2012 - My personal cigar statistics & list

[Habanos2000]

You're a machine Nino, a machine with passion. I like it!

[khomeinist]

LOL Nino...sorry man, I wasnt trying to poke fun at your "vintage", I was answering your cigar prize question re regime most amicable to persian population. Based on some interactions with some persians I know most seemed to inidcate the period before the overthrow was best in recent times. This is coming from a limited cross-section though, so it could easily be informed by socio-economic backgrounds for example.

Agree with your final point. Historical perspective defininitely colored by a variety of factors. I was lectured by a professor in Tabriz about Persians in North America being a completely different cultural group to the many intellectuals that remained in Iran after the Revolution. This professor was quite liberal and we enjoyed a pint or two in London. I can mention him because (thankfully) he was recently able to emmigrate to the US, a fact which truly makes me think there is a degree of justice in the world.

Obviously the current regime is a joke. I do think the Revolution had some merit, but like most forms of rapid social unheaval (read Cuba, French Rev, etc) things took a turn for the terrible as soon as the revolutionaries took power. I have a certain amount of respect for AK, but I have no interest in theocratic totalitarianism. As a rather dedicated agnostic, I don't think that type of society would suit me in the slightest. Unfortunately Khamenei is less than half that man that Khomeini was and the religious regime that permeates all of society is corrupt and incompetent.

To answer your question Nino. Yes. I worked in Iran for some time. I worked on a public health project there around Tabriz. We were testing different insecticidal formulations for the control of visceral leishmaniasis. I had a very interesting experience there and I enjoyed the long afternoons that I spent in the public markets, drinking tea, dissolving sugar cubes, and looking over carpet after carpet. I chose a nice Mahi style carpet at that time. I have a strong interest in Tabrizi carpets from that experience. I chose the name 'Khomenist' in the 90s as a bit of irony in the early days of web communication. I have obviously gotten a lot of slack for the name but as I don't really care for public sentiment, I let the name stick.

Now. As to your other question. I will have to respectfully disagree about the Shah. He REALLY is not popular in much of Iran. Rural Iran? Fuggetaboutit. I had strong hopes for Khatami and was very upset that he was not able to continue with his plans to moderate some of the zealotry over there. The most popular Iranian politician, amongst intellectuals at least, is this man....

http://en.wikipedia....ammad_Mosaddegh

I would strongly encourage anyone with an interest in Iran or Persian culture to review the history. It is surely complicated and rather tragic.....

much like Cuba. So we certainly agree on that Nino

Cheers. Would love to discuss our respective travels and experiences further.....

Patrick

[CaptainQuintero]

I would tend to agree with K here, The Pahlavi Shahs being the UK/US puppets I don't see as being popular by any majority of the population. Maybe by the people who benefited from his regime? The regime right now may have lost some of it's shine but it was still a popular uprising.

Surely the majority would want the return of the Caliphate, as the rest of the majority of the middle east does.

[Orion21]

Wow, Nino!

I had no idea your blog barely scratched the surface of your cigar adventures. Good for you for doing what you enjoy!

It is ironic that the talk turned to Iran, since I just finished the book "On Wings of Eagles" about an American company caught up in the Iranian Revolution. A good read.

[Nino]

I would tend to agree with K here, The Pahlavi Shahs being the UK/US puppets I don't see as being popular by any majority of the population. Maybe by the people who benefited from his regime? The regime right now may have lost some of it's shine but it was still a popular uprising.

Surely the majority would want the return of the Caliphate, as the rest of the majority of the middle east does.

Sure - which is why we have seen the "Arab Spring" unfold and have witnessed the brutally oppressed Uprising in Iran two years ago ..........

Let's agree to disagree and enjoy cigars.....

[Ken Gargett]

cigars smoked (and hats off, nino) leads to the regime in iran. who'd have guessed.

interesting comments re that.

i spent about ten days in the country way back late 80's, before khomeni fell off the perch (and the shah was still with us though not locally, of course). loved the place. most extraordinarily hospitable people imaginable. drove in from turkey near mt ararat. didn't make tehran at the time (strongly warned against it at that particular moment), spent a bit of time in isfahan - just a beautiful city and loved the shah abbas hotel, where a five room suite with balcony and a gold bath was $6/night after black market exchanges. the magnificent blue mosque is one of the most wonderful pieces of architecture on the planet (and was bizarrely used as the exterior for a hotel in an agatha christie film with oliver reed - pre the revolution, of course). then drove down through the country and out into northwest pakistan.

one of my abiding memories (and i can only speak for the time) was the number of people keen to discuss their country and the outside world. i was stunned that some would approach us and be extremely critical of khomeni. others very supportive. but what i remember so vividly was that every single person who spoke to us, whether they supported khomeni or hated him, utterly detested the shah. every one. and quite vehmently. at the time, that was what united iran. not a hatred of the west or of the states but of the shah.

and as for rugs, got a fabulous nain from an auction in london.

[CaptainQuintero]

Interestingly enough a Khilafah is the system which is the ideal for a Muslim state (Like the one prior to the final Secular Ottoman Empire) and the one in Iran now is on paper (Albeit a miniature one) just that; a political leader who handles the running side of things and a spiritual leader who makes sure the country runs true with the Quran.

In a Khilafah there are no boarders between states and no passports, Muslims are free to live and move between places by virtue of being Muslim.

It's also interesting to point out that the final government/state for the Muslims will be a restored Khilafah in the middle east with a returned Jesus as the political leader and Al Mahdi (The last great Imam) as the spiritual leader.

There you go Ken, from cigars to the return of Jesus in two pages!

[Nino]

Ken,

Nice to hear your opinion -I agree on that feeling in Iran at that particular time - would be very different today and has been very different for the last 10 + years.

I'd like to continue the exchange but I'm tired by now of all the petty censorship, "cleaning up" and deleting on my threads here, takes the meaning out - so, we might see each other in Cuba and have a personal conversation.

Best regards

Nino

[El Presidente]

And to think I missed the whole thread until now

Spent the afternoon with mate Artie who lost his nephew to cancer at 36. inconsoleable. Puts in perspective what has gone on here in a minor way the past 4 days.

No one is more tired of tidying up threads than the mods over the past 5 days. If only respect to the rules of the forum, the mods, the community were shown in equal parts when posting. We really don't ask much.

When any one member contributes they are contributing as members of a community.. This week alone I have been drawn in to a host of petty debates that I did not believe I would ever see. I certainly won't see them again as tolerance has reached a nadir.

You show leniency and you are called a coward. You edit for the sake of sanity/goodwill and you are slighted as a the reincarnation of Hitler.

I have shared meals with many of you in your house. There is no way I would ever go out of my way to goad your friends and guests.

I suppose that is what has disappointed me most this week. Great friends, good friends, long term acquaintences all at different times putting themselves, their beliefs, their right to "being right" above the forum, above the respect for others.

So this is where the line has been ruled in the sand. I can assure you not by a"Nanny State Nazi". Christ...many of you know me personally and know that prudism and I are not exactly bed partners.

Yet the basic concept of when you reply to a thread you "raise the bar" escapes a few here. The world is full of whingers and turkeys and in life I don't associate myself with them. I won't give them oxygen here either.

Mind you...bag HSA, bag their decisions etal...no problem. Bag a cigar...hell I do. Bag a fellow member, bag an author/book publisher, or a reviewer each of whom only seeks to promote discussion and understanding of this passion that is cigars and I want no part of you in this house, our house.

I hope I am clear. This requires neither comment nor reply.

[Dara]

Wow Nino you smoke like your getting paid too.

It's called "retirement"....I can't wait for it!

[La Suerte]

My claim to fame;

I got wasted

with oliver reed

on a West coast beach in Barbados...there were cigars involved..

[Colt45]

Spent the afternoon with mate Artie....

Thinking of you and yours, Arthur.

[maverickdrinker]

guys,

Please read Rob's post earlier in this thread. Time to rise above...

[CanuckSARTech]

...Spent the afternoon with mate Artie who lost his nephew to cancer at 36. inconsoleable. Puts in perspective what has gone on here in a minor way the past 4 days...

Missed the actual conveyance of this part above when I initially read it. After seeing a picture at the top of the banner with Artie and Di, it sprung to mind in realization.

Rob, I think from all, please pass along our best wishes from here on the forum to Artie, and our condolences.