Penny Arcade Expo 2008!

Devotees of the digital age agree that that the only thing better than getting six or eight of your closest friends (or foes, depending on the game) together in a room, is getting 50,000 to 60,000 of your closest friends (or foes, depending on the game) together, in a convention hall, wirelessly connected and perpetually communicating; along with the prospect of winning tons of glorious and relatively esoteric swag. That pretty much describes the experience of PAX 08, run by those geniuses at Penny Arcade: Gabe and Tycho. Penny Arcade has been described as equal parts comix and commentary, and has been a staple of the webcomic world for years.

So when Master Chris heard that his old school chum Ted, from RIT, was working it in Seattle this year, he broke out the piggy bank and hopped the first bird to the left coast to be there. The Penguin Hall Monitor does not have enough space to post all the wonderful shots he brought back but can provide these tantalizing snaps of just a few of the great moments Chris enjoyed. Lucky break number one: also playing at the same time as the expo, was a robot exhibit at the Seattle Science Fiction Hall of Fame, which Chris was able to catch. Lucky break number two: Chris scoring the prize of the convention by drawing one of the random winning tickets- for the Vault Boy puppet! While he was dogged with several offers of cash for it all the way up until he boarded his plane home, he held fast, and the relentlessly cheerful little face is holding court over Chris' room as this goes to print. Kudos, Chris!