The past couple of days have been MASSIVE for the channel! It started with the Race for Wool which, let me say now, was SO much fun. It was an absolute honor to play Minecraft with people who I have looked up to for a very long time. Ontop of the privilege of getting to compete with them, the race also started a small sub peak for my channel. I was extatic, but didn't have the slightest clue what would be right around the corner.

I uploaded a tutorial on potions (Potions 101) a couple days later and the video was an instant hit, getting a lot of views and likes in a very short amount of time. Because of this success I figured this was our chance to try and get a Digital Diamond or Helpful Hint on the front page of the Minecraft forums, and so I approached you guys (on my facebook page) with a plan. Well, the plan worked. In fact, I spoke to Sacheverell (the guy who chooses what gets a Digital Diamond and what doesn't) and it sounds like almost the moment I uploaded the video on the forums, they were already considering giving it a Helpful Hint (I think we convinced them haha).

So, the video went up on the front page and the view counter has just about exploded since that - not to mention the boost in subscribers! Ontop of this, my income from Adsense has received a real boost as well - in fact, it's been boosted to the point that Static at Minecon 2011 is becoming a real possibility! (not confirmed yet, but very possible).

If all of this wasn't enough, I have some super secret potential news that would arguably be even BIGGER for the channel than all of this recent publicity... as for what that is, you'll just have to wait and find out.

This morning (my time) Coestar, Avidya, BdoubleO, Guude, Etho, Docm, Joker, and myself all assmbled on a server to compete in Vechs' second Super Hostile Race For Wool map. The basic idea is that it's a 4v4 map in which each team has their own lane. Along these lanes there are various obsticles and 3 pieces of wool to be collected and placed onto the victory monument. The only rule (aside from no using cheats and stuff, of course) is that you are not allowed to be in the other team's lane. Beyond that, anything goes... and boy did it!!

We're in the editing process now and will hopefully be done and have the first episodes up by Tuesday (EST time). Most people involved will be uploading about three 30min long episodes each (depending on how they decide to edit). Be sure to watch everyone's episodes when they air to get the full experience.

Competing in the race was some of the most fun I've had in Minecraft recently (and at times, the most frustration) and it was extremely cool to get the chance to talk to all the guys and play Minecraft with them. Everyone involved was super cool and I'm sure I will end up doing videos with all of them again in the near future.

So the birthday bonanza went perfectly. There was a great response with a lot of people very keen to win the great prizes that were up for offer. In many cases the competition code was up on the videos for less than half an hour before 10 people had sent it in and it was taken down. Congratulations to our winners:

Day 1: CadenDonuts - Terraria

Day 2: RZGamez - Dualcom

Day 3: sominchill - Boxed for a month

Day 4: loveofreasonful - Minecraft

Day 5: coucoulardtich - WoW 12 month subscription

All prizes will be sent to their respective winners by the end of Monday the 29th of August (my time).

The past week also saw the channels pass a lot of huge milestones. Firstly, my secondary channel (StaticGamesHD) reached 500 subscribers. This is an amazing achievement considering how long it took me to reach this milestone on my main channel. Not long after this, the main channel reached 10,000 subscribers and, as I write this, is well on the way to 11,000. Ten thousand subscribers was my largest milestone for a long time and so to have reached it now means a lot to me. Finally, just recently the main channel hit 1 million total views - this is upload views and channel views combined.

To top off all of these milestones, my application for YouTube partnership was accepted and so I am now (finally) officially a YouTube partner! What this means for you guys is that, yes, my videos will have an add pop up on them... which is a little bit of a pain, admittedly. BUT it also means that my channel will be generating revenue which I can translate into better equipment for making videos (perhaps even some vlog style videos in the future), better prizes for competitions, competitions more frequently... I'm even considering getting a server up and running since so many people have requested it.

Needless to say it's been a huge week and I am pretty exhausted.

On a completely unrelated note, a lot of people have been asking if they could play on a server with me for a while and most of the time I'm too busy (unfortunately). Well, I've decided that it's about time I gave you guys the chance and I've been meaning to visit the Lethal Injection server for a little while now. So, what I'm planning is this coming Sunday September 4th I will be on the Lethal Injection server from 2pm-5pm my time (Melbourne). This schedule may be subject to change so keep an eye on my facebook page for details. I am also likely to film my visit to the server and, if it's interesting, upload the video to youtube. So, for your chance to meet me on a server, head over to the Lethal Injection website, sign up, and I'll see you then ; )

You might have heard that recently my good friend Docm77 made an appearance on the Lethal Injection Minecraft Podcast (LIMP) with Scott Vyper. If you haven't seen the podcast yet, I'd highly recommend checking it out (http://www.lethalinjectionpodcast.com/). Well, I've been asked to make an appearance on the show as well and so this Sunday I'll be recording a podcast with the Lethal Injection crew! Be sure not to miss it guys. All details and dates will be able to be found on the Lethal Injection website!

In other news, my birthday is coming up on the 26th of August and so I thought I'd do something special with you guys to celebrate. So, next week (beginning Monday 22nd) will be Static's Birthday Bonanza! Corny name, I know... but it's all I could come up with in such a short amount of time. This will be a celebration of more than just my birthday: I am likely to hit 10,000 subscribers next week, I am eligible to apply for youtube partnership (and believe that I'm a shoe-in) on the 25th, my other channel (StaticGamesHD) has hit 500 subscribers, and so on. So, with so many things to celebrate, you'd better believe this is going to be a huge celebration!

Firstly, and probably of most interest to all of you, we will be running a competition with not one, not two, but FIVE awesome prizes. Details of the competition will be given in a video that will be uploaded this weekend but, basically, all you need to do is keep an eye on five of my videos!

Secondly, all uploads during the Birthday Bonanza will have a birthday/celebration theme to them!

And, finally, we will be starting a new series in which I will be showcasing smaller channels which are putting out amazing content but simply aren't getting the recognition they deserve. More or less, the video will showcase their channel, giving you all the information you need to know about it including snippets of their videos. However, the catch is that how often I upload these videos is completely up to all of you! When I upload the first channel spotlight, I wont upload another one until the first has gained 8,000 views (this view cut-off will change as my channel grows). Basically what this means is that anyone who has their channel showcased WILL be seen by over 8000 people. This also gives you all a chance to get involved in strengthening the Minecraft and YouTube community.

It's going to be a really fun week, and I hope you all enjoy it as much as I am going to.