My nickname foretold my business..

Hi readers, some time has passed since iv posted a blog and allot has happened. The business has taken a different direction and has changed, now I am creating high quality custom sized Didgeridoo bags which is a skill that I have known since I was young when my grandmother taught me. Its funny because most of my adult life I have gone by the nickname of Didgebag in some circles, now this has become a reality.

I am enjoying every part of the business at the moment and have met with one or two company's and shops who are interested in my product, I will tell you more when I know.
These are exciting times and I am glad to share my experiences with you through more blogs in the not too distant future.

X

Didgebag Update..

Two months have past since my last Blog update and for good reason, allot has taken place since then and I have become an Uncle to a awesome nephew named Logan and have been on many travels and journey's both mentally, physically and spiritually. This is a 'brief' update on most of these.

Well to begin (Normally they say 'leave the best till last' but I cant) iv become a proud proud uncle of my little three week old tyke Logan who was born 21days early at the end of June, We've had our ups and downs and I wont go into detail but he was ill a couple of days after birth but has made a full recovery and is doing great.

Also at the begining of June me and my great friends 'Lethargy'&Co took a trip to Ibiza where the boy's were playing a festival, this was easily one of the best trips I have taken and it was all down to great company, We stayed in Ibiza for 8days and visited such bars as 'Hogans' and 'The V bar', Temperature's were high and the sun,sea were welcomed greatly.

In recent new I have started a new job in a local park 'Margam Park' where im building drystone walls and doing general maintenance, Iv only been there for 3days to date but it seems like I have fallen in lucky, I will keep you posted.

Training. Im still out and about on my bicycle most days whether going to and from somewhere or just out for the heck of it, I also got kindly donated a Old school raleigh record sprint road bike which needed much love and care to get it back on its wheels but finally and fingers crossed it will be road worthy this coming week, I have completed two fun cycles in the last month one was a 36miler for a charity that is setting up a Orphanage in the north of Uganda and the other was a 29miler for the British Heart Foundation,both went extremely well and im looking for more events to enter.

Road to health.

Its been slightly over a month since i posted a blog about my 'Road To Health' and i thought id write a small blog as a update and as a personal diary for myself, this is not just about weight loss, Its about mental attitudes towards one's self and my surrounding hurdles.

Well where do i begin, this month has had its ups and its downs. Iv tried being pro-active everyday in my food intake and exercise and I think this has paid off, I am able to cycle longer distances in ever decreasing times and cycling up hills is becoming easier and dare I say it 'more enjoyable'. I'm trying to cycle minimum of 8miles a day with a maximum of 20-24miles, this has become a religious act for me where my mind can just switch off and focus on gear change and pedaling alone, its my great therapy.

Iv also taken up a weight loss challenge amongst me and a few friends, to lose 2 stone by July the 22nd, we all weighed in at the start and now i'm trying not to go back on the scales until the end date because i fear the danger of becoming addicted to weight checking after every poop and after every meal. This is a good challenge and keeps me more focused and dedicated to winning because its all about the winning not the taking part (just kidding)

Im slowly but surely beginning to like the way I look and I am now sporting the clean shaven look(first time since I was sixteen)

I still have a long way to go and diet change does bring its down factors like mood swings and iv had allot of them this past month. Il keep you updated.

The road to health is long

Forge On....

My first Moleskine!!

What is Moleskine?

The Moleskine notebook is the heir and successor to the legendary notebook used by artists and thinkers over the past two centuries: among them Vincent Van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, Ernest Hemmingway and Bruce Chatwin. A simple black rectangular book with rounded corners, an elastic page-holder and an internal expandable pocket, the notebook was traditionally used for sketches, notes and stories.

How I found the Moleskine.

I have been a Moleskine fan for many years but have never owned my own, I found these particular books while searching for a good birthday present for a close friend, who studies and is very much into composition and I stumbled across th Moleskine music book with printed manuscript, the perfect present. The Moleskine was gladly received and is still being used today. Now I have my very own Moleskine which i bought today, it's a 2010-2011 18month planner and I am chuffed with it, the only problem is I have to wait a little longer for it to take full effect because its start date is July. I'm hoping this will be a long lasting relationship between me and the legendary Moleskine notebook.

Check These:http://www.moleskine.co.uk/

http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/10/22/moleskine-art-beautiful-examples-and-talented-artists/

Is 'Fair Trade' really fair trade in the Didge world?

Recently I have been thinking allot about 'fair trade' and how that term has been used in the Didge world. The reason for fair trade in a nutshell, it helps producers in impoverished country's get better working and trading conditions and gives higher/fairer prices to the producer, these people have to be certified to call there product/company fair trade.

Now with the massive influx of poorly made didgeridoo's in the last decade someone must be getting short pocketed, With the likes of cheap Bamboo, Teak didge's being imported in to the U.K and the U.S from places like South America, India and Korea. You may ask "whats the problem with that?", In my opinion its a fairly big problem because the didge market is being over run with second class instruments and that in turn damages the Authentic didge market because most people would rather buy a less expensive Doo's.

Most of these didge's from South America, India and Korea class/call themselves fair trade instruments but the truth of the matter is that there not because they haven't been accredited this certification, Some of these Didge's are being made un-ethically by the likes of children and adults on very very small pay, I myself have been found guilty of buying one of these doo's many moons ago.

This not only effects the producers of these cheap didges but it also takes buyers away from aboriginal made/crafted Yidaki, What can we doo? we can stop the purchasing of these mass made sticks and spend a little more money on a genuine didge that will play better, look better and make your conscience feel clear.

The sign on the door of opportunity reads PUSH!!

This has been on my heart and in my dreams for some years and now i am starting to see it unfold before me in seed form. This seed/vision being a Didgeridoo business.

The Vision

It has been a long term desire of mine to create and sell my own handmade Didge/Yidaki

but have never pursued this heart pull until recently when I had a vision of a shop which quiet frankly looked like a hobbits art gallery but instead of art on the walls there were didgeridoo's, Very few didge's on display but the best of the best,the cream of the crop being lit by spot lights in-front of stoney whitewashed walls, Instantly i knew that this is what i'm suppose to be doing with myself.

The First Breath

After a month of mulling upon this idea/vision the enormity started to hit me, I have no experience in making didge's let alone trying to sell them and where was i going to get the money and skills to achieve this didge empire, then I decided to get in contact with a well respected Yidaki company in Queensland Australia and asked them if it would be ok if they would be my wholesaler and they said 'Yes' to my surprise, I'm only going to wholesale into the U.K as a short term plan until I get enough experience in didgecraft to create my own pieces of art. Now where am I going to get this money from? Currently I am working with the Princes trust, drawing up business plans and thinking about marketing skills and attending courses but through all these things they can possibly help me receive funding through a grant or long term loan.Fingers crossed. Until the business starts to grow I will be selling via the internet going under the name Didgebag possibly...

This is early days and who knows what is going to happen but i'l keep you all posted on how things are progressing. Lets hope this seed grows into a tree bearing lots of fruit.

What I Talk About When I Talk About Personal Image

I'm the type of guy who isn't into personal image or physique and have always been overweight and a bit of a scruff (Redneck at best) but around the Christmas period all this started to bug me, I woke up one morning and took a long hard look at myself in the mirror and thought 'I can do better than this' Something changed inside me that morning and the reasons being are simple, I am 22yrs old and its about time I started cleaning my act up,if I'm not a fan of my own body image how is anyone else meant too be. The other is for health reasons, I had a scare when I had a blood pressure test and they told me it was high (Later finding out it was incorrect I was normal)

I started getting a little down at the thought of having to lose weight and the amount of work it will entail but when I started my mental attitude changed and I was looking for things to do, I started training with a close friend who helped me brake all my mental barriers (Even though he doesn't realize it) He is a ex-cage fighter and hard man and he taught/teaches me in floor fighting and Thai boxing, The more i trained the more I realized my attitude to myself and personal outlook were changing, I started to get more confidence in myself and my ability.

Iv taken up cycling and do allot of walking and was/am always looking for the next hurdle, Iv started to try and cycle/walk everyday and my diet has changed considerably, Iv lost around two stone in the last couple of months and I have started to enjoy the process and a little saying that has helped me through this is 'pain is inevitable suffering is optional' Which I read in a personal memoir by Haruki Murakami titled 'What I Talk About When I Talk About Running' , I stole the title from that Memoir and tweaked it a little for my Blog title. I am currently training towards a local charity bike ride in July that will be 29miles short.

I'm still trying to lose around another two stone and that is going to be no easy feat. There are days where i cant be bothered to go outside the front door but I know its for the greater good.

My advice to anyone with a problem like mine is to get out there and just do it, there will never be a better time than the present and yes you probably will come up with all the excuses in the world but crack on with it, Its worth the effort. Plus your saving the planet by not using cars and your getting mentally/physically fitter.

I will keep you updated on my road to health.