The world is new in so many ways that it sometimes startles me.

I have a couple of copies of the new title Alan Wake.  One for me, and in my mind, one to give away.  But how?

I was standing in our kitchen typing up an email when I spied Rochelle sitting on the couch with Remington, Michael Bay’s second Transformers movie playing in the background.  I reached for my iPhone to grab a picture at the exact moment Remy yawned an enormous puppy yawn right in Rochelle’s face and I caught it and her reaction.

Seconds later, as soon as I looked at the picture (a feat that in my childhood would have required a Polaroid) I knew I had the answer: photo caption contest. So I asked the internet to caption the photo for my copy of Alan Wake.

Shortly after I had tons of entries in my inbox.  I’ll start off with the winner:

Beyond it being a great Lost Planet in-joke, I loved the geekness of it.  I liked any entry that made you have to think hard about something.  I got a lot of “tonsil” jokes and teeth examination jokes and “I chewed up XYZ” jokes that I really enjoyed them.  But I got so many that I had to cull out the duplicates.  Here’s the others that I really liked:

"Thermometer goes here, K?"
"Go go gadget tongue!"
"Ph’nglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu R’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn!"*
"And Jaws comes out of the water like this…"
"Feed me Seymour"
”Remy and Rochto’s contest of name that Pokemon soon came to an end when Remy realized he can no longer get his tongue back in his mouth after imitating a Lickitung.”
"Even my Venom impression is better than Topher Grace’s!"
"nice doggy, cute lil’ pooch, maybe I got a milkbone…"

Each of those listed above got a code for a Gears of War Ticker pet avatar item.

But the best part?  I could throw out a funny photo and generate some funny creativity. And people I don’t know and have never meet could get something out of it.

So, congrats Kyle.  Great work.  Your copy is on it’s way.

*I loved all the entries, thank you all.  But the Cthulu/Old Ones quote?  That nearly won.  Well done.