Smooth Horn (Gold) Tobacco Pipe

I'm pretty confident that making assumptions which eventually result in lingering feelings of foolishness, are simply part of the human condition (just ask Tiger Woods). It's just that writers have the perverse luxury of making their private sorties into the realm of "duh" a bit more public, should they wish. When I popped open the box that contained the three Heding pipes that were about to go up, I glanced inside and saw that the last two pipes were horns. Me, just being the luvable, easy-going lug that you know me to be, yelled down the hallway "Ok, is Peter Heding losing his sense of diversity, or have we utterly quit trying to create interesting updates?!". Then, I pulled out this horn. (Peter, forgive my doubt, the tip of my little finger (packed in dry ice) should arrive by Tuesday next. Yes, I know the gesture is a bit more Yakuza than Dane, but it's the thought that counts, neh?).

In my feeble defense, laying on its right side, with only the left exposed, this pipe looked like a pretty cool (if somewhat garden variety), compact horn. It was upon picking up this Gold Grade, that the magic began to happen, and what feats of legerdemain appeared to this center stage ticket holder! Anchored by a fairly architectural shank, though one that had some subtle alchemy of its own, the twists and curls of the body result in the presentation of two differing, yet fairly conventional, overt horn forms from the left and right direct profiles. Moving to the top and superior/forward oblique views, an incredibly advanced third form, one that makes Tokutomi-esque use of implied space, materializes. I walked into the office of our newest employee, Cosmo, and presented him with this briar, the side view deliberately emphasized. "Nice pipe" was his initial reaction. As I took a couple of seconds to walk over to Alyson's side of the room, the "WHOA!" that I heard coming from behind me, let me know that Cos had just turned the pipe. Cosmo has never worked with pipes, but has (among other assets) a strong arts background. His reaction spoke volumes, as surely as this pipe will speak to you, the second that you take it out of the bag. Highly recommended.

--Bear Graves