On Thurday night in San Francisco, Charlize Theron kissed a woman, earning $140,000 for a charity event.

The winning bidder got a South Africa travel package with 2010 World Cup tickets, a safari and a meeting with Nelson Mandela. The bidding for the OneXOne charity travel package didn’t actually include the kiss at first.

But bidding got stuck at $37,000, so Charlize Theron offered to up the ante by throwing in a 7-second kiss and raised the package price to $130k. Bidding finally ended at $140k for a 20-second kiss.

Conclusion - A Charlize Theron kiss is worth $103,000. As compared to $37,000 for  2010 World Cup tickets in SA, a safari and a meeting with Nelson Mandela all put together. Not to worry, Nelson - we still love you.

And here’s the rest of this week’s travel news:-

NYT freelance travel writer Mike Albo found himself under fire for accepting an all expenses paid trip to Jamaica last weekend, sponsored by Thrillist and JetBlue. the NYT’s ethics code forbids accepting free junkets - Gawker

The National Endowment for the Humanities sent college professors on a $350,000 junket for studying the ‘cultural significance of the circus poster’ - Fox News 

A group of USGS scientists have been enjoying vacations in Myrtle Beach for 7 years, trying to figure out how to keep the sand from washing away - US Geological Survey

Class-Action lawsuit filed against Wynn Las Vegas over second-hand smoke - Las Vegas Sun

Crystals at CityCenter Vegas becomes first Retail District to be certified LEED Gold - Reuters

Oberlin professor David Orr plans $300 million ‘green arts district’ - Cleveland.com

USGBC announces Sustainable Hotel Suite Design Competition winners - Haptik Suite from WATG/IDEO

Online TV show ‘This Is My City’  bringing a guerilla spirit to a series of travel documentaries for the MTV generation - The Guardian

Charlize Theron photo by sheksays via flickr (creative commons)

Posted on October 25th, 2009 by PLing
Filed under: Travel News