There was a time not too long ago when, if I was looking at an item in a store and I wasn’t sure whether or not I wanted to buy it, I would think to myself, “Eh, I can always find it on eBay later, maybe cheaper.” That is no longer the case.
Whether the item is a book, a comic, a CD, a video, or a piece of electronic equipment, the eBay bargains are gone. Everything that’s there is priced right about what one would expect to pay anywhere else, with the only added enticement being a much greater possibility of potential fraud than at nearly any other online retail outlet.
Perhaps worse, the selection has vanished along with the savings. As an avid music listener from an early age I have a lot of music, and 99% of the time if I’m looking to buy a piece of music the chances are it’s not going to be the kind of thing they have at Wal-Mart. At one time, virtually any album — in print or out — was available on eBay. Often at ridiculously inflated prices, true — but still, there were bargains to be had there. Once, but no more.
Where have the deals and selection gone? For the most part, Amazon is where I find myself ordering items online, and if it’s not Amazon it’ll be some smaller, dedicated online retailer that specializes in what I’m looking for.
It’s not just buying, either — I’ve pretty much lost interest in selling things on eBay. All of the items listed above are also things I’ve sold on eBay over the years, in the range of multiple thousand dollars’ worth of merchandise, nearly all via auctions I started at 1 cent with no reserve price. Some auctions went for more, some went for less, but it all evened out for the most part and made it worthwhile. But over time, the margins of profit got whittled down, and so did sellers’ freedom, and eventually, my selling activities tapered off. It takes time and effort to sell things anywhere, including eBay, and for the effort to be worthwhile there has to be a significant payoff at the end. As that payoff dwindled, so too did my willingness to spend my time on eBay.
As a seller, I think the last straw was when they took away the ability for sellers to give negative feedback to buyers. Any schoolchild can tell you that a feedback system where the “positive” option has no corresponding “negative” value is meaningless (”Was this the best field trip ever? Or the bestest field trip ever?”), but evidently eBay management couldn’t figure that out. I actually only recall leaving negative feedback once or twice out of hundreds of auctions — for some reason, packages sent to Italy had a tendency to mysteriously disappear before delivery — but that was hardly the point. The removal of the option was insulting to the point that I just decided I’d had enough.
Since then, I haven’t sold a single item on eBay. I think I’ve bought one CD — and let me note I have no boycott or any other aversion against buying items from eBay, I’ll get whatever I need from whomever’s willing to sell it to me at the best price. It’s just happened that that has been ebay only once in the past — year and a half? Two years? More?
I have a stack of books building up that I would have put on eBay in the past, and it’s starting to build up to the point that it’s nearly time that I need to do something about it. Recently, eBay switched their policies again to make auction-style listings with a starting price under $1 free, up to 100 per month. That’s free to list, of course, but on the back end, there’s that 9% final value fee, and then PayPal’s almost 4% fee, and then of course the userbase just isn’t what it used to be, and USPS rates have gone up, and…
I think I’ll look into selling on Amazon, they always seem to have good deals on used books there these days. Although frankly, the best deals I’ve gotten on books in the past year have been from walking in and browsing the shelves at 5th Avenue Books here in San Diego’s Hillcrest district, so maybe I’ll just take them down and see what I can get for trade — you know, the way people did before eBay.
This isn’t my recipe, I first tasted this as made by a family friend at a potluck at my parents house a couple of years ago and it was a big hit — I wasn’t the only one to ask for the recipe. Nice bonus that it’s so easy to make as well.
I’ve made it twice on my own, both times with chicken (rather than crab) and with cream of chicken soup, as I’m not big on mushrooms in general. The second time I used a 10-oz can of chicken rather than a 5-oz simply because that’s what I had on hand and I didn’t feel like dealing with putting the leftovers away. I figured more chunks of chicken wouldn’t hurt anything one bit, and lo and behold I was right.
In any case, I’m placing the recipe here primarily for my own future reference and to get it out of my email, but feel free to give it a shot if you’re so inclined. It’s tasty, and thick enough that you can eat it with a spoon or use it as a dip: chunks/slices of baguette are recommended.
Jalapeno Chowder
1T. butter
1 teas. minced garlic
1/2 C chopped onions
1/4 C jalapeno peppers, seeded/chopped (about 3 yellow, 3 green)
1 can cream of mushroom soup or cream of chicken
1 -1/2 C half and half
1-1/2 teas cumin
5 oz can chicken or crab
Remove seeds from chiles. Chop chiles and garlic in Cuisinart. Saute chopped onions in butter. Add chiles and garlic, canned chicken/crab, cumin and soup. Pour in half and half and simmer on low heat. Stir occasionally to avoid meat from sticking to bottom of pot. Garnish with sour cream, green onion, cheddar cheese.
This About.com piece contains some extremely basic, solid ground rules for musicians attempting to handle their own music press PR — occasionally to the degree that certain points might seem blatantly obvious (”Don’t be annoying”), but the common fatal flaw of the self-promoter is a complete lack of perspective. There are a couple of real groaner sentences in the piece that indicate the writer knows all too well the type of person most in need of her advice, particularly: “Stay professional in all emails and phone calls with the press, even if you don’t like what you’re hearing. You’ll get your revenge when you’re big and famous and they’re scrambling to get on the guest list for your show!” Anyone with half a lick of sense can see how ludicrous that second sentence is, but there are many, many musicians who are utterly convinced of that reality. All would do well to disabuse themselves of that notion (and all similarly delusional ideas) immediately.
For this reason, I’d generally advise skilled musicians who are inexperienced writers against attempting their own music copywriting, although the piece does contain links to some basic press release and bio templates for those who either want to give it shot or simply lack the resources to hire a proper music copywriter. In either case, having a professional music copywriter edit the work before release would be highly recommended (if not absolutely paramount) as well as significantly cheaper than hiring a copywriter to draft professional press release copy from scratch — probably less than half the cost.
This is an excellent article lamenting an unfortunately all-too-common problem: terrible business writing. Sure, I’m a writer, I’m keyed in to notice this stuff — but you are too, and so is every single reader/consumer/customer out there: when you encounter it, you get bored and stop reading. That’s it. And when that happens, business writing has failed.
Author Jason Fried correctly identifies a few of the common hallmarks of awful copywriting, nailing “buzzwords, jargon, and vapid expressions” as pervasive copy problems — managerial types, take note: the rest of the world is not as impressed with Lean Six Sigma catchphrases and alphabet soup acronyms as you are. While Fried seems slightly overenamored with the “quirky and personal”approach — which works well for some businesses but applied indiscriminately can be disastrous — in general his article makes an excellent case for the value good professional copywriting can provide. In fact, after reading and digesting Fried’s points, I’d suggest taking a look at your own business or organization’s promotional materials and considering these three questions: If I knew absolutely nothing about this and was encountering it for the first time, what would I think?Would I keep reading, or would I zone out? And finally, and most importantly, is this conveying the message I need it to convey? If the answer to that last question is no, well…that’s a problem.
Awhile ago I wrote about the Skullcandy earbuds I got free basically for having a not-insignificant Diet Coke habit along with the time to sit typing the MyCokeRewards codes from the insides of their boxes and bottle tops into their website. Well, it’s been a year and half or so since then and while the program continues, my impression is that it seems to have scaled back a bit: there are fewer high-value prizes available, and redemption value for others seems to have risen. However, I still save and type in the codes religiously because hey, free stuff, right? Right?
So I’d never owned a messenger bag, but because the nylon ‘American DJ’ bag I found sitting on a stack of identical bags on top of a trash can at my old apartment building was getting a little overstuffed as a gig bag and doesn’t close at the top I figured I’d try the Deluxe Recycled Owl Messenger Bag depicted below:
I assume Owl is the name of the manufacturer and the bag is not made of actual recycled owls. I can tell you that whatever it is made of feels cheap and flimsy; the first time I took it out of the shipping box I wondered if it would rip instantly. The pictured shoulder strap broke off literally the second time I used it, but other than that it’s held up fairly well as a container for various batteries, cables, lyric sheets, adapters and so forth. Unfortunately its capacity didn’t quite live up to my hopes and now whenever I play I haul around both this and the aforementioned ‘American DJ’ bag like some sort of vagabond sponsored by tacky corporations. I keep saying I ought to organize them and concentrate just the stuff I really need down to one bag, but, well, you know.
Recently my MyCokeRewards points again built up to the level where one can actually get something nonshitty — up to a point it’s all hideously overvalued Coke hats and Coke t-shirts, and damned if I’m going to use that many of my hard-earned points just to advertise their product on my body. So this time I opted for the Grab-n-Go Laptop Desk Caddy:
This too gave the immediate impression of cheapness and flimsiness upon withdrawal from its shipping container, but considering it’s basically just a plastic pillow with a platform on it to situate between your lap and your laptop I guess it doesn’t need to be precision-engineered or anything. Still, the seams don’t quite look right, the gray top surface is just a large decal that has a good number of air bubbles due to uneven application, and if I were hosting a classy dinner party at my house I’d definitely hide it out of sight just due to overall lack of classiness. Also, I just realized I was lying down in bed reading (comics) off my laptop for like three hours last night and not once did it occur to me “Hey I should grab that laptop desk caddy thing from the other room, it’d totally be better than this wooden clipboard.” I have used it a couple times on the couch — next to which seems to be the caddy’s natural habitat — and it was definitely less awkward than putting my laptop/wireless keyboard on the coffee table and hunching over it like a vulture, so it may yet find a useful role to play in my life. The jury’s still out on that.
So overall a mixed bag — can’t really complain, but only because the merchandise was free so that’s hardly a sterling recommendation. Kind of wonder if I would enjoy the use of a proper messenger bag, to be honest. Still rockin’ the Skullcandy earbuds in any case — great for short plane trips and noisy fast-food restaurants when I just want to be left alone to listen to Ricky Gervais podcasts in peace.
This 4:34 clip from the Making of Sacrament feature on the Lamb of God Walk With Me In Hell 2xDVD is one of the most real representations of the creative process in an actual rock band–and the ridiculous tensions and passive-aggressive manipulations often present within–that I have ever seen.
I can’t decide whether this one’s genius or awful or somehow both. It’s certainly unforgettable, but also questionable how well it conveys the Beatley-Badfingerish-10ccesque vibe of the music, even to a 1970 audience.
Evidently the bass player from Octopus, Nigel Grigg, went on to join Split Enz, so that’s…something.
Actually I could see someone doing this costume for Comicon. I guess all you’d really need would be the boots, the string thong, a load of green bodypaint. Oh, and of course the hyper-disturbing tentacle arms, but then again I’m sure there are people into that sort of thing, in fact I’m sure I know a couple.
Good, practical advice about writing music press releases is in short supply. As someone who’s both written and received many, many press releases, I can tell you Michele Wilson-Morris’ article “Seven Mistakes To Avoid When Writing A Press Release” is sound. Particularly on-target is #2: “Don’t Believe The Hype? Don’t Write the Hype”:
Your objective is not to make people laugh. You may state factual details about your event, but saying that your upcoming performance is “going to be the bomb” or using adjectives and/or phrases that actually infer how great it will be is taking it a little bit too far…Bragging is not professional, and it is actually quite a turnoff.
Hear hear! However, considering the number of delusional characters I’ve run into making music, I’d amend that to “Don’t write the hype — even if you truly, truly believe it with all your heart. Because you’re wrong.”
Also, as someone who has also written more than his fair share of search-optimized copy, I wouldn’t advise one to spend too much time on #6: “Keywords: A Press Release’s Best Friend”, as there’s little more painful to read than amateur attempts at search optimization — just make sure you state clearly what the release is for and include all relevant information, and let the search engines work it out for themselves. Alternately, I’d recommend hiring a search-optimization expert to do the work if that’s really a major concern for your project, or at the very least doing some serious reading about proper SEO tactics before awkwardly wedging “hottest rock band San Diego” into every other sentence.
This can be made with 1-1&1/2 lbs boneless chicken (breasts or thighs) or 1 pkg Morningstar Farms Chik Patties. I prefer thighs myself, but of the three choices I admit it’s the least healthy.
If making with chicken, cut chicken into small (medallion-sized) pieces and saute chicken in 1 tbsp olive oil in large saucepan over medium heat until lightly browned. Remove chicken from pan and set aside. If making with Chik Patties, prepare Chik Patties according to directions on package and let cool. Cut each pattie into sixths and set aside.
Dice 1 large onion and saute with 2 cloves of minced garlic in saucepan–the same saucepan you cooked the chicken in, if you’re making it with chicken–over medium heat until onions are tender and lightly translucent. Some people make cacciatore with green bell peppers as well; I usually don’t because I think they make the sauce a bit tart, but if you like feel free to dice 1 medium green bell pepper and saute along with the onion and garlic.
Add 2 1-lb cans of diced tomatoes (or equivalent in fresh tomatoes), 1 15-ounce can tomato sauce, 1 tsp oregano, 1 tsp basil, 1/8 tsp black pepper, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp celery seed, dash red (cayenne) pepper, and 2 bay leaves. If making with chicken, stir chicken into sauce at this point. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently, then reduce to medium-low heat and simmer covered for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
After the hour is up, remove cover and add 1/3 cup red wine. If making with Chik Patties, stir Chik Patty pieces into sauce at this point (they’ll break up and get too mushy if you add them too soon). Simmer uncovered for 1/2 hour, then remove from heat and serve over your pasta of choice. Serves 4-6–but if you make it for two then the leftovers the next day are even better.
Awhile ago on one of the forums I frequent, someone posted an offer for one of the many custom printing websites. Not too surprising as there are a million such services and have been ever since the internet’s inception, but this offer was notable in that one could design one’s own custom bumper sticker, upload the image, and in return for giving them your contact information they’d print one up and send it out to you, free of charge. Typically these “free custom printing” offers require some ridiculous postage and handling fee and a credit card number, but this one seemed clear of such hitches, so I thought for about two minutes, came up with an idea, whipped it together in another two minutes using Google Image Search and Irfanview (no fancy image editin’ software for me, no sirree), uploaded the design, and promptly forgot all about it.
Months later, someone bumped that thread containing the original offer, asking whether anyone had received their stickers. No one had, and I assumed it was yet another example of the internet adage, “If it sounds too good to be true, it is,” cursed them for swindling my precious email address out of me with the promise of free printed goods, and forgot all about it again. (Hey, it’s the internet, a picture of a cat can make you forget what you were doing five seconds ago.)
But then miraculously a few weeks later, people started posting saying “I got my sticker!” Still, an equal number of people posted saying their designs had been rejected due to profanity or similar concerns, so I didn’t get my hopes up, as while profanity didn’t apply in my case I could think of at least three good reasons off the top of my head why a company might not want to print and mail out my design. (So, yes, I forgot about it again).
Then, last week, an envelope in my mailbox. Recognizing the company name in the return address, I eagerly tore it open to find within a surprisingly well-made, sharply printed vinyl sticker:
Awesome.
Now I just have to figure out where to put it. Kitchen fridge, maybe?
Edit: Clueless, go here. Also note this post’s meta keywords were specially SEO’ed.
There was a time not too long ago when, if I was looking at an item in a store and I wasn’t sure whether or not I wanted to buy it, I would think to myself, “Eh, I can always find it on eBay later, maybe cheaper.” That is no longer the case.
Awhile ago 
This can be made with 1-1&1/2 lbs boneless chicken (breasts or thighs) or 1 pkg Morningstar Farms Chik Patties. I prefer thighs myself, but of the three choices I admit it’s the least healthy.
Awhile ago on one of the forums I frequent, someone posted an offer for one of the many custom printing websites. Not too surprising as there are a million such services and have been ever since the internet’s inception, but this offer was notable in that one could design one’s own custom bumper sticker, upload the image, and in return for giving them your contact information they’d print one up and send it out to you, free of charge. Typically these “free custom printing” offers require some ridiculous postage and handling fee and a credit card number, but this one seemed clear of such hitches, so I thought for about two minutes, came up with an idea, whipped it together in another two minutes using Google Image Search and Irfanview (no fancy image editin’ software for me, no sirree), uploaded the design, and promptly forgot all about it.
