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My brother Josh turned 30 years old today! Some of you have had the pleasure to meet him, but many of you haven’t.

Me and Josh, way back when

Here’s some fun facts about Josh as he embarks on the 4th decade of his life…

+ I’ve probably spent more time with him than with any other person in my life. We were basically inseparable from the time He was born in 1978 until I moved away to school in 1994. That’s almost 16 years of being together. Erica will break this record eventually, but for a few more years Josh will hold this dubious honor.

+ Josh has never liked soda. When we were kids he would always say that it hurt his tongue. We all thought it was weird and figured he would grow out of it but he never has. Still doesn’t drink soda to this day.

+ I once broke Josh’s nose. It really wasn’t my fault though. We were pretty young and I convinced him to jump off the top bunk of our bunk beds. I told him I’d catch him. I didn’t. So, I guess it was my fault actually.

+ Josh was always tougher than me, despite being 2 years younger. If we ever got in a fight Josh would punch and wrestle. I would eye gouge and face rake. But hey, I’ve never claimed to be a fighter.

+ Josh played varsity soccer and basketball in High School, and remains a rebounding force on the playgrounds.

+ A few years ago Josh traveled to Bali and spent a couple months there. He’s got some amazing video footage of his trip, you should ask him about it if you ever see him.

+ Josh volunteered for the Red Sox Foundation during the first half of the 2008 season. He was there when Jon Lester threw his no-hitter. On Volunteer Appreciation Day Josh got us a chance to take Parker up on the Green Monster during his first trip to Fenway Park. Later, Josh and my other bro Jordan got to go down on the field.

Me, Parker, Jordan, and Josh

+ Josh managed The Paradise Rock Club in Boston for a few years. Guess which venue was the first in the United States to host U2? Answer: The Paradise, back in March of 1981.

+ Speaking of The Paradise, a couple of years ago Josh got to hang out there with Jack Bauer. They had a drink together and Jack showed Josh how to snap someone’s neck using only your leg muscles.

Happy Birthday Bro! Enjoy your 30s!!!

Tags: Jack Bauer, Josh

so yeah, I camped out on black friday. kind of. not really. watch the video. love you mom.

Black Friday 2008 from Bryan Allain on Vimeo.

Tags: Black Friday

My buddy Jon mentioned me over at Stuff Christians Like today, so if you’re here for the first time because of his linkage, thanks for visiting. Here at Ramblings and Such I try to entertain, inform, inspire, and occasionally poke fun at the Amish community I live near (Yes, I really do live in Intercourse, PA), so if you’re into that sort of thing, subscribe to the feed and give it a taste test. Thanks for coming, and be sure to check out the video below…

Okay, so here’s the math behind the following video

my bad parenting + my crazy kids + a great cause = Soles in the Snow

check it out to see what I mean:

Soles in the Snow from Bryan Allain on Vimeo.

I wasn’t kidding about the donation. I made it on Monday. $20 isn’t much, but that’s 8 more pairs of shoes Wayne Elsey can give out through his organization. (oh, and I got a free keychain for my donation too…so that was nice of them)

Got 3 minutes and $5 you can spare?
Click here to go right to the donation page…it’s so fast, you’ll be done before you can change your mind.

(and if you want to share this video on your blog to get your readers involved, you can go here for the embed code.)

Tags: Parenting, Soles4Souls

If you’re a fan of Caedmon’s, you’ve probably seen this picture before. I believe it was actually the back cover art for the Share The Well CD.

It was taken by David Dobson at a Hacienda in Ecuador right before the band left Ecuador to come back to the States in April 2004. BUT, right after that picture was taken, David switched lenses and took a shot of the whole group on that Ecuador trip.

Only problem was, I wasn’t there. I was 200 yards away in a courtyard watching over the band’s stuff. While I was sitting there I started to hear someone yelling my name. Apparently they were about to take the picture and realized that something, or someone, was missing…That someone was me. So they were all yelling my name, and I came running over. The sun was setting fast and we were running out of natural light to get the photograph. I was out of breath when I got there, and Josh threw his cowboy hat on my head right before David snapped the picture.

Speaking of that trip to Ecuador, I’ve finally posted my short journal I wrote while I was there, along with a few pics. If you’ve got a couple minutes, you might enjoy reading it:

Bryan Goes to Ecuador With Caedmon’s Call & Compassion International

Day 1 - Day 2 - Day 3 - Day 4 - Day 5

It was an a amazing trip and I am still thankful to Cliff and the band for asking me to go.

Tags: caedmon's call, Ecuador