On Assignment

Gnome bubble?

The gnome market just went through the roof. 10 of them just sold for $220; that's twice what they were going for this morning. A share of Google, by comparison, only went up 1.25 percent today.

Maybe Parish was onto something.

Thomas Jefferson gnome!

$140

Mrs. Claus and the elves gnomes!

$200

Fruit gnomes!

18 of them.

"A banana, an apple, a whole bunch of 'em."

$170

Slap happy

The auctioneer is going on six hours straight with hardly a breath, let alone a bite to eat. He's still got a brisk cadence on the prices, but his salesmanship is starting to lose some of its sheen:

"All right, a big painting -- three ladies in a garden playing instruments."

"Let me see Napoleon there. Oh wow, he's on his horse ready to charge off!"

"If I lived at the beach, I'd have to have a pair of those."

"Jeez, there's a bunch of cushions and things in there too."

Doing what he can

Roumillat, the auctioneer:

"It's a (crystal) faucet with a drip of water coming out of it? That's cool. That's what everybody should have. Do I have $100?"

Nativity gnomes!

Praise be.

14 of them. $140.

A guy swilling a beer wussed out at $130.

Record?

There's some chatter that the biggest Charleston auction to date grossed about $500,000. The haul on this one is approaching $2 million.

And the pace is still blistering:

four hundred

four-fifty

five hundred

come on five-fifty

five-fifty

five-fifty all in all done

six-hundred...

The judge grabs the gavel

U.S. District Judge David Norton, the man presiding over Al Parish's fate and freedom, just nabbed a tray of his cufflinks for $700.

Wonder if he'll wear them to Parish's next hearing?

Pirate gnomes!

Yaaarrgh!

Three of them. $140.