The Jackson Four

No, this isn't a post about the musical group minus Michael (and if you came to this site thinking it was, my sincerest apologies). No, I'm talking about a whole new family in the MonkeeSim neighborhood, specially designed to give the other two families we focus on so much a little break. I know change isn't always easy, but come on...even sims need a little privacy.

A couple posts ago, I showed you the family mug shots, but decided to keep the details of the house a secret. Not because I think the house is revolutionary or all that incredible, just because it's more material for an entire post than for a quick introduction at the start of a post about something else. Anyway, let's get right to it.

The Jacksons are a happy-go-lucky trio of fun loving dudes with absolutely no sense of responsibility or concern for much of anything but the moment in progress (the fourth family member is Chester, the pug, but we'll talk about him later). I know you may be thinking the same can be said of the Wilsons and Millers, but that's not so - some of them have jobs, the Wilsons have kids, and there is some rhyme and reason to their lives. Not so with the Jacksons. Below, we see Steve and "Moon Dawg" (aka Kareem) hanging out at the bubble machine, enjoying their lives of nothingness.

Steve: "Dude, like, where are the controls for this thing?"

Then, there's the man of the house, Leon "Ladies Man" Jackson. Leon is the closest thing to a responsible, goal oriented adult you'll find in the house (though his loftiest goal is the pursuit of beautiful women). The house formerly belonged to his grandmother, and he later inherited it, along with a couple thousand dollars. He used part of that money to redecorate the place, and the rest is currently going to support him and his two buddies, Steve and "Moon Dawg".

Poor Leon...the 70's are over, and he has no idea...

Let's talk a little bit about the Jackson house itself. It's an exercise in decorative reckless abandon. Leon and his friends are all about what they think looks and feel good when it comes to interior design, and just because other folks think certain things may not go well together doesn't meant that they do. Just coming up the front walk, you can tell you're in the presence of greatness.

Beware of the bear...never mess with the bear!

The house itself sort of looks like somebody ate too much of the 70's chased it with a little tiki, then threw it up all over the place. If nothing else, it's a very colorful arrangement. During the initial design phase it became apparent that there wasn't much room to stick recreational stuff, so Leon added on the room you see here...the rec room, devoted only to fun stuff to do. Sweet, eh?

The rec room? "Wreck room" would be much more appropriate.

The heart and soul of any good party hangout is a well stocked bar, and Leon's place delivers the goods. Well, sort of. Actually, it's just a little tiki bar with some bottles of whiskey on the counter next to it, but it serves it's purpose. And while you're at it, you can grab some "magic tea" to boost your mood, and even gamble away some of your hard earned cash (or in Leon and his friends' case, money they didn't work for at all).

If too much booze doesn't make you want to throw up, the wall decorations here surely will.

As you might have guessed, the Jacksons are all about Disco. Maybe "Moon Dawg" is a little less about it than the rest of the gang, but he's still a disco dancing freak (he leans more toward the whole reggae thing most of the time). No self respecting rec room would be without it's own light-up dance floor and old fashioned juke box.

The Jacksons have the cure for "Saturday Night Fever"...

The rec room isn't all about fun, though...it's also about creativity and development and refinement of skills. Thus, the easel and chemistry set on the far side of the joint. Of course, the easel is used only rarely, and the chemistry set has never been used. This crew has enough issues as it is without screwing things up further with a bunch of crazy potions. Well, for the time being, anyway.

Leon is all about the chemistry...between him and the babes, not him and the chemistry set.

Leon just wouldn't be a proper ladies man if he didn't have a truly hideous bedroom to call his own. As the man of the house, he has his very own room, while Steve and Kareem share a room (separate beds, of course). Leon's got it all...bear skin rug, heart shaped bed, electric guitar, and a parrot, who wakes him up every five minutes. Thus far, no female has ever set foot in or even gone near this room. I wonder why?

"Squawk! This room sucks! Squawk! I'm gonna' puke!"

The parrot did eventually get booted out of the room after messing up Leon's sleep schedule one too many times. Steve and Kareem's room is a little on the eccentric side also, but in a far more subdued way. At least the colors are more subdued, and don't keep people awake at night. Note the litter box sitting in the hall in the lower left corner. The strange thing about that is that no cat has ever lived in Leon's house since it was created.

Compared to Leon's bedroom, this room actually looks pretty good...

The kitchen actually leans more toward the normal side than the rest of the house does. The layout is much like it was when the house was originally bought, except for the addition of the circular tables in the middle of the room and the different wallpaper. If this were the only room you saw in the house, you might almost think the joint was pretty normal...almost...

The kitchen design allows the family to feel like they're in an uncomfortable cramped restaurant, while in the comfort of their own home.

Leon and his friends kind of have an "open door" policy in regards to guests. They're social types, and if there aren't other people over, one of them grabs the phone, "throws a party", and before you know it, the place is like Grand Central Station! When we return, we'll take a look at what happens when the first visitors from the neighborhood drop by, as well as the beginning of Leon's quest for romance...you can't be a "Ladies Man" if you don't get friendly with the ladies! Till then, have a great weekend!