Misery
by acdickson
Thy name is Los Angeles. Apparently, yesterday the infamous Santa Ana winds officially kicked up. Today, brush fires have sprouted up all over the Southland. A brief (ever so brief, children) peek at the boob tube assures AC that the multi-million dollar homes are being protected by 3,000 firefighters, but the wind has started to blow hot smoky air that drapes on you like a beach baja all over town.
Oblivious to both these developments AC and Susan took a hike earlier today in their beloved Griffith Park, hoping to take refuge from the 90-degree (but as of then relatively clean) heat. There the smoky wind hit us like a blast from a furnace. We watched as the downtown skyline went from completely clear to a wall of gray. The hike was abandoned.
The current conumdrum is whether to close all the windows and endure the 90-plus degree evening or inhale what the vigilant news reporters say is very dangerous and should only be greeted with a mask.
But it certainly could be worse. It could be a lot worse.
Posted on September 29, 2005 | Comments (0)
If you check out one eBay auction this week...
by acdickson
Make it this one.
There is a rare strain of eBay auction that transcends mere commerce. Internet storytelling at its finest? Yes. Funny? Absolutely. Post-modern art? Maybe. Postings like The Ultimate Hippie Vacation illustrates how eBay can be so much more than an on-line flea market.
Cody the hippie may actually be the first eBay personality to transcend eBay nation and make waves in the 'real world.' His trip on a hippie bus has created a website with its own heavy traffic chat room, spin off auctions of t-shirt and buttons, and interest from a documentary filmmaker and TV producers.
And check out the guy who won the bus trip for $6,000. I think I'd rather watch him and Cody drive around in a hippie bus playing out the age-old conflicts of the counter-culture and the straight establishment over most of what's on the tube.
There is no doubt something radical is afoot here. In the ultimate democratization of celebrity, eBay and the internet community are on the verge of pushing the evolution of fame one step further.
For centuries celebrity was based on power, might and magic. Kings, warriors and religious figures were the names on people's tongues. The ability to control people through fear of imprisonment, destruction or damnation elevated your name above the masses. As civilization grew so did the power of money, another way to control, I suppose, as the merchants of Italy, the sultans of the Middle East and the Industrial magnates of America became more famous, then the physically powerful. At the turn of the century, the society pages were filled with the aristocracy. You know the rest of the story, the rich found their newspaper ink slowly but surely shrink as neutered warriors (athletes) and movie stars captured the public's imagination. For awhile the only way a rich person without a personality could get any attention was to go to jail.
Recently, reality TV gave way to the celebrity next door phenomenon. Anyone could capture the cover of People, so long as they made it through the casting process. Reality TV stars are at their best when they are utterly normal: jealous, petty, sentimental, annoying. The smart and clever tend to be voted off the island or crowded out of the spotlight by the characters we love to hate. And in a nice closing of the circle, the modern aristocracy are taking advantage of this new loophole to get their own names back into the ether. Is there a family name bigger than Hilton, Trump or Stewart right now?
Is Cody the Hippie the first of a new wrinkle in the history of fame: desktop celebrity? If Cody indeed becomes a TV star, he might be the first person 'discovered' from his living room. And he's done it on his own terms. The question is whether this new-found avenue for the creation of cult of personalities will be used for sometime more noble than making fun of hippies. That's probably a bigger question that AC can answer.
Posted on September 26, 2005 | Comments (1)
Brace yourselves Los Angeles
by acdickson
AC Dickson is coming to inspire the city of lost dreams through the salvation of eBay. Using PowerPoint, rock anthems, and audience interaction, Andrew "AC" Dickson and Susan Beal are out to convince you that eBay selling is personally lucrative, good for this country, and ultimately a meaningful step towards world peace and a better tomorrow. Blending aspects of theater, performance art and corporate seminar, AC Dickson: eBay PowerSeller is absolutely the best hour-long eBay education around, as well as “a very astute, highly entertaining treatise on capitalism, market forces, and the American dream that carries wry hints of send-up and satire.” –– The Glasgow Herald
If you have any friends family or lovers in the Los Angeles area, please send them AC's way. When? Where? How much?
Sunday, September 25th at Highways in Santa Monica (at the 18th Street Arts Center, 1651 18th St).
Show time is 7:30pm, admission is $15.
Reservations 310 315 1459
From the East exit Freeway 10 at Cloverfield, N 2 Blocks, W 7 blocks to 18th, N on 18th
From the West exit Freeway 10 at 20th St., N 2 blocks to Olympic, W 2 blocks to 18th, N on 18th.
Park on 18th or Olympic.
Coming from the East Side allow up to an hour to get there and street park. The theater is set back from the street in the midst of an arts complex.
The show will start promptly just after 7:30. So don't be late!
Posted on September 20, 2005 | Comments (2)
METHod to the Madness?
by acdickson
Is it lazy blogging to just cut and past a newspaper article? AC's about to find out. Here we go. There it is, just under this paragraph. Yes it sure is lazy, feels pretty good too. Good job to Boaz Herzog and the Oregonian for tracking the story down.
Meth trade finds new portal: eBay
Federal and state authorities said Friday they are investigating eBay sales of products containing pseudoephedrine out of Portland.
At least 10 auctions discovered at the online auction site Thursday and Friday by two sellers offered thousands of pills, far exceeding new state laws on sales of the chemical used to make methamphetamine.
Three auctions continued to take bids Friday. Three other auctions Thursday that described open bidding through the weekend could not be found Friday, but it was unclear whether eBay or the sellers ended them.
Ken Magee, assistant special agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration in Oregon, was not aware of the auctions when asked Thursday. On Friday, Magee said an investigation had been launched and that the eBay auctions "piqued our interest tremendously."
Capt. Craig Durbin of the Oregon State Police said, "We know it's a problem," and that illegal buyers of pseudoephedrine "need to know that law enforcement will track them down."
The pseudoephedrine auctions illustrate the evolution of the meth epidemic -- and the problems that law enforcement faces in stopping its production. With Oregon and other states passing laws restricting the sale of pseudoephedrine in recent months, buyers and sellers of the chemical are finding new ways to obtain it, officials said.
"Crooks are becoming more savvy," said Garrison Courtney, a spokesman for the Drug Enforcement Administration in Washington, D.C. "They're realizing, 'Hey, here's a way to go through a keyboard anonymously, make cash and disappear.' "
For at least six months, the DEA has worked with Silicon Valley-based eBay and other online retailers to stop illicit sales of pseudoephedrine, Courtney said. The retailers are trying to develop filters to root out illegal sales while allowing legal ones, he said.
But trying to find criminals in a marketplace featuring tens of millions of listings is difficult, eBay officials said.
"It's impossible for us to police that and be 100 percent effective," said Hani Durzy, an eBay spokesman.
As a result, he said, eBay may soon revamp its policy to forbid all sales of pseudoephedrine. An announcement may come "very soon," he said.
Until then, the company has yanked individual pseudoephedrine auctions if asked by authorities pursuing investigations, Durzy said. He did not know how many auctions the company had ended.
A Tennessee-based blogger tracking the topic on a Web site called pseudoactivist.blogspot.com said that eBay has removed at least 40 auctions involving 500 grams of pseudoephedrine after e-mails urging the company to do so.
Rules approved in April by the Oregon Board of Pharmacy restrict cold medicine purchasers to 9 grams of active pseudoephedrine a month -- about the amount in three 24-pill boxes of Sudafed.
As of late Friday afternoon, eBay listed at least three auctions for boxes of pseudoephedrine containing 1,000 30-milligram tablets located in Portland. The starting bids were $65. One auction ended Sunday, and the other ended Monday.
The first listing advertised the auction, which began Thursday morning, with the headline "Affordable Cold and Allergy Medicine" in all caps. The same listing displayed a different headline Thursday: "Pseudoephedrine By the Box or by the Bottle."
EBay officials would not provide any information Friday about the sellers or the buyers of the auctions.
The first seller went by the pseudonym standingrocktradingpost. The seller became an eBay member Tuesday and was located somewhere in the United States, according to the auction listing. The pseudoephedrine was located in Portland, the listing said. The seller ended three auctions early Friday for the same product, garnering winning bids of $122.50, $79 and $65.
The second seller went by the pseudonym iliem1. The seller had two auctions listed Thursday -- but not Friday -- for 1,000 Sudafed tablets with a starting bid of $79.
etc. Sorry Boaz, AC cut the last bit cause the eBay angle is already covered. Thanks.
Posted on September 18, 2005 | Comments (1)
AC in Portland, PowerSeller SOS
by acdickson
AC is pleased to be back in Portland this week. He's here, of course, for the PICA TBA festival. As you might remember this is the dynamic festival of dance, storytelling, music and edutainment that gave AC his big break a year ago.
AC and wife Susan have been seeing as much as they can, with Guy Dartnell, Fact or Fiction and Ivana Muller being favorites. Very excited to see Lone Twin tomorrow night. If you didn't make reservations... too bad. They're fantastic.
While the primary motivation is to see the shows, AC can't help but notice that last year there were quite a few curators from across the land, in town to see what might be a good fit for their venue. To this end, AC has listed his seminar, yes the AC Dickson: eBay PowerSeller show, in his eBay store.
For those of you looking for a more intimate one-on-one, there's is also the recently stocked AC Dickson eBay selling tutorial. But sadly it's for Los Angeles residents only. Speaking of LA, the land of sun is finally turning mild which suits AC just fine. Not much of a sun-worshipper, he appreciates that perfect cool fall air that Southern California trades in. Should I wear shorts or jeans? A t-shirt or a jacket? Doesn't matter, you're going to feel just right either way. Might as well just concentrate on looking good.
AC's feeling so good, that he's decided to give the Angelinos a taste of the AC medicine. September 25th the Highways performance space in Santa Monica is going to host the AC Dickson: eBay PowerSeller seminar. Showtime 7:30, $15. I'll be post again about it, but if you're in town or have friends in the Southland who need saving, be poised to pass the info along.
There is just one problem. He's so caught up in world traveling and Hollywood wheeling and dealing that he has temporarily lost his PowerSeller status. It hurts to say so, but it is true. AC has been guilty of sporadic selling and was caught red-handed selling just under the necessary $1000 a month. But have no fear, AC is poised to reclaim it.
What's that? Huh? Really! You want to help me out? Terrific. AC is doing right by himself, but he could surely use a little help.
How about consigning something to sell with AC?
Here's how it works. You give something to AC, he sells it for you, you get most of the money.
Why have AC sell your item on eBay?
Because since I'm a PowerSeller with 99.9% positive feedback, bidders will trust that I'm not going to rip them off and will assume that what I sell is as described and will be sent safe and prompt. You'll get more (much more if you're new to eBay) for your item than if you sold it yourself.
If you live in Portland and have something or things that are small and easy to take on a plane, or live in LA here's how it works.
You give me consigned items and let me know what to set the minimum bid. I sell it for you. I take 25% of the final price, about 10% of which I use to cover eBay insertion fees, final value fees and PayPal fees. The rest covers my time, expertise and good name. And if something sells for over $1000, I'll only take 20%. A check goes out as soon as the winner pays.
Now keep in mind, this is way way way below what most consignment sellers take. Most of them start out taking 35% plus fees (really about 45%). You can find a few other sellers on craigslist taking as little as AC, but I defy you (or at least challenge you) to find one with my kind of feedback.
So if you live in Portland, this is the weekend to connect with AC.
Now, if you're reading this from somewhere else or have something big and bulky to sell we can still do business. If you just want to use AC's reputation, you can sell through AC (but only if I know and trust you). You photograph, title, describe and price what you want to sell and figure out what shipping is going to cost. I post the auction, questions get forwarded to you, and you ship it off when the money comes in. In this instance I take 10% plus the actual fees which I can invoice out (they can be as high as 9%, but as low as 5% if don't use PayPal and the item sells for a lot). If something sells for over $1000, I'll only take 5% plus fees.
All I ask is that you give me stuff that should sell for at least $20 (otherwise it's not really worth our time) and that you set a minimum bid that is realistic. So how do you tell what something is worth? Anyone whose been to my seminar knows this like the back of their hand, but for the uninitiated...
Go to the eBay site and type in a basic idea of what you have into the upper left hand corner search engine.
i.e. 1996 Toyota Avalon
Care Bear Lunch Box
1st edition Fight Club
The results you come up with are auctions in progress. If there is something very similar to what you have, keep an eye on it and see how much it ends up selling for. But since many auctions 'pop-off' realizing their full value in a closing minute bidding war between savvy bidders, press on.
Scroll down the left side of the site and find the box to check for Completed items. Check the box and search again, this will show you what's sold over the last 30 days. Refine or broaden your search depending on whether you're finding tons or no matches. This should give you an idea of what people are paying.
So let me know if anyone out there wants to tango AC style.
Posted on September 15, 2005 | Comments (1)
Hot Auction Alert
by acdickson
AC is always on the look out for unconventional auctions. But for the last year or so eBay has been inundated by two varieties of trendy auction fare, the mystery auction -- so popular there is now a special category for them, over 1500 up right now -- or it's cousin the advertise on me auction. The latter being slightly more interesting only in that the auctions have had to get more and more perverse and desperate (much like reality TV shows and contestants) in order to get attention and bids. Less common but deserving of mention are also the my cheating wife left me so I'm getting revenge (most of which I think are just a ruse to get search hits or sell smutty pictures) or the I can't get a job so help me out auction. Naturally these were all a lot more interesting the first, say, fifty times anyone tried them. At this point AC is just bored.
This has been the gambit for a long time. But finally there is hope. Thanks to the First Amendment Project and their literary supporters you can now, get this, have your namesake killed in the upcoming Stephen King novel "The Cell."
Now that's creative. And it's already up to $18,000 with 7 days to go. Steve tells us that the book, slated for 06 or 07 release will be "a violent piece of work, which comes complete with zombies set in motion by bad phone signals that destroy the human brain." Sounds kind of good, huh? Both sexes can bid, but only a female can be killed. You can be described as you are and can even have your nickname mentioned. And 100% of the money goes to helping insure artists freedom of speech.
My guess is that it hits $100,000 and makes the morning show circuit by Thursday.
If King isn't your pace, there is also the chance to appear in the future work of Lemony Snicket for $4,600 and counting, Michael Chabon for $3,700, Amy Tan for just over $1000 and more!
Future auctions will include inclusion in the work of the likes of John Grisham, Rick Moody, Dave Eggers, and Nora Roberts.
This, is what AC calls good eBay.
Posted on September 12, 2005 | Comments (1)
New Orleans
by acdickson
AC can't get his mind around what happened in and around New Orleans. It's awful and his heart goes out to any and all who've been affected by the devastation. I had a lot on my mind about the situation, but I'm going to keep it to that.
Any of you fellow eBay sellers out there can get involved in the fundraising efforts by donating a portion of your winnings to the Red Cross or a nonprofit of your choice. First you need to register as a seller with the non-profit partner site Mission Fish. Then you let mission fish know which charities you'd like to be set up to donate with. Finally, go ahead and sell something as you normally would, but on the page with minimum bid and the photo there is a function where you choose a charity and decide the percentage of on the final price you want to donate. I think it's got to be a minimum of $10. Also, if you donate 90% to 100% of the winnings to the Katrina relief efforts, eBay will donate your listing and final value fees as well.
Beyond that, if you're looking for any handmade gifts, my wife Susan and many other artisans have donated their work to Crafters United. This is one of what I imagine are dozens of on-line sites where you buy something and all the money goes to the relief effort. Writing a check is well and fine, but as I suspect much of AC's readership is living month to month, it may be easier to open the wallet when you're getting something cool as well.
I also have some thoughts on craigslist, the now global community website you may or may not know is partially owned by and conceptual cousin to eBay. Just as the storm was ravaging the south I wondered if New Orleans craigslist might have simply been shut down. After all, few there had or have access to the internet much less anything else. But I took a look about a week ago (when I meant to post this) and was pretty blown away. Most of you have had your 'power of the Internet' moment, and then and there I had mine.
If you want to experience the misery of what's it like to be personally involved in this tragedy, look at the missing people board where relatives hope to hear from loved ones. It's the closest I've come to realizing the scope of this thing and ultimately very sad and depressing.
If you want to feel good about your fellow American, check the housing and jobs sites. People all over the country are offering up their vacation homes, offering up garages, even offering to share their homes with flood victims. Some are for a few months, others are long term and detail the school situation in their area. There are jobs being offered for victims, often with a place to stay attached. These are coming from DC, Seattle, Tucson, all over. And most of these generous people are even offering to help with travel. AC isn't an emotional guy, but he admits to getting a little chocked up seeing pages of pages of offers.
Would I have stopped there. Instead I had to check out the Katrina discussion board. I'm not going to link to it. You can find it if you want to feel pure anger. While there are plenty of good souls posting there, we also have many examples of the ugly American. People from other parts of the country posting some of the most offensive, insensitive, racist, ignorant and cruel things I've ever read. Hopefully, by now, they've been run off. But I doubt it. That they are anonymous and writing from the comfort of shelter outfitted with electricity, food, and communication makes it even harder to imagine. It really blows me away.
It's good to know that most Americans are coming together and doing their part, but it's a shame to see some taking advantage of the situation to promote a hateful if ignorant agenda. That they start on something as cool as craigslist and go straight up the ladder to the Oval Office and the current occupant's mother is really nothing new, just a further reminder of why AC prefers to think about global unity through the power of eBay rather then national politics.
Posted on September 11, 2005 | Comments (0)