Pipeology - The Fine Art of Pipe Smoking and Thought

 I really don't care about most any sin but murder and suicide.  That is all I need to say.  I am fascinated by the death of Elvis.  There are those close to him, that while he may have died from a coronary, say he purposely caused it to happen.  Did he?  His stepmother who is 84, and would have been much younger than he was, says his death was a suicide.   It seems some whistleblowers were getting ready to publish books that didn't put him in a very favorable light.  In fact, she says, he feared it would be revealed he slept with underage girls, as he liked younger girls.  He feared if that information got out his career would be over.  And he feared the Feds would come after him and his career would be over.  He feared people would judge him and there was the possibility of prison time.  She said when he went in the bathroom that August morning of 1977, his intention was to not come out.  There was evidence of drugs...

 Good men can be hard to find.  What I enjoy most these days is the company of my wife.  I read an article this morning that said a good man doesn't care about her make-up or the few extra pounds.  He won't care about the baggy swesas (she doesn't wear baggy sweats) or about her appearance.  I care mostly about the company of my wife.  I care that my smoking a pipe doesn't bother her, as she knows how relaxing it is for me to smoke a pipe.  If I'm alone on the lanai, I might smoke my Old Professor for a bowl with my third cup of coffee for the day, which is usually decal.   But these days a pleasant conversation with her is more important than anything else.  And at my age, this seems to matter most.  Her personality is attractive and it doesn't bother me if she is attractive to other men.  After all these years I'm not worried about losing her.  But when I am alone with my pipe, I don't mind being alone.  My wife and...

 I hate stress with a passion.  I am convinced it nearly killed me twice.  I spend a lot of time on YouTube and I have said that here, I will make every effort to avoid both religion and politics, but still I sometimes will touch on the former.  But it is MY hope that I am never a cause for stress in anyone, but quite the opposite by being courteous and a gentleman, although there have been times I have failed at both.  But still it is a goal and a noble one at that.   I don't know how many YouTube videos I have seen that offer me Peace, healing, a sound mind, and blessings of great wealth.  Some will connect me with my Angels if I listen or will offer me guidance.  I know my cynicism says it's all click-bait.  I understand this, but sometimes I might find the music relaxing.  I ignore much of these, but once in a while, I will click on an offer just out of curiosity.   I usually don't spend enough time on any given video ...

 I love it when Harvard does studies, particularly when a study has been done for 85 years.  I lean toward being an introvert.  I enjoy being alone, but the study reveals introverts are not successful in life.  I understand this perfectly.  Ask my wife.  Ask anyone.  I have seen so many articles about introverts that I am aboit to throw my phone against the wall.  It is said the squeaky wheel gets the grease.  And it's the extroverts who get all the likes on Facebook and social media. An introvert gets too much attention and he wants to hide.  I am by nature an introvert.  My thinking is that I was made this way.  But an introvert who acts like an extrovert is doing just this.  How much time does the introvert spend alone?  Probably a lot.  Maybe an introvert is really a manic-depressive and doesn't like it when he's manic.   Writers and artists, like many musicians, display their work, some by performi...

 I guess, because I say, I am a philosopher/theologian.  I was going to write about some timely topic this morning, and maybe in a way it is.  I watched an interview yesterday morning with Paul Simon.  He always gets me thinking, if not through his words, it's through his music.  But he said something that struck a cord with me.  Without his music he would die.  He's ten years older than I am, but I have had every album, CD, and DVD of every recorded live performance of both he and Garfunkel.   Now, it is NOT my intention to get preachy, or boast about my own brushes with death.  There ARE old people living all around us for whom today is their last day on earth.  I really don't want to be around people our age for this reason.  Being around youth keeps one young.  It's why both AL Pacino and Robert DeNiro each had a child with much younger women.  I am not saying old guys need to father children with young women....

 I am at my son's house sitting by the pool smoking my Alpha pipe, as i have chosen not to smoke at our condo any longer.  No one said anything to me. But as I told my wife, I just dont want to smoke there any longer.  As most of you know, I AM NOT a fan of organized religion.  In fact, my belief about organizations is that when something gets organized it's ruined.  Now, there are exceptions to this, but the one kind of organization that is NOT beneficial is organized crime.  Shoplifting is a big deal for retailers.  There are 442,597 retailers in America.  Or somewhere thereabouts.  In 2020 there were over 800,00 instances of shoplifting with the average take per incident being about $460.   Now, it is estimated that shoplifting costs businesses about $20 billion.  I just read an article about how Lowe's tackles the problem of shoplifting.  They have cameras all over the store with one person monitoring them in a room....

 I'm sitting by the pool at my son's house smoking my Sherlock Holmes pipe with some Autumn Evening.  Some have called Florida "God's Waiting Room."  But is it?  For myself, I think not.  In fact, I may be able to accomplish more here in Florida than I did in either NY or Ohio.  But this is because I try to look forward and NOT back.  At our age it's hard not to focus on the past, but still, my wife and I both say the past is just that and we are where God wants us.  But neither of us are waiting for the end of life.  I have told her that I want her to work on our things for final arrangements of life.   So many retirees search for meaning in their final years, but I don't plan for end of life.  I won't explain that here, but one could say I am waiting for something great.  But I do think many retirees come to Florida to enjoy the beaches, the weather, and a social life that has nothing to do with business or a job.  ...

 First of all, the vocabulary used in the title of  yesterday's post was not a typo, but my wife pointed out two serious typos.  Heat does not cause incontinenc, although maybe it could, and Sheelock is not a person.  Heat causes inconvenience and maybe only for Sherlock.  I corrected those words but only after most everyone read them.  My wife was kind, however, by saying everyone knew what I meant.  I can only hope. I used to be a risk-taker in many respects.  And taking a risk now and then have cost me, perhaps even with my life.  But some might say there is a difference between carelessness and taking risks.  One wants to make sure all their bases are covered before risking one's life.  There are all kinds of videos out there about fails.  I can't watch many of those videos simply because they are too painful to watch.  At least a few involve death, although it seems those videos are mostly censored. One would think th...

 Where would I rather be?  A lot of snowbirds leave Florida for the summer, because summers in Florida are like a tropical jungle.  I have been to a tropical jungle when it was 96 degrees F and the humidity was close to 100%.  It is consistently in the low 90's here for the past couple of weeks. But the question is whether I'd rather be here or in the 80's with less humidity up north.  Frankly, I'm getting used to the heat and humidity here.   We don't own two homes, one up north and one in Florida, but my wife asked me if I'd rather live here or up north.  I told her in the winter we have heat, but I hate bundling up for the cold.  I would rather wear tropical shirts with shorts and sandals most of the time.  It is raining as I am writing this post on the first day of Summer and my phone says it is 85 degrees F, but will get up to 91 later on this afternoon.   We have yet to go into the pool at our complex here, but I have bee...

 I have been smoking a pipe off and on for 50 years.  My wife read yesterday's article and she asked me how I got into smoking a pipe.  She wondered why I wanted to go to that Rod and Pipe Shop and buy a pipe along with all the other stuff to go with it.  I sat for a moment and looked at her and simply said that I have no idea.  First of all, it was fifty years ago, and secondly, I said I've always been a rebel.  But why that day I went to that shop to buy a pipe as I did, I have no idea. I don't come from a line of pipe smokers.  In fact, as we were talking about it, I told her I had one recollection of a pipe smoker in my childhood.  He was a milinister in a neighboring town, of whom my dad said, was always sucking on that old pipe.  I can recall many examples of cigarette smoking, but not really pipe smoking.  But why on that late fall day I decided to buy a pipe, I honestly don't recall. I don't know if it was something my then fianc...

 I have spent a lot of time in pipe shops and for me, it has always been like a hobby shop.  There is always so much to choose from.  But a good tobacconist knows how to sell what one needs.  But a first time visit to a tobacco shop can be overwhelming at best.  My wife has been with me on a number of occasions and that has helped with the intimidation factor of a pipe shop.  But the first thing to hit you in a pipe shop is the aroma. I'm not talking about head shops, which are on every corner.  Some sell tobacco pipe tobacco, but most are interested in selling vaping supplies.  Vaping is not the same as tobacco pipe smoking.  While a glass bong can be had for ten bucks, a good Briar pipe can be hundreds if not thousands of dollars.  Most proprietors of tobacco shops are in their seventies or eighties.  They're not young kids with tattoos and piercings.   A good tobacconist has a good selection of Briar pipes and will have...

 As I am writing this, it is early evening on Father's Day.  I thought I might say something about the subject, because right now I am smoking my pipe for the first time in a couple days and won't be smoking again until Tuesday or so.  But really, the number one rule of smoking a pipe is to be curteous to others.  I'm very much aware of those around us.  I came across a variety of ideas for a post for today, but it is becoming increasingly more difficult not to write about politics or religion.  It seems most anything could be either or even both. But a pipe smoker is indeed a very special breed of person, because it seems there are so few of us.  I just saw an article about Willie Nelson.  He just turned 90 and due to his Marijuana usage, he is suffering health issues related to his lungs and esophagus and has been advised by his doctor to discontinue his use of Marijuana as a smoking substance.  So, he has resorted to consuming Marijuana in...

 The entire known universe is about 93 billion light years across.  Some estimates say that are as many as a trillion planets capable of sustaining life.  Some say aliens are among us while others suggest our planet is the only one that can sustain intelligent life form.  This is where a belief system matters, simply because while there is evidence, the fact is that there is room for educated uncertainty.  Aliens fall into the same categories as Bigfoot and ghosts. Are aliens among us?  Facts seem to border more on belief than what may be real.  But for the skeptics there is as much room for unbelief as there is for belief.  Even with a trillion possibilities, it might be wise to just wait and see.  But I'm a firm believer in the paranormal of all things.  Yes, perhaps we can explain most anything that can't be explained, but there is enough evidence to suggest that not all things can be explained.   And that is the crux of the...

 I'm not a coin collector and I am not sure whether there would be some rare penny in a bunch of pennies worth $8,000.  The family who found the pennies at an uncle's estate in Los Angeles, said they contacted a local Wells Fargo bank and see if the bank would take them.  The family loaded two pick up trucks that looked like Low Riders after they spent a day clearing the pennies out of the basement of the uncle's home.  But the bank said there was no room in their vault for all the pennies. The question the family had to answer is what to do with them.  They spent an hour looking at 300 pennies and finally gave up on finding that one rare coin.  So, the family decided that maybe a coin collector could find a tare penny or two and put the lot up for sale for $25,000.  Are 800,000 pennies worth the extra some $17,000 risk for a coin collector?  And how does one ship some 800,000 pennies? I'm not sure the uncle did his family any favors with 800,000 ...

 It has been advised in more recent generations that children and their parents not live under the same roof.  But recent studies have shown that when grown children live with their parents under the same roof it is NOT detrimental to either the parents or their children.  Parents often offer a security to grown children that neither of them might not realize otherwise.   If the parents are able to manage on their own, there is autonomy for the children who are often more productive and still feel the security of family.  Trends are changing where multi-generatiinal living arrangements are best for both grown children and the older parents and is not an anamoly.  Guidelines need to be established, but as a parent I say it's difficult not to continue being a parent.  But multi-generatiinal households have a tendency to flourish which in previous generations was largely ignored.   Older parents in a household offer stability along with sou...

 June 23 to July 4 of this year commemorates the 160th anniversary of Gettysburg, the single largest battle on American soil in the history of this nation.  Plans for this commemoration have been in the making for 10 years.  I am proud to own a pipe I bought in Gettysburg, although now I am certain my pipe has no connection to Gettysburg.  But Gettysburg is where more men died in the Cuvil War than any other battle. I have been to Gettysburg at least a few times in my lifetime and I can tell you each visit has been a solemn experience for me, especially the last two visits.  I would encourage most anyone to experience Gettysbutg at least once in their lifetime.  The three day battle saw anywhere from 46,000 to 51,000 die in a three day battle there.  I can tell you that the effects of that battle are felt by visitors today.   Yes, Gettysburg has had its share of haunting by ghosts through the years as Gettysburg just might be the most haunted...

 I put politicians and corporations in the same category.  How many of either ever admit guilt?  Even when a car company is forced by the government to fix a problem, how many admit guilt?  None.  Admitting guilt is a death nell for either.  Even Nixon upon his resignation didn't admit guilt.  Enough in Congress believed him to be guilty.  So, every politician says to let the people decide.  Every corporation says the same thing.   It seems no one is ever guilty of anything.  Except for preachers.  Jimmy Swaggart apologized to his people for visiting prostitutes, yet his congregation forgave him but said he couldn't be their pastor any longer.  Jim baker did the same thing and it was his wife, Tammy Fae who played the victim and made a fortune off his sin.  The list of pastors in endless, but not so with corporations and politicians.  Where power and money are concerned no one admits guilt.  They can't....

 Ted (UNIBOMBER) Kaczensky is dead.  He killed three people injuring 23 others by sending via US mail or hand delivering bombs.  He was on the run from the FBI for 20 years.  He was captured in 1996 after his manifesto was published by the Washington Post.  It was a 35,000 word document that spoke of how industrialization was destroying the world.  The prose was recognized by his brother who tipped off the FBI.  Kacsynski was found living off the grid in a cabin in Montana.  He was found dead on June 10 from apparent suicide. He got the name UNIBOMBER, because he threatened universities and vowed to blow up airplanes.  He received a degree in mathematics from Harvard and then earned both an MA and PhD from the University of Michigan.  It is said he was a mathematics prodigy who in 1976, decided to leave teaching and become a recluse.  He received eight consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole.  He was 81 at ...

 It rained this morning and is now hot and steamy this mid-mornibg here in SW Florida.  But I'll take this over a cold winter morning up north anytume.  On to tofay's post.  The court system and a jury of his peers will determine the fate of Trump.  This is all I will say about what is going on in politics.  Trump will be indicted tomorrow.  How that makes anyone feel depends greatly on one's politics.  Trump is either Jesus or the Anti-Christ depending on how one thinks.   Now, having said what I've said, I am observing world events closely.  IF social scientists are right that society has about 20 years left, this might be the beginning of the end.  It just might be.  In January of every year, the scientific community gets together to see where to set the Doomsday clock.  As to whether this is a REAL clock or imagined, a number of factors are considered comparing past years and the clock has been set at a minute and...

 No, it's not THE New Year.  But about this time last year, my wife and I began talking about leaving NY for Florida.  I can recall sitting on the deck of our home in NY and we began talking about a move to Florida.  But first we began talking about our son's house he was buying in Cape Coral.  She said we could move in with him for awhile and find a place of pur own down there.  I began thinking about it, but so many arrangements needed to be made.  We talked about the logistics of a move and so much needed to be done.  He got the house and he'd move in the middle of June. We had so many plans that had to be made and decided we'd come down in July.  I started thinking about beaches and fishing.  I wondered how we'd like Florida in July.  So, about this time a year ago, we began making plans for a move.  A lot had to be done.  But I wondered if I'd like Florida and not having been here we decided at that point we would mak...

The national debt is over $94,000 per adult and child in the US.  Which begs the questioin as to whether AI be taxed. I think so.  It has been reported that AI robots took some 4600 jobs away from humans last year.  That is 4600 people NOT paying taxes on their lost income.  Some might argue that surely those 4600 people found other jobs.  Maybe or maybe not.  But the fact is that owners of an AI robot are liable for paying taxes that would be paid for a living human being.  And why not?  Some might say that robots don't get sick or retire as humans do.  What services can a robot receive from the government? It's not aboit the robots.  It's about the owners whose robots that have removed humans from the workplace.  Which raises the question as to whether an AI robot is a dependent.  If an owner is taxed for what a human is taxed, can a robot then be listed as a dependent?  That is something that tax laws will have to sort ...

 I'm smoking my Gettysbutg pipe this morning and I decided to Google the meaning behind three fingers and a thumb.  Yes, three fingers come from the Hunger Games and I came across many references to the Hunger Games.  But then I came across a definition that comes from France that three fingers and a thumb means liberty, freedom, and pro-democacracy mostly after WWII.  This pipe may have come from this movement from France AFTER WWII. Now, to say this is a French pipe might be stretching it a bit, but it seems this meaning MIGHT be the meaning behind the symbolism of this pipe.  I possessed this pipe long before the Hunger Games and it seems to me that it comes from a post-war era.  And I wondered whether this pipe is symbolic of something more significant.   In Serbia, for example one crossed oneself with three fingers representing the Trinity and would have been common in Eastern Orthodox Christianity.  But there was no mention of the thumb...

 I was told that Half and Half was like Carter Hall.  Then I read the reviews and found that Estate Blend by Sutliff was like Carter Hall but cheaper and better.  I am still evaluating Mixture No 79.  I smoked a few bowls of Mixture No. 79 in my Savinelli Canadian style pipe yesterday.  Then today I got out my Nording pipe and Mixture No. 79 tasted different.  I had a similar reaction to Autumn Evening the first few pipes I put it in. At first, I thought Autumn Evening had nothing to offer, but the more I smoked it the better I liked it.  I'm finding the same is true with Mixture No. 79.  One can overthink Mixture No. 79.  If one doesn't think too much about it, then it kind of grows on you.  I told my wife this morning that I didn't like it.  But now as I write I am finding it to be a rather flavorful tobacco. Some pipe smokers don't care for a Burley based tobacco and the pouch smells like root beer, but the tobacco as smoked is d...

 I told my wife yesterday morning that these days the news is filled with either politics or religion.  So I decided I could review various Cabernet Sauvignon wines here, I won't do that.  I told her if she asked me to choose either wine or pipe tobacco, I'd choose pipe tobacco over wine.  I'd much rather spend my disposable income on pipe tobacco.  I can over indulge in wine, but it is so rare that I do or have.   Many pipe smokers would rather go to their graves than smoke an Aromatic tobacco.  But us old codgers have had our share of various English tobaccos.  I have probably smoked over five hundred English pipe tobaccos, which is about average for a pipe smoker of some fifty years.  And most every pipe smoker has had Aromatics early in their pipe smoking days.  I'm rediscovering those old codger over the counter blends.  There is a reason why most of those have been around a hundred years or so.   I've decided on...

 Mosquitos are said to kill about one million people a year.  The next deadly creature are humans who kill about 400,000 other humans a year.  This does not include the 703,000 that take their lives each year.   That makes mosquitos a very grave (pardon the pun) insect.  But why?  I lost a cousin who died in her prime from the West Nile virus that is a mosquito born disease.  Why ate mosquitos so deadly? This is a question scientists have been asking since malaria Was discovered as a disease.  In August of 1897, it was discovered that malaria was spread by birds in the tropics and transferred to human through mosquitos.  There isn't much available to prevent the disease, but is treated with quinine and now similar type drugs.  The problem is with mosquitos themselves.  Insects don't just bite humans.  The deer tick is dangerous because of the parasites in the blood of deer.   Birds, pigs, and just about any wild ...

 I have been seeing so much about about Mars.  There was a TV comedy series called "My Favorite Martian" featuring Bill Bixby.  But can Mars ever be colonized?  I'm a doubter when it comes to going to Mars.  I just don't see it happening for maybe fifty years.  The number one reason is travel time.  And what about all that is needed for the trip? Would the craft carrying the astronauts to Mars return?  If so, they need fuel for take-off.   Communication is a big problem.  At its closest point it takes 20 minutes for radio waves to travel between earth and Mars.  A lot can happen in 20 minutes.  In case of an emergency the colonists would have no communication.  There are so many issues for a seven to nine month trip to Mars.  A round trip at best is 21 months.  We just dont know what the human body can take being away from earth's gravity for that long.  Exposure to radiation is a big issue.  The f...

 I ordered a pouch of Mixture No. 79 made by the Sutliff tobacco company since 1936.  This was the tobacco of choice by both Hugh Haefner and Bing Crosby.  Suttliff built its factory around the Mixture No. 79, because the process of creating that particular blend was proprietary to Sutliff.  I know early in my pipe smoking experience I had at least one pouch of that tobacco as it is still an old codger over the counter blend.  I was tempted to order a 14 ounce tub of it, but decided on the much cheaper pouch, because I wanted to try it in a small quantity. The reviews of Mixture No. 79 ate mixed.  Some say it tastes like grandma's perfume.  Others love it.  It is a very polarizing tobacco.  n addition to that pouch of Mixture No. 79, I decided to order a pouch of Half and Half as well.  Both these tobaccos are Burley based and while I had a pouch pf Half and Half a couple of years ago, I thought I would order that as well and compare the...

 When there is a downturn in the economy it is termed the "lipstick effect" because while cosmetics are still sold lipstick is not a necessity.  Costco is warhing its investors that people are buying less red meat and are turning to pork and chicken.  Another indicator is that more Costco brands are being sold, which costs less than name brand items.  Costco is warning its investors of these trends and that Costco might lose upwards of 4% of its current value. Another trend I am seeing is car dealers who go to auto auctions are now seeing more bank repossessed cars.  Banks are not car dealers so they need to unload these cars at the best auction price they can get.  A dealer might find a good value if they don't have to spend a lot to get it showroom ready.  And some cars are severely damaged and might go for pennies on the dollar and might require some work, but can be sold at a good price.   I had never heard of the "lipstick effect," but i...

 A lot of older pipe smokers began in their college years, sometimes smoking a pipe in the classroom.  An old pipe smoker said he had a friend in high school who put a note in his yearbook saying he smoked a pipe and thought of himself as an intellectual.  Hugh Heffner did a lot for the Playboy pipe smoking image, because as one pipe ad at the time said, the chicks dig it.  One reason for the decline of pipe smoking was that the chicks quit digging it.  Women got turned off by tobacco.  So, the pipe lost its cool factor. But back in the day, if a guy smoked a pipe he was thought to be intelligent and cool.  There might be some degree of sophistication attached to pipe smoking, but today it's just a hobby to most.  It's not a lifestyle.  Back in the day a pipe was an accessory that men wore like a badge of honor.  But that was when one could smoke anywhere and the pipe smoker stood apart from the crowd.  There are only about three mi...

 I decided to do some research on coffee.  I found that the top selling coffee in the US is Folger's, which sells more coffee than Starbucks.  The best coffee comes from Hawaii, which is Kona, although some say Stumptown has the very best coffee.  Blue Bottle is high on most every list.  There are three kinds of coffee beans:  1. Robusta.  This coffee is grown in Africa and is very bitter.  It is used mostly in instant coffee and Espresso in addition to be used as a filler.  This coffee accounts for about 20% of all coffee sold. 2.  Liberica.  This coffee originated in Liberia, but after WWII it has been grown in the Phillipines and is its major producer.  The coffee is bitter.  The trees can grow to 20 feet in height, which makes cultivation harder.  Hybridization has created smaller trees, but the beans are smaller.  This coffee accounts for about 5% of all coffee sold.     3.  Arabica....