The Pipe Club of Lebanon
Events
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!
PCoLeb's Pipesmoking Competition results
(Thanks go to Pedro for the competition logo!)
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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