Have you ever had a donkey stay at your house? No? Well now’s your lucky chance. Basil the Donkey (featured in the image to the right) is going on a grand adventure, hoping to travel the world. And he wants to visit you!
When Basil visits he brings another Basil with him…Basil Fawlty (played by John Cleese) in the hysterical 70’s sitcom Fawlty Towers. Basil doesn’t go anywhere without Basil, so when he visits he’ll have the Fawlty Towers DVD Collection with him as well.
Basil can only stay for 1 week though, after that you have to send him packing to meet new people. Who will he visit next? Whoever is next on the list.
If you want Basil to visit you, then get on the list. He’ll need your name, email address and physical address (email and address will remain private, always!)
What the heck are you talking about?
That’s a good question. Let me see if I can answer that for you:
- Some time ago, on the IGotNewsForYou Blog (another one of my projects) I made mention of the fact that I had a donkey who wrote code for me (it was one of those “silly” moments.) During an open mic session at Successful Blog the donkey was named “Basil.”
- On June 27th, 2006 during another open mic session, we discussed Fawlty Towers. A few participants had never seen it. In the heat of the moment I decided to run a contest, the prize being the Fawlty Towers DVD Collection.
- Shortly thereafter, the winner was announced, but Cat Morley graciously asked that I send the prize to someone else. That person was Starbucker.
And an idea was born. What if we could get the Fawlty Towers DVD Collection to travel the globe, going from person to person? A project about connecting with others, making new friends and laughter.
“Where Is Basil?” was born.
This project is all about creating a community and having that community participate in one of the greatest travel adventures ever! Plus, it’s just plain funny…and who doesn’t like a bit of humor?
So now what?
It’s simple really. Here’s what you need to do if you want to get involved:
- Add your name to the list of recipients. I’ll need a legitimate email address and a physical address as well (both of which will remain private - the only person that will know your physical address is the person sending you the DVD Collection.)
- You’ll be added to the list on a first-come first-serve basis. The list will include your name, city and country (so everyone can track where Basil goes, but your full address won’t be published.)
Eventually, someone will mail you the DVD Collection. There should be some other goodies in there too. At that point, you need to do the following:
- Enjoy the Fawlty Towers DVD Collection for 1 week.
- At the end of your week, check the list for the next person and ship them the DVD Collection.
- You should also include:
- A postcard from where you live (write a nice note!)
- A trinket from where you live (optional) - could be a bookmark, keychain, menu, business card, pen, etc.
Each person that receives the DVD Collection should keep the postcard and trinket they receive.
While you’re spending a wonderful week with Basil and Fawlty Towers, you can also participate in other ways:
- Take a picture of yourself in your home town. Show us the DVD Collection if you like. Email me the picture or post it on Flickr (with the tag “whereisbasil”.) It may appear on the site, and it may get altered a bit to include Basil the Donkey. If you want to alter the photo yourself, by all means go ahead!
- Become a guest blogger here. We want to know all about Basil the Donkey’s wild adventures in your home town. So you can join the blog as a guest writer for 1 week, and write about your home town, places to go, etc. Tell us what you and Basil are doing! (And please keep it clean.)
[...] Basil’s off to visit Starbucker the first person on the list. He’ll be in Connecticut for a couple of weeks after which Starbucker will send him along to Chicago to visit with Liz Strauss. Normally, Basil would only stay in one location for a week at a time, but he’ll be awaiting the arrival of the Fawlty Towers DVD Collection which I just purchased at Amazon. Basil just couldn’t wait to hit the road though… [...]
[...] What Is This? [...]
[...] What Is This? [...]
[...] What Is This? [...]
Alfred Pany, (c)Fotograf-Pany sends the best regards and good wishes to Basil the Donkey! Greetings from Alfred Pany, the fotoking aus ottakring
[...] The premise is silly - a fictitious donkey named Basil (accompanied by a Fawlty Towers DVD set - Read the explanation page for more.) is visiting different people who have signed up on The List. When Basil is visiting that person, they write about what he sees in their fair city. [...]
[...] My Tip for Ben… I guess would have to be that I can say from past experience that people get easily confused - and if they don’t get something right away, they won’t take the time to understand. So my invitation to you, if you will, is to come up with an explanation of the Where is Basil project in one sentence. HA! Better you than me, my friend.. [...]
So this is the code-donkey Liz was talking about, great idea!
[...] First time here? Read What Is This? [...]
[...] After the week is up, check who’s next on the list and ship them the DVD Collection. Send Basil too, please. With the DVD Collection, we hope you’ll include a postcard from wherever you’re from and a small trinket as well. You probably won’t know who you’re sending the package to — and that’s the point! You’ll become a part of a huge community — all of us having fun with Basil and Fawlty Towers. Check out all the details. [...]
[...] What’s this all about you’re asking yourself? Read all the details. [...]
I really don’t understand. How can you send a DVD collection? How can you trust on the person? Maybe he/she don’t deliver.
Paulo,
We trust people cause that’s what we do. If someone doesn’t deliver they’ve ruined the fun for everyone. I’d probably just buy another DVD set or someone else would or a few of us would together.
This is about community and fun. If someone wants to rip someone off they can do a lot better elsewhere.
You in?
Hm.. I’m kinda confused.
So there is no real donkey. What it really is, that we are supposed to think there is one and tell about our city, and what we are doing with this fictional donkey. And after 1 week we send the DVD collection to someone else on the list with a postcard and a little gift from the country.
Am I getting this right?
And what are the chances that the person who is sending the DVD Collection to the next person on the list abuses the adresses? Has that ever occured?
In advance thanks for the help.
Nasli - that’s exactly right.
No one has abused addresses, because I only give out the one address of the person next on the list.
The problem right now is that the package was lost in Belarus - either stolen or lost in transit. So I have to re-purchase the DVDs to keep things going. I haven’t done that yet but I will!
Sorry to hear about the package getting lost. I can imagine how a paine in the a. it must be when the chain is broken. And for others too who participate in the game.
Hm.. I’m tempted to play along, but can’t make up my mind. Could be fun. Oh well.
I hope evrything goes well with the package and that the next person on the list has fun.
Maybe I’ll see you guys around.