Count Dracula Smokes a Pipe
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Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 626. Our featured interview tonight is with Chris Mattioda of C. Martin Pipes. Chris is a 25-year old part time pipemaker from Enumclaw, Washington. He actually made a pipe before he smoked one as it was one of his chosen 9th grade wood shop projects. Later he acquired a wood lathe and was making pens and other items, but he became real serious about making pipes when he came across a video of pipemaker Jeff Gracik. At the top of the show Brian will follow up on a two year old tobacco review on Savinelli Janus. He let the tin age for two years and now he will explore the differences.
This is the time of year I like to refer to as the “in-betweens.” It’s not fall, and summer is taking an occasional breather. Just like some of us who begin to search for new tobacco blends as well as hauling out an old dependable. Deep breaths. It is basically a three-pipe problem! What got me all in a twist thinking about change is a recent post from Maxim Engle, whose website Pipes2Smoke about his preferences for this time of year. Of course, his season in Ontario, Canada, is a bit different than here in Southern environs. Maxim, from whom I have purchased many a pipe over the years, says he “shifts to slightly heavier tobaccos with more pronounced Latakia. “The flakes get heavier.” Maxim has provided me with some of the most remarkable pipes in the Pundit herd, including Ian Walker’s stupendous Northern Briars from England, crafted in that Old English way. A few Commonweal trophies from the master pipe makers Les Wood, and Michael Parks, and stems by Charles Lemon have come to me via Maxim. Only a handful of these are made each year to continue a tradition Maxim began in 2021. Les Wood and Ferndown are synonymous with other Old English lovers. And let’s not shrug off Pundit’s love for meerschaum, the ancient beauties from the oceans’ bottomless dark where ancient seashells were crushed and made into properties that only pipe makers could bring to life. Many, many of those gorgeously carved pipes grace the Pundit herd of honor. Now that we have the pipe show and tell over, let’s return to Maxim’s tobacco maxims. Well, if you are a tobacco wimp like Moi, who does not fondly recall a dose of the heaves produced by a brief encounter with a blend that will go unnamed. Hard-core blends are better left to others. I know, you tough guys begin looking for a pipe when the description of the blend includes dark-fired Tanzanian leaf and steamed and pressed Virginias. And other things called ropes and bogies! So, with that, let’s move on. Pundit is very meticulous when it comes to going big blend bazookas as the weather begins to change. I tend to stick to lighter Virginias and English blends, such as Presbyterian, or a bit stronger on the heavier scale, Cornell & Diehl’s Epiphany, a blend of Virginias, Burleys, Latakia, and Perique. I take this in a special sip and put-down pipe and think of Mr. E equals MC2, Albert Einstein. His smoke was Revelation, which C&D has produced in a most relevant version. And with our tobacco lessons out of the way today, let’s move on to more prominent issues. You must know by now that Peterson Pipes and SmokingPipes.com have announced the Peterson Pipe of the Year for 2024. These are always a must-buy for Pundit. Once again, SPC’s Chuck Stanion has written a marvelous retrospection of Peterson’s POYs over the more than two decades the legendary manufacturer has turned them out. If you want to know more about Peterson’s POY’s recent arrival on the SPC website, check out Chuck’s August Pipe Line for his fabulous Peterson’s Pipe of the Year: A Retrospection. Now a look at Pipe Smokers of the Past: Some legendary authors grace the September list of PSOP. Three of the authors for September won the Nobel Prize for Literature: William Faulkner, T.S. Eliot, and William Golding, of British heritage. Let’s begin with William Cuthbert Faulkner, a Southern author who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1949. He was born on Sept. 25, 1897, in New Albany, Miss., and died July 6, 1962, in Oxford, Miss. No man is himself, he is the sum of his past—William Faulkner. Sir William Gerald Golding, Nobel Laureate (1983) a British, novelist, poet, and playwright, was born on Sept. 19, 1911, in Newquay, United Kingdom, and died on June 19, 1993, at Tullimaar House, Perranarworthal, Cornwall, United Kingdom. We need more humanity, more care, more love—From 1983 Nobel lecture. Thomas Stearns Eliot was born on Sept. 26, 1888, in St. Louis, Mo., and died on Jan. 4, 1965, in London, United Kingdom. T.S. Eliot moved to England in 1914 and became a British citizen in 1927. He renounced his American citizenship and lived in England. Author of one of the most influential literary works, The Waste Land, in 1922, was instrumental in winning the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1948. Eliot is considered one of the most consequential poets of the 20th century. Although a search of history records that report Eliot was a heavy smoker, finding his favorite pipe tobacco blend or cigar preferences has not turned up much in the way of facts. The very existence of libraries affords the best evidence that we may yet have hope for the future of man—T.S. Eliot And now a Parting shot from Pundit: I had a three-pipe problem not too long ago. I took masterful advice from fictional detective Sherlock Holmes who said he needed time for quiet, a time to work on the problem alone. He did and it took him less than an hour to solve his case in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Red-Headed League. It took me a bit longer than an hour, but the Sherlockian three-pipe method worked. You might give it a try the next time you have a difficult curve ball. Three pipes will be all you need.
Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 625. Our featured interview tonight is with Eric DeVito. Eric is a 26-year old pipe smoker from Chicago, recently moved to Arizona. His interview is part of our ongoing series of pipe smokers that are under the age of 30. He’s been smoking a pipe for 8 years. Pipes have always appealed to him since he was 5-years old when he went with his dad to visit his Uncle Al. The two men smoked cigars on this visit, but he saw his uncle’s pipe rack and never forgot about it. He brought his intrigue to fruition when he was 18 years old and started smoking pipes. At the top of the show, we’ll have an “Ask the Pipemaker” segment with pipe artisan Jeff Gracik, and this time the question comes from Brian.
Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 624. Our featured interview tonight is with Jebediah “Jebi” Green. Jebi is a 28-year old pipe smoker from Oklahoma. His interview is part of our ongoing series of pipe smokers that are under the age of 30. He works as an electrical engineer optimizing radar for airports. His path to pipe smoking went from cigarettes to vape, and then finally to pipes. Pipes changed Jeb’s reason for smoking from ingesting nicotine to relaxing and enjoying the contemplative moment. At the top of the show Brian will discuss his “EDC” or “Everyday Carry” items for pipe smoking.
Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 623. Our featured interview tonight is with pipe maker Chris Herriot. Chris lives in France, and grew up in the U.K. He started making pipes during the pandemic and posting about his progress. Chris Kelly of Eldritch Pipes noticed and offered to teach him. Later, Chris traveled to St. Claude, France where pipe maker Bruno Nuttens offered him additional training. At the top of the show we will continue with our ongoing tour of Brian’s pipe collection with four pipes from Ernie Markle.
Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 622. Our featured interview tonight is with Noah Slasinski. Noah is a 28-year old pipe smoker from Michigan. His interview is part of our ongoing series of pipe smokers that are under the age of 30. He started with a Missouri Meerschaum hard wood pipe in his late teens and then tried just about every type of tobacco smoking and vaping, but eventually came back exclusively to pipe smoking about a year and a half ago. YouTube videos and Paul’s Pipe Shop in Flint MI helped him along the way. Similar to some of our other younger pipe enthusiasts, Noah was influenced by writers and intellectuals that he appreciates, such as Carl Jung, C.S. Lewis, Tolkien, Mark Twain and more, as they were all pipe smokers. At the top of the show we will have a trip report on the NASPC show from this past weekend in Colombus from Dave Peterson.
