The Fresh Toast knows how to party in style: With 250 of our closest supporters gathered for a launch event to remember.
On Oct. 5, friends, supporters, investors and media colleagues celebrated the official launch of The Fresh Toast at Campeon, blocks from Union Square in NYC. We “toasted” with peanut butter and jelly on toast and popped the bubbly to celebrate the site designed to be a place of delight, discovery and big sides of cannabis. Tacos, gummy bears, quesadillas and brownies made their way around the room, along with festive green jello shots.
Guests includes journalists, editors and publishers from The New Yorker, The Today Show, Huffington Post, CNN, Yahoo, Amazon TV, US Weekly, The Daily News, executives from HEED, J. Walter Thompson Worldwide, Atlantic Records, MWW. During the evening, Keith Shocklee from Public Enemy and friends mingled with Wall Street types and models, while the folks from Ruckus, the company that built The Fresh Toast website, took humorous photos in the photobooth area.
Photo by Michael Discenza via Unsplash
Photo by CasarsaGuru/Getty
“We ask each one of you to be part of The Fresh Toast family,” founder JJ McKay told the crowd. They took a break from the margaritas passed around by Campeon’s stellar staff to hear McKay speak on the mission and enthusiasm for what’s to come. He highlighted the accessible, informative coverage featured in our HighWay and Rx sections — if you haven’t yet, check out our work on the truth behind marijuana prohibition and the deal with those pro-cannabis television ads popping up in California — and asked those present to send their hilarious stories in for our Hot Mess section.
McKay has been involved with media since college and has always circled around the industry. He has helped other companies and organizations grow and is bringing his skills to his own company. Populary known as a socialite in Seattle, he is frequently seen at big events in New York and Seattle.
To learn more about what’s coming soon from The Fresh Toast, read the publishers open letter to our readers.
Simon has lived with us for about three and a half years. He came into our home from the local animal shelter. My wife and I were reluctant to adopt him—as kids, we were both highly allergic to cats. But our two daughters really, really wanted him. And he was cute. And we were not about to live with a dog in a Brooklyn apartment. So—Simon.
Over the past few years, he’s gone from being a fairly spazzy kitten—mad-eyed dashes down the hall, intent on destroying any glass that dares sit on a surface with a single swat—to a slightly less spazzy teenager.
But he’s never, until recently, shown much interest at all in our kitchen sink. That changed about a month ago, when Simon became obsessed with our apartment’s kitchen sink. Like—obsessed. It’s the first thing he wants to do each morning—sit at the sink’s edge and lap and slap at a slight trickle from the tap. For many hours each day, he now sits in the sink, waiting for, well, I’m not sure what. Because sometimes I’ll turn the water on and he won’t sip it at all; he just wants to stare. And stare.
About the staring. I’ll often be puttering around our place tidying up, or getting ready to go out, or just moving one pile of mail from here to there, when I’ll look up and catch Simon. And he’s staring at me. Unblinkingly. Or, at least I think he’s staring at me. The truth is, it’s hard to read his eyes, his expression. It’s as if he is in awe of what he’s taking in, as if it’s the most amazing thing he’s ever seen. It’s as if Simon is high.
Photo by Maccabee Montandon
While it’s difficult, or really impossible, for me to know exactly what’s going on in his mind, Simon Le Bon Chat often exhibits behavior we commonly associate not with a sober person, but with someone under the influence. Dude trips out. Further proof that he may, in fact, be high on something occurred a few days ago, when I sat down to catch up on the episode of High Maintenance told from the perspective of a dog named Gatsby.
Until that moment, Simon had shown only casual interest in television. While many critics and viewers love to gush about our golden age of TV and of living in the era of #PeakTV, until that episode of the freewheeling, brilliantly stony show about life in contemporary New York City, Simon couldn’t have been bothered to curl up for even a single episode of any show. For the full 22 minutes of the High Maintenance episode, our cat was entirely transfixed. Didn’t look away. Couldn’t look away.
And sure, as at least one colleague of mine has noted, the dog playing Gatsby did give a transcendent performance.
But can it be pure coincidence that the one episode of any show that Simon has cared about at all occurred in arguably the most weed-friendly program on television?
Whether or not Simon is actually high, there is growing support among pet owners that perhaps he should be high. At least if he ever has to battle a disease or illness. We’ve weighed the pros and cons of giving ailing pets cannabis here before:
In states where medical marijuana is legal, doctors are allowed to recommend the herb to patients. But it remains illegal in all 50 states for veterinarians to do the same. And PETA and the ASPCA do not support cannabis for animals due to this lack of solid data. But anecdotal reports, including mine, suggest that there is a substantial benefit.
There is some evidence that cats respond well to cannabis and other more legally and physiologically complicated drugs. In the 1970s, a professor at the Princeton University Neuroscience Institute named Barry Jacobs studied the effects of LSD on cats. In an interview with Vice, Jacobs noted, among other things, that the animals appeared to be having a good time while on the hallucinogenic, which is considered a Schedule I substance under the Controlled Substances Act.
Here’s Jacobs in that interview:
Some of them ran around like crazy people, bounding around. Can I say they were happy? No, I can’t tell about happiness. But they certainly seemed—can I say they enjoyed it? They were really bounding around as opposed to having behaviors that looked fearful—they just didn’t do that. And a lot of them stared for long periods of time.
Ah yes, the staring. I can relate. This brings us back to Simon. I realize it is highly unlikely that Simon is truly high. Neither my wife nor I have seen any evidence that he’s been secretly smoking out or even nibbling edibles.
But there is no denying that much of the time he certainly acts high. And at the end of the day, what’s the difference? At the end of the day—and in the beginning, too—all Simon really wants to do is hang out in the kitchen sink and watch a trippy TV show starring a fluffy dog and a weed delivery guy.
It seems like years and years have passed since the first presidential debate, when Donald sniffled and Hillary shimmied, but it was only two weeks ago. And now, it’s time for a second meeting between the orange reality TV star and the former Senator. What will happen during this Town Hall-style debate, which very well could determine the next four years of American history? Only the the bigwigs in mainstream media who have rigged it in Hillary’s favor know for sure, but here at The Fresh Toast we take a humorous look at Sunday Night’s Presidential debate.
1). Birds will repeatedly interrupt the candidates. What kind of birds? All kinds. Bluebirds could fly around, a humming bird could get tangled in Trump’s nestlike coif, an eagle could swoop down, or a duck might quack. Can’t wait for the bird GIFs!
2). Hillary Clinton somehow gets a new pantsuit after every question. How’s she do it? Impossible to say, especially when you’ve signed a non-disclosure agreement.
3). “Werner Herzog gives birth to a demon baby that flies through the air on the back of one of those monkeys from the Wizard of Oz and plucks out Trump’s eyes.”
4). More birds will disrupt the candidates. Maybe a cardinal and a seagull this time. Where are they coming from?
5). Donald Trump interrupts Hillary only once, to compliment her for her preparedness.
6). Hillary sings her answers to two consecutive questions while staring directly at Donald, who, unable to meet her gaze, looks at the ground.
7). Donald Trump cancels the debate mid-way through after learning of the “OFFICIAL “PANTSUIT POWER” FLASH MOB FOR HILLARY” because he knows there’s no way he can win against such well-choreographed positivity.
8). Another bird roams the stage. It’s a chicken, but Donald calls it a turkey.
9). Trump will accidentally thank Ivana instead of Melania.
10). Instead of shaking Trump’s hand at the beginning of the debate, Hillary dabs, like this:
11). Donald gives non-answers to questions about his taxes while Hillary makes the jerk-off motion.
12). Donald Trump will mention his Mar-a-Lago property at least twice while talking about Hurricane Matthew.
The Fresh Toast is asking you to Tell Us Your Story about cannabis and your health. We know that there are many of you out there suffering from cancer, multiple sclerosis, Crohn’s disease or other illnesses that can be helped by medical marijuana. We want to share your story.
Today’s story comes from Shelly Bailey, a Seattle chef.
As a chef, I use my arms all day long and all that chopping, stirring and repetitive motion takes a toll. The fact that I have a shattered elbow and a traumatic fracture of the humerus makes my days in the kitchen pure torture sometimes.
Believe me, I’m not complaining. I love my job and enjoy bringing happiness to our guests with gastronomical goodness. But there are days I just want to scream in pain.
Before I talk about my medical awakening, let me tell you my story:
It was a cold December day in 2008 in Seattle. It snowed most of the morning and afternoon. And when it snows in Seattle, they whole city shuts down. The hilly roads freeze into sheets of ice and we’re simply not equipped to handle it. Buses stop running. What few cabs we have are off the streets. And walking is treacherous.
I made it home OK and was about to settle in for the night when my friend called needing a place to stay because she was stranded by the storm. I bundled up and went back out into the cold to pick up my friend and her nearby place of work. On the way home, I stepped off a curb and slipped. My hand hit the curb and my arm bent inside out. The pain was excruciating! I knew the minute I fell that it was serious.
Fortunately, ambulances were still able to get around and I was rushed into the E.R. The surgery went well, but the procedure left me with a metal pins throughout the back of my arm. I was loaded up with painkillers and a quite a few refills for my at-home recovery.
After four months of physical therapy and hydrocodone, I was able to return to work. I was downing a sizable number of ibuprofen and an assortment of other over-the-counter medications, but the pain was still, at times, too much to bear.
It has now been almost eight years since the dreaded ice storm of 2008 and I still suffer from the pain, especially when the seasons change and the weather fluctuates. The pain shoots from my elbow to my shoulder and then to tips of my fingers. If I sleep on my arm wrong, the pain can last for days.
I’ve never been an avid weed smoker, but I did indulge from time to time. I found it helpful for sleep and it seemed to take my mind off the pain. I enjoyed the feeling, but knew I could not partake during the day. I am a chef! Sharp knives need sharp minds and I am not comfortable using psychoactive substances in the kitchen.
The solution? Cannabis salves and lotions. I had never really thought to apply cannabis, I just thought ingesting it was the way to go. I wish I would have known eight years ago what I know today.
I can apply this at work and it helps so much. It almost completely gets rid of the pain. I can still feel pressure in my arm, but I can’t feel the sharp stabbing pains while working.
And using a topical on your skin does not get you high. It just relieves pain.
I also have purchased the salve for my mother who has psoriatic arthritis, and my sister who has tendentious. Both have called to tell me it works for them too!
The sunshine state is known for #Floridaman. Now we have a shirtless guy faces hurricane head on. With the country split in two ahead of next month’s election, it’s important that we remember there are some things we can all agree are truly awesome and uniquely American, things we can all be proud of, like the 1995 Michael Mann classic, Heat. Now we have another addition to that lengthy list: Lane Pittman, who recently headbanged in the face of the year’s most dangerous storm.
On Friday, as Hurricane Matthew raged through his hometown of Jacksonville, Pittman took off his shirt, grabbed a big-ass American flag, hit play on Slayer’s “Raining Blood,” and went outside to face the deadly squall. In a nine-second video, Pittman thrashes his long, orange mane while waiving the huge flag as wind and rain rips past him.
“Had a request for some hair action during the ‘cane. I granted it. #turnt #merica SlayerEmma Watson #hmu #rainingblood #orjustsimplyraining #redhaireverywhere #volumeup,” he wrote on Facebook.
This is exactly what the Founding Fathers had in mind when they told England to fuck off.
The destructive power of storm surge and large battering waves can result in loss of life, buildings destroyed, beach and dune erosion and road and bridge damage along the coast. Storm surge can travel several miles inland. In estuaries and bayous, salt water intrusion endangers public health and the environment.
On last night’s Saturday Night Live, Alec Baldwin revisited his Donald Trump impersonation to address the now-infamous leaked video of him saying vulgar, misogynistic things about women.
The sketch opened with a recreation of last week’s vice-presidential debate, with Beck Bennett’s Mike Pence saying, “[Donald Trump has] never said a single bad thing about women and I dare you to show me a single shred of evidence that proves otherwise,” before cutting to aCNN interview with Baldwin’s Trump in the immediate aftermath of the leaked video’s release.
“Are you not entertained,” Baldwin-as-Trump says almost immediately, before stating the vulgar words Cecily Strong’s Brooke Baldwin isn’t allowed to say on air: “Grab them by the pussy.”
He then tries to “appleagize” to a confused Baldwin, who asks if he meant to say “apologize.”
“I would never do that,” Trump responds. “What I’m doing is appleagizing to all the people who were offended by my statements, but more importantly, to the people who were turned on by them. I heard it was 50/50.”
He then justifies his lewd comments by saying, “What red-blooded American doesn’t want to impress Billy Bush?”
When Baldwin asks what he’d say to reassure women voters, Trump says, “I would say, ‘Listen, women, if you give me a chance I promise I can do a whole lot more than grab it. I can also bop it, twist it, and pull it.”
When the “interview” ends, Trump is again caught on a hot mic. “I wish that I was that hurricane, tearing through all of that hot Miami pussy. I would just destroy it.”
The sketch then cuts to Hillary Clinton’s campaign headquarters, where Kate McKinnon’s Clinton is shown celebrating and drinking champagne as she says Trumps’s comments were “disturbing” and made her “horribly depressed.”
The clip ends with Baldwin’s Trump again getting caught on a hot mic, this time calling Ted Cruz a “pussy he’d like to grab.”
While it’s easy to focus on only the Hot Mess that is the presidential campaign, it would be a mistake to ignore the wild tales of woe from your everyday people. You know, the would-be clown victims with jobs on the lines, the fallen movie stars with mangled fingers, the academics with mail filled with poop, and the soft-hearted Canadian rap stars who visit small colleges only to be confused with a killer clown. Let’s recap the Week in Hot Messes.
This seems to be the week when the Great Clown Epidemic finally hit the mainstream, so let’s start there. Last Saturday morning, a woman called 911 and said she’d been attacked by a clown with a knife. The clown, which she said jumped over a fence, chased her at cut her thumb, according to the woman’s initial story. Scary! One small problem: She’d made the whole thing up because she was late to her job at McDonald’s and didn’t want to be fired.
Speaking of clowns, clown mask sales are reportedly up 300% for one national Halloween retailer. “In the top 10, eight of them are ‘evil’ clown masks this season whereas last year, five of the top 10 were ‘evil,’” Brad Butler, COO of the company that operates national Halloween costume chain Halloween Express, told CW 33. Great.
And our third—and final, I promise—clown story of the week involved the great sad Canadian Drake, who—after saying he wouldn’t—made a surprise, late-night visit to Drake University following his show in Des Moines on Tuesday. Unfortunately for the rap superstar, no one on the sleepy campus was awake, or at least no one would let him inside their sorority.
Moving on from clowns but staying firmly in the celeb world, there was the story of Lindsay Lohan’s finger, which she nearly lost in a boating accident while vacationing off the coast of Turkey last weekend. In fact, she reportedly did lose part of the tip, but a surgeon was able to reattach it. Feel better, Lindsay.
The most literal Hot Mess took place this week in Moscow, where meteorologists at a state-owned Russian TV station predicted what the weather would look like in Nebraska following a nuclear strike. A fun thing for everyone to think about, especially considering the recent tension in U.S.-Russian relations.
There was also the mysterious case of the New Jersey man who was allegedly spotted sunbathing on a public beach while wearing only a transparent plastic bikini. The man, whose “genitals were clearly exposed,” according to New Jersey police, was later arrested on suspicion of lewdness.
And finally, my favorite story of the week: Because of an two-year-old feud in the philosophy world, four philosophy professors have been mailed packages filled with poop. “I thought, ‘Oh shit,’” one of the professor’s said after reaching into the package. “‘This is shit. I’m one of the other people who got the shit!’” For more about the convoluted story, which really is too complex to relay here, read the original report at BuzzFeed.
After enjoying the high-mountain views and low-key vibes of Colorado, we steered our motorhome east for a 1,000-mile road adventure to Tiffany’s favorite city: Chicago.
Arriving in Chicago via RV is a much more pleasant experience compared to landing at O’Hare, trust me! Interstate 80 isn’t a picnic, but it beats flying.
Tiffany had three must-dos in Chicago: Listen to the blues on Rush Street, eat a real Chicago hot dog and visit with her younger sister Crystal.
After a breezy stroll on Chicago’s glorious Lakefront Trail and Navy Pier, the three of us ventured north to Deerfield — Crystal’s neighborhood and home to Greenhouse, a medical cannabis dispensary. Crystal, a medical patient in Illinois, was looking for a topical lotion to help her relieve the pain of rheumatoid arthritis. It happens every change in the season, it seems.
Since Tiffany and I are not Illinois residents, we waited in the car while Crystal entered Greenhouse. After a 10-minute wait, Crystal returned to the car with a bag. She told all about Max Allison, her “patient care consultant at the counter:
“I could tell the second I approached the counter that I would get the proper help,” Crystal told us. “Max was so knowledgeable — he was educated in horticulture and really understood the medicinal benefits of cannabis.
Based on Max’s conversation, I purchased a methanol cayenne lotion. Max explained that heat from the capsaicin in the cayenne pepper stimulates blood flow. This combined with cannabis’ healing properties, will provide me with immediate pain relief.”
And Crystal’s pain stayed away the rest of our visit. Frankly, we were both blown away by how effective this was.
We enjoyed the rest of our stay in Chicago. We enjoyed a local blues trio in an underground club. And we even ate the perfect Chicago hot dog!
Greenhouse has three locations in the Chicago metro area:
Deerfield
151 S Pfingsten Rd. Unit V
Deerfield, IL 60015
847-686-2821
Mokena
9930 W 190th St. Unit H
Mokena, IL 60448
708-258-1141
Morris
2400 W US Route 6
Morris, IL 60450
815-513-0124
For someone who usually shows up uninvited, Rick Astley came back from the musical graveyard to do an AMA (Ask Me Anything) on reddit. And he got super excited when a user asked him what his favorite sandwich is. Rick Astley LOVES ham and cheese sandwiches.
Ooooooh.
It’s a cheese and ham, but I need to qualify why.
I don’t really like to fly, so I drive everywhere. Literally I’ve driven from Oslo to Lisbon. From Budapest to Paris, and the one thing you can be assured for at any petrol station, anywhere int he world, if you just go cheese and ham, it will be edible. It’s like a savior to me! It’s like a light at the end of the tunnel, a cheese and ham sandwich. And only a fool would go for a prawn sandwich when they have ot work at the end of that car ride.
I actually STOP people sometimes eating prawns and shellfish. I’ll go “we’ve got a 12 hour flight you know,” and they’ll go “shit, you’re right.”
Further down the Q & A string, Astley was asked by another reddidtor if he’d ever open a Subway-style chain of restaurants called RickRoll. His response:
I haven’t thought of it, but it’s now making me think of doing. We’d start with the cheese and ham special! Cuz no fool starts with a prawn!
As for the question posed by user doorbellguy about whether or not Astley stands by the comments he made about legalizing marijuana everywhere, we are still waiting for an answer.
Rick Astley LOVES ham and cheese sandwiches, here is a cold ham and cheese sandwich recipe is a very quick and easy snack that is ready in a minute and is great for a packed lunch, a picnic or a road trip.
Ingredients
2 slices of bread (white or brown)
1 tbsp Hellman’s Real mayonnaise
2 slices cooked ham
2 slices Mature Cheddar cheese
Optional
1 tsp English mustard (or Dijon if you prefer)
Black pepper
Richard Paul Astley is an English singer who gained worldwide fame in the 1980s, having multiple hits, including his signature songs “Never Gonna Give You Up”, “Together Forever” and “Whenever You Need Somebody”. He returned to music full-time in the 2000s after a 6-year hiatus. Outside his music career, Astley has occasionally worked as a radio DJ and a podcaster.
If it’s true that “you are what you eat,” is it also true that you vote like you eat?
In the case of Trump vs. Clinton, they both have clear food preferences. Like Obama, Clinton seems to be the foodiest of the two, preferring culinary darlings and superstar chefs, whereas Trump seems to prefer his food less fussy (and often “to go”). Which style mirrors yours? Let’s find out.
If you like your steaks and you like them well done, you and Trump have something in common.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BDv_yqSQNxK/
Italian? You’re a lot like Hillary. According to Zagat, Rao’s in NYC is one of her favorite spots to dine. Unlike Hillary, you probably won’t be able to get a table at this VIP-exclusive restaurant.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BLNFz4MAdyk/
Mystery fast-food items can’t be overlooked, and they appear to be among Trump’s favorite grub. In a memorable food moment earlier this year, while trying to be an “everyman,” Don told Anderson Cooper that he never when he goes to McDonald’s he orders the Fish Delight. Whatever that is. He then quickly changed the subject to cleanliness (“I’m a very clean person.” LOL what?) In Don’s defense, Fish Delight sounds ubiquitous enough. A generic “Fish Sandwich’ probably would have been better, but, you know, pick your battles and all that.
KFC. “Not the worst thing in the world,” says Trump to Anderson Cooper. It’s not a glowing endorsement, but maybe that’s why he uses a knife and fork to eat it: to make it seem way sexier. Fried chicken is a favorite of Hillary’s, too. She forgoes the fast-food version for one of her favorite restaurants in New York, Red Rooster in Harlem, where fried chicken is their specialty.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BIpmoh0jM2s
When you go out to eat, do you target places where all the rich kids hang out? If so, you have a good chance of running into Trump during a power lunch. The guy loves to bee seen. He just can’t help himself. The Ivy and Jean-Georges are two of his frequent haunts.
https://www.instagram.com/p/3bk-X3KdrY/
You get off on a spicy kick now and then? Zagat says you’re a Hillary. It’s no secret Clinton loves hot sauce and peppers. During a Town Hall discussion hosted by Good Morning America, she said of her addiction, “I started using hot sauce back in 1992, because I read an article that said it would help my immune system stay healthy.” Zagat says Hillary frequents places like The Bombay Club in DC, “an upscale Indian spot from Ashok Bajal (who also owns Rasika, an Obama favorite). The restaurant’s green chile chicken is Clinton’s must-order.”
