Summer Edition of P&T Magazine - Crappy !

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NeroWolfe

NeroWolfe

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I am bitterly disappointed with the Summer 2013 issue of the P&T Magazine! There is an article inside about Joe Skoda, who is one of the finest pipe makers in the USA / World (in my view), yet the cover photo is of a "Gear Pump" / "Steam Punk" pipe !!!!! No offense to the artisan associated with the cover, but Joe Skoda is a long-time innovative craftsman, artist and superb pipe maker, and it should have been one of his pipes on the cover of the magazine. If P&T is now oriented to the "steam punk" crowd, then it has shifted from a focus on fine smoking pipes, and has probably lost me as one interested in what the magazine covers and writes about. Seems like true, established craftsmen are getting short shrift (at least in this issue)!
 
Personally I prefer more traditional shapes with amazing blasts where Skoda's are more danish. Takes all walks brother, wouldn't own a steam punk pipe but they're fun to look at.
 
Joe is an incredible artist. I am very fortunate to be able to "hang with him" each month at the Hudson Valley Pipe Club's monthly meetings! We were lucky enough to see his award winning Calabash before he took it to Kansas City, where he took top honors.

Someday, I'll have Joe make something for me. I just have to start saving my pennies.......
 
I am in the same ballpark as Nero. From what I have read, not seen, the Pipemaker on the cover also makes some really nice smoking pipes in addition to a contraption pipe. Why not show us what can be done with something a little more traditional and something that you can smoke?
As for Joe Skoda, I believe his work is overlooked and doesn't get the recognition that his pipes deserve. I own two Skoda pipes and will put them up against any high grade carver in the world. That's saying a lot and I'll stand behind it. I think P&T Magazine missed out with this issue for sure. :no:
 
I just read the pipemakers forum replies from the link that Rad listed here. I never knew this forum existed. Some excellent controversy and replies from the horses' mouths so to speak, the pipe makers themselves. I'm going fishing!!! :lol!:
 
I stopped subscribing in 2004 or 2005, after a number of very uninteresting issues, and never looked at the magazine since then. Maybe it's time for me to take another look and, perhaps, restart my subscription.
 
This really pisses me off. Nate's pipe is incredibly original, and very well made. Putting it on the cover is a no brainer, it pushes the envelope so far that even those that prefer original shapes must take notice. This has absolutely nothing to do with the stellar work of Joe. Rad is dead on correct, "my guy didn't win so the other guy is crap, and the magazine is crap" that is junior high.

rev
 
Interpreting a magazine editor's priorities and perspectives as a quasi-personal insult of some kind makes no sense at all.
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As fine an example of linear thinking as there is.

David (in the Bible) was what ?

A poet ?

A guerilla ?

A musician ?

A lover ?

A shepherd ?

A prophet ?

A King ?

A general ?

:face:

 
the rev":1ga3759d said:
This really pisses me off. Nate's pipe is incredibly original, and very well made. Putting it on the cover is a no brainer, it pushes the envelope so far that even those that prefer original shapes must take notice. This has absolutely nothing to do with the stellar work of Joe. Rad is dead on correct, "my guy didn't win so the other guy is crap, and the magazine is crap" that is junior high.

rev
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I'm going to have to echo this... As well as the replies from Rad and Nathan over on PMf...

The pipe world is a relatively small world and everyone I have met, whether its Lars or Eltang or Armentrout or Nate king, have been supportive of one another even if they don't share the same aesthetic.

Not only is Nate a great guy, but his pipes got A LOT of attention in Chicago last month. They are made well and he is executing things that no one else has even tried, and doing it well! Smokingpipes had two of his Gear punk pieces on the site and they sold immediately. It's not just about how one person feels about them; clearly many others think they are interesting to the point that they will pay good money for them or put them on the cover of a magazine (just like any other high grade)

In a way, Nero, you're just calling even more attention to his work so well done!

Also: "if you don't have anything nice to say..."


Congratulations on the cover, Nate!!! You deserve it.
 
All cultures have something to hide. Like the Victorians did brothels. So they agree to keep up the appearances they want by just looking the other way.

What nobody mentions (surprisingly), even given the general realisation that pipe magazines are there to sell advertising to pipe businesses, with content secondary, is that in any area (Guns & Ammo, Golf Digest, whatever), feature space is conditional on advertising expenditure. One hand washes the other.

It's a pattern at least as old as Time Magazine -- a start-up during the previous Great Depression that (strangely, to all appearances) flourished while magazines in general were going out of business : by selling editorial policy on specific topics those in the business of creating "public opinion" to the highest bidders on them. With cover space going highest of all. Followed by back cover, inside front, inside back . . .

Probably enough said on that.

:face:
 
...or, regarding Victorian brothels, made the prostitutes dress in such a manner they didn't stand out, and adorn the building with nothing more than red lights to indicate "open for business." Everyone knew it was there, and the only real differences was for out-of-towners to find what they were looking for without having to ask, and to save face. Beyond that, everything "looked normal."

Are people really upset that one pipe over another got on the cover of a magazine? Sheesh. :fpalm:

As if it were the last one, or they named the pipe the Best Pipe of Eternity. :lol:

Adult whining: a few octaves lower, just as bad as childrens'.

One thought I had was the new, younger pipe crowd is likely attracted to the flash-bang and pizazz of such a pipe. Something that might make them pick up such a magazine. They are also a rapidly-growing part o the pipe/tobacco consumer market, and very necessary for the life of the hobby.

Seems to make sense.

I like classic shapes, too. And weird stuff. If it's well-made, bring it all--to smoke or to gawk.

 
I am definitely sensing a generational thing here. I'm an old geezer and am pretty conservative in most of my choices.
Seeing some of this new fangled stuff, Monstrosities by Ollie for example or the new to me Gear Punk pipes are really a new line of pipes that certainly take a lot of ingenuity, design, and talent to make. My hats off to these new talented artisans even though they are not for me.
Bottom line is that diversity is good, and anything that brings more pipe smokers and collectors into the hobby is a good thing.
This is probably what people thought about the so called gimmick pipes/metal pipes from the 1950's. How radical at the time were Kirsten Aluminum pipes, or the Doodler??
As long as they are made to burn tobacco, I'm all for it. Will we have Glass Blown pipes on the front cover of P&T next?.?.? :shock:
 
Speaking metaphorically -- If you peruse a magazine rack of car magazines, you might think, looking at the covers, that there are way more red Ferraris, 'Vettes and what not on the streets than silver/gray Toyota Camrys. Actually, Toyoya sells as many Camrys in a month as Ferraris have been sold in Ferrari's entire history. Magazines cover interesting stuff about the past, but also must keep readers informed about trends. Granted today's trend in many cases is tomorrow's trash heap. But editors can't chance being stuck in the past with an aging readership.

Helen Gurley Brown on how she kept Cosmo fresh --

Helen: We know our reader very well, and we are The Source for information she's interested in.
Interviewer: I see. And exactly what is that?
Helen: How she can have her first orgasm, and how she can tell when she's having it.

The magazine cover isn't an ad or an endorsement. It 's an attempt to get you to do three things: Stop. Pick it up. Buy it. And maybe keep it around for awhile.
 
docwatson":lfc20t29 said:
Bottom line is that diversity is good, and anything that brings more pipe smokers and collectors into the hobby is a good thing.
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I'll smoke to that. :D

Yes, it gets people talking about it, and if it continues a heated debate, a subculture of piping will emerge (I feel it already has, honestly).

Glass pipes already have a following, and there's already plenty of places for that. Rock'n'roll never killed jazz, and New Wave never killed rock'n'roll, and grunge never killed New Wave. Everyone feared it as the years passed and time evolved, but there's always appreciators interested in keeping the spirit of certain things alive--I have lofty hopes for pipes and tobacco (sans government involvement :lol: )...

... 8)
 
I found the same rant at pipesmagazine.com.

:|

You've really broadcast your P&T rage-quit.
 
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