April 2008

Club Info & Events

Details of the February Meeting
Ok so we've finally made the decision to try a new place for dinner. This will be a test for a couple of months, if it turns out to be no better then we'll try something else. So for the April meeting we will meet for dinner at the Bertucci's at Cobb's Corner in Canton. The address is 95 Washington St. Canton MA 0202. Get directions from Google Maps here. This is only about a 10 minute drive from our meeting place. I hope a few of you will be able to make it. There is also a Perkin's Tobacco in the adjacent mall if you get there early. They don't have a huge pipe selection but they do have a nice selection of cigars.

Updates on our wounded Comrades
No new news on Kenny Kasparian so we hope he is doing well. Ken Collins will have surgery this week so if you pray he could probably use one. And we hear Steve Gutz is finally home soon. It must be great for him to be home after such a long convalescence. And from what we hear the outlook fo his health is promising. We miss you guys... hurry back!!

Let's set the record straight folks!
Some of you have noticed that in less than one month's time my pipe collection of several hundred has been reduced to less than one hundred. Many have been sold on e-bay, some to collectors overseas and some went to regulars on the ASP and Brothers of Briar pipe boards. At least twenty or thirty people have sent me private e-mails inquiring as to why I'm selling off my pipes. Some had heard that I was going bankrupt, some that I was quitting smoking altogether and believe it or not, one misguided soul was actually under the impression that I was dying of a terminal disease! I'm not making this up either,he heard that I had six months to live and actually wanted to buy a few things from my den which he saw pictures of on BoB's and took a liking to! Unreal!

The truth is folks, I'm dying..... No, just kidding.... I woke up one morning and found that my racks were filled with pipes that I just no longer loved! when wanting to smoke a bowl, I was almost always reaching for my lighter weight sandblasted grp 3 & 4 sized pipes and my ODA's,magnums and heavy old freehands weren't getting the attention that they deserved. Weight has become a huuuuuge factor for me. No matter how much I may love the shape or admire the maker,If a pipe is overly heavy I'll be selling it off. Smoking the smaller pipes just makes more sense to me now. I have less time to dedicate to pipe smoking and my tobacco taste has changed almost exclusively to flakes (Navy Flake to be precise) To smoke an Ardor giant from the top to ash, it would take an average of two hours! Who has that sort of time in today's day and age? I sure don't.

It's not just the size of my pipes that's changed either, it's the styles and makers too .Almost all of my Ardors,Bonfiglioli's,Radices and Italian pipes in general have been sold off as I find myself more and more intrigued with what the Danes are doing now. Many offer a compact pipe with a generous sized tobacco chamber. Their blasts are sublime and the stem work and drilling is almost always dead on perfect with super comfortable bits. Not to be unpatriotic,there's a half dozen or so American makers who I currently have orders with including Alex Florov and John Crosby. Both gentleman's pipes are Danish inspired and both do an excellent blast. Yes, I'm currently on a sandblast kick too! I find them to be much more interesting than straight grain or birdseye.The goal is to have 100 of the best pipes in the world that I love smoking rather that 500 OK pipes that really only 1/4 of actually get smoked. It all about quality over quantity now something that every serious collector of anything goes through..

Let this be a lesson to you all, you never know when your tastes will change! Luckily most of the pipes I sold were bought as estates. When I sold them I actually made a profit in most cases. Compare this with losing 50% on selling a pipe you bought brand new. It just doesn't make sense...

Be Well and Happy Puffing,
Dock J. Pery