We have a lot of fun at Desert Bus, but we also like to reflect on the serious side of what we do here. Right now we’re sharing some of our personal stories of health and sickness, disease, recovery, and hope.

Scarcely was there a dry eye in the house when Liz shared with us her own anecdote of childhood illness, which you can read about here.

Fair warning: we’re getting pretty emotional up in here and burning through our kleenex supply like nobody’s business. We recommend having a tissue box within reach in the strongest possible terms.

So what did you miss if you’re tuning back in now?

Many fun challenges, dance parties and giveaways, the closing of several silent auctions including some amazing Craft-Along items, and…

(more…)

CTV is in the Moonbase as I write this, filming b-roll after a great interview with Kathleen. Keep an eye out for their coverage of Desert Bus for Hope 7. Locally for Vancouver Island folks, it will be on channel 12 between 5 and 6:30 p.m. PST. The segment will also be online afterward, on CTV Vancouver Island.

Lobsters clapping!

Desert Bus 007 is winding down. There are mere hours remaining in this year’s run (though we don’t know how many yet). Get your official Fangamer Desert Bus 007 T-Shirt. Profits go to Desert Bus for Hope, and the design is really neat again this year. It’s $23 USD.

Also, everyone is going to want to see the final version of Michael Lunsford’s Official Desert Bus 007 poster. A live auction for the ONLY large printed copy will take place within the last few hours of our drive. So watch the “team will bus for” number on desertbus.org, and keep an eye on the feed for when that auction will take place.

Here’s what the poster looks like now:

If you want to keep us going longer, please consider donating to the cause. We’re looking to keep kids who are in hospital as happy as games can make them (which is very).

Paul’s “Process Man” lyric rewrite contest is on now. Enter before noon PST.

Submit your version of the song, but make it about Desert Bus.

The winner gets this Baldur’s Gate 8 prize pack:

Send entries to [email protected].

We challenged you to create a six-second ad for ZombiU, and boy did you come through.

As the clear winner, Matt chose: https://vine.co/v/hFULJbvahJb by @LordGarvar.

The runner up is: https://vine.co/v/hFUEVMtDM9t by @MerPerson.

And the also awesome other entrants are:

https://vine.co/v/hFUVZKQJMuV by @2stepz

https://vine.co/v/hFUEDOZAHwF by @ArmagideonTime1

https://vine.co/v/hFU0gVQv5Fl by @Sky_rider19

And a late, extended one: http://www.yourepeat.com/watch?v=MAvH4sQXqQ4.

Congrats to @LordGarvar who gets the ZombiU prize pack, and thanks to all our entrants!

Also thank you to Joystiq for donating the prizes that inspired the fun.

Whether you’re a horrible person or a wonderful one, the live auction beginning in 15 minutes is a real paradox for you.

Cards Against Humanity Lot

Tune in to the Driver Cam and login to the IRC chat with your donor ID, so you’re ready to bid on not only the best game for bad people, but all four of its expansions, including the one that came out YESTERDAY. This game is really fun, guys, and a great way to not take political correctness too seriously. However, if you still feel a modicum of guilt at the thought of playing, consider that if you win it here in our live auction, all the proceeds go to improve the lives of sick children! You can’t feel too bad when you’re helping kids’ hospitals. It’s win/win.

-Shandi

*UPDATE* Max Temkin, one of the geniuses behind this super successful silly game, is live on the line now (with video).

In the latter hours of Matt’s driving shift, folks kept calling for him to take a dive and intentionally crash the bus. He said he would crash when the donation total reached $400,000. You really pushed, donors, and we reached that milestone before 8:20 a.m. PST–long before the end of Matt’s shift, making him the highest earning driver of the run so far. However, wishing to really etch his driver stats in history, Matt was still reluctant. When he refused to crash unless it was on his own terms (he wanted to get one more point first), Alex took matters into his own hands.

Alex pulls the plug on Matt.

Alex pulled out the controller cord, and Matt was forced to watch helplessly as chat and the Moonbase crowd alike chanted “Left, left, left, left,” until the bus came to a grinding halt. He’s now resolved to distinguish the remainder of his shift by bus stops. Are there more crashes in his future? Stay tuned, viewers, and keep that donation total climbing.

-Shandi

Steve Dengler is a geek many geeks want to be. He flies airplanes, speaks Italian and collects game memorabilia. Actually, just about anybody ought to be more like the modest man behind Dracogen Inc. He and a friend started a company straight out of university, and eventually the work paid off. Now he spends his resources beating bureaucracy, co-starring in a web comic, and overall getting good things to happen.

We can all only aspire to the levels of awesomeness and philanthropy exemplified by Dracogen, which is an organizing sponsor of Child’s Play and has provided many of the awesome auction lots we are excited to give away.

Desert Bus for Hope would like to thank Steve and Dracogen for all their support in the organization of Desert Bus for Hope.

Get yourself poké or Portal gear. Driver Cam has been so engrossing: challenges, giveaways, general goofiness. While Andy takes us through a tension-release exercise (or is it tension-retention?), I’m writing to ensure the busking doesn’t cause you to tragically miss out on silent auctions. (The “I” in this case is Shandi.)

set of 3 Pokemon Eevee-lutions Venetian Carnival Masks

by Cultureshock

Portal ‘Keep Calm’ Needlepoint

by Julisana

Pokemon coasters

by Jen Bagdasian

These auctions end in approximately 2 hours from this posting time, at 10 a.m. PST.
Check out all the silent auctions remaining here: https://desertbus.org/silent-auctions/.

Bidders away.