A squirrel has been banned from riding a roller coaster at Alton Towers theme park in Staffordshire, England. How the hell will they enforce that? The Telegraph reports, “Alarms were installed that emit a warning noise inaudible to human ears but designed to ensure the squirrel, nicknamed Sonic, avoids the ride in future.”
Vaute Couture unveiled their (beautiful, gorgeous, so soft i’m going to wear one as pajamas now buy me one puh-leeeaase) 2010 vegan coat collection for ladies AND gents at The Green Shows this week. Check this shit out. It’s fucking fantastic. The Discerning Brute has the men’s photos and GirlieGirl Army rounds up the ladies’ wear from Vaute, Cri de Coeur, Samantha Pleet, and others. Ow ow!
Vegan creme eggs I cannot see because this puritanical work filter blocks porn, even food porn. They totally know what I get off on, ugh!
I’m usually the guy at SuperVegan HQ yelling from my carrel “No cute animal stories! What do they have to do with veganism?!” But I just have to show ya’ll Felix’s Cute Video Collection. Police chickens interceding with quarreling rabbits? A bouncy German music video of kleine eisbär Knut (the one who “animal rights activists [didn't] advocate killing”)? Otters holding hands? I can’t not share.
Rinella and protected sparrow–I’m sure he’s careful to make the distinction before beheading them.
Steven Rinella creeps me out. And it’s not just that he’s holding a captured sparrow in this photo from his New York Times Wednesday profile (ahem, a protected song sparrow that the Times swear was released just after). The piece is a disturbingly detailed account of a 45-course meal of “wild game” Rinella hunted, trapped, cooked and served in Brooklyn. Rinella, the author of The Scavenger’s Guide to Haute Cuisine, seems to be less an adopter of slaughter chic or even “Kill It, Cook It, Eat It” than a man with some serious power and masculinity issues that he works out by illegally trapping squirrels in his girlfriend’s Fort Greene backyard.
One guest likened the meal to “a dead zoo.” It’s unclear whether she was referring to the spread of dead animals or the media-hungry audience of aging literati, from Bill Buford to Jay McInerney. But the biggest disappointment of the piece is Rob Weisbach, president and chief executive of Miramax Books, Rinella’s publisher, and a vegetarian for 20 years–until this dinner.
Gothamist reports on Black Squirrels who have moved on up from the tough streets of the Bronx to Boerum Hill Brooklyn. They also link to a slightly disturbing tale of a Black Russian squirrel mob gutting a stray dog then running off with chunks of its flesh. (This sounds like racial profiling to me.)
Scotsman.com reports that in Scotland Grey squirrels (who hail from America) might soon be dosed with contraceptives. This will be done in an effort to reduce the number of the foreigner squirrels who are multiplying like crazy and threatening the livelihood of the native born Red Squirrel, in addition to taking all their jobs.
Nut quality-control at Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory
The NYC-based chocolatier, vere, opens the doors of its factory to the public this week from Wednesday, December 13 through Friday, December 15. Though I’m personally not a huge fan of their confections, I think checking out their digs and partying with Oompa Loompas and squirrels would be superfun.
As a bonus, all chocolates will be sold at a 20 percent discount during visiting hours. The stylishly packaged low sugar vegan chocolates just might be a hit with the more die hard health nuts on your holiday shopping list. And since it’s fair trade and organic you don’t have to feel totally guilty about buying into the Right Wing Conservative Christian agenda to commercialize Christmas–which is so last year.
The vere factory is located at 12 West 27th Street (at Broadway) on the 6th floor. Visiting hours are between 10am and 6pm.
