More Tasty Stogies For Me!

La Flor Dominicana Double Ligero Chiselitos from NorcalMArk at Tower Pipes and Cigars.

TomC

Katherine Heigl

Katherine Marie Heigl (born November 24, 1978) is a Golden Globe-nominated American actress. Heigl is best known for her roles on the TV series Roswell and Grey's Anatomy.

Her birth name is Katherine Marie Heigl. Her nickname is Katie. Heigl was born in Washington, D.C. to Paul Heigl (a German-Irish American financial executive) and Nancy (a German American); she was raised a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon). She is the youngest of five children (in addition to siblings Meg, Jason, Holt and John Heigl). Heigl lived in Virginia and then Denver before her family settled in Connecticut, where they moved into a large, old Victorian-style farmhouse in the wealthy town of New Canaan . It was there that Katherine was to spend the majority of her childhood.In 1986, her 15-year-old older brother Jason died of injuries suffered in a car accident, after being thrown from the back of a pickup truck. When doctors determined Jason was brain-dead following an 8-hour operation, the family made the difficult decision to donate his organs to help save others. The Heigl family was never in any doubt that Jason would have wanted his organs and tissues donated for transplant. Heigl is now a strong proponent of organ donation.

When Heigl was 9, an aunt visiting the family decided to take a number of photographs of the young Heigl. After returning to her home in New York, the aunt sent the photos to a number of modeling agencies, with the permission of Heigl's parents. Within a few weeks, Heigl was signed as a child model. Almost immediately, a client slated Heigl for use in a magazine advertisement. She made her debut in a magazine advertisement and was soon earning $75 an hour posing for Sears and Lord & Taylor catalogs. Television jobs soon followed, the first in a national spot for Cheerios cereal.

Her acting debut came with an appearance in the 1992 movie That Night. Heigl appeared as Christina Sebastian in Steven Soderbergh's Depression-era drama King of the Hill before being cast in her first leading role as Nicole in the 1994 comedy My Father the Hero. During this time, Heigl continued to attend New Canaan High School, balancing her film and modeling work with her academic studies.

She then appeared opposite Steven Seagal as Sarah in the 1995 action thriller Under Siege 2: Dark Territory. Despite an increased focus on acting, she still modeled extensively, appearing regularly in magazines such as Seventeen. She took the lead role in Disney's made-for-television film Wish Upon a Star in 1996. Also in 1996, Heigl's parents divorced and her mother was diagnosed with cancer. After her high school graduation in 1997, she moved with her mother into a 4-bedroom house in Malibu Canyon, Los Angeles, and her mother became her manager.

In 1998, she co-starred with Peter Fonda in a re-working of the classic Shakespearian play The Tempest, set during the American Civil War. Later that year, she starred in the horror film Bride of Chucky.

In 1999, Heigl turned her attention to television when she accepted the role of Isabel Evans on the science fiction TV drama Roswell, a role that was expanded in the show's second and third seasons. Heigl was frequently featured in photo essays in magazines such as Life, TV Guide, and Teen as well as FHM. She appeared in the FHM and Maxim calendars, FHM's annual 100 sexiest women in the world, and was featured in the Girls of Maxim Gallery. In May 2006, Maxim awarded her #12 on their annual Hot 100 List as well as voted the 19th "Sexiest Woman in the World" by readers of FHM magazine. While Roswell was in production, Heigl worked on several films, including 100 Girls, an independent 2001 film in which she played competitive tomboy Arlene, and Valentine, a horror film starring David Boreanaz and Denise Richards in which she played medical student Shelley Fisher, who was killed during the film's opening scene.

Heigl accepted a role in Ground Zero, a television thriller scheduled to be telecast that fall which was based on the bestselling James Mills novel The Seventh Power, in the spring of 2001. She co-starred as a brilliant and politically-concerned college student who helps to build a nuclear device to illustrate the need for a change in national priorities; the device ends up in the hands of a terrorist following betrayal by a fellow student. After the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, however, the film was shelved when its plot was considered too inappropriate; it re-emerged in 2003 under the title Critical Assembly. After the terrorist attacks, Heigl recorded a passionate public service announcement for the American Red Cross in an effort to help raise money for victims.

In 2003, Heigl appeared in three television movies. She returned to the horror genre with Evil Never Dies, a modern-day variation on the Frankenstein story co-starring Thomas Gibson. Love Comes Softly, for Hallmark Entertainment, found Heigl starring as Marty Claridge, a young, pregnant newlywed traveling west. (She reprised the role of Marty in the sequel Love's Enduring Promise the next year.) And finally, Heigl played Isabella Linton in MTV's modern revamp of Emily Brontë's classic novel Wuthering Heights. In October 2003, Heigl was cast opposite Johnny Knoxville in The Ringer, a Farrelly brothers comedy that was released in December 2005. Heigl starred as Romy in the 2005 television movie Romy and Michele: In the Beginning, a prequel to the 1997 theatrical film Romy and Michele's High School Reunion.

2005 saw Heigl cast in what would become her most high-profile role, as intern Dr. Isobel "Izzie" Stevens on Grey's Anatomy, an ABC medical drama. The show, originally introduced as a midseason replacement, has become a huge ratings success. The same year, Heigl landed the starring role of Karly Hert in the independent film Side Effects, about marketing and the pharmaceutical industry. In late 2006, Heigl was nominated for a Golden Globe award in the category, Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Mini-series, or Motion Picture Made for Television for her work on Grey's.

TomC

StogieChat.com Blind Tasting #2!

Hooray! It is here again! The StogieChat.com blind tasting #2. Yep the fine Brothers of the Leaf at SC decided to try this experiment again, because it went so well. If you want to read about the first go through you can, in this post! And then the revelation of the cigar was here! Well without further review, what I think:

Cigar X
6 3/8" X 44, Cuban

Appearance: Pretty smooth looking like cinnamon hued cigar. No real noticeable imperfections, a generally nice looking stogie.

Pre - Light: clipped easily and perfectly. Pre light Draw smelled of that beautiful damp organic earthiness of a habano, also some tangy tobacco notes.

Burn/Draw: This cigar lit easily, and the burn was quite straight and even the whole way down. For the first inch or so this cigar's draw was rather tight, but with patience and time it opened up quite nicely and by the halfway point it was free and easy and produced a quite good amount of smoke. Overall it was not a big deal, and the actual act of smoking was a quite pleasant experience.

Flavors: this one seemed like a pretty straight forward pleasant smoke to me. There were tangy notes of tobacco and earthy leather at first. the whole length of the cigar was underpinned by a nice rich earthyness. Over the last third or so the flavors ramped up a bit, and some woody cedar and black pepper notes creeped in. This cigar was a solid just north of medium at its strongest. Pretty tasty.

I hazarded a guess, now we will just have to see if I was right.

TomC

CAO Soprano Boss

7" X 56, Maduro

Appearance: This is one huge dark cigar! Not only that but it is heavy. The wrapper was smooth and veinless and as dark as night. There is definitely a lot to this cigar. It is almost intimidating.

Pre - Light: Clipped the cigar with a Xikar at the Stogie Shop that looked like it had cut about a million cigars prior to mine, give or take. Man, did this cutter look rough! Surprisingly though, it seemed to clip just fine. The Pre-Light draw was free and easy and produced notes of dark cocoa, dark roasted coffee, and smoky woodiness.

Burn/Draw: The cigar burned well, and fairly straight, which was fairly surprising to me, given the conditions. We were driving home and I had to smoke the thing with the window open and wind blowing in the whole time, and I half expected that to cause burn issues. It did not. The draw, like I said earlier, was free and easy and produced more than a fair amount of smoke. This seemed like a well constructed cigar.

Taste: This cigar is deep and rich and strong. Lots of Mocha and rich coffee, and unsweetened cocoa. Also, my cigar had lots of power, and I mean LOTS. The problem is that the power pretty much drowned out all the complexity of the cigar. This is unfortunate, because I think, with time, this will be a great cigar. I would love to buy a box and squirrel it away for a year or two, but at the current price point there are too many better buys. Overall I would say that this cigar was pretty good, but just not cost effective enough to warrant in depth buying.

TomC

Hoyo de Monterrey Epicure No.2 Have Arrived!

They are here and mine! All Mine!!

Aren't they pretty?

TomC

Coffee for Jeebus!

Erika Christensen

Erika Jane Christensen (born August 19, 1982) is an American actress whose film appearances include Traffic (2000) and The Perfect Score (2004), among others. She also co-starred in the drama Six Degrees on ABC.

Christensen was born in Seattle, Washington to Steven Christensen, an insurance worker/human-resources executive, and Kathy, a construction manager. She has an older half-brother, Nick, and two younger twin brothers, Dane (who appeared in the film The Upside of Anger) and Brando. She has Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Welsh, and Irish ancestry. Christensen is a member of the Church of Scientology. Her parents became Scientologists during their 20's and raised her in the faith as well as home-schooled her. Christensen was raised in Los Angeles, California and started out on television in commercials for McDonald's.

Christensen had several small roles in various television programs before starting her movie career. These shows include The Geena Davis Show, Frasier, The Practice, 3rd Rock from the Sun, and Touched by an Angel. She was named one of People magazine's "Breakthrough Stars of 2001." For her performance in Traffic she received the awards for Female Breakthrough Performance at the MTV Movie Awards, Female Standout Performance at the Young Hollywood Awards, and Outstanding Performance by a Cast Ensemble at the Screen Actors Guild Awards. In 2006, she starred in the series Six Degrees, which debuted on the ABC fall schedule in 2006 but went on hiatus due to low ratings and is not expected to film any more episodes.

TomC

H. Upmann Coronas Major

Size: 5 1/4" X 44 (Petit Corona)
Country of Origin: Cuba
Presentation: Three Layers of Tubes in a Box of 25.
Extras: This model can be machine-made and hand-made. Both of them have the same characteristics and H. Upmann taste with a strong tobacco background blended with herbal flavours. The minimum ageing recommended for both models is at least five years. (From http://www.cigars-review.org)

Appearance: This little tan stogie is a tad rustic looking. Though many Cuban cigars are. It did have a beautiful toasted brown wrapper though.

Pre-Light: Clipped easily. draw was easy. The prelight draw has a light hint of that distinctive "Cuban earthiness", but not much else.

Burn/Draw: The burn was fairly uneventful, which is a good thing because this stogie evidently occasionally has burn issues. It was not perfect, but not too terribly bad, and self corrected pretty easily. I did go through this cigar fairly quickly, though.

Flavors: Fairly Unimpressive. Much like the prelight draw, this cigar had that distinctive "Cuban earthiness" but that's about it. It is kind of a one note cigar, and that is unfortunate. There are several better choices to be had in Habanos, even in this cigars price range. I suggest looking elsewhere.

TomC

Cigar Enthusiasm: It's Not Just About Tobacco!

(MikeD)
(Your Humble "Smoking Lounge" Host. . .)(My Boy, Jeebus, Of "The Beaner Blog"!)

I know I spend a lot of time talking about StogieChat.com here on my blog, but I think it is quite the microcosm of something that is a very important part of the Cigar Enthusiast Culture (and frankly, something I put in my "Mission Statement" at the top of this BLOG, a driving force in why I created it). Cigar Enthusiasm is not just about smoking. It is also about camaraderie among people sharing a common love. It really has been amazing to me how many people of different races, ages, locations, religions, and political bents, will happily and willingly come together for great (and remarkably civilized) conversation, and companionship over a beverage and a fine cigar. We have been known to, quite unironically, call each other "Brothers Of The Leaf" (BOTL, in net-ese) , and really mean it. I have been in several social situations involving cigars,and have always found it easy to relate to the others there, as if I had known them forever. As previously professed, Smoking Lounges are some of the coolest, friendliest places on earth.

One of the coolest things to pop up in the 21st century has been the seem less transition of this camaraderie into the online world. Even before the advent of BLOGS, and other Web 2.0 applications, when the Internet was still a largely solitary experience, he was a burgeoning and vibrant Cigar Lovers community online. While I can not vouch for certainty beyond the one message board I frequent, it seems to me there are many other places where the same sense of community has evolved. And at StogieChat, that community really exists. In many situations, members have never met for a smoke with people outside their immediate locale, but through SC, I feel like I can always have a cigar and good conversation with a good friend and fellow enthusiast, whether they be in NYC, Georgia, Florida, LA, Minnesota, Scotland, or any number of places dotting the map. Also, I know many of them, like friends local to me, would do everything they could to help me, if I was in a bad spot. (A quick example: there was a long stretch between December 04 and late '06 I went back to school at Ohio State, and had very little money to devote to my hobby. But, through the unending generosity of members of SC.com, many whom I have never met in person, I did not once go without cigars. On top of that, not one ever expected one bit of compensation in return. Amazing!).

I have a specific example on how this community can be fostered online. In September of 2003, I was given a cigar by a friend, and after discovering that this was not a horrible hobby to have (prior to this, I was an Anti-Smoking freak, obviously I have since seen the error of my ways!). I was searching for information and happened to stumble across StogieChat.com. Far from the vibrant, multifaceted community we have today, SC at the time was a small tight knit group of abut a dozen or so guys who loved cigars and bullshitting on their little message board. They were immediately welcoming (finding out that I had a little knowledge of Bourbon Whiskey, another hobby of mine, the Admin made me an honorary Moderator of their spirits forum like a week after I joined the forum). One member in particular, MikeD, went out of his way to be accommodating. Through the forum, and through instant messaging as well as phone conversations (we both worked similar second shift hours, albeit in very different jobs: Me as a grocery stocker in Ohio, him as a cop in Brooklyn), he helped answer my endless stream of questions regarding everything that had to do with this hobby, from cigar storage, to how to combat mold, to size and shape and country of origin of cigars, food and drink pairings, anything. If it wasn't for him, I probably would have given up on cigar long ago, and missed out on so much. He kept my interest by not only suggesting things to try, but also (partially because of my rural location, with no stogie shop nearby) sending me samples of many a cigar to actually try. And about 99% of the time, his suggestions were dead on. I liken the experience to a Buddhist monk going to his spiritual leader for lessons (we joked, likening to Star Wars Lore: That he was the "Cigar Jedi Master", and I was a little "Padawan Learner", haha). A lot of why I feel qualified to review cigars on this blog can be owed to what I learned through conversations with him.

And the great thing about all this, is the cycle is repeating. Recently a younger member, Jeebus, from California, Joined the forum (and yes, to anybody who has stumbled across it, it is the very same Jeebus of "The Beaner Blog" fame). And while it hasn't been as comprehensive as my situation with MikeD, I have kind of taken him under my wing a bit, trying to guide him through the beginnings of his journey into premium handmade cigars. I have even recently sent him the first package of cigars that I want his opinion of, much like Mikey once did for me. The three of us, to bring it all together, have a conference together about twice a week via IM to discuss cigars, and life. And the community grows and prospers. Jeebus even posts cigar reviews on his blog. Youcan tell (though I wish they were a bit longer), that hes improving, learning to appreciate more and more of each stogie set to flame.


But this, in a nutshell, is why I love Cigar Enthusiasts so much, hope you enjoyed reading about them.

TomC

After Dominating Toronto Again, Sox Break Out Brooms!

(Alyssa Milano)(Glaus got picked off.)

(Lowell homers AGAIN!)

For the third straight night, the Red Sox thoroughly had their way with the Toronto Blue Jays, Tonight running their record to 23-10 by winning 8-0. In a rotation of of great performers, Tim Wakefield continues to be the most dominant, putting forth tonight, this dominant line:

7IP 3H 0ER 1BB 5K

He won his fourth game of the season, and lowered his ERA to a league leading 1.79. Mike Lowell added a home run for the third straight game and the Blue Jays lost their 9th in a row.

Tomorrow, the Sox return home to faced the Baltimore Orioles, with Sox pitcher Julian Tavarez facing off against Brian Burres.
GO SOX!

TomC

Read this on the off chance you Might be able to help

La Belle Saison: Bloggers Unite! READ THIS!

Another week, another tragedy.

Okay folks it is time to join together and do as much as we can for a good cause.

6 days ago, 3 year old Madeleine McCann disappeared from her bed in an apartment on holiday in the Algarve, Portugal. Just yards away her parents were eating dinner, checking on Maddie and her younger twin brother and sister in their beds every half hour.

Tragically, when her mother checked in on the children at 10pm, only half an hour after their father had, the window was slightly open and Maddie had disappeared.

Since then the Portuguese police have been searching for her, a witness has come forward to say on the night in question he saw what looked like a bald man and a woman walking briskly with a blonde young girl in their arms, heading for the coast. If this was Maddie, she may not even be in Portugal anymore.

The fear and worry of Maddie’s parents and family must be indescribable. I can not even begin to imagine what they must be going through. Their beautiful 3 year old daughter, taken away from them. Are you a parent? Do you have a small child in your life? Imagine they disappeared, imagine not knowing if they were safe.

Police have now suggested Maddie may have been taken for the purposes of a paedophile ring.

Anyone will understand how tragic this is, how inhumane, a child taken from their loving family. You may think there is not a lot we can do. But we can do a little. And every little helps.

If you are religious, pray for the safe return of little Maddie.

If you are in Portugal, help with the search, look out for any evidence, even the smallest piece of information may be of importance. You can do your bit by clicking here and downloading a poster to help find Madeleine. And if YOU know something, or have seen something that may be crucial evidence, The Sun Newspaper are offering a £10,000 reward for any information that may lead to the child being found.

If you have a blog, spread the word, even a few sentences may inform others, or just show that you care. A blog can be accessed by anyone in the world, and you can do your bit by posting a picture, writing a short post giving some information. I have found that the blogging community is full of wonderful, caring people, no matter where you are, (yes, even America!) you’re blog is read by people from Portugal, Britain, Europe…The blogosphere is a powerful place. Have your say. Show you care. Spread the word.

This is a 3 year old child we are talking about. 3 years old. Taken from her family in the middle of the night. Every parent’s and child’s worst nightmare.

Madeleine turns four on Saturday…

My heart goes out to her family.


Thanks for your time,

TomC

Toraño Signature Churchill

7" X 48, Maduro

Appearance: This was one tasty looking stogie. While it was a bit rustic looking, it has this beautiful, shimmering oily mocha colored wrapper. It practically begged to be lit.

Pre-Light: Clip was easy. I cannot tell you enough how well this Palio cutter I got recently works. I have not had the slightest clip or draw issue since I have had this one. The prelight draw had notes of cinnamon and that great tanginess of the Signature Line.

Burn/Draw: Flawless. The burn was never an issue at all, as it was almost perfectly straight the entire ONE HOUR AND FORTY FIVE MINUTE duration of this smoke. Thats right, I probably could have smoked this cigar forever if I wanted because I did not nub this stogie. Unfortunately, after two almost two hours, I had to move on to other things in my evening that made cigar smoking impractical. This is unfortunate.

Flavors: Anybody who knows me, knows I love these cigars. I have from almost the very beginning of my stogie smoking experience. They have this great interplay, balancing this wonderful top note of tanginess with lovely sweet notes of cocoa and cinnamon. I have to say that this cigar thoroughly outclassed the cup of coffee I had during the first third or so of it, its complexity overpowering the one note brew. Toward the last third the previous notes were joined but a nice spiciness and a bit of earthiness that kept this cigar from being cloying. Overall a command performance by a very reliable cigar. This cigar was a gift, I am very curious to see how much age it had on it.

TomC