Dungeons and Dragons

Why is it when we have a packed calendar, we get the fear and yet the prospect of free weekends seems exciting but also daunting?  With freedom of choice comes indecision.  How will we fill our time?  Where will we go?  Somehow, passing the time doing anything short of amazing feels like wasted time, when so many weekends have been accounted for. Panic sets in. 

I call it “the comedown.”  Regularly engaging with our supporters/friends galvanises the feeling that we are on the right track with Voodoo Street, but take away that dialogue; the festival vibes and suddenly we feel cut adrift.  Out of touch. 

Processing orders online is anonymous.  As grateful as we are for them, it’s just not the same as engaging with a friendly face. 

T-shirts are T-shirts at the end of the day, or so you might think, but once you have been privy to a man’s 20 minute deliberation about whether the large or extra large tee “hangs” better from his neck, you realise that:

a)      It’s a myth that women are a nightmare to shop with and;

b)      Buying a standard fit T-shirt is obviously a more exact science than either of us ever realised!

So whilst receiving an online clothing order still offers the usual thrill of having been chosen, it’s now also filled with the trepidation of sending it out there and wondering if the neck will be ok! 

Touch wood, we’ve never had any issues with clothing sold online and love it when people take time out to photograph their purchases and tag us in them.  It makes it worthwhile.  Here are a few recent ones.

Photo courtesy of official_jr_skating

Thank god for Instagram and Facebook!  Those who choose to interact with us on social media may not realise it, but they are like co-workers – our own little cyber office.  By day, we’re beavering away in our dungeon, at Voodoo Towers and this contact with the outside world gives us a buzz.  (There’s only so long you can spend chatting to the postman without coming off as creepy J)

Lee Foulkes in his Voodoo Street Urban Army Cap

At this point, we’ve sold one of our stickers to nearly every corner of the globe at some point and have encountered some pretty “out there” surnames.  However, on Friday night a particularly familiar name popped up on an order of stickers.  After a little Internet research, we discovered that it was indeed the son of a certain Cypriot born member of BBC’s Dragon’s Den.  Not necessarily worthy of champagne popping, but definitely a talking point.  Another swiftly followed this order, from one Martin Kemp, although we’re doubtful that it was Spandau Ballet’s bassist.

Photo Courtesy of Steve and Cat Bath

Vespa Love

So, back to our free weekend.  What did we do?  Well, after a week of stock taking, updating our online store, washing rain battered odds and sods and reconciling a mountain of receipts, we were kept busy with family birthday celebrations on Friday. Saturday’s torrential rain and consequent flooding also made us grateful that we weren’t standing in the middle of a field somewhere, although the enforced time indoors did result in the beginnings of a new little project for Voodoo Street.  We also spent a little time on a design that we periodically tinker with.  (Hopefully we’ll be able to share these new bits and pieces with you very soon). We rounded off Saturday with a curry and beers with friends.

Can you buy grey jelly?

In other news, our favourite time of year - Halloween - is fast approaching and already, ghoulish Chinese tat is creeping into our house.  So far, we have some tea light holders, a jelly mould in the shape of a brain and 2 pumpkins.  There will be more.  This year we seriously need to up our game on the pumpkin front.  Both of last year’s gourds were hurriedly carved on Halloween and in all honesty would probably have looked better if we had taken a machete to them blindfolded!

Incidentally, in an update to my last blog, we discovered this sign nailed to a tree in the woods.  Our familiar outlook of tall woodland pines at the end of our garden (a view we fell in love with when we first looked at the house, which looks like a location from a Stephen King novel) is clearly not going to be around for much longer.  It looks as though their days are numbered.  Very sad.

Today marks the fourth sunny day in a row, which makes it hard to focus when I have a day of admin ahead of me.  Warm as it is by day, the temperatures seem to be plummeting at night in these parts and as we all know, the drop in evening autumn temperature marks the arrival of my nemesis – the spider.  I can handle zombies, ghosts and anything else Halloween throws at me, but I find these creatures truly terrifying.  I’m not a fan of insects in general; anything bigger than an aphid increases my heart rate and not in a good way.  We have had some roasters in our house: unnaturally hairy, too many legs, muscles ffs!  Gaz has to carry out a night time “sweep” before I go upstairs.  Maybe I should consider hypnosis.

An accurate artist's impression of a typical spider found in our house with frightening regularity

Anyway, onwards and upwards!  Til next time!

Weather Bombed!

It was not a great start to the weekend.  All geared up for Bus Types, the forecast was grim on Friday morning.  Periods of grey, wet nothingness, punctuated by biblical downpours and snow.  We took a view to pack the van and head off first thing Saturday morning, as the forecast for the rest of the weekend was good.

At 10.30 pm, just as Gaz packed the last box into the van, I took a call from Sophie, a Bus Types rep. 

“Have you set off yet?” she asked, “cos if you haven’t, I would recommend you don’t come.” 

With tales of traders being towed on site and off again, due to waterlogged ground, which would require days of blazing sunshine to recover, we reluctantly admitted defeat.  To top it all off, I developed a sudden and extremely painful toothache.  With a sense of foreboding that only a trip to an emergency dentist can bring, I topped my glass up and hoped for the best.  Hard liquor might just see it off.

The view that greeted us - bleary eyed - early on Saturday morning, was enough to cause snow blindness!  The weather was definitely living up to the apocalyptic warnings.  On the plus side, the toothache had subsided to a more manageable level.

At a loose end on Saturday with a van full to the brim of Voodoo Street stock which should have been unleashed on the unsuspecting revellers at Bus Types, we felt a little jaded.  This wasn’t helped by photos emerging on social media, with blue-sky backdrops, of a pretty good turn out in spite of the adverse ground conditions.  One point to note is be very careful how you search for “Bus Types” images on Google.  One small slip with the keys and some pretty alternative images pop up!

Time to count our blessings and make the most of some time off. 

Last week we sold one of our beloved barrel boards.  Never intended for retail, they were made with love and always draw attention on the VW circuit, so I suppose it was only a matter of time before we caved and agreed to sell one. 

This vintage oak beauty is on its way to a discerning customer as I write.

I also had some time to engage with cyber friends on social media.  Working so closely with Gaz from home, it’s easy to become detached from the big wide world.  Sometimes that’s a good thing, but it can be quite insular at times.  The awesome thing about Instagram is the immediate connection you can make with other creative, like-minded nutters!  Social media is like a virtual office to me, so I had an exchange with the lovely @Janie_evo, randomly, about sphinx cats and wiled away some time googling these fascinating creatures.

I managed to squeeze in an hour's shopping at a local emporium I've recently fallen in love with, which is like stepping back into a way cooler era.  On Saturday it was bursting at the seams with the usual suspects, pineapple ice buckets and vinyl collections, but I also spotted rolls of Flash Gordon wall paper circa 1981 and these playing cards, which I bagged for our road trips.

An impromptu basketball session in glorious sunshine finished off our Saturday and then we kicked back with pizza, a movie and a few jars.

Sunday we took a little road trip into the Shropshire countryside and admired the gleaming scooters grouped in Ludlow Market Square.  This one caught my eye, as it payed homage to one of my favourite TV series, Life on Mars.

Later on when we lamented our lost weekend in Oswestry, one of our mates sent us this photo, which kind of says it all really. 

  

We’ve put it behind us now and are crossing everything for a smooth run at Derbyshire Dubs in a few weeks’ time.

Shiver by the River to Heaven by the Severn!

Last week was probably our craziest to date.  On a weekend road trip through Shropshire, we spotted a sign advertising the first VDubs in the Valley festival.  On a whim, we decided that it was the right time to unleash Voodoo Street onto an unsuspecting public and where better to start than our favourite local market town, Bridgnorth!  Only problem was, we had less than 7 days to prepare.  And so, fuelled by coffee and adrenalin, we worked a series of late nights labelling and finishing stock, finalising paperwork and packaging, designing a trade stand, buying a weather-proof trade stand, sourcing props and signs to furnish said trade stand and sorting transportation.  Oh, and we also designed and produced a sticker to mark the occasion.  At first we decided it should read "Shiver by the river" (still loving that!) but after seeing a more promising weather forecast, opted for "Heaven by the Severn."

With very little time to spare, Thursday (set-up day) arrived, literally like a damp squib.  In relentless drizzle, Gaz pitched up next to an old oak tree in the middle of a damp but beautiful field by the Severn....with literally no-one else in sight. Starting to fear the worst and experiencing something like first night nerves, he set up shop (with a little help - you know who you are, cheers!)  He needn't have worried.  By the time Claire rocked up at 7 (ish), the place was full and she was greeted by security staff and organisers grinning like Cheshire cats, chuffed that their humble little festival was taking on a life of its own.

COMPETITION TIME!!

The rest of the weekend went in a blur of amazing people, awesome vans, huge support, a raft of compliments, a little alcohol, delectable food, great music and a few rays of sunshine!  Our tattoo'd mannequin (aka "The Illustrated Man) proved to be a big hit, so much so that we have formally adopted him, which leads us to the point of this blog.  No adoption process is complete without a name and our man desperately needs a show name.  So, we're throwing it out there.  The person who comes up with the best name wins a free goody bag!  To enter, simply check out our website and like our Facebook page (to get a flavour of what we're about) and then put forward a name you feel befits such a handsome dude!  Please post your suggestions on our Facebook page and we'll pick our favourite and notify the winner on Monday 6th October.  Good luck and thanks again!