It happens every year — well, it could. Cast as little Clara or Marie in the Nutcracker, every night you have to take off one of your shoes and hurl it at the Mouse King to deter him from devouring your precious Nutcracker. But you're concerned about this stage direction, key plot point though it is. Is this violent action reconcilable with the vegan way?

At the very least, you can make sure the shoe you throw is a vegan shoe. Before choreographer and animal activist Cynthia King — an alumna of The Boston Conservatory, The Ailey School, and The Rod Rodgers Dance Company — opened her Brooklyn dance studio in 2002, a canvas shoe with a leather sole was the concerned dancer's only option. I confirmed this after purchasing a bizarre pink plastic pair of something that came to a point in the middle and molded to the arch with all the flexibility of a flip-flop. Whatever it was, it was not a dancing shoe.

The decision to betray my principles and buy real, foot-shaped ballet slippers was traumatic and confusing, and none of you will have to make it, thanks to Cynthia. In 2003 she worked with a local shoemaker to develop gorgeous, durable, and affordable ($24.95 per pair) split-sole canvas shoes, using vinyl instead of suede on the bottom (your feet won't know the difference!), that hug the foot like a sock and create a more flattering shape than any of the Capezios, Sanshas, or Blochs of the pre-vegan past. So even though I'm told that Capezio can now do a special-order vegan slipper with a six- to eight-week waiting period (if so, they keep it quiet on their website), I'm sticking with Cynthia's. They're available immediately from her website and from Karmavore in Canada, and are simply the best slippers you're going to find.

We've set up an online store (via Amazon.com) to house products that we recommend. Here you'll find SuperVegan favorites in the realm of books, DVDs, snacks, shoes, and more.

If you're looking for gifts or cookbooks with a vegan theme, this is a good place to start. Everything in the store got a positive review on SuperVegan or is recommended by a SuperVegan staff member.

SuperVegan makes a little bit of money from Amazon every time you purchase something via this page, so this is a great way to support our work. (Hey, this web server doesn't pay for itself!)

Click here to visit the SuperVegan store.

**Edit: Two late additions for Tuesday, June 16**

Be alerted of these and other events we think you'll care about by subscribing to our calendar.

Events are free unless otherwise noted.

Now until June 14

Watch new documentary HOME free on YouTube. More info in our recent blog post.

Saturday, June 13

National Pigeon Day: Praise the pigeon at Central Park and all over the country. Our very own Patrick Kwan will be speaking.
12-4pm
Central Park, Pilgrim Hill

Get friendly with a neeeeighbor at A Horse of Course!, a walk and discussion with Kathy Stevens at Catskill Animal Sanctuary.
1-4pm
$15, or $5 for members. Register in advance by calling Julie at (845) 336-8447.

Woodstock FAS hosts its family-friendly Jamboree. Games, face-painting, animals, and food by Isa Moskowitz. That's right--another chance to dose on Isa before she heads back to Oregon.
11am-5pm
$10. Register in advance at the website.

Tuesday, June 15

Protest against the netting and gassing to death of at least 2,000 NYC geese
12-2pm
Port Authority Headquarters, 225 Park Ave. South

Ingrid Newkirk's book-signing for The PETA Practical Guide to Animals Rights: Simple Acts of Kindness to Help Animals in Trouble
7pm
Borders, Columbus Circle

Thursday, June 18

Mercy for Animals celebrates the opening of its New York office with vegan appetizers and drinks at MooShoes. And wait, it gets better than vegan food and booze: MooShoes will be donating 10% of that day's in-store and online sales to MFA, so you finally have a scale-tipping reason to get that pair of Simples.
6:30-9:30pm
MooShoes, 78 Orchard St.

Friday, June 19

Join Mary and Peter Max for the kick-off party for the production of Standardized Testing. The film "follows PATH founder Kelly Overton...as he attempts to return his diplomas and get his tuition refunded in an effort to bring attention to the dangerous and wasteful biomedical research being done at the universities." Food will be provided by 4 Course Vegan, BabyCakes NYC, Blackwell's Organic Gelato, Candle Cafe, Frey Vineyards, The Power of Food, Tuthilltown Spirits, Vegan Treats Bakery, and others.
6:30-8:30pm
The Max Studio
37 W. 65th St., 7th floor
$100 and up. Purchase tickets here.

Lately, the editors over at W magazine have got a thing for veganism, sort of, or rather, sort-of-veganism. The V word is popping up all over their editor's blog this Spring. First there was the W Online Exclusive The Best Vegan Accessories, which couldn't battle with Andrea's response list and wasn't entirely vegan thanks to a Stella McCartney cashmere sweater. The list was soon followed by The Trails of a Fashion-loving Vegan-in-Training, in which aspiring vegan editor Dana Wood (who composed the vegan accessories list) lamented the painful irony of being an animal lover/ Farm Sanctuary supporter who, like mainstream media's vegan sweetheart Kathy Freston, can't resist fashioning herself in animal products like wool, silk, and a little leather trim.

Most recently, W magazine continues to tap into the vegan trend with an editor's blog post titled "She's Just Not That Into Meat" on actress Ginnifer Goodwin, star of HBO series Big Love and chick-flick He's Just Not That Into You. The article cites Goodwin's explanation of how she went vegan for concerns of both her own health and the treatment of animals. But wait, what's she wearing? It has to be faux, right? Nope. Click on over to the main W article on Goodwin and we learn that while she's not wearing much (as all good "vegan" celebrities should), everything she is wearing is made of leather and silk, save a pair of jersey underpants and tights.

Um. Okay. I think it's super that Goodwin isn't eating animal products and that she's being outspoken about it. And while I wish people would stop wearing animal stuff, I really don't care what Goodwin wears when she's just chilling out in Hollywood. Still, I do find it terribly annoying that she and W are using veganism as a way to drum up extra web copy, publicity, and street cred, but totally drop the ball on presenting it as a lifestyle that can embrace fashion. After all, shouldn't a magazine of W's caliber and supposed recent interest in veganism have the resources and wits to style a "vegan" celebrity in something other than leather S&M fetish attire? Bummer!

The good people over at W magazine (the periodical for those who deem WWD to have too many initials) shot us an e-mail (they're fans of ours, heeeey!) with a link to their first ever vegan article! We'd like to applaud editor Dana Wood for pushing cruelty-free friendliness. Awesome!

Now before you get all crankypants about their favorite vegan accessories having an average price of $245, keep in mind that (according to the internet, if it can be trusted) "80 percent of the magazine's readers are female and have an average household income of $135,840." I'm gonna go out on a gangly limb here and say that the 80 percent of the 87 people who read SuperVegan are female and make significantly less monies per annum and use their Working Assets credit cards on exciting new foodstuffs, not pricey new pumps (as witnessed by Natalie Portman's beautiful but cost ineffective shoe line Te Casan's untimely demise).

However, as I've said before, being vegan is no reason to dress badly. In fact, if you do, you are giving us all a bad name, Jerk. I like my fashion just like I like my faux meat--you shouldn't be able to tell it's vegan. And part of the hidden charm of this lifestyle choice is that faux-accessories are cheap! So here's the SuperVegan list of 15 chic vegan accessories that you might actually be able to afford during this economic apocalypse.

While watching the inauguration with my own agenda, that of the millions of animals killed for their fur, I was shocked but very pleased to see that Aretha Franklin wasn't wearing ANY fur. Not a single tuft anywhere on her coat or hat, amazing. I once poked my head into her limo parked in Columbus Circle and explained to her why her wearing fur was cruel to animals...and offensive to me. So perhaps I should take full credit for her fashion choice today, ha! Though the coat she was wearing may have been wool. One step at a time I guess.

Michele Obama and Jill Biden didn't have a stitch of fur on either. Laura Bush wasn't wearing any fur and she looked quite sophisticated in her gray ensemble (which may have been wool). Her daughters, the Bush twins, had no fur on and were actually wearing quite sensible coats (ok, maybe I'll miss their shenanigans just a little bit).

Lynne Cheney had a big fur collar on her coat, figures. Her husband hunts (both animals and people apparently) fer christ's sake.

But the worst violation of decency goes to Spike Lee's wife, Tonya Lewis, who was wearing a big, grotesque fur. Spike's not off the hook either; he sported a fur collar and a Yankees hat with fur lining. Did they "Do the Right Thing" and have some consideration before flaunting their wealth--and bad taste--during this recession? Not by a long shot.

Looking for something to fill the void that's in your life? Find that perfect little black dress, comfy vegan shoe, elusive vintage veggie cookbook, and more while doing good at today's Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary benefit tag sale!

If you didn't get a chance to stop by Williamsburg at the Aurora Lampworks Showroom yesterday at North 11th Street between Bedford and Driggs, the benefit continues on today from Noon to 4pm. And even if you did stop by yesterday, make sure to stop by again today as there are many more new items and yesterday's leftovers are now priced to sell!

Here's a flickr photostream of some of the many awesome items available for sale (as of yesterday) such as: $5 activist and just plain fashionable t-shirts and tanks, jewelry, cute jackets, vintage and refurbished lamps and metal accessories, posters and artwork, Marilyn Monroe memorabilia, and more!

All proceeds benefit the wonderful critters at Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary! Even if you can't make it, you can still make an online donation and sponsor an animal at their website.

Too much news piling up, so I'm just gonna spew it atcha:

• Jessica Simpson is "deeply hurt," "disgusted," and "upset" that Pamela Anderson called her "bitch" and "whore" for wearing that "Real Girls Eat Meat" T-shirt. Thankfully, Pam ain't apologizing (though she does claim she was only "kidding" ... we can let a little damage control pass, and still be proud of her, right?).
• A giraffe at a circus in Amsterdam led a jailbreak, helping 15 camels, 2 zebras, and some llamas and pot-bellied pigs escape. (They were later recaptured.) Anyone have links to pictures or video of this?
• The New Scientist tells us that "Rhesus macaques have been shown to possess yet another numerical talent once thought unique to humans – they can simultaneously count audible beeps and dots on a computer screen." Good to know, but can we stop experimenting on them, please?
• Ryan from VegBlog points us to a list of "The 20 Healthiest Foods for Under $1" and notes "17 of the top 20 (and 9 of the top 10) are vegan. Show this to the next dummy that says, 'Being vegan is too expensive.'"
• The Food Fight! Grocery blog continues to be your go-to source for headlines such as "Dog Meat Off the Menu for Olympics"", "Woman Shoots Herself While Trying to Kill Mice"", "Woman's fingertip bitten off at meat market". Go read. And buy some unhealthy vegan food that costs over $1 while you're at it.
• Lewis Cicero of Fairfield, Connecticut faced either execution or declawing after scratching some of his human neighbors in 2006. His guardian Ruth demanded a trial on criminal charges. The case was just dismissed, as Lewis has kept out of trouble under house arrest.
• The Discerning Brute checks in with some stylish non-silk ties, non-leather martial arts gloves, non-wool post-consumer recycled suits, and more.
• Boing Boing Gadgets points us to this fake Louis Vuitton Piglet Dog purse by artist Meryl Smith (see picture). I don't know where she falls on animal issues, but a lot of her work is animal-related, and her sad greyhound piece The Last Race is pretty affecting.

• Okay, the Food Network would never turn Iron Chef veggie, but a live version with a vegetable as the secret ingredient is taking place this weekend in Billyburg. On Sunday, from 2 to 5, head to McGolrick Park for the 2nd annual Iron Chef Kohlrabi. Judging begins at 3, and the winner gets an Iron Chef prize pack, whatever that is. Brought to you by the Greenpoint-Williamsburg CSA
  and Garden of Eve farm.
• Two happy announcements this week about sellers going fur-free: the Home Shopping Network and Overstock.com. For info about other do-gooders in the biz, check out HSUS’s list of fur-free designers and retailers.
• Could it really be happening? After all the Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages has done to get carriages banned in the city, it looks like Alec Baldwin might finally have legislators convinced to give it a go!

Herbivore Clothing Company has a new t-shirt design that reads "Factory Farms are mean and nasty." Buy one (or twelve) of these fetching $25 shirts this month and they'll donate 15% of your money to Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary.

Not into buying new stuff or can't find enough new stuff to buy? Support Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary by scoring unique vintage clothing, shoes, housewares, jewelry, furniture, and more at the benefit tag sale held the weekend after this one in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Still don't wanna buy anything? Volunteers and donations are also needed. No excuses! (See our calendar for details.)

There are also no excuses for having an apartment that smells like cat poop or boiled veggie dogs. How about freshening things up with A Scent of a Scandal's Roll in the Hay candle? 15% of all sales of the cruelty-free, soy wax candle benefit Farm Sanctuary.