Cheap Date?

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!

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

U23D Review

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

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

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

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. 

1. Video Chatting with Cristian Garcia
2. Reading Mindful Existence (Aka - Stacie's Blog)
3. 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!

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!

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!)

1. Who was I Video Chatting with?
   
2. Which Blog was I reading at the time?
3. 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.
4. 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!!

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

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!

                       

Happymeal and a Dance anyone???

Christmas Re-Cap

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!

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!!

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!!!

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

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

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?

Accident Update

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!!!

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

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!!!