Monday, July 30, 2007

Carlos Toraño Exodus 1959 Double Corona

Origin: Honduras
Size: 7.00 x 50
Wrapper: Habano 2000

Appearance: It has been a long time since I have last smoked one of these cigars, and in that time I forgot how pretty these cigars are. Box pressed and wrapped tight in a beautiful cinnamon red smooth veinless wrapper. Tasty Looking. One thing I did notice was that this cigar was packed pretty and wrapped very firmly, and I was curious to how this would affect the smoke.

Pre-Light: Clip was easy and flush. Prelight draw was just perfect. Could not be better. The prelight notes were spicy and tangy, with a little earthiness.

Burn/Draw: The burn and draw of this cigar were indicative of how well it was made. The burn was of the razor straight "light and forget" variety. Gotta love it. The draw was just easy enough to produce the volume of smoke I enjoy, but not to free to allow the cigar to burn too hot. The ash on this cigars was bright white, and firm, and held as long as I wanted it to. Like I said, a well made cigar.

Flavors: This cigar started with a big burst of pepper. After that calmed down a bit I noticed deep rich notes like black coffee and a very pleasant tanginess. Toward the last third of the cigar the pepper kicked back into gear and an earthy undertone made itself known. Overall this is a great cigar. It burned well, was quite flavorful and was pretty to look at as well. Very much recommended.

TomC

2007 Tour de France

(American Levi Leipheimer, Who Finished Third)
(Tour de France Podium Winners)
(Final Standings)


I will admit it I guess, I secretly love watching the Tour de France. I find the whole thing fascinating. I realize that the whole thing is rife with performance enhancing drugs (but what sport isn't these days?), but the idea of people cycling OVER MOUNTAINS is astounding to me. I won't go on and on, I guess the question I want to raise is this (see standings above): Could you imagine riding a bicycle for 91 HOURS and losing the race by 31 SECONDS (as third place rider, American Levi Leipheimer did)?? Crazy, I tell you.

TomC

Jeri Ryan

Jeri Lynn Ryan (born February 22, 1968) is an American actress best known for playing the ex-Borg Seven of Nine on Star Trek: Voyager.Ryan was hired for a role in Planes, Trains & Automobiles during the summer prior to her freshman year at Northwestern, but was cut out of the final version due to her (in her own words) "ruining every scene I was in" by laughing. After college, she pursued acting full-time in Los Angeles. She made her acting debut in Who's the Boss? and followed that with guest-starring roles in TV shows like Melrose Place, Matlock, and The Sentinel as well as TV movies such as Co-Ed Call Girl. Her big break came when she won a regular role as an extraterrestrial investigator named Juliet Stuart on the TV show Dark Skies. The show was cancelled after one season, but the role had drawn the attention of the science-fiction community.

In 1997, Ryan was cast to play Seven of Nine, a Borg drone freed from the collective on the science fiction series Star Trek: Voyager. The role drew her instant fame and her tight-fitting uniform made her a sex symbol among some science-fiction fans. It also drew criticism from some fans who felt that character was created to add sexuality to the show, and who felt that a disproportionate number of episodes focused on her character to the exclusion of others. Co-star Kate Mulgrew, who played Captain Janeway, reportedly was upset at the addition of a sex icon and Seven of Nine. However, her appearance also coincided with higher ratings and more positive critical reviews of Voyager, which were partly attributed to better screenwriting and partly due to her character being both intrinsically interesting and well-acted. Seven of Nine appeared on seven TV Guide covers in the USA.

After Voyager ended in 2001, Ryan joined the cast of Boston Public in the role of Ronnie Cooke, a frustrated lawyer who quits to become a high school teacher. The show's producer, David E. Kelley, wrote the role specifically for her. The show was cancelled in 2004.

Ryan has recently appeared in films, such as Down With Love. Ryan played Lydia in the independent film Men Cry Bullets, with a rave review for her performance from Roger Ebert. Jeri then starred in her first film lead in the indie comedy "The Last Man", playing the last woman on Earth, released by Lion's Gate.

She also had a recurring role on The O.C. (as Charlotte Morgan) in the autumn of 2005 and guest-starred on David E. Kelley's Boston Legal in 2006.

Ryan stars in the new CBS legal drama Shark; she plays Los Angeles District Attorney Jessica Devlin, opposite James Woods.



TomC

Hall Of Fame 2007

In a time when we seem to be questioning the validity of our sports heroes on a daily basis, yesterdays Hall of Fame celebration showed that during the "steroid era" not everybody in MLB was tainted. The San Diego Padres Outfielder Tony Gwynn and Baltimore Orioles Shortstop/Third Baseman Cal Ripken Jr. were inducted into the Hall of fame on Sunday. Cal is best known for his consecutive games played streak of 2632, also has two MVP awards to his credit (1983, 1991). Gwynn, arguably the best pure hitter of this generation has won 8 National League Batting Titles (1984, 1987-89, 1994-97) and had hit .300 or better for 19 consecutive seasons. Both played for the same team for their entire career (and had 3,000+ hits for same team), something that is a dying breed in Major League Baseball. Both were also pillars of their teams communities, something that always deserves mention.

Congratulations to them both.

TomC