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By definition there is no redemption here.

At first I was going to completely avoid Red Dead Redemption. After not entirely enjoying Grand Theft Auto 4 and completely avoiding it’s $DLC, Red Dead was poised to be forgotten. Then I read this (at the time I read up to the spoiler warning…beware). He summed up exactly what turned me off to Niko’s plight and his write up made it seem Red Dead attempts to correct the wrongs of the past. After continuously reading and hearing good things about the game it ended being a must play…

…that I ultimately completed to 100%

Name a video game where the main character is a married man with high school aged child. I can think of one (Kaim f/ Lost Odyssey) but honestly most antagonists are blank slates in gaming. Vagabonding men driven to get the girl, save the world and assault anybody in the way. Rockstar must understand who their target audience is more then I think. For John Marston’s his past we cannot change, his present we are lightly able to mold towards his unavoidable future. His family is in danger and he’s forced to confront his past. Change is hard and the times are changing.  In Marston, for any adult, there are bits of his struggles in all of us. At the core this is the best aspect of Red Dead Redemption.

This all doesn’t come without faults. The first few hours of the game are extraordinarily drab. Everything starts really slow and the setup with your first target comes to an anticlimactic resolution that’s downright laughable. The beginning tutorials felt laborious at the time  and your initial drop in the first town I found to be boring. After playing the first two hours I had to stop and take a nap.

When the game allows you to start getting sidetracked is when things start to get interesting. Stranger missions, animal hunting, treasure collecting, sightseeing, “Red Dead X-Files”, Social Club Challenges, mini-games, hideouts. That is just scratching the surface as there’s a lot to do in New Austin and most of it memorable and slightly ridiculous.  Everything “optional” in Red Dead eclipses Grand Theft Auto in almost every way. I finished GTA4 at at 65% completion percentage primarily focusing on the main missions and events that resulted in achievements. In Red Dead the 100% requirement is much less grindish and more about exploring the world but a good way. I would say it’s impossible without a guide to hit 100% in GTA4 where as in RDR using the packaged map, Social Club tools and in-game map it’s entirely possible minus a guide. Attempting to reach the 100% goal is about more then just earning the achievement I promise.

Moving from the first territory of the game New Austin (America) to Nuevo Paraiso (Mexico) for some players is the breaking point for many. The terrain is rougher, larger and vertical. Personally it was a mixed bag. Traveling to the highest and demanding areas I found to be fun. The vista’s in the game can be breathtaking much like in GTA where voyaging to highest building in an area has the feeling they must be conquered.  The Mexico areas  have their own flair with different music, random events, and gangs but many of the missions were more of the same combat wise and felt mostly detached from the main storyline. One mission takes place right near a large bridge and starts with the promise of using dynamite to take out a convoy. Sadly this mission didn’t result in ripping off the bridge scene from The Wild Bunch. Of all the nods to movie Westerns I was hoping for more from that movie then any.

The final location West Elizabeth (a accumulation of anything Northern America) is the games smallest and most focused area. The best missions and emotional moments come in the final act. The result of the last combat mission is to be expected but still entirely haunting. By the time of the game’s primary climax I’ve spent over a day and a half with John Marston playing the devil to the worlds advocate. I’ve saved countless women from certain death but also hogtied them and dropped them on train tracks to be turned into red mist. I’ve taken down corrupt governments but possibly promoted even more corrupt men into power. I’ve attempted to absolve my past but in the process mowed down countless human lives in attempts to earn mine back. As with almost any video game rooted in violence and choice who knows if I wore the halo or the horns.

When it’s all said and done I honestly can’t think of one thing Red Dead Redemption does that isn’t an improvement over GTA4. Marston as a character is an improvement over Niko again in every way possible. He’s not perfect and most of the time hardly sympathetic but Rockstar is getting there. My hopes for GTA5 is a co-op game staring a pair of brothers that are 100% justified in their actions. RDR hits that maybe 50% of the time and that consistency  I believe will always be a problem with open world games.  I’m hoping this game doesn’t get glossed over as “Grand Theft Auto Horse’ed” or viewed as a step down form that series because it’s better.

As a younger man diet was never anything I worried about. Time moves forward and I’ve found a large interest in processed foods, ingredients, and ultimately how deceiving food can be. After watching Food Inc and reading Food Rules that two hour commitment was enough to make one frightened to eat lunch. After reading a blurb about “What You Don’t Know About Orange Juice” was enough for me to be interested in the history and creation of one of my favorite beverages severed cold.

Squeezed by Alissa Hamilton: The book ended up being a lot different then I thought it would be. Going into it I thought (as I’m sure most would) the book would answer the question “Is orange juice good for me”? If they were going to write an entire book about a beverage that would be the first question I would want answered.

By the end this question is not answered, but honestly it’s not a big deal because the author answers it here.

Squeezed is more about the history, psychology, and business behind the orange juice industry. My favorite part of the book was the explanation of the creation of pasteurized juice and how food labels can be so deceiving.  Seriously who has a freaking clue how most food is made and how much garbage can be put into something that is labeled as healthy.

I could explain the book more so if you read the Q&A link and found some of what I’m talking about here interesting the book is for you. Another short read the text is slightly over 200 pages not including timeline, notes, and index. Recommended here’s an excerpt from the Q&A but takes content found in the book.

DEAS: What isn’t straightforward about orange juice?

HAMILTON: It’s a heavily processed product. It’s heavily engineered as well. In the process of pasteurizing, juice is heated and stripped of oxygen, a process called deaeration, so it doesn’t oxidize. Then it’s put in huge storage tanks where it can be kept for upwards of a year. It gets stripped of flavor-providing chemicals, which are volatile. When it’s ready for packaging, companies such as Tropicana hire flavor companies such as Firmenich to engineer flavor packs to make it taste fresh. People think not-from-concentrate is a fresher product, but it also sits in storage for quite a long time.

GROSS……but so good I love OJ so much in the mornings with toast and coffee.

A sale sign recently made for me, the “vanlandws” product. Not a bad deal to be honest.

Does anybody know of a clothes for cash place for mens clothing in Grand Rapids? I don’t care about how much money I can get mostly I just want to get more then nothing over a donation to goodwill/salvation army. Some of my clothes will be donated but I have brand new unworn clothing I would love to make a few bucks on. If anybody knows of anything leave in the comments and thank you very much. Better posts coming soon…..

This past Saturday, Jason, Rusty, jja, and myself joined forces against an unholy scourge to save a beleaguered bunch of traitorous villagers. It might sound like we joined the armed services but instead we gathered at White Cap Comics for a game of Dungeons and Dragons. I love playing all types of games and I’m up for trying anything so I figured I would meet up and try a game of D&D.

wow

It’s hard to write about something that I don’t fully understand. There seems to be over five “rule books” and even the veterans in the middle a game need to refer to the documentation. The basics are simple and being able to quickstart with a premade character was nice. Since I was a little late to the game I was provided “Kalen” the “Male Half-Elf Ardent” as my avatar. All my abilities and skills were set for me and my miniature had a very long sword even though my game day card said I had a “Defensive Halberd”

I was actually kinda shocked how quickly I was able to pick up the game. At the start I enjoyed the background of the game and the narrative. The DM told us that our group has awoken in a hole not knowing how we got there. Clearly everybody took this to be we had a hard night of drinking and some jerkoff threw us into a cave to die. Quickly we got into battle and with some help I had a few epic turns. Anybody playing in an understanding group with patience I could see any willing player being able to sit down and pick up the game as quickly like I did. Clearly the DM was using the game to challenge the people in our group who has played before but I was honestly nervous about going there playing like an idiot and everybody hating me.

To put things simple D&D is just pure insanity. The game we played took over six hours and that felt really long. We played in a group of six players and it could take awhile for a players next turn to come around. Some turns could be over in 5 seconds with a bad roll. Of course this comes from somebody who only knows the bare basics of the game so take what I say with a grain of salt.

After finding out what the game is all about I do find it interesting. The community seems to be very passionate about the game. The place we went there were young people, old people, men, women, nerdy looking guys, and non-nerdy looking guys. After playing Xbox Live for a bit and in almost all public games getting grief from the lowest common denominator of humanity the welcoming environment was comforting. The DM was helpful and answered all questions without making me feel like a dillhole.

Will I play again? Of course if it came up I would absolutely sit at the table again. At this point I don’t think I’ll actively set out to find a game or a group to play with but next time I get to the GRPL I’m going to check to see if they have the rule book so I can educate myself before my next game. After I get my tax returns I’m going to buy a miniature and some dice because they are cheap and I thought they were kinda cool.

JJA wrote a post (here, here) about our game and worth checking out for photos of the game location.

“Ok, I’m going to use my Demoralizing Strike on the main guy using two powerpoints. 27 vs ac?”

“Thats a hit”

Oh brother…

A month ago I posted about registering for the 2010 Spectrum Heath Irish Jig. This past Saturday was the race. Thankfully I was able to finish and ran my best 5K since high school.

The weather was crap. 30’s and snowy and I’m sure that effected the turnout to a degree but still there was a lot of people. Really I didn’t prepare for this run at all. I did maybe three workouts since writing about it last month. Overall I’m pretty happy with my time. There were a few parts on the track I got stuck behind a few slow people but that didn’t hurt my time overall. At the gun I was all the way in the back where I should have moved up forward to the start. Next races will be the Town Crier Race in Saugatuck April 10th and the 5/3 Riverbank Run May 8th.

After the race I ate two pieces of cake. That is all.

Today for the first time since I believe October I attempted some sort of athletic activity. After having a busy winter and holiday season consisting of driving, loafing, family, friends, work, and video games today felt like the right time to get back out there and at least attempt to be healthy. Somebody told me if you are able to run a mile straight without stopping you are not out of shape and I guess I fit that bill. It was rough but I was able to get though some resemblance of a workout today.

Today i decided to register for the 2010 Spectrum Health Irish Jig. The race is on Saturday, March 20th 2010. Mens race starts at 9am, and the woman’s race starts at 9:35am. Back in 2005 I ran this race after not even coming close to training for it (as a 32:00 time proves) and after failing to do any races in 2009 I wanted to make sure to do at least one this year. The Irish Jig is only a 5k so I should be able to finish without a problem. Here is the .PDF with all the information that I was unable to find posted publicly online but is making the rounds at work. Here is the link to register.

At this time I’m planning on just walking down to the starting line but if anybody wants to run together or meet up personally I think that would be really cool.