Posts tagged with "Animals"
Two and a Half Weeks in Israel, Amsterdam and Iceland
By Shira | May 12, 08 05:36 PM
Photos from Ari and more about the trip coming soon :)
More: Animals | Art and Design | Film and Video | Music and Audio | What we're up to
Nim Chimpsky, humans, and the animal family
By Ari | May 7, 08 10:53 AM
An activist friend of mine, Jesse Lokahi Heiwa, sent me a link to Chris Colin's The chimp who thought he was a boy, a Salon interview with Elizabeth Hess on her new biography, Nim Chimpsky: The Chimp Who Would Be Human. What a read. I was once interested in doing sign language research with primates, and today am very glad I didn't end up going that route. On the one hand you get this real sense of our connection with our ape cousins, and a new illumination of their personhood, but on the other, you can't really forge such a close (and arguably productive) relationship without harming the ape you're communicating with. Apes aren't meant to be pets, actors, research subjects, or companions to humans - they're evolved to hang out with other apes. The interview, and I'm sure the book, paint a very sad picture of how hurt Nim was when people stopped treating him like a human and started treating him like an ape again.
The article begins "Sometimes we're animals." Colin means it in the sense that what members of our species did to Nim was "bestial," inhumane (inhuman). But I think he's got it backwards. Humans are always animals; the other animals are our family, like it or not. We may try to "elevate" ourselves from their ranks, call human actions moral ones, and equate animals with lawless cruelty. But when we treat our cousins badly, our behavior isn't bestial but all too human. Only we set up research labs, and only we have the power to call the shots on our brothers' and sisters' lives with impunity. I think we need to spend more, not less, time thinking of ourselves as animals, and develop some empathy out of that connection.
More: Animals | Books and Writing | Oppression
This is what happens when you move to the woods, part 2
By Ari | Mar 29, 08 11:06 AM
Yeek. The creepy Craig's List land postings aimed at hunters just don't end. Does this listing's conflation of snowmobiling, boating and skiing with killing deer, turkeys and fishes bother anyone else? On the one hand you have innocent fun running around in the outdoors (or, you know, polluting it with a snowmobile, but whatever), and on the other hand, you have hunting down a living being and violently extinguishing his life so you can eat his flesh and maybe stuff his skin so you can hang his dead body on your wall for posterity. That's "sport"? Seriously?
Anyway, using a list of free-living animals currently living on a piece of land as an incentive to folks who would like to come and kill them to come buy said land, is, in my opinion, disgusting and sad. Every time I see a listing like this one I want to buy the land just to save the animals from being killed off by some other buyer who's actually attracted to land listings like this one.
More: Animals | Oppression
Earth Hour, Blackout Sabbath, and other symbols of sustainability
By Ari | Mar 29, 08 10:37 AM
Today I was happy to see Google blacked out in support of Earth Hour, tonight's hour of energy awareness (8pm - 9pm). Turn out your lights to participate, if you're into it.
However, reading about Earth Hour, I couldn't help but think Rufus Wainwright's Blackout Sabbath - 12 hours of no energy use at all, on the summer solstice, June 21, along with setting personal goals for sustainability - is a lot more hardcore. The World Wildlife Fund, who's behind Earth Hour, should have talked to Rufus and set their sights a little higher, pushed people a little harder!
On Rufus' short sample list of actions one can take for the environment, he even includes going vegan (my fingers are SO crossed right now that he'll join our vegan ranks... c'mon Rufus, you can do it...). Veganism is such an obvious step toward sustainability that it gets a little infuriating when I see Treehugger and WorldChanging and the like continually ignoring it as an option and suggesting people find "sustainable fisheries" and "happy meat", as if that solves much else besides making people feel a little better about oppressing animals.
I don't think I'm going to participate in Earth Hour, but I do think I'll do Blackout Sabbath. I loved the blackout too, and I think it could be magic to spend that time making art about the earth and the future, or writing by (vegan!) candlelight about the times to come and how we can make it beautiful. I like setting goals for myself, and I like participating in consciousness-raising events like fasts and the like, because I like, well, raising my consciousness. These events are symbols, but important ones: They're fissures in the wall of separation we put up between our energy-consuming, self-centered, here-and-now lives - and the future, our children's future, the future of the earth. We don't like to look over there, to see what we're actually setting up for ourselves. If it takes an hour (or 12 hours) of reflection and awareness to really take a good look at what we're doing and how we can change, then that symbolic act is a very useful one.
But in the end, we need more than just temporary observances and symbolic acts, right? If you're out of a room for over two minutes, there shouldn't be a light on in there. If you've got appliances with power indicator lights on them that are plugged in all day, they're just sitting there sucking up energy, and should be unplugged until they're needed. If your home just doesn't stay cool in the summer or warm in the winter, maybe you need to fix your insulation so all of that energy doesn't just fly our the window. In every situation we have the power to make decisions that add to the problem, or that make the world a better place. There are easy little things we can all do every day, all day, to go beyond symbols and toward true sustainability. What do you do? And do symbols help, or distract from this larger, deeper movement?
More: Activism | Animals | Environment | Happenings | Music and Audio | Oppression
Celebrate Foodswings' birthday - Sunday, NYC
By Ari | Mar 26, 08 10:24 AM
On Sunday, March 30, the delicious and amazing "vegan fast food joint" Foodswings in Williamsburg, Brooklyn will be hosting an anniversary party. If you are in NYC and like fake meat and french fries and milkshakes, you must go! There will be three menus to choose from: their mighty-fine regular menu, the midnite munchies menu, and the elusive, long-cancelled brunch menu, which you can only take advantage of during parties like this one. Foodswings catered our vegan wedding and we still get compliments about the tasty, tasty food from our mostly-omnivorous friends and family, over a year later.
Plus, you can't beat the atmosphere, or the neighborhood. You've never seen such tight pants, or such decked-out bikes, or such fun hats. Foodswings is a great place to pick up hand-drawn punk show fliers and read a copy of Arthur Magazine or the Onion. It's also right around the corner from Cinders Gallery, one of our favorite galleries in NYC, and from The City Reliquary, home of the Giant Pencil Collection and numerous labeled chunks of cement from exotic locations like Coney Island. In short, it's one of our favorite corners of NYC. See you on Sunday?
More: Animals | Food | Happenings | People we know
Vegan Treasures from My Mom
By Ari | Mar 17, 08 06:05 PM
My mom runs an online business selling vintage women's clothing: Vintage Lucy. I wanted to help her make the leap from eBay to her own shop, and I thought I could make her a PayPal shop using Movable Type - but I don't usually do jobs that involve animal exploitation, and Mom's amazing collection happens to contain some wool, leather, and feathers. I did end up making the site, and am now helping her do some outreach.
I have to admit that I'm really glad that I compromised my ideals to work with her on this site! 100% vegan though it may not be, it can help my mom make a living. And it so happens that Mom has become increasingly open to animal rights ideas over the years. She dabbles in vegetarianism and veganism and is constantly educating herself and changing; she cares for and loves many animals, and recently has done a little animal rights activism. She added a new category of items to her site called Vegan Treasures - as she points out, "wearing vintage & pre-worn is recycling, saving precious animals & the Earth." Check it out - there's some very beautiful stuff in there (all of the photos above are from this category): Vintage Lucy Vegan Treasures (No animal products used in these beauties.) Who knows, maybe this is only the tip of the vegan iceberg for my mom...
More: Activism | Animals | Clothing | Environment | People we know | Work
Tiny houses = small footprint
By Ari | Mar 9, 08 11:10 AM
A tiny house means fewer materials and less energy used in construction, lower fuel-use and emissions. It also (potentially) means that more of your land is left undeveloped, leaving room for our free-living neighbors to move back in.
Here's an adorable video of Tumbleweed's Jay Shafer giving a tour of his tiny house:
Another tiny house company: Martin House-To-Go
See also: The Small House Society, Tiny House Blog
More: Animals | Environment | Film and Video | Housing
Vegans feeding people
By Ari | Mar 2, 08 04:05 PM
I was just doing some research into overlaps between veganism and mutual aid, and was a little shocked at how few programs for hungry folk are run by vegans. It's too bad, it seems like a really good idea! It's safer to prepare and handle than animal-based food, and can be cheaper, too - and giving cruelty-free food to people who need it seems like a natural extension of the vegan ideal of ahimsa (most good / least harm).
Here are a few organizations that are vegan or vegetarian - anyone know of any others?
- Food Not Bombs - freegan, anarchist free vegan food movement
- Vegfam sustainable, vegan agriculture projects aimed at reducing hunger and providing disaster relief
- Food for Life Hare Krishna-run lacto-vegetarian food aid and disaster relief program
- The People's Potato worker-owned vegetarian soup kitchen
- Freegan.info freegan feasts, trash tours and community meals
Snow Kitten Found a Home - Ours!
By Shira | Mar 1, 08 02:42 PM
For those of you wondering if we found someone to adopt the kitten we brought in from the cold last week, the answer is yes - us! She is ridiculously cute and affectionate, and we have totally fallen in love with her.
We got her checked out by our vet, and she's in really good shape aside from healing ears (we think she might have had frostbite). She still is being quarantined from Sid and Zora since we have to wait another week to get her tested for FIV, but we have a feeling that they're all going to get along.
Our little family is growing - hooray! And her name is...Snow.
Related: Snow Kitten Needs a Home
More: Animals | What we're up to
Snow Kitten Needs a Home
By Shira | Feb 22, 08 10:52 AM
Watch video of the snow kitten!
Last night, Ari and I took in a kitten who was stuck outside in the cold. He/she (we're not sure) had been visiting our window for several nights, and seemed genuinely interested in coming inside. We already live with two cats who we adopted off the street, and we don't have the resources to take care of a third, but we're trying to find him/her a home.
As you can see from the photo and video, this little kitten is adorable and striking and really loves human affection. We think he/she will also probably get along with other cats, based on interactions with our cat, Sid, through the window.
We will probably end up taking this cat to a no-kill shelter in the next day or two, but if any of you are in Brooklyn/NYC and would like to offer him/her a home, we could bring him/her to you and even hook you up with some supplies to get started. Email us ASAP at info@shirari.com.
Tofu and Soy Milk Explained, by Puppets
By Ari | Feb 4, 08 06:08 PM
More: Animals | Animation | Film and Video | Food | Oppression
Vegan Ice Cream Tasting!
By Shira | Jan 29, 08 03:43 PM
A couple of weekends ago Ari and I went to a free tasting of Wheeler's Black Label Vegan Ice Cream at a tiny gallery in the East Village called Little Cakes. The two flavors we tried were peanut butter chocolate chip and espresso, and they were both delicious.
The company is based in Boston, but they're planning on expanding their distribution. To get the word out, they're throwing free tasting parties around the country, and anyone can volunteer to be a host.
While I have mixed feelings about vegan facsimiles of animal products -- they usually are highly-processed and not nearly as healthy as whole foods -- I still "need" an occasional fix, and am looking forward to the day that Wheeler's is in my grocer's freezer. Once you taste some, I'm sure you'll agree, even if you eat dairy.
No more Alba Hawaiian lip balm for me
By Ari | Jan 29, 08 10:19 AM
Alba's amazing vegan lip balm is about to become not vegan. They're adding beeswax! It's such a shame. I will miss the pineapple coconut deliciousness. If you too are an unhappy vegan, write them a letter.
Fortunately, there are a lot of other cruelty-free options available. (Merry Hempsters, Literati, Pussy Pucker Pots, Eco Lips, DIY...)
If you're not boycotting bee products yet, please read Why Honey is Not Vegan. For a glimpse into the world of industrial beekeeping, visit Honey Bee Insemination Service.
On Cat Petting
By Shira | Jan 27, 08 06:33 PM
One of the many benefits of working primarily from home is more quality time with Sid and Zora, our cat housemates. I'm really into petting. Don't get me wrong -- playing is awesome, too, and it certainly seems just as important to them, but if asked to choose between the two, I'm going with petting.
While petting Sid this evening, I was thinking about the fact that I don't really know whether the way I pet Sid is the way that everyone pets their cats. Is there a universal cat/human language that all cat adopters intuit?
A quick search on YouTube reveals a range of cat petting approaches including butt tapping, "extreme cat petting!", and an automated cat-petting machine.
I also found this one, which best approximates my "style," and I discovered that it's always a good time for a cat massage.
This is what happens when you move to the woods
By Ari | Jan 10, 08 09:10 AM
Shira and I are planning a move to Ithaca, New York late next summer, and have been trawling Craig's List for cabins and the like. Earthy crunchy vegans like us aren't the only ones who dig the area; hunting-oriented listings like this are really common. Note that there are 76 acres of "forrest" being sold here, but the only photo is a fuzzy closeup of future hunting victims. Creeeeepy.
More: Animals | Oppression
