[1:15 AM, 5/6/12] What does it tell you about an event when you get back to your room around one in the morning? That it is a fantastic time!

Lauren and I just returned from the smoking tent, where we enjoyed great conversation and wonderful pipes. Lauren broke in a new bamboo Tokutomi that I purchased as a present for her with some McClelland Dominican Glory. This was her first time trying such a blend and she ended up enjoying it: “It tastes like pulled pork.” I’m pretty sure that that is a good thing…I think.

Before that, we had a great dinner of Chicago style pizza and classic Italian with Dustin, Nick, George (or LatakiaLover from certain forums), Adam Remington, Steve Morrisette, Brad Pohlmann, Bill Shalosky, Premal Chheda, and a couple of other great people. We had a wonderful time, despite Nick saying that the cannolis were, in fact, not cannolis. We also ended up taking home a lot of pizza and pasta (Lauren forgot hers in Dustin’s car, which I sure hope he figures out soon), but also had a really good time.

One of my favorite experiences about this show has been getting to know the people whose work I have admired and getting to know them as more than just pipe makers, but as people. This makes me enjoy admiring and owning their work even more.

[6:06 PM, 5/5/12] Up to the minute update! I just returned from the John Cotton 2012 Throwdown and I am happy announce that Dick Silverman of Chief Catoonah has been declared the victor by the three judges by a sizable margin. Fear not, I will be including a much lengthier description of the event as soon as I have a free moment.

Lane Limited’s Leonard Wortzel was chosen as the People’s Choice winner, while Steven Books took a very respectable second place.

For those of you who are interested, I will be uploading a large amount of pictures from the Chicago Show on Facebook under my “Pipe-School Ethan Brandt” profile!

[3:21 PM, 5/5/12] Today started really early, but I was excited.

I woke up around 7:30 to get ready to head down to the show room and help Dustin set up his blowfish display. I had seen pictures of the individual pipes and even seen some of them in person, but witnessing the entire collection in one place was eye-popping. Dustin had just gotten back from Walmart, where he picked up some cheap aquarium supplies, including grass and other fishbowl decorations.

After taking all of his pipes out of their bags, a drool-inducing task, I will admit, I then helped him arrange the pipes themselves. There were three other “Educational Displays” at the entrance to the show and I firmly believe that his was the most impressive. My other favorite was entirely comprised of bulldogs and rhodesians. Gorgeous!

I then ran over to help Nick and Adam Remington set up the Quality Briar table. When I asked Nick how I could help, he responded, “You’re a college kid, right? Figure this out.” He then handed me the poles for the QB sign and let me try to figure it out. It ended up taking me, Nick, and Adam to get the sign up and finished.

This was all before the show officially started.

After watching the QB table for an hour or so, I started walking the lanes, a little faster than most people so I could get a lot of pictures. What a display it was! Pipes, blocks of briar, enormous piles of incredible tobacco, and tons of smiling faces.

I quickly ran into my friends from Sweden, Martin, Anders, and Jonas. Without a moment’s hesitation, I saw that the spherical calabash was still for sale at Jonas Rosengren’s table and I snatched it up. I am really thrilled to get the chance to try it out and share this fantastic new design with all of you.

The next part of my morning basically consisted of walking around, admiring fantastic pipes, meeting people that I had greatly wanted to meet, and reconnecting with friends, some of whom I had just met the evening before. This, however, essentially sums up the entire purpose of pipe shows for those who are not directly selling pipes, and even for them, too. It is a great chance to talk, laugh, swap stories and pipes, and get to put real people to the still pictures that you have seen online. It was a real honor for me when people walked up to me and knew me by name without having ever met me. I will admit, I am distinctive looking with a ponytail and a three-piece suit, but I was still humbled.

After talking with Steve Liskey and Steve Morrisette, I found my way over to the table where Gary Schrier was sitting behind a couple piles of books. I had been wanting to pick up the new book on Scandinavian pipe makers and I also grabbed Mr. Schrier’s book on the history of the Calabash pipe. Mr. Schrier was a welcoming gent and seemed very enthusiastic about everything related to pipes, especially the continuation of writing about pipes online.

Once I had my books, I proceeded to locating my Swedish friends from the evening before and requesting that they sign the book, specifically their entry. Naturally, this included the pipe makers, but also Mr. Petersson, who is shown in the Scandinavian pipe makers book and owns around thirteen of the pipes featured therein. It really adds something to the experience of reading about a topic when you know the people involved. Thanks to this show, I now know a lot more people than I did previously!

I stopped and chatted at the SmokingPipes table and was honored to have the opportunity to speak, albeit through a translator, to Hiroyuki Tokutomi, one of the most artistic pipe makers alive. I have admired Tokutomi pipes since I first discovered online retailers and have dreamed about owning one of his pipes. Meeting him in person was something that I had never imagined, but I happily took the opportunity. Even through a translator, his humility and sense of humor were vividly apparent and I am excited about his agreeing to do an interview for Pipe School in the near future.

I once again spent a good deal of time talking with Bruce Weaver, Steve Morrisette, Martin Vollmer, and Anders Nilsson. I also got the chance to meet up with Premal and Bill from Chheda pipes and look at an Ivarsson style blowfish that I had purchased from them over a month ago but have waited to pick up until the show: I wanted to be able to shake the hands of those men responsible. Now the pipe is not only a functional piece of artwork, but one that contains the memories of the two awesome men who were involved in its creation.

I talked surfing with Jeff Gracik and bees and sustainable harvesting practices with Michael Lindner, two pipe-makers of epic skill and refreshing warmth; I spoke with Neil Flancbaum about his recovery since a bit of a medical crisis and the new lifestyle that he is living (for those of you who have not gotten to see him, he is looking fantastic and you probably couldn’t even recognize him from before).

A wonderful surprise was running into a friend that I made on Facebook whom I had never met in person before: MacKay D. James. I had been excited about the possibility of getting to meet MacKay since we first connected on Facebook, as he is another younger pipe smoker and a fantastic photographer. As is clear from the photograph to the left, he also has a killer fashion sense!

Once I finished a little chat with Kevin Godbee about an upcoming piece on Pipes Magazine, I retired my camera, temporarily at least, and wandered a little bit more. I found myself constantly returning to the tables of Adam Remington and Steve Morrisette. Both had pipes which made my heart race they were so beautiful, not to mention that they are two really fun guys to talk with. The two were of infinitely different personalities, but both are great guys and a joy to be around.

Quick pause…time for me to head back down to the tent for the Smokers’ Forum meet-up and then the Throwdown result!

[11:28 PM, 5/4/12] What do you mean that was just the “Pre-Show”?

What a day today was! You can read below about all of the incredible things that happened this morning, but things got even better tonight.

We got down to the ballroom where dinner was held and were both amazed the number of tables and the quality of the food. Though it was a buffet, it was a really great way to conclude the evening…at least, I thought it was concluding!

We were soon joined by Dustin (noticing a pattern yet?) and a couple other people that I had not yet met. One of them was Tyler Beard, a truly nice man who clearly takes great pride in his work.

After we had been eating for a couple of minutes, we were approached by a gentleman asking if he and four other gentlemen could join our table. I soon learned that they were all in Chicago from Sweden. The man who first approached us was named Mikael Petersson, a Swedish pipe collector and a self-described “rocket scientist”. He was not exaggerating, either: the antennae placed on the Webb Telescope, the successor of the Hubble Telescope, is his responsibility. A warm man with a willingness to talk about anything and everything, and I quickly became glad that we had welcomed these gentlemen to the table.

I also did not realize that two of the other men were the masterminds behind Vollmer and Nilsson Pipes. I was surprised both by how incredibly well these two men spoke English, with next to no accent, and how quiet they were. It took a little while to get more than a highly expressive facial expression out of the two of them, but once we started talking, it was a truly wonderful time. Martin and I talked for a lot of the evening, encompassing theology, politics, international relations, and, of course, pipes.

Once dinner was finished, along with three bottles of good red wine, courtesy of Mr. Petersson, we headed to the smoking tent to listen to Kevin Godbee, Editor-in-Chief of Pipes Magazine, give a speech about the state of the pipe hobby, or what he also called “Ask Not What the Pipe Hobby Can Do For You, Ask What You Can Do For the Pipe Hobby”.

Mr. Godbee covered a wide variety of topics, including pipe clubs and the proliferation of pipes among the younger generation. Everything that he discussed had a common thread, however: ensuring that the proud and wonderful tradition of pipe smoking and designing continues for years to come. I think that we can all agree that that is a noble goal, and Kevin outlined a number of ideas of helping that goal succeed.

The rest of the evening was very informal, consisting of my trying out the first of the three contestants of the Throwdown, “X”. I found it a very light and enjoyable English with a pleasant aroma. Sadly, I do not have the original blend to compare it to, but I did enjoy it. The rest of the time was great conversation, a gin and tonic or two, and good friends. I know that Lauren and I had a wonderful time (she was the center of attention, which comes as no surprise) and we are both looking forward to tomorrow.

[6:28 PM, 5/4/12] Ah, a nap makes everything better. After catching lunch with Dustin and Gunner, another awesome pipe maker, Lauren and I came back to catch some shut eye.

A funny coincidence actually occurred at lunch, where we with discussing secret Santa events on pipe forums and it turns out Gunner was my secret Santa. He sent me this incredible bamboo poker corncob. It is the coolest corncob that I own and the knowledge that he made it has made it an even more treasured part of my collection.

Lauren spent the early afternoon getting a massage and I wandered the tent during the Show and Swap, taking pictures and looking at some beautiful pipes. There was this one calabash system by a new Danish pipe maker that I had never seen before. I hope to be able to come home with one to show you all.

I also got to meet some more people for the first time: Rad Davis, Mike, from Briar Blues, Bobby N., from Two Friends Pipes, and many more.

Now, we’re getting all dolled up for the Welcome Dinner in just a couple of minutes. I will add photos of today’s fun later tonight!

[11:25 AM, 5/4/12] I just got back from what was formerly known as the “Pre-Show”.

Now, it is known as the Smoke and Swap. Basically what this is a chance for a lot of people to rent out half tables and try to get excitement up about their product.Frankly, there doesn’t appear to be a ton of buying going on at this point, but rather a lot of people browsing, chatting, and reconnecting.

One of the first things that I did was I snagged myself a sample pack of the Throwdown blends, which I will be sampling tonight at dinner. What has two thumbs and is super excited? This guy!

I got to meet Bruce Weaver for the first time, after talking with him on the phone and sending numerous emails. He greeted me like an old friend, with a big smile and a strong handshake; despite having never meeting him in person, I really did feel like we were old friends and I was glad that we were! He talked about his daughter and shared stories about Adam Remington, whose table was right next to his.

For now, Lauren and I are going to be taking it easy until lunch with Dustin and then dinner. Lauren just made an appointment at the spa and we are going to wander around and explore this fantastic resort. More later!

[1:23 AM, 5/4/12] When we got down to the tent, there were a lot more people there than I expected, especially considering it was nearly 11 PM on the night before the day before the actual show.

The first person I ran into was Dustin B., a bear of a man whose smile is utterly infectious. He gave both me and Lauren hugs (not in that order, I might note!) and handed me a gorgeous pipe by M. Revyagin. Less than two minutes through the door and I’m already drooling.

The incredible display of pipes did not stop there, as I quickly met Adam Remington and Michail Revyagin, both of whom had a plethora of fantastic pipes displayed. For example, this photo to the right shows some of the offerings from Steve Liskey. He is relatively new in the pipe world, but shows both amazing craftsmanship and innovation. This, combined with being a cool guy, puts him very high in my book. Take a look at the bamboo work on those pipes at the top left. Superb!

As soon as I settled down, I was literally pulled up by my ponytail (I know Eric will have a ball with this fact) by Adam Davidson. We had a fun chat and I admired a number of his pipes, including a bamboo acorn that will be coming home with me!

I spent the rest of the evening making the rounds of tables, talking with Alex Florov, Brad Pohlmann, and of course, Nick. It only really occurred to me on the drive up to Chicago that this was the first time I met Nick, despite working closely with him and talking to him on the phone quite often. He’s a really cool guy who likes to be honest about what he thinks and have a good time. These are pretty much the same impressions I got of Nick when I first spoke to him on the phone, and I found the fact that he was the same guy in person as he was on the phone to be refreshing.

Lauren spent a lot of the time talking to Steve Morrisette about everything from the value of loving what you do to explosives to cats. Frankly, a lot of the talk was about cats. I had never gotten the chance to speak with Steve before, not even via email, and I am pleased to say that he is one of the nicest, most intelligent gentlemen that I have had the pleasure to meet.

I will be writing more on this at a later point in time, but it is time to get some shut eye. The fun starts all over again tomorrow in just a couple of hours!

[10:37 PM, 5/3/12] And…we’re here! After about five hours of sitting in rush hour traffic and avoiding toll booths, we have arrived at the Pheasant Run Resort. I have to say, this place is fantastic: great rooms, two pools, a spa, bar, and restaurant. It even has a gold course, if you’re into that! I managed to catch glimpse of the area where the show will be held and let’s just say that I am psyched! Oh, and on the elevator ride up to the room, I randomly ran into Peter Heeschen. Yeah, this trip is starting nicely!

Well, we’re getting cleaned up a little and heading down to the smoking tent to meet up with Dustin B., Nick Miller, and Adam Davidson.  I’m sure we’ll run into other awesome people while done there. Check in soon!

[11:10 AM, 5/3/12] Fine. I’ll admit it. I’m too damned excited about going to Chicago today to think of anything clever for a title. Sue me. (For any lawyers out there, please do not actually find a way to sue me. Much appreciated.)

So, Lauren and I will be leaving for Chicago later today, set to arrive at the hotel around 9PM.

Since I have already written a post describing some of the events that I am looking forward to, I won’t repeat that here. Instead, I plan on trying something a little new to keep all of you up to date about the what is happening at the show.

As often as possible, I am going to update this piece with photos and little blurbs, whatever I have time for. Some will be better thought out than others, I am sure. However, I will always post the most recent events at the top with a time stamp. It will kind of be like when news websites are covering a big breaking story and are constantly adding to the piece. So, if you keep checking back to this entry, you find more information about our time at the show and the awesome things that are happening.

Expect a much longer and more thorough summary after I return. See you soon!