Musings and Announcements

I leave for the Chicagoland International Pipe and Tobacciana Show about two weeks from now. I look forward to renewing old friendships and to making new ones. This event is more than a show; it is a reunion. Frank Burla and his team are to be congratulated. Mounting such a successful show is a big accomplishment, but creating such a strong network of communities is an even bigger task. When I see all these networks of friends and colleagues in Chicago–and rarely anywhere else–I’m impressed.

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The Accidental Pipe Smoker

Author John Casey enjoys a pipe in Georgetown Tobacco, Image © 2010 Neill Archer Roan

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It was a beautiful, Summer-like day yesterday in Georgetown when I found myself with 90 free minutes before my next appointment. Having just downed a cappuccino, I felt the impulse to smoke my pipe, so I arose from my coffee house perch and sauntered over to the mother of all Washington, DC tobacconists: Georgetown Tobacco.

Having settled into one of the burnished oak pub-chairs, I took a gander at the pipes on display in the case next to me. As I peered through the shelved-glass cube within which the pipes were displayed, I noticed a backpack-toting, professorial gentleman inspecting the tobacco tins on display. He quizzed the clerk behind the counter about the availability of some of the blends.

“Do you have any Rattray’s Red Rapparee on hand?” he inquired, to which the clerk apologetically replied,“No.”

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Your Input, Please.

After a year’s hiatus, the Greater Kansas City Pipe Club will be roaring back with a 2-day Kansas City Pipe and Tobacco Show this coming June 25-26.

With their inimitable Midwestern hospitality, the organizers have planned a Friday night Barbecue Buffet and a Saturday night Banquet. Yours truly has received and accepted an invitation to speak at the banquet and I’m busy ruminating on what I’m going to say.

I plan on preparing my remarks in written form. I also plan to deliver a slide presentation to accompany my talk. (People need something nice to look at!)

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Pipe No. 47

Updated on Wednesday, April 14, 2010 at 12:45PM by Neill Archer Roan

Turtle by Maigurs Knets, Image © 2010 Neill Archer Roan

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You see depicted above a Turtle by Maigurs Knets. Think about this: this is the 47th pipe that Maigurs Knets has made. While you’re only looking at pictures of the pipe, I’ve held it and it blows me away. The size, proportions, curvilinear complexity, workmanship, color, balance, weight, and materials choices come together in exquisite union.

When I took this pipe from its bag, I realized that I was holding a pipe that I would truly treasure among those other bright stars in the constellation that comprises my collection. When I saw this pipe, I physically felt my lungs expand. I’ve had beautiful things take my breath away, but I can’t recall having one create a sensation of oxygen rushing my heart.

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