Beatles Rockband

Being a self-proclaimed video game nerd, I was thrilled when my friend invited me over to play Beatles Rockband. While I personally own most of the Rockband and Guitar Hero games available for PS2; Beatles Rockband is not available for my gaming platform, and with good reason. To put it simply, the PS2 does not have the hardware, nor the chutzpah required to run this newest addition to the Rockband franchise.

Gameplay on the PS3 ran extremely smoothly. The graphics were extremely colourful and reminiscent of the original Beatles' album covers. Additionally, the in-game movies and all the movements of the characters were extremely realistic.

As in other versions of Rockband, the gameplay hasn't changed too much. There have been some minor tweaks to a few basic aspects of the game. For example, when playing the drums, there is no drum fill before you enable overdrive - which has been cleverly renamed "Beatlemania". Instead, the scrolling note area starts to turn green, signalling to the player that an opportunity to go into "Beatlemania" mode is coming up, should they hit the green drum pad when the green gem appears on the screen. This is a definite improvement over previous versions of the Rockband games. I also found that the accuracy of the notes timed to the music has been greatly improved, leading to less frustration and more enjoyment of gameplay.

In addition to these changes, there's also the capability to have three singers; although we weren't able to test this feature out yet, since we only had one microphone and no one available to sing. I think if we'd used a mic stand, either one of us could've easily sung along while playing the drums or guitar, since the songs chosen for the game are quite well known.

Another nice feature of gameplay is that each player chooses their difficulty for the individual song, which again, leads to much less frustration and fewer failed sets. Playing in career mode, you unlock photographs based on the number of stars obtained for each song. Having played both Rockband and Guitar Hero before, both my friend and I found it quite easy to obtain 5 stars on every performance.

Overall, I'd say that Beatles Rockband is definitely worth purchasing, and would be my chosen video game if I was hosting a Rockband party. Not only does the game involve more than just your standard four players, but guests not involved with gameplay would find themselves singing along and having just as much fun. While it's not the most challenging game I've ever played, I definitely had a wonderful time banging on the fake plastic drums and singing along to some of the best music ever produced.

Steeped Tea

Until recently, I refused to drink anything other than Earl Grey or Orange Pekoe. Challenging my purist tea drinking habits, I received samples of the most popular teas offered by Steeped Tea. Both samples arrived in simple, brown paper packages and directions for steeping were affixed to the back of each package. Met by lovely fragrances upon opening both the packages of tea, I eagerly rushed home to have my own little tea party that evening.

The first sample was Steeped Tea’s Creme Carmello, which is a rooibos tisane. Commonly referred to as red tea, rooibos is cultivated from the rooibos bush found in South Africa. Rooibos tea is a caffeine-free tisane, and is therefore a lovely alternative to green, white and black teas. Once poured into my teacup, Creme Carmello had a delightful caramel aroma and a pleasing reddish-brown colour. While I usually drink my tea with just a hint of sugar, the directions suggested serving this tea with both milk and sugar. Since enough tea was steeped for two servings, I opted to try the Creme Carmello both with and without milk.

With milk and sugar, the resulting beverage had a slightly sweet, nutty flavour, with just a hint of caramel. Given that the tea was very fragrant, I had anticipated a stronger caramel flavour, and was slightly disappointed that the flavour was masked by the milk. After pouring a second cup without milk, the flavour of the tea surpassed my expectations. This time, the delicious caramel flavour of the tea was accented by the sugar, making a near perfect beverage. Overall, this tea was very smooth and drinkable, with a faint nutty aftertaste. My only criticism is that the leaves were quite small and as a result, some rogue leaves passed through my tea strainer and into my tea cup. Ideally, Creme Carmello would be a perfect dessert tea, accompanied by a tea biscuit or a piece of almond biscotti.

The second tea sampled was a green tea, called Snow Cap. I will admit that I’m not usually a fan of green tea, as I find most blends to be overly astringent with an unpleasant grassy aftertaste. I was; however, pleasantly surprised by my cup of Snow Cap tea. In keeping with the directions, this tea was prepared directly in the tea cup and as it steeped, the large leaves daintily floated to the bottom of the cup. Once the tea was fully steeped, it had a slightly minty and spicy fragrance and was an extremely translucent yellowish-green. Although extremely fragrant, Snow Cap had a very mild, but pleasing flavour, with no overpowering aftertaste. To fully appreciate Snow Cap’s fragrance and flavour, and to avoid swallowing any tea leaves, I recommend taking time to slowly sip this tea.

Creme Carmello and Snow Cap are only two of the many blends available from Steeped Tea, and while Earl Grey tea will always be my favourite, both of these teas have earned their respective places in my cupboard and my teacup.

Founded in 2007, Steeped Tea is a Hamilton-based business offering in-home tea parties complete with consultations and tea samples as chosen by the hostess. With over 60 varieties of loose leaf teas available, a wide selection of tea-related accessories, and spa products, there’s something for everyone at these tea parties. Your own tea party and consultation can be booked by filling out the contact form on the company’s website www.steepedtea.com.

Totally Twisted

Like all Herbal Essences products, the Totally Twisted shampoo and conditioner have a distinct smell. The "herbal combination" on the bottle is French lavender and jade, which in all honesty, was a bit perplexing for me at first. When I think of jade, I think of the green, semi-precious stones. Of course, it's not the stone they're referring to, it's jade plant extract... I figured this out by doing a quick Google search to figure out what the mystery jade ingredient really was. I mainly smell lavender when using the product, but it's not too overpowering as some lavender-based cosmetics can sometimes be. Pardon the pun here, but I'm a bit jaded when it comes to lavender, and it's not my most favourite scent, as I like the more awakening, citrus scents when I'm going through my regular morning routine.

I have hair that is mostly straight, but does have a bit of a wave towards the ends, especially when I leave it to air dry in the warmer months. That said, usually the only curls that stay in are pin curls or a wet set on those really uncomfortable to sleep in, foam rollers. The shampoo and conditioner combination is marketed for curly and wavy hair, and is supposed to help with creating defined, manageable curls and waves. My goal with Totally Twisted is to help define the natural wave in my hair, and potentially give me that sought after bohemianesque look.

The shampoo bottle says to lather, rinse and repeat and that it works best when paired with the Totally Twisted conditioner. For my test, I followed the directions, and then proceeded to style my hair as desired. In order to define my "almost" wave, I twisted sections of my towel-dried hair away from my face, sprayed with some Herbal Essences hairspray - I like the Set Me Up spray for creating natural, soft looking waves. When my hair was completely air dry, I lightly combed through the strands, and gave my hair a quick spray to set it all in place. For me, the ultimate test is whether my hair stays in the style I've created, especially when I'm out in the Summer heat. I do have to give credit to Clairol for developing a curly/wavy hair product that seemed to help me prep my hair for the wavy style I wanted. Usually such products are meant for beauties who already have very defined waves and curls, and are looking to subdue their hair into behaving.

Will this become my shampoo and conditioner of choice though? Probably not. There are other Herbal Essences products that are better suited for my hair, and I really prefer the smells of those over the lavender-scented Totally Twisted. For now, I'll continue to use Totally Twisted, until it's time to buy some new shampoo.

Double Extend Mascara

After seeing numerous commercials for L'Oreal's Double Extend Mascara, I was both intrigued and skeptical of the product. Would this really create the illusion of lash extensions without the cost of going to the salon or was I going to be sorely disappointed as I have been with other two-step mascaras? The only way to find out was to take the plunge and buy the mascara. L'Oreal products are definitely not the least expensive drug store cosmetics; however, their quality is always impressive for the price. In my area, Double Extend sells in the $12 - $18 range of cosmetics.

Like many other two-step mascaras, Double Extend has both a white base coat, and a dark tinted top coat. The base coat covers the lashes extremely well, usually with just one coat. I find that I do need to apply two coats of the black top coat in order to ensure that the base coat is completely covered. Double Extend does a very fine job of adding length and definition to my lashes, without clumping or looking too fake and overdone. I do; however, miss the volume I get with L'Oreal's Voluminous mascara.

Double Extend is not offered as a waterproof formula, as the one "perk" as advertised is that you can gently remove the mascara with water. I typically prefer waterproof formulas, as they tend not to smudge or run with activity. With Double Extend, I don't have to worry about smudging or the dreaded "raccoon eyes", as the formula stays put on my lashes until I wash it off with water. I've even fallen asleep with my makeup still on, and the mascara still looks as great as when it's first applied. Removal is extremely easy, as with a little bit of water, the mascara "tubes" slide gently off my lashes, without leaving any residue behind.

Would I buy this product again? Most definitely. L'Oreal Double Extend works as advertised and is the must-have mascara in my makeup bag.