Unadulterated Capitalistic Rant

What is an "Unadulterated Capitalistic Rant"?

Blogged by a house, no less?

"Buy me".

I don't ask for much, and my owner is lazier (or just not motivated, is that it?) than most. I don't have a nicely painted realtor's "for sale" sign out front, just one of those buy-it-at-Loew's sell-it-yourself for-sale-by-owner plastic placards.

I used to have a Craigslist post... but that expired and is no longer. He hasn't recreated it yet.

Now I have a homepage, blog, a podcast, a FaceBook page, even a blip.tv page which is hosting my podcast. But the blip.tv site doesn't have a "trailer" video. Blip is, after all, a video site... why no video, owner!? Show folks my rooms, my gardens, my bamboo groves, how easy it is to find me (although I'm on a "dead-end" street in little ol' Wilkins Township). Do I have to show them myself??


[URL: Google Maps aerial view]

Also, what do you want to sell me for? What price? You have that listed nowhere on this blog, but you want to sell me? As they say in the blog/twitter world, "WTF"?

Okay, since you won't set a price, I'll set an expectation for the reader. Here's a house which has inspired a weird blog, a slightly more weird podcast (with about four people in the audience, one of whom may be my owner) several videos on Google's video site (under the moderately unassuming and offbeat name "Silurian-Devonian Films"), and countless twitter posts. Well, alright, 84 updates as of this post is not "countless", but there is some energy there. In short, this is a house with global reach, a global audience, essentially a global character...and two mature phyllostachys bamboo groves. This house has an impressive Turtle Creek Valley view (looking up towards Monroeville, PA) from high on an Eastward facing hillside; lush foliage surrounds it; a bustling seasonal greenhouse is situated just down the hill, across the street, originally owned by John Ayers, for whom this plan of lots was named; and lies just 14 miles from downtown Pittsburgh (dahntahn for yinzers), a 20-minute drive down I-376 on the weekends.

Mostly Harmless may be the planet my foundation rests upon, but Mostly Harmless I am not!

What price should I fetch in this depressed, depressing market? I think a global price. What think you?

Had I feet, I'd get down off this soapbox. But a thick, rocky field-stone foundation is all I've got, so I'll just stop.

..HF.

I Feel Like a Frog Prince Sometimes

He was here briefly twice: once two weeks ago to give the lawn a final cutting before fall set in, and again last night, to sweep the leaves off the steps before today's rain kicked in.

But, my for-sale sign is still blank, my rooms still bare, my thermostat set low: in short, he does the bare necessities, but what is he doing to ensure a loving future for me? I've said this before, I'll say it again: I wanna human family living inside me - kids, dogs, parents - people to use me as a house is intended to be used.

I wonder if I'd get more love if I moved to California? Can a house do that?

I've never felt more like the proverbial frog prince - not so much obscure, but just another unselected bachelor amongst millions.

..HF.

New Home Sales!!??

My owner saw a news blurb this morning about new home sales that "recorded an unexpected increase in September as median home prices dropped to the lowest level in four years, the Commerce Department reported Monday.

Sales of new single-family homes rose by 2.7 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 464,000 homes, Commerce said. Economists had expected sales would drop from the August level.

The median price of a new home sold in September declined by 9.1 percent from a year ago to $218,400, the lowest price level since September 2004, a period when home prices were rising rapidly as the country experienced a five-year housing boom."
By Martin Crutsinger, AP Economics Writer

New home sales???

What about existing home sales??

Ahh, later the author notes:

"The inventory of unsold existing homes is also remaining near historic highs as that market is being increased by a record wave of home foreclosures."

..HF.

Biology, Drawing and Horses (HFR #3)

House Forlorn Reads episode #3 is now available.

"House Forlorn Reads" is an episodic podcast brought to you by a house whose owners have moved out but haven't yet sold it to new owners. The house is sad and eager to have new humans living in it.

Featured books:

Biology: An Introduction, by Johnson, Rayle, Wedberg, 1984
The Joy of Drawing: Learn how to observe, then create spontaneously, by Gerhard Gollwitzer, translated from German in 1961
Know About Horses: A Ready Reference Guide to Horses, Horse People and Horse Sports, by Harry Disston, illustrated by Jean Bowman, (1961).

http://web.mac.com/alex.landefeld/iWeb/Site%203/House%20Forlorn%20Reads/532E3919-AC41-4C26-BBD3-E3F316B8320B.html

House Forlorn Reads #2 MP3:



iTunes RSS:

House Forlorn Reads (HFR #1)

Well, I got it together last night and put together House Forlorn Reads, Episode 1. Can you imagine a house picking through various books and just reading excerpts? Well, here it is. :-)

House Forlorn Reads #1 MP3:



..HF.

Should I Go to a Podcamp?

Suppose you've heard of a Podcamp in your locale, but just aren't sure if it's right for you.

Is a newspaper right for you?

Is a glass of water right for you?

Is talking to your neighbor right for you?

Then, may I submit, Podcamp is right for you.

How do my three questions relate? Look, I'm a house, so it's unlikely that I'll attend Podcamp Pittsburgh, but my owner (now there's a strange bird) will be in attendance. In fact, he helped out, in a few small ways, with the organizing of Podcamp Pittsburgh...and he'll be presenting on something called podcasting.

If you like what you see in a newspaper, and how it makes you think; if you like what you get out of a glass of water (refreshment, lubrication, renewed outlook on life); if you like talking to folks and learning from them...then learning a bit more about today's mass-communications methods via the internet might be the sort of thing you'd like.

Give it a shot. It'll be in Pittsburgh's Art Institute from 9 am to 4 pm this coming Saturday and Sunday. Its an unconference. What could be more appealing?



..HF.

House Forlorn Podcast Upcoming???

I don't believe it. He was up late last night finding music on the Podsafe Music Network, then playing with it in his music program, and scheming what to do the podcast about.

Me, probably.

But how do you podcast about a forlorn old house, sitting on a hill, waiting for someone to see the faded "For Sale by Owner" sign, actually call the number, and...well, you get the idea. What's to podcast about? Is it just because of the comic I starred in for him last night?



Well, lets see what he does...here's a pic of his music software:



..HF.