Good Game coverage

I might be a year late with this, maybe, but I just stumbled upon the Good Game coverage of the Fly Gabe event, which I missed on TV, and maybe you did too. I also replaced the video further down the page with this one because the embed stopped working on the other one.

Q&A with Gabe at the event

Threw together some Youtube vids. This is just Gabe answering questions. It's interesting. At the end of the second vid you see me playing L4D2 for a bit.

Campaign Available for Public Testing

So, as those of you who've followed the Fly Gabe Newell fund news will know, my Left 4 Dead campaign isn't finished. Not close to it, in fact. Currently, though, I think the first two maps are more than well-developed enough to have fun with.

Good, constant feedback is pretty essential for these things. I haven't been getting enough of it. So I've decided to release my unfinished campaign, listen to everyone's feedback, and update it as often as possible.

Please help out by downloading the campaign, playing it with your friends and sending all feedback, positive or negative, in the comments on each news post. I will try to update it as frequently as possible.

You can download the campaign by clicking here. Please post all feedback as a comment on that blog.

Summary of the Event

I still don't have many good photos or much video at all of the event, since our camera wasn't behaving itself. Sorry about that, folks. Comin' soon.

So, on Wednesday the 7th I met Gabe Newell and Erik Johnson. It was a pretty good day.

It began with me getting up earlier than I'd normally like, but that's okay because I got on a plane to Sydney without having to pay for my ticket. On arrival at the airport I intercepted my faithful cameraman Rhys, who is currently in the process of organising a zombie march in Sydney to protest Australia's ridiculous lack of an R18+ or Adults Only rating for videogames, due to which Left 4 Dead 2's recently been refused classification (for now). I then met my chauffeur who drove myself, Rhys, and my girlfriend Nikita to the Park Hyatt in an executive sedan. It was one o' them fancy BMWs with more legroom than my whole house has.

On arrival at the Park Hyatt (which is, of course, the hotel where Gabe and Erik were staying) we told the guy at the front counter that we were here for the press event thing and he directed us up the lifts to Gabe's room, where he was surprised to see us because that guy was supposed to have directed us to the Press Room. Well done, that guy. 

There were introductions and Gabe escorted us down to the Press Room himself, where he gave us a quick preview of the powerpoint presentation he was to give about five minutes later. This was also when we met Erik Johnson, as well as some really nice guys from EA, and we all chatted for a bit.

Gabe advised me to write down some notes to help me be less horrifically awkward once I was up there addressing the press, because my brain, he assured me, would turn to mush. I made what I thought would be some very helpful notes and my brain turned to mush anyway. I've yet to watch the parts of the video with me in it, but it is my duty to document it here anyway, so here it is.

Gabe said that most people apparently have a greater fear of public speaking than they do of death, and continued, rather wittily, that they'd rather be the guy in the ground at a funeral than  the guy giving the eulogy. This is entirely true in my case.

Gabe also revealed here that Valve has appealed the ban on Left 4 Dead 2 here in Australia and we won't know for sure whether we'll have the game in its full glory until October 22nd. Failing that, we'll have to make do with a specially censored Australian version which was accepted by the OFLC later in the day to nobody's surprise.

I was then assailed by interviewers for a while. I think I probably performed better in the three or four interviews I gave in that half hour or so than I had in front of the twenty or thirty intimidating press people with their blinding lights. All the interviewers seemed like pretty rad guys and girls, so hey, interviewers, congratulations on seeming like pretty rad guys and girls.  

A guy approached Gabe apologetically asking for the Collector's Edition of Half-Life 2 he was toting to be autographed by Gabe. Gabe did so, and also asked if I could sign it. I did. It would be nice if this photo of it wasn't so blurry.

After the last interview I hastened to get some time in on Left 4 Dead 2, which was running on four Xbox 360s at the back of the press room. I didn't end up getting much time on it but I played enough to be pretty excited about it.


I got to play the first couple of maps of The Parish, and witnessed such new weapons as the frying pan, the machete, a few new pistols, the silenced SMG which appears to have the silencer tied on with cable ties, the AK-47, the defibrillator (which can be used to revive dead teammates, but replaces the first aid kit in your inventory) and probably a few others I've temporarily forgotten. There were also old favourites like the pump shotgun, regular SMG and assault rifle, though none of them were exactly the same as in L4D1.

I also got pummelled by the Charger and ridden by the Jockey. The latter was particularly awesome - I rounded a corner to see a tank charging toward the team. We all started falling back, and right then, I got jumped by a jockey, who steered me straight past the tank and around a corner, far from my teammates. Cunning little bastard. I died.

While I was doing this, it became apparent that Gabe and Erik were rushing around trying to find computers that would run L4D1 in order to view my campaign. They found a few, but it seemed that downloading Left 4 Dead through Steam was going to take too long, so in the end a rather nice ABC lady by the name of Janet, who had interviewed me earlier for Good Game, invited us over to her house to play it on her son's computer. We ended up doing that.

Fortunately her son's computer turned out to be a pretty fancy rig, Left 4 Dead was up to date and it wasn't a problem getting the campaign up and running. As soon as I logged into Steam somebody messaged me with "Are you hanging out with Gabe and drinking beer right now?". This was awesome, because that was exactly what I was doing at that moment. Thanks for the beer, Janet!

Gabe had me play through the campaign on easy so that he could get a proper look at it and we chatted about it, among other things.  He laughed aloud at the loading screen, which was the poster you saw at the beginning of this post. He gave me heaps of the very best constructive criticism and had some good things to say about it. This whole thing was taped, so there'll be a video up as soon as I can get hold of it. In the meantime, however, you'll have to settle for this rather blurry image.

Gabe was really extremely helpful and I'm looking forward to hearing his thoughts again when I have the video.

When we were done at Janet's, we (myself, Gabe, Erik, Rhys and Nikita) took a cab back to the Hyatt, where we met Mark, a guy who'd shown up in response to the "Feel free to show up" post I made. Nice guy. He accepted our invitation to come along to lunch, which we ate at a restaurant somewhat more expensive than the ones I usually dine in. Rhys took full advantage of this by drinking more beers on Gabe's tab than he probably should have.

We chatted at length about all kinds of things, ate classy food and had a total whale of a time. A few times they'd share information about upcoming Left 4 Dead-related stuff that they weren't sure if they'd announced yet, which was awesome. After lunch we sauntered back to the hotel where we said our farewells.

All in all it was a completely awesome time. There'll be more footage and photos up as soon as I can get them. I hope all you kind people got your money's worth in Awesome Event. I sure did.

Apologies for any errors or omissions in this post, I can't be bothered editing it right now.

Thanks everyone! And thanks, obviously, to Gabe and Erik.

It happened

So, notes:

• Gabe and Erik are totally awesome
• In future, beers are required before the press event rather than merely after
• Death > Public Speaking.

Alas, all my photos came out blurry. Fear not, for there were like a million other people there and I have asked them for their footage and photos. I'll make a long and detailed post tomorrow detailing all that went down.

The Event

will take place at the Park Hyatt in Sydney, and will be open to the public from 2PM tomorrow. So feel free to drop by!

I'm off to get some more work done now.

Tomorrow!

Tomorrow morning I get on a plane and go hang out with Gabe Newell and Erik Johnson! Whack!

Today will be spent ironing out some of the more obvious issues with the two maps I'll be showin' them.

Whack.

It Is Done.

$3,121.27 USD was just donated to Child's Play.


Well done, everyone. Big thanks to all of you and Valve.

Travel Plans

Greetings, O followers of the Fly Gabe Newell fund.

Gabe and Erik have their flights booked. We are, it seems, all going to Sydney to hang out! It may be the case that a certain number of members of the public are able to come, but those details are not yet clear. I'll let you know.

The event will be taking place on the seventh of October. In a week.

That's pretty nuts.

Also, Gabe and Erik are paying their own way, which means all the money accumulated will be going to the Child's Play charity. It will be going there tomorrow, because today my internet is shaped and therefore too slow to load PayPal.

Thanks!

Australia is covered in dust.

Let's hope it's not like this when Gabe and Erik show up.

BIG NEWS, INTERNET

This just in from Gabe:

The English language lacks the words to express the level of excitement Erik and I feel that you and your friends have pulled this off. Give us some time to organize our affairs, as we are trying to ship a product, and then we’ll let you know the time and date of our arrival. Give our best to Robin’s mother, as she is apparently a neighbor of yours.

Gabe & Erik

I guess we have our answer!

Someone suggested

That I link to my modding blog thing here, since you folks might be interested in seeing a few pics/videos of the campaign. So here's that.

Unfortunately all the images except those in the most recent post are hosted on Photobucket, so after the last two days they all say "bandwidth exceeded". Oh well.

Further donations

$2 from Stefan
$5 from Jaana
$20 from Joshua
$5 from Jernej
$5 from John

These guys just brought the total to $3,089.45 USD, more than enough than more than enough to pay for tickets and probably accommodation also! Alternatively, lots of cool swag for lots of sick kids.

Thanks, dudes!

Still no word from Valve.

$50 from Steven and $5 from Tristan (again)

Thanks, Steven and Tristan! Tristan's like the gift that keeps on giving.


Although we've more than more than met the donation target, I'm hesitant to stop accepting donations because this is probably all going to go to Child's Play. So I guess you guys can post your opinions as comments on this post, and I'll go mull it over.

The total is now $3,055.01 USD.

Just waiting on Gabe and Erik's responses

Getting down to brass tacks, I'm waiting on Gabe and Erik to let me know their plans. Thanks for all the donations, folks, we passed the actual airfares about $600 ago, which is incredible.

$3000 breached

With Jim's $3 donation, we wipe the smirk off the face of the number 3000, and then we step on its toe. Thanks, Jim!

$3,002.43 USD

$25 from JonXP

The almighty JonXP has contributed $25, bringing the total to $2,999.80 USD. God, the suspense is killing me.

He says not to tell his wife he donated. Nobody tell his wife, okay?

$5 from Eric and $100 from Michael

I've said "Good god" a lot in the last couple days.

This latest time, it's because Eric and Michael just brought us up to $2,975.95 USD.


Good god.

Overnight donations

Hey folks, I'm up, I'm up. Here are the generous donations made while I was asleep:

$5 from Icebytes
$20 from Patrick
$5 from FabryDesign
$1 from Shora
$20 from Frank
$10 from Ben
$0.5 from Alex
$10 from James
$150 from MJCS of www.hlgaming.com
$3 from Ole
$30 from Sam
$5 from Ryan
$20 from Ian
$10 from Sean
$20 from Mark
$20 from Rose, my sister

Thanks, ya'll!

The current total is $2,874.12 USD. Good grief.

In related news, Joystiq has apparently been assured by a Valve rep that Gabe intends to fly if enough money is raised. Which it has been. And then some.

Oh, and Erik says "G'day".

Gabe's response

Just a quick post to say I urged the previously-skeptical Gabe Newell to view the site again.

His response?

Uh-oh.

$500 from serverFFS

So this Wouter guy who runs serverFFS seems to be a completely crazy awesome dude. He's just donated $500. I'm shocked and stunned. Shocked and stunned and not a little amazed. Bow down before him.

Also, Alan donated $5, Sander donated $10, and another John donated $5 also.

BUT WOW MAN $500.

This brings it up to $2,560.22 USD

Incredible.

Further donations

Over the last few hours we've recieved:

$6.28 from Russel
$12 from Adam
$5 from Zac
$5 from Ty
$20 from Al
$19.84 from Ivan
$10 from Ronnie

Thanks, duders! Way to bring the total up to $2,059.10USD.

We've Passed $2000

Popping back in to say we've crossed the border between $1999 and $2000 with the help of:

Ian's $3
Adam's $15
Thomas's $10
Another Adam's $25
Joel's $5
Nick's $1
David's $20
Tim's $1
Ashe's $2

and are now sitting at $2,004.30 USD.

Thanks, all of the above!

$10 from Nathan Cartier

Nathan's just brought the total to $1,928.09 USD. Thanks, Nathan!

I'm going to be off doing some other stuff with my day for a while, so I won't be making posts for a few hours. Will we have met our goal by the time I return? Who knows! Surprise me!


Thanks folks!

$10 from Holly

Holly's back with another ten bucks, and a pledge to send cookies if Gabe and Erik do roll up.

$49.99 from Jeffrey

Jeffrey has the look of a gentleman about him.

I'm donating the equivalent of 1 copy of L4D2.

It seemed ironic.

How appropriate! Thanks, Jeffrey.

$5 from Datun

He says:

Your campaign is looking really good. Don't spend too much time checking on PayPal though, donations will come... This is one the things that make the Internet such an amazing place.

Good luck,
~ Churrasco

I'll bear that in mind, big guy.
Thanks!

$5 from Ryan

Just when you think it's safe to say that the total donated is $1,852.22 USD, along comes this Ryan guy and makes it $1,856.75 USD! Things change so fast.

$5 from Simon

Simon, like some kind of Sorceror, has looked upon our humble fundraiser and summoned the funds to bring us to $1,852.22 USD.
Thanks, Simon!

$5 from Ross

Fresh Rosses for my ever-growing army of Donor Rosses! This Ross contributes five small green pieces of paper.

Thanks, Ross!

$10 from Matt

These ten dollars are from a Matt I've known for ten years, and I can state with certainty that he's not only a rad dude, but one of the raddest. Thanks, Matt!

$1,843.06 USD.

$25 from James

James is coming up, so you'd better get this party started.

He has twenty-five dollars to contribute, making the total $1,833.70 USD, which is a lot, really.

Thanks, James!

$5 from Troels

Troels hails from Denmark, where the men are real men, the women are real women, and the donations of five American dollars are real donations of five American dollars.

I hope to see some cute pictures of You, Gabe and Erik...
Good luck

Thanks, Troels.

$0.01 from Joshua

Joshua's one cent will go a long way to ensure the success of Fly Gabe Newell far into the now fast-approaching distant past.

$3.25 from Craig

Craig also attaches his thanks for helping him cull his paypal balance.

Finally a use for the tiny paypal balance that's been sitting in my account for years. Make sure they fly Coach!

I'll see what I can do, Craig. Thanks!

$10 from Joshua

Thanks to our good friend Joshua, there is now a breach in the hull of the USS Starship Eighteenhundreddollars. And it's getting wider.


Total is now $1,802.48 USD.

$5 from Jack

Good luck on this hilarious venture! If it doesn't work out, please send my donation along to Child's Play. I look forward to playing your mod. Thanks!

What a guy.

$10 from Ashley

Ashley brings us to $1,788.49 USD. Thanks!

$23 from Life

Who explains:

Good luck mate! Tell Gabe the internet has spoken. :)

$23 is a sneaky hidden message cunningly based on assigning sequential numbers to the letters of the alphabet:
H (8) + L (12) + 3 (3) = HL3 (23)

Intriguing!

Further Donations

Andrew - $10
Matt - $9.99
Mario - $20
Lau - $39.22
Matthew - $5

Bringing the total to $1,757.21 USD. Thanks, folks!

Also, although some of them have names in common with previous donators, these guys are all-new.

The night's donations

A tired Joe went to bed and a tired Joe woke up to ninety-five emails, most of them donations.

My sincerest regret at being physically incapable of writing a personalised post for each of these donations, but they are all appreciated. They range from forty-one cents to fifty bucks. Most of you have specified that you'd like your money to go to Child's Play should plans fall through.

Thank you very much:


Bino, Christopher, Jøran, Chris, Katherine, Mario, Tom, Tobias, Andreas, Stewart, Magnus, Ian, Matthew, Andrew, Lachlan, Lukas, Michael, Arno, Gill, Jonathan, Richard, Matthew, Mark, Dan, StorageMachine, Steven, Luc, SpecialAttack.net, Søren, Jack, Jocelyn, Eric, Abhishek, Chris, Byron, Alexander, Joe, Jonathon, Pedro, Scott, Roy, Ryan, Michael, Matt Pierson, Alastair, David, Stuart, Henrik, Anders, Juergen, Epik Technologies, Justin, David, Russel, Tobias, Peter, David, Stephen, Andrew, Scott, Elizabeth, Colin, James, Shannon, Alex, Eric, Adam, Josiah, Nick, Franklin, Mike (donated by [CLAN] apparently, Elliott, Niels, Adrian, Charles, Sebastian, Oliver, IT()EUnitedNation, Christopher, Girish, RM, Andrew, and Sanjita.


The total is now $1,677.36 USD.

Well done.

I asked Gabe about airfares:

Well, a couple of minutes on Expedia resulted in this:

from $1211 Roundtrip avg/person (from $2422 total)
12:00 pm Depart Seattle (SEA)
Arrive Brisbane (BNE) 7:45 am +2 days Mon 23-Nov
Duration: 25hr 45mn
Qantas Airways 3746 / 16
Connect in Los Angeles (LAX)
Preview seat availability Choose this departure
Book this flight online now without booking fees!
See details


So Erik and I aren't in too much danger.

I'm going to bed.

Further posts here will be delayed until the morning.

The current total stands at a truly staggering $947.59 USD, which is...truly staggering.

Pretty good for one day.

See you tomorrow!

$6.66 from Niklas

Who says:

Just trying to get Lucifer interested, I hear he has a shitload of money.

Sounds...good. I think.

Thanks, Niklas!

$5 from Ravious

This is Ravious from Kill Ten Rats. Please note me as such. Please also donate the money to Child's Play if it falls through.

Thanks, Ravious from Kill Ten Rats.

$5 from Alex, again

Alex, from before, just donated another five bucks on top of his previous twenty, and says both are to go to charity should the unthinkable happen. What a man.

I wanted to send another 5 bucks and please use this and the other 20 for charity!

$2 from Jonathan

Is this our first Jonathan? I can't even remember anymore. Thanks for the two bucks, fella.

$0.09 from Katarzyna

That's an awesome name.

Thanks for the nine cents!

Takes the total to $930.72 USD.

$10 from James

James is a fantastic animator. He animated the Fruit Fucker boss for Shotgun Sunrise. I can't be bothered finding the link so you just go ahead and google that.
Thanks for the ten bucks, James!

$20 from Phillip

Phillip's another great guy who wants his money to go to Child's Play, and you know what else? He just brought the total up to fucking $916.91 USD. I don't mean to bust out the course language, but the last time I looked at the total it was seven hundred and something, then I write a bunch of posts, come back and it's $916.91 USD! $916.91 USD!

Jesus. Thanks, Phillip.

$10 from Tristan again

Tristan Flies Again! This isn't even a new Tristan, he donated earlier and now he's donating more, which makes him the man, twice. The men. He says:

Will you be having a "meet the Gabe" party? Would be happy to fly from Adelaide to get Gabe to sign my L4D shirt. =D
(to charity if the unthinkable happens)

I guess I dunno, Tristan! We'll see how things turn out! You kind of need funding for stuff like that and we still haven't got the flights covered!

Thanks again, Tristan!

$90 from Peter

Peter's gone and upstaged the last few guys by donating a staggering $90. What a guy! When this guy digs, he digs deep. He's also our first Peter, so that's cool too.

Thanks, Peter!

$1 from another Daniel

Thanks for the dollar, pal! In my day, you could get a can of coke for that, but most places charge like $3 now. Oh, for the old days. Thanks anyway!

$15 from a second John

We're not counting Jon, you see, because that's an entirely different name.

John II says:

Go man, go! This will be the best possible thing, if it happens. Even if not: still a pretty great thing.

He's not wrong.

$20 from another Christopher

A second Christopher appears to challenge the first! But his donation perfectly matches that of the previous Christopher, and so they find themselves at a stalemate.

Thanks, Christophers.

$2.92 from Bob

Bob, respecting the tradition set down by Shawn earlier on of submitting unorthodox figures, donates two dollars and ninety-two cents. Thanks, Bob!

Fun fact: Gabe Newell was involved in the production of Microsoft Bob.

$10 from Chris

It's our first Chris - although there was previously a Christopher, it's not the same thing. Chris has a message to attach, also.

I'm only doing this because I hope the whole thing is a pretext to kidnap Gabe Newell, lock him in a basement, and force him to make Episode 3.

(no refund please. don't be silly.)

Curiously enough, he's something like the fifth person to suggest that exact plan.

Thanks, Chris!

$5 from Ben

Our lucky sixty-eighth donor's name is Ben, and he attaches a special message - for the Internet's eyes only!

I'm donating this on the condition you get Erik and Gabe posing with some pills. The L4D kind. I'm not saying have some sort of drug induced hallucination trip. Although that would be funny.

I'll see what I can do, Ben. Thanks for the fiver!

$6 from Andreas

I once knew a guy called Andreas from the same part of Norway that this Andreas is from, but I don't think it's the same guy, because the Andreas I knew is a gambler, and has no money to spare for ventures such as this. This Andreas, though, is a fine, upstanding Norwegian citizen, and has given the word to Child's Play his donation should the flights fall through.

Thanks, Andreas!

$10 from another Jason

Thanks for the tenner, Jason, and thanks for giving the OK to Child's Play your donation should the big guys not make it. You're the man, man. Thanks!

$5 from MC Howard

Who I can only assume is a DJ of some kind. When he's not donating money to worthy causes, MC Howard is no doubt laying down phat beats and keeping it real all up in the club. He attaches this message:

If when they fly back to the US their plane crashes on the LOST island and delays Episode 3 further I want my money back.

If they don't fly at all though send the money to Child's Play.

I'm pretty sure Gabe and the guys behind Lost are good buddies, so if the above were to eventuate they'd probably be rescued pretty quick. But the important thing to take from this is that MC Howard likes helping sick kids out as well as laying down epic rhymes, and that's something we should all be thankful for. Thanks, MC.

$15 from Craig

I'd like you all to know that I'm personally acquainted with a man named Craig and he's a pretty swell guy. That's not the Craig that just sent us $15, though. I have no idea who this Craig is. Other than he's obviously a pretty swell guy or he wouldn't be donating. Thanks, Craig!

$2 from Jesper

Thanks for the two bucks, Jesper. I'll use it to buy Gabe some Australian confectionary when he shows up. Cool name, by the way.

Thanks, Jesper!

$5 from Anonymous

The giver of this particular $5 has asked to remain anonymous. He's giving money to a cause, and yet he doesn't want people to know who he is. That's probably because he's not in it for the fame, the glory, or the girls, but because he's just one of those inherently warm-hearted individuals who just want to help fly CEOs around the world.

God, what a guy.

Thanks, Anonymous.

$5 from Stewart

Here's to our first Stewart. Thanks for the fiver, pal. I'm imagining you as Stewie from Family Guy, even though I don't like that show very much at all. God, if I ever hear that theme song again I'll kill somebody.

...Thanks, Stewart!

$25 from Kieron

Kieron attaches a special message:

I went for 25 dollars as RPS' fellow John Walker went for 20. This means I'm better than John Walker. I thought you and everyone should know this.

He refers to John Walker of Rock Paper Shotgun, a particularly good website which did an article on this fundraiser. I guess Mister Walker's been upstaged! But it's cool guys, every bit counts.

$20 from Daniel

Ladies and gents, I present the first Daniel of the fundraiser. May there be many more to come. Thanks for the twenty, Daniel! He's also specified he wants to support Child's play too, which, as we've already established, is an awesome thing to do. Way to go there, fella.

$10 from another Tristan

I guess Tristan is more of a common name than I thought! This is the third one, I think. That's more than we have Johns. He's also specified that he wants his donation donated to Child's Play in the event of it not being spent on flights, so that makes him even more awesome.
Thanks, Tristan!

$10 from Jip

Thanks for the tenner, Jip. Due to your last name, which I'm not disclosing here for your privacy, I'm imagining you as a triceratops. It gives me great pleasure to imagine you at your computer, using your three horns to perform the steps necessary to send this donation. Oh, how I giggle.

Thanks, friendly dino!

$5 from Nedialko

Thanks for the fiver, Nedialko. That's another cool name. Is it Russian? I'm imagining you as Viggo Mortensen's character in Eastern Promises. I hope that makes you feel cool.

Thanks again, fella!

$2 from Justin

Seems donating two dollars is what the cool kids're doing these days! This is probably old news, however. I am, as a rule, behind on the popular trends. Thanks, Justin!

$2 from Frantisek

Cool name, Frantisek. Your two dollars has brought us to $639.68 USD! Chip in another few cents and we'll be on $640, which sounds better.

Thanks, Frantisek!

$10 from... EmergenC?

So, this is weird. I guess http://www.emergenc.co.uk/ sent ten bucks? That's nice of them and everything, but they seem to be some guys who sell vitamins. Possibly vitamin C?

Am I being had in some way?

Thanks, guys!

$20 from Robert

Robert attaches a message:

If you get a job out of this can I use you as a reference? :p

Send this on to Childs Play if it doesn't happen.

Well sure you can, Robert old pal, but I wouldn't put me on your resume just yet.

As you can see, Robert was kind enough to specify a desire to help sick kids out, and I'm taking that and his twenty bucks as evidence that he's a super rad dude. Probably he's really popular, all the chicks love him, he has a really slick hairstyle and sells fine leather jackets. Thanks, Robert!

$2 from David

Thanks for the two bucks, David. You know there was a kid at my primary school called David, and he was always playing with these really elaborate train sets. I guess the train sets were somehow too elaborate, because the other kids teased him a lot, but you know, I think they were just jealous of how freakin' amazing the guy's trains were. And the moral of the story is that even though this two dollar donation is sandwiched between two larger donations, David's is probably the best two bucks ever.

Having said that we also greatly appreciated Adrian's two dollars earlier.

Thanks, David!

$5 from Michael

Seconds after the last post, Michael steps up to take us to $603.59 USD! That guy really knows how to make an entrance. And people say I'm the life of the party 'cause I tell a joke or two.

$20 from Christopher

Some guys are too cool to abbreviate their names. Like Christopher here. Forget "Chris"! Forget "Topher"! Forget "Christoph"! This guy's comfortable with the name his parents gave him, and they probably appreciate that a lot. Like I appreciate his twenty bucks. Thanks, Christopher!

Man, I bet the next three donations will be from Chris, Topher and Christoph.

Currently we're totalling $597.43. Remember when we were having trouble hitting 400? Man, those were good times, guys.

$20 from Lawrence

So, Lawrence, this is going to sound like a line, but I used to have a computer named Lawrence. For a number of years, in fact. He always treated me right. It seems like you're doin' that too. Thanks, Lawrence!

The total's now $582.66USD. We'll probably be up to $600 before I go to bed.

$20 from John

Hey, thanks for the $20, John! You know, what I said earlier, in that older post, about Johns with H in the name? I didn't mean that. That was, that was completely uncalled for and I didn't mean it at all. It was a bad joke! I'm sorry, John. Will you forgive me? I was younger then!

Thanks, John. You've brought us to $563.64 USD.

$10 from Stijn

I'm going to have to just stop trying to call who has the best name. They're all so unique! Thanks for the tenner, Stijn! You're a hell of a guy. Or girl. Somebody look that up.

$5 from Jouni

Jouni attaches the following message:

I would like to proclaim, under the direct authorization of the Finnish president (not really), that the entire nation of Finland (not really) stands proudly behind your efforts and will take this matter under discussion in the next EU, UN and OSCE meetings (not really). Together, we shall overcome!

It's about time they started discussing real issues at these meetings!
Thanks, Jouni!

$10 from Gobion

That's actually his name! What a sweet name. Turns out a lot of you dudes have rockin' names. What's that say about the world? People with rockin' names are likely to be more generous? It's seeming that way. Gobion (so awesome) brings the total to $530.73 USD.

$10 from Lukasz

Taking the cake for most interesting name of the day, Lukasz has seen fit to donate ten sweet, sweet dollars. Without his donation, we wouldn't have $521.37USD, so we have a lot to thank him for. Thanks, Lukasz!

$7 from Christian

Christian attaches the following message:

Your campaign better be good.

Well gee, I sure hope it is. I guess Gabe and Erik can decide when they show up here to play it. I've got one map done and another map half-done and another map just started. Thanks, Christian!

$20 from another Alex

Alexes, I find, are increasingly prevalent on the internet. They also appear to be uniformly rad dudes! Thanks, rad dude number 40!

I just realised that the previous totals I've been putting here have just been all the donations added up, and haven't accounted for exchange rates. Henceforth, I shall write the figure in United States Dollars: the total is currently $505.45USD.

In the unlikely event that Gabe and Erik don't end up flying here, rendering the amassed money unnecessary for that purpose, I would like very much to donate it to Child's Play, with the permission of each donor. Therefore, I'm asking future donors to attach a message indicating whether they're okay with their money going to sick kids in the event of plans falling through or whether they're intent on a refund.

Thanks folks!

$20 from Alex, $1 from Gregory, one cent from James

I just recieved three donations at almost exactly the same time, one significantly larger than the other two. All, however, are greatly appreciated! You never know when exchange rates will change and one American cent will suddenly equal a millon Australian dollars.

Thanks, guys! Particularly Alex.

The total now sits at $501.16, breaking half a grand!

$5.42 from Stephen

Stephen attaches a message:

$5 for internet hilarity is a bargain. Plus tip.

If only more people saw it that way, Stephen! Thanks a bunch for bringing the total to $480.15. I applaud you for having the balls to spell Stephen with a ph.

And yeah, I know that total doesn't add up with the previous totals I gave. The Excel document I'm using was missing a name!

$50 from another Tristan

I have met one Tristan in my life, and now I start up a fundraiser and I hear from two in the same day. Crazy.

This one's donated $50, making the total $469.73. Hell of a guy. Thanks, Tristan!

$10 from Holly

The ravishing Holly has donated a further $10 bringing us to $419.73. Holly is the second personal acquaintance of mine to donate! She's a rad lady. You guys'd like her. Thanks, Holly!

$10 from Sean

Sean has the honour of being the man to finally end the bitter stalemate between this fundraiser and the number 400. Here we are now at $409.73! You're the man, Sean. Thanks for steppin' up! I used to work with a guy called Sean, and I can 100% guarantee that you are cooler than he ever will be.

$0.05 from Osmo

Osmo hopes his five cents will carry us over the threshold - unfortunately, we've still only got $399.73! On the other hand, Osmo has a fantastic first name, and I think we can all go home feeling a little richer for having heard it. Thanks, Osmo!

$0.43 from Grayson

Not the same Grayson as earlier, I might add! Just to tantalise us all further, he's brought the total to $399.68. The suspense is killing me.
Thanks, Grayson!

$10 from Adam

The kindly Canberran (I'm really running out of adjectives here) Adam has donated ten dollars, bringing the total up to $399.25. How tantalising!
Thanks, Adam! How's Canberra?

$5 from another Matthew

Matthew's a uni student, and regrets not being able to give more. We all know how that is! Three cheers for Matthew, another fellow Brisbanite, who brings the total money raised to $389.25 in assorted AUD and USD (mostly Ameribucks by far, though).

$20 from Sam Jolly

The delightful Sam Jolly has sent twenty dollars. Sam Jolly is actually a personal acquaintance of mine, and is what we call, here in Australia, a "top bloke". He's English, so he'd think that's quaint. Maybe it is! Thanks, Jolly.

$3.50 from Brent

The extra-polite Brent also enclosed a smiley face:

In subsitute of more funding, here is a happy face.

:D

Which is just the kind of exemplary behaviour I'd expect from a fellow with such a dignified name. Although smiley faces are not accepted in most countries as a form of legal tender, it is, sometimes*, the thought that counts.

Thanks, Brent!






*not very often at all

$9.09 from Snicker

A fellow who asked to be credited as Snicker has gone ahead and thrown us nine bucks and nine cents! His reasoning is below.

Because the movie '9' is pretty good - and so is District 9. Go get 'em, Joe!

It's hard to argue with that logic. I hope someone out there's looking forward to 2012.

Thanks, Snicker! You've brought the total up to $375.75.

$20.61 from Zac

The enigmatic Zac (enigzatic, if you will) has seen fit to submit twenty dollars and sixty-one cents, sticking with the sixty-one-cent theme set down earlier in the day by our friend Shawn. Thanks, Zac! You know, there's nothing I despise more than when somebody throws a "K" on the end of that name. This Zac evidently has more subtlety than that. This is the kind of Zac you want to go buy a beer for. Thanks, Zac!

$50 from "your friends at CA (care of JoshuaC)"

Couch Athletics appear to have been kind enough to send a further $50, care of JoshuaC! What a bunch of fantastic guys. Thanks, guys! Your site has a cool name.
JoshuaC is the creator of popular Team Fortress 2 Arena map arena_watchtower. Currently, he's working on another one, set in an Egyptian tomb! I bet that's going to be sweet. You should all play it when it comes out! I think he's busy adding cobwebs right now, but I'll be sure to let you all know of the release.

Thanks again, folks!

$5 from Kyle

I'm not even kidding when I say that one of the most awesome guys I know is named Kyle. Right now, he's over in the United States, just havin' a good time and makin' sweet, sweet sounds come out of a guitar! The guy who just donated five American bucks isn't the same guy, but since he has the same name, I'm bettin' he's just as rad. Thanks, Kyle!

$5 from Martin

Here comes Martin with five American dollars. Thanks, Martin! Martin is significant in that he has just brought the total figure of donations since this morning to a cool $281.05. That's two hundred and eighty-one dollars and five cents. Pretty incredible! To think it was $6 this morning.

I also knew a guy called Martin once, and from what I remember, he was cool! Wore a red shirt.

I was very young.


Probably not the same guy.

$3 from Tristan

And I thought Jon was a classy name. Along comes Tristan with his much-appreciated three dollars! Thanks, Tristan. Wasn't there a movie about you?

$50 from Matthew

Behold, the first generous donation from a fellow Brisbanite! Matthew, like Scott, has surrendered fifty of his hard-earned Australian dollars to the greater good of a visit from Gabe and Erik. What a man! Of course, we all knew men from Brisbane are the kindliest men of all, but it's good to have deeply-held convictions affirmed like this. Thanks, Matthew!

$50 from Scott

A particularly distinguished fellow name of Scott has contributed the not-insignificant sum of fifty Australian dollars to the fund! I haven't been checking, but this may actually be the first donation not made in US dollars, contrary to what Kotaku have to say about it, and it's come from Perth, a place I had previously disliked on the grounds that I met a bastard from there when I was eight. Only with this donation is my good opinion of Perth restored. Thanks, Scott!

$3 from... another Robin?

In a bizarre twist, a third Robin has donated to the Fly Gabe Newell fund. Maybe it's Tim Drake? Thanks, Robin the Third!

$100 from Robin Walker of Valve Software

My last post, suggesting that perhaps Batman's trusty sidekick Robin had donated to our cause, was made in error - for there can now be no doubt that the real Robin has contributed. The incredible Robin Walker of Valve Software, that is! He attached the following message:

This is Robin Walker, from Valve. The rest of us at Valve would sure appreciate a couple of days without Erik around, so thanks for organising this!

Quick question though: if I donated more, would you buy a one-way ticket for him?

Robin.

Thanks, Robin!

$0.42 from Grayson

A fellow named Grayson has donated forty-two cents to the cause. Could this be Dick Grayson, the Robin himself? Your secret identity is safe with me, Dick.

$5 from Israël

The exceedingly generous Israël has been kind enough to provide another five dollars. The significance of this donation cannot be overestimated! For five multiplied by two-hundred is almost exactly how much we need to get Gabe Newell here. He's on his own for getting home.

Ross submits his two cents

A feller named Ross has submitted $0.02 for our consideration. I hope this doesn't make Shawn mad.

$10 from Michael

Here comes Michael with another ten bucks, bringing the total to a very neat $64.61. Now, I'm not disclosing surnames here because people might object, but I'd like to point out here that Michael really has a very cool surname that reminds me of an old west revolver. Probably his middle name, when pronounced correctly, sounds just like a bullet whizzing past your head. God, I wish I was that cool. Thanks, Michael!

$3.61 from Shawn

Just when we're getting to nice, round numbers like 50, Shawn comes in here with three dollars and sixty-one cents. But although at first that might seem like a more annoying number to have to deal with, what Shawn's really doing is making is mark on this entire fundraiser - for now, until someone else donates an unseemly number of cents, every donation is going to bring the total to "x amount of dollars and sixty-one cents. In this way, Mister Shawn will challenge the world.

And of course Henry the horse dances the waltz.

$5 from Nicole

A person called Nicole has thrown us a cool five dollars! I say "person" because although Nicole is usually a girl's name, I did meet a guy called that once! It doesn't pay to assume, folks. But hey, in this modern age, the concept of gender is rapidly losing its meaning anyway! So thanks, Nicole, whoever you may be - you have done a good thing this day.

$2 from Adrian

The kindly Adrian has emptied his pockets and thrown us two dollars. Thanks, Adrian! I knew a guy called Adrian once. Guy had a rockin' pair of socks. I think he's a fashion designer now!

$5 from Jon

A classy gent named Jon has kindly donated five of his hard-earned American dollars. Thanks, Jon! Jon's a guy I have serious respect for, because he's been bold enough to drop that cumbersome silent "h" some guys throw into their names. Who needs it, right? Too many unnecessary letters like that, and a name can collapse under its own weight.

$5 from Jason

I bet you didn't even see him there, and now here Jason comes out of nowhere bringing the total amount raised to $39! Because that's just how Jason rolls. In the heat of battle, just when you think it's all over, you're licked, you're done for, Jason will have your back, and though there'll be no medals waiting when you and he get back home, he'll always be a hero, to you.

$10 from Kyall

Somebody named Kyall has generously thrown $10 towards this most noble of causes. Thanks, Kyall! That's a sweet name you've got there. Hey, ladies - if you meet a guy named Kyall, he's probably Mister Right, so you should just drop that other guy you're dating.

On the other hand I don't know if Kyall is a male or female name, so if I got it wrong just reverse the genders on that last sentence.

$2 from Jim

Seems a guy named Jim's chipped in two bucks, bringing the total amount raised to $24! What a guy. Guys like Jim, they're nice, modest, unassuming. He doesn't need one o' them fancy names like Jeremiah or Juspeczyk. Jim does him just fine, thanks for asking.

$5 from Aaron!

This latest donation just serves to solidify my deeply-held belief that people called Aaron are invariably fantastic people. Thanks, Aaron!

Ten bucks from Alexander!

Some guy called Alexander just donated ten bucks! Hell of a guy, that Alexander. Women want him, men want to be him.

$1

from a guy named Adam, we're really going places now!

$5

$5 recieved from a bloke named Marshall, thanks fella.

First Donation

A dollar has been recieved from a man named Tom. Thanks, Tom!