My new favorite cheap cigar

I just got finished (read "just" as two to three hours ago) this delicious cigar and woah-ho hoah! Who's got two thumbs and finally remembered to take pictures?

This guy.

Although, I forgot to take pictures of the cigar pre-light.

However, I did get a picture before I ashed the first and second times. YEAHHHH!!!!!!

A little bit about the cigar:

maybe next time I'll remember to take the picture before I smoke it.

It was delicious. Great smell and taste. I was curious and went onto Thompson's website (as usual). This is what they had to say:

"Corojo Cubano is a handmade combination filler cigar in a delicious Corojo wrapper for less than what you’d expect to pay for a machine-made drug store cigar! Yep, that’s right. Read the ingredient list and drool. This handmade cigar is made from a delectable blend of Dominican Piloto Cubano and Olor combination fillers, Dominican binder, and a beautiful and oh-so-rich smoking Honduran Corojo wrapper. The effect is nothing short of mesmerizing. No, our supply of Corojo Cubano didn’t fall off a truck. Let’s just say I happened to be in the right place at the right time to take advantage of this special deal, and the best part is I get to pass the saving on to you."

By "you" they obviously mean me.

"But how was it wrapped?" I thought I heard you say.

Let me just say that the burn was even all the way down. I'll let the picture show you how the ash was:

I've always been envious of other peoples ash-pictures.

Yeah, that's nice. Look at that even burn. Look at that nice long ash. Look at those legs. Ooh.

Hey what? Legs?

I forgot to mention, the Gimp was over and hanging out while I was smoking. She bought me a nice cigar as well! Awesome! You'll hear about it when I smoke it later. Back to the action!

After I took this picture I turned off the camera, set it down, thought to myself, "I should ash this before I take another puff-- No! Better idea! I'm going to see how long I can get this ash to be! Yes! Here goes!"

As I took the puff the ash decided to jump. Always trust your ash-instinct.

As the smoke progressed it became clear that this cigar was going to stay delicious and burn evenly the whole way through.

As it became evident it was time for the second ash, I took another picture. No sneaky jumping off this time ash:

Not bad for a second ash. This cigar rocks.

Yeah, still awesome. Look at that even burn. Look at that nice long ash. Look at those legs. Ooh.

Wait what? More legs?

Ok so I started this smoke with the Gimp but a few minutes into it Company came out. Those are his legs. He's in the process of making me armour. Heck yeah! (That's not cigar related, it's just cool!)

So overall, I am so glad I've got four more of these bad boys hanging out in the humidor.

The Corojo Cubano has surpassed my previous number 1 cheap cigar choice, the Don Lugo.

Sorry Don, the Cubano is just better.


Everyone else, tell your friends


and...


Keep Em Lit!

What makes me angry?

You want to know what makes me angry?

"The Oil Spill in the Gulf?" I thought I heard you say.

You're right.

That spill really makes me angry. April 20th is when it began. 5 days until June 20th and still seems to be no sign of anyone fixing the problem, just dealing with the symptoms.

Humans are bastards.

But no, that is not what I'm talking about right now. Would you like to know what makes me angry as hell besides that?

"You know we do. There is nothing we want more than this bit of information." I thought I heard you say.

I knew it.

I'm going to link to the entire article here: LINK TO THE THING THAT ANGERS ME RIGHT NOW.

Here is the picture. See if you can spot the problem:

awesome pic everyone knows and loves

See it? Know what I'm talking about yet? No? Ok then, check out the blown up version of this picture that greets people walking into the Winston Churchill's Britain At War Experience, in South-East London:

douchebag 'shop job

I know what you're thinking:

"I don't see the big pro... wait.

No.

Did they...

No.

They couldn't have...

These motherfuckers photoshopped Sir Winston Churchill's CIGAR out of the picture?"




Yeah. They fucking did.

Hooray for changing history to fit a more PC crazed society.

"Is it ethical? Who cares?" I thought I heard them say.

Humans are bastards.

Keep Em Lit!

The Myth of Second Hand Smoke

An excerpt from "The Myth of Second Hand Smoke:"

At the behest of Congressman Henry Waxman (D-Ca), the Congressional Research Service (CRS) spent two years examining reports and came up with the following conclusions regarding second hand smoke and lung cancer (Redhead and Rowberg, 1995):

(a) The statistical evidence does not appear to support a conclusion that there are substantial health effects of passive smoking.
(b) It is possible that very few or even no deaths can be attributed to second hand smoke.
(c) If there are any lung cancer deaths from second hand smoke, they are likely to be concentrated among those subjected to the highest exposure levels (e.g., spouses).
(d) The absolute risk, even to those with the greatest exposure levels, is uncertain.


(Skipping some paragraphs... You should go read this whole thing. Its pretty ridiculous)

The science and chemistry of this field of research are complex, and if the conclusions reached do not meet with current public policy, the research scientist is often stereotyped as being “pro-tobacco”. Because these studies are expensive, and because tobacco companies often supply the grant funds to purchase the supplies, anti-tobacco advocates will often say this is equivalent to bribing the researchers. They sometimes fail to mention, however, the anti-tobacco-funded individuals who personally receive thousands of dollars to vent anti-tobacco research and lend their name to the anti-tobacco movement. One of those individuals, Stanton Glantz, a Ph.D. whose field of expertise is aerospace engineering, attempted to convince the EPA to accept that there were over 50,000 deaths a year, from cardiac events, attributed to second hand smoke. The Congressional Research office examined the statistics related to second hand smoke and cardiac events and determined that those numbers were implausible (Gravelle and Redhead, 1994)


(Skip, reverse, draw-two)

With no scientific evidence to back his statement, Mayor Bloomberg of New York City proclaimed that bartenders inhale the equivalent of half a pack of cigarettes a day. In fact, a study from the U.K. showed that the average London bartender inhaled the equivalent of six cigarettes annually (about one quarter of a pack). (Matthews and MacDonald, 1998)

So look, these seem like important things to know and since I'm a big believer that the government tells us only what they want us to hear, I have a tendency to believe this. That and it's backed up by scientific studies and fact.


Keep Em Lit!

Interesting Statistics

The National Cancer Institute study on cigar smoking shows a 1-2 cigar per day smoker has a lower ratio of lung cancer and heart disease than a non-smoker.

So to stay healthy,


Keep Em Lit!

I pretty much lassoed a tree today

So yeah, I actually took pictures and I have the camera with me now. What I don't have is the magical cord that connects the camera to the computer and makes it so I can share the amazing pictures with you.

My old lady said the cord was in the file cabinet, but the cabinet has obviously since grown a black hole into which all things cord-like have fallen.

So, you'll have to settle with amazing description by yours truly! (Its probably more epic this way)

FIRST!

We moved into a new apartment recently... did I already tell you all that? Let me go check... nope!

So yeah, it's pretty sweet. The porch (and the apartment) are on the third floor. There are pine trees behind us and they are awesome!

Except for a few dead branches knocked loose by whatever storm knocked them loose.

The needles are brown and not quite as pretty.

Every time I'm outside on the porch for a smoke or a hang out with others who are smoking I look at it and think to myself: "I wish I had a lasso so I could rip that branch out of the tree."

Today, while smoking an El Artista Bambina, I looked at the branch and I thought to myself: "I wish I had a lasso so I could rip that branch out of the t..."

Inspiration!

I have rope.

I have sweet knot tying skills.

I'm going to construct a lasso so I can rip that branch out of that tree.

It wasn't an actual lasso. I actually started a daisy-chain at one end and doubled it over to provide the weight. (So visualize a chain about a foot long folded in half and tied that way) The weighted part turned out to be about the size of my fist.

So I began trying to lasso the tree. It took five throws but I eventually got it hooked on one of the dead branch's lower branches and maneuvered it to within reach of the porch.

Success!

I posed for pictures with it like it was a giant fish I caught. Pictures I wish I could have shown you!

Damn black hole.

Ok onto the cigar stuff:
This El Artista Bambina was great! My cigars have been hanging out with each other in the Humidor and it shows. The flavour was great and the burn was amazing. It stayed even down to the end.

During the smoke I hung out with Kal-El. It was conversation with her that led up to the tree branch incident. I believe it went something like this:

Me: "You know, every time I'm out here and I see that branch I think to myself, 'I wish I had a lasso so I could rip that branch out of the tree'."

The Man of Steel: "Me too!"

Me: "I think I have some rope..."

The rest, as they say, was history.

If I can find that cord, I'll post the pictures later.

Found It! (By found it I mean my old lady just handed it to me)

Until then,


Keep Em Lit!