Saturday at the Hut - 11/27/10

Before I get into today's activities at The Tobacco Hut, I'd like to mention that this space was reviewed and mentioned in a blog across the pond by a rather large and well-known catalogue retailer in the U.K. I received an e-mail from a most pleasant correspondent from the Clifford James Co. She indicated that my blog was chosen, among others, as one of the "Pipe Smoker's Blogs We Love." She described The Sweetest Smoke "As much a social commentary as an exploration of new pipes and tobacco blends, it is an addictive tobacco soap-opera." I like that, an addictive tobacco soap-opera. Anyway, here's the link to the Clifford James blog.

Today indeed was quite the soap opera! In attendance were Tom L, Joe K, Adrian R, Lou, and myself. Ed B and Tom D arrived after the fireworks were over. Now perhaps it was because Lou was a little grumpy, or Tom L likes to stir the political pot, or Joe K was mad at Apple (wanna sell that iPad, Joe?), but I found myself on the receiving end of countless barbs and unpleasantries. In the vernacular of the Hut, I was in "the barrel" before I had even lit my pipe.

Speaking of which, I did enjoy a bowlful of Lou's most-excellent Baker Street, an exquisite English blend that I'm liking more and more. The Crown Viking freehand (at left - click to enlarge) handled it beautifully, burning the Virginia/Latakia blend to a fine, white ash. I had to run a pipe cleaner through the pipe about halfway through smoking it as there was a buildup of moisture. I don't think however that had anything to do with the tobacco, but rather my smoking it too rapidly. See, my blood pressure was rising as I tried to withstand the attacks from Lou, Tom, and Joe.

The withering bombardment aimed at your humble narrator, the token liberal in the room, was so rapid-fire that I had trouble properly defending myself. At one point, I tried to argue not a position, but a point of fact (about whether people born here are American citizens or not), with Lou, but forgot the cardinal rule. He's always right. I should have deferred to him right away and conserved my energy.

In any case, I felt like I not only had to defend the entire progressive movement, as well as the newspaper I work for, and even Apple. In the end I just couldn't do it. In spreading myself too thin, in fighting a war on two - nay, three - fronts, I failed. I was defeated, broken, and didn't even have an NPR station to listen to for comfort until the lonely ride home.

Adrian joined us and jumped into the fray, bringing well-reasoned and cogent arguments to the discussion. He didn't go on the offensive as much, but tended to chime in with his opinion when asked. Perhaps he was distracted by Florida State beating up on the University of Florida. BTW, I did enjoy watching Ohio State beat Michigan - again!

I've mentioned to a couple folks a project I'm working on for my mother as a birthday gift. I'm assembling converted 8mm films, scanned slides and prints, and music onto a DVD as a little trip down memory lane for her. In combing through the slides, I came across this photo (at right - click to enlarge). This is me at 3 years old sitting on my grandfather's lap. I was obviously interested in pipes from a very young age. My fondest memories of "Grandpa Al" are of watching him pack and smoke his pipe.

Just an announcement for all who are interested, my son Ryan will be visiting in mid-December, and we'll try and make an appearance on Saturday, December 18th in the early afternoon. Perhaps I can even persuade him to take over the writing duties of this space again.

Until next week...
 - Bob

Saturday at the Hut - 9/11/10

Today at The Tobacco Hut I brought one of my David Jones handmade creations, a dark tan colored sandblasted billiard that always smokes nice and cool. I loaded it up with Tinder Box Reserve 1928 and settled in for a relaxing afternoon of pure tobacco delight.

Lou and I were joined late in the day by Barry and Steve. Steve and I discussed finishing up the website I'm re-designing for him. Shouldn't be long 'til it's ready to go - I'll make sure to announce it here when it's live. In case nobody was aware, Steve owns his own landscaping business, S&B Lawn Care. In the spring, Steve and his crew did a fantastic makeover of our front and back yard, installing new sod, plants, and hardscaping. We've had numerous comments from neighbors about the resulting transformation. Thanks Steve!

Joe took the week off as he had a dental procedure done a couple days ago and the dentist advised against smoking for a few days. Having had a tooth pulled several weeks ago, I can understand why he decided to skip this Saturday. Peter was AWOL, but he was probably DJ'ing at the local Greek radio station, or doing a live remote from Tarpon Springs or something. Now that he's back on the air, we'll probably never see the guy anymore.

Barry paid a visit, and he came bearing gifts. Well, a gift. For me. He had traveled to Ohio recently and picked up an Ohio State cap for me. His timing was perfect as he entered the store right at the opening kick-off between Ohio State and Miami. I immediately put on the hat and I'm sure it brought the Buckeyes good luck as they went on to beat the Hurricanes (no real surprise, of course, as OSU was ranked #2). Thanks for the hat, Barry. I appreciate it!

A shout-out to Scott who's on his way to upstate New York for a high-school reunion. Safe travels, my friend. Also, speaking of the Empire State, we're expecting a visit soon from New York Vic who recently sold his house and moved to the Bradenton area. I guess we can't call him "New York Vic" any longer. Barry said he called him "Cracker" as he's now a Florida resident. I think I'll just call him "Vic."

Until next week!

 - Bob

Saturday at the Hut - 12/19/09

Again my humble apologies for taking so long to write a post - even Joe is finding it hard to defend my neglect of the blog. I shall endeavor to be more attentive in the future.

We all had a good laugh at The Tobacco Hut last week, December 12th, when the preacher man, Jim C, discovered that he had a new mission for conversion, namely me. He, Joe, Lou and Peter tried mightily (Joe even offered to take a knee with me) but alas I'm still enjoying the company of fellow nontheists such as Friedrich Nietzsche, Albert Camus, Bertrand Russell, Carl Reiner, George Carlin, Carl Sagan, and Kazimierz Lyszczynski (who was executed in 1689 for his beliefs - or rather, non belief).

This past Saturday I brought a special guest - my son Ryan was in town visiting for his winter break from school. He just finished up his first quarter at Ohio State, getting all A's, and was spending a few days with the family. It didn't take him long to join Lou, Joe, and Peter in taking some shots at the ole' man. He would fit in quite easily with our little Saturday afternoon group, just as Joe's son James did.

We couldn't stay long as we were headed up to Spring Hill to visit my mother who is recovering from a rather long stay in the hospital. She's doing better now and is on the mend.

Some more good news on the medical front, I had my six month scans last week to see if any more cancer has reared its ugly head and everything was clear - yippee! Or, as Joe would say, "Thank ya Jesus!". There was one little spot on the bone scan, but the oncologist said it wasn't cancerous at all, just a little arthritis in my hip. Can't wait to play the arthritis card on Paula now..."Sorry Honey, can't cut the grass, my arthritis is acting up."

Oh, one more thing, I made a grave error regarding the spelling of a certain word when I was building the shop's website. Lou has a pipe tobacco called North Star and it contains nougat flavoring. I spelled it incorrectly ("nuget") and somehow, a year later, Lou noticed it and brought it to my attention a few weeks ago. He asked me then how it was spelled and I replied, "N-U-G-E-T", compounding my error.

This Saturday at the Hut, he brought it to my attention again and Ryan consulted his iPod Touch, verifying that is indeed spelled "N-O-U-G-A-T". Of course, Ryan (and everyone else) had a good laugh over the fact that Mr. English Degree had misspelled a word. Ryan even remarked that he would make sure not to take the same English courses at Ohio State that I did.

Anyway, to Lou and everyone else, I now take this opportunity to down a hefty slice of humble pie and freely admit my mista-, my mis-, my mist-, my mistak-, my...mistake. There, I did it. And I'll now go and correct the website.

Merry Christmas everyone! (yes, the irony of me wishing you a Merry *Christmas* is not lost on me).

Cheers!
- Bob