A guy from Pakistan called me on the phone today. He was in Twin Falls (15 miles away) and wanted to meet with me to talk about his great flutes. He also makes professional quality uilleann pipes, harps, trombones, oil filters and other instruments.
Said he makes 8000 flutes a year so he must be really good. That’s like 22 flutes a day! I don’t know why the heck my flute makers are so slow.
He even wanted to give me a free, six-key cocus wood Irish Pratten flute to try out. They’re usually $75 and he was just going to give it to me!
Unfortunately I had some emergency anal glands to express on a labrador and couldn’t tear myself away.
Anal glands are a dime a dozen as our mass produced flutes but how many opportunities do you get to meet a Pakistani flute maker? Jbfluter would have held him captive until he cried uncle.
(I believe it’s jbfluter who is trying to improve the Pakistani flute empire, I could be wrong.)
Equally incredible! And then there’s the gender thing - I may have had a somewhat androgynous appearance in my late teens and 20s (late 1970s into 80s, though I am too young to have been a “hippy” - wasn’t a teenager in the 60s!), but I doubt anyone would mistake me for a wench these days. Or was the “impersonation” by dint of all that sweet reasonableness and caring encouragement on the “Table Legs” Thread?
Incidentally, we have a chain of “sports” wear shops in Britain called “JB Sports”, FWIW.
hmmm, ya are west coastish
Mmmmm. Distinct lack of sunny weather/disposition round these parts, though. And the actual West Coast is a good hour-and-a-half’s drive from me. (Barmouth, if anyone wants to Google-Map N. Wales. I’m just outside Wrexham - aim the bombs for the town and you’ll miss me nicely but no-one will miss it )
and I thought cross fingering was tough.. 
There you go again, Mr. Smarty Pants, ruining my embouchure for the rest of the evening…
sorry 
