rummaging

eBay Haiku Competition: THE WINNER

All the votes are in, all the bribes have been counted and the delegates wives are admiring their new fur coats and porsches. Yes, it's finally time to announce the winner of the 2012 Olympic venue.

Coincidentally, it's also time to announce the winner of the eBay Haiku Competition.

Thanks to everyone who entered - there were some great entries. It was hard to pick a winner and it was a close run thing.

Three honourable mentions. First to Krill54 who clearly knew that any James Bond haiku had to be a contender:

Trapped on a rocket
with women of loose virtue?
Clearly Bond. James Bond.

And second to Circals, who was one of the most lyrical of the entrants. His 'highly commended' haiku:

This book by Dennis
Is full of thrills and menace
Completely Wheatley.

And third to ridetheoverdraft, with this great entry in his feedback:

Thank you for the cash,
I spent it on loose women,
drugs and alcohol

But for sheer enthusiasm, volume of entries and entering into the spirit of the thing, there can only be one winner. majikthijs.

He entered dozens of haiku, in both his auctions and his feedback and the quality was consistently excellent. His winning entry:

you sent me a disc,
ingeniously packed,
like the spring blossom

Just perfect.

Congratulations to all. An iPod shuffle is on it's way to Majik as soon as he emails me an address to send it to.

Finally, it's time to announce that Rummaging is going to take an indefinite break. Other projects are taking up too much time, so the blogging has been neglected. Rather than walk around all the time with a nagging suspicion that I need to write a new entry, I'm going to call time on it for a while and come back, if at all, with a new approach and a new enthusiasm.

In the meantime, if you want other stuff to read then check out:
For ebay related stuff: Bayraider
For funny/weird stuff: Boing Boing
For environmental stuff: Small Environmentalist

It's been lovely. See you again soon.

Once you pop...

Another flurry of entries from krill54. All for vintage and first edition books, proving that eBay haiku are as hard to stop as a packet of Pringles.

Trapped on a rocket
with women of loose virtue?
Clearly Bond. James Bond. 

I cannot rival
the tension inside this book
with merely three lines

Disappointment lies
in rare offers like this one
for those who seek flaws

Poetry and plays?
How could you ask me for more?!
(ok - free shipping)

If I could prove that
the handwriting was Herbert's,
it'd be gone by now.

George Best haiku?

ridetheoverdraft leaves a feedback haiku clearly inspired by George Best:

Thank you for the cash,
I spent it on loose women,
drugs and alcohol

And I would be failing in my duty if I didn't recommend that you read some of his other feedback too, which includes "The cocaine/CD/virgin* arrived safely and well packaged. Can't wait to snort/play/sacrifice* it (*delete as applicable)."

Haiku: the final stretch

Very light (OK, non-existent) blogging recently. I could make excuses, but you don't care.

I'm sorry.

Anyway, a stack more entries in the eBay haiku competition. The quality is getting better and better. Click here to see all the entries so far.

Krill54 has joined the party with a whole raft of entries. There are some real gems in here.

Selling this quickly
so I can buy more garlic
in case this comes true

Faint stains on cover
But illustrations are clear
Less dust than Trigger

Time's proven Shaw's worth
at far more than a tenner.
He wouldn't approve.

Just 99 p
with extremely cheap shipping
who cares the book sucks?

Useful for pricing,
but it won't help you answer
if Shane could whoop pa.

and my favourite - and possibly the only haiku ever written about John Fowles, The Magus

This massive volume,
less than $.01 a page*,
a job lot of plot.

and a few more from the indefatigable Majik. Thesse were left as feedback. His feedback 'left for others'  page is becoming the standard by which others are judged:

This includes the first one in Dutch:

Snelle levering,
verrassend leuke feedback:
een tevreden man

which translates in English to:
Fast delivery,
surprisingly good feedback:
a satisfied man

and another;

super-duper pda,
and telephone all in one:
christmas came early

Also, someone has left majik feedback in a haiku, without seeming to know about this competition:

Super ebayer.
Smooth as clockwork transaction.
Bring on the summer!

The competition closes soon! Get your final entries in. There may be a one week extension because my own blogging has been so miserable recently, but whether it's in an auction or in your feedback, I need to know about it for it to count as an entry. Email me at rummaging@gmail.com!

New haiku

Lloyd sends in the first haiku in the description of the auction:

Blue Wrangler jacket
70s original
Now too small for me

and a fantastic feedback haiku:

Fantastic surfboard
Sold by a true gentleman
Waiting for summer

Whilst Bernard is aiming for the most entries, this time with a tent haiku:

open up the zip
when everything is wet
a tent keeps you dry   

this one feels authentically japanese and also has a reference to the seasons, which is a bonus.

Another haiku

Another entry from Gem - full roundup coming up tomorrow:

wandering your store
what do you sell, I wonder?
oh! on the logo!

Haiku: NEW RULE - FEEDBACK

Ok, a great entry has forced me to add a new rule.

Haiku left as feedback will now be accepted.

Why?

This great entry:

you sent me a disc,
ingeniously packed,
like the spring blossom

If you're going to leave feedback as a haiku, please label it 'haiku:' so I know you haven't happened on 5-7-5 feedback sentence!

Our best haiku yet?

This book by Dennis
Is full of thrills and menace
Completely Wheatley.

Internal rhymes and everything. The bar has just been raised.

Remember, you can enter as many times as you want. I'll do a round up on Monday of the entries so far.

Also, if your auction is featured on Rummaging, you're almost guaranteed an extra, say, nine hits. At least.

Very subtle

osCommerce eBook,
Learn to make Fantastic Sites
You should "Buy It Now"

You almost don't notice this one. It's also the first entry to be submitted with an explanatory haiku:

I suck at Haiku,
No need for you to piss-take,
I know already.

More haiku

no one knows your name
that is such a crying shame
buy my store logo

Short, sweet at the to the point from Gem, who designs logos for eBay stores, as her haiku succinctly demonstrates.

Get your entries in by email or in the comments here.

Our first haiku

David Carradine
acting like a Grasshopper
should have been Bruce Lee

I like it.

Can you do better?

There's no limit to the number of entries you can make.

Well done Bernard!