He did it - trading a paper clip for a house WASHINGTON - MONTREAL'S Kyle MacDonald had a red paper clip and a dream: could he use the Internet to barter that paper clip for something better, and trade that thing for something else and so on until he had a house? After 15 trades over almost a year that proved the Web's astonishing ability to bestow celebrity, Mr MacDonald's dream has come true - the 26-year-old is now ready to move into his new home in Kipling, in Canada's Saskatchewan province, which he has yet to see. The story began in July last year. He advertised the red paper clip in the barter section of craigslist.org, and two Vancouver women gave him a fish-shaped pen for it. Artist Annie Robbins exchanged a ceramic doorknob for the pen. Next up was an American, who offered a camping stove for the knob. A Marine sergeant in California took the stove, giving a generator. Mr MacDonald swapped the generator for a beer keg and a neon Budweiser sign. The keg went to a Montreal disc jockey, in exchange for a snowmobile, which was traded for a holiday in British Columbia. The holiday was converted to a van which went for a recording contract. This was traded for a year of rent-free living in a house in Phoenix, Arizona. The rent-free deal was swapped for an afternoon with rock star Alice Cooper, and that was bizarrely traded for a snow globe. TV actor Corbin Bernsen, a collector of snow globes, decided he must have it and offered a role in his new movie. The people of Kipling - a town of 1,140 people - wanted one of their own to get the role and offered, yes, a house in their town. --AP _______________________________________________________ How he did it This is the order of the trades Mr Kyle MacDonald made: (1) Red paper clip (2) Fish-shaped pen (3) Small ceramic door knob (4) Camping stove (5) Generator (6) Keg of beer and neon sign (7) Snowmobile (8) Holiday in British Columbia (9) Van (10) Recording contract (11) A year of rent-free living in a house (12) An afternoon with rock star Alice Cooper (13) Snow globe (14) Role in new movie (15) House in Kipling, Saskatchewan _______________________________________________________