Im pleased to report that today saw the first SRP (Australian Division) mini convention, held in Brisbane Australia... the city of sundays... on a saturday.

Let me brief you...

I don't live in brisbane, actually i live some distance away, but circumstance had me visiting today and i thought it would be a good idea to contact the members i knew in the brisbane area and organise a get together for the purposes of exchanging ideas and a bit of show and tell.

Jimbo was the only one I could think of so I pm'd him and suggested the idea... no worries he said... lets meet up town at the razor shop (great name for a shop) and take it from there... as far as it goes here in australia, this is considered "fully organised".

www.therazorshop.com

I arrived early... I always do... when meeting someone for the first time I like to case them out a bit as they arrive to try and get the cut of their jib... you can tell a lot about a man by watching the way he carries himself... whether he has the confident swagger of an oxford man or the apologetic shuffle of someone from cambridge... little did i know...

Like a blade on the feather... Jimbo whistled into the shop... bang on time... and we could get things under way.

Just quietly... I dont think the girl in the shop was used to dealing with people of our calibre... she seemed a little overwhelmed at the demands being placed on her... whats this? where did it come from? can you get any more of it? They seem a little more geared toward the DE and Mach3 inclined, but they do keep a modest selection of straights on hand. A handful of nice dovos and a couple of Fromm's... a selection of badger hair brushes and a very good variety of soaps, creams and lotions... pretty good really.

Pretty soon we had the shop inventoried and assessed... yes, yes... good... must try this... must try that... no no no that product/thing has no earthly business being in any self respecting shavers den... and so on

One thing that must be mentioned by itself is strops... or lack thereof.

All the young lady could show us was one tiny little dovo stop... well made and nice to look at but ultimately unsuitable for the job. Tony Miller... we said... you have to go and check out his website and see what he can do to help you... the dovo is cute, but it just wont do. I actually thought it was a miniature strop... for shop display purposes. But i am assured by my learned colleague that you can strop razors on it.

Lunch !

We left the shop to find something to eat... down onto the mall to Jimmy's outdoor eatery. Great food, cold beer and an opportunity to watch the city pass by. Over fish and pasta we exchanged thoughts on steel and metalurgy... ivory and wood... belgian and japanese... soaps and creams... sources foreign and domestic... all great stuff.

Then it was time for the afternoon session... off to the Paddington Tavern

For those who've never heard of it, "The Paddo" is a bit of a landmark here in brisbane. It's been here since before anyone can remember and visited on more than one occasion by almost every regular visitor to Brisbane. Its just around the corner from the Claxton Hotel and Lang Park... which are to queenslanders what yankee stadium and maddison square are to New Yorkers (holy sites). Lang Park is home to the "Emperor" Wally Lewis and the rugby league State of Origin trophy, the hardest fought and most bitterly contested trophy in australian sport.

Here we drank cold beer and hammered out the really important issues...

And then it was time for show and tell... Jimbo had with him some very impressive pieces including a really nice Papabull handled friodur which i had not seen in person before... very very nice. Definately a must have if the opportunity presents itself. I brought along some pieces I was particularly pleased with... and a couple that Im not very happy with at all... for comparitive purposes. Soon the table was covered in steel... sheffield and solingen... new and vintage... off the rack and custom made... a beautiful thing.

But... my rather obtuse sense of humour to one side...

It was the best day out Ive had in a little while... I feel like learned a lot and made a new friend...

I'd recommend in the strongest terms throwing what support you can behind the organisation of the real SRP convention and then finding a way to get there... you can pick up more in 5mins of face to face than you ever will from hours of typing and reading.

The very least you should do is add your location to the google map, as has already been suggested, and find out who lives near to you. Its a good way to spend your time off.

Greg Frazer.