bnasse9900

Congratulations on another trip around the sun. Here's to 55 (52) more. Best, Brody

Christmas Vacation essentially plays on repeat between Thanksgiving and Christmas every year, at least 50 times. Watching this movie on mute is still funnier than most other movies.

At the gym, people not putting their weights back on the rack. Or even worse, putting them on the wrong rack.

Great question. I'll be looking for some R&J Churchills sometime soon. I went back through my notes and realized that I've a number of the Short Churchills, but somehow have never purchased a box of the larger format.

So I've just finished the four available seasons of the show Peaky Blinders and their (not so) subliminal focus on pocket watches has really sparked my interest. I'm looking for a silver, open faced, mechanical pocket watch with a relatively standard face. Nothing flashy, and nothing that will break the bank. Any suggestions on make, model, brand? I was going to go through all previous posts to see if this has been covered, but figured watch enthusiasts never really get tired about talking about watches.

Welcome, Jonas. As for your topics of interest, just an FYI that those are taboo here on the forum. Please keep conversations to the following topics: 1. "How much money do you make?" 2. "What are the best/worst countries in the world, and why?" 3. "The silver lining of dictatorships." 4. "Global warming? What's with all the snow in the winter..." All kidding aside, welcome aboard. I spend vastly more time searching old threads vs. posting. Enjoy the ride. - Brody

Right now my stock is 23% Montecristo, 18% Cohiba, and 10% Upmann. All other marcas are <10% each. When I started smoking a few years ago, I started with Montecristo (what I read was a "beginners" marca), Cohiba (the "best" marca), and Upmann (the "in the know" marca). I now love these cigars (some vitolas more than others) for my own reasons, but since I started with these three brands, I've naturally bought more over time. I think in 2018 I may try a few different case studies, for science of course. For the first half of the year I'm going to focus on specific marcas and dive deep into available vitolas. This will help me better understand if I can truly pick up on a recurring flavor profile across different sized cigars from the same company. It'll also help me hone in on which sizes I enjoy most. Finally, it'll give me directional information about which brands I like more "overall." Then, I think I'll pick a few of my "favorite" cigar sizes, and grab some sampler packs. After smoking/rating these cigars, I can compare to my favorite vitolas/marcas from the first experiment. And, since I've clearly accounted for every single variable (age, quality, storage, smoking environment, drink accompaniment, stress level/mood, etc.), by the end of this experiment I should be able to choose my all-time favorite cigar, buy nothing but this single cigar, and have a stock of 100% that cigar.

Realistically, I have about 40 pounds to drop. Any interest in a motivational wager? Between now and the end of the year, we do a weight loss challenge. Winner gets a box of cigars of their choice (within reason), purchased by the loser. I've tried a bunch of things as motivation, but never a bet for cigars. Just a thought. Happy smoking, Brody

Apologies for the late responses, haven't check the boards in a few weeks. For anyone who isn't a marathon runner, TBird is being modest here when he says that 3:15 is "not that fast." That's running 26.2 miles at 7 minutes, 26 seconds per mile. Thanks smokin' fast. Tough break on the accident. My best marathon time was 3:39, but that was 4 years and 80 pounds ago. Unlike you, I don't have an excuse for my laziness. In other words, I'll use your accident as motivation to get back into running shape. Thanks for sharing. Happy smoking, Brody

The first Cuban cigars I bought were a Montecriso No. 2 and a Cuaba Distinguidos (singles) while traveling abaroad. For some reason, I've never smoked the Distinguidos. It's now at the point where I'm keeping it for nostalgic purposes, as a reminder of the beginning of the wormhole that has become my obsession with Cuban cigars. I'm getting married next year (going to start/revive a few posts on smoke/drink suggestions), so I may light the Cuaba at some point to celebrate. Happy smoking, Brody

I was browsing the archives and stumbled upon this thread. Any active forum members who are into working out? Since the last post in this thread (2012), CrossFit has blown up, so we can add that to the list too. I'm training for a marathon in November. I won't be breaking any land-speed records, but it's a goal to work towards. In a marathon back in 2012, I crapped out at mile 23, and was passed by a guy juggling. The guy juggled for the entire race, and beat me across the finish line. I almost felt like I should have given the medal back. Does anyone find that cigar smoking impacts longer cardio workouts? I plan my smoking time around my running schedule, so it doesn't really hurt me. But if I have an extra cigar on a Friday night before a Saturday morning run, there's no amount of water and/or gum to get rid of the dry mouth... Happy smoking, Brody

1. Accountant. Switched majors with two classes left. In the end, the steady paycheck was outweighed by the mind-numbing work. Best decision ever. 2. International Hotelier. I was all set to move to China, but got caught up in some red tape at the last minute. The thought of graduating without a job put me in panic mode, so I settled for my current career. 3. Opening my own brewery. I had the chance a few years ago, but couldn't take the pay cut. Here's to hoping that the opportunity presents itself again down the road...

To celebrate the holiday, I watched my first ever Star Wars movie, A New Hope. I never had anything against the movies, just never got around to them. A New Hope was pretty cool, especially considering that it's 40 years old. I figured that I'd watch the movies in order of release, since that's how long-time fans were exposed to them. May the Force be with you all. -Brody

Has anyone accidentally (or intentionally) purchased counterfeit Cuban cigars while in Cuba (or abroad) and found them as good as (or better than) their non-counterfeit counterparts? Convoluted sentence, but you get the point. While in the Dominican a few years ago I purchased fake Cohiba Maduro 5's (accidentally). I had a few left over and lit one up the other day. It was actually not half bad. No Cohiba, but a decent maduro stick.

The simple solution is to let the kids start smoking at the age of 6 or 7. That way, you'd be less likely to be "on the other side" of a cigar's sweet spot. All jokes aside, to me the "worst-case" scenario still isn't that bad. Let's say you spend the money now, without having to pay the markup for aged boxes, and when you gift them in 18 years or so, the cigars are less than ideal. - It's still a box of Cuban cigars. "Less than ideal" doesn't mean "unsmokable." - You'll still have a really cool story that (hopefully) your kids will appreciate. - If they're not smoking great when you give them as a gift, you could always have them hold onto the boxes and smoke one a year. It could be a really cool annual tradition. - You can always gift these along with current new-production 2035 cigars (weird just typing that...) Fun idea, thanks for sharing. -Brody