Everthing's bigger in Texas

So what's big in Texas? (Read the following in a charming sutherin' acksent)

Churches:
It's friggin' weird to see a church get supersized.

Driving through the outskirts of Houston and San Antonio, I saw maybe three or four big ones. I wish I had my camera to show you guys some photos cuz it was ridonkulous sizes.

Do you guys know how big Earl Haig high is? There are churches here in Texas that are like four times bigger than that school. Like, one of these texas-sized buildings could easily be the new mega wal-mart coming to your small town. I don't think Ryerson University is as big as one of these mega churches (exaggerating, but that's how I feel).

Coffees:
I love the oversized coffee drinks here.
McDonalds doesn't offer any coffees in a small size.
There's only one way to drink that iced coffee and that's in a large plastic cup, half ice, half creme, five pumps of vanilla sirrup and some coffee! That's a dollar seventy somethin'!

Clouds:
For some reason or whatnot, the clouds are really really big.
They make everything on thr ground seem pretty miniscule.
When there's a nice white puffy cloud in the sky, it'd be a normal thing to see God standing on one of 'em with a big smile on his face. Waving at ya with a big pitcher of sweet tea!
But come across a big monstrous grey cloud, it look it'll shoot a bolt of lightning out itself into your face! It's a scary thing.

More big things to come as I see em folks...

My Mom > most Moms

Disclaimer:
i refer to ">" as a symbol for "cooler than"
Why didn't I just write my mom is cooler than most moms?
because she's that cool.

Here's why:
My mom now has official training from the FBI on what to do in an event of a bioterrorist incident in America.

And the other day, she had to go investigate an escaped monkey spreading some weird jungle sickness in her jurisdiction of Houston.

Wow mom!

More updates on my Houston trip to come.

Another all-nighter...

It isn't surprising that this is my third night staying up past 5 AM. 

It really isn't. I have a good feeling that I'll be doing a lot of this staying up...early-ness?

I watched the sunrise. 

It wasn't much of anything except for seeing the buildings go from dark to bright in what felt like an instant. 

I'm feeling so tired. 

I forgot to mention that I'm downtown right now. Stayed up all night trying to finish one of my novels for my final exam on wednesday. It's called Lost Horizon - have you heard of it? 

It's about Shangri La if that rings a bell. 

Anyway, I should've finished this book a while ago...but I didn't. So, I spent my Thursday night at Robarts Library at UofT. Then me and my group of cool Toronto people moved the study party to a friend's apartment at Yonge and Wells. 

I'm sticking around for now so I can pick up some student discount movie tix from Ryerson. 

Also looking for a new NLT bible. Yeah, really loving that version more. NLT > NIV from what I've read so far. 

So...

..Tired...

zzzz.

I can't believe I found these...

Watch. Laugh. Enjoy. Repeat.

It's been a while hasn't it?

Yeah it has.

I'm sitting here in my friend Viet's room just chillin on my last visit to waterloo for this semester. But I'm pretty sure I'll be back again for 2009.

I'm surprised how much fun I'm having sitting here doing nothing.

We haven't eaten yet either.

It's 3:39 PM.

Maybe I'll try to convince them to eat.

Brian Han is in a music video!! WATCH IT!! VOTE FOR IT!!

Thunderheist "Jerk It" Directed by: Kristin Waterson from dw waterson on Vimeo.

Hey guys,
Some of you may have recieved messages from me about this music video - but a lot of you HAVENT!! cuz it's tedious and would take me forever lol.

so if you didn't know, i recently had a small dancing appearance in an amazing student-made music video for this Toronto group Thunderheist (hence the embedded video)

It's directed by Kristin Waterson, a Ryerson Univ. image arts film student.

WE NEED YOUR VOTES

Ours is the first video and we're the top 3 choices for becoming the official Thunderhiest video for their single, "Jerk It"

All i'm asking is:

- Watch it.
- Dig it.
- Vote for it once.
- Then vote 10 more times.

hahaha, I hope you enjoy it and see that our video is the best out of the top three. Thanks Guys!!

Check out my new tattoo

Yeah I designed it myself.
Just got it inked the other night.
Hurts pretty bad but the actual tattoo is starting to show up now.
Color coming soon.

JRN 112 - Blog #3 - Mainstreaming the Indies.

The internet is littered with independent news sites and special interest zines, all self-published with content and information not really well known in the mainstream.

The freedom self-publishers have to get information out there is really unrestrictive (considering they're not publishing avant-garde stories in China or something). But who's reading them? When you're talking about, say, the online zine for blind stoner-rocker kids, they can't really compare with the kind of readership the Toronto Star gets.

The good thing about a big paper like the Toronto Star (or even a free publication like Metro), everyday people read them daily with an expectation to read about certain stories and opinions that have mass appeal - but even with the large readership, the content with supposed mass appeal won't always appeal to the masses.

That's why self publishing can be so great, it creates opportunities for small niche groups to speak out, publish and talk about the content that appeals to them. But when those niche groups are trying to bring new information out in the open, the kind of information that needs to be heard by the public just doesn't always make it to mainstream - protests, crimes against humanity, scandals - bringing awareness to things like that don't always capture the attention of anyone except for the small population of readers who dsicover these independent publications.

I guess that brings me to my point:

there should be more emphasis on mainstreaming independent, self published content on the internet.

Some of the information they know has got to mean something to mainstream ears. I'm one of the dependents who only get their info from the mainstream so I wouldn't really know what I might need to know - but I know it's out there...hahaha.

It's frustrating sometimes. It's not easy going beyond the Google search engine and digging through the internet for legitimate sources that I can learn more from. Self-publishers need to figure out how to bring what they have out into the open for easier accessibilty.

In addition to that, there needs to be more work done in "selling" new information and ideas to the public, to help stir more interest in something they may not have been interested in before.

Global Warming is a good example of stirring interest in a new idea. An Inconvienent Truth. Al Gore and his presentation on the toll that climate change is having on our world brought the issue into the mainstream. Now, it's commonplace to be concerned about "how to go green" and what normal people can do to make a difference.

There's so much room for independent self-published zines to grow and spread out beyond their own niche audiences. It's just the matter of how; there are solutions out there - whether it be striking deals with big companies like Rogers, advertisement affiliations, etc.

Sure, the internet is littered with these little niche sites but just knowing that they exist won't always be good enough.

Who can make the best Ramyun (instant noodles)?

If you think you cook you're ramyun the best or have the most creative recipes for ramyun, then let me know.

I'm writing a "How-To" article for my class at ryerson journalism about how students can make new, delicious and creative meals with their ramyun and I'm looking for some students or former students who can share some of their cooking secrets with me.

Comment or msg me on facebook.

Or feel free to add me on msn if you dont already have my contacts:

hoit182@hotmail.com

JRN 112 blog #2 - When my dad Googled me

Yeah, he Googled me - typed 'Brian Han' in the search engine and found some pretty embarassing videos of me dancing in my room and at a mall.

He called me from his home in Texas and asked, "Why are you dancing?"
Not even a 'hello' or 'how are you doing' and it was awkward.

So I said, "Uhhh...what?"
"I typed your name on the internet and now I'm watching you dance in your room and..."
"On youtube?"
"Went to google first and...why are you dancing in your room?"
"Why are you using my name in search engin.."
"You should be studying, Brian."

Yadda yadda yadda.

You get the gist of it.
I should've known sooner or later my dad would use technology against me someday. But Google? Es tu Google? I shouldn't tag myself in anything ever again. My dad will find it and question it and we'll have more pointless conversations like the one above.
(Refer to the youtube vids found here)

I don't know if there's any point to this blog.
If I had to think of a purpose off the top of my head, it would have to be that Google is bringing fathers and sons together in ways that render that father confused and his son in a state of awkwardness and shame.

It will dig up all the dirt it can find on a name because it can.
Thank God those youtube videos are the only things that my Dad has found out about so far.

Citizen Journalism (JRN 112 Assignment #1)

I'd love to get a nice SLR digital camera to shoot some awesome photos. In the back of my mind, it's nice to imagine capturing moments on camera for the world to see - get published in a magazine that everyone knows about. Time, Walrus and that sort of thing. But it's just not practical. A student like me has to eat and pay the tutition fees - I got to get by on what I have.

But, it's almost encouraging to see how much of an impact someone can do with a cheap little camera phone. I think that's one part about citizen journalism that I love - the fact that news networks like CNN will use shaky, blurry and pixelated images taken from an amateur with a camera phone.



The person who whipped out their camera phone and recorded this university student getting tasered at this Kerry event became a newsmaker - they were there and that's what's exciting. Playing a role in getting reporting the news first didn't mean having the best equipment, the best technique or the most journalistic integrity and reporting skills. In these situations, being where the story happens is the least it takes to be a newsmaker.

I'm not saying that having the luck of being there and a camera phone ready trumps the abilities and integrity of a real journalist or photographer. Citizen journalism - capturing images and footages let's everyone interact with their news and events like never before. That's what I love about it.

Drivers license woes...

I went through my ryerson email and looked through all the wonderful out of town/province internships I could've applied for, but they all require a drivers license.

I've put off getting my G1 (learners permit) for too long.
So THIS MONTH...FEBRUARY...
I'm getting my G1 done and over with so I can get the ball rolling to getting my full license.

So here's the deal, whoever is reading this. Harass me and keep me accountable for getting my license.

Talking with a Chinese waitress...

Djang: Hey let's take a picture - get the waitress to take it for us.

Bhan: Okay - excuse me miss. Could you take a picture of us?

Waitress: Oh? You wanna high chair? I'll get you a high chair.

Bhan: What?

The End.

Marriage By Design - Voddie Baucham

Okay, y'all are going to think he's either crazy or amazing because what this guy preaches is like totally from the Bible (which you either think will be totally right or wrong ahhah).
But no matter what you think or what you believe in, this Voddie guy is an awesome speaker and speaks with lots of reason and wisdom. He's a lot of fun to listen to. Chances are, if you're like me, you've never heard this kind of message being spoken.

Thanks again, Edgar.
These are streaming audio of his sermon series:

Marriage in the Beginning (Part 1)

He Must Be (Part 2)

She Must Be (Part 3)

Facebookers:
I kinda screwed up the links for part 2 and maybe 3.
So if it ain't working, go to the original post and click on the links there.