MeTime 'Gaming on a Budget' 3 - Braaaaaaaaains edition.

Good evening ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the MeTimeGifts 'Gaming on a Budget' Halloween special! (Yes I know I'm a tad late.)

Today we shall be looking at some titles focusing on our greatest of horror friends the Living Dead.

Since our zombie pals are rotting every second we waste let's get right to it shall we?

1. Zombie Bites.
    Made by: Hairy Games.

All we wanna do is eat your brains.

 

 

 

 

 

This beautiful 8-bit game hold one simple idea... you are a zombie... a hungry hungry zombie.

And you want to eat things.

You run and jump around in a platformer style manner eating everyone you come across, once you eat a victim they also rise as a zombie, and here is where it gets difficult.

 There is always a minimum number of humans on the screen but theres a catch, the number of zombies you make dosent have a cap and they are trying to eat delicous brains too.

 So as the zombie to human ratio rises to becomes harder and harder to find food and stop yourself starving death.

You can play Zombie Bites: Here!

2.  Rebuild 1 and 2.
      Made by TwoTowerGames.com


We've all been there in books/games/movies/music... It's the end of the world, and you are surrounded by flesh hungry living dead, It's usually a hopeless scenario but what if it wasn't?

In the 'Rebuild' games you are tasked with pushing the undead menace back and rebuilding civilization.
A daunting task for sure but not an impossible one.

The graphics are minimal but nice to look at and serve their purpose.

The gameplay of 'Rebuild' is very much like SimCity.
You start out with a small area of land usually a police station as a town hall, a few houses, and a farm or two to generate food.

As the game progresses you will send out survivors to gather food, take territories and kill zombies.

The game can be won in 1 of 4 ways.

1: Take every location on the map.
2: Find a Laboratory and research a cure (good choice if you have a lot of smart survivors)
3: Find the old town hall and establish a new government (Good if you have got a lot of charismatic survivors)
4: Find the cursed graveyard and destroy it (Good if you have got a lot of soldiers)

As you play, more and more zombies will amass and siege your settlement, you need to make sure you have plenty of survivors watching the walls or they may break through, taking zones back, killing survivors and lowering morale.

I could ramble about this game for hours, but the best way to see how great it is, is to play it yourself.


You can play: Rebuild 1 Here!
You can play: Rebuild 2 Here!

In review... PAYDAY: The Heist.

Hello everyone, as you all know the holiday season is coming up and Halloween is just around the corner.

As some of you may not know, this is quite an important time in the video game industry, it gives big publishers a running jump at Christmas and it gives smaller or indie publishers a chance to release their games more around Halloween so they can avoid the big name titles later in the year.

Now a lot of people have been reviewing Batman: Arkam City, don't get me wrong it's a good game, but it saddens me when alot of reviews focus on one thing, because they can miss some real gems.

One of those gems that I will show you today is PAYDAY: The Heist, if you are tired of the shenanigans of the caped crusader why not try playing for the other team once is a while?

Why so serious?

Being a game that is the logical opposite to Batman, you play as one of four clown-masked criminals in a series of heists and other illegal activity.

PAYDAY: The Heist has a very strong emphasis on co-operation bearing some similarities to the popular zombie shooter Left 4 Dead.

During heists you will be given certain objectives that you will need your entire teams help to complete efficiently, these objectives range from... tying up hostages for future negotiation, attaching drills and saws to break through bank doors or planting explosives on a nearby wall to create a get-away route.

With so many roles to play in a team this is defiantly a multiplayer focused game.

(Although it is playable in single player, they are releasing patches to make the AI smarter, but currently they just follow you around and try and keep you safe.)

Don't be fooled though, even if you get a good team together the game can be very difficult, the long arm of the law will do everything in its power to apprehend you and lock you up.

Once a heist start it will be around 1-2 minutes before the police arrive on scene, after that its all down hill, sending it SWAT teams, riot squads, snipers, sometimes even resorting to special forces and FBI agents.

Once the siege begins it isn't really a case of IF you get captured but WHEN, so it's very important to keep moving, get the money and get out.



Games can typically last 30-45 minutes, they can be much longer and much more intense if the police are doing well... I remember a match where we were robbing some drug dealers of their 'hard-earned' cash and the police stormed in, 2 of my buddies were arrested and the other one was shot to bits and on the ground.

After a long shootout I managed to get to my injured partner in crime and get him on his feet, together we fought off the police temporarily, and then negotiated to get our other 2 buddies back by releasing some hostages, the group was back at full strength again and the police were very angry, we got away with the money but we were all sweating bullets on that final chase.

All in all a very good game, on top of all this there is also a leveling system, every time you complete an objective you can Notoriety, every time you hit a certain limit you level up, giving you new items and abilities.

(such as new weapons, body armour, carrying spare ammo, more handcuffs etc.)




One of my only complaints is the lack of ability to change graphics mods, you can change resolution but thats about it, all in all not too much of a problem the game is very well optimized and I havent heard many complaints on how it performs.

Long story very short, if you are looking for something to sit down with friends and have a criminally good time this game is for you

Just dont rob any banks in Gotham... seriously no amount of money is worth it.

Also heres a quick summary of everything thats on StansDiscountBargains!
With prices like this, you're robbing me blind.

Five Beautifully Lush Bath Bombs in a Selection Gift Box.  - £13.00 (Buy it now)

2 Pair pac of 'MAGIC FIT' 70 Denier Teen Tights.  - 99p (Bids only)


2 packs of 'TAMMY' Black & Grey Striped Fashion Tights - 99p (Bids only)
RRP £8.00

5 packs of Black Fashion Tights - 99p (Bids only)
RRP £10.00

2 packs of 80 denier Lg Grey Tights - 99p (Bids only)
RRP £6.00

As always, you'll never need to rob a bank, to afford our wonderful products at MeTime!

And Stan's Discount Bargains!

The Battle of Thermopylae, 300.

Well hello everyone, I do apologies for the delay, not only has my computer been not too well, but I thought someone had stolen my wallet, after cancelling all my card it turns back up... always the way isn't it?

Here we are back to our Spartan buddies and their finest hour.

The Battle of Thermopylae, where 300 brave (suicidal) Spartan soldiers held the line against a Persian force of something between 100'000 and 300'000 (i.e. a lot)

Now what most interpritations of 300 don't tell you, is the Greeks had a line infront of the Spartans consisting of 7000 men, with which they held off the Persian invaders for 7 days before the Spartan rear line had to go into the fray, pretty impressive if you ask me, and a shame most people leave it out.

As most of you know 'The Battle of Thermopylae' was mainly famous for the tactic of condensing numbers to remove a significant advantage from the enemy, even though the Spartans were few in number, the 'hot gates' (named not due to the gates of Hades as perceived, but the hot springs that surrounded the area) forced the enemy to fight on equal number.

Now to be brutally honest, I'm not sure how many forces at the time aside from the Spartans could have pulled this tactic off, think about it, fighting the enemy on equal number is a nice boon, but you still have the issue of they can constantly reinforce.

As you keep striking down waves of opponents you're getting tired, and your morale begins to falter.

Yet each fresh faced new group of cannon fodder that assaults you will be eager and energetic.



Basically if it wasn't for the Spartan training of to fight hard and to keep fighting till the end, I honestly don't think they would have made much of an impact.

Well thats all I have to say on one of the greatest battles of history, 300 Spartans and 7000 Greeks VS 100'000 - 300'000 Persians... is not a bad kill ratio at all.

Till next time everyone.

And now for somthing completely different... Sparta.

Greetings everyone, sorry for the less than usual updates unfortunately my computer has been rather poorly as of late but now its back on its feet and ready to bring completely unusual and bizarre information to the masses via blogs just such as this one. (A complete lie there, this is the second time of writing this blog since my computer decided to die while typing 10 minutes ago.)

But hey ho, since I've actually had a while to think about this, rather than just jumping around on popular culture and video games, let's get a bit historical (Dont worry there will still be plently of shenanigans along the way.)

Hop in the DeLorean and backtrack all the way to 650bc and onwards, chances are if fate dumps you in the area of Greece you will probably hear somthing about some chaps called the Spartans or Lakonians if they are speaking in the native tongue.

 

 

What the musical with John Travolta had to do with this I'll never know.

In a nutshell the Spartans were hilariously good at beating up everyone around them and taking their nicest things. What they lacked in numbers they made up for in superious weapons, training and tactics.

Now don't get me wrong, despite their massive military prowess the Spartans were most certainly not barbarians, for example, Spartan women could own and inheret land something very uncommon for the era, they also had (albeit limited) say in how the country was ran and its politics.

Unfortunately... or fortunately depending on whose side you were on, the Spartans could never really follow a dream of world domination, VERY long story short, they simply did not have enough guys.

You see for a Spartan it was pretty tough straight out the starting gate, when they were born they were examined for any symptoms of physical or mental disability, if they showed any sign of being weaker than the rest of the pack they were left in the fields to either die, or be taken on by the locals as farmhands and such.

Assuming they passed the first test, at the age of 7 Spartan boys were sent to the Agoge, a military training school where they were taught everything from stealth and assassination, to pain tolerance and brutal close quarters combat.

Girls had a slightly easier ride, when they turned 7 they were taught arts, culture and diplomacy, they also threw in some sports and gymnastics to keep the ever famous Spartan competitive spirit alive, and as with the boys they were taught in military tactics and some combat training.

Anyway I have gone waaaaay over my word limit for this blog, so I will have to call it a day for now, tune in next time to read about the Spartans finest hour and the famous 300.

If you'd like to see the closest possible thing to REAL LIFE Spartans, why not check out this re-enactment group http://www.facebook.com/SpartaMora lots of wonderful pictures depicting Spartan life.

And contanct info if you'd like to get involved.

This blog has been a MeTimeGifts presentation.

MeTime 'Gaming on a Budget 2'

Hello again everyone sorry for the delay in blogs, recently on top of my regular duties of selling fantastic hand made soap and lovingly wrapping them in wrapping paper made of love and wrapping, I have been purging the unclean and smiting the heretics as I have got a full copy of Warhammer 40.000 Space Marine. (Review coming soon don't you worry.)

But right now it's time one again for me to show you the not-so expensive side of gaming, while still getting some quality titles under your belt.

Ah quality... such a nice word.
In PC gaming terms 'Quality' was pretty much copyrighted in 1993 with Id software's release of the game DooM (disclaimer the term 'quality' has never been copyrighted and never will.)

Of course everybody knows DooM, and chances are if you know DooM you know it's good old buddy Quake.

Quakes' claim to fame (or infamy whatever) has always been DeathMatch, while it always existed in DooM since the Internet was still in its infancy, it wasn't really practical to play unless you had a LAN connection (Basically multiple machines connected through a string of cables)

The idea of DeathMatching against your friends and neighbors instead of just blowing away demons and aliens, became so popular it spawned its own convention known as QuakeCon, a place people could go and play MASSIVE LAN games with no lag or slowdown and enjoy every second of it.

Fast forward a few years and although Internet gaming has improved to the point where LAN games aren't nearly as important, QuakeCon is still going strong.

Now I know what you're thinking... "But incredibly wise, handsome, and all round cool blogger... what does this have to do with free gaming? All of the Quake titles are retail aren't they?"

Well young/old/alien reader... you would be right, and oh so wrong.

Woudln't it be amazing if we could just frag opponents through our browser for free... no discs... no other programs... running in the background at work. (Remind me to delete that one.)

Well guess what... YES WE CAN.   (Please read this in the voice of Barack Obama.)

Quake LIVE, is a free online browser based game, which is basically all the best bits of the Quake online modes, thrown together.

With this wonderful title, it can be QuakeCon everyday, and for newcomers to the Quake games, there is a handy tutorial system that will teach you everything from moving forwards and backwards, to rocket jumping like the Quake Pro's of the olden days.

Installation is dead simple, just head over to http://www.quakelive.com install the browser plugin, make your account and off you go. (Don't worry it's all very simple, and they'll guide you through it.)

There are premium options, such as new maps, dedicated server spots and other goodies, but although they certainly add spice, non of them are needed to enjoy the game.

Well that's me done for another day, and to you my good readers... I'll see you in the arena.

(And to all those who just stepped out of a match, why not freshen yourself up for the next round of carnage with a little something from MeTimeGifts)

MeTime hints 'Gaming on a budget.'

Hello everyone, as you all know here at Me Time Gifts we value the time to spend on yourself and on a hobby.

Also being Stan of StansDiscountBargains, I can understand that a lot of hobbies can be expensive and in todays very economically fragile world, we all want to save a little money.
So in this series of blogs, I shall be highlighting free games that are high quality and may have slipped under the radar, remember you don't need to shell out £40 for every new release to be a good gamer.

First up on our list is a rather special title, since I know everyone and their dog uses facebook these days I thought it would be a good start.

Dungeon Overlord, is a free facebook game in which you take control of a dark-lord building a dungeon within a mountain of evil, the objective of the game is to expand you dungeon(s) so you can amass resources and monsters, so you may raid and pillage towns and cities on the surface, and even other dungeons.

Overall the game is rather pretty, the environments are bright and vibrant and it has a wonderful art style where its not too realistic, yet not too happy-go-lucky cartoony.

Slight health and saftey issue with lava everywhere.

 Gameplay takes oh-so many pages out of the Dungeon Keeper games, which is every good, anyone who is familiar with those games, or similar titles such as Theme-Park or Theme-Hospital, will feel right at home.

The core meat of the game is expanding you dungeon with different rooms to achieve goals, for example you need a den for your creatures to sleep in, once you build a den monsters will start arriving and working for you.
If you build a library you will start gaining research points which you can spend on new technology to build more rooms that do different things.

The only annoying thing about this game is it's time sink mechanic and to be honest its not that bad.
Unlike games like Dungeon Keeper, resources will not be taken to your store room by themselves, when your minions mine some gold or harvest some food you will need to click on it to send it to your  store room and they cant put anymore resources on the ground until you do.

Basically this means, that when you log off for the day, your minions will continue to mine and craft, but they will leave their creations all over the floor, and until you order them to take it all to the store room, they will not mine or craft any more items.

Obviously this slightly annoying mechanic is a throwback to say Farmville, in which you have to log on at different times in the day to harvest crops etc. To be honest it isn't too bad, and it is satisfying coming to your dungeon 5 hours later, and seeing a horde of gold for the taking.

All in all it's a good game to have running in the background while you're working (heck I have it running in the background as we speak)

And (even though I wouldn't recommend it) it's a good game to be playing at work since it's rather low maintenance, and it might help you blow off some steam if you think your boss... might in fact be an Evil Dungeon Overlord.

Until next time, have a good weekend everybody.

MeTime Gifts... not just for soap?

Why hello everyone, so glad you could read this blog today because we have a special announcement.


MeTime Gifts the company that brought you copious amounts of amazing handmade soaps and bath bombs at fantastic prices, is now the proud owner of a new Ebay account!

StansDiscountBargains is all the brilliant things about MeTime (Customer care, quick posting, quality items, handsome blog writer) yet with a different product.

But hark I do hear the children sing... "But what does StansDiscountBaragins(tm) sell?"

To that I answer this... whatever fantastic savings we find in our day to day life.

If we see a bargain we shall grab it and pass the savings on to you on our ebay page...

So what are you waiting for, check out all the wonderful offers to be found at StansDiscountBargains! (Check back often, we'll always be putting on new stock.)

Just remeber where you got it... STANS!

Begginers guide to memes part 4: The best meme... i've ever had.

Greetings one and all, since we have already met the self-proclaimed King of memes (e.g. trollface)

It's time to meet the Queen of memes.

And that queen is... well Queen.

I'm a meme, passing by like mr me-gusta. Gonna go go go, theres no stopping me!

Freddie is an image macro (that is to say, an image that can be copied and pasted) usually used to portray a situation of great achievement.

Such as say, passing an incredibly difficult exam with flying colours.

Freddie is part of a series of characters used in Rage Comics. (We will have a blog on those later, they are essentially comics printed with memes for humorous results)

Unfortunately Mr Fahrenheit can also be used to portray a situation where victory was cruely snatched away at the last minute.

Nothing really matters... too meme.

And there you have it, if your situation is laughter or tears Freddie Mercury will always be there to better describe your situation. Till next time everybody.  
- Me Time Gifts

Begginers guide to memes part 3: Y U No read blog?

Hello everyone, and welcome to part 3 of our meme-tastic extravaganza.

Today we shall be learning about, a character that we have all been at one point, you know when people just dont do as they're told, or somthing wont work properly for no reason what so ever... I bring you


Y U No?! - guy.

Sober self, Y U NO understand what being drunk is?

Y U NO (Internet speak for "Why you no?" or grammatically correct "Why don't you?")
 due to the quite common place question, Y u no guy is a very versatile meme.

Being used everywhere from rap music...

Y'all act like you've never seen a meme person before...

To goverment protest...

Good news is he did... bad news, Gaddafi is stil being a troll.

And there you have it, next time life gives you lemons simply pucker your lips, narrows your eyes, raise your arms and say. Life... Y U no stop giving me lemons?!

MeTimeGifts

EMERGENCY REVIEW: Warhammer 40,000 SPACE MARINE

Attention all willing servants of the Emperor.

This message is of high value and must not fall into heretical hands...


Hello everyone, I apologies for our delay in meme-knowledge but I played something today, a demo... a demo of Warhammer 40,000 Space Marine.  And It blew me away.

Yep... blown away.

For those who don't know, Warhammer 40,000 Space Marine is a 3rd person shooter coming to the XBOX, PS3 and PC in September.

In this 3rd person blood-fest, you shall take the role of a Space Marine, a super-human defender of the Imperium of Man and angel of death sent by the Emperor.

Story-line of the game is pretty sketchy as of now, with no real details being spilled just yet, all we know is there is a human controlled planet under siege by Orks and you must aid the defense.


Okay now for the good stuff... Gameplay.
Controls are very tight, sensitivity for turning and such can be tuned at will, yet it starts off pretty solid anyway.

The space marine you take control of handles very well, being able to roll into and out of combat and behind cover. Sprint from place to place, fire with relative accuracy and fight in close combat fluently and without any problems.

Not only weighty and gory, but the close combat flows well and is satisfying.

All of the weapons feel ever so meaty and combat is gory and brutally enjoyable, you really feel every blow, and for once a game developer has understood what a Bolter (signature weapon of the marines) should feel and handle like (I.e. semi-automatic... might as well be firing explosive trucks)

Another part of the demo gave you access to an assault pack, kind of like a low altitude jetpack combined with a nuclear warhead, not only did it allow me to leap from one side of the level to another with the greatest of ease, but it also let me plummet down and strike the enemy from above. Shock and Awe doesn't even begin to cut it.

To be honest if the final product is going to be anything like the demo, we may have a rival for titles such as Gears of War 3. (No disrespect towards Gears 3 of course, I have played and loved the gears series since day one and will continue to do so. Hey maybe I'll review that too when it comes out.)

Definatly pick this one up. In name of the Emperor!

Beginners guide to Memes Part 2 (Pronounded T-hoo)

Well hello everybody, once again we dive into the wonderful and amazing world of Memes and internet jokes.

Since we have already met our good friend Me Gusta it is time to go to the opposite end of the spectrum, the darkside of memes if you will.

Keep that holy water handy since this... diabolical individual may aswell be the manifestation of internet 'evulz' I bring you...

Trollface -

This... demonic apparition exists for only on purpose, to annoy.

You see 'Trolling' as it is called on the internet, is simply trying to cause trouble and shenanigans for fun, starting arguments, insulting someone to try and provoke a response, playing practical jokes and in general mischief.

And this isn't ONLY applicable to humans, anyone remember that whole ash-cloud thing stopping air transport a while back?

We will bring you to justice... troll-cano.

Also his catch-phrase 'Problem?' is just... dark magic to infuriate.
So now all that trolling shenanigans is out of the way, why not scrub the foul taint from your soul with a fine selection of soaps from Me Time Gifts?

All these Memes and more can be found at Memebase.com.

The return of the Me Time Gifts Blog! And the intro, of somthing special.

Hello one and all I have returned bringing news of sales and bubbly goodness from Me Time Gifts.

But before we get into all the celebrations I think it is time to educate our readers on a very special topic.

In this crazy old place we call the internet, we don't just buy insanely highquallity soap at rock bottom prices oh no, it was also be a place of humor and shenanigans... yes SHENANIGANS.

In this Mini-series of blogs I shall be introducing you to the 'in-jokes' of the internet known as 'memes' (Pronunced meems) and all the fun and splendiforous (it's a word dont judge me) hours of joy they can provide.

To start let's take something we can all relate to... 'Me Gusta'   (For those of you who speak Spanish you will know 'Me Gusta' means 'I Like.')

'Me Gusta' is a cartoon face posted whenever someone encounters something they like.

Handsom Devil... 'Me Gusta'

Such as lets say, the child like WHIMSICASLLITY of being served vegtables that look... vaugely like trees.

C'mon we've all done it... and its soo good.

And there you have it, the WONDER and er GLAMOR...ODIUS   'Me Gusta'.

Who knows maybe we'll change our name to 'Me-Gusta Time Gifts' we can but hope... until next time everybody.

(Warning: Glamorodius is not a word, do not use it in an attempt to look intelligent.)
(All these memes and even more fun stuff can be found at Memebase.com)                                           

'Celebrity VS' We have a winner!

Well everyone we have come a long way with our two contestants.
We've seen them brave the battlefields of Presentation, Sound and Publicity.

And despite their valiant efforts, there can only be one winner...

And with the scores being Marilyn Manson 4 - Lady GaGa 1 (after adding on the two bonus points for Manson due to the voting)

Our winner of 'Celebrity VS' is Marilyn Manson!

Group Photo for 'Celebrity VS' winner 2010.

 

But hey before you go off conquering the world in a maelstrom of gothic music. (Hey I want in on that party too.)

Why not grab something to treat yourself?
Since Marilyn Manson is our victor tonight, the MeTimeGifts Goth Box is 10% off! (and will remain so until Christmas day)
So wether you are one of 'The Nobodies' or 'The Beautiful People' go check it out.
(Sorry awful puns I know.)


Well everybody that's all from me for now, cya next time on the MeTimeGifts blog, for more news, offers, and entertainment.

'Celebrity VS' Round 3! (Vote here!)

Hey everybody so its neck and neck with the scores being Lady GaGa 1 - Marilyn Manson 1

Now I think you will all agree publicity is a very strange beast, some people say there is no such thing as bad publicity, I would argue against that, I mean look at Britney Spears in the past few years... something tells me that probably hasn't affected her sales for the better.

But which one of our stars is better at causing a media storm while avoiding the bad publicity?
Lets find out.

Publicity - Lady GaGa

Lady GaGa has always had in my opinion a strange relationship with publicity, her music has a tendency to be very successful by itself with Pokerface reaching the top in most music markets in the world, however her publicity as a character is more a love-hate relationship, wild rumors and urban legends are always floating around in the media, for example that particular piece that believed she herself was inter-gender.
She also has a very gun-ho way of portraying herself, with some down right outrageous costumes.
Most of these are hit or miss, a quick google search will show costumes that didn't quite make the cut, and a few which caused a bit of a stir (I am making reference to the meat dress, which was apparently a statement on the way homosexuals are treated in the military with the 'don't ask don't tell' policy.)
Well GaGa I think you'll find when poltics and sexuality is involved haters will always hate, and the publicity created from it wont always be a nice as the publicity from your art.

Would you like it well done, or Raw-raw-ra-ah-ah?

Publicity - Marilyn Manson
Wow... where do I start, its quite difficult to call any publicity bad when you call yourself the 'Anti-Christ Superstar' isn't it?
I mean lets use the name as a starting point, we have Marilyn Monroe the very famous actress, and Charles Manson, the infamous murderer... two big key words, both with ties to very different types of fame.
Over the years Manson has achieved many diffrent types of publicity, I would say the first big hit came with his cover of 'Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)' which took MTV by storm and has also been named the worlds scariest music video.
However this is merely the tip of the ice berg... multiple law suits, religious protests, and many urban legends from 'devil worship' to surgery. And then when you throw in the fact that he seems to have been quite endeared by the 'Goth' sub-culture it all builds up to a whirl pool of publicity and hype.
It would appear due to his intentional controversial character, Manson can do very little wrong in the eyes of the media, due to the fact he wasn't really trying to play the 'good guy' to begin with.

How can he be controversial? He's better with kids than Barney.

Well guys that a wrap for my part of the judging.
Sorry GaGa but I need to give this one to Marilyn Manson, granted he has many advantages such as...
He has been in the spotlight for longer and he can get away with a hell of a lot more.
Not to say that GaGa is bad at generating publicity, but her range of how she can, and how she has is limited in comparison to Mansons.

Current scores. Marilyn Manson 2 - Lady GaGa 1.

But hold on don't go yet, this fight isn't over, now it's YOUR turn to decide the victor!
Simply vote for you favorite in the comment section of THIS post by typing your stars name.

The star with the most votes gets TWO bonus points! Just enough to send this match either way!

The votes shall be counted in a weeks time and the winner shall be announced.
Also depending on who wins, a certain product relevant to the winning star shall go on sale with 10% off on the MeTimeGifts website!
So vote for your favorite and reap the rewards!

'Celebrity VS' Round 2!

Hello folks welcome back to 'Celebrity VS' it's Marilyn Manson VS Lady GaGa, and now they have a chance to prove themselves in round 2.

Sound - Lady GaGa (Track - Pokerface)

Her eye twitched... bet it all she's bluffing.

Video aside, the way the track opens is fantastic, a heavy beat followed by "ma-ma-ma-ma".
The lyrics work nicely and there is a steady, up beat note variation.
Did I mention its catchy, as in you are probably humming it right now catchy?
Ok now the cons... digital assistance, its alright and this might just be me being ignorant but it never seems to leave.
Granted it has almost a techno dance feel to it, I mean look at 'Believe' by Cher, that was to my knowledge the first track ever to use the auto-tune program, and it was a success.
It just feels slightly heavy handed in this song, I mean check out her live videos, she sounds pretty good without it. Even so that's not much of a con, just something that I believe could be changed for the better.

Sound - Marilyn Manson (Track - Arma-goddamn-mother-fu*****-geddon)

Understanding exchange rates by Marilyn Manson

.

Again another brilliant opening to a song, the drums really give a sense of spiraling down before the track begins (and this was released on the album The High End of Low so its appropriate I suppose)
Normally I would disapprove of a lack of note variation during the verses, but I feel the backing-track is varied enough to almost cradle the vocals.
The lyrics are unusual and interesting if not a tad off colour (and by tad I mean if you want to censor this baby you would will need a chainsaw and some wading boots)
On the whole I like this song a lot, but due to the lack of notes that may be irritating to some, and the in your face (and your chest, both your hands, and one of your legs) lyrics, I have to give this point too...

Lady GaGa!
Sorry Manson, your fans may love that song, but I don't think it will ever effect the charts like your version of 'Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)' did.

The scores are one a piece!

Marilyn Manson 1 - Lady GaGa 1

ATTENTION!
Round 3 is coming up, but it will not be the end for our contestants oh no, once the post for round 3 is up YOU may decide who claims victory by way of vote!

I shall award my point for publicity to whoever I see fit, however the star with the most votes in the comment section of round 3 shall be awarded two points!

And that's not all, the fans of the winner shall be rewarded with a discount to a relevant product from MeTimeGifts!
So rally behind your favorite and reap the rewards!
To vote simply type the name of the star you wish to win in the round 3 comment section when it is posted.

(Votes shall be held for a week before counted and the winner selected.)

Time for some fun... time for some, 'Celebrity VS!'

Oh isn't fame an unusual thing, one minute you're in the spot light with a legion of fans, the next minute you're in the back of a bar somewhere signing an autograph for a man with a lopsided beard and wonky eye.

But while we still have the stars of today lets make the most of it, as we know many people draw inspiration from eachother, but the question always crops up "Who did what better?"

Well we at 'Celebrity VS' (hosted by MeTimeGifts) intend to find out so lets get acquainted with our first 'competitors'

In the red corner sporting some very recent hits, a nice foothold on the media, and the power to turn up to a party in a dress made of meat and NOT be thrown out it's...
Lady Gaga!

In the black corner possibly the most controversial man in music, a character so dark the grim reaper runs in terror from him, its the self proclaimed 'Anti-Christ Superstar'
Marilyn Manson!

Nice now we have out two combatants we can make this a good fair fight.
There shall be 3 phases
1: Presentation
2: Sound
3: Publicity
ROUND 1.
Presentation - Lady GaGa (Video used Pokerface)

Opening with GaGa rising from the waters in a strange black leather cat suit I believe this video started out kinda weak but boy did it pick up.
The white haircut costume in the solo shots looks superb and shows of her facial features very well and catches your eye, although I honestly felt rather disorientated by the 'split camera' style of shooting that was sometimes used, and believe it would be more impressive without it.
The dancing was well done and is very energetic and suits the song perfectly.
I find only one semi-major problem with this video, the backing... no dis-respect to the dancers but I feel a lot of them look like they are trying to upstage Lady GaGa, they seem to be too packed together and they take away the lime light and become distracting especially at 1:44.
I mean whoa guys enough people in one shot?!

Presentation - Marilyn Manson (Video used Arma-Goddamn-Mother****-Geddon.)  (The version of the video I used was the uncensored version from itunes. The censored version is provided above, but in my opinion it has ruined the song completely) Opening came across as pretty solid with Manson inside a pulpit with his arms spread out accompanied by drums, it then moves on to a series of shots showing three different costumes, a suit, a coat with top-hat, and what I assume is either a robe or a hoodie (camera angles made it hard to tell) All of them work well, and we get a very powerful performance from Manson. One criticism I have with this video is Marilyn Manson spends a lot of time in the 'cloth section' of the set, although having silhouettes of 'gothic Mickey mouse girls' trying to grab Manson through the sheets is an entertaining shot, I don't believe it deserves this much of the video, especially when we have the very nice 'Rally' portion of the set, and the burning building. Also I cant help but feel the 'blur' button on the camera needs a rest near the end of the video.

Summary of phase 1!
Entertaining performances from both of our shockers, it seemed for this video that Marilyn Mansons costumes were a bit scaled back from their usual madness.
Allthough GaGa gave us all the energy in dancing and dress, we could ever ask for in a video, I must give this point to Marilyn Manson. I'm sorry GaGa but the horde of backing dancers and 'split camera' shots were too much for me. In Marilyn Mansons video, the majority of screen time is taken up by the man himself wich I believe is a must when it comes to a good presentation.

Current score.

Marilyn Manson 1. Lady GaGa 0.

Marilyn Manson has taken the lead... but can he maintain it?
Cmon man... give us a smile

On second thought yhea... it's ok.

Round 2 and 3 coming later in the week!

10 Things for Christmas

Hey guys, that time of year is coming up so here's some ideas of what to put under the tree on that special day.

Secret Santa Gift Box:
The 'Secret Santa Gift Box' is most certainly coming to town.
Decorated in a wonderful red paper with stars and a matching bow it would look stunning under the tree.
The Gift Box includes:
A gold glitter candle.
A black glass tea light holder.
a 'Night with the Stars' bath creamer.
A festive jumbo bath bomb.
Two pieces of festive handmade soap.
All this is currently on offer for £12!

Christmas Soap Stack:
Each of these stacks contains three handmade soaps each weighing 100 grams.
Each stack is hand tied with a Christmas ribbon and finished with a sprig of holly and a jingle bell.
How festive.

Beautifully Lush Bath Bomb Selection Box:
Our best selling gift is back by popular demand just in time for the holidays!
Each box is dressed with a stunning purple snow flake paper and topped with a white ribbon.
Containing a mix of six different 200 gram jumbo bath bombs, this is certainly a gift made to last.
Each bath bomb usually sells for £2.50, but here you can grab all six for only £12.50!
Not only that, each box also comes with a 10% voucher for your next purchase.

Christmas Pudding Bath Bauble:
Now heres a gift with a difference, here with have a shea butter bath fizzer.
But as with anything the proof is in the pudding! (awful pun)
As it is inside a lovely tin bauble that you may hang upon your Christmas tree.
Enjoy the fizzer now.
Enjoy the Christmas Bauble for years.

Round Robin Beautifully Lush Fizzers:
Inside this beautiful tin is a large collection of bath fizzers.
So sit back and relax with this wonderful range of products.
This gift contains.
Christmas Fragrance Candle in a Tin.
Cherry Shea Butter Bath Fizzer.
Grape Shea Butter Bath Fizzer.
Blueberry Shea Butter Bath Fizzer.
Lemon Shea Butter Bath Fizzer.
Almond Shea Butter Bath Fizzer.

Beautifully Lush Large Festive Box:
Now here we truly have the 'jumbo pack' of all our festive gift boxes.
Containing many different types of soaps, bath bombs, and bath fizzers all rapped in a warming festive paper.
If you prefer to keep your presents big then this is certainly for you.
This box contains.
White Christmas Bath Creamer.
We Three Kings Bath Creamer.
Glitterati Bath Creamer.
Handmade Christmas Tree Soap.
Handmade Christmas Dove Soap.
Christmas Pudding Bath Bomb.
Chilly Willy Bath Bomb.

Chocolate Orange Candle:
Bomb Cosmetics candle, hand poured and finished using only the highest quality waxes to ensure maximum scent and burn time.
(Would make an excellent stocking filler!)

Twenty Dried Orange Slices:
These puppies might not look like much on their own, but trust me they sure can add a little scented touch to any decorations in the house.
(Maybe try putting them on Christmas cards?)

100 Grams Whole Star Anise:
This Whole Star Anise may come in very useful in the kitchen or with some quick decorating.

 Ceylon Cinnamon 12 Sticks:
Ah Cinnamon, so many uses such a short blog.
These twelve Cinnamon sticks could really add a kick to any Christmas sweets.

Warhammer 40,000 Dawn of War: Dark Crusade. Review Part 6

Flickering from the WebWay (A complex spider like system of teleporters scattered across the galaxy) the Eldar arrive.

A complex race of elf like creatures, very little is known about the eldar.

What we do know is this, they have very advanced technology, they are cunning and deceptive, they despise the Necrons and hold them as  their arch-enemies and...

They are dying out.

Unfortunaly for the Eldar, their numbers continue to dwindle before much more vast forces, because of this they must rely on stealth and 'hit and run' tactics to achive their goals. Assaulting the enemy in a flurry of poetic violence, and then slipping back into the webway before they can retaliate.

Their reasons of coming to Kronus are not certain, but one could speculate that they arrived to halt the march of the dark crusades and put the Necrons back in their tombs, and this time... for good.

Summer Honey Massage Bar Review.

This honey scented massage bar smells good enough to eat, when massaged into the skin it moisturises beautifully. Melting at body temprature it would make a perfect addition to anyones pampering supplies.

If you think this would be a worthy addition to your bathroom, you can pick up the Summer Honey Massage Bar here.

Me Time Product Review.

Hey everybody, now that everything is up and running I thought I'd give you an idea of what we sell and provide, and maybe give you some gift ideas too.

The
For Him Giftbox: 
Now something everyone can be in agreement with, getting a gift for a guy can vary from quite difficult, to down right impossible. From the father who "Doesn't want anything" to the guy who works in the office you don't know much about, this should be ideal for any occasion

Well as we know Christmas is nearly upon us, so why not get a head start with the...

Christmas Lush  Festive Box:
 Filled with holiday cheer and merriment, and the perfect thing to relax with after a busy day of spreading good will and getting that dreaded Christmas shopping done.

Now for those who like to walk on the darker side of life, I bring to you the...

MeTime Goth Box:
Filled with gleefully dark items, and a beautifully warped selection of treats, the Goth box will not disappoint those Beautiful People of a darkened nature.

Not into the idea of a gift box? Not enough room in the bathroom or just want a little something for yourself?
Take a look at our smaller items, for when less... is more.


Bath Rocks:
For when bathbombs are simply too bulky why not take the bath rocks, they will pamper just as well and are easier to take on holiday too.

And last but not least our...

Handmade Soaps:

Simplicity at its finest, more fragrances than you could ever wish for.