Allow myself to introduce……myself. My name is Phil.
I feel like a new kid up the front of the classroom waiting to be hit with a paper aeroplane. But everyone seems nice around here so I'm not real worried. I'm a chemist by training and work at a biotech company in Melbourne, Australia that develops anti-flu drugs. I've been playing guitar on and off since I was 5 years old, but only started taking a keen interest in my late teens.
Thanks to Jamie for putting together such an entertaining series of lunch reports over the last week. It is indeed my humble honour to have this second highest honour bestowed on me, being a relative newb and all. In fact I’m not that new – I used to hang around on the old board but didn't re-register till recently.
Lunch
Lunch today is a sandwich of 7 grain bread filled with roasted capsicum dip, double smoked ham, tomato, mature cheddar cheese, cucumber and rocket lettuce. It looks kind of healthy and my body is urging me to buy some fries to have with it. Surprisingly it tastes pretty good. The roast capsicum dip comes to the fore and makes the whole thing nice and zingy.
Dessert is an apple and the first juicy peach of the season. Bring on the summer fruits….. This was all washed down with a cup of black Bushell’s tea. Caffeine is my friend today due to my 2 y.o. daughter hollering between 1-3 am last night.
Non G&L Topic
Jamie outed me earlier as another Aussie, and I think he’s cleared up a lot of the mythology regarding Australia – walking upside down, white pointer sharks in the swimming pool and hunting crocodiles etc. etc.
I don’t believe he mentioned that Foster’s beer is not widely consumed in Australia, or that we don’t often throw shrimps on the barbie. When we do, we call them prawns and not shrimp. The water also spins down the plug hole in the other direction here. No joke.
Kangaroos occasionally appear in our backyards too. This snap is a wallaby in my backyard a few years ago.
This guy levelled my raspberry patch one evening and followed up with dessert in my neighbour’s herb garden. My neighbour nick-named him ‘Marinated’.
Although I live in Melbourne now, I was born in Tasmania and have lived most of my life there. Tassie is the small island at the bottom of Australia. Here’s a map for people who like maps.
The reason for the lack of roads on the western coast is dense, impenetrable rainforest, wild rivers and rugged mountains. If you want to visit there you have to walk or fly in.
In the 19th century Tasmania was the dumping ground for the worst criminals in the British Empire. Back then it was called Van Diemen’s Land and there’s been a few heart wrenching songs written about being sent there as a convict. A U2 song on Rattle and Hum comes to mind....
These days Tassie is more famous for good beer and as an eco-tourism destination. The most popular brews are Boags from Launceston and Cascade from the capital, Hobart.
Being an island there is a big sailing culture and there are some fantastic beaches and inlets to sail around. It’s also a fishing paradise. Alas I’ve never fished or sailed so this is all hearsay…
Most of you have probably heard of the Tasmanian Devil, a truly evil looking little creature with a fearsome growl. They feed on road kill and can grind bones into dust with their powerful jaws. Fortunately they don’t hunt humans (yet).
An equally famous Tasmanian is this guy. He hunted women and died of tiredness and venereal disease.
G&L Topic - In praise of the Tribby.
The main reason I got into G&L guitars is due to this baby.
Ginger is a 2004 swamp ash MIK ASAT Special. When she was new she was a straw, nearly blonde colour with a stark white maple neck. She was my gigging guitar for 4 years. Over the last 6 years the wood has progressively darkened and the neck has developed some really cool flaming on the front and back. Unfortunately it's only barely visible in the photo.
She has been a reliable workhorse and has survived the odd trauma like being knocked off stage by a roadie from another band who was throwing a kick drum around.
Although most of us aspire to own a USA made G&L, in Australia new US G&L’s are in the $2000-3000 price bracket due to freight and hefty customs duties. The fickle exchange rate usually works against us Aussies too. This means the first exposure most of us get to G&L is through the Tribute range.
Thankfully G&L have got the Tribbys pretty much on the money I reckon, and they are a tantalizing introduction to the rest of the G&L range. Sure the USA guitars have an aura about them, but as regular gigging guitars that can take some punishment the Tribbys are hard to beat.
All hail the humble Tribby! I liked mine so much I bought another one.
Anyone else been turned into a G&L fan through the Tribute range? Anyone noticing cool things happening to your axes as they get older?
I don't want to explain that one, I'll leave it to you!!!
I've become predictable!
. I glad not to be working with him anymore.
