How to swap a paper clip for a house http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,26909-2264564,00.html one red paperclip http://oneredpaperclip.blogspot.com/ Forty Media: Interview: Kyle MacDonald http://www.fortymedia.com/blog/opinion/25/interview-kyle-macdonald 5 Questions for Kyle MacDonald http://www.onedegree.ca/2006/03/20/5-questions-for-kyle-macdonald-one-red-paperclip Swaptree (beta) http://www.swaptree.com/ Informal trading and bartering is a practice that can strike some as completely antiquated, but the practice is quite common in open-air markets and other such places. Trading can be quite rewarding as well, as Kyle MacDonald recently found when he traded a role in a movie for a house in Kipling, Saskatchewan. Well, there’s quite a bit more to this whole story actually. MacDonald’s epic began last year when he found himself staring at a red paper clip on his desk. To some, this paper clip might have seemed like…well, just a paper clip. MacDonald placed this essential office supply online as an item worthy of trade, and he shortly found himself the proud owner of a pen that resembled a fish, courtesy of two women in Vancouver. Thirteen trades later, MacDonald had met up with noted rocker Alice Cooper, found himself temporarily with a 100-watt generator, and in the presence of Corbin Bernsen, star of the “Major League” and “L.A. Law” franchises. By this point, MacDonald had with him a snowglobe featuring yet another set of rockers, namely the 1970s shock-rockers, KISS. In a strange moment of serendipity, it turned out that Bernsen was a huge snow-globe devotee. Bernsen offered to trade MacDonald a role in a film he was producing for the snow-globe in question, and MacDonald answered in the affirmative. This past week, the town of Kipling offered MacDonald a small farmhouse in exchange for the role in the upcoming film. The deal was completed this past Wednesday, but MacDonald has already commented, “This is not the end. This may be the end of this segment of the story, but this story will go on.” The first link will take users to a recent news story from the CBC that reports on MacDonald’s recent triumphant trade which landed him a modest farmhouse in Saskatchewan. The second link leads to a piece from the Times Tuesday edition that offers details on some of MacDonald’s trades. The third link leads to MacDonald’s blog, where visitors can view videos of him “in action”, read some of his short stories, and learn a bit more about this highly motivated Canadian. The fourth link leads to an interview with MacDonald conducted by the folks at Forty Media. In the interview, MacDonald reveals that the motivating factors behind this whole trading business include the “…desire to have fun, tiredness of paying rent, etc.” The fifth link leads to another interview with MacDonald, this time conducted by Ken Schafer of One Degree. Finally, the penultimate link leads to the beta version of Swaptree. While Swaptree is not yet up and running, it promises to allow people to trade books, CDs, DVDs, and other related items in the near future.