Elisha Cuthbert

Elisha Ann Cuthbert (born November 30, 1982) is a Canadian actress. She is known as the former co-host of the Canadian children's television series, Popular Mechanics for Kids, and for her role as Kim Bauer in the American action-thriller television series 24. She had her first lead role in the 2004 feature film The Girl Next Door.

TomC

Cigar Making Videos

I have talked a lot about my opinions regarding the flavors and quality of many cigars on this site in the form of "Cigar Reviews", but not much about the cigar making process itself. Well I did a little research and found a few cigar making videos for all of us to enjoy!

Don Pepin Garcia Factory Tour!


Quality Control At The Cohiba Factory (Cuba)


Arturo Fuente Promo Video


Mixed Message History Channel Piece (More Opus X Stuff)


Not the best collection you can find, but hopefully it will help someone gain a greater knowledge of the cigar craft.

TomC

"Craig" & Alton Brown on HomeBrewing

Good Eats - "AmberWaves"

Home Brewing The Easy Way
Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4


I was lucky and stumbled into almost all the equipment I need to do some homebrewing, for FREE! Due to my luck in acquisition, I think I am going to try it out. More for future reference than anything, here is two different takes on basic homebrewing procedure.

TomC

Beckett Is First To 15!

(Check Out FanGraphs.com For statystical Analysis Of Individual Games.)(Beckett was a stud, as usual.)(Drew contributed today.)(Manny Hauls It home. . .)(. . .with Mike Lowell right behind.)(Pedroia Flashed The Leather.)(Papelbon Gets The 1/3 Inning Save)

Josh Beckett becomes the MLB's first 15 game winner and the Red Sox get a much needed win (mainaining their 5 game lead over NYY), as the Red Sox top the Baltimore Orioles, in front of a sympathetic Baltimore crowd, 6-2. Beckett continued his torrid pace on the road (8-1, 1.65ERA) with this commanding line, only tiring in the ninth inning:

8 2/3IP 8H 2ER 8K

Jonathan Papelbon came in for 1/3 of an inning to slam the door for his 27th save (after Manny Delcarmen walked a batter). Julio Lugo and JD Drew both contributed two run doubles to pace the Sox offensive attack. Boston closes out the series today (Sunday) with Curt Schilling facing off against Steve Trachsel.

A note about the fangraph: I think this site is a great resource! I know there are some deep statistical stuff that you can glean from these (which I may get into later, i a trying to learn more about Sabermetrics), but from a pure graphical perspective, one can get a better feel for the ebb and flow of games that just from a box score (like, in the example above, one can tell that Baltimore was never really in this game). I think I might include these more often!

TomC

Litto Gomez Diez Chisel Puro

(Litto Gomez)

5 ^1/2 X 54, Dominican Puro

Appearance: Some have said recently that I have wandered away a bit from the "cigar" aspect of The Smoking Lounge more than they might have liked. Well though I do not want to stop writing about all the other fun stuff on my mind, here is a return to my roots with a review of a great cigar I had the opportunity to smoke this evening, the Chiselito Puro. This evening I had the opportunity to frequent one of my favorite local "Brick and Mortar" cigar establishments, the Cigar Affair, in Maumee, Ohio. If I lived closer to Maumee, I would be there all the time. I was searching for something I have not tried before. After perusing for a few minutes, I decided I was going to try something from La Flor Dominicana, either the Factory Press II or the LG Diez lines. Well with nothing else to go on, the decision came down to aesthetics and the one thing I know for sure about the La Flor Dominicana line, I love the chisel shape (it is well know that one of my favorite staple cigars is the Double Ligero Chiselito!), and so the LG Diez it would be.

For those of you who don't know, the "Chisel" shape is something that seems to be unique to La Flor Dominicana. Looking at it sideways, the cigar appears to be a pyramid, with a tapered head coming to a point. But looking at it from the front, the pyramid becomes something else. Instead of coming to a point at the tip, the head is flat. After examining this vitola for a moment or two, the only way to describe the shape is that it is chiseled, and so the name is quite apt.

"This way it goes into the mouth in a perfect way, very comfortable," says Litto Gomez. "I think it even fits better than a torpedo or a pyramid. It also allows you to smoke a big ring gauge cigar without filling your mouth. After I made it and I smoked it, I discovered the way that it distributes smoke into your palate is fantastic."

This cigar was a great example of this unusual design. Wrapped in vaguely cinnamon toned wrapper that was smooth and free of any visible flaws, this cigar was a sight to behold. This cigar was rather heavy for its size, and seemed to be pretty firmly packed. In general it looked like a very well made handmade cigar. It must be a lot of work to get put this weird shape together.

Pre-Light: Before putting it to the blade I ran this cigar under my nose. A beautiful earthy aroma wafted up towards me, just like it must smell like to be in the rolling room when it was made. Delicious. Often when dealing with the chisel style cigar I just pinch the end of the cigar and the wrapper splits cleanly along the seam providing a more than acceptable draw. This time I set my trusty Palio Cutter upon it cutting just the smallest amount for an opening. this idea was rewarded with a very clean and forgiving pre light draw. The pre light draw produced more of the earthiness from the nose, along with a strong peppery taste, looks like there will be a lot of flavor in this smoke.

Burn/Draw: One might be worried when they see such an odd cigar shape. Often, unusual shaped cigars have a tendency to burn funky, and require multiple touch ups. If that is not the case, they also often have draw issues which could take away from an other wise enjoyable stogie. Not in this case, at all. Litto's "Master Rollers" truly prove themselves worthy here, as the construction was impeccable. This cigar smoked razor straight the whole way down, light it and forget it for sure. The draw was a not issue as well, this cigar burned long and cool and slow, producing volumes of flavorful, bluish grey, smoke. A joy to smoke.

Flavors: This was one hell of a flavorful cigar. the initial puffs through the first half inch or so just burst spice across your palate (mostly black pepper, but some fragrant far eastern incense notes as well). At about half way it calms down a bit, and settles in. the pepper never really goes away, but it does lighten up, and allow the other notes to peek through. the earthy undertone that I got from my initial nosing came through about halfway, along with some leather, and a cinnamon/honey sweetness that kept this cigars flavor from getting out of whack. Over the last third a nice french roast coffee note crept in rounding out what was a sublime, meditative experience on the whole. I enjoyed this cigar tremendously.

Before I recommend this cigar, there are a few caveats. This cigar is not for newbies. It is also not for those who like their cigars mild. This is a fairly strong cigar, for the experienced cigar smoker, and probably best had after a heart meal. that said, if you like Strong, very flavorful cigars, I suggest you try one out.

Recommended.

TomC

A Cigar Smoker's Companion , In Three Parts.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3


Here is a great little video from the 90's to watch while puffing on your next puro. . .

Enjoy!

TomC

A Great Story: Rick Ankiel

(Back in 2000, as a pitcher)

(Last Night, As An Outfielder.)

Rick Ankiel returned to the major leagues Thursday as an outfielder - and quickly put on a power display. Ankiel drove a 2-1 pitch into the right-field stands to put St. Louis ahead 5-0.

Ankiel, who was greeted with a standing ovation before his first at-bat, drew another lengthy ovation and took a curtain call after hitting his third career homer. He hit two in 2000, when he was a phenom left-hander.

"I set a goal for myself to get back here, so I feel good that I reached it,'' Ankiel said. "I'm looking forward to reaching my next goal, which is staying here.''

Ankiel was hitting .267 with a Pacific Coast League-leading 32 homers and 89 RBIs in 102 games at Triple-A Memphis. He also struck out 90 times and had a .314 on-base percentage.

Ankiel made his major league pitching debut at age 19 in August 2000 when he faced the Expos in Montreal.

The hard-throwing lefty won 11 games and struck out 194 in 175 innings as a 20-year-old rookie in 2000 and was a surprise pick to start the Cardinals' postseason opener that season against Atlanta. But he became the first major league pitcher to throw five wild pitches in one inning since 1890.

Ankiel threw nine wild pitches in four innings during the 2000 playoffs and never really was the same after that. He showed some promise at the plate in 2000, batting .250 with two home runs.

Now, the Cardinals want an extended period to gauge Ankiel's future, and expect that giving him three weeks of playing time before major league rosters are expanded will provide a clearer picture.



Well I wish him the best of luck, just getting back to the top is a helluva feat.

TomC

Jennifer Love Hewitt

Jennifer Love Hewitt (born February 21, 1979) is an American actress and singer-songwriter. She is well-known for her television and film roles in the Fox television series Party of Five, as Sarah Reeves, and also starred in I Know What You Did Last Summer and its sequel, as Julie James. Hewitt can currently be seen on the CBS television series Ghost Whisperer, as Melinda Gordon, a young newlywed who communicates with the dead.

After moving to Los Angeles, Hewitt appeared in more than twenty television commercials. Her first break came as a child actor on the Disney Channel variety show Kids Incorporated (1989–1991). In 1992, she played Pierce Brosnan's daughter in a pilot for NBC called Running Wilde, which featured Brosnan as a reporter for Auto World magazine whose stories cover his own wild auto adventures, but the series wasn't picked up and the pilot never aired. She later played on television in several short-lived series, such as Fox's Shaky Ground (1992–1993), ABC's Byrds of Paradise (1994), and McKenna (1994–1995). Finally, Hewitt became a young star after landing the role of Sarah Reeves on the popular Fox Television show Party of Five (1995–1999), joining the cast during its second season. She continued the same role in the short-lived Party of Five spin-off, Time of Your Life (1999). Hewitt was also one of the producers, but the show was cancelled after only half a season.

She made her film debut in the independent film Munchie (1992). Hewitt became a film star after a lead role in the horror film I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997). The film had great box-office appeal (125,000,000 U.S. dollars worldwide), and Hewitt became one of the most popular young stars in the USA (together with her co-stars: Freddie Prinze Jr., Ryan Phillippe, and Sarah Michelle Gellar). She also played in the sequel I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998), which wasn't as successful as the first one but brought in more money than the first one on opening weekend and after. Other notable film roles included the high-school comedy Can't Hardly Wait (1998) and a starring role with Sigourney Weaver in the romantic comedy Heartbreakers (2001).

Jennifer Love Hewitt was considered for the role of Paige Matthews on the WB hit Series Charmed but actress Rose McGowan was given the role. In 2000, Hewitt appeared in The Audrey Hepburn Story. That same year, she was the "most popular actress on television" due to her Q-rating (a measurement of a celebrity's popularity) of thirty-seven. For that reason, Nokia chose her to become its spokesperson, because of her "fresh image", and her being "a symbol of youthfulness and wholesomeness".

In 2001, she appeared in the music video for the Enrique Iglesias song, Hero as the singer's love interest.

Hewitt wrote I'm Gonna Love You for the movie The Hunchback of Notre Dame II because, although she was a well-known singer at the time, her character Madellaine was the only character who didn't sing in the movie. The song won an award for Best Song on DVD Awards.

Since September 2005, Hewitt has starred in the television series Ghost Whisperer. In Australia, Ghost Whisperer has been popular since its introduction; in the United States, the show averages 9-11 million viewers for each new episode.

Hewitt has also auditioned for many roles. She lost the role of "Juliet" in Romeo + Juliet to Claire Danes at the last moment. She also had to give up the role of "Darlene" in Brokedown Palace because of scheduling conflicts. Hewitt also auditioned for the role of "Elektra" in Daredevil.

To date, she has released four albums with some success, most notably in Japan. Her first album was released in Japan, where she is widely considered a pop star. Her explanation for her success in Japan is that the Japanese "love perky music. The poppier the music, the better."

TomC