Music that makes you dumb!

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!

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

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!

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. 

Why oh Why?

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

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!

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!

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

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!

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

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!

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!

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!

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!

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!

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!

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!

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?

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!

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 here. 

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.