11/20/2006

Bell's Palsy Anyone?

     Well, I started to feel a little numbness in my tongue on Thursday, but I attributed that to burning my tongue the few days before. That night, it felt like my right eye was about to fall out of my face b/c my eye lids were spread further apart than usual. I thought my eyes were just dry or whatever, so I went to bed. Next morning, I get up to find that I'm having a hard time eating my cereal or smiling. Jessica noticed that I wasn't smiling all the way, and was worried that it was something serious. I shrugged it off and assured her that it was nothing.
     Around lunch time, at work, I felt the dryness in my right eye getting worse and i couldn't sniff in my right nostril. So, the guys at work finally pushed me to go to the doctor. I went in, and Jessica's boss had me get pushed ahead of everything else, fearing the worst. I was then diagnosed with Bell's Palsy.
     In case you don't know what that is (and I didn't at first), I was told that it's a virus that you can just get from the air, and not from anyone b/c it's not contagious. It renders one side of your face paralyzed and/or numb. Among my inconveniences are, I cannot: blink with my right eye, open my mouth much on my right side, raise my right eye brow, or suck out of a straw. I also have to wear an eye patch during my sleep so my eye doesn't dry out when I sleep.
They have me on steroids and antibiotics. They anticipate that it will just go away in as short as a week or as long as a few months.
     Funny story, and I'll be done: I was playing in church Sunday morning, and we were playing this slow, sweet acoustic guitar song thanking God for the things He's done for us. So, my right eye started to well-up and tears streamed down my face. Not because I was sad or it touched me or whatever, but because my eye was so dry it couldn't take it. As soon as the song was over, I ventured off-stage out of the service, where I got the saddest looks asking, "Are you ok?" I couldn't help but laugh and assure everyone I was fine.
     So, that's been my last few days. Feel sorry for me yet? Don't, I'll get over it :) I appreciate any prayers though!

11/16/2006

Guitar Hero II


You may have read my previous post on the original Guitar Hero game. It's by far my favorite game to date (not to go out with, just up to now :-p ). Well, guess what... it's time for Guitar Hero II! It's got all kinds of new tunes, and with added features. You can play multiplayer like before, but now you can play bass along side or battle it out for points, and you can pick whatever level you're on. It's also got some other cool stuff that you can unlock, like a fish guitar, a viking-head guitar, an custom guitar in the shape of the US, and characters too like the grim reaper. Some of the cool songs it has are: "Sweet Child O'Mine" G'N'R, "Mother" Danzig; "Heart-shaped Box" Nirvana; "Carry On My Wayward Son" Kansas, "Them Bones" Alice in Chains; and "Free Bird" Lynyrd Skynyrd. Those are a few of my faves. Anyway, check it out if you have a PS2!

9/08/2006

random entertainment

Well, as you know, I don't blog much. It's not that I don't enjoy it or anything. I just don't have that much to say on a regular basis. I'm almost too busy for a regular creative blog time. Today, is different, as you can see, because I'm actually blogging. Although, I'm not writing to comment, complain, or spout off about this or that. I'm simply here to show you what I've seen lately on YouTube. Enjoy!

Guitar craziness




A-Ha Family Guy Version




Men on Film


Fire Marshall Bill in Space -- wait for the end!

7/28/2006

Guitar Hero



I can't stop playing it. It's mesmerizing! It's definitely the funest game I've played in a REALLY long time. If you haven't heard me talking about it, I'm addicted to the game GUITAR HERO! If you're not a rock fan, then save yourself from reading the rest of this.

It actually comes with its own guitar... even though it looks and feels like something Parker Brothers or Playskool would put on the market. There's just 5 buttons, and you follow along the notes that it tells you to play, which are, of course, color-coded. It's so basic, but yet so fun! Best part about it is that you can play it if you've never picked up a guitar or if you've been playing for 20 years!



It's got modern and classic hits, and even some new original stuff that you can unlock. Check out the screen shots! Maybe, if you're lucky, you can sample it at Best Buy. I know the one in Metairie has it as a demo that's been up for like 3 months. It's just that popular! It has about 30 songs on it, getting a little harder as you unlock more. There are 4 different levels, and believe me, it's not as easy at it looks. I've had the game since June, and I'm just not starting to get through the 4th level.

Like I said, very fun and addicting. I've already hooked 2 guys from work, 2 of my friends, and even got my wife, Jessica, on it! Don't knock it til you try it! Definite thumbs up!

6/19/2006

Yaaaarrrrr me thirties!

Well, I'm officially finished with another decade. Yes, that's right, my 20's have left me, and the 30's have taken me. I think I actually counted the minutes until the end of my most coherent decade.

Coming into the weekend, I was told that I would have a surprise waiting for me... Jessica was suppose to take me to a nice restaurant after I had gone to see X-Men 3 (save that for another post). So, after the movie, Jessica picks me up from the movie. She stops about 30 seconds later and says, "here, put on this blindfold." I'm thinking that she just doesn't want me to see where we're going, so I put it on. About an hour later, we arrive at our destination. I felt us going on and off the interstate, so my theory that we were going to Lafayette didn't make sense, nor of going to New Orleans. So, maybe Mississippi? Anyway, so we get out, and she takes me into the place (still with blindfold on). I could hear the theme to Pirates of the Carribean playing, and suddenly I felt warm air hitting me. She stops me, and I'm thinking we're at some kind of exhibit or display for Pirates of the Carribean. Well, not so much. The hankerchief comes off, and after being blinded by the light of the sun, I hear and realize, much to my surprise, 25 of my friends and family are there to say "SURPRISE!!" I was very surprised indeed, and we had a whole lot of fun. Jessica really went all out with the theme, which was "pirates". There were candles floating in the pool, everybody had bandanas, pirate caps and/or eye patches on. We all said "yaaarrrr" a bunch. Jessica even made a list of pirates' favorite things (i.e. What's a pirate's favorite place to eat? Aaarrrrrby's). I had many presents and I got to play with my niece and nephew. Not to mention I'm stocked on food for the next 2 - 3 weeks.

All in all, I say goodbye to my twenties in style, and hello to my thirties forever (because you can forget about moving onto forties, fifties or beyond ;) ).

6/06/2006

tidbits

For those of you, like myself, who have grown up in any traditional-type church, you're probably well-aware of the hymn factor involved in worship services. Once I got to college, I wanted nothing to do with any hymn being sung at any given time. A couple years back, God started working on my heart for a balance in worship. So, fast forward to now... I actually like a hymn. I know, I have amazed even myself. The hymn is "Be Thou My Vision".

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I led worship for the youth at a community church in Kenner last night. It was great fun, and I think the kids enjoyed it too. There was a few moments where I could tell they would rather be somewhere else, but there was one, just one girl, arm slightly raised, eyes closed, worshipping Christ. It hit me and made it all worth it. I couldn't stop smiling after that. I thought, "This is why God has me here, leading His people in worship."

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In other news, I just bought a Playstation 2 for $50!! To you other gamers, this may be old hat for you, but up until now I have had the Nintendo GameCube. It's treated me well, but PS2 has offered me something that no other system has yet -- a band. Yeah, if you're into gaming at all, you might have heard of Guitar Hero. I tried it out at BestBuy and had a blast! There are over 70 songs! You play on this (what looks like a kid's version of a) guitar, with 6 colored buttons and a "pick". You just follow the fret board and tells you exactly when to play each string. There's already drums, bass, and a singer doing everything else. Good times, neat fun.

5/15/2006

Finally!

Alright, so I haven't posted in a while.... ok, a good while, but I've been freakin busy! So many papers, so many reports, so many finals! I barely got everything in on time! But, I did it, praise be to God. No finals grades yet... but don't worry, you'll be posted.

On another note, pun intended, I'm gonna start gettin down on recording some songs for MySpace. If you're not yet assimilated into the phenomena called MySpace, then check out my musical profile here. I have one song up already, and I can't promise they'll be original, but it's done acoustic-style. When I get brave enough to actually record something original that I haven't thrown away, I'll be sure to post them. So, in the meantime, for your entertaining pleasure, please visit the sites/band recommendation along the right margin. Thank you and goodnight.

4/06/2006

he got it right

There's this song on this CD I borrowed from my pastor, with mostly hymns that have been redone in contemporary music. It's called "Depths of Mercy" by Red Moutain Church. There are 2 songs on it, however, that have been written by modern songwriters (one of those, written by Mo Leverett, President of Desire St. Ministries in New Orleans/Destin, FL). One of the two modern tunes is called "Wedding Dress" by Derek Webb. The lyrics of the chorus go like this:

"I am a whore, I do confess, I put you on just like a wedding dress, and I run down the aisle, I run down the aisle / I'm a prodigal with no way home, I put you on just like a ring of gold, and I run down the aisle, I run down the aisle to You"

Powerful, isn't it? There may be some of you that are saying, "Is this a Christian song? If it is, I can't believe they'd use 'whore' in a Christian song!" Well, guess what, he just did, and I think it's a great song. When I heard it, I thought, "Now this guy has got it right!" How many Christian songs, or any other songs for that matter, have that powerful a message in that type of fashion? If you do hear something this strong, it's usually anti-religion/God. Besides that, he used very vivid imagery in his point that really grabs your attention, and you know exactly what he's talking about. There's no sugar-coated, happy-go-lucky, everything's alright words here. He simply paints a picture of his expression to God. It's truly beautiful, and I aspire to write music like that.


3/21/2006

band game

Hey, I thought since I haven't posted in a while, and found this on myspace, that it'd be worth putting on here. See if you can guess all of the band names in this picture --- the image is kind of small. Might be better for you download it before you guess. If you feel like commenting, just name 1 or 2. Thanks! I'll start you off with 2 of the easy ones: The Eagles and Gorillaz. Have fun!

band game

2/03/2006

typing

People sleep in all kinds of ways. I'm accustomed to using 2 pillows, otherwise my neck has a severe pain in the morning. Recently, I've noticed that my bottom pillow tends to move steadily toward the side of the bed. I have to re-adjust it every night before I go to sleep. It may be all in my head, but the pillow seems to be going further and further off the bed.

It got me thinking that maybe my obsession with typing has gone too far. When I was in high school, I took typing my junior and senior year. When Jessica and I were dating, and just hanging out with friends or whatever, she would feel my typing words (of course, without a keyboard) on her arm or shoulder. She finally asked me about it, and I had no idea that I was even doing it! I don't do that as much, mainly because I get my typing quota from work or email or blogging. Now, apparently that my fingers are getting their quota, is my head typing while I sleep?

For those of you who have not had the pleasure of journaling or doing research papers without a keyboard, we use to have to use typewriters. And with typewriters, when you get to an end of a line on a paper, you hit enter, and the whole middle part (called the carriage) moves over to the next line at the left-hand indent. Is my head actually doing this at night?? Have I turned into.... TYPE WRITER HEAD!?

1/10/2006

Movie Review: Glory Road


If you're like me, you haven't seen the previews, and have no clue what this movie is about. So, if that's you, then check it out the preview. If it's not, then you're probably wondering how I've seen it already. Well, let me tell you! Jessica heard on the radio about free movie passes, and we never miss our chance at those, so she picked them up. Radio Disney was giving them away, and it was a very packed house. We got there an hour early and there were still about 50 people in front of us.

Going into this movie, I assumed that it wasn't going to be much of anything. When I think of a Disney movie, I think it's going to be hokey, less than exciting and goofy. It's rated PG, after all -- how good could it be? You might feel the same way, but you'd be wrong about this movie.

The story is basically a 1965 near-historic account of the first black NCAA team to start and go all the way to win the national championship, which they did their first year. The movie shows you a lot about what racism the players went through, and their battle to become champions and prove to the world that black men could play basketball.

This is the part in a review where I talk about some parts of the movie I might be critical about. After conversing with my wife, it seems that there aren't any. I'm not saying this movie is perfect by any means, but it's high quality.

Highlights of the movie include updates of the players at the end. The even more special treat was the interviews with the real players and even Don Haskins himself. That's really what made the movie for me. It was also amazing how well the casting was. John Lucas played the coach and he really did a great job. Even the players' likeness to the original players are quite uncanny. If you do happen to see this movie, listen for anything you might hear about Pat Riley... yes, the NBA coach... he's been around awhile, but he's actually a player in this movie :)

Overall: A+

I would definitely recommend to anyone. Whether you love basketball, sports in general, or any uplifting type of story.