Derek Bigelow

Queens of the Awesome

2007-12-19T22:49:00.000-05:00

Last night, the Tove-ster and I went to see Queens of the Stone Age at Paramount Theatre. It was freaking awesome. That's all I can say, they rocked their asses off. It's the best show I've seen in a long time.

Thank you QOTSA.

The pictures are from here.

Oh The Games We Play

2007-12-16T23:00:00.000-05:00

I'm setting something right I should have done long ago. I always spend money on games with the perfect intent on actually playing them. After all, isn't that what they're for? Some games I'll start playing, lose interest and then forget about completely. Most of the time, the reason I quit playing one game is because I've bought another. So, in my attempt to remedy this, I'm going to post all the games that I currently haven't completed in an attempt to put some finality on the situation. Here goes:

Wii

Super Paper Mario

Excite Truck

Gamecube

PN03

Pikmin

Viewtiful Joe

Viewtiful Joe 2

Custom Robo

Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem

Mega Man Anniversary Collection

Xbox (Original)

Genma Onimusha

X-Men Legends

Rallysport Challenge 2

Prince of Persia: Warrior Within

Otogi: Myth of Demons

Nintendo DS

Cooking Mama

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney

Trauma Center

Kirby: Canvas Curse

Lost in Blue

Advance Wars: Dual Strike

Pokemon Diamond

Meteos

Hotel Dusk: Room 215

Gameboy

Mario and Luigi Superstar

Racing Gears Advance

Pokemon Sapphire (although I was so close one time, but my saved game got erased)

So that's about it. I'm promising myself not to buy anymore games until I at least beat a few of these. When I finish them, I'll be getting rid of them. I hold on to games for far too long that I never play, which is part of my problem as well. I'm not even going to get into the fact that I buy a lot of crappy original NES games and never play those either, but I'm excusing them from this list because it's just the right thing to do.

Games of December

2007-12-15T23:10:00.000-05:00

Here are some of the games I've been tirelessly playing all month, along with some quick tidbits:

Mario Galaxy (Wii)

I've loved Mario ever since the olden days of gaming. Though I never played Super Mario 64 (don't stone me to death please), I did play Super Mario Sunshine, and loved it. Super Mario Galaxy is more of a throwback to Mario's groundbreaking adventure on the N64, however, it still feels strangely familiar to Sunshine. Coins have a different purpose this time around, offering life, intead of, well, money. Star bits are what you're after, though. Fifty and you've got a new life. You'll have no problem finding plenty of them, nor will you have problems finding extra 1up mushrooms.

The game does get a tad disorienting once in a while, since your adventure will take you to small, goomba-infested worlds in which you're jumping upside-down and backwards to avoid getting hit. One of the coolest additions to the game is Mario's bee suit. This adds a whole new dimension to some levels, making for some really interesting play-throughs. I haven't beaten it yet, but I'm still trying to find all of the damn stars (more than 100 of them), then I guess I'll go save the Princess.

Mass Effect (Xbox 360)

Mass Effect is made by one of my favorite developers, BioWare. The story driven plot and great action elements make this one of my favorite games of all time. Though, in my opinion, not quite as good as BioWare's first game, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. A lot of people bash this game for it's subtle design and gameplay flaws, but I think the design, as somewhat simplistic as it is, serves the game well. The shear amount of story lines, sidequests, and subplots make this game well worth the 30 or so hours it takes to complete. Not to mention you get to make it with hot alien chick.

Other games and such:

Guitar Hero III (Wii)
Starcraft (Still going strong)
Wii Sports (Wii)
Forza Motorsports 2 (Xbox 360)

The love and loathing of Christmas

2007-11-21T00:02:00.000-05:00

Christmas has always been, and probably always will be, one of the most awkward holidays for me. Most people either truly hate the holiday for what it's become, or love it based on beloved childhood memories. I prefer to ride the fence on this one.

The Loathing

It's freakin cold damnit!
People often make themselves feel better by giving to charity this time of year while completely ignoring the other three quarters of the year.
Childhood greed is much more prevelant. Parents are spending way too much money to make their child happy for less than one day than to teach them that life isn't about getting everything you want.
The over-commercialization of everything. Everything.
The music. You'll never understand my deep hatred for Christmas music unless you've worked at a retail job for more than five years.
Christmas's origins aren't religious, nor is it the day Jesus was born. It is a holiday that was stolen from pagan solstice festivals celebrated by the Romans and other early civilizations. Nobody seems to care about this fact, yet all that's talked about is how religious Christmas is. I don't get it.

The Love

Christmas specials and cartoons. I'm talking the old school ones like the Grinch and Rudolph.
The wonderful, fattening food.
For one day out of the year, you can feel like a kid again. You don't have anything to worry about (usually), you can eat all you want (pie!), and you can play with your new toys (Plasma TV!) all day.
You can buy really expensive things for yourself and not feel guilty (you earned it!).
Although it is cold out, it's a great opportunity to warm up with the one you love.

There you have it. I'm sure I'll think of some more and throw them in there when I have time. Let me know if there's anything else I should add! For those of you who read this, have a great Thanksgiving!

Music I'm Into - Winter '07

2007-11-19T01:38:00.000-05:00

If, for some reason, you want to motivate yourself to be as cool as me (I understand), I'm offering a small glimpse into the world of Derek Bigelow, Music Connoisseur. Here is my list of my favorite bands at the moment (in order of awesomeness):

Queens of the Stone Age

The White Stripes

The Brian Jonestown Massacre

The Flight of the Conchords

Fujiya and Miyagi

Altough Fujiya and Miyagi may be a bit out of my ordinary listening style, let me just say that I'm always up for some nice beats. But I still mostly prefer listening to grungy, hard, rock. Flight of the Conchords are just plain funny, as well as able to bring the coveted funk.

Honorable mentions (you should also check them out):

Hot Chip

Death Cab for Cutie

The Warlocks

The Beatles
The Shins

I tend to go for softer stuff in the winter like Death Cab for Cutie for some reason, don't ask me why. My musical tastes change according to the season, anyone else suffer from this?

Updates and Such

2007-11-19T01:02:00.000-05:00

So I have a lot of news. For starters, I'm an idiot and never post. Sorry!

I've moved into some new digs. Pretty exiting. No pictures yet or anything, maybe I should get on that.

I've just landed a new gig as a vendor for a very large company you may or may not have heard of. Also very exciting.

Tove (Toe-va) and I have been together for almost nine awesome months! And she isn't sick of me yet! Gotta love that.

I'm getting my wisdom teeth out on December 13th, which isn't that exciting, but it's news!

That's about all of the new stuff going on around here for the past few months.

Intense Morning

2007-07-11T13:45:00.000-05:00

An intense morning to equal an intense night. I was supposed to present information about all the work I'm doing around MySpace at our bi-weekly marketing meeting. However, partly due to my lack of sufficient PowerPoint experience during my post-collegiate years, my initial presentation was less than stellar. After another go, I got my groove back and was able to compose quite an interesting presentation. However, it didn't get instant approval, and so I was completely unsure if I was actually going to present it at this week's meeting.

[insert dilemma here]

So the night before the meeting, after months of anticipation, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix came out in theatres. I, of course, got tickets to the midnight show. My stomach churned from the realization that I could, of course, have to present my semi-stellar slide show to the entire marketing team the next morning, with roughly four hours of sleep and little preparation. After all of that exhausting worrying I didn't have to present after all. But, I did learn my lesson. Know when to play and when to put the toys away.

I'll be presenting in two weeks, so I'll let you know how that goes.

The Desk at the End of the Hall

2007-06-29T16:23:00.001-05:00

Just as Harry Potter lived in The Cupboard Beneath the Stairs, so to do I work at The Desk at the End of the Hall, as I have come to name it.

My desk sits at the end of a row of cubicles, vulnerable and alone. But hey, I have great access to the watercooler and copy room and I'm within striking distance of the free apples and granola bars. Not a bad deal at all I say.

The Internship - Week One

2007-06-29T15:45:00.000-05:00

And thus ends the onslaught of week one of my new internship at All Star Directories. The Desk at the End of the Hall was busy this week. What did I do you ask? Well, let me tell you.

On Monday, I had a small orientation and got all of those pesky tax and government forms out of the way. My boss and I discussed what it is I will actually be doing here, among other things, building out keywords to help Google find the site better, as well as creating an ever-important online presence for All Star in the online social communies such as MySpace and Facebook. My responsibilities are limited only to two sites currently under All Star Directories, AllArtSchools.com as well as AllCulinarySchools.com. Both sites generate quite a bit of money for All Star and I'm here to help generate a bunch more.

On Tuesday I was given a short demonstration on how to generate keywords using Excel and then told to go at it, goal being that I could generate at least 20,000 keywords using a basic formula that we have established. I compiled words, phrases, and everything surrounding all that is art, art related, art education related, etc. Needless to say I came up with quite a bit. For the next three days I combined, copied, pasted, and morphed every possible keyword combination together, eventually coming up with close to 200,000, roughly ten times what I should have had. Great. I wasn't trying to get that many, it's just the way it worked out. My process seems to have be a little too thorough, but 200,000 in a total of 3 days? Thats like 8,333 an hour, or 138 a minute! Pretty cool if you ask me.

Now it's Friday and I'm working on more MySpace stuff, finishing up this blog and thinking of ideas for what I'm going to do with Facebook. I've had a great week so far, it's a lot different than I thought it was going to be. Everyone here is really laid back, yet surprisingly devoted to their work. Being my first office job, this was quite a surprise and yet I wasn't quite sure what to expect either. Most of my expectations were derived from either movies or tv, but then again, this is the Northwest and everyone works differently up here. Suits? Who needs 'em? Cars? Who needs 'em? Very cool.

I'm Back

2007-06-29T15:31:00.000-05:00

After a long, enduring time away, it is now time to re-animate the remains of this blog.

The purpose?

To start frequently blogging about my experiences at my new internship at All Star Directories. It's one of the fastest growing companies in Seattle right now, and I have been charged with the task to increase our online presence through social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook. I will be updating weekly, so be sure to keep checking back on my progress.

Derek

All Star Directories

It's Dangerous To Go Alone! Take This.

2007-01-18T23:59:00.000-05:00

In the beginning of the very first Zelda game [The Legend of Zelda for the NES], there is a cave in which an old man sits. His only purpose, it seems, is to give the young adventurer, Link, a trusty wooden sword, then he mysteriously disappears. Before doing so, however, he gives his last words of advice, "It's dangerous to go alone! Take this."

The people at Phantomhourglass.org have made a flash version of that very scene, but this time, you can write what you want, instead of the ever famous line, and have Link hold whatever he wants, instead of his trusted wooden sword. It's pretty cool, check it out and make your own, then post the link in the comments section.

My Creation
PhantomHourglass.org

This is the End, My Friend [or] Holday Venting

2006-12-27T04:09:00.000-05:00

Christmas is finally over! Now there are only a few more days left of utter clothing carnage and I'm in the clear. I'm no grinch mind you, I'm just tired of overhyped holidays. Halloween is becoming overly commercialized as well as Easter. I'm also tired of working in a place where people [customers] look down on you, and have no respect for you, or your job.

I'm reminded of an episode of Seinfeld where Kramer's girlfriend [I think] who is Elaine's office-mate heckles Jerry at one of his shows. Obviously frustrated, he seeks revenge by going to her office and heckling her. You have no idea how many times I would have loved to try this to a pompous, aggrivating customer. First, I would "reorganize" their files, call them every five minutes and ask the most obnoxious [and obviously self-answerable] questions, and throw used napkins and latte cups on their desk. Even today we had somebody leave a used tampon in the fitting room. WHO DOES THAT? Gross. Oh and I love walking around the store stepping on cheerios and candy that mothers give their children. Why can't you feed your children while you're not in the nice clean store?

Also, why are people automatically drawn, as bears are to honey, to nice, neat piles of shirts. I have literally had shirts ripped out of my hand as I was folding it! What is with people?!? It's helpless to get them to understand my point of view, especially the person who is ripping through the piles of clothes that I just folded five minutes before close.

I understand that you have a busy life, but it's a lot harder to pick up clothes to take to the fitting room when you have two armfulls of clothes already. What the heck is the hurry? Why do you need to take every-single-thing you want to try on into the room all at once? If you're in the store on your lunchbreak, fine. I'm sorry you've made your life so busy that you can't make extra time to shop when you actually HAVE THE TIME. If you need to come to the store during your lunchbreak, you obviously need to reorganize your priorities. Half the time you people don't even buy anything. You come in to mess up the store when you don't have time and make me run around for you because "you're in a hurry" as you like to often tell me. Telling me that you're in a hurry doesn't encourage me to actually go faster, in fact, I often go a little slower.

This one interview I had, they asked, "Is the customer always right?". To which I replied, "no, of course not." If you've ever worked in retail, then you obviously know that they aren't. Often times, even the customers know they aren't right, they just like to cause a scene. You should read this article about the "customer is always right" mantra and you'll see what I mean [Warning - not entirely safe for young people to read].

That's pretty much all I wanted to say. There's a lot that bugs me during the holidays, mostly attributed to annoying customers. I'm usually not this abrupt, I guess I needed to vent. Don't think that I don't like dealing with customers. On the contrary, I love to help customers that aren't annoying or unappreciatively demanding. You know who you are.

Forever Blue - For You I Cannot Wait

2006-12-24T04:27:00.000-05:00

I don't know what it is about this game that really gets me pumped, but it is quickly becoming my most wanted game. Forever Blue is currently in development for the Nintendo Wii, and from what I've seen, it's going to be a spectacular game [if you can call it that]. In the game, you play as a deep sea diver, running into the likes of manta rays, whale sharks, and other undersea creatures. This title is also supposed to have online play so I can swim the great blue depths with all of my friends!

Although the only thing revealed for this game is the screenshot above, among a few others, as well as a short ten second video hidden within a Nintendo promotional video. I am definitely looking forward to this game with unabashed enthousiasm. The reason Nintendo came out with the Wii was to draw in all potential gamers as well as develop unique games that would never be seen on other consoles. Forever Blue is definitely one of those games, and like I said, I cannot wait for it.

Nintendo Wii
Forever Blue

The Nothing

2006-12-24T03:09:00.000-05:00

If you've ever seen The Neverending Story, then you are familiar with "The Nothing", an impossible, unforgiving storm whos appetite for all matter in the world is insatiable. I am not a young adventurer named Atreyu and I don't fly around on magical dog dragons named Falcor, but, I have witnessed and [thankfully] survived what I like to call "The Nothing".

Fifty mile an hour winds and an insatiable appetite for...tree limbs is why I call last week's storm, "The Nothing". Pelting rain coming from every direction, cars swerving around the carnage of broken branches and telephone poles, it was sure a sight to behold. When it was all over, millions of cold and wet northwesterners came home to find themselves without electricity. For the lucky few, their power was restored in a matter of hours. For the unlucky few [including me], power wasn't restored for several days.

The day after the storm, I took a walk around the park to see what, if anything, had happened. Several trees were uprooted, including two trees that fell on a house next to my apartment. Luckily, a friend who lives north of Bellevue had power, so I ended up staying at his place for a few days. Of course I took my new Wii and we played WiiSports deep into the night. We actually ended up going bowling too, which was quite fun in and of itself [I bowled a personal best of 148]. Copious amounts of alcohol were consumed in the process. Good fun.

Concerto

2006-12-15T02:21:00.000-05:00

Two posts in one night? Is the apocolypse near?

I went to my first Seattle concert a few weeks ago. The Killers came to the Paramount Theatre and rocked my socks. Some junky band from California opened and honestly weren't that good. It was a tad disappointing because they only played a few of their older [my favorite] songs and fresh of a new cd release, played almost all of their new songs. While it's taken me a while to warm up to their new stuff, I definitely enjoyed the live versions. Any Killers fans out there?

This past week I went to see Death Cab for Cutie, the little band that could from Bellingham, WA. I was actually a big fan of them when I lived back home in New York, and now that I live out here, I actually have become an even bigger fan. I always tell people that if you want to experience the Northwest melodically, you can't get any better than Death Cab for Cutie. Not only that, but one of their opening bands, Jenny Lewis and the Watson Twins, was actually really good. They fluently blended country, rock, and blues [two of my favorites anyway] with ease and Jenny Lewis seemed to be channeling her inner Loretta Lynn during the fantastic stageshow. I suggest all of you check them out, although I hear that this was their last show together, Jenny and the [beautiful] twins are parting ways :[ Death Cab for Cutie was simply amazing. Since they were in front of the home crowd, they played a lot of older [again, my favorite] songs. At one point, they went into 10 minute jamfest during one of their greatest songs, Transatlanticism. I was completely blown away. Amazing. The crowd kind of ruined it for me though, they didn't really seem into it, or as into it as I was. I get annoyed when I feel like I'm the only one having a good time. Anyway, if you want to check out any of the bands, just follow the links below.

What are you're favorite concerts you've been to, or which ones do you really want to go to?

The Killers

Death Cab for Cutie

Jenny Lewis

Some Goings On

2006-12-15T01:57:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone, I'm just updating you guys on some things I've been up to. It's almost Christmas, which means my life will get a lot less hectic after December 25th.

I went hiking a few weeks ago up near Snoqualmie Pass, which is about an hour away. I wouldn't even try to get up there now, there's most likely covered in layers of snow and ice. It was really nice going up on the mountain with everyone. I didn't really see much of anything, mostly trees, ice, and trees covered in ice. All in all it was a fun afternoon, and even though it was snowy, it was pretty warm overall. When the weather gets better [i.e. less typhoonish] I'm hoping to get out and check out more hiking spots in the area. Brandon knows a lot of places around here, as well as in Montana, so I'm sure we'll be hitting up the mountains in no time.

Brandon's blog

Here Comes The Rain

2006-11-15T14:59:00.000-05:00

It's the start of Winter/Rainy Season here in Seattle. Well, to be more accurate, it started a few weeks ago. Wind, chilling rain, people driving like morons - I love it!

Hey There

2006-11-03T18:52:00.000-05:00

Whoa, sorry it's taken so long to get anything up here. I've been meaning to update for a while, and just thought you wouldn't want to hear about any boring stuff that I've been doing. I'm going to make an effort now to update more, I promise!

Derek

Now Accepting Donations

2006-10-01T00:43:00.000-05:00

Christmas is kind of far off, and I've been thinking about places to go, you know, since I'm all the way out here on the west coast. I'm debating between a few places right now, and it could definitely change throughout the next few months, but my initial thought is San Diego.

I have a lot of friends who live down there, and none of them are going home from what I've heard, so it would make sense to go down and see them for a few weeks. Plus, it wouldn't hurt to get out of the cold December rain for a little bit.

On the other hand, Brandon has recently proposed a trip to Thailand where we would meet up with one of his friends and just chill out on the coast there too. It's gonna be a tough choice. On one hand, I could go see some of my friends that I haven't seen in a long time, and on the other hand I could go overseas (something which I've never done) and would therefore be flying (again something I've never done) to a country where I've always wanted to visit.

Life's decisions only get harder with the more you want to do and the less money you have to do it with.

The Best Band in the World

2006-09-21T22:14:00.000-05:00

Here's a lively debate for you guys.

This girl I work with and I get into heated "discussions" about music. She's what you would call a music snob, meaning whatever she says, she thinks is also the view of the entire population of the Universe.

When the subject of Best Band in the World came up, I thought it completely obvious to point out that in terms of mere influence on music today, combined with some legendary musical talent, the Beatles would be at the top of the list. Her choice would be Elvis. Ok, sure. Legendary, yes. Influential, yes. I'll give him that, but he's not THE greatest. The average person can probably name and sing 5 times more Beatles songs than Elvis songs.

I'm sure it's generational and all, but the Beatles have been the be-all-end-all for quite some time now. In terms of pure musical influence, I would have to say Robert Johnson, the underappreciated blues legend that quite possibly influenced Elvis himself, is the greatest. No one can really know, and like I said, it's quite a generational question. Sure, I can tell you my favorite band of the moment, but the greatest? That's just too difficult a question.

I mean, what makes a band great? Everyone has their own defenition of greatness, and for bands it's even more particular. Would Nirvana have reached god-like status if Kurt Cobain hadn't committed suicide? Probably not. Were they great? Yea, they defined a generation, much like the Beatles did time and time again. But do they deserve to be played on Seattle radio every 5th song? Hell no, it gets annoying.

Getting back to my discussion, after I mentioned the Beatles, she reacted harshly, swinging her tongue to and fro regarding Elvis. Then began to tell me that The Who and Lynyrd Skynyrd are much more influential than The Beatles. What?!? There would be no Lynyrd Skynyrd without the Beatles and The Who just suck. Behind Blue Eyes was probably their only good song. I'm not denying they had talent, I just think it got lost in the translation somewhere. There is no beating Abbey Road. No way, no how.

I am no expert, but I have an honest opinion. What do you guys think, any comments?

Bigelow Literary Works - Batman vs. Penguin

2006-09-11T21:31:00.000-05:00

Oh boy. I ran across something very special to me when I was cleaning the other day and I thought I would share it with all of you. When I was but a young child I had a very vivid and eloquent imagination. What you are about to read was gracefully spun from the loom of that young and auspicious mind. Enjoy.

Batman vs. Penguin

It was a dark and gloomy night and Bruce Wayne was at a dinner party at the Gotham City Hall. He was almost the richest one there except for the Governor. Alfred was his Uncle and his family. Bruce was very wealthy and had a mansion all to himself.

In the Arctic part of the world lived penguins that worshiped a man. Ever since Batman had defeated him he wanted revenge. He moved back to Gotham City still looking for Batman. Penguin wrote a letter to Bruce Wayne telling him to meet him at McDonalds next to the Dealership*.

When Batman got there, there was one car. Then flying above him was Penguin. He flew overtop the Batmobile. Batman got out and looked up. He saw nothing. He went back to the Batcave. He looked at the monitors. He saw Penguin in the Gotham Bank. He has monitors everywhere especially in banks! Then all of a sudden Penguin came in. Batman sprayed poison on Penguin and he fell down and never said a word.

"THE CITY IS SAFE AGAIN!" said Batman.

The End.

*It was my assumption that every McDonalds in the world was near a car "dealership" becuase the only McDonalds I knew for the first 10 years of my life was built next to one. Funny that eight years later, I would come to be employed there.

I fixed the spelling errors (hey, I was 9), but left the awesome grammar. I remember too, that when writing stories of this literary magnitude, I would surprise the reader with the very popular "Then all of a sudden" phrase. You know that when you heard it, something awesome was about to happen!

Oh The Places I Will Go: Part One

2006-09-07T22:15:00.000-05:00

There are many places I want to travel to before my time on Earth expires. I want to be able to look at a map of the world and point to at least all seven continents and say "I've been there". So, I've decided to officially list the places I wish to visit, a kind of constant reminder that keeps me motivated. Here are the first five:

London - What else can I say? It's probably the coolest place in Europe, to me anyway. I think my distant love for London is one of the reasons I moved to Seattle. Plus, it helps to fit in with all the other pasty skinned blokes. Rain, fog, and that olde school charm is what puts this at the top of my list. I almost went to school there, I was this close (puts index finger and thumb together very closely)!
Machu Picchu - A five mile hike up into the mountains of Peru will grant you with the most awe inspiring view into a mysterious civilization. Just look at these pictures. It wasn't really an entire civilization, but most likely a retreat or vacation town for some of the well-to-do's in Peru. Nevertheless, it's just plain awesome.
Dublin - Who wouldn't want to go to Dublin? Rolling hills of green; friendly, drunken locals; some of the best beer in the world, and the Loch Ness monster? Count me in!
Japan (Kyoto, Tokyo) - I've always wanted to learn Japanese. There is something about the culture that is inspiring. I think that I relate to them becuase I love video games just as they do, and I understand their culture as most people don't. Plus, I would be gigantic over there, a real ego booster if I do say so.
Athens - I guess I just really want a good Gyro. A city that can withstand nearly 3,000 years of war, politics, and religion is one I want to visit. Plus the Parthenon is there or something :]

What about you guys? What's your top five?

The New Yorker

2006-08-26T00:50:00.000-05:00

It appears that I have an accent.

For some time, people have been asking me if I'm from the Midwest. After I tell them I'm from New York, I always get the "OOOHH, then why'd you move here?" (thinking I was from NYC).

"No, I'm from Buffalo, not the city"

"OOOHH......where is that?"

"Do you know where Niagara Falls is? It's right there"

"OH yea! It's so pretty isn't it?"

"Yea, whatever, it's ok"

*This simulated conversation has happened roughly 150 times since I've been here. Regardless, people recognize that I'm not from around here, and it bothers me a little. I don't think I have an accent, due mostly to the fact that I don't recognize that people around here have an accent.

When I first met Steve's kids, they had Pennsylvanian accent, which threw me off. Of course, they didn't think they had an accent, but I thought they did, but they also thought that me and my sister had an accent too. Here, it's different, I don't really feel like I'm talking that much different. I guess my A's are pronounced differently and that's what gives it away. Whatever, I thought that I'd rant about it because it's been bothering me for a little while.

See-Hawks Run

2006-08-25T00:56:00.000-05:00

Sorry this is so late, I've been pretty busy lately and haven't had a chance to post. I shouldn't say that really, I've actually been too lazy and tired. But, regardless, a few weekends ago, we were supposed to go bungie jumping, as you read in my post below, but that fell through. THEN I was supposed to go to Endfest (concert) and that fell through too. SO, me and Brandon decided to head downtown for the Seahawks pre-season game against the Dallas Cowboys.

After searching, and searching......and searching for parking, we finally found one lot with some space. Funny thing around here though is, there aren't any attendants to take your money or give you change, but there are little metal container things with slots to put your money in, and they are numbered to match your parking space. We didn't have anything but a $20, and since the parking was $15, we set out to find us some change. I should note that right next to the stadium is Seattle's international district, which is mostly a Chinatown. Everywhere we went to find change either wouldn't give it to us, or couldn't understand what we were saying. Frustrating. We ended sucking up the fact that our $5 was lost and shoved the $20 bill in the little slot.

We searched for the lines to buy tickets, and eventually after finding them, we were approached by a guy who had just found out that his friends bailed on him for the game. He was a season ticket holder, and had two extras he didn't want to lose money on. He told us we seemed to be normal, and offered us the tickets for $10 each, which were normally $70.

The seats were really good, as you can see in the pictures, which were taken by my phone, sorry about the quality. It was wierd watching the game without commercials, as this was my first ever live football game. Oh and the guys we bought the tickets from had binoculars, so I was checking out the sidelines, and got a peek of Drew Bledsoe and Terrell Owens. It would have been a lot more fun if the guy who was sitting next to me wasn't such a dickhead, and the people sitting in front of me weren't wasted out of their minds. But hey, we all enjoy sports in different ways.

The cool thing is that we exchanged numbers with the guys who sold us the tickets so that if they ever can't make a game again, they'll call us so we can go. I'm gonna have to start liking the Seahawks so that I can really get into a game, becuase it's kind of boring when I'm not really interested in either team.

Maybe I'll just move to Denver :]

SPLAT!

2006-08-08T03:19:00.000-05:00

So bungie jumping kinda fell through for this weekend. We are still planning on going though, however, the bungie jumping people around here is in California for a month or so. We'll just have to wait. For those of you who didn't know, I was planning on going bungie jumping. I didn't really tell any of you, esp. Mom, because I know you would freak. But dammit, if I'm gonna die, I might as well have fun doing it.

Instead, I'm going to EndFest, the local radio stations annual big bash concert. Red Hot Chili Peppers and my favorite, Eagles of Death Metal will be there. I'm planning on getting dressed up for this thing, so I may post some awesome pictures after Saturday (if I can get off my ass and post more).

Oh, and I think I'm gonna rock Halloween hardcore this year. It's my favorite holiday if you didn't know. I'm definitely gonna either be Optimus Prime (a retro tribute to my former costume of 15 years ago) or Steve Zissou (Bill Murray in Life Aquatic). It never hurts to plan ahead. What do you guys think?

Mr. Saturday Night

2006-08-02T01:56:00.000-05:00

This past Saturday, I went to Grays Harbor Raceway about an hour outside of Olympia, to see my favorite racer, Kasey Kahne in some serious sprint racing action. The action started at about 7, with qualifying and then the main qualifier events. Kasey ended up qualifying fifth, placing into the A-main event. He led for a while in the final race and then fell back to 6th or so. After a few cautions he eventually made his way back to 4th, where he ended up finishing.

It was so cool to actually see him in action, although it would have been nice to actually meet him. He did come out on a four wheeler a few times to talk to the audience. I guess when you have the kind of pull he does, they pretty much give you free reign of the whole place. I could have gotten a few good pictures of him if I had went down to the track fence, but I didn't want to seem like one of those oggling fans eager for just a glimpse of him. The real worth was in watching him race. Eventhough he didn't win, it was still an awesome experience.

No Ants at This Picnic

2006-07-25T00:38:00.000-05:00

Sunday was interesting. Brandon was allowed to take an extra person to the Microsoft company picnic, to which I obliged the presence of my company. It was about a 30 minute bus ride out to some farm out in the middle of nowhere. The picture above is a nice representation of what we saw. There is a giant mountain in the background of the farm. It's a lot taller than it looks, it looms over you as you walk around. Apparently there is no space within a respectable distance to have the company picnic where 25,000 people can enjoy ribs and ice cream. There are so many people that work at Microsoft, the company had to divide the picnic up between Saturday and Sunday.

There was a lot of stuff to do, if you were a 10 year old that is. Most of the fun stuff was aimed at kids, which there were a lot of by the way. I joked that I think Microsoft is encouraging people to reproduce, to which Brandon replied, "They do want to take over the world and out breading everyone else would certainly make it easier". Agreed.

The food was good. Really good. And FREE! Can't beat that. No sir.

I did do the rock climbing thing, not the actual rocks, but the plastic wall thing, which was fun. We also played giant basketball. But, in the 100 degree weather, we only played for about 5 minutes. Luckily, they had giant tubs of ice filled with bottles of water everywhere. So far as I know, nobody died or fainted from exhaustion. Oh and I got to see a bald eagle for the very first time. They were really cool. The symbol of American freedom, just a few feet away.

Anyway, it was so freaking hot, we left early and flew down to the beach. I could swear that when I jumped in the water, steam rose from my body due to the sheer heat. It's still really hot here, roughly averaging 95 a day, no humidity though. I can't even ride my bike out there now, I'm afraid I'll die. I hear that this is the peak of heat here in Seattle, it will soon go back to the beautiful 70's within the week.

Let's hope.

The Adventures of Bimodal Bigelow

2006-07-20T15:41:00.000-05:00

I've been enamored by the emphasis put behind the use of bicycles in every day life here. There are bike trails everywhere, many people ride their bikes to work, and even more just for recreation. I always thought I was a good rider. I used to ride to work at McDonalds back in the day, and even on my off days, I would go here, there, and everywhere on my Dad's old Schwinn. So, you can understand that when I saw everyone riding their bikes around so freely when I'm stuck to the stopsigns and pedestrian crossings of the road, I set out to find me a bicycle. After checking out a few stores in my area, ones that only specialized in selling new bikes and parts, I decided to check out Recycled Cycles, a used bike store downtown that had new and used bikes and parts.

When I went in, I immediately fell in love with one bike inparticular, a navy blue Cannondale. From what I know of Cannondale, they make pretty good bikes, as told to me by my old baseball coach who was an avid rider himself. While it's only a Cannondale frame, the other parts are very respectable, a mix of Shimano and Mavic.

It rides great, and is a perfect height for me. I do, although have to adjust the seat up a bit, becuase of my long legs. When I first rode, it felt like I was riding a bmx becuase my legs almost came up 90 degrees. The ride height on my old bike was really high, which kept me from tiring out too fast, which I did on my first time out on my new bike. I ended up getting a helmet and a bottle holder too. I didn't want to be the only shmuck in Washington without a bike helmet. Besides, if I were to actually fall down, a helmet wouldn't be such a bad idea.

The Bigelow Redemption

2006-07-16T00:45:00.000-05:00

I told you I would make up for the "punch in the face".

Today, I got to talking to another employee from Microsoft. He, however, was not a recruiter though he did know somebody in a division who was looking for marketing people. I told him my back story and everything, he seemed genuine in his attempt to help. He took my name and number, as well as my e-mail and gave me the name of the man he was going to talk to about me. I just hope that this will get me in contact with someone who can help me. Even if it doesn't turn out that he can help me, then he can probably point me in the right direction.

Rocky: Resurrected

2006-07-14T01:25:00.000-05:00

I recently watched the new trailer for Rocky Balboa, the supposed sequel to the final Rocky movie. Apparently after seeing that, in a boxing video game, Rocky (in his prime) would defeat the new champ, Rocky gets the itch to get back into the ring. Knowing this, the new guy challenges Rocky and blah blah blah. Training ensues and you get the rest.

Sylvester Stallone just turned 60. 60! Granted, he's in good shape, but I mean come on, who are they trying to fool? And the plotline? I can guarantee that Rocky does the usual training techniques, yells unintelligable slurs with blood dripping down his face, comes back from being down, and ends up miraculously winning in the end. The formula is old and worn. Are there any non-sequal movies coming out at all? I'm so tired of seeing the same old junk.

I am really looking forward to Lady in the Water from M. Night Shyamalan, it comes out next week I think. Suspenseful, original, and eye catching. Sign me up.

The Cosby Show: A Retrospective

2006-07-12T23:05:00.000-05:00

I remember it clearly. I was seven years old when my sister stuck her small pink radio filled with a blank cassette in front of my face, pushed the record button and started her own impromptu interview. It's been a long time since then, but one question stands out to this day:

"Derek, what's your favorite TV show?"

To which I replied, "The Cosby Show!" Of course!

More than 15 years later, it still remains one of my all time favorite shows. The cast was impeccable, combining hilarity and sincerity, honesty and tragedy. Every person in the cast was relatable in some way. I always looked up to Theo in some way to fill in that "no older brother" void that my sister (regardless of surgery) could not provide. He was good for some laughs, but didn't compare to Cosby. Cosby was funny, stern, sincere, and honest, qualities which I see inherent in my father and grandfather.

Don't forget Lisa Bonet or Phylicia Rashad. Without either one, the show wouldn't have been worth a dime. Bonet was the eclectic woman of the show, oozing cool from whenever she stepped onto screen. Rashad, on the other hand was the smart and sincere attorney that matched perfectly with Cosby. I've never told anyone, but I always thought Phylicia Rashad was one of the sexiest women alive. Of course, when you're seven or eight, you are automatically infatuated with any older woman on television. It's a rule I think.

The Cosby Show stands the test of time, and every time I watch it, I get those good nostalgic goosebumps that take me back to a time long past, 1991. So next time you're laying on your couch, flipping through the channels, be sure to watch for the loveable Huxtables, you're very likely to get a good laugh.

New Blog?

2006-07-12T22:52:00.000-05:00

I have been thinking about starting a new blog chronicalling my progress with some of the game ideas I have. One idea in particular is very well developed, I just have to research a little more, and eventually write it. I feel that if I can do this on my own; research, writing, storyboarding, and game design, then I could use that to show how capable I am at doing that type of work. Even if it's not picked up, it would be one hell of a job interview sample.

If I can generate enough material for a new blog, then I'll start it, and post the link on this page.

Taking Care of Business

2006-07-12T01:58:00.000-05:00

Now that my resume has been out and about in Seattle (I think I saw it at Happy Hour downtown one day), I've been recieving a few e-mails from potential employers and from businesses who hire people for other businesses. I'm quite unsure as to what to do about this. Sure, there are people who could help me...at a cost. I've already determined that I will never resort to paying my way into a job, it just doesn't seem right. Why pay someone to mow my lawn when I have to two, fully cabable legs? Yet, a little bit of advice wouldn't hurt.

I moved here for a specific reason - to get into the game industry. I don't want to lose sight of my plan and settle for something that will give me no particularly useful skills relevant to what I want to do. But, If I stay at Gap, I won't be any better off either.

If I can't get the type of position that I want, I'm gonna try to get as close as I can. But, I want to make sure that I don't pass up good opportunities that aren't quite what I'm looking for.

It was Henry David Thoreau who said, "Do not hire a man who does your work for money, but him who does it for the love of it".

Perhaps I should put that on my resume.

I'm going to think this all over a little. Any suggestions?

Those Clever Pokemon

2006-07-10T16:08:00.000-05:00

So, most of you already thought I was a nerd, here's more fuel for your fire.

A long time ago, my brother's friend came to our house with his gameboy. In it, Pokemon Yellow. After getting my hands on it and playing for a few hours (to my brother's discontent), I was hooked. Anyway, a long time has passed since then, and when I first purchased my Nintendo DS, I sought out to purchase a new Pokemon game. After dishing out money on MarioKart DS, Trauma Center, Phoenix Wright, Lost in Blue, and Meteos (not all at once), I finally snagged me a copy of Pokemon Sapphire.

If you've never played a Pokemon game, you have no idea what you're missing. Do you remember catching snakes when you were a kid? How about lightning bugs? Well, this is very similar, except you can make the snakes and lightning bugs fight each other. Not only that, but there are hundreds of different Pokemon you can catch, it's friggin endless! They also evolve into more powerful Pokemon and level up after each fight. It's like your little lightning bug turns into a creature of destruction! So cool.

I'm almost done with Sapphire and plan on getting another one when I'm finished. Anyone else out there into Pokemon. You can admit it!

By the way, that's my Swellow in the picture, he can kick your ass.

New Header Again...

2006-07-10T16:05:00.000-05:00

So I decided to change the header again, the last one seemed a little bulky. I hope you guys like this one!

Bigelow! Where are you? From?

2006-07-07T03:26:00.000-05:00

One of many questions I ask myself and particularly my father is where we came from as a family. He thinks (please correct me if I'm wrong Dad) that our heritage is primarily from German ancestry. My belief is that our heritage stems from Great Britain. By doing some research over the past few years, I have found that I don't really know either way.

What I do know I learned from The Bigelow Society. Started by Rod Bigelow in 1996, the Bigelow Society attempts to piece together the broken history of our founding ancestry. Although the site is not as maintained as it used to be, there are still useful links to be searched, and information to be discovered. Rod also has the time to organize Bigelow Society annual meetings (of which I have never attended), with the 2006 meeting scheduled to be in Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin.

This is what the site says about our origin:

The immigrant ancestor of nearly all persons in North America bearing the
surname Bigelow in any of its several variants, is John Biglo of Watertown,
Massachusetts. He lived from 1617 to 1703. Many of his descendants have been
recorded in a genealogy entitled The Bigelow Family in America, written by
Gilman Bigelow Howe, printed 1890. The book was published by Charles Hamilton of Boston, and is no longer available except by photo-copy reprint. Rebound used
copies occasionally come into the used-book market with the simple title Bigelow
Genealogy.
In this book Howe states that he was
unable to obtain any satisfactory account of the progenitor of John Biglo, and
quotes conflicting traditions stating that the surname is of various national
origins. He also quotes the late genealogist H.G. Somerby, who felt that John
Biglo came from Wrentham, Suffolk, England, and was son of Randall and Jane
Beageley, who had their youngest son, John, baptized 16 February 1617. Also,
from the probate records of Wrentham, Somerby quotes the will of a Francis
Baguley, blacksmith, of Wrentham, who in a will dated 20 October 1656, granted
five pounds "to his brother John Baguley, now living in New England, if he comes
for it within two years". He offered no proof that Francis was son of Randall
Baguley.

So we may never know where the hell we came from. It's funny that our name is dirivitive of Biglo. It's my guess that we were a victim of bad spelling back in the days of old ship passenger logs. If you try to say Biglo phonetically, you'd end up with something very similar to Bigelow. But, it's just my guess. There is a lot more on this subject, but I'll leave that for another day.

The reason I wrote this post was to help explain my new banner. While at the Bigelow Society page, I came across the Bigelow family coat-of-arms. I've always wondered what it would look like slightly updated. I took some time tonight, since I don't have to work tomorrow to break out my photoshop skills and try to pop one out. What you see above is the final product of my efforts. The latin words above GoBigelow, "Finis Coronat Opus" mean "The End Crowns the Work". The Bigelow Society also explains the coat-of-arms:

Regarding the diamonds, or lozenges, on the "Bigelow" coat-of-arms: They are
sometimes described simply as "three lozenges" or three in a row across the
shield. In other descriptions, the specifications "two-over-one" is added. In
Baguley Hall, Manchester, England, the Baguley (Bigelow) shield is displayed. It
is also on the effigy of Sir Wm. Baguley and in both cases the lozenges are
two-over-one.
The legal description, from some 650 years or more ago: Arms,
Argent, three lozenges azure. Crest: a ram's head erased azure, charged with
three lozenges and attired or. In summary: The shield is of silver, the three
lozenges are of blue. The ram's head is of blue, lozenges on it's neck are of
gold, as are the ram's horns. The wreath, under the crest, is of alternate
twists of silver and blue. The helmet is of steel color and the mantle is of
blue lined with silver. The ribbon is of silver.

I hope you enjoyed reading a little Bigelow history. If you want to learn a little more, visit the Bigelow Society Page.

The Bigelow Society
The Bigelow Society Coat-of-Arms

Edit: For some reason the quoted sections aren't coming out right. I'm not sure how to fix it, so I apologize.

The Hardest Game I've Ever Played

2006-07-02T21:44:00.000-05:00

Dance, or possibly a better term, rhythm is not one of my strongest abilities. To be honest, it's not really one of my abilities at all. I can't dance. Period.

When arriving in Seattle, I found it one of my duties to seek out a game import store, where they sell games from Japan. One such game, Osu! Tatakae Oendan, caught my eye in particular. I've heard so much about it. Many people think that it's the greatest game for the Nintendo DS, while others think it's just plain awesome.

Rhythm games are very popular in Japan and Oendan is one of the best. Of course, the US has Guitar Hero and Dance Dance Revolution, but to compare those to Oendan is absurd. To play the game, instead of hitting buttons to the rhythm, you actually have to tap the screen in number sequence (you'll see what I mean when you watch the video). The better you are, the more points you get.

The cool thing about Oendan, is that you're basically cheering people on through their daily lives. For instance, a sculptor was having a hard time being creative, and could only make crappy sculptures. So he called for Oendan to cheer him on and he ends up making masterpieces. By following the rhythm, you are able to cheer him on successfully and help him out.

This video is of the last level of the hardest difficulty (where you get to be actual cheerleaders). Keep in mind I'm on the first difficulty level and can't get past this part.

Rhythm indeed.

Just for background info, all the people in the beginning sequence are those who you help throughout the game, and they all come together to help you destroy the meteor. The flames and stuff behind them are there to show that they're getting pumped or something. Enjoy.

Punching Myself in the Face

2006-06-30T04:34:00.000-05:00

For those of you who don't read my MySpace Blog, here's a little nugget for you:

You would think that after being transferred to a location that is in the central hub of all that is Microsoft, I would be prepared to answer a few simple questions if, lets say, a RECRUITER came into the store and overheard my conversation about wanting to get a job?? You would think that wouldn't you? But no, I'm a freaking retard, worse even.

In my defense, there was a line of people, and I was unable to break away to properly talk to this woman. So instead of asking for her number or something clever like that, I tried to squeeze in as much information about myself into a ten second time period before she walked away. I don't even remember what I said, I was sputtering out this and that and have no idea if it even made sense, but I was out to try to impress her anyway I could. After finding out that I was in search of a position within the Xbox Division, she kind of left the conversation, due to the fact that she worked in a completely seperate division.

Even so, I should have been more prepared than this! I didn't move my ass all the way out here to make a fool of myself. I'm Derek Bigelow dammit! I went to college, paid my dues, sacrificed my life to Gap for 5 years, and for what? So I could stand there and make an ass of myself in front of someone who had the potential to turn my life around? ARGH I AM SO PISSED!

I Burn You

2006-06-30T04:28:00.000-05:00

I would really help me out a lot if I knew who was actually reading this site. I made it so that you don't have to register to comment (I think), so feel free to leave some comments. So far I only know of two people who read and visit frequently, If there are any more out there, raise your hands!

Alki Beach

2006-06-26T13:58:00.000-05:00

So Saturday I went to Alki Beach with some friends from work. It lies on a peninsula across from Seattle, which gives great views like the ones above. Unfortunately for me, it's pretty far away, seeing as how I live in Bellevue, but completely worth it. The top picture is actually the beach itself, where we were, and the bottom picture is about a mile away up the beach. These aren't my pictures, if you haven't guessed, only because I didn't have my camera with me.

The beach as a whole is awesome. There are shops and restaurants cradling the beach, with a great view of the mountains on one side, and a spectacular view of Seattle on the other. When you guys start visiting, I'll be sure to bring you here.

Dirt Trackin'

2006-06-21T02:23:00.000-05:00

So the other day we go to see some rrrracin' at the dirt track in Skagit, WA, about an hour and a half north of Seattle. I've seen a few sprint cars before, but nothing like this! This was the last night of a three-day sprint car event (the name escapes me) where the winner will be crowned at the end of the final heat. It was definitely interesting to watch. For some reason, I never found myself watching the leader, I always followed one of the cars in the back, seeing how he would respond to being so far behind. Meaning, would he change his lines, or would he just mosey about and play some strategy? Who wants to watch the leader anyway?

The cool thing about this race was that Kasey Kahne won it in 2002 and 2003 which propelled him into the Nascar Bush Series, and eventually Nextel Cup. Awesome. Oh and a crappy tasteless cheeseburger was $5. Yay.

By the end of the night, we were all covered in dust from the cars averaging 95-100 miles an hour on the 3/10 mile track (yea we figured it out mathematically because we're awesome!). I left with only one thing on my mind...

I WANT ONE!

Behold! The Space Needle!

2006-06-21T02:10:00.000-05:00

Ah, the Space Needle, Seattle's finest attraction. It looked pretty tall walking up to it. I tried really hard to compare it to the CN Tower in Toronto that I saw when I was in 6th grade, but couldn't remember how tall it was. Alex, however, informed me that the CN tower was quite taller than the Space Needle, intriguing. Anyway, $15 later, I was at the top of the beast, looking upon my new kingdom with eager eyes. I should note that the elevator girl was a Broncos fan, after seeing my hat, she let everyone know that the Broncos were the best football team, and that I was proof of that fact. Looking around everywhere was pretty cool, but not quite the thrill I was seeking. It was actually more interesting trying to get there for the first time than actually being there. All in all, it was a good day.

The Move: Rushmore to Seattle

2006-06-13T22:15:00.000-05:00

This picture is of the most interesting part of our journey, the mountains in Montana, or at least the beginning of them. Montana was wierd though, it would rain for 10 minutes, stop for 10, then start again. This happened almost the whole time we were in Montana and into Idaho.

What's cool about the mountains is that once you get to a certain elevation, roughly 5500 feet, rain turns to snow! YAY SCIENCE! We didn't realize this however, and were startled that in a mere 2 seconds, we were in the middle of a snowstorm. But when we started going back down, it turned back into rain, awww. I wanted to show everyone my Buffalo snow driving expertise, but then realized I had everything I currently own in the back of my truck.

Rocky Mountain high.

This is the second mountain we went over, I forgot the name of it though. It too had snow capped peaks and......trees. Quite majestic isn't it?

I like fog rolling down a mountain ok? and powerlines.

I thought these rocks were cool, I think this is inbetween Montana and Idaho somewhere. What you can't see is the giant gorge to which we were trying not to skid into.

Can you see the deer's ass? Alex took this one ok...I know it's not as good as my rock pictures, but he didn't take photography in high school like I did.

Idaho. This is pretty much it.

This is the practice shot for when we made it into Washington, we were gonna get a shot of the welcome sign. Unfortunately, we didn't realize they placed the sign in the middle of the road, and not on the right hand side like every other state in the country. Needless to say we drove right past it, so just pretend that this is the "Welcome to Washington" sign.

This is pretty much the last picture I have. I didn't take any of Seattle, because we didn't pass it the night we made it into Bellevue, which is where I live. Seattle lies just to the east of Bellevue, on the other side of Lake Washington (get out your atlas!). We went there the next morning though, to the famous Pikes market and we eventually made it to the Space Needle ($15 elevator ride, pshtt). It was cool though. I've been downtown a few more times since then, and yes, I've gotten lost, but only becuase I don't know the streets that well. I'm pretty good now though. Downtown Seattle is a lot more friendly than Buffalo, I feel a little better going down there than I ever did in Buffalo, and Seattle is twice the size. Oh well. I hope you liked the pictures, and I'll try to update more often from here on out.

The Move: Mount Rushmore

2006-06-12T02:44:00.000-05:00

This is probably one of the best pictures I've ever taken. Ever.

Alex, a man among boys. Brave enough to ride with me to Seattle so my Mom wouldn't kill me.

HAH! That big monument doesn't look so big now compared to me!

The trip up here was a lot cooler than I thought. For about $8 you get to see a national treasure and wonder what it would be like to climb up into their noses. We may never know, sadly they have no nostrils.

The three GOOD presidents. Lincoln, psht. You know what I heard? One of the locals said that if you stare at Jefferson long enough, he'll wink at you. Know what else I heard? Washington's eyes are really gaint lasers that were put in place to shoot down alien spaceships if we were ever invaded. I think laser eyes make up for the whole cherry tree thing.

The Move: New York to South Dakota

2006-06-12T02:11:00.000-05:00

First off, sorry everything is descending (the pictures should be in reversed order), by the time I realized what I was doing, I didn't feel like going back and changing everything. Besides, nobody reads this anyway, right?

These are the black hills of South Dakota, which is what I think they're called, at least thats what the Beatles sang about in Rocky Racoon. Anyway, I didn't take any pictures of them, but there were at least 5 million billboards lining the 90 through South Dakota. They all wanted me to stop and have coffee and pie or see some prehistoric fossil, or better yet, petrified wood. While I did resist the urges to stop and have some delicious South Dakota pie, I did manage to snap this picture, what a beaut.

I took this picture of "The Diner" in Murdo, South Dakota. It's website is more extensive than the town itself. We only stopped because of our desperate need for gas. To bad "The Diner" wasn't open

http://www.wcenet.com/~murdosd/

It's about dusk when I took this picture, we were halfway into South Dakota and had just gotten out of Minnesota. At this point I had had about 4 hours of sleep in the past two days. YAY!

After getting out of Chicago's second rush hour, which is by far the most traffic I had ever dealt with previously, we were off to Seattle again. This picture I believe was while we were still in Illinois. Isn't it pretty? This is what the rest of the ride looked like until you get to Montana, although South Dakota wasn't too bad.

Entering Chicago. You can't see much mostly becuase it was really hazy out. I had been following this stupid van for what seemed like forever. I know it looks like there's no traffic here, but just before taking this picture, I hit Chicago early morning rush hour and was sitting around for a good 45 minutes. Still, with traffic and everything, it really only took me 8 hours to get to Chicago (if you include the time difference).

Cleveland at night. I tried really hard to get some good pics while driving, which often proved to be difficult. This was around 3 or 4 in the morning. I don't know if anyone knows, but Cleveland is a beautiful city to drive through at night.

My last PB&J in NY. I took this right before I left around midnight.

New Apartment Pictures

2006-05-09T19:58:00.000-05:00

Here they are! I didn't put the picture of my room up because it currently has some stuff in it. But once I get there, you can bet I'll be snappin photos like the best of 'em. The apartment is roughly the same size as my current one and it has a fireplace to boot! Plus the place is only a few blocks away from the Microsoft campus as well as Nintendo!

I can't wait to get out there, only two more weeks left!

Onward! To Seattle!

2006-04-12T13:17:00.000-05:00

Yes, onward indeed. It will be only one month and thirteen days until the planned move. I still have a lot of planning to do, all in all though, I'm truly excited. I can't wait to see what's out there for me. The bustling metropolis that is Seattle will have to let one more east coast transplant into its confines. On my way there, I will be uploading pictures of the trip as well as the pictures of when I arrive there. Truly exciting. I'll keep you guys posted on all the happenings.

Finished!

2006-04-12T13:11:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I finished the longest book I've ever read, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. This is the first in the series that I've read and I must say, it was really engrossing. It followed along the same paths as the other one's (I assume) from watching the movies, where you never really know what's happening until the very end of the book. If you've never watched the movies, go watch them, and if you've never read any of the books, now's the perfect time to start. Now I have to muster the brain power to get started on the next book, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.

EDIT: This post was originally dated for April 6th, but due to an error, I had to repost it today.

Let There Be Light!

2006-04-12T12:57:00.000-05:00

It's been quite a long time since I could open my window and breathe fresh air from outside. It's been even longer since I've heard birds singing me awake in the morning. I suppose it's finally spring and the last remnants of winter are merely a memory now.

[GoBigelow] Places - Bigelow Mountain Range

2006-03-27T23:22:00.000-05:00

Deep within the brisk landscape of Maine lies a little mountain range with a very familiar name. The Bigelow Mountain range is roughly 12 miles wide and houses the second highest mountain in Maine, Bigelow Mountain! In 1976, a preserve encompassing 35,000 miles included the small Bigelow Mountain range, called the Bigelow Preserve was established by referendum due to increased pressure to develop the land into what some called the "Aspen of the East". Now, the preserve is enjoying success with people traversing its many trails and viewing its many wonders. For more information on the Bigelow Mountain Range, please visit the links below.

Check It:
http://www.meepi.org/files02/pa111402.htm
http://areas.wildernet.com/pages/area.cfm?areaID=MEPLBP&CU_ID=1
http://www.amateur-hikers.com/dir/usa/maine/bigelow_mountain.asp

New Computer!

2006-03-27T22:58:00.000-05:00

Well, today I recieved my first laptop from Dell. So far, its working flawlessly, except I hate when you buy a new computer and all the AOL junk and other pointless software is bundled in as well. It takes a little while, but most of that stuff can be weeded out. I'm actually using my old mouse for when I'm at home, just becuase it's easier, and when I head out I'll stick with the touchpad.

The new AOL IM I downloaded is really bulky, a lot of junk that nobody would ever use. I just want to be able to talk to my friends, and get on with life. Who needs to voice chat and check their e-mail while they're IMing? Not me.

I have noticed the huge difference between my old computer and this one, I can actually do many different things at once! Listen to music, download, and update my blog at the same time! The only issue I have with laptops is that once you go from AC power, the screen dimms to save energy. Although I believe there is some way to change that, for now I'll leave it.

It also took me a while to figure out how to configure XP to how I had my old Windows, meaning I have my taskbar at the top, Mac-style, no icons on the desktop, and toolbars on the side and bottom. I know people think that it's a strange way to layout a desktop, but I don't like clutter, so I eliminate all the icons. Anyway, enough ranting.

Goodbye Chef...

2006-03-22T22:29:00.000-05:00

Well, today marked the end of Isaac Hayes' run as Chef on South Park. It ended in quite a remarkable way. Chef ended up joining the Super Adventure Club, a club that molests little boys. They brainwashed him and all that, which is how Trey and Matt utilized Chef's old voice-overs. The boys try to save him by taking him to a psychiatrist, which works, but then he gets kidnapped and held hostage. When the boys end up rescuing him, he falls into a rivene and gets eaten by a mountain lion and a bear. At the very end, in Star Wars fashion, the men from the Super Adventure Club stand around Chef, who is brought back to life, and given a black Vader-esque suit.

I found myself laughing at all the metaphors comparing the Super Adventure Club to Scientology. For instance, Scientologists believe that aliens somehow put bad viruses or microbes in our bodies and that the only way to get them out is to follow Scientology's teachings. The Super Adventure Club followed along those lines, but those that molested the little children were given good microbes (I forgot the exact term used), because through having sex with them, they were given the good microbes that only children have. This somehow gave the men immortality.

If you didn't know the whole story behind Isaac Hayes leaving, or if you didn't see the past episode of South Park in which Scientology was explained, I suggest you check out this out anyway, it's a great show.

[GoBigelow] Places - Bigelow Hot Springs

2006-03-21T21:59:00.000-05:00

The Bigelow Hot Springs, is located 58 miles outside of Eugene, Oregon near the McKenzie River. This sand lined spring is about eight by thirteen feet in diameter with about 2 feet of depth. Warm, soothing water cleanses naturists and hikers with a satisfying 140 degrees of constant heat. Due to it's location so near the river, the spring can cool down slightly in the winter months.

Dense green foliage and the occasional deer accompany the spring, making the sight of naked people that shouldn't be naked a little bit more bearable. Although I haven't been there, though I plan to once I get to Seattle, it seems to be a great place to journey for the day. For those of you who like to use your GPS while you walk around, here are the coordinates for this beautiful location: 44.241 Latitude, 122.058 Longitude. EXPECT NUDITY!!

Check It:
http://www.idahohotsprings.com/destinations/bigelow/index.htm
http://cheef.com/mooncrow/or-bigelow.htm

KASEY WINS!

2006-03-20T22:34:00.000-05:00

Well, after a frustrating, rained-out Sunday, the race went on today without me watching it. I got to watch the first hour before I had to go to work, not even believing that my favorite driver, Kasey Kahne would win. Well, lo and behold, he friggin wins and I miss it! God damn FOX, they never re-air anything. Cops they'll play in marathon mode, but a NASCAR race will never be shown outside of it's original airing. People work you know! UGH! So frustrating.

Regardless, Kasey won, and he's now in 2nd place in points, behind Jimmy Johnson. For those of you who don't watch NASCAR, you should definitely check it out at least once, it's more exciting than you think.

MySpace is Urspace

2006-03-20T02:48:00.000-05:00

For those of you checking this out from MySpace, THANKS! Please check back regularly, I'll be posting often, because I've been really bored since Denise left. Feel free to leave comments too, I enjoy knowing what people think of what I think. I'll still be visting MySpace, but probably not posting any more blogs, due to redundancy. So, thanks, and have a great time here.

[GoBigelow]

2006-03-20T00:48:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone.

I'm in Seattle searching for the meaning of life. I probably won't touch on that in this blog, but I'll try to keep you interested nonetheless. My new life out here will hopefully be full of surprises. So won't you come along for the ride? It should be fun.