Lost Sherlock Holmes film found

Readers of this blog know that I have previously written about both William Gillette and Sherlock Holmes on more than one occasion, so I think this news is worthy of reporting although it has nothing to do with pipes.

Long Lost William Gillette Sherlock Holmes Film Found

There is one Sherlock Holmes film that legendary in its heritage: the 1916 Sherlock Holmes starring none other than William Gillette (1853 - 1937). This film is significant because it has long been lost.

Gillette asked for and received permission from Arthur Conan Doyle to adapt material and use the character for a play in 1899. And from that time until the early 1930s, he played the role some 1,300 times. And yet the 1916 film is the only record that was made of Gillette's performance in the title role that dominated so much of his career.

Today the Cinémathèque Française announced that the original negative of the film has been located!

Click the link to read the whole story.

Pipe smokers not welcome

 Sign outside Zion, Illinois, ca. 1915.

via In Medias Res

Where there's fire, there's smoke (rings)

This has nothing to do with pipe-smoking, but I thought it was amusing and interesting.  Sometimes, when everything is just right, a conventional fire (or lightning strike) can generate a natural smoke ring.  Read all about it (with pictures and videos) at Big Black Ring Spotted Over Britain (from Who Forted).

What Mark Twain may have sounded like

I have sometimes wondered how our perception of history would be different if the technology to record sounds had come about before the technology to record images. Because if that had happened, we would likely know how people from history sounded.

I have covered both William Gillette and Samuel Clemens as pipe smokers on this blog before. Here is a very interesting link between them.

The accidental invention of matches

At Brain Candy.

Democracy in the Tobacconist's

Democracy in the Tobacconist's by Jonah Goldberg.  Interesting article, and although it primarily is about cigars, many of the sentiments expressed can apply to pipes as well.

Note:  I am not a cigar smoker, but I have nothing against cigars.  It just seems to me that the good cigars are too expensive for me to spend my money on when I can get more "smoking time" by spending my money on pipe tobacco.  If someone were to offer me a cigar to sample, I would not turn it down.

Two kinds of truth

This quote doesn't have anything to do with pipe smoking, but it's from one of my favorite pipe-smoking authors, Raymond Chandler.

There are two kinds of truth: the truth that lights the way and the truth that warms the heart. The first of these is science, and the second is art. Neither is independent of the other or more important than the other. Without art science would be as useless as a pair of high forceps in the hands of a plumber. Without science art would become a crude mess of folklore and emotional quackery. The truth of art keeps science from becoming inhuman, and the truth of science keeps art from becoming ridiculous.

--- Raymond Chandler, ”Great Thought” (19 February 1938), published in The Notebooks of Raymond Chandler (1976)

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle on film, 1928

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle on film!  In this 10-minute filmed interview from 1928 he discusses Sherlock Holmes and spritualism.

No, no pipes in this film.  But, he was a pipe smoker, and as is my wont I occasionally post items Holmesian interest because it's my blog.

And on a personal note, oh how I would love to have such a clip of H.P. Lovecraft, just to hear what his voice sounded like.

Samuel Seymour

Here's a film clip of the old TV show "I've Got a Secret," with 96-year-old Samuel Seymour. A very interesting clip that also has a pipe connection.

Today's work

Today I made a trip to the only tobacconist in the city (that I know of): The Humidor on San Pedro Ave. I have run out of all my favorite bulk tobaccos and I don't wish to smoke too much of my "good stuff" all at once, so I bought some various bulk leaves to whip up some of my own concoctions.

I bought 2 ounces each of Virginia and Perique and 1 ounce each of burley and Latakia. Before leaving their parking lot, I whipped up a quick pipeful of Perique mixed with C&D's Gray Ghost for the drive home. I enjoyed it quite a lot, and it was a good, long smoke. I have smoked Perique straight before, and enjoyed it, although it isn't something I want to do too often. However--and I should preface this with in my experience--straight Perique is difficult to burn. It works much better with a little something extra to more or less serve as an accelerant. The Gray Ghost is on the dry side and worked very well.

I also purchased a bunch of bristle pipe cleaners and a small container of Zippo lighting fluid. This stuff is hard to come by around here. I used to be able to buy it just about anywhere, but now no one stocks anything but butane. I think I might get a butane lighter eventually but I want to make sure I get a really good one that will last a long time, so I'll have to start researching that.

Upon arriving home, I mixed another very small sample with some of all four leaves and am enjoying it right now. Later on I will mix bigger samples and allow them to meld for a while before smoking. Right now it's just nice to have some decent bulk tobacco again.

And finally, I dropped off a pipe that needs a stem replacement. It is a pipe that I rescued from an estate lot and have never smoked because the stem was so badly damaged, but when I get it back I'll be sure and write something about it--after I've had chance to smoke it.

Attention!

I just noticed that my old blogroll has vanished due to changes at Bloglines, which I no longer use and my account is no longer active. So if you have a pipe blog and would like it listed here, please leave a comment. I'll have to rebuild the blogroll from scratch.

Thanks!

Edinburgh Pipe Club

If you live in the middle of nowhere and don't get around much (like I do/don't), you might not know that there is a national pipe museum in Amsterdam. Yes, that Amsterdam. The Edinburgh Pipe Club clues us in.

Peter also covers cleaning an estate pipe, something which is near and dear to my own heart, as you probably know if you've read this blog long enough.

Click, and go read!

This post is for the Pipe Smoking Bloggers event #1.

A momentous occasion...

I would like to announce that this blog now has 50 followers!

Thanks, everyone!

Quick note

I have added a new Blogger gadget at the bottom of the sidebar that shows the top 10 most popular posts, going back to when Blogger instituted its own statistics function.

Still here...

Hello everyone, I'm still here, still have some stuff to post--I've just been taking a break.

I thought I'd mention some new pipe cleaners I got today. I buy pipe cleaners from Wal-Mart a lot because it's convenient, but the cleaners they sold (called "chenille stems") were made for arts & crafts and not for pipe cleaning, and they weren't the best. Like I said, I only bought them because it was so convenient and they are cheap. The fluff tending to come off the ends sometimes and get into the pipe, so you had to watch for that. However, today I bought some that are a different brand. These are called "Fuzzy Sticks." They are much better pipe cleaners. The fluff doesn't come off and it's much denser than the old ones. I don't know if this is a permanent change or if it's just something they found cheaper than the old ones. Anyway, I thought I'd throw this info out there in case someone finds it useful.

The Fuzzy Sticks also come in a plastic bag with a ziplock on one end, to keep them fresh or something, I guess. Anyway, I'll be back with the usual stuff eventually.

Pipe smoker update

The post on Pinako Rockbell has been updated with information and a link about the style of pipe she uses. Thanks to commenter BrSpiritus.

International Pipe Smoking Day

Read all about it at the International Pipe Smoking Day website.

Today’s hectic environment almost dictates that we run on full efficiency, have total involvement in our work, our families and in every aspect of what we do to survive and achieve in a world set at high speed. With ever-changing values it is the intent that The International Pipe-Smoking Day will allow us, the Brothers and Sisters of the Briar to step back and appreciate our rich historical value. For pipe-smokers and pipe-smoking everywhere the day will be emblematic of our shared values, history, traditions, and aspirations.

When I get a chance, it will be 1792 Flake for me.

Cool search hit

I think this may be one of the best search hits I've ever had.

Of Holmesian interest

This is not about pipe smoking, but I thought it might be of interest because it's about Sherlock Holmes.

Hidden Clues, an article written by a medical doctor, discusses how Arthur Conan Doyle used his medical expertise in many of Watson's descriptions of various characters, and further makes the case that Doyle, in his many descriptions of Holmes, may have been describing the symptoms of someone with Asperger's Syndrome, some 70 years before the syndrome was diagnosed by Hans Asperger.

International Pipe-Smoking Day

Read all about it at the International Pipe Smoking Day website.

Today’s hectic environment almost dictates that we run on full efficiency, have total involvement in our work, our families and in every aspect of what we do to survive and achieve in a world set at high speed. With ever-changing values it is the intent that The International Pipe-Smoking Day will allow us, the Brothers and Sisters of the Briar to step back and appreciate our rich historical value. For pipe-smokers and pipe-smoking everywhere the day will be emblematic of our shared values, history, traditions, and aspirations.

Smoke 'em if you got 'em. Except for those so-called "pipe tobacco" cigarillos. Those don't count. In fact, I think Feb 20 is also Kick Someone's Ass for Smoking a Peach-Flavored Cigarillo Day.