vegansaurus!

It’s time once again to veganize BART!  »

Last year your votes helped place some great ads from the Factory Farming Awareness Coalition on BART. Now you can help FFAC get a new round of free BART advertising this year by voting again via the BART Blue Sky program Facebook poll.

Voting closes on Sunday, May 12, and the top three finishers will receive $50,000 worth of BART ads in stations and onboard trains. All voters can also enter to win a $500 Clipper card.

If you want to see more ads like this during your commute, get clicking! Help out FFAC and promote cruelty-free living.

[BART photo by Thomas Hawk via Flickr]

Hot tip: Escape From New York Pizza in the Mission has vegan slices!  »

Pizza party, all the time! Well, at least on Sundays in the Mission. We got a tip from an Escape From New York Pizza employee that their Mission location serves vegan slices from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sundays. Get on it, their pizza is yum!

I live next to the Escape From New York in the Upper Haight and I would love to see this happen there, because when I want their Daiya cheese pie, I have to order a WHOLE ONE. The vegan slices at Whole Foods across the street always look kind of nasty, so I end up making a vegan pizza myself, or breaking down and ordering one from EFNY. Then I eat the entire thing because will power is not something I apply to in my life!

When I say “I live next to,” I mean “when I open my bedroom window, the breeze is pizza-scented.” This must be what heaven smells like.

Jo from EFNY in the Mission tells us that she is vegan, so she makes sure the vegan slices are made separately! Thanks for looking out Jo! You just made my life a little brighter. Let’s go get some slices! And beer! See you in Dolores park, hipsters.

Remember, it’s only on Sundays, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., at the Mission Escape From New York at 3242 22nd St. (between Mission and Valencia).

Pawesome’s dollar for dollar campaign! Donate!  »

The awesome website Pawesome, ye of the fantastic pet news and also cutest animal shirts ever,  has a dollar for dollar campaign going on with Berkeley East Bay Humane. So, donate! And have your dollars matched! And save dogs and cats! And then eat some cake, you deserve it, you’re such a good person. Attractive, too. You’ve really got it all.

From Pawesome’s donation page:

When Pawesome was nominated for a Petties award, while we were stoked to be recognized for our pawesomeness, we were more excited about the prospect of donating our $1,000 prize to the Berkeley East Bay Humane Society. In May 2010 the organization suffered from a fire that gutted their facility and they’ve been struggling to raise funds to rebuild. While it’s a bummer we didn’t win a Petties, Pawesome has decided to give back to the Berkeley Humane Society anyway and we would love your help.

Pawesome will match your donation to the Berkeley East Bay Humane Society, in a dollar for dollar campaign. We can give a maximum of $500, so with help from you guys, we can all chip in $1,000 to this wonderful organization.

To participate, simply select the Shelter Fire Relief Fund button on the BEBHS donation page, make your donation, and then forward your donation receipt to pawesomehelps [at] pawesome [dot] net.

S.F. Bay Area, here’s your chance to help tons of animals! Let’s do this!  »

We’re all gonna leaflet for the animals, OK? Leafletting is one of the best forms of activism around. It’s making a lot of people immediately aware of what’s going on with animals, and that knowledge is incredibly powerful. It’s something I definitely want to do more of, and as a means of motivating myself, I am motivating the rest of you to GET UP ON THIS! Because I know a lot of you suffer from the same guilty feeling of not doing as much as we could be doing and I’ve found that leafletting even once a month helps alleviate that. Seriously, it’s powerful stuff! And if you do it once, you’ll do it again. The first time is always the hardest! Where have I heard that before? Ew, sorry. Grab a friend or brave it solo and LET’S DO THIS!

This Friday, Nov. 4, Theo, a major volunteer with Vegan Outreach, is leafleting the AP Tour at the Regency Ballroom (1290 Sutter St., S.F.). He’s flying solo right now, and would love some leafletting buddies. Leafletting at events like this is actually pretty fun; people are usually the nicest cause they’re all happy to be at a show, and you’re with friends, so if anyone says anything stupid, you can make fun of them the whole ride home. Also, after leafletting once, it’s so easy to do it again, because you’re like, “Fuck it, I ain’t scared of you people!” and then you imagine everyone naked and are like, “Whatever, I got this.” Or you know, whatever your process is.

POINT IS, the more people who leaflet, the more people reached. I know lots of folks who are vegan today because they were handed a leaflet; it’s powerful activism for the animals, and it’s only a couple of hours of work! EVEN BETTER, Theo is so rad that he can also help out with rides from the Oakland/Berkeley area, SO NO EXCUSES! You can reach Theo via email or call him at (510) 853.2773. Do it to it!

Brian Grupe, who heads up Vegan Outreach in the SF Bay Area, is looking for folks to join him at colleges. Young minds, ripe for learnin’! About animal exploitation! I mean, how many of you went vegan in college? EXACTLY. If you have an unusual schedule where you’re free during the day sometimes, get at him! Shape America’s youth! Into something other than selfish pieces of shit! JK, we’re all selfish pieces of shit, some of us just try to suck a little less. 

Finally, a list of upcoming events that Brian needs help with. If any look right for you, please please please email him. THANK YOU AND I LOVE YOU AND GOOD NIGHT! 

Monday, Nov. 7
Jack’s Mannequin at the Regency Ballroom, S.F.—out from 10 to 11 p.m.

Tuesday, Nov. 8
Pierce the Veil and Miss May I at the Regency Ballroom—out from 10 to 11 p.m.

Thursday, Nov. 10
Black Veil Brides at the Regency Ballroom—out from 10 to 11 p.m.

Saturday, Nov. 12 and Sunday, Nov. 13
The Green Festival at the S.F. Concourse Exhibition Center (HELLO, we all need to go to this one!)

Monday, Nov. 14
Gym Class Heros and Dirty Heads at the Regency Ballroom—out from 10 to 11 p.m. 

Wednesday, Nov. 16
New Found Glory, Set Goals, etc. at the Regency Ballroom—out from 10 to 11 p.m.  

Thursday, Nov. 17
Devil Wears Prada at the Regency Ballroom—out from 10 to 11 p.m.

Monday, Nov. 21
Katy Perry at Oracle Arena (KATY PERRY, Y’ALL)

[photo via Vegan Outreach]

The Trader Joe’s in BERKELEY isn’t stocking vegan items!? Let’s talk at them!  »

So, word on the street is employees of the Trader Joe’s at University and Martin Luther King Jr. in Berkeley have told several people that they don’t stock vegan items because they don’t “earn” their shelf space in the store, which is why a lot of our favorites are sadly not there. Come on, how is that freaking possible? I object! 

I think all people who shop at that store or might ever shop at that store (East Bay vegans WHAT!) should write to TJ HQ or drop by the store in person to fill out a suggestion card to request they begin re-stocking a greater variety of vegan items. Right?!

You don’t even have to send an email, they have an easy-peasy form where you can just be like, “More vegan items in Berkeley, please and thank you. Pretty pease let me know when I can expect to see these items back in the store. I Also, you are so pretty, Trader Joe’s! Signed, Laura P.S. Love that Fearless Flyer!” This example works for several reasons: You’re politely making yourself heard, asking for what you want, requesting a response, and perhaps most importantly, letting TJ’s know that, hey, you are attracted to them, and that makes a person/corperation feel good! Plus, you complimented their work on the Fearless Flyer,* which I can honestly say is my favorite magazine. DONE AND DONE!

Now, email! Or stop by! Make it hap’n, cap’n!

Finally, let’s enjoy the TJ’s video that everyone loved so much in 2009:

*Groupon totally gaffled their lame-ass voice from TJ’s Fearless Flyer. FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!

Californians: Call to help sharks TODAY!  »

From the HSUS website because I’m too lazy to read and paraphrase:

Tens of millions of sharks are killed every year to supply the cruel and wasteful trade in shark fins used for shark fin soup. They’re obtained by cutting the fins off the shark and throwing the animal, often while still alive, back into the ocean to die a slow death.

Sharks are our ocean’s top predators [Ed.: SO COOL/TERRIFYING] and are important for the health of all other marine species and our entire ocean ecosystems. 

Fortunately, the California legislature is considering a bill to stop the trade in shark fins — and a vote in the Senate Appropriations committee will occur early next week. 

TAKE ACTION

Please make a brief, polite call to your state senator and urge support for A.B. 376. Look up your senators and their phone numbers. You can say, “I am a constituent and urge support for A.B. 376 to prohibit the sale of shark fins in California.”

After making your phone call, fill out this form to reiterate your support for A.B. 376. Be sure to edit your message so it stands out.

So do those two things! Right now! It’s fast and easy and can help save lots of sharks who are the fucking coolest and also the fucking scariest. Remember: STAY OUT OF THE OCEANS. The oceans are for sharks, just like the woods are for bears and serial killers. HUMANS DON’T BELONG THERE. 

Here is a cool/terrifying shark to stare at during your call. He’s all, “come at me, bro!” and you’re all, “I just shit my pants.”

A vegan in need  »

Hey guys, there is a vegan who needs our help. Chelsea has hit some rough times and she needs to move herself, her dog and her cat from Oakland to Cleveland, Ohio, to take care of her mom who suffers from the progressive, non-treatable form of multiple sclerosis. Her mom lives with her younger brother, who is autistic and relies on her mom’s support. They really need her home and so she’s trying to raise some funds to move. You can help Chelsea by donating money here.

Here’s Chelsea’s dog Ellie, ready for summer.
If you want to contact Chelsea directly, email me and I’ll put you in touch.

To do: 1) Save 300 bears; 2) Start bear army!  »

Say it with me: BEARS RULE! Sadly, they’re always getting punished for, you know, being bears. The California Fish and Game Commission votes soon on expanding black bear hunting, but the silver lining to perpetuate bear awesomeness is that three out of four California citizens oppose it.

To get you amped up: Black bears are the smallest bears in North America. They power through bee stings for honey, swim for pleasure, and can make more than 20 sounds in eight different contexts to communicate. Also, black bears hardly attack humans, which is probably why the teddy bear was modeled after this breed (awwwww).

This expansion would increase the bear-hunting quota (there is a quota for how many bears must be killed in a year?!) from 1,700 to 2,000 bears. THREE HUNDRED MORE BEARS, people, being murdered by packs of dogs. That’s enough to start a bear army. I have a few choice words for the 17 percent of Californians who are assholes and support the increase: Majority (should) rule!

Here in California, we like to think we’ve got a leg up on civilized behavior. Why, then, are we one of only 18 states that still allow packs of dogs to chase the poor bears? This puts not just the bears, not just the dogs, but the entire forest at risk of serious harm.

So yeah, oppose that shit. Spam the hell out of your congressperson’s and the DFG’s mailboxes; make ‘em listen to their constituents. Then come with me, and we’ll conquer the world with our bear army. Cuddle at your own risk.