224. “Smoking is the Art”: Sweet Petes Future / Past
When we look at any beautiful object (natural or artistic), we suspend all other activity, and we are simply aware, we only want to contemplate the object. While we are in this contemplative state, we do not want anything from the object; we just want to contemplate it; we want it to never end. We don’t want to eat it, or own it, or run from it, or alter it: we only want to look, we want to contemplate, we never want it to end. In that contemplative awareness, our own egoic grasping in time comes momentarily to rest. We relax into our basic awareness. We rest with the world as it is, not as we wish it to be. We are face to face with the calm, the eye in the center of the storm. We are not agitating to change things; we contemplate the object as it is. Great art has this power, this power to grab your attention and suspend it: we stare, sometimes awestruck, sometimes silent, but we cease the restless movement that otherwise characterizes our every waking moment. . . . —Ken Wilbur, The Eye of Spirit: Integral Art and Literary Theory, 44 “Sweet Petes” has become an annual tradition here on Peterson Pipe Notes, having appeared in a kind of virtual gallery walk of favorite Petes from the past and present. It debuted in 2016 and returned in 2017, 2018, 2019 and in an IPSD edition for 2020. The idea is simply to offer a selection of fascinating Petes with a few notes on what hit me or other Pete Geeks as remarkable about each piece. This year’s edition begins with an update from Josh Burgess, Managing Director at K&P, on new pipes and finishes we can expect to see this year—some of which debuted this past week. From there, like every good museum, we preface the tour with a brief introduction by an informed guide, in this case one of the great guys in the hobby, Ted Swearingen. New From K&P for 2021 Josh Burgess writes: On new releases, we’ve got some things in the works. We’re adding a few shapes that have been in the Churchwarden/Specialty line that are going to be making appearances elsewhere now. The Specialty Tankard is going to be showing up as shape 701. The Churchwarden Dublin will appear in the standard line as the 124, the D15 will appear as the 127 and the D16 will appear as the 128. This will flesh out our Dublin/Bent Dublin offerings a bit, so we followed the 120 shape numbering convention. The "new" 128 (formerly the D16) debuts in the Aran Nickel Mount P-Lip Two other new series will be appearing soon. First is Deluxe Classic. This series will be a selection of high grades—non-Systems with classic mounts. It’s a revival of the old Deluxe series of sorts, but we’ve added a new twist. We’ll be offering three finishes: Natural, Terracotta, and PSB. Each shape will feature…