A Day of Our Own

It's here. It's finally here. After weeks, if not months of waiting, International Pipe Smoking Day is here!

For a lot of pipe smokers, every day is Pipe Smoking Day, but there is something different about today, something special, something transcendental.

In my opinion, the important part of IPSD isn't that you smoke your pipe (though that is a big part!), but rather that those of you who are closet-pipe-smokers, those of you who hide inside of your house while you puff away, should get outside and smoke at least once today.

By making ourselves visible, we ensure that we are not forgotten. With certain legislation in the works these days, it is important that the world doesn't forget that we exist and doesn't imagine that we are all the caricature of the white-haired grandfather. We are a large and diverse crowd.

For the most part, pipe smokers are humble and quiet people. If we start to smoke our pipe outside and someone looks offended, we will often put our pipe away out of respect. That's a good thing. It is a good thing to earn the reputation of a kind and thoughtful people.

While I am not encouraging you to tarnish that reputation, I would say that you should feel entitled to smoke where you feel fit today, as long as it doesn't break any laws, of course. If someone gives you a sideways glance while you are smoking at the park, I encourage you to respond to by saying that it is an international holiday devoted to the humble pipe and that you must smoke out of obligation.

I would recommend that you select a special pipe and a special tobacco and enjoy the day to the fullest. For those of you who smoke only occasionally, today is a day to puff away happily and without any guilt. This is a special day for us.

While you are happily puffing, I would ask you to do me a favor. Contemplate exactly what it is that makes you love this hobby some much, then come back on here and tell us about it along with how you decided to celebrate.

Finally, allow me to wish you a very happy and healthy International Pipe Smoking Day!

Loved Ones and Pipes

I'm sure that you're all aware that today is Valentine's Day. Don't worry, this is not going to be a discourse about how important love is or how annoyingly commercialized Valentine's Day is (thought that's true).

There is something very important about Valentine's Day, however, and that is that it gives us a day dedicated to contemplating some of our most important relationships.

I remember that pipes used to be a point of slight contention between me and my girlfriend when we first started going out. Lauren came from a family that smoked cigarettes heavily and had come to despise them. Perhaps because of the success of the anti-tobacco propaganda, she had come to associate all tobacco products with cigarettes, as a lot of people do. Thus, because of the negative impact that cigarettes had on her family, she was concerned when she found out about my love for pipes.

(Lauren and me on her first trip to Disney World)

Her fear concerned me as well, as I didn't want to give up pipes, though I didn't want to cause her grief. Naturally, smoking my pipes would have been the one to go if it had to, but I took this as an opportunity for discussion. I talked with her about the medical differences between pipes and cigarettes (as discussed more in depth in a previous post) and let her know exactly why I love pipes as much as I do.

After hearing the differences, including the fact that pipes are smoked less frequently (typically) than cigarettes and are usually not inhaled into the lunges, she completely changed her tune about pipes. She encouraged my hobby and has done her best to learn more about pipes because she knows how much they are a part of my life.

Recently, Lauren did something that revealed her radical change in opinion of pipes.

Shameful Aromatics

(Photo by Valentinian)

I've talked before about my friend, Jeff, a bartender at the pub where I work. I recently made a gift to him of a pipe-starter set, complete with pipe, tobacco, and all the necessary accompaniments (see the whole story here).

A week or so after I gave this to him, we ran into each other on the patio of the pub. We were both dressed for work, in our kilts, and enjoying the fire-pits that were roaring outside. I asked him how he was enjoying his new pipe and he seemed to light up when asked about it, indicating that he was liking it a lot.

“I'm really liking the Altadis Night Cap. It just smells and tastes great!”

“Oh, absolutely,” I said. “Aromatics are always a crowd-pleaser.”

“I do have a question about aromatics, though.”

Uh-Oh.

“Is there anything wrong with liking aromatics?”

“No,” I responded instantly. I did feel obligated to discuss the issue of aromatics further with Jeff, as I feel the need to do now.

First of all, to say that a particular pipe tobacco is aromatic is a sort of an absurd statement. Of course it is aromatic. It has an aroma, usually quite distinct, and is thus aromatic.

The term “aromatic” when being used to describe a subsection of tobacco means something slightly different, however. It refers to sweeter blends, frequently featuring artificial flavoring, such as cherry, chocolate, and vanilla through the addition of syrups.

(Photo by wmliu)

Other tobacco blends that feature Black Cavendish as a primary component are also often referred to as “aromatics”.

Let me blunt, much blunter than I often am about issues concerning taste: there is absolutely nothing wrong with liking aromatics.

My Father's Gift

(My father, Jay Brandt, on the Playboy Jazz Cruise in 2009)

Like a lot of children, I loved to be told stories when I was growing up. Honestly, stories, both fictional and true, still play a large part in my life, as I am an English major and aspiring poet. 

Unlike most children, however, my father never regaled me with stories about fairies and princesses and castles. I grew up hearing about Krishna and Ganesha, Parvati and Durga.

When he didn't feel like recalling a classic Hindu or Buddhist story, he would tell me one of his own. In his younger years, my father traveled through India and Iran, Russia and France, Afghanistan and Tibet. He tells me that he left the USA with a backpack and $2,000. Mind you, this was in the early 70s. One my favorite stories involves that fact that, while traveling through Afghanistan, he saw "a line of trucks and jeeps, miles long". Apparently, he had no idea what was going on until many years later, when he realized that that was the Russians invading the country.

(My father riding a donkey with children in Iran)

To this day, my habit of living vicariously through my father has not changed. 

This summer, my father, stepmother (affectionately known as 'Smom'), and my two younger siblings traveled to Myrtle Beach on a family vacation.

When they told me where they were planning on going, I nearly started drooling. "Myrtle Beach as in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina?" I said over the phone to my father.

Don't mistake my intentions. I have no interest in beaches or lengthy periods of exposure to the sun and shirtless people who really should be wearing shirts. My drool-reflex was inspired by something else residing in Myrtle Beach, specifically something residing less than two miles from the condo in which my family would be staying: Low Country Pipe & Cigar, the physical location of Smokingpipes.com.

(Image courtesy of Smokingpipes) 

Needless to say, I attempted to rearrange my schedule, to no avail. College does not let you reschedule your classes so easily as one might like. 

So, while my family was enjoying the sunshine of the beach and I would have been whiling away the hours eyeballing extremely expensive pipes, I was forced to learn about basic Political Theory and the writings of Daniel Dennett, which, for the most part, I enjoyed.

A couple of days into their vacation, I received a phone call from my father. "Do you have the Mark Twain pipes from Peterson?"

He's there, I thought to myself, he is standing in my Mecca.

Video Killed the Blogosphere

(Photo by Bella Luna Toys)

It wasn't that long ago that I heard the term blog for the first time. I laughed to myself and thought it was a ridiculous word and and even more ridiculous concept. Certainly, there was no way this could catch on.

Well, here I am with a blog of my own, frequently reading other blogs and wondering what I would do without them. It just goes to show what a Luddite I was being.

However, despite the growing popularity of blogs, they are still, for the most part, written word. Written word has had a single nemesis for years that it has never been able to defeat: video.

(Photo by Deathtiny42)

Video is a quick, effective form of communication with so many great uses. Trust me, I am not complaining about the proliferation of video making and watching capability.

As someone with a desire to continue providing useful, entertaining information on the subject of pipes, however, it would seem to behoove me to expand my area of expertise.

To that end, I have been heavily contemplating starting a YouTube channel devoted to pipes. The videos could be anything from explaining techniques to tobacco reviews to just a one-minute long show-and-tell of a new pipe I acquired.

The purpose of this channel would be to provide you with the information and entertainment that you want. For that reason, I pose the questions to you, and I really do want answer:

1. Would you be interested in watching such videos?
2. What topic would you like those videos to cover?

I want to hear your responses and input before I take this step so that I can be sure to provide you with the best possible videos and information.

Thank you ahead of time for your help in what I view as a very exciting possibility!