John Cleese ‘has a bridge to sell you’, suggests $69,346,250.50 price to top Beeple's virtual art record

Comedian John Cleese has jumped aboard the non-fungible token bandwagon, with an offer to sell a picture of the Brooklyn Bridge for $69,346,250.50 using the newfangled blockchain-infused digital certificates of ownership for digital goods. The Monty Python member took to Twitter with his offer, telling viewers “You and me we …

[Anonymous Coward]

Does he still need money for that divorce?

Bless you Mr Cleese for your life time of satire. We salute you.

[Anonymous Coward]

Cleese has been a liability for a while. A Brexit voting racist who lives in the Caribbean.

Many fools will let him trade off past glories forty years ago, but what has he done for you lately?

This ipad scrawl is further useless nonsense. No value therein.

[Anonymous Coward]

Well, winding up remainers for a start.

[Anonymous Coward]

Ah, so that's where all the down votes are coming from - deluded Brexiteers!

[Tom 7]

Are there any other sort?

[Chris G]

I was a remainer, I downvoted you for you lack of humour and for slagging off John Cleese is is still funny and definitely more entertaining than you.

[Tom 7]

My lack of sense of humour?

[Rol]

I'm sorry, this is the slightly interesting discussion and comedic symbolism department, you're looking for the ranting Daily Mail argument department, which if I remember correctly, was moved from the office next to the canteen, because it was putting people off of their food, and is now located in the car park next to the recycling bins.

Seeing as you're going that way, would you mind dropping off some hackneyed stereotypes in the bins, for me, there's a good fellow.

[Stoneshop]

deluded Brexiteers?

From the other side of the North Sea I have to say, so long and thanks for all the fishnancial institutions.

[Lord Elpuss]

"Ah, so that's where all the down votes are coming from - deluded Brexiteers!"

I downvoted you for being a dick.

[Disgusted Of Tunbridge Wells]

Re: Agreed

It's sad the level of political discourse in this country now.

A national treasure becomes "a prick" because he voted differently than you would have.

Hopefully by the time you are old enough to vote you will have matured.

Pint for your 18th birthday, which I'm hoping is a long way off. If you haven't got limited years as an excuse then that's just sad.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Agreed

Voting or thinking differently to me, a prick does not make.

However, when the result of said vote has such massive and sweeping ramifications that will affect every single person in the entire country for decades to come, then I think there is some valid cause for resentment and animosity. Doubly so when said voter doesn't even live in the UK or the EU anymore.

[Disgusted Of Tunbridge Wells]

Re: Agreed

"Voting or thinking differently is fine, as long as it doesn't result in an outcome I disagree with."

Grow up.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Agreed

Which is not what I said at all.

Maybe some of the big words were too hard for you? Well... tough shit, buttercup, here are some more words with more than five letters in them...

Most votes throughout people's lives rarely affect them in substantial ways. Any changes in the political landscape are generally small and usually quite fleeting. Most of them flip flop back and forth every five years or so. Some you win, some you lose. It's no biggie.

Equally, in any given vote or discussion up to half the people involved will have different opinions to me or you or anyone else. That's what makes the discourse interesting. Assuming people can refrain from name calling and telling others to grow up. Pot, meet kettle.

Brexit, on the other hand, has completely and irreparably changed the future for every single person in the UK and many others in the EU for the foreseeable future. And for what? The only people who are gaining anything from Brexit are the racist bigots that successfully sold a pack of lies to just over one third of the electorate - most of whom didn't fully comprehend what they were voting for - or, in the case of my mother, and I quote, "didn't want to be ruled by Germans". Everyone else is either in the process of losing something or has already lost something. Exactly how much anyone one person ultimately loses remains to be seen. And won't be fully understood for years.

And I'm not supposed to get angry about that? Well, fuck you. I'm fucking furious about that and will not for one second let anyone believe otherwise.

[Disgusted Of Tunbridge Wells]

Re: Agreed

I'm obviously not going to read that, given your previous childish rantings.

I very much doubt anybody else will either.

[aje21]

Re: Agreed

I did read it, but I voted remain so that could explain it...

Full disclosure, I voted remain and would have much preferred it to have been (as originally intended) an advisory referendum so the government could have found out how pissed off people were with the EU, our relationship with the EU, etc. My personal opinion is that the pro-leave vote could have been greater if the choices were "Happy with how things are AND don't mind where they end up" vs. "Not happy with how they are AND/OR want to get asked how things end up". If it had been such a question, I would have picked the 2nd option and hopefully we could then have had a constructive discussion on how to fix things. However, I now know that is a naive approach to take and this was going to get polarised whatever way it was tackled. So instead we got BBC Parliament becoming the most popular live UK channel for a while and more vitriol on the internet than I though possible.

My guess is that I may get some up-votes, I may get some down-votes, I may get a reply and some people may choose not to read what I wrote (which is all fair).

[Yet Another Anonymous coward]

Re: Agreed

The sad bit is that for many voters Brexit wasn't even about the Eu.

If you lived in a safe Northern Labour seat it was a once in a lifetime opportunity to vote against a smug southern Tory PM and have your vote make a difference.

If you had made the Question "Fuck the Government Y/N?" it would have had exactly the same vote.

There were people in my home town voting for Brexit because Maggie closed the pits.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Agreed

If you lived in a safe Northern Labour seat it was a once in a lifetime opportunity to vote against a smug southern Tory PM and have your vote make a difference.

How does that explain the "red wall" vote, where dozens of those very seats later voted Boris into government because he promised to "get Brexit done" ?

[John Brown (no body)]

Re: Agreed

"How does that explain the "red wall" vote, where dozens of those very seats later voted Boris into government because he promised to "get Brexit done" ?

Maybe Corbyn was too leftie for them :-)

[Disgusted Of Tunbridge Wells]

Re: Agreed

That's just not true. I don't know why you people try to convince each other of this. I don't get what benefit you get out of lying to yourselves.

[spuck]

Re: Agreed

From across the pond, I'm just happy you Brits have a circus of your own to distract the world from our own Trump/Biden Show.

Cheers

[Wincerind]

Re: Agreed

Well... Now that the Trump circus has packed up it's Big Top.

[ICL1900-G3]

Re: Agreed

Well, you were wrong there, then.

[JVfromtheNorth]

Re: Agreed

Relax mate. You really need to build a bridge to get over it. Brexit is done. I worry about people like you that still hold onto the past without learning to live with the new old now. Your health will suffer for it from the stress, anger, and fury that it causes. Can't change it, won't ever be able to. We have been doing just fine without the EU. Time to learn to accept it or you will be left behind on your hill.

I've had elections not go my way. After they were done, I accepted it because we live in a democracy and the majority has the say. Nothing I can do about it by making diamonds on the loo. I don't hold grudges for how they voted because we are all free to vote how we please. I adapt to it and move on.

Suggest you do as well. Keeps the blood pressure down and relaxed. Have bigger bits to worry about, mate. Lock down, riots in London over the pick of the day, EU withholding jabs because of politics, etc. Those are relevant issues to worry about. Not an election that happened a few years ago that you can't do anything about.

[ICL1900-G3]

Re: Agreed

This is a bit more serious than an election not going your way. I suggest reading The Economist if you think things are going so well.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Agreed

I guess without knowing anything about me, you will miss why I'm so angry.

I left the UK many years ago. I've lived in Italy and Spain in the past, and am currently living in Norway. At some point in the future I was planning on moving elsewhere in Europe. Possibly back to Spain, maybe to France or Greece or "somewhere", who knows.

I was just over the limit of number of years outside the UK for being able to vote against Brexit. And now, thanks to Brexit, that has suddenly become a lot harder for me to do and not through anything I have done. I was not free to vote how I please. I was deliberately barred from doing so by the UK government simply for choosing to exercise and enjoy my rights to freedom of movement. That is not democracy.

[Disgusted Of Tunbridge Wells]

Re: Agreed

> being able to vote

....

> That is not democracy.

Hahahahahahahahahaha

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Agreed

No doubt in your mind all of the economic damage is down to Brexit and not Covid,,FFS grow up !

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Agreed

"However, when the result of said vote has such massive and sweeping ramifications that will affect every single person in the entire country for decades to come,"

The entry to EEC or exit from EU vote?

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Agreed

What did you lose when the UK entered the EEC?

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Agreed

It is what the EEC morphed into that's the problem. Was a vote for EEC a vote for the EU?

[Stoneshop]

It is what the EEC morphed into

At that point you, as the UK, were party to the direction it took, so you could have influenced it (and most likely did).

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: It is what the EEC morphed into

I was around during the EEC referendum in 1975 but was just a bit too young to actually vote in it.

It was billed as a trading agreement. At no point did anyone mention "ever closer union". And no one until Cameron's referendum bothered to ask anyone if that was what the people wanted.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Agreed

not only a 'prick', but also part-censored in the UK. In this day and age of everything causing offense, the beeb and others decided to disappear him, so to speak, because they want to be at the forefront of a New Revolution and waving the Banner of The Right Cause. So I had no choice really, to make a point and I immediately forced my offspring to watch Cleese hailing the Germans episode, and then, full 3 series of Little Britain for good measure. Sure, I'm a bloody foreigner and I voted remain, but I don't care if Cleese is a rasist and / or a bigot. He might be, well, whatever, I don't need to be pals with him. But, in his artistic career, he's unbeatable. I wish he could create freely nowadays, mocking what's happening nowadays. But he'd be de-platformed from any platform before he'd even start...

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Agreed

But he'd be de-platformed from any platform before he'd even start...

Two words, Will and Grace.

[Graham Dawson]

Racist?

Do they print you people out at a factory or something?

[Jedit]

"...but what has he done for you lately?"

Well, the Brooklyn Bridge isn't *quite* an aqueduct...

[Yet Another Anonymous coward]

Re: "...but what has he done for you lately?"

Law and order is also a bit missing

[Stoneshop]

Re: "...but what has he done for you lately?"

Splitter! (of hairs)

[Yet Another Anonymous coward]

Re: "...but what has he done for you lately?"

And the wine, that's one thing the USA would really miss .

[Anonymous Coward]

Why is he a liability? When has he been a racist? I own a home on the Caribbean so what if he does as well. I own homes all across the planet. What does the location of where you live have anything to do with anything? You ask what he has done lately. He made me laugh at the irony of selling the Brooklyn bridge. Also, got your pants in a twist which also got me laughing.

[Anonymous Coward]

Just love it, the losers are still biting, get over it idiot !

[Anonymous Coward]

Does he still need money for that divorce?

I suppose he will 'always' need money for THAT divorce, I think. But, though I LOVE him for his GENIUS, for quite some time I've had this vague suspicion that off-screen / in private life he might be a completely different (read: very NASTY) person. Perhaps he expected his 2nd American wife to put up with it and he found his match?

[b0llchit]

Does it (bit-)rot?

I'd pay major money if that drawing would degrade automatically with bit-rot. Of course, every copy will degrade in a unique and random way. Then, at least, there would be some value somewhere. Maybe it can be valued at 1 cpp^(*) for the creator's effort. That means that simple upscaling makes this stuff quadratically more valuable. Mine is the one with 1eINF by 1eINF pixels using the latest finite deflate algorithm to keep the size down and simultaneously losing a few bits per second too..

(*) cpp: Cent Per Pixel

[Chris G]

My lawyers will be in touch

This Cleese bloke has no right to sell anything to do with my bridge, I added it to my portfolio of landmarks some years ago, shortly after buying the Arc de Triomphe and one leg of the Eiffel Tower (there was a lot of interest in it).

[Disgusted Of Tunbridge Wells]

Re: My lawyers will be in touch

Monopoly has changed since I last played it

[Kevin McMurtrie]

Blockchain for blockchain

My gigabit fiber and RAID worked their asses off running STORJ for months and they got 36.18737748 tokens for their efforts. It must be worth a fortune. I'll take two of those sketches.

[John Jennings]

Well, it might not go for 69m, but

He is still up at $35,826.60

[mark l 2]

Re: Well, it might not go for 69m, but

I mean if this sells for $35K then there are clearly a lot more people with money than sense. I know art is subjective but even i could probably knock up something better than this and I am crap at drawing.

Still if your Cleese and it does sell, 35K its not bad going for 5 mins work

[Fruit and Nutcase]

Bridge to NI

Mr Cleese, it's No. 10 on the line wanting to know how much will you charge for a Bridge to Northern Ireland, and how much to build bridges with Wales and Scotland, as the Union is looking a bit shaky these days.

[werdsmith]

The Union is already over. Which is fine, because it won't actually affect anyone much when it becomes official.

[Anonymous Coward]

So when can I stop bleeding cash via Barnett?

[werdsmith]

Like I said, it won't affect you when it happens and you won't notice it.

[werdsmith]

Unless you live around Jedburgh, Hawick or Dumfries. In which case I expect a surge in house prices.

[RM Myers]

The times we live in

Nothing says 2021 quite like this article. When I was a wee lad, you could almost always tell when someone was being sarcastic. Now days, you really do need a "joke icon". The theater of the absurd has just evolved into normal life. Ugh.

[Huw D]

Re: The times we live in

a) FFS

b) Won't anyone think of the children?

[Jim Mitchell]

Does the "selling the Brooklyn Bridge" joke work outside the US?

[Ken Hagan]

I think so. We used to joke about selling London Bridge, but then someone actually did (!) so we've had to switch.

[Dinanziame]

It's fine, all the tourists think that Tower Bridge is London Bridge anyway

[Stoneshop]

In a few years

the expression will likely have morphed into "selling the Blockchain Bridge".

And it's known on this side of the Atlantic, a fact that has been helped by a close colleague of the aforementioned Mr.Cleese, Esq., who wrote the following ditty:

I've got... 90,000 pounds in my pyjamas

I've got 40,000 French francs in my fridge

I've got lots of lovely lira

Now the Deutsche Mark's getting dearer

And my dollar bills would buy the Brooklyn Bridge

[Yet Another Anonymous coward]

We have lots of non-fungible tokens

If the technology worked and was cheap and easy you could have digital sales of movies and music.

The reason we have monthly subscription services is that you can't sell a download of an album/movie/image in a way that people can't just copy it.

If it really worked you wouldn't need stockmarkets or banks. If I can transfer a stock to you, or you send a payment tome - with the technology preventing me sellign the same one again - we wouldn't need to pay a commission to any middlemen.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: We have lots of non-fungible tokens

NFT are not a copy protection technology - people can still copy at will - they just assert you're the unique owner, and you could be proud of that, while those who sold you the token laugh all the way to the bank....

[Yet Another Anonymous coward]

Re: We have lots of non-fungible tokens

They can prove transfer of ownership with a verifiable ledger - that's all you need to do capitalism (along with an army)

[doublelayer]

Re: We have lots of non-fungible tokens

No, they can't. If you buy an NFT, you get a copy with a digital signature which is signed by a couple of keys including one you have. So you can authorize a transfer if you want to and you can prove that you have the key and others don't have it. But you can also just chop off the digital signature and send the part of the file you can look at out to anyone you like and they can't tell who sent it or who received it.

[albaleo]

Coming soon

may have to revive our infamous invisible HTML5 Bitcoin paywall to pay for the artwork

That day is not so far off.

[aregross]

After you buy that bridge....

... I'll sell you an island just south of Florida that you can use that bridge to get to.

heh

[Phil Kingston]

I've been doing it wrong

I've been trying to flog my magic beans for years now. It hadn't occurred to me to flog a _picture_ of my magic beans. I shall fire up Paint now and get right on it.