… But, as our friend Moby shows in this sketch, sometimes you also need to be, like, interesting. This one’s just for fun.

virginmedia/Creative Commons

Some celeb blogs are reporting that vegan actor Tobey Maguire asks guests at his home to remove any leather garments before entering the house. He says the smell makes him sick—which, well, he’s not alone there. Part of me is praying that some clueless B-lister like Kate Moss shows up for a party at Tobey’s place wearing leather pants. A man can dream …

This is the second time in recent months that Tobey has been in the news standing up for animals: In a recent interview, the Spidey star told Parade magazine:

“I’ve never had any desire to eat meat. In fact, when I was a kid I would have a really difficult time eating meat at all. It had to be the perfect bite, with no fat or gristle or bone or anything like that…. I don’t judge people who eat meat—that’s not for me to say—but the whole thing just sort of bums me out.”

Yeah, it kind of bums me out too, honestly. Anyway, thanks, Tobey, for sticking up for your beliefs.

austinchronicle/Creative Commons

I took a road trip this weekend with a buddy of mine to Athens, Georgia, which happens to be my very favorite town in America (hence the slow, inefficient posting of comments on the blog during the past couple of days), and we had the supreme pleasure of seeing Jonathan Richman—of Modern Lovers fame—perform at the world-famous 40 Watt Club with Vic Chesnutt. In addition to the fact that the man totally lives up to the legend, I learned a few pretty interesting things about Jonathan Richman during the course of the weekend, one of which is relevant to this here blog:

1. The dude speaks, like, five languages.
2. That actually was him and his drummer Tommy Larkins doing the musical interludes in There’s Something About Mary.
3. Jonathan Richman is a vegan. I confirmed this indirectly when I ran into him at the amazing vegetarian restaurant The Grit (yet another reason why Athens is the greatest town in the country) and mumbled incoherently at him. Here’s what he says in a 2004 interview:

Do you identify yourself as a vegetarian?
JR: It’s a great question. Right now I identify as vegan. I’m not strict, 100%. Every once in a while in some country, someone’s mother will make somethin’ and I’m not gonna ask grandma...you know like she’s there, she’s got her apron on and she spent four hours and I’m a guest at her house. I’m not gonna say, “Excuse me is there oleo Margarine and is there hydrogenated this-and-that. Nah, I eat somethin’. You know, I do the best I can. Left to my own devices I’m mostly a vegan.

Right on, Jonathan. No need to get vegan police-y with the grandmas. Anyway, here he is, doing his thing. Enjoy.

Seriously, our letter pretty much wrote itself after that.

If you’ve been following the Clemens hearings, you may have caught a surreal moment yesterday when a Congressman asked Roger whether he was vegan or not. Honestly, I’d be happy if this were a mandatory question at all congressional hearings, but I have to admit that it was a little odd in context. Nonetheless, Roger’s response (essentially “Dude, WTF is a vegan?”) more or less mandated another letter from our corner, and this time we’re sending him a gift basket full of steroid-free vegan goodies to sweeten the deal. It’s an established fact that a letter from PETA goes down a lot easier with a couple of vegan cookies and some faux-beef jerky. Check it out.

P.S. Thanks to PETA Files reader Tamara for sending in a transcript of this exchange!

latimes/Creative Commons

When the Royal College of Psychiatrists in the U.K. studied the relationship between mental disorders and eating meat and dairy products, they found that "a higher national dietary intake of … dairy products predicted a worse two-year outcome of schizophrenia." It’s a testament to the wildly varied interests of the folks in our Vegan Department that this was the very first thought that popped into their minds while they were skimming through the latest tabloid gossip about Britney’s exploits in the psych ward (she’s apparently been asking for ice cream). But that’s what happened, and that’s how this friendly letter to Brit’s parents was born. The letter suggests putting the suffering star on a vegan diet to help her get her emotional and physical health back to a place where it won’t be daily fodder for Perez and The Superficial. TMZ covered the story yesterday, and I’ll let you know if we hear back from James and Lynne Spears.

It’s a new dawn, people. A fresh, vibrant world full of hope. The storm clouds have dispersed and the sun is shining on a happier future, where anything is possible…

On a trial basis, in the fine city of Philadelphia, 7-Eleven is offering vegan sandwiches.

To celebrate this glorious news, and to help make sure this trial is a big success, PETA dispatched our lovely lettuce ladies to the city last week to offer samples of the tasty meatless sandwiches (varieties include "chicken," "steak," and mock egg salad) to passersby. ‘Cuz that’s just how we roll. Check out the pics, and if you live in Philadelphia, be sure to give the sandwiches a try. Word on the street is that they’re pretty damn good.

Oh, brave new world that hath such people in it.

When we announced our top 10 vegetarian-friendly ballparks, part of the idea was to encourage more people to check out a game or two at those stadiums and sample their vegetarian fare. Same sort of deal with our top 10 colleges—one effect of publicizing their veg-friendly cafeterias was that more people would want to go there. I’m going to go out on a limb and say that if this latest top 10 list gets you all amped about the prospect of going to one of these prisons, you may want to set some slightly more ambitious goals for yourself … but for the people who—through bad luck or poor planning—are on their way there, this will come as some very good news.

We get calls all the time from inmates who want to make a positive change in their lives by going vegetarian, and in the course of responding to these individuals, we’ve assembled the following list of the top 10 vegetarian-friendly prisons in the United States as a tidbit for curious citizens, a resource for prisoners’ rights groups, and, well, a menu for future inmates. Whichever category you fall into, I hope you enjoy it.

Click here to read Newsweek’s coverage of the story, and check out the top 10 below:

1. Idaho offers a lentil shepherd’s pie, vegan pizza, vegan Mexican pie, soy patties, soy sausage, veggie loaf, veggie lasagna, veggie meatballs, vegan hot cakes, vegan biscuits, cookies, cakes, pies, and puddings.
2. Massachusetts offers meatless chicken macaroni casserole, vegetable bologna, veggie burger, veggie meatballs, meatless chicken cutlet, meatless chicken nuggets, vegetable chop suey, vegetarian chicken stew.
3. Pennsylvania offers tofu cacciatore, soy BBQ, tofu stir fry, veggie burger, soy Salisbury steak, soy meatballs, tofu scramble, soy croquette, soy sausage patties, soy loaf, soy pasta casserole, soy stuffed cabbage and soy stew.
4. Georgia offers vegan BBQ, meatless deli slices, veggie patty, vegan breakfast patties, vegan chili, baked macaroni crumble, stir fried vegetables and oriental sauce, tofu scramble, vegan cornbread, vegan cookies, vegan cakes, vegan pies, vegan brownies, vegan muffins, vegan peach cobbler.
5. New Hampshire offers chili with texturized vegetable protein, chop suey with texturized vegetable protein, shepherd’s pie with texturized vegetable protein, veggie links, lentil meatballs, grilled tofu sandwich, vegetarian pot pie, veg stir fry, hummus, veg tacos, veg chow mein, veg stew, and several veg soups.
6. Utah offers sweet and sour tofu, tofu taco rice casserole, vegetable and tofu chow mein, veggie burgers, veggie dogs, veggie meatballs, tofu ala king, lots of tofu dishes.
7. Hawaii offers vegetarian shepherd’s pie with texturized vegetable protein, vegetarian stuffed cabbage with texturized vegetable protein, vegetarian stew with texturized vegetable protein, grilled tofu slices, vegetarian teriyaki burger, vegetarian long rice with tofu.
8. Tennessee offers texturized vegetable protein ala king, vegetarian sweet and sour, veggie burger, veg chili, veg stir fry, texturized vegetable protein country gravy.
9. Kansas offers a veggie burger, taco crunch, burrito, meatless pasta, meatless chili, loaded baked potato, vegetable rice soup.
10. North Dakota offers a veggie burger, meatless sloppy joes, veg fajitas, veg noodle stew, veg potato soup.

I get to write about this because Thom Yorke, in addition to fronting the greatest band in the history of the world, is an ethical vegan. So take note — go vegan and your band could be the next Radiohead (there may be a few steps in between.)

Anyway, in case you missed it, the amazing new Radiohead album came out yesterday, and their innovative approach to releasing it (you can download it for any price you care to pay for it on their website) has people in the Marketing world talking up a storm, (and a few record industry execs getting pretty nervous). Maybe there is something to the theory that vegetarians are smarter . . .

I've been annoying my colleagues all day talking about this album, so I'll let the subject go for the time being and leave you with this excerpt from a video that Thom Yorke made a while back to encourage young people to think critically about the ethics of what they're consuming. You can download the whole documentary that this was a part of here.

Chrissie Hynde and PETA VP Dan Mathews

Chrissie Hynde, who famously sang “My City Is Gone” in lament of the decay of her native Akron, OH, went home on Saturday to spearhead the revitalization of downtown by opening a trendy vegan eatery and bar called VegiTerranean.

Reflecting Hynde’s commitment to animal advocacy and vegan living, VegiTerranean’s gourmet menu will include no meat or animal products. Hynde wanted Akron to be part of the national trend toward meatless dining, and at nearly every stop of her recent concert tour, she visited vegan hotspots, including Sublime in Ft. Lauderdale and Veganopolis in Portland to make sure her menu features the most delectable veggie dishes possible. The eatery will have a modern, Italian flair, and will feature three distinct areas: a coffee bar, bakery and lounge.

Of course, Hynde arrived at the ribbon cutting ceremony on the back of a Harley—and wearing a waitress uniform, just like in her "Brass in Pocket" video. Outside the restaurant she passed out hors d'oeuvres, implored the crowd to consider going vegan, and gave a speech, along with Akron mayor Donald Plusquellic and PETA’s Dan Mathews.

Here’s a great story about the whole event. Weekend road trip to Akron, anyone?

I think it may be time for a Gladiator, Quills, and Walk the Line marathon this weekend, because two-time Oscar nominee Joaquin Phoenix has taken time away from promoting his upcoming films We Own the Night and Reservation Road to write to Australian Agriculture Minister Peter McGauran about the cruel treatment of sheep by the Australian wool industry.

Phoenix focused his letter on the two worst abuses sheep face in Australia: mulesing and live export. In case you’re not familiar with these two terms, here’s a quick explanation. Mulesing is a painful procedure in which gardening shears are used to cut skin and flesh from lambs' backsides without any painkillers. It is a crude and cheap effort to reduce maggot infestation, even though humane methods exist. Every year, millions of Australian sheep discarded by the wool industry are shipped to the Middle East and North Africa. They are crammed onto multi-tiered ships where they suffer amid the waste of thousands of other animals for weeks on end. Many suffer and die from smothering, starvation, heatstroke, injuries and disease. Each year, tens of thousands of animals die en route—almost 40,000 sheep died in 2005 alone.

Check out Phoenix’s full letter here, and join him in writing Peter McGauran here.

This vegansexuals story just won’t die. I can’t believe all the play it’s getting, especially on the Internet. There was a film crew in the office the other day shooting for this local piece, and it really got me thinking about how, at least here at PETA HQ, the vegansexual thing just doesn’t play. If anything, it’s the exact opposite. I’ve even heard rumors from old timers that Ingrid once forbade intra-office dating, simply on the grounds that she wanted the staff out meeting new people to make vegan.

Take my old boss, for instance. She has a foolproof system for taking the average unsuspecting meat-eating sailor or merchant marine under her wing and turning him into a hardcore vegan animal rights activist within a month. No joke. She’ll show up with these dudes and you can just tell that they’re completely helpless under her vegan goddess natural foods tantric love spell. Of course, once she gets them good and indoctrinated, she cuts them loose and finds her next prey, and with Norfolk being a big Navy town, with new guys arriving in port all the time, there is always another “victim” in line. Sometimes I feel a little bad for them, especially the ones that roll up wearing dress blues in their fancy raised pick-ups and by the time they leave they’re well on their way to joining an organic commune or living in a van and playing hacky sack all day. OK, so maybe I’m exaggerating a little bit, but seriously, you can’t make this stuff up.

Anyway, enjoy the video. And fair warning to the meat-eating readers out there, most animal rights folks aren’t of the vegansexual persuasion, so that hot guy or gal you’re eyeing at the bar just may be on their own personal mission to turn the world vegan one person at a time . . . by any means necessary.

Sooooooo, a lot of blogs have been talking about this weird new concept of "Vegansexuals". Some psychologist in New Zealand coined the word after conducting a study which found that some vegans just don't really like to do it with meat-eaters. A high percentage of respondents evidently reported that meat-eaters smell funky. Tucker Carlson reported on the story last week, and made the claim out of left field that being a vegan kills your sex drive. I have no idea where Tucker pulled this myth from (maybe a bad experience with a lethargic hippie in college?), but I can guarantee that if he just finds the right vegan girl, he'll change his mind quicker than it takes him to put on that dapper new tie of his in the morning.

Tucker did follow up the story the next day with a nice piece in which he read our statement on the topic—he claims he hasn’t changed his opinion yet, but he’ll come around. … Anyway, onto PETA's position: We're pro inter-dietary dating for about a million reasons; for one thing, if you're ever going to persuade someone that they need to stop eating animals, you need to be around them, talk to them, listen to their point of view, and, hell, sometimes even sleep with them. Being vegan isn't about being in a club, and while there's nothing wrong with having a preference for someone who shares your views, I wouldn't want anyone to think that giving up meat means you have to drain the ol’ dating pool at the same time. As Tucker pointed out, going vegetarian is supposed to get you girls, not cut off your options.

Finally, on a more personal note, sometimes it’s difficult enough as it is. I'll take it where I can damn well get it.

P.S. Eating meat causes impotence.

Is it me or does Czech supermodel Petra Nemcova look more beautiful than ever lately? Well, I think I know why. I just came across this story about how she recently went vegan to make a statement and to save fish, so there ya go.

OK, I guess maybe her perfect genes could have a little something to do with it, but still . . . Seriously though, I can’t think of a better spokesperson for veganism than Petra. You go girl.

AskMen/Creative Commons

The folks in our Vegan department have asked me to remind everyone that the deadline for our Sizzling Summer BBQ Recipe Contest is midnight on July 4. So, if you want to be in the running to win a new grill, among other cool prizes, get your recipes in soon. The winning recipes will also be featured on VegCooking.com.

The sky's the limit as long as the dish is vegan and suitable for a barbecue. Appetizers, salads, entrees, desserts—show us what you've got! Our panel of PETA chefs will select three winners based on taste, creativity and theme.

All this food talk is making me kind of hungry. I wonder if I can somehow scam my way onto the recipe judging committee . . .

My friend and colleague Melissa sent me a couple of pics of her baby sisters’ college graduation over the weekend, and when I opened the email, I was totally expecting to see a couple of the usual stock family photos and move on. But instead I saw these amazing shots . . .

World, meet Stephanie and Kimberly Carpel, animal activists extraordinaire. They both just graduated from California State University—Northridge, where they started Students for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. After the graduation ceremony, their Mom and Dad (both vegan as well) threw them a huge reception (all the food was vegan of course) that wowed both the vegans and non-vegans alike.

Kimberly and Stephanie have a pretty exciting summer ahead of them as well. They’re soon heading off to Spain for the annual Running of the Nudes and shortly thereafter, they’ll be arriving here in Norfolk to intern at PETA for the summer.

Can’t wait to meet y'all!

So I walked into my local Taco Bell today, psyched to order my usual lunch, the always delicious and satisfying combo of a bean and rice burrito and a beef and potato burrito (substitute beans for beef and salsa for sour cream). The cashier was excited to see me (yes, all the employees know me and my pal Joel Bartlett, we eat there that much) and point out that, lo and behold, the new specialty item they’re pushing is vegetarian. It’s called a 7-Layer Crunchwrap, and it’s basically like a double bean tostada thing wrapped in a tortilla and grilled. Of course, they’ll gladly make it vegan by nixing the cheese and sour cream, which I guess makes the vegan version a 5-Layer Crunchwrap, huh?

Anyway, just wanted to share my newfound favorite menu item at the ultimate purveyor of Mexican fast food goodness, and holler at my favorite girl at the register. See you tomorrow, Kim.

So I’ve been vegetarian for kind of a long time, and back in the day, my choices for nonleather shoes and belts and so forth were pretty much nonexistent. If I found a decent pair of vegan shoes in my size, I’d snap up a couple of pairs at a time. Honestly, it was a little tough. But that was back in the dark ages, and today it couldn’t be easier. I don’t have to look hard at all to find cruelty-free clothes anymore, and as you can see from the picture, the results are positively devastating.

But I digress. The point is that I was really excited to see this Today Show piece about modern cruelty-free fashions. It makes it clear how easy it is nowadays to be cruelty-free and super fashionable at the same time, if that's your thing. Check it out:

So every now and then, we have these meetings at PETA where everyone in my department talks about the new animal-friendly features they have lined up for the website, and we brainstorm a few good ways to promote them on the Internet. The highlight of these meetings is always when my good friend Mylie starts raving about her latest project and we all make fun of her. Mylie, bless her heart, is the kind of girl who brings in, like, lotus nuts and fennel seeds for everyone to snack on at work, and while I haven't been able to substantiate this rumor yet, it's possible that she may have been raised on a commune. Anyway, the point of all this is that Mylie is even more pumped than usual about her new "DIY Vegan Candles" giveaway (yes, apparently not only is there such a thing as a vegan candle, but it's possible to actually construct one yourself somehow … out of soy), so I thought I'd give her feature a little love on the blog. To be fair to Mylie, the giveaway is doing really well so far, and—though I hate myself for saying this—the candles actually look kind of cool. So there you have it—you can enter to win some kickass DIY, 100 percent vegan, soy candles here. If you don't want to do it for the animals, do it for Mylie.