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| Didgeridoo Coffee? |
| November 9, 2007: We've gotten to know more than a few beautiful and interesting people in our decade of didgeridoos. One of the latest to come along is Kevin from Raleigh, N.C. Kevin is a didgeridoo player and enthusiast, but his day job is all about coffee. Kevin and his bro Larry run a coffee roasting company called "Larry's Beans". I got to know Kevin when he sent us an old didgeridoo that he wanted restored, and I traded my time for his coffee. I love the barter system! |
| Anyway, after tasting their coffee (and I'm a snob) I decided to endorse their beans and share their Fair Trade ethics with all you good people. But the didgeridoo connection doesn't stop there. Larry's Beans supplies all of the coffee to world renowned didgeridoo player Xavier Rudd when his band is on the road, which is nearly always. They even have a special roast they just created for Xavier called "Fire in the Belly", named after one of Xavier's most recent CD titles. |
| With coffee becoming more popular than ever, we feel it's important to support a small roasting company that cares about more than market share. Larry's Beans are Fair Trade, Organic, Shade Grown, and Kosher. Their delivery trucks run on biodeisle fuel and their plant is outfitted with both solar and water conservation systems. To top that off the beans are scrumptious (and I've never used that word before)! |
| So, I've put a banner on our website to show our endorsement of Larry's Beans. My only concern is that a few folks might think it looks like advertising, and I don't want that. This was entirely my idea, not theirs. I'd love to get everyone's opinion about our endorsement banner, so check it out on Page 2 of our Eucalyptus Didgeridoo Pages (link below). Should a small business like ours support a small business like theirs in this way? I think so, but your opinion is very important to me, and I appreciate any feedback. |
| Here's the page with the banner which appears about 2/3 of the way down the page: Didgeridoo coffee! |
| For all you fellow coffee lovers I hope I've turned you on to something good and new. If you want to learn all about Larry's Beans just click on the banner. |
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| Didgeridoo Photo Contest Winner! |
| November 7, 2007: As we mentioned a few months ago, the Outback Steakhouse chain of restaurants have been decorating all of their new and remodeled stores with our modern didgeridoos. After testing a few configurations they've decided to wall mount the didgeridoos right up near the front doors. |
| Real eucalyptus didges would have been too heavy, and inconsistent in size and shape. Naturally, as a small business, we're "blown away" to see our hand crafted and hand painted modern didgeridoos on display across the country (and possibly overseas as well). |
PHOTO CONTEST WINNER
We recently conducted a photo contest to see how our didgeridoos looked in various Outback Steakhouses across the country. The winning photos can be seen using the link below. The winner was Laura from Hillsborough, NC. She won a $100 L.A.Outback Gift Certificate. Congratulations, Laura! |
| Here's a link to the winning Didgeridoo Photo |
| Thanks again Laura! |
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| David Hudson Plays Didgeridoo for 6,000 People in L.A. Concert |
| October 29, 2007: Last night David Hudson played didgeridoo as a special guest to a sold out show of over six thousand people at the Gibson Amphitheater in Los Angeles. David borrowed didgeridoos from us because his regular quiver of sticks were in Florida for an event the following week. When the L.A. gig rocked up he needed some concert quality didges and fast! Special thanks to our mates Donald, Howard, and Andrew for helping as well. Everything worked out great and the performance was a huge success. |
| David was invited to perform as a special guest with famous Armenian singer Armen Gondrachyan and his full orchestra of 22 musicians along with six dancers. Mark and I attended the show and truly enjoyed the music, staging, and full on energy. |
| To see photos and read more about the show last night (or to enquire about purchasing the didgeridoos he played on stage) go to this page: David Hudson in L.A. |
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| Steve's Didgeridoo Video on YouTube |
| October 16, 2007: Fall-esque weather is blanketing southern California, and while I much prefer warm sunshine, it's been a welcome relief from some blistering heat. Hope things are nice where you are. |
| When it's fall in the U.S. it's spring in Australia, and by Christmas the heat is on and Santa's in his board shorts and sunnies (sunglasses). Speaking of sunny... |
| Our mate Steve lives just south of Sydney in Australia and he's got a sunny disposition. Steve loves to make "slice of life" videos on YouTube under the name "Englishteaboy". We bought Steve a didgeridoo after seeing him playing a vacuum cleaner tube in one of his videos. He was stoked to get a real didge and this is the first video he's made since receiving it. The bit with the didge starts halfway into the video so sit back, relax, and get to know our didgeri-bro Steve. |
| Here's the link to our Didgeridoo Video Page |
| Hope you like it. I'll be coaching Steve over the next several months and we'll be able to hear and see his progress. |
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| A Beautiful Story, a Free Workshop, and New Didges! |
| September 17, 2007: Oy you mob! I saw the Wendy's commercial with the didgeridoo last night. The didge is on screen for like 10 seconds and gets played at the beginning and end of the spot. They rented 7 didges from us for that shoot, many were more "traditional" looking, but the director picked the most colorful one (probably to look better with the actor's outfit). Hope you all get to see it, it's running nationally. |
| Next, I want to share a beautiful story about a didgeridoo, a Native American flute, and two fellas that accidentally discovered the true meaning of harmony through music. Rather than me typing the whole story here just click this link, which includes the photos: Didge_and_Flute_Story |
| FREE DIDGERIDOO CLASS THIS SATURDAY: If you're in southern California this weekend drop by for our monthly didgeridoo class for beginners. It's Free! The date is Saturday, Sept 22, from 3-4 PM. You don't even need to bring a didgeridoo, because you can borrow one from our big selection. For all of the details see our Calendar Page. |
| FYI: I just loaded up the website with some new didges. There may be something on there that you've been waiting for. My two personal favs from this heap are named "Point of Origin", and "Pulse of the Planet", both currently listed on page 2. Here's a direct link to eucalyptus didgeridoos.
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| To end, we just want to thank all of you for your continued support. We are blessed to make a modest living doing something we love, and sharing this instrument with so many interesting and beautiful people. You rock. |
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| Stephen Kent Traveling and Performing |
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| L.A.Outback's $100 Photo Contest! |
| August 24, 2007: Greets again from sunny California. Seems we often apologize to the rest of the country for how nice it is out here. To all of you experiencing really awful heat, tornados, and/or flooding, we sincerely hope that your weather clears up sooner than later. |
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| Fact is, this bad weather causes an economic ripple effect which makes its way back to us small business owners. Many of you are so preoccupied with more serious issues that fun and hobbies, like playing your didgeridoos, take a back seat for a bit. Having said that, we'd like to inspire you with something to look forward to! So, we're having a PHOTO CONTEST (not weather related) to help get you back in didge mode and better days ahead... |
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| A $100 PHOTO CONTEST! |
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| As many of you know, Outback Steakhouse has been buying heaps of our modern didgeridoos and converting them into lighting fixtures for all of their new and remodeled restaurants. Thing is, we've never seen them, because there are no NEW or remodeled Outback Steakhouses in southern California yet... |
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| Therefore maties, a contest begins today for you to send us a REALLY GOOD photograph of these "didgeridoo light fixtures" at a new or remodeled Outback Steakhouse near you. The contest ends September 30, 2007, when we award the winning shutterbug a $100 Gift Certificate to L.A.Outback, or a $50 Gift Certificate to Outback Steakhouse (winner's choice). And we'll publish your photo on our website to share with everyone! |
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| Send your photos via email to: outbackpix@yahoo.com |
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| Send as many GOOD QUALITY, clear photos as you like. We won't be able to comment on your submissions. Winner will be notified by email on September 15, 2007. By sending us your photos you agree to allow us to edit, resize, and publish your photo/s on our website. |
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| No rules. Just shoot. Have fun! |
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| New Jeremy Donovan CD! |
August 23, 2007: Jeremy Donovan has a new CD titled "Never Alone", and he dropped off a big stack a few days ago. It's mostly solo didgeridoo with a truly meditative vibe and we love it. This CD is not on the market yet but you can grab one from us straight away. It won't be on our website for a week or so, so please order by phone on 1-800-519-1140 and we'll let you have it for a pre-sale price of $16.99 plus postage (it will be $21.99 on the website). The CD includes a pull-out with 8 of Jeremy's original paintings printed in full color. Once the CD is online with an MP3 file the $16.99 pre-sale price expires so ring us up today! |
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| Deadly Didgeridoo Duet on YouTube |
| August 22, 2007: Check out our very first video installation on YouTube! It's a deadly didgeridoo duet by Jeremy Donovan and Ryka Ali filmed in our backyard tiki hut. Jeremy and Ryka improvise a didgeridoo duet shortly after meeting each other for the first time. Jeremy is already world famous as a ripping didgeridoo player and aboriginal artist of Kuku Yalanji descent (northern Queensland, Australia). And Ryka, at 17 years old, is fast becoming recognized as a terrific didge player and traditional dancer. Ryka is Yindinji aboriginal, also from northern Queensland, Australia. |
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| We paired these two up for a quick one-take improvisation and they played for over 7 minutes! It was so good I didn't want to edit it, so click on this link to YouTube, sit back, and enjoy the magic of pure didgeridoo: |
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| Deadly Didgeridoo Duet: Didgeridoo Video Page |
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| Please feel free to rate and/or post comments about this video on YouTube if you'd like to help its popularity so more people will see it. You may also link to it from your own website or blog, or embed it into your own website so folks can watch it from there. The code to embed is sourced from a box near the video screen as it plays. Thanks for your support! |
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| Wendy's "Didgeridoo" TV Commercial |
June 13, 2007: The director of a new TV commercial for Wendy's Hamburgers selected 6 didgeridoos from our website to rent for tomorrow's filming. He sent a production assistant over to pick them up this morning, so when the didges are returned on Thursday I'll find out which one they used. |
| The PA told us that the director is famous for his Bud Light commercial that was featured during the last Super Bowl. That spot showed a guy skydiving with his mates and chickening out, then they toss a six pack out the door and he goes after it. Anyway, the PA said he's only seen the story boards for this new Wendy's commercial, but if it sounds really cool or funny I'll let you know about it before it goes to air. |
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| Concert Canceled After Didgeridoo Protest |
May 23, 2007: From ABC (Australia) News: The organizers of a concert in Broome featuring one of the country's leading didgeridoo players say they regret having to cancel at the eleventh hour. William Barton has played around Australia and the world, blending the didgeridoo with symphony orchestras but there were objections when the Queensland musician tried to perform in Broome last night Some of the town's Yawuru people claimed the concert, which also featured three other classical musicians, was disrespectful to their culture because the didgeridoo wasn't being played in a traditional context. |
| Artistic Director, Tos Mahoney, says the musicians were devastated at having to cancel. "The tour was as much about the music as about a great example of reconciliation." The controversy has left uncertainty in the town's vibrant music industry over when the ancient instrument can now be played. (End of story)... |
| Funny that, nothing like this has ever happened that I know of in "didgeridoo country", namely Arnhem Land or the rest of the Northern Territory. Broome is a very beautiful, very small, and very remote mining town in Western Australia. The Yawuru mob doesn't use the didgeridoo in their traditional songs and dances (use of the didgeridoo in proper ceremony doesn't stretch very far west of the Kimberly mountain range, far from Broome), so it's confusing how a few of these fellas could pass judgment on when and where it's played, especially outside of a traditional context. |
| It will be interesting to see what more, if anything, comes of this. No dramas about any of you playing the didgeridoo, thank goodness (or reasoning). These wonderful instruments are crafted by both aboriginal and non-aboriginal people for all of us to enjoy... unless, of course, you are an aboriginal fella named William Barton and you've got a concert at 8:00 PM in Broome! |
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