Smoke ‘em if you got ‘em. Visit ipsd.eu for more pomp and circumstance.

Random thought: I kind of wish the presidential race were the other way around. Instead of the party deciding for a year which candidate they’ll throw into the ring through the canibalistic method of primaries and what not, and then that candidate running for president against the other party’s candidate, I wonder if I don’t have a better idea.

Step 1. Presidential candidates declare they are seeking the presidency, and declare which party they will affiliate with.

Step 2. The nation holds a national election to decide which party will represent them. A vote for a party registers one as a member of that party and they will not be able to vote for candidates from another party that election cycle.

Step 3. The winning party begins a process much like that of the primaries and conventions. Electors from each state are chosen by that party’s voters to represent a candidate “at the convention.” The candidate with the most electors from across the nation wins the presidency.

One thing I think a system like this would promote is actual strength of 3rd and 4th parties.

It would also likely result in disaster and chaos. The people who wrote the Constitution were much smarter than I, and much more sober that I was when this idea began bouncing around my skull.

This isn’t perfect, but its somewhat useful and interesting. It doesn’t take an exhorbitant amount of time to take, it just asks you about maybe 10 issues. Multiple choice questions, that don’t always have an ideal choice.

Quiz

I just got the dumb idea to try live blogging my New Year’s eve experiences tonight. Dumb because I’ll probably finish one or two entries and then forget about it.

Its currently going on 3:00PM and we’ve collected all the stuff for tonights party. The kids are in high rotation waiting to get started on the fireworks, the wife is having a much-needed nap, and I’m drooling over a bowl of Cumberland from a tin I just popped with over a year and a half of age on it. This stuff is grand.

I moved my easy chair out to the garage where we’ll be partying. In Hawaii, most house’s have their garage opening at the front, facing the street, so its a pretty typical place for people to hang out. I set up some music as well. I’ll be rinsing out the old year with Samual Adams Light, some Stone Mill Organic Pale Ale (good stuff) and my beloved Johnny Walker Red. There’s also a couple bottles of champagne.

I asked my wife not to make a big meal tonight, I want her to be able to relax without stress and enjoy everything. So its finger foods - chips and dip, blue cheese/shap, soybeans, korean cuttlefish (taigu), lomi lomi salmon, and nachos.

Well, that’s the plan anyway.

Update:

I fell asleep that night at about 10:00. Best laid plans….

I thought this article from the NYT archives, dated 1911 was fascinating just for the fact that with our hobby, what was sound advice and information is still just as pertinant today.

Not to mention the fact you had an article about pipe smoking in the newspaper!

COLOR MEERSCHAUM PIPES BY MACHINERY; Smoke a Dozen at Once, and Do It Better Than a Tobacco Lover Could.
December 24, 1911, Sunday

Section: Cable News Wireless and Sporting Sections, Page C12, 974 words

” There used to be a time,” sighed the cigar store man, “when I made a substantial addition to my income coloring meerschaum pipes for folk who were too lazy or ignorant of how to do it for themselves, but as in the case of many other industries manual labor, if you can call smoking manual labor, has had to give way before the march of machinery.

The article coninues to provide some advice on coloring meers from a guy who smoked meers for a living - the guy actually made money for smoking a pipe! I know what I want to do for my second career.

Then there is also this article about a Russian czar, Nicholas I, who had a large diamond studded meer made to give as a gift. The recipient was worried about how long it would take to color the meer - he figured five years, so the czar ordered had it sent to the guard house to be smoked round the clock for two weeks.

The “order of the day” read:

Under pain of the knout, none shall smoke any other pipe but this. All the necessary tobacco shall be supplied. At the end of the fort-night the pipe was returned to its owner inscribed “colored in 15 days by order of Nicholas, Emperor.“

To be honest, I don’t remember when I even bought this tin of tobacco. I don’t know why I bought this tin of tobacco. It has been sitting in a drawer by its lonesome among a bunch of junk pipe parts for years, not with my beloved cellared blends. I’ve never given it much thought. In my mind, I figured it would be an over-sweet mess that would get tried and never finished.

This morning, I was in the mood for an aromatic. But not one of Vanilla, butterscotch, BCA type aromatics I generally rotate to on these occasions. Somehow, I recalled this was sitting in that junk drawer, waiting for me, unopened.

What a pleasant surprise. The leaf is excellent. I can easily make out the base of Virginias, and I’m guessing the burley component is something along the pedigree of Dark Fired Kentucky. But there’s just a touch - just the right touch - of that burley to give this blend what it needs. I’m guessing some of the tobacco is cavendish, but I’m not certain of that.

The tobacco is superbly well behaved. Straight from the freshly opened tin, and into a meer, it burns readily and dry with no need of relights with proper cadence. Not even a hint of tongue bite or bitterness from top to bottom. It produces generous volumes of smoke with a rich, smooth mouth feel and a sweet mellow taste.

I can’t figure out the flavor that its cased or topped with. It reminds me a little of Earl Grey tea or maybe peaches. It’s hard to pick out because the flavoring is noticeable, but it doesn’t cover up the tobacco flavor - it blends seamlessly with it. The overall taste and feel is very natural and clean. I don’t expect this would foul a briar or leave ghosts as it smokes so dry and the flavoring isn’t syrupy. After dumping the finished bowl, there was no visible moisture at the bottom of the bowl.

I highly recommend this blend to anyone except the most militant of purists who reject anything flavored.

I heard a nasty rumor lately this stuff has been discontinued. If there is any truth to this I’ll be disappointed. This blend is one I heard so many great things about, I just ordered a pound cold several months ago. Rarely do I take such chances, but rarely do you run across blends that have such a great reputation that sell for such a modest price. This choice turned out to be some of the best money I’ve spent on tobacco.

Speaking of rumors, its even been said this is the same recipe as the legendary Balkan Sobraine. I’m not going to hitch my horse to that wagon. (Or is it, I’ll never hitch my wagon to that horse? I’m not a cowboy.) Regardless, this is tastey stuff. And take this with a grain of salt, as I’m not an aficionado within this genre of pipe tobacco blends, but I do have open tins of other Balkans and English blends open, but I return to my ziplock baggy of this more than those.

I get the Orientals first and foremost in this blend. I can’t tell where the sweetness from the Virginia leaf ends and the richness of the Oriental begins. Latakia is present and noticeable, but not overpowering. The whole mix together is smooth, pleasant, and well balanced. The Virginias present a little tang, but no bite. This isn’t the fullest among the blends I like, but I’d smoke it any time of day, whether mid-morning with a few cups of tea or later than night with a bottle of Scotch.

It is great to see more pipe smoking blogs. Safari Bob has a great looking new blog with some rich content on our hobby. He discusses pipes and provides some quality reviews of blends. Bob has fourteen years of experience as a tobacconist at a well known shop and online retailer. I highly recommend this blog.

Smoking Safari