I decided to dig deep in the humidor for something to smoke on a recent evening. Pulling out the bottom tray where I had put cigars "for later" led me to a Fratello DMV Virginia. I have just two left from the original 2018 release, and looked forward to seeing how the cigar had aged.

Many folks assume a dark wrapper means a cigar is strong and full bodied. The assumption is often incorrect. Admittedly, I am guilty of an opposite assumption, that all lighter colored cigars are mild and boring. It's true that Connecticut wrapper cigars can disappoint me, but that's not a universal truth. For one such case, meet the Blanco Liga Exclusiva de Familia Connecticut Robusto.

I enjoyed a fun "Italian" dessert after dinner this week. I had the urge to enjoy one of the Toscano cigars I brought back from Italy last fall. An espresso seemed fitting to go along.

The Toscano Antica has a strong wood fire aroma even before lighting. The flavors when smoking bring to mind smoky BBQ with some sweetness added in. Despite the rough, dry appearance the burn has no issues and gave about a 40 minute smoke. That was plenty of time for a couple of double espressos.
I do enjoy these cigars on occasion. Fortunately Tuscano packages them for export and they can be had, rather inexpensively, from many online retailers.

I enjoy coffee with a cigar fairly regularly. It's usually as part of an afternoon pick me up. Although often craved, having the time to linger in the morning is an infrequent pleasure. (Though that schedule restriction will soon be a thing of the past.) 

Another Friday evening and I opted once again to have a cigar at the brewery cigar lounge. Though I have beer, cigars, and even whiskey at home, the change of pace and chance to chat with other beer and cigar fans prompted my visit.

On Tuesday Facebook reminded me that Buddy Guy was playing locally Wednesday evening. My wife had to work early Thursday AM so she was not interested in attending. So I went alone.

Buddy Guy was freaking amazing. The dude turns 87 in July and he still shreds. It was my first time at the Carpenter Theater in Richmond. It's a very cozy 1800 seat theater that is pushing 100 years old.

This morning I had a blues radio station playing on YT Music, and a banging tune titled Poor until Payday came on. I stopped what i was doing to listen, then favorited the tune so I could investigate further over lunch.

Over lunch, I pulled up the band's profile on YT Music, Reverend Peyton and the Big Damn Band. The band title is a bit of a joke I think, since they are a trio playing vintage instruments, including a washboard. Anyway, Poor Until Payday is the title track from their 2018 album, so I played it. The entire album bangs. I then went on to their 2021 album, Dance Songs for Hard Times. It also bangs. Then I went way back to 2012 to their debut album. It's another banger.

The genre is officially country blues. They also have some rockabilly vibes with gospel influences. What ever they are, they bang.

That is a lot of words to say I bought two albums today from a band I had never heard of at 8 AM this morning.

I remarked on Instagram that just making it to Tuesday can be cause for celebration. It was hyperbole, but I did feel the need to sit and relax after a day of work frustrations. 

Kicking off the weekend, I grabbed a dusty bottle of Hardwood Bourbon Barrel GBS from a dark corner  of the basement. I didn't see a date on the caged and corked bottle, but it's at least five years old if not more. I wasn't sure what cigar to pair but I had an urge to smoke another El Centurion H-2K-CT by My Father Cigars, so that was the selection.

This is a new-to-us cocktail we recently added to our "repertoire." It was something seen on a random Instagram reel and sounded good. It's quite tasty, though as the photo shows, it's a bit of a murky looking drink.

Espresso Old Fashioned

Add all the ingredients to a mixing glass. Add ice and stir until cool. Strain the drink into a rocks glass over large ice cube. Garnish with a few coffee beans.

This article about a 50 year old GE radio that still works isn't really about the radio. It's not even about the fact that nothing we use today will still be functional in 25 years, let alone 50. It's about how a piece of technology can connect across 3 generations of a family that used that radio to listen to baseball or get the early morning school closing report.

It reminded me about something I did about 22 years ago, also involving baseball and radios. Streaming the radio feeds of baseball games was technically possible in the 90s. It made Mark Cuban a billionaire when he sold his streaming radio company to Yahoo. Sometime around 2002 MLB started streaming the radio feed for WEEI from Boston. 2002 was well before we all had super computers in our pockets. So I built a FM transmitter from a kit and plugged it in to my PC. That enabled me to sit on the porch with a drink and a radio and listen to the Red Sox on WEEI, in Virginia. It was a big deal at the time. Today I just take my phone to the porch.

I do still own a traditional AM/FM radio. I keep it in the camper. It's useful for weather updates when camping somewhere with no cell signal. Also, when camping I just like to find a local rock radio station and listen throughout the weekend while I'm camping in the neighborhood. I've got a couple of hundred hours of music on my phone, so I'm not hurting for musical entertainment when away from the Internet. We listened to the radio when camping 40 years ago, and I still like to do it today.

Sometimes the old ways, if not better, are at least just fine.