Macbeth Schubert Mike Dirnt

I’m too tired to write much of anything tonight.  Apologies.  Fortunately for  my lazy ass, I don’t have to!  Here is my man Chris, who reached out to me to help promote these collabos:

“Each season Macbeth collaborates with different artists for the Studio Project to design shoes that reflect their individual personality and sense of creativity . For Fall 2010, Macbeth teamed up with Mike Dirnt of Green Day. He chose to recreate the popular Schubert hi-top completely out of synthetic materials. He wanted to create something comfortable, yet a stylish black sneaker that he could wear on stage, on the red carpet, or to grab some coffee. This design, like that before it, is 100% vegan and features a custom water-based synthetic adhesive.  The Schubert isn’t, however, just another eco-friendly project: the design offers increased ankle support and a low profile vulcanized outsole with advanced vegan materials for a unique and comfortable sneaker.  Also part of the Studio Project, Taking Back Sunday’s members Matt Fazzi and Mark O’Connell also chose to redesign the Schubert sneaker completely out of vegan materials.

Some of these are available on presale by logging on to maxim and clicking the MacBeth pre-sale under “stuff”.  You can also cop the Mike Dirnt joints and view other pictures of the Studio Project here.

Hey everyone, last week I posted a picture of my “vegan” Converse Chuck Taylors and I asked some of you to send me some pics of yours.  Well, a few of you kindly obliged, and here they are!

Here is Jasper, rocking some Converse Chuck Taylor in black navy.  Notice how much more stylish they are than mine due to the awesome yet almost incomprehensible lacing pattern he has devised.  Kudos!  Also, check out his excellent blog and you’ll see some amazing artwork and beautiful photographs (I love these kittens!).

This is my man Petrus, lounging in central Stockholm (that is in Sweden for all you uncouth Americans), sporting the Habitat Ibex.  Just one word – lovely.  This is where you live???  I heard it’s cold there but damn, spring and summer must be gorgeous.

KEEP SENDING PICTURES MY WAY!

I had to share this. Ruben Studdard of American Idol fame went vegetarian, then vegan, and ended up losing over 80lbs (with the help of a trainer of course)! He was interviewed by Peta, and here was one of the quotes:

Peta: What are some of your favorite foods?

Ruben: My favorite dish is from PF Chang’s: the Buddha’s Feast. It’s hands-down my favorite dish. And the tofu lettuce wraps. My favorite brand now is Morningstar. Anything Morningstar, I love it—except for the sausage links. The patties ain’t bad though. But yesterday I had the fake buffalo wings. Every week, it gets more surprising, the amount of options you have as a vegetarian, because you never before would have been looking for those different options to satisfy your hunger, so to speak, so it’s really refreshing. Especially with all my travels, it’s really a lot easier than I thought to find healthier options. I still like to make greens and sweet potatoes and potato salad, just things like … you know, ’cause I’m from the South, and you know, my mom kind of taught me how to cook, still … I honestly still crave that meat flavor—so she taught me how to use the veggie bouillon cubes and stuff with my food. McDonald’s has a veggie burger now. It’s not as good as Burger King’s. Burger King’s veggie burger is off the chain.

That last sentence KILLED me.  I never heard anyone say BK’s veggie burger is off the chain, or something equivalent.  Hey, that’s a good thing if people can get vegan food from fast food joints.  I didn’t even know Mickey D’s had a veggie burger.  I might need to try that out!

Click here for the full interview with Peta.  Click here for an interview with Wendy Williams.

Well, for four days anyway, haha.  It’s always exciting news when a pro athlete goes vegan.  It not only promotes a great alternative diet that is healthy, but also defies the stereotype of the “malnourished vegan” by contrasting it with this image of a 6’10″ 250 lbs NBA player.  Here’s what the Phoenix Suns star had to say about it -

“With my four days off, I’m really taking time off to purify my body, and get my body in top shape for these last 16-17 games. So right now, I’m on a vegan fast.”

Even though he says it’s just a temporary thing, let’s hope that it works out so well for him he decides to go vegan, or vegetarian, for good!  It seems like famous people all over are going vegan/veg and look and feel great.  See Ruben Studdard and the trainer from the Biggest Loser.

For original post on Stoudemire, see Ecorazzi.

“That’s why I don’t eat fricking’ lobster or anything like that. Because they’re alive when you kill it.”

As someone who grew up in the 90′s listening to hip-hop, I am a huge Wu-Tang Clan fan.  Masta Killa is one of the original members of the Wu.  He doesn’t have a crazy style, and maybe he’s not the most charismatic of the bunch, he always impressed me with his skills.  Now he’s impressive on a whole other level – promoting vegetarianism.  I have seen him promoting stuff for Peta, and I came across this awesome video.  He’s even got his son, Eternal representing!

Masta Killa’s Vegetarian Testimonial – Funny blooper videos are here

Toms Shoes has teamed up with the Charlize Theron Africa Outreach Project on a limited-edition shoe, is now available on the shoe brand’s Website.

Co-designed by actress Charlize Theron, the unisex shoe is made from vegan materials  and was inspired by the baobab tree, whose silhouette is embroidered on blue and orange canvas. A portion of the proceeds from each pair will go directly to the Charlize Theron Africa Outreach Project, which provides education about the need to provide sustainable health, education and recreational resources to remote areas with high rates of HIV/AIDS.

“I’m thrilled to have Toms Shoes as a partner,” said Theron in a statement. “We are so grateful for their generous donation of shoes to the students that we work with. They are passionate about the kids and have been incredibly supportive of the work of the Africa Outreach Project. It’s exciting that we’re able to come together in such a cool and creative way to bring attention to the needs of many South African youth.”

The limited-edition shoes are available for $54 and are sold exclusively on Tomsshoes.com.

I reported earlier this month about Stella and Morrissey designing a vegan shoe line together.  Yeah, about that – “Stella is a fan of Morrissey but those rumours of a collaboration for a shoe line are simply not true.”  – Stella McCartney on Facebook.

So there you have it.  Not much else to say about that.

Word dropped today that the crown princess of vegan fashion (McCartney) will team up with longtime in-your-face activist and original emo crooner  (Morrissey)  for a men’s vegan shoe line.  According to McCartney, “we are still in the early stages, but the shoes could be launched next year.”  I hope you like Hush Puppies.

All kidding aside, one of the things I have been working on, personally, and am hoping is reflected in this blog, is being more supportive.  And this is no doubt a commendable effort.  I am a little skeptical of Morrissey, not because he’s not awesome, but simply because I don’t think he’s that popular anymore, and I wonder how much reach he will have.  Then again, I am not privy to fashion, high society, or anything very glamorous for that matter.  So maybe Morrissey is well-to-do in those circles.  Worst case scenario, maybe some of the whitest kids you’ve ever known will buy some of these kicks.

In any case, I echo the Smith’s song – “Meat is Murder!”  Don’t let that ten ton truck crash into you, kids.

Originally I was going to write this post to support Natalie Portman’s vegan shoe line, which dropped sometime in January 2008.  When I looked into where they were being sold, I found out that the only store that had the ins – Te Casan (in New York) – closed up shop later that year.  Bummer.  (UPDATE: a few of her shoes – on clearance ! – can still be found here.  My Bad!).  No news about a new line or any future plan of action.

Here is what Natalie had to say about her shoes: “It is a decision I made because of my love for animals, but it is also much better for the environment. It is very difficult to find non-leather shoes that are beautiful and comfortable. The Te Casan design team helped me sketch my ideas, from which I chose materials and colors. I love them all!”

Also, all of the proceeds (were there any?) were donated to the Nature Conservancy, a non-profit that works to protect ecologically sensitive bodies of land and water.  It’s really a shame the store shut down so soon after the launch.

For pictures of some of the shoes, check out Inhabitat.

Despite the fact that I am a guy, and know nothing about fashion or couture or whatever, I am really happy that high profile people like Natalie Portman are taking their compassion for animals and making things happen.  I have heard that others like Stella McCartney have designed cruelty free shoes as well.  Even though some of us can’t afford it, you have to admit that sometimes it takes trendsetters to turn heads in the fashion world, and this buzz can generate awareness and influence buying habits of the general public.

This post is also very relevant because recently Natalie Portman turned vegan!  I would highly recommend everyone read her essay in the Huffington Post about how Jonathan Safran Foer’s new book, Eating Animals, helped her move from vegetarian to vegan activist.   You go girl.