The winner of the Drive Someone Insane with Postcards auction finally broke the news to the mark, and was kind enough to give me permission to post the cards that went out. They were mailed from various locations in Poland and Berlin.
Postcards: 1995 premiere of Central Park West on CBS, the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, Albert Einstein, Fresh Radio (Ireland), city of Krakow, city of Poznan and a restaurant in Berlin.
The auction was picked up by several media sources here in the U.S., and much to my surprise appeared on a popular Polish news website – where some commenters who didn’t quite get it eviscerated me, and others were nice enough to defend me.
Although the auction was for three postcards, the winning bid of $415 compelled me to send a few extra.
Media:
Lovely chat with Luke Burbank of KIRO Radio Seattle’s Too Beautiful To Live program.
These are great! The Frank Sinatra one was my favorite.
You definitely have a gift for the bizarre; continue to use it well.
Delicious!
In Drive Someone Insane with Postcards, you said, “These postcards will be rant-ravingly insane, yet they will be peppered with unmistakable personal details about the addressee.” For some reason, that led me to believe that the postcards would be peppered with unmistakable personal details about the addressee. The only thing (I guess) that tied the message to the addressee was the talk about the Columbia graduate. It would have been funnier were there more, perhaps. I guess the gypsy/glove, Frank Sinatra, and Jackson Five cover, could have also been references. Am I right; were they? It would be funnier.
Anywho, the suggestion to “Tivo” Central Park West was funny.
[ Buyer wanted to keep it simple, but all the right keywords got in there. -B. ]
Brilliant!!! Would have been great to be a fly on the wall as the cards arrived. Bet the winning bidder thinks they got their $ worth.
That Frank Sinatra card was brilliant! By far the best one of the bunch.
Absolutely brilliant! I have to sat the Fresh Radio was my favorite – made me laugh out loud! Apparently the requirements for being a pop sensation in Poland are roughly the same as being one here in the States…
I’m just dying laughing because I’m imagining this poor sap trying to figure out, “Who the *(&^ is visiting Poland and sending me these bizarre postcards?”
Hilarious!
Brilliant.
Thanks for a FANTASTIC laugh. What a brilliant joke – I only wish I had had $416.
Any chance the buyer will send you a recap of the mark’s reaction?
What’s so funny about referencing Frank Sinatra in a post card with a photo of Frank Sinatra on the front?
Not even relatively funny!
Jody… are you dumb?
Incredulous: relativity-speaking, no. Not really.
I’m astounded that someone would pay so much for something they could accomplish themselves by drop shipping. Wow.
mailart, I agree completely. I’ve been cutting paper into small squares and colouring them yellow and dabbing low-tack glue onto one edge, collecting them in stacks and using them as post-its for years. I’ve also made a small cabinet with a window inside of which I lock my children of an evening and get them to perform Americas got talent. Much more entertaining. I’ve also married my goldfish to each other even though they’re brother and sister so that I can test the theory of relativity without having to buy expensive Frank Sinatra text books. Keep up the good work.
Hey Jody, we should meet up sometime.
I think the joke was on the guy that paid $415 for the gag. But whatever. Funny idea.
Funny, but it’s a pity about the racism peppered through them. Gypsies are people too you know!
Pay the rude cynics no mind, I think this was a great idea. I can only imagine how I would react to find such a bizarre correspondence in my mailbox.
What’s it called when everyone is having a good time and then some twit comes along and says something stupid? Because I think anthonyberet just did that.
Did you eat any kluski in Poland? I love that stuff so much I make it once a month!
[ I’m pretty happy with a bag of kabanosy. And Zywiec. -B. ]
But what about the mark? Did the postcards drive him/her crazy or was he/she merely amused?
[ I will ask. -B. ]
What a genius way of ripping off someone else’s personal details… Not from the person themselves, but from an anonymous “friend”. Epic!
uh yeah 416 is a lot of dollars, but if it wasn’t spent we would never have sweet lines like “they spin around and clap and dance and lose lots of calories”
Don’t forget of course that part of the price includes actually having the cards come from Poland. The prank wouldn’t work nearly as well with an American cancellation on the stamp – far less mystifying!
hilarious idea, fantastic execution and i now have a cyber-crush on jody to boot!
“they only eat what they steal and everyone here has a pitchfork.” Brilliant.
I could do this sort of thing all day. I LOVE IT! Makes life worth living right?!
These post cards were worth every penny.
In the cause of full disclosure, I should mention that I’m pretty sure that geographical relationships (even virtual ones – I live in Dublin, Ireland) rarely work when one party discovers that the other party’s name is a diminutive for Joseph rather than Josephine.
“What’s Jody short for?” they’d hound me in the playground.
“Because it only has four letters!” I’d reply.
“Now, bugger out of our playground, you old peedo.” They’d wittily retort speed-dialing the cops on their cellphones.
OK, now *I* have a cyber crush on Jody!
Oh, wait, peedo? I’m too old for you. Pity.
i stopped speaking to a guy i work with because he kept refering to me as a gypsy. I tried explaining to him that is wasnt a compliment and he was calling me theiving white trash. he didnt get it. the consistant theft and recovery of the glove is proof of the problems with gypsy!!