Saturday at the Hut - 4/14/12

Okay, okay, I don't write a blog for a couple weeks and - in honor of Easter last weekend - I get crucified. Sorry, that was in bad taste. I'll try to resurrect my weekly blog postings. In my defense, I have been quite busy. We've had family visiting this week and have been getting the house ready for guests. In fact, last week I smoked the Cassini pipe I bought in Boston a couple years ago...in honor of Paula's brother and family visiting from Beantown.

Last week at The Tobacco Hut was too far back for me to remember everything, but Mike G made a surprise visit from Tennessee. We had a great visit with Mike, recalling a lot of good times at the Hut over the years. Oh yes, I found this photo of Mike on Facebook. Nothing more need be said.

Mike G bustin' out the moves
(Click to enlarge)

A couple pictures from last week...

Joe K and Mike G. Mike is most certainly spinning some tale.
(Click to enlarge)

Tom L and Peter G. Tom appears to be looking
lustily at Peter.
(Click to enlarge)

Me and my Fox Run Winery shirt from the Finger Lakes
area of New York. Joe thought I had converted to
Fox News. Sorry, buddy. It's all NPR for me.
(Click to enlarge)

Alright, today at the Hut found me walking in a little late after I had gotten in from Orlando this morning. We had gone over last night to hang out with my brother-in-law at Downtown Disney. I got to the shop around 12:30 and had to plant my sore butt on a broken folding chair. Paul O was in my usual seat, Don W was in one of the club chairs along with Jeff D. Well, let me explain that. Don and Jeff weren't sharing the chair, there are two of the white club chairs and they each were in one. Joe K brought his own folding chair and Scott R was in one of the store folding chairs. A little while later Paul V came in sat in one of the wooden stools. Later Scott switched places with me so I could have some place to put my pipe smoking accoutrements. Soon after Scott folded up the chair and came out with the cushioned stool from behind the counter. There. The seating arrangement has been fully explained and we can continue.

Probably the greatest entertainment of the day was watching Joe smoke cigar after cigar. Unlike the rest of us, Joe typically encounters difficulties whilst smoking his cigars. It doesn't matter which ones, they all seem to tunnel or canoe on him and it's been a pretty regular complaint that we hear from him week in, week out. Today was unprecedented however, as he went through not one, not two, but three cigars. And that third one started acting up as well, but I think Joe was at his credit card limit and couldn't buy a fourth. It was Joe's day in the barrel, so after he smoked most of his third cigar he packed up his folding chair and left.

Peter G came in and as soon as Don got up to check out, he sat down in Don's chair - the very one I had been wrangling for all afternoon. But, as Peter pointed out, they were his chairs to begin with so he gets first dibs on them. Fine.

Later, when Paul O got up to leave, he motioned to Scott to enjoy the chair by the window, which he promptly did. Thank you very much Paul and Scott. Only when Jeff finally left did I have a chance for a comfy chair.

Ed F stopped by for the first time in a long time. He's been busy hauling cars cross country. Scott perked up when he heard that most of Ed's trips take him to Buffalo and Rochester. Before I forget - Ed, this is for you - that forum I told you about where the truck drivin' pipe smoker posts is Smokers Forums. You might have to become a member to see the posts (it's free), but find the Off Topic Chat section and look for the thread titled "Where the Pipe Smolders II". It's written by Mason, the truck driver, and is pretty interesting.

Scott showed off his latest acquisition, a Case pocketknife. I really liked this one. It is a "canoe" shape because it, well, looks like a canoe. Maybe I'm drawn to pocketknives for the same reason I'm drawn to pipes - they each have names for the various shapes. Today I was smoking a freehand Crown Viking I bought from Lou several years ago and last week I was smoking a David Jones billiard. As I said, I really liked this particular knife and commented about it several times to Scott. Since he knew I liked it and he had stolen my chair when Paul got up to leave, I thought he might simply give me the knife, but he didn't.

Since Scott was there I had to bring up another puzzler for him. And, no, I didn't bring a deck of pre-arranged cards for him to shuffle and ruin the trick. This was a brain teaser and went like this...John and Marsha were teenagers in love and carved their initials five feet high on a tree twenty five years ago. They had gone there separate ways but reconnected today and thought it would be nice to find their initials. They located the tree and the question is, if the tree added 20% of its height every year for ten years, and 10% of its height every year for the next ten years and 5% of its height every year for the last five years, how high up the tree would their initials be?

Scott was wary of doing all the heavy lifting only to have someone else (Joe) shout out the answer at the end, so he pretty much kept quiet. Paul V, however, knew the correct answer - the initials would still be five feet up the tree. As a tree grows, its height is added to the top, not from the bottom. New growth always occurs from the top.

Happy Easter to Peter! He and Ed were talking about some sort of egg battle that their families engaged in every year. It sounded, well, odd. But I suppose my family's tradition of sacrificing a -- oh, never mind.

Saturday at the Hut - 3/24/12

Today at The Tobacco Hut the following folks were in attendance: Joe K, Peter G, Paul O, Bryan J, Lou, and myself. I was smoking a Crown Viking filled with Tinder Box Reserve 1928, a most excellent tobacco. I got the pipe from Lou several years and it's one of my favorite freehands.

There was a lot of tech talk throughout the day. Paul had some computer questions for Joe, Joe bragged about his latest iPad and Apple TV purchase. He sold his iPad 2 to his daughter (I thought initially he had sold it to Vic!). Later, after Joe had left, we talked about various TV viewing options, from streaming to Tivo to Hulu to Netflix and RedBox.

Bryan and I talked at length about e-readers such as his Nook and my Kindle, their advantages and disadvantages. A shout out to Bryan for his 25th wedding anniversary! One thing I pointed out regarding obsolete technologies such as floppy disks is that the regular ole' book, i.e. the printed word, will never die out. It can't be made obsolete by some new technology.

Bryan, I mentioned this to you today when we were talking about music. It's a link that I've mentioned in this space before and Paul O is happily listening in now. It's called Psychedelicized Radio and features songs from the latter half of the 1960s, some you've heard but mostly obscure bands. Give it a listen - I think you'll like it.

It's free but they do welcome donations to pay for the server space. It runs them about $90/month and I've donated since they began about two months ago. It kind of works like Joe's favorite broadcaster, NPR. Joe, if you tune to 89.7 FM this week, they're in the middle of their pledge drive. Would you like me to donate on your behalf like I've done before? Maybe you can add to your NPR coffee mug collection.

If you read the blog last week, you know that Lou has come to a decision regarding the store. If he is unable to sell it by April 30th when his lease is up, he will be forced to shut the doors. As sad as that will be, I think we all understand his reasoning and support him a hundred percent.

I've been thinking about how we can all stay in touch when the Tobacco Hut Era comes to a close. We've had some great discussions and forged good friendships throughout the years and I, for one, would like those to continue, even if it's just in a "virtual" sense online.

When I send the blog update announcement out everyone's e-mail address appears, so folks can obviously stay in touch that way, but I'd like to duplicate the lively discussions that take place every week at the Hut in some online form. I'm exploring a couple options: an online forum, a Facebook group page, or Twitter.

The Facebook group page is extremely easy to set up and use; the downside is that not everyone is on Facebook. Twitter is also easy to set up and use, but tweets are limited to a small number of characters so isn't really conducive to proper discussions. An online forum offers the most robust environment in which to converse (I'm thinking of the Smokers Forums, Puff.com forums, and others).

There are a couple challenges with creating an online forum. The first is financial. The most full-featured and reliable forum software is vBulletin, but it costs $195/year plus hosting costs. I would also have to get up to speed on the technical issues as I've never been on the "back end" of forums, only as the user.

There are free forum applications but they are chock full of unwanted advertisements, and I would still have to arrange for hosting.

Another alternative is Ning.com - it's a niche social media development application which is only $19.95/year for the Mini site. The Mini site is limited to 150 members, but is fairly robust with a lot of cool features. It would be kind of like a Facebook site just for us - you can make comments, add photos, etc.

I'm kind of leaning toward that option if there's an interest in it from the gang. Let me know your thoughts and have a great week!

 - Bob

Saturday at the Hut - 3/17/12

Today at The Tobacco Hut saw me enjoying a bowlful of G.L. Pease's outstanding Chelsea Morning tobacco in the Stanwell that Paula surprised me with for Christmas. It smoked well all the way to the bottom of the bowl, providing a great taste and excellent room note. The rest of the gang was smoking cigars and there was a fair number of us so it was welcome relief when Lou decided to prop open the door to air it out a bit.

This is probably close to what
Jim's iPad looked like after
being run over.

In attendance today were Lou and myself, of course, Scott R, Jeff D, Paul O, Paul V and - toward the end of the day, Jim C. I'll open the blog with a tale that Jim recounted about his iPad. He received it as a gift from his wife but several days ago, whilst driving on US 19 near S.R. 52 with the windows open and the iPad on his dashboard, made a turn and promptly sent it flying out the window. Unfortunately, he didn't notice it until he got home and then retraced his path and discovered it in the middle of the road, having been run over multiple times. But, guess what? Apple replaced it! Jim is now a full believer in Apple. If it hadn't been replaced, I was going to suggest that he get in touch with Joe who is probably ready to sell his iPad 2 now that the latest version is on the market.

After Scott and Lou conducted a little business (the former had sold some of the latter's old lighters and other collectibles on eBay and was delivering the proceeds), Scott and I got down to our business. Specifically, the solution to the brain teaser I had posed in this space a couple weeks ago, regarding the 911 dispatcher's help to the man suffering from a heart attack. Probably the only people that cared were in attendance today, but I'll give the solution here in a moment. It actually didn't take Scott long, after a few carefully considered questions, to hit upon the answer. Although maybe it was a repeat from a couple weeks ago where Scott did all the "heavy lifting" and Paul O actually answered it...I can't remember. Okay, for those of you were wracking (or "racking", either is acceptable) your brain for the solution: The dispatcher had the man read off the license plate of the car parked in front of him, she ran the registration through the computer, and directed the ambulance to the address, saving the man's life.

A little later when Paul V arrived Scott had me pose the same question to him and, with some more heavy lifting from Scott, he worked out the solution.

We had some good sports discussions...who the Bucs had picked up and their prospects for the coming season, how the Rays were looking, the ongoing NCAA March Madness tournament, and the "good ole' days" of sports television when you basically had on option for watching sports - ABC's Wide World of Sports which showed the highlights from various games from the previous week. Now, as Scott pointed out, you can watch practically every game live, start to finish, but there still doesn't seem to be anything good on.

I was feeling lucky so I sprang another puzzler on Scott and the boys. I produced a deck of cards and asked Scott if he could cut the deck exactly in half. He didn't think so, but he actually did pretty well, cutting 28 cards. I then had him shuffle the two halves together and deal some piles of cards face down. There were several piles consisting of just two cards, a few piles of four cards and two piles of thirteen cards each. As he dealt each pile, I bet him what each pile would consist of: the pairs of cards would contain one red and one black card, the piles of four would consist of one card from each suit, and the two piles of thirteen cards would each contain ace through king. As the odds of each of these bets got longer and longer, Scott had no problem betting against me, especially since we were using "hypothetical" money, not the real thing. But, sure enough, after he had dealt through the deck, the cards were turned over and I was correct on each pile.

I emphasized that Scott had cut and shuffled the cards and done the dealing, so there could be no pre-arrangement or sleight of hand since he had shuffled and handled the cards. I've always enjoyed legerdemain, especially when it comes to playing cards. Next time, Scott, we'll see how well you do separating the reds from the blacks, sight unseen. And if you want to invite me to your next poker game...

Lou made a sad, but not entirely unexpected, announcement. The lease for the store is up at the end of April and he has decided that without a buyer, he will be forced to close the doors so he can devote more of his time and energy in taking care of Dotty. He would prefer to sell the store and keep it open - and has lowered his asking price considerably - but will have to close down if he is unable to sell it. Now is the time to spread the word if you know of anyone who would like to take over the shop. After almost 28 years it's an institution in Pasco County and I think we all share Lou's desire to see the store continue, even under different ownership.

 - Bob

Saturday at the Hut - 3/10/12

Let it be known to all men that I, Robert Harrison, did bring in to The Tobacco Hut on this day, Saturday, March 10, 2012, a new supply of Herr's Peanut Butter Pretzels. Joe K usually brings them in and I decided to do my part and replenish them. I normally would have no problem doing that, except that they can only be purchased in large quantities at Sam's Club. As many of you know, I am philosophically opposed to doing any business at Wal-Mart or its affiliate companies. So I asked my mother to pick some up the next time she went shopping there.

Today at the Hut we had Joe, Tom, Peter, and Paul O. Scott had intended on making his third appearance in a row, but had to cancel. I, for one, was disappointed as I was anticipating some questions from him regarding the brain teaser I posed in last week's blog (the 911 call). And he was bringing a very cool knife with him that he featured on a recent blog post of his. He did pledge to make the trek to New Port Richey next Saturday however.

Vic serving up his roasted nuts.
(Click to enlarge)

When Tom arrived, he wasted no time delivering a message from Vic. Apparently Tom stopped in to the Red Barn Flea Market in Bradenton yesterday to sample some of Vic's nuts. Now you can see from the photo that Vic appears to be a little shorter than he normally is. I guess he liked getting around on his little scooter so much that he decided to have foot surgery again.

Vic appearing to be disabled so he'll
get more tips.
(Click to enlarge)

Anyway, Tom brought a couple messages from Vic. First was why Mike G wasn't down taking care of Vic's Nuts so he could convalesce properly? I know Mike really enjoyed covering Vic's Nut Sack - er Nut Shack - so I'm surprised that he hadn't hurried down from the mountains of Tennessee the moment he heard of Vic's troubles.

The other message Vic had was for me. He wanted to know where his shirts were for his current business venture. When Vic started on his nutty adventure, he wanted t-shirts designed and we talked about me doing them. And on September 8, 2011, I designed said shirt and e-mailed it to Vic for his approval. See below for the design. Unfortunately, my work was for naught as I never heard back from him.

The design I sent to Vic on
September 8, 2011
(Click to enlarge)

No matter, because Tom also brought some nutty samples! And a couple of Vic's blue balls for Lou. And Tom even brought some bourbon for us to wash down the nuts with. Now Tom did warn us that the nuts were a tad spicy. Holy Tobasco! They went beyond spicy. They were downright flammable. Downing a shot of the bourbon was dangerous as the whole thing could have gone up in flames.

Vic's nuts and Lou's blue balls.
(Click to enlarge)

Lou tried one of them and had to race back to his refrigerator for a quart of milk to quench the fire. I went through a lot of Mountain Dew eating Vic's nuts. Joe didn't even try them. Paul took a handful and promptly spit them into the parking lot. Peter's reaction was the same. Tom, with his cast iron stomach, seemed to enjoy them though. Apparently the coating wasn't the standard fare, but one of Vic's creations.

Joe did sample one of Lou's blue balls, a chocolatey concoction surrounding a Macadamia nut. Joe reported it was being good, but very rich. Right before he went into diabetic shock.

What was left of the Elijah
Craig 18 Year bourbon
(Click to enlarge)

As I mentioned, Tom brought some bourbon for us to sample. It was Elijah Craig 18-year single barrel, named after an 18th century Baptist preacher living in an area of Virginia that was later to become Kentucky. It is said that Elijah himself invented the process of aging whiskey in charred oak barrels, but that claim is apocryphal. Tom had talked about this bourbon on his previous visit and how much he liked it, once it had breathed a little. I guess I'll just stick to beer and wine, because even after a couple hours of "breathing" I couldn't get past the 94 proof. I accidentally spilled a bit on my shorts and it started to burn through the fabric.

Paul enjoyed it, as evidenced by how little was left in the bottle in the photo. It was full when Tom brought it in.

That's it for this week - see you next Saturday!

 - Bob

Saturday at the Hut - 3/3/12

Today was "Brain Teaser Day" at The Tobacco Hut! First, the attendees included Joe K, Scott R, Peter G, Paul O, Lou, and myself. And, as everyone likes to know what I was smoking in my pipe, it was Lou's own Baker Street in a David Jones sandblasted billiard. Pure delight!

Like I said, it was a day for brain teasers at the Hut. It actually started with my drive to the shop. I was listening to NPR's "Car Talk" program with Click & Clack, the Tappet Brothers. Each week they have a "puzzler" to solve. This week's had to do with splitting wood, which is a passion of Scott's. Scott also likes, funnily enough, brain teasers. So as soon as he arrived, I sprang it on him.

I won't go into the whole thing here as it is rather lengthy, but it has to do with a man helping his farmer neighbor cut some wood. The farmer was running a leather strap from the power takeoff of his Jeep to a circular saw and he asked the neighbor to fetch a large crowbar from the barn. The neighbor retrieved the crowbar and leaned it up against the Jeep's tailgate, and they commenced with the woodcutting.

After all the wood was cut and they were gathering everything up, the neighbor commented that they hadn't needed the crowbar after all. The farmer countered that indeed they had used the crowbar and, without it, they wouldn't have even started the job. What was the crowbar's purpose?

Joe and Lou immediately proclaimed that they didn't like brain teasers. Joe said that they made his head hurt. No worries, it was more for Scott anyway, and he immediately set to asking various questions to about the Jeep and how the crowbar was positioned. I gave him a clue that it was a crisp, autumn day. He asked some more questions about the weather. All the while, Joe and Lou were conversing about other things while Scott tried to figure it out.

Joe and Lou were showing mild interest, but not really trying to solve the problem as Scott was slowly closing in on the answer. All of a sudden, as if hit by lightning, Joe exclaimed, "Static electricity!" and solved the problem. Indeed, the crowbar acted as a ground to discharge the static electricity built up by the spinning leather band, since the Jeep itself was insulated by the rubber tires.

Very impressive, Joe! Your deductive powers are amazing!

Okay, before Scott reaches through the computer and hits me with a crowbar, it was actually he who did all the "heavy lifting" with the puzzle, asking the right questions and narrowing down the possibilities. Scott was the one who really solved the problem, but we had a good laugh as Joe claimed victory.

Scott presented us with a brain teaser of his own, involving a man who, like any other typical day, got up in the morning, got dressed, had breakfast, and headed off to work. However, halfway to work, he turned around and went home and killed his wife. What made him kill his wife? For not being interested in brain teasers, both Joe and Lou were peppering Scott with questions just as I was to try and figure it out. The questioning went for probably 45 minutes until we finally figured it out. I won't reveal the answer here. If you're really interested in solving it, you can ask Scott or me.

We talked briefly about the difference between brain teasers and riddles. Brain teasers are like what you just read and riddles are more like this: I have two coins that equal 50 cents, but one of them is not a nickel. How can that be? The answer: The other one is the nickel.

Finally, Scott posed another brain teaser: In an old west town a shot rang out and 53 bicycles fell. How did it happen? Paul, Lou and I asked some questions of Scott to try and figure it out. We asked if they were standing next to each other, domino style. Not necessarily. We asked if they had riders on them. No. I asked if they were standard, rideable bicycles and he said that they were not. Hmm...a tantalizing clue. "Did it have to be exactly 53?" "Yes." I asked if they were toy, or miniature bikes. No came the answer. Lou immediately piped up, "They were playing cards!" We fell silent and it hit us. My gosh, the man was right! Bicycle playing cards - the standard deck consisted of 52 cards. Someone was cheating with an extra ace and he got shot.

Outstanding Lou! Well done, sir!

Time out, I said. I don't think Bicycle playing cards have been around that long. Ever the stickler for these sorts of things, I don't think they were in use back in the Old West days. Well, it's still a good brain teaser. As talk moved to other things, I grabbed my iPhone and Googled it. Well, what do you know, Bicycle playing cards were introduced by the United States Playing Card Company in 1885. They were around back then!

Astute readers of this space will remember that last week Scott brought in a Beattie Jet Lighter for me to look at. He brought it in again today and I made him an offer on it. It's quite unique and even though it doesn't work, I still wanted to have it. Maybe I'll get it fixed somehow. Anyway, thank you Scott!

Finally, a parting brain teaser for Scott or anyone else who wants to try their hand at solving it. Here goes:

An old guy is driving home. It's late at night. He's motoring down the highway and he's some considerable distance from home. Suddenly, he feels himself having a heart attack.

He says, "Oh my God. It's the big one." Thinking quickly, he takes the first available exit.

As luck would have it, he winds up in a residential neighborhood. It's very late at night. He pulls over to the side of the road behind some parked cars. He's fading fast, but he has the presence of mind to pull out his cell phone and call 911.

He says to the dispatcher, "I need help. I'm having a heart attack."

She says, "Where are you?"

"I don't know where I am."

"What exit did you take?"

"I don't remember."

"Were you going north or south or east or west?"

"I don't remember."

"Can you tell me what street you're on?"

"I'm in the middle of the block. I'm parked. I didn't see any street signs."

She says, "Start blowing your horn. Someone will come out of their house."

No one comes out. She then asks him to do one more thing. Minutes later, an ambulance is on its way there and saves his life.

What did she ask him to do?

This was "borrowed" from a previous "Car Talk" show and since I know Joe never listens to NPR, he won't remember hearing it. Not sure about Scott or the rest of you, but have fun! A quick hint, it has nothing to do with triangulating his location from his cell phone. The dispatcher specifically asks him to do something, and it saves his life.

Until next week!

Saturday at the Hut - 2/25/12

Today saw a good crowd at The Tobacco Hut: Joe K and Scott R were there when I arrived in the morning. Aaron, Paul O, and Tom L all came in shortly after I got there. Fortunately, I timed it right to ensure the proper seating.

Crown Viking freehand with
Erik Nording's "Fox Hound"
(click to enlarge)

I settled in with a bowl of Erik Nording's Hunters Blend "Fox Hound" in a Crown Viking freehand I got from Lou several years ago. Fox Hound is a delightful English blend with a fantastic flavor and pleasant room note. The pipe I was smoking, the Crown Viking, was one that I had reserved for the occasional aromatic tobacco but, the last few times I've used it, I've smoked English blends in it. I realize I'll probably never smoke another aromatic, so why keep a pipe back just for them and not enjoy it. So I've brought the Crown back into the rotation and am quite happy with it.

Our friend Scott has met Erik Nording, having visited Blue Smoke in Clearwater when Scott worked there. Apparently Mr. Nording is quite the hunter and outdoorsman, so it's only natural that he created a series of tobaccos reflecting one of his passions. Maybe I should develop a tobacco called "NPR" - it will have liberal amounts of Virginia, and a solid redistribution of Latakia, and a progressive pinch of Perique.

Scott showed off a couple of pocket knives and it appears he is approaching his one year mark writing a very popular blog on the subject. Congratulations Scott! His blog is titled, appropriately enough, Pocket Knives Blog, and is attracting quite an audience. And Scott has recently added some video content to his pages. Nicely done, my friend! Maybe we could do a joint video sometime - you reviewing pocket knives and me reviewing tobacco. Of course, I have the perfect face for radio, so maybe I should reconsider. Check out Scott's blog here.

Advertisement from Popular
Mechanics, 1950.
(click to enlarge)

Scott brought in an interesting artifact for me to look at. It was a Beattie Jet Lighter. He told me about it yesterday when were discussing a meetup at the Hut and, I confess, I had never heard of one. I did a little research on it before I saw it and have to admit, it's pretty cool. After I got home I did some more research and discovered that they stopped making them fifty years ago and were designed for pipe lighting. Well now, that got my attention! Scott said he wanted to give me first crack at it before he sold it on eBay and, at the time, my thoughts were, "Meh." Interesting lighter but I'm not that into old lighters, but when I discovered they were specifically for pipes (and "thawing out frozen car locks, blackening gun sights, lighting campfires and fireplaces, and doing small soldering jobs" according to some of the original marketing materials) now I'm more interested. So Scott, text me with what you'd like to get out of it and we'll talk!

Other topics of conversation included spirits. Not the ghostly kind but whiskey, bourbon, scotch, etc. Tom recalled his trying a particularly strong bourbon and liking it after it had settled down a bit. Aaron, Paul and Scott all have a lot more experience with such distilled liquors than I certainly do, so it was fascinating to hear them explain the differences between the various brands and types.

And just to help spread the word, while you're sitting around smoking your cigar or pipe and sipping your bourbon, if you're looking for a cool new Internet radio station, check out Psychedelicized Radio. It's a streaming station that plays groovy psychedelic tunes from the 60s and early 70s. Not the headbanging stuff, but some great music from a lot of bands you've never heard of, and obscure tracks from bands you have heard of. Give it a listen here.

Lou and Tom, late in the day.
(click to enlarge)

Here's a picture I snapped late in the day when it was just Tom, Lou, and me. Notice what's missing? Remember that tall free-standing humidor that was for sale? Lou finally sold it and the buyer showed up today to haul it away. Lou has some ideas as to what should go in its place, but I'm thinking a cigar store Indian would go there nicely. Failing that, maybe a life-sized cardboard cut out of Bertrand Russell, the liberal's liberal! And a pipe smoker, of course.

Bertrand Russell, philosopher,
mathematician, atheist, pipe
smoker.
(click to enlarge)

Cheers!

Saturday at the Hut - 2/18/12

Saturday at The Tobacco Hut saw a smaller crowd but we did welcome a new guy into the fold. I'll get to the roll call in a moment, but first an announcement: Tomorrow, Feb 20, is International Pipe Smoking Day. I've written about the day in this space before, but just wanted to bring everyone's attention to it. I know I'll be raising a pipe in celebration tomorrow and I encourage you to do the same. And if you're merely a cigar smoker now, maybe you'll decide to take up the pipe and see the light!

Okay, so who ventured out in the beautiful weather yesterday to join us at the Hut? Coast Guard Don was there, as well as Peter G, and - tardy, I might add - Paul O. Don gets a shout out because he came bearing gifts - two pizzas from Little Caesars. Thanks Don! I see you're picking up the slack for your neighbor, Aaron.

Visiting for the first time was Eric S - welcome! I should mention, Eric, that new guys have to bring pizzas or subs or cookies (homemade, preferably) to really be welcomed. I should also mention that none of the recent new guys like Jim S and Aaron C have observed this rule at all. Re-reading the above paragraph, you can see that Aaron simply relies on his neighbor Don to bring his pizzas for him. So I guess it's not really a rule at all, but a gesture that we wouldn't turn down.

Anyway, what makes Eric a particularly welcome addition to the group? Is it because he's currently serving his country in the Coast Guard (formerly in the Marines)? No, it's because he's a pipe smoker! And what did he choose as his first tobacco at the Hut? Baker Street, my favorite of Lou's pipe tobacco. So, welcome to the group, Eric, and we hope to see more of you in the future on Saturdays.

You know, I was thinking, what is it about pipe smokers? Almost universally, we're nice guys, smart, philosophical, easy going, affable, friendly. You never hear about a mass murderer being a pipe smoker. Well, okay, there are exceptions like Josef Stalin who smoked a pipe, but there are conflicting reports as to what he actually smoked in his pipe. Some say that he smoked Dunhill's Royal Yacht, while other biographies say that he smoked cigarette tobacco in his pipe (yechh!).

I really can't think of any other evil pipe smokers in history. Wait, Herman Goering also smoked a pipe, but beyond Stalin and Goering, I can't come up with other really bad men who smoked a pipe. So the question becomes, are nice guys naturally drawn to the pipe, or does smoking a pipe make people nice? The eternal "chicken and egg" question, a riddle for the ages.

And, speaking of all-around great guys who are pipe smokers, I bet you're all wondering what I was smoking yesterday? Saturday saw me with an Ascorti Peppino filled with Tinder Box Reserve 1928. It's been awhile since I've smoked that blend, as I've spent the last few weeks finishing off a tin of McClelland's Wilderness. I smoked almost the entire bowl, and it was like seeing an old friend. Every puff reminded me of why I like this blend so much.

Centerpiece of my pipe collection:
The Dunhill My Mixture humidor.
(click to enlarge)

And while we're on the great guy theme, a huge shout out to Lou. Thank you so much for the gift of the Dunhill My Mixture ceramic humidor. Lou has known for a long time how much I've lusted after this tobacco container and he has truly honored me with his gift. It is pictured here atop one of my bookcases with some of my pipes, as the centerpiece of my collection. Thank you again, my friend. Your generosity is much appreciated.

I'm kicking around a couple of ideas I wanted to get some feedback on. The first is a photo gallery of the Saturday regulars posted here on the blog. I'll add a tab to the navigation bar and can feature your photo and bio, maybe a snarky comment or two. Let me know if you want to be included or if you think it's a horrible idea.

I'm also thinking of starting an online forum called "People of the Hut". It would be a place for all of us to connect and continue the great discussions that occur at the Hut. I'm searching now for a place to host the forum, one that is free or low cost and doesn't bombard us with ads. More to come, but your comments are welcome.

A quick shout out to a couple folks who came out last week, but didn't get a mention since I didn't write the blog last week: Jim C, Bobby M and Barry C. Our Norwegian friend, Arnie, was also in attendance a few weeks ago, as were Scott R, Paul V, and Jeff D. Nice to see you all!

Speaking of which, a couple folks are in danger of being added to the Wall of Shame for not attending in awhile. I'm thinking of Adrian, Darryl, Jim S, Ed B, Tom L, and New York Vic. C'mon guys, let's work on being more regular!

'Til next week!