San Francisco Walk for Farm Animals

Who: VN Managing Editor Elizabeth Castoria and Team VegNews
What: San Francsico's Walk For Farm Animals
When: November 6, 2011
Where: Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, CA
Why: To support the awesome work of Farm Sanctuary, and get a little stroll

The Scoop: Our lovely and talented associate editor, Jennifer Chen, is magic. She is the kind of person who actually has her life together enough to organize fun events, which she does frequently. A potluck brunch based on an amazing vegan cookbook? Jenn teamed up with Editorial Assistant Anna Peraino to make that dream come true. Dinner parties on the cheap that also happen to be hugely fun? Jenn's an expert. So it came as no surprise when she organized a team for us to participate in Farm Sanctuary's Walk for Farm Animals.

Anna, Jenn, Brendan, Sutton, and Chloe, ready to walk!

On a brisk Sunday morning, Associate Publisher Colleen Holland, Art Director Sutton Long (and her amazing wonder-pup, Chloe!), Anna, and I joined Jenn and her husband, Brendan Hay, in Golden Gate Park to walk. Farm Sanctuary has been holding walks since 1986 across the US. The events attract stars like this year's spokesperson, Emily Deschanel, and draw thousands of participants each year. All together, the walks have raised nearly $2 million for Farm Sanctuary since the beginning. In addition to getting a little exercise in, walkers get to hear speakers (including Farm Sanctuary Co-founder Gene Baur), enjoy snacks, and raise awareness. We basically couldn't have hoped for a better day, and it was a joy to chat about everything from iPhones (and how they are taking over our lives) to holiday plans (and how we can't wait for the carb-fest better known as Thanksgiving!). It was (another) fun, out-of-the-office event organized by Jenn, and as a team we even exceeded our fundraising goal! I'm already looking forward to next year, and to all the fun things that I'm sure Jenn will organize between now and then.

Team VegNews post-walk with Farm Sanctuary's Gene Baur

Adventures in the Inner Sunset

Who: VN Office Manager and VN Editorial Assistant Alexandra Chang

What: The Bay Area Anarchist Book Fair and lunch at Loving Hut

Where: The Inner Sunset, San Francisco, Calif.

When: April 10, 2011

Why: To get a break from the bustling Tenderloin, and check out some cool books!

The Scoop: I have now been a resident of the historical Tenderloin neighborhood for more than a year, and let's just say that I have many stories from this eclectic part of San Francisco. I've also been spending a lot of time at home lately, if I'm not at work, and I personally haven't been to the Sunset in months. When I heard about the Anarchist Book Fair taking place in the Golden Gate Park, I decided it was a good time to venture out, and meet up with my friend and co-worker Alexandra to check it out.

Checking out AK Press' awesome selection.

It was a lovely day, so I decided to ride my bike, and although I made a few wrong turns, I made it to Alexandra's humble abode in good time. We then set out to the book fair, which took place at the same location as the World Veg Day Festival, which usually takes place at the beginning of October. There were plenty of books for fair prices, which always makes me happy, and Alexandra and I took our time scoping out each booth. Our favorites were the booths of PM Press, AK Press, and Food Not Bombs, but all the booths were great, and offered good selections.

Alexandra with her fun purchase.

Hunger eventually got the best of us, and unfortunately there was not food at the book fair, so we decided to head out into the Inner Sunset for a late lunch. After much deliberation, we finally decided upon Loving Hut, because neither of us had been to the one in the Sunset before, and they were voted the 2010 VegNews Readers' Favorite Restaurant, so why not give it a try? Everything was good, but our favorite was our appetizer, which was the Ocean Basket. It was a fried basket of yam shrimp, mushrooms, seaweed fillet, green beans, served with a dill and Vegenaise sauce. It definitely hit the spot!

Loving Hut's Ocean Basket.

However, we were not yet satisfied, and longed for dessert. I have been dying to try Holy Gelato! for some time now, which serves up to 12 flavors of vegan gelato on a daily basis. There was no stopping me, so we were off to this sweet spot, and once we stepped through the doors, I was in heaven. How have I not been here before? There were so many flavors, and I wanted to try them all, but I finally chose the Mint Cookie and Charlie Brown's Nightmare served in a waffle cone. It was so good that I gobbled it up before taking a photo—so sorry! Alexandra opted for a warmer dessert, and grabbed a vegan cupcake and a tea from a nearby café.

After a day's worth of adventure, we walked back to Alexandra's house, and we said our goodbyes. Luckily, much of my bike ride home was downhill, and I arrived back in the Tenderloin in record time, feeling refreshed. I love my crazy neighborhood, but sometimes it feels great to get out—even for a little while.

Outside Lands 2010

Who: VN Associate Editor Liz Miller and VN Editorial Assistant Brooke Still

What: Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival

Where: Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, Calif.

When: August 14-15, 2010

Why: Because nothing says summer like live music, outdoor dancing, and free vegan beer.

The Scoop: San Francisco might not have the same sun-kissed summers as Chicago or Austin, but that doesn't mean SF's answer to the summer music festival is left out in the cold. Depending how you view it, in 2010, the third-annual Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival got a facelift: The festival was cut from three days to two, and the lineup included a more eclectic set of musicians. While the 2009 festival featured mainstream names including Tom Jones, Jason Mraz, Pearl Jam, Incubus, Lucinda Williams, and Dave Matthews Band, the 2010 line-up was significantly dialed-down, with a shorter list of heavy-weight headliners such as The Strokes, My Morning Jacket, Gogol Bordello, and Phoenix, decidedly skewing more indie-rock than soft-rock.

Brooke and I couldn't wait to take in the sights and sounds of some of our favorite acts. We arrived on Saturday just in time to catch the end of Electric Six's high-energy set, and then went in search of lunch. With tons of veggie options to choose from, we felt slightly overwhelmed, but finally settled on moderately priced veggie burgers—with two sides of free curly fries courtesy of the generous concessions man. Score! After mowing down our festival fare, we trekked over to the main stage to see self-described "gypsy punk" group Gogol Bordello tear it up with their raw, revivalistic blend of multi-national music, incorporating influences ranging from Eastern European-inspired accordion to Ecuadorian rap riffs.

A tattooed stranger fist-pumping during Gogol Bordello

After Gogol Bordello we crossed the field to the Sutro stage, where Bassnectar had just begun to spin his signature, soul-thumping sounds. Somewhere between Lil Wayne synths and his big beat "Seek and Destroy" remix we remembered why summer music festivals are awesome: kids with no rhythm shamelessly dancing in public at 3pm. It was fantastic. As Bassnectar wrapped up, we headed back to the main stage for indie darlings—and Brooke's favorite act of the day—My Morning Jacket. Their unmistakable melodic, crowd-swaying songs were just what we needed after Bassnectar's danceable set, and MMJ didn't disappoint, playing all of our favorites, closing with their classic from It Still Moves, "One Big Holiday."

My Morning Jacket rocks out

With our minds sufficiently blown by MMJ's powerful performance, we staggered across the field yet again to watch Wolfmother bring metal to the day's overall electric mix of music. We're not sure if it was the driving metal chords or the six hours between meals, but near the end of Wolfmother's set, our stomachs were definitely rumbling. We figured this was the perfect time to head over to the Chase Freedom Lounge, where our press passes (hey, that's the name of this blog!) allowed us to enjoy free dinner and drinks. On top of complimentary wine tasting and snacks, we enjoyed free beer and a vegan-friendly buffet.

Brooke enjoying the free vegan skewers and ale

Yes, it was a buffet situation, but a classy one nonetheless, offering vegan jasmine-coconut rice, salad, and marinated veggie skewers. Then, as hippie-children relived their youth to the sounds of Further at the main stage, we relived our own bygone 15-year-old fandom by dancing to Saturday's other closing act, The Strokes. Publicity was buzzing around the band's performance at Outside Lands, as it marks their first touring summer in four years, and the second of three stateside shows before finishing their forth album later this year. From Is This It early hits "Last Nite" and "Someday" to sophomore album favorites such as "I Can't Win," the set was full of the band's effortlessly catchy classics. After the band exited the stage, we filed out of the park, heading for home and some much-earned rest and relaxation. Definitely not to stalk The Strokes tour bus, whatever the papers might have said.

The San Francisco Marathon: Plant-Powered Persistence

Who: VN Publisher Joseph Connelly

What: The 2010 San Francisco Marathon
Where: San Francisco, Calif.
When: July 25, 2010
Why: Because my life isn't difficult enough

The Scoop: Does rising at 4am on a Sunday to run 26.2 miles sound like fun? Indeed. Especially if your training has, shall we say, been a bit slacking. Translation: no run of greater than 7.5 miles in more than five weeks. But vegans are super human, am I right? Yes we can.

Dawn in the City by the Bay

Press Pass fans might remember that I have a "running" challenge with one Martin Rowe of Satya Magazine and Lantern Books fame. We're founding members of The Publishers' Running Club. I covered Martin's NYC Marathon spectacular (along with my Marine Corps jog) back in late 2008. Martin is tall and young and handsome and English and smart and fast and if that's not enough a Brooklyn carpetbagger to boot. But I do trump him in one important category: This was the seventh time I was toeing the line for a full marathon (to Martin's five).

Except that I didn't know I was. Huh? My (adopted) hometown marathon consists of a series of races. There's the aforementioned Full Marathon, or you can choose to run the First Half Marathon or the Second Half. Since the full and first half begin in the same place at the same time, even as I lined up to start I hadn't decided if I'd take the "easy" way out and call it a day after 13.1 miles. But the perfect running weather—60 degrees, fully overcast skies (typical SF summer) and little wind—was an omen I couldn't resist to see what I could do... sans animal protein for 20 years.

The first half: Enjoyable conversations with a woman from New Hampshire running her "first full" (as advertised on the back of her leg) and the guy trying to qualify for the Boston Marathon who had trained shall we say just a slightly wee bit more than I left us all loose and relaxed. And wouldn't you know that running across the Golden Gate Bridge from miles five through 10 always adds a bit of encouragement? I was feeling fine through first half when I reached the fork in the road: decision time. Turn left and finish the first half; right and commit to 26+. As hard as it is for me to do anything right, I did.

I'm in there somewhere. No. Really

Maybe I should have turned left.

The second half: Wasn't long before the fun began. Both my calves and my stomach started cramping during mile 15. Since I'd crossed the half-way point, I decided to take it one mile at time. One. Slow. Mile. At. A. Time. What's 12 miles of fun, among friends? I stumbled through Golden Gate Park then the notorious Haight-Ashbury hippy enclave, and somehow managed to stagger home with a 12 minutes improvement over last year. Not bad for an vegan old guy, eh?

The reward

Will I do another? Today I'm thinking "no," though once the pain evaporates, the memory tends to turn sunny. Maybe the NYC Marathon on 2011. Martin can pace me. We'll see.

Power to the Peaceful

Who: VN Publisher/Editor-in-Chief Joseph Connelly

What: 11th Annual Power to the Peaceful Festival

Where: Speedway Meadow, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, Calif.

When: September 12, 2009

Why: Michael Franti & Spearhead plus Alanis Morissette

The Scoop: Five a.m. thunderclaps threatened to put a damper on Michael Franti's annual Power to the Peaceful love fest in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, due to kickoff at 9:00 a.m. with a two-hour "1,000 Yogis for Peace" morning yoga practice. Maybe 1,000 yogis didn't show, and maybe it did rain a little, but the weather wasn't going to stop this 11th annual tradition that pre-dates yet coincides with 9/11 and which has grown into a call for world peace on the weekend closest to the 2001 tragedy.

PTTP epitomizes San Francisco, as one speaker told the assembled. Where else can you wander into an urban park on a Saturday and stumble across a free concert with top-shelf talent, displays of art, a healing sanctuary, zones for kids, booths for environmental and social justice organizations, and vendors selling eco-products? Oh, and 70,000 close-knit friends.

Power to the Peaceful, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco (9/12/09)

After sets by politico hip-hop artist Truth Universal, San Francisco poet Sellassie, Malinese guitarist Vieux Farka Touré, and the powerful vocalist Cherine Anderson (see her before she hits the big time), sultry songstress Alanis Morissette took the stage. The reportedly newly vegan Morissette, looking happy and healthy, delivered a hits-filled acoustic set that pleased all.

Alanis Morissette in San Francisco

The final act of the afternoon was, of course, Michael Franti & Spearhead, complete with the legendary Sly & Robbie rhythm section and Anderson on supporting vocals. The band was on, which may or may not have had something to do with the sweet smoke filling the air or Morissette's recurring guest star role on Showtime's Weeds. It's all just coincidence. To be honest, there seemed to be more of the herb at the Outside Lands Festival two weeks prior, but then again, who's token?

Franti obviously lives for this weekend (though his tour bus arrived in the early hours of Saturday he was still spotted at the morning yoga session). And he should. The festival he has created has now reached that stage where it is an annual San Francisco tradition, and much better than most of them. In his trademark bare feet he prowled the stage with more energy than anyone should be allowed to have, filling the gaps between songs with stories of his recent appendectomy and how he wrote his current hit song, "Say Hey (I Love You)," while in Woody Harrelson's bathroom. "Woody only has one medicine in his cabinet," confessed Franti, to a roaring crowd.

Michael Franti closes the Power to the Peaceful Festival