What I'm looking forward to

I've decided that I'm going to try to update my blog every other day just because that was my plan from the beginning anyway. Plus I think it's really fun. Why don't I do this more often? Rhetorical.

So I'm going to begin with a little thing I like to call "what I'm looking forward to," a feature where I just tell you about some things I'm looking forward to, explain why, and tell you why you should look forward to them as well.

Before we move on, I would like to point out that my brother just asked me this question: "Michael, doth you do gay kids?"

Let's roll...

The Sims 3

The Sims 3 is the third major release in the celebrated "The Sims" franchise, and promises to be on a much grander scale.

If any of you have ever played any of the Sims games, you know how fun they can be. It is basically a people simulator, but with a little less realism and a little more fun factor. You can design what your sims look like along with their houses, raise a family, move up in their careers, or let them drown in the pool.

The second installment included a fully 3D camera, a new goal system, and loads of new content. But you were still confined to taking care of the mundane tasks like showering, making food, and pooping, and also could only play one house at a time in the town.

The Sims 3 stands out because, as their developer says, "they have moved past peeing." The Sims now take care of their own mundane grooming and eating tasks so you can move to focusing more on the fun aspects of the game. Like now, you can fully customize your sims, including how fat they are and clothing designs and patterns. Plus the dynamic personality system is a sure fire way to take customization to a whole new level.

What really excites me is that you can now leave your house and stroll (or drive) down the street to the town and interact with everyone else, seamlessly without loading screens. This is such a big deal. It's always been so annoying to call a cab and go downtown and wait and wait in the loading screen. As a whole, I'm so excited. It comes out June 4.

It's All Crazy! It's All False! It's All a Dream! It's Alright by Mewithoutyou

If anyone has listened to mewithoutyou, you know how different they are. They are a band that redefines what a "popular band" should sound like. For mewithoutyou, it's all about passion. Vocalist Aaron Weiss's lyrics are the backbone of the band, and his delivery keeps fans raving and coming back for more. The way he conveys his words to the audience seem to be the only way those words should ever be said, and it is absolutely beautiful. Sometimes they are sung, other times they are yelled, and even sometimes they are simply spoken.

For this 4th major album from the band, they went in a different direction than previous albums, not necessarily sticking to their Tooth&Nail psuedo-hardcore genre, but to more of an almost folk music celebration. The album hits stores and online retailers May 19th, and you can preview a couple of the new album's songs on their myspace.

That Hideous Strength by C.S. Lewis

This is the third book in the Space Trilogy by author C.S. Lewis. Written two decades before man ever reached space, C.S. Lewis has a brilliant and imaginative depiction of space travel. The story follows Dr. Ransom, a philologist at a university who in the first book, Out of the Silent Planet, is captured and taken to Mars against his will by former colleagues. He soon discovers other beings that have been created by God and learns their language, Old Solar, which is the language spoken by all other rational beings in space, (or "Deep Heaven") and soon learns that humans were not the first (or last) beings created by God and that Earth is the only planet that has ever sinned against God, which is why none of us speak Old Solar. In the second book, Perelandra, Ransom is sent to Venus to stop its version of our Eve from giving into temptation, and eventually helps her and Adam rise to perfection. He learns at the end of this story of the rest of the universe's "angels" plan to rescue earth with the help from God.

I can imagine that that is what this third book is about, but I can never be sure. Apparently, it is supposed to be extremely philosophical, and that excites me beyond belief because that is where the author shines. Also, don't worry if you still want to read these books, for I haven't spoiled anything because C.S. Lewis' writing style is incomparable in its beauty, and totally worth reading. This book comes out in 1946.