Unbelievable

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.

More Madagascar pictures

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.

These are the taxis that you use to get around the city. Most of them were made in the 60's in France. They've very likely been in constant use since then. In one of them, the gas tank was a water bottle on the floor of the driver's side with a tube stuck in it. It was always an adventure getting across town.

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.

(Hint: It's bamboo)

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.

A schoolhouse in one of the villages we visited. Kids were always curious when we rolled into their town.

A view of Antananarivo (Tana for short) from the top of a hill. This is the capitol city, and where I lived for the 6 weeks I was there.

A really pretty waterfall we stopped to see while on the road one day.

This is the means of transportation between villages in the more rural areas. It's called a taxi-brousse, or "bush taxi."

My New Website

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.

Blogger Issues

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.

The Most Hated Family in America

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.

Forget YouTube

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).

The Reagans on Drugs

Nancy says "Just Say Yes"

holy crap this is cute...

sea otters holding hands...

wait until 1:20!

sooo....

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...

Poutin' Manning

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!!!

Nuestro Perro Nuevo

This is our new dog. We adopted her from a shelter in Murfreesboro. I was excited to find a dog that fit our preferences and at the same time rescue an animal. She is 6 months old and is approx. half chihuahua and approx. half miniature pinscher. I say approx. because there is some suspicion that she might have some dachshund in her (because of her rather long, narrow back). Either way, chihuahua and min-pin are her dominant traits. As of yesterday's visit to the vet, she weighs 4.4 pounds. We don't expect her to get much bigger; 6 pounds is probably her maximum healthy weight, if not less.

We decided she needed to have a spanish name to honor her Latina heritage. We decided on Tequila, but we call her Tiki. Of course that hasn't stopped me from using several nicknames, from chalupa and gordita to cucaracha and, my favorite, "rejected taco meat." I try not to confuse her, but there is a plethora of entertaining and stereotypical nicknames available for an animal you have identified as Mexican.

She's pretty much bipolar. First thing in the morning, you would think she has been smoking crack all night. Then she curls up in your lap and conks out for anywhere from an hour to a day. She has an excellent temperament and is well socialized from her time in the shelter. She is still adjusting, but I think she is getting comfortable with us. She has started exhibiting some protective behaviors (barking/growling and noises and knocks), but I'm working hard to establish my dominance, which should help her relax and behave.

One of the great things is that she came to us about 95% housebroken. She was so used to using the ground to eliminate that she only had one accident of each variety in the apartment. Since then, only outside. The real test comes tomorrow when she will be confined during the day. She's also relatively crate trained, which is wonderful. Oksana wants her in the bed, but we're putting her in the crate for now. She whines, but she understands it is her place and hasn't woken us up from the other room (brief attempts to have her in the same room failed since she whines every couple hours).

She has shown very little mischief. She hasn't chewed on anything (we can barely get her to touch her toys, even ones stuffed with treats). She has been extremely picky about treats, which is difficult because having treats a dog loves are the key to humane training. We've already tried three different kinds (inc. one recommended by the vet) and she turns her nose up at them after trying it maybe once. I'm going to try some kitty treats today, a former neighbor of ours had success with those with her small dog.

Here are the photos. I'm afraid she is not very photogenic at all. Trust me when I say she is much cuter in person.


Scratching at her new collar.


Looking at the photographer.


Perhaps her favorite activity, couch lounging. It looks a little like she joined the police force, but that's just her harness. We switched to it because she is so small we were worried about jerking her around by the neck.

Jim Gaffigan

Last night Oksana and I went to the Ryman to see standup comedian Jim Gaffigan. The show was pretty good. It was a decent mix of new and "classic" material, although perhaps maybe a bit too much older material. The really cool thing about it was that Gaffigan has a personal policy of signing autographs and taking photos after his show. Keep in mind this is the Ryman Auditorium, not exactly a small venue. He waited around at least two hours to meet and greet. (the show itself was less than 90 minutes!). It took me about 1.5 hours to get to him. Even after all that time he was very pleasant, funny, and grateful (he shook my hand and said "thanks for coming out"). He always autographs anything you want him to and takes time to make sure he spells your name right. It was very cool for a celebrity or at least semi-celebrity to be so accessible. He really appreciates his fans and it certainly doesn't hurt him to have a merchandise table near so that you can buy something to get autographed (but you don't have to). Here is a NY Times article about his meet and greets. (use klausnyt6 as the username and ciaociao as the pw if you aren't registered)

Here are my photos from the evening:


I was waiting in line here.


This is my photo with him. He always adlibs his pose.


Here is my autographed ticket and hot pocket box. If you are confused about the hot pocket reference, see below.

Who is Jim Gaffigan? Aside from being a stand-up comedian, he has appeared in several Sierra Mist commercials. Below is his most well known bit, "Hot Pockets." Below that is one of my favorites "The Case Against Cinnebon." Enjoy. After that, several of his Sierra Mist commercials (the first one I just saw for the first time and is absolutely hilarious). After that, one of the "Pale Force" cartoons that he does for Late Night with Conan O'Brien. He appears on Conan at least every few weeks. And I think he's involved with their current hornymanatee.com (google it if you don't know what I'm talking about) obsession. He is also on a new TBS show called My Boys. I haven't seen it. Sorry for all the clutter, but I think it is hilarious so I thought I'd share.

(Removed because they were giving me problems loading the page- email me if you want them)

honestly, i didn't think MadTV was capable of producing something like this

Spiderman Site/Trailer

There is website being run by comcast at http://spidermanoncomcast.com/. Tomorrow (3-23) they are supposed to launch the final Spiderman 3 trailer there. I don't know whether you have to be using comcast to access it (I am using it right now, and I didn't try it at school). I would guess you don't, but I'm not sure.

Anyway, there is a ton of great stuff on there even before the trailer is posted. There are several very short behind the scenes things. There is also a long behind the scenes thing for Spiderman 1 and 2 and a very long sort of documentary on the evolution of the "black suit" in the comics. I thought it was really cool and gave me a lot of insight as someone who did not read the comics and doesn't know the story.

Here are some screen caps I got from the new trailer. I just picked out stuff we haven't seen in other trailers yet (mostly venom, but there is a picture of a scarred Harry first) Click to see full size version.

Bewaaaaaaare the Ides of March!

BeWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARE the Ides of March!!!

2051 years ago, Julius Caesar was assassinated.

In 10 Minutes

For the geography student in all of us...

How many of these can you name in 10 minutes?

• US States


• European Countries


• African Nations


• Countries...actually UN Recognized States

holy crap

ummm... you guys remember Jennifer Elliot from highschool? she was in our class-

so this girl Jenn invites me to be her friend on myspace and i look at her profile- lives in Cali, doesnt look familiar at all- so i'm about to reject it when i see that she grew up in nashville-- so i shot her a message- "hey i see you grew up in nashville- am i supposed to know you?"
and she replies:

"Scott Scott Scott,

We graduated together... actually you and I have know each other since elementary school... we had band together in Jr High... Jennifer Elliott is the name! -

you don't remember me! We had tons of classes together throught the years... I don't remember the exact ones... I had Ms. Winfrey, Ms Giles, Ms Grisham, Ms Haas, Ms Smith, Ms Wagner, and Ms Ham in Elementary. I know we had Mr Starks together in Jr. High... but then we had some highschool classes together too.

I didn't look like that in highschool... I was about 100 pounds heavier... that may be throwing you. But I've always had dark brown hair"






ok- here's her picture- and they all look like this (and becuase i'm single i'm allowed to say this)- they are all really hot, in my humble opinion...

thats gotta be one of the bigger transformations i've seen in terms of someone i knew personally- wow

Anyone else think this is really funny?

Al Gore's Belle Meade home uses more energy per month than the average American home uses per year

Also here

Might we call this.... an.... inconveninent... truth....?

hopefully this wont get taken down right away

this was hilarious.



these are also great (you probably wont get much out of the 2nd one unless you watch the office. but if you DO watch the office, it's hilarious.)

Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday, Ash Wednesday, and Lent

I come from a Christian tradition who doesn't necessarily celebrate the Lent. Therefore the whole Mardi Gras-Ash Wednesday thing is foreign to me. It wasn't until my high school years that I became familiar with it due to my friends from other Christian denominations began to celebrate it.
The concept of it seems strange to me. Mardi Gras is the last day before Lent, and therefore is a excuse to get wasted, females to flash their breasts, and other things that traditionally would be regarded as terribly sinful. And then Ash Wednesday comes and suddenly we all become religious and give up chocolate or coffee, or whatever in anticipation for the celebration for Easter.
It just seems weird to me. Jesus died for the world's sins, therefore in honor of him, we give up Cheetos for 40 days? I'm of the belief that we should live holy lives throughout out lives, and not just 40 days before Easter. Yet part of me says that if it helps someone grow closer to God, then it probably is a good thing.
Please don't take this post as me trying to discount someone's religious tradition. I guess I'm looking to try to understand the concept better.