If this evening will find you avoiding any and all new releases that end in “2″, perhaps you will consider stopping by The Running Riot for their scheduled Firestream Firefight. Louis Wu (of HBO), Jironimo (of Ascendant Justice), Insane54 (of Forge Hub), and Firestream (of Halo Charts) along with myself  will be indulging in a round or two of Halo 3: ODST’s Firefight set to broadcast via Livestream. A little birdie told me that we will be playing on Legendary so I anticipate numerous rampant plasma grenades and betrayals galore. And that’s just from Louis Wu! :rimshot:

It’s exactly two weeks until the Halo 3 Hawty McBloggy-hosted Community Playdate. If you’d like to participate, please make sure you’ve sent a friend request to one of the following gamertags. Hope to see you there!

• Sarge Tomzilla
• NartFOpc
• Jimmy Carmine
• marissas dad
• mendicantbias00
• Xeronian Exile
• Jdubbs11 SoF
• rowboat 000
• snorkle256
• Das Kalk
• the light show
• bs angel

If you’ve found yourself wanting to play with your favorite video game developers but have in the past left your fate up to the random whims of matchmaking, it’s probably about time you took your future into your own hands. Fight Like a Girl, an annual Xbox Live charity tournament where 100% of the proceeds go towards finding a cure for breast and cervical cancer, is now giving you the opportunity to play with Bungie, all for a Grunt-sized donation to their cause. For $15 you and a buddy can  live the dream by taking on two official employees either cooperatively in ODST’s Firefight mode or competitively in the arena of Halo 3 custom games. Check your schedule and if you find yourself with 20 spare minutes the weekend of Saturday October 17th and Sunday October 18th, then go register and secure your spot as slots are obviously limited. Your mom has always warned you not to play with fire. Perhaps it’s time to find out why.

If you’ve ever wished you could make a difference just by playing your favorite video game, your dream has officially come true. Fight Like a Girl, an annual Halo charity tournament presented by The Cavegirls, is upon us once again. Taking place over Xbox Live the weekend of October 17th and 18th, this year’s events include FFA, 2v2, and 4v4. Single entries cost a mere $10, and each and every dollar donated goes towards finding a cure for breast and cervical cancer, diseases that affect thousands of women and their families every year. There are prizes of course but really, do you need anything more than that warm, fuzzy feeling you get from consciously making this world a better place? I didn’t think so. Go read the details and then get to signing up. Those bewbs aren’t going to save themselves you know!

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Video game conventions are incredible for two primary reasons- the abundance of women dressed in suggestive video game-themed costumes and the ease at which you can acquire a bag full of awesome swag. I’ve already given you some pictures of the former so now it’s time for your shot at the latter. Up for grabs are all the things I collected from various gaming companies over the long three day weekend, plus a very special item (a Cortana faceplate slathered in autographs) from my own personal collection. If you want to win my PAX ‘09 swag bag, simply leave a comment on this article listing at least one of the Bungie signatures adorning the amazing faceplate. You may comment once a day and while you will not be disqualified for leaving multiple comments, only the first one from each 24 hour period will be considered valid. This giveaway closes on September 24th so hit the jump for the complete list of prizes, close-up pictures of everything, and all the specifics.

• Custom Cortana Xbox 360 faceplate with 15 Bungie employee signatures
• Two Borderlands posters (coverart and characters)
• One Large Orange Blabbelon T-Shirt
• One Medium Black Brink T-Shirt
• One Dead Space Extraction Comic
• One Dante’s Inferno Comic
• One Faunasphere Mouse Pad
• One Aeria Games Power Collection
• One Lord of the Rings Mines of Moria Complete Edition (Windows)
• One Behemoth Lanyard
• Six Card Magic The Gathering Booster Pack
• Buttons (The Saboteur, PAX ‘09, and On Live)
• Fairytale Fights Temporary Tattoos
• Stickers (Rock Band, On Live, and The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom)
• ODST Thingamabob (given out while waiting for the Halo 3: ODST panel)
• Two Codes for PAX Avatar Shirts
• Four squares of No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle toilet paper

Contest Specifics
To enter this contest, leave a comment naming at least one of the Bungie signatures on the faceplate (you need not be accurate for your entry to be counted but reasonable effort should be given). If you do not include the required information, your entry will be disqualified. You may leave one comment per 24 hour period (each new day officially starting at 12:01 am PST) and if you leave more, only the first one for each day will be considered official. Remember to use a valid email address when leaving your comment as that is how the winner will be notified. As with the majority of my contests, I will happily ship anywhere so there are no region restrictions. Entries will be accepted until Thursday, September 24th at 11:59 pm PST with the winner (as determined by a random integer generator) being notified on Friday, September 25th. The winner will then have three days to respond via email to claim their prize. If the winner does not respond in that time frame, another winner will then be selected. Happy commenting, and good luck!

EDIT: The winner has been notified and has accepted their prize. Congratulations to TrAvIs 6t6, and enjoy all the swag!

As seen at PAX ‘09, captured by Sup4 Nov4
Earrings purchased from [PlasticParadox]

While PAX, a gamer festival held over Labor Day weekend every year, is primarily focused on exhibitor booths, geek concerts, panels, and tournaments, there is a strong sense of community there as well. Putting a face to a name is one of the best parts of the experience, along with the interactions that come along with that. Here’s a brief glimpse into some of mine. Well, the ones that are suitable for publishing anyways.

{being introduced to someone}
me: Hi, I’m bs angel. {extends hand}
him: Hi, I’m immortal eNeME. You made me fun of me on your blog a few weeks ago.
me: {silence} Fuck.

{phone texts}
me: So, anything good happen last night after I left?
BigCountry1369: Well two people got it on.
me: Yeah? But there were only dudes there.
BigCountry1369: Let’s just say someone’s not walking right today.
me: Vids or it didn’t happen.
BigCountry1369: You into that sort of stuff?
me: Well, pics are ok too I guess.

{meeting someone new}
him: You been meat slapped?
me: Is that your weird way of hitting on me?
him: No, that’s my tag. Yuben Meatslapt.
me: Oh. I was getting excited there for a second.

{overheard at dinner}
JoeSki73: I teabag my dog. He knows who his Master Chief is!

{minutes later}
random friend: When JoeSki73 has a baby, it will have a ball mobile hanging from its crib.
me: And the things holding the balls will be penis-shaped and the entire thing will be oval like a vagina! {draws a vagina in the air}
urk: Too far angel, too far.
me: Oh. My bad.

{phone texts}
random friend: Where ya at?
me: The ODST booth.
random friend: Again?

me: So I looked in the mirror a week before PAX and was faced with the decision of trying to lose five pounds or just going tanning.
random friend: Well, your tan looks great!
me: Fuck.

{watching someone play Dante’s Inferno}
me: That’s the best pair of man boobs I have ever seen in a video game!
everybody around me: {silence}

{wearing a shirt that says ‘untouched’}
random friend: What does your shirt mean?
me: That my boobs are untouched.
random friend: No really, what’s it mean?

different friend: {looks at my shirt} The irony. It’s delicious!

{during dinner}
random friend: {eyeing a large piece of sushi} How am I supposed to put this whole thing in my mouth?
friend’s wife: Unhinge your jaw.
me: Don’t forget to swallow!

{says goodbye to everybody and hops in car. checks makeup and notices a large piece of lettuce stuck in teeth}
me: Fuck.

As seen in a bathroom at PAX ‘09

*To the person who was peeing next to me: I know you were freaked out by the flashes coming from my stall but see? I told you I wasn’t doing anything illegal!