From: Ed Loofhauser <??????????????????>
Subject: Ad: Smoke Shapes book

(Steve, this is an ad for my book, so please don't run it unless it meets the
policy rules. Thanks, Ed.)

Greetings, pipe fans,

  I'm going to de-lurk for a little while to plug my book -- hope you don't
mind! <g> 

  I've been a pipe smoker for more than twenty years, and am also a
professional magician and master member of the American Guild of Mages.  (You
may have seen my act on TV some time ago; I did a bit with balloons filled with
smoke, water, etcetera.  I smoked cigs at the time, but gave them up for a pipe
many years ago.)

  I've always loved blowing smoke rings, too, and have often wondered why it's
not possible to make more complicated shapes.  Well, after a lot of trying, I
found that you could.  And I wrote a book about how to do it: "Smoke Shapes"
(privately published.)  The book takes you through a self-taught course that
goes from simple shapes, starting with rings, and progressing through the
smooth shapes, like whales, fish, and snakes, and on to more difficult shapes,
like animals.

  There are two secrets: a thicker, more viscous smoke, and precise control.
Ordinary tobacco smoke doesn't stick together very well, so I had to improve
its viscosity.  I get the viscous smoke by using a harmless casing additive on
your favorite blend. (The recipe is proprietery, but I have it for sale too.)

  The precise control just takes practice, practice, practice, and lots of it.
But with my guide, it's just as easy (or as hard! <g>) as learning how to play
a brass wind instrument like a trumpet.  You have to control the flow rate,
pressure, and temperature simultaneously, which *really* takes a lot of
doing. You have to be able to precisely collide smoke rings together at the
right time and place to do the more advanced shapes (including dogs, cats, and
Churchill with a cigar).  I'll also teach you how to blow smoke sheets and
rolling streamers, both of which are needed.

  The hardest thing I've done is the fire-breathing dragon from a scene in
Spider Robinson's book "Callahan's Lady."  I'm a sci-fi fan too, and when I
read that book, I spent two or three months figuring how to do it.  It's
complicated, and doesn't always work, but when it does, it's great.  It blows
smoke, too!  (If anybody gets good enough to figure out how to get the dragon
to blow a smoke shape, let me know!)

  Check out my web site, http://www.fourinone.com/~loof/smkshape.htm, for the
book and pictures of some of my best shapes, including the dragon.  Or you can
email me if you'd like to order the book. ($29.95 postpaid, quality paperback.)

  And Steve, as always, thanks for a great Digest!

===== Ed Loofhauser == American Guild of Mages == ?????????????????? ======
===== http://www.fourinone.com/~loof/smokshape.htm ================ (( * ))
"Treat me as you would the most dangerous of the criminal insane." -Houdini

[ Very interesting, Ed! I'll check out the Web page. And probably
order the book, if the lighter doesn't break my budget! -S. ]


~\U ~\U ~\U ~\U ~\U ~\U ~\U ~\U ~\U ~\U ~\U ~\U ~\U ~\U ~\U ~\U ~\U