Club
Info & Events
President's
Message
Howdy Gang,
First off I’d like to mention that attendance has been extremely
well over the past few meetings. It’s great to see some of
our old friends back like Mike and Dennis showing up on a consistent
basis. Even Old Joe T was able to stay out of the hospital for a
minute and graced us with his presence. What a difference the meeting
makes when you add 3 or 4 more to our regular attendees. Hopefully
we will see Jorge, Matt and first time visitor Carra back on a regular
basis. And, as always, please recommend us to a pipe smoking friend
or acquaintance.
As you all may already be aware Tim has secured
the 2017 club pipe and all that have ordered please bring in a check
to cover the cost. Thanks again Tim for the time and effort you
put into this every year.
For all of you who may not be a member of our Facebook
page please sign up. It is a great way to keep in touch with everyone
throughout the month if you feel as though you really miss me. Because
it is a worldwide platform and we have members in there from across
the globe. Some interesting information gets posted there. For example
we have a few pipe makers and other craftsmen who like to show off
their goods. We also have a few members that don’t even smoke
a pipe (if you could imagine there is such a civilized person exists)
but, rather be a member because of the whole Sherlockian fame. The
following is an excerpt from a recent post.
To all members of the Sherlock Holmes Pipe Club:
I'm Jeff Rapsis, silent film accompanist at the Somerville
Theatre in Davis Square, Somerville. I wanted to let everyone know
that on Sunday, Sept. 10 at 2 p.m., we're screening a 35mm print
of the recently rediscovered original silent film version of "Sherlock
Holmes" (1916) starring William Gillette in his only known
movie appearance.
It's the Boston area premiere of this restored picture, which
was considered, lost for nearly a century until a copy was found
in France in 2014. It's my special privilege to be providing live
musical accompaniment for the film.
All are invited to attend this special event. Admission is
$15 per person. More information can be found on the Somerville
Theatre's website at somervilletheatre.com.
One downer: I'm afraid there's no pipe smoking allowed in
the Somerville Theatre, except on screen. (And Gillette as Holmes
sure does his share!)
September is most synonymous with back to school.
So in honor of bringing a teacher an apple, all those who smoke
an apple bowled shaped pipe at September’s meeting will receive
an extra raffle ticket for a special prize from my personal collection.
“It’s Elementary” - Kevin
Member Article ................................
by Eric Kahn
The Greater Kansas City Pipe Club
I wasn’t expecting it. I just got lucky. Just one of those
things that happenstance hands you and you can make the most of.
No, I didn’t win the lottery. Well, yes I did, but only
$2, No, it was nicer than winning a few bucks (OK, $2.) What happened
was I just lucked out and chose the right day to travel to Kansas
City, Kansas.
For those of you who don't know, my job has me traveling to a
lot of different places. I train hospital IT departments all across
this country. So what can you do if you don’t have much
in the way of excess time to sightsee and to be honest, there
is nothing much to see in some of the places I go to? But this
time I was scheduled to go to KC. I could have gone to a ball
game, I could have gone to all kinds of events. But I’m
a pipe and cigar smoker and you can’t smoke in the stands.
So, having been there before, I stopped in at Cigars
and Tobac, Ltd in Overland Park. One of the best tobacconists
(ok, the best, IMHO) in KC. Mr. Bob was on the job when I got
there. The owner, Lynn Beyer, was out and was not expected back
while I was there. Though I owe him a big thank you for sending
me to a very satisfying steak dinner the last time I was there.
So why was I so lucky? Because Mr. Bob let me know that the Greater
Kansas City Pipe Club was meeting there the very next night.
Talk about timing. Well, of course I had to make sure I was to
be there for the event. I got there early the next night and went
around the corner to another building to have dinner before attending
the meeting. The place was quite full of members, and getting
fuller. I introduced myself to Quinton Wells, the current president
of the GKCPC, and he then introduced me around to several others.
Don’t ask me all their names, there were too many. But I
got cards from three of them that I’ll share.
The first one is from Mr. Bob Oswald, who does custom leather
crafting, including pouches and pipe holders. Take a look at Whitewood
Leather. For those of you into something a little different
he includes a thirteen tail flogging whip.
Then there was Dru Melpolder a pipe maker. For those of you into
heavy metal check out his facebook page under Dead
Guy Pipes, The pipes are quite impressive, and made from aircraft
aluminum if I remember correctly.
I also had the pleasure of meeting Scottie Piersel a.k.a Ladybriar.
Scottie makes all kinds of pipes, but is best known for the pencil
thin shanks on many of her pipes. Indeed, they are so impressive
that SHPC Boston has placed her on the must have list for our
2018 Club Pipe. Her pipes got a great layout in P&T Magazine.
Just like our own Tim Hynick.
The meeting was really great. I felt like the bell of the ball,
as I was formally introduced and of course (unaccustomed as I
am to public speaking) I gave a little speech about SHPC starting
with “Oyay, Oyay, Oy vey” - which fell a little flat
to them but those of you who attended our meetings at the Synagogue.
would understand. None the less I felt greatly welcomed.
Some of the things they did at their meeting:
-
Everyone has nametags.
-
Like Tom, Quinton introduced some tobaccos
for sampling (not for raffle) giving a little history about
each.
-
They, too, have a yearly club pipe and they
tend to run a little more expensive than ours. Scottie was in
charge of talking about the pipes offered and taking orders
for them. (Hmmm, Scottie at GKCPC and Tim at SHPC, there must
be something about being a pipe maker that gets you in charge
of selecting the Pipe of the Year for the club. LOL)
Then of course, everyone settled into the usual pairing or groupings
that happen at our meetings. There was even a discussion of Sherlock
Holmes. I can’t remember who started that. In any case,
it was a great night, and if you’re in the area the third
Thursday of the month in Overland Park, Kansas, at 8:00 p.m.,
I suggest you stop in at Cigar & Tobac, not to mention the
meeting. Oh, there is also a great Indian restaurant in the area
if you like Indian food.
Here’s to my next visit.
Tobacco
Raffle
This
month, we have two small batch tobaccos. The descriptions say
it all:
Cornell & Diehl - Bourbon Bleu
Bourbon Bleu is an entry in the Cellar Series by Cornell &
Diehl. This crumble cake is made by pressing a variety of ripe
Virginias with dark-fired Kentucky and Perique, and is finished
with a bit of Bourbon flavor. Time will allow the blend to become
more balanced, deeper and sweeter, and should be at its best in
10 to 15 years.
Cornell & Diehl - Father the Flame
Father the Flame is a feature-length documentary about slowing
down, embracing life, and learning something in the process. It's
also about tobacco pipes. Straight Up English was Cornell &
Diehl's very first Small Batch blend: An English blend done the
traditional way. No topping. No added flavors. Red and bright
Virginias and a healthy dose of Latakia. Straight Up. Note that
this is a limited run of only 2400 tins - we have #745
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Pipe
Personalities
Peter
Cushing (excerpted
from Wikipedia) - go
there
Peter Wilton Cushing, OBE (26 May 1913 – 11 August
1994) was an English actor and a BAFTA TV Award Best Actor
winner in 1956. He is mainly known for his prolific appearances
in Hammer Films, in which he played strong character roles
like the sinister scientist Baron Frankenstein, Sherlock
Holmes and the vampire hunter Dr. Van Helsing,
among many other roles. He appeared frequently opposite
Christopher Lee and, occasionally, Vincent Price. A familiar
face on both sides of the Atlantic, Cushing is best known
outside the Hammer productions for playing Dr. Who in Doctor
Who and the Daleks (1965) and Daleks – Invasion Earth
(1966), and for his performance as Grand Moff Tarkin in
Star Wars (1977). Cushing's likeness was extensively recreated
using digital effects in Rogue One (2016), which raised
questions about the morality of using a deceased actor's
likeness.[
Cushing is well known for playing Baron Victor Frankenstein
and Professor Van Helsing in a long series of horror films
produced by Hammer Film Productions in the 1950s, 1960s
and 1970s. He was often cast alongside Christopher Lee,
who became his best friend. His first appearances in his
two most famous roles were in Terence Fisher's films The
Curse of Frankenstein (1957) and Dracula (1958). He later
said that his career decisions entailed selecting roles
where he knew that he would be accepted by the audience.
"Who wants to see me as Hamlet? Very few. But millions
want to see me as Frankenstein, so that's the one I do.
Cushing also played Sherlock Holmes many times, originally
in Hammer's The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959), the first
Holmes adaptation to be filmed in colour. This was followed
by a performance in 16 episodes of the BBC series Sir Arthur
Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes (1968), of which only six
episodes survive. Cushing reprised the role, now playing
the detective in old age, in The Masks of Death (1984) for
Channel 4.
Cushing was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 1982, but
managed to survive for 12 years without surgery, although
his health remained fragile.[citation needed] In 1989, he
was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire;
his friend Christopher Lee publicly opined that the honour
was "too little, too late". Cushing retired to
Whitstable, on the Kent coast, where he had bought a seafront
home in 1959, and continued his hobby of birdwatching while
writing two autobiographies.[citation needed] He also worked
as a painter, specializing in watercolours, and wrote and
illustrated a children's book of Lewis Carroll–style
humour, The Bois Saga.[citation needed] He was a patron
of the Vegetarian Society from 1987 until his death on 11
August 1994, he was 81.
[Read
more]
More on Peter Cushing:
Peter
Cushing's Last Sherlock Holmes Performance
The
Great Life Of Peter Cushing
Video of
the Month
Peter Cushing - Hound of the Baskervilles
- Pt. 1
Pipes
& Tobacco Around the Web Country
Squire Radio
Below are links to the Country Squire Radio episodes that
aired since the last Gazette. See them live on Monday Evenings
at around 8:30 PM Central Time on YouTube.
(9:30 Eastern Time)
PipesMagazine
Radio Show - Recent Episodes
Below
are links to the Pipes Magazine Radio episodes that aired
since the last Gazette.
(Live Tuesday evenings 8 PM )
Other
Important Links for Smokers: |
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Tobacco Review
.................... by Ernie Whitenack
Peter Stokkebye's Cube Cut
“Peter Stokkebye's Cube Cut is unusual, as most cube cuts
are strictly Burley or Virginia, but this uses both tobaccos combined
in layers which are Cavendish-pressed and cut into small cubes.
The singular pouch aroma is one of tea and pepper, but the flavor
is very gentle and the tobacco burns slowly.”
It is all true. However, the scent upon opening the bag appeared
to be a little perfumed which I figured must be a binding agent
helping to hold the layers of the eighth inch cubes together.
Upon lighting up, there was no hint of added flavoring or room
note perfume, just plain tobacco odor.
I guess I packed the chamber a bit too tightly as it took several
lights to get it going. I loosened it a little with a shank pick
and it burned nicely all the way to the bottom; exercising careful
attention with a tamper.
Perhaps I puffed a little too aggressively as my tongue began
to tingle, about two thirds of the way through, from the slight
bite detected. The Virginia and Burley flavors seemed to trade
places throughout the length of the smoke. I decide it was an
O.K. smoke but needed something.
I took several ounces and added 10% Latakia and 10% Peter Stokkebye
84 Turkish, a blend of the famous Samsoun and Virginia, and put
it in a tin for several days before trying it in a larger chamber.
It became easier to light and keep burning, and the slight tongue
bite went away. It appeared to be a bit sweeter due, I guess,
to the added Virginia and Samsoun. The Latakia added its noble
taste and aroma, as always, and gently. This exercise was fun
and interesting and I’m going to up the Latakia and Turkish
blend a bit and see what happens. -
Ernie
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