buyimg and posting a didgereridoo (spelling??) to UK

Jeff wrote:
"Jan" wrote in message
...
Jeff wrote:
"Petra" wrote in message
7.135...
"Geoff Lillico" wrote in
news:42e1685a$1_1 @news.iprimus.com.au:

The Rocks area has a few shops which state that the instruments
are traditionally crafted. They will post them home for you.

We went into an Aboriginal art centre in the Rocks and asked what
percentage of their sales went to Aboriginals. The salespeople had
no idea (and didn't really seem to care). I think there are better
places if you want to be sure the people who actually *make* these
things get their fare share.

Petra

oh come one, they are all made in indonesia now anyhow.
if you want to buy the real thing, then go to a community art galley
in the outback ( not Sydney) , then you will have a real experience
to talk about when you get home.

Cheers
Jeff

Bought mine in Alice Springs, the gallery wrapped it in paper and
plastic bubble wrap.The shop said they are hardier than tourists
think!!! I still though, wrapped around more newspaper as I read
them. At check in Cairns Qantas assured me they were used to
carrying didges and would look after it. And Yes it arrived safely
back to the UK with the rest of our baggage.

Jan
Can you play it Jan?


After several alcoholic drinks- I think I can ;-) ........ Nah...can't get
the hang of circular breathing !!

Jan



Cheers
Jeff

"Peter Webb" wrote in
u:


"Petra" wrote in message
7.135...
"Geoff Lillico" wrote in news:42e1685a$1_1
@news.iprimus.com.au:

The Rocks area has a few shops which state that the instruments are
traditionally crafted. They will post them home for you.

We went into an Aboriginal art centre in the Rocks and asked what
percentage of their sales went to Aboriginals. The salespeople had no
idea (and didn't really seem to care). I think there are better
places if you want to be sure the people who actually *make* these
things get their fare share.

Petra

Do you ask the percentage of the cost that goes to production workers
when you buy all your goods?

No, but that's not a bad idea. Even if I did, I'd never get an answer
since no one knows the answer.

For example, when buying a can of tomatoes, do you ask the check-out
chick about the farm gate wholesale price of tomataoes, and whether
the pickers were paid award rates or piece-work rates? In the shoe
shop, do you enquire about the wages of Sri Lankan factory workers?
When buying bus tickets, do you ask how much the bus drivers are paid?

When buying fancy label clothing, do you ask who made them and how much
did they get paid? Some people are actually beginning to do this, and
the result is - apparently - a slow appreciation of the inequitities
associated with many industries.

Tell me this as well; did you wonder as to the meaning of that great
Australian word "******" that presumably you heard so often on your
visit?

I've known the meaning of that word for a very long time. And I think I
just met one :-)

Petra

"Jeff" wrote in
:


"Petra" wrote in message
7.135...
"Geoff Lillico" wrote in news:42e1685a$1_1
@news.iprimus.com.au:

The Rocks area has a few shops which state that the instruments are
traditionally crafted. They will post them home for you.

We went into an Aboriginal art centre in the Rocks and asked what
percentage of their sales went to Aboriginals. The salespeople had no
idea (and didn't really seem to care). I think there are better
places if you want to be sure the people who actually *make* these
things get their fare share.

Petra

oh come one, they are all made in indonesia now anyhow.
if you want to buy the real thing, then go to a community art galley
in the outback ( not Sydney) , then you will have a real experience to
talk about when you get home.

Cheers
Jeff

Exactly my point, Jeff. I think you have to go where the artists are to
get the real thing. Half (three-quarters?) of the tourist items we saw
were made in China. I suppose most people don't care if they buy a cap
with a kangaroo on it, and it's made in China. I like to think I'm
bringing home a little bit of Australia with me, not an item mass
produced in another country.

Petra

"Petra" wrote in message
.134...
"Peter Webb" wrote in
u:


"Petra" wrote in message
7.135...
"Geoff Lillico" wrote in news:42e1685a$1_1
@news.iprimus.com.au:

The Rocks area has a few shops which state that the instruments are
traditionally crafted. They will post them home for you.

We went into an Aboriginal art centre in the Rocks and asked what
percentage of their sales went to Aboriginals. The salespeople had no
idea (and didn't really seem to care). I think there are better
places if you want to be sure the people who actually *make* these
things get their fare share.

Petra

Do you ask the percentage of the cost that goes to production workers
when you buy all your goods?

No, but that's not a bad idea. Even if I did, I'd never get an answer
since no one knows the answer.

For example, when buying a can of tomatoes, do you ask the check-out
chick about the farm gate wholesale price of tomataoes, and whether
the pickers were paid award rates or piece-work rates? In the shoe
shop, do you enquire about the wages of Sri Lankan factory workers?
When buying bus tickets, do you ask how much the bus drivers are paid?

When buying fancy label clothing, do you ask who made them and how much
did they get paid? Some people are actually beginning to do this, and
the result is - apparently - a slow appreciation of the inequitities
associated with many industries.

Tell me this as well; did you wonder as to the meaning of that great
Australian word "******" that presumably you heard so often on your
visit?

I've known the meaning of that word for a very long time. And I think I
just met one :-)

Petra


good one Petra!

"Petra" wrote in message
.134...
"Peter Webb" wrote in
u:


"Petra" wrote in message
7.135...
"Geoff Lillico" wrote in news:42e1685a$1_1
@news.iprimus.com.au:

The Rocks area has a few shops which state that the instruments are
traditionally crafted. They will post them home for you.

We went into an Aboriginal art centre in the Rocks and asked what
percentage of their sales went to Aboriginals. The salespeople had no
idea (and didn't really seem to care). I think there are better
places if you want to be sure the people who actually *make* these
things get their fare share.

Petra

Do you ask the percentage of the cost that goes to production workers
when you buy all your goods?

No, but that's not a bad idea. Even if I did, I'd never get an answer
since no one knows the answer.

So why did you expect an answer for the didgeredoo?



For example, when buying a can of tomatoes, do you ask the check-out
chick about the farm gate wholesale price of tomataoes, and whether
the pickers were paid award rates or piece-work rates? In the shoe
shop, do you enquire about the wages of Sri Lankan factory workers?
When buying bus tickets, do you ask how much the bus drivers are paid?

When buying fancy label clothing, do you ask who made them and how much
did they get paid? Some people are actually beginning to do this, and
the result is - apparently - a slow appreciation of the inequitities
associated with many industries.

"Some people" - so presumably not you.

What other products have you enquired at point of sale as to the percentage
labour input? None I take it?
So why the didgeredoo? When you bought your PC, did you ask if the
motherboard was assembled in a Chinese sweat-shop (as it probably was)? Let
me assure you, the average Chinese sweat-shop on $2/day would trade in a
heart-beat to live in Australia.

"Peter Webb" wrote in
u:


"Petra" wrote in message
.134...
"Peter Webb" wrote in
u:


"Petra" wrote in message
7.135...
"Geoff Lillico" wrote in
news:42e1685a$1_1 @news.iprimus.com.au:

The Rocks area has a few shops which state that the instruments
are traditionally crafted. They will post them home for you.

We went into an Aboriginal art centre in the Rocks and asked what
percentage of their sales went to Aboriginals. The salespeople had
no idea (and didn't really seem to care). I think there are better
places if you want to be sure the people who actually *make* these
things get their fare share. [ed: should have been: fair share]

Petra

Do you ask the percentage of the cost that goes to production
workers when you buy all your goods?

No, but that's not a bad idea. Even if I did, I'd never get an answer
since no one knows the answer.

So why did you expect an answer for the didgeredoo?

I'm not the one who was looking for a didgeredoo.

For example, when buying a can of tomatoes, do you ask the check-out
chick about the farm gate wholesale price of tomataoes, and whether
the pickers were paid award rates or piece-work rates? In the shoe
shop, do you enquire about the wages of Sri Lankan factory workers?
When buying bus tickets, do you ask how much the bus drivers are
paid?

When buying fancy label clothing, do you ask who made them and how
much did they get paid? Some people are actually beginning to do
this, and the result is - apparently - a slow appreciation of the
inequitities associated with many industries.

"Some people" - so presumably not you.

No, not me, as I don't shop for labels. When I buy clothing, I actually
do look at the label, out of curiosity. I don't usually make the
decision to buy or not buy depending on the country of manufacture. I'm
not a political activist, if that's what you mean :-)

What other products have you enquired at point of sale as to the
percentage labour input? None I take it?

My point concerned native peoples, whether they be Aborigines in
Australia, Inuit in Northern Canada, the Akamba people in Kenya or
anybody else anywhere else. If I'm going to buy 'souvenirs' supposedly
made by these people I would rather that most of the money goes to the
artist and not the middle man, who quite often in the past has been
known to take great advantage of these talented but unsophisticated
peoples.

So why the didgeredoo? When you bought your PC, did you ask if the
motherboard was assembled in a Chinese sweat-shop (as it probably
was)? Let me assure you, the average Chinese sweat-shop on $2/day
would trade in a heart-beat to live in Australia.

As mentioned above, I'm not the one who originally enquired about the
didgeredoo. Or digeridu, didjeridoo, didgeridu, didjeridu (amazing how
different dictionaries spell it differently. The online Macquaries
dictionary has it as "didjeridoo" for what it's worth.)

I had many chances in Australia to purchase one, and even stopped in a
'didgeridoo factory' (Geelong? Can't remember where) in which dozens of
these items were available. We did have a friendly chat about who made
them, how they were made, etc. but I wasn't shopping.

I don't consider my PC as a souvenir and my point *only* concerns
souvenir purchases as made by native peoples.

Petra

Hi,

Jan wrote:

Can you play it Jan?

After several alcoholic drinks- I think I can ;-) ........ Nah...can't get
the hang of circular breathing !!

They still contribute nicely to a room.

R

--
For contact details, please see www.ralphholz.de.

"Wee Peem" writes:

Hi, Going to be in Sydney and Brisbane in the next month and am wanting to
get a didgeridoo to bring home. Where is the best place to get one from?? a
trad one not a mass produced if there is such a thing.

And also what sort of money do u think I would look at to post back to UK???
As I dont want to carry it on the plane or store in the baggage.

Bit of a problem with supply-chain economics. 'Real' yidakis are made by
master craftsmen from selected trees hollowed out by termites, and come
only from north-eastern Arnhem Land. Probably the greatest of those now
living is Djalu Gurruwiwi. To buy one of his instruments, assuming he
is willing to sell one to you and that one is available, would cost
around $1500. You'd have to go to Arnhem Land to get one. It doesn't
get any more 'real' than that.

Didges are available for sale everywhere. Unless you are an expert,
and know how to play, they are all much of a muchness, and it is the
intrinsic 'otherness' of the instrument, or its decoration, which
gives it much of its charm. To play one is not difficult; to play one
properly is.

If you are happy with the products on offer, and they look like the
sort of thing you want, then buy and be content. You have little
control over the supply chain, although it does no harm to ask.

--
Mike McBain
[I've apparently won the first prize (4 million euro)
and two second prizes (2 million euro each) in an internet lottery
and the organisers in Ireland, Spain and Switzerland are just waiting