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In big 1″ letters – “VEGAN” – yea!!
For those who also enjoy the faux meats on occasion or all the time, check these out! Health is Wealth has returned to their original vegan recipe for the nuggets.
I found ‘em a couple of weeks ago at my local Safeways. They still taste good; the breading seemed a bit different though.
I like ‘em plain with ketchup or I’ll put ‘em in bread as a sandwich. If I’m being fancy, I’ll add faux vegan cheese. But what IS real is that it tastes great.
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GenerationV – Show #3
We were excited to participate in PETA’s Gala, and hope this podcast gives you a taste of that experience. Please also see our earlier blog entries for more background info on our Gala trip.
There are two local folks who were key in our participation in this event, and to them, thank you! This was a memorable experience for us.
Our podcast lengths are growing exponentially, from 2 (length of first podcast) to 9 to 45 minutes. Please use the show list index to help you navigate. If you are pressed for time, we particularly recommend Ingrid Newkirk’s speech.
Thanks for listening, and feel free to share your comments or feedback about the podcast or Gala experience with us.
Duration: 45:02 mins
Introduction 00:40
Vegan Tux Search 00:60
LA Food Talk 02:49
Arriving at Paramount Studios 05:26
Meeting Ingrid 07:31
First set of interviews 09:30
Gala Food Talk 11:40
Second set of interviews 14:50
Award Ceremony Talk 24:15
Paul McCartney Speech 27:50
Alec Baldwin Speech 28:45
Ingrid Newkirk Introduction 33:10
Ingrid Newkirk Speech 34:30
Auction Talk 39:45
Alex Bury Interview 41:45
End/Wrap up 43:25
Subscribe to the podcast
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Dressed in our poly finest, we summoned our apple green coach to ferry us to Paramount Studios, the location for PETA’s 25th Anniversary Gala. Although we arrived early, there were a lot of people who had arrived earlier.
The Gala was held on the “New York set” where shows like Seinfeld were filmed. With the buildings as the backdrop, the streets were lined with vendors offering a variety of vegan wares, from Bay Area favorite MaggieMudd to LA’s Native Foods to New York’s Candle 79. I felt like a well-dressed kid with control top pantyhose let loose in a vegan candy shop.
From 6 to 9 pm, Chris and I roamed the faux streets of New York enjoying real vegan culinary delights, perusing the whole block of items offered in a silent auction that benefitted PETA’s emergency rescue fund, and a stage with live music.
At 9 pm, the awards presentation started. Pamela Anderson was the main emcee/hostess for the evening. The evening started with what looked like a mock PETA-style protest with one or two people unfurling a protest banner and quickly being hustled off stage. It all happened too quickly for me to see what the banner said, but it reminded me of the PETA signs that we use for the KFC Cruelty Protests, except Chris said they had the cloth signs inverted making them unreadable.
Anyways, Pamela Anderson seemed unperturbed by this all. Although I’ve never watched her on TV before, she came across as beautiful, articulate, well-spoken, and a big fan of PETA and Ingrid Newkirk.
Several of the award recipients shared heartfelt sentiments. Heather Mills McCartney (HMM) spoke passionately about her involvement with PETA. She, along with Persia White, commented that (unfortunately) media will give attention to issues about animals simply because people who are “stars” become involved.
There was a special tribute to Ingrid Newkirk, one of PETA’s co-founders, and its leader and inspiration for the past 25 years. They also showed clips from several PSA’s done by celebrities who endorse PETA campaigns. The emphasis of alot of the clips and statements by HMM were on the fur campaign, and her upcoming involvement (recent focus on J. Crew reneging on its agreement and resuming selling fur).
Mid-way through the awards presentation, someone sitting at the table behind us jumped up on the table and shouted “PETA Kills Animals” and unfurled a protest sign. I have to admit my first thought wasn’t about his message or how he got in or what would happen next. Naw, I was focused on the practical matter a hand. “It’s $500 a ticket. I hope there are more protesters.” Anyways, I’m not sure how many people noticed him, because he was quickly escorted away.
The awards presentation proceeded without further interruption. One of the highlights of the evening was Alec Baldwin receiving the Linda McCartney Memorial Award. Alec Baldwin joked about Dan Matthews from PETA calling with “career ending” projects to get involved in.
I know I’m getting old because the band that performed on the main stage was one that I’d never heard of — guys wandering around in blue robes with red zigzags called the Polyphonic Spree. They were in town performing at the MTV Awards (yes, I do know what MTV stands for, although I’ve never watched it).
After the awards presentation, there were desserts galore, and more music and mingling with alot of friendly faces from the Bay Area and beyond. We talked to about a dozen folks from the Bay Area, so our local community was well-represented: Alicia & Doug (who hosted the August Vegan Food Party in Menlo Park), another Alicia, who hosts our BAVEG Marin dinner, Lori P from Contra Costa, Patti from Marin VEG, Colleen from Compassionate Cooks, the Cookie King himself, Rey from Sun Flour Baking, Claudia from PCRM’s SF office, our dear friend Sunny, Val from Mill Valley (she owns a bike shop and coincidentally was riding around on a Native Foods bicycle), Njeri (who’s very active with PETA2), Judy from the south bay, Aaron (who was volunteering in the “VIP” area), and I’m sure there were others in the 2000+ crowd.
Sheila E performed several songs with passion and vigor (broke one of her drumsticks in the process). Prince was in attendance, and it was rumored he wanted to perform, but it didn’t happen.
We decided a piece of artwork from the silent auction would be the perfect momento of our Gala trip. We were outbid on several items, including a tour of the PETA headquarters and lunch with Ingrid (which went for over a $1000 I think), artwork by Berke Breathed, organic towel and bedding collection. The silent auction closed at 2 am, and when it ended, we felt lucky to have won two items (more on that later).
We’ve always admired PETA, been inspired by their tireless and selfless dedication, and are amazed at what they manage to accomplish for the animals. The gala reinforced all of that, and reminded us that the animals are counting on all of us, every day.
Photos from our Trip to the Gala – thanks to Val and Doug & Alicia for also sharing their photos.
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Just about time to get dressed and out the door for the PETA gala. After what seemed like days of endless shopping and searching, I found a sleeveless beaded black dress and some black slip-on sandals. In my treasure trove of yesterday’s fashions, I have a fancy black bag to match. I also rediscovered my trove of vintage costume jewelry. Not sure if I’ll wear it, but it actually got tried on for the first time in about twenty years.
I love food shopping, but clothes shopping is so boring to me. Even since I was a kid I’ve felt that way about clothes shopping. So, it was a big effort to go shopping for a fancy dress and tux — PETA, here we come, best dressed or not!
Who’s gonna help me spot the stars? No, I’m not talking about people – I mean the best food stars! ha haha.
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Day 0: En route to the Gala
I met Chris after work at SFO and we caught a United Air flight to LAX. We landed about 7:35 pm, not really fortified by the inflight snack and beverage, but impressed with a quick 70 minute flight versus 7 hour drive.
Checked into the hotel .. what to do now? Ahhh, the hotel has free internet access and coincidentally I’d convinced Chris to bring his laptop (with the lure of working on our latest project – a podcast).
In getting food recommendations from people about LA, Real Food Daily came up quite often. Let’s look up the menu for Real Food Daily.
It’s 9:10 pm .. can’t decide if I’m hungry or just hungry for the idea of eating. Hmmm. Darn, the directions on RFD says delivery stops at 9 pm! Oops, wait, that’s the Santa Monica location. West Hollywood delivers until 10 pm. Sigh of relief and vegan food craving 
RFD will deliver directly to our hotel room for $6. Of course, they’re only about 3 miles away, but still, too inconvenient to put our shoes back on and taxi out there.
Called ‘em up, got some real vegan food on order and should be here in an hour. Salisbury steak with mashed potatoes for me. Tacos for Chris. Chocolate Cake w/strawberries to share. Yummm. Definitely can’t do this at home!!
I’m sitting here .. typing .. feeling hungry .. a knock at the door! It’s our food!
Chris gets the food, signs the credit slip .. wait, there’s only two boxes in the brown bag .. is the cake hiding in one of the boxes or under the napkins? Quick, Chris, run after the delivery guy .. Chris races after him as the driver makes a getaway. Sigh. He ain’t got no cake.
The restaurant says they gave our cake to someone else and they’ll send someone else out w/the cake.
Even though the restaurant provided only one set of utensils, that still wasn’t enough to prevent us from quickly and capably devouring the organic vegan food. Yummy and yummy!
20 minutes later, cake arrives with a complimentary cookie for their mistake, and our brown paper bag collection is up to two.
Cake is moist and just the right balance of sweet and chocolate. It has chocolate frosting as well as a layer of I think fruit filling. It’s good, and decent size for $6.
The bay area restaurant most comparable to this style of food is probably Herbivore. Real Food Daily’s prices are about 25% more — but, if you believe what you read on the website, everything is organic. Yeah, I know, Herbivore says the same thing on their menu but I’ve been sitting there when food deliveries go by arrive and I never see the word organic on the boxes that trundle by.
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GenerationV – Show #2
The real introduction episode from both of us. Covering what we’re about, why we’re starting a podcast, stuff we work on with Bay Area Vegetarians. Discussion on upcoming podcast shows to look forward to, including The PETA Gala, World Vegetarian Day, Paul Shapiro talk, Segments from our recent Activist Retreat, our groups 4 year anniversary party and much much more.
(edited – should be louder now)
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Day -1 : A little rhyme to share our preparations for PETA’s black-tie gala in Hollywood at Paramount Studios.
We shopped and shopped
til our vegan spirits dropped
Our feet were tired
but Tammy was well attired
But nowhere was a vegan tux
Chris was so out of luck
He’d be well shod
And could go as a PETA naked bod
But his modesty prevailed
And he bought at an online sale
In his poly tux he’ll bustle
Doing the rounds with a vegan rustle
- The End –