Apologies for my blogging absence over the last week or so, don't worry, I have some walking blogs to post soon and I've also been hatching a plan that I hope will grab your attention.
A few weeks ago I was lounging around catching up on some Sky+ recordings watching Simon Cowell & Co. on American Idol. The theme was Lennon/McCartney and after an intro by Sir Paul himself the idols were off, needless to say some were better than others.
The performance that triggered my next challenge came from Janis Joplin inspired singer Crystal Bowersox.
Crystal is not your stereotypical Idol contestant, which is refreshing. She has even been known to sing barefoot on a magic carpet style rug on the main Idol stage :)
For Lennon/McCartney week Crystal had chosen Come Together and was accompanied by Ernie Fields Jr. playing the Didgeridoo!
I looked to the corner of my living room and my eyes landed on the Didge that I'd purchased in Alice Springs during a back packing trip after Uni in 1995/6.
I've been training pretty hard since being chosen as the lucky employee to represent Brains on the Brains SA Captains Climb. I obviously don't plan to leave the company or Velindre down and want to make sure that I've done everything that I can before setting foot on Kilimanjaro.
One of my areas of self doubt is lung capacity and general breathing. I can get up any hill but whether it's a gentle incline or the steeper slopes of Snowdon I'm always puffing my way there. I recover really quickly but don't ask me to hold a conversation when walking uphill!
Seeing the Didge on Idol made me think that if I could learn how to play it properly then it may help reduce my breathlessness. I've had more medicals in the last 6 months than I have in the previous 30 years, the doctors are happy with my health including lung capacity and strength. I don't know why I always pant my way up a mountain and I don't know whether playing the didge will help but I'm willing to give it a go.
My plan:
1. Learn how to circular breath and play the Digeridoo continuously.
2. If I fail I will wash the cars of 5 Brains employees (who I'm sure will be happy to watch me hard at work)
3. I need good sponsorship from you to inspire me to keep me going :oP (http://www.justgiving.com/Didgimanjaro).
I have already made a start by trying to contact some Didge musicians to help me out. Once again Twitter came into it's own and after some help from fellow twitterers (@SimonOggy, @Carmarthenshire, @gowercottage and @gomezadams) I received a messages from @soundsandimages.
Challenge On . . . . .
Please start sponsoring me at http://www.justgiving.com/Didgimanjaro while I get going with the challenge, another update to follow soon.
