TGIF! It’s Final Four (4) time. The ladies are playing right now, and the gentlemen hit the hardwood tomorrow. And there’s F1 practice 3 (9:25 DFO, 7:25 right coast) and qualifying later tonight (12:55am DFO, 10:55pm right coast).

Survival – Personal Edition

With spring comes warmer weather. With warmer weather brings evenings on the back porch watching the sun set. Which is also a great time to smoke a cigar. Here’s a handy guide on how to properly smoke a cigar.

• A cigar has two ends, a head and a foot. The foot is what’s lit, and the head is what’s sucked smoked. The first step is to clip the cap at the head of the cigar. Use a proper cigar cutter for this and make sure the cut is less than a 1/4 of an inch. If you cut beyond on the cap, the cigar wrapper can come apart. If you don’t have a cigar cutter, what are you even doing? But fine, just poke a hole in the cap with a pencil or pen.
• Hold the cigar in your non dominant hand, grasping on the half toward the head. Now use a torch lighter to toast the foot of the cigar. At this point, do not hold the cigar to your lips. Instead, slowly rotate the cigar while lighting the foot of the cigar. The foot should be evenly and thoroughly lit before continuing.
• Now, bring the head to your lips. Begin sucking on the cigar slowly and evenly while still holding the torch lighter an inch or two from the foot.
• Continue puffing gently until the foot is completely lit. Also, be like Clinton and don’t inhale.
• Enjoy the flavor of the smoke in your mouth for a few seconds, then exhale to expel the smoke. Remember, no inhaling!
• Now repeat the last two steps. You’ll want to puff on that cigar at least once per minute to keep the foot lit. You’ll also want to rotate the cigar in your fingers and keep the foot elevated to maintain an even burn. Do not squeeze the cigar!
• As you puff, the foot will turn into ash. Allow between 1/2 to 1/1 an inch to form before ashing. Your ashing technique should be no more than a gentle finger tap. If the ash doesn’t fall, then wait and try later. If you’re not in any danger of damaging clothes or furniture, have a little competition and see how long you can get the ash before it falls off on its own.
• A cigar can be extinguished and discarded once 1/2 to 3/4 of the cigar has been smoked. Where you stop is dependent on the flavor and temperature of the smoke. The more it burns, the smoke will get hotter and harsher. Use your own personal preference to determine when to stop and be mindful that will be different for different types of cigars.

Now go make a quick trip to Cuba and get stocked up for the summer.

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Survival – Species Edition

Time to put the sexy in Friday!

Enjoy the weekend, folks! Alright, now let’s get to the comments!