Nothing real original about all of this you see below. Just a quick cumulative list of the kick-ass that's happened this past year. Enjoy!!
- Saw Eddie Vedder at the Warner Theatre here in DC. - My nephew Callan was born on April 20, 2008 - Work promotions and pay increases, who knew?!?!?! - The Giants winning what was probably the best Super Bowl of my lifetime (so far)
- Going whitewater rafting in West Virginia in October - Seeing Pearl Jam again with the Chuck - High fives - Heading down to Florida for my buddy Matt's wedding - Johnny Lester not only says eat shit to cancer but also no hits the Royals - Spending a weekend in Virginia Beach with Kool-Aid - Getting to know "the inlaws" a bit more only to discover that they really like me - Singing "Rock and Roll Part II" aboard Philly's subway system (yeah, I wasn't aware they had one either) - Same weekend, "Too Legit 2 Quit" on Jitter's roof deck - Radiohead outdoors in the rain here in VA. - The Bruins return to NHL prominance - Toastedblog's rise from the ashes like the magnificient Phoenix, or some other town in Arizona - I've decided to grow my hair long and you know what, it's none too shabby - Spending this past Christmas with my entire family, first time we've been all together for some time - Becoming friends with D.C. and with all its faults, I am really happy here - My sister getting married - Chipwiches - Mutha-fuckin' Giants!! - Work people beginning to learn about how awesome I can be, rather than just a dude in an office - Taking Kool-Aid to a boat-load of games (Giants v. Cowboys, a number of Nats games, Manny's 500th HR in Baltimore) - Going with Kool-Aid to a few moe. shows - Tina Fey - And of course, another year with the Kool-Aid. Can't beat that deal with a stick! - Barack Obama - The Dark Knight - Frequently making your own pizza - Cheap gas!! - the baconator
Happy New Year people, we'll catch you in '09!! Be safe and if you see me around midnight, don't be hesitant with that whole kiss thing.
All throughout the 12 hour drive yesterday from Jacksonville, FL to the District this song was in my head, even as I listened to quite a few other tunes. It should also be mentioned that this is so not a bad thing. Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you "Aurora" by the Foo's.
You gotta love that Dave Grohl, he can sing so pretty yet sounds can turn on the badass should the opportunity present itself. Don't believe me, go dig up "Monkey Wrench" on Youtube after "Aurora" has run its course. Niiice.
Initially this post was to be something of substance, but following my aforementioned 12 hour trek yesterday, my brain is a bit fried. The Foo Fighters will have to do for now. Any issues, take them up with management. Hope you all found a way to enjoy the Holiday. More zany Toast adventures to come.
Good Morning Kids. Well..the Toast has the Passat all packed with Rocky in tow (my stuffed Raccoon/first material possession who often accompanies me on road trips) and is heading South for a few days to spend Christmas at my sister's in Jacksonville, FL. It's going to be a bit weird spending the Holidays in 80 degree weather and on a beach but I think I'll get by. What might be even weirder is the outcome of us Cregg's getting together as the next few days marks the first time in about 5 years or so that my entire "nuclear" family will be together, in the same room. My mother flew down from Chigago, my father is flying down from back home in Syracuse today, my brother has been living down in Jacksonville for the past few months and my sister, well she's lived there for quite a bit now. Given my parents' affinity to not get along, and the past that I've had with my mother, this could be interesting, however, I think we'll get into the spirit of Holiday without the aid of too much alcohol. I know we're Irish, but the fact that Callan, my 8 month old nephew, is experiencing his first Christmas well that should hopefully be enough to get us Cregg's in the mood to be around each other with little to no issues.
All that thrown out at you, I am looking forward to this a bit. I mean, the first time in 5 years, that's a little ridiculous if you ask me. Plus I am eagerly awaiting spending time with my rather large little brother, its been too long since we've gotten together as well. So there it is, 5 days in sunny Florida with the family over Christmas. Good times, good times. If I don't get back at ya, I want to wish all of you a Merry Christmas and the Toast here will catch ya soon. I'm out!!!
Sweet sassy molassy; get out the checkbook and pay grandma for the rubdown. For the second consecutive week, I was forced to stay up late on a Sunday night to watch the Giants. This time, my team didn't look like a collective ball of ineptitude. I should rephrase that, for one half and an overtime period they didn't look like a collective ball of ineptitude.
Last night, the Giants decided to stick with their game plan which was the following: "we're going to run the ball down your throat; come try and stop us". Even when down 21 to 10 and the game looked like it was starting to get away from them as the Panthers had scored touchdowns on their first three possessions, the Giants stayed in character as a running team and with that plan set in motion they ran to the tune of over 300 yards as a team ultimately beating the Panthers in overtime, 34-28.
Now, while I realize that the outcome of this game could have been a whole hell of a lot different had John Kasay nailed his attemted 50 yard field goal with 9 seconds remaining but it certainly is nice to see the Giants regain a bit of their swagger. The difference maker for this team simply put, is Brandon Jacobs. When you have the power to pound a defense and run through a stacked 8 man defensive front, it just opens everything else up. True, the team does miss Plaxico and his ability to draw coverage, but Jacobs is all energy, power, and anger rising, and this is something that the team needs and gets with him in the lineup.
While Jacobs was the back that brought the much needed energy to the entire Giants Offense (i.e. Shockey's role but without the bitching and all the dropped balls), the man who really benefited from Jacobs being back in the lineup was Derrick Ward. The past few weeks with Jacobs on the sidelines, Ward was the featured back and without Jacobs's punishing runs wearing down the Defense, Ward almost looked a step slower. Last night was the exact opposite. Jacobs ran for 80 something tough yards and three touchdowns and Ward was able to hit every hole the Offensive Line created hard and was in the secondary before the Panthers Front 7/8 often knew what was going on out there. Hell, he had runs of 34, 22, 37, 51, 14, and 17 yards last night, the majority of which were in the Second Half when he tends to do most of his damage as a change of pace back.
I'm just glad that the Giants remembered how they are capable of playing and despite all the team has endured the last few weeks, they were able to step up and play when it mattered. They may not be in the same place as they were earlier in the season, and as mentioned this win did come down to a missed field goal in the closing seconds, but this team set out to do something last night (run the ball) and I guess 300+ yards, well that means they succeeded. You know what I always say: "In my book, you gotta get to White Castle before the weirdos show up."
The various teams here at the office have specifically gone out of their way to decorate their respective areas in the spirit of Christmas. In another spirit, competition, some sort of prize, or treat, is being promised to the team with the best/most original decoration. In his continuing effort to buck the norm, the Toast has done his own part.
"FESTIVUS IS BACK!! I'll go get the pole from the crawl space."
That's right internet audience. The Toast here has the pole up and ready. The beauty here is all in it's subtlety. While most folks at the work place have Christmas cutouts all over the walls, file cabinets wrapped up like giant gifts, and that distracting tinsel all to and fro, I sit with an aluminum pole set up outside my office, a sign on the wall that says "Festivus Yes! Bagels No!", and a clip board to list "the airing of grievances". If I don't win something here, I'm calling shenanigans.
Happy Festivus Everyone!! We still have a few days till the actual Holiday is upon us but if its not worth starting to celebrate now, I don't want to be a part of it.
Not gonna lie to you internet audience, the Toast here flies by the seat of his pants. He walks to the beat of his own drum. More importantly, the Toast is an ever evolving mantastic mass of awesomeness that seems to know no bounds.
Now, while all of this is quite fantastically awesome in it's own right, the Toast is certainly not without his share of flaws. I mean, I. I am certainly not without my share of flaws. One of my more potent flaws just happens to be, I can take forever when it comes to gettin' around to shit. This is just something I have struggled with my whole life. I'm not really talking about imperative shit mind you, its more things that are suggested to this fella to check out. Sometimes, I'm all over it like my buddy Willie Moe and bitterness. Other times, I just file these suggestions under "eh..I'll get to them later" and rarely do they ever come to light. It's quite sad really, as my friends are taking their time to share things with me that they value, and I just shrug them off like I do with other suggestions such as obeying local traffic laws, proper golf ettiquette, and clothing requirements while in public. Let's just see you try to not serve me just 'cause I'm only in underpants; I want an ham, egg, and cheese on a pumpernickel bagel dammit. This no pants thing is just trivial horse hockey. For the birds I tells you, for the G.D. birds.
So, get on with it you say. Stop the stalling?? Eh, I suppose you're right. Well, picking up where I left off, I've been trying to get to a few of these suggestions that people have thrown my way and I'm not gonna lie to you, most of them revolve around various forms of entertainment to check out. Where this post goes from here is telling you folks at home some of the nonsense that I am getting myself into of late and why it kicks so much ass. You know what, I need to start listening to my friends more often. Who knew they liked so much cool shit?!?!
Uncle Tupelo
Originally, I think I was told to check out Uncle Tupelo on the way back from a baseball road trip by good pal Dunford as we had Wilco's "A Ghost is Born" playing as we trekked back towards Central NY. You know what, this was like almost 5 years ago. Since then, numerous friends, many from the same social circle (Danny, Javen, Billy Ball, I'm looking at you here) have suggested to me the very same thing. "Oh Toastie, you need to listen to Uncle Tupelo, they the shit. Jeff Tweedy used to be in them before Wilco." My response was always the same" "Aw..sweet, I really should look into that." Instead, do you know what I did, ignore it and fucking deal with the same shit that I've been listening to for-fucking-ever. What an asshole I am. Or was. Whatever.
Now, what really blows my mind is the fact that I've been a Wilco fan for quite some time, quite some time before Tupelo was lobbed my way like a slow pitch softball, one that I should have crushed out of the park and been jamming to ever since. Instead, I ignored this advice for years, never getting around to picking up an album. What's even worse is that I didn't give my friend's a fair shake and chose to listen to others to find new music. Hell, I downloaded a shitload of The Mars Volta because some random told me they jammed like crazy years before I finally went out and got "Anodyne", which was just a few weeks ago. You ever listen to The Mars Volta?? Eh, it's interesting, but kickass it unfortunately is not. You know what is kickass by the way?? I think you folks can tell where this is going. Mmmm..drink it in, that Alt-Country always goes down smooth.
Watchmen
By now, a lot of you have probably seen the following preview.
Some of you are probably saying: "Jebus, another comic book movie?? I'm not sure if I can take a chance on another one, especially after those Fantastic Four movies sucked balls."
You best pump your breaks!! Currently, I am reading the graphic novel that inspired what is probably going to be the most awesome movie that I've ever seen. Yup, the book is that good. So, the point I am trying to make is, why the hell did I take so long to read this summbitch??? For years, friends have tried to appeal to the uber-dork in me. You know, the one that read comic books. My trying to figure out what this movie was all about was what recently caused me to finally go out and pick it up. This was definitely not a mistake, not in the least. If you need my endorsement to check out Watchmen, well then you've officially gotten the green light. It really is that awesome!! Blew me away I can tell yous.
Quick Sidenote: You gotta love "Take A Bow" by Muse in that trailer. Man, Muse is the tops!! Get hit with the whole tune below. BOO-YAH!!!
Sugar Snap Peas
I don't like peas. Never have, probably never will. This stems from my childhood days on a night when my Aunt Mary was babysitting my sister, brother, and I. I don't know, had to be about 4. During dinner, I was told to finish my peas. I objected claiming that I would throw up if I did. I was then forced to finish said peas. I then threw up. Since, I have never eaten a pea. Any dish that I was served from that moment on that had peas in it, I would take upwards of a half hour picking out every single cold and mushy pea. Do you have any idea of the patience necessary to pick peas out of Tuna Noodle Casserole?? I might as well have been a priest.
Anywho, just recently I have started buying up these Green Giant frozen, boil in the bag, steam in the bag, what-have-you vegetables as I'm looking to clean house following an extended period of not working out so hard/playing rugby due to an injured back. These little things are delicious. At about one Toastie sized serving per small package, they are great for a quick meal when getting back from the gym, heating up for work lunches, or just to add a quick shot of some good for you shit to any meal. One particular type of these little beauties has potato wedges, red peppers, and a whole mess of sugar snap peas. I was first a little wayward when I decided to pick it up from my local grocer's freezer. But, I remembered, I used to not like a lot of things, why not give this a shot??
These little sons of bitches are delicious. They're sweet and crisp; and they have this good sauce on them sometimes. You can even just put some pepper on them and go to town...in a healthy way. Folks, that ain't bad!!
So there you have it, and that's just a taste of what this kid has been finally following through on. Sorry that its been a while since a real post kids. Things are busy on this end. But don't worry, Uncle Toastie hasn't forgotten about you. Take 'er easy folks, I'm out for now!!
Now I don't watch Saturday Night Live, nor have I ever seen "Hot Rod" or "Space Chimps" (not that I ever will) but this Samberg guy pops up every now and then and what I'm left with is something that's actually pretty damn funny. Makes me wonder what's going on the rest of the time.
Just let me rant here; vent if you will. The past few days of coming into work have been a little bit awkward and frankly, just plain depressing. Like many companies, mine is finding that the current state of the economy is causing the whole being successful and making money thing to be just a tad bit difficult. To deal with this, my company has decreased goals a bit and, more importantly, attempted to cut overhead. What is the easiest way to do that internet audience?? You guessed it, to cut jobs, which is what happened here at my office last Wednesday.
So, not gonna lie to you, things since are on edge here at the workplace, even though the rest of us have been told that we're safe. But the fact remains, once a few jobs and a bit of overhead has been chopped, what happens in six months when the economy continues to struggle?? My team had our weekly meeting this morning and it was as negative an atmosphere that I've been a part of in quite a while. I tried to do my best to bring some bright spots and energy in but that was quickly squashed by the negative attitudes that joined me in the room.
It's just such a difficult scenario to work in and I guess all that I am trying to do is go out and make it known, even if it is just me spitting out some of the random on this here blog. After my two hour morning meeting of shit, I just wanted to put on my coat, put my laptop in my bag, and hit the bricks. To be honest, I still want to do that as the expressions of every one's face around me clearly demonstrates where their mind is at. Maybe tomorrow will be different, but the empty offices around me suggest that it may very well take a little while for things to get normal-esque again. Oh well, at least "The Dark Knight" comes out tomorrow. That shit was the shit!!
It's fucking Friday already?!?! When did this happen?!?! The week is over?!?! Well nobody told me!! How am I supposed to keep things straight when I have no idea what day it is?!?! What was that you said?? It's not even November any more?!?! I gotta pump the breaks here, at least take a knee for a quick breather.
This mid-week Eagles of Death Metal tribute has got to stop...or does it?? My reaction when I first saw this video a couple years back was priceless, especially when Hughes starts solo-ing for the first time with the girl in the motel room. Damn that sexy!!
"Woooooo!!" Gotta love the Eagles of Death Metal I tells ya. "Boots Electric" and "Baby Duck"!! "The Devil" and "Carlo Von Sexron"!! Whatever alias you want to call them Jesse Hughes and Queens of the Stone Age's own Josh Homme have booty shaking, psychedelic, glam rock down pat. While back home over the holiday weekend I met up and had a few beers with "Karate" Jim, a fellow EODM fan, and their latest album "Heart On". I had yet to pick it up and pretty much freaked on me. Needless to say I got my hands on it the other day and have been gettin' down with the getdown ever since. As Hughes puts it, "Heart On" is:
"EODM's latest fabulous weapon, a top-secret music missile, a sonic warhead sexually tipped for her pleasure, shot from the deck of USS EODM Mantastic Fantastic."
Well, it sure is hard to come up with an arguement to tackle all that. "Karate" Jim was right to freak on me as this album is vintage dude rock wrapped up with a little bit of sexy. Oddly enough, I actually had the opportunity to see EODM recently as they were in the District about a month ago. The reason why I say "opportunity" back there rather than refer to "that kickass time I saw the Eagles of Death Metal"?? It was a Wednesday night show. Great Caesar's Ghost I'm sad. That night, I was probably in my jammies by ten instead of groovin' and shakin' to some sweet booty rock.
Now, unfortunately I had some difficulty in obtaining a real video of some of their tunes off this new album so you can see EODM in all their tight pants wearing glory. That being said, some genius found a way around this and put something up on youtube, of which you will see some examples below. Both are pretty choice and so far are my tops for the album!! Now come get a taste of some of this hot stuff comin' through. Ooh!!
