"Rubber Nuts!"

In high school, that was what Coach Harden would call us if he caught us screwing around...

All right you rubber nuts!! Knock it off!

I'm not quite sure what he meant by it, but it still haunts me.

Smoke It If You Got It

RATTRAY'S OLD GOWRIE - It's nice to look back at my older tobacco notes and compare my current perceptions. In this case, I still agree with nearly everything I said about Old Gowrie in 1996 (below), but today I only barely remark the grassiness that I commented on back then. I really enjoy this tobacco. Its flavour is so clean and precise, slightly astringent and citrus on the palate, as if it were perfumed with just a few shreds of lemon rind. The natural Virginia sweetness mixes in with a little peppery sharpness to create a refreshing smoke. The smoke has a satisfying weight as it fills the mouth, particularly upon lighting up. While puffing, I often note that the sidestream smoke has a faintly sweet, aromatic quality to it, which contrasts with its plain, natural flavour. After a while, however, I tend to notice the smoke's spiciness more than its body. The bottom of the bowl can be fairly sharp, but I love its concentrated taste. As with Brown Clunee, one bowl of Old Gowrie doesn't really bite me, but my tongue can get sensitive if I smoke multiple bowls of it. In fact, this is quite similar to Brown Clunee in many respects, with a little less natural sweetness and a little less complexity of flavour. A newbie might find this a little sharp—a fast smoker definitely would. Still, it's well worth smoking at least occasionally, delicious and pleasurable as it is. Sit back and relax. I also like the simple, antique room aroma it gives off as it burns to a fine, light-grey ash. '01

BACK IN '96, I wrote: The taste of these pale yellowish-brown broken flakes is pretty neutral. It is characterized by typical aged-Virginia sweetness, but being based on lighter tobaccos, it lacks the fruitiness of red Virginia blends. The most distinctive aspect of its flavour is a slightly green, grassy undertaste that is quite pleasant and not that common. The closest thing to this that I've smoked is Blatter and Blatter's Danish Slices tobacco, which lacks the greenish note and isn't as rich. This succeeds in being a very relaxing tobacco without being overly strong or coma-producing. Smokes smooth and burns slowly, but easily. The room aroma matches its taste—mild, subtle, and slightly sweet. Competes poorly with other household odours. Review by The Professor's Pipe Tobacco Reviews

McCLELLAND'S FROG MORTON ON THE BAYOU - When vacationing on the dark, placid waters of the Bayou, Frog Morton prefers this smooth, rich, calming Balkan blend, to which he adds just enough of the finest Louisiana Perique. Description from Tobacco Reviews




G.L. PEASE'S ODYSSEY - Ever since I started smoking a pipe, I've been in love with the rich fragrance of fine Cyprian Latakia. There's something warm and comforting about it; the deep blackish brown colour, the fascinating texture of the leaf, the wonderful smells of campfires and leather. It's an assertive leaf that can be, and often is, easily overdone. If the supporting tobaccos are bold enough, though, and have enough character, something BIG can be produced that still has refinement, elegance, and balance.

Odyssey is big. There's no doubt it's loaded with Latakia, but that's much more to it. Exotic oriental tobaccos abound, and wonderful matured red and jet-black stoved Virginias provide a perfect balance, both in the tin aroma and in the flavour of the dense smoke. I worked on this for months, tuning the proportions carefully until it was exactly the blend I was after

The first match yields big puffy clouds of beautiful smoke. The flavour is bold and assertive, but still refined. The Latakia's spice is balanced by the sweetness of the Virginias, and they have a marvelous conversation, while the oriental tobaccos play Baroque quartets in the background. Or, is it belly-dancing music? If you're a Latakia lover, Odyssey will surely enthrall you. - Description from G.L. Pease's official site

ESOTERICA TOBACCIANA'S PENZANCE - The high percentage of dark tobaccos dictate a delicate hand when packing for best smoking.Dark brown in soft, self-crumbling flakes, this is very similar to Bengal Slices with its slow burning (but it does burn well) and its smooth, smoky flavour. Here though, the flavour is more lively and not so one-dimensional. A subtle sweetness, probably due to richer, sweeter Virginias being used in the recipe, joins the rich latakia flavour. The room aroma is also slightly more pronounced. Since this burns cool, I like to smoke it in a big pipe that smokes well but a bit hot. An excellent and relaxing full-English blend that I seem to smoke mostly late at night. - Review found on The Professor's Pipe Tobacco Reviews

When you put it on, something happens...

How's that for a first post?

Recon Mission 8/24/07 and an Hommage to Raymond Carver

Silvio and I had just finished an unsuccessful fishing trip out at the city lake. After a couple strikes of lightening and a rash of chiggers we decided to cut our outing short. Starved and sunburned we headed to the Bamboo Hut for some fried gizzards and baked potatoes. Upon finishing our Styrofoam cups of beer, we ashed our Viceroys and came in from the parking lot. I stuffed a pint of "Cutty" in my coat pocket to mix with our waters while we ate.

The Hut's an institution. It's located off the old highway 40 where as a kid I used to make spending money by stealing wire-spoked hubcaps from indifferent Cutlass Supremes, Delta 88s and Le Sabres parked in the gravel lots of the roadhouses.

After Silvio grabbed us a table in the far corner, I quickly ordered two beers and two waters with swizzle sticks. Sil asked the waitress if she knew his mom and dad and she said, "Yes, I see your mom at Walmart almost once a week. Tell her hi from Judy." This ended up working in our favor because our Cutty and waters went unnoticed. The gizzards were fried in a loose batter that complimented the chewy meat just right.

After we finished the pint of Scotch we tipped Judy our left over cash and stopped off at the bar in front which took us on in to the rest of the night.

Hommage by General Ursus
Photo of Bamboo Hut by Silvio Dante

Ain't No Fool!

Ursus.

Fooled Again?

Willie........

G Dub

Our fearless leader made a stop at the wonderful Riverside Corner Cafe yesterday. This is about 1/4 mile from my office, so I was fortunate enough to get a good view of the motorcade and rooftop snipers, however this photo is courtesy of SpaceyTracey.

There was a lot of hub-ub on talk radio yesterday complaining about the Pres. going from his Plaza hotel, to Riverside, then back to Bartle Hall and all the traffic backup it caused. It must have been a slow news day if that's all they had to complain about. I think it's pretty cool that he ate at a place like the Corner Cafe with the likes of George Brett, Carl Peterson, and Sam Graves (Sam must have gotten the "courtesy" invite). I just hope he was able to experience one of their great cinnamon buns.

Gotta move on..........NOT!.......

Weston - gain serious brownie points

The Mrs. and I visited the sleepy town of Weston, MO this weekend. And even at the risk of being called a sissy-boy, I had a great time. We stayed at a B&B called the Weston Bed & Breakfast, which was ran by a nice couple who had homemade cookies waiting for us in our room, prepared an excellent three course breakfast, and faciliated a lively conversation with the two other couples who shared the breafast table with us. I was admittedly a little nervous about staying at a B&B, I'm not normally one who likes doilys and grandma types hovering over me all the time, but this was really a nice experience. However, I was upset that Larry and his brothers Darryl didn't stop by.

For dinner last night we ate a great little house converted to a restaurant called The Vineyards. The food and service was outstanding, and the full meal took almost 3 hours yet we didn't mind the slow pace at all - it was part of the dining experience.

Today we did some shopping in the historic downtown of Weston. It's filled with all kinds of stores, primarily antiques, but is also home to things like the McCormick's Country Store, and the Old Geezer's Mantiques. My best finds were an antique wood console GE radio that stands about 42" tall, and an antique US Army large steel trunk which I stole for only $5. (Actually the old man selling it kept commenting on how pretty my wife was - so I think that had something to do with the price.)

For lunch we went to O'Malley's. This underground Irish pub and resturaunt had great food and tons of character. Even though we were there for lunch, there was live music and a rowdy crowd. It's definetly a place worth going back to.

All in all, I give two thumbs up for Weston, MO.

The Who - Won't Get Fooled Again (live)

Caught in a fever dream between control and chaos, you can see why some people viewed a Who live show--when they were in their prime as they are here--as a religious experience.

Things start getting really interesting and weird around 6:05.

Flight Of The Conchords - Jenny

This might be my favorite Conchords bit, "Jenny."

"...something like but not necessarily 'Schindler's List.'

The Mysterious Orb of 70's Rock

Journey-Look to the Future, c. 1974




Fleetwood Mac-Fleetwood Mac, c. 1975




What gives? Is the orb some secret drug (coke) or sex reference? There is that drug-like orb in Woody Allen's "Sleeper," but I don't think that's it. I don't get it.

Jeong's Canton Chinese

The General had suggested an evening of R & R for the Canteen soldiers at one of the local mess halls that we may have possibly overlooked as young privates. Jerry's, Neptune's Galley, The Bamboo Hut, and V's were a few of the establishments mentioned as possible candidates.

Any interest from the rest of the troops?

Omaha Zoo '07

D.J. Coyle=Incompetent

Just sayin'