Some of you may or may not have heard about this yet, but it's pretty clever. This guy decided he wanted to trade for a house starting with 1 red paperclip and keep trading items upwards until someone finally trades him a house in the end of the deal. Most recently, he had traded a Van to a recording studio in Toronto for a Record deal. (All the details on the deal can be found on his website.. it's a fun read). Next, JPF Member Jody Gnant traded him 1 year in her Duplex in Phoenix for the record deal. After weighing all the offers he had, he took her deal. Now he's looking to trade up that year's lease to get himself closer to his house. He'll be appearing on Good Morning America on Sunday.

Here's a link to his site: http://oneredpaperclip.blogspot.com/

Pretty cool eh? I am going to see if I can get Jody to share her perspective on it all for the newsletter.

If some guy can start with a Red Paper Clip and turn it into a house.. anything is possible with enough creativity and effort!

That is so Kewl.....(I finally had time to go back & read the whole blog,,,the guy's a frickin'genius & also a lot of fun))It really sets the mind spinning about the possibilities...It took me all of 2 minutes thinking to come up with my first trade & I think I'll join the paperclip club in a month or so...My trade? I've have a ROland 1824 Digital Recording unit that has way more features & tracks than I need. I think I'm going to offer it up as a barter to a performing musician in Nashville as an exhange for putting 2 of my songs on their next CD, with myself keeping all the copyright/publishing royalties...I figure that there must be some people out there who are looking to save money on studio time but need a jump strart to build a home studio to record their next CD on....Wha'dya think?

Midnite

P.S...A friend just gave me a 4 track Tascam, which is fine for a work tape, & I have decided that I only have a few songs that are worth demoing & I'd rather pay a professial for that.

quote:

---

Originally posted by Brian Austin Whitney:
Hi Folks,

Some of you may or may not have heard about this yet, but it's pretty clever. This guy decided he wanted to trade for a house starting with 1 red paperclip and keep trading items upwards until someone finally trades him a house in the end of the deal. Most recently, he had traded a Van to a recording studio in Toronto for a Record deal. (All the details on the deal can be found on his website.. it's a fun read). Next, JPF Member Jody Gnant traded him 1 year in her Duplex in Phoenix for the record deal. After weighing all the offers he had, he took her deal. Now he's looking to trade up that year's lease to get himself closer to his house. He'll be appearing on Good Morning America on Sunday.

Here's a link to his site: http://oneredpaperclip.blogspot.com/

Pretty cool eh? I am going to see if I can get Jody to share her perspective on it all for the newsletter.

If some guy can start with a Red Paper Clip and turn it into a house.. anything is possible with enough creativity and effort!

Brian

---

------------------
Satchel was right...Something is gaining on me....
www.jackcouldntmakeit.com

[This message has been edited by Midnite Bob (edited 04-15-2006).]

[This message has been edited by Midnite Bob (edited 04-15-2006).]

Midnite

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Brian Austin Whitney:

If some guy can start with a Red Paper Clip and turn it into a house.. anything is possible with enough creativity and effort!

Midnite

You seemed pretty pumped up by this. I really loved the creativity and fun of the idea. It seems like something I would if I hadn't instead chosen to create the worlds largest music awards. = )

Your idea is actually pretty good. You should give it a try..

It did,,,"Pump Me Up"...So much so, that I took the time..(although I had a 'Noon' Gig to play at a Cafe) to search through & find Kyle's e-mail address...Not the generic Poster's comments....

& so I tossed off an e-mail, told him how was my hero & mentioned that I'd only heard of him this morning through 'JPF', an International Musical (On-line) Group that Jody & I both belonged to and that it seemed like a win/win situation...(whoo hoo)

And then I (humbly)mentioned that, although he had probably figured it out by now, he, Kyle, will eventually be able to buy any kind of house that he wants from the 'Advances' that he will receive from the 'book & movie rights'..(& I mentioned the 'Mobile Home' offer that he had already turned down)& then I advised him to enjoy the ride!!!

So, then I went to play at my Cafe..Figuring that I'd never get anything more than a form letter, if that....

And when I came home & went back on line???

The first e-mail I had was from Kyle,,,

And what did Kyle say?...Well, Kyle said,

(Among other things)

"I can't wait to meet Jody" (quote unquote)

(Ed. Note) Go Jody Go!!!!!

There were other things (many things, actually)in the return e-mail that convinced me that it was not a 'form' letter'...

I Luv the concept behind...

1...JPF Folks.

2...One Red Paper Clip

3...Jody!!!!!

Midnite

quote:

---

Originally posted by Brian Austin Whitney:
Bob,

You seemed pretty pumped up by this. I really loved the creativity and fun of the idea. It seems like something I would if I hadn't instead chosen to create the worlds largest music awards. = )

Your idea is actually pretty good. You should give it a try..

Brian

---

------------------
Satchel was right...Something is gaining on me....
www.jackcouldntmakeit.com

Years ago when I was in the army there was a story floating round about how a unit in the tropics though negligence lost a large water craft troop barge in a storm... so to keep themselves out of serious trouble over a number of successive audits they "down graded" the size of the barge... eventaly they declared they'd lost a gravey boat and wrote it off.... Is it true .. God only knows

I have already bartered my humble Roland to help a local Duo record a CD, so long as they would include 2 of my songs on their Cd...And against all odds, their CD was Nominated for a 'Wammie'(for those who don't know, a 'Wammie' is the DC version of a Grammie)

And even though they didn't win, the Wammie Award's night was a heck of a party for them & their families & their CD just keeps on selling, with 2 songs written by Midnite Bob..

I am all in favor of 'Bartering' whether on a neighborhood or global scale....Nobody has to pay the IRS, & who knows what's gonna happen??

If you do your due dilligence, I don't see a downside,,,,but I do see a ton of possibilities...

Creative (outside the box) possibilities that even we JPFr's haven't thought about....I mean really,,,,maybe it won't reach the oneredpaperclip scale.......But Orlando Posted a question a little while ago about what we would do with $100,000....& we all gave our serious/flippant answers....

But now I'm wondering, do we need to rephrase some of the questions?....

But y'know, as a JPF'r, all I'd like to do right now is to acknowledge that Jody was paying attention!!!!

And at the risk of repeating myself...

Go Jody go!!!!!!Whoohoo!!!!!!

Midnite

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Brian Austin Whitney:
[B]Bob,

Your idea is actually pretty good. You should give it a try..

------------------
Satchel was right...Something is gaining on me....
www.jackcouldntmakeit.com

I think this Post goes to show that a lot of things are 'timing timing timing'....

And with this being Passover & Easter & who knows what else...(Everette & my daughter's 30 birthday!!!)

I'm gonna come back on Monday & bump this up again....

Thanks for all of the nice things ya'll have posted here on the discussion board.

You guys are so inspiring with all of your well wishes and positive thinking.

FWIW, I was contacted by someone from Barter News. It's a publication that focuses on exactly what we're talking about here.

There's lots of great info there I never knew existed that will surely come in handy.

You can go to www.barternews.com and sign up for their Tuesday Barter Report. I just did.

Midnight Bob - I love your barter idea! Let me know how it works out.

Sincerely,

Jody

------------------
Jody Gnant
www.jodygnant.com

Thanks for taking the time to drop in. I do hope you'll keep us occassionally informed on how it's going...You do know, of course, that winters are a little different up in Toronto than Phoenix, right?

Midnite

quote:

---

Originally posted by jodygnant:
Hi guys!

Thanks for all of the nice things ya'll have posted here on the discussion board.

You guys are so inspiring with all of your well wishes and positive thinking.

FWIW, I was contacted by someone from Barter News. It's a publication that focuses on exactly what we're talking about here.

There's lots of great info there I never knew existed that will surely come in handy.

You can go to www.barternews.com and sign up for their Tuesday Barter Report. I just did.

Midnight Bob - I love your barter idea! Let me know how it works out.

Sincerely,

Jody

---

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060416/ap_on_hi_te/paper_clip_to_house_3

Congrats Jody. Have fun making your record!

------------------

Then I see it again here.

And today we had an article on msnbc.com about it, featuring Jody's name.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12353171/

I live for the oddball stuff like this that I find on the web. Go Humans!

Jody just appeared in a news story for the red paperclip guy on Australian Sky News.

I saw the piece on the 11am bullitin while at work in the Hunter Valley NSW..

You're part of a global story!

Jody's iron is hot...(don't go there Midnite, just don't go there).......Jody???, please don't let all this distraction take you away from your well bartered 'Studio time'...:-)

Midnite

quote:

---

Originally posted by Brian Austin Whitney:
There ya go Jody! Now you're ready to tour Australia while the iron is hot! = )

You're part of a global story!

Brian

---

For what it's worth...

Since Brian first Posted this,,,well,,,I got caught up (perhaps, a little) in the Red Paper Clip Saga....And since that time, I have learned that...

1.Jody got there first!!!!Go Jody Go!!!

2.Kyle is exactly what we all hope a good hearted person who pursues a dream should be........I don't know any other way to put this....

other than to say that since I first learned about this from Brian, Kyle has been kind enough to swap a coupla e-mails, talking about GMA & a street musician in Montreal..

Midnite

Did you tell him that I wrote an editorial My Take about him? You should invite him to pop in here and say hi!

Now she's coming to TO?

Cool....I'll email her....maybe I'll trade her a place to stay while she's here for mmmmm lessons... a collab..some reflected glory

I just sent Kyle an e-mail, inviting him to JPFolks and/or to contact you directly...

I BCC'd you, just because I thought that I should.

Midnite

quote:

---

Originally posted by Brian Austin Whitney:
Hey Bob,

Did you tell him that I wrote an editorial My Take about him? You should invite him to pop in here and say hi!

Brian

---

"I am who I choose to be. I always have been what I chose...though not always what I pleased." -Lois McMaster Bujold

"I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world." -Albert Einstein

"Imagination is the one weapon in the war against reality." -Jules de Gaultier

"To get what you want in life, spend your time looking at the possibilities rather than the limitations in everything you already have." -Brian Austin Whitney

"With enough creativity and imagination you can turn practically nothing into something then into exactly what you want." -Brian Austin Whitney

My Take:

Why is it we often obsess over all the problems and limitations we have instead of putting that same energy into the possibilities to get what we want out of life? What if I told you that you could get almost anything you really want with whatever it is you already have? Don't believe me? Then you haven't heard about the "Red Paper Clip" guy. That's okay.. until he crossed paths with one of our JPF members in Arizona, I hadn't heard of him either.

For our members not in Canada, you may not have heard of Kyle MacDonald. He's just a guy from Montreal with an idea. Actually.. a brilliant idea. He decided he wanted a house. But he didn't have the money to go and buy one. Rather than letting that discourage him, he took what he did have, a red paper clip, and decided he would use that to get his home.

Was he going to fashion it to pick a lock? Nope. Was he going to slip it into his next fast food cheeseburger and sue to get the money? Nope. He was going to do something perfectly legal and above board to get his house via that little red paperclip. He was going to trade up. Over and over and over. What started in July of 2005 as a really funny idea with potential has turned into a very real shot at actually getting him that house. And who knows, perhaps after he gets the house, he'll trade up again. Along the way, that little red paperclip has also turned into a record deal for JPF member Jody Gnant.

To date, the trade's have gone like this: Red Paper Clip for Fish Pen for Carved Nob for Coleman Stove for Generator for Beer Keg and Budweiser Light for Snowmobile for Trip to Yahk, BC for Cube Van for Record Deal for... drum roll please.. 1 year free rent at the Arizona house belonging to JPF Member Jody Gnant. Yes, I am serious. One red paperclip has literally landed Jody a record deal. And all this time you were sitting around complaining that the "man" was keeping you down. Instead, you should have been trading up what you already had and perhaps you'd be well on your way to wherever you want to go.
If any of this sounds too hard to believe, our US members can tune into Good Morning America tomorrow morning (Sunday, April 16th) to see Kyle and hopefully it will even include Jody (I know they contacted her for the story). So now Kyle has a year in Phoenix to trade, moving ever closer to the house he wanted. Rarely has anything so fun and so positive and so silly and so effective come across my radar screen. It's probably the best story I have heard in years because everything about it is positive. The lesson for me in all this is: To get what you want in life, spend your time looking at the possibilities rather than the limitations in everything you already have.

If Kyle can pull this off, just imagine what you can do with far more to start with in your life. Maybe instead of simply working harder down the same beaten path, you should be willing to veer off into the unknown, limited only by your creativity, passion and sense of humor. This story really has stopped me dead in my tracks and in some ways has taken a load of pressure off my head. I really have a lot more resources than I've ever really thought about. And so do you. With enough creativity and imagination you can turn practically nothing into something then into exactly what you want.

So I challenge all of you to decide what you want and to look at what you already have and figure out ways to use it to get where you want to go. In the meantime, you can follow the entire story, to what I expect will be a very positive conclusion, by visiting Kyle's link (he's hilarious.. read his blog), Jody's link (she's ultra cool herself) and the discussion on the JPF Website where we'd LOVE to hear your thoughts and ideas of how you might also do something unexpected and get what you want with what you have. Me? I am going out to buy a box of red paper clips!

Link To Kyle: http://oneredpaperclip.blogspot.com/
Link To Jody: http://www.jodygnant.com/
Link To JPF Discussion: http://www.justplainfolks.org/ubb/Forum2/HTML/005445.html
And thanks to Jody Whitesides for filling me in on all this!

I was reading the BBC news this morning and its now major news over in England. If Jody Gnant wasn't known before, she certainly is now. I hope she can translate this into some serious sales for her CD. She's been a very good person to know.

Jody

Midnite

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Whitesides:
[B]I'm glad it's been so inspiring to people. I was just amazed that it was someone I knew..

Midnite(going on vacation tomorrow) Bob

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Brian Austin Whitney:
[B]Hi Folks,

Just checking in to see if anyone has made any trades with fellow JPF members. It would be fun to hear those stories.

There's a lot of nice things on the board about Kyle, too. And I wanted to say, for the record, that he is one of the coolest guys I've ever met.

What's so inspiring about Kyle is his win-win additude. He seems to have an understanding of this philosophy that is inspiring. After meeting his dad, Ian, I can see where he gets it.

So whaddya say? I've got four vocal lessons for any local JPF member in Phoenix that can teach me what the buttons on my accordian mean...

We could give new meaning to the phrase 'trade show'.

He he.

Jody Gnant
www.jodygnant.com

Congrats on all the worldwide (literally) attention you have gotten. You should tell us about all the media stuff you've done since it all started! There aren't many things that an indie artist could possibly do to get a fraction of the attention you've gotten in the last few weeks. Have you been able to turn any of it into new opportunities?

The media exposure has been a little overwhelming. But it has also been amazing.

20/20 is coming by on May 15th. That seems almost unreal.

For the most part though, it would seem that the media blitz is overwith - and now it's time to record some kickin' music that will justify the trade.

My favorite part of this whole thing is really the people that I am meeting along the way.

It's funny. I was thinking the other day about how, as artists, we have the goal of making a living making music, going into the recording studio, continuing to play live for people that enjoy the writing/performance, working together with other artists to create something bigger than ourselves, etc.

Short of the making a living part, it would seem that that's exactly the life many of us are living right now. Even if I never achieve worldwide recognition, it's been one heck of a ride.

I dunno. It seemed kind of like a big epiphany to me - to actually notice how cool the last few years have been. Deal or no deal.

What's funny is that, for many years people have been trying to change my name - to Jody Star, or something like that - and now it would seem that would be a disservice to the project.

Thank goodness for small miracles.

Something cool that has happened recently is that Cinema Screen Media has started to put my music up on movie screens during the pre-show entertainment.

That was a cool opportunity that came about before this One Red Paperclip deal, and it's really open to any artist.

There's a link to their website on the links page at jodygnant.com

If anybody has any questions about what has been transpiring, I'll be happy to answer them to the best of my ability.

I'm serious, though. Still looking for that accordian / vocal lesson swap.

Sincerely,

Jody Gnant
www.jodygnant.com

I also wanted to add that I have gotten a few emails from fellow JPF members from Toronto offering to participate in the recording process.

That is so cool.

If anybody is in Toronto and is interested in playing a little Bohemian Geek Soul on the record, send me an email. There's still a lot of flexibility in what is going to get recorded.

As part of the follow up article I will include mention of that for our Toronto area members. I met the Cinema Screen folks during a panel we did down in Florida one year.. they actually sent me an email recently with some questions about a project they want us to get involved with.

If you give me a little "update" (i.e. who you interviewed with etc..) I can include that in the newsletter follow up article and at least among the Grassroots music community, we can extend the spotlight just a little longer.

Congrats again! Sometimes these things just happen the way they were always supposed to don't you think? = ) I am glad you didn't change your name.. the world doesn't need another Jody Star.

Kyle officially announced the trade on April 11th. That night I was sitting on the couch talking with someone about how I might be able to get some press out of the trade. It seemed as if, in addition to finally being able to record my next album, that there would be a few local news outlets that would be interested in the story.

I went to bed that night thinking that I would write up the press release in the morning, and try to send it to my media list.

The following morning, my phone was ringing off the hook. I was getting obliterated with phone calls from radio shows, websites, and television shows that wanted interviews. It turned out, that the cat was already out of the bag.

Over the next few days, I was interviewed by NPR, CNet, Good Morning America (They ended up using the footage on World News Tonight instead), local news stations ABC, CBS, FOX, our very own East Valley Tribune, the Arizona Republic, various radio shows, a podcast with Ronald Lewis, FUJI TV in Japan, and CCTV in China.

AP picked up an article, too. Although, I wasn’t interviewed for that story there was one line that read, “MacDonald handed the contract to Jody Gnant, a singer in Phoenix who owns a duplex.” And that was good enough for me…

FUJI TV and 20/20 are supposed to come in early May to shoot more on the story.

The cool thing about the local news interviews (which I didn’t know previously) is that other news stations pick up the story and use the same footage. So, the KPHO story from Channel 5 was the same story re-branded and re-broadcast on Canadian networks and CNN. So, even though CNN didn’t interview me, the same great segment aired there, as well.

One of the most fun things about this project is that it’s the truth that makes the story so great. Take the next trade for example:

One of my very best friends in the entire world is named Leslie. She lives in the other half of the duplex that I traded to Kyle.

Previously, Leslie actually moved into the duplex to try and financially assist me in being able to afford some recording time. Leslie also works for Alice Cooper’stown in Phoenix – a local restaurant owned by Alice Cooper.

Leslie needed free rent, right? So she went to her boss – good ol’ Alice Cooper – and asked if he would be willing to spend the day with a fan so that she might have a chance at free rent for a year in Phoenix.

He totally agreed, and now the next trade up on the block is “One Afternoon with Alice Cooper.”

Technically, Alice Cooper had no need for a one bedroom apartment in downtown Phoenix, but Leslie did. And she works really hard for Cooper’stown, so why not?

Kyle could have probably very easily traded with some huge corporation looking for some good publicity. But, instead he was holding out for a genuine trade that would allow the peer to peer fun to continue.

And in waiting, he found a better truth.

So, that’s what I’m trying to do, too. Take all of this in stride, and try to identify my ‘truths’ in the process.

The media will lose interest in my part of the One Red Paperclip adventure, and then I’ll be right back to cold calling them.

But, in the meantime, I think I’ve discovered a new way to determine what my next steps are, and discover what is most true to me.

If that makes any sense…

Jody
www.jodygnant.com

Start with a dash of Phoenix. Add Bohemian Geek Soul. Enjoy Shamelessly.

Very interesting story about the red paper clip trading deal. I've heard bits & pieces of it, but now I think I'll go read the whole story!

Wow, almost missed this one:
"I'd love to see some creative batering taking place right here.

Excellent idea! Let's see what folks will put on the table to start trading!

Michael
P.S. Be sure to bring a box of red paper clips, or whatever you have!

------------------
The OUTLOOK may often appear bleak, but the UPLOOK is always bright!
Michael Borges
Praiseworthy Productions