Legends and Killers Pack August 10, 2010

I downloaded the new Legends and Killers Pack DLC for Red Dead Redemption today from the Playstation Store. For $9.99 you get 9 new Gang Matches and Free For All locations, 8 characters from the game Red Dead Revolver, a new throwing weapon – the tomahawk, new single & multiplayer challenges and trophies.

I rarely play Gang and Free For All matches (PVP) unless the BPC is playing together. The characters from Red Dead Revolver, well, I didn’t like that game at all, so that was no big deal for me. The tomahawk is cool and I enjoy the new challenges and getting trophies. So why did I buy the DLC if it wasn’t all that interesting to me? Just because. And I was hoping that a few BPC’ers would get it too and we’d play more PVP matches. Hasn’t happened. But it is nice that I can play as Annie Stokes, a female character that dresses sensibly for being a gunslinger.

The DLC that I’m really looking forward to is the Liars and Cheats Pack, which will be available next month sometime. One of the additions will be the multiplayer version of Liars Dice and Poker, as well as horse racing against each other. I’m hoping some folks from the BPC get it so we can play against each other. I don’t know how to play poker, but in the single player version of Liars Dice, I’m pretty good.

Our Container Garden July 29, 2010

This year we decided to try out container gardening. We’ve grown tomatoes, basil, parsley and other herbs in the past, so adding a few things shouldn’t be a big deal. Our plan was to grow red & green bell peppers, cucumbers, radishes, green onions, basil, parsley and tomatoes.

We did something radical, we bought the Topsy Turvy Tomato Planter to grow the tomatoes in. Why not, right? For the containers, we went to Home Depot. We were thinking we needed something fairly large to hold all the plants in. The only thing we were finding were the huge storage containers. We decided to ask one of the employees that works in the garden area of the store. The lady that helped us was a gardener herself, which helps a lot. We told her what we were planning. She showed us a flower box that was 26 inches long and 9 inches wide. What?! Did she not listen to how many plants we were going to plant? She said everything would fit into two boxes. She explained how to organize the plants and we would be fine. Okay then. She’s the expert, right? Turns out she knew exactly what she was talking about.

Later we went to our local nursery and bought all our plants.

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• One Early Girl Tomato
• One Better Boy Tomato
• One Straight Eight Cucumber
• One sweet basil
• One parsley
• One green bell pepper
• One red bell pepper
• Two packets of bell radishes

Even though three basil seedlings had been given to us a few weeks earlier, we bought the one basil plant in case the seedlings didn’t survive.

The containers fit perfectly on the outer edge of the front porch so they're not taking up usable space.

We planted everything the way that the woman at Home Depot told us to. When it came to planting the radish seeds, we didn’t know how many seeds to put in the hole, so we put two in each. Later we found out that one would have been fine.

Cucumber on the left and green bell pepper on the right. The radish seeds are in front.

I didn’t get pictures of putting the tomato plants in the Topsy Turvy. But it wasn’t hard. Just had to be careful not to break the stem when inserting it into the bottom of the container.

Red bell pepper plant on the left, store-bought basil in the middle, seedling basil in front and green onions in the back.

We planted everything on May 15. On May 22, I saw the radishes peeking out of the soil.

These are pictures from June 8. This is the container on the left, with the cucumber, green bell pepper and radishes.

This is the  container on the right with the red bell pepper, green onions, radishes and basil.

Our first cucumber is pictured below and taken on July 3. We were very excited when we saw it.

So you see the small cucumber above? Here it is 7 days later. I can’t believe how quickly they grow.

And here are a bunch of baby cucumbers. I think we’re going to end up giving a lot of these away.

So today is July 29. This is what the container garden looks like today.

We’ve eaten some of our green onions, tomatoes and cucumbers. They were all so fresh and delicious.

Of course we’ve been using the basil and parsley a lot. We’ve made pesto with the basil and have added it to several dishes. I love caprese. The way I make it is slice some tomatoes, sprinkle a bit of salt on them, top with fresh mozzarella cheese, top that with fresh basil leaves and olive oil. I could eat it everyday. Delicious!

SVER Level 43 July 13, 2010

I haven’t played MAG in over a month. Red Dead Redemption has had my full attention but last night was MAG Monday in my gaming club. I was home so I logged on to play.

I thought it best to go through the training mission before I got on the battlefield since it has been awhile and I’ve forgotten what button does what on the controller. Training has improved 100%. Zipper finally created training that is useful.

Basic Training Screen

You start out by learning to crouch, go prone, jump and sprint.

Start of Basic Training in S.V.E.R.

Then you learn how to resupply your ammo and health. After that you are instructed to shoot mines with your primary weapon then your pistol. When I shot the first mine, it showed that I got 5 XP and 5 FRAGO XP. Cool! Little did I know that it doesn’t count toward your actual XP score.

Mission screen explains what the objectives are

Throwing grenades is next, followed by arming a charge on a gate to blow it up. Then you climb a ladder onto a bunker, jump off and repair a motor pool.

The last objective in training is to activate communications and you’ve completed the session.

This screen tells you all about the gear that you can use and how to use it.

Zipper has added descriptions for Missions, Gear and Leadership which would have been nice to have when I first started playing so I’d have some sort of inkling on what I’m supposed to be doing.

The Leadership screen explains the tools you have at your disposal if you're a squad leader, platoon leader or commanding officer.

 I also noticed that paratroopers have red triangles above them so it makes them easier to snipe at while they’re descending to the ground. I should know, I got sniped twice in a row. I moved my respawn location after that.

After I completed the training mission, I went into a Suppression mission to get used to playing before I started Sabotage or Domination. Good thing, because I wasn’t doing much killing at first.

As much as I like the SVER faction, I’ll be glad to get back to Raven because that’s the faction my gaming club has chosen. There were only 2 of us playing SVER last night. Everyone else was Raven. I still have a way to go before I hit level 60.

RDR – 100% Completion – Spoiler Alert! June 30, 2010

This afternoon I finished the single player game.

I have to say, the ending was sad and unexpected. SPOILER ALERT! Do not continue reading if you don’t want to know what the ending is.

The mission starts out with John telling his son Jack how well he’s doing around the ranch and that someday it will be his.

A couple minutes later you hear Uncle in the background telling John he needs to come outside.

You can see Uncle through the window

John runs outside and takes the telescope from Uncle. What he sees is not good at all. The army is coming after him.

They run into the house. John tells his family to stay inside. But of course, Jack grabs a rifle and joins his father outside.

After killing a couple dozen soldiers, John and his family make their way to the barn. John tells Jack and Abigail to ride as far away as they can and that he’ll catch up to them. Now at this point I knew something bad was going to happen.

After they ride off, John takes a moment to bow his head. I’m sure he knows what’s in store for him once he walks out the door.

He opens the doors slowly and walks out. About 20 men are waiting for him with their guns aimed and ready to fire.

The game then puts you into slow motion with John pulling his gun and getting off a couple of shots but then he is blasted, blood spurting everywhere.

John finally drops to his knees and falls over. He’s dead. No way! The main character dead!! Does this mean no more RDR ever again?! I can’t believe Rockstar wasn’t going to do a RDR 2 in the future. Plus, how am I supposed to finish the game and get the challenges and trophies I need if John is dead?

Anyway, the federal agent Edgar Moss  is quite pleased with himself and lights a cigar.

After the army turns and walks away, we join Abigail and Jack galloping on the horse. Abigail tells Jack to turn the horse around and head back to the farm. They find John lying on the ground in a pool of blood.

The next scene shows Abigail and Jack standing at John’s grave. I believe he’s buried on their farm at Beecher’s Hope. I can’t believe I haven’t looked for the grave site yet. I’ll have to do that soon.

As that scene fades away, a new scene showing John’s grave appears. You can tell time has passed because the wood is gray and cracked. A man is standing there. You can only see the back of him. He puts on a hat. Hey! Wait a minute! That’s John’s hat and the hair looks just like John’s! Didn’t he die in a hail of bullets? Well, the man turns around and….it’s Jack, wearing his Dad’s hat.

I guess the game isn’t over after all. Whew! Now I’m sure there will be a RDR 2. I’m very happy about that. I’ll say though, Jack’s voice is annoying to me. Not always, but when he says certain things it just sounds awful. I guess I’ll get used to it.

Now I’ve got challenges to complete and multiplayer missions to do so I can get the platinum trophy.

At the Marina June 20, 2010

Enough rain already! I finally got to see our boat today! Been in the water a month already and it’s the first day I’ve been able to get to it. I was sick, it rained a lot and the river was high. Now I’m feeling much better and the river is back at it’s normal level.

After giving the boat a thorough cleaning, we sat back and enjoyed relaxing on the boat. It always feels like being on vacation whenever I’m on it. I had my back to the bank and S said “Look behind you”. I turned around to see a parade of geese.

There we so many of them. I took some video as well as pictures. They were cute bobbing their heads back and forth, cleaning underneath their wings and speaking goose speak.

RDR – Side Missions and Mini Games June 12, 2010

This game is has so many side missions and mini games to keep you busy for a long time.

One of the first side missions I came across was Nightwatch at MacFarlane’s Ranch. You are instructed to follow a dog because he’ll sniff out trouble. Ha, ha. 

He finds things like a thief trying to steal a horse, coyotes stealing chickens, two guys fighting, a gang harassing a woman, a robbery in progress and someone breaking into a window. Your job is to stop the bad guys. I wait until I have a lasso so I can hogtie them. You get more money leaving them alive rather than killing them. The only one situation I kill is the gang harassing the woman. Too many of them to hogtie. Take too long and John gets killed. Nightwatch mission over.

One of my favorite side missions is bounty hunting. Bounty posters can be found in major towns and are hung up periodically. Each one give you information needed to find the outlaw. Again, I wait until I have the lasso before starting the bounty hunting missions. Once you accept the bounty, the map will show you where they are located. Ride there and kill everyone but the target. More money is awarded for bringing them in alive.

Just lasso the target, hogtie him, put him on your horse and head to town. On the way, his gang will be after you. Just shoot them and keep going. It’s always good to have a fast horse.

Those are just examples of some of the side missions in the game.

There are 6 mini games to play; poker, liar’s dice, five-finger fillet, arm wrestling, blackjack and horse shoes. Certain towns will have one or several of the games. For instance, Armadillo only has five-finger fillet and poker.

I like blackjack and liar’s dice. I never heard of liar’s dice until I played it in the game. I had no clue as to what I was doing, but after playing a few times, I got the gist of it.

I don’t know how to play poker, so when I win, it’s by sheer luck. If you have the Gentleman’s Attire outfit, you can cheat at poker. Don’t get caught though or you’ll be forced to duel with the guy that caught you cheating. However, this is one way to whittle away the players so you have a better chance at winning and getting a trophy.

Five finger fillet is hard after you’ve beaten a couple of people. I can do the first round because there are only two buttons to push and the rhythm is easy to follow. After that, forget it. I guess I’m just not coordinated enough.

Liar's Dice

Five Finger Fillet

Now I haven’t played horseshoes since I was little and that doesn’t count because all I did was toss the thing. Since I’ve played it in the game, I’ve learned the rules of the game. I’m tempted to go out and buy a horseshoe game so we can play it at the next Derby party! Forget corn hole.

Arm wrestling isn’t very hard once you get the hang of it. The trick is to make sure the strength bar is full and use the special move when you can. The more you bet, the harder it is. Same goes with horseshoes and five-finger fillet.

So those are just a few of the fun things to do when you’re not playing the primary missions. Can you tell I love this game?

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Arm wrestling

Horseshoes

Poker Texas Hold'em

Red Dead Redemption = Fantastic Game! June 5, 2010

I have a new favorite game of all time; Red Dead Redemption. With the exception of a few glitches here and there, this game is absolutely awesome! There is so much to this game…main story missions, side missions, challenges, mini games, multiplayer challenges, that I’ll never truly finish it.  I wonder if anyone will?

Story starts with this beautiful scene of a paddlewheeler.

The story begins with John Marston getting off a paddlewheeler in Blackwater. Some of the people you see in the crowd you will run into again later in the story.

Once off the boat, John is being escorted to a train by federal agents. They are forcing him to search for his old gang of outlaws by holding his family hostage and threatning to kill lthem if he doesn’t bring members of his gang in.

On the train, John overhears a conversation between a young woman (Jenny) and a minister. Later in the game, John will meet Jenny at an odd location. There are several people on the train the he will eventually come into contact with one way or another.

His journey ends in the New Austin frontier town of Armadillo. This is where you gain control of the character and begin your adventure. Pop ups in the corner of the screen tells you how to move your character along with other information.

Inside the saloon, you meet up with the guide (Jake) that will take you to Fort Mercer, where Bill Williamson, a member of your gang, is holed up.

Of course, things don’t work out like John expected and he gets shot. Which amazes me because throughout the rest of the game, he draws his weapon quickly and shoots accurately.

After being left for dead, Bonnie MacFarlane comes along and has her hired hand pick John up and load him into the wagon. And so it begins…

Playing Red Dead Redemption for Charity May 24, 2010

My gaming club organized a 24 hour gaming event to raise money for the Child’s Play charity. The charity improves children’s lives with toys and games. Since Red Dead Redemption had just been released and over 40 of us owned the game, it was decided that it would be the game to play.

It started at noon on Saturday, May 22 and ended at noon on Sunday, May 23. We had lots of people participate. Some of our members, probably about 8 or 9, played for the entire 24 hours. I played about 12 hours total. My eyes were bugging out and my hands were hurting, and ached for days afterwards. Not used to playing that long.

Anyway, we raised $1800. Not bad for a first time charity event. Unfortunately, I didn’t get any screen shots of game play during the event. But everyone had a great time, got a bunch of trophies and played for a wonderful cause.

RDR First Impression May 23, 2010

I received Red Dead Redemption on Friday. I was thrilled to find it in the mailbox, but surprisingly, I resisted the urge to tear open the packaging and pop the game into the PS3. Instead, I ate lunch and read through the user guide. By the time I was done reading, I couldn’t wait to start playing. This game is going to be fantastic. 

Red Dead Redemption Map

 

I unfolded the map that was included and was amazed how huge this open world game map is. I think I read somewhere that it’s the largest open world map to date. All those places to explore! With names like Bear Claw Camp, an area where bears are abundant, and The Hanging Rock where a noose hangs from a tree on a large rock. 

 

I put the game in, it went through the installation process and then downloaded an update. I watched the opening story and was very impressed with the graphics. I played through the first 3 or 4 tutorial type missions that introduce you to navigating and interacting with the environment, people and animals. Then it was time to go exploring. I set a waypoint and galloped off. 

A saloon

 

I found flowers that you can pick and then sell them to a doctor. Animals that you kill for meat and skin then sell those to a local shopkeeper. I found people to interact with along the trail. Some need help in one way or another and others are sitting around a campfire and will tell you a tale. That’s just the beginning. There is so much to do in this game it will take months to finish. And I’m glad. 

Bonnie MacFarlane - owner of MacFarlane's Ranch and the first person that John works for.

Boat is finally in the water May 20, 2010

Finally! The weather has been so bad and the river has been very high, but despite the water being 34 feet now (it’s normally 26), we got the boat put in the water. I’m a happy woman!

Finally in the slip. Ready for summer to arrive.

Now all we have to do is put the bimini top on and bring all the gear aboard. Of course she needs a good washing after being stored all winter. But that will have to wait until we get some sun and warm weather.