Mods:
Mods are a huge part of Minecraft. This is partially due to the fact that Minecraft is made in Java, and Java is not the most difficult language to learn. That being said, here is my "series" entitled "The Mod Showcase", a brief compilation of my favorite mods. Also, thanks to my friend and fellow blogger Bob, who joined me for some pictures, I hyper linked his name, so go check him out.

Today's Special: Planes, made by Jamioflan. You can pick it up here. Here
So I have some pics of a play with this run through, and I have some categories to grade it with, which I will use  in future reviews.
-Background

-Ease of Installation
This mod is not the easiest mod to install. It involves opening up the minecraft.jar, and putting files in the .minecraft file. It also involves many different "precursor mods to install". Really not much more to say on this.

Score:

-Balance
I would say that this mod is pretty well balanced in the way of materials needed to make, and in not being to overpowered. The guns on the plane aren't too powerful, but are still good, and the easier to craft planes have less features. Not to mention that there are different grades of engine. The faster ones being harder to craft. My only complaint is that it th bombs are a bit too hard to difficult to obtain, and the spitfire needs A LOT of iron.
Score:

-Creativity
I thought this mod was quite creative, keeping closer to the whole, "medieval" idea, and going with older planes like the Fokker, Camel, and Biplane, but also bringing in the new technology which is very difficult to craft, creating a sort of tech tree like feel
Score:

-Aesthetics
The planes really follow the idea of Minecraft's blocky feel, while being able to pull off a more elaborate shape. The sounds of the planes while accelerating, taxiing, and shooting also add a great feel to the planes. However, on the spit fire, the cockpit is too low causing some sight problems. Other than that, it looks pretty good.
Score:

-Other
There is one thing about this mod that really blows it out of the water on many other mods, the ability to have multiplayer. Utilizing SDK's multiplayer modloader, planes are in fact available in SMP. While the planes are not as good as in SSP, and are worse if you are not on a good server, the idea is great and it does work.
+3 Diamonds for MP

Pictures:

Preparing for takeoff

An enemy fighter appears

Shot down, I begin the walk of shame to base camp :(

Going in for a landing

Runway, fire is not optional

Minecraft

MINECRAFT
First Notes:
A game known to many people, it just recently sold over 2 million copies. So, gratz to notch and his crew. Not many people can make an indie game so successful as his is.
Basics:
To anyone who has never played. Minecraft is a 3-D sandbox game. How to describe it: It is a game of honor, a game of skill, but mostly, a game of mining and crafting. Not much more to say.You probably figured that, but you know, I was just checking. The game consists of 2 primary game types, Survival Singleplayer, commonly referred to as SSP, and Survival Multiplayer, commonly referred to as SMP. You can craft tools of different grade, starting with wood and gold (which is actually hard to find), followed by stone, iron and diamond. there are also zombies who have played so much video games, that the sun burns their skin, skeletons who have aimbots, creepers, an explosive and failed attempt at a pig, and slimes which honestly sound like chat roulette.
What has been happening:
Moving on, it is int he 1.5_01 beta state, booster tracks, pressure tracks, weather, and achievements were what we had to look forward to.
On Multiplayer:
Servers are essentially a dime a dozen. Similar to the idea of a "video game commentator", everybody and their grandmother has one. You can find some good ones, but in my experiences they mostly suck. I would start a server with your friends if you want to play multiplayer.
Another really big part of the game is griefing. It is a nice, broad term used to classify being destructive. Having TNT in the game really does not help, btw.
Final Words: (today's letter: A)
-Abstract
-Artistic
-Authentic
-Above Average
-Amazing

This Post

You've all seen "this" post before. The one where I tell you about why I wanted to start blogging and all that junk. Well, blogging seemed like an interesting thing to do to meet like minded people on the web, and to talk about my experiences, and hear about your's. I don't expect to make it big or anything, but I really hope it will be a fun experience for me, but mostly for you, because you are the future and the past.

What will be on this blog
-Minecraft
-Other Games (example, my friend recently gave me Magicka... he is a cool guy)
-Completely unrelated content
-Maybe something happening in the world
-My life (yes, as a matter of fact, I do have one)