Saturday at the Hut - 6/16/12

We had a nice crowd at The Tobacco Hut today - I'm glad I got there when I did, as there was only one good chair left. Peter G and Don W were already there, but I sat in my usual chair so all was right with the world. Later Bob B came in, as well as Aaron C, Joe K, and Paul O.

I was smoking my Neerup pipe, one of two that I own, and a bowl of Erik Nording's Hunter's Blend, a very nice combination. Aaron showed Lou his collection of cigar bands and, get this, Lou gave him a book specifically for saving cigar bands and making notes in. That's right, Lou gave away something. Now, he admitted that at the height of the cigar craze back in the 90s he sold dozens of them and that was the last one and he had marked it down several times, but still! Um Lou, there's probably a pipe or two that you've had in stock for a long time...just sayin'.

Snack alert! We are officially out of the peanut butter pretzels. I'll try and get my mother to buy some more for us, but don't know how soon she's going to Sam's Club. So if someone is headed there, feel free to buy a bag.

Congratulations to
Scott R on the publication
of his book!
(Click to enlarge)

Hey, a shout out to our own Scott R, who published his latest book on Amazon this week! I'm a little proud of it myself as he asked me to edit and proofread it, and design the cover. He's written a small volume aimed at would-be writers who are having trouble overcoming the inertia of not writing. Scott outlines some good tips on how to get started on writing. Highly recommended if you have that budding author inside of you! Check it out on Amazon here! And once you get that book written, let me know if you need any editing services or a cover designed!

By the way, a welcome to The Tobacco Hutters' newest member, Bob B! When I got home his application for membership was waiting in my inbox. That makes 26 members which I think is pretty good for a forum that isn't open to the public. I'd like to keep it that way - making it by invitation only - but I would like to see a bit more participation from folks. I pledge to be more active on it, especially as I curtail my blog postings, but I don't want to be talking in a vacuum.

Good luck to Don W as he was telling us about an interview he had with an airline company in Houston this past week. Hope you get good news soon, Don!

And a quick bon voyage to Peter. He's heading to the wild northwest for an Alaskan cruise next week. Have fun, Peter! Post pics to the Hutters!

OK, now to the highlight of the day. Don persuaded his friend Aaron to tell the "Brokeback Mountain" story and, with great reluctance, he did. Apparently when the film first came out several years ago a friend of his - Adam, I think - asked if he wanted to go to the movies. Sure, Aaron replied, what do you want to see. Adam answered that he'd like to see the new film, "Brokeback Mountain". Aaron hadn't heard anything about it, so Adam described it in very general terms: Two guys, the great outdoors, etc. without going into the plot at all.

Once in the theater, Aaron noticed that all the moviegoers were men; not a woman to be seen. Hmm, that's strange, he thought, but no matter. He and Adam sat down, observing the "Man Rule" in theaters: an empty seat between them. He then noticed that nobody else was observing said rule and were sitting next to each other. Aaron still didn't think too much of it and was just looking forward to seeing a rugged, outdoorsy kind of movie.

So he settled in with his popcorn and soda (Aaron, did you share a tub of popcorn with Adam or did you each have your own?) and began watching. About halfway into the movie the two lead characters, played by Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal, take a little walk in the woods and, as Aaron tells it, they spend an inordinate amount of time in the woods.

Later, in the penultimate scene of the movie, one of the characters decides to share a tent with the other and Aaron witnesses an apparently very graphic scene of man love. As this is a family blog, I won't repeat some of the more lurid descriptions that Aaron used in describing the carnal proceedings.

We, of course, were in stitches hearing him tell the story, especially when he finally realized what his friend had talked him into seeing. In describing his climax - I mean, in describing the climax of the movie - Aaron proved himself a master pantomimist, displaying every grind and thrust he had witnessed. Again, we were falling over ourselves laughing. When we had calmed down, I began thinking how I can best memorialize Aaron's tale. When I got home, I fired up Photoshop and found a picture I had of Aaron taken a few months ago.

It's been said that pictures are worth a thousand words, so after I've now wasted a couple hundred, I present to you the never-before-seen movie poster of "Brokeback Mountain" starring none other than Aaron C:

With just a little Photoshop magic, Aaron isn't
just watching his favorite movie, he's starring in it!
(Click to enlarge)

Thanks for being a good sport about the "revised" movie poster, Aaron!

I had planned on skipping this week's blog to work on some of the other writing projects I have in the hopper, but I couldn't let this go!

See everyone on the Hutters!