Pipeology - The Fine Art of Pipe Smoking and Thought

Anxiety causes stress.  I read about it this morning.  Since my heart attack in December of 2011, I have taken much advice from my cardiologist to heart.  I know what stress does to one's body.  Stress kills.  I am supposed to get eight hours of sleep every night and shut down by five in the evening.  I don't exercise as much as I did, but after my heart attack I went to the gym almost daily until we bought our own treadmill.  But, as much as I can worry aboit the stupidest of things, I refuse to stress about anything.  Stress kills. It's as simple as that.  If heart disease is a silent killer, stress stalks the heart.  I mean that.  I wake up and look forward to that first cup of coffee in the morning as I have practically since we were married.  I have my bad habits, but I can tell whether I am stressed or relaxed.  I might worry about everything, but I simply refuse to let my body and my heart to be stressed.  I kn...

 Elon Musk says his greatest worry that keeps him awake at night is nuclear warfare.  Mostly between Russia and the Ukraine.  What happens if one side or the other decides to drop the bomb?  Musk has a lot at stake here although, really nuclear warfare would be WWIII, and the end of the world as we know it.  He has proposed a kind of Peace agreement by letting the people choose which country will govern the region.   It's all more complicated than I have explained here, but if Musk isn't sleeping well out of worrying about nuclear warfare, we just need to see where the End Of The World clock has been set by the scientists at the University of Chicago.  It's the closest to midnight it has ever been since 1945 when the clock was first established.   But it is not because I am too dumb to understand world affairs like Musk or that I have no stake in nuclear warfare.  It's just that I have faith the world will survive.  Such faith ...

 I am smoking my Savinelli Churchwarden pipe this morning.  Even though it is morning and the temp right now is 73, I am smoking Sunset Rum.  I smoked my Boswell yesterday, but only a couple of bowls and thought about leaving it out here on the table over night but decided I would smoke a different pipe today.  We had a landscaping crew come yesterday to clear up some old brush and then we went out for the afternoon.  I didn't get a lot of pipe smoking accomplished yesterday. But today the games are on so I might settle in to watch the championship games.  I told my wife last night that I have this really strange algorithm with YouTube.  I use a moniker as most people do and I get a lot of videos about the universe and astrophysics, which includes most anything related to the thinking of astrophysicist, including Einstein.  But the videos that fascinate me the most discuss the beginning of the universe.   Many people want to know the mea...

 Paul McCarney was the last of yhe Beatles to take LSD out of fear it would forever change him and his music.  He took it one night and when the trip was over whenever he closed his eyes, instead of seeing blackness, he saw a blue hole.  He said at the time Marijuana was for giggles.  But he said all the other Beatles took LSD and believed they would be a cohesive group of Paul did too.  He now says of those days, no harm came to them by drug experimentation. My youngest son who still plays in a band and knows a lot about sixties music, says that one can tell when a group stopped doing drugs.  Their music wasn't as good.  It might be that drugs like Marifuana and LSD contributed greatly to the creative music of the sixties and the early seventies.  There might be a few from that era who do not like music from that era.  But the sixties was a totally unique decade.  No question.  My wife and I still listen to a lot of music from that...

 There is a vehicle for those who want mote than just a luxury SUV.  Car maker Rezvani has made an SUV for soccer moms who want to survive the Apocalypse.  The model is called the Vengeance and nothing is left out including body armor and gas masks.  It is available with a whole host of options and will seat eight.  I could go through all the options like blinding lights and smoke screen, but it can be equipped with bullet proof glass and electrified door handles to keep the Zombies out.  Oh, and let's not forget the pepper spray in the side view mirrors. I could go on and on about this luxury SUV, but a full package of all the options will set a person back over $600,000.   I believe this model just came out recently, as I read about it just this morning.  But we ate living in a day where people genuinely fear and this SUV is proof.  If someone were to ask me how many of these from the cheaper model on up  Rezvani will sell this ye...

 Why are kitchen sinks always located below a window?  I just read an article about this and the answer might surprise you.  Some thought it was because whoever is washing the dishes can look out and see the kids.  Others thoight it was just about esthetics.  Well, the answer might surprise you.  It's because of cost.  Less pipe is used for the waste pipe, so it's always by a window.   I'm in SW Florida and it seems here there is a lot of religious news about churches and religion in general.  But frankly, I'm not into that.  I just don't consider myself a religious person.  I say I am Spiritual, but not religious.  The difference is that Spiritual people are often alone a lot and they tend to be quiet.  Religious people like to belong.  And that is the main difference, but there are other subtle differences.   Today it is a little chilly, overcast, and quite windy, as I sit here on the patio smoking my...

 One of the things I like about doing this particular blog is that unlike my Pipe a Day Blog, I am not limited to writing about pipes or tobacco.  Each day I read the news and see what is happening on each day.  And too, unlike my other blog, I am not writing a day or two ahead.  I mentioned to my wife this morning that a musician for a megachurch lost his job for having an affair.  I told her it was the same church where another famous pastor lost his job for having a homosexual affair. I said my theology today would not be accepted in any church.  It wouldn't, plus I smoke a pipe for my own religious reasons.  I said no one could accept that.  I don't want to dwell on this topic because I could care less.  I believe that as soon as a religion gets organized it's ruined.  I believe many things now that would not be accepted in most any religion, with maybe an exception or two.  But I am a religion of one person.  Me.  But...

 Now, I am not one for hyperbole or panic, because in many ways I see the world as it is at my age and say maybe I won't be around to deal with it.  But the Doomsday Clock has been set this year to 90 seconds before midnight just this morning.  Don't ask me why they do this on January 24, but I guess it's the date they do this. .  It is the closest to the end the clock has ever been set.   The Doomsday Clock, as it has been called, was developed by Einstein and University of Chicago scientists in 1945 right after the ending of WW Ii.  Einstein helped develop the Atmic Bomb and believed after the war we had entered the nuclear age that would either make life better, or would destroy us.  The scientists chose the latter.  Hence, the Doomsday Clock. I am not one to allow the news of the day keep me awake at night.  I am not going to bed tonight wondering whether the world will wake up in the morning, although my wife says I worry about ever...

 I am smoking my Lee Van Cleef Meerschaum pipe I don't smoke all that much with my Tropical Export pipe tobacco.  Lee Van Cleef often smoked his trademark pipe in his roles he played in Spaghetti Westerns, but most notably in The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, starring Clint Eastwood.  I wanted to pay homage to Hollywood for all the pipes that were smoked on so many TV shows and movies in the past. I watched a few episodes of Fantasy Island  this past week or so.  This was a TV series from the late 70's to the mid-80's.  In one of the episodes three of the main male characters of the show smoked pipes.  I grew up in an era where pipe smoking was quite common on TV and in movies.  Today pipe smoking is relegated to some guy, because pipe smokers are mostly guys, sitting in his garage or outside, as I am this morning, by himself, as I am today.  But there was a time when a pipe was a fashion accessory.   I mention Fantasy Island, becaus...

 China is the most Atheist country in the world.  Here in the US, I would say that Atheism is quite different and it has to do with how Atheists in China value human life.  They don't.  And their morals are totally different.  I won't say that the US is the most religious country, because most of those are Arab countries and South America.   But here in the US, religions pay people to sort out the Apocalypse by identifying who the various characters of the Apocalypse are portrayed by people today.  Some might be able to identify figures tofay that represent war, famine, and justice, but there is one figure that is an enigma.  I won't get into all that because really, there is so much published on line about the Apocalypse, I don't want to deal with it. My point is that Atheism in China celebrates the State, whereas Atheism in this country generally is quite humanistic and values the individual.  I can judge China, but it's hard for me to...

 I have been obsessed with the size of the universe when I first learned how big it is.  I had the most difficult time understanding how the universe is some 92 billion light years wide, when all we can observe of it goes back to 13.7 billion light years.  But more than this is trying to comprehend the meaning of infinity.   But first, the size of the universe.  The discrepancy in size can be explained by dark matter that has been pushed outward by gravity.  This explains the 92 billion light years.  All we can observe of this is only some 13.7 billion light years.  But I have asked myself if 13.7 billion light years is what we can observe, what lies beyond what we can't see?  And how do we know the universe is only some 13.7 billion years old?  What existed before the Big Bang? Stephen Hawking believed towards the end of his life that another universe existed that collapsed on itself and then the Big Bang began another universe....

 My wife and I ate less than a year apart in age, so when we talk about the 60's years, we both know what we are talking about.  We often get into discussions about classic rock and I enjoyed the folk scene of the sixties with the coffee houses, etc.  She was more inclined to talk about the rock concerts and other groups.  But the language of the sixties is a language we both know. I mention this because David Crosby died yesterday who was a kind of folk rock artist beginning with the Byrds, then in Buffalo Springfield, CSN, and on his own.  He was 81.  These old rockers from the 60's are slowly leaving us.  And with the death of each one, memories are brought up in our minds of those times and our memories of their music.  Ringo and Paul are the only ones left from the Beatles.  And even if they are still alive, many no longer perform, like the Queen of Rock, Linda Ronstadt.   Bob Dylan is 81 now, and I am not sure he performs much...

I'm listening to some Reggae music on Spotify this morning as I am writing this morning.  It is sunny here in SW Florida and seems like a good morning for this style of music.  I just read this morning that a US nun just died at the age 118.  She had been the longest living person in the US according to Guiness.  When asked about her longevity and how she lived so long, she said it was a glass of wine a day.  My wife said that a person who lived to be a hundred was asked how she lived so long, she said, "Live to be 99 and be very careful."  I laughed when she said this.  Longevity runs in both our families, but really everyone needs to take life one fay at a time. We were discussing Methusala last night over dinner and although I can't recall his exact age, I think it was 969.  Some things in the Bible have no explanation.  And I am sure many religious people live to be quite old because their faith keeps down anxiety levels that otherwise pu...

 According to Discoverer magazine one might think there are a lot of cool places in Florida like Orlando, St. Petersburg, Miami, St. Augustine,etc.  There are the usual suspects in Florida and one can take their pick.  But according to Discoverer, the coolest place in the entire world, I mean everywhere, is Miami Beach.  It is an incorporated city, and according to this magazine Muami Beach has everything a tourist would want. One can argue with Discoverer, and I am sure cities like Rome, London, Paris, and other famous tourist destinations would take exception to the tourist magazine to task and name most any famous city as the coolest place to visit.  But according to the magazine, Miami Beach has everything a city can offer for those in search of a destination to visit.  And maybe other cities have famous sites one can visit, but according to this magazine Miami Beach has everything a city can offer for those looking to get away. I won't sit here and arg...

 I am curious as to all we will learn about the universe from the James Webb Space Telescope.  Stephen Hawking said the universe has no beginning and that it probably has no end.  Scientists are still at a loss to explain the Big Bang, but this is because of our reference to time.  Until the railroads needed clocks to synchronize train movements, no one until then gave much thought to time except to measure time in terms of seasons. I am inclined to agree with Hawking that the universe has no beginning and that it has no end.  James Webb is teaching us that our beliefs about the universe are being rewritten as I write this.  But the fact is that the universe is indeed a very mysterious place as James Webb is revealing.  We try to answer the questions of the unknown by what we know.   Today I am smoking my Savinelli Champagne Canadian pipe with the very last of my Barbados Plantation.  I will next get out my tin of Professor pipe tobacco ...

 I have been following the Southwestern US water crisis very closely now since the last six months or so.  Lakes Mead and Powell seem to have not been affected much by the recent rains, but many California reservoirs are filled to capacity.  Some are saying the drought in the Southwest has ended, but most water experts are more cautious.  It has been drought conditions for nearly twenty years and one year out the last twenty make them optimistic, but cautious.   There are communities in Arizona where water supplies have dried up and residents are in search of solutions to their water problems.  Part of the problem is that Arabic countries are using aquifer water to water alfalfa crops to feed cattle that are being raised in those countries.  The US gets no benefit from either the alfalfa or the cattle, but it is legal for them to do so according to Arizona laws and water rights.   I remember it being said that water will become the new o...

 It is reported by some conspiracy theorists that Bill Gates owns 80% of all US farmland.  Bill Gates says he owns about 1/4,000ths of all US farmland.  But when asked why on his open forum on Reddit, his response was that his investment firm makes all the decisions on where to invest his billions.  Mark Twain once gave the advice for one who wants to invest in something to buy land, "because they aren't making it any longer." It has been said by most any investment company to invest in property.  This includes apartment buildings in NYC as much as it includes buying a home.  But since the dawn of civilization, wars have been fought over land.  And here in the US it is a fundamental right of every person to have access to land ownership.  There was a time in our nation's history that only land owners could vote.  Nothing in this world is more important than land ownership. But this gets me back to Bill Gates and his farmland.  Why farmla...

 Scientists are now saying that the fabled Loch Ness Monster, Nessie, is really a giant eel.  Now, the photographer who took that first famed photo of Nessie said it was a hoax.  But many have reported seeing Nessie.  National Geographic sent a team with sonat and scoured the lake with no sign of the monster.  Now scientists are saying Nessie is just a great big giant eel.  Well, maybe we all can sleep at night believing there really are no monsters.  Scientists have taken them all away. On a side-note today I watched a video on the topic of heart stents.  I have one.  My heart functions at about 40% full capacity.  But someone wanted to know how long they last.  And the answer?  It all depends.  I have had mine for 12 years now and I experience no chest pain or any heart related health issues.  I learned more from the comments than I did from the cardiologist who did the video.  One person said his grandmother h...

 In 2007 a man who got tickets for practice rounds at the Masters at the Augusta Golf Course, showed up with his own clubs and proceeded to golf his own practice round of golf.  Obviously, he didn't get too far in his golfing because security showed up and explained to him that the practice round wasn't for him as he teed up on the first hole.  As one would expect, security at the Masters is incredibly tight and the man didn't even get to hit his first ball. As to whether this man knew what it meant to watch the pros practice, we may never know.  But an invitation to practice rounds certainly could mean to at least a few that one is invited to practice with the pros.  But even showing up at the Masters with one's own clubs had to raise a red flag in someone.  Having a ticket to a practice round does not mean you get to practice your golf at Augusta. Unless one is invited as a pro at the Masters by winning a major that year, it might be best to not even step...

 I am not sure what to make of videos of women smoking cigars.  I saw a recent photo of Freud smoking a cigar and also that of Mark Twain, but women smoking cigars seem to me to be incredibly suggestive of attractive women trying to be sexy.  I don't find that in videos of women smoking pipes.  It is because the pipe is an accessory, and a cigar is, well, a cigar is a cigar.  A cigar does not have the pleasing aroma like that of a pipe.  But there is a difference.  These younger, attractive women smoking cigars are, well, different. I told my wife last evening that I rue the fay when 20 somethings believe they are all philosophers.  No one can be a philosopher until a person has lived a full and complete life.  These days the best philosophers are at least 70 and probably older.  She laughed at my suggestion and said it was probably true.  These cigar smoking women on YouTube are NOT philosophers, nor are they old enough to smoke an...

 This title is the name of a pipe tobacco by Warped tobaconists.  I am finding life is too complex with all the technology that is running the world.  Flights were delayed this morning because there was a glitch in the FAA computers that delayed all flights by about an hour.  A lot of people are totally inconvenienced by flight delays particularly in this case, it wasn't the fault of the airlines.   I have removed myself from all social media, except I think I have a Twitter account that I never use.  But if one isn't on social media on a regular basis one might as well have died.  Yet, I have this blog with some people reading it when I post something new.  But social media can destroy one's reputation in seconds, although that is not a fear I have.  Actually I fear nothing in this world and as Neitzche once said what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.  A post on Facebook used that quote and added, "Except bears.  Bears will...

 As many of you know, as a pipe smoker, I smoke the occasional cigar.   The other evening I went into a local Cigar Bar just to see what they had.  I walked to the back of the place where the cigar humidor was.  I was met by one of the co-owners of the business.  We chatted for a bit and I learned they also own a pipe shop in downtown Ft. Meyers.  While there I perused the shelves of cigars and found one that looked pretty good to me.  It had a Connecticut shade grown binder, which indicated it was a milder cigar. The cigar was a larger ring size than I would have liked, but it was short enough to fit nicely in my shirt pocket.  I had never heard of the brand before, but unless a person is looking for a particular brand, brand doesn't really matter when it comes to cigars.  But my wife will tell you there is a difference in the aroma between a three buck cigar and one costing ten dollars.  But unless I am buying a Hemmibgway Signatu...

 In my spare time before going to bed, I enjoy listening to old time radio shows on YouTube.  They are shows like Dimension-X, X Minus One, Escape, Johnny Dollar, CBS Radio Mystery Theater, and even Father Knows Best from the late 40's to the early 50's.  I can't pass the interest I have in these old shows to grand children, but that I only use the imagination of my mind for scenery and characters, and in some ways these shows take me back to another place and time. I enjoy using my mind to develop scenery and characters, but in the case of Father Knows Best, all the characters and scenery were presented in the TV show.  But in regard to science fiction, it's fun to visit other worlds or build aliens in one's mind.  I find these old shows keep my mind active and actually I find some plots on Father Knows Best as funny.   Since I don't smoke my pipe into the late evening hours, I find these old radio programs relaxing and very enjoyable to listen to as ...

 I did some cursory searching on YouTube for women who smoke pipes and what I found was interesting.  Most of the videos were ASMR by women smoking pipes.  If you don't know what ASMR is its initials for Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response, which scientist say is gobbledygook not really meaning anything, but is simply a made-up phrase that means you will feel a tingly sensation from the top of your head down through your spine at hearing of certain sounds.   It seems more women are interested in creating ASMR videos than men, but men do them too.  But perhaps the best channel is Happy with Scarlet who is Belgium and speaks with a heavy accent.  For me, she's a little difficult to understand, but her videos are more like pipe smoking with a friend.  I have found others by women to be too ASMR-ish in nature as they present the sounds associated with pipe smoking like the rustling of the paper in a tin of pipe tobacco.   I think Scarlet ha...

  Most of my readers know all about my affinity with angels.  I smoke my pipes with these two anxiety reducing angels that are like worry stones.  I dropped the right one on the concrete floor of our garage in our NY home and broke the tip of the Angel's wing.  So I bought a second one which stays close to the small velour bag it came in and store her in that bag.  But I have not smoked anything without my angel present.  I always feel the presence of angels no matter where I am or what I am doing. This may be the only time I will mention angels, but I felt I needed to mention them because of the importance of angels in my life.  This is all I need to say about them.  But the angel with the small sack will go with me everywhere I go now.  But I never smoke anything without my angels.  Most of you would understand why and this might be new to a few of you.  These angels could stir up a lot of controversy, but they are my pipe smoking...

 Some people are very religious and at the same time are very political.  I have been asked whether I am passive or tolerant.  Actually I am incredibly tolerant which night seem I am passive,  but for me, there is a reason for this.  Nothing really matters to me but life or death.  And I am not an evangelist for anything I do or don't do.  I won't evangelize my pipe smoking, for example, nor will I evangelize for most anything else. In fact I would suggest to most anyone not to consume any kind of tobacco or alcohol, for that matter.  But I condone the use of either if oIne is making a choice.  But that is me.  I find smoking a very occasional cigar or my pipe smoking a very relaxing pastime.  And my family will say that I avoid the overuse of either.  So, I choose not to evangelize for most anything in life preferring instead to focus solely on the significance of human life.   I am smoking the last of my Plum Puddin...

 The CCP of China is responsible for killing millions, so reads a headline from this morning from the Newsbreak Ap.  What has made China even more dangerous has been its access to American technology.  When Covid broke out China locked down locally, but allowed residents to travel abroad and spread the pandemic.  But still the CCP is responsible for killing millions of Chinese by exposing them to toxic wastes and chemicals mostly due to allowing American companies to pollute and discharge wastes into Chinese rivers and soil. I wasn't thinking about writing this morning but I came across a story about a McDonalds location that is 100% automated with no workers in the store.  A woman posted her story on TikTok that showed a McDonald's dispensing drinks and automated order filling with no humans involved from the order taking to the filling of those orders.  The article didnt state where this McDonald's was located.  We need hourly workers, but even Walma...

 I might be best described as very Buddhist in my approach to life and living.  Fear and anger go pretty much hand-in-hand.  I almost didn't write this morning because I wasn't sure I had much to say today.  But really I divide my life in two ways.  There is a before me that I describe as being very messed up and a post me that I describe as a more calm me.  I have always had this fear of people in some form or another.  But the post me is a quiet calm kind of myself that has no fear of death or dying.  None. I have feared life, but never death.  I know my smoking a pipe won't kill me.  I told Patty just yesterday that I think it's the small amount of nicotine I get from smoking a pipe that calms me.  And if I am not smoking a pipe I often imagine myself with a pipe in my mouth.  Nicotine won't kill me and the purity of pipe tobacco with no added chemicals seems to calm my spirit.  I have decided since moving here to Flori...

I seem to approach each Fall with some reservations when it comes to college or even pro football.  I say to myself that the game is just too dangerous.  I never wanted my kids to play football.  I was close to the sport in high school and saw a lot of injuries and taped an awful lot of ankles.  I knew the sport was dangerous back then.  It might be safer now, but still there are a lot of injuries in football on every level.  Just don't get me started on how the college referees show favoritism.  I think the referees in the college championship games actually are paid to throw games. But this brings me to last night.  ESPN was willing to go back to the game, when it was evident neither team wanted to continue when Damar Hamlin seemed to have suffered a heart attack after he made a tackle that has been made similarly already a dozen times in the first quarter of the Monday Night football game between the Buffalo Bill's and the Bengals.  Many t...

 We have spent some time in retail stores post-Christmas.  It seems in most Target retail stores there are self-checout lanes with conveyor belts that will only take credit cards for transactions.  The comments on Twitter about these check-out lanes seem to focus on the human experience of shopping in brick and mortar stores.  It seems that most like interacting with a person operating a check-out lane.  But it seems too that everywhere you go there are signs saying they are hiring. But the crux of the issue seems to be that many people are filling out applications, but the stores are not hiring.  Maybe the We Are Hiring signs makes you believe they need more people to work there, but the fact is they do not want to pay more people to work there.  But as a shopper the sign makes you feel sympathetic if the store is a mess after Christmas and you say to yourself that they will get more people. Everyone knows retail does not have enough people, but the r...