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Los Angeles – With the Screen Actors Guild
Awards being given a waiver in the ongoing Writers
Guild strike against producers, the stars came
out in January for the event and so did the cigars.
C.A.O., which under lifestyle
marketing chief Jon Huber, is
one of the most active participants in entertainment
awards programs, was sampling its cigars in the
private HBO S.A.G. Awards Luxury Lounge at the
Four Seasons Hotel near Beverly Hills.
"We handed out approximately 65 C.A.O.
Sopranos samplers (4 cigars/sampler) and another
40 boxes of C.A.O. Vision Catalyst (20 cigars/box)," said
Huber, successfully placing his brand with high-profile
performers who came to the Luxury Lounge as guests
of HBO and who will now at least try the brand,
if they are not already a C.A.O. smoker. Among
those who picked up cigars were acting stars Hector
Elizondo, Martin Lawrence and Joe
Mantegna, English comedian Ricky
Gervais and actress Perrey Reeves ("Mrs.
Ari" in "Entourage").
And, naturally, there were plenty of takers
from the cast of "The Sopranos," including
creator and head writer David Chase and
actors Tony Sirico ("Paulie
Walnuts"), Steve Schirripa ("Bobby
Bacala") and John Ventimiglia ("Artie
Bucco").
>> A company called ACME Sports
and Entertainment, headquartered in
Florida, announced on January 30 that it plans
to open three coffee and cigar bars in the
Tampa area in February under the name "Casa
Havana Coffee Bars & Cigars."
"With many states now banning cigar smoking
in restaurants, bars and public areas," said
company chief Thomas Kozlowski, "cigar
bars are the last safe haven for smokers. Casa
Havana plans to fill that substantial void by
offering an elegant coffee/cigar bar concept
nationwide."
The company announcement did not name the locations,
but did say that one additional Casa Havana store
would be added per month beginning in March,
with locations already identified in Atlanta,
Chicago, Miami, New York and Orlando.
>> The final totals from the tender period
for Altadis, S.A. stock to Imperial
Tobacco showed that 95.8 percent of
the company’s shares were sold to the British
tobacco giant. With the acceptance rate at more
than 90 percent, the remaining shares are required,
by Spanish law, to be sold to Imperial at its
50 Euro offer price.
Imperial said in a statement last week that it
expects such transactions to be completed around
February 21 and Altadis will be de-listed from
the Spanish and French stock exchanges, ending
the existence of a tobacco giant that lived less
than a decade in its final form.
>> Short fillers: What is the genesis
of the well-known phrase, "Close, but no
cigar"? There are many opinions on this
topic, but here’s what we believe is the
right answer: Cigars were an extremely popular
item, and along with pipes, the preferred method
of consuming tobacco in the U.S. in the 19th
Century. As such, cigars were used as prizes
in various contests, including those at carnivals
and state fairs. So, if you competed in a game
of skill at a local carnival, there was a good
chance that instead of a stuffed animal, you
might be competing for a cigar. Hence the retort
from the game operator to a losing contestant: "close,
but no cigar."
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Heard in the Humidor is a
publication of Perelman, Pioneer & Company of
Los Angeles, California, USA. Copyright 2007;
All rights reserved.
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