And now for something completely different...

It all started with Neil Patrick Harris, this little idea of mine. It started when his character, Barney Stnison, created the "Bro Code," which has since been turned into a book for sale at retailers everywhere. Then there came "Man Law," which, like the "Bro Code," is  a witty and insightful look into the relationships between men, renamed, however, to settle for accusations of copying while avoiding accusations of copy-write infringement. So today, I add only a small twist on this tried and true form of humor and introspection by introducing "Smoker Law."

So if today is the fourth Thursday...

That's right, The Ozark Pipe Smokers have a rare fifth Thursday coming up and, therefore, a Fifth Thursday Meeting.
As with most fifth Thursdays, we do not have a heavily serious agenda, but there should be some fun. On the agenda are a well-postponed discussion of our annual slow-smoking contest, and I've got another fun exercise that should elicit a laugh or two, but I'll talk more about that this weekend.
On the smoking contest, we are hoping to build a schedule of events that will span more than one day. A two- or even three-day weekend might give people more reason to trek down to lowly northwest Arkansas and see the community they have seriously misjudged. My hope is that if we can plan a multiple-day event, we can count on the cooperation of some of the city agencies, like the Chambers of Commerce or Main Street Rogers.
Right now, we have our cornerstone event, the slow smoke, but we'd like to find more reasons for people to come here. The cigar smoke ring contest was also fun, and allowed us to extend the contest briefly, but I can't help thinking there is more we can do. More events will attract more people, and more people will attract more vendors, and more vendors will again attract more sellers. And with the right events, we could possibly put ourselves in the national pipe smoking spotlight, even to be in better position to host the International Pipe Smoking Competition.
So bring your ideas next Thursday or post them here. Any suggestions will help.

Tweener shapes

On an intellectual level, it should be easy to name the shapes. You can tick most of them off on your fingers, right? We'll start with the common billiard, and then it's wild cousin, the Dublin. We'll toss in the fraternal twins, Canadian and lovat. There's the bulldog and the rhodesian, the poker and the cherrywood. We can run through the food and drink shapes, the brandy and apple and tomato and acorn. Don't forget the blowfish and the calabash, the wild shapes on the fringes. I can't think of any more off the top of my hand, so let's consult the chart.

In case you missed it ...

Our discussion at Thursday's meeting of The Ozark Pipe Smokers (after all the talk of fly fishing) revolved around the packing of pipes with tobacco. There was a wealth of information shared, and everyone marveled at the amount of research I had done. Of course I stole all the information from one well-outlined source.

A cautionary tale for smokers

Occam's Razor states that the simplest answer is usually true. But sometimes a simple explanation isn't as satisfying. At 9:50 p.m. Wednesday, this alert arrived in my email.

Anatomy of a makerover

Romeo's is backward. The front is in the back and the back is in the front. Well, not exactly. The middle is in the front and the front is in the middle. So I guess Romeo's is really inside out. It all happened late last night, and I'd be lying if I said it was easy.

The look says it all. Good work is always exhausting.

Pipe for Sale: Unsmoked Comoy's Spectrum

This is a fantastic specimen, an unsmoked Comoy's Spectrum billiard (Shape 186). It comes in a set with this handsome Comoy's latching case and the matching tamper. The blue coloring apparent in the photos is more subdued in normal room lighting, but under a flash, the blue becomes quite brilliant.

We are offering the pipe at a price of $250 $200, which includes shipping. Those buying the pipe in person will be charged a reduced price, as no shipping will be involved.

TOPS real next meeting

Hopefully the Easter ham is helping you all forget the pain of learning TOPS was becoming a "top" club and the further pains of realizing you fell for an April Fool's joke. I could tell you that I regret doing that to you all, that I hate myself for putting you through it. That would be a lie, but I could tell you that.
So Thursday, April 8, The Ozark Pipe Smokers will definitely be smoking and shooting the bull at Romeo's. There's just a few things to remember before you show up.

TOPS to take new direction

The Ozark Pipe Smokers will be reforming their club in a desire to go in a new direction. Beginning today, the club will no longer be dedicated to pipe smoking, but will instead be devoted to the children's toy after which the club is named. Everything from dreidels to battle tops will be on display and discussed at today's first meeting under our renewed purpose. We realize that there will be some pipe smokers disappointed by this decision, but we feel it is for the good of the group. As pipe smokers, the meetings were plagued with bitterness and animosity we have found is common to pipe smokers. We hope to see you all out with your favorite top of your youth.