Papa

M.A.B.

By the way, ‘no one’ is 2 words.

http://chrismangum.solideogloria.com/

-Chris

So much for the dramatic surprise effect.

Here is the link: http://thunderscot1505.wordpress.com/

xo: (o:

All this country would need is a half of John Knox to set it straight again.

Your pipe info is very helpful, thank you. I am eager to start shopping. And then start puffin’!

Gotta run I’ll check in from time to time.

Peace and Grace to you,
Chris

Starter pipes: My favorite smokes are Petersons. I have more expensive ones, but none I like as well as my three Petersons.

Petersons has some pricy ones, but they have some reasonable ones, too. If you’re not sure you’re going to stick with it, get something in the $30 range. If you’re pretty sure you’re going to stick with it, go for the $50-75 range. At that range, you’ve got a well-made bowl, but with more cosmetic flaws than pricier ones. No real smoking difference, though, probably. Most of mine are in this range. I only have one that was close to $200. Tall cotton right there.

As for tobaccos: I started on English blends, and I stuck with them. They tend to be a little stouter than aromatics. Aromatics, though, tend to smoke a little hotter (the aroma comes through the application of a sugar-based flavoring, and the flavoring ferments slightly, and when that fermentation finds fire, it burns). If you’re smoking for others’ enjoyment, aromatics may be best.

English blends smell like shoe leather in the tin (or jar). If you go with a heavy Latakia blend, it will smoke cooler, but some do not like the smell of it in a room. My wife likes it though. I tend to smoke wet, and so the cooler, the drier. I smoke English blends, a little heavy on the Latakia side.

One problem for newbies and Latakia is that the coolness makes it a little harder to keep lit. If you are like most mortals, keeping a pipe lit will be your first frustration with pipe smoking. It took me two years to be able to smoke through a bowl without relighting. Now I rarely have to relight…when I do, it’s usually because I’m running my mouth too much. A relight is a reminder to me to shut up and listen.

There are great articles and info in this magazine: http://www.pt-magazine.com/ I recommend subscribing with the extra dough you save from not buying cigars.

It has articles that address newbies issues without condescension. You may have to search some articles, but they have a good bit of “how-to” type help, as well as advanced nuance material.

I smoke pipes and cigars, but pipes are by far my preference. After the initial investment, it is far more cost-effective.

If you’re looking for a brand for tobacco, I smoke any of the Frog Morton blends regularly. G.I. Pease is good, and most Esoterica blends are good, as well. Esoterica “Penzance” is exceptional. It is a flake, which you have to crumble to get it into your bowl. I smoke mostly Frog Morton on the Bayou, and a bulk blend from my local tobacconist.

If you don’t have a good local tobacconist, check out this site: http://www.uptowns.com/ If you’re ever in Nashville, visit. It may be one of the best tobacconists in the country.

One more bit of advice. When I get a new pipe, I break it in as follows: I dip my finger in honey and rub it around the inside of the bowl. Then, I only fill the bowl 1/4 full and smoke it. Wait a couple of hours, then go 1/2. Wait a couple of hours, then 3/4. Then the full thing. You can go longer, I was offering a minimum wait.

This will cure the briar and begin the formation of a “cake” inside your bowl. The “cake” is crucial to a good tasting, comfortable smoke. It is a sort of flavored insulator. It takes a while to get it to the proper thickness (about a dime’s thickness), but the honey will get it on its way, plus it protects the raw wood from those first embers. You can’t really taste it after the first smoke.

One more tip. You probably won’t do this with your first pipe, but once you get the swing of it, it is best to use one pipe for each type of tobacco. You wouldn’t want to smoke an aromatic and an English in the same pipe. That’s a finer point, and not necessary as you first strike out, but you may find you enjoy both for different occasions, at which point you may consider purchasing more pipes.

I hope all that helps. Unfortunately, I recently had some dental surgery, and I am having to abstain to prevent “dry socket.” I’m told it is unpleasant.

I would add the Gov isn’t tip-toeing anymore, they are strident and quite upfront now.

From my blog to you:

By the way, thunderscot, (you wouldn’t happen to be a “son of thunder” would you?) as God’s providence would have it, I have been searching for a good starter pipe and tobacco. This very week in fact. I enjoy cigars but I have caved under the pressure to snobby Pipe purists.

God speed with your studies.

Don’t worry…I’m a safety freak. I never attempt this without slowing it down to 60 mph first. And, as an extra precaution (I’m all about overkill), I have Ruth walk over and hold onto Maggie’s feet while she’s (Maggie) leaning out her (Maggie’s) window. I’m not an idiot like that cellphone user!

I think what gives the snow that interesting effect, though I can’t be sure, is the stain with which all of the wood-paved roads are finished. It sort of looks almost like furniture, even. I think they converted from asphalt to wood in the mid-80’s as part of a big public works project.

Your photographic acrobatics are extraordinary. We may have to petition the IOCC for a new event at the next summer games! I strive to be as limber again in the future.

I don’t know. I didn’t spend that much on my ‘88 Range Rover, but they just send this impulse up through the steering wheel into your hands and straight to your brain which keeps saying, “Go ahead, try it, I can go through there.”

This chap heeded the call apparently. I’ve seen vido footage of them going through walls of rock using the sides of just two tires, one on each side. It looks like he’s side-walling it here, too.

Call me clueless, but I doubt I would spend $50k PLUS on a ride as nice as that and then take it into a ravine like that. Not unless someone was sponsoring me to do so. Then I’d be all about some wild riding.

Bubba….

It’s a sort of veil…

Or, some might say, fog…

I don’t know where his political stripes lie, but then I’m not one of those (liberal or conservative) who thinks law is just politics. An appointment like that would certainly throw the Senate Judiciary Mob, er, I mean Committee into convulsions. It may be worth it just to watch that.

“Mr. Dooley, if a challenge to Roe vee Wade came before you, how would you respond?”

“Well, Mr. Distinguished Senator from Vermont, I would have the QB reverse pivot to 4:30 and take the ball deep to the FB. To do that we would set up for a pass over the inside leg of the Strong side tackle. TB runs a sweep course and turns up in the strong safety area. FB takes an open step with the playside foot, and then crossover on second step. The third step he should square the L.O.S. downhill to the target point (which is the inside leg of the guard), at which point we would key the A gap. I figure that ought to do it, what do you think?”

“I have nothing further.”

I shudder to consider the precedent being set here. Now every time nature causes a disaster to befall any property anywhere, will the owners not point to New Orleans?