Snow fall means snow boots

I've been avoiding buying snow boots for the entirety of my adult existence. With last weeks' huge storm dropping 23.2 inches in Philadelphia, it became painfully obvious that I need to purchase snow boots if I'm going to last the winter. After all it is only December! High top sneakers were just not cutting it, and wearing plastic baggies over my socks, although frugal, was just not fashionable.
The solution? Rubber Duck snow joggers.Can't afford $100 on snow boots? Check out their outlet section on the web site. Prices for last season's snow booots have been slashed in half. What a bargain. What else is so great about Rubber Duck? Cruelty free footwear for the snow bunny in all of us.

Give yourself warm cozy feet. They get enough abuse as it is.

Paula Dean & Ham in the Face

This video of Paula Dean getting hit in the face with a ham cannot be any funnier! I have nothing against Paula Dean, and love that she was able to laugh it off like a true professional.

Paula, maybe that ham was getting its revenge!

Vegan issues on NYT

I love this op-ed from NY Times. Finally someone who echoes my intent. Meat-eaters today are self-righteous, defensive gluttons with little remorse. I believe if you are going to eat meat, you should be able to kill and butcher it too, and I don't think many of my friends can do that. Eating out is a total drag these days and I do it only when I fee obligated, I simply cannot watch someone eat meat from a bone, smell it wafting over my plate as I lift a spoonful of veggies to my mouth or be around it in any capacity.
This piece hits the point home the fallacy of free-range. If you really care about the fate of animals on this planet than you wouldn't eat them. Period.

This author can count on one hand the number of vegan friends he has. It is a sad state of affairs when people are breaking their backs trying to get around their guilt, all so they can eat a piece of bloody flesh.

Adopt a turkey for the holidays! If your family doesn't thank you, well maybe they don't deserve it. But the turkeys thank you and that should be most important. Change it up a bit, buck tradition. This year, for Thanksgiving, my in-laws asked me to bring the vegan pot-pie I made last year, and it is so nice to be able to share healthy, delicious vegan meals that a whole family loves.

Over-fishing...is your sushi worth it?

lately I'm obsessed with over-fishing, and it seems that my sentitments are echoed around the world. Listen to the NPR story here.
There are healthy fish to eat: tilapia, sardines, herring to name few. Leave the big tuna to the big sea and eat what can easily reproduce. Simple as that.

That not all...think that cigarette you've stumped out on the beach will just...disappear? Not only is your health at risk, but fish too! read more here. Of course nicotine is toxic...just remember where you dump your butts.

I'm taking on this crusade. Protect our oceans!

I heart Tony Gonzales

It's really important for fellow football players to support PETA's initiatives. I love that Tony Gonzales is sticking it to Vick and other animal abusers by using his celebrity to bring attention to the atrocities of wearing fur. Go Tony! I'll root for you any day.

https://secure.peta.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=2575
While you are at it, sign the anti-fur petition, and you'll never wear fur again.

A Whale of a Truce? : Discovery News

A Whale of a Truce? : Discovery News

Posted using ShareThis

So you're a pescatarian?

So you're a pescatarian... Do you ever consider the impact that your meat-free, yet fish-filled diet has on the planet? Terry Gross on Fresh Air has a great 2 part expose on the fishing industry, how it is killing our planet and the not-so-romantic image of the swarthy fisherman.

I stopped eating fish as soon as I left the nest. Too many early mornings visiting lobster traps with my father before school marred the romantic image of fishing. But at least it was one man (and a girl) against the sea. I spent too many days witnessing the brutal harpooning and watching fish flap themselves lifeless to ever really enjoy a seafood meal, and for that I'm thankful. I'm thankful also that I was forced to watch my dad kill my pet chickens and force me to pluck it, because little did he know that there was a young vegan in the making. I have so many friends who have said, "I only eat fish" And I say to them, "well pretty soon you'll start feeling guilt about the over-fishing problem and you'll stop eating fish too."
In this interview the facts are indisputable. Gone is the image of the swarthy fisherman with a crew of 2, trying to eek out a living. Instead we have floating factories with underpaid workers in less-than-desirable conditions fishing our oceans dry. 80% of the fish consumed in the US are from foreign countries. We use technology originally used in wartime to locate submarines to find schools of fish. Trawlers, huge nets that boats tow behind them, are sometimes large enough to accommodate 6 jumbo jets. This is factory farming people! We are literally ripping ecosystems directly out of the ocean. We are eating fish faster than they can reproduce and giving nice-sounding names to things that really sound inedible. Oh and the jellyfish. Jellyfish will soon run the world if we don't watch it.

If you are interested in the environment, overfishing, vegan issues or simply curious about what the science says, take a listen. Hey, it might just change what you eat.

Larry King grills the Burger industry

Last night on Larry King Live (LKL), the suspender-wearing journalist probed deep into the burger industry. Read the transcript here. Deaths from e-coli, especially in children, are on the rise and it's big beef's fault! Nearly everyone on the panel said that they don't eat burgers, with the exception of one woman who was obviously paid big bucks by big beef to extoll the virtues of an animal protein diet. In a nut shell, her argument went something like this: "It's so much easier to gulp down a burger than to actually think about eating sensibly"
Even Anthony Bourdain, self-professed carnivore, looks unfavorbaly on factory farming. I have a new-found love for Bourdain after a recent episode where he swore he would not take part in the slaughtering of animals for his tv show since he's been dating a vegetarian!

So what's the final word? Everyone, except for the paid-lobby lady, agrees that there needs to be a major overhaul in the meat industry in the US. that means more testing. 90% of our meat comes from factory farms, so if you think you are safe, read the label. Lucky for me, as a raw vegan, there are no worries, except for the run-off from factory farms infecting crops like spinach. Eat organic, know where your food comes from. If you must eat meat, raise a cow at a local farm, but please think twice about our beautiful cow-eyed friends before eating them!

Discovery News : Earth: It's The End of the World! It's an Alien Invasion! No, It's a Cloud.

Discovery News : Earth: It's The End of the World! It's an Alien Invasion! No, It's a Cloud.

Posted using ShareThis

end animal cruelty in Cananda

I was contacted over on my blog, For the Love of Raw, by a fellow animal rights activist and advocate. Please visit this sight to sign a petition to end animal testing and seal blugdeoning in the otherwise awesome country of Canada. Let's get some action and see the end of unnecessary animal cruelty.

Sign the petition here.

Ride me, I'm Irish?

I saw this Harley on the way to work a few weeks ago and have been waiting for it to reappear so I can share it. Look at the atrocious shamrock detail work on an otherwise beautiful bike. It's painful, but, hey it's not mine.

TOMS Shoes

I'm loving these vegan-friendly fall boots from TOMS! Check out their site for other vegan options. Look sharp, live vegan.

TOMS Shoes

Shared via AddThis

kanye

If I were to propose to boycott Kanye West after his incredibly stupid outburst on the VMA's the other evening, it would not affect my life at all. Kanye has always been a no-talent hack with songs for school kids. I always think of him as the new Diddy, someone who rips off samples and makes millions off of other peoples' talent. I also partially credit him with the demise of hip-hop, and I vow to spend part of my day listening to old Nas albums just to relish in decent hip hop that doesn't infect the airwaves. Besides being a major jerk, Kanye wears clown clothes and starts ridiculous trends, acts like an ass 9 out of ten times and oh yeah, he makes pretty young girls cry.
If I had kids, I would not let my children listen to his junky music and they would be much better off because of it. Lots of us tuned in to award shows in the late 80's and 90's looking for bad outfits and off-color remarks during acceptance speeches, but this was taking it a little too far. Perhaps he was trying to out-shine Lady Gaga, and in some respects he did, but not in a good way. Kanye, stay off the airwaves, stop making music and go hide in a cave until you learn to act like a man, because all you've proved over the last 5 years is you are nothing but a big, ugly baby.

Beyonce deserves major props for being such a classy lady, passing the torch to a new young person who is deserving of the awards that the people voted for.

Michael Vick, Sadistic Prick

That's right people, say it loud! Michael Vick sadistic prick! Michael Vick sadisitic Prick!
Only the Philadelphia Eagles would hire a convicted felon to marshal this years' football season. Would the school board hire back a convicted felon as a teacher, would the government hire someone convicted of extortion? I wonder what morals the NFL is trying to pass onto their legions of disappearing fans. I'm disapointed in Philadelpia, again, but now that the dust has settled, I'm not surprised. It's not like I can boycott football, since I don't watch sports anyway. I don't even know why sports people are role models, but they are. Most kids think he's done his time and that he should be given a second chance. Everyone should be given a second chance, in life, but perhaps Vick should focus being a role model in animal advocacy instead of being given a second chance as a multi-million dollar contract player for another football team. Personally it makes me sick to think that a convicted felon, one who elecrocuted, hung and raped dogs is going to now be a starting quarterback for the football team that represents my city. Well it doesn't represent me, I'll tell you that. Martha Stewart cannot fly into London, Heathrow airport because she is a convicted felon, so why should Michael Vick be able to pour back into mainstream to be idolized? Michael Vick, sadistic prick...Michael Vick, sadisitic prick!!

the Great healthcare Debate

Over my morning caffeine, I had the pleasure of watching Arlen Spector preside over a bunch of Pennsylvanians at a town hall in Lebanon. I know what PA is truly like, having lived here for over 15 years. I see the difference between the city people and the country folk. I was somewhat prepared for the misshapen 35-year-old who identified herself as a Republican and a Conservative and asked Sen. Spector to uphold the Constitution so that we don't turn into a Socialized country like Russia! I screamed at the television at that point, angrily sloshing my tea and feeling disgusted.

This opinion piece from NPR neatly sums up my feelings, and probably a whole lot of other peoples'. After hearing a sad story from my 65+ friend who recently had surgery, but is entirely active and able, that she might have to move into a senior building because of her medical bills. This from a woman who rides her bike all over the city and looks 50. Straight from the source and it broke my heart.

For cat owners: Automatic litter-box cleaners!

My product rave of the summer has got to be my brand-new electric litter box cleaner for cats. I'm not so good at housework and even though I do my best to clean after the kitties, I'll be the first to admit that I don't do it enough. It's not fair to anyone; my cats, my boyfriend or myself.
At first I was hesitant to purchase it, because it is rather expensive and I don't know enough people who've had experiences with them in any capacity, other than one person who said all things great, so it is with great fanfare that I recommend
the Littermaid Elite Mega. I must say that my life has improved dramatically since. I eased my cats into it, first leaving both litter boxes side by side, and then sprinkling some of the old litter into the new litter box. Eventually, after about two days, the cats were using it and I was able to remove the old box. Hurray!
The machine is a little loud at first, but after a while you get used to it. My cats think it is a hoot. Both run and stare in awe at this magical rake that leaves their litter box clean, every time. I caught my calico frustratingly tugging at one part trying desperately how to figure out how it works; she is so smart. Clean up is a snap; all I have to do is empty this little container every other day. There is absolutely no odor, the cats seem to love it, and most importantly it has greatly improved our life. So for all you curious cat owners out there...
Highly recommended!

burnin' books in 2009

Every few years a few maniacs come along who want to ban books. This time it is happening in Wisconsin, with brave and righteous elderly Christians at the helm who don't want to even so much as hear about gay-coming-of-age sexuality that they'd like to literally cease the existence of said book. Censorship is not what this country is about and when we go back to book burning we also go back to public flogging on the square.
The article states that some of these outraged elderly citizens are not library card holders and some are not from that particular town. I don't understand the meddling. Reading through the Amazon reviews, it becomes apparent to me that a.) this book was first published in 1995 b.) The author is an established teen serial writer, and c.)all the reviews I read were glowing, vibrant reviews, with one person warning about adult issues. My question is, what took these octogenarians so long? By this time, nearly everybody that wants to read this book, already has, and they are only increasing visibility to this once-dormant teen lit.
Besides the fact that censorship is un-American, I don't this it is very Christian either. Jesus wouldn't ban books.

minivan drivers (a passengers experience and log)

Minivan drivers have got to be the world's worst drivers. After hours back and forth on the highway this weekend, I feel that I can attest to this fact. Driving on the highway, nearly every snafu, weird traffic pattern and/or congestion can be attributed to the minivan driver. Let's call them MV's. Up ahead a car is careening back and forth, weaving and bobbing in their lane, the culprit, yep a MV driver, probably swerving due to yelling at their unruly children in the backseats. Slow driver up ahead in the fast lane, a minivan driver? you bet! These people refuse to let fast cars pass and idly bide their time while an entire queue forms for miles for this one idiotic driver. Broken down vehicle on side of road? This weekend, not only was a rubber-necking MV driver the cause of the slowed traffic, but the broken down vehicle was also a minivan and I kid you not, a Hasidic Jew had also pulled over to take a picture of the minivan broken down. Hasidic Jews love Upstate New York and also make up a high-percentage of minivan drivers on the road.
I'm not sure what makes a MV driver worst than the rest of us. Could it be the awkward visibility? The steering column, mechanics. What I do know is that MV drivers are a different breed and after this weekend of passing every traffic jam due to a minivan driver, I'm convinced that if they all got off the road travelling would be a breeze. It became comical after a while because rarely was my theory incorrect. I think they need to be re-tested because they are running on their own set of rules.

4th of July musings

I'm not a fan of July 4th and I'll tell you why. Barbecues, people, barbecues. I can't recall a smell more offensive than that of a rotting, raw corpse upon which someone has smothered a greasy, red sauce and intends to call dinner hours later. Living in a tiny shot-gun apartment doesn't make it any easier. Anticipating all my neighbors grilling meats, especially those using that chemical fire-starter, has me shuddering with rage already. My weekend, inevitably, is either spent gagging on the odor or shut inside my hot apartment with doors and windows sealed tightly as waves of rotting meat stench roll by my windows, seeping in cracks and making me miserable. If people can't smoke cigarettes inside, than maybe they shouldn't cook meat outside. I think, and this is a big one, that I'd rather smoke a cigarette then be exposed to toxic meat smell. Walking home every day, I can pin-point the restaurants that contribute the most carcinogens to the environment and I wonder if normal people have any idea how offensive this stuff really is!
Even though I'm escaping out of the city this year, I recall last summer, where the same thing happened at an open camp ground. We could hardly find anywhere to settle down to eat our delicious, raw vegan picnic due to the mass-hysteria of barbecuing on July 4th.
Some people say, aw suck it up. I say, next time someone lights a toxic can of ass under your window, you can suck it up, buster. Cheers, and happy fourth to those individuals who find a quiet, undisturbed, unscented spot upon which to eat their nature's bounty.

Wanna be startin' something

Today I stepped in a big, juicy wad of gum, sitting in the blazing hot sun on the sidewalk where I picked up a City Paper to use as padding for a package I was about to send. "Bleeping Bleep!" I yelled, angry, fuming for the next thirty minutes as I could feel my shoe stick ever-so-slightly to the sidewalk below. In line at the post-office I could faintly smell sweat mingled with peppermint chewing gum. "Bleep!"
When I stepped into the office my co-worker told me, "Farrah Fawcett is dead." Heartbroken, I mused, "I guess stepping in gum isn't so bad."
Later, at my other job, my friend was looking at a blog that said Michael Jackson was dead. No Way! I said, but sure enough he's gone too. Walking home I saw a candlelit vigil in Rittenhouse Park, and I was wondering if it was for Farrah, Neda, or Michael Jackson.
I still have that gum stuck to my shoe.

'Sup Republicans?

What is going on with Republicans and infidelity? That Senator in the gay bathroom incident, that Senator from Nevada last week and today that guy from South Carolina. Seriously there's a trend and I'm kind of enjoying the show...play on boys!

Shower Curtain On-Demand

Wow, I wish I had thought of this idea. Get your favorite photo on a shower curtain! Supposedly they are non-fade and machine washable. Better be for $200! Still, this is a great idea.

All about the 80's

I'm all about the 80's and 90's house music lately. Can't get enough. I'm not embarrassed about it either. Last night I downloaded Crystal Water's Gypsy Woman (She's Homeless) and cannot stop listening to it. Ce Ce Peniston, KLF and Black Box are making a comeback, and I am totally digging it.
Another very 80's thing I'm obsessed with is neon, so I was more-than pleased when I opened the new Victoria's Secret catalog and saw neon tank tops. I snagged one in day-glow yellow. They make dresses and tops too! Warning: don't wear if you are trying to lay low.
Also really into Roseanne re-runs.

One thing that isn't cool and please God don't let it catch on: Neon scrunchies from American Apparel. Not cool. Scrunchies were never cool. I want to say "Run for the Hills", but in the hills they are still wearing the original scrunchie. I fear this scrunchie implosion as much as Uggs.
Say no to the scrunchie!

backyard chicks

I came across this story on NPR today. Thought some of you urban urchins with a penchant for nature would find this interesting. My co-worker gets green eggs from his CSA and here's why.
I'm not gonna start eating eggs or anything, but man would I love to hug a chick. And I also wouldn't be opposed to raising chickens for eggs-for-profit, but I think my fire escape has enough going on right now without an added chicken coop.

When I was a little girl, we had a backyard chicken coop just like these newbies. Only my family did it to save money, and probably for the animals too. I had to clean the chicken coop every day as my chore, harvest the eggs and feed the birds. There's a fabulous photo of me, age 3, with a huge bird in my arms. (sigh). Nowadays, people are doing it more to avoid additives and ensure quality. I think it is awesome.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=104304441&ft=1&f=1001

caught me a possum

As if this week wasn't hectic enough! Over the last year, I've tried my hand at gardening, trying to exorcise my black-thumb for a green one and do my daddy proud. Lo and behold I was successful at a few herbs but mainly delicious red tomatoes. Only...I would eye a delicious orb that would be of the perfect ripeness and the following day, when I went to pluck the fruit, I'd discover that it had a gigantic bite out if it. Thus began my problems with Peter Possum. Not only did he eat my crops, he showed me his under-belly and his long rat tail by climbing up my window grate. Not a sight to see at midnight. At least once a week since the debacle began a year ago, have I seen him. He's not afraid to sit and stare, hiss and harass my cats and basically be an all-around nuisance.
I'm an animal lover, first and foremost and after calling around various Philly humane animal rescue and quoted a fat $375, I decided to take matters into my own hands. With my friendly neighbors support, (the whole neighborhood is involved at this point, which kind of makes me like Philly again), we've borrowed a humane trap.
Yesterday I baited the trap with a juicy juicy apple and today, he is there, inside the trap. Tonight, Peter, you will leave the city and enjoy a country life. City living has you far too comfortable and I need to grow my garden.

ADDENDUM: Releasing the possum was the biggest concern I had. I honestly didn't know how to let him out of the cage. Would he be viscous and bite me? After pocketing my identification and my insurance card, I brought him downstairs and into the trunk of the car, covered in a dark plastic the whole time. We took our time while driving, avoiding huge pot-holes and, once we arrived at our undisclosed location where I know for a fact opossums thrive, we shuttled him out to the woods. I in my gardening gloves and long-sleeves with a big stick, and J with nothing but bare hands. Eventually we rolled the trap on its upside and watched our possum, tentatively at first, hop away into the wild. Free at last.

Tweets are for kids

Is anyone else totally sick of twitter invading their space? CNN and all the other networks have a constant stream of tweets from the illiterate and unemployed. Why would I care what someone who spells believe as 'beleave' thinks? Really CNN Really. What about the news? If I wanted to know what other twitterers think I'd be on twitter, but I'm not, yet I'm still burdened by the mass of non-news and opinions of ingrates. Uninformed twitters on swine flu is not informative. Give me news, give me facts but don't show me tweets.
Tweets are for kids.

The Organic Myth

Farming isn't something so alien to me. Even though I'm a city girl, currently working on my own container garden, I can still recall the days when I was forced out of bed at an early hour before school, to help my Dad in the small, but manageable garden that would feed our family of five for the better part of the year, squishing potato bugs for a penny each, and yanking threatening weeds before they overtook our precious harvest. Across the street was a larger plot of land used by a local farmer, where he usually planted corn, pumpkins or beans that were regularly visited by a giant winged John Deere contraption, set on eliminating those very things we despised in our own garden.
Of course we borrowed corn from this field until our own were ready, and the difference in taste is still remarkable. The loving care we put into our own vegetables was so good you could taste it. Literally.
Listening to my friend recently opine how she only eats organic meat and only organic all the time, made me realize how ignorant most of the world is regarding the organic food boom. Organics take time, commitment and loving care and attention, so how do super-stores like Wal-mart and even Whole Foods for that matter, stock their shelves? I'm not saying I don't shop at Whole Foods, of course I do, it's conveniently nearly next door to my home and that is another issue for another time, but when compared with local produce bought at farmer's markets, produce bought at any of these super-stores pales in comparison. Why? Because when companies like Chiquita or Green Giant start producing organic foods your mind has to ask questions about its origins. Surely no human hand is systematically squishing bugs between their fingers for quality control, right?
To maintain quality, these huge companies have successfully lobbied to the USDA to incorporate some type of pesticide control for their quote unquote organic crops.Food companies have standards, which explain why all tomatoes are nearly the exact same size, and anyone who has experience with their own farm knows that is simply not the case. What happens to all these 'ugly ducklings'? Independent farmers struggle with keeping up with industry standards set up by these mega-giant producers.
The USDA has made it virtually impossible for small locally-based farms to certify their product organic, yet these small farms produce a far more healthy version than the type of stuff that is available to the mass market. The reason the USDA allows these lax restrictions is that as a business, they are in trouble. More people are trying to control what they put in their bodies. The government provides stipends to the large companies, but not the small independents who deserve it and the cost of certifying one vegetable far exceeds the profits some small farms might make all year. Fed up yet?
Well the meat industry is far dirtier and sordid. Even though your chicken might be free-range or organic, the term carries very little value in the real world. Big Beef, Chicken and Pork have manipulated this market to meet their ideals. It literally angers me to hear people talking so ignorantly that they only eat free-range when they have no idea what it actually means. Free range does not automatically dictate an open pasture where chickens peck to their hearts content. It means the there is a door that leads to an area where they might be allowed to roam in a mud-soaked, vitamin deprived atmosphere. The more interest people have in eating guilt-free food, the more lobbies will be presented the the USDA to thwart your efforts. I applaud Whole Foods for bringing free-range to the public vocabulary, but unless you want Whole Foods to become as ubiquitous as Wal-mart, people better start challenging their food sources regularly. I remember when I was young, my family raised a cow at a neighboring farm, that we visited quite regularly. My parents should have known then that I was vegetarian, since I would look into our giant freezer and cry over my friend Bessie, lying in peices. That said, allowing a local farm to raise your beef is probably your best option, if you can eat it!
Your best bet is to talk to your locals. My favorite farmer last year was a very kind Amish man who talked to us for 20 minutes about his special lettuces, rare breeds and varieties. We walked away with enough to tide us over til the following week to see what else he came up with. We ended up visiting him all summer, always coming home with an heirloom vegetable or some other vegetable that literally inspired awe.
My partner and I can't wait until we start our weekend dates of biking to the nearest farmers market, sampling the produce and asking questions to the caretakers of the beautiful bounty, excited about our choices, plannning the weekly menu, all without a shred of guilt at supporting unethical foods from unethical sources.

Alert! Babycakes new book!

Amazon.com: BabyCakes: Vegan, Gluten-Free, and (Mostly) Sugar-Free Recipes from New York's Most Talked-About Bakery: Erin McKenna

Probably the high-point of my Manhattan existence, was being able to visit the vegan Babycakes bakery in Lower Manhattan. Part of what makes Babycakes so unique is that they focus on gluten-free cupcakes and other baked goods. All items are dairy free, some made with spelt, but all are delicious and gentle on your tummy, which is why it is probably easy to eat two or three cupcakes in one sitting. When I took my friends, I think each of us ended up with a bakers dozen that lasted a day or two. So hard to resist. Walking into Babycakes is an experience to mention; all the girls are wearing cute fifties-style aprons and the place is a super-chic little 50's bakery. Worth it if you are in town!
Can't make it to their storefront? Now you too, can make Babycakes cupcakes in your own kitchen. Word on the street is they are also opening a Los Angeles location, lucky Californians!
Preorder your babycakes cookbook here.

Looking for a way to incorporate delicious baked goods back into your diet? Well, this might be the book for you. Recommended for families, people with food allergies and...vegans!

shiraleah vegan bags

I'm in love with the Shiraleah brand. Shiraleah products are kind of ubiquitous in the Philadelphia area. Open House, Blendo and a couple other boutique stores in Philadelphia carry the brand. Shiraleah bags, clutches, wallets and other items are vegan! They also have a nice home decor selection using recycled products, including chairs from newspaper, and plastic rugs from recycled plastic. AND it won't break the bank.
Right now, Shiraleah is donating 3% of their proceeds to disabled children in Vietnam.

I scored a super-hot mustard yellow Chloe knock-off at Blendo, 1002 Pine St, Philadelphia.

I love you Mary Jane

Yesterday, in that free little paper, the Metro, there was an article introducing the possibility of legalizing pot for the city of Philadelphia. State rep Mark B Cohen supports this idea, but sees little public support. Say What? I did, what apparently many others did. I contacted Mark Cohen and offered to help get this bill on the ballot. What kind of help are we talking about? Let's start by getting some signatures. I have yet to hear from Cohen, but in today's Metro, he said he received thousands of contacts through facebook and other networking sites.
If you live in Philadelphia and support this idea, now is a time to be heard. On a day when Mayor Nutter announced a miserable financial outlook, I think it's either time for serious change or a mass exodus from this city. If you are tired of living in the shadows of New York and DC, then maybe this idea isn't such a bad one. Tax dollars, for one, would pour into the city, and wouldn't you just love a place to chill out at, a leisure cafe a la Amsterdam, Toronto, and Vancouver. Philadelphia could be a destination. Can you imagine? And businesses would blossom, money would pour into our poor city.

What can you do? Contact Rep Mark Cohen. Join PA Norml and march in this spring's annual marijuana march this may. Most importantly: Be Heard!

Word of the Day

Ki Ki - When two drag queens have sex.

I learned this interesting factoid off my new favorite show, RuPaul's Drag Race, shown on VH1 and Logo channels.
Not to be missed!It's not too late to start watching.

What!? Foie Gras Week!?

Yep, you read correctly. Next week marks the start of Philadelphia's Foie Gras Week. While other places like the city of Chicago and the state of California have banned the sale of foie gras in stores and restaurants, this backward city is celebrating this archaic brand of animal torture.
For a list of restaurants to avoid, see here. Again, I wonder, how can I live in this unhealthy city that was put on the map for another vulgar specialty, the cheesesteak.
I like to compare foie gras eaters with Hummer drivers. People think they look good eating their engorged, toxic liver, but they really look like insensitive brutes, kind of like SUV drivers! The car industry is working hard to make economical, responsible cars, so why are we still eating foie gras? huh? Can't foie gras farmers farm stuff like ...vegetables! Move forward!
One person defending the foie gras industry asks why protesters don't protest McDonalds or KFC. uhh, we do, we don't eat there and have you checked out PETA's website lately, it's an ongoing campaign? duh. Do your research before saying something ignorant.
Oh Philadelphia, you disgust me.

Sea Mammals, News and abuse

I'm always a sucker for a good documentary and the new film that NatGeo channel is showing right now on the fate, plight and habits of the Blue Whale did not disappoint. Highlights include beautiful footage of blue whales up close and personal. Also footage of scientists posing as customers at a seafood market where whale meat is sold in Japan. Because they are mammals, their meat is highly prized and resembles beef. That had never occurred to me, and even more, I'm inspired to end whale hunting once and for all.
Japan, Norway and Iceland all support whale hunts for research, and this doc reveals that Japan imported whale meat from North American waters, one no-no, and also that they speared a rare hybrid whale for their endeavors.

On a similar note, PETA is launching a huge campaign to stop the bludgeoning of baby seals in Canada in conjunction with the proposed 2010 Olympics. Check out their website to get active, write a letter to the Olympic Committee to get them to see the light. As much as I love Canada for being progressive in many respects, they really can't be taken seriously in my eyes, Morrissey's and countless others until they stop this senseless, bloody slaughter and I said as much in my letter sent yesterday.

Write a letter, get active. It's free, and makes you feel good while accomplishing your personal and universal goals!

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread is a haunting, relatively new documentary about the modern food business. Visually stunning and often disturbing, this film is not for the faint of heart. As a vegan for many years, I couldn't bear to watch the scenes of abuse and slaughter unfold yet another time before my eyes, and I ended up fast-forwarding through the animal scenes and focused instead on the farming. If you could call it that. Gone are the farmers on their hands and knees, weeding their crops and caring for their plants. Here to stay are GMO crops looking slightly alien, yet identical to the thousands of others under the same roof. I found myself gazing at the beautiful symmetry of the hydroponic greenhouse, comparing it to the pyramids at the Louvre. Gigantic machines spray pesticides, thrash wheat, while workers at night quickly pluck and wrap cabbages while the machine dictates their progress. Farming is no longer romanticized in this vision of food production.
Memorable scenes include one where a huge industrial crop waterer spread its wings like a giant, graceful pterodactyl. Beautiful sunflowers are covered in a haze of pesticides.
Disturbing scenes include a baby chick processing plant where women unfeelingly toss baby chicks into a giant machine which takes them through a crazy amusement park-like ride until, presumably their death. Farmed fish swimming like sardines in a can, never given the opportunity to swim free and have a chance at life.
Despite the beauty of the film, I was left feeling dirty and sad. For most people living on a modest budget, there is little one can do to avoid the commercial food chain. Alex Jones, yesterday on his podcast on Infowars.com, was speaking of a future, fifty years from now, where we will all be vegans, not by choice, but because there will be no room to raise animals and of a future where all our food comes from genetically modified sources controlled by the government. Now is the best time to try your hand at container gardens for city-dwellers and more ambitious planting for those fortunate enough to own green space. I know I sound like a broken record sometimes, but the most important thing when choosing your food is knowing where it came from, not necessarily organic, since the big producers are getting around federal guidelines and establishing their own, but local, farm-raised produce, picked and raised by loving human hands.
I'm thankful that I no longer eat meat, so I don't feel the guilt that often accompanies meat consumption, but I also feel the duty to raise my own food to keep various strains of vegetables alive, until they take that from us too.

Oh yeah, and the best part of this film? Even though it is a foreign film, there are no subtitles; the machines do the talking.

Seen on Rittenhouse Square

I can't tell you how many times I'm behind someone on the street as they throw out their wrapper to their big mac or cigarettes. Often, I fume with anger and mutter unintelligible things behind their backs, but sometimes I actually say stuff. I don't understand why someone would throw trash on the street when there are two trash cans on either side of the block. Laziness? Some sort of culture barrier? A secret effort to keep Philly dirty and rough-n-tumble? It's time to grow up Philadelphia. Some neighborhoods are showing their true colors.

Yesterday I saw a solar powered trash compactor in Rittenhouse Square, Philadelphia. Wow, I thought; the only neighborhood where people actually put trash in trash cans gets this newfangled contraption. Neat.
Now if we can only get people to actually us it.
Read more here.
On the slate: Teaching people how to properly use a trash can.

Nutrition tips from a beached whale

This morning on Rachel Ray, beached whale Winona Judd gives nutrition tips. I'm sorry, but if someone with two chins is giving you tips on how to eat healty, run, as fast as you can, to the nearest salad bar.

exlusive:word usage

Exclusive: a piece of news, or the reporting of a piece of news, obtained by a newspaper or other news organization, along with the privilege of using it first.

All day long I hear on the news, "join us for our exclusive interview with ________ tomorrow evening". The thing is, every network says the same thing. Rachel Maddow made fun of herself last week, saying she had an exclusive interview with Rod Blagoyevich, adding, the she was the only person on her network at that time slot to host the interview, making light of the fact that there wasn't a soul he wasn't willing to talk with. What I'm getting at is, the word exclusive prompts me to wonder if this term isn't overused. Katie Couric is hosting an exclusive interview with the pilot that landed in the Hudson weeks ago, but wait, wasn't Larry King the first person to interview him, like over two weeks ago? Please clarify, oh holy media.

What's with this exclusivity. Networks want you to think they have the only word, even though it has already been broadcast all over the place all week. I'm not challenging the media or anything, I just wish they'd stop exploiting the English language for their express purposes.

Sign O' the Times: depression II

I was having a conversation with my boss not too long ago. During the Great Depression, her in-laws were seriously hurting, everyone was in those days. Sharing what you could, what you had to offer, was often all you had. This family used to pay a woman 1-3 cents to brush their hair. It's not like they needed someone to brush their hair, nor did they have two pennies of their own to rub together, yet it was this sharing that helped keep people going and helped keep communities tight.

Yesterday, I saw a shoe shine man, going door to door to luxury businesses, shining shoes in doorways and I was reminded of this story. To me, this looked like a bad sign of times to come. Pretty soon, we will start seeing hookers in the streets again, (I've seen them on 12th and Pine recently) and people will be wanting to wash your windsheilds with dirty rags again. I guess, if you can give, you should, because things are taking a turn for the worse.

Rumor has it

Word on the street is that the Fair Food Farm Stand in Reading Terminal Market will be moving to the former home of Rick's Steaks! Yay, more visibility to veggies. Front and Center.
Rick's is moving to the basement at the Bellevue, and I'm more than happy to get that stench out of the market. While I'm happy that the farm stand is moving to a far-more visible spot in the market, I hope that they still have stuff left for my lazy bones when I get there at 3 in the afternoon.
Look for it happening soon.

Big Box lunch at KFC

When I first saw this Variety Big Box lunch from KFC advertised, my first thought was total disgust. I mean, have you looked at this lunch, that is meant to feed one human? No wonder we have an obesity problem on our hands. Who eats this crap? And more importantly who encourages us to eat this?
Who can possibly fit this in their body. Answer, many more Americans than you can imagine. And probably an entire village in Africa.
Who needs 3 types of fried chicken with a biscuit, gravy and mac-n-cheese? I guess obese people think they do, or at least that's what KFC is gonna tell you. What ever happened to a balanced plate? Where are the veggies? Oh, that skinny green leaf in that bulky sandwich hardly counts. And coleslaw slathered in artery-clogging mayo hardly constitutes a vegetable.

Oh KFC, just because you've so courageously stopped debeaking birds does not mean you have to serve more to the masses. It's counterproductive. And you are hurting people by serving this. Heart-attack on a plate, coming up.

How cold is it?

It is so cold that when I went to use the bathroom at work yesterday the water in the toilet was frozen. Yikes!

out on the town; living the vegan loca

Over the last couple weeks, I've found myself venturing out on the town a bit more than usual. I've been hunkered down most of the season, eating at home most nights because I've been so involved in the raw foods lifestyle to take notice of much else. I might as well be an alien in my own city, as raw foods are very elusive. Birthdays, holidays and a general malaise over the state of affairs has taken me to the streets.

Last week, my friends and I checked out Apothecary, or APO bar as it is confusingly referred to. Let me just preface by saying that my friends were certain they had walked straight into a scene from The Shining, complete with a weird, Frankensteinian bartender, but all that aside, it is worth checking out.
Apothecary makes drinking seem healthy. I indulged in one concoction made for healthy skin, with organic vodka, cucumber juice, aloe vera and a bunch of other little ingredients encased in amber vials and employed with droppers.
My friends had other cocktails made with gin and tequila, both chock full of ingredients I like to see, like lemon verbena, echinacea and Valerian. I'm hooked on APO bar and am secretly planning my June birthday on their roof deck.

After cocktails, we mosied across the street to Bindi, a nouveau Indian restaurant and byob. A delicious bottle of chilean reisling complemented the spicy dishes. I chose Bindi, because I always notice they have a vegan option. Not the night I went, alas, but the staff was quite knowledgeable about what my options were. Even though I could have had the pumpkin curry, I'm on a strict no-tofu diet and opted instead for this massive vegan sampler dish that I could've easily finished if I didn't feel like such a pig. For a starter I had a salad of beet and jicama with a minty, tamarind dressing that was killer (and raw!). The entree consisted of about 9 little silver tureens, including chutney, chana, lentil bread, delicious basmati rice with raisins and a whole host of other treats. The only item I wasn't crazy about was the bread, because it was obviously deep-fried, which I avoid at all costs, and tasted like burnt oil. I will definitely will make the trip back. It's so hard to eat Indian vegan, because of the oft-heavy-handed ghee in vegetarian dishes, that has left me very ill in the past, so I'm happy to find this wonderful little place that went the extra mile for vegans.

Later in the week, I checked out a new vegetarian restaurant in Philadelphia, Mi Lah on 16th between Locust and Walnut. The place is simple and should succeed as a nice place to lunch in center city. I should first preface by saying that there was only one item on the menu that was vegetarian, all else was vegan, all desserts vegan and it is byob. yippee, more for me.
I ended up with a great spinach salad with avocado and mango with a slightly spicy dressing (raw), you can get salads in two sizes which a another good option. I also tried the pad thai which was everything you could ever want in pad thai. All the flavors melted together and made my mouth very happy. I will definitely be making Mi Lah my new place to meet for lunch.
Although it might sound like it has an Asian flare, it really doesn't, with dishes like African stew, pot pie, pizzas and sandwiches peppering the menu. The chef, formerly worked at Philadelphia's Horizon's vegan restaurant, which gives him eve more clout, in my book.

Provided I have no other birthdays or events in the coming weeks, I will be strictly concentrating on new raw creations, but it is also wonderful to see and support vegan ventures in my carnivorous city.

word to the wise; spreading the wealth

I was speaking with an acquaintance the other day about this horrible state of affairs our economy is in. We've just watched about 4 stores close on our block and the scent of fear is in the air.
She said, that although only one of her friends has been laid off so far, no one she knows is spending money.
Do you love that little boutique where you used to buy those cute t-shirts all the time. Well it's not gonna be there if you don't support it. I walk down busy retail avenues all the time, and each day, notice that one more has bitten the dust. I don't want my favorite soap store, gift shops or wine bars to close, and while I can't afford to spend money every day, I try to remember that since I do have a job and a steady income, these people need our support. So, next time you go to Target, or better yet, the Internet) for some cheap supplies you can also get at a neighborhood shop, think about the dozens of lives you are affecting by your decision, the impact on the value of your home in said neighborhood and the cost of shopping corporate. If you like the way little shops line your street and city, well, brace yourself, because pretty soon it might just all be Targets and Walmarts and we'll all look like little ugg-clad clones. Spend a little, save a lot.

The media won't tell you to spend right now, but you owe your community a little something, especially if you want that community to be in a good position when this all blows over.