Avocado is a flavor not a color

I am overjoyed to report that I met Maria from Camacho at the Smoker's Haven in Metuchen last night, and had a great time hanging out with her, Ave (the manager of Smoker's Haven), Paul (the manager of their Matawan store) and Andy (Smoker's Haven's owner).

But let's back up for a moment. I had a busy trying day at work yesterday, so I was determined to get out to NJ for this event. And I did it - rushed from the office to the subway to Penn Station and caught the 5:54 with just a few minutes t… Continue

Once again, a truly transcendent night. Once again, the agency of getting together to smoke cigars has led to a truly wonderful night. And once again, I caution you in reading the following to not attempt to separate what you might consider fanciful from what might seem real and verifiable. For I assure you that in doing so you would only tear away some of the good in your attempt. Some of what I say may in fact be what I wish had happened. Some may be what should have happened. And some is what… Continue

Ade, Sandi, Herbie and I were fortunate enough to meet some of the wonderful folks from the Maduro club - Kirk, Denise and Vanessa - on Friday, August 7th at Cigar Inn in Manhattan. Other people who joined us included Dan aka NYCStogie, Ron (a friend of Herbie's) and some friends of Sandi's whose names I regret I can't remember.

The backdrop for our evening was that incredible 15-inning nailbiter between the Yankees and the RedSox, which began before I even arrived at Cigar Inn, and lasted till… Continue

The Boston Early Music Festival, held in June every other year, is the pre-eminent gathering of musicians, educators and craftspeople in the field of Early Music, i.e., Western Music of the Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque periods. Groups come from all over the country and the world to perform in front of the most knowledgeable and enthusiastic audiences for this music imaginable.

For the third time, this year I was able to attend the Festival as a performer, this time singing with the New Yor… Continue

First of all, let me be clear. To my mind, without Sandi, it's like we didn't really have our first NYC Social Cigar Herf. Without her, how could it be legit, how could it be real?

That aside, we soldiered on without her, and I will now give an account of the evening as I remember it. Or maybe I'd be better off giving an account as I don't remember it, or to put it another way, if I imagined what happened, through a veil of tobacco smoke and liquor, what would it look like? I won't depart entir… Continue