Slashdot Mirror
A House For One Red Paperclip
Tim_F writes to mention the news that Kyle MacDonald (the guy trying to trade a red paperclip for a house) has succeeded in his quest. His recently traded a KISS Snowglobe in exchange for one afternoon with Alice Cooper. He in turn traded the snowglobe to an enthusiastic snowglobe collector, for a role in a movie. From the article: "Now, the town of Kipling, Sask., located about two hours east of Regina with a population of 1,100, has offered MacDonald a farmhouse in exchange for the role in the movie. MacDonald and his girlfriend will fly to the town next Wednesday. 'We are going to show them the house, give them the keys to the house and give them the key to the town and just have some fun,' said Pat Jackson, mayor of Kipling."
Who gets to be in the movie? How can a town have a "creditied, speaking" role in a movie?!?!? More importantly, who is actually giving the house away, and why would they want to trade it on behalf of a small Canadian town?!?!? The hilarity of the interweb these days ?!?!?!? (a few more ?!?!?!?'s for effect)
He traded the KISS Snowglobe for a role in a movie. He then traded the role in the movie for the farmhouse. Nowhere in the article, in his bio, or anywhere else you could have yanked it did it say he was a filmmaker.
-----
jonathan barket
Considering you can get a 48 acre farm complete with structures and a home for $140,000 out there, I guess a ratty old farm house isn't too much to part with. Although, I doubt they will sign over the land underneath it, and will essentially let him live there rent free, at least until the novelty wears out.
-R
I just Goog...uh, searched [Kyle MacDonald paper clip cbc] because I knew that CBC had covered this before. Google replied: "Did you mean: Kyle MacDonald paper clip abc".
From 2005, CBC News, unformatted for your reading pleasure:
Montreal man trading paper-clip for house Last Updated Thu, 08 Dec 2005 18:50:27 EST CBC News A Montreal man is grabbing international attention for his increasingly successful quest to barter a single red paper-clip for a house. Five months ago, Kyle MacDonald looked at a red paper-clip on his desk and decided to trade it on an internet website. He got a response almost immediately - from a pair of young women in Vancouver who offered to trade him a pen. "It was a fish-shaped pen. And I got it from a pair of vegans. So it was a great exchange. They didn't want anything to do with fish," he said. MacDonald, 25, then bartered the fish pen for a handmade doorknob from a potter in Seattle. "It was a ceramic doorknob that had been hand-shaped by, I believe the person I traded with, her son, and she had been trying to get rid of it for quite some time," said MacDonald. Annie Robbins, the Seattle potter who now owns the fish pen, says she loves the idea. "I think the whole concept really flips the idea of consumerism around. How we value things, and what things are really worth," she said. In Massachusetts, MacDonald traded the doorknob for a camp stove. He traded the stove to a U.S. marine sergeant in California for a 100-watt generator. In Queens, N.Y., he exchanged the generator for the "instant party kit" - an empty keg of beer and an illuminated Budweiser beer sign. On Thursday, MacDonald traded the keg and sign for a Bombardier snowmobile, courtesy of a Montreal radio host. "If I get up to larger items, I'm going to need a larger base of people to pick from. There is someone out there with a surplus house. I just have to find them," said MacDonald.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyle_MacDonald
Red Paperclip --> Fish Pen
Fish Pen --> Doorknob
Doorknob --> Coleman Stove
Coleman Stove --> Generator
Generator --> "Instant Party" (Beer Keg, Neon Sign, I.O.U. for Keg's worth of Beer)
"Instant Party" --> Skidoo
Skidoo --> Trip to Yahk
Trip to Yahk --> Cube Van (Box Truck)
Cube Van --> Recording Contract
Recording Contract --> Year in Phoenix (Airfare to Phoenix and use of house rent free for one year)
Year in Phoenix --> Afternoon with Alice Cooper
Afternoon with Alice Cooper --> KISS Snowglobe
KISS Snowglobe --> Movie Role
Movie Role --> House