$300 ticket for a meet/greet at BM???

Bounce530 · Post by **Bounce530** » Wed Jul 29, 2009 5:46 pm

WTF?? click link;

http://cgi.ebay.com/SPEND-A-NIGHT-W-JOH ... 286.c0.m14

ibdave · Post by **ibdave** » Wed Jul 29, 2009 6:05 pm

Not to sure what to think about that...

WRONG WRONG WRONG....

Post by **AntiM** » Wed Jul 29, 2009 6:31 pm

Spend the night? Huh?

Y'all can spend the night in my camp for free, as long as you don't snore or drink all our booze or puke. No intellectual discussion guaranteed.

littleflower · Post by **littleflower** » Wed Jul 29, 2009 6:51 pm

there is a big difference between "spend an evening" and "spend the night", isn't there?

Dr. Pyro · Post by **Dr. Pyro** » Wed Jul 29, 2009 7:07 pm

Of course there is Littleflower. Spend the evening means you're only going to get laid once.

littleflower · Post by **littleflower** » Wed Jul 29, 2009 7:28 pm

hmmm ... i might be interested if there was a 50 orgasm guarantee.

sputnik · Post by **sputnik** » Wed Jul 29, 2009 7:42 pm

According to the description the money will go to the ACLU.

LEVLHED · Post by **LEVLHED** » Wed Jul 29, 2009 8:57 pm

is there anything actually stopping you from just walking over to where he is camping and spending an evening with him for free?

Actually, I think I might just do that. I've got a few things I need to tell him.

goathead · Post by **goathead** » Wed Jul 29, 2009 11:18 pm

I was thinking he should spend the night alone.

Post by **AntiM** » Thu Jul 30, 2009 4:37 am

sputnik wrote:According to the description the money will go to the ACLU.

Does that matter?

goathead · Post by **goathead** » Thu Jul 30, 2009 5:14 am

going to make a poster of this man.
to make sure if he comes to our bar, he drinks ALONE.

fuck him

flatlander13 · Post by **flatlander13** » Thu Jul 30, 2009 8:45 am

$300 to spend the night with an â€œAmerican poet, essayist, retired Wyoming cattle rancher, political activist and former lyricist for the Grateful Dead. He is also known to be a cyberlibertarian[1] and was one of the founding members of the Electronic Frontier Foundation.â€

littleflower · Post by **littleflower** » Thu Jul 30, 2009 8:56 am

he wants $500 ... $300 is just the minimum opening bid! no bids so far ... how demoralizing will that be, if he doesn't get any ... ? maybe he'll lower the price.

Bounce530 · Post by **Bounce530** » Thu Jul 30, 2009 9:15 am

This is their response to a Fuck you that I sent them;

The ACLU is a civil rights group, and we fight for freedom of speech, creative expression and artistic rights. There is nothing wrong with raising funds for our cause. Just FYI, people PAY to attend the festival. All the best to you.

SilverOrange · Post by **SilverOrange** » Thu Jul 30, 2009 9:52 am

Bounce530 wrote:This is their response to a Fuck you that I sent them;

The ACLU is a civil rights group, and we fight for freedom of speech, creative expression and artistic rights. There is nothing wrong with raising funds for our cause. Just FYI, people PAY to attend the festival. All the best to you.

Got an email addy for them?

Bounce530 · Post by **Bounce530** » Thu Jul 30, 2009 10:06 am

Here's the em addy:

[email protected]

Deb Prothero · Post by **Deb Prothero** » Thu Jul 30, 2009 10:14 am

Thanks for posting the addy, Bounce530.

Here's the email I just sent to them:

"Hey it's great that John Perry Barlow wants to come to Burning Man, but it's completely against the 10 principles of the community to auction time with a celebrity. No one at Burning Man is a celebrity - we are all equal. I suggest the community would have gifted far more to your cause, if you had realized that you check your ego at the gate at Burning Man and if you had come up with a different fundraiser. Celebrity is a taboo at Burning Man. And the message is spreading to not bid on this item. "

marcgorcey · Post by **marcgorcey** » Thu Jul 30, 2009 10:37 am

Thanks Bounce, Deb et all.

I just sent this:

"Hi ACLU,

I understand that a fundraiser is happening to auction time at Burning Man with an academic or celebrity of sorts - John Perry Barlow.

You should be aware that this event contravenes a number of principles behind the event.

For example,

"In order to preserve the spirit of gifting, our community seeks to create social environments that are unmediated by commercial sponsorships, transactions, or advertising."

"Burning Man is devoted to acts of gift giving. The value of a gift is unconditional. Gifting does not contemplate a return or an exchange for something of equal value."

Please take care to respect our culture when planning these events in the future.

Thanks for reading this,"

Rabbi Dali Rick · Post by **Rabbi Dali Rick** » Thu Jul 30, 2009 10:42 am

can we pay them not to bring there shit to burningman?

the rebbi

mojo · Post by **mojo** » Thu Jul 30, 2009 10:48 am

Here's mine:
I am completely mortified as a supporter of the ACLU at this â€œauctionâ€

Bounce530 · Post by **Bounce530** » Thu Jul 30, 2009 10:57 am

I got another response from them-

"In response to some of the questions about this item:

It is so sad to me that a group that celebrates freedom would curtail funding of a group that has spent the last 85 years protecting the very freedoms you celebrate. Freedom can?t protect itself, and I wonder how the lives of all who attend such a celebration would be affected if music, art, film and other forms of creative expression were without the ACLU as an advocate. The ACLU is very grateful to John Perry Barlow for this wonderful item."

mojo · Post by **mojo** » Thu Jul 30, 2009 11:16 am

OK, Bounce - here is my response to them regarding their response to you:

Dear ACLU:

In a response to a Burning Man participant who opposes the auction of Mr. Barlowâ€™s time while at Burning Man, you wrote:

"In response to some of the questions about this item:

It is so sad to me that a group that celebrates freedom would curtail funding of a group that has spent the last 85 years protecting the very freedoms you celebrate. Freedom can?t protect itself, and I wonder how the lives of all who attend such a celebration would be affected if music, art, film and other forms of creative expression were without the ACLU as an advocate. The ACLU is very grateful to John Perry Barlow for this wonderful item."

It is equally sad to me that a group that I have supported with both my money and my time is so apparently self-absorbed that your own agenda is the only one of value to you.

Deb Prothero · Post by **Deb Prothero** » Thu Jul 30, 2009 11:19 am

Bounce530

That is word-for-word the response that I got:

"It is so sad to me that a group that celebrates freedom would curtail funding of a group that has spent the last 85 years protecting the very freedoms you celebrate. Freedom canâ€™t protect itself, and I wonder how the lives of all who attend such a celebration would be affected if music, art, film and other forms of creative expression were without the ACLU as an advocate. The ACLU is very grateful to John Perry Barlow for this wonderful item.

Meegan Lee

All the best,

Meegan Lee Ochs
Special Events Director
ACLU of Southern California
Phone 213-977-5250
Fax 213-417-2250"

Looks like we need to shower John Perry Barlow with some burner love instead. The ACLU is not getting the point.

Here's his Twitter account: http://twitter.com/johnperrybarlow

Here's his Facebook account: http://www.facebook.com/johnperrybarlow?ref=name

flatlander13 · Post by **flatlander13** » Thu Jul 30, 2009 11:25 am

Here is what I sent:

Dear ACLU,

Concerning your Ebay auction to spend a night with Perry Barlow at Burning Man. I find it interesting that an organization that is built to promote peoples civil rights would hold a fund raiser at Burning Man and disregard the principles that Burning Man was built on. Please read below:

Decommodification
In order to preserve the spirit of gifting, our community seeks to create social environments that are unmediated by commercial sponsorships, transactions, or advertising. We stand ready to protect our culture from such exploitation. We resist the substitution of consumption for participatory experience.

Please, stop this auction now.

Thank You,

Rabbi Dali Rick · Post by **Rabbi Dali Rick** » Thu Jul 30, 2009 11:30 am

my version of the email retort:

Burning Man Gaff....

As a supporter of the ACLU, I was completely taken aback at this â€œauctionâ€

ygmir · Post by **ygmir** » Thu Jul 30, 2009 11:32 am

[quote="Rabbi Dali Rick"]my version of the email retort:

Burning Man Gaff....

As a supporter of the ACLU, I was completely taken aback at this â€œauctionâ€

Rabbi Dali Rick · Post by **Rabbi Dali Rick** » Thu Jul 30, 2009 11:37 am

i try...

the rebbi

oneeyeddick · Post by **oneeyeddick** » Thu Jul 30, 2009 11:43 am

Here is what I sent to them :

<Who the fuck is John Perry Barlow, and why would anyone spend good money to be with him for one night ?

.........well, it's not really what I said, but it's what I am thinking.

I know who he is, and I fucking can't stand the Gratefully Dead, so IMHO this thing would only appeal to some stupid hippy in the first place.

Yeah, yeah, I know, 10 principals, yadda, yadda, but I have/am currently seen/seeing worse commerce going on, and in the end, some hippy will be out of hundreds, if not thousands of dollars , and the ACLU will have more money for doing what they do, which is a really good thing in the end.
Unlike flatlander13, I would pay $300 to go see Jesus on a stick, as long as the ACLU was there trying to defend his rights, that is.

Go ahead..... let me have it, I don't care and I have skin like a Rhino.
(insert lotion joke here)

mojo · Post by **mojo** » Thu Jul 30, 2009 11:58 am

I'm way more pissed off at their self-righteous attitude than anything else. After all, how could the principles of this festival POSSIBLY be more morally important than making money for the ACLU?

I have indeed supported the ACLU in many ways - I will think twice from hence forward.

Deb Prothero · Post by **Deb Prothero** » Thu Jul 30, 2009 12:11 pm

Oh, OED. You asked for it!

First the idea of commodifying celebrity is one of the worst offenses of the default world, in my opinion. To drag it out to the playa really sucks.

Sure there's lots of commerce going on to provide the essentials for our event. But to make celebrity important on the playa where we are all equal really tears at me.

Out there we are equal in our gifts to the community, we are equal in our appreciation of each other. No one is a celebrity, not even The Hat. This is what is unique about Burning Man.

As for John Perry Barlow, I'm on his Twitter list, I follow him on Facebook. I like the guy and his writing. I also like the ACLU and what it does. Even the roll-over effect it has on my country is much appreciated. I even like more Perry Barlow's work with the EFF to make the internet open for all.

But to dis all us burners by relying on his celebrity out there. No, doesn't cut it. To be a burner means to become part of this community, instead Perry Barlow is bringing his celebrity to us to worship. No way am I going to let that go without comment.

$300 ticket for a meet/greet at BM???

$300 ticket for a meet/greet at BM???

Pshaw...

Take That....

Re: Take That....

All My Love.....