I've never really been a fan of contemporary Christian music. Just merely a personal preference I guess.
Whenever I see the album cover below, I always think of another contemporary pop/rock/alternative album. I would even go as far as to say that Casting Crowns purposesly picked the name and album design to confuse people with Counting Crows.
yeah- nobody cares- but i'm posting a DCI link... cause i like it...
friday is the big MTSU show and if you know me at all- you probably know that i'm feeling like a kid before christmas... hard to really explain- but thats how it is. so suck it.
best part? i guess the first couple of minutes- past the bohemian rhapsody part... this is a mid-level corps ("carolina crown") but one of the best from the southern (musically-underfunded) states- they're sitting about 7th place right now- but their show is a really great experience this year- i gotta give them some e-props...
(FYI: all the music you hear, even the stuff in the background, is them)
yeah... the link is here...
Hey everybody. I was shown something interesting on the internet, so I can post it on the blog now. It's a band of sorts that I thought was pretty funny. They are called Flight of the Conchords, and they have a variety of videos on youtube. Check them out, but be warned: their humor is fairly dry. If you'd like specific suggestions: bam, bam, bam and bam.
Did anyone see Transformers? Was I alone in thinking it was AWESOME? In my opinion, it was the best summer movie so far. Let me know what you think.
anywho, maybe some random kid from Chile will happen upon this blog and see these pictures and set himself a goal to make it up to Manchester to attend Bonnaroo and then someday actually attend Bonnaroo.
so who's coming next year?
So I've been in NJ with Oksana for the last 5 days. It is very exciting, and I can't wait to move (we'll close August 27, 2007) I put together an album of photos of the house. Check it out and let me know:
EDIT (6/20/07): So I finally got around to reading my own post, and I realize I failed to note that the point is that we were in NJ looking for a house and chose this house. Duh
http://www.cbryancan.com/house/house01.html
Also, it is neat to note that the town we are moving to, Parsippany-Troy Hills Township, NJ, was #17 overall on the CNN/Money 2006 Best Places to Live (and top in NJ)
Ok. I'm going to ask you all to please put aside all your political leanings for a second. I realize this guy is not popular, and frankly I don't know if anyone is happy with him (myself included). But think of the president as an office, not a person.
So, when I sent graduation invitations out, I had few extra. Just like when I got my BA, I figured it can't hurt to send one of these to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue (look it up if you haven't already figured out what is there). It is mostly for feces and laughter, but I did remember that last time (undergrad) I got a nice prefabricated postcard congratulations from the president. The signature on that card was obviously pre-printed, but still a neat little thing anyway. I had like 5 extra, so it can't hurt right?
Well I was surprised when I got the mail today. There was a large hard envelope from "The White House, Washington, DC." Upon opening it, I found it contained a cardboard backer and this letter:
The stationary and letterhead are actually nice, 100% cotton with metallic embossing. So I'm thinking they just sent me a NICER completely prefabricated letter. But then I started taking a closer look. First of all, the signature was hand written by someone. I know this because it bled through to the back a little bit. It was clearly done in a Sharpie or some other permanent marker.
yes, I do know that celebrities often have people who just sign things on their behalf. But take a look at google images search for "George W. Bush signature" or this example from the White House Website. You have to admit this signature matches those. So either an EXCELLENT forger wrote this OR someone wrote all the signatures contained on the google page and whitehouse.gov above OR George W. Bush actually signed this letter.
Furthermore, other evidence suggests authenticity. 1) If you are going to forge a signature, why bother putting it in a nice envelope with cardboard backing clearly designed to protect the document from damage during transport? 2) Real postage stamps were used, although curiously not canceled (maybe they don't bother since most white house mail doesn't need postage?). Again, why go to the trouble for a fake? It wasn't part of a presorted mass mailing.
I am not so disillusioned as to think that W plopped down in the executive chair in the oval office and typed up a letter for me. PROBABLY the body of the letter is a form sent to JDs . What I think is that he gets a stack of these every so often and signs them as a gesture of good will and public accessibility. Whether I got lucky to be selected or he does all graduate or professional invitations I don't know. Of course there is the cynical view that I got this because I consistently vote republican, including voting for him twice (He's not perfect.. or great.. or maybe even good, but I still think definitely better that Gore or Kerry). There is the paranoid view that the government is watching us all and perhaps saw that I am a Republican becoming less satisfied with the party. Who knows?
One last thing, a little oddity. I don't understand why the letter was addressed to "Christopher B. Cantrell" but the salutation is "Dear Bryan." The invitation definitely said "Christopher Bryan Cantrell." The return label said "C. Bryan Cantrell." I just think it is odd that it got address to one but the salutation is another. Some lowly intern was actually paying attention, at least half way.
Anyway, I just thought it was at least a little bit cool. I mean... maybe this letter was in the oval office a few weeks ago? Some might think it is no big deal at all, but I love government and political theory, so it is just sort of cool.
here's what they're gonna look like...
check out the 11 lens mounted camera on top...
(this is assuming you've all seen the new google street view.)
JL421 Badonkadonk Land Cruiser/Tank
(the reviews are hilarious. it's funny how big it looks until you see the picture of the guy in it.)
these are also great:
Relaxman Relaxation Capsule
Inflatable Party Sheep
This is a real product. No joke. I bought one of these in NJ several years ago. I had it for a long time but I haven't seen it lately. Click the title of this post to see the manufacturer's website showing the product.
Based on the urging of Josh, I finally got my blog going. It will likely go through some formatting changes in the near future, but I am planning to post every couple of days. I try to keep them short, so I appreciate anyone taking the time to check it out and especially to comment (even if you only have some smartass remark to make... I think you know who I am talking to)
Here you go
(billy showed me this. i missed it cause i was watching 28 weeks and forgot to set the Videocassette Recorder.)
... just an unlicensed one. And I'll be doing something about that in a few months.
so this is like a dance performed in a round (like row row row your boat...)
first he does it by himself to show you- and then everyone together-
and then they did it in a prison...
Josh Scholes called me today to tell me that he just got engaged!
how about that?
here's a picture of the happy couple- i janked it from facebook- (which i still dont understand why some of you arent on- but thats another story...)
i wont take up an entire post- but anyone with 10 spare minutes- please do yourself a favor and put "darren brown" into youtube- he's one of the most amazing performers i've ever seen (has his own show on the BBC)- some really really amazing stuff that you can just watch for hours if you've got some spare time- i've put afew videos on My blog if you feel so inclined- i challenge you to find fault in authenticity of the one about the grocery store (the top video)
This is from last night's SNL. The show wasn't very good, but then this sketch came on. And you watch it... and you sit there thinking... this is dumb.. and gross... and then it just gets funny. I can't explain it. And then it goes completely random (esp. the very end). But I loved it.
so.... i was checking out ESPN recently and there was a vote in reference to the fact that South Carolina has a confederate flag flying on the grounds of its capital- it was previously on top of the actual building but in 2000 was moved to the side near the grave of a confederate soldier...
there has been considerable debate about NCAA sporting events being held in the sate- the most recent decision that came down a few months ago was that no conference championships could be held in the state because of the flag-
so they the poll today was:
"Do you object to the presence of a confederate battle flag on the state capitol grounds in South Carolina?" (yes or no)
i found it rather interesting (but i suppose not unexpected) that the vote was pretty close and how certain states fell along a certain line in a certain pattern...
any thoughts?
(p.s.- i voted "no": i think slavery was very very wrong, but i also think that the civil war part of our nation's history is something we should remember-- in order to perhaps prevent such a thing from ever happening again)
this is hilarious. (man they already took down the first one i put up.)
i'm glad andy and bill are doing so well on snl. it's really impressive being it's their 1st or 2nd season.
pappert, i'm looking in your direction....
if you did, here are the lyrics to the opening song. (if you havent seen it, the setup is a "let's go out the lobby" song before the movie and it gets interrupted by a very unsavory, pierced, tattooed, heavy metal food item band (Mastodon). they're screaming the lyrics. so much that there are subtitles in the movie for it. it goes like this...)
"Cut You Up With a Linoleum Knife"
Don't talk, watch!
Don't talk, watch!
You came here, watch it!
Don't like it? Walk out!
We still have all your f-ing money!
Do not kick or jiggle the seat in front of you while you are sitting there.
I am everywhere at once and I will cut you up.
If you make out here I will cut your lips and tounge from your head with a LINOLEUM KNIFE!!!!
Do not explain the plot,
if you don't understand then you should not be here
Your money is now our money and we will
SPEND IT ON DRUGS!
Do not crinkle your food wrapers loudly,
be considerate to others
or I will bite your torso
and give you a disease.
Did you bring your baby?
Babies don't watch this.
Take the seed outside.
LEAVE IT IN THE STREET!
Run it over after the show.
If I see you videotaping this movie,
Satan will rain down your throat with hot acid,
and dissolve your testicles and turn your guts into snakes.
This is a copyrighted movie for Time-Warner
If I find you sold it on eBay
I will break into your house and tear your wife in half
I stumbled across this and thought it was just too funny not to share with the video game lovers on this blog.
A Gamers' Manifesto
Each year the 50 states (and District of Columbia) select artists to decorate Easter eggs to the send the White House. The artists within each state vote amongst themselves to select their state's egg to present to the First Lady. Here is Tennessee's egg:
Have you guys seen the Will Ferrell/Adam McKay short film called The Landlord? If not, click on the link in the title and enjoy. If someone wants to imbed it in the blog feel free. I thought it was pretty funny, let me know what you think.
I found this really cool thing online that lets you submit a picture and it "ages" you. It will also let you see what you might look like as various races and in a few particular artists unique styles.
Anyway, this is supposedly we will look like when we're "older adults" (I estimated 2050, a nice round number... we'll be 68):
Unbelievable... That's all I can say. This video is unbelievable. At the beginning I'm thinking... yeah, these are cool, but I've seen this sort of thing done before. But then it goes on.. and on.. and on.. and on.. and on.
My favorite two parts are the chess board and the cell phones.
I can't imagine how long it took to 1) build this and 2) get it to work in one run.
Sorry I couldn't find it in a format I could readily embed. Just click to watch.
Also you would think with all that work you'd get the cameras set up to see everything, but there are moments where it isn't exactly clear what's going on.
So I was bored at work today, and thought I'd share some more of the pictures from my trip. Hopefully you enjoy, and there's always more where these came from, if demand is high.
A small village we saw on the way to examine a patient. Later in the rainy season, all of the terraces will be green with growing rice.
This was in the rainforest we visited. The snail isn't too impressive until you know it's about the size of a fist.
This is a blank and white ruffed lemur, which is one of the more distinct looking types and one of my favorites.
This is my other favorite type of lemur, the Bamboo lemur. You can probably guess what they eat. 
This is a typical scene in the highlands area in the center of the country. Rice is their main source of food, so there are numerous rice fields, like this one, everywhere.
So I finally decided to put my website back together. I have been using Vanderbilt's webspace for a while, but I'll lose that privilege in a few months. I got a great deal on hosing and my domain name from 1and1.com. So far so good.
http://www.cbryancan.com/
You can now email me at bryan@cbryancan.com (or actually anything at cbryancan.com or cbryancan.net will go to that email). I'll continue to monitor my gmail, but I will be phasing my vanderbilt email out.
I am using blogger to host my blog (which will be "part" of my site) but I used my custom domain http://blog.cbryancan.com to point to the blog. It was complciated, but you can't use any of the upgraded blogger features if you host the blog on your own space. So my blog actually exists on blogger, but it looks like it is on my space. Doesn't really matter to you, but it was a complicated thing to figure out.
Its all (site + blog) in very early stages (nothing really on there yet), and I am extremely busy, so it likely won't be much for a while. I'll let you know when I finish and publish the "first draft" of it.
If anybody cares... While putting my new website/blog together, I found a workaround to get rid of the annoying ads in the Haloscan comment box. I applied it to this blog as well, so just note the reason there are no more ads is becuase I did that. If you object, I'll remove the code and put the ads back.
Has anyone had regular trouble loading this blogger page? I want to find out if it is something with my computer or everyone. I am using IE 7. I know many of you use FireFox. Basically, when I load the page, it stalls and sits for 5-20 seconds. Then sometimes I get a series of messages informing me the plugins have failed. I have surmised that the plugins it refers to are likely the two embedded mp3s in my Jim Gaffigan Post. Add that to the large number of YouTube embeds that are on here and the system gets overloaded. So I removed those mp3s. If you miss them, I can send you copies.
If others are having this problem, I'd like to know so that I can avoid overdoing the embedded media. If not, I'd like to know so I can deal with my computer's issues.
Thanks!
No, this picture doesn't relate to my question. It's just cute.
BBC reporter, Louis Theroux, has a show on British TV spending time with people with extreme views and tries to get to get to know them as people and to find out what makes them tick. This time he spends some time with the Phelps of the Westboro Baptist Church, the same group of people who picket US soldiers' funerals. (Note: NSFW language and plenty of hate)
The Most Hated Family in America (Part 1)
(Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7)
Bonus Material: Louis Theroux talks about the show.
Go To These Sites If You Want Hard Core Copyright Infringing Content
an article on some non-YouTube video sites (for those frustrated with the copyright problems YouTube goes through).
so there was a big free dinner thing put on at the memphis Zoo tonight sponsored by Fred's pharmacy (the idea is we get free stuff and then we work for them when we graduate)- it was cool cause i got to walk around by myself and check out all the animals and stuff- the actual food and stuff was in the panda exhibit which is usually extra money (i.e. i've never been in the panda exhibit before)- actually i dont see what the big deal about the pandas was- eh well- but at the end of the night they do door prizes and i was actually ready to leave- "i've been here the last 2 years and they never have any good stuff at these- lets get out of here" i said...."no lets stay for the prizes"..."whatever you want"... and i'm screwing around waiting for it to be over- and the last thing they give out is one of the new 4gig ipod nanos (this one was lime green)- and they reached into the bag- and right then i thought to myself "its me- i'm gonna win that ipod" and i started walking towards the stage- "and the winner is... Scott... Burka!"- it was really weird- i dont believe in premonition at all, and i totally consider what happened as just a big coincidence- but man- that was just crazy- i'm pretty sure all my friends kinda resented the fact that i won it (totally not kidding) seeing as how i already own 2 ipods and this makes #3 (in my defense- i have a 2gig nano and an old 15-gig that cant hold a charge for more than an hour... so i mean... its more like i had 1.2 ipods before this) and many of them are in the market for getting mp3 players... it actually kinda made me a little uncomfortable that everyone was giving me these mean looks-- i made a joke to brent at how thats what lottery winners must feel like? (i dont think anyone was really feeling my "hey i got another ipod!" jokes... ) i mean... crap- i know i'm the last guy in the world who needed to win that, but it happened, and i'm not just gonna hand a $200 mp3 player off cause i already have one...is that bad of me? i definitly dont want to be selfish or stingy, but you gotta take the good stuff when it comes your way, right?
as a show of good faith i'm selling my 2gig nano to a 2nd year girl who needs one...
I truly, genuinely completely hate the NFL quarterback named Peyton Manning (aka Poutin' Mooning, Pey-me-a-ton Mooning, etc. etc.). I go to Vanderbilt (and thus am anti-UT), I am a Titans fan (and thus am anti-Colts)... and I even considered myself anti Volunteers in high school becuase that obnoxious orange drives me crazy.
Poutin' hosted SNL last week. I didn't see the show. I didn't expect it to go that well as I personally think Mooning is not very natural and believe that his commercials, though sometimes funny, take multiple takes to get to the mediocre performance he usually gives.
That being said... I saw this sketch/pseudo-commercial/short and I have to admit it is absolutely hilarious. I think it appeals to me becuase he is saying things that it looks like he's always thinking while he's on the field. So kudos to Mr. Manning for a good performance, at least in this.
HURRY AND WATCH IT WHILE IT IS STILL ON YOUTUBE!!!
