1.20.2008

These Are A Few of My Favorite Games


Board games involving world domination:
Risk
Lord of the Rings Risk
Settlers of Catan

Card Games:
Spades
Pit
Uno
Hearts
Solitaire
Apples to Apples
At one point I began learning Magic, but didn't ever collect the cards so...
Old Maid
I think I like Texas Hold 'em (I forget which Poker games I like)
Memory (heh, that's a funny game to follow the previous comment)

Games involving lots of words:
Mad Gab
Taboo
Scattergories

Children's Games:
Sorry!
Connect Four
Candy Land
Pictionary
Barbie (the one from the 60s where you have to get a prom dress and a date)
Girl Talk
checkers
Trouble
Hungry, Hungry Hippo
Hi Ho! Cherry-O
You Sunk My Battleship
Mastermind for kids
Operation

Dice:
Yahtzee
Dice

Games that I can't put into a category, but just like:
Parcheezee
Backgammon
Monopoly
Chinese Checkers
Clue
Chess
The Game of Life

New additions since Christmas 2007:
Canasta
Phase 10
The Great Dalmuti

Games I want to learn:
Axis and Allies
Mahjong
Cashflow 101 (the Rich Dad Poor Dad game by Robert T. Kiyosaki)

Games I don't like:
Trivial Pursuit
Mousetrap
Battle of the Sexes is alright
The license plate game people play when they're on a long road trip
Real life games involving people I like of the opposite sex

Game I like depending on who I'm playing with:
Twister

The best television game show of all time:
Press Your Luck (the No Whammies! game)

Games I like on television, but not in board format:
Scrabble

Game shows I always wanted to be on:
Family Feud
The Price is Right
The Dating Game
Love Connection
The Newlywed Game
Pyramid
Remote Control
Win, Lose, or Draw
Singled Out
The one where people were dressed in a costume and had to pick a door and bid on how much the item cost behind the door they picked (and if they chose a crappy door a donkey would be on the other side) - but it wasn't Price is Right because for some reason people were dressed in weird costumes.

Another game I love, but can't remember the name:
A board game from the 1980s that revolves around the theme of an attic. There were also cards such as a tree that would take you to different sections through a "house," and there were dog pieces where you could block people. That game was awesome.

What about you guys - which games do you love to play? Which games should be on here, but aren't? It stinks, because if I had more space (or any space) in my apartment I would own more board games. At the moment I only have a few decks of cards, dice, and I think that's about it. That's gonna change real soon, though. I can feel it.

Labels: , , ,

12 Comments:

Blogger Scrumpestuous D said...

Three things:

-I've played a lot of Hungry Hungry Hippos lately. It's not the game of skill that I remember it being.

-My roommate and I have games (Risk, Axis and Allies, Monopoly, etc), but no table to play them on. Oh, the irony.

-I would add Rummikub to the list.

January 20, 2008 8:47 AM  
Blogger Lauren said...

I remember you beating me at Mancala all the time. I'm definitely a word/trivia game person more than a strategy game person. Give me Scrabble over Monopoly anyday.

January 20, 2008 1:06 PM  
Blogger Kimberly said...

The other day, meaning yesterday, I was at FAO Scharwz (sp?) I was thinking that I needed to buy some games to play. I do like the video games such as Karaoke, Guitar Hero, and DDR, but I do like board games and such. There was one I really like called Scrutineyes that was soo much fun. My family also got a new game for Christmas called Wits and Wages that pretty fun. Oh yeah, and Blockus and Pick your Poison. Those are fun too!

January 20, 2008 5:18 PM  
Blogger Sara said...

The name of the game you can't remember is Scavenger Hunt. And I think you're thinking of Rook and not Canasta. Or maybe you like both, but Rook is the game that is extremely similar to Spades . . .

Oh, and Rummikub is great. Brooks and I played it after you left. I think you'd like it.

The Twister comment was very . . . Lexia. I laughed out loud. :)

January 21, 2008 2:33 PM  
Blogger Jacki said...

Not a fan of Mouse Trap huh? I LOVED that game! The TV game show with all the costumes was "Let's Make a Deal"... not to be confused with "Deal or No Deal".

January 22, 2008 9:33 AM  
Blogger The Shark said...

Holy Moses, I can't even think of that many games in one sitting. Clearly you are an authority in the gaming community.

February 05, 2008 3:03 PM  
Blogger Kimberly said...

Lexia, you need to go to my blog and check out pictures from Saturday night.

February 05, 2008 4:36 PM  
Blogger Kimberly said...

I think are right, we are sisters(not only in God's way)! It's kind of crazy how much we look alike. :)

February 06, 2008 11:19 AM  
Blogger Frey said...

Yeah. It would be nice to have a whole room full of games. When I was a kid I planned to become rich and have a vault with every good game ever made.

Games are delightful when you are a kid. They can be a good way to learn emotional skills and empathy as well. I can remember being asked a few times "How would you feel if you were winning and someone else threw the board in the air?" I still love games but really only have time for playing romantic games. Because let's face it- it really is the best game.

I would recommend Bang as a card game as well as a kids game called I Spy. Games are great for double dates, as well as anything that lets you be a kid again.

We got Ticket to Ride for Christmas and it was pretty riveting. Don't forget Balderdash for the erudite.

February 28, 2008 7:05 PM  
Blogger Ronnie said...

Hi Lexia,
Thanks for looking at my blog. I don't know how to navigate this Blogspot very well, so this is the only way I could find to reply to your comment on my post.

If you've read some of my posts, you'll know that I've been playing guitar for about 48 years now and that I'm working in the guitar making field. So I know a lot about guitars; especially acoustic ones.

I'm also quite poor, so I needed something that was affordable, and the Yamaha fit the bill for me-I paid $150 for it. Although these Yamaha FG335's sound good (a lot has to do with the aging of the mahagony and spruce), they are not easy to play or to learn on. The necks are a little on the chunky side meaning they're a little thicker than some models. There are acoustics out there that claim that they have "fast" necks meaning they're slimmer and similar to an electric guitar neck. Some of the Fender acoustics fit in this category.

I'm happy that you want to start playing; it's a blast and has kept me grounded most of my life. For your first guitar, I wouldn't dwell on the tone so much as the playability. And as for size, maybe not a dreadnought; they're quite big. Try to find something "mid size" and don't pay more than $200. If you find you like it, and start developing some chops, then you can think about upgrading to something with crystal clear tone, but when you're learning, ease of use is the first concern. If you want, I'll find some examples on ebay or Craig's List (in your area) and send them to you.

Now, I have a question for you: it concerns your blog. I like the way you've set it up and I see you found a way to insert your photo's with captions under them. How do you do that? My photo's automatically show up at the very top of each post and sometimes I would like to write some stuff, insert a photo, write more stuff, insert another photo, etc. How is it done?

Anyway, I hope this was helpful. If you want to contact me, please use my regular email address because I don't know how to email in Blogspot. Here is my email address:

ronniefranklin@socal.rr.com

Good luck to you and take care,

Ronnie

March 07, 2008 11:52 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

When you and your brothers and sisters were younger, hungry hippos dominated the sound at our house. There's a hungry hippos game in the closet that I saw the other day that reminded me of you! You are alot of fun to play games with but I'm not contest anymore! Your eyes are beautiful (and smart!):-)

March 08, 2008 11:19 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi Lexia,
I sent you a rather long reply a few days ago to your email address (I think it was Hotmail) that you send your email to me from. Did you receive it? If not, I'll insert it here. Sorry that it's so long. Please feel free to write me back at: ronniefranklin@socal.rr.com

Ronnie

3/8/08

Hey Lexia,

Thanks for all the great information regarding how to navigate through Blogger. I’ll start using it right away. And now for some guitar talk:

Well after reading your “novel” I see that you’re not as much as a Newbie as you claim. I’m really impressed with all the knowledge you’ve gained while researching the topic. But I’ve gotta warn you – you can make yourself crazy with this. There are literally dozens and dozens of choices out there. Acoustic and electric guitars have never been as popular as they are today. Aside from the major makers, there are tons of companies that are cranking out guitars at a blinding speed. Just Taylor alone is producing almost 1000 units per day.

So, back to the original problem; what’s a good first guitar for you to learn on? You’ve got the Yamaha FG series, you’ve got the Baby Taylor (bad choice by the way-I own one and it’s awful), you’ve got the Breedlove AD20/sm and you’ve got about ten thousand other choices. So I’m going to give you a little friendly advice. But before I do, I want to tell you why I know what I’m talking about so I’ll give you the short version of my involvement with guitars:

I’m 64 now and have been playing since I was 16. I play every day (except lately I’ve had to lie back a little due to a finger injury). I own eight axe’s and have owned dozens in my lifetime. I constantly read guitar magazine’s and books, websites and talk to other musicians. I play in clubs with my partner in a duo and I work for a famous maker of boutique guitars. I handle the most exotic tone woods every day and I’m privy to a lot of inside gossip between all the guitar makers (a lot of them know eachother and communicate frequently). After retiring from the business world, I was free to pursue my passion of guitars and was lucky enough to find this job and I’m having a ball. I’m certainly not a know-it-all type, but I do have a lot of knowledge about all things guitar. So this is my pedigree and what I’m going to tell you comes from my knowledge and experience. Here goes:

• The three most important qualities to look for when buying your first guitar (in order of importance) should be Playability, Tone and Looks. It’s the ease of use that will instill a desire to learn more and more as you progress. If it’s too hard to play, it doesn’t matter how good it sounds. The FG’s are indeed hard to play. Secondly if it sounds good, it will keep you interested (try to stay with solid wood tops instead of plywood or laminates as they’re called). A pretty guitar is nice, but it’s a subjective call and if it doesn’t play easily, or sound good, it doesn’t really matter what it looks like unless you want something to spruce up your living room décor by displaying it.
• Try before you buy. That is, maybe you can borrow a guitar from someone for a few months before you take the plunge. This will let you see if it’s going to work out for you. To be honest, playing the guitar is hard at first. It hurts your fingers (a lot) until you’ve racked up enough hours to develop calluses on your fingertips. Learning chord shapes is also difficult at first. Eventually you get to the point where you can change chords rapidly without having to think about where to place your fingers. But if you spend a lot of money initially and ultimately find that you’ve lost interest, you’ll have a white elephant on your hands. Finally, if you borrow one, you’ll have more time to discover what features are important to you and you’ll have more time to find an instrument to fit your needs.
• Besides the usual things to look for in finding your dream guitar (solid top wood, good action, nice neck width and radius, good intonation, body size and easy playability) all the rest is purely subjective. Especially the tone. There are just too many choices out there for me to offer specific brands and models.
• Once you’ve got your axe, how do you plan on learning? Self taught from books, DVD’s, friends or private lessons from a good guitar teacher? Trying to play along with your favorite recordings? I recommend all of the above, but my advice here is not to let yourself become overwhelmed. There’s so much to learn (and I’m still learning) and it can seem intimidating. Just take it in little steps and realize that one lesson builds on the next and so on.

So Lexia that’s my advice. Feel free to pick and chose from it. I wish you all the best in this quest of yours and I’m happy that you’ve chosen the guitar as your instrument of choice. It’s really versatile; you can take it practically anywhere, you don’t need to plug it in, it sounds so cool, you can use it to accompany your singing or just play instrumentals. Try to say all that for the trumpet, drums, bass, etc.

You seem like an intelligent young lady and have indeed done your research. If I remind you of your mom, you remind me of my two daughters (age 26 and 28) who are professionals here in OC. If you wouldn’t mind, how about telling me a little about yourself: profession, what kind of music do you want to learn to play, do you have anybody to teach you, and your sign (just kidding). Also, I see you’re in NY, is that Manhattan? If so, what music stores do you have access to? Is Manny’s music still there? What about Sam Ash and Guitar Center?

I’ll end this epic by telling you that the photo on the top of my blogs was taken by me to remind me that I live in a really cool place. It’s the famous (or infamous) OC in Southern California. That’s a photo of the Huntington Beach Pier with a Ruby’s restaurant at the end and Catalina Island in the background. I love it here.

OK, enough rambling.

Take care,
Ronnie

PS – Please feel free to call me if you would like to chat. I’m afraid I can’t afford to call The 646, but if you call me, I just end up paying for the minutes. Like you, I don’t have a land line; just the cell phone. My number is (714) 625-5745.

March 10, 2008 12:04 PM  

Post a Comment

<< Home