Hey, anyone planning on going to AR 2008 this week?  I’m planning on going on Saturday.  It’s a pretty long drive to get there from where I live, so I decided to limit myself to one day.

Anyway, if you’re going to be there and want to meet up for a few minutes, let me know.

It seems like vegetarianism is getting ever more prevalent in pop culture. Sure, the numbers of converts may not be skyrocketing, but the awareness of fake meats and even veganism is popping up in unexpected places.

First up is an episode of Hell’s Kitchen from a few weeks ago where celebrity chef Gordon Ramsey, who’s always viewed vegetarians as an annoyance (though not to the degree of Anthony Bourdain), decided to test the competing chefs on their palates. He tells them to try a bunch of dishes and identify what’s missing from each. Most of them are looking for small ingredients like a spice here or there, but what’s missing in each dish is the meat. It’s pretty amazing how these chefs are fooled by mock meat:

Ramsey seems distraught by their inability to identify mock meat, but me? I was cheering.

Then, last week on the always-terrible Wife Swap, an artist from Arizona went to live with a motorbiking family who subsisted on fast food. Though the vegetarian angle was (mercifully) limited in this episode, when she enforced the rule where her host family had to eat vegetarian for a week, the father of the clan rebelled by going into town to get hamburgers on the very first morning. He taunted cows as he rode past them (on a horse because he’d been banned by the woman from using gas-powered vehicles), chomping away on his burger. He came off as quite the jerk.

The latter isn’t exactly the way I like to see vegetarianism portrayed in popular culuture, but the Hell’s Kitchen example shows that meat substitutes have come a long, long way.

Lastly, here’s a behind-the-scenes clip from a past season of Hell’s Kitchen that shows that maybe Gordon Ramsey doesn’t despise vegetarians as much as I thought. Check out how seriously he takes serving vegetarian risotto that was accidentally cooked in chicken stock:

In order to atone for a really lame month at the Veg Blog, is to catch up on cookbook reviews.  You’ll see the first one Tuesday around lunchtime and hopefully I won’t lose momentum after that!

Hope my US readers had a good Memorial Day.

Lio (April 30, 2008)

(If you’re having trouble seeing it, click the “wide” button at the upper right corner of the page.)

In case you need more proof that meat doesn’t make a real man, look no further than Popeye.

Popeye was strong. He ate spinach.

Who was the one that ate all the hamburgers?

Wimpy.

My point has been made, no?

Periodically on PostSecret, postcards are sent in either defaming vegetarianism, confessing “cheating” on a veg diet, or proclaiming a love for meat.  This week, there were two decidedly non-vegan postcards were posted:

Here’s an idea: stop using prayers (also seen amongst some as “respecting the animal”) as an excuse to just stop buying leather handbags.  Is it really that hard?

Next up…

This one actually made me a little queasy.  I’m sure Carol Adams would have something to say about this one.

I just opened the freezer in my workplace’s kitchen and spotted a box of vegan veggie burgers.

And they weren’t mine.

The mind reels!

• H.R. 1955: Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007 (Deb’s take, Will Potter’s take)
  Deb’s been telling me about this act which has already passed in the house with only six nays.  It takes the screwy mentality of the AETA to new extremes.
• Gary’s “To Meat-Eaters: Easy Ways to Reduce Meat Consumption While Retaining Your Comfort Foods” series
  No link to just the series, but at this point there are 14 parts and you can’t miss ‘em.
• Facts About Animal Cloning (via AnimalBlawg)
  The ethical arguments against animal cloning, brought to you by the American Anti-Vivisection Society.  Worth reading since the FDA won’t require labeling of meat derived from cloned animals.
• Thinking Critically About Animal Rights (PDF)
  Mary Martin’s very good eight-page introduction to animal rights.  My only criticism is that it deals with the abolition v. welfare issue too early in the document.
• The Naked Vay-gun Podcast
  Don’t try reading it, because it’s just a bunch of zeros and ones, but do subscribe to the latest vegan podcast for all the insanity you’d expect from Hooten and Moskowitz.  But, whatever you do, don’t listen to the slanderous pilot episode!
• Vegcast 36
  Ditto above.  This edition of Vance’s podcast features a great interview with Mike Hudak, who refutes the “diets with some meat are the most efficient” conclusion drawn by the press release issued about the Cornell University study.

It’s kind of late notice, but you may want to check out Kucinich TV today, as Dennis will be hosting his “Dialogue for Democracy” with groups and individuals representing “the issues that mean a lot to you.”  Guests will include Melissa Etheridge who will discuss LGBTQ issues and Cindy Sheehan who will be discussing peace with Dennis.  Peace is good!

Of particular interest, though, is the first session, starting at 11:30am eastern, which focuses on animal rights.  Guests will be Alex Hershaft (FarmUSA), Alex Pacheco (All American Animals), Chris Derose (Last Chance for Animals), and Dr. Elliot Katz (In Defense of Animals). You can send your questions to dialogue@kucinich.us with your name, location, and phone number.

Hopefully they’ll have an archived version available to view afterwards.

Just wanted to take a second and wish you all a happy Thanksgiving. May your day be free from stuffing made with chicken broth and stupid jokes from family about Tofurkys!

It’s interesting how, as we get closer to Thanksgiving, more comic strips lean towards veg-friendly themes, even beyond the usual suspects (Get Fuzzy, Mutts).  Here are three from today’s paper alone:

Baldo

Tia Carmen is a fan of the herbal remedies, it seems.

Rhymes With Orange

It’s the vegan Ted Nugent!

Lio

Lobsters can feel pain and have gas!

Over the past few weeks, I’ve gotten a number of e-mails from people or small companies looking to pimp their new vegan-friendly products. Rather than shill for each one individually, allow me to share a list of these products/sites that you may find interesting:

• Veganomicon by Isa and Terry. If this is the only veg blog that you read, you may have missed every other one on the planet discussing the long-awaited new vegan bible from the PPK’s Mighty Isa and Terry (yes, the “M” is capitalized). The book is out now in a beautiful hardback edition. I’ve got my copy and am having a tough time deciding which recipes to try first. I know you’re going to buy this, so I’m not going to say any more.
• Swanky Veg. A new site for “fashion conscious veggies,” hosted by Ali Berman, a former fashion model in New York and Paris. I’m about the least fashionable dude you’ll ever meet, but I’m glad sites like this exist. It makes veganism seem a little less weird to people.
• Nava Atlas’ Vegan Thanksgiving. Nava’s awesome. As the holiday that tortures vegan souls across the country approaches, Nava makes life a little easier by sharing a bunch of Thanksgiving resources. She’s also got a new ebook titled Nava’s Thanksgiving Favorites, available for a mere $8.50. A good portion of the proceeds go to an anti-hunger organization called Share Our Strength. Good stuff.
• Jinga Shoes. A couple of folks have created the first lightweight Brazilian shoe which are suitable for vegans. Tessa, one of the co-creators wrote that, “We have had our jingas approved by the Vegan Society as no animals were involved in any way or at any time were in involved in the making of our shoes, not even in the glue we used.” Nice!
• ABBA^® Pure Performance Hair Care^TM. “A comprehensive range of 100% vegan cleansers, conditioners, treatment and styling products formulated with natural plant ingredients specifically to enhance performance, not in spite of it.” Never tried them (see above, re: fashion), but hey, it sounds good to me.
• Artivist. Damn! I meant to promote this before the Nov. 8-11 showings in Hollywood. Well, if you’re in Lisbon or London, it’s still not too late to catch this great event that combines art and activism.

I’m adopting a new policy and I invite all other veg*n bloggers to join in:

A comment from a user isn’t worthy of a thoughtful response if they use the “plants feel pain” argument (this goes double if it’s already been discussed in the comment thread. The way I figure it, anyone who brings out this unbelievably tired and limp argument isn’t serious about having any real discussion, so I’m refusing to waste time on them.

I think this goes for real life situations, too.

By request, here’s an update from Jules about her two weeks as a vegetarian (she’s in town visiting this week):

Hey every one! It’s going great. I’m pretty sure I’m going to stay a vegertarian! I am getting a lot of support from everyone. Even my 10 year old Bffs! Thery’re even thinking about trying that’s wonderful. Today I said some people say tofu is gross (but it is delicious ). Uncle Ryan said that you should say, “Dead animal is gross!” If only everyone stopped eating meat, no animals would be food. Well I better go the computer is doing weird things.

From Jules Ps: Thank you for the comments.

A little site news for you today.

Comment spam increased significantly on the Veg Blog over the last week or so, even with the Wordpress Akismet plug-in installed.  So, I went and installed a new CAPTCHA-based plug-in.  Now, when you comment, you’ll need to type in two words to verify that you’re actually a human.

Now before you get all grumbly on me, let me tell you the two good things that come of this:

1. I’ve turned off the approval requirement on comments, so your comment will be posted right away (of course, I will still zap any comment I declare “dumb ass”).  This may change, but for now, instant posting.
2. I’m using a cool plug-in called reCAPTCHA.  What it does is makes use of the image-based CAPTCHA to help fix poor OCR-translations of public domain books.  It’s an excellent concept.  Read more about it.

Sometimes a word will come up that’s hard to decipher.  If that happens, just hit the little reload icon on the reCAPTCHA and it will give you two new words.

I got a great e-mail the other day from my nine-year-old niece Jules (who gave us this gem when she was four):

Uncle Ryan, I read Vegging Out in my magazine Teen vogue. It was about Teens turning vegan and vegetarian. Then it says that you could get type 2 diabetes. I wanted to ask you if you could help me find some different kinds vegan items to see if I like it. I’m thinking when I eat more healthy about going vegetarian. Then if that works vegan. But I want you to help me by having me try some ( good to you) (ps: I will show you Vegging Out) vegan food. I would like to start when I go to your house this month. Bring some food when you visit, too. Please help. Thanks! :) :-)

Yesterday, July 5th, marked her first day in her month-long (or longer!) trial as a vegetarian. And she’s totally stoked about it. Isn’t that awesome?

Jules has always grilled me about being vegetarian and in recent years we’ve had a few conversations that led me to believe she was thinking it through for herself. It was seeing this article in Teen Vogue that brought it to life for her. Maybe it was that vegetarianism seemed more “normal” when mentioned in a mainstream magazine and not just by her Crazy Uncle Ryan. Whatever the case, she came to this decision on her own, found some supporting literature in the form of Teen Vogue, and made the commitment to try it for a month. She’s at a place now–at nine years old–that I didn’t reach until I was almost 25.

My sister’s being very supportive of Jules which is due in no small part to her having been vegetarian for five-and-a-half years starting when she was 12. I’m sure it will help Jules a lot to have family support like that. Plus they own copies of Vegan With a Vengeance and Vegan Lunch Box, so they won’t be hurting for recipe ideas!

Feel free to leave Jules some cheers in the comments and I’ll make sure she sees them. Let’s hear it for our newest vegetarian!

I’ve got a number of cookbook reviews that are nearly-finished (some way, way overdue) and I’ve decided there needs to be an acronym for recipes or cookbooks that are Vegan, Except For Honey.

So, there you go: VEFH.

Expect to see it often as it takes the world by storm.

I know, I know, it’s low-hanging fruit to take shots at Rachael Ray, but she keeps coming up in daily conversation and I’ve gotta get this out of my system. I wish Isa would just challenge her to a boxing match or something.

1. She spells her name stupidly. I know, it’s not her fault. I should blame her parents. But every time I see that extra “a” in there, I get the same twinge I get when people spell “Michael” as “Micheal” (being that it’s part of my last name, so I’m a tad hypersensitive).
2. EVOO. The fact she can take the enormously annoying acronym-turned-catchphrase and turn it into a marketing gimmick drives me nuts.
3. She’s every-freakin’-where. She’s on boxes of Triscuits for Buddha’s sake.
4. She’s an idiot. Her cookbook 365: No Repeats (we got it as a gift… it’s being regifted to my sister who, for some unknown reason, not only tolerates Rachael Ray, but seems to like her) is about as vegan un-friendly as it gets. Sure, there’s a “vegetarian” section, but everything’s smothered in cheese. The book is filled with hideously disgusting recipes like Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf Patties, Bacon Wrapped Beef Tenderloin, and Chicken Cutlets on Buttermilk-Cheddar-Chorizo Biscuits, but there is a sole tofu recipe in the book that’s actually vegan. How does she ruin it? By adding this absurd commentary: “I really do not get tofu, but some of my friends do. This is for them.” You don’t “get tofu”?! What is there to get, you moron? It’s a food. Vishnu have mercy.

No more “x reasons I…” or “y ways to…” posts this week. I promise.

Since I’ve started following the policy of not approving every crackpot that comments on an entry, the studpidity level has decreased pretty significantly. But every so often, there’s still one of those comments that I’m definitely not going to approve, but I want to share with you all for a laugh. Because really, it is just that funny.

The post starts off by referring to everyone that’s commented on this post as “Peta freaks” and then proceeds to lay into PETA with some legitimate gripes as well as some outdated or misinformed ones, all with plenty of terrible spelling and grammar (of course). That stuff has been covered a million times before, so let me just jump to the most interesting part of the comment, where the guy goes from the typical anti-veg rant to a raving loon:

i don’t care if you don’t want to eat meat or eggs, that is your right. but to put up posters and say that eating meat makes you fat when literaly billions of studies show that meat is a necicary part of your healthy development and not consuming meat products can lead to osteoperosis and bone caner, aids, rhinovirus(common cold) ,and yes i will bring in the a word, AIDS!

Wait. Not only does he claim that not eating meat causes “bone caner” (that’s got to be a euphamism for some creepy sexual act), but he blames AIDS (twice!) on “not consuming meat products.” But I guess we should believe him because there have been “literaly billions of studies” done. Billions!

The commenter then says that he’s “a well informed liberal, left wing, democrat, who doesn,t like to see abuse any more than the next man” before jumping to the completely unrelated topic of unchaining domestic dogs.

Gotta love it.

I was listening to the good ol’ Don and Mike Show the other day on the way home from work and was surprised to actually hear the word “vegan” make it onto the show.  Of course, it was first with a tone of disdain from Mike (”Everyone likes a good steak now and then.  But she might be one of those vegans.”) followed by an absolutely baffling statement from Don, along the lines of:

“My nephew is getting married to this girl who’s as vegan as you can be.  You know what she had the other night for a snack?  A corn dog.”

A vegan that eats corn dogs?  Definitely not vegan.  That’d be like a self-proclaimed progressive voting for Bush.

A little while back I wrote about my search for a vegan mattress.  In the comments, shamir wrote:

what about pillows? everything out there (besides buckwheat hulls) seems to be down, fake down (=fossil [fuels]), or wool. are the organic cotton ones even any good?

At that point, I wasn’t planning on buying new pillows anytime soon, but when I saw that it’s suggested you replace pillows every two years (if you can fold your pillow over and it doesn’t bounce back into place, it’s time to replace it), I realized I was about five years overdue.  When I bought my previous pillows, I made sure that the filling wasn’t down, but unfortunately the only choice I had at the time (because I was young and naive) was made by a company that had Down in their name.

So a search began for some nice pillows.  Ones that were eco-friendly, comfortable, and would last a while.  After lots of time <strike>wasted</strike> spent researching, I decided on kapok pillows.  Kapok is a fiber extracted from the seed pod of the kapok tree.  The fiber is non toxic, odorless, resistant to rot, and non-allergic.  A pillow made with kapok filling has “all the qualities of down [without the cruelty, and] is hypoallergenic.”  Kapok pillows can supposedly only be sold as decorative pillows because they are highly flammable.  As you may remember, many states require a doctor’s note in order to buy the vegan mattress I got.   Between our pillows and our mattress, it’s a good thing we don’t smoke in bed, because we’d be screwed!

Kapok pillows can be a tad expensive (~$50 each for queen size pillows), but they reportedly last longer than regular pillows and get more comfortable with use.  I managed to find a woman on eBay that handmakes them and sells them for about $60 a pair (about $72 after shipping).  Last night was my first night sleeping on one.  It was a tad firm, but supportive and quite comfortable.  I look forward to seeing how it changes over time with use.

So, yay for kapok, my new highly flammable friend.

A few months ago, Huyen and I decided that we needed to look into getting a new mattress.  Our cheap old one that we bought right out of college was nearly nine years old and sagging in the middle.  Plus, we wanted to move from a full to a queen because the dog takes up a lot of room.

I spent an absurd amount of time reading about mattresses and the disgusting things that go into them.  PBDE’s are a controversial flame-retardant found in all sorts of furniture (including mattresses, although hopefully not for much longer).  I decided I’d rather avoid any nasty chemicals used in the production of the mattress since, after all, we spend 1/3rd of our lives on that mattress.  It should be something that’s not so… chemical.

And if the decision to get a more “natural” mattress wasn’t already made, it was sealed with two words: mattress mites:

Menchavez said he recommends that people with allergies or asthma get their mattresses cleaned every three to four months; while those concerned with their health but with no asthma problems, should get it done twice a year.

Twice a year?  I don’t know anyone who’s ever had their mattress cleaned!  *shudder*

As I started looking into so-called “natural mattresses,” I saw that almost all of them have a layer of wool.  This is because wool is a natural flame retardant (warning: do not set a sheep on fire to test this theory) and is used in place of the chemical-based retardants in standard mattresses.  Apparently, the lanolin in wool also helps repel dust mites and bed bugs.

Of course, I don’t want to sleep on anything with wool in it.  So I went looking for vegan mattresses and sure enough, they exist (hit CTRL-F and search for “vegan”).  It’s a bit expensive, but it’s got lots of nice, organic cotton and will last twice as long as a regular mattress.  Interestingly, California has stringent flame retardancy laws, which means that some stores won’t even sell natural vegan mattresses in the state and those that do require a doctor’s note.

We also decided to buy a platform bed with wooden slats, which eliminates the need for a box spring and helps air circulate which I think I read somewhere helps keep dust, mites, and bed bugs from settling in (can’t find a reference for that now, though, so don’t hold me to that).

I never thought I’d spend so much time researching something like a mattress, but I’m really looking forward to donating the old one and trying out the new one.  It should be very nice (”6 inches of natural rubber covered with our organic cotton ticking”… mmmm… ticking…).

My parents are coming to visit soon as are some long-time friends of the family. My dad’s always a good sport about eating vegan when they visit, but he decided to have a little fun by creating a mock menu for this weekend to scare the family friends a little bit. Here’s my dad’s vision of a vegan menu. What a funny guy. :)

Appetizer

A delicately seasoned leek soup served with a lemon grass gently dusting its surface.

Main Course

A vegetable bouillon flavored soy emulsion lightly seared in a non-dairy substitute and then boiled to perfection in a lite vegetable stock.

In addition, a mouth watering turnip, okra, brussel sprout medley seasoned and marinated in a clear vegetable broth partners with the above entree to form a light but satisfying repast.

Dessert

Just when you think things couldn’t get any better, the meal is topped off with a dessert that will be long remembered:

A delicate watercress souffle topped with a drizzling of non-dairy pan drippings.

Bon Appetite!

I particularly like the idea of using watercress for dessert.

From a koan called “No Attachment to Dust:”

“Some things, though right, were considered wrong for generations. Since the value of righteousness may be recognized after centuries, there is no need to crave an immediate appreciation.”

Something worth keeping in mind for activists of any kind.

Just a quick reminder that November 9-12 is the Artivist Film Festival being held in Hollywood at the historic Egyptian Theatre. Eric is a producer there this year and says that there’s a bunch of good animal advocacy stuff going on: “In addition to literature and vegan food sponsors, we have screenings of numerous shorts and features, including Mad Cowboy, followed by a forum I’m hosting on the cost of meat consumption and production. Howard Lyman will be there, as will Daryl Hannah, whom we’re honoring on Sunday the 12th along with Joaquin Phoenix, and other special guests…”

Good stuff. Be sure to check it out if you’re in the area.

Last week’s open house at Poplar Spring was the most successful one yet in terms of attendees and money raised. Congrats to Terry, Dave, and crew for another excellent event.

Below is a video that my sister shot of a new arrival at the farm. His name is Peapod and he came all the way from New Hampshire. This poor little guy was used in one of those stupid greased pig contests where they let a baby pig loose and let a bunch of kids run after him. The winner gets to keep the pig. The “winner” (note the quotes) in this particular contest took the pig to the parking lot where his friends joined him in beating the big and throwing rocks at him. Fortunately, a security guard saw this and got the pig to the SPCA where he then found his way to Poplar Spring. He’s such a cute little guy, as you’ll see here, playing with his Piglet doll, a favorite toy of all new porcine arrivals at the farm.

Some more upcoming events of interest to Veg Blog readers:

• Artivist Film Festival - November 9-12, 2006; Los Angeles, CA - Eric from An Animal-Friendly Life wrote in with this info: “I’m a producer for Artivist this year, and I’m excited about what we’re doing for animal advocacy. In addition to literature and vegan food sponsors, we have screenings of numerous shorts and features, including Mad Cowboy, followed by a forum I’m hosting on the cost of meat consumption and production. Howard Lyman will be there, as will Daryl Hannah, whom we’re honoring on Sunday the 12th along with Joaquin Phoenix, and other special guests will be announced soon.”
• 14th Annual Animal Law Conference: Market Revolution - Recognizing Animals’ Intrinsic Values - October 13-15, 2006; Portland, OR
• IDA’s World Go Vegan Days - October 27-29, 2006; Worldwide, sucka!

For more, take a peek over at Animalrightsagenda.com’s calendar.

(For some reason, this didn’t post when it was scheduled to, so a couple of the items are out-of-date. Sorry about that.)

A few items of regional (well, varying regions) interest I wanted to note:

• (Portland, OR) The Herbistore is having its grand opening on September 30th. If you’re within a 15 hour drive, I expect you to go there. I, of course, am much further away, but my spirit will be seen floating around issue 12 of the magazine.
• (Loudoun County, VA) A new vegetarian society is forming for the area, which is great because it means that I won’t have to do it (I was kicking the idea around for a while). E-mail vegeats -at- gmaildotcom if you’re interested.
• (Salem, OR) Lighthouse Sanctuary is having their 4th annual Wine and Music at the Farm event on September 30th from 4-7pm. So maybe go there and then drive to Portland?
• (VA, MD, DC) Poplar Spring Sanctuary is having their Ninth Annual Open House and Fundraiser on October 8th from 1-4pm. This is their big event of the year and always has great food, speakers (this year it’s the PCRM’s Jonathan Balcombe, author of Pleasurable Kingdom, which will be reviewed here very shortly), and music. Plus, I’ll be there. Isn’t that incentive enough, really?
• (Woodstock, NY) On October 1st, Woodstock Sanctuary will have an interesting event, a Tibetan Buddhist Blessing of the Animals. Sounds neat.

If this type of stuff interests you, let me know and I’ll do more periodic postings of similar items.

Let me officially break out of my hiatus by first thanking everyone who’s sent in kind words about the new addition to our family. She was born on the 16th and is doing great (as is mom, though she’s still doing some recovering). I’m really loving this fatherhood thing so far.

A few thoughts that struck me during those days at the birthing inn:

• I feel really sorry for any vegan that finds themselves in a hospital. They can do vegetarian meals pretty easily on request (like veggie burgers) but I suspect that a vegan meal would be pretty tricky to obtain. My guess is that they might be able to accomodate you if you let them know a few weeks in advance, but often one doesn’t know exactly when they’ll be checking in.
• We received so, so many freebees to take home for the baby. Everything from diapers (which we used) to formula (which we donated). One, though, kind of stuck out. It was a postcard-sized coupon for Chik-Fil-A that had a picture of a baby on the front and says something along the lines of, “Her first word will be ‘chicken.’” and then it has the standard annoying “Eat Mor Chiken”-sign holding cows on the back. The coupon was for a free chicken sandwich. I said to my wife, “Yeah. Her first word will be chicken, but it’ll be while she’s petting one.”
• One of our attendants looked like Jessie Spanno from Saved By the Bell. But her name was “Kelly.” How odd.

I’ve been a bit quiet around here recently. Sorry ’bout that. These moments come a few times a year, it seems.

This time, I blame it on travel and preparations for a new little vegblogger on the way next month. I can’t wait to dress her in her Herbivore onesie.

So, to make up for it, let me share a few photos from my trip to Portland a few weeks back. Click through any of them for larger versions.

Click through for all the photo fun.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tomorrow night I make one of my rare trips to the west coast to spend a little time in Portland. I’ll be heading out there for a web conference on Thursday and Friday, but sticking around for a few days afterwards to see the city, meet up with some friends, etc. Any last-minute suggestions for places I need to see, things I need to do, or restaurants I need to visit?

My schedule’s kind of tight (so much to do!), but if any of y’all are in Portland and might want to meet up for coffee or tea or something over the weekend, drop me a note.

If you’ve been veggie long enough, anytime you see any reference to meat eating, something in the back of your head goes “ding!” So, let’s say you’re reading the comics and happen upon this strip or this strip of Pluggers (Lord, they still make that?) and think, “Ew. A bear eating a hot dog.”

Thankfully, the folks at The Strippy Tickle have made a little modification to the strips, Dysfunctional Family Circus-style (anyone remember that?).

A couple of weeks ago, I noticed that a stop sign near my house had been hit with the classic AR sticker (not my picture). I smiled and wondered who living so close by might have put this up.

The next time I walked by it was gone.

I have a handful of those stickers, too. Maybe I should put one back up there in a show of solidarity with my unknown AR neighbor.

This weekend, my wife and I headed up to my parents’ house in New Jersey for a visit. During the visit, I went for a run out near where I went to high school. During the run, I saw a small, mouselike animal sitting on the sidewalk. As I got closer, I saw it was a baby possum. He didn’t seem freaked out in the least, so I let him be.

As I looped around and passed the same spot about 15 minutes later, he was still there, this time cleaning himself, but still not looking in distress. So I finished up my run and did a little research. Though PossumRescue.com is a good site, I didn’t find the answers I was looking for. I gave a call over to Cedar Run, a nearby wildlife rescue to find out what I should do. They said as long as the possum didn’t seem injured and was about 6 inches big, he could survive just fine on his own. “If he’s out in the open, though,” the woman from Cedar Run told me, “You can move him to bushes or somewhere where cats won’t find him.”

Huyen, my mom, and I headed back out to see if the possum was still around. He had moved from the sidewalk, but was working his way towards a busy road, so I decided it was best to move him. The woman I talked to suggested using either towels to carry him or just to pick him up by his tail. I opted to go for the tail. We moved him over to a patch of trees far enough from the main road that he should be safe. I was a bit concerned about moving him from where his mother might see him, but there was no sign of her or any other siblings, so I think moving the little guy/girl was the best choice.

Here’s a shot (and a few more):

Some interesting possum facts that I didn’t know, gleaned from the aforementioned Possum Rescue site:

• The opossum doesn’t have a permanent “nest” because it is nocturnal and transient. It will spend and average of 2-3 days in the same hideout, then move on. Some weeks later it may return to your place, depending on your hospitality.
• Opossums lived during the Age of the Dinosaurs.
• Besides their natural predators in the wild, humans, cars and cats are the demise for this docile creature. Very few survive to adulthood , and usually live only 1-2 years if they do.
• “Playing Possum” is one of the most effective ways the opossums defends itself. When unable to flee, extreme fear places the opossum into an involuntary coma. They become stiff and their mouths will gape open. This condition will last 40 minutes to 4 hours. Most predators will abandon their attack, once the opossum is thought to be dead. [Our possum went into this mode, too, but recovered after a few minutes.]

Apparently, this time period is a time when a lot of possums are hit by cars. Sadly, many are mothers carrying their infants, who may survive the accident. Read more about saving these infants.

Over five years ago, I wrote about a movie titled Shooting Vegetarians that was in production at the time. It remained in post-production for quite a while and didn’t become available on DVD until last year. I finally sat down to watch it a few weeks ago and was pleasantly surprised.

Shooting Vegetarians is a dark comedy about a young, slightly nutty vegetarian that still lives at home with his parents and wants to spend his days skating rather than working. His father, a butcher, forces him to come to work at the butcher shop. Of course, this greatly troubles our protagonist, so he tries to figure out a way that he can work at the butcher shop while not compromising his ethics. Indeed, he finds a way–a pretty sick way–of using his new job to spread the word about vegetarianism.

The movie’s better than most low budget indie comedies I’ve seen and even features a few familiar faces, like a very young looking Reiko Aylesworth, who’s best know for her role as Michelle Dessler on 24. The biggest surprise, though, was Élodie Bouchez (who’s been seen on Alias) as “Happy Coffee Shop Girl.” Let me tell you… you haven’t seen a barista like this before.

Sure, the movie’s a little goofy, very odd (giant talking chicken hallucinations, especially), and at times you wonder whether director Mikey Jackson is pro-vegetarian or just making fun of us, but overall Shooting Vegetarians is worth a rental if dark indie comedies are your thing. It’s rare we see vegetarianism as the main focus of a fictional movie, so I’m glad this one’s a fun viewing.

… because everytime I go running in the late Spring/early Summer I end up swallowing an insect.

I got an e-mail the other day from a reader asking, “Do you know of any one in the San Diego, California area who would prepare vegan dishes for the home bound?” I said I would post it here looking for help.

If you can help or know someone who can, drop me an e-mail or leave a comment and I’ll put you in touch.

Tricky, tricky! Ending with a cliché about being your own worst enemy… bet you didn’t see that coming.

For all the complaining we can do about other people, the industry, and companies with fervent anti-animal policies, we really owe it to ourselves to take a look in the mirror and critically view what we see.

I’m not necessarily talking about “us” in the collective sense, though heaven knows the movement can always use some time for introspection, but “us” in the individual sense. What is it about ourselves that is somehow not helping the animals when we could be?

For lacto-ovo vegetarians, perhaps it’s making that jump to veganism and getting rid of the dairy, eggs, leather, wool, etc. What’s holding you back? What reasoning are you using to make it OK to not be vegan? Is it the “it doesn’t kill the animal” argument? Is it the “veganism is just ‘too far’” argument? Or is it the (sigh) “I like cheese too much” excuse? Take a minute and think about it. Think about the reasoning you’ve been using and pretend you’re a vegan hearing someone else say it. How would you respond?

For vegans, perhaps it’s the honey issue. Are you the way I was when I first went vegan, saying, “Oh, honey’s not a big deal,” eating it anyway? Turn the phrase around. Say it again: “Oh, honey’s not a big deal,” but this time follow it with the phrase “to avoid.” Because it really isn’t. You’d be surprised how extending your circle of compassion this little bit encourages you to find other ways to keep extending it.

For long-time activists, have you become so enveloped in the animal rights culture that you find it hard to relate to omnis? Remember this: one of the best things you can do to save animals is to convince someone else to go vegetarian or vegan. You’ve got to be able to maintain healthy relationships with meat eaters not only to help combat the “crazy vegan” stereotype, but to be able to reach out honestly and sincerely to help show them the cruelties of meat, dairy, and egg production.

Every single one of us could be doing something more to further the cause. For me, it’s the idea of handing out literature or speaking in public to people I don’t know. These things could make a huge difference, but I’ve got to get over my own anxieties. I need to remind myself that the animals can’t speak with words, so it’s up to me to help them out.

What do you need to do to better yourself for the good of the animals? What’s making you your own worst enemy?

(I hope you’ve enjoyed this theme week. There were plenty of other “enemies” I wanted to include, but I’ll save those for another time. Thanks for reading and stick around for another theme week sometime in the near future.)

It’s been a bit slow around here, so to repent, here’s some Grade A cuteness for you:

That’s Hickory, a three-week old lamb at Poplar Spring. And, yes, he’s wearing a sweater. Can you deal with the cuteness?

(Here’s another shot.)

Are there any designers out there that might be willing to help out a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) group with a print mailing? You should be open to interesting barter options for payment and it’s preferable if you’re in the Northern VA/DC area.

Contact me if you might be willing to help out.

I had the weirdest dream last night.

I was at Sarah and Gerry’s Tattoo Shop because I had decided on the spur of the moment to get a tattoo on my back, just above my left shoulder blade. The design I went with was similar to the one below:

Any dream interpreters in the audience?

The getting-of-the-tattoo hurt like hell and I was doing a lot of screaming. I think it was because instead of using a standard needle, they were actually cutting the image into my skin with a really, really sharp knife.

Sarah, I love your cookbook and all, but can you promise me that if I ever come to Canada and visit your shop that you guys won’t use a knife on me? It really hurt.

Something I didn’t know that’s worth sharing: old school professional wrestling legend Killer Kowalski has been vegetarian since 1953.

More here.

This is a veganized version of my mom’s recipe, though when she told me the original source, I was a bit surprised (no, I’m not telling). Everyone that’s tried this has said it’s the best pumpkin bread they’ve ever tried, and I’d be hard-pressed to disagree.

Yes, it’s a lot of sugar, but trust me… it’s worth it.

Ingredients

• 3 1/3 c. sifted all-purpose flour
• Replacement for 4 eggs (Ener-G works fine and applesauce might work well, too)
• 2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. nutmeg
• 3 c. sugar
• 1 1/2 c. canned pumpkin
• 1 cup salad oil (canola, though we accidentally used olive once it was
  OK)
• 2/3 c. water

Topping:

• 2 Tbsp. melted Earth Balance
• 2 Tbsp. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Directions

Sift dry ingredients into large mixing bowl. Quickly add all remaining liquid ingredients. Mix only until dry ingredients are mositened. Bake in 2 greased 9″x5″x3″ pans in pre-heated 350 degree oven for one hour. Let stand 5 minutes. Remove from pans and cool on wire rack.

While warm, brush with Earth Balance and sprinkle with cinnamon-sugar mixture.

Source: Mommy Veg Blog

Here at the Veg Blog, I get a lot of strange things to review. One time, a company sent me a bottle of grape juice (hm… I never did actually review that… after all, what do you say about grape juice? “It tastes… like good tasting grapes!”). Another interesting item that crossed my desk was the Tupperware FridgeSmart container. This line has a pretty interesting design: the bottom of the container is ridged, which helps to keep fruits and vegetables raised above the surface to prevent contact with any liquid or juices that may leak and cause premature spoilage. In addition, they have pluggable vents that let you allow a certain amount of air into the container based on the types of foods you’re trying to keep fresh.

While I haven’t done any side-by-side comparisons of, say, a cucumber in the FridgeSmart and a cucumber in the open air, it seems to do a good job at keeping vegetables fresh for what seems to be longer than their normal fridge lifespan. Good stuff, especially for those of us with a tendency to keep vegetables a little too long before using them.

Thanks to sales rep Ric Faust for sending a FridgeSmart along for me to try out.

So, I watched last night’s episode of Wife Swap (jeez, the things I do for you people!) and I’ll be darned: it was actually a pretty even-handed, non-exploitative show. Well, as much as one named Wife Swap can be, I guess.

For one, no one person was made out to be the kook. Even the raw foodist’s desire to “eat sun” was handled with delicate humor (in the funniest moment, one of the little boys declares privately to the camera, “She eats sun. That’s creepy.”). The vegan family’s daughter stood up for her beliefs and refused to eat or buy meat and the hunting family’s husband even saw how a more gentle approach to child rearing can work with more hyper, violent kids.

The most important lesson, though, was the one that the vegan/raw foodist mother learned from the hunting father: one person can’t carry the weight of the world on their shoulders. Animal rights activists have a high rate of burnout and this is exactly why. It’s easy to become discouraged with the unending suffering that seems impossible to stop, and if we let that overtake us, we just end up as miserable grouches who either can’t get anyone to listen to us or who completely give up activism, seeing it as a lost cause. We’ve got to take time for ourselves and enjoy life. In the end, everyone benefits.

The only real frustrating point of the show came when the hunting mother (who was the only person on the whole show who didn’t seem to change at all) had a showdown with the vegan father and daughter. It was an unfortunate argument where the mother claimed that AR activists were trying to vilify her and her family because they need to hunt for food to survive. This could have been easily diffused by explaining that the majority of AR people focus their attention on “sport” hunters and not the few that actually need to (and do) hunt for their food. Of course, by the end of the episode, she was out hunting in what looked more like a sporting manner than one to supply needed food for the family.

All-in-all, it was a well handled episode that–though it lacked the sizzle of the God Warrior on Trading Spouses–showed two families learning something from each other and being (relatively) respectful of the other’s beliefs.

There’s something wrong with the world when I’m criticizing 60 Minutes for being uneven and praising Wife Swap for their fairness.

I’m heavy on the posts today, I know… last one for today:

You’ve surely heard all about the mess that was the vegan mother on Trading Spouses. Well, tonight on Wife Swap (what classy shows we have!) is a mother who hunts swapping with a raw foodist.

Uh-oh.

Tonight on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart: the creator of Hufu.

At some point, every vegan has complained about the inherent wrongness of an animal advertising his own death (ie. a happy pig on a bacon package). Well, Steve over at The Sneeze has created “a small salute to mascots who serve up their own.”

The captions are classic.

Today, when walking to my car, I was stung by a bee.

I’m almost 30 and I’ve never been stung by a bee before.

It hurts. And it caused me to say a lot of profanities. I even turned into Angry Vegan and said, “Damn it, I’ll show you! I’ll eat your honey!”

Any veg blog readers in the DC/MD/VA area, I invite you to come and visit Poplar Spring Animal Sanctuary’s open house this coming Sunday. Erik Marcus will be the speaker and there will be music and food and plenty of rescued farm animals for you to meet. It’s a great event and I highly encourage you to come out. If you’re thinking of attending, please RSVP to info -at- animalsanctuary.org and also let me know that you’ll be there so I can look for you and say hi.

Here’s the official announcement/invitation:

Dear Friend of Poplar Spring,

Join us for Poplar Spring Animal Sanctuary’s eighth annual Fundraiser and Open House, to raise funds to continue the organization’s important work of rescuing abused and abandoned farmed animals.

Please bring a friend and join us for an educational and entertaining afternoon with delicious food, a live band, silent auction, entertainment for the kids, and an opportunity to visit with the Sanctuary’s many rescued residents.

Our keynote speaker will be Erik Marcus, author of Meat Market.

Sunday, September 25, 2005
1:00 to 5:00 p.m., rain or shine
Poplar Spring Animal Sanctuary
15200 Mt. Nebo Road, Poolesville, MD 20837

RSVP to Poplar Spring at 301-428-8128 or email info -at- animalsanctuary.org

No dogs, please.

For more information, including directions to Poplar Spring, please visit: http://www.AnimalSanctuary.org

I’ve been meaning to post about this for weeks: Foody Call.

It’s a show on style. (I hate having a period in the middle of the sentence like that, but it is part of the network’s name) that “transforms average guys and gals into cooking Casanovas” in order to help win over a potential love. Get it… “Foody” call? It sounds like “Booty” call? It’s SO CLEVER.

The show is as stupid as the name and the premise. Making it most painful: the hosts. You have never seen a bigger pair of amped up twits in your life. Rossi Morreale is a cross between Ryan Seacrest and Ty Pennington (yes, that bad… and then some) while Michele Merkin plays the “ooh, I’m such a sexual being… a sexual, blonde, empty being…” role. The show is based on the book Cook Your Way Into Her Pants by Ted Taylor, which I haven’t read but I can only assume is also stupid.

The episode I saw drove me nuts. It featured a vegetarian woman who wanted to win back a supposedly very carnivorous man she broke up with twice. She’d been an ethical vegetarian since she was a teenager, yet she cooked a gigantic hamburger for him. Sure, she made a veggie burger for herself, but she specifically went against what she believed was right for a stupid TV show and a guy she had already broken up with two times.

To make it even worse, the guy seemed like a pretty normal, easy-going guy…. not at all the ravenous flesh-tearing beast he was made out to be. I got the impression he wouldn’t have cared in the least if he was served a vegetarian meal. This left me screaming, “Sell out!” at the screen, playing my role of Obnoxious Vegan as well as Rossi Morreale played his role of Supreme Tool of the Universe.

Needless to say: stay away from this show like your sanity depended on it. Because it does.

Because I’m lazy, here’s another IM chat transcript between Alex and me about veggie dogs at baseball stadiums:

Ryan: I dare you to ask one of the beer guys that walks around, “Excuse me, was that beer produced using isinglass? I don’t drink beer filtered through fish bladders.”

Alex: “no this won’t do. i asked for the non-fishy beer. could you please go back there and get someone to filter it properly. SO HARD TO GET GOOD PRODUCTS THESE DAYS. SHEESH”

Ryan: Sometimes I think it would be fun to be an annoying vegan. Complaining about everything. Walking into a steakhouse and complaining they don’t have seitan.

Alex: yeah. especially if they have gardenburgers. you should say “what’s a guy got to do around here to get a proper vegan boca burger.”

Ryan: “You’ll serve secretions from a cow’s teat, but not milk squished out of a soybean? You’re KIDDING, right?”

A comment was posted on an old entry that I thought I’d repost here to give it a little more attention (with some slight changes):

Donald Watson celebrates his 95th Birthday this year. Donald was born on 2nd September 1910. Please send birthday wishes and thanks for the inspiration to make the world a better place.

Cards and wishes should be posted to arrive no later than 29th August 2005.

Addressed to:

FAO Donald Watson - Founder
(Birthday Wishes)
C/O The Vegan Society
7 Battle Road
St Leonards On Sea
East Sussex
TN37 7AA

Fax Number +44 (0) 1424 717064

If you have a photograph of your vegan group or a vegan event (from last year’s World Vegan Day?) Donald would be very pleased to see these.

You can email photos and wishes suitable for printing to info@vegansociety.com with “Donald Watson Wishes” in Subject Line

No animated cards please.

More about Donald Watson & Interview with Donald Watson at http://www.foodsforlife.org.uk/people/Donald-Watson-Vegan/Donald-Watson.html

Donald Watson is the man who coined the term “vegan” and formed The Vegan Society in 1944. He hasn’t eaten meat or fish since 1924.

That’s the man right there.

Does a vegan with a pet peeve have to call it a companion animal peeve?

If I tell you something really embarassing will you promise to keep it to yourself?

You know that book How It All Vegan? I’ve known about that book since it came out in 2003, but I didn’t understand the wordplay in the title until last month.

Man, am I dense.

That’s what happens when you worry so much about pronouncing the word “vegan” properly: you become totally oblivious to clever wordplay possibilities.

I don’t think I’ve mentioned this yet, but Herbivore issue 8 is out now. As usual, it’s a visual delight and has some great features including one with SHAC 7 defendant Josh Harper and another with Erik Marcus. And for the requisite self-plug, I’ve got an interview with DC-based reggae band See-I.

You can order your issue online for a mere $4.50. But, really, you should have a subscription. Really, you should.

Isa and friends over at the Post Punk Kitchen are running a new contest, the Tofu Container Challenge.

I hate when I get a package of tofu in one of those plastic containers and all that packaging goes to waste, and I know you do, too. So let it be known that this is THE TOFU CONTAINER CHALLENGE! Use your creativity to come up with fun/functional/decorative ways to use those things.

First prize: a PPK t-shirt and DVD
Second Prize: A Food Fight! Grocery totebag - carry your vegan wears in style!
Third Prize: Breaking up the band, an awesome fabric covered zine from oh, blast! with break-up stories from 9 bands.

The contest will last until July 15th. Post pictures between July 11th- 15th. Post your entries on the PPK boards here. After your studious panel of judges has evaluated all the entries the winners will be announced on July 18th. Not only will you gain fame and notorioty, you will be saving the landfills (for the time being anyway) and inspiring a generation to do the same.

Rules:
1- No violence. If you use threats or intimidation to distract your opponents you will be disqualified.
2- Use as many containers as you like!
3- Don’t try to bribe the judges!

I was just outside reading when a little boy walked by a nearby tree and yanked on a branch. The boy’s grandmother (older aunt?) said to him, “Hey! Be gentle with living things.”

I thought, “Wow. That’s the most reasonable thing I’ve heard all day.”

(Of course, a second later my inner-cynic kicked in and said, “But I bet that philosophy doesn’t extend to her diet.”)

Are you vegan? Are you a programmer? Would you like to live in a vegan community Hawaii? Would you like to be paid well?

This may be the job for you.

This is the first time I can recall seeing a non-AR-specific job offered where you must be vegan to apply because you’d be joining a “vegan community.” Very cool. If I didn’t have family in the local area, I would seriously consider trying to talk Huyen into moving for this. I suspect it wouldn’t be difficult.

(via)

A while ago I briefly asked whether celebrity vegetarians really matter. My stance on the issue has lightened a bit, and I think that celebrities that truly stand for animal rights and follow veg*nism as a lifestyle day in and day out can be helpful in spreading the word. However, after chatting at lunch with Isa, Eric, and Huyen the other day, I think the problem is not in celebrity vegetarians, but the lists of celebrity vegetarians floating around the web.

The problem is that once someone even indicates that they’ve thought about vegetarianism, they wind up on the list and once they’re on the list, they’re there forever. Take Julia Stiles, who shows up on a bunch of the lists. She was a vegan for a short time, but then went so far as to totally discredit it on Conan and in interviews. Saying things like “I stopped being a vegan and then became a vegetarian. But the first meat I ate was not a hamburger” is just confusing… if she “became a vegetarian” what’s this about “the first meat [she] ate”? Shortly afterwards, she says, “So now I do eat some red meat but not all the time.” Well good for you, Julia. Congratulations on not being a lion.

But this isn’t about Julia Stiles. It’s about out-of-date lists and how the vegetarian community and animal rights organizations use them to try and claim legitimacy. Unfortunately, it works against us because of the inaccuracy of many of these lists. I understand that any list of this type can’t be kept completely up-to-date (until PETA develops a Vegetarian Registry or something like that), but perhaps less emphasis should be placed on what famous people are eating. The first time someone sees Michael Stipe eating a steak (and I swear I saw someone write that recently), the entire movement loses ground because then it seems like more of a trend diet or a phase rather than a compassionate lifestyle.

We don’t need famous-veg lists. Sure, when a real celebrity comes along and speaks out for animal rights, it helps things, but the AR/veg community can exist without them, so let’s not focus on publicizing our out-of-date lists of famous-people-who-may-have-once-been-vegetarian.

(Boy, I’ve been cranky lately, haven’t I?)

When I first started doing the vegan thing late last year, it was kind of tough for me to walk into the kitchen at work on Friday morning and not participate in “Donut Day” since most (actually, I think it’s all) donuts from Dunkin Donuts and Krispy Kreme aren’t vegan. As time went on, it got easier, where I felt less and less of an urge to grab a ring of unhealthiness. Now, I feel no urge whatsoever, especially when I think back to how it always felt like I had a rock in my stomach after eating a donut. I’m not an all-out health freak (have you seen how many cookies I eat?), but I have found that I rarely feel like crap after eating a vegan meal, no matter how heavy it is.

I used to think, “being vegetarian is easy and being vegan is hard.” Turns out the former is true, but the latter is false. Being vegan ain’t hard… it just takes a little getting used to. The most common thing I hear is, “I could never be vegan.” I think those people don’t give themselves enough credit.