Musical Monday - Desert Bus Theme Song by The Doubleclicks

I know. It's not Monday. But if Monday Night Football can have a Thursday night edition, I can post a Musical Monday on Thursday so long as I have a good reason for doing so.

And I do have a good reason for doing so. The reason is Desert Bus for Hope, a charity gaming marathon done by the comedy group LoadingReadyRun, that raises money for Child's Play, a charity that provides toys and games for kids undergoing treatment in hospitals. The marathon starts tomorrow, on November 15^th, 2013, and continues until the donations stop. The short version of this post is this - you should stop by Desert Bus for Hope some time this weekend and maybe donate some money to keep them driving and help give some sick kids the opportunity to play while they are stuck in treatment.

The key to the marathon is that Desert Bus is a truly terrible game. The object of the game is to drive a bus from Tuscon to Las Vegas at 45 miles per hour in real time, with no save points or stopping in between, with the entire route taking about eight hours to complete. Because the drive between the two cities is basically a straight line through a featureless desert with no other traffic on the road, the game's scenery is essentially changeless for the entire run. The bus pulls slightly to the right, so you have to constantly steer the bus very slightly to keep it on the road. If you run off the road, the bus is towed back to Tuscon in real time. If you persevere and make it to Las Vegas, you score one point. You then get the option to drive back to Tuscon for another point. And so on. Desert Bus is not only a terrible game, it was intentionally made as a terrible game, and succeeds at being terrible in a spectacular fashion.

The charity marathon works like this: The members of LoadingReadyRun play Desert Bus live on the internet. They keep playing as long as people keep donating money to keep them at it. Each hour of play costs just a little bit more than the one before, so the first hours are cheap, while later hours can cost hundreds or thousands of dollars to sponsor. Along the way the LoadingReadyRun crew keep things entertaining for the audience by singing, performing impromptu skits, interviewing internet personalities, and auctioning off goodies (with the auction proceeds also going to Child's Play).

And that's where The Doubleclicks come in. Last year, one of the things auctioned off was a Doubleclicks song. Or, more accurately, the right to have the Doubleclicks write a song about any topic the winner wanted. And the winner wanted a song about Desert Bus. So Angela and Aubrey wrote the theme song for a hypothetical television show that would take place on the bus ride depicted in the game. The song is peppy, happy, and fun, which is exactly the opposite of the actual Desert Bus game, but exactly what the Desert Bus for Hope gaming marathon is trying to provide for children. As a further note, both the Doubleclicks and Molly Lewis will be performing during the pre-marathon warm up show starting at 6:30 PM tomorrow, so that's yet another reason to go and visit the Desert Bus for Hope page.

So, once again, you should go visit Desert Bus for Hope this weekend. Donate money to charity. Watch people play a terrible game. Listen to nerdy music, funny skits, and cool interviews. Have fun.

Previous Musical Monday: Cortège by Cecil Coles

Subsequent Musical Monday: Get Loki by P.L. Boucher

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