I Got The Anglo-American And World Recession Blues
Trade 21 Sarah and Trade 23 Peter, who live an ocean apart, have been busy lately creating a great record!
To hear it, go directly to the widget in Sarah's blog. (I'm planning on putting the widget on this site somewhere soon too...)
I hope lots of people around the world get to hear it through whatever channels, because although I'm no Simon Cowell, I think it is definitely worthy!
And I'm really looking forward to seeing how this end product of a collaboration-made-possible-by-the-InterWeb is received...
Also... to see three Item T16_1 balloons, just click here!
Wait a minute... we haven't officially done that trade yet - how did those balloons get there!
Oh well, I guess it'll work itself out somehow.
Still no correct answer received for the competition (see last post)... keep the guesses coming and ya never know! (I think the most incorrect answer so far might well be "a stuffed elephant")
Posted by Andrew @ 22:11pm
So What's In The Bag? An Official Competition!
Or as official as it gets here at trading nothing International.
So the question is, what is in the bag in this photo (re-posted from here)?...
I decided I may as well make this an official competition, though I'm not entirely sure what the word official means exactly, but it seems to give it some extra credibility.
The sender of the first correct answer I receive will be getting something made out of some of whatever is in the bag! (I might or might have just given you a clue).
Or that's the plan anyway. First of all the bag has to reach me safely...
Of course, this being an official competition, we need some terms and conditions, or equivalent. I guess.
So, erm. So:
- Competition not open to anyone who already knows the correct answer. And that includes me. And I think you know who you are.
- I will only accept guesses.
- Competition closes when the bag and its contents reach me safely from somewhere in America.
- If the bag doesn't reach me safely, then I will send a random alternative prize.
- I am the judge. My decision will be final. And all that.
I should really pay a good lawyer to make sure everything is in order, legally speaking. I guess. But you know how long they can take...
So, answers here or here please.
Good luck!
Posted by Andrew @ 4:33pm
What A Cool Shirt!
But never mind about the fishy shirt, what's in the bag?...
!
I know the answer, and if you don't, and I would be somewhat surprised if you do, unless you are one the handful of people in the know... if you don't then maybe I can help you out with a clue.
Whatever is in the bag is what I will be getting in exchange for the four used pint glasses I sent to somewhere in America, which I can report have arrived safely in one piece. Or in four pieces I mean. If they did arrive in one piece I would be somewhat baffled.
Not the most helpful clue in history, granted, but I hope to reveal all in probably a week or so, when the bag full of ?????? ??? ????? ????? lands in my hands. So to speak. Hopefully.
Oh! and a publication called me yesterday, looks like an article will published on July 1st - I'll let you know here of course.
Oh and Oh! again, the blues recording that resulted from Trade 23 has been completed! I have heard a nearly-complete version several times, and I think it is a fantastic collaborative piece of work. I'm looking forward to the final mix, and I hope you can enjoy it too soon, though that's not my call...
If only I had known about that shirt a few weeks ago, I might have tried to cut a different deal. I wonder if four more used pint glasses would do the trick...
Never mind, wait till you see what's in the bag! That time can't come soon enough.
Posted by Andrew @ 11:54pm
What Happened Next?
This trading nothing thing would not be here without one red paperclip being there first.
Kyle traded up from a red paperclip to a house, nearly two years ago...
Well guess what?
That's right, the house is now up for a trade!
Nobody has a clue - not even Kyle - what the house will be traded for, but we should all know in a few weeks...
Party on.
Posted by Andrew @ 10:40pm
The Singing Referee (Trade 23)
I've been a little quiet lately, preoccupied with relocating and starting a new job. I am now a car crash test dummy. I enjoy it, so far, but I haven't really been tested yet...
But never mind about that, high time I reported on the latest trade!
Peter had been lurking out there for over a year before he made his move on March 24, 2008...
"Hello there, I have been following your trading up since it began and am also an avid Gumtree fan. The song collaboration really appeals to me as I am a singer songwriter...
... I have a few things which I would consider parting with...
... following items which I believe have some interest in the collecting world.”
- excerpts from Peter's offer by email
(Too bad Gumtree no longer allow me to point people to this website, but never mind. I know Trades 4, 8, 17 and now 23 were all made possible by Gumtree, so... Thanks Gumtree!)
So from me, Peter wanted the chance to collaborate with Jody Gnant.
The bad news was I had already traded that on some weeks earlier. (I hold my hands up - I forgot to update the gumtree ad!)
But the good news was that I could probably very soon offer a very cool alternative - the chance to sing on a Sarah LeMieux original blues record - and fortunately Peter was well keen on this one too.
Pretty soon we met up to try to work out a trade at Peter's home, where a number of possible trade items were on view. Not present were photos of punk band Buzzcocks Peter took in 1976, and, with the fascinating story Peter told that goes with them, I appreciated their place in rock history and was sure they would make a great item. Some letters by Pete Townshend of The Who also also caught my eye, and with me being a massive fan and having got the rock legend's autograph some years ago I even recognised the handwriting! Also a variety of Manchester United autographs were obviously interesting, especially the likes of Sir Matt Busby, George Best, Denis Law and Bobby Charlton - all big players in the first European Cup triumph by an English club in 1968.
So there was a lot on the table, and I went home impressed, though we hadn't agreed a trade at that point.
I also learned that Peter likes to get involved in, well in pretty well everything. Aside from his job teaching music to children with learning difficulties, he is a football referee and a song writer and musician in a band. He also has an eco-friendly kettle that doesn't quite boil water, but I can tell you 97c works fine for me. And he was a contestant on The Weakest Link - the first to go off singing!
Oh, and it turned out Peter had been following this since right after Trade 1, when I still had the bottle opener!
With Peter's enthusiasm for the trade, and the impressive collectables he was considering trading, I was hoping we would work it out.
I then proposed the Buzzcocks photos and the Pete Townshend letters in exchange for the chance to sing on a Sarah LeMieux original blues record... which Peter was happy with - so we had a deal!
But in the end Peter gave us more, much more I would say.
First of all, although Peter found the photographs, he couldn't find the negatives to go with them. So to make up for that disappointment, he threw the autographs in to the deal, which I appreciate BIG TIME.
But more than that, Peter was inspired enough by this still-unfolding trading nothing story to write and record a song called about it, called "Trading Up". And Peter made just one CD with both versions - full mix and light mix - to give to me, to do whatever I wanted with. Well, to me this was another perfect item to trade on... so it became another Trade 23 item.
I returned to Peter's home on June 2nd to make the trade, and Peter played me "Trading Up" for the first time. I liked it, it's a catchy song, and a great effort for a home-made solo recording I thought.
We also found a couple of extra small things to include that Peter wouldn't miss - always helpful to me - and then we did the trade...
(In the photo, I am actually handing over my flash memory stick storing Sarah's blues instrumental track for the trade, which I had just downloaded from an email that day, which I thought was perfect. The track was then copied from the stick to Peter's PC.)
On the way home I played the CD over and over on my new car stereo. Was a strange feeling, but a good one too. I had a big smile on my face, and was trying to sing along, probably out of key, whatever that means...
So, six more items in to the mix:
If you want to offer me something "bigger/better" for this/these and/or any other item I have up for a trade, please go ahead! (give me a shout or fill the form)
As always, ALL offers welcome...
Peter and I hope to do another trade of some sort at some point, we'll see...
Other news... two trades are in motion, we should have news about those soon.
Posted by Andrew @ 11:30pm
To see how I got the chance to sing on an original Sarah LeMieux blues record for, click here
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