Remind me to bring this up at FLEM Mark II. There are some interesting developments in my search for the holy grail. Still not practical, mind you. The overlapping/adjacent beams (either with knife-edge mirrors or an axicon like The Doctor proposed) are still the only real way to go. But with Bill Gates' money, there is another option. (Just not for us mortals)
Great pics, btw. Always nice to see big ion gear, even if I can't afford it.
As for the cig lighting, you *can* do that with a 4 watt CNI green... (Too bad I don't have one lying around or I'd video myself lighting a Macanudo Portofino and post it here.)
Adam