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Today's blog features guest blogger, peta2 UK's Violet...

Just like the rest of you, peta2 UK just can't get enough of Kids In Glass Houses! Our friend Iain, one of KIGH's guitarists, is a peta2 UK supporter and even though the band are super busy promoting their new single "Saturday" out August 11th, Iain shared one of his specialty vegan recipes with us! Iain, it's over to you:

"I'm a big fan of Oriental food and I am craving tofu right now so I would have to say that one of my favorite meals is deep fried tofu."

Iain's Deep Fried Tofu Recipe

• Just drain some tofu and wrap it with paper towels or a clean tea towel and gently squeeze some of the excess juice out.
• Mix some soy sauce, maple syrup, and chopped chilies and ginger in a pan and heat gently and then turn off the heat.
• Now take the tofu and cut it into the size chunks you want, and dust the tofu with potato starch.
• Then deep-fry the tofu for a few minutes until golden brown.
• Pour the sauce over the deep fried tofu and there you go.

"Easy. Or you can order in/eat out. You can't beat a good bento box!"


Davaofoodie.com//Creative Commons

Thanks, Iain! Now while you're on stage one of the recipe, tofu pressing - v. important! - check out KIGH's new video here! It's well worth a watch!




Remember to check out Iain and the guys on the road in October, and they'll be at Rip Curl Boardmasters where peta2 UK's Martin will be tabling! Remember to go over, say hi and sign the Woof petition! If you wanted you could even bring him Iain's deep fried tofu! But don't. He really doesn't deserve it.

*Violet
x

Last week I went out on Warped Tour with the amazing peta2 Road Warriors. I got to tag along in Virginia Beach, DC, Cleveland, and Detroit. Not only did I get to meet tons of incredible kids and connect with clothing companies, but I also got to eat the best catered vegan food and go to a barbecue that Gabe from Cobra Starship deejayed!

I documented my journey in pictures. Let's start with the amazing catered vegan food I just mentioned . . .


This was my favorite lunch: vegan sloppy joe, salad with avocadoes, fried zucchini, chickpea salad, and pasta salad (oh and we had cracker jacks too)! You'll also notice that we ate out of reusable containers with camping tools to cut down on waste. So green! Next up is me and the best volunteer ever:


Her name is Joy and she made us muffins. As everyone knows, the easiest way to a vegan's heart is through their stomach. I also want to show you where I slept. Check me out in my bunk! (Apparently I was really feeling the "thumbs-up" on Warped Tour . . .)


The tour bus was sweet, as were the kids on it.


They really are some of the hardest working people at PETA! Oh, and here's a picture of me getting some kids to sign our petition in Detroit:


Basically Warped Tour and all the people that are a part of it are amazing! If the tour hasn't hit your city yet make sure to come out and say "hi" (and sign our petition)!

As Paige says: Stay Brutal!

-Ashleigh

Mother pigs spend most of their lives in tiny "gestation" crates, which are so small that the animals are unable to turn around or even lie down comfortably. They are repeatedly impregnated until they are slaughtered.

Here on Warped Tour the guy pictured below volunteered to get a first hand feel of the space mommy pigs get...or should I say don't get!


Need some other reasons not to eat pigs? Check this out.

Nick from As I Lay Dying got in on the action by signing our petition.


Plus we had some SICK Street Teamers—these dudes totally stole my heart with their hard work and dedication to helping animals. Thanks, Shawn and Kenny!


Join the fun, steal some hearts, and save some animals by signing up for the Street Team already!

And as always,

STAY BRUTAL

-Paige

So here we are, 10 shows into this spectacle known throughout the land as the Rockstar Mayhem Festival, and we've begun to notice some common questions/remarks we're receiving. I think it's time now to address one of them here on this blog so everybody knows the answer to it :).  Several times a day we're asked, "So how has this tour been for you guys? Are kids being friendly and playing nice with peta2?" Let me tell you, we appreciate your concern, but I'd also like to remind everyone that we're all against cruelty to animals aren't we?

No matter your music of choice, or how hard you can bang your head or pump your fist, I'm sure you'd agree that no pig should be castrated without pain killers or kept in tiny crates with no room to even turn around, right? I mean, if you thought metal kids might not care as much about animals as any other kids, please let this picture display all the eager people trying to get in and sign our petition recently in Phoenix, AZ:


We enjoyed a nice steady line of friendly folks across the front of our booth all day long, and let me tell you, if they weren't signing our petition it's because they were waiting in line to get a stab at it. It always brings a smile to peta2's face when we see that people love helping animals and will even wait in line to do so! Just look at these fine folks:


Thanks for everything, now go win some tickets so you can stop by our booth and help pigs too!

-the peta2 mayhem crew

I recently went to my first show of Warped Tour 2008 (a.k.a. possibly the best music tour on the planet). Check out some photos I took.

New friend Bree from Buzznet.

Vegans! Liam from The Dillinger Escape Plan and Adam from Story of the Year.

I gave these girls some vegan pizza in exchange for them agreeing to take the pledge to go veg.

The local crew of some interns and staff.

What fun!

Have you seen us out on Warped yet? If not, when will we be seeing you?

I'll be on the last week in California, but we have a crew at every show.

-Pulin

Welcome back blog readers. It's another rockin' week at Warped Tour. I'm happy to say that our friends from A Day to Remember signed the Woof petition as well as some of the dudes from Say Anything.



We've had some rad Street Teamers this week (as usual!), like Nehemie in Atlanta.


Thanks to all the office staff and interns who came out to help at the Virginia Beach show!


Don't forget to look out for us at the Mayhem Festival and Dirtfest!

Stay Brutal

Paige

The road Warriors have been staying very busy out here on Warped Tour this week—spreading the word about heinous abuses that pigs are suffering on factory farms. Did you know that mother pigs sing to their young? Sooo freakin' cute.

Want to help spread the word? I thought so! Go here for your Woof Prize Pack. Right after you sign the petition, of course!

Although we had to say goodbye to our friends from 1997, the lovely Alida wrote another tour blog for us! This is something we can relate to!

We've had some wicked Street Teamers help out, including the AMAZING Kelly, who just so happened to be voted Cutest Vegetarian Alive earlier this year!

And this rad guy, Jacob (below, on the right), was helping us collect signatures to save pigs!


That is all for now, so I'll just leave you with this...


Stay Brutal

Paige

Hello blog readers. Welcome back to our adventures at Warped Tour 2008. Wanna win tickets? We are soooo excited to be in the full swing of things now as we are coming into our second week out on the road.

The crowds have been incredible, and THOUSANDS of y'all have taken a few minutes to help pigs existing in factory farms.  Did you know pigs can play video games? True story. Check this out to test your pig knowledge.  I think you'll be very surprised about the things you'll learn about pigs. What was your score?

Out at WT we've met some really rad people including some new Street Teamers like Justin:


And a girl carrying this bag:


She knows what's up. She came by our table anyway to see the cool free stuff we had, including a new DVD. Let me say that again: FREE DVD. Holla.


We have a ton in the works for this summer so make sure you say hello to any of the fine road warriors to find out what we've been up to. High fives, hugs, and helping animals are available at the peta2 tent.

Stay brutal.

-Paige

Here's another guest tour blog from Alida of 1997!
-Marta

Well I just got home from Warped Tour this morning at about 9am. We encountered van trouble so had to drop our Dallas date unfortunately. Despite the van trouble, Warped Tour was incredible. We had such an awesome time, met so many great people, and were able to share our music with hundreds of kids every day. It was a lot of work. Though I have never been so busy in my entire life, I felt that our hard work was extremely beneficial for our band.






Luckily, Ta-Da Catering was present to help the hundreds of performers and workers get through the rigorous days. Each morning they offered dozens of vegetarian and vegan breakfast options, like fresh fruit, oatmeal, toast and tons of cereal with soymilk. We played mid-day for the most part, so we skipped lunch and had an amazing dinner every night. It was so easy to be vegetarian! I always had a delicious vegan option for dinner. My favorites were fake pepper steak, vegan pot pie (pictured below), fake shrimp scampi, and fake meatloaf made of beans. There were also tons of vegan dessert options including sorbet served inside of frozen hollowed-out fruit, and vegan chocolate cake. Just writing this paragraph makes me wonder when I'll ever eat that well again.


I definitely wasn't alone in looking forward to these great meals every day. There were about 600 people Ta-Da had to feed at each meal. The lines were always huge. Sometimes I waited for over an hour! It was well worth it though. We were definitely taken care of as vegetarians for this tour.




You might have read Paige's blog about our acoustic performances in the peta2 tent. We had an awesome time hanging out with everyone at the tent, playing for some great kids. My favorite performance was in San Francisco, where we played for about 100 kids, jammed in and around the tent. We were so happy to support peta2's Woof! Campaign, and sported the cute shirts all the time.


We're taking a couple weeks off to find a new vehicle. We're looking for a shuttle bus that we can eventually convert into bio-diesel. We hit the road again with The Morning Of at the end of July. I'll be back with more pictures and stories then!

xo,
Alida 

Look! On the interstate! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's.....it's......it's.....

The WOOF!mobile!

That's right ladies and gents, I know you simply can't believe what you're seeing, but this big bad bruiser is the newest model in the line of peta2 tour vehicles. :)  Ain't she a beauty indeed?




Thanks to some of our fabulous members (who offer up the most wonderful of items as donations for us) we are now navigating our way across the country alongside the Mayhem Festival in this piece of automobile artwork! So if you plan on attending the Mayhem Fest when it hits your town, be on the lookout for us pulling up in style.

And, for those unlucky souls missing out on the tour this summer, pull up a lawnchair alongside your nearest interstate highway and give us a great big wave and a smile as we roll on down the road—that's our favorite! This thing has already been a hit with fellow motorists offering up plenty of compliments; we can't wait to see all your eyes bug out when you see her in real life as well!

WOOF!

-the peta2 Mayhem Festival crew

I'm happy to let you in on the first of some exclusive blogs about being vegetarian out on the road from sweet band 1997. Check out what Alida has to say below, and keep an eye out for future blogs from the band! - Marta

Hey guys!

So I'm going to start my blog out by explaining a little about myself and why this blog is so significant to me. I'm Alida and I play the keyboards and sing in a band called 1997. We're made up of Caleb (guitars, vocals), Alan (bass), Kevin (vocals), Nick (drums), and Cody (guitar). We're signed with Victory Records and have been touring and sharing our music for about a year and a half so far. We have two albums out right now, one of which just came out on May 27th. It's called "On the Run" and I've never been so proud of something before.

I'm writing this blog because my band and I are vegetarians who are always on the road. I just wanted to let you know what my band's about and how I deal with being a vegetarian in a touring band. I've grown up eating right my whole life, have worked in health food stores, master cleansed, and care very much about what I eat, or don't eat. Here are a couple of pictures to get this started. They're just some funny candids of the boys and me over the last couple weeks.








We've left for Warped Tour and began on June 20th, in Pomona, CA, on the Skate Ramp and Kevin Says stages. We'll be hanging out at the peta2 tent from June 20-26th, and July 1-3. We'll also be at the Glamour Kills tent on June 28th and 29th. I'd love to meet you guys, so come say hey! If you want to check out my band, check out myspace.com/nineteenninetyseven. Message me anytime!

xoxo,

Alida

You might remember the interview I did with George from Rise of Caligula a little while back. Well, the guys are headed out on some insane number of dates this summer everywhere from Arkansas and Iowa to New York and California. Chances are, they are coming to a local venue near you, so if you're into metal or hardcore, check it out.

Of course, we're fans of the band and their support for animal rights. And they'll have some peta2 stickers and info out at their table including stuff about the Woof campaign. Rise of Caligula even included a peta2 logo on their tour promo materials to help support the cause.

Good dudes. Don't forget to check out other tours which we'll actually have some staffers on including Warped Tour and Mayhem Fest. The dates are on our MySpace.

-Pulin

Check out the brand new contest and interview with Chi Cheng of Deftones here

Thanks to the hard work of caring people around the world—especially in Canada—we're now ending our Kentucky Fried Cruelty boycott in Canada. The boycott everywhere else in the world is still on, though!

Basically, following months of closed-door negotiations between PETA and the company that coordinates the purchasing of chickens for all Canadian KFCs, the lives and deaths of all chickens killed for KFCs in Canada will be improved by a historic new animal welfare plan.

According to the new plan, the company that coordinates the purchasing of chickens for all Canadian KFCs will take the following actions:

• Ensure the phasing in of the purchase of 100 percent of chickens from suppliers that use controlled-atmosphere killing (CAK)—the least cruel form of poultry slaughter ever developed.


• Improve the audits used to monitor chicken suppliers to KFCs in Canada to reduce the number of broken bones and other injuries suffered by birds.


• Urge the chicken companies supplying Canadian KFCs to adopt better practices, including improved lighting, more space for birds, lower ammonia levels, and a phase-out of growth-promoting drugs and breeding practices that painfully cripple chickens.


• Form an animal welfare advisory panel to monitor the changes and recommend further advancements.

The majority of KFCs in Canada are also offering a faux-chicken menu item in their restaurants.

The boycott will continue in other countries where KFC has restaurants, including the United States, until they adopt the same standards. If you're outside of Canada check out some more ways to step up the pressure and sign the petition here.

Thank you. It's so clear that your hard work is making a difference!

-Pulin

My friend Thomas Schlatter has been playing music for over fourteen years (including one of my current favorite bands called In First Person), and it's always been some of the most intense stuff you could ever imagine. His previous bands including You and I and The Assistant were a huge influence on artists like Thursday and countless others in the hardcore and emo/screamo scenes. Tom's still playing some of the craziest music I've heard, so I wanted to plug his hard work and his commitment to over a decade of veganism and many other great social issues.

What got you interested in animal rights?
I worked at a restaurant starting when I was 14.  I had to cook, slice and handle meat all day. I went vegetarian a little over a year after starting there. Much of the hardcore music I was listening to at the time had an animal rights message and some of my friends were already vegetarian, so the transition was easy due to all the support, experience and education. After that I would just pick up as much literature as possible at shows.

Are there any issues that you are particularly passionate about when it comes to animal rights?
Veganism has become second nature to me, like breathing.  I think all these aspects are important of course.

Do you think there's a relationship between music and social change (human rights, environmentalism, animal rights)?
I think it's possible and I would say I'm proof of that. One person changing their behavior is a step in the right direction, no matter how small. If someone hears a song and it makes them think twice about their actions, and even leads them to change their actions, then that's a success.

What bands have you been in?
You and I, The Assistant, This Ship Will Sink and a few others over the years.  I am currently playing guitar for In First Person and Black Kites.

What are your favorite restaurants from years of touring?
Soul Vegetarian in Atlanta, Watercourse in Denver, Herbivore in San Francisco.

Good stuff! When Tom's not busy cooking up vegetable casseroles or listening to his current favorite bands including 108, Have Heart, and Zegota, he's hard at work on his music. Check out In First Person and Black Kites when you get a chance!

-Pulin

Everyone who doesn't live in a cave knows that Death Cab for Cutie's new album, Narrow Stairs, dropped recently. And to no surprise at all, like all Death Cab albums before it, I give Narrow Stairs 4 gigantic stars! How does that Chris Walla do it time and time again?! It's scary!

The new album got me to thinking about the wonderfulness of Chris Walla. He's guitarist and producer for DCFC, he's a producer for one of my favorite bands, The Decemberists, among many others, and he just released his first solo album, Field Manual, back in January.

All of this is grand, but what Chris does for animals is even grander. Chris saves over 100 of our dear friends every year, just by choosing not to eat them. Check out Chris' peta2 ad, where he says: "Add some color to your life—try vegetarianism."



What better time to try adding that color, but right now? Go vegetarian and then go buy Narrow Stairs. I promise you won't regret either decision.

Cheers, M'dears!
nicole