Break from Blogging Continues

BUT to let you know, I made it home safely. Also, anyone wishing to catch up on Heroes can watch all the episodes on their site.

Also, if anyone's curious, I regularly use Skype to keep in contact with people. It's a messaging program, but it allows for voice chat, so its like a telephone. And, you can even pay a subscription fee to call local and long distance phones.

A Break from Blogging

Since I'm coming home in a couple days, I probably won't have any blogs for a few weeks. After all, I'll be in regular contact with most of the people who read this.

To conclude this semester, it is awesome to be able to go to school for something I love. This semester didn't have especially challenging material, but this is just a catch-up year anyway. I won't be taking the real masters classes until next year, and when that happens, I'm sure I'll be well-challenged.

Seattle is a cool town with lots going on. Though, it is not a night city compared to most cities I hear. That is, things close earlier, as opposed to people wandering around bars til dawn. Fine by me. Seems to be a city of professionals, as well as free-thinkers. But, I've also only been here a few monthes, we'll see what I have to say as time goes.

Ok well, I'll sign off til January. Though, here's a picture I made for Facebook using their simple paint program thingy. Happy holidays from Aku and Jack!

Newspaper Taxis

Ok, well Seattle has had some weather problems, though none have really affected me. There was a good snow earlier in the week, and everyone liked that. But the next couple of days had more rain than usual, and I guess there was flooding and mudslides and stuff up north. My area was perfectly fine, though I think one of my professors had a flooded lawn. He cancelled class to clean stuff up.

All my projects are completed! With any luck, I'll be able to post videos of them on Youtube. Just got one final left, and I don't think it'll be horrible. We're also gearing up for next semester's game. It will rawk! Besides that, I just have to make it sure that I get home. Goat House will have it's first Reunion Party, though it is a half-year reunion.

If my dad doesn't mind, I may invade his new computer with game-making software so that I may work over break. I will also bring home a few things to keep me occupied, including Samurai Jack, Avatar, and a new movie by the FLCL people called Dead Leaves (it's crazy!). Also, has anyone been watching Heroes? Holy cow! Syler got some spinach! WE'RE IN TROUBLE. I am eager for the next season and the bonus Heroes : Origins, whatever that will be. Though, things are still delayed until the writer's strike is sorted out. I support the writers and everything, but this is difficult for us too.

Lego Star Wars Rawks

My battle mech is walking. My levels are rotating. A demo for next semester's game is complete. Gotta fine-tune some graphics, and get the ball rolling on a barely-started project. Tonight after class, I'm going to play Smash Bros with some people, then maybe go to an Irish Pub some others. Saturday I gotta work hard. Sunday I'll do some holiday shopping. I am currently at the peak of the semester, where the completion of my projects are within sight. Oh and next semester, my group is making one of my game ideas, because I am a game design genius.

So, winter break I actually hope to stay busy. We have a lot of design to do on the next game, and it'd be cool if we got a head start on that before classes start. I also want to work on personal projects, including some software I want to make and some of my own games. Aside from that, I should look into summer work opportunities (It is possible I'll be testing games at Nintendo), as well as getter better at the ukulele, and hopefully read a book or two. Of course, my priority over the break is to hang out with familes and friends, so it's quite possible I won't do anything else.

Oh yeah, so summer work. My preference is to stay in the area, since I'll be paying for the apartment anyway, and I'd like to spend some more time getting to know Seattle. That limits me to only a few companies that offer interships, and my only opportunity at Nintendo would be testing, which doesn't count towards my degree or anything. Still, it'd be awesome. I'd buy so much merc. However, if I get a job somewhere else (Cali has many jobs), then I imagine I'd need someone (Sam?) to fill my apartment for the summer. And, even if I am working in town, if someone (Sam?) wanted to stay over the summer to look for jobs or something, I have too much room in my apartment. We'll see what happens!

If you like games, look at this!

Turkey is murder!

And I likes it! Hope everyone fed themselves well. I baked some banana bread and ate with my cousin's family. I'll be home for winter break though (it turns out I'm flying, bussing over the holidays is too expensive, and my brother says it's not worth it anyway). I'm spending the rest of the weekend powering down some code, with frequent breaks for beach walks and cartoons. I also have eggs for cooking and a big bowl of pudding.

So my mom sent me a tapioca kit via shipmail, but she recommended I list some things people could randomly send me. I don't by any means need these things, or are in a hurry to receive them, but people could send them if say they had too many of these things or maybe wanted to test a shipping system. On this list is of course puddings, particularly tapioca or banana. Also, beef jerky, candy, granola bars (the chewey kind is best), random video games, Wii points, books, spaghettios, other snacks, etc. I also might like any fancy appliances I don't have yet, like a rice cooker, or a blender for smoothies. That's all I can think of right now. I guess if you think of something you think I'd like, just send it anyway. Or buy it for yourself and rub it in my face.

Ok, this blog is kind of a waste. My brain is pretty fried from academics, so there won't be a whole lot of blogging energy. Looking forward to unwinding in Springfield. THREE WEEKS.

Windmills do not work that way!

This is another project I finished! The background mountains and sky is a real picture, but I made the windmill and trees and ground and shanty. This one's actually an animation, so the windmill moves and the car drives around. My next project is a walking battlemech. It should be crazy! I also just finished a clipper for my renderer (it cuts off things that aren't on the screen, slightly cool and boring at the same time).

And, most importantly, I made a level editor for a 2D platformer engine I'm working on with my game group. The project isn't a finished game, just an engine by the end of the semester. I'll let you know how that goes.

I haven't talked about it yet, but when I first started biking, I accidently starting losing weight REALLY FAST. You put 10 years into a gain weight diet, and it all goes down the drain in a few monthes. And now my legs are lumpy with muscle, which I hate. Muscles are gross. But, if you are into losing weight and things like that, biking isn't a bad plan. It was really hard at first, and would even make me lose my appetite. I remember biking to my mom's over the summer and being too exhausted to finish my birthday steak. I felt horrible.

Anyway, when school started, I probably biked around 100 miles a week, but then I cut it down to about 60 miles a week. It was tough, but after 1 or 2 monthes, I could do it without being tired at all. Now I do about 40 or 50 miles a week (8 to 10 hours?), which isn't bad. The trick is to bike someplace you need to go anyway, so you don't have to decide to excerise, you have to. So, exercise bikes won't work, at least not for me. Too boring.

Geek Speak

Ok, I don't really have much to talk about this week. I just finished several projects, and am getting ready for the final wave before the semester is over. SO I'm just going to talk about geek things.

It's been a while since I've had a cartoon to rant about, but there's a new one on Cartoon Network called Chowder that is AWESOME. It is innocent, imaginative, and hilarious, three things that are difficult to combine. I think it is by someone who has had his hands in SpongeBob and the Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy. Anyway, it's about a chubby little kid named Chowder who lives in the magical city of Marzipan where he works as an apprentice to a legendary chef. If you're into cartoons, check it out! If not, read a book!

Mario Galaxy is a lot of fun. I've been trying to take it easy, but I'm already close to the end. It's kind of like the bonus levels from Mario Sunshine, where you jump around to different platforms and do cool things. Only, you run around on tiny planets in space, and jump between them so your gravity is switched. It feels like playing in 3.5 dimensions! Moving around can be frustrating sometimes, but I think the rest of the game makes up for it.

Ok well, that's all I got for now, laters!

An Electric Window to Hither Scuttlegrounds

My new place is nice! I rented a big truck and moved by myself. It's only a studio apartment, but for someone who got rid of most of his stuff before he came up here, I have more space than I know what to do with. My new bike route is much quicker, and there's some not-steep hills to make sure I'm pushing myself. All in all, a big win. Also, got TV and wizardnet finally today. A wizard without the wizardnet is like a frog without lillipads: bored and unable to do work at home (don't ask me what that means for frogs, it's complicated).

Ok well, here's some pictures of my new place (I've been calling it my Goat Pad) and the nearby sacred lands of Captain Kirk.

My kitchen area is nice! Now I can cook like a crazy person.
I am not very spread out.
I am on the second floor, the three windows behind the tree. It looks like my building is made of legos.
Spud's! A good place for fish and chips. Me and my dad ate at one by my cousin's house a lot. It's like 50 years old!
A lake beach by my house early in the morning, so there's lots of fog.
I get to ride on this in the morning. I call it Zenan Bridge (ala Chrono Trigger) but so far have not fought any great battles.

The Adventures of Sir Kelroy the Ghost Knight

Sir Kelroy served no lord. He was a ronin warrior who travelled the lands helping those in need. He was a ghost knight, which is not to say he was deceased, but that he had been given magical ghost powers... from Bigfoot. He was quite powerful, and his power was only comparable to his benevolence, intellect, skill, and modesty.

This day, he woke before the call of the rooster, using his internal ghost clock alarm. This journey must start before the break of dawn, when the creatures of the dark still roamed the land. He crept out and awoke his steed, Ol' Nimoy. Sir Kelroy's steed was none other than a motorcycle. Some say Sir Kelroy attached the soul of his former horse to the motorcycle so that they could remain friends, but that's a damned lie.

"Come Ol' Nimoy, we must embark," whispered Sir Kelroy.

"Neeeigh!" whinnied the motorcycle.

Sir Kelroy skidded down the parking lot with Ol' Nimoy, not failing to push down a village boy on his way out. His chortle... was merry.

They travelled across long fields along lake sides. They were heading to the blessed kingdom of King Captain James T Kirk. Their quest held in the balance the future of all that is good and conveniant. Many foes stood in the way, including the sleeping behemoth Monster Mash, who never got up before noon. Satan Hill F**k Chute also sought to slay Sir Kelroy, but was barely defeated. Entire armies were brought down by Sir Kelroy's sword. There was even a gay dark wizard, who tried to explain that his sexual preference had nothing to do with being evil, but Sir Kelroy didn't care. Yes, there were many awesome battles, but rest assured, they made it!

Sir Kelroy stumbled in to the leasing office, covered in wounds and armor torn to shreds.

"I'd like to put down a security deposit on a studio apartment please," he told the receptionist.

"Certainly!"

He thrust his blade into the air and roared "I WIN!"

The end.

Midweek Bonus Blog!

I am sorry to interrupt a good conversation on gay wizards and Ozark churchcraft, but I put a security deposit down on my new apartment. I got a good deal too! It is expensive in normal terms, but it is average for studio apartments out here. In any case, all the other studio's in area (and the complex) are one to two hundred dollars more. It is an awesome area, so WIN FOR ME. So if you aren't doing anything on Saturday, feel free to come by and help me move.

ANYWAY, if you were going to send anything in the mail, hold out a week until I send out my new address. LATERs.

Syler is Playing Spock

I played the new Smash Brothers Brawl! It's not going to be out for 4 monthes, but I played it! They had a playable demo set up at Nintendo, so we shimmied over there as fast as we could. The game... is fantastic.

And I got hit by my first car this week. It was actually pretty fun! And the guy seemed pretty confused when I said so. I had the right-of-way going straight at an interesection and he was turning right and not really looking. The road was wet, so no road rash, and my bike was fine too. Not even a scratch. The guy felt bad, and some other people got out of their cars to yell at him. I guess you shouldn't hit a biker in the bicycle capital of the northwest. In any case, I am going to wear gloves from now on, in case the roads ain't wet.

It has come to my attention that I may be misrepresenting the folk up here. From what I've been saying, they probably seem like a bunch of crazies. No, there's only a handful of crazies, the large majority of people are normal. Normal as in sane though, not as in "exactly like Ozarkians". There is a good variety of people, from different backgrounds. In the Ozarks, it may just be me, but it seems like there is a wall between strangers that is only crossable with politeness. Here, everyone is pretty laid back about anything, and it's ok to talk. It's kind of like everyone knows each other a little bit. Strangers are usually nice to each other, but with authenticity, not just politeness. Not that they're any better than Ozarks people though, Ozarks people are good too. In the Ozarks, people have deeply-rooted values about respect and helping each other out. I guess there's too many kinds of people here for that. Everyone has their own causes, which is good too.

That nonsense aside, anyone thinking about moving up here might consider being a bus driver. Seriously! All they do is drive around and make friends all day. I'm friends with one bus driver, and I've talked to others. Apparently part-time they get full benefits (which are good benefits!) and make like 20 bucks an hour. Full time gets 30 bucks an hour. Sounds fine to me! Plus, they are not only helping people, but probably the environment too! Gah, if only I didn't go to college.

People say things like "listen to your heart", but witches learn to listen to other things too. It's amazing what your kidneys can tell you.

Had a good talk with my roommate, laid everything out on the table. Since I'm moving in November, she is going to try to find a new roommate as soon as possible. Until then, I'm still obligated to pay rent here until February, though she'll probably cut me some slack. Anyway, my hands are tied, because moving to James T Kirkland will really help me focus on school more.

As a bonus, the area is awesome and has minimal hills. I am trading a mountain in my backyard for a Lake Washington beach, pictured here. This is something I'd see every time I ride my bike. Just a perk. Mostly, going to be closer to school and the city and not live with any strangers. Though, I'll be paying twice the rent, but my loans will cover it. Still, I am not above accepting donations :).

I think I've mentioned before, that I'm greatly attracted to the idea of independent game-making (that is, independent of a publisher). This would be a way I could have absolute creative freedom, but not necessarily be financially secure. I've never cared about money anyway. Though, I will definately work the first few years out of school to pay the will-be-giant pile of student loans, as well as gain some invaluable experience. There's nothing stopping me from pursuing my own hobbies while I'm working too. And, I may save some money for some world travel, if I'm in the mood. So life plan: graduate, be a code-monkey to get my feet wet, do some things I wanna do, gather a pirate crew to make my dorky games, retire when I've convinced a few strangers that I'm a genius. Somewhere in there is trick a goil into marriage and train spawnlings for game testing, but it's hard to find space in the schedule.

And now, for some Geek Speak. As per ma's recommendation, I read my first audio book via bike route "Wee Free Men", written by my favorite author Terry Pratchett, narrated by Nigel Pilkington. It was very entertaining, though I will always prefer reading (My ability to retain spoken speech is an idiot). Anyway, Terry Pratchett writes the rare genre of comedic fantasy, which is perfect for myself.

Moving on, lots of Nintendo news this week. Smash Bros Brawl is delayed until February 10th to ensure it's quality, but Sonic the Hedgehog is in it. This means, yes, Mario and Sonic will finally duke it out. Also, if you haven't heard of Wii Ware, do some readin. Starting at the beginning of next year, there will be a similar system as Virtual Console for Wii, only it will distribute new games. They would be sold for cheap ($10?) but also be a lot cheaper for companies to distribute. They won't be big games, but I reckon there will be a lot, because that is an ideal situation for indie game groups. And, it will be a GIGABOOST for casual gaming. I predict, it will be a big deal. Hopefully, this will also get Nintendo to be more internet-minded, which is the only area they are lacking on in their awesome plan.

Lastly, Sam had disappeared off the face of the Earth, so I'm taking applications for a new one. Applicants must be: handy around the house, able to do awesome circus tricks at parties, unreliable, popular with goils, retain a different life-solving job every year, come up with a new DREAM job every week. People with fear of illegal climbing of public buildings need not apply.

When It Rains It Snows

Actually, it tornadoes! It was a big week for the following reasons: (1) Had to finish 3 projects, one linear algebra exam, and one standard homework. Most computer scientists can tell you how much work a project is worth, and two of the projects were codin. (2) I'm probably moving! It is not working out with the roommate. I'll move to a studio apartment within 5 miles of school in an area called Kirkland, hereby referred to James T Kirkland. (3) I got a cold! (4) I'm on antibiotics! My roommate has a staph infection and has spent time in the emergency room, so I am trying to avoid it. (5) I'm a criminal! Missouri has summoned me home for a speeding ticket I paid for once already in April. But, they refunded the money and sent it to a higher court, because it was technically in a workzone. So, I'm going to try to settle all that from up here, not only to save travel moneys but also it'd be bad if I got pulled out of school for a week. (6) My mp3 player died! The new one given by my pa is not immune to laundry cycles. I have already replaced it, so no worries.

But, if you know me, you know I don't let a bunch of noise like that get me down. One of my projects was to make my first 3D model (The background with the beach, sun, and people is a real picture, so don't freak out). My graphics teacher likes the military, so we made a hummer. Yes, I know it's beautiful, you don't need to tell me.







Oh yeah, earlier this week in the halls of Digi I walked by Chris Taylor, the well-known mind behind Total Annihilation and Dungeon Siege, two games I'm not that into but I do recognize his feats. Also, I have some goods friends that think he's cool, so I get to be all braggy.

I don't know if I talked about what it's like to have one foot in the industry yet, and I guess I'll do that now, because Mykl made me laugh this morning. If you don't care, feel free to skip, because it this is long. The game industry is full of people that all know each other, and also celebrities that only exist in the game community. Before, the industry just seemed like a far off-place full of people I'd never meet, and these people made my games. Kind of like the people that make movies or TV. But now, professors talk about these people like old chums, and even the professors have done some important things. I have one professor that is a big name for doing technical stuff for the Xbox, and one that was a producer/designer for Lucasarts and worked on such games as Monkey Island and maybe Maniac Mansion. One didn't make games, but he says that 3ds max uses his algorithm for binary compounding (trust me, it's neat). One thing that I did not forsee for some reason is that some of my peers have already worked in the industry. I talked to someone who recently finished working on Halo 3 (We got to see it early, as I may of mentioned). I talked to someone from Valve, and also Artificial Studios. There's several people who work at Microsoft as they're taking classes too. So, it is weird to meet faces behind games, or just programs that I've used. For example, imagine meeting a person who was on the development team for cheeseburgers, which has developed itself into an icon in your brain and you assumed must have appeared from nothing.

Also, the Nintendo store rawks, I went there the other week. There's all sorts of swag I've never seen anywhere else, and Nintendo games are there we've seen up to 2 weeks early, and we get everything cheaper. I'm not sure what regular people have to do to go to it, but see what you can do.

Upon A Stage of Possible Giants

The Masters Party was an excellent mingle party. I met several folk, found out more about this wonderful industry, and played some games. Several people there have already been working in the industry, and we played games they worked on on respective consoles. One of the residents of the house works at Bungie, so for much of the night people played Halo 3, which was not yet released. After a few drinks, I found myself arguing the quality of the show Firefly and, more importantly, discussing Team Fortress 2 with an employee of Valve. It's pretty cool meeting faces behind games, I must say.

Anyway, one thing I don't think I've mentioned before is the variety of people in Seattle. I don't only mean a variety of cultures, which does indeed exist, but also a variety in level of sanity (This probably exists in most big cities). The Ozarks seems to have very few people with mental problems that don't allow them to funtion in the world, or maybe they don't leave their house in the Ozarks. If you visit Downtown Seattle, you will be certain to encounter at least one person who talks gibberish to themselves and laughs manically, seemingly unaware of any other person, and also jumping around and uses objects on the ground to tell stories that don't make sense.

I found myself waiting for a bus with one such fellow on the way to the TMBG concert. It was strange, because on appearance I would have guessed he was a regular dude. I was nervous at first, but he seemed to be too involved with entertaining himself to be aware of my existence. I've found out that the proper behavior for someone in my place is to exchange glances with nearby sane people and shrug. I learn a little ettiquette every day.

TMBG put on a great show, but I still had an unpleasant time. I've become aware of a secret society of large obnoxious guys who get drunk and go to concerts, ram their way to the middle-front area, and dance and lean on people and make annoying noises that isn't singing. When this happens, everyone around him glares, and then exchange glances with each other and shrug. But angrily. It seems to be this society's goal to ruin the show for other people though. On at least two occasions during the concert, I found one of these fellows in front of me, blocking my view. The first one... was the worst. TMBG shows are pretty mellow, but he tried to start a mosh pit to "She's an Angel", which is a love song of sorts. A girl attacked him for this, no lie. Anyway, I lost track of him for one half of a split freaking second and he was on stage. His unworthy blasphemis legs were wiggling on the holy altar of my idols. The stage is a forbidden holy land and he was a deviant invader of the devilish variety. I half expected the apocolypse. Fortunately, security prevented this and took him away, and probably chucked him into a dimension where inhabitants must suffer eternally without ever again being graced by a note of sound. The band? Didn't skip a freaking beat.

And today, I went to the Nintendo Store, in Nintendo. It's not an open store, just for special folk, and Digipen students must have an escort. I got a nifty jacket, the new Zelda game on the DS (it's not out yet), and some other swag, all for like 20% off retail price. I'm told they never run out of anything either, including Wiis when no other stores had them. I plan to get Brawl early. I am enjoying the perks of my studentitude.


PS. I forgot to mention, the surprise opener for TMBG was Harvey Danger with just a piano/guitar player, which was reminiscent of Ben Folds (In other words, quality). Upon some wizardnet research, I found that the band put their newest album up for free download here as some kind of wizardnet experiment. If you like Ben Folds (and you should), give it a shot!

Another Week, Another Five Thousand Attack Slugs

This week had a couple disappoints. First, it turns out I missed Animal Collective and The New Pornographers last weekend, two of my favorite musical groups. Second, my semester project must be in 3D, and my robot game lacks the required number of dimensions. Sorry robot. But, I have a good week in front of me. Tomorrow there's going to be a party for grad students. Chances are, it will be a bunch of dudes sitting around with beers playing Smash Bros. It may be a dud, but if I've learned anything from UMR, it's mastering the equation Smart People + Booze = Party. If you've known me these past two years, you've probably heard of Goat House, which is a team of selected specialists who, when combined, can work miracles with this equation. Also, I will be seeing TMBG on Wednesday. YES.

I've recently come across Gamer Dad via Penny Arcade, and I'm impressed. He works hard to spread a message of parenting WITH video games, as in, play games with yours kids to teach teamwork and organization, things I'm told are good for kids, like Flinstones vitamins for the soul. This article in particular caught my eye. It also talks about how online games can be used for scattered families to keep in touch. It would work too, if everybody liked the game. You know, even the elderly play World of Warcraft... just a thought...

On my way to important exams or presentations, I get pumped up with some of my "power music". Seriously, everyone should have power music. I don't know if it helps, but it gets rid of nervousness probably. Most of my power music puts me in the mode "this stupid test can't stop me!" or something like that. Anyway, feel free to use some of my favorites. "The Naruto Main Theme", "Decree of the Sichuan General" from Kung Fu Hustle, "Festivo" from Zatoichi (Blind Samurai), "Harder Better Faster Stronger" by Daft Punk, "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" from Kill Bill, and "Go Go Cactus Man" from Cowboy Bebop. Strangely, most of them are from soundtracks of the action genre.

Did I mention Seattle is full of slugs?

Rawkbawt

I will probably be posting weekly from now on, somewhere in the Friday/Saturday range. Second week of school = complete. It looks like it's going to be the standard routine of homework, quizzes and exams, only with the focus on the game project every semester. As I guessed, it won't be as bad as they laid it on, at least not until next year. Especially nothing a professional student like me can't handle.


My project this semester is solo. This picture's a small preview (The textbox says "*despair* MRRRRR"). Next semester will be a group project, hopefully that goes ok. I just don't want to end up making a game I don't care much for.

For my Missouri friends, TMBG is playing in St. Louis tonight (Saturday), but I think they started a couple hours ago.

In other news, Nartzor was good this week. Action was ok, but they laid into some of that "character development" that is rare in anime. Team Gai was stuck in a puzzle and it turns out the solution was Rock Lee's mantra. Also, Kaizoku finally popped out a new One Piece after I don't know how many weeks of break. Hopefully it will be regular from now on, because it looks to be an interesting arc.

For anyone who doesn't keep up with Smash Bros news, Ice Climbers were announced this week. In most cases, this wouldn't really be news, but this announcement disproves an early rumor from around a year ago that they were being dropped along with Mr. Game and Watch, which would be a tragedy. This rumor also said there would be Wind Waker Link, Ridley, and Bowser Jr, so that's uncertain now too. We'll see! Game season is almost upon us.

Digidude

First week of classes went well, for everyone that asked. Classes won't be any worse than UMR's as far as time and difficulty goes, but they will be about fun topics, and also I gotta spend a lot of my free time working on my game project, which is going to rawk some sawks. My into game project class is using XNA Game Studio Express, which is the same thing I played with all summer. HEADSTART FOR KELROY. Unfortunately, due to copyright reasons they won't let my brother make music for my game assignments. This is because we sign a thing that Digipen owns the things the students make, although the students can do whatever they want with them. Since Riley isn't a student, this would not work. I am going to ask a couple more people to see if there are any forms he could fill out if he wanted, since he wants to be a famous video game score composer anyway.

Picture in your mind the feeling that Harry Potter had when he heard the words "You're a wizard Harry!" Only, also imagine that he knew about wizards the whole time and had planned on being one. Anyway, this feeling about sums up my week. I've been finding out that I'm ideal to be a game designer, a career I decided long ago was the only one for me, and have been further affirmed. This probably happened at Harry's first week of Hogwart's too. Also, he's a Leo, and was too destined for great things. Lastly, he was called crazy for telling people that brooms can fly. THEY CAN.

The more I hear about publishers, the more I'd like to be independent. Publishers spend the money to have the game the developers made, so they get a lot of control. In this system, I could go to a Publisher as one of their game designers and say "Hey, I have this great idea for a game!" and they'd reply "Don't make this game, though we own your idea now. Also, you need to make this Barbie game we signed for." Blah to that noise.

Bumbershoot '07

Bumbershoot is the annual 3 day festival of concerts and other things that happens in Seattle on labor day weekend. People smoke pot everywhere. I went on Saturday and saw The Shins, The Moth (a storytelling group including Kimya Dawson), and Gogol Bordello. Other groups seen but were pretty blah were Mae, the Gourds, the Crowded House, and the Common Market. There were also films and performances and stuff going on. At any given time, there were probably 6 bands playing, a couple comedians, a movie or two, and something literary, so you have to plan your day. Sadly, I showed up an hour early to see Micheal Ian Black (At the last minute, Stella turned into Ian Black and someone else), but it was already full when I got there. No dice.

I was expecting to give Best in Show to The Shins because they have my favorite songs, but Gogol Bordello your live show blew my mind. You ignited the fuse to the pirate carnival in my heart and reminded me why I became a gypsy so many years ago. If you have a chance to see them, go, get in the pit, and freak out because SURPRISE YOU'RE A GYPSY NOW. It's a high energy gypsy rock band, picture of some performance below. Keep an eye on this group.


The Shins did have a great live show though. It was a feel-good crowd, and they played a lot of my favorite songs, and even threw some Floyd at us.

Mighty Hills Spare no Wheels

Each day involves two 10 mile journies, to and from classes. I start each morning shooting down a hill I've named Monster Mash, after a wizard from Wizard People Dear Readers (Brad Neely's take on Harry Potter). Monster Mash sleeps in late, so he leaves me alone for now. I pedal a very pleasant 8 mile road, which is tame and beautiful and free of traffic negotiation. But guarding the school every day is a hill I call Satan Hill F**k Chute, named for the tattoo the hill gave itself on it's own beating heart. This is an evil hill, a mighty hill. If it were a pokemon, it'd be a legendary. I try to sneak around it to backstab it, but somehow he always knows where I am. Every morning I battle this hill and lose, and go to school. Someday...

Only caring to defeat me once a day, Satan Hill F**k Chute chucks me towards home at the end of the day. But guarding my house, now awake and alert, is Monster Mash. Monster Mash is also a mighty hill, but not a great fighter. I try to ignore him as I go by, but he has great merriment pushing me down and yelling at passerbys that I am a lesser thing. Eventually he gets tired, and I face my last opponent Shonen Bat aka Lil' Slugger. He's a steep parking lot to my apartment complex. I try to get by him without a fight too, but he knocks me down once everyday and runs away laughing. And then, having lost three battles a day, I return home, determined to grow strong enough to defeat these enemies. The large majority of the journey is very pleasant, and the hills are ok as long as I walk some, so I really can't complain.


Digipen orientation happened. This is one of the most interesting community of people I've met. It's a collaboration of nerds, geeks, and artists (there is a huge different between nerds and geeks). Everyone talks about how busy they are at Digipen, but everyone is incredebly thrilled about it. Rarely ever do you see computer scientists so happy. At UMR, while many enjoy what they do, most are an angry, cynical, stressed, and lonely lot who fulfil the minimum of projects so they can get back to Warcraft. From what I understand, Digipen students are not busy fulfilling minimum requirements. To do that would still get an A, and they'd have plenty of free time. They work themselves to the bone putting in the extra hours to perfect their game. Turns out, everyone at this gaming school is very competitive. Who would guess?

Post-Super Saiyan

Everything slowed down to normal speed. People of the stars would attribute this to Leo's time segment ending, but it's most likely because I'm on my own, and getting out less. My dad left for home, he stayed up here a little more than a week, so I no longer have a vehicle at my disposal. He made several business contacts, so he may return to live up here, possibly in a van down by the ocean. On his way back, he's going to do whatever he wants. I think he's already camped on Mt. Rainier, and maybe visited St. Helens. I should probably tell him that Idaho is on fire now.

The other day I went on a bus adventure to downtown Seattle to see if anything fun was happening. The answer was "Yes holy wow!", as I got off to explore Seattle's annual Sandfest, a competition of sand sculpture and music and other stuff that occurs in front of Westlake Mall. I saw more weirdos in those couple of hours than probably exist in Springfield, unless you count Halloween. Though, it is nice to see a variety of folk.
This is the sculpture that won I think. There's was also a concert going on, and some other stuff like you'd see at a festival. After hanging around, I visited the Westlake Mall. Their food court had foods of all sorts, as opposed to fast food, so, not to look unfancy, I filled up on sushi.




The next part of my mall adventure is the part where I assume all my fantasies are real. I found a bustling EB Games, and thought "Wink my waffles! This must be the mall-sited EB that Gabe and Tycho shop at!" It was bustling, that's for sure. I shuffled through Nintendo things. Hmm, the new Metroid Prime game, 2 days before it comes out, not surprising of where Penny Arcade shops. Instead of confirming whether it was just to reserve or not, I ran off, eager to protect my fantasy. To continue my escape into a dream, I spotted a couple that looked like Gabe and his wife shopping at the video store right across. Nah, they'd be at PAX, and probably have a child with them. But lo... he has a Wii keychain. I pondered the mystery for a while, and went on my merry way. Yes, I am a firm believer of leaving celebrities alone, especially when they're trying to blend into public. Don't worry, they'll be interviewing me when I'm a bigshot.

Anyway, when I watched part 2 of Brad Neely's movie talk comic this morning, I was foolish enough to be eating, for Brad Neely hasn't been hitting the spot lately. When it got towards the end, I almost perished. Check it out at Super Deluxe.

Next time, I will describe my epic bike route. Goose knight!

Hmm?!

Today when I was biking, I found one of these guys.


(My pictures didn't turn out well, this one's by someone named Svend Ove Jensen)

At first I thought it was a pokemon, but after some webternet research, I found it is an Arion Rufus, a kind of European slug. Sadly, it is not something I can catch in a ball and teach fighting moves. Maybe next time.

Also, if anyone's not keeping up with Nartzor (aka Naruto), this week's episode was a good fight, the kind we haven't seen in a couple years. It reminded me why I watch the series in the first place.

A Time of Events

I don't think I mentioned, but it seems this is the time of year where everything happens in Seattle. Since I am a nobo, I am going to skip a lot this year, but next year I will probably hit them all.

Last weekend was Hempfest, which is the the annual gathering for muggle law reform. I missed it though, due to inconvenient timing. This weekend, as all kinds of gamers across the nation know, is PAX, which I will definately attend next year, once I got a crew. It's the biggest gaming convention, hosted by a popular game-themed web comic and news site. They may be rude at times, but this adds to the fact that they are probably the best representatives for the gaming community.

There's also tons of music stuff going on, the biggest of course is Bumbershoot, the annual gigantic concert/other things extravaganza. This year it is featuring The Shins, Panic! at the Disco, Wu-Tang Clan, Gogol Bordello, Janeane Garofalo, Stella (ZOMG), and countless others, mostly all playing at the same time. I might actually go to this one, for the sake of Stella, who is a hilarious comedy group. They used to have a TV show on Comedy Central, but it was short-lived. Check out a new movie that they're all in and one of them is directing called The Ten. Other concerts coming up include Modest Mouse, Tegan and Sara, Kimya Dawson, Rilo Kiley, Lily Allen, the Arcade Fire, the Flaming Lips, White Stripes, Richard Cheese, Incubus, Presidents of the US, They Might Be Giants, etc.

You might wonder where I get all my new Seattle news. One place is The Stranger, which is a free local newspaper my friend told me about before I left. It is full of cultural happenings and slightly opinioned articles of the humor variety, along with classifieds offering jobs in the Seattle Symphony, teaching English in Japan (You don't even have to know Japanese!), or extras in movies. The funnies section consists of just Perry Bible Fellowship and Maakies, which is neat!

I've also heard things from a great radio station here called The End (it's 107.7). It's an alternative station, not a rock alternative which is the only option in Springfield, so they play many favorites from the 90s, along with new stuff like the Shins. Rawk.

Recorded Memories

Journey pictures, as promised! Brought to you by my phone camera memory device.


This is a street performer in Boulder. Another great job for Sam!


Tons of beautiful rock formations along the drive of course. Anyone who hasn't seen some of America's rock landscapes should check it out, mostly near the Rockies or the Badlands.


"See Butte from the Inside Out..." Sorry Butte, I will always laugh at you.

This is the view from my balcony. Not too bad, eh?

These are workerbots that live in Puget Sound. We are near the Pike Place Fish Market, which is a neat area.

Sunset on Alki Beach, on another part of Puget Sound.

All the vandalism I've seen so far is pretty creative, and usually funny.

A Successful Journey

Hello dear readers. I can't post pictures yet because I only have access to wireless internet right now, but they will arrive soon courtesy of my cell phone camera.

In any case, I am in my new home in Issaquah, Washington. We drove a pleasant journey, though the bugs attacked our windshield in Kansas, Montana was on fire, and we competed for hotel rooms with bikers returning home from their annual get-together. We made the trip in 3 days, and even got to hang around Boulder, Colorado again. If you haven't been there, try it out, there's a lot of interesting art shops.

Issaquah is a beautiful hilly forest land, complete with modern business shops. Aside from coffeehouses and smoothiehouses, there are artshops, bikeshops, and farmer's markets full of organic foods (Seattelites love organic foods like Ozarkians love steak). My bike ride to school is absolutely gorgeous with conifers, my kind of trees, and Lake Sammammish, Sam's kind of lake.

My roommate is very nice. She works at least two jobs, and, from what I understand, is a medical masseuse. She will probably have good spine advice if my bike labor is rough on me. She also has two friendly cats. My balcony has an awesome view of Mt. Tiger. Yes, I have a mountain in my backyard.

Most of all, I've been surprised at how different the people are here. I guess it's always hard to imagine how different other peoples' minds can be from my own. Growing up in the Ozarks, I knew the people were different from me, but we all knew how to deal with each other. I also took for granted my friends in Rolla, whom, compared to other people of the world, we actually had very like minds.

I first noticed it when we went shopping for the first time. Strangers talked to us for no reason, so at first we thought they were crazy (though, one of them was, he tried to sell us teen boy slaves, no lie). It turns out, people are a lot less shy around strangers out here. Not particulary polite or anything, they just make comments or conversation for no apparent reason. In the Ozarks, everyone keeps to themselves for the most part, and when words are exchanged with a stranger, they are very polite. Just something I have to get used to I guess.

The world is full of interesting people and now.... now is strange. I will have pictures in the next post, along with more words to exchange. Please leave comments, so I know more people read this blog than my mother, though she is a nice lady.

Out of the Pond into the Sea

Tomorrow is the day of leaving. Me and my dad will drive the van from Missouri to Washington, observing any landmarks we feel like seeing along the way. We don't really have a route planned, I think we're just playing it by ear. Then dad's going to hang out in Seattle for a bit, possibly setting up some business contacts if he can.

I sold my old blazer to my friend Sam. The blazer was my first car, I've had it for 7 years or so. But, I'm not sure it would have made the trip, and I also want to be free from gas and insurance for a bit. So, I'm getting used to bike riding, and I'll look into the metro system when I get up there. Everyone tells me the Seattle area has great public transportation.

In other news, my sister just got hitched, and my brother is hitched too. They have truly grabbed life by the horns and are shaking violently, trying to shake all the candy out. Also, I have entered my 24th year, which is a good number, I will treat it well.

For those who aren't following, Rumble Fighter is now officially released. Tell your friends that if they want they can be a werewolf or a metal man.

Kelroy out.

What I've been up to this summer

We went on vacation to Florida, and it turns out I'm allergic to the sun, which I actually think is kind of cool. I mean, it beats being allergic to something lame right? I could be allergic to peanuts or milk or something, but I'm allergic to the most powerful force in the solar system, the fricken sun.


My brother got married, and as how I was the best man, I planned the bachelor party. So without a second thought, we rented out a movie theatre and played the Wii. This place taught me how.

And up next is a camping trip with Sam, my sister's wedding, my birthday/going-away party, and then going-away. I still need to sell my car, get used to city bike riding, plan the trip up, and organize my junk.

Also this summer, I've read through the Harry Potter series, not including the most recent one. It's a pretty fun read. I've done some programming with XNA Game Studio, which I highly recommend to the hobby game maker. I've wasted some time on Pokemon Pearl, although I still don't have a team to show for it.
Rumble Fighter is a good free online game. It's like if Rakion were made by the Maple Story people. If you play the ukulele but don't take private lessons, check out this guy. Toonami is showing an awesome show Samurai Jack online, and they also just started showing Star Wars Clone Wars by the same guy. There's a show called Kenny vs Spenny that's worth some laughs, mostly because one of the guys always cheats at the contests. And of course, Smash Bros Dojo has kept me updated on one of the most anticipated games of all time.

Albums I've listened to this summer - TMBG's The Else, Polyphonic Spree's Wait, a few of the Magnetic Fields, and the usual bunch.

Well, that pretty well sums it up.

Prologue

I am a young academic-type from Springfield, MO. For the past few years, I've been getting a bachelors in computer science 100 miles from home in a small town called Rolla. I'm not sure if you've ever gone to an engineering school in a small town before, but, needless to say, the lack of women and culture is heavily replaced with hobbies and drinking. Most people were drunk by noon and already taking their solar cars for joy rides.

However, earlier this year I got accepted into the masters program of a school I've had my eye on since I was a kid, Digipen, located in Redmond, WA. It is a fairly well-known and challenging school specializing in video games. When I look at my schedule, I feel like I'm looking at Hogwart's classes, the titles of which are parodies of a career only viewed as a fantasy. "3D Computer Animation Production I" could just as well be "Care of Magical Creatures". Surely, I'm in for a rad semester.

So I will be moving to the outskirts of Seattle in less than a month. My roommate is a cool young lady 7 or so years older than me. We get along very well, and plus she moved there from out of town a few years ago, so I imagine she will have useful advice. I will be 10 miles from the school, handled on bicycle, which my dad assures me is no big deal.

The plan is to drive up in a rental car around August 10th, if my dad can manage to go. I don't have a back-up plan yet. Until then, I am taking it easy. My brother just got married, and my sister's getting married on the 4th. On the 5th, I will have a going-away/birthday party.

The purpose of this blog is to keep my friends and family updated on my well-being, to let people know about the Seattle area from the point of view of a noob, and to geek talk on my hobbies and interests.

T minus 18 days to Rawk O'Clawk.