Aftermath pt.3

So now you have officially finished off your cigar, (at least down to if not past the wrapper). Now what?

First go brush your teeth and use mouth wash. Cigars taste good, but not to loved ones.
Next grab a bite to eat. If its your first time and you have done it on an empty stomach think of it like drinking on an empty stomach, not so great to do. And lastly you may need to change clothes, I personally like the smell of cigars, but some don't.

And now you have successfully enjoy what the adults call tobacco.

You chosen your first cigar now what pt.2

Once you have chosen your first cigar, you have to cut and light it.

First cut it. There is a little ridge towards the "top" or "head" of the cigar. Looks like a cap. Cut it just above that line, the cigar is actually rolled so that this part comes away easier. If you mess up, pretend you meant to do it where ever you did and just enjoy.

There are ton of tricks and supposedly a proper way to do it. However a friend who owns a cigar shop once told me, "just light the damn thing". Some popular techniques are to use a piece of lit cedar or a torch lighter. The reason why regular BiC lighters are not recommended is because they do not use a clean burning fuel source.

After that just puff on the cigar at a METERED pace (too fast and you get sick, too slow and it dies out), relight as needed. Enjoy, take a selfie, and drink some fine alcoholic beverage to accompany it.

For more info this page.

How to choose a cigar if your new to the game pt.1

Sometimes you just want to do something that is bad, and sometimes that is smoking a cigar. There are risks such as lung, throat, and mouth cancer and blah blah blah blah. If your over 21 your an adult and responsible for your own well being. So smok'em if you got'em.

The first step to pick a cigar for the first time is to try something on the lighter side. Unless you are a four pack a day chump or can per dip guy/gal, a lighter cigar will ease you into the who experience.

You could even start with a cigarillo, but that's akin to learning how to drive a car in a big wheel, yeah it counts but not for much.

So popular starting cigars are the Acid Kuba Kubas or the Gurkha Symphony, both on the milder side. The acid has a really good flavor while the Symphony is light and "balanced" taste wise. Most of my friends who smoke cigars start on these two, and really enjoy it.

Some nice pictures from Cigar's International: Symphonies on the left and Acids on the right.

A Love of Drew Estate continued

Earlier I mentioned that I was a big fan of Acid cigars, they are made by Drew Estates, and they are the most aromatic cigars I've ever had. However Drew Estates makes other fine cigars that are not as pungent as the Acid Line. Most of them are medium to full body, a common smoke of mine from them is the Undercrown. Pictured below:




From Cigar.com:



Not only have the folks at Drew Estate won the world over with their countless infused blends, but they amazed everyone with their traditional Liga Privada No. 9. Not to rest on their laurels, they have since come out with a handful of small batch, traditional lines that are well worth the attention.

Undercrown was created at the rolling tables by Drew Estate's rollers - not in a board room or meeting. The story goes as such: Drew Estate allows their rollers to smoke any of the cigars in production, and the rollers loved the original Liga Privada No. 9 blend so much that it was all they ever smoked. While most would consider that a ringing endorsement, Drew Estate was worried about the availability of the tobaccos. The primings used for the No. 9 are so rare and limited that they had to remove Liga Privada No. 9 from the list of cigars the rollers are allowed to smoke. The rollers then improvised and used different primings of the same tobacco to make a new blend they could enjoy in the factory every day. This new blend impressed the Drew Estate team so much that they rolled it out to the market, and thus, Liga Privada Undercrown was born.

Differing from the No. 9 wrapper, Undercrown is graced with a dark brown San Andres maduro wrapper. The San Andres wrapper adds some spice to the blend and makes its presence known in the onset of the cigar. The blend develops nicely with flavors of espresso and hints of cashews. Undercrown comes off as a medium-bodied cigar that expels a lot flavor with a cool, perfectly even burn. Expect a medium finish as this blend is perfect for every cigar enthusiast.




So in other words this cigar is good. Honestly if you haven't had this one, definitely go out and try when you get a chance.

Acid in Heidelberg, Germany

 Heidelberg GE

I love acid. Not the drug acid, but the cigar line Acid's by Drew Estate. Kuba Kuba Acids were some of the first cigars I bought a box at a time (the first being 5 vegas Gold, the second being these). I used to sit in my favorite cafe, which is located in downtown Heidelberg on the main street. Almost every chance I would get I would spend sitting in the morning smoking a cigar and drinking Irish coffees and chatting with waitress (who were stunning) while people watching. While not the exact location the pictures above and to the left serve as a visual of what the days would look like and the city near which I was stationed.

                                          After awhile I got to know the owner and prices went down drastically, and it became an almost weekly ritual to sit and speak with the owner. He proved to have a cunning mind for philosophical questions and could easily explain the governmental politics that would often escape me.

 But we never used names, in the end I only remember the name of the bar, Coyotes, but I will never forget the time spent there.

Graycliff Chateau Grand Crus

Graycliffs. A cigar I will never forget. Not my first, but my first favorite. 5 Vegas Golds are good cigars, but there is something unique about the Grand Cru. Don't get it in anything but the Presidente length and shape.

I had just gotten to the main hub of Iraq, the Green Zone, I had a briefing to give. About ten miles away, through a very "calm" strip of road was Baghdad International Airport or BIAP as it was commonly known, and the associated base, Camp Victory.

To get from one place to another you traveled along route Irish, the daily shuttle was something called a Rhino.

While not the exact one I rode in, they were all generally the same. Traveling to and from was simple, show up at the Rhino stop, wait to see if they had room, then hop on and go.

Why did I travel any more than necessary, risking IEDs, small arm attacks and suicide bombers?
It was simple, my friends were located on BIAP and I hadn't seem then in several months.

After arriving to BIAP I located a couple friends, Weston and Bowser. We sat in the night and smoked Gran Crus, watching the enemy rockets fly over head. The smoke trails from the cigars and the bubbles from the sodas soon dissipated but we spent hours catching up and savoring the moment of simply being alive and having a great conversation.

Every time I smoke a Gran Cru, and at about $25 a pop its not too often, I remember those days and the friendships I had.

5 Vegas Gold, the first of many

From Cigar's International:




Solid gold.

Despite the pomp and circumstance surrounding full-bodied, powerhouse cigars these days, milder cigars still rule. Without a doubt, the uber-popular 5 Vegas Gold is the perfect example. This gorgeous creature is crafted with extensively aged tobaccos, including a beautiful, almost shimmering Ecuador Connecticut wrapper leaf with a rich satiny texture. This charming blend is the big easy. I’ll recite the reasons chapter and verse. Top quality tobaccos? Check. 5 year aged long-fillers? Check. Seamless wrappers? Check. Made in one of Honduras’ top factories? Check. Handsome packaging? Check.

Toast the foot and take a draw. You’ll see some spirit up front: a slight nutty taste followed by some zesty peppery notes on the back of the palate. A feisty sucker! But instantly it mellows into a polished smoothness with ample creaminess. It stays utterly consistent from here on out, well-balanced with a sturdy creamy foundation, and booms out thick clouds of smoke. What a charmer! Mild to medium it is, not super-mild, but just shy of a middleweight. The fantastic “gold bar” style packaging and an astonishingly reasonable price point round it out. 5 Vegas Gold is a positively delightful blend.



This was my first cigar. The monster on the far right of the photo (credit to CI), not something a novice should sample as their very first. I had a rough go of it. But I will never forget the nicotine high, the thundering of war planes flying off to fight an enemy that was just a block away, the sights, smell and taste of that very first 5 Vegas Gold No. 1 cigar.

Cigars pt.3

While smoking cigars is bad, smoking them with friends is fun. Cigars at that time in my life were a more social event than a chemical dependency event. Sharing one with a friend or three was a time to relax, to simply enjoy the moment. Having one meant that no one was going to ask you to come inside the building where we worked, unless it was an emergency. An extended smoke break where friendships were made.

Comrades enjoying a break from work. Note the blue safety belt, because after all we have to be safe in the middle of a war zone.

And again with the blue belt.

Cigars, continued

The first time I ever smoked a cigar I was sitting in, what is known as "hot", typical Iraqi weather, a mild 120 degrees or so.

While not the most ideal settings, I had a mp3 player full of music, a pair of sunglasses and chair to watch the F-15's take off (I was station on the airstrip), while I enjoyed my first solo cigar. Which is almost the complete opposite of how cigars are supposed to be smoked, in my humble opinion.

Vices

Everybody has their vices. For some its over indulgence of food or alcohol. Others its drugs or even non material means, such as gambling or thrill seeking. Vices aren't bad, they controlled and moderated. Of my personal vices the most harmful one for me is smoking cigars.

It really started when I was in the middle of Al-Asad Airbase (which is now under siege by ISIS), I needed an outlet and a friend of mine, CW3 Showers had a smoke. From then it was something new to try and it was an experience.

TBC

Part 3 of 3: Today's drivers, Motorcycle's vroom vroom

As I mentioned on an earlier post, I think that today's drivers are less engaged in driving due to the ease of which cars are being built and developed. And because drivers are more passenger than driver now days that skill that goes with being able to drive is rapidly eroding. This will lead to more causal errors such as not checking blind sport or even a lack of spatial awareness (oh the car tells me if I am close to another). These things are the bread and butter of driving and not being able to have the skill will impact you on other areas. Just being aware of your surroundings is one draw back, something that needs to be pushed in this day and age of electronic devices that continually compete for our attention.

That is why I suggest everyone learn how to ride a bike. There are several reasons for this 1) its almost impossible to text and ride 2) requires focus and concentraction 3) you have to be mindful of everyone else. While not a complete listing of all the benefits, it is more dangerous than just driving a car, but the rewards for successfully riding a bike are something that you can never envision trapped inside of a car.

Part 2 of 3: Today's drivers, Return to manual driving

Automatic cars are great. Easy to drive and easy to forget about. This is because there is no need for the driver to do anything but push the gas and occasionally hit the breaks (some cars even do this for you). But true driver skill comes out of driving a car that requires more proactive than reactive action. This is why driving manual vs automatic comes into play.

First off you need to know the basic principles behind the idea of a clutch and manual transmission. The engine speed runs at an RPM independent of the vehicle's speed. By selecting the correct gear for both the engine and speed the driver can adjust the both to match driving conditions.

The driver can select a lower gear to force the engine to work harder, and reduce speed, or select a higher gear and let the engine do less work and achieve higher speeds. Reducing speed using the engine is called engine breaking and works well on icy, low traction, or step declines to avoid loss of traction while maintaining a proper speed. This one of the benefits that automatic cars do not have the ability to do in the same manner. A driver could use the lower gears to on the automatic to achieve the same effect yet the automatic transmission could allow the engine into higher RPMs causing damage or could shift higher and lose all of the benefits.

Of course this is the very basic explanation to a manual car, and this is why it is important, the driver is forced to choose the proper gear for the upcoming road and its conditions forcing the driver to look ahead and use their judgement to select the correct gear. That requires more attention, less attention can be given to other devices. Because of the constant road scanning, other hazards are identified earlier and more time to react is had.

And this is why I suggest everyone take the time to learn how to drive stick.

Part 1 of 3: Today's drivers, Peak of technology

Everyday it seems like there are newer safety devices installed in cars, and at the same time horrific collisions plague the news. Why is this? This is because the ease of driving cars, to the point where some are even self parking, is paramount. And the new Google car is even self driving. But if driving ease is the main goal, then they have succeeded. But what is next?

It basically boils down to the simplistic nature of today's automatic cars. These cars are so easy to drive they allow individuals behind the wheel to focus on other things. The skill level needed to drive is deteriorating while technology is trying to make up the difference. Technology is proving to have come to a point that it can help balance between the need to drive and the need "multitask".

But I think that to truly make a skilled driver there is a need to return to basics. New drivers should be required to have a certain amount of hours behind a stick-shift or manual transmission before
gaining a full license.

This is because manual transmission cars need more attention, which in turn cause more attention to be paid to the road and conditions. Thus less time for other multitasking, which could in turn lead to less distracted driving incidents. And the skills learned or honed on manual transmissions can easily be transferred automatic cars while the vice-versa is not true. Automatic cars are focused on ease of driving and this ease leads to driver boredom.

Where the budding white collared man can find white collars for cheap(er)...

Who doesn't like to look good? Setting aside all of the timeless wisdom of only making one first impression, clothes can make or break an individual, and blah blah blah, it simply feels good to look good.

There are many different options, Good Will, Men's Warehouse, Macy's, or even some of the more upscale-but-small shops in Santa Row or similarly expensive overrated location. However if you want to look good on the cheap, there are two ways to go about it, one of them is a new company that I have recently stumbled upon.

The first is a small chain located in New York, NY, called Century 21 Department Store. I managed to pick up a whole slew of ties and shirts, most them ranging from $5-10 and approximately $20 respectively. These shirts and ties managed to see me through 18 days in Europe traveling through some of the most important Non-Governmental Agencies in the world. The cheap but well made clothing really withstood the scrutiny to the stylings of Europe.

 Whenever I am in NY, I stop by the huge department store and pick up a few nice things to expand my wardrobe. They do have an online section, but half the fun is browsing the huge assortment of items that are literally wall to wall in their store. 

The second is the more important recent find is a site called the Combat Gent. They are an up and coming site that has lots of stylish but modestly priced suits and accessories that many recent graduates will find themselves in need of. 

While every student should own at least one suit, there are many ways to dress for success that do not require suits. Often overlooked are the slacks and cardigans or even just a nice dress shirt. Searching either site, one would find many different options, many times several different outfits can be created from just two or three different shirt and pant combinations. 

Again one of things any college student should leave their institution with is a set of skill how to dress and act when entering their chosen profession. And these sites can help you do it cheaper than a quarter at SCU,

Some. Random. MUN Musings.

Some. Random. MUN Musings.

Joelle's car got hit. Officers 1 Delegates 0.

MOD UN: Day 1 Zero hour. Joëlle's car is hit at Starbucks.

MUN: Day 1 Hour 2. Racism strikes. Olivia and the Marco-Derek fiasco.

MUN: Day 1 Hour 3 Garretts "special route"

MUN Day 1, Hour 4 Marco-Eric seating fiasco

MUN Day 1 Hour 5 con't @Stephanie the stakes have been razed to :3)

MUN Day 1 Hour 5 con't 2 Assembly of Generals @hamda

MUN Day 1 Hour 6: The official Prim and Proper (Fairy) way to Derek hold the cup.

MUN Day 1 Hour 7 Dirty Jingle bells @Eric

MUN Day 1 Hour 7.5 high fives, rising under P27

MUN Day 1 Hour 7.8 @Amy, officially the President and responsible #thanksyou

MUN Day 1 Hour 8: Hero in room 4114. @carlos

MUN Day 1 Hour 9: and the only large ladies. @carlos

MUN Day 1 Hour 10: I've seen some large people @Mark

MUN Day 1 Hour 11:

I don't like the middle finger @Amy.

I use it all the time, people deserve it. @Derek

MUN Day 1 Hour 13 : God loves it when you run around naked. @Joëlle..... Herp/Derp woes @Amy

MUN Day 1 Hour 13.5:

"I wouldn't put up with my shit" @Bilen

"I have a weakness for beautiful ladies" @Dan

MUN Day 1 Hour 14

"I'm not gay cockblock" @Eric

"Because I'm a girl cockblock" @Bilen

"Not giving up" @Eric

MUN Day 2 Hour 3: small wood to the face in Chinatown @hamda

Santa Clara University's under utilize (and most likely over priced) parking structure. (End Rant)

I live off campus, about 15 miles or so. This means that every day I drive to school, sometimes multiple times. And it is almost impossible to find parking near the campus, which used to be understandable, but not any more.

Why?

As part of the ongoing renovation of the campus, a new parking lot was built. It would stand to reason that the students over time would pay for the privilege or the right to park across the street from Campus.

However this is not the case. Everyday I walk past the parking structure there tons of spots inside, with hundreds of open spots. Today as I walking I told a quick picture with my cell and saw approximately 302 open spaces.

A person would think that with the increase of parking the streets would be clearer, with most of the students taking advantage of the new space. But they aren't. It seems that once again SCU has created something that does not help the students (the previous one is the
Patricia A. and Stephen C. Schott Admission & Enrollment Services Building) but instead costs so much that its cheaper to just park in the neighborhood. And with the upcoming vote to limit the number of tenants within the neighborhood, this could have eased the tensions by creating places for off campus students to store their cars, and create a less crowded environment But instead SCU charges almost three times what other local colleges charge (average of $100/yr vs. $325/yr or $200/yr- reduced fee), and while everything about SCU is more expensive, there is nothing to balance it out like there is at SStanford Stanford, while having a interesting approach to parking, actually pays you to not purchase an annual pass instead purchase individual scratchers or permits and earn up $300 a year. 

So obviously SCU has an unused parking structure, as the picture attests to (the 47 is the last number a little hard to read). What do they plan to do with it is my question, I would love not fight with other students and neighbors to find parking. But as long as the prices remain so high, its cheaper to walk and annoy a nearby resident than it is to use something built for the students. Go Broncos!

PSA: Vets, take a moment.

America's Veterans, the ugly secret most American try to hide, we ask them to give their all, yet we expect them to return to normal at the drop of a dime.

This is probably one of the more moving music videos I have seen in awhile. Please take a second to view.

Things I love (and occasionally hate): Zotero

Zotero, my dearest friend. 

First off lets start with what Zotero is. Zotero is a multi-platform resource collection agent. Its function is to help individuals create a list of sources, such as bibliographies and work cited pages. These sources can be culled from almost any electronic format. Use a book in a paper, find it on Amazon, then click the install-able connector for your browser and Ta-Da! You now have a fully editable sourcing program that can be used in word editors. Your now thinking that sounds nice but what exactly does it do for me? Well, let me tell you a story...

I was surfing OSCAR and One search for some statics regarding polling turn out, exit polls etc for my Political Science class. As I find sources, I am constantly throwing them into my Zotero folder for later review and collection, aka a super book mark system. However I find something that I can use for another paper, say a piece on voting and religion I want to use for my Religion, Theology & Culture 3 class (core requirement). Boom! Throw that bad boy into my folder for RTC 3, and now I have source I would have never found or could have easily lost.

But that's not all. Now I am done with my both my papers, the RTC 3 class wants MLA formatting style while the Political Science class wants Blue Book style. Most people would go to either OWL Perdue (which is another great/amazing source) or the site affectionately known as Son of a Citation. However with Zotero, you simply highlight the sources and then right click "Create Bibliography", go thru the prompts of type and how to save, and then like a genie granting a wish its done, for either format. All sources are done, leaving only inline notes or sources left to be done.

So basically all of my gathering of sources for a paper has been reduced to a few clicks. Finding, organizing, and creating of sources has been automated, leaving me free to procrastinate, err focus on the content of my paper. Did I also mention that Zotero is free?





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2nd week of Feb

First day of internship. Awesome so laid back.... Have to do a lot of work. We started drinking and hanging out early in the week (weds) because we had a snow day. The day we lost had some interesting things in it, the IMF amongst the better ones. Also had my presentation today. We did great although some of the individuals did not really contribute as much as possible.

Awesome speculation of some individuals endowments. Err not. But sitting and laughing with friends is the biggest plus. Even if some of the individuals cant hold their (B and J) or just not drinking (not the Amelia that we like and she had a good date:)

-D

2nd week of Feb

Monday, walk in with nothing. Walk out with an internship with a metro stipend. We had a good sexual harassment speaker followed, by Dan Gaskill who sued Iran successfully, and later a crazy-chicken-pacificist-anarchartist professor- who sucked. This week is the week of Arab-Israeli conflict. Went to Israel Embassy to hear some of the most moderate speech ever. Waiting to see how the PLO group sounds...
Thirsty Thursday with the usual group minus Amelia K for the first bit.

Another successful night...

A very beautiful evening with an incredible voice is a Slovenian vocalist. Followed by an very good dinner. The beer of the night was light and flavorful. I had a chance to meet the head Ambassador and get a picture.

The night ended again at 4068. Pictures attached.

Chillaxing

4068-W
Relaxing after a long day of going to the Library of Congress and the Supreme Court. And almost useless research class.

Two fingers of Buffalo Track, and some good company. Thank you Brendan, Trina, and Amelia!

Pictures of Fire and compatriots to follow. Brave new world in the background...
#life@berks