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!

Operation: Fill in the Lobster

In the end, one caption really made us chuckle, and so we’d like to award the victory in this operation to The Stolker. Here is his entry:

PAUL: What do you mean you can’t finish your mission?
LOBSTER: It’s because I’m in love!
PAUL: Then the communists have won…

We’re also offering Runners Up status to baggins_of_41, King Kool, and sk8sheep24.

sk8sheep24’s Runner Up Entry:

Paul: Ahhh! A talking lobster!
Lobster: Ahhh! A talking human!
Paul: Ahhh! Where?!?!

King Kool’s Runner Up Entry:

Paul: I hope my date isn’t allergic to seafood.
Lobster: So you’re Paul! What are you making?
Paul: Sssssssalads?

Here are some of the other entries that were sent in, including baggins_of_41’s Runner Up entry:

Edit: Thanks to Vigafre and King Kool for whipping up graphical versions of the winning and Runner Up entries which were just text-based! I’ve added those to the gallery.

At the end of the Li’l Warriors segment, Krull suggests that there are a variety of interesting things that can be done with the severed head of a sheep. Unfortunately, Magicland’s oh-so-stingy producers got to the footage before it went to air, and they cut Krull off before he could communicate his ideas.

But cutesy, knitted, hardcore, supernatural, medieval villains aren’t the only creative people in the world. The Aztecs were also very clever, as are the Dutch.

Runners, we can’t let these groups get ahead of us in the technological sheep’s head arms race! If you have an idea for what a sheep’s severed head could be used for, let us know!

Send your ideas to operations@loadingreadyrunners.com! Be sure to include your forum name so you can be rewarded if your idea is chosen as the most creative, and so that you can be added to the ranks of the Runners if you aren’t already a member.

Submissions close on September 4, 2009, at midnight PST.

Luinie

The thing that really made her entry stand out was the use of a pot lid as a weapon, which is a reference to the LoadingReadyRumble.

We also wanted to offer a Runners-Up designation to Mad Madam Mimm, who provided a short ventriloquism video on the Accomplice theme. Rather than posting the video there, I thought I’d link to her YouTube channel.

Here are the submitted photos:

Thanks for participating, everyone!

We want you to do something along the same lines. Jer threw together a comic strip-style page using screenshots from the LRR video “Ways to Stay Awake”, and it’s up to you to fill in the blanks!

Here’s the image:

Fill in the blanks and win a forum medal!

Right-click here and choose Save As for a full resolution version.

You can edit your text into the image directly, or just send us the words themselves, with directions as to which panel they go in. For example, it might look something like this:

PAUL: I love radishes!

LOBSTER: I love radishes too!

PAUL: We’re best friends forever!

Send your entries to operations@loadingreadyrunners.com by midnight on Friday, August 21. If you’d like to be added to the Runners, be sure to include your forum name with your submission.

There were a lot of great entries, and you can see them all below, but in the end the winner we chose was: Tensen01.

The Runners-Up were Vicious and Genghis Ares.

Congratulations guys, and thanks for the submissions!

Click “Read More” to see all of the submitted images.

The submitter’s name is the title of each image.

Two men enter; one man leaves. Or does he? To be honest, we don’t actually know what happens after this.

If you have an idea on what will happen next, send us an email and let us know. We’ll take one or more of the best ideas and film them!

UPDATE: Remember we’re filming these, so we’re looking for simple suggestions or a script, not a short narrative. I mean, they’ve been well written, but that much character development isn’t going to come across. Just saying.

Submissions must be in by midnight on Friday, July 24.

In the end, it turned into a bit more of a microfiction contest than a caption contest for some people, but those were entertaining, and we appreciate all the effort everyone put into trying to explain just what was going on in our photo.

In the end, we had to pick one person to win the medal, and that person is…

Send in your caption to win a medal!

RowanAmeth

Rowan submitted the following caption:

And so, the majestic LRR begin their long migratory trek from their seasonal home at Anime Evolution. Little is known about these reclusive creatures, but it is thought that the smaller LRR cling to the larger ones for safety. Seen here, the LRRherd attempts to take shelter in a large industrial vent, one adaptation they have made to human presence in their native habitats. Unfortunately, these LRR will likely be hunted by poachers for their pelts, which fetch a high price in some markets.

Thanks for the entry, Rowan! You’ll be getting your medal soon (hopefully).

We also liked the following two runners-up:

“Yep. Cockroaches. That’ll happen.” – From AKAnotu.

“She’s gone from SUCK to BLOW!” – From Jen519.

We chose Rowan as the winner, however, because both of those lines were quotes from other places (the first from Unskippable, and the second from SpaceBalls), and we wanted the winner to be an original line.

Thanks again to everyone who entered!

Ok, really, it was just a silly sketch. But it was funny. If you don’t believe me, watch it:

After seeing the video, we decided it would be a really good idea to take the core concept of the video–the International Brotherhood of Lemonadespeople–and make it a reality. That’s right, we are going to shock and awe (and possibly ground and pound) the world with a global network of union-supported, orphan-fueled lemonade stands!*

There’s only one thing holding us back: we need a logo. The problem is that Graham and Kathleen are in Japan establishing inroads for our franchise, Paul is in the middle of a balacing-things-on-his-head marathon, Jer is away at a Ducks Unlimited rally, Matt is playing Final Fantasy 7 on his PS3, James is editing a new Iron Stomach Challenge, Morgan is off seeking spiritual enlightenment, Bill’s asleep, and Tim has no graphic-generating abilities whatsoever.

So we need you to help us out.  Make a crest, logo, badge, union sticker, insignia, coat of arms, or emblem that will aid us in establishing a corporate identity for the International Brotherhood of Lemonadespeople.

Send in your graphics by Sunday, July 12, 2009. The best crest, as judged by the Bosses, will win a medal.

We’re counting on you, Runners. Help us become TOO BIG TO FAIL!!