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• July 2, 2024 Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 616

  Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 616. Our featured interview tonight is with Gabe Hall. Gabe is a 23-year old conservative Californian from Bakersfield that is involved in politics part time. He is part of our newer ongoing series of pipe smokers that are under the age of 30. Both his story of starting pipe smoking, and his smoking routine are a little bit different than the usual story. At the top of the show we will have an Ask the Tobacco Blender segment 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.

• July 1, 2024 Beach Sunrises and Pipes

  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 original Pawleys Island, S.C., beach house. Listening to the waves dash and flop were pure music, highlighted by the squealing laughter of children frolicking along the beautiful Atlantic shoreline. Now, before you go bellowing about shark attacks, Pundit has his No. 1 Rule about sharks and warning flags, even if no flags are flying on an empty stretch of coastline. Having fished the surf many a day and evening, and even occasionally on a high pier resting on mighty shell-encrusted pilings and stretching out over the aqua-tinted waters, it became apparent that predators with large, sharp teeth prowled menacingly close to splashing bathers So, Pundit Beach Rule No. 1, ankle-deep wading and strolling, only. Make  quick swims if it is not too windy, and never if menacing fins are seen cutting the water like the bow of a battleship. Rule adjustments might be needed for kiddies and exuberant beach paddlers in the family. Another necessary adjustment in the rule is no swimming alone. OK, beach lesson over. You don’t have to take Pundit’s word. Check out sea-going pipe-smoking experts: Herman Melville, who knew a thing or two about ferocious whales, and Sir Ernes Henry Shackleton, a famed adventurer who took on frozen seas. No sharks, but the message loudly proclaims oceans harbor many a menace, some large in body with huge teeth and some just frozen solid mountains of floating ice. And while checking up on Pundit, you might enjoy Chuck Stanion’s Herman Melville’s Literary Pipes February 4, 2022, in Pipe Line and his masterful story on the Shipwreck of Shackleford’s Endurance, also in Pipe Line. Now back to Pundit’s time on the beach, in a chair at sunrise on a screened-in deck, seas dancing, pipe in hand. Vacations today seem to be all hurly-burly, hurry, scurry, and worry. Back when a seaside deck beckoned, I packed not only fishing equipment, and some clothes, but also a shoulder bag full of pipes and enough tobacco to survive a voyage with Sir Shackleton. Each morning, noon, and night watch was accompanied by different pipes and different blends. Pipes ranged from Dunhills, Cavicchis, Ser Jacopos, Ashtons, Petersons, and Savinellis. Blends tended to be simple: aromatics and English containing various additives, of course. On rare occasions, I made a Pundit blend, which combined English with Latakia and aros with Virginia. Pundit blends were meh, but there were Cornell & Diehl, Capstan, Samuel Gawith, Three Nuns, Wessex, and the late lamented McClelland, plus a couple of others to save the rare moments. Pundit beach time was also a time for testing THESIS (taste, heat, enjoyment, strength, issues, satisfaction). There is but one way to do this properly and that is to employ a new cob pipe. Cobs give a good overall THESIS, sort of the cheaper version of precious sea-borne meerschaums. Cobs are, in a way, landlocked meers, and provide an excellent idea of how a particular blend will emerge. Ok, enough of experimentation. We are on a beach vacation, right? Observing the sun rising over an orange-lit horizon with a pipe and a cup of coffee is simply put, enchanting. Sun and ocean seem to merge for a brief moment in a blur of beauty. You can find yourself at the beach, leaning back in a chair, letting the morning-salted breeze sweep over you whilst you puff gently in between sips. Ahh, that’s a morning on the beach. There is nothing quite like it in the Pundit’s mind. And now for a couple of thoughts from real experts on sea adventures: Herman Melville is an American author, poet, and novelist best known for “Moby Dick.” But let us not forget Cornell & Diehl’s Melville at Sea tobacco series of blends: Billy Budd, Redburn, and John Marr, other noted works from Melville’s pen as well. It is better to fail in originality, than to succeed in imitation. He who has never failed somewhere, that man cannot be great. Failure is the true test of greatness—Herman Melville. Then there is Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton. Pipes, as mentioned by Chuck in his excellent piece on the great explorer, who relied on his pipe when the going got rough. Through endurance we conquer― Ernest H. Shackleton And finally, a Pipe Smoker of the Past cannot go without mentioning: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, born May 22, May 1859, and died July 7, 1930. If you are struggling to identify Sir Doyle in your mind, then you might be too young to be reading this. Of course, he is the prodigious author of the great detective Sherlock Holmes novels. Holmes and his drama are must-reads on any pipe-smoker’s novel list. ‘Nuff said! It is an old maxim of mine that when you have excluded the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth—Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

• June 25, 2024 Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 615

  Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 615. Our featured interview tonight is with John Connor. John is a musician, song writer, music teacher, and a pipe smoker. He is a published indie musician with five albums out. At the top of the show we will continue with our ongoing tour of Brian’s pipe collection. This time we have five random pipes that Brian has for five different reasons – all good ones.

• June 18, 2024 Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 614

  Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 614. Our featured interview tonight is with Kirk Womack. Kirk is a 27-year old locksmith and is part of our new series of pipe smokers that are under the age of 30. One of his passions is participating in Civil War reenactments, and that is what led him to pipe smoking. He’s been smoking a pipe for three years. At the top of the show, Brian will discuss room note.

• June 18, 2024 Take Me Back

  On Friday, 31st May, 2024, a big thing happened: I was inducted into the Confrérie des Maitres Pipiers de Saint-Claude, along with 12 others, including my dear friend Nate King. To say this is one of the highest honors I’ve ever experienced would be a dramatic understatement. I’ve known of the Confrérie for years, but never dreamt that one day I would find myself a member of this esteemed order. Here’s the story. Nate and I flew into Lyon on the Tuesday before the ceremony, where we were picked up by friend and pipe maker Bruno Nuttens, who had nominated and sponsored us. He drove us back to his place in the village of Charpey, where we spent a couple days with him, as well as fellow pipe maker Chris Herriot, eating, drinking, talking, listening to music, experiencing wonderful fellowship long into the night and, of course, messing with pipes in Bruno’s amazing workshop. Calling it a workshop doesn’t really do it justice; it’s almost a museum, filled with beautifully restored old machinery, vintage pipe parts, old stummels, stems, rings, and boxes of ancient pipes from long silent factories. It would take weeks to explore everything there. During those two days, Nate, Bruno and Chris did what pipe makers do. I supplied things to smoke, asked a million questions, and took photos. We all had a blast.  Thursday, we drove to Saint-Claude, pretty much the Holy Land for lovers of the briar pipe, the first of which were commercially produced there in ca. 1855. At that time, Saint-Claude already had a long history of working with wood, including making pipes from the local boxwood, but the bruyère was found to be a significant improvement. Not only was the wood more durable and relatively fire-retardant, it also presented a sweeter smoke. The pipe industry quickly grew, and by 1925, perhaps as many as 100 factories employing nearly 4000 craftsmen were producing on the order of 68-70 million pipes per year. Let that sink in for a second. While most of those factories have long since shuttered, evidence of the importance of the pipe to the town’s history is everywhere. The rubbish bins on the street take the form of a deeply bent billiard. There are murals of pipes and pipe smokers everywhere, even on the walls of the hotel in which Nate and I were staying; on every floor, the doors of the lift would open to reveal a representation of a different, important pipe smoker. Streets are marked with round brass medallions incorporating a pipe, and there are still several pipe shops along the Place de l’Abbaye in the town center. We spent some time at the new Chacom facility, being shown about by the ever gracious Antoine Grenard, Chacom’s owner and managing director, and also current president of the Confrérie. While modern on the outside, and efficiently laid out for pipe making, the massive building also houses a boutique, and countless boxes filled with artifacts of a very long and rich history, including hundreds of thousands of old stummels, stems and even pipes, as well as a 1956 Renault pickup, its doors emblazoned with Chacom’s logo. I could easily have spent days there exploring the ephemera, antique salesman’s samples, and everything else pertaining to the story of Chacom. We also visited the Genod workshop in Rue Faubourg Marcel, now operated by the talented Sebastian Beaud, who demonstrated how pipes have been made there since 1865 when the shop’s machinery was powered by a water wheel. Today, Sebastian and his single employee, Jean Bouloc, produce about 2000 pipes per year on machines that, other than now being electrified, are fundamentally the same as they were nearly 160 years ago. Evidence of old ateliers could be seen everywhere. Walls wear tattered remnants of old signage, and an old cabin that once served as storage for the town’s briar still stands. I’ve always had a strong affection for French-made pipes; my first really good one was a large, ODA sized apple by Jean LaCroix, and I’ve collected many others in the decades since. The feeling of being in the birthplace of the briar, the ancestral home of these pipes, and being surrounded by so much of the pipe’s history had a profound impact.  Finally, it was time to prepare for the ceremony. Nate and I walked, in the rain, the 100m or so from our hotel to the Musée Pipes et Diamants where the proceedings would be held. After looking around the museum for a while, which again is a place I’d like to spend many hours, we were led to the antechamber of the Confrérie’s chapter house. The room contained a large table and chairs, the walls holding glass cases housing pipes from each of the more than 1500 members accepted since the Confrérie’s formation in 1966. After introducing ourselves, Antoine briefed us on the order of events. We would wait in the antechamber while the officers and members assembled, including my old friend (has it really been 25 years?) Tom Eltang who flew in for the event. “I wouldn’t miss this for anything!” Then, after knocking three times on the large wooden door separating the two rooms, and a suitable delay as our worthiness was deliberated, we were invited to gather in a semi-circle amongst what turned out to be rather a large group. One by one, we were presented to the assembly, and our biographies were read. In turn, we then each offered one of our personal pipes to be kept in the museum. The purpose of this pipe is symbolic, both to mark our place amongst our colleagues, and, according to Antoine, “In the hope that every member will return to Saint-Claude to visit their pipe, and to enjoy the history of this unique place.” We then were presented with a selection of new pipes, from which we would each choose one for the next step of the induction process, the passing of the test to prove […]

• June 11, 2024 Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 613

  Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 613. Our featured interview tonight is with Ezekiel Rogucki. Ezekiel is a 26-year old graphic designer from Ohio and is part of our new series of pipe smokers that are under the age of 30. His partner likes to smoke cigars, but when Ezekiel tried them he felt they were too harsh, and that led him to smoking pipes. He has three pet snakes and says he has “a profound interest in wildlife and the natural world and the sometimes-unnatural world.” At the top of the show, we’ll have an “Ask the Pipemaker” segment with pipe artisan Jeff Gracik.