Ok, the old Pundit is gonna say this only once. Well, maybe twice: It’s beach time! Some of my happiest pipe-smoking memories were created on the back deck of an […]
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Category Archives: The Pipe Pundit
June is a memorable month for those of us who are absorbed in history. June 6, 1944, marked the beginning of the end of World War II as the U.S. […]
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Pundit is a pipe smoker who never sleeps. No, that’s not right. Pundit is a pipe smoker who is always thinking about pipes and tobacco. Even in his sleep. Well, […]
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You know the olde saw: April’s showers bring May flowers.” Just to let you know, Pundit is all in on May and the flowers. Not that Pundit is a knowledgeable […]
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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 […]
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Fair warning: Pundit is coming in lukewarm: There arises a day, methinks, when it’s time in Pipelandia to thin the herd. I always look to February for the thinning stint […]
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A new year and the great titans of Pipelandia are firing up their imaginations, and perhaps cleaning out leftover dust and detritus from 2023’s production. At this new juncture, deities […]
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By now you are aware that it is Christmas time in the city, the burbs, and the outback. Or it’s close to hour for the heavily bearded roly-poly fellow stuffed […]
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This will be a bit of a stretch, a hill, a ridge too far for some of my pipe-smoking friends. Let’s just say the Pundit continues to suffer from being […]
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At last, maybe, summer’s hot breath is fading into fall’s blessed currents that chill the morning air and put a lively step in the morning walk. Fall mornings are ready-made […]
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Recent Posts
Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 670. Our featured interview tonight is with Beau York. Beau is the former co-host of the now ended pipes and tobacco based podcast, Country Squire. We’ll talk about his early days of getting into pipe smoking and meeting his former podcast co-host Jon David Cole when he was an employee at the store and not the owner. You’ll hear how pipe smoking is different for him now that it is not part of his job to talk about it each week along with some of his favorite memories from the show. Beau will also tell us about his new project – Midnight High Immersive Theater. At the top of the show Brian will talk about a bitter pipe that he has.
Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 669. Our featured interview tonight is with Kirk Keener aka “Kaptain_Kirk32”. Kirk is a member of the Indiana Pipe Club. We’ll be talking about their upcoming pipe show in Gas City, IN on September 20th. Kirk has worked as a machinist, and played guitar in bands in the past, and he has a YouTube Channel with 985 subscribers and 346 videos devoted to pipe smoking and tobacco reviews. At the top of the show, Brian will have a tobacco review of Cornell & Diehl’s Haunted Bookshop.
Just to cop a great line for the return of Pundit, here is one of my favorites from “The Shining,” when actor Jack Nicholson scares the life out of everyone with the spooky, “Here’s Johnny.” So, Here’s Pundit! It is so good to return to PipesMagazine. In the interim, I have moved to a smaller apartment. I found out the long-cared-for pipe herd and tobacco cellar were a monumental chore to move. Boxes upon boxes, tobacco jars by the ton. Seriously. The late Bill Unger of The North American Society of Pipe Collectors (NASPC) said if you have one pipe you are a pipe smoker. If you have two pipes, you are a pipe collector. I followed that path like a yellow brick road. Pundit advice No. 1: Trim the pipe herd often without replacing too many. Pundit advice No. 2: Smoke the tins, except for vintage blends, and store as few jars of bulk tobacco as possible. I know, this is easier said than done. It is difficult to part with pipes and a precious and babied tobacco cellar. In the interim, I have been cataloging pipes and tobacco to come to a better understanding of this collection. Yes, Unger’s theory swamped me like a tsunami. What we have here is a perfect storm, a boutique of pipes and tobacco. And my old friends, and many vintage tobacco blends no longer available, make life quite a bit more enjoyable and relaxing. Along with perplexing decisions: What to smoke up and what to continue the aging process. Like adolescents. They will mature at some age. Right. But one never knows. Here is to the future and to your collecting and cellaring. It is a wonderful hobby and enterprise. Before I launch into Pipe Smokers of the Past or in Quotable Pipe Quotes (a new Pundit feature), there is a solid ground rule that you, dear readers, can count on from Pundit. As long as I am writing Pundit for your entertainment and hopefully a bit of education on the art and love of pipe smoking, you will never have to be concerned that Pundit has resorted to letting AI handle the writing. Pundit does not believe in allowing some sort of artificial intelligence to write copy for me. In fact, Pundit is concerned that writing, creative non-fiction, and narratives of other genre in general, will succumb to this rage for AI in our lives. Can you imagine legendary pipe-smoking novelist William Faulkner’s prose style being AI’d? Or are Shelby Foote, John Steinbeck, Mark Twain, Ernest Hemingway, and any of the past great writers and pipe-smokers to be ripped off by AI? This is not for pipe smokers. Our writers were the contemplative authors, who penned magical works while puffing their pipes and special blends. AI is not a pipe smoker. It is a thief of words and styles that were honed by years of toil over pen and paper, typewriters, and eventually the computer. Sure, writing is easy. Just listen to the legendary New York Times sports columnist on how effortless writing can be: “There’s nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at the typewriter and open a vein.” This is not a rant. Pundit is worried that our wonderful pipe-smoking authors, and those of us who write about it today, will be haunted by the shadowy AI, ready to strike at the heart of what is so important to the pipe smoker: authenticity. Good writing doesn’t come at the push of a button in a remote office somewhere. It takes dedication and years of learning to devote time to detail and intense observation. That’s not exactly a talent everyone has, let alone a machine. Becoming immersed in writing about pipes and tobacco takes time, learning and listening to and reading the masters of pipe making and tobacco blending. And pipe writers and storytellers. It takes years to craft a readable style about the briar and leaf. The sermon is over, but this is just to let you know Pundit will never, ever resort to using AI to write this column monthly. It is a privilege and an honor and I’m very grateful for the opportunity to contribute to the community of pipe smokers. A favorite pipe-smoking quote: One of the best pieces of advice comes from Albert Einstein, Mr. Relativity himself, who is reported to have said: “Before answering a question you should always light your pipe first.” And that first spark of fire, curling leaf in the bowl; that first sip and taste leads to a more contemplative endeavor as Mr. E=MC2 once explained. Now for a July birthday of note is Carl Jung, Swiss psychiatrist and the father of analytical psychology. Jung was born July 26, 1875, and died June 6, 1961. For an in-depth read, check out Chuck Stanion’s Carl Gustav Jung: Pipe-Smoking Founder of Analytical Psychology in SmokingPipes.com, Feb. 11, 2022, Pipe Line. A Parting thought: Pipes new and old brim with mystery and art, heart and soul. It’s a natural wonder, from earth to hearth.
Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 668. Our featured interview tonight is with Paul Greenwood. Paul is the pipemaker behind Grunewald Pipes. He started smoking pipes in his late-20s and then stopped for almost 30 years. He started smoking pipes again in February 2022. Two months later he went to the Chicago pipe show and signed up for the pipe making seminar. He noticed that there weren’t any pipes at the show resembling the pipes from The Lord of the Rings and decided to do something about it. He launched his Instagram in April 2023 and produces handmade pipes inspired by LOTR pipes. At the top of the show we will continue the tour of Brian’s personal pipe collection with four Danish or Danish-inspired pipes.
Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 667. Our featured interview tonight is with pipe maker Yosef Zehnder. Yosef grew up in a family of artists and artisans. As a child he enjoyed painting, drawing, writing songs/poems, pottery, photography and more. In 2012, he decided to try pipe smoking and quite enjoyed it. In 2019, he started making pipes and has become quite the artisan creating high quality pipes in both standard and freehand shapes. At the top of the show in “Pipe Parts”, Brian will express his verbal essay titled, “How and Why I am a Pipe Smoker”.
Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 666. Our featured interview tonight is with Bobby Eichorn. Bobby is the newly appointed leader of the International Charatan Collectors Society. He has been smoking and collecting Charatan pipes for decades and has one of the largest collections in the world. He has won awards for his collection at past Chicago pipe shows. His initial influence for pipe smoking was from is grandfather. He is a retired educator with a MEd in education and doctorate an EdD in Neuroscience. He resides in Virginia. At the top of the show in Pipe Parts, Brian will have a review of Cornell & Diehl’s Cap’s Blend Tobacco.
