This year, the Kindness War between Zeta and Alpha Flight has been waged with a ferocity never before seen. Not even in the Great Fluffy Kitten Cuteness Battle of ’82. But it is time for Zeta to take it up a notch, and we need your help. We would like to present the Alpha Flight crew with Valentine’s Day cards, but let’s be honest, that seems like a lot of work. So that’s where you come in. We would like, as an art challenge, for you to make Valentine’s Day cards for Alpha Flight! They can be fancy and covered in glitter, or like the ones that you would give your classmates in 3rd grade. Follow your, and Alpha Flight’s, heart!
This art contest will run until 5am PST. Please submit your entry in the form of .jpg, .gif, or .png to contest@desertbus.org, with the subject line “Zeta Loves Alpha Flight”. Please include which name you would like to be referred to on screen if you win!!!
But what do you win, you ask? You will win a Desert Bus 2021 t-shirt in the size of your choosing by Fangamer, as well as this year’s shiny gold DBloon!!
My, my, my. What didn’t happen this Night Watch! We had Holodeck failures, a banger auction, a marriage proposal, a Hamfather cameo… we were even on Canadian TV!
You know that awkward feeling when you show up to a Halloween party and you’re in costume but no one else is? Yeah, we’re having the opposite right now. All of us showed up to the Holodeck only to find out we’d all reserved it at the same time and overloaded the system, so it broke!
After last night’s giveaway (which by the way, turned out to be a birthday gift! Awww!), we were ready to go live with a 3D Felted Totoro and Friends auction. And just like last night, we got to see another record broken: at $16,384 this live auction went for the highest amount in Desert Bus history! Thanks so much to all our participants for helping the children, and also being incredibly good-hearted and supportive as the bids rolled in.
Of course, we had to celebrate this milestone so cue the Random Dance Party! Sheer, glorious luck landed us on the Kidz Bop version of Montero – and then a marriage proposal happened!
“During Kidz Bop, really?!” -Chief Boomer
No sooner had we recovered our breath from that wild ride than a well-dressed gentleman apparently known as “The Hamfather” entered the room to accompanying violin and approached Graham with a proposal. “Ham?” “Please.” Over the course of the next few minutes… and then next few minutes… and then quite a while after that, actually… the Hamfather laboriously shoved pieces of steak into a grinder and made a hamburger for Graham’s delectation.
Graham seemed to enjoy it.
You’d think that was the whole six hours of adventure, but no! Here are just a few more of the silly situations into which the crew of the USS Tucson was thrust:
- Watching ourselves on Canadian TV
- Invading the Engineering room to cause problems, then being invaded by Alpha Flight’s Jacob who also invaded the Engineering Room only to be chased out BY Engineering
- Hearing the tale of how Ambassador “Andrew” Gax acquired a $250 globe for $20 from a Russian dealer of Ketracel-white
- Sending our heads into space
- Another visit from the Q, who might just be pitting half of us against the other half
We also continue to be overrun by Thwomps, to such a degree that we invited the Chat Continuum to send us art of Thwomps infesting the USS Tucson. We were also delighted to receive a fan-made video of the Wii Shop music (as played by Thwomps) and find a link to an N64 Everything is Thwomps video.
In short: we will never be using the Holodeck again. Let’s just blow up Zeta and get out of here!
At this point, we’re about to slap a communicator on these thwomps and make them part of the USS Tucson crew. We hosted an art contest to show just how far this infestation has gone!
Winner: Sierrmo
Thanks to everyone who sent in art! We had a lot of entries that made us laugh, and made it hard to choose just one (or heck, even narrow down the Honorable Mentions). Congratulations to Sierrmo, and we hope you enjoy your Desert Bus shirt!
Honorable Mention: RueBloodletter
Honorable Mention: Discordant Creations
Honorable Mention: Tichtac
Honorable Mention: TowerSlayer Note: we couldn’t get the gif to play in WordPress, but if it did you would see an avalanche of Thwomps fall down and fill the screen!
Are you tired of boring boxes or your cards? Do you need to host a Desert-Bus themed Commander night, where the four shifts battle across the planes for dominance? Do you have any other things that could be stored in boxes taller than they are wide? Look no further than these Desert Bus Shift Deck Boxes!
These four laser-cut hardwood boxes are lovingly crafted from cherry and ash, inlaid with the flags of the Desert Bus shifts. Each one can hold up to a hundred double-sleeved cards, and has a drawer for dice or other counters. Strong magnets hold the boxes securely closed for travel.
Donate $7.44 or multiples thereof before 11:30pm PT for a chance to win!
We’d like to take a moment to thank one of our tech sponsors, VDO.Ninja!
It takes a lot of tech to coordinate four teams of entertainers across multiple stream inputs, and we’re grateful to VDO.Ninja for helping us do it! It’s 100% free with no downloads or personal data required, and lets you bring live video directly into OBS or other studio software.
We’ve got some gorgeous items in the silent auction this fine Night Watch eve. Make sure you check them out before they’re gone (at 2am PT), and donate responsibly!
Any time you struggle to get out of bed on a Monday, you can look at this piece hanging off your wall and feel its energy surge through you. It’s a multi-layered piece with hand-engraving and laser cut detail work that create brilliant side-lit effects for that bit of extra pop.
Current Bid: $1,355.00
Wrap yourself up and get lost inside this cozy Labyrinth quilt that measures a generous 37″ by 54.5″. It’s made up of more than 1600 individual pieces and makes the perfect wall hanging tribute to this 1986 classic movie.
Current Bid: $1,500.00
Flash your fingers and let the world know that you have a generous and loving heart thanks to the Desert Bus Treo set of three nail polish colors!
Desert Buck is a linear ultra holographic in silver; 69 Nice! is a black jelly base filled with colour shifting iridescent flakies in greens, golds, and magenta; and Going to the Store is a violet base filled with a mix of glitter, and aurora shimmer shifting through cyan and emerald. For best results, apply with base coat and a quick dry to coat.
Donate $8.48 or multiples thereof before 10:00pm PT for a chance to win this glamour!
We’d like to take a moment to thank one of our Prize Sponsors for this year’s Desert Bus for Hope: Kitfox Games!
Kitfox Games is an independent Montreal-based games studio dedicated to developing and publishing the highest quality games. They have a soft spot for exploring and discovering intriguing worlds. They’ve published many games, including Boyfriend Dungeon, Dwarf Fortress, Moon Hunters, Shadow Planet and more.
Thank you Kitfox Games for your support of Desert Bus for Hope!
We’ve had <URGH!> a bit of an ongoing problem here on <URGH!> Night Watch. They were cute at first but <URGH! URGH!> these Thwomps have really started to get out <URGH!> of <URGH!> hand <URGGGGGGH!>.
All styles of Thwomp are <URGH!> welcome!
But we’re all about making the best <URGH!> of things, so let’s have an art contest! Please send us <URGH!> your rendition of a room on the USS Tucson being overwhelmed by Thwomps. You know, like <URGH!> Tribbles!
Send your art to contests@desertbus.org with the subject line “Thwomps” before 11pm Pacific Time. In the body <URGH> of the email also make sure to include your <URGH!> Desert Bus For Hope username, your chat name, or whatever <URGH!> else you’d like to be called out loud on stream! We’ll pick our <URGH!> favorite to win a free Desert Bus t-shirt! <URGH URGH URGH!>
Going once, going twice, going NOW! The Live Auction has begun, so join us on stream if you want to put in your bid for Totoro and Friends – 3D Felted Wall Art!
The figures, background and leaves are sculpted from ethically sourced wool and natural fibres.
The claws, noses and whiskers are handmade from apoxie clay and a tiny sculpted acorn is bursting from a hole in little Chu’s bag.
Measurements : 48cm (L) x 38cm (W) x 9cm (D)
Totoro stands at 24cm
Update (7:20pm PT): And gone! Congratulations to abjectadvect for giving Totoro and Friends a special new home, and thank you for helping us set us a new Desert Bus high watermark donation of $16,384! For the children!