Discerning Brute Contributor, Troy Farmer points us to the new Holiday ‘09 Vegan Pack from Supra Footwear – featuring the Dixon, Thunder Lo, Thunder and the Diablo 1.5, wearing 100% canvas uppers and done up in a variety of colorways.
Come party with me at the New York League of Humane Voters Gala in NYC on November 12 at six o’clock in the evening at the famous Prince George Ballroom, 15 E. 27th Street (between Madison & Fifth Avenues). Featuring Keynote speaker NYS Governor David A. Paterson.
Celebrity guests include GirlieGirl Army’s Chloe Jo Berman, Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary founders Jenny Brown and Doug Abel, “Super Size Me” co-star and author Alex Jamieson, ”Discerning Brute” Joshua Katcher, author & political guru Julie Lewin, world-renowned artist Peter Max, ”Bizarro” comic creator Dan Piraro, rapper Princess Superstar, actress and author Ally Sheedy, singer/songwriter Rachel Trachtenburg, CNN’s Jane Velez-Mitchell and ”Whale Wars” star Captain Paul Watson.
I will be your Emcee!
Don’t miss your chance to buy tickets to the 3rd Veggie Conquest! Or enter to be a competitor! Conquest 1 and 2 were completely sold out, and this one should be even better! Please get your tickets early. THEY WILL SELL OUT!! You must buy your tickets here.
Veggie conquest 3 will take place at Not Fade Away Gallery, in Union Square, NYC. They will have a very special second course at VC#3. Match Meats has shipped our volunteers a whole freezer full of vegan meats to try.
I’m a sexy guy. I’ve fallen in love with myself, because I am a beautiful, sexy, gorgeous man. I feel like I can say that without worrying that my ego needs to be checked at the door . . . Because I used to be 400lbs.
See, I’ve been overweight my entire life, starting as a “cute” chubby little kid, all the way to morbidly obese and not so cute in my twenties. I tried every fad diet, fasting program and fancy gym equipment there was. Nothing worked. I was still overweight and I still despised myself. It wasn’t until I chose a raw vegan lifestyle and to begin practicing self-adoration that my life became amazingly sexy, full and alive.
It was the living food and the way it helped start the kickass circle of falling in love with ME. I felt better as I was losing weight like crazy, so I liked myself more. As I began to like myself more, I started positive affirmations in front of mirrors and I smiled even when I didn’t feel like it. Sometimes I felt self-conscious but I kept adoring myself, or at least working on it. And now. . . I think I’m the sexiest piece of raw vegan “meat” out there.
Eating raw living uncooked organic vegan food (veggies, fruit, nuts, seeds) was just the beginning. It led to so many other changes, as I began respecting and caring for the planet, becoming eco-conscious, thinking about the present moment, letting go of control, exercising and actually enjoying it, learning to trust and adventuring in the outside world, feeling like a kid again and yet becoming fully a man that I love and actually really admire.
So my goal was really always to become half the man I was. . . And through self-love and the best raw vegan food ever, I did.
Now about that food! Here’s my favorite sexy salad recipe that is easy to make with whatever you have on hand, can be put in a heaping man-sized bowl, and is as spicy and flavorful as you can handle.
Rip up one head of greens (kale, farmer’s market lettuce, dandelion, wild mesclun, go crazy and think outside the iceberg lettuce box)
Add 1 avocado, pitted and mashed
Throw in any sliced raw veggies you want, whatever is local and in season is best for the planet and for your body. I think my favorite additions this time of year are the last of the delicious sungold tomatoes, I just add a handful or two whole.
Rip up a bunch of dulse, add some kelp powder, soaked wakame, hijiki, sprinkles of blue green algae or the incredible sparkly crystal manna. . .get those superfoods from the sea!
Add whatever other flavorings and seasons you want: nutritional yeast, raw nuts/seeds (I’m addicted to hemp seeds), Bragg’s Amino Acids, Himalayan Sea Salt, cayenne pepper, chipotle, even a little raw nut-cheese every now and then. . .the whole idea is to play, experiment, mash it up and dig in.
Day-to-day choices for the ethically handsome man
By Matt Lara
Where the Wild Photos Are:
While everyone was checking out wild fashion at NYC Fashion Week, I was moving out to the wild, wild west known as Los Angeles. My first excursion out of the world of unpacking and back into the world of enjoyment was a visit to the Fahey/Klein Gallery to see A Shadow Falls by photographer Nick Brandt. Little did I know that a fun afternoon trip would turn out to be a private audience with the photographer himself! I was astonished to hear him explain that it was the gorgeous African wildlife that originally drew him in, and that this was the best way for him to honor it. The work is also available as a book. An excerpt from the introduction:
“For me, every creature on this planet has an equal right to live. Whether human being, Serengeti elephant, or factory farm cow. That is why I take these photographs. I hope that maybe you will see these animals, these non-humans, in the way that I do—as not so very different from us.”
App Happy:
According to a friend of mine, I have finally joined the “evil empire” with the purchase of my new iPhone. After figuring out picture-texting and voice activation, I sought out some of the more useful apps for healthy and compassionate ladies and germs:
Vegan Yum Yum has fantastic recipes from their blog, some with photos. I like how you can check off ingredients, which is helpful while in the grocery store.
Dirty Produce from the Environmental Working Group is a quick list of the most highly sprayed crops for when it’s difficult to find all organic produce.
Thanks to Chloe at GirlieGirlArmy for Be Nice To Bunnies which lists companies that test their products on animals. So helpful in those giant drug store aisles.
Whole Foods also has a nice app full of recipes I have been flipping through. They are arranged by category including vegan and gluten-free dishes.
Stir Crazy
Okay, I am still learning how to make astounding dishes a la Joshua Katcher (the DB himself). For now, I am a fan of the “dump-and-stir” recipe. This one looks, feels, and tastes special every time I stir-and-serve it. Therefore, I make it often:
A few days after my big move I grabbed lunch with the man behind those naughty candles over at A Scent of Scandal, Ari Solomon. We laughed and chewed for quite a while over some wonderful dishes at Real Food Daily in West Hollywood. According to his recommendation, I am to come back and stuff myself with their nachos with melted cashew-cheddar cheese. That is after my next stop, the brand-new Veggie Grill on Sunset Boulevard!
Now that I’m pretty much all moved, I’m keeping my eyes peeled for a good living space and a good day-job. I’ll keep you posted! If anyone out there has any tips, questions, or suggestion about living Ethically Handsome on the West Coast, please leave me a comment below!
This is part 2 of our series about The Green Shows at NYC Fashion week. In this installment we meet Tara St. James of Study, Suki Kramer of Suki, and Eric Dorfman, founder of The Green Shows. Look out for part 3, coming soon!
The April77 party at Oak was on the top-10 parties list (Refinery29) for Fashion’s Night Out, kicking off fashion week. I met up with Tommy Über of April77 at OAK to chat and check out some denim customizing!
Concerning April77′s creator and designer, Brice Partouche being a long-time vegetarian and recent convert to vegan, and making a cruelty-free shoe line, Tommy Über had this to say:
We don’t make any leather... It’s important to see the vision of someone that really carries his personal causes into a clothing line… And that’s why people love April77 – because it’s engaged. – Tommy Über, APRIL77
The current April77 collection does have wool, but Brice personally ensured me that all future collections will be free from animal products.
John Norris might be one of the most recognizable faces to anyone who liked music during the 80s, 90s, and early 2000s. John had one of the longest-running VJ careers on MTV, and has incredible perspective on where we stand concerning pop-culture. His environmentalism, veganism, and massive, glitter-crusted Rolodex of important musicians spanning a quarter-century make his perspectives worth considering. I sat down with John recently at the Jivamukti Cafe in NYC to talk about the state of mass media, music, and his personal politics.
I went back-to-school shopping with actor Paul Iacono of the reinvention of Fame! Teen.com TV asked me to take Paul on an eco-friendly shopping spree, where we went thrifting at Buffalo Exchange, checked out some organic cotton at Kaight, explored some cruelty-free accessories at MooShoes, and finished off the day with some vegan ice cream banana splits at Lula’s Sweet Apothecary!
The ups and downs day-to-day ethical living. By Featured Contributor, Matt Lara
Normally I’m all peace, love, and Veggie Booty, but I’ve been a little stressed out this summer. The money has been tight, and not much has been happening with my projects. So I decided to reinvest in regrouping. To help counteract these trying times I’m going to go Maria Von Trap on you and embrace my inner self-help guru. These are a few of my favorite things:
Sasquatch Spotting
Since I’m feeling a little stuck creatively, I decided to reread on of my favorite books: The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron. It’sa 12-week program aimed at unblocking creativity and it involves quite a bit of writing which is perfect for these Sasquatch notebooks made by CarolinaPad. They are named after the elusive creature leaves only a rare footprint behind, and these products are made with mostly recycled materials. The comp books I’ve been using are made from no less than 100% recycled paper. I’m onto you sasquatch…
Lay Down to Earth
Yes, I am a man with an eye pillow. I received this Down To Earth Eye Pillow from The Happy Company. It’s made from 100% Organic Cotton, and comes minimally-packaged in recycled paper printed with soy-based inks. I used to be the last person in the world who would have an eye pillow. Now I can’t wait to cool this baby down in the freezer and lay back with its light and easy aroma of eucalyptus.
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Wanna Walk?
When was the last time you went for a walk? To me, walking for its own sake is de-stressing at its simplest. If you’re already a walker, I recommend a visit to a walking labyrinth found via the World Wide Labyrinth Locator. I’m getting a little hippy-dippy here, but I promise there’s nothing spooky about it. You may even find David Bowie in there. They are meant for meditation without the sitting still. Your concern about where you’re going becomes secondary as you let your mind relax and go with its natural rythms. Definitely something to try.
Meditate
While we’re at it, the sitting still kind of meditation is wonderful in 10 minute intervals. You would be amazed at how it can turn around a busy day. Try this Meditation 101 from Yoga Journal.
Since Ethical Explloits explores the triumphs and disappointments of ethical living, I have to acknowledge that it can get very difficult out there. Why do the worlds of fashion, food, and pop culture have such mixed up values? It stupefies me. But fear not! By becoming Discerning Brutes, we can choose to embody poise and style as our weapons rather than stress and anger. We worry enough as it is, and just don’t need the health detriments that anxiety brings. I say invest in de-stressing. Schedule it, do it, hold to it, and be at your optimum.
-Matt Lara
Matt is an actor, singer, closet poet, dancer, avid reader, guitar picker, waiter, home cook, nosey coffee shop guy, animal lover…he basically has to know how to do everything. He lives in New York and Los Angeles.
Place potatoes sea salt thyme and rosemary in large pot. fill with water an inch above the potatoes and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce to a simmer. Continue cooking for 20-25 minutes until potatoes are just fork tender.
Drain potatoes, discarding the herbs, and allow to cool until you are able to handle them with your bare hands, 3-5 minutes. at this point you have the option of peeling the potatoes or leaving the skins on.
Slice the potatoes in quarters and place in a large bowl along with the grated carrot, minced chives, and capers. seat aside.
DRESSING: WHAT YOU’LL NEED:
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
3 tbls agave nectar
3 tbls Dijon mustard
1 tsp mustard seed
sea salt and black pepper, to taste
DIRECTIONS:
In a small bowl whisk together olive oil, vinegar, agave, Dijon, and mustard seed until smooth and emulsified. season with sea salt and black pepper.
Pour dressing over potatoes and gently fold ingredients together.
Chill at least 20 minutes before serving to allow flavors to combine. enjoy.
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Chef Matteo aims to bridge communities through organic, gourmet, vegan fare, in hopes of facilitating increased mindfulness and compassion in and of the living. More on Matteo…
We must start, dear readers, by begging your pardon. Usually, with Whistle While You Work, we endeavor to divine those subtle strands that connect two seemingly distant realms of art; that of culinary alchemy and that of musical conjuration. True, comparing two such separate art forms runs the risk of offending some. For instance, Passion Pit has to be one of my favorite new bands from the last year, but I’m not sure how they’d feel about being compared to mango jicama salad. For that matter, I hear jicama doesn’t really care for the way Michael Angelakos sings. And, to be perfectly honest, I, for some reason, have always absolutely detested most any artist that incorporates food in their work or moniker (by way of example – macaroni art, any sort of fruit sculpture at a wedding, Meatloaf, Pearl Jam, Neutral Milk Hotel, Hall + Oates…this weirdness). But, in an effort to consistently bring you exciting vegan food and superb, often lesser-known musical acts in a not-so-conventional package, we march on, trying our best to coax out such connections between good food and music. This time, however, we just went for a cool name combo. So we give you the summer crisp heat of Heaven + Hell Tacos and the recently unearthed, mind-blowing protopunk from the 70′s Detroit band, Death.
One of the common things you’ll hear people say about the first time they heard Death is something along the lines of ‘it blew my fucking mind.’ I have to number myself among the people who had that same reaction. It was akin to the first time I heard the 60’s brit band, the Action. I couldn’t believe that the sound I was hearing was over 30 or 40 years old and, with both bands, I was shocked to find out that something so good had gone largely unheard for so long.
Death was formed in 1973 by three black brothers from Detroit—David, Bobby, and Dannis Hackney—who, by all accounts, had some very nurturing parents growing up. At 20, 18, and 16, respectively, their mother let them replace their bedroom furniture with musical equipment so long as they agreed to practice for three hours every day. They started out playing R+B but switched over to good ol’ rock immediately after seeing an Alice Cooper show (thank you, Mr. Cooper). At first, they were met mostly with confusion by audiences, which makes sense when you consider the date. This was right around the time that the Ramones were just getting going, and they were in New York. The Hackney’s were basically presenting this sound—this bridge between 60’s and early 70’s hard rock and what would become punk—in Detroit. This was also one and two years, respectively, before the Sex Pistols and the Clash had even formed in London. And the fact that they were black and doing this in what would soon become a white-dominated musical genre is all that much more mind-blowing.
Despite the resistance to their sound, and partly in response to it, Death marched on (hah) and actually met with some success in their short run. They recorded a demo tape in ’74 and were signed by the studio’s owner, Don Davis. As the story goes, Don Davis at one point presented the demo to renowned record exec, Clive Davis—who signed acts like Janis Joplin, Donovan, Santana, and the Boss. Clive reportedly loved the sound but hated the name. According to what is sure to now become punk legend, David, the eldest brother, who wrote the groups songs and acted as their driving force, reacted with a fervent “Hell no!” when told that they would have to change their name to reach any real success. Though neither of the Davis’ seem to remember much about this encounter (it was a really long time ago and those dudes are old now) the two still-living Hackney brothers stand by the story. Sadly, David died of lung cancer in 2000, so a true Death reunion isn’t possible. Regardless of what’s true and what’s not, it’s a great story, and there’s absolutely no arguing with the sound the Hackneys produced. Fast-paced, hard-edged, beautiful punk-before-punk songs with political themes and innovative structure. They were truly ahead of their time.
So we should all be thankful that fate put Julian Hackney—son of guitarist, Bobby—randomly heard the rare self-released single at a party in San Francisco last year and recognized his father’s voice. Crazy, right?
After Death…er…died in 1976, in the face of the massive joint take-over of the airwaves by disco and corporate programming, the Hackneys basically moved on with their lives, venturing into other music and being met with varying degrees of success. Bobby and Dannis actually still play the college hackey-sack circuit to this day in the reggae band, Lambsbread. So it was quite a blast form the past when Julian approached his father, asking about Death. The two were lucky enough to uncover the original demo in Bobby’s attic and then be championed by an enthusiastic record collector, who used his connections at the Chicago-based indie label, Drag City Record, to get the demo released this year as “…For the Whole World to See.” Seven songs of utter protopunk might and a highly recommended gem of a recording. Not to mention a kick-ass story to back it all up. Check it:
Rock-N-Roll Victim:
and the insanely awesome Politicians in My Eyes:
So, again, apologies, but I’m not going to attempt to make any sort of ‘so hot they’ll kill ya’ death/Death analogies here, but, for your eating pleasure, I do give you Heaven + Hell Tacos. Why Heaven + Hell, you ask? It’s basically the same premise as the McDLT from back in the day, where McDonald’s gave you the hot side of the hamburger in one part of the crazy terrible Styrofoam container and the cold ‘fresh’ vegetable side of the hamburger in another part of the crazy terrible Styrofoam container. We’re just going for an edgier, some might say more punk (eh?) name. Plus these are tacos. Not hamburgers. The recipe is simple and fairly modular, but it’s based on the idea that you want a base of spicy, savory, protein with some fresh, crisp vegetables that are a little on the hearty side for a more unique crunch. The top it all off with some awesome South American aji sauce (best).
So, here we go. This should make two tacos. Feel free to double or triple if you like lots of tacos.
Heaven + Hell Tacos
For the protein, we recommend any of the following:
- 4 oz. Seitan (homemade’s great and cheaper, but store-bought is fine), sliced into small pieces or
- 1 Field Roast Sausage or other vegan sausage, chopped into small chunks or
- 4 oz. Shiitake, Crimini, or Portabella Mushrooms, chopped into small chunks
- 1/2 cup Homemade Barbeque Sauce with a little spice added (here’s a nice homemade barbeque sauce recipe we did, just add about 1/2 tsp. cumin and 1/2 tsp. paprika when you’re cooking the protein), or some Adobe Sauce or other spicy, savory sauce
- 1 tbsp Olive Oil
For the crispy topping, we recommend:
- 4 medium Radishes, sliced into thin strips, roughly 1/4 inch square and the length of the radish
- 4 Radish Leaves, sliced into thin strips
- 1.5 cup Watercress, stemmed and packed
- 1/2 Red Bell Pepper, sliced into strips to roughly match the radish
- 1 Spring Onion, sliced into thin circles
- Juice form 1/2 Lime
And for the aji:
- 1 Spring Onion, diced
- 3/4 cup Fresh Cilantro, diced
- 1 Fresh Jalepeño, seeded and diced (watch fingers-to-eyes action after chopping this one)
- dash Cumin
- dash Salt
- 1 cup White Vinegar
- 2 Soft Taco Shells or Wheat Tortillas (we like the small fajita ones that are about 6” in diameter)
*Don’t forget tortillas or shells!
DIRECTIONS:
So, basically start by chopping all your fresh ingredients and putting them in small dishes for quick assembly later.
Add the juice from one half of the lime to the dish with radishes and let them soak while you prepare things.
For the aji, simply mix the ingredients in a container and set in the fridge to chill.
Now take whichever protein of your liking and brown it with the olive oil in a cast iron skillet. After 5-10 minutes, add your sauce and let it sauté for another 5 minutes.
Warm your tortillas in a pan or the microwave for a few seconds, toss in the protein, top with your fresh ingredients, and add liberal doses of aji as you go.
That’s that. Enjoy Death and the heaven and hell that follows.
Come party with me at the New York League of Humane Voters Gala in NYC on November 12 at six o’clock in the evening at the famous Prince George Ballroom, 15 E. 27th Street (between Madison & Fifth Avenues). Featuring Keynote speaker NYS Governor David A. Paterson.
Posted by TheDiscerningBrute 
