Monday, May 21, 2007

Partagas Naturales (Revisited)

5 1/2" X 50, Cameroon

revisiting a previously reviewed cigar, posted here.

Appearance: A pretty looking little stogie, draped in a tasty looking cinnamon shade wrapper. A firm, solid, evenly packed cigar, this one looked promising.

PreLight: Clip was easy, and the prelight draw was free and smooth. The initial prelight flavors were a bit of spice and some cinnamon, and a nice tangy Cameroon wrapper note.
Burn/Draw: This aspect of the cigar was spot on. I have had some construction issues with these cigars in the past, but not at all with this one! This cigar burned nice and easily, long and slow the whole way down. The ash was long and light grey, bordering on white, and held firm well pas an inch and a half. The draw was perfect, free and easy, producing a good amount of cool flavorful smoke.
Flavors: This cigar is workmanly, but good. It has notes of cinnamon and tanginess (something I seem to get often in Cameroon wrapped cigars, it seems to be a not of the region). Later on notes of honey peeked in and out, and toward the last third it got a bit more powerful (after it started on the light side of medium), with notes of black pepper creeping in at the end. While this is not a transcendent experience, it really was a surprisingly pleasant experience, and one I would like to have again.


TomC

Buffy The Vampire Slayer

Sarah Michelle Gellar as "Buffy"Eliza Dushku as "Faith"Charisma Carpenter as "Cordelia"Michelle Trachtenberg as "Dawn"Alison Hannigan as "Willow"
Juliet Landau as "Druscilla"
Claire Kramer as "Glory"
Mercedes McNab as "Harmony"
Emma Caulfield as "Anya"
Amber Benson as "Tara"

Buffy the Vampire Slayer is an American cult television series that initially aired from March 10, 1997 until May 20, 2003. It was created by writer-director Joss Whedon under his production tag, Mutant Enemy. The series narrative follows Buffy Anne Summers (played by Sarah Michelle Gellar), the latest in a line of young women chosen by fate to battle against vampires, demons, and the forces of darkness. Like previous slayers, Buffy is aided by a Watcher, who guides and trains her. Unlike her predecessors, Buffy surrounds herself with a circle of loyal friends who become known as the "Scooby Gang."

The series usually reached between four and six million viewers on original airings. Although such ratings are lower than successful shows on the "big four" networks (ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox), they were a success for the relatively new and smaller Warner Brothers Network. Reviews for the show were overwhelmingly positive, and it was ranked #41 on the list of TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time. The WB network ceased operation on September 17, 2006 after airing an "homage" to their "most memorable series", including the pilot episodes of Buffy and its spin-off, Angel.

Buffy's success has led to hundreds of tie-in products, including novels, comics, and video games. The series has received attention in fandom, parody, and academia, and has influenced the direction of other television series.

The first season exemplifies the "high school as hell" concept. Buffy Summers has just moved to Sunnydale and hopes to escape her Slayer duties. Her plans are complicated by Rupert Giles, her new Watcher, who reminds her of the inescapable presence of evil. Sunnydale High is built atop a Hellmouth, a portal to demon dimensions that attracts supernatural phenomena to the area. Buffy meets two schoolmates who will help fight evil through the series, but they must first prevent an ancient and especially threatening vampire from opening the Hellmouth and unleashing Hell on Earth.

The emotional stakes are raised in the second season. New vampires, Spike and a weakened Drusilla, come to town along with the new Slayer, who was activated as a result of Buffy's brief death in the first season finale. Buffy consummates her relationship with her vampire lover Angel, and consequentially, she unwittingly removes his cursed soul as a result. He once more becomes a sadistic killer seeking to destroy the world. Buffy is forced to kill him, and leaves Sunnydale emotionally shattered.

After attempting to start a new life in Los Angeles, Buffy returns to town in the third season. She is soon confronted with an unstable Slayer, Angel (again), and an often affable but definitely evil mayor's plans for Graduation Day.

The fourth season sees Buffy and Willow enroll at UC Sunnydale while Xander joins the workforce. Willow explores her sexuality with another witch, while Buffy begins dating a student who is a member of The Initiative, a top-secret military installation based beneath the UC Sunnydale campus. They appear to be a well-meaning anti-demon operation, but a secret project goes horribly wrong. The season also marked the first year in which Joss Whedon oversaw other TV series.

During the fifth season, an exiled Hell-God searches for a "key" that will allow her to return to her home dimension. The "key" has been turned into human form as Buffy's younger sister Dawn. The Hell-God eventually discovers the truth and kidnaps Dawn; Buffy sacrifices herself to save Dawn and the world.

Buffy's friends resurrect her through a powerful spell in the sixth season. Buffy returns from Heaven and finds a job at a fast food restaurant. Her friends are unaware of her inner turmoils as they face their own troubles: Xander leaves his fiancée at the altar, and Willow becomes addicted to magic. When Willow's girlfriend is killed by a deranged murderer, Willow descends into darkness and begins a rampage that nearly causes the end of the world.

The instability caused by Buffy's revival enables the First Evil to amass an army of powerful vampires against humankind during the seventh season, in the process trying to kill every currently-unactivated Potential Slayer. Willow invokes a spell that activates all the "Potentials" in the world as the Scooby Gang defeats evil once more.


TomC