At this point, the folks at Rockstar Games can do no wrong. Red Dead Redemption is their latest, a western set in the year 1911. To sum it up, think of the game as Grand Theft Auto (GTA) set in the old west. Instead of jacking cars, you’re jacking horses.

You play as Alan Wake, a best-selling author with writers block that is encouraged by his wife to take a vacation to Bright Falls, a small town that seems tucked away in the Pacific Northwest. But as soon as they arrive, things get a bit weird.

The Laser Tour Denver show sold out about three weeks ago. With a tour that features B.o.B. who has the No. 1 hit in the country with “Nothin’ On You,” and headliner Lupe Fiasco who has two superb albums under his belt, the question comes to mind, who really sold out this show? Regardless if you came to see either B.o.B. (also known as Bobby Ray) or Lupe, you were in for a surprisingly magnificent and energetic live show from both.

For those who are unfamiliar with Aussie singer-songwriter Sia and her music, she’s the type of artist that dig deeps and delivers emotional, soul-searching, introspective lyrics over subdued electronic beats and melodies. Listening to her music, you’d think that during a live show she’d be the Fiona Apple-type of performer that is so self-absorbed and emotionally fragile, she could possibly break down on stage. That is so not the case and quite the opposite.

Splinter Cell: Conviction was originally scheduled to hit store shelves way back in 2007. But after some gameplay issues, UbiSoft developers went back to the drawing board — and it’s a good thing they did. Conviction is hands down the best game of the franchise and will definitely influence games that come after it.

While Dan Ericson was attending Arapahoe Community College to tighten up his graphic design skills, he didn’t expect a simple homework assignment to shape his career as an artist. “I was doing a project for a regular drawing class; it was portraits of people,” Ericson says. “I ran out of supplies in the middle of the night and the project was due the next morning. So I just grabbed the next best thing, which was a street sign that was outside. So I grabbed it, painted a portrait of Ice Cube on it and got a horrible grade.”

Boulder-based NPR and public radio music show, eTown, just got a big boost from one of its biggest fans. The Boedecker Foundation dropped some cash yesterday towards eTown host Nick Forster’s plans to build eTown Hall, an arts and performance space and community center to be located at the historic church building on 16th and Spruce in downtown Boulder.

It’s apparent that Google Maps already has the street map thing down. Now they’re moving on to bike trails. Google announced this week that they have added biking directions to Google Maps with Boulder one of the top cities on the list. Google partnered with Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, a nonprofit that creates bike trails from former rails lines, to get information on all of the nation’s bike trails.

Singer, songwriter and fiddle player extraordinaire Carrie Rodriguez is kind of lonely. She’s currently on the Acoustic Brotherhood Tour with Los Lonely Boys and Alejandro Escovedo and is the only female among the 30 or so men traveling with the tour.

The Crystal Grotto is an igloo auditorium at Beaver Creek Resort at the end of the Centennial Ski Lift and across from the Spruce Saddle Restaurant. Every weekend, the venue offers $10, 45-minute performances at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. for guests with lift tickets or foot passes.