January 12, 2010

Let's celebrate!

DSC06996

I don't know what you bought at The Gas Pipe, but this is what we bought. The matches were free. We weren't so impressed by that 40 years business. They only started in 1970? That's a late start. Whatever happened to the 60s? Or don't you remember?

30 comments:

Chennaul said...

Cross country skiin' and-

C-gars!

btw-Happy Birthday-I just figured that out.

I love the cross country ski stuff.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

I remember Mr. Natural

The guy on your matchbook has that same vibe.

Methadras said...

Partagas makes great cigars. I'm preferential to Romeo Julieta.

Skeptical said...

I went in to a Gas Pipe in Dallas once and saw a long line of bongs on a shelf. I asked to look at a particular bong. "We don't have bongs," said the dude behind the counter. I looked at him with a dull uncomprehending stare. Then, as if speaking to a moron, he added, "I can show you this water pipe, though."

Joaquin said...

So who will be smoking the robusto?

former law student said...

Ah, it's not a newsstand/tobacco store, but a head shop.

TMink said...

I like that cigar, it is a nice switch and I smoke one every month to 4 weeks.

I think I will get one today as I smoke a coupe of cigars to and from a group I run, and I feel like being simpatico with our hostess in honor of our birthdays.

Trey

peacelovewoodstock said...

Is that a maduro wrapper? Awesome.

Dust Bunny Queen: I remember Mr. Natural also, in particular as a "brand" of high-quality blotter acid ;-)

Wince said...

Happy Birthday, Ann.

Same day as my father.

Not to be an annual birthday cigar buzzkill, but smoking killed him.

wv-"wayin" = where Clinton put his cigar (honestly, that's what it was)

bagoh20 said...

Ahh Mr. Natural. I remember them both. One of them could be a little unstable at times. The other one seems to have aged nicely.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

Dust Bunny Queen: I remember Mr. Natural also, in particular as a "brand" of high-quality blotter acid ;-)


Ditto. Also for Panama Red.

;-D

former law student said...

Another Mr. Natural, written by Larry Groce:

Yeah, in the daytime I'm Mr. Natural
Just as healthy as I can be
But at night I'm a junk food junkie
Good Lord, have pity on me

Well, at lunchtime
You can always find me
At the Whole Earth Vitamin Bar
Just sucking on my plain white yogurt
From my hand thrown pottery jar
And sippin' a little hand pressed cider
With a carrot stick for dessert
And wiping my face
In a natural way
On the sleeve of my peasant shirt
Oh, yeah

Ah, but when that clock strikes midnight
And I'm all by myself
I work that combination
On my secret hideaway shelf
And I pull out some Fritos corn chips
Dr. Pepper and an Ole Moon Pie
Then I sit back in glorious expectation
Of a genuine junk food high

Unknown said...

I never pictured you as a smoker, Ann. Nor would I have thought you'd want one that close to you.

Somehow, I see you a little like The Blonde in this regard.

WV "vestogab" That little alcove where everybody hangs their coats or waits for their ride.

bagoh20 said...

The pleasure of a nice cigar is one of those that requires both a personal experience and the time to understand it. There are no words.

TMink said...

I am not sure people who smoke cigars are really "smokers."

I used to be a smoker, I smoked a pack and a half a day. Horrible things, cigarettes, stopping them was one of the most difficult things I have ever done. It pained me to go 20 minutes without a smoke when I wanted one.

Now I smoke cigars. On occasion, when I feel like it and the situation is supportive of it. Some days I do not feel like a cigar, others I would like one but the situation is not conducive to smoking one, so I don't.

The difference between not smoking a cigar when I would like to and not smoking a cigarette when I wanted to are MILES apart. Thankfully.

So is someonw who uses tobacco in a smoked form 2 days a week a smoker? How about 2 days a month? Twice a year? Does using any tobacco in a smoked manner make you a smoker?

Trey

Ernesto Ariel Suárez said...

Happy Birthday, professor. Enjoy the non-habano habano ;)

traditionalguy said...

A good cigar and a brandy is a true reward. But former smokers,like former alcohoholics, need to abstain. They just taste too good.

Joaquin said...

I have never smoked cigarettes, but I do smoke 3 to 4 cigars a week............by choice.
Nothing beats a Gloria Cubana Lancero, and a couple of cigar smoking friends for drinks at the local, cigar friendly pub. AAAAH!

kentuckyliz said...

Sometimes a skyscraper is just a skyscraper.

Happy birthday!

Michael said...

I loved to smoke! Great great habit, one of the best but unfortunately a bit on the risky side. It is hard to believe but in the early 1980s I smoked those big Partagas in an office, in California, in the Bay Area and told the hand wavers and nose holders, those early California adopters, to buzz off. It was wonderful being young and rich and the boss in California in the early 1980s. First rate.

Penny said...

"So is someonw who uses tobacco in a smoked form 2 days a week a smoker?"

Apparently some of the legislators in my state think even tobaccoless cigarettes would make you a smoker. There was a bill floating around to ban electronic cigarettes indoors.

My state is doing as well as you might expect with these bozos running the ship.

Chef Mojo said...

Nice stick you have there, Perfessor! Those 1845's are nice and oily; good, heady maduros.

Happy Birthday!

bagoh20 said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
technogypsy said...

To answer the lady's question, I suspect they started legally in 1970 after they sobered up enough to realize they were a business...

The 60s were probably a fuzzy blur.

VW Snesse - a sneeze with a NY accent

somefeller said...

Apparently, the Gas Pipe opened in Austin in 1970 because the founder was otherwise occupied in Vietnam during previous years.

Also, on the topic of smoking, the Wall Street Journal has an interesting article today about "part-time smokers". Apparently, the anti-smoking crowd is scandalized by the existence of people like myself, who smoke only when having a drink with friends or to relax at the end of the day, and don't live up to the desparate pack-a-day stereotype.

somefeller said...

I like this quote from the article regarding social smokers: "If smoking is a part of your social circle, try enlisting your friends to quit with you and get together in places where smoking is strictly prohibited. Be wary of alcohol, which often goes hand in hand with smoking and weakens inhibitions."

In other words, stop hanging out with fun people at places where alcohol is served, and become a hectoring pain to everyone around you who is trying to have some fun. The loss of social contacts should help the social smoker to quit.

bagoh20 said...

Is he reading while she fondles his maduro? How quickly it fades.

Chef Mojo said...

@ somefeller

Yeah. The "part-time smoker" thing is pretty amusing. I smoke 2 - 4 sticks a week. Sometimes none. I long ago opted for quality over quantity. I especially like to pair a fine cigar with a fine liquor; old rums and small batch bourbons come to mind. I started with cigars over 20 years ago, because that's what my fellow chefs were smoking immediately after service. Of course, most of them tapered off to ciggies and splifs after that, but I digress...

a psychiatrist who learned from veterans said...

Thanks somefeller, I guess the first shop was down on Cedar Springs a few blocks north of Oak Lawn in Dallas. It seemed a little odd; the police never did seem at all interested though as far as I could tell. I worked nearby. That fits Dallas though. I had a friend who was old when I met him, 'escaped' from an orphanage at 14, lived on the streets. He would get picked up for minor offenses. Henry Wade, the DA, 'knew his history' and never would prosecute. Keep pretty clean and the police don't want to fool with you.

Penny said...

"Is he reading while she fondles his maduro?"

I can't know for sure, bago. But having read where this seems to be going? I surely hope so.

My gut tells me he will soon put down his reading material, if not his handler.