Well, dear readers, I believe the expression is “Going, going, gone” in auction parlance. And yet I spent many hours yesterday following an auction that was more like “Going, going, and going some more” – it was, in a word, endless. It began at eleven o’clock and I believe it didn’t end until almost eight-thirty, maybe even nine at night. I was online watching it on and off for the whole time, because I promised our very own Mr. Nick Redman that I would bid on an item he wanted, as he’s laid up in the hospital for a few days. But let’s rewind, shall we.
I was up early after only six hours of sleep or thereabouts. The helper came by at nine and we moseyed on over to Costco, getting there at nine-fifteen. Only we had no idea it didn’t open until nine-thirty. But happily they opened right after we arrived and in we went and bought Diet Coke, which is all I wanted on this trip. We came back home and she went on her merry way and I went and dropped off something I needed scanned (oversized or I would have done it here), and then I went and had bacon, eggs, and toast, with some fruit rather than potatoes. After that, I came home even though she of the Evil Eye was still here, finishing up. I did so because I wanted to make sure I’d done everything I needed to in order to live bid. It turned out I had done it all correctly and so I began to watch the auction. Nick’s item was number 377 so I knew it would be a while, but in total they were auctioning off 524 items. Well, the lay of the land became apparent immediately in how slow they were going. The auctioneer is just so slow and he prolongs every single item and accepts bids after the time has elapsed, always saying “just under the wire.” Well, no, because in the online auction we can see when he hammers and then unhammers.
Right away I noticed two live online bidders going after everything and constantly getting the bids up higher. I noted their paddle numbers and their behavior throughout the day was mighty peculiar. Most of the time, as soon as the bids were in a higher place they’d either drop out or get the item, but most often drop out. It was fascinating to watch, and between those two people (dealers, most likely) they must have spent over 20K each, maybe even more. And some of this stuff was going for outrageous money, but even the stuff that’s really not worth much was going way over the estimates, which is always a red flag to me. I mean, unsigned stuff that essentially has no value and with an estimate of 100 to 200 bucks were going for many hundreds more – why – just because Debbie Reynolds touched them or something. It was really odd. And so, I basically stuck by the computer most of the day, but did other stuff whilst I kept the auction running in the background. The most curious wins to me were the plates and dinner service and trays and pitchers and stuff – what are people going to DO with that stuff? Finally, and I do mean finally, at six-forty Nick’s item came up, two signed photos – William Holden and Walter Huston. All the other photos had been going way over the high estimate. But I’m pretty good at the game and the bidding started with $200 and no one came in with another bid for a bit until he was about to hammer – then it went up to $250, then $275, but you could just tell there was no spirit to the bidding. So, I waited until just before he was going to hammer and I put in the next bid – $300 – and no one else came back, he hammered, and Nick got it for half of what he was willing to pay. So, that was fun.
At that point, I did other stuff. I ate some popcorn, did some work on the computer, got everything ready for the important project announcement, and finally shut the auction off. Then I sat on my couch like so much fish.
Last night I finished watching It Was Fifty Years Ago Today, a documentary about the making of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, only not really. More a general Beatles documentary with a lot of talking heads and newsreel footage, very little time is actually spent talking about the creation of Sgt. Pepper’s. It’s actually a very bad documentary – how do you do a documentary about one of the greatest albums ever made and not play any music for it? That’s right, either they couldn’t afford the rights or the rights weren’t available – either way, why make the damn thing. And, it’s almost two HOURS long. Highly not recommended by the likes of me.
After that, I went over to Von’s and got some food for today – Wacky Noodles stuff. I have to say for those particular ingredients one saves about six bucks from what they’d cost at Gelson’s. The entire bill came to just over six dollars and I, in fact, get TWO Wacky Noodles meals out of that. Then I came home, got the audio samples done for the important project and that’s all ready to go now. And that was that.
Today, I plan to relax, do a spot of casting, have my Wacky Noodles meal, and catch up on some viewing. And I think we’ll announce the important project at midnight so I don’t have to get up early.
This week is all getting the Kritzerland November show finalized in terms of cast and song choices, Levi prep, and then on Wednesday we have our little Richard Sherman event, and then it’s more of the same for the rest of the week.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, relax, do a spot of casting, eat, catch up on viewing, and then announce the important title. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s free-for-all day, the day in which you dear readers get to make with the topics and we all get to post about them. So, let’s have loads of lovely topic and loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, happy I don’t have to be anywhere near and auction that is going, going, going.