This week's Best Pet hails from Ontario, Canada. Interesting fact: Geographically, Canada is the second-largest country in world (after Russia).

Pet Name:
Blackie

Pet Owner:
Gamesviller "Kam1212"

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Distinguishing Personality Traits:
Kam1212 says: "This handsome fellow is named Blackie. He was abandoned as a kitten and became almost wild. It took me two years to gain his trust and it was worth it. Blackie is now the biggest baby in the house. He loves to sit on my lap while I am on the computer and help me by placing his paw on the mouse and nudging it. Sometimes he enjoys smaking the keyboard and adding his own comments to mine in chat rooms. He loves the sounds of Magic 21... except for when I have to clear a column. Blackie lets me know that I am not doing well at that time flipping his ears back at the "thunk" sound."

Want to share photos of your own favorite pet with the Gamesville community?

Send photos to: members@gamesville.com

In addition to your pet's picture, please include:

• your member name
• your pet's most distinguishing personality trait

Please note: All submissions become the sole property of Gamesville, which reserves the right to hold, reject and/or edit submissions without notice and without limitation in perpetuity.

Congratulations, Madeleine059! Last night, this lucky Gamesviller took home $4,999 cash playing Three-Eyed Bingo. Everyone, please give her a warm round of applause.

Pictured to the left is Madeleine059's Gamesville Avatar. Don't have an avatar of your own yet? Create your Gamesville Avatar now. It's fun, fast, and free.

Good news: Gamesville Avatars and Member Profiles are now live!

Avatars

For those of you who are just joining us, your Gamesville Avatar is a representation of yourself that is connected to your member name. Here are some are key facts about Gamesville Avatars which we humbly refer to as "the most fun way to express yourself online":

• Mix, match & colorize dozens of avatar parts to create the look that best suits you
• Change your Gamesville Avatar whenever you want to reflect how you're feeling right now
• Best of all: Gamesville Avatars are available to all Gamesville members, FREE of charge because that's how we roll

And if you haven't created your Gamesville Avatar yet, what are you waiting for... an invitation? Try Gamesville Avatars now!

Member Profiles

You can view your Gamesville Avatar and the avatars of other members through our new member profiles!

Now, when you're playing a Gamesville game with chat, simply click a member name in the chat list to launch a "mini member profile" that contains information about that member and displays his or her avatar. Check out Maryellyn2'smini-profile below:

Currently, member profiles on Gamesville display information on your GV Rewards status and favorite games. In the near future, you'll have the option to display more personal information about yourself and more... 

Everyone at Gamesville hopes you dig these new features--and, as always, we look forward to your comments and suggestions on what you'd like to see next.

Sincerely,
Chris Cummings
Manager, Gamesville.com

At the Gamesville Blog, our team of crack reporters (or is that, cracked reporters?) keeps an eye out for weird stories that come across the news wires. Here's one from our friends at Loveland Daily Reporter-Herald:

The Longs don't often see rattlesnakes in their manicured backyard behind a yellow farmhouse near Masonville. But last week, a rattler slithered onto the rocks in their yard and into the path of their 1-year-old grandson, Booker West.

As Booker splashed his hands in a birdbath in the yard, and as his grandfather, Monty Long, watched him, both unaware of the snake, the rattler poised, standing tall. It rattled and then it struck.

But the family's Chihuahua, 5-pound, mellow, blond, 1-year-old Zoey, threw herself in front of Booker, taking rattlesnake fangs to the head and face. [...] Zoey's yelp brought Monty running to scoop up the baby.

"(Zoey) took the bite for him," he said. "If I hadn't been paying attention to her yipe telling me something was wrong, (Booker) would have been next."

And for her efforts, Zoey earned a face the size of a grapefruit, a trip to the veterinarian’s office, antivenin and morphine shots and a scar that cuts vertically across her head. She almost lost an eye.

[...]

"These little bitty dogs, they just don't really get credit," Denise said.

This morning, we launched a few changes to the My Gamesville box on the homepage that we think will answer a lot of the questions coming into customer service; namely, "How do I edit my account information?" and "How do I switch users?"

Here is a screenshot of the revised My Gamesville box (using my new Gamesville member name, "Cinemachris") with callouts explaining the new features: 

This week's Best Pet is from Salem, Alabama. Interesting fact: Alabama is the only state with all the major natural resources required to make both iron and steel.

Pet Name:
Penny (a.k.a., "Bay Bay")

Pet Owner:
Gamesviller "jodie0511"

Distinguishing Personality Traits:
Jodie0511 says: "Penny is a minature Daschund. She is two years old and has four beautiful babies (three boys and one girl). They are so little, but so cute! Penny (or Bay Bay, as we call her) is such a sweety and is turning out to be such a good mom. She loves to be loved on, and looks so innocent even when she is doing things she shouldn't. She and her pups are a great addition to our family."

Want to share photos of your own favorite pet with the Gamesville community?

Send photos to: members@gamesville.com

In addition to your pet's picture, please include:

• your member name
• your pet's most distinguishing personality trait

Please note: All submissions become the sole property of Gamesville, which reserves the right to hold, reject and/or edit submissions without notice and without limitation in perpetuity.

Today, lucky Gamesviller "ladioo" won $3,475 playing Magic 21. Congratulations!

This week's Best Pet is from Ohio, the Buckeye State. Interesting fact: Ohio's official state beverage: tomato juice...

Pet Name:
PJ

Pet Owner:
Gamesviller "corie66"

Distinguishing Personality Traits:
Corie66 says: "This is PJ, my six-year-old African grey. She loves grapes and crackers, and will stand in the middle of her cage and ask for them. When fully developed, she'll have the mentality of a 5-7 year old child. Right now, she can act sometimes like a child in their 'terrible twos'. PJ has been a joy since she has entered our lives and there is rarely a dull moment. Thanks for letting me share her."

Want to share photos of your own favorite pet with the Gamesville community?

Send photos to: members@gamesville.com

In addition to your pet's picture, please include:

• your member name
• your pet's most distinguishing personality trait

Please note: All submissions become the sole property of Gamesville, which reserves the right to hold, reject and/or edit submissions without notice and without limitation in perpetuity.

And now for something completely different.

When I was back in college (which feels like a million years ago now), the card game "Magic: The Gathering" was very popular among my friends. Looking back, it's pretty easy to see why: the cost to start was pretty low, the game was fairly easy to get into, and the fantasy art on the cards was really pretty. The basic goal of the game was to defeat your opponent using various spells/card combinations.

I graduated and got into online games; my friend Maury graduated and (eventually) went to work for the people who make the Magic: The Gathering games. He contacted me recently, and asked if he could plug the tenth edition of Magic in the Gamesville blog. Since I have a soft spot for the game, and I know at least a few of you miss our own stab at the genre METAROK, I told him he could drop by and say a few words. With that, take it away Maury...

Hi, everyone. Maury here. I'm not sure how much you all know about Magic's tenth edition so I'll try to be quick and informative.

Magic: The Gathering® Trading Card Game's Tenth Edition is the "greatest hits" of Magic™, featuring some of the best and most popular cards of all time. As with each core set, Tenth Edition is an excellent entry point for imaginative strategy gamers who want to give Magic a try, while offering the classic cards and depth of strategy that long-time players have come to expect. Fans will also be excited to see that every card in the set is black bordered -- a first for a core set since Beta's release in 1993. With powerful cycles, incredible combo cards, and a few surprise reprints, Tenth Edition is the most exciting core set since Alpha.

Product Features

• The set contains 383 cards (121 rare, 121 uncommon, 121 common, 20 basic lands
• All cards are black bordered
• Legendary creatures are included for the first time in a core set
• The set will debut Tips and Tricks cards, a 16th card in booster packs which will feature gameplay rules, card combos, organized play information and even creature tokens
• Several aspects of 10th Edition were selected by players voting on magicthegathering.com including cards, art, flavor text and the expansion symbol
• Old favorites such as Incinerate, Lord of the Pit and Howling Mine will feature incredible new artwork from some of the best fantasy artists in the business
• Many other cards, such as Glorious Anthem, will also include updated flavor text
• The redesigned Two Player Starter featuring Tenth Edition booster packs was designed to introduce new players to Magic: The Gathering and includes previews of land cards from the upcoming Lorwyn set which releases in October

Worldwide Magic Game Day

Along side the release of Magic: The Gathering's 10th Edition Core Set, Wizards of the Coast invites Magic players to participate in Worldwide Magic Game Day on July 14; a celebration of Magic: The Gathering for its fans, both old and new.

Magic Game Day will have something for everyone, including learn to play demos, league play, tournaments, contests, prizes and promo cards for those in attendance. Bring a friend and come hang out with other Magic fans to be among the first to play Magic: The Gathering Tenth Edition.

More than 1,000 hobby shops across the country will be participating in the celebration. Check out where Magic Game Day will be celebrated in your area at: http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=mtgcom/events/07gameday-na

Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
Developer: Wizards of the Coast
Format: Trading Card Strategy Game Price: Theme Decks: $8.99; Booster Pack: $3.99 Release Date: July 13, 2007
Release Event: Magic Game Day celebrated at local retail stores and hobby shops July 14

That's it. Thanks for your time. I hope you check it out. Back to you, Chris.

Thanks, Maury. Best of luck with the tenth edition. I can't wait to check it out.

Coming up tomorrow: A parrot eating an ice cream cone!