The Sims Bustin' Out

This is one of many games in the widely popular The Sims series

Summary
-Malcolm Landgrabb is the richest Sim in SimCity. He is taking items from each of the lots for unpaid rent. The main objective is to have your Sim progress through each career and get back everyone's possessions and to finally become rich and successful enough to evict Malcolm from his own beachside mansion

Gameplay
-In order to unlock new areas, you must complete missions. In each lot, Malcolm will take one or two items, which can be easily received when you buy enough things to upgrade the place
There are thirteen different locations you can go to in here, each with its own missions and unique Sims

Mom's House

-Resident Sim: Mom

-This is where you start off at. This single floor ranch is on a farm, which explains the constant mooing of cows, clucking of chickens and whinnying of horses. You can always move back here. The bus doesn't pick up anyone here, so if you need a break from the hustle and bustle of trying to make friends or earn skill points and you want to do these things at your own leisure, move back to Mom's place

Dudley's Trailer

-Resident Sim: Dudley Landgrabb

-This is a trailer in the desert. You'll often hear crows cawing and coyotes howling. You'll quickly find out that Dudley is a bit of a slacker. He's messy, forgets to flush the toilet, will often turn on electronics and walk away, such as turning on the stereo or TV and walk away, or he'll often leave to go nightclubbing

Mimi's Place

-Resident Sim: Mimi Landgrabb

-She is certainly no better than her brother Dudley. She is messy, leaves electronics on and will more often than not leave at all hours of the day and night to go clubbing or something else. Her place is a suburban ranch in the suburbs

Goth Manor

-Resident Sims: Bella and Mortimer Goth

-This lot is where you encounter your first NPC (non-playable character). Depending on the gender of your Sim, if your Sim is a girl, you can switch back and forth with Bella Goth, whose job is a Horror Movie Actress and therefore Mortimer can't be controlled. Whereas if your Sim is a boy, you can switch back and forth between you and Mortimer Goth, who is a Pyrotechnician and therefore you can't control Bella. This is a mansion surrounded by cemeteries and is always storming.

Studio 8

-Resident Sims: Artie Fischl and Charity Grant

-This is an art studio in an industrial neighborhood, judging from the brick and mortar buildings surround it. This lot, once again, has a non-playable character. It's the same situation as Goth Manor. Depending on the gender of your Sim, that determines what character you can switch back and forth with. Charity is a Massage Therapist and Artie is a Massage Therapist as well

Toane's Gym

-Resident Sims: Max and Goldie Toane

-This is a gym. The resident Sims here are health nuts. When they aren't working out, they are eating or making messes. This lot is a gym in the business district of SimCity. Once again, you encounter the non-playable character scenario. As mentioned, it comes down to the gender of your Sim which determines which Sim you can switch back and forth with. Goldie and Max are both in the Jock career, they are Starters

Casa Caliente

-Resident Sims: Paisley Rainbow and Randy Hart

-This place just screams 70s love shack. It's on the beach and the whole house has a 1970s beachy love shack feel. This is the first location where marriage is made a goal

Club Rubb

-Resident Sims: Bing Bling and Mona Lott

-This is a nightclub. These two Sims are constantly eating, messing around on the large DJ machine or dancing on the dance floor, talking about parties, etc This lot also has the option for marriage

Shiny Things Labs

-Resident Sims: Makino Nada and Vaughn Braun

-This is a science lab in an industrial park. You're surrounded by toxic wasteland and industrial warehouses. Marriage is once again an option here

Tinsel Bluffs

-Resident Sims: Humphrey Hawks and Fanny Adore

-This is a fancy house up in the hills overlooking SimCity. Here is one of the locations where you must have a baby and raise it to a child. This isn't hard. The easiest way to do this is simply make sure your Sim and his/her wife or husband are both in a good mood. Just keep up the random romantic actions and a message should pop up, reading "Would you like to have a baby?" Hit yes or no. Then it tells you the gender of the baby and you can name it. To raise it to a child, simply feed it and sing to it when it cries. NEVER PLAY WITH THE BABY!!! It takes about 3-4 Sim days to raise it to a child

Pixel Acres

-Resident Sims: Chase Skurts and Ying Yangst

-This is a hippie nudist colony. They are always talking about loving nature and getting free of clothing

The Octagon

-Resident Sims: General Payne and Maxine Powers

-This is a military base and these two are always talking about things as if they are planning on mounting an assault on someone or something

Malcolm's Mansion

-Resident Sim: Malcolm (until Mom kicks him out)

-This is a beachside mansion. This is what you get for all your hard work

There is also Free Play mode
-Lot 1
-Lot 2
-Lot 3
Of course, in order to survive, your Sim is going to need money. The only way to obtain that, is to get a job. All the careers end at Malcolm's Mansion since that is where you earn the final promotion for each career. The final promotion earns you a gnome of that career for the large fountain outside his house. Here is the selection of jobs you have to choose from
-Counter Culture
-Not shockingly, Counter Culture is simply another name for hippie. This career is very hippie-like in its promotions, such as Massage Therapist, Flower Child, Love Guru, Transcendentalist, etc. The lots where this job is typically offered and picks you up include Casa Caliente, Studio 8, Mimi's Place, Pixel Acres
-Jock
-Sports. That is what this career is. You earn promotions to jobs such as Starter, Head Coach, Mascot, etc. The lots for these jobs include Dudley's Trailer, Toane's Gym, Shiny Things Labs, Tinsel Bluffs
-Fashion Victim
-Haute couture, high fashion, clothes, etc. It's all about fashion. This job has promotions like Hair Designer, Sex Symbol, Fingernail Painter, etc. The lots for this job include Mimi's Place, Studio 8, Club Rubb, Tinsel Bluffs
-Paramilitary
-Joining the armed forces isn't easy. In this game, it's not either. The lots for this line of work include Dudley's Trailer, Toane's Gym, Shiny Things Labs, The Octagon
-Gangster
-You ever hear of the "five finger discount?" This career helps you perfect it with more. The lots for this career include Dudley's Trailer, Toane's Gym, Casa Caliente, Pixel Acres
-Movie Star
-Talk about drama queen or drama king!! In this career, acting is your talent. The lots for this career include Mimi's Place, Goth Manor, Club Rubb, Tinsel Bluffs
-Mad Scientist
-"It's alive! It's alive!" You'll be saying that and more when you become a Mad Scientist. Play with fire as a Pyrotechnician. Mess around with DNA as a Gene Splicer. The lots for this career include Dudley's Trailer, Goth Manor, Shiny Things Labs, The Octagon
In Free Play mode, you have choices for jobs too
-Rock Star
-Slacker
-Artist
-Computer Geek
-Swindler

Day 25-Your day, in detail

Well, obviously it's Christmas!!!

Open gifts
-I haven't opened them yet

Go to my grandmother's
-We do this every year. Go to my grandmother's for Christmas Day. And every year it was crowded with her motley crue of a family, who only come over once a year. But since she is not doing so well, it's going to be just immediate family-me, my mom Brenda, my stepdad Greg, sister Jessica or "Jessie", for short, my aunt Jeananne, my aunt Carol, her husband Donnie and their two boys Michael and Nicholas, my aunt Jeananne's son Noah, who is living at home since he's working two jobs and going to the University of Cincinnati, but cannot afford the horrendous rent rates of apartments in Clifton, where the university is located, and my grandmother's dog Abby, who is a lovable but goofy Australian Shepherd-Collie mix.

Shoot pool
-Since we're all off work the next day, we'll most likely shoot pool in the basement and listen to Christmas music

Weekend

IDK what this weekend has in store for me. Oh wait, yes I do!! WORK!!! But, luckily for moi, I only have to work a few hours, yay me!! I have work from 10am-2pm. I now work at the bookstore at my college, and for some reason, I get some real Einsteins in there, you can probably read the sarcasm on my face! I really hate when some people bring their kids in there and they start running around like they're high on caffeine or something.

But anywho, IDK what the weekend has in store for me besides work. Maybe pool on Saturday night. And if that's the case, I'm playing my new Who CD. It has a song I recently found the name of, Eminence Front. I love that song

Hola!

Sorry I have not been on here doing posts as often as I'd like. I'd been busy lately with this temporary job I have. Yeah, finally after what seemed like 4ever, I have finall found a job!! Woo-hoo!! It's only temporary. It was through a staffing agency near me called Randstad. And my job was originally Mail Room Clerk, sorting through mail and taking care of people's taxes. But now, that has changed. I'm not a Data Entry Clerk, meaning I type in people's info into the computer so it gets taken care of. Yeah, it sounds interesting, mind you there's sarcasm on that. I'll be glad when this job is over! It's not abd, it's more boring than anything, really. OMG, I sound English talking this, lmao. But on May 6, when this job ends, I'm getting another job somewhere else, something more regular, with regular hours. I'm hoping to get a job at FYE, this music/movie store near me. I know about all kinds of movies and music, so I think it would be a natural environment for a pop culture buff such as myself. And I'm also bound and determined to get my license. Which will be I think kinda easy. And when it comes to cars, I want to get either a VW Beetle or a Mini Cooper. IDK why, but I just love those little cars. My sis says that if I get a Mini Cooper, I should deck it out in all things 1960s and London, which I probably would, and as for the VW Bug, it's gonna get hippie-fied!!

But in other news, it's pretty much the same in the Clark-Whetstein camp. Yeah, my last name is Clark, yeah, that's me. And the Whetstein part is the last name of my mom and stepdad. She remarried in 2005 after my parents divorced, but enough of that. Recently, I started reading this book my aunt got me for Christmas, titled Jagger: Rebel, Rambler, Rockstar, Rogue. I don't know why I just now started reading it, but so far, it ain't bad. It's pretty cool. Tells ya that Mick is half Australian, half British. Hmm, best of both worlds, lmao. Also says that he has a brother named Christopher who is said to be living in the shadow of his bro Mick. Basically, anything Chris Jagger does, gets associated with what Mick Jagger does. And as for other blah blah stuff, we, as in my mom, sis, stepdad and me, play pool on Saturday nights when he does not have to work. I'm really thinking about playing my Judas Priest CD down there next time.

Random thought: I think my stepdad might have been reincarnated as a half Italian, half German person. And in a previous life, was British. Cuz he sure does love alot of British stuff, like Premier League Soccer, which his fave teams are the Arsenal Gunners, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotpsurs, Blackburn Rovers, heck, he'll watch ANY British soccer game, does not matter who it is, and as for music, oh brother! He loves ALL kinds of British music, such as: The Rolling Stones, The Dave Clark Five, David Bowie, YES, Bad Company, The Alarm, The Who, you name it, I could go on for hours!!!! I think he was once a British person but was reborn as my stepdad. And I really have to consider the odd possibility that I might be a reincarnated person. I love alot of 60s stuff. I wonder if I was reborn as a hippie who lived in the 1960s? Hmm, that would explain why I have such a fascination with all things British "Swinging" 60s, and American "Woodstock" 1960s.

And in other news, lmao, I'm going on vacation with mi familia in September to Mexico. I think it would be a refreshing change to go on a vacation. And hey, this might be the start to that goal I said I wanted to accomplish of seeing foreign lands. Well, looky looky, it looks like that goal starts with... MEXICO! Besides, I think everyone in my family needs a little R&R, especially me and my sis after dealing with the stress and trauma of what happened in September of 2011.

Too Much Time Around My Stepdad and Everyone Else

I think I'm spending waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too much time around him. I'm starting 2 b convinced that I'm turning into him!! I really have to wonder if he believes in reincarnation, because I'm startin' to wonder if he was British in a previous life or something, because he sure does love alot of British stuff....

Alls  I know is, for some reason, he sure does know alot about music. Well, I surprised him the other night when him, me and my mom were playing pool, and The Who was playing on the stereo and he asked who is the drummer, as he always does with music trivia. I shocked him when I told him it was Zak Starkey and it was the right answer. And for some reason, he asked who the drummer before him was and I said Kenney Jones, previously of Small Faces fame. My mom was even shocked at me knowing about that. She said it sounded like another language, 2 music geeks like me and my stepdad talking about a band that was around in the 1960s, a decade I didn't even exist in.

Some of the things he has gotten me hooked on....
British soccer: Premier League Football

Top Gear

This one is my favorite! He's so cute!!!^^^

The Rolling Stones. I'd never know who these guys are if it was not for him...

Monty Python and the Holy Grail

David Bowie

The Police(In fact, I'm listening to them right now, the song King of Pain)

Pool

My Family

I'm like a sponge, I absorb everything that goes around me. And for some reason, I'm also a little like my dad in the sense of watching sci-fi TV shows sometimes, like Primeval, his fave one. And as for other things, if you ever saw my room and my sister's room at home, it would be so hard to believe we are actually related. My sister is more 80s punk rock, and 90s new wave rock, like Green Day, her room is pink with flamingoes as far as the eye can see with Sock Monkeys thrown in for good measure and Invader ZIM stuff also present. My room however, looks like a cross between an explosion of Far East Asia and London 1960s, because of a poster my dad got me 2 years ago hanging on the closet door, which I might have mentioned once was a cover of Rolling Stone Magazine with Mick Jagger and Keith Richards on it, a puzzle with a Geisha Girl on it on one side of my bed and a picture with Chinese symbols on the other side, on the wall above my dresser is a picture that belongs to my mom, of Tahiti, idk why, and on the floor, a recently finished Rolling Stones puzzle, Beatles puzzle and a Chinese Maiden puzzle. So basically my room looks a 60s London 'Mod' room and a taste of the Far East.

Pool(Billiards)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pool_(cue_sports)

-More formerly known as pocket billiards(North America) or pool billiards(Europe, Australia), is the family of cue sports and games played on a pool table having 6 holes called pockets along the rails, into which the balls go into, which is the main point of the game. Variations of the game include 9 ball and 8 ball. Another term that is no longer used is 6 pocket.

History
-The dictionary term for pool is "any game or type of billiards that is for 2 or more players".
-To avoid confusion with poolrooms, where people bet on offtrack betting, the name was referred to as billiards.
-In the US, the first "pool" game was played on a pocketless carom billiards table, later on, it gianed popularity under the title pocket billiards.
-There are many variations of billiards, but the most well known are 8-ball, 9-ball, 10-ball, straight pool and one-pocket
-There are also hybrid games that combine both the aspects of both carom billiards and regular pool, such as American four-ball billiards, cowboy pool and bottle pool.

Equipment
-Pool uses different equipment from carom billiards. Other than the table having pockets, the billiard balls for pool are smaller and range from 2.25 in in diamter to 2.375 in diameter. Carom billiard balls are usually 2 3/8'' X 2 7/16''

-Modern coin operated pool tables use 1 of 3 methods to distinguish and return the cue ball to the front of the table while numbered balls return to inaccessible area until paid for again; the cue ball is heavier than the other balls or is denser and heavier or has a magnetic core. Modern pool tables range in size, from 3.5' X7' to 4.5' X 9'. Modern cues are usually 58.5'' long for pool while cues prior to 1980 were designed for straight pool and were 57.5'' long. Carom billiards cues are generally shorter with longer tips, and snooker cues are longer with smaller tips.

Organizations
-Pool is governed internationally by the World Pool-Billiard Association(WPA), which is multi-national, has reginoal affiliates.
-Consisting of the All Africa Pool Association(AAPA), Asian Pocket Billiard Union(APBU), Billiard Congress of America(BCA), Confederate Panamerica of Billiards(CPB, Latin America, and Caribbean), European Pocket Billiard Federation(EPBF)
-Some of the other cue sports that fall under this include the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association.



Snooker
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snooker

-Played on a large green baize-covered table with pockets in each of the 4 corners in the middle of each of the long side cushions.

-A regular size snooker table is usually 12 X 6 ft. It is played using a cue and snooker balls; one white cue ball and 15 red balls, each worth 1 point each, and six of different colors: yellow- 2 points, green- 3 points, brown- 4 points, blue- 5 points, pink- 6 points, black- 7 points.

-A player or team has a frame(individual game) of snooker by scoring more points than the opponent, using the cue ball to pocket the red and colored balls. A player wins a match when a certain number of frames have been won

-Snooker is regarded as being invented by India by British army officers. It's popular in many of the English speaking countries, with top professionals playing for multi million pound winnings. The reason for 'pound' is you have to realize this is in England and that's the currency there I think.

History
-Originated in the later half of the 19th century.
-Was thought to have been introduced into India by British Army officers while stationed there.
-The word snooker has a military origin, meaning a slang term for inexperienced personnel or first year cadets
-Snooker is basically what the British would call pool, or they could also call them Billiards as a more formal term.

The Game
-The main object of this game is to score more points than the opponent by potting object balls in a certain order. At the start of a frame(individual game), bals are positioned as shown in the picture and the players take turns to hit a shot in a single strike form the tip of their cue. Their aim is to pocket one of the red balls and score a point. When a red ball is pocketed, the player can go for one of the colored balls.
-Points can also be scored if the opponent gets a foul
-In the World Championship, there can be up to 35 frames(35 games), and sometimes it may last 2 days.

Governance and tournaments
-The World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association(WPBSA) was founded in 1968 as the Professional Billiards Players Association, is the governing body for the professional level.
-Another version, World Snooker, is based out of Bristol, England. They organize the professional tour.
-The most important event in the professional snooker world is the World Tournament, which is held in Sheffield, England at the Crucible Theatre since 1977. It has been held annually since 1927 except during WWII and between 1958-1963.

Equipment
-Chalk: The tip of the cue is chalked to ensure good contact between the cue and the ball
-Cue: a stick, made of wood or fibreglass, the tip is used to strike the ball
-Extension: shorter baton that fits over or screws into the back end of the cue
-Rest: stick with X shaped head that is used to support the cue when the cue ball is out of reachat normal extension. In regular pool is called the crown.
-Rest head adaptor: attachment that slips onto a conventional rest head
-Hook rest: identical to normal rest, yet with a hooked end.
-Spider: similar to rest but with arch shaped head
-Swan: rest consisting of a single extended neck and fork like prong at end, is used to give extra cueing distance
-Triangle/Rack: used to gather the red balls into formation required for the break to start the game
-Extended Rest: hybrid of swan and spider rest
-Half butt: usually found underneath the side of the table.
-Ball marker: multi purpose instrument with a D shaped notch which a referee can palce next to a ball to mark the position of it.

Notable players
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_snooker_players_by_number_of_ranking_titles

-Ronnie O'Sullivan

-Dominic Dale

-Allister Carter

-Stephen Hendry

-Nigel Bond

-Marco Fu

Variants
-American snooker: dating to 1925; mainly played on a 10 X 5 ft table with 2 1/8'' balls and a simpler rule similar to those of regular pool
-Power Snooker: variant with nine reds, and matches limited to 30 minutes
-Sinuca Brasileira: a Brazilian version with only red ball and divergent rules
-Six-red snooker: a variant played with only 6 red balls
-Snooker plus: a variant with additional balls
-Volunteer Snooker: a variant from the early 1900s