September 2nd, 2008

1 Photo is worth a thousand words

August 26th, 2008

Gigantic Iranian Hookahs

Check these realy big Iranian hookahs out on the video at 8:04

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King Cole is smoking a hookah and is serenaded by his three violinists (1746-1704 / 010095-c)

Portrait of Sir Thomas Phillips in Eastern Costume, Reclining with a Hookah Giclee Print by Richard Dadd

Druzes

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August 16th, 2008

“The Thief of Bagdad”

You Tube downloads of the film which can be played as a list

The Thief of Bagdad (1940)

Find the whole movie on YouTube

the first link is a smaller screen and the second link much better and larger

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=CjjoDiMdI_E

or

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August 9th, 2008

1824 First-Hand Hookah in Calcutta,India

(Permission granted by author) :

I was reading a book this week about various first hand personnal stories and views on Calcutta,India from the time it was first built by a private British citizen 200 plus years ago until the squallor of today.
One short chapter was written by Fanny Parkes in 1824 and she has a mention on hookahs. No copyright infrigements here as the editor of the book states that short portions can be used for reviews. looking online, I found many searches available for this “white english woman” who became Indian in culture after many years.
http://www.google.com/search?q=fanny+parkes&rls=com.microsoft:en-us&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&startIndex=&startPage=1
The illustrations she drew of her travels were amazing.
Quote : author Fanny Parkes

“Begums,Thugs, and White Mughals” 1824 (”Thug” originally a Bengali word)
“To a person fresh from england, the number of servants attending at a table is remarkable. We had only a small party of eight to dinner yesterday, including ourselves;
three-and-twenty servants were in attendance! Each gentleman takes his own servants in number from one to six , and each lady her attendant or attendants ,as pleases her fancy.

The HUQQA was very commanly smoked,at that time in Calcutta : before dinner was finished , each man’s pipe was behind his chair.The tobacco was generally so well prepared that the odour was not unpleasant, unless by chance you sat next to a man from the “mofusill” {(suburbs) unlike American suburbs etc, those were what would be called”the sticks” where “hillbillies “of India! lived}, when the fume of the spices used by the up -country HUQQA “Bardars” (Huqqa Bardar is the private servant tending each hookah) preparring the tobacco ,rendered it oppresive and disagreeable.”
Images by Fanny Parkes :
note :
shisha was preparred by the hookah bardar using dry leaves of tobacco, rinsing and sometimes soaking with water, squeezing out most of the water leaving the tobacco clump moist, spreading out the clump and adding the “Sahib”’s (Master’s)favourite spices or tastes and adding honey in rare cases since the tobacco was wet and required no addition of gycerine like we use.
Wouldn’t be suprised if there are many accounts of hookah use from the 17th or 18th century first hand.
I remember around 4 pages of a Rudyard Kipling short story where he wrote in long and great detail about the preparrations, the hookah bardar made, and how people were smoking. I think the Sultan in the group if I remember ground up a large pearl and it was added to his shisha!!! Look online , it could get interesting.
“If you don’t know where you came from, you won’t know where you are going to”.

Hookah 1 Shisha Bubbly Man of many Faces

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August 3rd, 2008

Hookah Domain Forum passes 2000 members!

http://www.hookahdomain.com/profiles/friend/list

Check the link and go see Hookah Domain Forum’s site. Its very friendly and informative. They passed 1000 members not so long ago and now pass the 2000 member mark!

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July 26th, 2008

Sly as a Fox :Summer Sale

You’ll find the great Summer Sale from Smoking-Hookah.com is still going on 4 U. Many new hookahs have been brought into stock and are on sale . These are brand new hookahs only by Smoking-Hookah.com, and revealed there for the first time.

Smoking-Hookah.com prides itself on buying the best hookahs right here in the Middle-East and sends them from addresses on the east and west coasts of the U.S.A. quickly to you.

link:

http://www.web-view.net/Show/0X82D302A417CADA8BC0FF84AF72DB88EE609258677AA1D9266DDF4A57ECC96CCF.htm

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July 22nd, 2008

15% off All Sales on “Hookah Domain” forum

Its Xmas early this summer!

Smoking-Hookah.com

http://www.smoking-hookah.com/

is giving ONLY to members registered at “Hookah Domain” forum a 15% off on any sale.

See ad on below link :

http://www.hookahdomain.com/

You have to prove membership upon ordering.

Just in time- came in many brand new items at Smoking-Hookah.com

Main hookah page

http://www.smoking-hookah.com/Store/Hookahs.asp

Basketball hookah

http://www.smoking-hookah.com/Products/Hookah/The-Basket-Ball-Hookah.asp

Soccer ball hookah

http://www.smoking-hookah.com/Products/Hookah/The-Glowing-Soccar-Ball-Hookah.asp

The Blue Fish hookah

http://www.smoking-hookah.com/Products/Hookah/The-Blue-Fish-Hookah.asp

The Sea Horse hookah

http://www.smoking-hookah.com/Products/Hookah/The-Sea-Horse-Hookah.asp

So…get on your sea horse and see the other great shisha brands, Arab head scarves,accessories and the 32 inch Malibu Hookah!

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July 18th, 2008

Shisha Videos

Here is where I put down my proverbial pen and shut my big mouth. If it has been the statement “A picture is worth a thousand words”, than a video is worth easilt a million pictures, no Sachbi?

I don’t have to worry about letting out the secret of my resources, obviously “YouTube.com” is the place to find good videos on any subject.

When you want to see DIY hookah videos or tips the only problem is weeding out the bad videos from the good. You would have to type in “hookah,shisha,tobacco, hookah tips,hookah recipies” etc. If you write in the search box either hookah or shisha you shouldget them all.

But I would like to show a few of the videos from my very favourite hookah forum, with almost 1800 members and growing rapidly. Of course THE hookah forum I refer to is

“Hookah Domain” Hookah Forum

http://www.hookahdomain.com/

I’ll tell you why I prefer Hookah Domain forum compared to the “Top Selling Brand” of hookah forums. I was a member there, and its well run, policed a bit too tightly and worse, no one’s opinion is respected. The general flow sounds like 25 wine con-es-sewers sitting in one room and showing off their expertise. Hookah Domain is very friendly, respect is a given thing that so far no one has been told to uphold. Its more laid back and generous with beginners feeling free to ask questions and not feeling like a demi-god may stoop to answer if they are lucky. Nuff said,

Here are a few videos which I am taking off You tube from Hookah Domain members.

Elisha’s first review.

Making hookah bubbles, what lots of people do instead of studying for their next test.

some Hookah Music :

Sam and the Pharoah’s I remember this when it was a hit in 1964.

Short Iran satire ad on Israeli T.V.

Israeli satire on Jewish Hasidim T.V. ad

(They dress just like I do)

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July 13th, 2008

Enjoy your hookah summer

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July 10th, 2008

Nakhla “Special class” shisha review

The Hookah Lounge

Special Shisha review

Some people like Nakhla brand shisha from Egypt, some consider it “dry” shisha and not worth the effort to try.

Its true that Nakhla has a low level of glycerin in the shisha mix, but in experimenting a while back, I took some of my favourite flavours and added a bit more glycerin.It normally has around 24%. In adding a teaspon of glycerin to about 25-30 grams to Nakhla I found the taste diminished every time. I guess they have the right mix ratio for their product.

In case you never had these new, special Nakhla exotic tastes, link here to see

http://www.smoking-hookah.com/Products/Shisha/Nakhla-Exotic-175gr.asp

Chocomint,Earl Grey ,cinnamon,tropicana,cardamon, and margurita flavours.

The chocomint is wonderful can’t say enough good about it.

Earl Grey (tea) flavour? Well honestly I love Earl Grey Tea my favourite tea and I drink tea all day, but as a shisha, I found it to taste too much like tea leaves, no way.

I found this cinnamon much better than others I’ve had, like Al-Sultan cinnamon. Nakhla makes it much better.

Tropicana and Margurita are quite exotic and fine to smoke.

Cardammon (hel) Arabic spice for Turkish Coffee was a good idea on their part no one else makes that, but its way too strong a taste. Maybe mixing it with mint, or coffee would be wise.

http://www.smoking-hookah.com/Products/Shisha/Nakhla-Exotic-175gr.asp

Hookah 1