Cooking is the fun part these days (to me, anyway!) I like the idea of trying to find "that taste" which Julian failed to describe and share in his book. I like the creativity, the steep learning curve, the mistakes, the post-cooking/post-meal analysis of events and planning of what's to do in my next attempt. I guess the whole lifecycle of cooking a curry is what drives me to keep on keeping on!
Phil, I would be happy to extend the offer to ship you a few packages, though I'm in Ireland and I'm sure you would be able to find these locally within better time frames and keeping the overall price down.