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Wednesday, September 4, 1996
Bird's EyeView
the shifting winds of
inking back into his easy chair, Lawrence resident Dan Powell methodically packs tobacco into his pipe. With a strike of a match and a puff of air, an aromatic wisp of smoke begins to curl around his head. "I like to smoke by myself — it is a very personal thing for me." Powell so
"I like to smoke by myself—it is a very personal thing for me." Powell said. "It is a spiritual thing for me. There is just
As cigarettes fall out of favor pipes are drawing a major following.
something about the warmth and smel on a pipe. Powell, like many in Lawrence, has discovered the pleasures of smoking tobacco in a pipe.
While cigarette smoking has become ill-advised and unacceptable, smoking pipes and cigars is finding its niche in mainstream America.
Doug Dean and George Wilson, owners of Doug and George's pipe shop, 727 Massachusetts St., have seen firsthand the resurgence of cigar and pipe use.
"Ive started six guys on pipes this week alone," Dean said.
First, the pipe must be good quality.
People stepping through Doug and George's, with its heavy tobacco smell and antique atmosphere, may not feel like they are in a classroom — but a lesson is what they will get. Almost every person who purchases a pipe receives advice from Dean or Wilson about smoking a pipe.
"I like to get people into a piece of hard briar wood," Dean said. "The older the briar, the harder it is, the better it smokes."
Smoking a pipe may seem simple, but Dean said there were crucial steps to making the experience pleasant.
At least $10 must be spent for a briar wood pipe in Doug and George's. The shape of the pipe, the bend of the stem, the color, weight and feel all are personal preferences. The smoker also has to decide whether to purchase a free-standing pipe or one that needs to rest on a wooden rack.
"It takes about 45 minutes for a lesson," Dean said. "But it usually pays off to spend the time—I enjoy it."
"I always suggest a pipe that is comfortable and utilitarian," Dean said.
After choosing a pipe, the tobacco and pipe condiments must be chosen. Tobacco can range from a lightly flavored cavendish to a pungent, tangy, full-English.
A pipe tool also is necessary. It is used to tamp the tobacco into the bowl for smoking and to dig out old tobacco once it has been smoked. A good supply of pipe cleaners is needed. Dean suggested cleaning a pipe after every bowl was smoked or before the pipe was retired at night.
Pipe shop owners often encounter customers using pipes to wean themselves off cigarettes, although the technique is not endorsed by the
After these necessities are purchased, there are many extras to choose from. Leather pouches, wooden racks, Zippo pipe lighters, and pipe carrying cases are just a few of the specialty items.
Ironically, buying this equipment may be the reason some stay away from pipes. But therein lies what many see as an advantage pipes have over cigarettes.
"It is a pain to carry all that stuff, but I think that is why people don't get so addicted to it," said David Keel, Glenn Eleny, Ill., sophomore. "You don't submit yourself to a pipe like people do to a cigarette."
medical world.
"I know a lot of people who go from cigarettes to pipes," Dean said. "The key is moderation — you can self abuse on anything: gambling, women, booze, cigarettes — anything."
"A cigarette you just chuck once you are done with it," Powell said. "A pipe takes time, and you don't discard it — it means something to you. It wouldn't mean anything if I smoked it 20 times a day."
Wilson said he grew up with pipes everywhere. "Back when I was a kid, everybody smoked a pipe,"
Though only an alternative for some, others have had pipe smoking instilled in them by family, friends and others.
said Wilson, 84. "I'd come home and there'd be this blue haze in the house. My mother would say 'Hell, I'm never going to spoil —I'm smoke cured!'"
Geoff Clark, Lawrence first-year law student, was a cigarette smoker who switched to pipes.
"I was smoking cigarettes for a long time," said Clark, who bought his first pipe 10 months ago. "I got tired of hacking up things, so I started smoking a pipe. A pipe is like a baby. You have to clean it, take care of it—it is a totally rewarding experience."
While smoking any tobacco product is not good for one's health, many find a pipe less threatening.
On the wall behind Wilson's shoulder hangs a plaque that states, "He who smokes thinks like a philosopher."
With a few words, Dean makes this maxim appear true.
"There is a symbiotic relationship between pipe and smoker," Dean said. "You take care of your pipe, you clean it, feel it, admire the beauty of it. In turn, the pipe provides the smoker with stress relief and absolute pleasure."
Critical Volume
Music reviews by Robert Moczydlowsky
rmoczudk@falcon.cc.ukans.edu.
Note: Submissions should be sent to Critical Volume, care of the Kansan, 111 Stauffer-Flint Hall. All local submissions will be reviewed.
Soul Coughing
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Soul Coughing Irresistible Bliss (Slash/Warner Bros. Records). When alternative music became vogue with the likes of Nirvana and Pearl Jam in the early '90s, countless spinoff bands sprung up in every local music scene. This new sound was characterized by heavy guitar distortion and lead-footed drumming, and there were more than a few bands who set out to
convit.
But on the East Coast, in cities such as New York and Boston, a new alternative sound was developing. Bands such as Soul Coughing and Morphine abandoned the guitar completely, opting instead for the stand-up bass and a jazz rhythm section with the occasional nod to hip-hop thrown in for good measure. Now, three years later, this "jazzrock" is poised to become one of the hot new sounds on the radio.
Irresistible Bliss is the second major label record from the New York quartet Soul Coughing, and it's a remarkable cocktail of stream-of-consciousness lyrics and phat bass lines. Drummer Yuval Gabay keeps a flawless, danceable drum beat that bounces back and forth between simple jazz and East Coast hip-hop. Lyricist M. Doughty (yes, M. is his name) writes rambling lyrics that are at the same time ingenious, irrelevant and annoyingly catchy. Listen to this record more than once and it will be impossible to get Doughty's little ran phrases out of your head.
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The album's first single, Soundtrack to Mary, has been in regular rotation on the Lazer since Soul Coughing put on what could have been the best summer show in early August at the Granada. If you missed that show (and most people did),
Fun Lovin' Criminals
Fun Lovin' Criminals Come Find Yourself (EMI Records). While we're on the topic of bands who are combining the best of rock, jazz and hip-hop, we should say a few words about the Fun Lovin' Criminals. While Soul Coughing is a rock band that incorporates jazz and rap, Fun Lovin' Criminals is a traditional hip-hop group that has stolen a large
you can get a second chance when Soul Coughing plays in St. Louis in October. Check the group's web site, http://soulcoughing.com, for more information. Out of 10: 8
Frosted album cover
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part of its sound from rock 'n' roll.
part of its sound from rock n roll.
Hailing from New York's Lower East Side, the members of Fun Lovin' Criminals undoubtedly were fans of Grand Master Flash, Run DMC and L.L. Cool J during their formative years, and that surely accounts for the group's smooth, New York-accented rap. But unlike other East Coast hip-hop acts – or anyone else, for that matter – the beats and samples on this record come not from soul music but from the likes of Lynrd Skynyrd, Deep Purple and Quentin Tarantino movies. On nine of the album's 13 diverse tracks, acoustic and electric guitars make up the songs' main melody lines. Heck, there even a country song thrown in.
Appropriately, the best song on the record, *Bombin' the L*, is the one track that mixes all of the above influences without a hitch. The track starts with samples from Freebird and Smoke on the Water and then breaks open with a nasty, dance hall back beat that is sure to make it a hit in clubs. Other bright spots include the perfect use of samples from Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction on the album's first single, Scooby Snacks, and the slow, funk guitar on The Grave and The Constant.
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Frosted, the band
The album's only real weakness is that head rapper, Fast, sounds just a little too much like House of Pain's testosterone-overload rapper Everlast. Aside from that, this could be the best party record of the fall. Overall: 7 and rising.
Frosted Cold (DGC Records) Does anybody like the Go-Go's? Ever wonder what they would sound like if a bunch of high school guys joined the band, pumped up the distortion and let back-up
singer/guitarist Jane Wiedlin sing lead? It'd be the Go-Go's meets Weezer. It'sd be like, sooo cool.
Actually, it's only kinda cool. For a band with so much pre-release hype, one should get more out of the debut from Frosted, featuring Jane Wiedlin of the Go-Go's. Sure, there are some neat pop tunes here, such as the album's lead-off track Disintegrated, but five or six songs into the record, everything starts to sound the same.
Rachel Haden of That Dog and The Rentals makes a great guest vocal appearance on Call Me Crazy, and guitarist Brian Waters plays a competent fuzz guitar, but in the end, it's the songwriting that leaves
this record short.
Could it be that Belinda Carliale really was the main talent behind the Go-Go's success?
This record from Wiedlin and Frosted seems to answer a frightening "yes."
Overall: 5
Critical Volume Concert Tip of the Week: One of Los Angeles' premiere punk/rockabilly bands, Social Distortion, will be playing an early, all ages, show at 6 p.m. Friday at the Bottleneck, 737 New Hampshire St. New York glam rockers D. Generation are slated to open. Call the Bottleneck at 841-LIVE for more information.