I’ll announce the stream on the LRR twitter feed (@loadingreadyrun) and on my own twitter account as well (@tim_lrr).

The URL will be http://www.ustream.tv/channel/behindlrr

This livechat will have two purposes:

1) I want to hang out with and talk to you guys, because you’re awesome.

2) I want to talk about the Runners and their future and get some input from all of you.

With the switchover to the Escapist, things have definitely changed around here, and the Runners have to change to reflect that. Before we go and do anything drastic, though, I’d like to hear some opinions from the people who will be affected most. I also want to be able to give you some warning before any changes happen.

I hope you all tune in and that this will be informative and productive.

–Tim

A Sims 3 machinima from Cade Antilles, one of the many talented and dedicated members of the Runners.

It’s been a while since the last Operation, and there hasn’t been a lot going on here, but I’d like to direct your attention to a sweet new game-review website I came across:

Sir Fragsalot

I found this site by means of the Escapist News Network, which featured Sir Fragsalot’s very own Chad X in a panel discussing the Game of the Year for 2009.

Check out Sir Fragsalot, and give ENN a look, too, while you’re at it!

Our winner, Dave-O Boy, would keep himself company with some pretty awesome plush toys. Can you identify all three?

Congratulations, Dave!

Here are our Runners-Up, including Emperor Gum, Tom Brend, ThrashJazzAssassin, and King Kool.

This year, we want to do the same thing, but we’re restricting voting to only members of the Runners fan club.

To vote, check out the forum thread here. All of the rules are in the thread.

Everyone welcome Tim to the LoadingReadyRun Crew!

In lieu of flowers, please send your cash donations to @Tim_LRR via Twitter.

But it doesn’t really matter what kind of apocalypse we’re going to be hit with. What matters is what you’re going to do about it.

So, assuming that you know you’re going to be one of the very few humans left alive after the apocalypse, how would you prepare for that?

Specifically, if you were able to take three items with you into the underground government bunker, what would they be? For this operation, we want you to take a picture of those three items. (You don’t have to appear in the picture yourself, but you can if you want.)

Send your pictures to operations@loadingreadyrunners.com by Friday, October 9, 2009.

A lot of things, apparently. Some common suggestions included soup or cereal bowls, lawn decorations, stew ingredients, ammunition for trebuchets or catapults, or stylish helmets.

A few people came up with truly unique suggestions and went beyond the requirements of the challenge. Our winner even went so far as to mutilate adorable stuffed animals!

Yaxley's winning entry!

Congratulations, Yaxley, you sick, sick man.

This is what Yaxley did with the remnants of the sheep he mutilated.

We also got some interesting suggestions from a couple of Runners Up.

Gordon Fearman suggests planting the sheep’s head in the ground (within 6 hours of removal!) in order to grow a sheep bush. Where did you think sheep came from?

Jackrabbit provided an elaborate plot by which you could use a sheep’s head to bluff your way through customs and smuggle things into New Zealand. Apparently if you wear a sheep’s head and say “Baaa” a lot, New Zealand customs won’t know what to do with you and will just let you through. (If anyone tries this, we want video proof!)

Mad Madam Mimm provided this illustration (along with a few others) to accompany her idea:

An idea from Mad Madam Mimm.

Finally, Gamefanatic offered some art, as well.

Some suggestions from Gamefanatic.

Thanks for the entries, everyone! Now it’s time to put them into practice!