Art Scholarship honoring Alizée

[Rev]

Originally Posted by Ben

Sorry for the late suggestion, but why not make a donation in Alizée's name to a place that actively seeks it, like Les Restos du Cœur which we know she supports from Les Enfoirés? The problem with sending it somewhere unsolicited is that it could be construed as somewhat condescending patronage, especially for a culture as fiercely independent as Corsica (i.e., "we don't need your help, thank you very much"). I'd gladly put my name behind a charitable donation (though still can't act as "treasurer", sorry).

Originally Posted by lefty12357

Personally, I think this is a good suggestion and I would be glad to contribute as well.

Me too.

[Roman]

Originally Posted by Scruffydog777

I can't say that this scholarship is a great idea, but then again I can't say it's a bad idea either.
We wanted to thank Alizée for what she did for us back on March 29th. She did something that brought a lot of joy into our lives by giving so many fans here a level of closeness to her that they probably would never have experienced otherwise.

I thought in the begining that maybe making a donation to her favorite charity might be a good idea, but we decided that this would require some interaction on her part, something she probably has little time for with all the work she's doing on promoting her new album, not to mention her family responsibilities. So we decided we should do something that required no interaction, no time on her behalf. So along these lines, the scholarship was probably the best idea that was proposed. Now it's in serious trouble. People are starting to speak out against it. Where do we go from here?

Soon it will be close to 2 months after the fact and it would probably be kind of late for doing something to show our appreciation. A great gesture on her part will go unrewarded.

So "we" need to make a decision. Do we go through with this?

As far as it not making sense to give to a school, well this school is on Corsica and we all know she is fiercely proud of her heritage there, so I think it would please her if what ever we did, benefitted someone there.

One thing I don't think we had quite decided on is to who this scholarship should go to. Should it be someone with the best grades, someone with the most financial need or maybe someone who tries the best?
Well we all know how much Alizée has done for charity over the years, so I think it would please her if the primary consideration for the scholarship should be need. Maybe the second one should be how hard a student tries.

We wanted to do this with as little fan fare as possible. Trying not to draw any attention to ourselves, almost to the point where Alizée would never find out about it. But the truth of the matter is, if we do this, she will find out, and she will probably have a small piece of her heart set aside for a group of people she found out about earlier this year.

So I think time is running out. We can't afford to bicker any more. The balls in our court. What do we do with it?

Thanks for speaking Scruffy. Your words come across as simple and honest. The problem for me came when doc, the apparent only leader and holder of the list of pledges failed to respond to any of my personal messages and substituted that with statements like "Aside from the donors,. we are the only essential actors. It is a pity we are two people and not one. We hardly aspire to be five or ten." And talking about "my mission," as a way to avoid answering my questions. That, the fact that little was being said by any supporters, no one seemed to know what the plan was, and just more walls of words from you know who meant to inspire along with high pressure exaggerated appeals to people to "keep their solemn word" made this whole thing take on the look of the classic con, Nigerian email scam as Ben said.

Still, at this point, it's only because I am predisposed to trust you, Dave, that your words have any meaning. So, I think we need a clear understanding of what would happen here including: having the script of what is going to be said to Mme. Mufraggi, or the gist and a good reason why we can't have the details, how at least generally she will be contacted, how the money will be actually sent and if not details of where exactly, why not. If only inspirational talk, but no discussion of what we are as a group agreeing to do and no details of how money is being use will be given, then I can't really be a part of that. I assumed that stuff would come along, but then it didn't and this looked hopeless until you engaged with us again. But, I'm still not making any solemn vows without seeing behind the curtain. That means things like, if I ask, "are there even enough people pledged to make this happen", I don't want to get a non-direct, non-answer implication that 'someone else is handling it and it's none of your business.' So, even with the recent positive re-engagements by people, this thing has gone completely off the rails and will need to get back on if I'm going to support it.

---------

I can kind of see now how one might make it a thanks for the autographs, but again, if you are really doing this, I am curious to know exactly how you would explain that to Mme. Mufraggi.

Alternately, while I have a particular predisposition to supporting either the school or some specific project by Alizée, if I really see a consensus by people to support Les Enfoirés, I guess I could kick in. I went to the show and I bought their DVD and personally, while I appreciate the autograph signing, I think the autographs are a nice thing in themselves which, frankly, we already paid for by buying all of those CDs and "we" were the ones who went to them. Still...

The moment in 2007 that I spoke to Alizée and was allowed to give her a gift and have her ask me my name and sign my disks with a mutual merci was a very special moment for me. It did not require anything else, though I really wanted more attention from her in the future and tried to get it by going again to Mexico in May of 2008. There was nothing in the world that I wanted more than to be near her.

So, I guess I can see that the idea is to say, see Alizée, we really appreciate your attention and we want you to understand that your attention is what means so much to us. Maybe I just felt like my chance to have a connection with her passed me by and the stars flying before my eyes settled. It was certainly beyond any fan meeting we've seen to have that kind of meeting with her. So, though I hold little hope in the way of personal connection with Alizée, even as a group or for that matter a nation, I am flexible when it comes to this.

[Scruffydog777]

Someone at some point had mentioned they thought that with this scholarship, or what ever we eventually decide on, we'd be thanking her for 10 years of music. I don't think that's right. There are many singers who've given us just as many and some a whole lot more, so there's nothing special in that, which we should be doing something for.

I think we are specifically thanking her for what she did for us on March 29th. Which is really thanking her for being that special person that we all know she is that is shown in so many ways. The way she waves to people in the crowd during her performances, her appearences on Les Enfoirés and all the other shows that she appeared on that were for charitable causes. Her appearences on Stars a Domicile, while being a good thing to promote her, were at a time in her career when she was very popular and busy and really didn't need to do them but I think she did them because she wanted to do something nice for her fans and now this special autograph session that she set up for us.

So while we are specifically thanking her for what she did for us this spring, we are in reallity thanking her for being someone special, who has done so many nice things for others, who stands out in her industry, like a bright star in a sky full of so many tarnished ones.

If we do pursue this scolarship, I don't think there will be any problem explaining to the school why we are doing what we are doing.

The majority of people here have agreed that we wanted to do this with as little fanfare as possible. We didn't want to draw a lot of attention to ourselves and as I had stated before almost to the point of Alizée not finding out what we did. But I think that would be wrong. She did a kind gesture in our behalf so we're doing something in return and I think she should find out about it.

If we make a donation to one of her favorite charities, the only way she will find out is if we tell her. The good part about the scholarship idea is if we do it as planned, there will be no need to notify her. She will find out.

[FanDeAliFee]

Scruffydog777 has been replaced as Scholarship treasurer.

Despite any claims to the contrary, the Scholarship project is NOT being ended. I recruited Scruffy(dog777) to serve as its treasurer, not its undertaker. Please do not send Scholarship donations to him. I no longer am confident he understands his legal obligations.

I cannot blame you if this is that last straw which makes you end your support for the project. As its creator and advocate, I have had more grief than I ever imagined I might. But a donation WILL be made to Ecole de Danse de Monique Mufraggi, the theater school which trained Alizée for a decade. I will not let anyone prevent this from happening or hijack the money after it has been raised for that end.

I have had private communications with the school's headmistress again and again. When she started using a first name only, II reciprocated. I would never be so cruel as to promise anyone a gift of money before it was in hand. But I told her that while it is dangerous to predict the future, I might have some small good news for her before June 15. She is extremely busy before then and we must respect that.

Scruffy, who handled the autographed CD resale and deliveries with Ben's help, and without complaint, kindly agreed to serve as Scholarship fund treasurer when I asked him, writing me: "I'd be happy and honored to act as treasurer." (Hence my sadness acting as I must now.) He finally started to solicit payments, writing: "I guess people will have to send there pledges directly to me."

Recall I wrote that: "We will not create a corporation and hire professionals to execute, as the money sum is far too paltry... I understand all of it will be payable to school, less any legitimate expenses for currency conversion and the secure transmission of the funds by RELIABLE but economical means."

I also frankly cautioned all about the "want of any legal obligation or auditing supervision of our donation to the school"

And my game plan stated the policy that "We demand nothing more of the school than simple delivery confirmation."

Eager not to repeat the gap which emerged between me and Ben, who wrote "Guess I didn't give these threads proper attention earlier," I never wanted either Scruffy or I, as leaders, to make policy without the knowledge of the other. This led to long official silences which some found taxing. At first, we leaders communicated readily, for example, discussing potential secure means for international funds transfer. Now, some of Scruffy's actions and suggestions made me bite my lip. Ben had decisively said Alizée America would NOT collect money for our project. Yet Scruffy again asked him to do so. Ben did not reply, hardly to my surprise. What was Scruffy thinking? The ONLY reason I recruited him in the first place was to replace Ben as presumptive money collector!

For many days I have been waiting on Scruffy to verify that a tiny test payment I wired him was received, and this delay reflects the lack of contact we have had of late.

I have grown increasingly disturbed by the statements he has written in the Scholarship thread, which as a fundraiser, I know undermines the effort. Finally I read this in his latest posting:

Someone at some point had mentioned they thought that with this scholarship, or what ever we eventually decide on...

If we do pursue this scolarship...

Scruffy has ALREADY solicited pledge payments. Money solicited for one purpose CANNOT be used for another!!! To do so is FRAUD. What is he suggesting? The best reading is that he will return all the money he is now being sent if the scholarship is abandoned. I will not describe the worst.

I need no more evidence he is NOT QUALIFIED TO ACT AS TREASURER.

I will not send him the money I pledged. You should not either.

I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR HIS INDEPENDENT STATEMENTS AND ACTIONS.

I call on him to stop collecting money and RETURN any he receives.

To date, I have NOT handled any money related to the Scholarship, and I have REFUSED all solicitors who trust me and wanted to send me money. There being no one to serve as treasurer I trust, I will now step forward to RELUCTANTLY assume that role myself.

I was delighted I could be the vital link without which there would have been no private autograph CD session in Paris. Ben and his managers offered me a free CD in thanks, but I happily paid for mine. Acting as Scholarship treasurer will be my last service here. Big and small amounts are welcome. I will refuse donations from only one person, who knows who he is and is hardly likely to donate anyway. I appreciate the work the Alizée America management does to preserve civility and make everyone civil feel welcome. It is not easy.

After all the mishaps and confusion, I cannot now predict how much money will be raised. The earlier Art Grant poll exceeded 1000 Euros, while our Scholarship poll was growing rapidly and reached 900 Euros before being prematurely aborted by Ben, who wrote us: You guys can do what you want on your own, but the forum cannot be involved in this. We don't solicte money. Ben will not permit such polls ever again. I have never had commercial relations with any of you, so by my very own criterion, I would not send money to me. Yet I know some of you have requested I accept money all the same. I am honored by your trust and would never betray it.

I will be making a donation to the Mufraggi school bigger than my pledge. I invite you to join with me by sending me your pledges. For simplicity and speed, I will accept Paypal payments. Log into your PayPal account and click on Send Money. Send your donations, denominated in US dollars only, to docdtv@bellsouth.net If you please, do also send me a PM reporting the amount of money you send by PayPal.

As stated before, all the money will be donated to the school, less the expenses of currency conversion and secure transmission. I will use the method and follow the instructions the headmistress requires. Remember that she and I now communicate in a very friendly way. I intend she receive the money by 15 June if possible. Should I somehow fail to succeed by 1 July, I will return all of your money. There will be no other refunds.

The headmistress worked intensively with Alizée for a full decade, and still speaks proudly of her. Make your own inferences from that. I will call the donation a scholarship fund, but there will be no obligation by the school. The money is too little to make demands!

Ben does not permit us to use the name Alizée America in our project, and I am happy that we can acknowledge the help of generous non-US friends! The cover letter for the donation will read something like that below. I will accept suggestions for change, but will make the final editing decision all alone.

We English-speaking fans of Alizée celebrate her tenth showbiz anniversary this year. We honor her artistry with the donation of this small unconditional scholarship fund to the treasured institution in her beloved Corsica, which for a decade provided her early artistic education, L'école du Spectacle de Monique Mufraggi.

I will also translate the English text into French. If I can persuade a Corsican friend to help me, I MAY also try to also translate into Corsu, the Italian-like indigenous language of the island.

I will sign your name as you direct. Names will be arranged in alphabetical order by surname. If you desire, I will also verify the size of your donation to the public.

Don't doubt the Scholarship fund is on track for completion. Thank you for your cooperation.

[Scruffydog777]

The reason I asked Ben was because after trying to set up my own web page, I couldn't figure out how to set up a paypal donation button on it. I thought time was important here and paypal was the easiest way to send money, so that's why I asked him.

I did recieve your test paypal payment and I thought I had sent you a pm saying so but looking through my sent pm's it's obvious I didn't so I apologize for that.

After a very busy time frame for me, I started my days off monday morning and I go back to work tonight. Keith (MYGOGT) came to town monday morning and I showed him around town and took him to lunch at a famous restaurant here, the Olde Union Oyster house. He left the next morning. Since then I've been in this forum almost non stop. Pretty much working on ways of promoting Alizée. I'll attach copies of 2 letters I made up in this time span in my efforts. One was to a local radio station, trying to get them to play some of Alizée's music, another was to a travel magazine called AmericanWay that I was reading on my latest trip abroad. They had a picture of Tyra Banks on the cover and a related story inside. So I thought they should be doing a story on someone the world would love to hear about, so I sent them a letter too.

I'm also working on another promotional effort that I think shows good promise that only Ben and Keith know about and I cant really post the details here for reasons that will be explained at a later date. So if anyone doubts my devotion to her or this project, I'l let the evidence speak for itself.

The reason I started to have doubts is because ever since your post on the 15th, saying "Time to pay up has come", I haven't received one pm from anyone saying they've sent any money. After your post on page 9, there were 4 posts that were of a negative nature towards this idea. There have been hardly any posts stating they support the idea. That's why I made my post #93. Expressing concerns about what was going on in the forum, but I don't think it could be construed as being anything other than in favor of this idea.

So if you want to make someone else treasurer, that's fine with me. But don't do it implying I'm not dedicated to the cause.


Letter to a local radio station called Mix 106.7
Dear Sir,
By your station's name it shows you play a mix, a variety of music. Well here's a good chance to prove it. I'd like to request a song that is in English, but sung by a French singer. Her name is Alizée (pronounced Al - e - zay). I'd like to request you to play 1 out of 4 songs that she has (all in English) with the one I'd prefer played listed first, but I'll leave it up to you as to which one you might play. I'll attach Youtube links to videos for these songs.
I found out about this beautiful young singer a little over 3 years ago. Since then I've pretty much stopped listening to music on the radio. I've made up numerous cd's over the years of music I love but they're gathering dust in a cabinet.
I was born and raised in Boston. I'm a huge sports fan. I've suffered through Bob Gibson, Bill Buckner,too many men on the ice (Montreal that time), Bleeping Bucky Dent, Pedro being left in too long, Pats Packers SB. Lenny Bias. Not any more. I haven't watched Red Sox game yet, not even against the Yankees. Didn't watch a Bruins game all season, not even the playoffs. Celtics, same story.
That's the type of affect this girl has on people. I don't understand how I can listen to this beutiful young woman's music as often as I do and not get tired of it. Here are some of her songs that I think you should consider playing.
The first song is Youpidoo. It's about her breaking up with her boyfreind.Has a very catchy beat to it.

Second song is I'm fed up. A song where she sings about laying around in her bubble bath, then singing about all the things she's fed up with.

Third song is Amelie. It's a song about a character in a French movie called Amelie. Beautiful song.

Fourth song is I'm not twenty, where she's celebrating the fact that she hasn't turned twenty yet.

I should also mention she does a beautiful rendition of Madonna's La Isla Bonita that you might consider playing.
9 million views
Except for Amelie and La Isla Bonita, these 3 songs were re-writes of her French songs. They were written by Mylene Farmer. The most successful female singer in French history. A very talented woman but unfortunately one thing she wasn't that good at was re-writing these songs into English. Some times the story doesn't make sense. It's unfortunate, but I don't think it matters. Your listeners will love this girls voice and they will love the music that was written by Laurent Boutanant, another great talented artist.
Most of these songs were written back in 2003. But I don't think that matters to your listeners. The only thing that will matter to them is that they haven't heard them before. I didn't hear them until 2007 and had no idea they were 4 years old and could not have cared less.
She was at the height of her popularity back in 2003. But unfortunately that was when the relations between our two countries were at their worst. That's the year the phrase freedom fries was coined. No U.S. station would have dared played her music. Which is really a shame. Do a search of Youtube under her name and you'll see how popular she is. All this music of hers getting downloaded into the States and she's not making a penny out of it.
The more you learn about her, the more you realize she is as beautiful on the inside as on the outside. She does a lot of shows for charity. There's no embarressing photos of her, no late night partying, no rehab, no train wrecks. Just a beautiful person who's music I think your listeners would love to hear.
Dare to Mix!
Thank You for your time.
Dave Hardy


Letter to AmericanWay

I travel fairly often and as a consequence have read your magazine several times.
I have a suggestion on someone you should do a story on that I think many people in America and across the world would love to hear.
Her name is Alizée (pronounced Al - e - zay), a French singer whose name is as beautiful as her.
Here are links to a few pictures of her.

Alizée at 18 -

Alizée at 25 -

She was born on Corsica, France (same place as Napoleon) in 1984.
Her parents loved to windsurf so they decided to name her after a trade wind that blows through parts of Africa and the Caribbean, called an Alize. Well with the French, everything has a gender and Alize is masculine, so you add an e to the end and it becomes Alizée.

At the age of 11, she won a competition to design a new paint scheme for an airplane, of which, I'll attach a picture here.

http://yfrog.com/5aalizee17pyj

She studied dance from the age of 4. At the age of 15, a freind talked her into entering a talent show. She didn't realize until she got there that the dancing competition was for teams and she was by herself, so she entered the singing competition instead. She finished second, but more importantly, in the process, her efforts were noticed by Mylene Farmer and Laurent Boutanant. These are two tremendously talented French artists. Mylene Farmer is the most successful female singer in French history and a lot of her success is due to Laurent Boutanant who composes music for her and who she studied the arts with in college and they've worked on many projects together over the years.

They talked her parents into letting Alizée drop out of high school and moving to Paris to pursue her new career. She was an overnight success. She had 2 songs in the top 3 of the song charts for France for 3 months, something that no other French artist had accomplished before. She made it into the top 10 in England, something that was tremendously difficult for a foreign artist, not singing in English to do. She would fly home to Corsica on just about every weekend to be with freinds and family.

In 2003, Alizée performed 5 songs in English. The first was a beautiful rendition of Madonna's La Isla Bonita. This is how I found out about her. Another one was Amelie, which was a song about a character in the French movie Amelie. The movie won several awards, including in this country, despite having English subtitles. I'll attach a few links to some of her music. In 2003 she was at the height of her popularity. I think her English songs would have been played in this country except this was the time when the relations between our 2 countries were at their worst. This was the year the name freedom fries replaced french fries in our restaurants. Because of this I think she is one of the artists who has suffered the most financially from pirating. If her music had been played here, she would have made millions. Instead her music is readily down loaded for free from outlets such as Youtube. On Youtube there has been over 5 million views for La Isla Bonita, 25 million for J'en ai marre (of which there are several versions of). Here are a few links to some of her music. The first 2 in English, the last 3 in French.



Some links I attached in this letter didn't show up when I copied and pasted.

Just a little side note. I offered to go to Corsica and deliver the scholarship in person. Even with my travel benefits, this short trip would have easily cost me over $600.00 and as Keith can testify, I'm not exactly living in the lap of luxury here. I didn't know if this was a good idea or not so I only discussed it with a few people including Doc. The idea was voted down.

[Roman]

Well, I think this thing has been plagued by problems of trust, sincerity, and openness from the beginning. I could contact Mme. Mufraggi through mail, phone, or electronic means any day of the week. I had a plan of steps ready that I could have posted here, though it would be a bit tacky to post it publicly as opposed to via private message. There's nothing magical about contacting someone and arranging to send them some money, but now I'm not so sure it can be done as a group of people who don't necessarily know or trust each other or can't agree to the terms. I have actually been holding back on what I post here to see how things go, trying to give people some time. But now it's easy because for me this thing is quite over. The rest of you can take whatever chances you want, though it really sounds like very few if any of you have actually gone through with this.

Actually, to me the worst would not be losing a couple hundred bucks, but rather disturbing the decent and sensible life of MM or causing her to distrust some fans of Alizée. I hope nothing weird happens, but of course there's nothing I can do without making it worse.

Maybe someday if I have the money again I'll try to donate the whole amount myself.

Scruffydog, I wish you well in your endeavors to promote Alizée. I have really been enjoying Une Enfant du Siècle and I hope many others can too.

Docdtv, if you really are Ron and have been involved in so many things in life and lead projects with people as you say, I find it a little amazing that you can't see how this is not the way to handle things. Maybe (though I doubt) this is the way to handle an engineering project, but it's no way to get together a group of fans to do something nice.

[sumi1]

But don't do it implying I'm not dedicated to the cause.

Scruffy, no one here can dare to doubt your dedication towards this forum and Alizee herself.

Well, I think this thing has been plagued by problems of trust, sincerity, and openness from the beginning.

Agreed completely, Roman. I never got any answer for any of my concerns/doubts I posted in the thread. Maybe it was because my contribution to the whole amount was small, and hence, I had very little say in the things going on here.

Actually, to me the worst would not be losing a couple hundred bucks, but rather disturbing the decent and sensible life of MM or causing her to distrust some fans of Alizée. I hope nothing weird happens, but of course there's nothing I can do without making it worse.

Yes, Alizee will think that some crazy American fans did some weird stuff. She may not distinguish between fans from AAM and non-AAM fans. We are all, afterall, her American fans.

Maybe (though I doubt) this is the way to handle an engineering project, but it's no way to get together a group of fans to do something nice.

This is not the way to get together a group of engineers also :

[pepelepew]

I am on this site pretty much late @ night and seldom get to interact or respond in real time. Although I have been here for a little while. With the disclaimers out of the way, I have been following this thread and I just wanted to respond with my personal insights for what they are worth. I really want to respond in a nuetral way. It saddens me a bit to see such conflict between the principle people that pulled off the historic disc signing session that was no accident. I'm not going to rehash the roles you played in this Ben, Scruffy, and Doc, but I sense that all three of you have contributed much and are unquestionably loyal to Alizee and to her fans. Although you had nothing to do with the disc signing Roman, I have enjoyed your witty posts, and stories of your disc signing and Alizee concert experiences and pictures. My point is that all four of you loyal Alizee fans that put your money time and attention where your mouth is are at odds or disagreement with one another and or hurt feelings, bruised ego's etc. I am not trying to lecture, give advice or scold you guys. I am simply saying that you are on the same AA team and I fear that what prompted this thread,(AA personal cd signing session and appreciation for Alizee), has backfired on you guys. I hope you guys can step back and take a breath and remember that all of you are valuable to Alizee, AA, and Alizee fans in general and at the risk of speaking for AA members, don't want to lose you over this.
'

[Roman]

Well, as for this thing, it just did not work out for whatever reason. Not everything does. I think it's time to let it go and move on (up to you all).
We have our reasons for forming feelings/opinions about others and those likely go beyond one thread or one event. We'll just have to deal with it.

But as for Alizée, it is true that we can't assume she will always be around for us to see new stuff and hear new music. I'm not sure what she will do next or when we will see her. Also, for some of us, we simply won't always have all the time in the world to devote to her and the fan community; so, I would advise to try to turn to those threads or activities that are uplifting to you and have a good time with it as much as you can. I will try to not get hung up on petty things and remember that Alizée is what brought us all here.

Search through the forum and find something nice to talk about or certainly those of you who know French, do some translations for us. There's still so much that hasn't been translated and those non-French speakers might be missing something. Alternatively, if you feel so inclined, share her with the world. There is a promotion thread. Even if you only turned one other person on to her, that's an accomplishment. You could post about it there. I'm sure there are actually older threads for that too. Some of us made sample CDs to hand out once, notably a nice Lilly Town New York effort by Ben and friends. The info is surely still out there. I guess I could dig up mine if someone was interested. They'd need to be updated...

Originally Posted by pepelepew

I am on this site pretty much late @ night and seldom get to interact or respond in real time. Although I have been here for a little while. With the disclaimers out of the way, I have been following this thread and I just wanted to respond with my personal insights for what they are worth. I really want to respond in a nuetral way. It saddens me a bit to see such conflict between the principle people that pulled off the historic disc signing session that was no accident. I'm not going to rehash the roles you played in this Ben, Scruffy, and Doc, but I sense that all three of you have contributed much and are unquestionably loyal to Alizee and to her fans. Although you had nothing to do with the disc signing Roman, I have enjoyed your witty posts, and stories of your disc signing and Alizee concert experiences and pictures. My point is that all four of you loyal Alizee fans that put your money time and attention where your mouth is are at odds or disagreement with one another and or hurt feelings, bruised ego's etc. I am not trying to lecture, give advice or scold you guys. I am simply saying that you are on the same AA team and I fear that what prompted this thread,(AA personal cd signing session and appreciation for Alizee), has backfired on you guys. I hope you guys can step back and take a breath and remember that all of you are valuable to Alizee, AA, and Alizee fans in general and at the risk of speaking for AA members, don't want to lose you over this.
'

[FanDeAliFee]

Originally Posted by Scruffydog777

Just a little side note. I offered to go to Corsica and deliver the scholarship in person. Even with my travel benefits, this short trip would have easily cost me over $600.00 and as Keith can testify, I'm not exactly living in the lap of luxury here. I didn't know if this was a good idea or not so I only discussed it with a few people including Doc. The idea was voted down.

I would have as soon let this sleeping dog lie, but its introduction will let me make an important point.

I don't want anyone to imagine that there is the SLIGHTEST need to spend anything like $600 to reliably transmit money to France, unless one WANTED to go for a totally unrelated reason.

At the very beginning of my brief partnership with Scruffy, I provided him with detailed current research on various secure means of getting money to Ajaccio. One traditional method involved a charge of only $35 by Scruffy's bank, he reported.

No sensible manager uses a method that costs $600 and takes days in place of one that costs $35 and takes minutes, and especially so if the former has nothing but grievous disadvantages. Acting otherwise will contribute to lack of familiarity with the lap of luxury.

In fairness, Scruffy described his idea this way:
<i>The thought entered my mind that maybe, just maybe, I could deliver it in person... it could be another chance of a life time thing.</i>

To paint it now as a Labor of Hercules (making a <i>Les Collines</i> reference) is odd, to say the least.

Frankly, I was immediately appalled by the idea of personal delivery, because it transformed a no-strings, no-hassle gift into something more like an admission fee to a tourist stop where none existed or would be desired. So that no one would doubt how categorically inappropriate this was, I made the post here.

Scruffy was not the only one to suggest the notion of personal delivery by him, and a third person entertained tagging along. This prompts me to offer this general principle to people here: Don't invite your person to a place not open to the public - the proprietors always have the option of inviting you later, should they be made ecstatic by some kindness on your part.

To the point of the scholarship, the barrier of moving money overseas is not enormous, but could greatly impact something like a $50 donation, not to mention troubling the recipient with inconvenience for a minor gift. That's why it is better to share out the cost of transmission, by aggregating many such gifts together through a trusted party, who can also handle issues like language translation and social niceties.