Bidding

MSFT has an in house auction system to riase money for charity (in this case Katrina Victims). The basic idea is the same as ebay-someone donates something to the cuase, other's bid up the price with the procedes going to the charity.

I am in a bidding war for this:

Experiences Auction #1233: 1 Month of Historical European Sword Play Classes
Oct 14 2005 1:26PM - Oct 20 2005 12:00AM
Item Description:
For thousands of years, the sword has enjoyed a position has one of the most romantically portrayed weapons ever to grace the human mind. With recent history the Silver Screen has provided us with even more vivid images of "Swashbuckling" and "Daring-Do" by telling and retelling the stories of the Three Musketeers, Zorro, Lord of the Rings, Pirates of the Caribbean, Excalibur, the Highlander series, and many more. Have you always wished you could do some of the things that you have seen in these movies, or read in books? But never found a place that really taught what you were looking for? Perhaps you could only find Asian Martial Arts, or schools that offered Modern Olympic Fencing? Well look no further!

This Auction is for 1-free month of membership with Old World Martial Arts, a school that provides instruction in Historical Sword Play styles of Europe. We concentrate on styles influenced by the writings of period masters such as Nicoletto Giganti (1606), Ridolfo Capo Ferro (1610), Achilles Marozzo (1536), and the "anonymous" I.33 MS (13th Century). All new students of the sword will start with an introduction to the basics of European Sword Play, such as body mechanics, the concepts of time, measure, and safety, as well as the different types of swords and styles available. All initial instruction will focus more on the use of the Rapier (1600;s), prior to expansion into the other sword styles such as the knightly medieval sword, the wicked "2 handed" long sword, etc. Please see the website listed below for more thorough details regarding OWMA, and what we offer.

I started at $40, but am now up to $65. I'll quit at $100.
...
or so.
More info here