CATS: Now and Forever

by Molly

It’s time for me to shamelessly admit something. I am hopelessly, irrevocably, and unconditionally in love with Baron Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber’s CATS. And it’s all thanks to the movie Barney’s Great Adventure.

I was probably three or four when I got the Barney’s Great Adventure VHS tape. Before the feature on this particular VHS, there was a trailer for a movie musical, CATS. Of course I didn’t know it then, but this trailer would be the prelude to my obsession with musicals, and in later life, my reason for pursuing a career in music performance.

After seeing the trailer (link here), I was quick to tell my parents that I wanted the movie, but as luck would have it, the CATS North American tour was in town later that month. So, instead of buying me the movie, they dressed me up and brought me to the theater to see my first Broadway show. From then on, I was absolutely in love. I would put in my cassette tape nearly every day and dance like my life depended on it.

CATS, based on the Old Possum’s Book for Practical Cats by T.S. Eliot, is the story of junkyard cats who gather together once a year for a chance to go to the Heavyside Layer (Heaven). Candidates are chosen, and they must prove that they deserve to be the one to travel to the Heavyside Layer. Of course, there is a bit of romance thrown in there, along with some mischief, and some good, old-fashioned partying.

One of the most intriguing things about this musical is the fact that it doesn’t have a main character. All of the thirty-something characters are given equal attention throughout the course of the musical. Every performer is given their opportunity to shine, and every character is given their bit of storyline.

After a ridiculously successful run on the West End, CATS was brought to America, where it was performed to sold-out audiences at Madison Square Garden every night for months at a time. CATS was quick to top the charts and was eventually added to the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest running broadway show of all time.

The costuming of the show has evolved by leaps and bounds since the show’s inception  in 1976. I’ve heard it said before that being a costume designer for CATS is like the ultimate Cosplay. After looking at these dramatic designs, I couldn’t agree more. In the costuming department for this particular show, everything is left up to the imagination. You can basically be as creative as you want! This would be the one show that I would kill to design for! See below the difference in the costume work for the original West End cast and their 1998 film counterparts:

For anybody who has not seen CATS, I can easily say that it is one of the most confusing, intriguing, and interesting stories I’ve ever seen on a stage. The experience you get while watching the plot play out in front of you is an addicting one. Every time you see this show, there is something new and exciting about it. I, personally, can vouch for that, having seen the show four times myself.

One of the most entertaining aspects of this show in particular is that so much of it has been left up to audience interpretation and speculation. The family relations between the characters in CATS is never made entirely clear. However, fans of the show have had nearly thirty years to pick up small clues and piece together several potential family trees. Here's an example:

As you can see, this family tree is a fairly convoluted (and polygamistic?) one. We will probably never know the intended family tree (or even if there was one in the first place), so we’ll just have to keep on watching and interpreting and speculating. What does your ideal CATS family tree look like? Let us know in the comments!

All things considered, I would say that this would have to be my favorite musical of all time. It’s the perfect show for children and families, with some phenomenal music and meaningful lyrics. Unfortunately, CATS has not toured the US for many years now, and it probably won’t be in the foreseeable future, but the Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats and its film adaptation is still available in stores everywhere!

CATS is one of those shows that comes along once in a lifetime and changes the face of musical performance worldwide. They say that everything Andrew Lloyd Webber touches turns to gold, and that philosophy started with this show! Leave some comments and let me know if you like articles like this one and if you want to see more of them!

I will leave you with some interesting facts that I found while surfing the web, coming up with the info for this article.

1. After portraying Alonzo in the 1998 film adaptation of CATS, Jason Gardiner went on to be a judge on the television competition Dancing on Ice.

                                          

2.) Susan Jane Tanner, who portrayed Jellylorum in the 1998 film adaptation, also originated the role of Madame Thenardier in Les Miserables on the West End.

3.) Sarah Brightman, the original West End Jemima in CATS, also originated the role of Christine Daae in Phantom of the Opera.

A cat's entitled to expect

These evidences of respect

So this is this, and that is that

And there's how you ad-dress a cat

Life After Divergent

by Molly

Recently a new dystopian novel has taken the world by storm. Divergent has risen up to join the ranks of Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, and Narnia - novels that define our generation. Veronica Roth’s first novel is one that begins at a lightning pace and keeps its momentum up for nearly 500 pages. I, personally, never thought that a modern-day dystopian novel could be as endearing as this. I’m one that enjoys the classics - Fahrenheit 451, 1984, and other legendary stories of people who want nothing more than to be themselves. Nobody ever would’ve thought, before reading Divergent, that Veronica Roth would one day rival George Orwell and Ayn Rand, but it has happened, and it was obvious from the first page of text.

Roth’s main character, Tris, is a young girl from a sector of society which requires its people to be selfless and worry-free. On a given day every year, all of the sixteen-year-olds from all over this society (which we later learn is “modern-day” Chicago) come to choose which sector (faction) they wish to live in for the rest of their lives. Most teenagers choose to live in the same faction that they have know for their whole lives, but Tris and a few others feel like they need a change and choose to go into Dauntless, the faction which trains warriors and forces its people to disregard their fears. The only trouble with her choosing to join Dauntless is that only ten people make it through the initiation, and Tris is the smallest and weakest of them all. If Tris didn’t get through initiation, she would be kicked out of her faction. At this point, she would be considered factionless and have to live off her own devices without any kind of community support.

Through her training, Tris meets a stoney-faced young man appropriately nicknamed Four. In his fear landscape, Four had four fears (see what they did there?), which was an anomaly of sorts. Most recruits had upwards of fifteen fears in their landscapes. Of course, as all books go, Tris and Four forge a friendship that later turns into a romance that evolves over the entirety of the three-book series.

Now that the entire trilogy has been released, we, as the fandom can look forward to the Divergent film, which will be released in March of this year. For those of you who may be fans of the BBC television series Downton Abbey, this may come as a surprise. I know I was shocked when I put the pieces together.

A little bit surprising, yes? I definitely know that I was pleasantly surprised. I mean, I know thirty seconds on Google could’ve told you that Theo also played Kemal Pamuk, but if you’re like me and still live in the dark ages, then this would’ve come as a shock. Talk about night and day!

Anyway, I’m so excited about the casting choices that they’ve made for the film. It is obvious that this film is going to be legendary simply because of the text it comes from, but then factor in the fact that you have some of Hollywood’s finest - Kate Winslet, Shailene Woodley, Ashley Judd - and now they’re preparing to bring in awards by the dozens.

If you haven’t read Divergent yet, I can highly suggest it to anyone. I will wholeheartedly admit that I was skeptical going into it. However, from the first chapter, I knew I was going to love the read. I’m not ashamed to admit that I blew through the entire series and its novellas in no more than a week and a half. Afterward, though, I was left feeling something like this:

Has anybody else ever had this feeling? Before the Divergent Trilogy, I can honestly say that the last time I’d had that feeling was after reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows for the first time in fifth grade!

So you just finished the Divergent Trilogy and you’re wondering what to do now? Here is a list of books that I would recommend to somebody who enjoyed Divergent:

1. Matched by Ally Condie
2. 

Matched is the first book in a trilogy of books which takes place in a dystopian society years into the future. In this society, Officials decide who you love, where you work, even when you die. It’s up to Cassia to break from the norm.

2.) Evermore by Alyson Noel

Ever Bloom is the only survivor of a car crash that kills her entire family. After the accident, she has regular, in-person conversations with her dead little sister, develops intense psychic powers allowing her to read minds, and see auras. And, of course, there has to be a bit of romance!

3.) Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

Shiver is the first of the Wolves of Mercy Falls Trilogy, written in the perspective of Grace Brisbane. For years, Grace has watched the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf—her wolf—is a chilling presence she can't seem to live without.

So, there you have it! Hopefully now you’ve found something to wean you off of your Divergent withdrawals. Let me know what books you’ve found and enjoyed after Divergent in the comments!

Once Upon a Time - Going Home

by Molly

It's been nearly two weeks now since the mid-season finale of Once Upon a Time, and all of us loyal fans have been left reeling from all of the action and all of the cliffhangers in the most recent episode. In the first few episodes, we got answers to a select few of our questions, only to have them replaced by even bigger ones. No doubt these will be answered in the second half of season three and the beginning of season four. Just to recap, here are the things we learned as of the latest episode, appropriately entitled Going Home.

 

 

Back in season two, a prophecy was found, stating that a boy would be Rumpelstiltskin's undoing. The “boy” was, in fact, Rumpelstiltskin's undoing. However, it wasn't Henry (Jared Gilmore), as we'd all come to expect. Actually, it was Peter Pan (Robbie Kay) that this prophecy was referring to. Consequently, we learn in the same episode that Peter Pan is Rumpelstiltskin's father, lending yet another facet to the monumentally confusing family tree that makes Once so endearing.

 

By the end of Going Home, all of the villains who are actually villains (i.e. Felix and Peter Pan) are definitively dead, along with Rumpelstiltskin, whose death was not-so-definitive. Yeah, I know. We all watched Rumpelstiltskin kill himself along with his father. But here's a bit of news to brighten every fan's day: Robert Carlyle's contract doesn't expire for another two years, so we will undoubtedly be seeing more of Rumpelstiltskin in season four, if not sooner!

 

During the most recent episode, Regina (Lana Parrilla) realizes that the only way to stop the curse Peter Pan has set into motion is to send everybody back to the lands from which they came. This means that Henry will have to remain in Storybrooke whilst everybody is dispersed amongst the other realms. It is quickly discovered that Emma (Jennifer Morrison), being the Savior, can stay behind with Henry, in order to continue raising him. But as we've come to learn with Once, all magic comes with a price. Yes, she can stay behind to raise Henry, but her family, friends, and anything else related to Storybrooke, will be eliminated from her memory. Not wanting Henry to go back into the foster system, she agrees to stay behind.

While Emma says her heartfelt goodbyes, Captain Hook (Colin O'Donoghue) admits that he will think of her every day. This bit of information could not have come at a worse time for us fans, though. I mean, we've been waiting all season for an admittance such as this, and then it is cut short by the smoke monster (LOST reference), of all things! With only moments to spare, Emma and Henry cross the town line, losing any and all recollection of the life they once lived, and Storybrooke ceases to exist.

*The Purple Smoke Monster

Flash forward one year, and Henry and Emma are leading completely normal lives in New York City. One morning, as the two of them are sitting down to breakfast, there is a knock at the door. To the viewers' astonishment, it is Captain Hook, coming to warn Emma of the grave danger her family is in. To this, Emma responds that the only family she has ever known is Henry.

   

At this point, the viewers are questioning how Hook is going to remind Emma of her family and friends, who are now trapped in the Enchanted Forest. Of course, what better way to remind someone of their past than a kiss, right? No? Well...oops.

 

This encounter, however, did spark hope for those of us holding out for Captain Swan. I mean, why else would he try the whole true-love's-kiss-can-break-any-curse thing? He must love her, right? If he can just get her to remember, perhaps the feeling would be mutual.

 

So, in short, we've gotten far more questions than answers. No doubt they will all be answered in due time. For now, here are some unanswered questions for you to think about and analyze! Leave some theories in the comment section below!

 

1. Where is Baelfire?

We know that Baelfire was transported somewhere. He was born in the Enchanted Forest, spent most of his childhood in Neverland, and then somehow ended up in New York. Where do you reckon he ended up when Regina's spell was cast?

 

2. How the heck did Hook get to New York?

Hook was sent back to Neverland or Victorian England or wherever the heck he's from when Regina cast the spell. With no magic beans or Pegasus feathers to help him on his way, how do you think he got back to our realm?

Fun fact: Literally everybody on this show is related. I would love to go into detail about this, but that would take an entire article in and of itself. For now, here's a photo of the Once Upon a Time family tree. In the words of Prince Charming, “It’s a good thing we don’t have Thanksgiving in our land, because that dinner would suck.”

 

Nancy Drew PC Games

by Jessica

Video games are for kids. Video games are too violent. Video games don’t teach you anything. Have you ever been told or heard someone say one of these things about video games? I bet you have. Well, as always there are exceptions to the rules, and today I’m going to tell you about a video game series that is an exception to all of these.

Most of us have probably heard of Nancy Drew, right? She’s appeared in many forms over the years, in books, movies, and now, video games. Maybe your mom read the Nancy Drew book series written by Carolyn Keene (who isn’t a real person; it’s a pseudonym for the “ghost” authors who wrote them). Or maybe you’ve seen the Nancy Drew movie Emma Roberts starred in from 2007. But something you may not know about Nancy is that she has her own line of mystery video games, which are for many gaming platforms. The most commonly used one for this series is the PC (this is the one I use to play them too).

Nancy Drew, if you don’t know, is an eighteen-year-old detective/sleuth that grew up in River Heights, USA. She’s always described as having “titian” hair (meaning it’s golden brown with a tint of red in it), which I always thought was an interesting way to describe it. The book series was written from 1930 to 2003, and Nancy grew up in the early 1900’s. She is the daughter of a lawyer, Carson Drew, and her mother died when she was very young. She and her father have a housekeeper/cook, Hannah Gruen, and a dog named Togo. Nancy is also known for her boyfriend, Ned, and her two best friends, Bess and George (both girls). Most of these are characters in the games, whether you see them or just talk to them on the phone.

 

The actual PC games were first made in 1998 by the company, Her Interactive, and are still made today. They tell the stories of Nancy’s best detective cases. Because her father is a lawyer and therefore busy all the time, and because Nancy is an only child, and a responsible one at that, she has a lot of free reign and can therefore go to places all across the United States (Hawaii in The Creature of Kapu Cave or Georgia in The Ghost of Thornton Hall) and even the world (Italy in The Phantom of Venice or Germany in The Captive Curse) to solve cases. She has a knack for it, which may originate from her mother, who may or may not have been a spy (find out in Her Interactive’s latest, The Silent Spy).

 

Through the games, you, as the player, are Nancy; therefore, you never actually see her because you play from her first-person perspective. As Nancy, you meet characters, some of whom are the suspects, who usually remain suspects until the end (Nancy never rules anyone out). She/you talk to them and befriend them along the way. Some friendships turn out to not be so genuine, I might add. If Nancy/you gets stuck mid-game, you can usually call Bess and George (who are always together), Carson, or Ned for helpful hints. In some games, you can even call the Hardy Boys, with whom Nancy has worked before, like in Last Train to Blue Moon Canyon, one of my favorite games. Other times, Nancy will have someone she needs to report to, like in The Secret of Shadow Ranch, who will help her out as well. And trust me, you’ll need hints for some tricky puzzles Nancy has to solve.

At the beginning of the game, you can choose to play as either a junior (amateur) sleuth or a senior (pro) sleuth, and even though I’ve been playing these for at least five years I still always choose junior sleuth. Senior sleuth has harder puzzles with less time to do them (if they’re timed) or more to the puzzle and fewer clues throughout the game. I figure more adults play senior level. There’s one of my first points; every age group can play these games. Maybe little little kids can’t, but everyone 10+ I think would enjoy them. I know when I was about eleven and started playing them, my dad would play them with me and help me out on puzzles or clues I couldn’t figure out on my own, and sometimes even he would get stuck! So these games take some serious skill. When I need more help than the game will give me (and I’ve only completed I think two games without hints) I go to uhs-hints.com (Universal Hint System), which I think is a lifesaver because it’s not a straight walk-through in that you can find exactly the part of the puzzle you need help with without giving away the final answer to it or spoilers in the game. Be careful not to click on the wrong thing, though, or you might read a spoiler on accident!

One little tidbit I want to include is how fun/funny it is to watch the technology in the game change, especially the kind Nancy uses to get in contact with her friends and hint-givers. Back in the very first few, Nancy would only be able to use an old pay phone and put in a nickel she has in her change purse that she carries (Secret of the Old Clock) or a rotary dial phone in her hotel room (Curse of Blackmoor Manor). Later on, Nancy gets her own mobile phone that only allows calls, and now in the games Nancy has a smartphone that has Internet and texting on it to make it easier for her/you to look up information and talk to people on the go. It also makes it easier for the bad guy to contact Nancy, even anonymously, like in The Silent Spy.

Besides being a game for (almost) all ages, Nancy Drew is not graphically violent at all. There isn’t blood or gore or fighting. Sometimes a ghost will jump out at you and practically scare your pants off (Curse you, Shadow at the Water’s Edge), or creepy noises/sounds will make it difficult to play at nighttime (*cough* *cough* The corridor in Curse of Blackmoor Manor), but besides that, it’s a really good series without being too violent, which is especially good if you’re as jumpy as I am.

And my third point from the beginning is that Nancy Drew teaches you so much. If you didn’t know how to play Sudoku, Shadow at the Water’s Edge will teach you how. If you don’t know your Roman numerals very well, Danger on Deception Island will change that. If you don’t know about different types of farm vegetables (which I sure didn’t) or cliff dwellings, The Secret of Shadow Ranch will enlighten you. So as you can see, as you’re playing these games, secret little tidbits of information will stick with you, and you’ll develop puzzle skills you’ll use in later games. One of the most common ones I’ve seen is the slider puzzle, which goes all the way back to the first game, The Secret of the Old Clock (which is also the name of the first book), and is used in the newest game, The Silent Spy.

 

Now I have mention graphics for a second because I am super picky about whether game graphics are good enough for me to play it or not. The older games, like Secrets Can Kill (first released in 1999 and remastered in 2010), are obviously not going to have as good of graphics as say, the newest game coming out in spring 2014, The Shattered Medallion (so if you’re extremely picky about that, I wouldn’t start playing until about maybe the tenth one, The Secret of Shadow Ranch).

 

The Shattered Medallion is the 30th Nancy Drew PC game, and I’ve completely played through 17 of them. I started The Legend of the Crystal Skull but didn’t finish it because it scared me (it was a while ago, alright?), as well as The Haunting of Castle Malloy (it glitched, and I had no choice but to not finish it). I also have The White Wolf of Icicle Creek for the Wii, but the final puzzle was so hard (and so randomized!) that I could never complete it. That still haunts me to this day.

After I started really getting into these games, I started a list of all the ones I’d played and ratings for a few different categories that I decided were important in a Nancy Drew game that’d help me remember how much I did or didn’t like it the next time I wanted to replay a game. So here are my top ranked games for each category, from a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the highest in the category:

 

Most fun - this one definitely goes to Tomb of the Lost Queen. From its incredible graphics to cool characters to awesome puzzles, this one from Her Interactive (May 8, 2012) is my favorite. I loved translating the hieroglyphics with Nancy in Egypt! Warnings at Waverly Academy is a close second for me though.

Scariest - though this may be tainted by my age of when I played it, Shadow at the Water’s Edge got a 9 because I saw the creepy dripping ghost that’s on the cover of the game in the game...oh man.

Hardest - out of the ones I’ve finished, I didn’t give any a 9 or an 8, but I gave quite a few 7’s. I think the highest 7 would be either The Last Train to Blue Moon Canyon or Tomb of the Lost Queen.

Most played - this one is a three-way tie because I’ve played The Secret of Shadow Ranch, Curse of Blackmoor Manor, and Secret of the Old Clock three times each.

So there are my “winners” and my knowledge that I had to share for you about the Nancy Drew PC games. I hope you found it interesting and now want to go pick up a game for yourself! They are great fun and take up to three days if you make them last (meaning only playing for about 2 hours a day). I tend to love playing and only take a day or two. Some are longer, some are shorter, but they’re all great fun. I can’t wait to see what The Shattered Medallion will be about, so maybe pick that up in the spring if you so desire. Always remember: *whispers* It’s up to you as Nancy Drew!

 

The Phantom of the Opera

by Daisy

 

There are quite a few things that I have a deep passion about: zombies, Spiderman/superheroes, Queen, sleeping in, but nothing is as deep as my love for The Phantom of the Opera. I could watch the musical over and over and over again and never get bored of it! You would hate watching it with me because I’d deliver every line, vocalize every song, and get so into it, you’d be fed up and done with me.

 

The Phantom of the Opera was written by French novelist, Gaston Leroux, whose work on Phantom was first published in 1909. Yeah! It’s that old! Many adaptations have been made since then, including my favorite, the musical written and composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber. Its dark beauty and musical genius will resonate within your soul, and soon enough you’ll find you’ve developed an attachment to the Phantom as I did. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry; every emotion will play across your face.

I don’t want to give out any spoilers, so I’ll try and be as vague as I possibly can without giving away too many details. Our story begins with young dancer, Christine Daaé, a beautiful vocalist who was raised in an opera house, orphaned as a little girl due to her late father's illness. Growing up she was tutored by an “angel of music” that her father said would come to guide her. Her goal was to further her music career with her outstanding singing ability.

Throughout our little story you meet many colorful characters like Carlotta, Meg, Madame Giry, Raoul, and my favorite, the comedic duo, André and Firmin. The most important character in my opinion would be The Phantom, Erik. He is our “angel of music” and Christine’s teacher. You can immediately tell that our opera ghost is madly in love with her, but so is Raoul, Christine's childhood friend. And that’s your main story plot right there, a scandalous love triangle centered around our little songbird.

 

SPOILER ALERT! IF YOU DON’T WANT THE ENDING RUINED, SKIP THIS PARAGRAPH.

Personally, I think Christine should have been with The Phantom. He did nothing but give and give his heart and soul to her, which is evident when he sings his “All I Ask Of You” reprise, and she does nothing but runs around with Raoul. I feel so heartbroken for Erik. If someone was all about music, sang to me, and was that devoted I would pick him in a heartbeat, but alas, The Phantom is merely a character in Webber's musical design. Granted, he may be a murderer, but you could work through that! Couples therapy maybe? All I’m saying is, The Phantom deserves love too, and I really wish Christine would have chosen him instead of Raoul who was arrogant and pretentious.

SPOILER OVER.

The Sims

by Jessica

I bet old-school gaming to most people dates back to maybe Atari or the Nintendo 64, but for me, since I didn’t have any of the “classic” gaming systems, the oldest thing I ever played video games on was my PC. Back in the day, say, oh, 2005 or so, my older sister and I loved to play the very first Sims game. I could never take care of more than two Sims, so I thought my sister was a genius since she could watch over even a baby! The skill! She was also very good at typing “rosebud” really quickly…

We had the first Sims, as well as The Sims: Unleashed, where you could own cats and dogs. The only problem I had with that one was that you couldn’t control what your pets did; they were free to roam and do whatever. They never slept until the meter was so low that you thought they were going to die. This worried me. But what I did love about the second game was being able to go into town! It always had a jazzy vibe, and you could buy cool masks, candles, and pets, as well as food for your Sims.

So that was fun. I played those games for a good while but never really played Sims 2. I think I just got too paranoid that I couldn’t handle more than Bella and Mortimer at once. Therefore I was hesitant to play Sims 3 when my friend showed it to me. Could I do it? Would I kill them? The answer is yes...and yes. I mean, who hasn’t killed some of their Sims, am I right?

But the fact of the matter here is that I did borrow her game and upload The Sims 3, and I have spent way too much of my life playing it. I know I’ve gone too many days in a row playing it when I start dreaming in Sims. Does anyone else do that?

I realized that some of you might not know what The Sims is, so I’ll tell you. “Sims” stands for “simulations,” and in this case, the simulations are people. You, as the gamer, get to control what your Sims do, when and how, with whom they interact, etc. The main game (not the expansion packs) starts you off in a town called Sunset Valley, which is indeed sunny, that has a beach, central park, diner, library, two pools, gym, school, and more. So it’s mostly regular life in a city, and your Sims can have whatever kind of lifestyle you want them to.

In the beginning of the game, you create your Sim(s) and set their favorite things, outfits, character traits, and lifetime wishes. Throughout the game, you can fulfill your Sims’ wishes to earn them Lifetime Happiness Points, which you can exchange for really cool in-game rewards, like Bookshop Bargainer or Steel Bladder.

Their main lifetime wish, however, that you set at the beginning of the game is basically your end goal. You want to set up your Sim's life in order for him or her to be able to complete that goal. For instance, there are really funny goals, like Gold Digger, where your Sim wants to live to see the ghost of his or her spouse, or Heartbreaker, where your Sim wants to break the hearts of ten other Sims. And trust me, that is not an easy task. Sims develop relationships really quickly and need to mourn over their breakups, so if you choose this wish, your Sim will be sad a lot, and I just didn’t like when my Sim was sad. Therefore, she only broke five hearts.

In order to fulfill the more...normal wishes, such as Superstar Athlete or Perfect Mind, Perfect Body, you have to raise your Sim’s skills and get them a job. There are many professions in Sunset Valley (and other cities in other expansion packs), such as athlete, musician, doctor, criminal, journalist, and politician. For each job, Sims are required to have certain skills. For example, an athlete needs to be athletic...fancy that. A musician can learn the guitar, a doctor needs mechanical and logic skills, the criminal also needs athletic skill, and a journalist and politician need charisma.

One of my favorite skills to increase is the cooking skill because there are so many dishes to fix, from the really easy ones like mac and cheese and autumn salad to really difficult recipes like ambrosia and tri-tip steak. It’s really awesome to see your Sims cook stuff up, from the fridge to the counter to the oven. I think the graphics are incredible, and I am anxiously awaiting The Sims 4, out fall 2014.

Now, don’t think that you’re limited to only Sunset Valley in this first game. The eleven amazing expansion packs that accompany the main bundle include anything from University Life to Island Paradise to Pets to Supernatural. I’ve played Generations, Pets, Supernatural, World Adventures, and Seasons. My personal favorites are definitely Generations and Seasons because they make gameplay more realistic.

Generations provides more toys and costumes and opportunities for children, like driving and imaginary friends who can become real. Seasons allows the weather to not just be sunny all the time. Your Sims experience all four seasons; they can get sunburned in the summer, frozen in the winter, go trick-or-treating with children and teens in the fall, and go to the kissing booth at the spring festival! This one is my favorite, especially because it can rain, snow, hail, and thunderstorm! Your Sims now have to check the weather before they make plans to go out on dates or to the seasonal festivals. There are umbrellas for the rain, and you can make snowmen, snow angels, and igloos in the winter.

These games take you and your Sims on a lifetime of adventure, from a baby to a toddler to a teenager to a young adult to an adult to an elder. Each period of life forms who your Sim is going to be and where they are going as people. I personally get quite attached to my Sims and only want the best for them. I hate when they burn their food, fall on the treadmill, or when I accidentally electrocute someone when I tell him to fix the stereo when his mechanical level is far too low for him to do that. Luckily, the Grim Reaper decided he’d let him live because unlucky was one of his traits...Death would laugh at his misfortunes again and again.

Another cool thing about The Sims is the traits your Sims can have. My very first Sim that I ever made I very unoriginally modeled her after myself, except I made her a young adult so she could have a proper job. So I picked my favorite traits (I don’t remember for sure, but I think these are the ones she had): good sense of humor, bookworm, excitable, genius, and ambitious. Each trait helps a little bit throughout the game and allows you to do different things with your Sims depending on what traits they have.

There are definitely some funny traits too: technophobe, never nude, childish, neurotic (that one’s hilarious, even if it’s not supposed to be), hydrophobic, kleptomaniac, and slob. I generally like for my Sims to have positive traits or ones that help them, like workaholic (they’ll like working and can work more without getting stressed), neat (they’ll make their beds and clean up their dishes), or natural cook (they gain the cooking skill faster and make better dishes).

Overall, The Sims is an extremely fun experience, and every game you start is new and unique. Tragedies and opportunities strike your Sims when you least expect them. Fires catch on stoves, burglars come in the night, teenagers throw raging parties; you never know what’s going to happen...just like in real life. And I think that’s the reason I, like so many other players, love The Sims. It’s a simulation indeed, and every day is exciting and eventful. You get to escape into a world of possibilities and forget about real life for a little while, which is always the best part about video games. The Sims will always welcome you in their Simlish way: sulsul!