Topic: Hollywood
Our friends over at Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment sent us an early copy of the DVD for “27 Dresses,” which will be released on April 29th, and I wanted to say something about it to all of you since I really enjoyed this movie.  In the film, Katherine Heigl stars as Jane, a romantic who is enthralled with weddings and always puts others before herself … which has led to her serving as a bridesmaid 27 times. When her shallow sister falls in love with her boss (Edward Burns) – with whom Jane had been secretly in love – she sees her life begin to fall apart before her eyes.  James Marsden stars opposite Heigl as George, a reporter writing a story about Jane’s “always a bridesmaid” lifestyle who urges Jane to learn to say “no.”

Katherine Heigl is charismatic and appealing as Jane, and has lovely onscreen chemistry with Marsden (who I think should be a much bigger star than he is).  The two share some great moments, particularly a montage of Heigl trying on all of her garish bridesmaid dresses which are and a laugh-out-loud bar scene where the two try to figure out the words to “Benny and the Jets.”  Scene-stealer Judy Greer, who is great in pretty much everything, is also featured in a supporting role.  Certainly, this flick doesn’t break any new ground, but its sweet and frothy in a good way -  like a strawberry milkshake.  Check it out on April 29th.

Topic: Recipedia

Low-Fat "Pan Fried" Fish was sent to us by Gamesviller Fishtat22 from Worcestor MA.

Ingredients:

• 2 tsp. cornstarch
• 3 egg whites
• 1/4 corn meal
• 2 tsp. dry mustard
• 1/2 tsp. minced onion
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt free seasoning blend
• 1 1/4 lb. fish fillets
• 2 tsp. corn oil

Directions:

1. You'll need nice, thick fish fillets and a nonstick skillet to "fry" fish.
2. Combine egg white and cornstarch in a bowl; mix well.
3. In another bowl, blend corn meal and seasonings.
4. Dip fish in egg white mixture, then in corn meal.
5. Brush a nonstick skillet with 1 teaspoon oil, then heat and brown fish.
6. Reduce heat, cover and cook fish for 5-7 minutes.
7. Remove fish from pan and brush pan with oil.
8. Brown other side of fish, reduce heat, cover and cook 5-7 minutes.
9. Freshly ground pepper to taste

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! So send it on in today!

Topic: Members
This week's Best Pet is Joe - who appears to be quite the scholar - from North Versailles, PA. 

Pet Name: Joe

 

Pet Owner: Gamesviller sandyl5l37

View sandyl5l37's Profile
Get Your Free Gamesville Avatar Today

 

Distinguishing Personality Traits:

sandyl5l37 says, "This is my baby Joe. He loves to get around my saying 'no' to him by saying, 'I love you.' If he really wants something, he will say, 'I really love you.' Joe is very smart.  I won't call him a dog because he doesn't think he is a dog. When he goes to bed at night, he lays his head on his pillow and needs to be covered up with his blanket and snores as good as any person. Joe will be 3 on the 2nd of April. He is just one big puppy that wants to play all the time!"

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

If we publish your pet as a "Best Pet," we'll give you 500 GV Rewards.

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.

Topic: Avatars

This week's Best Avatar is from Citychickandi pictured at left) from Fenton, MO.  

Citychickandi says, "I work full time and my new husband, the babies and I spend almost all of our time together playing and learning new things. When the house is quiet, I love nothing better than going to Gamesville and leaving all my worries behind for an hour or two. Thank you, Gamesville!"

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!

Topic: Members

Gamblinggranny says, "I am still on cloud nine! I started playing Gamesville back in 1998 when my brother told me of your site. I've won before, but only a dollar or two. This was long before Three Eyed Bingo was introduced!  I still have the dreaded dial-up internet (my husband put me so far back in the woods that they pipe the sunlight in here). So when the jackpot is around $1,500, they all laugh at me because the computer has the phone tied up and the world stops for my Bingo games. I love to play, but I don't chat much for I am not a multi-tasker.

When I won, it was April Fool's Day. I was alone for it was still early here  and my husband is an over-the-road truck driver, so I had to call him right away! This was done with the cell phone my son, Frank, provided me with because of my phone tied up on Gamesville so much of the time.  I wasn't about to quit playing Bingo just to talk on the phone! My husband, Joe (35 years in May) said, "Yeah, right, and April Fool to you, too." I was so excited about winning that I had forgotten all about it being April Fool's Day! So when he comes home on Friday, he will finally believe me when he sees my name in lights! 

Of course, I had to spread the good news and the only ones to believe me were my mother, Susie and Pat (my sisters) and my brother Robert. Others had to go see for themselves (including my daughter, Michell ... SHAME on HER!). My oldest son is following in Joe's footsteps and is an over-the-road driver, so I haven't been able to tell him yet. But I can't wait because they all thought it was a waste of time.  They didn't think ya'll really paid any BIG money. Guess the joke is on them now!

I do see a lot more of my family joining in with Lycos games in the very near future. One final word to those of you that have always wanted to know, "YES, LYCOS/GAMESVILLE REALLY DOES PAY YOU THE GREEN!"

Besides Three Eyed Bingo, I love to read myself to sleep, spend time with family and friends, and watch "CSI," and NASCAR.  I love to read Dorothy Garlock, Mariah Stewart, and most any other romance/mystery there is to read.

 
(Not a GV Gold member yet?  Check it out here.)

Topic: News

Want to spice up your computer's desktop?  We're introducing a series of Gamesville wallpapers for you to download.  

To make one of our wallpapers your background, just click on any of the links below and then right click and save the image, or right click and choose "Set As Desktop Background."  We'll have some more for you coming up - and make sure to let us know if you have any good ideas as to what might make a cool Gamesville wallpaper!

Gamesville Logo Wallpaper

Poke the Penguin Wallpaper

Gamesville Gold Dragon Wallpaper

Topic: Hollywood

While most young girls grow up desiring careers like acting, teaching, medicine, or law, a good friend of mine had a more offbeat dream as a kid – to be a game show host.  Yes, while her peers wanted to be Julia Roberts or Meg Ryan, she idolized folks like Bob Barker and Wink Martindale.  Her passion for game shows continues to this day, and so, last week, when we had the opportunity to sit in the audience for “The Price Is Right” - and maybe even get “called on down” – we couldn’t pass it up.  

And of course, I was almost as excited by the opportunity as she was.  I work for Gamesville, after all, and grew up on game shows.  Playing casual games online is not unlike appearing as a game show contestant, actually – you have the audience (albeit in a chat room), the chance to win thousands of dollars … but you can play in your pajamas and you don’t have to wear a nametag.

So last Monday, my friend and I arrived at the CBS studio just before 6 AM, tickets in hand.  We waited in line with a collection of groggy people from all over the country, some wearing tee-shirts proclaiming how far they had traveled to see the show or jokey requests like “Drew Carey Me to Plinko.” (Get it?) At 6 AM, a CBS page handed us order of arrival numbers, and told us to return two hours later.  At 8 AM, a different page gave us new priority numbers and said, “Come back at 12:15 for the 4 PM taping.”   

You may be wondering why the producers needed audience members four hours early for a taping or force them to show up at the crack of dawn, and honestly, it’s a mystery to me, too. I’m assuming it has something to do with the Darwinian notion of weeding out the weak.  If you want to be on “The Price Is Right,” you have to work for it!

After filling out a form and having our snapshots taken by yet another chipper CBS page, the producers screened us.  One producer sat stoically, clipboard in hand, while another casually chatted up the crowd.  “Where are you from?”  he asked jovially. “What do you do for a living?” Meanwhile, his compatriote scratched down notes and the two seemed to engage in some indescernable gesturing to one another, indicating who among the crowd would be cast. 

“Should we make up different jobs so we have a better chance of getting on?” my friend asked as we waited to be screened, furrowing her brow. She has the particularly un-sexy, corporate-sounding job title of “Brand Analyst,” after all. We decided that we’re sort of nervous liars so we just tried to smile as brightly as possible, probably looking more insane than natural in the process.

After all of the time spent waiting, the actual taping of the show moved surprisingly fast.  The studio was small and bright.  Before the show began, the announcer, Rich Fields, and a collection of CBS pages and production assistants, successfully revved up the crowd by encouraging dancing to upbeat, party music like “I Will Survive.”  (You haven’t lived till you’ve seen 70-year-olds boogying un-selfconsciously in a studio audience.) By the time Drew appeared on stage, everyone was totally hyped up – surprisingly so since minutes earlier, I thought I’d pass out on an uncomfortable CBS bench in the hot sun.  Drew was a great host – he was funny between takes and chatted up the audience quite naturally

Sadly, neither my friend nor I were “called on down.”  But we did jump up and down, applaud, and scream wildly from the second row. We also hollered instructions to the contestants who made it onstage. (I admit it – any instructions I shouted to contestants were really based on nothing except for my need to be yelling at that moment, as passionate as I may have sounded.  I hope they didn’t listen to me.  I was usually wrong.) It seemed like every time we cheered at the top of our lungs, a production assistant bellowed at us to cheer louder.  This may seem like a lot of forced pep, but actually, the atmosphere was pretty great.

Sure, maybe CBS honchos were releasing some sort of endorphins through their central air system to increase enthusiasm, but it seemed to me that people were genuinely thrilled for the contestants. And really, isn’t this unbridled enthusiasm what makes “The Price Is Right” so great and so enduring after 36 years?  Isn’t there just something fabulous about the fact that we live in a world where a person can win thousands of dollars or a new car (or alternatively, wart cream or a decorative gas pump, which were actual prizes during my taping) just by playing a game? This feeling really encapsulates, I think, what makes game shows and online games so appealing.  So it may have not been me this time, but it could have been.  And next time, it could be you.

(Image: CBS.com)

 

Topic: Members

Gamesviller Crazy_chick_2005 from Romeoville, IL won $4,558 playing Magic 21 last night!  Congrats, Crazy_chick_2005!

Looking for a way to spiff up your ride now that spring has sprung?

Might we suggest one of our classic "Kill Time, Not People" bumperstickers, now available at the Gamesville Prop Shop?

Measuring 10" x 3" and printed on 4mil vinyl using water and UV resistant inks so it won't fade in the sun or bleed in the rain. Slap one on today!