LiggyzDreamz™

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Games we play

Author: Liggy | Posted at: 12:01 AM | Filed Under: blogdumps, board games | 8 comments

This week, I get the feeling that BlogDumps must be preparing for winter...and getting some ideas for fun indoor activities!

I like to think of the upcoming winter as a wonderful, relaxing time by the fireplace. It would be nice to think of it as a time to rejuvenate ourselves by escaping the technological advances that permeate our daily lives (computers, video games, hi-def TV, etc.) and just take ourselves back to a mental state much like when we were young - before all the new electronic toys came about. That is, unless you're only in your 20s right now. Then you might be thinking I'm from the Stone Age or something.

I have to admit, though, in our household, sometimes I find it hard to get the kids away from the computer. Many times, I feel like I have to bribe them just to get them to do anything that doesn't require electricity to run. But once they start getting involved in the non-electronic game or activity, they start to have so much fun that the time just flies for all of us.

One of the games our family and friends have enjoyed playing together (and that does not require electricity to play) is Yahtzee. Even though this game has probably been out for ages, I first played it in 2003 after Hurricane Isabel left our area without electricity for over a week. My neighbor brought over her Yahtzee game and we played for hours.

In the past, my husband and I used to play Monopoly a lot. We have played both the board game edition and the computer edition. Although the computer version was pretty cool, there's nothing like holding the fake money in your hands and putting the hotels and houses you build on the board itself.

My most favorite board game of all is actually Scrabble. My only problem is that not too many people like playing with me because when I win, I win by large margins. (Hahaha!!!)

While you think about the board games you've played in your life, how about letting BlogDumps know you read my post? Just click the blinking button right below! Thanks so much!

Come Join Top Sites Tuesday and be #1 on BlogDumps!
The purpose of this Meme is to encourage
Networking between bloggers to have fun while doing it!
Make sure to visit all the other participants and leave comments.
View More Top Sites Tuesday Participants on Technorati here.
See who Tweeted this Post!

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Beyond Desolation by Vanquish

Author: Liggy | Posted at: 6:54 AM | Filed Under: heavy metal bands, local bands, vanquish | 2 comments

As I mentioned in a previous blog entry, my favorite local heavy metal band "Vanquish" started recording a CD in early 2008 and finally got it ready for release just recently. I attended their CD Release Party at Buddas Place in Newport News, Virginia this past Saturday and picked up a copy of the new album.

Cool capture of new lighting effects on Mark Divito onstage at Buddas Place (the Peninsula's Premier Venue for Rock and Metal Music)
The new album is heavier, deeper, and more mature sounding than their first album, Nine Deadly Sins. Okay, I know that's not much of a description of the album. I'm not really much of a music reviewer because I really tend to just listen to music and judge it from the overall feeling I get while listening to it. When I listen to this new Vanquish album, I hear a strong emphasis on percussions and bass, moreso than on their original album. I like the way it sounds when I play it loud in my car on the way to work.

The album tracks are as follows:

1. Facing the Darkness
2. Blood in Me
3. 12:08
4. Through Every Word
5. Concealing the Pain
6. Memories of You
7. Pretentious
8. Sorrow's Manifest
9. Wages of Sin
10. Lost Cause

Here's a sample track from the new Vanquish album. It's called "Blood In Me."

If you want to hear more or want to get a copy of the album, please contact the band directly through their myspace page: www.myspace.com/vanquishband.

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Two Things for Tuesday and Halloween

Author: Liggy | Posted at: 12:01 AM | Filed Under: dark poetry, poetry | 10 comments

Click on image to view larger size

About two Halloweens ago, I pieced together this poem about popular figures we tend to associate with the scarier part of Halloween (versus the less-scary and candy-filled part). Since it's October, I thought it would a great time to share it with everyone.

Halloween is one of two things I wanted to write about for this week's Top Sites Tuesday meme on BlogDumps. Why Halloween, you ask? Because Halloween is just a fun occasion with people (not just kids) getting all dressed up in costumes, having parties, trick or treating, playing games, etc. For something that once began as sort of a religious celebration, Halloween has become more like a traditional holiday and activity-filled event for those who enjoy spook stories and things of that nature. Which is kind of why I chose this time of year to share the poem I made.

The second thing I wanted to share is my love of poetry. Yes, I do write some poetry myself. In fact, I like to "photoshop" them into images to create a mood for the poem as it is read just as I did with the one I posted above. In case you're curious about my poetry, I published just a few of them here on Blogger. If you click the "poetry" label on this post, Blogger should pull up the posts with my poetry.

Just as my taste of music varies, I also find a variety of poetry styles interesting. However the ones that really stand out in my mind (since taking literature classes back in college) are those written by Sylvia Plath, Emily Dickinson, and Anne Sexton. They wrote the most extraordinary poetry - so full of emotion, so full of character - you can feel the pain they lived through in life. Through poetry these women found ways to "cope" with the struggles they were experiencing. Knowing their history, I can't say this coping mechanism was effective but it probably helped them get by for as long as they did. Perhaps if there were more "support resources" available for women at the time, they would have been able to get the help they so desperately cried out for in their poetry. Who knows?

Oh well, I wasn't much of a history buff or societal expert so I'll stop there. Meanwhile, enjoy the poetry. Oh! By the way, unlike the female poets I mentioned, my dark poetry does not mean I am depressed or have a dark side. It just means I've got a wild imagination!

HAPPY TUESDAY, EVERYONE!!! Don't leave without clicking the blinking button below so BlogDumps knows you were here!

Saturday, October 17, 2009

KISS concert review

Author: Liggy | Posted at: 7:30 PM | Filed Under: rock bands, rock music, rockstars | 6 comments

I took this with my cell phone camera when Paul Stanley performed "Love Gun" from the center island stage.
I am still in awe from last night's KISS Alive 35 concert at the Hampton Coliseum. KISS calls their band THE HOTTEST BAND IN THE LAND and after last night, I know why they call themselves so! This band definitely deserves the title!!! For guys who have been rocking as many years as they have, they perform like it's the show of a lifetime and with the energy of ageless rockers. It was two solid hours of KISS music from the past through the present. Visually you experience lots of amazing pyrotechnics (even a light fixture that Tommy Thayer accidentally shot down with his "explosive" shooting guitar solo drove the crowd wild). Physically, you feel your feet vibrating from the awesome drum solo that kept the floors pounding throughout the arena. And yes, you get to see how just long Gene Simmons's tongue really is! With his axe-shaped bass guitar he also made his fans go wild with his blood-spitting act.

The concert stage included various performance platforms that elevated or rotated during the show, wires that carried Gene Simmons up to a ceiling high platform, another wire that Paul Stanley used to be lifted to a rotating stage in the center of the arena (so he could get "closer" to the fans), and a drum stage that kept changing height during the night. Oh yeah, there were also multiple high-definition screens behind the stage and to each side of the stage, enabling you to experience the show from all angles no matter where you sat.

In all the years I've listened to KISS, I have never dreamed I'd see a show like this. It was awesome!!! So if you have a chance to see KISS at a venue close to you, don't miss it! The whole band is dedicated to giving you your money's worth at the show.

And while I said a lot about KISS, I must mention that BuckCherry (who opened the show for them) played for an entire hour before the intermission. The band jumped around on stage like exhaustion was an impossibility. A little touching moment was when Josh Todd dedicated a song to his teenage daughter. Yes together, they made it three solid hours of high energy rock music. It was a night I can't stop dreaming about...

(Hey, someone at the same show got a video up on YouTube! Even if I could've brought my own camera, I was too busy enjoying the music, singing along and dancing, to have been able to film anything. But here's one I found I thought I'd share!)

This one's much better. It's from the Official Kiss YouTube page:

Monday, October 12, 2009

Music and my first car

Author: Liggy | Posted at: 11:00 PM | Filed Under: blogdumps, heavy metal bands | 9 comments

Wow, let's talk about cars for a change! In fact, let's talk about our first cars in going with this week's Top Sites for Tuesday theme on Blogdumps. I got my first car in 1987 with the help of my parents (after they got the financing for me I made the monthly car payments so that I could learn financial responsibility).

Tee hee! I think this Geico money character is cutely amusing!
There wasn't really anything extra special about the car - other than it was my first one! It didn't even have A/C in it because things like that were optional features at the time. To get A/C would've added a lot more to the cost of the car than I really wanted to pay for at the time. Besides that, who really needed it anyway? I was living in Hawaii where the breeze was always blowing and it was fun to have the windows rolled down everywhere I drove.

Gee, I wish I had a decent picture to share of my first car here but digital cameras weren't around at the time so the only pictures I have of it are in those old-style magnetic photo albums. Times have changed so much, don't you agree? Anyway, the car I had was a three-door white Dodge Colt E hatchback. It had a four-cylinder engine, 4-speed manual transmission, radio/cassette tape player, windows you had to roll up manually, and clear glass windows (none of that factory-installed tinting that a lot of cars come with these days). Nossiree, that car didn't have much but I sure cared for that baby until I fell in love with my next car (a red Honda Civic hatchback).

Speaking of cars, there's a heavy metal band I like whose name makes me think about cars. The band is called Motorjunkie and they're from Fayetteville, North Carolina. Check out their music on The Official Motorjunkie Website or on their MySpace page if you like music filled with thunderous bass, top-notch vocals, guitar riffs that grab you, and percussions that make you want to bang your head and beat your hands up and down in the air. This is not your typical local band. This is solid metal that is bursting with energy.

The band Motorjunkie (photo courtesy of Myspace.com/motorjunkierock)
Here's a sample of Motorjunkie's music:

Keep listening while you think about your first car (or your favorite car) but don't forget to click the button below to let BlogDumps know you were here!

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Vanquish band update

Author: Liggy | Posted at: 9:48 PM | Filed Under: heavy metal bands, rock bands, vanquish | 1 comments

At long last, the CD that my favorite local metal band, Vanquish, started recording in 2008 is ready for release. They will be debuting the new CD to local fans and rock music supporters at the premier metal and rock music venue on the Hampton Roads Peninsula - Buddas Place - on October 24th. It will also be available at future shows and through local Virginia music stores. If you're interested in ordering the CD directly from the band, please contact them through their MySpace page.

I don't have the track listings for the album yet but two of the songs from the new album have been publicly available on their MySpace page music player. The two tracks are Lost Cause and Facing the Darkness. I put them on this music player to allow my readers around the world have an opportunity to hear them. As a bonus, I added Sinister (from their first CD titled Nine Deadly Sins) because it was quite popular locally and received local radio airplay as well.

Create a MySpace Playlist at MixPod.com

I also designed a new banner to help promote the new CD on MySpace as part of my dedication to the Vanquish Fan Graphics site. Check it out below. Feel free to copy it, too, if you like Vanquish's metal music and want to share the love like I do!