7 Things Everyone Needs to be Told

300: Rise of an Empire Trailer

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Trailer

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Trailer

RYSE: Son of Rome Debut Trailer

Dragon Age III: Inquisition Trailer- "The Fires Above"

New Minecraft Ideas

So I play Minecraft quite a bit (Not as much as Skyrim, but hey, I don't play anything as much as that- not even Civilization V!), and since getting the beta version of the game a couple years ago, I've come up with some ideas for new items/features in the game that I think would be cool additions. These are the ideas I've come up with (with some help from friends, my brother, and a bit from the interwebs). I know that some of these (a lot of these actually) are already implemented in mods, but it would be nice for them to be in-game so we don't have to install as many mods, as well as to see the Mojang team's take on them. Let me know what you think!

• New blocks (Marble, Concrete, Red Rock {Like rock from Arizona or Utah}, Quicksand, etc.)
• New ores/metals (Silver, Bronze, Copper, Tin, Aluminium, Ruby, Sapphire, Steel, Tungsten, etc.)
• Half slabs and stairs for ALL blocks!
• Fences for all wood types
• Connect minecarts together like a train
• Magical spells
• Tinted/colored glass blocks and panes
• More food types (mutton, corn, tomatoes, oranges, etc.)
• More tree/wood types (Willow, Palm, Redwood, Pine, Kapok, Baobab, Mangrove, Acacia, etc.)
• Rope bridges!
• More weapon types (spears, waraxes, hammers, crossbows, daggers, maces, halberd/poleax, etc.)
• Shields
• Quivers for arrows
• New mobs (goblins, orcs, ent-like creatures, friendly dwarves, etc.)
• The Aether
• More dragons (maybe able to tame/ride them?)
• The ability to place redstone vertically and upside down
• Not needing a block of air above redstone circuits
• More enchantments (Frost, Poison, Lightning, & Wither Aspects)
• Double ender chests
• Obsidian tools and weapons
• Underwater foliage/items (kelp, coral, etc.)
• Grappling hooks
• Bigger boats (for 2+ people)...canoes maybe?
• Quarter blocks
• More pillar blocks
• A new source of fuel that's more efficient than coal, but less than lava
• New biomes (savannah, plateau, marsh/wetland, etc.)
• Villager soldiers/guards
• Backpacks
• New lighting items (lamps, chandeliers, etc.)
• Snorkels (improves breathing underwater)
• Underwater dungeons/shipwrecks

What I'm Reading- 6/5/13

~The Pillars of Creation~

by Terry Goodkind

This book is kind of strange...but in a good way, I guess. This series- at least so far- is centered around two characters: Richard and Kahlan. This book, however, doesn't include them at all. It's about two young adults named Jensen and Oba. I know because I skimmed through the whole book, not reading anything, but looking for names to see which characters were talking. As far as I know, they're only mentioned, but they aren't actually in the story. They may actually be in it, but only for small stretches that I just missed. It's kind of throwing me for a loop. It's not like it's bad reading, but it's just weird that the main characters aren't present. It is set in the same world/timeline, so it's indirectly pertinent, but I don't think that this kind of thing is done very often. The book is interesting so far, but I'm just waiting to see the point of telling me all of this information. I may need to wait until the next book (Naked Empire) to see why...hmmmm. I'll let you know how it goes, but I'm only on page 122 of about 725, so it may take a while.

~Treasure Island~

by Robert Louis Stevenson

I recently started reading Treasure Island, and of the few pages I've read, I like it already. I'm really only a couple chapters in, but Stevenson's writing style appeals to me. It's simple, yet fun to read, and the language isn't archaic. This is good, especially because I don't really like reading books with a maritime setting. They're just so boring most of the time. I hated "Moby Dick" and "The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle" (which I had to read in 7th grade). The only books set at sea that I liked are "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" and "The Odyssey" or books that are only partially on the water, like "The Swiss Family Robinson" or "Robinson Crusoe". I have a good feeling that I'll like this book, but we'll see what happens. I'm going to try to block out memories of the many variations of this story in movies that I've seen (Muppet Treasure Island is my favorite) so that I read and understand the "real"/original story. Looking forward to the rest of the book!

My Latest Obsessions- June 2013

I know it's been a while, but it's taken this long to find new things to be obsessed with! Enjoy!

Games

~Minecraft/Pixelmon~

I've had Minecraft for about 2 years now, and I love it, but I have been playing Skyrim a lot over the past year (I still play it, just not as much). I've recently returned to playing this awesome game due to inspiration from the Yogscast on YouTube and some mods, namely Pixelmon, which lets you play with Pokemon in Minecraft! Right now I'm working on my own fictitious region with towns, gyms, etc. I may post pictures later if I remember to.

~Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate~

I finally bought a 3DS about a month ago, and the first game I got for it was this one. I had been wanting to play a game in this series for a while now, but since I didn't have a Wii, I couldn't... until now. This game is great- the gameplay is unique, there is a ton of weapons to choose from, & the soundtrack is amazing! The only complaint I have is that in the 3DS version, moving around while swimming is awkward, and it's really frustrating when the camera locks somehow when I'm looking at the sky, and not a monster that's trying to rip my guts out. I'm only about 10 hours into the game, and am about halfway through the level 2 quests, so there's lots of game left to play!

~The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons~

This, along with Link's Awakening is one of my favorite handheld Zelda games. I remember playing this a lot as a preteen, and I was pleasantly surprised when Nintendo put the Oracle games on the Virtual Console, which I downloaded on my new 3DS. It's been fun replaying it, and it's interesting to see how far the graphics in Zelda games have come. Definitely worth a try!

TV

~Game of Thrones Season 2~

It took me a while to start watching this show because I wanted to read the books first, but I was (and still am) in the middle of reading The Sword of Truth series, and I don't really like leaving a series midway through. That, and seeing how long the books are, lead me to bite the bullet and start watching the show first. I will just have to compare the show to the book in a new way. I like it so far (I'm 2 or 3 episodes in on season 2), and I'm trying to catch up. George R.R. Martin certainly knows how to create infuriating characters and plot twists (a.k.a. killing off favorite characters). He's famous for frustrating/pissing off fans as well as taking his sweet time writing the books, but hey, as long as the quality is great, that doesn't really matter to me.

~The Big Bang Theory Season 5~

I love this show despite the fact that a lot of people dislike it for various reasons. I have the first 4 seasons on DVD, and I've been trying to find season 5, but it seems that every time I go to a store that would carry it, they're either out of stock, or I'm just looking in the wrong place. I've seen a few episodes through Comcast, but I want a physical copy! I'll get it one of these days.

Food

~Häagen-Dazs green tea ice cream~

This stuff is SO good! The first time I had green tea ice cream was at a Japanese steak house on one of my family birthday dinners when I was younger. The funny thing is that I don't like drinking green tea at all (I prefer red and white teas)! I like the fact that the green tea taste is still strong, but is still pretty sweet, and is really creamy, which is nice. I also like their strawberry ice cream as well.

~Fruit stand strawberries~

Speaking of strawberries... it's the time of year when local strawberry vendors open their roadside stands. I couldn't be happier! I like strawberries, but the ones you get at the grocery store are... well, they're pretty gross. Stand strawberries are soooo much better! They're fresh, picked at the right time, sweeter, and cheaper. The one closest to my house also sells blueberries and zucchini. I was able to get 3 cartons of strawberries, a carton of blueberries, and a small bag of zucchini for only $10! So good!

Sports

~Baseball~

While baseball officially started in April, I'm just getting around to talking about it in this post. I LOVE baseball- it's by far my favorite sport. I even enjoy watching it when my favorite team isn't playing (which is the Oakland Athletics, of course)- whether it's another MLB team, minor league team, or even the little league world series. I also play fantasy baseball, and though I'm not all that great at it, I definitely enjoy playing, even if I don't win. LET'S GO OAKLAND!