Review: Vegan Cream Filled Donuts and Pizza
I discovered the website Vegan Essentials almost six months ago. They have the most awesome selection of vegan everything. Two things in particular caught my interest: donuts and pizza. I don’t know which to review first – both the donuts and pizza are -amazing-.
Larsen’s Bakery supplies Vegan Essentials with – yes – Vegan Bavarian Cream Filled Donuts So so good. The vanilla cream filling is amazing, the donuts are light and fluffy, and the chocolate topping is fudgey. I really missed donuts since going vegan but I will no more. You can be vegan and have donuts! Awesome.
Now, onto the pizza. I ordered Rossini’s Gourmet Vegan Cheese Pizza with Italian Sausage. The vegan cheese used on the pizza is made by Daiya. I had Follow Your Heart vegan cheese and it’s okay. It doesn’t taste like the real thing. However, Teese does. It is -awesome-. The pizza is really easy to cook in the oven. The results are fantastic: light, fluffy, and crusty crust combine with the power of Daiya fake cheese is great.
I put off trying the donuts and pizza for months and it was really worth the wait.
Bane and Ceremony Show Review + Punk Vest for Sale
I went to a hardcore show this weekend. I saw Bane, Ceremony, and Alpha and Omega. Bane was -amazing-. I was disappointed with Ceremony, I just wasn’t feeling it, I thought they would be more intense. But Bane had amazing energy. Alpha and Omega were good too.
At the show, I had some vegan donuts. I met some other vegan edge kids so it was pretty sweet. They were nice. I thought I was infinitely awkward as I discussed punk fashion: how hardcore kids don’t dress up and punks do. I always dress up for shows. I dress up for day-to-day life. Sometimes, I think it’s funny when I am sitting here at the computer wearing a patched vest and my studded wristbands with nowhere to go!
I got an interesting comment at the show. I was told I wasn’t like other vegan edge folks. I don’t really know what a sterotype vegan edge punk is like since I’ve been pretty isolated from that scene until recently. I think I am a standard issue anarcho-punk but maybe not. The speaker of the comment didn’t really elaborate much on what he meant but he said it was a good thing to be different. Right on.
I’ve been working on trying to get my little business going. I am also going to put in some more resumes. Maybe places will be hiring soon for summer. I also put up a punk vest for auction: here. Hoping someone will buy it. It’s worth about $500 and I am asking $250 – plus free shipping/handling and part of the profit is going to go towards Amnesty International. Fight the good fight and get something stylish for yourself. Win win.
I have a ton of reading to do. I know I made a post about it awhile ago and I haven’t been making much progress. Right now, I am in the middle of “The Primal Screamer” by Nick Blinko. It’s pretty good so far. Then I was going to tackle a copy of “The Haunted Head” also by Nick Blinko.
I think I might dedicate the next month to reading and then focus on doing art? Or maybe mix it up. It’s pretty awesome that people have been buying my designs especially in this hard economy.
Oh, anyone want a semi-custom punk vest? I have an extra brand new black denim vest – size xl – which is 46 inches at the waist/shoulders. It’s a little too big for me and I can’t return it because the vest was a jacket. So, I have a collection of patches that I was going to sew some onto it and see if maybe I could sell it. I love making punk clothing but my biggest problem is that I only have one torso. I think I’ll post pictures of all my vests in the near future. It’s kind of fun seeing the evolution.
Vegan Lip Balm Review + Vegan Yummies + Punk Stuff
I haven’t written this week because I’ve been busy trying lots and lots of vegan lip balm. Some of it was terrible and some of it was awesome. From my experimenting, the best vegan lip balm is Crazy Rumors. They have a french vanilla flavor (a solid french vanilla without coffee flavor but bold), a banana split (my second favorite – it tastes yummy), chocolate mint (yum!), orange creamsicle (which is awesome if you like orange flavored things), and mocha (my favorite – I usually don’t like coffee flavored things but it’s mostly chocolate with a hint of coffee like a real mocha!) just to name a few. The lip balm goes on like silk, tastes amazing, and leaves your lips really nice. I tried most of the flavors that had any interest to me and the only one that was bad was the Pineapple and Peppermint. The pineapple flavor wasn’t that great and made me gag a little. But, the Pear and Peppermint was good – even if the pear was a little weak and so was the Plum and Peppermint.
I tried most lip balm from Etsy that was in stick form and it didn’t hold a candle to Crazy Rumors. Plus, Crazy Rumors is sweeten with Stevia – a natural alternative sweetener. I tried not to try any lip balm that I couldn’t pronounce the ingredients or anything not natural. Crazy Rumors is all natural and awesome. I was hesitant to try the lip balm because a stick costs 4 dollars with the shipping and handling being 6 dollars. However, I found a website that’s having a special on Crazy Rumors lip balm for this month only with much cheaper shipping called InterNatural Alternative Health. Just do a search for Crazy Rumors on the site to find it.
Or you can always do option B: which is to buy some vegan yum yums from Vegan Essentials and add some Crazy Rumors lip balm to your order. I ordered some tasty vegan treats and had Rocky Road Bark by Sweet and Sara which was so tasty. Plus, I got a vegan s’more which was okay – not as good as the bark in my opinion. I also ordered Vanilla Vegan Marshmallows which are awesome but are pretty expensive for what you get. I am going to look into making my own vegan marshmallows to see if that’s an alternative because it just isn’t worth the cost for such little product but it’s tasty. I was craving marshmallows, can you tell?
Yesterday, was the ultimate test of my veganhood. I was at a buffet-style restaurant and there was a basket full of non-vegan chocolate chip cookies. I love chocolate chip cookies so much – but I didn’t eat one bite. I can’t justify eggs and how the poor chickens are treated. Which reminds me of this really wicked shirt I got this week. Isn’t it awesome? It renders even the most outspoken meateaters speechless.
I needed some new clothes this week. I found a vegan straightedge hoodie that wasn’t too expensive. Looks like they are going fast. I am going to sew a Born/Dead patch on the back. Plus, I picked up a few anarcho-punk themed t-shirts from punkstuff.com. So, I should be set in the clothes department for sometime now.
My attempts at forming an Amnesty International is going slow but still going. We’ll see if I can get this group off the ground.
“The ones who affect change are the ones who hold us down.” – Born/Dead
Born/Dead is an awesome crust punk group from Oakland, California. Their lyrics are intelligent and their music fast. I just got their cd Destabilized-Overthrow [The First Five Years] and it was very cathartic.
Their lyrics touched based on issues of homelessness, society, ignorance, and even objectification of women. They also addressed something I noticed a while ago while I was taking a history class that all history is repetitive of wars and that they are bored of it. I am too.
I felt the cd was cathartic because it expressed outrage at the system in a constructive matter. Unfortunately, I wish the vision they sang about was true – that people would stop being complacent and actively take a role in changing society. People forget the world is the way it is because of us. We all composed the system and if we want it to change – it needs to start with us. No one is going to be the change in the world you want for you.
My only complaints are is that Born/Dead don’t release many cds (mostly records) and the band decided to put a 20 minute gap on the cd before a hidden bonus song. They sing a little fast so sometimes it’s hard to understand their lyrics which is why having the lyrics is helpful to read along as they sing. So, because the song was “hidden” there were no lyrics for it so I couldn’t appreciate it fully. I understand some but not all. Reading the lyrics alone doesn’t do them justice – you need to hear it and experience it.
I enjoyed their song construction – it was very hard hitting. My favorite song for the clarity of it was Repetition.
Born/Dead also introduced the topic of “Deadtime”. Which is something I think about too about the time we live in – that like Crass said, “You’re Already Dead.” I usually think about it being like Endgame play in an online game like World of Warcraft. That like in the game, you max out your level and all that’s left to do is go after nice equipment. I feel that humanity is at the same place – that we’ve gone as far as we can with the resources our planet has allotted us and all that’s left to do is go after meaningless trinkets. I hope I am wrong but it feels that way.
I’d recommend Born/Dead’s Destabilized-Overthrow [The First Five Years] to anyone who likes punk. They are definitely not a band to be missed.
Movie Reviews + What Music I've been listening to. + Being Queer and Straightedge
I saw the movie last night, “Imagine Me and You” and it was really cute. It was a lesbian romantic comedy. Some of the lines from the film were hilarious. “How are we ever going to have grandchildren?” “The turkey baster was invented for a reason.” Haha.
I also recently watched “Food, Inc.”. I think it’s a really important movie and everyone should watch it to be informed about where their food is coming from. It was more focused on the meat industry but it isn’t veggie propaganda. It just shows how the meat industry is. It lifts the veil of what they don’t want you to know.
It’s been awhile since I’ve mentioned anything about music. I’ve been listening to Mischief Brew – which isn’t usually the type of music I’m into – but it’s pretty awesome folk punk. I also bought Refused, The Shape of Punk to Come, and it’s a pretty solid album. I have also been listening to Fagatron which is awesome queercore.
Apart from that, I’ve been thinking about what it means to be straightedge and queer. The center focus of the queer scene is bars. People go to bars to drink. I don’t drink and people usually take it as a personal offense that I don’t. I don’t go around advertising the fact but when someone asks what I’m drinking, I’m not going to lie. I do get to parties early and leave when people start getting too drunk for my taste. I don’t like being around drunks. I just don’t feel comfortable.
It’s almost like being straightedge is anti-queer. Or maybe, just maybe, the queer scene has it wrong. That it shouldn’t be about supporting evil corporations and poisoning your body. I’ve tried a handful of times to build a queer scene without the booze but it just hasn’t worked. I don’t know if it’s because people lack the confidence to be their true selves without intoxication or if there’s just no interest in being sober. I’ve never need substances to have a “good time.” I don’t understand the appeal, but that’s just me.
I have never met another straightedge vegan queer who wasn’t drug-free without a history of past abuse. I am not really all that interested in people who abuse substances or eat meat for dating. I guess that’s the difference between being drug-free and straightedge: is the dislike of substances. Being drug-free is abstaining, but being straightedge is avoiding all association. I am for the legalization of marijuana because it’s not my choice to make other people’s choices for them. But, I don’t want to be around it. That is my choice.
Alternative Rock Isn't Really Alternative – Show Review
I went and saw a concert called “WreX the Halls 2009” with a handful of bands, notable: 30 Seconds to Mars, Rise Against, and AFI. I was disappointed with 30 Seconds to Mars because they played a song called “Kings and Queens” and they claimed it was “about you” which it clearly wasn’t as it was enforcing a gender binary. The show was filled with heteronormalivity and the crowd was eating it up. It probably all went unnoticed by the people in the audience who claimed to be alternative. They’d go to a show about being against the establishment but work and live within the system with being the servant not the master. How do they expect anything to change?
30 Seconds to Mars released a new album called, “This is War” and the title track talking about battle and believing in nothing but the truth of themselves. I don’t think they can even begin to know “truths” being so caught up in illusions, gender roles, and maintaining social order. It was like going to a show filled of Hot Topic punks. It was corporate punk with corporate sponsorship trying to pass itself off at alternative. You can’t fool me.
Rise Against is a good band and I appreciate their music but the show seemed almost as a joke. At $39 dollars a ticket – it wasn’t a diverse audience with it being mostly white males in their 20’s and 30’s with their girlfriends. It was white men playing for white men. Rise Against is a bit political but I was surprise they had a song for the soldiers called “Hero of War” which is pretty violent and sounds almost patriotic of supporting war and not being given the support back home. They sing of the hungry and the poor to the middle class which will never do anything to change things. The show was full of a bunch of liberals who are useless.
I was wearing my sweatshirt with sheeps being abducted by a UFO and I had a pretty good response to it. However, one girl came up to me and was like, “That sweatshirt is gay.” I was like, “No, it’s not.” She was like,”Yeah, it is. I mean gay like absurd.” I just kind of stared at her blankly and was like, “I got to go.” It was neither the time or place to explain to her that gay doesn’t mean absurd. It either means homosexual or happy. The sweatshirt was silly but wasn’t gay. It might have been queer because I was wearing it but it was odd that the girl felt the need to stop me and use the wrong words to explain things. I also had a moment of gender confusing the ticket lady, “Ma’am… Sir…” I was tempted to say “Call me ze” but it really wasn’t a genderqueer safe space in the middle of lots of straight males who are angry at the establishment but are mere sheeps and pawns.
So, the reason I went to the show to begin with was AFI. They were amazing and put on a great show. I know, I know, AFI isn’t punk rock anymore but I am still a fan. One of my favorite albums of all time is The Art of Drowning. I go to hear their old music. Their new music isn’t bad but not as good as their old music. I rocked out the entire time.
I just wished the alternative scene was really alternative with radical politics instead of supporting a liberal agenda and pushing faith in the system. The system was and is working for the angry people at the show who are just angry at their own banality. They are boring. Going to shows and having to drink to have fun. It’s like dude, you are at a show, you should be able to have fun without alcohol.
I was surprised at how much the music was about being broken inside with no solution how to fix it or make it better. Or how they didn’t want to make it better. Like being broken is okay and feeling nothing or pain is the way life should be. Experience, learning, is painful but life is joyous if you find the beauty in small and large. There was just a lot of hollowed shells of people, like the living dead, it was almost overwhelming.
I know I’m not perfect – but I am working on healing myself from past hurts so that I can be as productive in the world and help society. In order to heal the world, you first need to heal yourself.
