West Side Sadness

Xikar EX Lighter Brushed Silver

Xikar started with the smaller accessories. Cutters, picks and the like. Then they decided to expand into lighters, humidifiers, humidors, et cetera.

When I decided to try cigar smoking, the first thing I found out was a run of the mill Bic wasn't going to cut it. The cost adds up and I have a callous from using Bics - enough is more than too much.

The word was, "torch." A blue flamed lighter that burns at 2500 degrees F.
The 'Cigar Elite' have decided that you need this hot, hot flame to toast the foot of the smoke and then to actually light it.

Torches have their place, no doubt. But for me, most of the time I am lighting a pipe and then an occasional cigar. The trouble with a Bic is they do not light every time. They blow out in the wind. And the are disposable with which I have a philosophical problem.

I bought a cheap torch ($10) and it worked fairly well, other than the need to depress the ignition button several times before it would light. But it really had only the one use for me.

I decided to look for a quality lighter. I knew if I pursued cigars I would be replacing the $10 lighter twice a year. I firmly believe in the adage - you get what you pay for. (Although you have to find the true quality)

Xikar was one of the names that was repeated in the categories of "service," "quality," & "warranty."
Hands on, substantive & lifetime. Okay, I'll investigate.
Their lighters range in price from $30 to over $150.

But one of them caught my eye. Aesthetically as well as functionally. Why?
It looks like a Zippo and has a "Candle Flame." It's not a torch. I can light my pipe or my cigar. I can take it on a plane...something you cannot do with a torch.

It's hefty. Has a flip top...I dunno why. Other than to keep the element (a titanium coil ignites the butane) clean, protected.

Rather than a tiny, ill fitting plastic ring to adjust the flame height like the cheap torch had, this has an easily turned large knurled knob. It also has a slot if your are nerd enough to adjust by the millimeter and tool.

Oh, and it lights every freaking time. EVERY FREAKING TIME?!
I adjusted the flame up & down. Lowest to the highest...it lit each and every time.
And it is not wind resistant...it is WIND PROOF.
Blow on it as hard as you like. Hold it at any angle. It lights and stays lit.

As to it's use lighting a cigar? It's perfect for me. I have no snobbery...I remove a ring, I smell them more than I smoke them. It is truly something to just plain enjoy in and of itself.
I would like to, at some point time lighting with soft flame versus a torch.
I think the torch is more an affectation of the dapper dans out there.

I ordered it on a Sunday and received it that Thursday.
Xikar seems to be a very small organization based in Missouri that found a vendor in China they could deal with. They hold standards well worth the price.

And that leads to my next venture.
I am trying my hand at hand rolling my own brand of cigars.
Boyarka Brand - BB

Watch this space.

I Miss

Balconies
Being read to in bed
Laughing in bed
Jumping up & down
TEAM
LIST

These...all were deep and moving.

I yam what I yam, never denied it.

Fuck 2016

Too many good things have ended or died or withered.
Time for new beginnings.

Bowie
Prince
Merle Haggard
Maurice White
Paul Kanter
Glenn Frey

Mark Sloan 1968 - 2012

Blather

Don't hit me unless you mean it.
Don't make me turn away.

I don't want to be here.
I want to be home.

I don't want the mis-talk.
In face or telephone.

There ain't nothing to be done, I just need to up & run.


(Fragments of songs in my head from 2009)

Harry, My Man...

Kobe Bryant

Yeah
Yay
Woohoo

Kobe, you are a very talented ball player. Timing, hand-eye coordination, footwork, speed...all above the norm.
Michael Jordan was the last pure talent like Kobe.

But neither was close to Ervin Magic Johnson.

Magic had physical talents galore, a loping gait that threw people off rhythm, hands of an Olympian, the drive and tenacity of a champion and yet they were not his strongest force. Magic had a brain.
Magic had more brains in those huge hands of his than many MIT graduates.

Forget his behind the back passes, the now-you-see-the-ball-now-you-see-the-ball-gone move, forget that loping run of his. It was so out of rhythm people would lean with him.

With seconds to go at the end of a championship game in which the Lakers had been working very hard to win, Magic took the in-bound pass and was trapped in the back court. On no?!
He gently rolled the ball down the court...bounce...bounce...et cetera...It meandered down the length of the court and the clock ran out.
No super play, just snatching a win by using his brains.

Time and again, he proved that his greatest asset was his smarts. Chick Hearn (God love him) referred to Magic as the "on court general."

The way he dealt with HIV and survived, no thrived. His myriad business deals. The man is a genius, with huge Olympian hands.


Bye Kobe.

The Best Way...

To get someone to care for you is to care for someone else. Open your heart.

I went to the sandwich shop and got my lunch. On the way out the door I met Floyd.
Floyd is a 93 year old WWII veteran, cigarette in hand and a smile to boot.

He saw an alligator on my shirt and we began talking about his early life in Louisiana. His fishing, his grandparents, his heart attacks and his prayers.
They were all answered, so Floyd is one grateful man.

"Which way are you going?" asked Floyd.
After a bit of discussion I figured out where he needed to go and happily took him there.

He spoke of life and hardship. He was speaking to me.
As we arrived at his destination, he smiled a toothless grin and gave me his thanks.

And my heart was filled.

Brigadoon

In a perfect world

Back On Track

Mental fortitude is everything now.
Having the right smile is important. And then...

Something internal balances itself and the pain eases. And then...
A gig...two...band? And then...

Hello!
And then...

Long Roads

I am weary but cannot sleep.

The road is before me but I cannot see it.

I talk to myself but no I don't want to listen.

Cigars & Sherlock

He was right you know?

Sherlock said smoking allowed him the time and space to think.

To impress a girl I liked in 1972 I took the proffered cigarette and smoked for the next fifteen years. Then at the age of thirty three I quit.

This year the wife goes to Florida attending a union function. She brings home a cigar.
What can it hurt? You do not inhale, you smoke many fewer...how bad can this be?

Well, it is another addiction to be sure. Although the reasoning behind it is different. A cigarettes allure is that it calms you...relaxes you. It is a false promise as the satisfaction is incredibly short lived and so you need a constant stream to maintain that perceived level of calm.

A cigar, at least a "real" one, takes an hour to consume and enforces solitude since no one wants to be near you, except another smoker.
You think.
Some of you may look at your smartphone...ah well. I cannot save everyone.

But if you are like me, you take a drink...a book and yourself.
And you immerse yourself in whatever for that hour.

I tend to smell them a lot. They provoke memories. My grandfather's brother always had a cigar in his mouth. Two of my summer job bosses as a kid smoked cigars. Sargent Rock always had a stub of a cigar clamped between his teeth as he charged into the fray.

And now I know why they also had little brown patches in the corners of their mouths. Or why they always seemed to be on the verge of drooling.

And then I realize, like beer or any other acquired taste, there is an age when it becomes the thing to try. You turn fifty and want a motorcycle.

And I think I am at that age (60) where if it kills me in thirty years...so be it, right?

Encore

And you have nothing left to play.