El Presidente

Another relationship done. Another house gone. You will bounce back, start again and this time build your special man cave. I mean....why should it be restricted to just a room? Pffft! The whole house will be a man cave! The whole house will be a celebration of me and my own personal style! I am going to start with these stained glass windows! I blew the budget on these stained glass windows! €55,000 EUR($63,788 USD) Micheline House Stained Glass Windows - London - Bibendum Set of two large-scale reproductions of the stained glass windows that once adorned the Micheline House in London, created after the famous posters 'Le Coup de semelle' and 'Pneu Vélo Michelin.' These compositions feature the character Bibendum, created in 1898 by O'Galop (Marius Rossillon, 1867-1946). One panel depicts the Michelin Bibendum, cigar in mouth, presenting his studded sole; the other shows him riding a bicycle while smoking a cigar. Produced by an Italian workshop, these works stand out for their vivid colours and exceptional quality of execution. Each stained glass panel is protected by a front glass pane and housed within a reinforced metal frame.

A large Italian Murano red/orange glass cigar ash bowl, mid 1900's,

They aspire to appalling....but I am not the doyen of taste Native American, Southwestern United States, Acoma, ca. mid to late 20th century CE. A set of 2 pottery ashtrays, one in the shape of an avian-form plate and the other a minimalist jar

"The progressive mania for regulating the lives of others is highly addictive." Great line Killjoys want to stub out this guilty pleasure Tobacco and Vapes Bill risks self-styled ‘public health’ lordships putting an end to the old-school charm of cigar lounges Juliet Samuel FULL LINK TO ARTICLE Monday January 19 2026, 12.01am GMT, The Times Ihave found a way to travel back in time and it’s by visiting a cigar lounge. The one I went to was small, wood-panelled and served by neat, attentive men in ties and jackets. The walls were lined with glass cases of the type a Victorian gentleman would use to display his butterflies but here were filled with perfect rows of cigars in their little gold-foil bands. On the wall hung a large portrait medallion of Sir Richard Grenville, the 16th-century explorer. I’m not much of a smoker but I held on to a cigarillo for 20 minutes, puffing at it and talking about Lords reform, feeling briefly as if I were an Edwardian gentleman. In fact, the Lords is a topic of great contemporary relevance to a cigar lounge because of a recent attempt made by some of its most sententious members to ban these very places. The vehicle was the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, that pernicious and unnecessary assault on liberty originally dreamt up by Rishi Sunak when he was prime minister and now revived, which the self-styled “public health” lordships tried to amend in November. Cigar lounges operate on the basis of an exemption to the 2007 smoking ban, which, among its more moderate provisions, concedes that someone splashing out £800 on a luxury item ought to get a chance to sample the goods. So you can’t bring your own smokes; you can only visit to try before you buy from the lounge shop. And because cigar pricing is more liberally regulated in Britain than on the Continent, London has become a hub for the luxury humidor tourist, keeping these little vignettes of old Europe alive. But the killjoys must have an outlet for their bloodlust. Baroness Ramsey of Wall Heath, preaching in support of Lord Faulkner’s industry-killing amendment, begged the Lords to consider the health of the staff (those in the lounge I visited were, unsurprisingly, cigar connoisseurs) and the children (one lounge in Sheffield, she noted with horror, was actually “within 400 metres of a school”!). Their attempt to protect local children from the irresistibly alluring pull of a £70 cigar being quietly smoked in a hideaway for old men failed this time. But I’m sure they’ll be back. The progressive mania for regulating the lives of others is highly addictive.

Some good points raised

Taken LCDH Tijuana January 2023

One week to go! Eat up 1. Register in the week Monday 26th of January and Friday the 30th of January on this thread

Is the "Cigar Influencer" train running out of steam? To be fair, I am talking about the influencer "genre" in general. What happens when you have taken all the short vids possible of yourself lighting/cutting/puffing a cigar? You start to insta/you tube short vids of you and other cigar influencers lighting/cutting/puffing a cigar together It reminds me very much of what is happening to the podcast world right now. There are so many podcasters and podcasters devoid of interesting content, that shows are taken up by podcasters interviewing other podcasters. They literally do a podcaster circuit. It is certain death So what is the next "trend/s" in the cigar world? Topic of discussion in this weeks FOH Video Room Session Tuesday night NY 8PM. Still, kick it off here so we can continue to kick it around there

This Duke of Parma wind up cigar cutter originating from the late 19th century. The cigar cuter shows a nickel finished cast iron construction with brass gears and a steel spring. The top of the piece is marked "Duke of Parma Cigar - Hart, & Murphy Makers St. Paul." with a hole with a pressure trigger for the cutting blade. The base of the piece shows engraved floral pattern across the bottom. The interior bottom is marked "Erie Specialty Co. Erie PA." and Pat. Feb. 19' 1889".

Old School Cool

Enjoyed it immensely John! I love country and play it regularly be it stand alone or on my cruising play list mix. Diana is a hater of Country music (boooo Dee...booooo!)...but I continue to try and show her the light...again! 😉

Nice Gold Spotted Cod first up this morning on the boat with son Ben. Just fishing the local river 20 mins launch from our office, where we keep the boat.

What an excellent video in a world of cigar influencer crap. I visited the Correnti factory years ago. It is indeed a time capsule. Every continued success to Chris and his team.

Happy Birthday John!

I loved that school/sport stage of life taking Ben, Becky and Tom to the various week trainings and weekend games. Very special. Enjoy!