Finders & Scavengers's topics - tribe.net

DISCUSS YOUR MOST RECENT FOUND DISCARDS

Holden S. — Mon, 24 May 2004 18:44:31 GMT

on the way over to this computer lab today, tossed or fallen off a curb at an intersection, a black & white photocopied Missing Dog flyer for a French bull dog.

posted in Finders & Scavengers - 190 replies

RECOMMENDATIONS THREAD

Holden S. — Sat, 01 May 2004 20:13:22 GMT

just yesterday i bought a book by Davy Rothbart (the creator of Found Magazine) called Found: the Best Lost, Tossed & Forgotten Items From Around The World. so far, it is fascinating!
please use the rest of this thread for any other relevant recommendations.

posted in Finders & Scavengers - 19 replies

Mechanical pencil

Dal — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 19:47:14 GMT

This is the second find I've had of this model. It has some lead in it for some notes. I do take the time to wipe it off. Why would someone discard this? Why?

posted in Finders & Scavengers - 2 replies

Jeep antenna

Dal — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 18:16:50 GMT

Plugged it in and got a TV station. It is copper wire and I have to wonder, is silver wire better reception? I would guess the radio signals are more powerful than TV signals.

posted in Finders & Scavengers - 0 replies

do you use freecycle.com?

DerUntermensch — Thu, 19 Jan 2006 09:59:30 GMT

it is a yahoo group that you can post stuff you want to give away or for stuff you are needing.....it is split up into regions all across the country....

some rules apply to the postings...like items must be free and stuff of that nature...

freecycle.com

one negative is that it can fill your email inbox with a bunch of postings...all depends how you set your mailings and how active your freecycle area is...

posted in Finders & Scavengers - 14 replies

do you intentionally leave stuff for others to find?

Holden S. — Wed, 05 May 2004 18:31:23 GMT

yes. atop the piano in a local coffeehouse in my area, on a table in a laundromat - among other places - i & other people leave stuff for others...mainly books & magazines, though 1 time i left a tarot card set in the laundromat.

posted in Finders & Scavengers - 54 replies

Art Created From Found Objects

MJ — Wed, 13 Apr 2005 07:48:26 GMT

A few weeks ago I saw an art show in Pasadena, Ca. that featured art made from found objects by Cynthia Paige-Aaron and Keith Ulrich. I've posted photos of them and their work up in our photo album.

posted in Finders & Scavengers - 5 replies

Music Salvage

MJ — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 06:43:16 GMT

First of all, last April, I saw a guy at San Diego's Roots Festival playing a Dobro-like slide guitar made out of an old gas can. It was actually a fine instrument, it played well and sounded great. It had a hub cap for a resonator. I spoke to the owner, Myron Meyer. It was not something he had made himself in his garage, but he had actually paid 1,500 dollars for it at McCabes Guitar Shop in Santa Monica. I was in Santa Monica earlier this month, and I visited McCabe's. They had another one in stock, but this one was blue instead of red, and the resonator was a metal serving dish in the shape of a seashell, rather than a hubcap. So there must be somebody out there that keeps them supplied with these instruments. I would think the price was outrageous had I not heard how it sounded- the ultimate metal resonator guitar sound!

Secondly, I visited my old friend Robert Jones in Baldwin Park. He plays guitar for the band Desperation Squad. While walking to the store through an alley in his neighborhood he found a guitar that was literally smashed to pieces laying on top of a pile of trash. He took it home and showed it to another friend of his who works in a woodshop in nearby Irwindale. That guy was able to fix it! It plays fine now, stays in tune and everything, and sounds good! It just needed a little special attention and a few wood screws.

I've added pictures to the album- one of Myron Meyer with his gas can resonator guitar, one of Robert playing the salvaged guitar, and one close-up showing some of the repairs that were made.

posted in Finders & Scavengers - 8 replies

does your area have a public "free box"?

Holden S. — Fri, 25 May 2007 19:45:40 GMT

i live in Santa Barbara, & in Isla Vista, one of our smaller neighboring communities bounded at one end by UCSB (which i go out to now every week to use the library & visit a friend) they have, just outside the IV Parks & Recreation Department office, something called the Free Box - a wooden box divided into sections in which people can put unwanted clothes & other small items for other people to take, free & no strings attached. an earlier version of the Free Box consisted of a little shed that people could actually enter.

does your community have anything along similar lines?

posted in Finders & Scavengers - 0 replies

have you ever sent or found a message in a bottle or tied to a helium balloon? if sent, did you ever get a reply?

Holden S. — Wed, 05 May 2004 18:44:56 GMT

yes i have sent both of those but not found any, nor have i ever gotten a reply. the bottle message was solicitation of information for a research project on different cultural New Year's Days for a possible calendar consisting entirely of New Yeat's Days, 1 for every day of the solar year. the balloon message was a story about a flood in the basement of my family's home. at the end of the story i put my name & p.o. box address.

posted in Finders & Scavengers - 21 replies

50 million dollar painting

Swaz — Fri, 11 May 2007 00:36:13 GMT

Anyone catch 60 minutes last Sunday? There was a story about some lady truck-driver who bought a painting at a thrift store in San Bernadino for five bucks. She was going to give it to a friend as a joke. The friend didn't want it. Then it got stored in an attic for two decades and finally was put out at her own garage sale. An art-historian recognized it and said it could be a Jackson Pollack. She was like, "Who the fuck is Jacson Pollack?"

She did some detective work and had a fingerprint on the back matched to one on one of Jackson's paintcans in the Jackson Pollack museum. Half the people say it's real and if so is worth about 50 MILLION bucks. the other half say it's just a copy of his wierd splatter-style. She's already turned-down an offer of two million for it.

Anyway, strange find.

Swaz

posted in Finders & Scavengers - 3 replies

found on the sidewalk

DerUntermensch — Fri, 03 Feb 2006 11:36:11 GMT

yesterday as i was walking to my clockout station at work....i saw something on the ground that made me do a double take.....i saw a "weed smoking device" aka a sneak a toke...laying on the ground....

nice i thought...since it is a college i work for and i was near some dorms i fiqured it was some stupid kids....but i open up the device and it was packed with a fresh bowl of greens....SUPERNICE......what a way to finish the day at work.....I had me a smoke and it was good....thnaks to whomever dropped it....your loss is my high!

posted in Finders & Scavengers - 6 replies

Artist Joey Burns

MJ — Sun, 08 Apr 2007 08:54:02 GMT

I've posted a couple of photos in our album of another artist who uses found materials in his work. It's Joey Burns of San Diego. His work is mainly photo collage, but it often borders on being assemblage- sometimes just because the photos are so densely layered on the substrate they are almost three-dimensional.

Joey has been around with his collages for quite some time. I still have a piece laying around here I bought off him for five bucks in 1999 when I had jury duty downtown. He had a couple dozen works spread out around him on a crowded sidewalk. I've seen him from time to time since then in various locations.

These pictures were taken last January. He had been setting up in an alley adjacent to Ray St., site of a monthly art event called Ray at Night, a sort of open gallery night for the general public. He said his recent work had been mainly inspired by a pile of Oprah magazines he had serendipitously found in the street.

Unfortunately, I did not see him down there in February or March. I did, however, run into him last weekend showing his work in a more conventional manner- on a table indoors at a show for local artists and crafts people. He said one of the gallery owners on Ray St. had called the cops to run him out of his alley. Too bad. I think Joey's work is more interesting than much of the faux-Juxtapose magazine art and living room kitsch that many artists show down there.

posted in Finders & Scavengers - 4 replies

Profit from findings

Eric — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 22:41:39 GMT

One time my brother and I were in Middle school, we found a box of Playboy and Penthouse magazines, in a dumpster near an apartment complex we lived in. We kept a few of the best issues for ourselves, and then sold the rest in school the next day.

posted in Finders & Scavengers - 2 replies

coins

Eric — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 14:25:03 GMT

One time when my brother and I were children, we were out in some woods and we rolled a rock over, and underneath were a small pile of coins with Buffalo on them. Stupidly, we spent them 10 minutes later at a grocery store on candy and gum.

posted in Finders & Scavengers - 3 replies

new to this tribe I have a found story.

skitlegrindr — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 19:44:38 GMT

I met this guy at a party about 6 months ago who found a bag full of letters from a Vietnam vet to his Thai wife. The guy gave me 4 of the letters. The letters were marked U.S. government and had the guys official tag info and everything. From the ones I read I can only pick out that he was no longer in the war and living in SF but his wife still lived in Thailand. I cried when I read them…
Im sure some of you have read this magazine?
http://www.foundmagazine.com/

posted in Finders & Scavengers - 1 reply

Why I eat road-kill

Swaz — Sat, 07 Apr 2007 06:52:49 GMT

I thought that would be a good topic for "finders and scavengers". If you are very very pretty yet eat roadkill I will still date you. But no kissing.

Swaz

posted in Finders & Scavengers - 3 replies

The Weirdest Thing?

BlurbVurt — Tue, 30 May 2006 00:50:23 GMT

What's the weirdest thing anyone on here has ever found? I found something the other day and I haven't the faintest idea 'what it is' or 'what do do with it' but I couldn't resist the temptation of keeping hold of it... It's my 'precious thing' now. It's only small! It's not a ring, or an item of jewellery.. It's just an 'odd thing'... urm.. 'curiouser and curiouser' says Alice!

posted in Finders & Scavengers - 21 replies

New towels

lutesaroundtown — Sat, 17 Mar 2007 15:29:13 GMT

Found a couple new hand towels (both blue), within a week of each other just lying on the sidewalk. I needed new towels and both still had the tags on, strange...

posted in Finders & Scavengers - 0 replies

Anyone on here ever....

fuckinSqueek — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 23:45:01 GMT

do any geocaching?

posted in Finders & Scavengers - 6 replies

HAVE YOU HAD DREAMS OF FINDING ABANDONED STUFF?

Holden S. — Tue, 04 Jan 2005 22:20:39 GMT

one night over the last holiday period when i was up at my sister's place, i had a dream of buying an art book from a used bookstore (can't remember which book) taking it home...& discovering a letter several pages long being used as a bookmark. on scrutinizing the thing, it turned out to be from an old acquaintance of mine to some unknown person, & included some beautifull ink drawings. at this distance i don't remember much detail.

posted in Finders & Scavengers - 5 replies

IF YOU TRUELY LOVED ME

iRiS — Mon, 11 Sep 2006 02:31:44 GMT

Mom
IF YOU TRUELY LOVED ME
you would leave me a few bucks (25)
so that I could get my hair cut tomorrow.

Your long haired son,
Trevor.

(FOUND! yesterday written on a pink post it, in the book section of a thrift store.)

posted in Finders & Scavengers - 7 replies

Cone-Shaped Beings

MJ — Sat, 02 Sep 2006 06:55:10 GMT

While walking in Eskisehir, Turkey last June I found a child's drawing of two unusual cone-shaped beings on the sidewalk in front of the local elementary school. I have posted a scan of this drawing in our photo album for your perusal...

posted in Finders & Scavengers - 15 replies

things you didn't pick up that still haunt you

poopylungstuffing — Sat, 06 Aug 2005 20:23:43 GMT

For me..Mr. Natural "Keep on Truckin" big rig mud flaps that I had noticed lying in a ditch near my house for weeks.

I love R.Crumb.

posted in Finders & Scavengers - 6 replies

opp

east_bay_gray — Wed, 03 May 2006 14:57:38 GMT

other people's photos...

http://opp.hornbuckle.org/

posted in Finders & Scavengers - 3 replies

Parable of the Pebbles....

sturmeyarcher — Tue, 13 Sep 2005 23:55:01 GMT

A man was out walking in the desert when a voice said to him, "Pick up some pebbles and put them in your pocket, and tomorrow you will be both happy and sad."

The man obeyed. He stooped down and picked up a handful of pebbles and put them in his pocket. The next morning he reached into his pocket and found diamonds and rubies and emeralds. And he was both happy and sad. Happy he had taken some - sad that he hadn't taken more.

And so it is with education.
----------------------
ok. that's odd.
(I found the above at: http://dbhs.wvusd.k12.ca.us/webdocs/Parable-Pebbles.html )
=============

posted in Finders & Scavengers - 6 replies

Swapmeet

abjectphoto — Sat, 11 Mar 2006 03:59:40 GMT

http://www.treehugger.com/tv/swaporamarama.php

Interesting idea started by my friend Wendy...check it out...

posted in Finders & Scavengers - 0 replies

computer

Sun, 05 Feb 2006 18:39:41 GMT

i got this computer , i have to tell you , it works .

posted in Finders & Scavengers - 0 replies

A HIGHLY RELEVANT RICHARD BRAUTIGAN STORY!

Holden S. — Mon, 30 Jan 2006 19:57:41 GMT

i'd like to share with all of you a Richard Brautigan story about found discards called "What Are You Going To Do With 390 Photographs of Christmas Trees?". you'll find it here:

www.dailymedication.com

when you get to this page, find the menu on the upper right, then click on the word "art". this will take you to another list of items. scroll down till you find the title of the story in question. click & enjoy!

posted in Finders & Scavengers - 2 replies

Digging Things Up

julie — Mon, 23 Jan 2006 21:41:10 GMT

Hey, has anyone ever dug up things? I going to dig holes in my back yard with a screw driver (what the bottle digging lady recommended) and see what I find. Hopefully, I won't find any bodies that Captain Insane-O planted back there.

posted in Finders & Scavengers - 14 replies

Album update

Eric (aka Elric) — Wed, 18 Jan 2006 11:16:18 GMT

Hey there;
If you're interested, I've added a wack o' pics to my album, mostly of Memory Boxes, but a few other bits and pieces. Next best thing to a website!
Hope you like!
E

posted in Finders & Scavengers - 7 replies

Garbage Day

Daniel — Sun, 20 Nov 2005 21:31:17 GMT

I'm a garbage collector, and I find good stuff just about every day on the job. I'm ALWAYS finding books, some as good as new, in fact I'm reading Dean Koontz's latest book, "Velocity", a new hardback that I found last week. I gave an old biography of Marilyn Monroe to my wife the other day. But the books are extremely common finds.
This past week I've found no fewer than four boomboxes, all of which were in working condition. Sometimes they get chucked because the CD player no longer works, but I don't think I've found one yet that doesn't have an operating radio function. About two weeks ago I picked up a Dell laptop, with DVD and CD writer, but no power supply. Took it to the used computer store and tried one of their power supplies and it fired right up. Why was it chucked? Good question.
Last month I found a pair of Doc Martens boots which fit my wife, just like new. She likes them. I've gotten three or four DVD players; VCR's and TV's are in the trash so often I don't even bother with them; DVD's, CD's, VHS tapes and cassettes I find all the time. In September I found a complete set of King's videos for flight instruction; I needed a pair of hedge clippers this fall, and lo and behold, a like-new pair (still had the tag on it!) of Fiskars showed up, along with a brand-new dandelion fork; bicycles are common finds, mostly kids bikes, usually not much wrong with them; clothes all the time, though I rarely take any; bags, backpacks, duffels, suitcases; games, puzzles and lots of toys and stuffed animals; furniture items such as couches, chairs, lamps, desks, file cabinets; dishes: this last years I've found some really great handmade pottery such as bowls and cups; pens and pencils by the hundreds.
I guess I could go on in this vein for an hour, but I think you get the idea. We trash collectors find great stuff all the time. We like to say that if you need something, just think about it and sooner or later it will turn up in the trash. Some say it's in the trash because it is trash, but I disagree. Our culture provides more than we can possibly use, it is just good stuff that is no longer wanted. In my definition, that does not make it trash.
The bummer about all this is that our department actually has an official policy that 'scrounging' is not allowed. That's right. We are in danger of losing our jobs if we are caught taking this good stuff home. That's why it is demonized by the terminology. Mostly it is to discourage the practice of going through people's trash, which could potentially reveal private information such as credit card numbers, prescriptions, and other sensitive info. Anyone can understand that. What I'm talking about is just taking the stuff that makes itself easily found in the trash piles. It's not as if we are spilling cans of messy gunk onto the street and reading people's medical bills and old letters. In the real world, the policy is mostly 'don't ask and don't tell', everybody knows it, and we all have our stories of good stuff we've found.
Overall, I think my favorite find of all time is Carmen. Carmen is a ship's masthead, actually a theatrical prop made to look like an original old masthead from a sailing vessel, a beautiful young serving wench with breasts bulging out of her shirt, hair blowing back in the breeze. She hangs in a great spot in our living room, and has been a wonderful addition to the decor.
I guess the point of all this is, if you like finding good stuff, scout out people's trash piles on garbage day. Call the refuse companies to find out when trash day is in the areas in which you are interested (just tell them you've recently moved in to a particular street, don't let them know what you are up to...). As Apu might say "The rich neighborhoods are the best places, not always". The less affluent areas have a lot more coming and going in them, and therefore a more temporary outlook. The best piles are the huge piles left behind when someone has moved in or out of a house, or better yet, when old folks have passed away, and their children have to clean out the decades of accumulated junk from the house. You'll have to get up early, and it obviously helps to have a truck, but cruise the neighborhoods on trash day and you may get lucky! Please don't make a mess, and if you rip a bag open, by all means, bring extras so you can re-bag it. Do not piss off the gods of freeloading or you may bring ruin upon us all.

posted in Finders & Scavengers - 6 replies

Dry spells?

glitternoir — Wed, 28 Dec 2005 15:51:43 GMT

Do you go through periods where there you find nothing as you stroll down the streets but pavement? Novelty is low, and you have but dead leaves and your own shadow to find.

Really, you can't go forcing the gods of synchronicity, but I've been going through a sort of "scavenger's block" it seems.

One of my beliefs is, the higher the rate of coincidence in one's life reflects that they are going in the strongest possible direction.

At my office we've been positioning and re-positioning this little red plastic man who is detachable from his little blue motorcycle. I had found it on my way to work some time ago. The poor thing needs some relief.

posted in Finders & Scavengers - 6 replies

comforter

Wed, 07 Dec 2005 07:45:21 GMT

is there any item that makes anybody feel secure that they find often or regularly . don't need to name the item i am not . yes or no is fine

posted in Finders & Scavengers - 3 replies

urge

Fri, 02 Dec 2005 22:05:07 GMT

obviously people here do feel the urge to scavenge and express their findings in a piece , but are their certain items that attract e.g. driftwood or cigarette packets that people feel easier to work with and discard other items that are available . and is the recyling a greater part of the work . i feel the urge to scavenge is a social expession too . thoughts

posted in Finders & Scavengers - 1 reply

End of the Month Bookstore Dumpster-search.

blackegg — Wed, 28 Sep 2005 22:27:24 GMT

Just a friendly reminder that, if you are of a mind, you can poke around the dumpsters of Barnes and Nobles etc and get Septembers magazines. But don't be a greedy ass.

posted in Finders & Scavengers - 2 replies

bread tags

east_bay_gray — Sun, 27 Mar 2005 00:18:44 GMT

you got 'em? i need 'em - for an upcoming project. OCD? you bet.

taxonomy and methodology:
http://www.horg.com/horg/intro.html

evaluation:
http://bennicholson.com/app/book/bread.htm

collection:
http://www.geocities.com/transactoid/tags.html

creation:
http://kwiklok.com/About.html

thanks.

posted in Finders & Scavengers - 25 replies

found decor

bunniluvin — Tue, 20 Sep 2005 02:13:37 GMT

Everything in my apartment is something I found somewhere. Sometimes that makes me really happy and some times it makes me feel like I'm some kind of outcast, living off society's cast-offs.

posted in Finders & Scavengers - 1 reply

friendship as item...

lutesaroundtown — Sat, 07 May 2005 18:55:29 GMT

How many of you have found a pet, rock or otherwise. Or maybe, better put how many, have had them, find you? How, when, where?

My latest find was a spider on the ceiling of my shower stall that I thought had bit the dust. Upon cleaning up, I found it was still alive and kicking. So now I've found a new friend, to listen to my wettest of songs.

posted in Finders & Scavengers - 10 replies

habitual eyecatchers...

ladysalt — Sun, 10 Apr 2005 18:31:24 GMT

is there anything that you pick up on a daily basis? what catches your eye that can be found in the streets or yards of your daily traverse?

me? i am drawn to the small rusted, flat circles of metal, be they crushed bottlecaps, old washers, or flattened spirals of thin wire. i have about 5 small glass jars of them at home...

what gets ya on the daily?
*s*

posted in Finders & Scavengers - 2 replies

playing cards

8fold — Sat, 06 Aug 2005 21:33:12 GMT

i find a lot of random playing cards in the street. I only keep the interesting one though.

only one at a time is my rule.

i don't know why...probably because i don't like clutter

posted in Finders & Scavengers - 4 replies

last week's score

bunniluvin — Mon, 01 Aug 2005 17:38:47 GMT

I was walking in the mission here in SF and came across a bunch of stuff being thrown out on the street. In that miraculous pile, I found a GIANT My Pretty Pony. I never saw one so big. It's pink and has blinky eyes. Kinda cute + creepy.

posted in Finders & Scavengers - 5 replies

Found Furniture

poopylungstuffing — Tue, 26 Jul 2005 03:22:19 GMT

a while back we got this nifty sturdy wire wine rack (from a store display) Off the heavy trash curb. For a long time it sat outside and I sometimes questioned why we picked it up in the first place...(we are always looking for shelves of any kind)
Today I realised that is is bloody perfect for holding all my stupid shoes.
I am so happy..It fits all of them with no room to spare and is ten times sturdier than my dumpy Ikea stuff.

posted in Finders & Scavengers - 1 reply

bookcrossing.com

Scarahliz — Tue, 19 Jul 2005 00:05:36 GMT

this is a very cool website, to register books that you leave for people to find, and then you can keep track of them (if the person who finds it chooses to go to the website)...
I've registered....4 so far, and plan on sending them out very soon.

if you sign up on the website, look me up (screenname: scarahliz) and see if you want any of the books. then post your screenname here and we'll all be happy and connected.

posted in Finders & Scavengers - 1 reply

Worried about the mess?

lutesaroundtown — Fri, 10 Jun 2005 18:22:24 GMT

I've seen worse actually and that is the funny part. With all of your treasures, are any of your houses this way?

http://www.randomthink.net/misc/ebay/

posted in Finders & Scavengers - 1 reply

stolen table

whittlesjh — Sun, 29 May 2005 01:57:53 GMT

last night someone stole my table from the trunk of my station wagon while I was parked in SOMA on 8th and howard. This is very painful because massage is my fulltime job. It's what pays the bills and it is my livelihood.

So if anyone here is looking to buy a used table and you happened to come across a relatively new burgundy 30" Lotus (I believe it's from custom craftworks) with a 9" half circle bolster and a black carrying bag, please let me know of its whereabouts.

I'm also offering an award of $50 to who ever can return it to me - no questions asked.

Thanks.
- whit
whittlesjh24@yahoo.com

posted in Finders & Scavengers - 0 replies

WHO AMONG YOU DUMPSTER DIVES?

Holden S. — Sun, 08 May 2005 20:58:09 GMT

...well?

posted in Finders & Scavengers - 3 replies

what kind of photos do you find?

waterworld — Tue, 15 Feb 2005 22:31:02 GMT

I find photos in library books, copy machines,etc.

I worked in a drug store and looked in some photos that had been there seven years. No one had claimed them so i made a poster that read :"why is this man laughing? His pictures have been here seven years. Do you know him? If so , tell him to come get his photos" He did.

I found pictures of my friend's kids in a yard sale book, she had sold the book and it was being resold again. I gave her the pics, they were the only ones they had of the dog (which had died long ago)

I found semi nude photos of a person in our community in a library book.

In a pack of photos I had developed, I found a picture of some people I did not know (old folks in a motorhome) and was missing a photo of me and my husband ...in..an...embarrassing costume (PM me for details). We still wonder if the old folks got OUR picture.

When I get photo mistakes...thumbs, shots of the ground etc..I leave them in library books.

how 'bout you?

posted in Finders & Scavengers - 7 replies

Favorite places/times for finding stuff.

Wed, 27 Apr 2005 04:39:40 GMT

Do you have a routine or method to your collecting or is it totally random?

As a kid I walked to school from K-12th. Our house was close enough to all the schools. My favorite day was Thursday, trash day in our neighborhood. I'd leave for school early to try and beat the other treasure hunters and got some cool crap. Fun part was having to carry it around all day at school.

posted in Finders & Scavengers - 3 replies

Dumpster Diving Environmentalists

MJ — Sun, 20 Mar 2005 08:09:04 GMT

In 9th and 10th grade I hung out with a guy who went on to become a famous (or infamous) environmental activist. Tonight, surfing the web, I discovered that he's been doing a bit of blogging for an environmentalist website. Some of these little essays are pretty funny, and this one in particular discusses finding useful stuff in dumpsters and that gives me an excuse to share them with my Finders and Scavengers friends:

http://lowbagger.org/dumpster.html

"The only thing I know for sure is that the best technology usually comes out of a dustbin or a dumpster..."

posted in Finders & Scavengers - 2 replies

It's freaky

mikecousart — Tue, 15 Mar 2005 14:21:59 GMT

It's kind of freaky the way that things that I need just seem to appear on the curb with people's trash. This has happened over and over.

We needed a book shelf for my kid's books. a few days later my neighbors are throwing out a perfectly good oak book shelf.

I was building a playhouse for my kids and I thought how a pool ladder would be perfect for it and damn if I didn't find a perfectly good pool ladder in someone's trash the next day.

I needed some treated lumber for a project and there it was, a dumpster full of good treated lumber on my way to work.

So...now I think I need a bag full of cash, let's see what happens.

posted in Finders & Scavengers - 3 replies

i found gold

merlin — Fri, 11 Mar 2005 00:34:50 GMT

i was camping in a central california forest and found a canadian coin that says it is 1 oz pur gold but it only weighs about 2/3 oz. i'm not complaining (it was a ground score) but i wonder why it isn't 28 grams?

merlin

posted in Finders & Scavengers - 1 reply

Valued at $39.99

james — Sun, 06 Mar 2005 20:08:07 GMT

this morning, coming home from the local bodega, i spot a box... it's the trademark Apple packaging - black, white, and simple... it looks unopened...i grab it, check it, and sure enough, brand new iPod Remote Control & Earbud kit...nice, because i happen to have an iPod...not a bad find for a morning trip out for kitty litter

posted in Finders & Scavengers - 2 replies

Found Money

OtherMichael — Thu, 19 Aug 2004 13:05:54 GMT

I like keeping (for a while) bills that have writing on them

http://www.xradiograph.com/Foundlings/images-02/120003.lazarus.dollar.htm
http://www.xradiograph.com/Foundlings/images-02/012204.boycott.jane.fonda.dollar.htm

I also like picking up pennies, etc.

posted in Finders & Scavengers - 4 replies

are you currently making anything with found discards?

Holden S. — Thu, 19 Aug 2004 18:15:05 GMT

i'm preparing a mailart package for a friend. it will consist partly of a few discards from my Found Stuff envelope, a letter, a few photos that i took, some playing cards, & the outside of the envelope will be collaged.

posted in Finders & Scavengers - 13 replies

People Watchers

Quichemarie — Mon, 08 Nov 2004 13:35:45 GMT

I think most scavengers and finders are also people watchers. We're just facinated with the human experience. Have you seen any unique people recently?

I watched a man walking down my street the other day gathering the road kill in his backpack. He would pick up any dead animal in any condition, look at it, then put it in the pack.

~Q~

posted in Finders & Scavengers - 9 replies

Fancy typing up a storm in the gutter?

Tue, 28 Dec 2004 12:02:34 GMT

Earlier this year as I was walking to the shops like any other day, I stumbled across an old Olivetti typewriter!! It didn't look like it worked but I picked it up anyway, intrigued with the idea of someone leaving a typewriter on the footpath. I ended up using it in a sculpture. You never know what you'll find.

posted in Finders & Scavengers - 1 reply

hopkin green frog

east_bay_gray — Mon, 08 Nov 2004 20:44:43 GMT

this 'lost frog' flyer is unbearably cute, and someone's taken the time to put together an 'all your base' style cut-up for it...

(click images for more)
http://lostfrog.org/index.html

via boingboing

posted in Finders & Scavengers - 5 replies

story about boobies.

caitie — Fri, 17 Sep 2004 14:08:18 GMT

the other michael suggested that i post this here. i wrote it to cheer him up about johnny ramone, but it's all true.

so earlier this week i was all depressed cause i need new bras, and i'm poor, and i'm a big girl, and that means ugly AND expensive bras. so i was lamenting the girls on this chick email list i'm on. sympathy from my bosomy friends. suggestions from the petite girls that i go to victoria's secret (snort). got an offer from a plus size lingerie website to model bras for them, to be paid in said bras. felt weird about it, cause i HATE having my picture taken. then my friend came by my house the next morning to take me shopping, spur of the moment like. she had a present for me. she volunteers at this great little movie theater in sf, and she found it in a pile of swept up trash. (YAY, trashpresents, says i, i fucking love that shit. she's my mouse friend, we're mouses and we pick up all the crumbs.) and it's a bracelet. a rubber bracelet. a rubber bracelet with rhinestone letter charms on it, on slides, not dangly, like
http://www.claires.com/product.asp?color=orange&id=1311
only black and sparkly. and it also has a dangly ballerina charm on it. and what does it say? boobies. big, sparkly, rhinestone boobies BLING. i squeal, right? i am in boobies heaven! my titty fu is strong! even bad juju bras can't break me. we go shopping. i find two awesome bras. she has a coupon for $25 off, which she gives me. life is good. we wonder who made the bracelet, it's so perfect for me, the peron who made it has the same crap 80s camp aesthetic as i do. she's telling our other little mouse friend about it today. HE MADE IT. for his stripper friend. i'm getting a new one that says puddin pie. my world is perfect.

that's my story about boobies.

posted in Finders & Scavengers - 5 replies

sad plants

lobocita — Mon, 27 Sep 2004 01:21:34 GMT

in the past few weeks i have bought [not found] what i call "sad plants" from various local retailers, such as home depot, walmart, target, lowes... and taken cuttings from around my property... and put together a fairly decent container garden for a total of $11.00, include $.94 pair of gloves, and $2.50 walmart potting mix.

i think that if i search for some creative planters, i can make fairly decent holiday gifts this season... i am very excited!

see photo of my container garden in our tribe photos.

posted in Finders & Scavengers - 1 reply

Gamelon Search

ZaeM the Great and Powerful — Thu, 06 May 2004 04:05:33 GMT

We need things that can be made into gongs, bells, and loud resonating sounds in Atlanta. We search for these things. You tell us you see heavy gong materials.

posted in Finders & Scavengers - 4 replies

discuss the content of your Found Stuff container

Holden S. — Wed, 21 Apr 2004 20:32:03 GMT

i have a clear colorless plastic envelope containing:
a white business envelope with "kissing you" written on it with a thick blue felt pen.
a yellow sheet of lined 8 by 11 inch paper on 1 side of which someone wrote, in pencil, a detailed task list with names & phone numbers, & on the other side, in black ink, brief notes on Buddhist ethics.
a torn piece of white lined paper with a pencil drawing of a cartoony, anthropomorphic insect.
a white unlined 8 by 11 inch sheet of paper with brief notes on someone's educational history in black ink.
a thin floppy plastic yellow triangle with this:

DANGER
MEN
WORKING
A
B
O
V
E

printed in black letters from the base down to the apex.
a white unlined 8 by 11 inch paper with a task list on 1 side & math problems on the other, all written in blue ballpoint pen.
another paper of the same color & dimensions containg a brief listing of someone's educational & employment history.
a color photograph that i found pinned to a public bulletin board showing a white couch with 5 white pillows in a room with white walls & gray carpet.
the word ESOTERICO written on a small piece of white scrap paper in blue ballpoint.
a piece of yellow caution tape that reads CAUTION WET P
another with TION CAUTION
a set of 3 matching receipt papers folded together & numbered 120775 - 120777, 2 of which have black felt pen drawing of vans.
carefully protected in a sandwich bag, an abandoned welfare check that someone tore up & tossed on the sidewalk.
discovered in the library, a pale yellow tag, glossy on 1 side mat on the other, with "370 - 397" printed in bold black on the glossy side. this had obviously fallen off of the side of 1 of the shelves.
a stub from a restaurant check with "Thank You!" printed on 1 side in a cursive black font on gray, & on the other, red numerals on green.
finally, an old black & white photo small enough to fit on the palm of my hand, showing, in the forground, 2 children seated on a bench in front of a tree, & in the background partially off-camera with only the hindpart visible, a 1920s-type car. i found this photo in the course of rearranging the stuff in my house in preparation for new carpeting to get put in.

a lot of this stuff provides an interesting glimpse into the lives of strangers & could provide the basis for fiction. a lot of it has esthetic appeal & might get incorporated into collages. & then of course, it's just fun to show to friends.

now... discuss the contents of your Found Stuff container!

posted in Finders & Scavengers - 0 replies

introductions

Holden S. — Tue, 13 Apr 2004 20:32:47 GMT

hi. stop by here & say hi.

posted in Finders & Scavengers - 6 replies

I'm a Janitor

furtographer — Mon, 19 Apr 2004 08:26:06 GMT

and this gives me a unique opportunity to browse dumpsters--of offices.

I found an old bondi-blue iMac. I did enough research to find that it would prolly take $300 to fix it so I could have a classic first-run piece of hardware in working order.

But that's still a lot of lettuce these days. It's gonna become a fishtank or something.

posted in Finders & Scavengers - 1 reply