The Pipes Magazine Radio Show – Episode 160

HI Brian,
Sounds like you had a great time in New Orleans.
Of course I know Matt Guss, and his brothers. They can usually be found at the Chicago Show. The Seattle pipe club is known for its special tobacco blends, which I believe, have had commercial success. Pipe clubs and pipe shows do have the effect of enabling one to form great friendships. I am amazed at the number of people that show up for a club meeting. Although we (Washington County, PA Club) has been going since the late 1990s, our largest attendance was about a dozen people. Great interview.
Music - G. Gershwin is always good.
Mail - Brian, ask yourself a question, If Mickey Mouse smoked a pipe (and I think he did in Steamboat Willie), would he be at the adult table or the kids table? Where would Popeye be? By the way, where would a VA or a VAPER smoker sit?
Rave - PBS Walt Disney documentary showing Walt Disney smoking a pipe was reality, not the glossed over Hollywood version. Documentaries should show the reality as it was.
Great Show.

Hi Brian!
Your conversation with Matt Guss was a lot of fun. He is among the legendary pipe club leaders around the country. His story of the development of the Seattle Pipe Club is primer for those who want to build a successful local fellowship of pipemen.
Mami Nixon? You, of course, mean MARNI Nixon, the "secret" dubbed voice of many movie stars. She sang for Natalie Wood in "West Side Story," Deborah Kerr in "The King and I," Audrey Hepburn in "My Fair Lady," and sang in many other films, including "A Dream is a Wish" in Disney's "Cinderella."
By the way, that's probably my favorite Gershwin song.
And, I too, greatly enjoyed the Disney documentary.
A lovely show Brian, thanks.
Dino

Great podcast as usual. It was good meeting and talking to you at the NOLA Pipe Show.
I have since placed my order for Molto Dolce.

I enjoyed the report on the NOLA pipe show. The folks there were dealt some curve balls and handled them very well. Sounds like the new venue met with everyone's approval.
The Matt Guss interview was very interesting. He is a leading figure in the hobby. When starting and running a pipe club the most important thing is leadership. Ours is a hobby in which most people simply do not want to lead. As a group they are very content to sit around, smoke their pipes and offer their wisdom to all within earshot. Actually getting off their duffs and doing something; not so much. This is what the Seattle Club has going for them: Great Leadership.
He is right that for a club to get people to come to their meetings you need to offer some kind of program to motivate them to attend. The topics don't always have to be about pipes and tobacco. Within your own club you will have a number of people who have interesting jobs or hobbies that can make great programs.
The Gershwin was good and the singing was excellent. Marni Nixon is practically an unknown musical legend. Very few people know who she is but everybody is familiar with her body of work.
The Disney documentary was very good and quite entertaining. I remember watching the Disney Show in the 50's and 60's and thinking that Walt Disney was the greatest man in the world. Of course, as you get older you learn that everyone has warts. PBS deserves kudos for doing this historically accurate show. PBS is generally good about doing things like this. The BBC also has a good track record.
Ah, the poor, much-maligned Aro smoker is always feeling persecuted. They are the breakfast equivalent of people who eat Fruit Loops or Cap'n Crunch while the adults are eating corn flakes or Wheaties. No, just kidding, some of my best friends are Aro smokers. The dividing line between an Aro and a non-Aro can be vanishingly thin at times. The key thing is we all smoke pipes and should be doing what we can to promote the hobby.

Thank you Brian for the opportunity to be on your show! I was honored to chat with you. I was a bit nervous about doing the interview but much to my surprise I enjoyed myself very much. You made it fun and easy. The Seattle Pipe Club is near & dear to my heart and I feel blessed to be a part of it. The fact that our members enjoy it is just icing on the cake. We have been humbled at how successful our Seattle Pipe Club blends have become. We adore them and are so pleased that other pipe smokers enjoy them too. Joe Lankford is a club treasure and to my mind, the very best tobacco blender in the country. He'd be embarrassed by my comment but we love him and know it's true.
Thanks again!