John, Steve, Kristen and Calee

After shooting the episode we got a few photos with John C. Dvorak and Steve Gibson.


Some of you have asked "Why is there always a large devil in the background?"

This is a good question. I'm sure some people believe that the devil must be sponsoring our podcast since cigars (and smoking in general) are so evil. Those people are allowed their opinion. But they're wrong.

The real reason there is a large cardboard devil in the corner is that Diablo cigars, gave she shop where we shoot this attractive cutout for an event, and it's lived there ever since.

Since the whole topic of the devil and cigars has come up, I think this is a good opportunity to talk about the stigma of smoking. Now I hate the smell of old, stale smoke on my clothes as much as anyone, but it is absolutly ridiculous how much people will go out of their way to make life difficult for smokers. I understand people choosing not to smoke, and even prefering that smoke not be near them, but that doesn't give them the right to control other people's freedoms.

Legislation and regulations are constantly being introduced to reduce the rights of smokers. And the stigma--think about tv, radio, even iTunes. You're not going to see smoke friendly programing have a voice, or at least not a very loud one.

This is a big reason I chose the podcast as the primary way to tell this story. The cigar shop is more interesting on a daily basis than any record store or barber shop. Those locations have been mined for drama and comedy, yet the local smoke shop remains untouched. Disclaimer: Paul Auster wrote a film called Smoke that did include a cigar shop. But how many people saw that film?

Anyhow, that's probably enough ranting for now. Whether you smoke or not, take a few moments to think about how smokers are treated in our culture. Then think if you would like to be treated like that. Golden Rule, People.