it came to a close run between Martin and B-Vas.

Before I reveal the winner, here are the correct answers.

Video Chatting with Cristian Garcia
Reading Mindful Existence (Aka - Stacie's Blog)
Applications on Dock (From Left to Right)

Finder
Safari
Firefox
Dashboard
Mail
itunes
Photoshop
Pro Presenter
ichat
Skype
idvd
imovie HD
imovie '08
Pro Tools
Logic
Live (Freebie)
Smaart
Peak
Garage Band
DVD Player
iphoto
Microsoft Word
Stickies
Mac Sword
Quicken
Photo Booth
ical
Address Book
System Prefs
Documents Stack
Trash

3. Icons in Menu Bar

Quicksilver
Twitterific
Soundsource
Spaces
Bluetooth
Air Ports
Volume
Battery Life
Clock/Time/Date
Spotlight

43 Possible Correct Answers

And now their answers...

Martin's Answers

I BETTER WIN THIS!!! ( i think i have an advantage)

hard to tell but gonna have to say thats cristian...

reading stacie's blog

application on dock: finder, safari, dashboard, mail, itunes, photoshop, propresenter, ichat, skype, idvd, dvd player, imovie, protools, logic, garage band, preview, word, stickies, macsword, quicken, photo booth, ical, address book, system preferences, documents, trash

icons on menu bar: quicksilver, twitterrific, itunes thingy, spaces, bluetooth, displays, battery, clock, spotlight

Total Correct Answers = 34

B-Vas' Answers
Chatting with Cristian Garcia

Reading Mindful Existence - Stacie Gonzalez (old design)

Apps: Finder, Dashboard, Firefox, Mail, iTunes, Photoshop CS3, Pro Presenter, iChat, Skype, iDVD, iMovie HD, iMovie 08, Garageband, Audio Hijaak Pro?, Soundforge?, DVD Player, iPhoto, Microsoft Word, Stickies, quicken, Photo Booth, iCal, Address Book, system preferences, a stack, trash

Menulets: quicksilver, twitteriffic, ?, spaces, bluetooth, airport, volume/speaker, battery, time/date, spotlight

Total Correct Answers = 35

That's right, the winner is non other than the ipastor himself. It doesn't surprise me since he is 96% addicted to Apple. Great job B-Vas and thanks for playing. You will be getting your itunes gift certificate by email. As for everyone else, thanks for playing. Maybe you should brush up on your apple skills. Or just spend a week shadowing the iPASTOR!!!

Yes I was a Band Geek!

2008-01-10T01:09:00.000-05:00

Hello Fellow Bloggers...

Well I just got home from school and I was planning about blogging about something. However, I just saw a Video on Heredes' Blog that brought back alot of memories. You see, it turns out Heredes used to be in marching band just like me. For some of you this may come as a shock since I don't really come across as the geeky type. (yes I am also sarcastic). To this day, whenever I have a funny band story I am about to tell, one of my friends always interrupts and shouts out "this one time at band camp...". Miguel and Carlos actually attended to one of my games when I was in high school and sometimes like to imitate me marching. I have always been teased about it but it really doesn't bother me. In fact, I even make fun of myself alot. I played trumpet and baritone and those 4 years were ones I will never forget and I would do it again in a heartbeat if I could. I tried to dig up a video like Heredes' but had no luck. I did however find some pictures. Enjoy!! (Sorry for the bad picture quality)

First Ever Blog Contest!

2008-01-07T23:00:00.000-05:00

Hello Fellow Bloggers...

The other day I was going through my computer and I found an old picture I took during a video conversation with a friend. I was looking at the details of the picture when I got an idea and here it is.

Welcome to the First Ever "Mind of Bert.com" Blog Contest!

Ok so here is how you play!

Examine the picture below carefully and answer the following questions using the comment box. (Mac Users have the upper hand....Sorry HP!)

Who was I Video Chatting with?
Which Blog was I reading at the time?
Name as many of the Apps on my Doc (Bottom) ..Hint: I changed alot of the Icons so take a guess if your not sure.
Name as many of the icons on my menu bar (Top Right hand Corner by the clock)

The first person to answer the most questions correctly wins (There will be a prize!...I just don't know what yet)

The Winner will be announced in exactly one week....BEST OF LUCK!!

I Finally got my car back!!

2008-01-04T01:01:00.000-05:00

Hello Fellow Bloggers...

Well, after over 5 long weeks, I finally have my car again. You have no idea how great it feels to be driving my Corolla. I must say this whole experience really did teach me to appreciate my car. Don't get me wrong, I have always been thankful for my car but I always just saw it as "my little Corolla" and I would sometimes think, "man, I wish I had a better car or a cooler car". However, after driving around for over a month in an ugly little yellow car with no CD player, a bad radio with a horrible sound system and a tiny trunk where I couldn't fit any of my guitars (yes that's a big deal to me), it made me miss my corolla so much.
I even got a few laughs from people when they saw the rental car. One of my co-workers called it a giant mustard stain, and even my grandpa called it "the canary car" and said it looked like a huge Tweety bird. The day I got my car back, I drove around in it and honestly felt like royalty. It felt like I went from a pinto to a limo. My only complaint was that the body shop did take kinda long, but they did an awesome job with it. They left it looking like new. They even went all out and pimped it out for me. Check it out!!

Before

AFTER!!!

Just Kidding!!...that's actually an old picture!!

Check out my sweet photoshop skills...hehehe

Apple Addict

2008-01-01T20:39:00.000-05:00

Hello Fellow Bloggers...

Thanks to Stacie Gonzalez for leading me to a cool site where I found this
68%Honestly, I thought it would be worse...

Awesome Commercial!

2007-12-31T19:27:00.000-05:00

Happymeal and a Dance anyone???

Christmas Re-Cap

2007-12-27T23:24:00.000-05:00

Hello Fellow Bloggers...

Well, Christmas has come and gone as quickly as you can say Glomerular Filtration Rate (Courtesy of B-Vas and Stacie). This was a pretty memorable christmas for our family since it was the year we decided to start some new traditions. Seeing as I am Hispanic, we celebrated Nochebuena as usual.

We had an absolutely awesome meal thanks to my wonderful mother. (Seriously, she can make a living doing this!!). After dinner, we had our next door neighbors over for cookie decorating and gift opening.

My mom thought it would be cute for all of us to wear pajamas, and that became tradition #1.

Being the Awesome cookie dough baker that she is, my sister came up with the idea of decorating our own cookies which became Tradition #2.

Does my cookie rock or what?

Then Came the gifts...

Yes that's right...Guitar Hero came out for mac....AND I GOT IT!!!

Gifted Wrapper!

2007-12-24T02:25:00.000-05:00

Hello Fellow Bloggers...

I just finished all my gift wrapping.

Can anyone guess what this is? (hint:clues are in the background)

I am Alive!!

2007-12-24T01:47:00.000-05:00

Hello Fellow Bloggers...

Yes, that's right. I am alive!!. I am sorry I have been gone for such a long time. In all honesty, it's not that I have been too busy to post, or that I couldn't think of anything to post about. I have simply been lazy and have totally neglected it.

Here at Mindofbert.com we appreciate your continued support and loyalty and we would like to extend our most sincere apologies for our recent hiatus. All regularly scheduled posting will recommence henceforth (at least we will try.)

- Bert (Mind of Bert C.E.O.)

I honestly didn't really notice it had been so long since my last post until a certain someone made an eye opening statement to me via ichat.

Thanks for the push!!!

I'm back now

Now that I have extended my apologies, allow me to update you on some of the recent happenings in my life.

My car repair is almost done and should be ready next week.
A fellow employee gave me an F.M. transmitter for my ipod for secret santa so I can now listen to my tunes while driving my ugly yellow car.
I am officially all caught up with my lab hours. In two months I went from having 109 lab hours to having over 275 lab hours all while working a full time job. Not Bad!!
Today is Christmas Eve and I just finished my Shopping.
As with most americans, I have totally neglected my diet this month (details later) Tis the season to gain weight!!

There is still much more I have to share so stay tuned!!

I bought an iphone today!!!

2007-12-11T23:59:00.000-05:00

Hello Fellow Bloggers...

Yes, you read correctly. I purchased an iphone today. However, before you start to feel happy for me, allow me to clarify. I did not purchase it for myself. Infact I didn't even really purchase it (No I didn't steal it). You see, tomorrow my brother in law Carlos will be traveling to Ecuador to visit his family and they asked him to bring them an iphone. For those of you who know me well, you know I wouldn't pass up a trip to the white and brushed metal heaven that is The Apple Store. So we went to get the iphone but apparently Apple no longer accepts cash for iphones because they want to be able to track them to prevent hacking or something like that (I'm still a little confused on the whole matter). Since I was the only one that had my credit card on me, I forcefully volunteered to pay with my card and take the cash. So there you have it. I can finally say I purchased an iphone even though I am still using my mute math phone.

Hillsong Conference Update

2007-12-11T02:44:00.000-05:00

Hello Fellow Bloggers...

Well, it's been about 1 month since I went to the Hillsong United Conference, and I still feel like it was just yesterday that I came back. I know I have said this over and over again, but this conference totally changed my life and opened my eyes to what true worship really is. I can't wait until the next conference. Today I discovered a really cool website I wanted to share with you guys. It's actually a blog created by someone who attended the conference. It's written in portuguese (enjoy Heredes!!) but it has some really great pictures, videos, and sound clips. Here is an example. Enjoy!!

Next up....Passion 08!!!

Rabbit in Your Headlights

2007-12-05T23:39:00.000-05:00

Hello Fellow Bloggers...

As many of you know, I am a pretty big fan of the band Radiohead. My brother in law Carlos got me into them a few months ago and I have become absolutely hooked. Their music is pretty weird yet awesome at the same time. Their lyric is very poetic and abstract so one song can have a specific meaning to one person and a total different meaning to someone else.

allow me to share one with you guys.

This song is actually not a Radiohead song but it is sung by the band's lead singer Thom Yorke. The song is by a british band called UNKLE. I'll let you watch the video first then I'll tell you what I got out of it.

As you can see the man starts walking down a highway wearing a heavy coat or parka. Some say that the parka represents his thoughts weighing him down and making him oblivious to everything else. As he keeps getting run over again and again, he is totally ignored and even laughed at by the people around him (remind you of anyone?). He finally takes off his coat, gives a slight smile and opens his arms in a crucifix like position. It seems like he has become invincible and is totally aware of it. Well, you know what happens next.

Ever feel like you are the one carrying that heavy coat and being weighed down by it. Ever feel like life is running you over and it seems like no one cares? God wants us to take off that coat that keeps weighing us down, and be invincible.

What's your parka?

My Driving Record

2007-12-04T23:55:00.000-05:00

Hello Fellow Bloggers...

Well, I just read a pretty interesting statistic. According to this site, more than half of reported car accidents occur within 5 miles of a person's home. Now as many of you know I have recently found myself in this predicament. However, this was not my first car accident (I promise I am not bad driver!!!) but it is the first accident where I was at fault. Well, I got to thinking about this statistic and I must say I fall in that group. Take a look at the map Below.

FYI: I measured and the farthest accident from my house was a distance of about .58 miles.

Maybe I should move...

Accident Update

2007-11-27T23:33:00.000-05:00

Hello Fellow Bloggers...

Well, despite its been one day since my accident, I am pretty calm and at ease. Words can not explain how much you guys' comments, text messages, voice mails, and twitter updates, have helped raise my spirits and bring me peace. Not to mention what God has done!!!.....check this out.

As many of you know, I am a teller at WaMu (the dream job of every aspiring Musician/Audio Engineer). Well, all morning today I was worried sick about the elderly lady involved in the accident. I guess I forgot to mention that she just recently had open heart surgery (according to the cop I spoke to). I was so worried that this whole ordeal would have an effect on her heart. I have been praying that she would be ok and God answered my prayer so clearly that he even sent a messenger. I got a customer that did not have a wamu account but wanted to cash a wamu check. I proceeded to take his ID's and cash the check. As I was giving him the cash, I couldn't help but notice that this gentlemen looked very familiar but I couldn't put a finger on it. I noticed he was carrying a supply bag that looked kind of like a fanny pack that read "LA RESCUE". As he grabbed his bag and started to turn away it hit me. This guys was one of the paramedics from the accident. In fact he was the only one of the 5-10 paramedics at the scene who actually approached me and asked me if I needed medical attention. Before he could leave I said "wait a second....you were one of the paramedics from the accident yesterday". He gave me a confused look at first then smiled and said, "Oh yea I remember you". At first I thought, "wow, what a small world". But then it hit me that God had sent this "messenger" as an answer to my prayers. I asked him about the elderly lady and he told me she was fine and not to worry. He said she was just a little shaken up from the whole thing but everything was ok. I felt like a thousand pounds was just raised from my back. I could have cared less about my car, or all the bills I have to pay. All I cared about was that she was ok. THANK YOU JESUS!!!

As for my car, I drove it to the shop yesterday. When I got there, the guy told me, "this car is undriveable how did you make it here?". The left front wheel on the car was bent in and apparently it could have fallen off at any moment. God was watching over me again as usual (Thanks G). The guy at the body shop who inspected my car said that the damages look "extensive " and they are probably worse than they look. The car was hit on the drivers side but the impact was so hard that it looks like it bent the interior frame of the car. I actually couldn't get my glove box on the passenger's side open after the accident. The body shop guy told me he guesses it's about $8,000+ worth of repairs. He's gonna email me an accurate total later this week. Thank God for Insurance!!!

In the meantime, this is what I'm driving...

Don't get me wrong, it's a decent car but I have one MAJOR complaint (and it's a big one)
The car only has a radio...yes you read correctly, ONLY A RADIO....no aux input, no CD player, and no tape player. I'm not sure how I will survive without my usual servings of mute math, Hillsong United, Radiohead and switchfoot on my long commutes.

Stay tuned for more updates!!!!

WHAT A DAY!!!

2007-11-26T23:31:00.000-05:00

Hello Fellow Bloggers...

Well, today was not an easy day for me. I got in a pretty bad car accident. I was driving home from work on my lunch break and I got distracted and ended up going through a red light. An elderly lady was driving the car that hit me and she was ok but pretty shaken up. Thank God no one was injured but I can't help but feel bad because the accident was my fault. This is not my first car accident (I'm not a bad driver - I promise!!!) but it is the first time I am at fault. Even though it was pretty bad, I am grateful because it could have been worse. I have been on the phone all day with claim adjusters, Insurance people, car rental companies, and body shops. Quiet honestly this accident couldn't have come at a worse time. With my crazy school schedule, Piling bills, and little sleep, I can't help but feel overwhelmed. I have prayed alot today for God just to help me trust him. I just keep going back to the verse that says

"And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them."

- Romans 8:28

I really need you guys' prayers on this. It's not an easy situation but I am totally trusting God to take control of the situation. Please pray for the health of the lady that was involved also!

Week/Weekend Re-cap

2007-11-25T23:33:00.000-05:00

Hello Fellow Bloggers...

Well, first off I would like to send out my sincere apologies to you guys for kinda disappearing for a while and not posting. It's been an extremely busy week with school, work, and church so I figured I would update you on what's been going on.

Big Test!!

During the week I had to take a big test on the board you see above!!....This board is called an SSL and is a world famous board. They say that about 80-90% of the music we listen to today was recorded on an SSL. In fact this board has been on quit a trip. It originated in Nashville, Tennessee then made it's way to London, England where Duran Duran recorded an album on it, yes that's right Duran Duran recorded on this actual board. From there it made its way to SAE Miami down where it currently resides. I couldn't believe it but I was one of the two people in my class that got a 100 on my test.

In the Studio

- I also got to record a drum track for a friend's project. I'm not much of a drummer but I really wanna get better!!

Thanksgiving Event

For Thanksgiving I had the opportunity to do sound for a community outreach event we had with the FRC Hallandale band. It was a great experience and great practice for me considering I would love to get into the Live Sound Industry. I got to be there and experience first hand the from the setup, connections, sound check, show, and break down. I love being part of a church that can impact our community in such a powerful way!!!

Weekend

This weekend I also had the opportunity to worship at FRC's Hallandale Campus. The worship was awesome and I got to play electric guitar for the first time, and my sister got to play acoustic guitar for the first time. I don't consider myself much of a guitarist but I wanna get better. I also got to lead and play electric guitar for our spanish Hallandale and Cooper City services. The weekend's set list in general was awesome!!!

English

The Time has Come - Hillsong United
One Way - Hillsong United
You Alone are God - Hillsong
Hosanna - Hillsong United

Spanish

Your Grace is Enough - Tu Gracia Senor - Chris Tomlin
Majestic - Majestuoso Rey - Lincoln Brewster
Came to my Rescue - Me Viniste a Rescatar - Hillsong United
Mighty to Save - Dios Puede Salvar - Hillsong

As you can see, most of the songs we did were from Hillsong so you can imagine how happy I was when first I saw the set list.

Well that pretty much wraps up my week/weekend....thanks again for sticking around!!!

Another "Newbie" Alert!!

2007-11-24T12:31:00.000-05:00

Hello Fellow Bloggers...

Apparently this blogger thing is catching on. Yet another victim has fallen into the blog cult.

Be sure to check out my brother in law's blog. It's not what you would usually read about but he is kinda weird so be nice (hahaha....j/k)

Newbie on the blogger block!!

2007-11-19T23:54:00.000-05:00

Hello Fellow Bloggers...and thanks for sticking around

Well, today is a special day. I am very proud to introduce the grand opening of a brand new blog. It's not my blog, however, It is none other than my sister's blog. She is finally graduating from the ashes of myspace and joining the big boys' (and girls) here at blogger. So be sure to pay her a visit here and drop a comment.

Diet Week 7

2007-11-15T00:34:00.000-05:00

Hello Fellow Bloggers...

Well, the numbers are in and I lost a total of 1 pound this week. Not bad considering I was in Orlando with a bunch of other young people and all we ate was fast food!

That is All

- Bert

I LOVE THIS GAME!!

2007-11-14T01:08:00.000-05:00

Hello Fellow Bloggers...

On Monday, I was walking around Best Buy with my grandfather trying to find a jazz CD he wanted, when suddenly I saw they had a game system (I'm not even sure which one) setup with a Guitar Hero demo. Now I used to be a big video game geek when I was younger, but I guess I outgrew it or something because they just don't interest me as much as they used to. However, due to all the hype I've been hearing about this Guitar Hero game and how fun it is, I figured, "what the heck, I'll try it". Well, you guessed it. I got hooked!! I literally spent about half an hour playing that freaking demo over and over again. And I kept playing the same song "Sweet Child of Mine" from Guns and Roses. Every time I got better and better, and I really felt like Slash (former lead guitarist of Guns and Roses) even though I can't play electric guitar if my life depended on it. There were even little kids patiently waiting behind me to have their turn at the game. I eventually gave in and let them play, and kept walking around the store. However, soon enough I was back playing again. I don't mean to sound like a geek, but this is a really cool game. They should come out with something even more challenging, though, like "Saxophone Hero" or something. Just a thought...

- any other "_____ hero" suggestions?

IKEA

2007-11-13T00:04:00.000-05:00

- 2 round mouse pads (couldn't decide on one color)

$0.99 each

- 2 awesome looking CD/DVD holders

$4.99 each

- 2 sodas

$1.00 each

Finally Being able to say I went to IKEA

Priceless!!!

HIllsong United Conference Day 2

2007-11-11T01:39:00.000-05:00

Hello Fellow Bloggers...

Last night was absolutely incredible and God moved in awesome ways. There was an overwhelming presence that filled the auditorium in what I think was the most intense worship experience of my life. God spoke to us in a tremendous ways through the teachings and workshops, and the auditorium was even more full than the night before. God really spoke to our hearts and told us what we needed to hear. I truly believe that it was God's will for the people that went to that conference to be there. I now truly see what it means for the body of Christ to be United as one church with one voice and one vision to reach the world for Jesus Christ. There were a total of 43 US states and 6 different nations represented at the conference. People traveled from literally across the country to attend this event. We were so blessed to have the conference just "down the street" (you know what I mean). I truly wish you could have all been here with us.

50, 100,000, 150,000,000

To reach South Florida and the World...UNITED WE STAND!!!

HIllsong United Conference Day 1

2007-11-10T11:40:00.000-05:00

Today's Schedule