The Pipes Magazine Radio Show – Episode 98
- Homepage
- Radio Talk Show
- The Pipes Magazine Radio Show – Episode 98
- Kevin Godbee
- Jul 29, 2014
- 1 min read
Kevin Godbee
Thank you for joining us for The Pipes Magazine Radio Show—the only radio talk show for pipe smokers and collectors. We broadcast weekly, every Tuesday at 8 pm eastern USA time and are available on nearly all podcast sites and apps. Listen on your computer, tablet, phone and even in the car! Our Featured Interview tonight is with Ryan Alden, a.k.a. “Lonestar” in the Forums. Ryan started making pipes just a few years ago, and has become so good, so fast, that he was one of 7 winners in the billiard judging contest that had over 50 entries at the Kansas City Pipe show this past June. In our “Pipe Parts” segment, Brian will talk about Oriental Tobaccos, and give you an update on the IPCPR trade show from last week. Sit back, relax with your pipe, and enjoy The Pipes Magazine Radio Show!
Tonight’s show is sponsored by Sutliff-Tobacco.com, CupOJoes.com, SmokingPipes.com, Missouri Meerschaum, 4noggins.com, MeerschaumStore.com, Cornell & Diehl, and Savinelli Pipes and Tobaccos. Please give them some consideration when making your next pipe or tobacco purchase.
We hope you enjoy our 1-hour show produced just for you—the pipe smoker and collector. The following link will launch a pop-up player. Alternatively, you can download the show in iTunes and other podcast sites and apps after the initial broadcast is complete here.
Ryan Alden, a.k.a. “Lonestar” in the Forums
Written by Kevin Godbee
View all posts by: Kevin Godbee
More Pipes and Tobaccos Articles
9 Responses
Smokingpipes.com Updates
3 Fresh Doctor's Pipes |
18 Fresh Estate Pipes |
12 Fresh Chacom Pipes |
24 Fresh Rattray's Pipes |
12 Fresh Claudio Cavicchi Pipes |
Site Sponsors
Recent Posts
I confess. I’m a Latakiaphile. Ever since I first smelled the smoke of the dusky leaf, I’ve been in love with it. I know this is no surprise to anyone who has followed any part of my weird journey through pipedom, but I wanted to state it openly, get it off my chest. Mostly, because I seem to have been in something of a weird state of denial about this fact myself for some months. It started innocently enough during the heat of last year’s summer, a time when I find myself feeling the gravitational pull of lighter tobaccos. While winter weather and bigger, bolder Latakia mixtures have always been my ideal companions in the colder, moister clime, they can be a bit overwhelming to me when the mercury rises. While I enjoy the taste and aromas of those first few puffs, as the bowl progresses, my senses soon feel fatigued, overwhelmed, like putting on a comfortable but heavy top coat and wandering out into the blazing sun. In the summer months, I have always turned to “lighter” blends, sometimes with just a whisper of Latakia, more often with none at all. Virginias, with or without the added condiment of perique or oriental leaf are just the ticket when short sleeves and tee shirts are the uniform of the day. Even burley blends tend to feel more apropos then. I know there are many who smoke the same blends year-round, but I’ve never been one of them. If I’m honest, I am a little jealous of those folks. It’s a bit of a curse to have my tastes tied inextricably to uncontrollable forces of nature. (Though, I do recall a rather oddly delightful experience of finding myself, exactly once, smoking a pipe in the shower. Another story. Another time. Maybe.) Last year presented no exception to the rule. Once spring had come and gone, I put away the dark mixtures, and turned to the softer, gentler side of tobacco goodness. I always enjoy this little “reset,” but equally, I look forward to the return of the cooler days and colder nights when I can come back home to the comfort of those mixtures that have always provided me with an indescribable solace. I love fall and winter the most, and not just for smoking. I don’t really hate the sun, but I’ve never thrived in its heat; my constitution prefers cooler weather. I’ve always been a fall and winter lover. But, something strange happened last year. Even when the temperatures dropped, even when the air got misty, the rain began falling, and I traded short sleeves for sweaters, I kept reaching for my summer blends. Occasionally, I might dip into the jar of Westminster, prepare a slice or two of Spark Plug, or reach for one of my vintage tins of Orient Express #11 or Bengal Slices, but I found myself routinely returning to the lighter side of things when it was time to fill my bowl. Nothing about this should be upsetting, of course, but it’s just not who I am. It’s out of character. It’s like I was subconsciously denying something that is fundamental to the very core of my pipe smoking existence. Looking back on it now, it feels like I was in some strange parallel universe, an alternate reality. It strikes me as just plain wrong. It’s an odd thing. For most of my pipe smoking life, I’ve always enjoyed these forays into the lighter side of things, but at the same time, my craving for Latakia forward mixtures has always ruled. I remember when I first began exploring Virginias, I’d reach the end of a bowl, feeling somehow unsatisfied, and would immediately want something else, something smoky to scratch the itch that remained. As I became more familiar with them, that itch gradually subsided, but never fully disappeared. The pull of the dark side remained strong. I’d spend the summer enjoying my Virginias, but always looking forward to the season’s change so I could once again dive happily into the deep, smoky richness of my most favored leaf. Last year, though, I kept on an almost steady diet of Virginias all summer, of course, but also right through the cold and wet months. On a whim one cool, blue day recently, as the sun revealed itself from behind wispy clouds, I pulled an open tin of my beloved OE11 from the Tupperdor in which the open tins reside, savored the aroma for a few minutes, then filled a bowl with those luscious dark ribbons and enjoyed an almost magical smoke, rich, deep, satisfying, the wonderful incense-like scents enveloping me as I puffed in absolute bliss. Then, reality hit me over the head. With spring teasingly peering out from around the corner, last year’s winter having pretty much come and gone, I realized I’d managed to miss out on all those wonderful cold, damp days and the perfect harmony they create when the misty air embraces the leathery, campfire aromas and rich flavors from my beloved mixtures, and I didn’t even notice. It’s not just that the window of opportunity for my yearly Latakia fest was about to be slammed shut, but, worse, it’s that I wasn’t even aware that I was missing it. It’s not that my tastes had changed, or anything so dramatic; I’d simply fallen victim to the power of inertia. I was enjoying what I smoked, and simply, unconsciously paid no attention to the fact that the season was coming to a close. Hot weather is on its way, and if history holds, it’s probably coming fast. Soon it will be time to return full-stop to tee shirts, cold showers and lighter tobacco fare. It feels like I’ve slept through Latakia season, like I’ve missed out, and I’m feeling a little melancholy about that. I’ve got at most a few weeks to catch up, to make up for lost time. Hopefully, we’ll see a few more days of rain before that […]
Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 600. Our featured interview tonight is with Dylan J. Schlender. This is the return of our series of interviews with “Journeymen Pipe Smokers” – guys that have been smoking pipes between five and 10 years. Dylan started smoking in 2018 with a Winslow pipe, and Captain Black. (He soon learned that he likes English-style blends much more.) He resides in CT and works in IT. He also co-hosts his own podcast, “Reels of Justice – The Official Fake Movie Court Podcast”. He is one of four co-hosts where they put a movie on trial each week. At the top of the show, in celebration of upcoming St. Patrick’s Day, Brian will read “Paddy Larrigan’s 100th Birthday” by Chuck Stanion. It was originally published on SmokingPipes.com’s Daily Reader.
Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 599. Our featured interview tonight is with Jeremy Reeves. Jeremy is the Head Blender at Cornell & Diehl, which is one of the most popular boutique pipe tobacco companies in the USA. Jeremy has been a pipe smoker for over a decade and is passionate about pipes, pipe tobacco, and blending tobacco. Tonight’s discussion will focus on Oriental Tobaccos, and Brian said HE even learned something. At the top of the show, Brian will continue the tour of his pipe collection with the “Satou Reds”.
February’s International Pipe-Smoking Day was more than just another moment of relaxation for Pundit. It took me back to a time in Paris when I was wandering somewhere around the 10th Arrondissement of that great city and happened upon a shop with a sign that read: Tabac. I had to go inside and look around and gaze at the goodies. Inside that delightful French pipe shop I had my first encounter with French pipes of any sort. Pundit was enamored of English pipes at the time and was dimly aware of much else. Let alone historic French-made. The shop owner walked us around his charming very French shop, flooding me with his broken English. My college French had lived beyond its best by date. The owner waltzed over to a counter and showed me a Chacom, of the famous Chacom and Comoy family of Saint-Claude, a small town in eastern France, which is the self-described “world capital of (the) pipe.” For good reason as it turns out. A billiard Chacom was purchased immediately. But now sadly, or perhaps inevitably, that particular Chacom pipe from the Paris Tabac shop has been lost to time. Who knows where or how it disappeared? Traded, perhaps? But the time in that tobacco shop was well spent. It was here that I learned something of Saint-Claude and its pipe history, foreign to me up to then. Never mind it was the birthplace of briar pipes. Yes, there are holes in Pundit’s knowledge of pipe history. Briar pipes were born in Saint-Claude, with Chacom. Giving the French pipe bragging rights as offspring originals of pipes we love today. It’s even more remarkable that we can still find pipes that have been seasoning in the historical air of Saint-Claude for years and purchase them at extraordinarily reasonable prices. Many pipe smokers are attracted to the history of pipes, Pundit included. And those made in Saint-Claude are some of the most genuine, historically relevant pipes that any enthusiast can enjoy. While roaming the “Ville lumière,” the City of Light, in the early 2000s, Pundit felt like a foot-loose expat in Paris, say of the 1920s. For Pundit it was something akin to hanging out with the original expats such as Sherwood Anderson, Ezra Pound, Ernest Hemingway, Picasso, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Henry Miller, and James Joyce, just to name a few of the Pundit’s favs. Naturally, a couple of these literary icons smoked pipes: Ezra Pound and James Joyce certainly. Hemingway—however, there are arguments on both sides of “did he or didn’t he?” smoke a pipe. Since Hem was a Pundit “code hero” I favor the “he did,” side of the question. Now before drawing any wild conclusions, this is no manner of imagination means to infer that Pundit is included in the writing circle of the above names. But you get the idea. The expats of the 1920s were singular. I suppose I became overawed when I discovered Hemingway’s Paris apartment and then later enjoyed dinner in the corner booth of the famous literary restaurant Les Deux Magots where Hem and wife Hadley had night-out repasts. You get the notion, I hope, that Paris was special. And the Tabac shop made it even more of an event of a lifetime. And if you need further reading on the birthplace of briar pipes, I suggest you check out Chuck Station in Pipe Line at SmokingPipes.com. His piece on the history of the Comoy and Chapuis pipe families is simply fascinating surrounding the advent of briar for pipes. And now, some pipe smokers of the past. Let’s start with Albert Einstein, the German-born master of theoretical physics. We think of Mr. E=MC2 as the greatest scientist of any generation. He was also famously known for smoking a pipe, mostly Revelation (of course) tobacco. Einstein was born March 14, 1879, in Ulm, Germany, and died April 18, 1955, in Princeton, N.J. By now you are familiar with Einstein’s famous quote about pipes. If not, here it is again: I believe that pipe smoking contributes to a somewhat calm and objective judgment in all human affairs. Next up is Vincent Willem van Gogh, a Dutch Post-Impressionist. In his masterful works, Van Gogh painted self-portraits of himself smoking his pipe. And you can find some shapes named for him in Ser Jacopo’s Picta Picasso Pipes. Van Gogh was born March 30, 1853, in Zundert, Netherlands, and died July 29, 1890, in France. The famed artist demonstrates how much he loved his pipes with this observation: To do good work one must eat well, be well housed, have one’s fling from time to time, smoke one’s pipe, and drink one’s coffee in peace—Vincent Van Gogh. And to finish with a bit of musical flair is Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer known for orchestral music such as the mighty Brandenburg Concertos. Bach was born March 31, 1685, in Eisenach, Germany, and died July 28, 1750. And as we enter the stretch run into spring, here is a parting shot from one of the most celebrated of pipe smokers: In the Spring, I have counted 136 different kinds of weather inside of 24 hours—Mark Twain.
Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 598. Our featured interview tonight is with Steve “PipeStud” Fallon. Steve has one of the most popular consignment-auction businesses for estate pipes and vintage tobaccos that he’s been running since 2006. If you know Steve, you know he’s a big fan of the original Dunhill blend, Royal Yacht. The last time Steve was on the show was in 2020, so we’ll see what’s new with him, and the estate pipes and vintage tobaccos business. At the top of the show, Brian will discuss what to do with the tiny bits of tobacco at the bottom of the tin.
Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 597. Our interview on tonight’s show is with Charles Lemon. Charles does pipe repairs and restorations, and is the author of the new book, “Brigham Pipes, A Century Of Canadian Briar”. It tells the story of the first 100 years of Brigham pipes, and includes an extensive shape chart with actual photos of the pipes. The book lays out not only the chronology of Canada’s most prominent pipe-maker but also never before compiled information on the pipes themselves, including the stamps, grading schemes and pinning patterns used between 1906 and 2006. In Pipe Parts, Brian talks to Jeremy Reeves, the head blender at Cornell & Diehl about growing, curing, fermenting, and aging tobacco.
HI Brian,
Nice discussion on the Oriental tobaccos. Looking forward to your taste testing.
Ryan Alden is another pipe carver that I am not familiar with. I have never tried a strawberry wood pipe. It will be interesting to see how Ryan develops over the next several years.
Stevie Ray Vaughn was one of the most accomplished guitar players, as you noted, also a pipe smoker. His accidental death in a helicopter crash was much to early in his career.
Sounds like you liked the trade show, but it tired you out.
Enjoyed a great smoke tonight while listening to the show. McCranies Red Ribbon (1983 Crop) in (what else) a Castello GG #84 Old Antiquari Hawkbill which I had not smoked for over a year. It was one of those moments when the stars were all in the proper alignment.
Rant – Slots for Kids —-should be regulated by the FDA!
Really enjoyed the interview with Ryan and as an owner of one of his pipes, a Lovat, (plus some current commissions) I was stoked to hear the back story. The discussion of Orientals was interesting and if the tasting goes down the same road as the Escudo series it will be a great listen.
RANT – as a life long resident of Vegas (51 years) the corporate Vegas sucks. The whole celebrity chef fad is just dumb. I generally don’t go near the strip, because I’m smarter than I look, and am always shocked when I take friends or clients to see the sights. The food is over priced and just gimmicky, the drinks are stupid expensive and the porn slappers (the guys on sidewalks handing out escort and strip club fliers) are ridiculous and finally the street performers are an eyesore. I really prefer the old Vegas (mob controlled) when the food was good and inexpensive, the drinks were cheap and the slots were traditional and not expensive video games.
Anxiously awaiting my new pipe!
I really appreciated the Pipe Parts segment. I love to hear about the different varietals of tobacco. It is these finer nuances of our hobby that can get lost in the shuffle. If you have been smoking pipes for a long time or are a connoisseur this info might be redundant. I welcome the information, especially if it is succinct and complete.
Ryan’s interview was great. I love to hear about the up and coming pipe artisans that are chasing their passion. His pipes are both gorgeous and refreshingly affordable. I too will do my part to keep him out of the cab of a big rig.
I loved the SRV! A big fan of his and I didn’t know he was a pipe smoker. I guess I am not as big a fan as I thought. I love your ecclectic choices for the music.
It seems the whole world has gone celebrity happy. “This actor did this with that person”, “This sports professional was seen here with this person”. It is tiresome. It is getting to the point where the main stream media news is reporting on this stuff not just the gossip rags. Tie that with product recognition and you have money making machines. God help us!
Great show, again. Still.
Good job discussing Orientals which are kind of a mystery to most of us.
I enjoyed meeting Ryan in KC. Seems to be a really good guy. I had the honor of giving him his check for being one of the winners of the KC Carving Contest. I tried to get one of his pipes but all he had were straights and I am a bent kind of guy. Ryan really took advantage of the pipe carvers forum to really learn at a high rate. The old line carvers have to be green with envy with how relatively easy it is to learn how to do things today.
Something to remember about celebrity chefs. They didn’t get that way because they are great cooks but rather that they have a great gift of gab.
Targeting kids to gamble seems obscene, but I am sure the anti-smoking Nazis would rather kids gamble than smoke. Oh, wait, you can smoke in a casino.
Brian,
As usual a great show. I will be keeping an eye out for Ryan and his pipes at the West Coast Pipe Show this year. I have been wanting to try something other then a briar pipe and really liked the pics he had on his site as well as the pipe you picked up. A little advice next time your in Vegas and hankering for a burger…In N Out! Great burger, really good service and it won’t cost ya an arm and a leg. If you haven’t been you really should, I’ll even treat ya to your first Double Double.
Sean
Hey Brian. Great pipe parts. Being an old guy with a bad memory, I’m going to listen to that tobacco info, a few more times, with my notebook. That way I’ll be prepared for future Oriental tobacco “lessons”.
Great interview with Ryan, that rather large guy who can’t figure out if he comes from Tx or Fl. Only kidding. Wouldn’t want to get on the wrong side of a big guy like him. Good drinking buddy.
Hey. Can anyone help me? I haven’t been able to listen to the radio show until many hours after airing. It was 01:32 on Wednesday morning before I could download. It’s been happening only the last three weeks. Well looking forward to Augusts first show. Just hope I won’t have to stay up until Wednesday AM to listen. Be well and thank you , Brian and Kevin. I know that this show takes many hours of your life to prepare for………..THANK YOU!!
See you at the West Coast Show.
Peter D Field Sr
Bend, Oregon by way of NYC.
Peter, I removed your email address from your comment. It’s not a good idea to post that in public. You’ll get spam and phishing attempts. Regarding the listening of the show – I imagine you are listening on one of the syndication sites, like iTunes or similar. They pick up the feed whenever they feel like it, and there is nothing we can do about that. However, you can listen on your computer, in a standard web browser on the page you commented on right here right when it goes live. – Kevin
Thank you Kevin……….