Hey everyone! The blog post is up PRETTY late today, but I have a good reason:

1. I was tired (v. tired) after LRRCON, which was awesome!
2. I had a lot of work to do today.
3. I got distracted looking at Reddit.

But how are you? I’m great. You know what else is great? The low, low, low (v. low) interest rates at Staggeringly Fast Loans.

The only question they’ll ask you is if you want one bar or two!

Alas, do you know what’s not great? Death. He’s a real killjoy. (Get it, Killjoy? HA!) This week’s Unskippable is Diablo 3: Reaper of Souls.

We gave you guys a week and you sure delivered! We had a whole slew of excellent X Ways to Y contest entries and let me tell you, the judging was much harder that we thought it would be!

There were funny ones and cute ones. Themes ranged from Magic, Canadianness, LRR, time paradoxes, casual violence* and even me!

But in the end, your creations were tiny Highlanders in as much as there could be only one. So congratulations to Eric (or as you might know him from the forums Aeric) with his (now inaccurate) entry, Ways to Spend LRRCON (when you’re not going):

Eric’s entry was well shot, well edited and got some truly unexpected jokes from the theme. Graham also greatly admired his dedication to winter squash.

But don’t just watch Eric’s… There are lots of other really funny, well done entries, and here are just some of our other favourites!

Ptangmatik’s entry X Ways to Play MtG on the Cheap had us all impressed with his excellent practical effects:

Yana demonstrates some frankly, incredible pet wrangling skills. (Wrangling pets is hard guys!):

The talented duo of Sketch Comic had me laughing with their puns and callback. Seriously great work:

Nat Jas shows his both his Canadian pride and his knowledge of cinematography with the whip-pans in his submission:

Joe Trollo chose to forgo actors (and probably sleep) with this incredible leg0 stop-motion entry:

• King Kool subverts expectations with his entry, which is private, unlike the areas under Beej’s shirt.
• Lori shows us how to survive grad school.
• Scoutermakr appeals to our love of cats.
• Castlewise submitted an MtG themed entry suitable for beginners.
• Peter’s entry is described as “SO MUCH COFFEE” and I’m inclined to believe him!
• Chris’ entry How to Be a Writer was funny, but also very accurate and that scared me a little.
• John submitted two versions of How to Con, a 30 second one and a two-minute director’s cut!
• Total Party Killers was CLEARLY trying to win the Jer vote with Ways to Kill Your Party.
• Lindsay has clearly spent more time in the Detroit airport than anyone should ever be subjected to.
• Jordan found a scarily impressive Kathleen doppleganger in Ways to Kathleen!
• David somehow got access to a danged Delorean for Ways to get Money for LRRCON.
• Sarah is more dedicated to sports than I will ever be in Ways to Baseball Fan
• Asturiel’s super fast paced X Ways 2 Play Magic had us all giggling.
• The meta-joke in SolarisII’s Ways to Get to LRRCON showed more forethought and planning than we put into the X Ways to Y videos that we make.
• Justin’s X Ways to Make Your Opponent Tilt the F**k Out was almost too instructional.
• Kapol’s entry was extremely tempting… and I’m totally fine with being the LRR crew member with the most flexible morals.
• J.E.T.E.Y.E already sounds like a hacker collective and his (their?) video for Ways to Be a Hacker would make these guys proud.
• Jesse’s video X Ways to Do It is oddly inspiring.
• Jacob’s entry X Ways to Win a Free Trip was disqualified (from my heart) because of its (hilarious) dig at Boards of Canada.
• Adam and Russell put more work into the props and set dressing for GenX Ways to Y2K than I think we ever have.

That’s all the ones that we had officially submitted, but if we missed any please link to them in the comments so I can add them to this list!

*There was a surprising amount of casual violence.

Are you going to LRRCON? Of course you are, what a silly question. Anyhow, if you’re going to LRRCON, chances are you’re going to arrive sometime on Friday May 9th. This is very good news for you my friend, very good, because we’re adding more fun and value for YOU! What could it be? Why it’s the…

Late Night Dub Fight: Final Cut Beatdown!
Friday, May 9th
Hilton Doubletree Inn (the same place as LRRCON)
9:00 PM – 11:00 PM

Inspired by our friends at Synaptic Chaos Theatre and their hilarious Late Night Dub Fight, we’re doing our own LRRCON version with improvisational talents/jokes/joeks/filth provided by Graham, Jer, Kathleen, Beej and more! Who knows? It’s going to be late, weird and wacky!

For those of you who didn’t see the incredibly popular Late Night Dub Fight panel at PAX prime 2013 or any of the Late Night Dub Fight shorts we’ve done on Desert Bus, he’s a sample of just some of what you can expect:

So how can you see the Late Night Dub Fight: Final Cut Beatdown? This event is free for everyone with a LRRCON pass. If you’re staying at the hotel, we strongly encourage you to come down in your pyjamas and enjoy a late night hang out with the LRR crew, other fans and some terrible television of the 80s and 90s!

If you want to come to LRRCON, time is running out, but it’s not too late!

Buy Tickets now! – $25

Book Your Hotel Reservations

I’m sure by now, you’ve got your plans lined up for LRRCON and you’re eagerly anticipating touching a variety of people and things while you’re there. But what else can you do at LRRCON? Did you know we’re having a Geek Trivia contest?

The LRR Trivia Grand Prix is a brain-busting quiz competition, testing your knowledge of Loading Ready Run and all things geeky! Get together your team of up to 6 and prepare to do battle on the topics of video games, sci fi, fantasy, the interwebz, pop culture, random knowledge, and much more! Prizes and awesome swag are in store for the top teams!

So to get you excited, we’ve asked the trivia MC Mike (of IQ2000 Quizzes and the DB7 Blog) to give us a few representative sample questions! How many do you know? The answers are below in the comments!

1. Name the two playable ninja characters from the original Mortal Combat. For a bonus point, can you name the secret non-playable third ninja?
2. In Game of Thrones, Melisandre the Red Woman divines messages from her god by gazing into what?
3. What species destroyed an entire Federation armada at Wolf 359 in Star Trek: The Next Generation?
4. Players will parkour around French Revolution-era Paris in Unity, a forthcoming entry in what game series?

So how can you sign up for the quiz? By coming to LRRCON!

Buy Tickets now! – $25

HOTEL BOOKING DEADLINE — FRIDAY, MAY 2, 2014

Click here for special LRRcon rate

OR… WIN YOUR TICKETS, PASSES AND AIRFARE!

Do you want to go to LRRCON in Seattle? Do you live far enough away that it isn’t really feasible? Well, thanks to a very generous sponsor, we are excited to announce:

THE LRRCON “Make a Video and Touch Hands to Our Hands Contest”!!!

But what does that mean? Well, exactly what the awkwardly descriptive title of this contest says! Make your own X ways to Y video and you could win a free trip for two to LRRCON including your flights, passes and hotel room!*

What you have to do:

1. Make your own 30 second long X ways 2 Y video before the May 5th deadline!
2. Upload it to YouTube!
3. Share your video via Twitter and Facebook, using the #LRRCON hashtag! For good measure email a link to your video to [email protected] with the subject line “LRRCON Video Contest”
4. ????
5. Profit! (AKA, win a trip to LRRCON for you and a friend!)

So, get those creative juices flowing and get your entry in before Monday, May 5th 2014! 

Some Questions You Probably Have Right Now:

Q: I don’t have the X ways to Y music, how can I get it?
A: You can download it right here! You’re welcome!

Q: How long does my video need to be?
A: It needs to be about 30 seconds long. It doesn’t need to be exactly 30 seconds long, but entries should be somewhere around that range.

Q: I don’t have a camera or any sound equipment! Can I still enter?
A: Of course. You can film your entry on a cell phone, a DSLR, or anything else that shoots video. You could also animate your entry, make it using stop motion and action figures/puppets/cats… whatever you like! Just use the X Ways to Y music and you’re good to go!

Q: Who is judging this?
A: The LRR Crew will select the winners!

Q: What happens to my video… like, legally?
A: Well, it’s your video that you made, so you own the rights. That said, we will probably want to show some of your videos at LRRCON (and maybe other places too), so please be aware that by entering this contest you agree to give us non-exclusive screening rights for your creation. If we decide want to use your video for any other purpose, we will talk to you about it before we do so.

Q: When is the deadline for entries?
A: Midnight, Monday, May 5th, 2014!

Q: I can’t go to LRRCON. Can I still enter?
A: Yes… but if you win, maybe you’d want to see if you could make the time?

Q: What do I win?
A: You win a return trip for two from a location in North America to Seattle, Washington, 2 nights stay at the Hilton Doubletree Inn, and two passes to LRRCON. You also, as the name of the contest states, win the opportunity to touch your hands to our hands. Which is priceless.

* Prize limited to entries from North America only, sorry!