I just read that the Bruins re-signed Free Agent Center David Krejci and while this isn't necessarily a sports/bruins blog I do love me some sports and I do love me this re-signing of Krecji. GREAT SUCCESS!!!
Now, the real reason for posting this, I just really like the picture. Oh, and to let you know that I'm back state side. Actually, I'm in my office typing this story that informs many a internet reader that the Toast be back. Pics and stories from Ireland to come. For those who are wondering, the term "sheer awesomeness" does not do the country justice.
This little quote was taken from an ESPN.com article that I was reading this morning about 40 current baseball players that could also become potential MLB Hall of Famers. Oddly enough, while I whole heartedly disagree with the use of performance enhancing drugs in sport and these individuals that have been caught in the act are getting what they ultimately deserve for cheating the sport and it's fans; I am sorta pickin' up what this Schoenfield guy is puttin' down with his whole take on steroids and those ever-so-dear records in Major League Baseball.
25. Gary Sheffield Not that anybody asked, but here's my opinion on the whole steroids issue: Who gave the baseball writers the right to be moral arbiters of the Hall of Fame? Are we supposed to pretend Mark McGwire's accomplishments didn't happen? You can't go back and rewrite history; McGwire competed in real games that counted in real standings, and he helped his team win a lot of those games. You can't erase that from the record books. It happened. You might disagree with how he achieved it, but it happened. It's not an issue of morality, and the BBWAA's anti-McGwire stance -- assuming his guilt -- isn't any different a witch hunt.
As for Sheffield, he probably doesn't have a snowball's chance of being elected under the current voting climate. He was linked to Barry Bonds and Victor Conte's cream; he wasn't the easiest guy to like. But he was a devastating hitter and helped his team win a lot of games. And isn't that the point?
A sidenote if I may; I do really hate Gary Sheffield. However, he was/still can be a devastating hitter, has helped his team win a lot of games, and still does scare the shit out of me when I see him in the batter's box. But yeah....I don't see him heading to the Hall at all. Not one bit.
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!!
Man, Alice in Chains was a good time in their day. There is something about Layne Staley's voice that just causes you to be intrigued. Combine that with a little bit of harmonizing with Jerry Cantrell, plus some of his ominous guitar, and you've got a band that was turning some serious tricks in the early 90's. It's just too bad Staley couldn't kick that nasty smack habit. Take that as a lesson kids. Only take what you can handle and ALWAYS know your dealer.
Anywho, lets get to the meat and potatoes of this thing. After a few months of postponement on my part, I am now, once again, officially living the proverbial dream, if by dream you mean rocking early 90's grunge while at work or the random zany oddball 80's tune on the way home from the gym. You see, a while back my I-Pod, which typically stores approximately 70 gigs of beats, had a little hiccup in its ability to work properly and thus all information was promptly deleted causing me to just load up what music I had stored on my laptop as I was at the office at the time of aforementioned hiccuping. What I was left with was about 10 gigs of tunes, some of the favorites I guess you can call them. Spinning the favorites, that was me.
Well, after a few months time, even the favorites can almost wear on you. I mean, I don't know about you, but I can never tire of the guitar solo in Pearl Jam's "Even Flow". That being said, you still just gotta branch out people. I shouldn't have to tell you this but there is a bit more out there than just Greatest Hits compilations. And, on cue, enter one of my most prized possessions, my portable hard drive. 320 Gigs loaded to the gills with sick beats, random shows, basically all of the music that I have collected over the past 15 years. If that thing ever goes in a fire, I'm toast. HA! Get it?! No, in all seriousness, if I lose that hard drive, I may very well drive into a bridge embankment.
So, where is all this going you may ask. Well, I finally took the time to reload my I-Pod with some new stuff; hence the Alice in Chains talk. Quite a bit to choose from, and unfortunately, still some more work to be done as I-Tunes is unable to convert some of these music files so this is going to require a bit of ripping albums to the program itself. Looks like someone has a project for the weekend. JACKPOT!! Hours spent with nonsense in front of a computer, that doesn't sound familiar at all.
Its gonna be sooo worth it though. If it is any close to the enjoyment that I'm getting out of Dirt then I'm going to rock the shit out of it!! I've got quite the mix of albums lined up for my work day today. Obviously we started with some well deserved AIC and its only going to get more random, yet awesome, from here. We've got Nirvana's Bleach, a whole mess of early Chili Peppers, and Badmotorfinger by Soundgarden to get to. And that's only the morning. Wait till the afternoon when we "wind down" with all the Jethro Tull you can handle. Oh man, I can't wait for "Minstrel in the Gallery". Sometimes I wish I worked at a radio station; I would have made a hell of a DJ.
Not too long ago I noticed an advertisement online for an exhibit at the Smithsonian International Gallery here in D.C. so over the weekend that came complete with an under the weather Kool-Aid, nasty forecasts for the out-of-doors, and just a general thirst of all things knowledgeable, an outing was planned to give said exhibit a good once over. Oh...did I not mention what was to be the substance of this temporary Smithsonian exhibit; the reason for this most recent museum outing?? Sorry. Basically all can rejoice for your good pal Toastie as this past weekend, with Kool-Aid in tow, he went and saw a bunch of Muppets.
That's right!! The Smithsonian has put together an exhibit devoted to the life and work of the great Jim Henson, a native of these parts, simply titled: Jim Henson's Fantastic World and I spent the better part of an afternoon heading to the District to soak it in. As a huge Muppets fan back in my day, it was safe to say that this kid was "living the dream". Truth be told, I wasn't officially "living the dream" until we hit up a local sandwich joint called Potbelly's for a tasty toasty roast beef sandwich treat. What??? With the hot peppers, you kidding me??
But let's get back to Henson for a moment. He truly was a visionary for both entertainment and for children's education. I know I probably wouldn't be here right now if it weren't for all he did with children's television programming. And where exactly would I be you ask, probably still trying to figure out how to get these shirt buttons all done up correctly. Ah..that Sesame Street, works wonders I tells ya. Not only that, but any program from the Jim Henson's Television Workshop brought with it not only viewing pleasure for us wee lads and lasses back in the day, but a great deal of education of a wide array of subjects. They did their best to make you well rounded by teaching children tolerance, fair play, interracial equality, and so on. The Muppets and all Henson programming was a staple in the Toast's house during his younger years. And don't get me wrong, its good for grown ups too. Hell, even today I own The Muppet Show on DVD. Throw that in the player and try not to have a good time. Go ahead...I dare you.
But going to this exhibit over the weekend brought back a lot of memories from my childhood and it really got me thinking about the differences between now and then, how things used to be. Times really have changed even though it seems as though only a few years have passed, everything is different. Whether it my life (I'm old), technology (I can't seem to keep up anymore), the types of commercials and programming on T.V. (doesn't seem to even seem compare now-a-days), the direction of things like our country and family values (I don't even know what to think anymore), etc.; the Muppets...Muppets are what got me to thinking like this. And what exactly is a Muppet? They're not quite mops, they're not quite a puppet, but man… (laughs hysterically) So to answer your question, I don’t know."
Thank god for the obligatory Simpsons quote; always there when you're in a pinch and need to find a way to end a blog post. You've got me out of a jam yet again. Oh well, we'll catch you on the flip flop kids. You take 'er easy. Toast OUT!
