Dinner With Sarah Palin – Final Countdown… (Updated)
Two days left.
I’ve been watching the five-way bidding war for the infamous Ride 2 Recovery ”Private Dinner for Five with Sarah Palin” like a horse race. In keeping with the dire secrecy and stringent requirements of the auction, we don’t know the actual names of these brave bidders, or which of them may have intentions that may disqualify them from winning the auction, but this is what we do know.
y***o started off at the minimum bid of $25,000, but bailed out after five bids when it got to $35,000. It looks like he’s out, but will he be back?
e***r jumped in right away too, and held out until the strangely un-round figure of $38,566.60. Hmmm.
f***l is our current high bidder who started up at a nice round $30,000, and holds the top spot as of this writing with a whopping $39,702.99. Who is the mysterious f***l who seems to want this so much?
h***n popped in and out with only two bids in the $37,000 – $38,000 range. Will he be back?
and finally
c***i – a latecomer and ebay novice with only 18 ratings, and currently the only one actively vying for the top spot against our friend f***l. So far, his best efforts haven’t quite matched up to the top bid, the amount of which we do not know. f***l is determined, but somehow I find myself rooting for this second place bidder.
The other thing we know is that each of these potential candidates passed round one of the initial screening process. This means that by virtue of the fact that we see their bids, we know they have filled out a pre-qualification form and submitted it, and answered follow-up questions via telephone ensuring their ability to pony up if they should win. But this doesn’t mean that the winner of the auction will actually win the prize, or as they call it, the “experience.” According to the entry:
A background check for all attendees is mandatory. Failure to pass the background check will result in the winner forfeiting the experience and a refund given. The dinner experience with Sarah Palin will take place at a site to be determined and at a mutually agreed upon time and date to be determined by Ms. Palin and the winning bidder. Ms Palin may bring up to three guests of her own. The dinner will be paid for by the seller. There are no age restrictions but anyone under 16-years-old must be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian. Winner may take personal photos and allowed to bring one item of reasonable size i.e. no larger than what can be carried by hand (t-shirts, books, magazines, etc.) The decision to sign the item will ultimately be up to Ms. Palin. Respect for Ms. Palin and her guest(s) is expected at all times. Inappropriate behavior will result in the conclusion of the experience with no refund.
Dinner shall last no more than four hours, but could be less, in the sole discretion of Sarah Palin.* Governor Palin reserves the right to refuse dinner with a winning bidder if, in her sole discretion, the winning bidder is not a suitable bidder based on her subjective standards of suitability, professionalism, background and other factors. In the event the high bidder is rejected for this reason, the high bidder’s bid will be refunded, if paid, and the next highest bidder shall be notified, and thereafter, until a suitable match is determined.
Wow. Background checks, three chaperones, threat of spontaneous rejection for any reason… Sounds like a fun date.
So, will a registered Democrat be considered unsuitable based on her “subjective standard of suitability?” Can we expect a full cavity search of the lucky diners before they are permitted to sit at the table? Will Sarah Palin quit the dinner 2/3 of the way through? Will c***i swoop in and try to snipe it at the last moment? Is “f***l” a shill?
Tune in in 1 day 22 hours and 18 minutes (and counting).
********************************
UPDATE! – We’ve got a new bidder in the mix, folks! Meet “t***w” who has knocked f***l out of the number one spot with a bid of $42,800! Three rapid-fire bids within an hour and a half…
UPDATE 2 – It’s a bidding war frenzy between f***l and t***w! Currently f***l is back on top with $45,100!
We should all chip in and send Brian to dinner with buttercup. Just not during hunting season as we don’t want Brian to BE the dinner.
Pardon me while I skip the festivities. I’d rather clean a smelly, stinky litterbox.
We should all go to our eBay accounts and send the bidding into a tizzy. Come on…this is ridiculous.
Notice that Toad has been taken out of the dinner time.
So, on top of whatever they bid, the highest bidder also has to pay for dinner itself! (I believe it said somewhere that it would take place in Alabama – not Alaska…)
Wow. Palin really does have too high an opinion of herself. If she really cares about the average working American – she would have either donated her time for free or donate the highest bid to a charity. Highly doubtful of course. She’s probably got some shopping to do. What with the lecture circuit gig (HA!) she’s got going on.
Speaking of which…….can’t wait for leaks of the Hong Kong speech comes out =D I really hope she gets punked. Again.
Since Levi said Sarah and Todd don’t cook where are they going to eat? Burger King or Wendy’s?
I thought it said that the dinner will be paid for by the seller?
MY catbox(es) are already clean, as tomorrow is garbage day. Hugs, sauerkraut, as I missed you in chat.
If she can get $40k or more just for having dinner (that someone else buys) I wonder what she could get if she stopped the pretense, moved to Nevada, and just sold her body for sex.
LOL at John @#9 – too much competition in Nevada.
The high bidder on the dinner probably has it on snipe – an auto bid at last minute. Wonder what constitutes a “suitable” winner for the Queen?
Must be a gun totin’, wolf-killin’, folksy Dominionist no doubt.
marcus2, I’m guessing Taco Bell..
Any serious bidder would snipe it in the end.
No matter how many times she “winks”, I doubt if she will surpass what Warren Buffet got for his eBay aution, in which the winner got to have lunch with Mr. Buffet:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25433927/
Wow. She’s vetting these schmoes better than she did the candidate for Attorney General.
Will they dine at HER favorite establishment, Chez Taco Bell?
Sarah’s eager leaning forward in the picture–too eager, it seems to me–it’s not friendly or welcoming or seductive. (And with that last word drops my “suitability” quotient for this thing.)
Hers is the face of a lonely kid who wants to be friends with you, with anyone. But she’s going to make you pay, even though she’ll be inviting you. Kinda sad all the way around.
The auction says “100% of the proceeds from this auction will benefit the Ride 2 Recovery program…” which is all well and good, but what really catches my eye is “…by providing a life changing experience that will impact their lives forever.”
One’s imagination runs rampant at just what that means…
The dinner experience is “donated by Sarah Palin”, but I don’t think she’s “the seller” — I think that might be Rupert Murdoch, who doubtless has the acumen and resources to be the “selling party” who retained Kompolt, an auction management service, to run the auction.
She’ll skip out but keep the money.
One other thing I noticed about the Sarah Palin dinner auction:
Item number: 260474255847
Item location: Calabasas, CA, United States
Where’s that, you ask? Well, Calabasas is a tony country club community about 12-15 miles away from Beverly Hills and Hollywood and Studio City…
Wanna bet there are papparazzi at THIS dinner, that Palin doesn’t have to call some poor reporter schmuck at 10:45 PM on a Wednesday night?
Is the Palin Pepto included? I’m going to have to know that before i go through the Vetting, I’ll tellya that much ya know winkity wink.
Bang Wal-Mart Palin, WHAT A GREAT NAME! I think that’s my favorite ever.
Yes, Nan. The dinner is paid for by the seller (the Ride2Recovery peeps – I’m sure the tab will come out of the winning bid, though.)
For a minimum of $25K and the attending publicity, She Who Would Not Be Managed donated her time… well, ok… an undetermined amount of her time… Well, no… ok… the possibility to spend an undetermined amount of time in her, Van Flea’s and Stapletongue’s presence, consuming (probably) lobster and champagne (unless there’s something more expensive on the menu), for a duration of time which, though not to exceed 4 hours, may be terminated for any and no reason at all, as determined solely by the aforementioned Unmanagable One.
My money sez this ‘at-will dinner companion’ is either Murdoch or a minion thereof, OR one of the Hong Kong players settin’ up the punk’dom! <-ihopeihopeihope!
Was this appearance approved by her lawyer? Will she claim on the night of the dinner that she is washing her hair and never agreed to go in the first place? For $40k, I’d want some sort of insurance policy to pay in case she didn’t show.
the whole thing is beyond absurd — she should just phone it in….or use skype webinair service and save money on bodyguards. who wants to watch her eat anyway?
OK, so I wanted to see the entire listing, and went to ebay and searched “dinner with sarah palin”. This one came up, but there are 3 others as well. Second one is best and he is in Alaska. Maybe he reads Mudflats!Hilarious:
Not dinner with Sarah Palin, Dinner with Derek:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Not-Dinner-with-Sarah-Palin-Dinner-with-Derek_W0QQitemZ170381817140QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item27ab8c3534&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14
Have Dinner With Me !! I Met Sarah Palin !!
http://cgi.ebay.com/Have-Dinner-With-Me-I-Met-Sarah-Palin_W0QQitemZ260476150218QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item3ca596a1ca&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14
Dinner with Dustin: Beat Sarah Palin for ANYTOWN!
http://cgi.ebay.com/Dinner-with-Dustin-Beat-Sarah-Palin-for-ANYTOWN_W0QQitemZ110435093329QQcmdZViewItemQQptZTickets_Experiences?hash=item19b671cb51&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14
No surprise. Was just over at her Facebook page — a “Nate Robinson” is equating her with Elvis. Seriously. NO WORDS. None.
@KaJo #19
Um, Calabasas is like, um in the like, Valley?? Like, you know how New Jersey and Manhattan are like, right next to each other, but it’s like, a whole different world when you get off the PATH train?? Perfectly pleasant, but the ‘BURBS. You might drive out there on the 101 to buy swing sets or used saddles on a Saturday morning, but too far from Robertson for the paps.
In any case I think it’s just a registration address – Kompolt is HQ’d in San Luis Obispo (hours north of LA) but I believe their many auctions are all listed in Calabasas. No telling where this mythical dinner will actually occur!
Purely gossip, from a certain lumber yard. Todd refused to have anything more to do with the nonsense.
I hate to say it, but I think this:
http://www.monstersandcritics.com/people/news/article_1173517.php/Beyonce_and_family_attacked_by_PETA_people
is the reason for the background checks and I can’t really fault that.
The rest of the crap – only 1 autograph, feed her friends/kids, she’ll leave early if she feels like etc are still typical Palin arrogance.
I am writing to put Sarah’s Stratospheric Experience in the proper perspective. Mr. Lewis fancies himself a gourmet, and follows the latest restaurant trends and in-places. So, I found a list on-line of some of the world’s most expensive restaurants. This is the rare world of foie gras, caviar, kobe steak and edible gold.
For example, when El Bulli, in Spain, takes reservations there are over 2 million applicants trying for one of two of the 8,000 available spaces. They serve a 32 course dinner of small, artistic plates; the style is called molecular gastronomy (look it up), futuristic, modern version of chemistry meets cuisine, takes up to 5 hours, starts at $300. per person, wine additional.
The French Laundry, in the Napa Valley, CA is almost as hard to get into, offers 24 course journey menu starting at $195. His sister restaurant in NYC is Per Se. I know, it’s no Michael’s, but gourmets love both places. Another out-of-sight restaurant in NYC is Masa’s, a small exotic sushi bar with a minimum of $500. per person; you don’t order- he tells you what you will be eating.
The on-line list also mentioned restaurants in London, Paris, Sydney that are equally expensive, world-known to the gourmet world, can charge up to $500. per person, and any would rank as the meal of a life time.
Sarah’s experience appears to put them all to shame in the money category. But her limit is 4 hours, maybe less, so I don’t think that this is going to be the same kind of haute cuisine as the other restaurants. But here’s something else from the same article. They can go to a well know ice cream parlor in New York (Serendipity 3), where the owner specialized in an Opulence Sundae which costs $1,000. He also created a $25,000. chocolate dessert which included 28 different cocoas, 23-karat gold served in an edible gold-lined goblet. I say that nothing is too good for our Sarah.
mae lewis, I remember hearing about Per Se and the chocolate dessert on The Food Network. Conspicuous gastric consumption, but I thoroughly enjoyed it — vicariously, of course.
Hey, norski blue, you may be right — but there really is a Calabasas Country Club…
f***l = fool
Dang ……. I must be thick, or this would make sense. S. P. gave up governorship to sell herself on Ebay ?!?!?!
Ed Zackly, love your name, too! And a fool and his money will soon part.
i will admit endulgence here.
i’ve been to per se.
heavenly.
endulgence=indulgence
kajo, you’re absolutely right — very pretty, and a far cry from what you get when you google “wasilla+ country club”: the only listing is Canine Country Club (dog grooming?), just down Boundary Street from Dangerous Curves Lingerie & Bridal.
I want to hit rewind and have dinner with Walter Cronkite.
Following your earlier post and it being in Alaska, will they be allowed to come armed?
“Stay tuned for the next episode of the “Perils of Palin” or “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner.”
(Soap Opera type organ music.) Ta da dum.
Will armed Democrats arrive loaded for bear? Will Rush arrive loaded. Or will the guests be a troupe of gay cross dressing singers coming as Dionne and the Supremes.
Our sponsors for tonight’s program were – the Republican Party, the NRA, British Petroleum and Blue Cross Blue Shield.
Good night and God Bless.”
I think its Greta Van Susteren with the high bid. (Todd will be there, won’t he?)
Nice to see that Sarah comes with “FREE shipping.”
W h o r e; sorry friends and master journalist Mudflats, but what else is this auction? sex or not, it is a pathetic attempt to make money on stardom.
Sucker born every minute.
Maybe every second in her sphere of influence.
I predict an old white guy connected with the oil fields out of Texas. Yee haaaw.
Heck, she probably already knows who it is. Done deal. Palin wouldn’t have put her vain neck out there without some assurance that she wouldn’t fall flat on her face in the public marketplace.
Come on Sarah. Fess up. You thought the bids were going to be a lot higher, didn’t cha?
I wonder…maybe one of the bidders is a rich prankster with the intention of punking Palin for a change… Would be quite the story would it not?
The Ebay listing for the dinner has an update link on the top right hand section of the page where it states the dinner will be held in Alabama, not Alaska. Isn’t it funny how this AWESOME fundraising star for the GOP can only raise -$40,000 for a personal audition with her highness. And only 5 bidders? What a hoot!
Fool for sure, Ed!
I totally read the last bit of AKM’s post in the style of the old tv show “Soap”.
I so desperately wish that this person who will win punked the vetting and it is a sane human being!
Sorry, I thought the revision was on the front page of the listing, went back to confirm and found it under bid history. WTF? See below:
The seller has revised the following item information:
Date Time Revised Information
Sep-08-09 19:24:17 PDT
Details
Description
Item Specifics: – Experiences
Changed State/Province from — to Alabama
What if she has ‘staff confusion’, or ‘pretend staff confusion’ a/k/a ‘Sarah Palin confusion’, & isn’t told about it, or forgets about it, or just plain ignores it? Does the buyer/winner(?) get a refund & return of items found in a body cavity search.
I read today that A DINNER WITH SCARLETTE JOHANSSON is also too on eBay.
I wonder how much she will fetch for charity?
Sarah Palin-Tonya Harding 2012!
“the dinner will be paid for by the seller”
Is that out of the 39k or whatever the top bid will be?
Or is this an additional out of pocket expense?
So they gotta pay airfare, hotel, and for the dinner?
Can’t the ex Gov at least fit the bill for what maybe a $500 dinner?
She sounds so “charitable” …
This is just too stoopid for words.
If SP vettes the winner and doesn’t find him/her acceptable company for a few hours, she bails on the winner and goes to the runner up.
Wow… way to insult someone!
The reason for no Todd being mentioned..and it being moved to Alabama
Ole’ Gal Sarah got to thinking (since EVERYTHING seems to be at her discretion)… she’s looking at this as E Harmony!
Her pointy finger is going down the list scratching off all Women, all men under a certain age (or over) , all kids, all not thoroughbred White men, … Alabama.. there’s gotta be a millionaire cowboy with a big belt buckle that is catching her eye…
Sorry Todd can’t come to this one..
@ Stuck I have been thinking along those same lines. I don’t know the ins and outs of something like this, but what if a couple of guys got together, kept bidding, and the winner was chosen, and he backed out, then so did the runner-up, etc. (Of course, there might be something they signed that said they had to honor their bid.) And Alabama? Of course it’s a lot less hassle for most of us to travel there than AK, but it’s a lot more fun in AK. Are they afraid of what he’ll hear about her up there?
She’ll be a no show. We all know that.
Scarlett scored $40100 for her charity, the Oxfam Relief Organization. Her winning bidder got to accompany her to the opening of her (then) latest movie.
That’s actually quite a bargain, if you think about it. The Red Carpet experience with a beautiful Star (capital ‘s’) at a highly anticipated film premiere? (Hugh Jackmann, are you into charitible works at all? Hugh, are you listening? HUGH!!)
In 2002, Charlize Theron auctioned off a dinner date with her for $38000, to benefit the South African Children’s Charity Project.
I agree with Paula. She will be a NoShow and claim she never knew about this, much less agreed to it.
Does Meg know about this, did the lawyers approve this?=)
Hopefully, SP gets lost in Hong Kong…
I’d rather dine with Hannibal Lecter.
Lol bystander
You’d have to pay me more than $50,000 to dine with her!
The date of the dinner will depend on how well her face has healed and/or if she can demand to eat in a poorly lit room. (Meow!!!)
I can’t wait to read what kind of feedback the winner leaves after the dinner….
They could go see the Sarah Palin opera that’s opening up in Boston.
40 Lee323 Says:
September 16th, 2009 at 11:11 PM
Heck, she probably already knows who it is. Done deal. Palin wouldn’t have put her vain neck out there without some assurance that she wouldn’t fall flat on her face in the public marketplace.
Actually Sarah would. But now that she’s being trained her owner is not going to let her go out without a leash. I predict one of her “guests” will be a political interpreter.
I am guessing that the location change to Alabama was simply a matter of ignorance, and that someone, whoever is posting this silly thing, thinks the abbreviation for Alaska is AL not AK.
Then there is the matter of this release the buyer agrees to ( I love the part where they were sure to cover “blogs” – she really hates the bloggers don’t she??):
Release
The winning bidder agrees, warrants and represents that you will not in any way advertise, promote, market or, utilize Sarah Palin’s or the Ride 2 Recovery’s name, likeness, voice, photograph, signature, logo or image in any manner, for any reason at any time without the prior written consent of Sarah Palin or the Ride 2 Recovery. In order to make the experience more enjoyable and interesting, the dinner will be “off the record,” and the winning bidder and his/her guests agree not to record the conversation, take notes or quote Sarah Palin in any manner in any media including blogs or other online communications.
She should auction off naming rights for her next child.
K8Kz, wow. They are really covering ALL bases here, aren’t they? Why don’t they just sell a dinner with an 8 x 10 framed picture of her, photos can’t speak .Don’t all these handlers of hers, including the McCain staff way back when, see how obvious all this ‘hiding away’, and ‘no questions, please’, or ‘no media allowed looks to sane people? I think only the ignorant are buying this Garbo act. The rest of us know why they keep her mouth shut. Duh..
Pardon my language, but Jesus. F—ing. Christ.
Sorry, first time I’d seen this. Kind of thunderstruck.
This isn’t a joke? She really is auctioning herself off in this fashion? Talk about tacky, even for the Wasilla Hillbillies.
It is for Ride 2 Recovery, which is a charity. Just to keep the record straight. AKM
Too bad John McCain didn’t have these stringent requirements when he picked a running mate.
Eyes Wide #63 her next two children/grandchildren (who knows?) have already been named:
Trailer and Trash- to stay with the theme previously established.
I LOVE the “Free Shipping” label on Palin’s picture and am picturing her being put in a refrigerator box and taped closed with duct tape and shipped by UPS to where ever the dinner event is to be held.
I remember when they was first announced. Keith Olberman was going to bid, but figured that he probably wouldn’t make it past the vetting process. LOL. But I would have paid money to hear the dinner conversation if he could have pulled that one off.
Oh, and one other thing. Does she really think that by putting all those restrictions on what people can do with this off the record dinner that someone at some point in time won’t talk? Give me a break. She will sue them or whatever if they do, but the damage will be done and whatever she wants to keep secret will be out there on the news, the magazines and every blog, if there is actually something of interest coming out of her mouth.
Palin in 2012? Not at all likely, she’s already proven that with very intense handling, she still couldn’t manage to stick to script…
This auction confirms that Palin is now just a bright shiny trinket to draw in money (sort of an older version of a Playboy Bunny)… only problem is, she don’t seem to be drawing that much money. The few bidders are shills to make it look like people passed the vetting and had interest.
I predict that in the end, she’ll go for just over six figures because there are too many VERY rich people who’ve invested in their shiny trinket and they’re not going to let it go at bargain basement pricing (she has a book coming out and a full 2010 fundraising year ahead of her!).
The question will be who they’ll actually SAY won the bidding. Will it be some mom who “just loved Sarah” and had to bid? Or a group of hunter/truck driver pals who pooled all their money to bid? Or a billionaire financier seeking her wisdom? Perhaps Murdoch will admit that he’s the high bidder… NOT.
If she doesn’t pull at least $75k on her own weight (before her handlers kick in to push it over six figures), I bet the Conservatives go looking for a new trinket to dangle out there.
Not sure if anyone posted this yet, as I don’t have time to read through all the comments…. she is allowed to bring up to three people? Then that’s 4 right there. And the winner makes 5. That’s the dinner for 5 in a nutshell. The winner will not be able to bring any guests, on purpose.
Also, why do they call her governor P***n? She’s NOT the governor anymore. That’s such a travesty that they steal Parnell’s title.
And also, I saw that people did mention the fact that she hasn’t endorsed this yet. She’ll not show up. It says right there in black and white that she can reneg at any time and the winner will get a refund.
Now, what winner will take that money back from a charity to help wounded veterans? What a set up for the charity.
The people of Alabama are Southerners,sometimes rural. However, Wayney, they are not usually cowboys….She might have her sights set on a wealthy ,”I am so fine” southern gentleman. (Good Ole Boy)
Although I can see the entertainment value here..as I return to ‘watch’ a few times per day..I am canning excess fruit to share out..during the Fall and Winter. Best we all..pace ourselves..in the ‘fun’..of this moments media-happening..and also remind ourselves to ‘put by’..’bottle’..’jar’..however each may refer to it..canning and freezing produce of every kind. In the cold, dark Winter..when the fire burns low, the outside boots only half dry..and the wind..picks up..this particualr thread will have floated off to galatic dustbins..while a partially ..empty plate..does ..overtime..in a dwelling near to us, as its person..maintains a quiet..’I can survive’..face-to-the-world. Freeze..put-by..inbetween the fun..of this thread…that we may help others..get through..possibly survive..a hard Winter..
“So, will a registered Democrat be considered unsuitable based on her “subjective standard of suitability?” Can we expect a full cavity search of the lucky diners before they are permitted to sit at the table? Will Sarah Palin quit the dinner 2/3 of the way through? Will c***i swoop in and try to snipe it at the last moment? Is “f***l” a shill? ”
The answer to;
1. Yes.
2. Yes.
3. Yes.
4. Maybe.
5. Maybe.
In response to #62, KVC,
Who ever gets their ‘Date” with Scarah will probably have to sign a contract and not be allowed to discuss the dinner with anyone. That includes spouse, kids, Mom & Pop, anyone at all.
I mean, you can see that happening, can’t you? I sure can.
Sorry for all the comments.
But this is most likely just a publicity stunt and Murdoch or one of his cronies will be the guest of honor. I just can’t see Sarah taking a chance that something may have slipped by the screeners.
What a joke. A pathetic joke.