George Dibos on Radio Show of August 25, 2015

George is way beyond the refurbishing that most people talk about. He has an uncanny ability to fix things and when needed to make repairs that are just about unnoticeable. He might be the finest maker of stems for other peoples pipes as there is in the world.
He is well spoken and eclectic in his interests, but a bit a on the over focused side. This could be a very good show.

Brian, another fantastic interview I enjoyed immensely. Mr. Dibos reputation in the pipe community precedes him. As a Tig Welder with over 20 years experience, I can tell you that it takes special skills and patience, to repair material that has been damaged, and bring it back to spec. In most cases, it is much easier to use new material to craft a piece from scratch. The fact that Mr. Dibos is willing to take on these high grade, and in some cases irreplaceable pipes, speaks volumes about his confidence level and skill set.

Holy crap, I have the same look on my face as that Heaven's Gate guy, don't I?

No wonder Brian runs from me on sight at shows... He must have been really hard up for an interview this week. :lol:
Hmmm... "over focused"... Dan might be onto something. Maybe I should buy some relaxation tapes.

Brian, I thought you would find interest in this article. sean payton

Good show. George is obviously an expert at pipe repair and hi interview was educational but please for the love of god stop this devisiveness. Asking him which tobacco made the worst cake really made me livid. Of course he's going to answer aromatics. It's like you "elite" pipesmokers take any chance you get to put down aromatics and take pot shots at aromatic smokers.
"Aros are for beginners," "aros destroy your pipes," "aros are goopey/cotton candy/for sissies." Really? When I was a kid I used to love going into the tobacco shops at the mall. They smelled great, filled with a bunch of old guys and grandpa types smoking what? Aromatics, that's what. Older experienced pipe smokers smoking aros, not englishes, not VAPers. They were not beginners, they were not babies and they were not sissies. They were man's men, navy vets, cab drivers, plumbers, etc.
Now I am the middle-aged guy at the pipe shop, been pipe smoking for a quarter century, and what do I smoke? I appreciate all tobaccos and I like aromatics. Seven times out of ten I am enjoying an aro. I like women, I have a wife, I have kids, I am a man.
I am sick of hearing you interview pipe smokers and discuss "The Progression." Drug store, Grabow, aromatic, legit pipe shop, artisan pipe, Virginia Perique or Balkan. With everyone snickering and apologizing for smoking aromatics.
You know the internet has created cyberbullying, we have fat-shaming, slut-shaming.... We don't not need the PipesMagazine Radio Show and other pipe forums to encourage aro-shaming.
It was a breath of fresh air to hear Rachel on the show talking up aromatics and Michael Sull the Master Penman discussing his love of aros. We need more of that. 155 shows and only 2 aromatic lovers. The online retailers state that 80% of pipe tobacco sold is aromatic. Let's have a more balanced representation on the show. Your Hanna's and your Newcombe's can take their balkans elsewhere.
I WILL be in New Orleans, and I WILL be enjoying an aro on the floor at this year's show.
Aro-Proud,

AnchovyD

Oh my... :lol:
I assure you I had no agenda whatsoever, anchovyd, nor received any sort of coaching from Brian regarding how to answer questions. ANY questions. (Which left me mildly astonished, it fact. I expected some sort of do's & don'ts list before we started, advertisers and/or people to avoid offending, etc. He offered nothing of the sort. The interview portion of Brian's show is the real deal---what guests actually say is what you get.)
Anyway, had it been my personal experience that $500-a-tin Balkan Sobranie from the 1960's smoked in a $25,000 Bo Nordh pipe consistently created the most difficult cake to deal with from a repairman's perspective, especially those owned by multi-billionaire pipe collectors and tamped with ground-to-shape solid diamond tampers... that's what I would have said.
But it wasn't.
Indeed. I smoke $50-a-pound bulk tobacco that comes in a bag almost exclusively, which leaves a somewhat gummy cake and fouls pipes fairly quickly. I receive an occasional jab for liking it, but never without a wink. That sort of social stratification dynamic is simply how humans behave, everywhere, concerning everything. Getting upset about it is like raging at the sky when it brings bad weather.
Whenever I get that rage-y feeling about something, by the way (yesterday it was cutting my finger trying to open a blister-style "clamshell" package of AA batteries, and damning its inventor to Hell and back), I find that filling a favorite pipe with a favorite blend and lighting it makes the feeling disappear like magic. I recommended it highly. :D

Oh my X10... 8O
Let's PLEASE not do the specifics-to-generalizations political argument thing that has laid waste to so much Internet real estate over the years.
Not here.
Please?

I've seen a lot more support for aro smokers than "aro bashing" on this forum. By far.

That sort of stands to reason. Russ O remarked last year that about 80% of P&C's tobacco sales are aromatics.

Yeah, I think most of it is more of a Ford truck vs. Chevy truck or "my football team is better than your football team" type thing. I don't really see it as people actually mortally insulting each other over their tobacco choices. Hell, I smoke both, whatever I'm in the mood for at the time.

Hey anchovyd, you should be proud of what you smoke. I consider the issue to be analagous to sexual preference.
Gay people should be allowed to marry and, similarly, pipe smokers should be allowed to smoke aromatics, in each case without without fear or recrimination.
So in essence, aromatic smokers are really like our gay friends in the pipesmoking world, and they have no reason to feel ashamed by their tobacco predilections.

So in essence, aromatic smokers are really like our gay friends in the pipesmoking world...

Click to expand...

Actually, percentage-of-consumption-wise, measured by poundage, it's exactly the opposite. NON aromatic tobacco smokers are only a few, (single-digit) percent of the pipe smoking population.
:lol:

That may be true, but viewing it from the perspective of those who feel persecuted for their preferences, the original analogy stands.

@Peck- Check out the FDA thread. I feel persecuted for my choice to smoke at all!

+1 aldecaker
We all live with it every day, so tend to forget the forest for the trees (to mix a metaphor).

Well this thread has veered off in a strange direction... Enjoyed the phone interview George. I guess it couldn't be in studio because of the cost that would have been involved in having all that high end, Vintage Champagne in the "Green Room"......

:wink: