The Pipe Club of Lebanon
Events
20/2/2010: The PCoLeb celebrates the third International Pipe Smoking Day!
This year's IPSD fell on a Saturday, which was a very good excuse to have everybody out to a restaurant. "Zahr el-Laymoon," or "Orange Blossoms," was chosen as the ideal place for the members and their partners: nicely situated, quiet, not too expensive and, most importantly, famous for its superlative food. At around 21:00, everyone was there, and pipes were eagerly filled as the "meza" dishes (the famous Lebanese appetizers) were brought in. Water pipes ("arghiles") were also ordered, and cigars were lit. At around 23:00, when the grilled meat and chicken were served, the members were still smoking strong (some were filling their third bowl). Below are some photos.
11/10/2009: The PCoLeb participates in the World Cup in Pipe Smoking in Debrecen, Hungary
Paul Jahshan, Salim Khoury, Marc Haddad, and Richard Chammas represented the Pipe Club of Lebanon in Debrecen, Hungary, at the World Cup in Pipe Smoking organized by the CIPC (Comité International des Pipe Clubs) along with more than 250 participants from all over the world. Although the scores were below what we expected to do (Paul: 24 mins, Richard: 25 mins, Marc: 34 mins, and Salim: 40 mins), we were told by the organizers that, since 1969, we are the first and only club from the Middle East/North Africa to participate, so that's an honour enough, regardless of our times! Below are some photos of the event.
Competitors get ready in the Golden Bull Hotel's lobby
A fellow participant from Denmark was kind enough to allow us to take his photo in full regalia
The Four Musketeers!
The competition room a few minutes before the start
Same
Same
9/10/2009: The PCoLeb participates in the Académie Internationale de la Pipe's annual conference at the Hungarian National Museum in Budapest
Paul Jahshan, as a new member of the Académie Internationale de la Pipe, was invited to participate in an academic conference on pipes (the history, excavations, and design of clay, meerschaum, and briar pipes) to be held at the Hungarian National Museum in Budapest, October 7-10. Other members of the PCoLeb registered for the conference: Salim Khoury, Marc Haddad, and Richard Chammas, along with Paul's wife, Raymonda. The conference included the presentation of papers (Paul's paper was entitled "The Changing Representations of Tobacco and Pipe Smoking in the Old and New Worlds between the 17th and 19th Centuries"), visits to museums, a guided tour of Blaskovitch Museum, about 100 kms from Budapest, and a trip to Debrecen, 200 kms from Budapest, to attend the opening of the World Cup in Pipe Smoking on October 11. Our host and conference organizer, Dr Anna Ridovics from the National Museum, did a wonderful job, and made everybody's stay so much more fruitful and enjoyable.
On a bridge above the Duna (Danube) with Pest on the right, and Buda on the left (hence, Buda-Pest!)
A view of the Palace in Buda
The Parliament in Pest
A street in Buda
Pipes in the Blaskovitch Museum
Pipes in the Debrecen Museum
Paul being formally accepted as a member of the AIP at the Hungarian National Museum along with other new members
In a restaurant in Budapest
Same as above, with members of the AIP
The Hungarian National Museum, where the conference was held
One of hundreds of meerschaum pipes on display in the Hungarian National Museum
Paul reading his paper at the conference, with Dr Ridovics seated on the left
Outside the conference room
Enjoying giants mugs of beer in Budapest!
20/2/2009: The PCoLeb celebrates the second International Pipe Smoking Day!
On this second year of the IPSD, the meeting and dinner were held at Fares' place. After a presentation on Peterson pipes and a discussion of the coming publications and activities of the PCoLeb, pipes were lit and various fragrant aromas quickly filled the place. When, much later, visibility was regained, food was promptly ordered and voraciously taken care of. Then time came for another round of discussions on sundry matters, punctuated by the cracking of matches as pipes were relighted. All present raised their pipes to their overseas brethren and sisters and wished the best to all lovers of the briar.
(from left to right: Harout, Tarek, Elie, Oliver, Paul, Marc, Salim, Fares, and Jihad)
23/2/2008: The PCoLeb celebrates the first International Pipe Smoking Day!
Drinks and dinner were served at Paul's house on Saturday, February 23, in celebration of the first-ever IPSD. Pipes were then promptly removed from their boxes and leather cases, and heavy tobacco smoke, ranging from English mixtures to sweet aromatics, soon filled the sitting room. A brand new box of W. O. Larsen's "Old Fashioned Pipe Tobacco" was opened by Elie Seif and went the round of appreciative comments. Pipes were raised (see photo #2 below) to the pipesmoking brother/sisterhood, wherever they may be, and new projects were discussed, among them a book (details are still kept secret!) and upcoming brochures. All members wish their best to all pipesmokers and are looking forward to next year's celebration!
(from left to right: Fares, Elie, Salim, Oliver, Jihad, Rick, Paul, Gihad, Tarek, and Marc)
20/1/2008: The International Pipe Smoking Day is officially part of every pipesmoker's calendar!
After months of hard work,
the Pipe Club of Lebanon, the
Smokers Forum (http://www.smokersforums.org/),
the
Other than having a day in the year "just for us," the International Pipe Smoking Day (IPSD) will also be the occasion when the ancestral and much-revered traditions of pipe raising and tobacco exchanging are practiced.
Indeed, we are asking that all pipesmokers raise their pipes on February 20th in a symbolic gesture of brotherhood and sisterhood with all other pipesmokers in the world, thus expressing the peaceful, pacifist, generous, and tolerant principles of true pipesmoking. We are also asking that pipesmokers kindly send, within their abilities, a symbolic token consisting of a few pinches of tobacco to other pipesmokers or other pipe clubs in the world. In order to strengthen the bonds between pipesmokers, we encourage this symbolic gesture to be directed at as distant or less-known clubs as possible. Finally, we are asking that pipesmokers use February 20th to meet with like-minded persons and engage in discussions related to the lore of pipesmoking. In a word, let this be our day!
A webpage has been created for the IPSD at http://www.ipsd.eu/ and the pdf version of the announcement can be found below.
The International Pipe Smoking Day Brochure
New! Pedro Romero-Auyanet has just created the following wallpapers in commemoration of the IPSD. Click here to download the full set!
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PCoLeb's Pipesmoking Competition results
(Thanks to Pedro for the competition logo!)
Seventh Competition: October 19, 2008
Tobacco: MacBaren's Vanilla Flake
Winner: Paul Jahshan, 1 hr 38 mn
Salim Khoury, 1 hr 30 mn
Tarek Khalaf, 1 hr 22 mn
Fares Irani, 1 hr 15 mn
Elie Seif, 1 hr 07 mn
Jihad Asmar, 46 mn
Oliver Jeha, 37 mn
Marc Haddad, 34 mn
Gihad Abi-Rached, 20 mn
As always, the PCoLeb strives to do something new every year. The novelty for the 7th annual competition was the use of identical pipes for all contestants. Indeed, all nine members smoked a straight, rusticated billiard "Real Briar" pipe which beautifully served its purpose.
The details of the competition, as well as the pipe casualties (two pipes burned, one of them quite dramatically) will be recounted in the coming issue of the Journal of the Pipe Club of Lebanon!
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Sixth Competition: November 4, 2007
Tobacco: MacBaren's Navy Mixture
Winner: Paul Jahshan, 1 hr 9 mn
Salim Khoury, 1 hr
Jihad Asmar, 59 mn
Elie Seif, 57 mn
Tarek Khalaf, 53 mn
Fares Irani, 42 mn
From left to right: Jihad Asmar, Tarek Khalaf, Elie Seif, Fares Irani, Salim Khoury, and Paul Jahshan
The novelty, this time, was the use of a bell to signal the following events:
1. The beginning and end of the general competition
2. The beginning and end of the bowl-filling stage
3. The beginning and end of the lighting stage
4. The beginning of the smoking stage
5. The moment when the competitor finds that the pipe has gone out
1, 2, 3, and 4 are done by the president, 5 is done by the competitor himself/herself
Below is a photo of the bell, the competitors' pipes, and the tobacco used
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Fifth Competition: September 17, 2006
Tobacco: MacBaren's Virginia Flake
Winner: Elie Seif, 1 hr 29 mn
Paul Jahshan, 1 hr 17 mn
Salim Khoury, 1 hr 11 mn
Fares Irani, 1 hr 10 mn
Gihad Abi-Rached, 50 mn
Tarek Khalaf, 43 mn
Marc Haddad, 11 mn
The prizes for this year were two Royal Guard pipes, one for 1st place, and one for 2nd.
Sadly, Salim and Paul discovered that their pipes had burned in the process: Salim's first-ever pipe, a beautiful Stanwell, and Paul's second pipe, bought in 1989, a Stanwell as well. We mourn the passing of these two trustworthy pipes! Below are photos of the competition and photos of the casualties.
From left to right: Oliver Geha, Jihad Asmar, Paul Jahshan, Fares Irani, Tarek Khalaf, Gihad Abi-Rached and his wife Lina, Salim Khoury, Marc Haddad, Elie Seif, and Kifah Said
The winners, Elie and Paul, and their prizes
Salim's burned pipe, at the very bottom of the bowl
Paul's burned pipe, on the left side of the bowl
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Fourth Competition: September 15, 2004
Tobacco: MacBaren's Stockton
Winner: Paul Jahshan, 46 mn
Georges Hadchity, 43 mn
Fares Irani, 35 mn
Salim Khoury, 33mn
Tarek Khalaf, 29 mn
Elie Seif, 11 mn
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Third Competition: August 15, 2003
Tobacco: Davidoff's Danish Mixture
In an unusual display of pipesmoking cooperation and goodwill, all competitors agreed to lay down their pipes after one hour. Amazingly, all passed the one-hour mark with flying colours.
Competitors (listed alphabetically):
Fares Irani
Paul Jahshan
Tarek Khalaf
Salim Khoury
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Second Competition: August 18, 2002
Tobacco: MacBaren's Virginia Flake
Winner: Salim Khoury, 1 hr 3 mn
Paul Jahshan, 1 hr 2 mn
Elie Seif, 48 mn
Fares Irani, 47 mn
Tarek Khalaf, 45 mn
Moussa Hajjar, 36 mn
Sandra Hadchity, 34 mn
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First Competition: August 6, 2001
Tobacco: Dunhill's Early Morning Pipe
Winner: Salim Khoury, 50 mn
Fares Irani, 46 mn
Paul Jahshan, 45 mn
Tarek Khalaf, 36 mn
Elie Seif, 35 mn
Tony Hadchity, 22 mn
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