This week's Best Gamesville Avatar was created by Nycchickinga of Atlanta, GA (pictured at left).

Of her Gamesville Avatar, Nycchickinga says: "I had lots of fun creating my avatar, and go back and forth while popping bubbles or playing dominoes. I think it's a really fun feature to have and think it would be even more fun with more accessories, more clothes, and more backgrounds... Thanks, Gamesville!"

Ask and you shall receive, Nycchickinga: We recently added over 100 new items to the Gamesville Avatar creator. Check them out now!

Think you have the Best Gamesville Avatar?

Shine up your Gamesville Avatar, then send your Gamesville member name to: members@gamesville.com We'll check out your avatar and see if it has was it takes to be Best Gamesville Avatar.

Be sure to include a little bit about yourself and your Gamesville Avatar with your entry, so we can understand that special connection between you and your Gamesville Avatar.

If we publish you as "Best Gamesville Avatar", we'll give you 500 GV Rewards.

Don't have a Gamesville Avatar yet? Create your FREE Gamesville Avatar now!

This week's Best Pet duo is from Low Moor, West Yorkshire, UK.

Pet Names:
Mulder and Scully

Pet Owner:
Gamesviller "Madnige"

View Madnige's Profile
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Distinguishing Personality Traits:
Madnige says: "These are my bearded dragons, Mulder and Scully. They are two-year-old brothers. Mulder just plods along happily, bobbing his head when he wants attention or tapping his nose on the glass so you acknowledge him. Scully sits and sulks most of the day like a grumpy teenager but comes to life whe there are locust or mario worms on the menu. They enjoy a swim in the bath or in a tub in the garden if the weather is nice. This year we are going to invest in a leash so they can go walkies now that they are big enough. That should stop the traffic! We are hoping to get a female so we can breed them and have lots of tiny beardies!"

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.

Please give a warm Gamesville round of applause to Katsbnzontario0 of Hamilton, Ontario. Yesterday, this lucky Gamesviller took home $2,739 playing Three-Eyed Bingo.

Fun fast fact: There is one doughnut shop for every 5,721 people in Hamilton, according to the Hamilton Public Library. Hamilton's population: 504,559, according to Wikipedia.

Today's Weird Wire™ comes from our friends at The Escapist:

Japanese arcade distributor Atlus Co. said it will recall 150 arm-wrestling machines that are breaking players' arms.

The machine, known as Arm Spirit, has so far broken three arms of players who put it to the challenge. The machine features 10 levels of arm-wrestling difficulty, including a French maid, a drunken martial arts master and a Chihuahua. The final throw-down, for those who manage to avoid having their forearms snapped, is against a professional arm-wrestler.

"The machine isn't that strong, much less so than a muscular man," said Atlus spokeswoman Ayano Sakiyama. "Even women should be able to beat it."

Check out the BBC coverage for a picture of the machine and the official Arm Spirit site for more details on the game itself. Just don't challenge that Chihuahua to a match; he's much stronger than he looks.

Long-time members of Gamesville know that The Weekly World News--a tabloid newspaper published by American Media Inc. that combined, shall we say, offbeat editorial columns with wire reports of strange news, wrapped in a prickly blanket 100% free of traditional journalistic "fact-checking"--holds a special place in our hearts.

In fact, Gamesville once hosted a suite of Weekly World News games, such as Bat Boy's Spider Solitaire and The Mike Walker game.

(Above, the print ad from The Weekly World News, September 2001, announcing the new games.)

Well, it is with a very heavy heart that we report that the August 27th issue of The Weekly World News is the final print edition of "The World's Only Reliable Newspaper".

After 28 years of chronicling stories of alien abductions, toilets possessed by demons, and more Elvis sightings than we have fingers and toes, The Weekly World News is closing up shop. As far as we know, neither Bat Boy nor Bigfoot could be reached for comment.

(Thank goodness, we still have Weird Wire™.)

This week's Best Gamesville Avatar was created by Cjs-woman of McPherson, KS (pictured at left).

Of her Gamesville Avatar, Cjs-woman says: "I like my avatar because she represents me: I have a full time career, I am a mom, and I would love to be able to unwind and relax once in a while. I gave her purple hair--not because I myself would ever have it!--but because purple is my favorite color and I am a little crazy sometimes. I am very new to this site, so I can't wait to see what I can unlock first! Thank you for setting up a place for over-worked and over-stressed moms everywhere so they can have a small bit of peace!"

Think you have the Best Gamesville Avatar?

Shine up your Gamesville Avatar, then send your Gamesville member name to: members@gamesville.com We'll check out your avatar and see if it has was it takes to be Best Gamesville Avatar.

Be sure to include a little bit about yourself and your Gamesville Avatar with your entry, so we can understand that special connection between you and your Gamesville Avatar.

If we publish you as "Best Gamesville Avatar", we'll give you 500 GV Rewards.

Don't have a Gamesville Avatar yet? Create your FREE Gamesville Avatar now!

This week's Best Pet is from Poplarville, MS. Want to know the current temperature in Poplarville? Try the all-new Lycos Weather :-)

Pet Name:
Fu Manchu (a.k.a., Fu, Fufu, Fifi)

Pet Owner:
Gamesviller "Cajuntlc"

Distinguishing Personality Traits:
Cajuntlc says: "Fu was a Katrina baby. As you can see from the picture, he was almost all head when we adopted him from a local humane society. They had told us that Fu was a female. The kids had named him Fifi and he had even started to respond to that name. However, when we took him to be fixed we were informed that he was not a she. From that point on he has been known as Fu Manchu or Fufu for short. He has always loved to curl up under people's necks ... although, at this point, he is getting a little too big to still be sleeping there!"

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.

Our friends over at Lycos Weather have just launched their new weather product and we liked it so much, we wanted to give them a free plug.

Behold, the all-new Lycos Weather:

Like most weather sites, Lycos Weather gives you current conditions, 48-hour forecasts, and the 7-day forecast. The twist here, and the thing I like best, is the exceptional ease of use and the personality.

Let's start with the very top of the page: The header at the top of the page changes to reflect the current weather conditions and time of day... so if it's cloudy, you see clouds; if it's raining, you see rain; if it's foggy, fog; etc. Honestly, it's a simple idea, but it works. One look at the header of the page tells you all you really need to know, but they also use really big, easy to understand icons to give you a good sense of what the weather conditions are.

However, my favorite part of Lycos Weather is the Lycos Weather meteorologist, Betty (who is clearly and unabashedly a Gamesville avatar... see her Gamesville profile).

Betty provides the weather forecast, but that's not all; she dresses for the occasion to show you how you might want to dress, and provides helpful ideas for things you should do that day, based on the current weather conditions and time of day. To be fair, some of the ideas aren't really helpful so much as funny, but it's still worth a read.

Please try the all-new Lycos Weather, and let us know what you think. We'll pass along your feedback to the Lycos Weather team, and they'll use your comments to help decide which features to offer next.

Tomorrow: Best Pets! 

Good news! Gamesville Avatars--The Most Fun Way To Express Yourself Online--just received a massive update, introducing over ONE HUNDRED new items for you to mix, match, and color however you like.

Come celebrate the introduction of over 100 new items, including...

• 18 new eyes
• 18 new mouths
• 24 new backgrounds
• 13 new hair choices
• 11 new hats
• 4 new noses
• 1 new head shape
• and more ... more eyebrows, more tattoos, more masks, more MORE. We even included a kitty, a dog, and a flamingo (look under "Misc > Item").

Okay; it's not actually "the law" but it is free and fun; take the Gamesville Avatar creator for a whirl today.

This recipe for Tomato Basil Spaghettini was sent to us by Gamesviller call-food50 from Springfield, MO.

Ingredients:

• 1 (16 ounce) package uncooked spaghettini
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes with garlic
• 2 fresh tomatoes, chopped
• 1 cup fresh basil leaves
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 4 ounces soft goat cheese
• freshly ground black pepper to taste

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.
2. In a blender or food processor, blend the diced tomatoes, fresh tomatoes, basil, garlic, olive oil, and pepper until chunky.
3. In a bowl, toss the cooked pasta and tomato mixture. Sprinkle lemon juice over the pasta and top with goat cheese just before serving.

Do you have a favorite recipe to share with the Gamesville community?

Send it to: members@gamesville.com

Please include:

•    your Gamesville member name
•    the complete recipe with ingredients and directions

If we use your recipe as a feature article, you'll receive 500 GV Rewards!