Brave Frontier Global

I've been addicted to Brave Frontier lately. I play it on my iPad. It's a pretty fun game. I actually have this game account backed up on Facebook so I don't lose it in the event of device failure. I have a separate Facebook account just for gaming. I don't do anything with it but that. You can find it here if you want to be my friend in a game that I'm playing. Currently only 3 games are linked (Family Guy Quest For Stuff, Simpsons Tapped Out & Brave Frontier). So, on to the review...

Brave Frontier by Alim/Gumi



Brave Frontier is what you would call a passive MMO. You require friends and battle other players, never in real time. In order to play this game you MUST have data on your device or access to Wifi. A good chunk of your game is stored on Gumi's servers.

Learning the game play is pretty easy. After the screen above you will see the following screens.


Any interesting news and events are told here.


Your daily goals. It's what you need to build up Brave Points daily.


This is your main page. Where you see Quest, you can swipe to the right or left to get other areas such Vortex, Arena, Imperial Capital Randall and Raid (coming some time in the future). Quest is the story line. Vortex are special dungeons that can test your strength and/or farm items. Arena is where the MMO part comes into play. It's your team battling others around the world (excluding Japan because they have their own version). Imperial Capital is some random areas. You can get you could get your gaming record there (but you can get it from the menu area too). I can't tell you about Raid because it's not available yet.




When you click on Unit below, you get the picture above. You use Fuse unit to do just that. Units get levels and attributes by fusing units together, not by experience (bummer). Evolve unit allows your Unit to become a more evolved unit. Units can get rarer and more powerful as they evolve. Max rarity is 7 stars. You get a lot of worthless units as you go thru game. You can either fuse them to existing units or sell them. There are different types of units, but getting into it here will make this a novel and not review. You can research at the Wiki here.


The Town is where you craft items and spheres you will use during gameplay.


Since this is a Freemium (free to play with in-app purchases) there is a shop for you to purchase gems. Gems can do what each button says in picture above and allow you to do what they call Rare Summon. Gumi/Alim are pretty generous with gems. So you definitely play the game without spending your cash.


Rare summon is where you can get rare units that you will not get thru regular game play. It costs 5 gems to do 1 summon.


When you battle in Quest or Vortex you get an allie. With each alie, you are give Honor points. These points add up. With these points you can Honor Summon. Typically you get fodder, but when they do Super Honor Summon, you can get level increasing hard to get units. It costs 200 honor points to summon 1 unit. Honor points stack really quickly. So I usually save them for Super Honor summon.


Social is where you have your Friend's list. You can also receive and send gifts between you and your friends.

This game is really easy to play. You don't need to be a rocket scientist at all. It's challenging and entertaining. It keeps me entertained and distracted.

There is a couple of issues.
1. Since your game is stored on their servers you get a lot of connection errors. You will see a lot of this:



2. Since game on their server, you tend to have issues like gems disapearing (you can restart fame and they come back, very few times they won't in which you contact Gumi suport), reloading issues, their server crashing because too many people are on game and odd sorts if stuff. It gets frustrating at times. For all the issues that are server-side Gumi gives you presents in game for the grievances (gems and hard to get stuff).

The server issues can be annoying but I'm patient. It doesn't distract me from playing. I'm sure Gumi never expected so many players to join. I wonder what they expected after they put out a television commercial. They have a lot of work to do to get their servers in tip top shape.

During all they technical stuff, they still put out new content and events. I have only done one event. But they are trying to keep their players entertained. Which is a lot more than a lot of Apps do to keep their players (freemium versions).

So I give this game 4 stars

iOS, Android, Kindle Fire

Welcome to 2015

Happy New Year!!!

2015 is a year for change and status quo for this blog.

Let's start with the changes I've made today and going forward. In the past couple years I maintained a separate blog for gaming and app reviews called Tigerkirara's Page For Gaming & App Review (page is now gone). I slowed down on posting on both blogs. So I decided to combine it into this blog. Why? With my minimal time it's hard to maintain both as well as my third blog for the MMO I'm playing.

So if you look at my topic list, you'll see 'Gaming' and 'Apps' listed. That way you can view those posts directly. I already have book reviews, I may as well just add these to my growing list of topics.

What I'm keeping status quo is that my blog has multiple topics. I don't like being pigeon-held to one type of topic. My blognis not an expert blog. It's a general blog. It's my feelings at tumes, my thoughts, my interests, my life. I am not one dimensional so my blog should reflect me. This blog is not for my business. I'm not trying to make money out of it.

Maybe some of my posts interests you, makes you laugh is good enough for me. I don't really gossip on here about celebrites either. There's way too many blogs out there for that. So my little world here is nice a cozy.

However, if you have suggestions, don't hesitate to leavd them in comments. Hopefully you will enjoy yourself here.

So stick around, 2015 is going to be a big year for all of us. Let's start our adventures together.

One Small Step

I follow an instragram account called 'pitbullsofinstagram'. It's a page and a movement to stop Pitbull hate. Pitbulls are not aggressive dogs. They don't attack unconditonally. Do you know that Pits are the most loyal dogs. The bad ones you hear about in the news are trained to be mean. Just like ANY dog, if you don't take the time to train them, then they will be wild. Pits are very lovable and are known to be huggers. They are great around kids and babies. You can't ask for a better dog.

So when I saw a post that a town in Louisiana was putting an ordinance to ban all Rottweilers and Pitbulls I had to sign the petition. People had to get their dogs euthanized or sent out of town by Dec 1st. That is the most assinine and cruel thing ever.







Couple days later, they posted that the petition and public outrage (nationwide) made them reverse the ordinance. Yay!!!







I believe that if we put your heart in it and stick up for what you believe is right, you can accomplish great things. My one signature showed I cared and it brought about a change.

I do wish we can apply this same sentiment to all walks of life. However, life is never fair.

Fashion For Action

Today my husband invited me to a charity event that his company sponsored: Fashion for Action by Housing Works. 

It was an evening to buy designer clothes 70% off retail value, silent auctions and some dining. It was an excellent party. We got in for the early admission. So we drank a little then went to shop. All proceeds goes to help fight for a cure to HIV/AIDS. It's not too often that I get an invitation to such an event. 

We picked up some accessories at the show. I wanted a pair of Diane von Furstenberg shoes but it was still costly based on how much I would wear the shoes. I ended up buying a Betsy Johnson watch and a Christmas present for my mom. 

Hubby got a bag and some designer chonies (underwear for us North Easters). When we were done, we went back to the party. That's when the action started.  I walked up to Jason's co-workers and they are having a heated discussion about whether someone was a girl or a guy. They decided to ask me to make the decision. I turn to see who they are talking about. To my pleasurable surprise, it was Isis from America's Next Top Model. She was my favorite from that season. I think she was sabotaged. She should have made it to the end. I got to take a picture with her. 

She was so pretty. Excited!!! Then the group went to take group pictures at the photo booth. After goofing around, who do I spot? None other than Miss J from America's Next Top Model. I love him. He was great! I got to take a picture with him too!!! 

I LOVE this man. He is fierce no matter what he does. I am like so star strucked tonight. I'm literally in heaven. He even gave my hubby pucture taking tips. He is a lot taller than I imagined him to be. Love Love Love. 

The night was not even done with surprises: 

Bottom guy is John Varvatos, next up is Zach Posen and The very top is Betty Smith. She's going to be on Fashion Queens on Bravo. Not a great picture because I didn't have room to go any further. There was also a runway show down those stairs. Fun Fun Fun!

It was a magical night. I must thank my hubby and his company Matthijssen Business Systems NYC for the invite. Without them, this wonderful night wouldn't have happened. 

Now let me see if I can fall asleep!!! Good night!!! 

To Be or Not

I recently been following a blog called Beyond Black & White. It is supposed to be a site for like minded people to gather to find kinship with interracial relationships. I do like the site. I just RSS their blog. I don't really go to the site itself. I do most of my reading in the subway. No reception there. Anyway, I digress. I found this site thru a friend's Facebook page after I got married. Some of the ideas I've read to date I find conflicting. I also don't like labeling interracial relationships as "swirling". Why can't it just be called a "relationship"? By naming it something different doesn't make it seem like it's something out of the norm? Something that is not allowed? We are in the 21st century now. Yes I know there's still rampant racism going on. I don't consider my relationship with my husband swirling. Hell, I didn't even know there was a movement. We were just 2 like-minded people who met, fell in love and got married. I barely notice his skin color. He barely notices mine. I just see Jason and he just sees Colette. Let me give you an idea of how I grew up.

I'm a product of a 2 children who has 2 sets of interracial parents. My grandfather on my dad's side is a Sephardic Jew from Spain and my grandmother on my mother's side is from Cuba. However, if you look at any of us, all you'll see is Black. I grew up on a diverse block in Brooklyn. My neighbor to my right was Greek and my neighbor to the left was Irish. The kids my age all ran the gamut from either White or Black. There weren't any Latinos on my block growing up. My parents taught me not to see color, but remember that I was Black and I have a lot more hardships to undertake to be treated fairly in a White dominated world. I played with White kids growing up as well as the Black kids.

Now as I got to Middle school (JHS for those of us in NYC), my block started changing to working class Black people. We still had a few White folks still living on the block. One of them was my good friend Kristin. Did I notice she was White? Yes. I never thought anything of it. We had the same likes in clothes, music, friends and hobbies. We went to the same elementary, JHS and HS together. JHS was the toughest time period for me. It was the darkest 2 years anyone could have. In the darkest hour a knight in shining armor came to my rescue. Was it a Black boy? No. He was a Latino boy. I teenage-loved (differentiated this love because it's young foolish love) that boy. He was also having the darkest 2 years too. How come I didn't fall for a Black boy? Well, you see, I was not attractive to most Black boys. I was dark skinned, skinny, with a big ass. This was not in style then. You had to be light skinned with nice eyes. But I was considered their "homegirl". You know, the best friend who was a girl.

After JHS, I dated a lot of Black boys to men as I was older. I can say, that I never had a Black guy cheat on me. I ended up being the "other" woman. In HS, I dated this 23 year old guy behind my mom's back. I got myself in trouble dating him, to find out he was engaged to be married. That was a huge blow to my ego. So after that, I never committed to anyone for a while. In my 1st college, I dated a senior seriously. I messed up the relationship because of baggage from my past. In my 2nd college, I had one of my longest relationships with a Black guy. We were together for 3 1/2 years. We ended our relationship because our paths were not going the same way. I wanted to move back to NY and he didn't want to move there.

I returned to NY and I found what I thought was a great guy. We were together for 3 1/2 years too. He ended up moving to NC. He then started claiming that our 3+ year relationship wasn't a relationship. I found out why. He was married all the while. I didn't realize that I was the "other" woman yet again. I had all of his attention and his time. After him, I rebounded with a Latino guy. We were together in total 2 years (multiple break ups). I broke his heart. He broke mine. But in the end, we still managed to be friends.

After him, I didn't bother with with relationships. I just dated. However, dating had gotten really old and annoying. I don't like wasting time on random men. I dated all races but predominantly Black, because they were more accessible. I had given up on dating right before I met my husband. My husband came out of left field. I wasn't looking for him. We just meshed because we have very similar tastes. I didn't even know how he looked at first. It was all thru a video game chat. (Yes, I'm a girl gamer and I'm Black. It's a rarity.) and we became inseparable. When I found out he was White, it didn't even cross my mind that it was taboo. I just saw Jason. I was more apprehensive about meeting his parents. They greeted me with a huge hug and accepted me as is.

So for me, my relationship is a regular relationship. I'm not swirling nor was I seeking a man from another race. I see people as people. Race is the last thing that comes to mind when forming any type of relationship. It is all about how you treat me that decides if I want to be your girlfriend (too late for this option) or friend. The argument I want to ask is; if dating outside your race is called "swirling", then having friendships outside of your own race, should that have a different name other than "friendship"?

Review: Hot Game

Hot Game by Bridget Midway

My rating: 2 of 5 stars



I finished the story. I don't like predictable books. I knew the bad stuff was going to happen to the main girl and she would easily forgive him. This author's girl characters tend to be easily gotten and they forgive horrendous shit. I admire she has delved into making interracial relationships, but she conveys that Black women are easy and can accept being treated unfairly by men. So this is a horrible love example.

Once again this is not. Book it's a novelette. It is so short. I'm glad I didn't pay full price for the story. It was not really worth my time. I lost couple of brain cells too. I would really contemplate buying another one of this author's books.



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Review: Sixth Grave on the Edge

Sixth Grave on the Edge by Darynda Jones

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



I like this series a lot. I've been pretty dedicated to it. I love Charley. I like Reyes. I enjoy a lot of the characters. This book wasn't the best of the series. I didn't like the ending tho. I also don't unlike unanswered questions. Maybe the answer will come in the next book. The end of the book was a bit confusing and muddled.

I am not saying the book was bad, but it didn't give me all the warm fuzzies like books 1 thru 5.

Here's hoping book 7 will prove better.



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Review: After Dead: What Came Next in the World of Sookie Stackhouse

After Dead: What Came Next in the World of Sookie Stackhouse by Charlaine Harris

My rating: 1 of 5 stars



I've been a big fan of the Sookie Series. So when I saw this book, I had to read it. Of course I was curious how some of my favorite characters ended up. So I thought/assumed that this would be in a novelette form. I was willing to pay the $10 for this book.

I want my money back. Not only do I feel cheated, but I think Charlaine Harris & her publishers are a bunch of crooks. Milking your fans of money for a bullshit book is bad business. I read that book during my lunch hour. All it is is a paragraph or three a page for each character. Even some characters you don't give a damn about.

I will not purchase another Charlaine Harris. I may make her lose revenue by torrenting a book from her in the future. I will not spend another dime on her. I should've torrented this book.

For those who want to read this book, Don't Waste Your Time!!!



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Kids' Answers to Questions

Read this and thought it was hilarious!!! 

Questions about love, marriage and sex were posed to kids ages 5 to 10. Their answers below are enlightening:

WHAT IS THE PROPER AGE TO GET MARRIED??

"Eighty-four! Because at that age, you don't have to work anymore, and you can spend all your time loving each other in your bedroom."(Judy, 8)

"Once I'm done with kindergarten, I'm going to find me a wife!"(Tom, 5)

WHAT DO MOST PEOPLE DO ON A DATE??

"On the first date, they just tell each other lies, and that usually gets them interested enough to go for a second date." (Mike, 10)

WHEN IS IT OKAY TO KISS SOMEONE??

"You should never kiss a girl unless you have enough bucks to buy her a big ring and her own VCR, 'cause she'll want to have videos of the wedding."(Jim, 10)

"Never kiss in front of other people. It's a big embarrassing thing if anybody sees you. But if nobody sees you, I might be willing to try it with a handsome boy, but just for a few hours."(Kally, 9)

THE GREAT DEBATE: IS IT BETTER TO BE SINGLE OR MARRIED??

"It's better for girls to be single but not for boys. Boys need somebody to clean up after them!"(Lynette, 9)

"It gives me a headache to think about that stuff. I'm just a kid. I don't need that kind of trouble."(Kenny, 7)

CONCERNING WHY LOVE HAPPENS BETWEEN TWO PARTICULAR PEOPLE

"No one is sure why it happens, but I heard it has something to do with how you smell. That's why perfume and deodorant are so popular."(Jan, 9)

"I think you're supposed to get shot with an arrow or something, but the rest of it isn't supposed to be so painful." (Harlen, 8)

ON WHAT FALLING IN LOVE IS LIKE

"Like an avalanche where you have to run for your life." (Roger, 9)

"If falling in love is anything like learning how to spell, I don't want to do it. It takes too long."(Leo, 7)

ON THE ROLE OF GOOD LOOKS IN LOVE

"If you want to be loved by somebody who isn't already in your family, it doesn't hurt to be beautiful."(Jeanne, 8)

"It isn't always just how you look. Look at me. I'm handsome like anything and I haven't got anybody to marry me yet." (Gary, 7)

"Beauty is skin deep. But how rich you are can last a long time."(Christine, 9)

CONCERNING WHY LOVERS OFTEN HOLD HANDS

"They want to make sure their rings don't fall off because they paid good money for them."(Dave, 8)

CONFIDENTIAL OPINIONS ABOUT LOVE

"I'm in favor of love as long as it doesn't happen when 'The Simpsons' is on television."(Anita, 6)

"Love will find you, even if you are trying to hide from it. I have been trying to hide from it since I was five, but the girls keep finding me."(Bobby, 8)

"I'm not rushing into being in love. I'm finding fourth grade hard enough."(Regina, 10)

THE PERSONAL QUALITIES NECESSARY TO BE A GOOD LOVER

"One of you should know how to write a check. Because, even if you have tons of love, there is still going to be a lot of bills." (Ava, 8)

SOME SUREFIRE WAYS TO MAKE A PERSON FALL IN LOVE WITH YOU

"Tell them that you own a whole bunch of candy stores." (Del, 6)

"Don't do things like have smelly, green sneakers. You might get attention, but attention ain't the same thing as love." (Alonzo, 9)

"One way is to take the girl out to eat. Make sure it's something she likes to eat. French fries usually works for me." (Bart, 9)

HOW CAN YOU TELL IF TWO ADULTS EATING DINNER AT A RESTAURANT ARE IN LOVE?

"Just see if the man picks up the check. That's how you can tell if he's in love."(John, 9)

"Lovers will just be staring at each other and their food will get cold. Other people care more about the food." (Brad, 8)

"It's love if they order one of those desserts that are on fire. They like to order those because it's just like how their hearts are...on fire."(Christine, 9)

WHAT MOST PEOPLE ARE THINKING WHEN THEY SAY "I LOVE YOU"

"The person is thinking: Yeah, I really do love him. But I hope he showers at least once a day."(Michelle, 9)

HOW A PERSON LEARNS TO KISS

"You learn it right on the spot when the gooshy feelings get the best of you."(Doug, 7)

"It might help to watch soap operas all day."(Carin, 9)

WHEN IS IT OKAY TO KISS SOMEONE?

"It's never okay to kiss a boy. They always slobber all over you...That's why I stopped doing it."(Jean, 10)

HOW TO MAKE LOVE ENDURE

"Spend most of your time loving instead of going to work." (Tom, 7)

"Don't forget your wife's name...That will mess up the love." (Roger, 8)

"Be a good kisser. It might make your wife forget that you never take out the trash."(Randy, 8)

Original Link Here.

Blast from My Past

Apparently I did a random facts in 2009 on FaceBook. So I am going to repost it here. There are many that may be said on my previous recent posts about myself. That goes to show, that I haven't changed much. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing. Maybe  you can tell me, lol.

RULES: Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you.

(To do this, go to “notes” under tabs (+) on your profile page, paste these instructions in the body of the note, type your 25 random things, tag 25 people (in the right hand corner of the app) then click publish


1. I have little patience
2. Love playing Final Fantasy XI online
3. Have a crush on Morris Chestnut
4. I love to read
5. I can be very spontaneous 
6. Looking to retire earlier than normal
7. Very few people know me very well
8. Hated JHS
9. Loved HS
10. Went to 3 different Elementary Schools
11. I am a lot more sensitive than people believe
12. I hate flaky people
13. I try to keep my word as much as possible
14. Likes to have time to herself, lately it's been a lot of time
15. I hate having to curb my conversations
16. I hate owing anyone anything
17. I am very anal about things
18. Don't like very whiny & over sensitive men
19. I can be impulsive
20. Love techy stuff
21. I used to play school with my dolls when I was a kid
22. I hate email forwards that are random and hold no significance to me
23. I have a thing about people invading my personal space
24. I hate fussing and fighting
25. Hate when my time is wasted.