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The Best of Talbert Briar in 2001

2001 was a terrible year! It started off poorly for me with a lot of damaged and discarded work from the 2000 Yule Pipes and seemed to go downhill from there. The economy was lousy, businesses seemed to be going bankrupt left and right, and the whole thing climaxed with the World Trade Center attack. I think this will be a year that we remember for the rest of our lives. In the middle of all the chaos I did manage to get some pipes made and, miraculously, even managed to sell them. The 2001 Halloween pipes made a successful follow-up to the 2000 set. 2001 is the year I jettisoned the yearly Yule pipes in favor of the Halloween pipes which were a lot more fun.

The pipes I have chosen to represent this year were picked in a different way. Previously I have just picked my personal favorites, but this year I had an open vote on the Alt.Smokers.Pipes newsgroup to find the "fan favorites." The pipes listed below are the top choices of the collectors who sent in their votes.

• The Zeffan		• Jack of the Lantern		• The Fat Billiard		• The Legolas
• The Mushroom		• The Glastonbury		• The Lampton Worm

I have one more of my own to add here. This one is, in my opinion, the best pipe I made all year and was certainly one of the toughest to make, if not the most difficult so far. It's not as radical as some of the wilder pieces, but the intricate carving was mind-numbing.

	• The Mordred