Alfred Hair painting, could it be ?

Here's another eBay trap, that's not really a trap, but it's deceptive.

First they get your attention with the small image and the following description : well, you'll see it.

Pretty funny, the seller's not sure if it's by one of the group.
That elusive list of 26 artists, eh ? Hard to find.

DAMN, it just happens to sort of resemble an early Alfred Hair, I guess that causes the confusion.

http://cgi.ebay.com/HIGHWAYMEN-HIghwayman-PAINTING-OLD-Florida-/130386326282?cmd=ViewItem&pt=Art_Paintings&hash=item1e5ba1730a

I suppose it's hard to tell if you're not familiar with this market, and especially with Hair's work at various stages of his short career, but for many of us, the differences are plain as day between a genuine Hair and this copy.

Not braggin', just sayin'.

Be careful out there.

Vintage highwaymen paintings

Current Florida Highwaymen news, the official list of the 26 artists in the group and research links can be found here.

http://www.floridahighwaymenpaintings.com/

Highwaymen books and resources can also be found at this informative site.

Highwaymen art in Jacksonville (and money)

Here's a story about money. Cash, babies, cash. See it, feel it, touch it.

Researchers at the University of Minnesota apparently have been hard at work to prove what Walt Disney showed us many years ago using Scrooge McDuck, Donald's wealthy uncle.

http://www.gnn.com/article/handling-money-can-allieviate-pain/989212

Much more importantly :

Time is growing short, come to Avonlea mall near Jax this Saturday April 24.

Along with Catherine Enns, who will be signing her most excellent book about the highwaymen and Backus, we will have some great examples of investment quality vintage Florida art available for study and / or purchase.

I'm talking Backus, Newton, Hair, McLendon. Rare pieces. All sizes and shapes.

If you want brand new R L Lewises, he'll be in Cedar Key. Go west, young man.

If you want brand new Willies, Maynors, Wheelers, that kind of highwaymen art, just back up your truck to eBay and buy all hundred and fifty of them that were listed in the last couple of days. Weed out all the Tracy Newtons, he's a relative, not a highwayman.

If you want hand-picked superb quality vintage works by deceased artists, come see us in Jax.

Here's the link with a map. http://www.avonleamall.com/

In addition, I will be giving free appraisals on whatever you bring for inspection.

This applies to Florida art.
In Gulfport a few months ago, some clown brought a Stradivarius for appraisal. (sigh)

You might win A BRAND NEW CADILLAC ! (scroll down for details)................








Just kidding, no free Cadillacs.

Hope to see you there.

Alfred Hair (1941-1970)

I always use Google to look for stuff, but just for grins and giggles this morning I tried Yahoo to search for Alfred Hair.

That's exactly what I got, too, grins and giggles.

Here are the dominant links on Yahoo search. They might amuse you, too.

http://www.alfredshair.com/

http://local.yahoo.com/info-11791778-alfred-hair-tanning-center-alfred


And here is just a wonderful youtube that has nothing to do with Alfred Hair or highwaymen or the economy.

The first scene absolutely knocked me out.
I HAVE to share it with my millions of readers.
( A special thanks to John Taylor who sent it to me today. )


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkGzqpGx1KU

Highwaymen art market economy

Oh, I don't really know why, but I just felt like posting this.

It's not brand new, and it's country, but it's still apropos.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_exPnlC3wpY&feature=related

Here are the lyrics so you can sing along.

my daddy taught me in this country everyones the same
you work hard for your dollar and you never pass the blame
when it don't go your way
now i see all these big shots whining on my evenin' news
about how they're losin' billions and its up to me and you
to come runnin' to..
the rescue
well pardon me if i don't shed a tear
cause they"re sellin' make believe
and we don't buy that here

(chorus)
cause in the real world they're shuttin' detroit down
while the boss man takes his bonus pay and jets on out of town
and DC's bailin' out them bankers as the farmers auction ground
yeah while they're livin' it up on wall street in that new york city town
here in the real world they're shuttin' detroit down
here in the real world they're shuttin' detroit down

well that old man's been workin' in that plant most all his life
now his pension plan's been cut in half and he can't afford to die
and its a cryin' shame
'cause he ain't the one to blame
and when i look down and see his callused hands
well let me tell yah friend it gets me fightin' mad

(chorus)
yeah while they're livin' it up on wall street in that newyork city town
here in the real world they're shuttin' detroit down
here in the real world they're shuttin' detroit down
in the real world they're shuttin' detroit down
they're shuttin' detroit down..

But, then again, I may be a city boy, but I can relate to this song.
I know, more country, but Hank Jr. knows we'll get through this, eh ?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4s0nzsU1Wg&feature=related

Cycles. We're in one always.
Good times followed by bad times followed by good times and on and on...
on and on, on and on.............

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W680FpMB78Y


Got the sun on my shoulders.............

www.highwaymen-buy-sell-trade.com

Just go there.

Infomative historical links, if you scroll down.

Spend some time. Read some stuff.

Look at Harold Newton paintings for sale and comparison. Most of them are pretty nice, although we have bought and sold our fair share of rather plain uninspiring ones, too.

Lately we've been doing a lot of appraisals and certificates of authenticity.

No, it's not a free service, but it's an accurate one.

"If it's free, it's for me", you say ?

I say, "Hah, free appraisals are worth exactly what you pay for them."

You'e heard of the Low Country in South Carolina ?

A free appraisal is your portal to Low-BALL Country.

Happy Easter everyone

News of the morning.

It's not a pretty story, it's brutal and it's racial, but it made me feel like justice has been served. I don't mind at all that this happened.

from AOL

JOHANNESBURG (April 3) -- South Africa's white supremacist leader Eugene Terreblanche was bludgeoned to death by two of his farm workers Saturday in an apparent dispute over wages, police said, amid growing racial tensions in the once white-led country.

Terreblanche, 69, was leader of the Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging movement, better known as the AWB, that wanted to create three all-white republics within South Africa in which blacks would be allowed only as guest workers.

I'm whining, I'm just another damn whiner

Yeah, I was just lying when I started this blog and said I wouldn't whine.

Well, no, that statement is a lie.

Let's just say I've changed my mind over the course of the last couple of years since I started writing this blog. Now I can whine in good conscience.

So, here you go (always remembering that it's not required reading.)

this from part of an email I sent to a customer:

Also, since you asked and I forgot, no, the "young man" you spoke with in my booth at WPB who had 2 HN's never got back to me. They usually don't, they just want quick free appraisals.

I get several inquiries a week like that. Had three emails in a row the other day, Harolds and Willies and more, oh my. When they find out there's a fee, that's usually the end of it. It was for those three.

I have to use my knowledge and experience to put bread on my table, right ?

I'm not completely heartless, though, I try to help and educate complete strangers sometimes.

For example, a guy from up north, seller "a", put a listing on eBay a couple of weeks ago with a buy-it-now of $10,000.00. I emailed him politely that he might not want to waste fees because he had a one hundred dollar item. We emailed back and forth several times, as I explained in detail what exactly he had as compared to what he thought he had. Told him how he could tell the difference and did what I could to explain my experience in studying handling so many these items in the course of the last 15 years.

So, as a concession, he revised his listing to have a buy-it-now of $ 1,000.00.
Again, it's worth $ 100.00 not $ 1000.00.

So, as further proof, I sent him a link showing another eBay seller "b", who had a similar item with a buy-it-now of $ 75.00 with no bidders or any interest for several weeks. Listed and re-listed a couple or three times. Along with everybody else, I didn't want seller "b"s item, either.

At that point, I offered seller "a" $ 50.00 for his hundred dollar item. I thought that was fair.

So what does he do ? Turns down my 50 and re-lists it again, starting at 75.

I guess he likes giving eBay their fees.

And I felt like I gave him a pretty nice education, worth more than the extra 25 he hoped to squeeze from the public. Maybe someone will buy it, but it won't be me. I'm even out at 50 now, too.
I have completely lost interest in the item.

Is that wrong, you think ?

I ask you, gentle readers, is seller "a" a good businessman "with his own money and paintings" like Mr. anonymous who sent me hate mail last month or two calling me an "irrelevant know it all" ?

((Anonymous said...
What year was it that you were last relevant?Also when was it that you actually owned one of these with your own money,and didnt have to beg paintings from others that are actually good business people with their own money and paintings?
Dinosaurs come to mind.....))


Or is seller "a" a jerk ?

Or am I the jerk for wasting so much time ?

Or for whining ?

Florida economy, no bullshit...........

.........Nope, it's dog shit.

Surprising (well....to me, duh ) information is hidden in this story about dogshit and the trials and tribulations of dealing with it.

As you know, I like to copy and paste stuff from AOL.

Here you go:

When the housing market finally improves in this country, is all we really have to look forward to is a lot more poo in the streets?


That particular reward came along with a booming housing market in downtown Tampa, Florida. Buyers have snatched up condos and rental units in recent months, after prices were pummeled by the housing market collapse. The area's population has zipped from almost zero to some 3,000 residents, Paul Ayres, the director of marketing for the Tampa Downtown Partnership, tells a local website.

It turns out that a lot of these new downtown residents have brought their pets with them -- along with a pretty inconsiderate attitude toward their new neighbors. Now, Tampa is grappling with a virtual explosion of dog poo.

It's a nuisance for residents who mush dodge errant dog poo like landmines. But it's also a health issue, since the feces can end up being washed down storm sewers and into water systems without being treated.

To combat the problem, new Pooch Stations are being set up in downtown Tampa, plastic bag dispensers and bins where pet owners can dispose of the package. Postcards are also being handed out to remind folks to pick up after their animals. "When your pet has finished its business, do yours by cleaning it up! It's the law!" scold the cards.

Of course, there are fines of $150 for not cleaning up after your pet, but they are rarely enforced.

In some cases, downtown property managers have started issuing fines to to tenants in the their buildings who refuse to pick up their dog's droppings, according to a recent Tampa Tribune article.

Lynda Remund, director of district operations at the Tampa Downtown Partnership, told the paper, "We've have guides who have witnessed this happening and told the owner to clean it up, only to be told that, 'It's your job to clean it up!'"

"Well," replies Remund, "guess what? It's not!"

Somehow, as the nation struggles to heal its housing markets, I find it difficult to think that the folks at Treasury or FHA or the too-big-to-fail banks are giving much thought to the potential poo problem that has arisen in downtown Tampa. Maybe they should. Who better than our government officials and esteemed CEOs to deal with poo?

Charles Feldman is a journalist, media consultant and co-author of the book, "No Time To Think-The Menace of Media Speed and the 24-hour News Cycle." He has written about real -estate related issues for several years. This is his very first post about poo!