Desert Bus for Hope is supported by many fantastic humans behind the scenes. And supporting those humans are their furry friends! We asked the volunteers and mods to introduce us to their pals... and we got so many submissions! We'll be posting these on a recurring basis throughout the run.
Flynn
from Sarah Toney
This is Flynn, he is our happy little guy who will follow you around like a shadow with his full moon eyes.
Birdy and Darcy
from Sarah Toney
Birdy (orange) is 5 lbs smaller than Darcy but he runs the cat tree. Darcy is also a little shadow (like Flynn) but he is much more vocal about it (especially when you go into any room without him.)
Persephone
from Erika Cole
This is Persephone. She is very nervous around new people, but she is super sweet and cuddly once she is used to you.
Baby
from Az Martin
This is Baby, but he's also an old man, and loves sunshine, chin scritches, and his heating pad.
Hobbles, Simba, Daisy, Tigger, Princess, Leia, Precious, Maddie, and Bit Bit
from Admiral Memo
In order...
Hobbles: Loves sleeping on the box of VHS tapes. Name is from when we rescued him with a busted leg. He no longer actually hobbles.
Simba: Quite friendly. Wants to play with everyone.
Daisy: The biggest dog is a scaredy dog.
Tigger (aka Big Tig): He's the king of the cats, but defers to Princess.
Princess: Queen of the kitties. Loves her daddy.
Leia (sadly ~6 months left to live): A regal gem who will sadly go before we are ready. Loves the sun.
Precious (aka McMuffin): Loves tummy scratches. Picked up in the McDonald's parking lot.
Maddie: Too friendly for her own good. Occasionally gets beat up when she tries to play with the cats.
Bit Bit: Thinks she's the queen of the kitties, until Princess puts her in her place.
We'd like to take a moment to thank one of our sponsors of this year's event, and founders of Desert Bus for Hope: LoadingReadyRun!
Founded in 2003, LoadingReadyRun started as a creative outlet for co-founders Graham Stark and Paul Saunders to fulfill their desire to make funny videos. Since then, LRR has grown into an internet comedy destination. Inspired in name and appearance by the Commodore 64 Home Computer System, LRR is a site run by (and for) geeks. They create videos and stream games because they love them, and they’re passionate about comedy. Today, they produce multiple live broadcasts, online shows, and podcasts, including: CheckPoint, Crap Shots, LoadingReadyLive, Road Quest, Qwerpline, CommodoreHustle, The Panelysts, and Friday Nights.
Thank you, LoadingReadyRun, for your continued support of Desert Bus for Hope!
We're excited to reveal a second code drop for Idle Champions of the Forgotten Realms!
Use code SHAK-ADHA-NIDB-2022 to unlock D'Hani, Shaka, 3 Gold D'Hani Chests, and 3 Gold Shaka chests in Idle Champions! This code expires on November 26th at 8am PST.
And in case you missed it, check out this post for information on the first code drop from earlier this week.
Thank you Idle Champions of the Forgotten Realm for your support of Desert Bus for Hope!
Oh, silly James. Have you not learned by now that you don't challenge chat? Because James was so bold as to challenge chat for donations before the event began, he has spent all shift as today's driver.
Here's some more of what you've missed during today's Dawn Guard...
Day 4 of Dawn Guard Coffee Pong! James gets to figure out how to play coffee pong while driving the bus at the same time.
It's time for the FEUD!
And the feud winners got donuts!
Ken Steacy joined us via telepresence robot!
We check in on the Minecraft server.
And, Liz turns into a bug splat.
Remember, for the latest updates, stay tuned to desertbus.org. You can also catch up on the latest #DB2022 happenings around the web...
- Visit YouTube for the latest video highlights from the Video Strike Team (VST).
- Check out photos from this year at photos.desertbus.org.
- Be our friend on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
- And, of course, the live stream is always available at desertbus.org and twitch.tv/desertbus.
Earlier today in Dawn Guard, we challenged the community to submit their interpretation of "Coffee Art." Here's the winning submission, from mysterweb:
Congratulations! Here's some additional honorable mentions from the community...
by TeapotMimic
by illuviel (xe/they)
by Jaqspur (they/them)
by Dal (they/them)
by Painted Puffling (she/her)
by Roverandom
So we're here again, ready and waiting for the next silent auctions to end. Are you ready? Have you gotten your bid in yet (if you can or want to)? If not you better get over there fast! These both end at 10am PST!
First are these little cuties! These coasters based on the enemies from Super Mario Bros NES are handmade pieces utilized 3D printed templates to create consistent pixel size, based on the actual sprites from the game. Each one was hand glazed to match the original color, and affixed with a cork backing to protect your surfaces from scratching.
Next is a set of TWO leather hair clips themed after Desert Bus for Hope! They feature creepy doll, spoopifer, and motifs based on the shifts! Measuring just under 5 inches by 2 plus some pretty rainbow dangling fringe bits they'll look majestic as they get blown in the wind.
We want to give a hearty thanks to Team17 for sponsoring us this year! They are an independent games label and creative partner for studios around the world.
Over the past 31 years, Team17 has developed and published some of the most popular and recognisable series in video and mobile games, from the iconic Worms to The Escapists, Overcooked!, Moving Out, Hell Let Loose, Blasphemous and a whole lot more. We are both genre and platform agnostic, we want to excite and entertain with quality games – and with 110+ in our portfolio there is something for everyone.
"We enjoy creating our own successful franchises, but we love working with independent developers, whether they are first timers or seasoned indies (like ourselves!) We support and champion our development partners and their visions throughout the creative process and IP/product incubation, harnessing our publishing expertise to bring their games to the right audiences, while managing lifecycles to maximise long-term support and enjoyment for fans."
Prior to the run start, thanks to all of you lovely people, we got to James' goal of having ice cream for breakfast!! And because Joe is the loveliest of humans, he made everyone ice cream, and he also wanted to share the recipe with all of you!
Dawn Guard Ice Cream Recipe by Joe Trollo
Dawn Guard ice cream recipes
Base ice cream recipe
Ingredients:
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 1 cup whole milk
- 5 egg yolks
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- pinch of salt
Directions:
- Add the cream, milk, and pinch of salt to a medium saucepan. Heat, stirring occasionally, until it is steaming and small bubbles are forming around the edge of the pan (approximately 180°F).
- In a bowl, whisk the eggs and granulated sugar until they’re very pale in color and drizzling the mixture forms a ribbon that settles on the surface of the mixture before dissolving.
- Continue to whisk the egg mixture while slowly streaming half of the hot cream mixture into it.
- Pour the egg mixture back into the saucepan with the rest of the cream and return to the stove over medium heat.
- Continuously stir the mixture until it thickens enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon.
- Remove from the heat and whisk in the vanilla.
- Chill and churn according to your ice cream maker’s instructions.
Variations
Coffee and dark chocolate
- Add 3 to 4 tablespoons of instant coffee granules to the cream mixture in the first step.
- Mix in dark chocolate chips or chunks when the ice cream has finished churning.
Maple bacon
- Add ⅓ cup of maple syrup to the cream mixture in the first step.
- Replace the ½ cup of granulated sugar with ⅓ cup of dark brown sugar.
- Coat both sides of four thick-cut bacon strips with dark brown sugar, and lay them out on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake at 350°F for 25-30 minutes. Cool, then cut into pieces and mix in when the ice cream has finished churning.
Cinnamon toast
- Tear up three slices of sourdough bread (or another bread of your choice). Toast the pieces until they’re deep brown, then add them to a resealable container with the cream and milk. Steep overnight, then strain the cream through cheesecloth into a measuring cup and wring out as much of the cream as you can. Top off with equal amounts of milk and cream until you have 5 cups of liquid, and resume at the start of the base recipe.
- Add 2 tsp of cinnamon to the cream mixture in the first step.
What do you think when you hear coffee art? The fancy latte art that marvels millions on the internet? What about using coffee as paint? Or maybe just the joy of coffee in art form. We accept all forms of what YOU consider art. If you made it, wrote it, or just generally put a lot of work into it, we want to see what you've got!
Please email us at contest@desertbus.org with the subject of Coffee Art, and your time limit is getting it to us by 10:45am PST!! We look forward to seeing what you send our way!