Prime Minister House Opened

(Year 234, Winter) Mazaloom kingdom got its own Prime Minister House! It was debated a couple years ago, and now the building is ready, just in time for the upcoming election.

Current Prime Minister, Mr Wilder, is too old for re-election, and he will not move in. But our future PM will stay here for as long as holding the PM position. The building is not exactly a castle, but provides good standard facilities for a Prime Minister's many working tasks, like meetings and receptions, and upstairs there is enough space for a small family to reside. Private needs will vary from period to period, and because most top politicians are quite old, children might have left the nest already.

This week there was a formal opening of Prime Minister House, that is located at Willow Field in Gloomville (Region Gloom).

Gossips #17

(Year 234, Summer) Hello again! I'm ready with the 17th issue of my gossips column! Upcoming social season must wait until next issue, because there is so much in the line-up. Are you ready, too? Let's go!

As usual, we'll start with the royals.

Political Parties had their Spring Meetings

(Year 234, Summer) On 1st day of Fall the four political parties will release lists of candidates and political program for the upcoming Year 235 election (1st day of Spring). Spring this year they all had their annual Spring meetings, extra important this year because of the 5 years cycle. We can't wait to learn who their top candidates for the Prime Minister job will be. Everything seems open.

Prime Minister Rob Wilder at Hotel Roadstead, Magnolia Promenade.

We know that RIGHT party and LEFT party normally have a close race, and MIDDLE party might be expected to still be a rather small party. But this upcoming election wuill be different, not the least because the new WORLD party will join the mix. A new party is not likely to get the PM, though, but they can get some impact on the final result - like will they steal votes mainly from RIGHT? We are definitely facing an interesting election!

Mazaloom/Snorthia Conflict Solved?

(Year 234, Spring) The culture conflict between Mazaloom kingdom and Empire of Snorthia has been ongoing for a couple years. It all started by Miss Patricia Maiden revealing that the Snorthian historical painting and cultural national treassure, in fact was a portrait of Miss Maiden's mother, the long gone actress Limia (Oceanus) Maiden. In other words the motif was not as old as Snorthia claimed. The Emperor accused Mazaloom to have offended Snorthia deeply, and from there it all escaled. One example is that the Snorthian borders were closed to foreigners, and Mazaloomian atheletes were not allowed to enter the Snorthian Winter Games. We also saw that Patricia Maiden was taken hostage by Snorthia.

This week an international meeting took place in Mt. Komorebi, Snorthia.

Prime Minister Wilder and Grand Marshal Calves in front of the Council building in Mt. Comorebi.

Both Prime Minister Rob Wilder (73) and Grand Marshal Robert Calves (64) attended as the Mazaloom kingdom's representatives. While the conflict was not completely solved, the meeting helped descaling the negative impacts, and most important to many residents - the border is again open.

Latest News from the Snorthia Conflict

(Year 233, Fall) There has been very few news regarding the ongoing Snorthia-Mazaloom culture conflict. Early Spring the Royal Palace Chief Attendant, Miss Patricia Maiden (52), accepted an invitation from Emperor Orchor of Snorthia. She has been accused for starting the conflict by recognizing her late mother as the mothel of a paintet portrait, «Moon Liza», that was claimed by the Emperor to be a very old national treasure. Now they claimed Miss Maiden to travel to Snorthia to help solving the problem. She was warned, but insisted on going. And now it seems like nobody heard from her ever since.

No, it is not Miss Maiden in that hopscotch.

As result of the conflict, Mazaloonians is no longer granted access to the empire, to which we share a long border. Our Winter sports athletes can still not visit Mt Komorebi to practice - Miss Maiden was a rare exception.

Stately Estate for the Prime Minister?

(Year 233, Fall) Up to this day, the Prime Minister of Mazaloom was never offered a stately owned estate suited for the duties coming with the position. Former prime ministers did stay with their family, just like they did before winning the election. The subject has now been debated by People Chamber, and changes are coming!

Prime Minister Rob Wilder (72) is the one who introduced this case. Staying with your family makes the job harder because the security must be considered constantly, and your spouse and children might be dragged into whatever consequencies following your political battles and statements.

Prime Minister Wilder's New Year's Greeting, Year 233

(Year 232, Winter) Tonight Mazaloom's residents could watch the broadcasted Prime Minister's New Year's Greeing. Prime Minister Rob Wilder took to the screen on the year's very last day, while King Tarriot will give his TV speech the following morning. Traditionally PM's Greeing sums up the year that is about to close, while the Monarch will be welcoming the year that waits for us.

This time PM Wilder had chosen several topics spreading widely; The Landlord bugs, the ongoing conflict with the Empire of Snorthia, and the recent Flock People discoveries. But he also took some time to explain how People Chambers works to guarantee a better community to us all. Here are some excerpts.

Jubilee Lunch

(Year 232, Fall) True to tradition, the Royal Palace Office (RPO) has released a couple pitures covering this year's Jubilee Lunch. Every year in Fall HRM King Tarriot will host a lunch where a few selected members of community are guests of honor. This is a way to acknowledge anniversaries and other community matters worthy of a royal nod.

The five guests of honor. HRM King Tarriot to the right.

This year's photo was taken on one of the two passages leading to King's Tea Salon, where the lunch usually takes place. This is actually a rare location for photos because of a rather limited floor space, but this time they probably figured out that it works well with a tele-objective shot from the other passage on the opposite side of Grand Mazaloom Hall. The picture allows us to admire two pieces of the large royal collection, seemingly from the Empire of Snorthia. Is that random, or did they place the items on display deliberately, trying to calm down the ongoing culture conflict with Snorthia? RPO informs that it is HRH Queen Venezia who organizes these minor displays at the palace, but they normally change only once a year. On the wall we get a glimpse of two old tapestries, which as far as we know are not replaced annually, King Rupert Tapestry and King Courtis Tapestry. These kings were both monarchs of Mazaloom back in the Medieval era.

Gossips #9

(Year 231, Spring) Welcome to another gossips edition! This time some fresh Spring gossips, right before we get to this year's Social Season! I'm Antoinette Morck, milk farmer from Henford-on-Bagley, but many years as a city resident brought me pretty close to the celebrities cauldron, *shrug*. This is my 9th edition - hey, someone must have gotten those numbers wrong? It feels like I just got started!

I'm so glad that Region 8 Advorton, including Chestnut Ridge, seems to get more into publicity. I'll be looking out for regional gossips, hopefully there will be some in my next edition. Today I must warn  you there will be very little nobility gossips. I simply had to mash together news from so many other instances, there was no room for nobility!

The Simmerville Show #3

(Year 230, Spring) Fritz Mervil is here with the 3rd issue of The Simmerville Show, recorded at Fun Factory with a live audience! This time the guests discuss high school, royal blood, acting and politics. You will recognize a couple guests even if you don't follow this blog.

The Simmerville Show is a nifty way for me to share stories and builds from my Mazaloom. There's plenty of references to the past, but you won't need any knowledge of my sims universe to watch, neither will there be many links between the shows. Each show lasts about 8-10 minutes.

I hope you'll enjoy :)

King Tarriot appoints Rob Wilder as Mazaloom's Prime Minister

(Year 230, Spring) Following any election it's tradition for the upcoming Prime Minister to visit the royal palace. The Monarch appoints the PM, and the latter presents the new structure of Cabinet and the People Chamber. This week Prime Minister Rob Wilder (RIGHT party) had audience with His Royal Majesty King Tarriot. Wilder's life partner, Holly Alto, joined him, but aside of greeting the Monarch, she had no related function at the meeting.

Wilder and King Tarriot spent nearly an hour in the king's office. The 21 seats of The People Chamber was shared between the political parties according to the election results, except 2 seats that have been reserved Church of Similius ever since Year 140. Now the 21 persons form the 5 departments - 5 members of the Law & Justice dept., 4 members of each of the other depts.

Y230 Election: Political Plans are here!

(Year 229, Fall) In less than 6 sim months, another 5 years election takes place in Mazaloom kingdom. This Fall the N.A.P. voting is on, and on 1st day of Spring comes the big Hood Contact election. Today - 1st Day of Fall, according to tradition - the three parties' Political Plan for the next period went public, as were their lists of Hood Contact candidates!

This weekend LEFT, MIDDLE and RIGHT arranged each their press conference.
Their logos are available as corkboard buttons as well as outfit buttons.

The parties will now fight for attention, and the battle is important for several reasons:

1. The party with most local N.A.P.s per region gets to set both their primary N.A.P. as the only active (dominating) N.A.P. and their regional tax&relief (ref Political Plan) for the entire region. Winning a region also will normally make for a small voting boost for the party's Hood Contact candidates in that region.

2. Winning many Hood Contacts will mean a better platform for their politics. The more Hood Contacts won total, the more seats the party gets in The People Chamber. The party winning the most seats there will not only have the Prime Minister, but also have their national tax&relief (ref Political Plan) effective in all 8 regions.

3. The more (and stronger) Hood Contacts won, the better chance to get the party represented on the 8 regional Councils. Dominating a region's Council means regional political power.