Archive for 2010
December 21, 2010 6:03 pm
Posted by: Jer

AUCTION NOW LIVE

The Creepy Doll is back! Again! The bad news is: this means that the Desert Bus auction winner of Creepy Doll #31 has mysteriously backed out of the bid, making Tally’s craftsy bunny ears droop with sadness. The GOOD news is: this gives all of you one last chance to own the last of this limited run of terrifyingly adorable dolls.

This is your official stand-up-and-take-notice warning that we will be silent auctioning Creepy Doll #31 next week. Starting at 12am on Monday, Dec. 20 and going until midnight on Thursday, Dec. 23, the Creepy Doll will be up for auction online, with proceeds being donated to Child’s Play (naturally). Watch this blog and the Desert Bus and LoadingReadyRun twitter accounts for further details as to where the bidding will take place.

Keep in mind, this is a very special Creepy Doll. Not only is he the 31st of only 30 numbered dolls, he also comes with all the festive paraphernalia he’s stolen from the other holidays. His hands even have velcro sewn on so he can hold these items. The winner of this auction will receive:

– the 31st Creepy Doll (numbered on the bottom)
– his scythe
– a Valentine’s Day box of chocolates*
– a St. Patrick’s Day 4-leaf clover
– a Thanksgiving drumstick*
– a Christmas Santa hat
– a Halloween pumpkin
– and a special Creepy Doll coffee cup sleeve, so he can stare accusingly as you drink your morning coffee or tea. Do you really need that much honey?

Bonus: Because this is a very special auction, and because she’s been at her incessant crafting again, Tally is going to sweeten the pig… with a pig! Should the bidding for the doll reach $1000, the winner will also receive his or her choice of one of the three plush pigs pictured below, also crafted by Tally, in post-event honour of Desert Bus.

So your instructions are: Read blog, bid on doll, get pig.

November 27, 2010 12:05 pm
Posted by: Jer

Two days out from Desert Bus, and we’re still wrapping up the remainder of the administration. Shipping, inventory, etc. are occupying most of our time, and we’re doing our best to get everything out the door ASAP. Some general housekeeping notes to take care of:

IF YOU WON A PRIZE OR AUCTION AND HAVE NOT SENT US YOUR SHIPPING INFORMATION, YOU NEED TO EMAIL [email protected] RIGHT NOW.

We can’t send a prize to somebody we don’t have an address for, so if you won something and haven’t sent us your address, it’s a pretty good sign that we need to talk to you.

If you have sent in your shipping info, we have your information so keep calm and carry on: there’s no reason to send more email.

IF YOU WON A PRIZE OR AUCTION, WE WILL GET YOUR THINGS TO YOU ASAP

Sadly, we cannot guarantee that anything will get where it needs to be before the holidays, but we’re doing the best we can to get everything out the door over the next few days. After that, it’s up the postal service. Depending on the circumstances, you may receive your items bundled or separately.

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO CLAIM YOUR DONATION ON YOUR TAXES:

If you live in the US, you can claim your donation to Child’s Play on your taxes. If you live elsewhere in the world, you are welcome to try, though your results may vary, as Child’s Play is a registered charity in the US. Use your PayPal receipt as proof of payment: Child’s Play’s tax identity number is 20-3584556. For more information, please email [email protected].

IF YOU HAVE SUGGESTIONS FOR NEXT YEAR’S DESERT BUS FOR HOPE:

We would love to hear from you! The large, projected chat and the silent auctions are both are based on suggestions from our viewers, and have been hugely successful. We take your feedback seriously, so if you have a suggestion, please email it to [email protected].

IF YOU MISS US AND WANT TO SEE MORE FROM US:

Please check out our sketch comedy and game video series at loadingreadyrun.com. We produce new stuff every week, and have a forum frequented by many of your friends from the Desert Bus chat. We’d love to see you there!

Thanks to all of you for watching and participating this year–have a great holiday, and we hope to see you next year!

November 27, 2010 9:00 am
Posted by: Jer

About 2/3 of the way through Desert Bus, the whole crew was getting pretty tired, and pretty stressed out. We thought some “adult” beverages would the things we needed to soothe our jangled nerves. We put out a call for cocktails and mocktails that captured the spirit of Desert Bus, and here they are:

Alcoholic:

Winner:

Mark’s Deceptive Sunrise

1 part Drambuie

2 parts ginger ale

splash cherry juice

Runners Up:

Katherine’s Sweetness for the Children Cocktail

1/2 oz of Pineapple Juice

1/2 oz Melon Liquior

1/2 oz peach snappes

1/2 oz 7up

Jillian’s  – The Bug Splat

2 parts Midori

1 part Limoncello

1 part gin

Non-Alcoholic:

Winner:

Leigh’s CHOCOLATE BUS

orange juice

chocolate milk

(note – this will curdle, but tastes like drinking a chocolate orange)

Runners Up:

Beth’s Las Vegas Lights (or 1 point) – Non-alcoholic:

1 oz lemon juice

3 oz cranberry juice

1 oz apple juice

1/4-1/2 oz grenadine

Garnish with 2 pieces colourful candy (gummy bears, skittles, etc)

Gareth’s Desert Sunset

Arizona Iced Tea

Orange Juice

(super boring, but therefore very much in flavour for Desert Bus)

November 26, 2010 9:04 pm
Posted by: Jer

Noble intentions aside, as  the event progressed this year, it became more and more difficult to stay on top of the huge amount of media coverage we received, both from the bigger blogs and websites and the smaller, personal domains. There are not enough good things I can say about the folks who covered us and helped spread the word about Desert Bus, and while I don’t have time to go into detail, I would like to link back to a as many as I can. Even after scouring the web to the best of my abilities, I don’t think I could possibly find every article, but here are what I hope to be most of them.

Again, thanks so much to everyone, and if you’re reading this, please go check out these articles: there’s a lot of fantastic and very creative coverage here, that I wish we’d had time, in the heat of the moment, to link back to. Also check out my previous press roundups here and here for the rest of this year’s coverage!
November 26, 2010 3:59 pm
Posted by: Paul

I think, in this case, we can all agree that Team Cheese is the clear winner, but let’s have a look at what happens when Ashton and Kroze are forced to go up against it, mono-a-mono-style.

November 25, 2010 3:34 pm
Posted by: Paul

It’s over: Desert Bus 2010 has come, it has earned an unfathomable amount of money for Childs Play, and it is now ready to disappear into the night. Thanks you all for making this year’s event such a  resounding success. We are all very tired and about to get some sleep, but stay tuned tomorrow for a bit more closure, after we’ve all picked ourselves off the ground. With $194 000 in donations, this is (again) the most successful Desert Bus ever. Once the e-cheque payments from paypal clear, we are pretty sure we will have crossed $200 000.

That is amazing–you are amazing. More specific thank yous coming soon (along with a bunch of outstanding blog content).

Thanks so much for watching, and we’ll see you all soon!

November 25, 2010 3:27 pm
Posted by: Jer

Ok, we entered the crazy zone a long time ago: thanks to your help, we have raised a truly crazy amount of money for child’s play! You guys are amazing: thank you so much for making Desert Bus such a huge success!

November 25, 2010 7:28 am
Posted by: Graham

The other night when Penn called us, he wanted to give us something really special. So we brainstormed with the crew, the chat and Penn himself, and came up with the “The Desert Bus Experience.”

This package includes an envelope of sand from the real, actual Nevada desert, a pine tree air freshener, and an actual bus ticket from Las Vegas, NV to Tucson, AZ (valid only for 9 days from purchase, so…)

This auction will be happening close to the end, and it may be one of the silliest auction we’ve ever had, but it’s the most in keeping with the spirit of the game.

Everything is signed by P&T themselves, and will be shipped direct from Vegas to the winner.

Huge thanks to P&T for this!

November 25, 2010 7:21 am
Posted by: Graham

We’re on the final stretch, but before we stop, we’ve got the final version of Michael Lunsford’s amazing poster!

Here it is, it is amazing!

We’ll be printing two of these. One for us, cause it’s awesome. And the other is for you!

The auction will be running within the next couple hours, please BID_ highly!

November 25, 2010 4:13 am
Posted by: Ashton

Because there were so many requests, here is a shortlist of the most used music tracks from the auctions.

Anarchy In The U.W. (Battle In Hell) – Devil May Cry OST
Atlas – Battles
Battle Theme: Final Fantasy VII
Battlefield – Smash Brothers Melee OST
Big Boss Confrontation – Super Metroid OST
Boss (Neves) – Zone of the Enders OST
Dance of Curse – Escaflowne OST
Decisive Battle – Evangelion OST
Frigga – Corner Stone Cues
Through the Fire and the Flames – Dragonforce
Boss Battle – Final Fantasy VII OST
Don’t Be Afraid – Final Fantasy VIII OST
One Winged Angel – Final Fantasy Reunion Tracks
Fury of the Storm – Dragonforce
How to Play – Smash Brothers OST
Nagato Asakura – Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya OST
Pokemon Battle – Smash Brothers OST
Revived Power – Roar of the Earth (Shadow of the Colossus OST)
Rush! Issei & Yohshi – Giant Robo OST2
Yell Dead Cell – Metal Gear Solid 2 OST
Spaceship in the Dawn – Project A-Ko OST
Demon Emperor Mundus Battle 3: Underground – Devil May Cry OST
Sure Promise – Big O ost
Ten Years Kashmir: II – Corner Stone Cues
A Violent Encounter – Roar of the Earth (Shadow of the Colossus OST)