Told you I'd get around to it.

My enjoyment from this band is growing leaps and bounds everyday.

Finding ways to make awesomeness happen.

Ahoy hoy kids. Man, to try to tell you what my last two weeks have been like would be an expletive laden word jumble resulting in my falling asleep about halfway through. You see Internet audience, the Toast here has had the extreme pleasure of doing the work of 5 and there doesn't seem to be much end in sight. Eh...what are you going to do when you are one that has survived a few sets of layoffs???

However, because of this there have been a few casualties in the Toast's standard day to day. One of which has been frequently updating the daily hilarity on this very blog. That's not good for business, tell you the truth, that's not good for anyone. But what am I supposed to do, blog more often from home????? I didn't have the time to do that before this most recent set of cutbacks, let alone now. By the time I get home from the gym (another "from time to time" casualty of late) I'm so brain dead and drained that I haven't had the cranial capacity to give you the creativity you crave. How's that for alliteration??

No, in all seriousness, I just haven't had a moment to sit and think. Now that doesn't mean that I've forgotten about me public. Oh how you love me. So I am here just to let you know that this train ain't leavin' the station...if you get my drift?? I'll be here, I just have to make an effort, and while this blog began, way back when, as a fun media outlet for the mad-cap world of the Toast; it will continue reign supreme in these tough times. Toastedblog shall be a beacon whose light will shine as bright as the sun. You kids are going to be talking about this shit for some time, I tell you what.

HEEEY!!!

Finally following through on a few things people have been telling me to do for years.

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!!

"The Foot Fist Way"

Instead of writing a little something about the Game 5 of the ALCS like everyone else, I decided to take a different path for this morning's daily nonsense.

"The Foot Fist Way" is a movie that I picked up the other day that has been recommended to me a while back by a very good friend of mine, this guy.

"The Foot Fist Way" is also the movie that I was set to fire up in the ol' DVD player during the top of the 7th inning as the Rays went up 7-0 and couldn't watch my team get absolutely destroyed again.

"The Foot Fist Way" would have been the movie that I was watching instead of the Sox un-FUCKIN'-believable comeback starting with 2 outs in the 7th finally culminating with J.D. Drew's game winning single in the 9th.

"The Foot Fist Way" is just going to have to wait for another day as the Sox are heading to the Trop for Game 6. Movie still looks fucking HI-larious though.


I still don't believe what I saw last night. As my buddy Willie Moe texted me last night: "Why can't they ever do anything the easy way?"

"When you've found something so good it's hard to focus on what's right"

Dear the Frames,

If it's in your power please decide to come back to the East Cost, preferably the Northern VA/Washington DC area, you know, just to do a couple shows. I have recently come in possession of a live show from back in April '07 that was done at a local venue here in the District called the 9:30 Club that was made available through NPR and by god is that a damn fine beat you boys are producing.

Now, your studio stuff is something I have enjoyed for a while and word on the street was that your music should be experienced live because, well for lack of a better term, your shows were just that bad ass. After giving this show the once over I have found myself repeatedly going back to soak it in, and this is from a guy that is out there takin' it to the streets; a man about town who's busy driving fast and taking chances who often doesn't have the time to sit around and listen to two and a half hour concerts with multiple sets.

In this instance however, I have made the time. Now, all that I am asking is that you make the time, just like I have, to stop by and maybe just hit me up for a little bit. I didn't live down in D.C. back in April of '07 and to be honest, it'd be pretty sweet if you would. I realize that you all probably have families and you're away from your homes across the pond in Ireland but I have a family too and my girlfriend is currently none to happy with me, due to a slight misapplication of my time (Oh, don't worry, this one has nothing to do with you, it's all me). Think of what will happen if I continue to devote so much of my time your way. Loss of job?? Loss of significant other?? Drop 20 lbs and wake up three months later to find that I am working in a record store?? Hmm, that last one wouldn't be so bad, at least the record store part, but let's make it 10 lbs, I'm pretty happy with my current frame.

Ok, now I am starting to miss the mark. Anywho, I end now just reinstating how much I would enjoy it if you were to drop by the East Coast here in the states, just for a little while. I'm sure quite a few others would appreciate it to boot as I am telling all the "real" music fans that I encounter about you fellas. Besides, I think there are others that are just like me as well, huge fans of a little known band state side that both love a good show and a fucking damn good time. Just think about it is all.

Regards,

Toastmaster General

P.S. The song "Finally" is the mad note!

"Yippie-ki-yay, Mister Falcon!"

Dennis: Some gay guys are twinks, and others are bears. This gay guy's a bear. By the way we're totally cool with that. To each his own.
Frank: Wait, I'm a little confused here. What's a twink?
Dennis: A twink is small and slender, like Mac.
Mac: Oh no, I'm too muscular, I would be a bear.
Dennis: Ohh don't think so bro. Not hairy enough.
Frank: Smooth. I would be a bear.
Dennis: No no see I don't think you'd be a bear either. As a matter of fact I don't know what you would be because you're definitely not a twink.
Frank: I'd be a top, that's for sure.
Mac: Can a twink be a top, or is that reserved for bears?
Dennis: I'm sure there's a great deal of switching back and forth, but I think more often than not bears are tops, unless they happen to be power bottoms.
Frank: What's a power bottom?
Mac: A power bottom is a bottom that is capable of receiving an enormous amount of power.
Dennis: Actually Mac, you got it backwards. See a power bottom's actually generating all the power by doing most of the work.
Frank: Does the power have to do with the size or the strength of the bottom?
Mac: Now Dennis, I've heard that speed has something to do with it.
Dennis: Speed has everything to do with it. You see the speed of the bottom informs the top how much pressure he's supposed to apply. Speed's the name of the game. Right buddy?

It's exchanges like the above that keep the Toast constantly coming back for more. That, and anything that revolves around Charlie. All that now tossed out at you, the new season of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia premires tonight on FX. Toast is giddy, you've been alerted, and there was much rejoicing. HUZZAH!!

"Too Legit to Quit"!

A nice action shot of the Toast atop Uncle Jitter's roof deck from this past Saturday afternoon. Highs and lows of the weekend as follows:

Highs:
1. Saw a number of high class and stellar dudes
2. Gratuitous Male Hugging
3. Tucker's stri-ped briefs; which were seen, unfortunately not on a near naked Tucker
4. Pictures of Javen's daughter Emma
5. Eating one and a half cheese steaks from both Pat's and Geno's **Sidenote: Pat's is better
6. Engaging in a rousing, impromptu, and completely drunken sing-a-long of Gary Glitter's "Rock and Roll Pt2" on Philly's Mass Transit System (fingers crossed for the soon to be uploaded tell-all video)
7. Got me some more sun
8. Homemade mac and che as Sunday evening return to Fort Awesome comfort food
9. "Too Legit to Quit" everywhere we went. Man....I miss spending all my time with these guys.
10. Drunken and non drunken quoting of Mr. Show, The Simpsons (Too Many Grandma's), Seinfeld, etc. that got the Toast giggling and laughing hysterically.


Lows:
1. Getting so drunk that I was unable to stand (its what 12+ hrs of hard boozin' will do to ya)
2. Billy Ball, Reyn, and Dunford carrying me back to Jitter's house
3. Getting slapped when I became unruly upon my discovery that I would no longer be attending bars with the group (post walking ability loss)
4. Not remembering my apparent wrestling match with Billy Ball on the Philly Streets
5. The aftermath that comes from eating one and a half cheese steaks from both Pat's and Geno's
6. Having to drive home yesterday

See, the good outweighs the bad. It was just a fucking awesome weekend all around. I love my friends. We've got to do it all over again...so very soon.

"You have not been..Paying Attention"

I'm going to see fucking Radiohead; I almost forgot!! It just plain ol' slipped my mind but the Toast and a bevy of assorted ladies and gents get to go check out Radiohead this weekend. Kinda wish it wasn't a Sunday evening show as I have a big, day long pow-wow of a meeting downtown on Monday at 8AM. Can't call in sick to that one I'm afraid. Maybe I'll just tell all dem co-workers I hopped on the wrong metro. Hopefully Kool-Aid can still do that killer metro operator impression.

"Please stand back..doors open on the left." oooh.....(fingers crossed)

You'd have thought that with all of the trouble that went into getting these seats I'd be a little more aware of the goings on. I just hope that I am able to walk on Sunday as us rugby boys have our final game of the spring season on Saturday afternoon and it can come no sooner as I am already having a heap of trouble walking around. Just looking forward to a bit o' rest I suppose. Now where I was I? Oh yeah. RADIOHEAD...WOOO!!!!