Alicia Silverstone's Blog, page 121

A Great Video and Reminder to Vote Tomorrow!

 

 

I thought now would be a good time to revisit Bill Clinton’s fantastic DNC speech from the convention in August. Funny, eloquent, and delightfully intelligent. I appreciated his straight talk, passion and common sense. Clinton is respected by both parties. And he’s vegan, yahoo! Watch the video, and be sure to vote tomorrow. I couldn't wait for election day…I mailed in my ballot last week!!

Are you excited to vote?

Tell me in the comments below.

3 Rescue Stories to Remind Us Why Animals Need Our Love

These stories all have happy endings.

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A Baby deer was rescued from manhole. He then scampered back into woods, hopefully to be with his mama. If you find an injured or trapped wild animal, PETA has a great guide for what to do.

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Two thirsty kittens were rescued from a drainpipe at a high school in East Lansing, Michigan after the girls’ cross-country team discovered them on a morning run:

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A Rottweiler puppy was rescued from a Riverside Calif. dumpster hours before the garbage truck came. He was rehabilitated and given intravenous fluids at a local animal shelter. A couple from Santa Clarita adopted him.

Please, please spay and neuter your pets!

What else can we do to prevent accidents and stories of animal neglect like this?

Share your ideas in a comment below.

Photo Credits: Huffington Post, Battle Creek Enquirer, PE.com

Meet Up With Kind Lifers & Watch Vamps!

 

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 *UPDATE*
 

My new movie Vamps opens this Friday (Nov 2) in LA and next Friday (Nov 9)* in NYC:

Los Angeles: AMC Burbank Town Center 8
NYC: AMC Village 7
(Get tickets here)

Whether you’re in the mood for a chill weekend at the movies, or you want to keep the Halloween party going, Vamps is a fun time. If you love Clueless, you will really enjoy this – the cast includes Wally Shawn, Sigourney Weaver, Krysten Ritter, and yours truly. The costume designer who did Clueless, the talented Mona May, also designed the costumes for Vamps. Of course, Clueless writer/director Amy Heckerling helms the whole thing. Fun fact: I got knocked up about two weeks into filming this movie and almost named Bear Detroit!

 

Meet Kind Lifers at the Movies

Vamps is really quirky, funny and good. It is very dear to me, and I know you will love it. So LA and NYC kind lifers, please don’t wait! If you don’t go to the theater on opening weekend, you may miss it. To help you coordinate a Vamps meet-up in your city, I’ve started two threads in the forum, one for LA Kind Lifers and one for NYC Kind Lifers. Please bring all your friends to see Vamps, and post in the forum to coordinate with fellow kind-lifers. It will be the perfect thing to do post-Halloween, I promise. Also, anybody not in LA/NYC can start a thread for your city and host a Vamps On Demand screening party. 

LA Vamps Meet-Up
NYC Vamps Meet-Up
Start an On Demand meet up in your city

 
Show Me Your Pictures!
Last but not least, I would love to see pictures of all my LA and NYC kind lifers at the movies! Tweet me a picture (@aliciasilv) of you and your friends at the theater with the hashtag #VAMPSMovie and I’ll include your photos in a follow up post.

 
Get Vamps tickets here!

 * The opening weekend for Vamps in NYC was moved due to Hurricane Sandy and loss of power at AMC Village 7

Photo source: imdb.com

kind eats: christy morgan's texas cooking classes

Christy Morgan teaches cooking classes in Texas…that's right you heard me Texas! Yahoo! Her recipes are free of all processed food and totally plant-based.
 

Christy teaches classes in the Dallas and Ft. Worth areas of Texas. The classes are both demonstrational and hands on so if you live nearby check her out! Sign up now.

Who are some of your favorite Kind Chefs? Give them some link love in the comments below. theblissfulchef

The health section is proudly sponsored by Kaeng Raeng natural cleanse.  Make sure to check out their 3 or 6 day vegan detox programs here:

Related Stories:

Nic's Berry Pie
My Favorite Restaurants in Detroit
My Delicious Dinner at Jean-Georges
The Best Veggie Burger in LA 

new and improved: the kind life 2.0 is almost here!

Hi everyone!

I mentioned a few months ago that I was working on a redesign for The Kind Life and after lots of work it’s almost here! I don’t want to give away too much yet but here are a few new features you can expect:

The site address will still be TheKindLife.com – we’re just migrating everything on the current site to a new design.
Logging in will be easier yay! - the only extra step you may need to do if you haven’t before is add a password to your account. You’ll be prompted to do this when you visit the new site.
The profile you’ve created and anything you’ve uploaded on this site will be automatically migrated to the new site.
Everything in the forum will be migrated to the new site.
Recipes will be sortable marking superhero and cuisine type so excited about this feature! and I’m still working on how to make this as awesome as ever! How would you like the recipe gallery to be?
Any recipes you upload must include an original photo. 

That’s all I’m going to reveal for now! The new design will go live Tuesday evening so stay tuned! I hope you love it!!

Love
Alicia

london2012: an eco-friendly olympics?

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This week millions of people will travel to London to attend the Olympic games. While past Olympics have put a huge toll on our environment with the construction of various sports arenas and spike in energy usage during the games London Olympic Authority has stated that they are aiming to make London 2012 the first sustainable Olympic games ever.

Adorable Dog Days of Summer!

Here are some eco-friendly initiatives taking place for this year’s greener Games:

Rainwater is being collected in order to reduce the amount of potable water used in the buildings.
 
The construction industry has stated that they aim to source 25 of their supplies through recycling. Recycled aggregates are made from materials such as bricks and concrete that are crushed and reused in the construction of new buildings
 
In addition to over 300000 wetland plants organizers have planted more than 4000 trees and 130000 plants and bulbs in East London’s 500-acre Olympic Park.  Around 112 acres of Olympic Park has been set aside to attract birds otters water voles and amphibians.
 
The Olympic Stadium uses less than half the steel of comparable stadiums reducing its environmental impact and making it the lightest Olympic Stadium constructed to date.
 
Five soil washing machines from Belgium were installed for the construction of Olympic Park which will contain the athletes' Olympic Village and several of the sporting venues including the Olympic Stadium and Aquatics Centre. By cleaning the soil on site 95 of it has been reused transport costs have been cut and less material has been dumped.
 
For those of you going to the Games in London make sure to use London’s public transportation system or rent a Barclay’s bike – you can dock them in any of the 400 locations in London’s Zone One travel area when you’re done.

These initiatives seem like a step in the right direction. How can we make the next Olympics even more eco-friendly?

The health section is proudly sponsored by Kaeng Raeng natural cleanse.  Make sure to check out their 3 or 6 day vegan detox programs here:

More Eco Stories from The Kind Life:
Were You Fooled by “The Yes Men”?
How to Plan an Eco Wedding
Meet the Winners of My Eco Fashion Correspondent Contest
Check out Bear’s Coachella Style

Photo: CNN

kind eats: apple pie pancakes

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This recipe comes from Isa Chandra of Post Punk Kitchen. I haven't tried them but they look like a nice treat for brunch!

Try my Traditional English Breakfast!

Apple Pie Pancakes

Ingredients

For Apple Topping:

4 apples peeled diced into 1/2 inch pieces about 1 1/4 pounds
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup apple juice
1 tablespoon organic cornstarch or arrowroot
1 1/2 tablespoonspure maple syrup

For Pancakes:

1 cup plain almond milk or preferred non-dairy milk 
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar 
2 tablespoons ground flax seeds sold as flax meal 
1 1/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour or all-purpose flour but not regular whole wheat flour 
2 tsp baking powder 
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 
3/4 teaspoon ground ginger 
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg pinch ground allspice pinch ground cloves 
1/2 tsp salt 
2 tablespoons apple sauce 
2/3 cup apple juice 
1 tsp vanilla extract 
1 tablespoon pure maple syrup

Instructions

Prepare the topping: Toss all topping ingredients in a medium 4 quart pot sprinkle on the cinnamon. Mix it up so that the corn starch dissolves. Use an angled wooden spoon to do the mixing since it reaches the bottom corners of the pot.

Cover pot and bring to a boil keeping a close eye. Once boiling lower heat to a simmer and cook for 20 more minutes stirring occasionally. Once apples are nice and tender smash a few of them to thicken sauce. Remove from heat and keep covered until ready to serve.

Prepare the pancakes: Pour almond milk into a measuring cup. Mix in apple cider vinegar and ground flax seeds with a fork. Set aside; mixture will thicken.

Meanwhile in a large mixing bowl sift together flours baking powder spices and salt. Create a well in the center and add the milk mixture and the apple sauce apple juice vanilla and maple syrup. Use a fork to mix until relatively smooth a few lumps are okay. Let the batter rest and preheat a large non-stick or cast iron pan over medium heat.

When pan is hot spray with a thin layer of cooking spray and use an ice cream scooper or scant 1/4 cup measure to pour batter and form pancakes. If you can fit three at atime that’d be great. The pancake should start to form little air bubbles but not as much as pancakes with oil do so don’t worry if they don’t bubble too much. Cook until the edges are dry and the tops of the pancakes are only slightly wet about 2 1/2 to 3 minutes then flip and cook for 2 minutes more. Keep warm on a plate covered with tin foil until all pancakes are ready to serve.

Serve hot with apple topping.

What's your favorite brunch dish? Share your recipes on your profiles and I'll feature them in the kind recipe gallery.

The health section is proudly sponsored by Kaeng Raeng natural cleanse.  Make sure to check out their 3 or 6 day vegan detox programs here:

More kind eats:
nic's berry pie
artichokes with roast capsicum and sun-dried tomato sauce
cheesy oozy guacamole bean dip
kind chocolate cake!

Photo: The PPK

flashback: batman and robin

The Dark Knight Rises opens this weekend which prompted a friend to send me this hilarious video from 1997. Holy hair!

Find out about the recent Vamps screening in NYC!

Will you be seeing The Dark Knight Rises?

More great clips:
my guest stint on Suburgatory
die antwoord...new favorite freaky band!
watch this: chimpanzee with jane goodall
could you live for a year without toilet paper?

were you fooled by shellisprepared?

Environmental organization Greenpeace has collaborated with activist group The Yes Men to create a creative online campaign protesting the energy industry and the damage it does to the environment.

They’ve specifically targeted Shell Oil creating a series of fake Shell commercials a fake twitter account ShellIsPrepared and a website called ArcticReady.com. The hoax has fooled a lot of people who thought this was an actual campaign by Shell Oil. Greenpeace’s satirical campaign has drawn attention to the environmental problems caused by the energy industry.

ACTION ALERT: Stop Fracking in New York

Do you think Greenpeace's campaign will make a difference?

More posts about the environment: 
action alert: help the JSPCA protect Israel's animals
my big fat vegan wedding by lindsay wolf
lil kind life: 10 ways to help your kids go green
kind quickie: the urban hotel

guest blog: kind yoga apparel and accessories

This is our first guest blog about kind style from fashion correspondent contest winner Fiorella.  Enjoy!

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Kind Yoga Apparel and Accessories

By Fiorella

If you’ve never tried yoga I highly recommend giving it a try. You will feel amazing after the class.  Having eco-chic activewear can be a great motivator and here I give you some ideas:

1.  Adidas by Stella McCartney Tote Bag - Brighten up with this red tote bag made from recycled polyester 40. 

2. Renuyoga Scoop Neck Tank Top - This tank top at is made of an organic cotton and spandex blend. The wildflower design is simply beautiful 32.

3. Inner Waves Camisole – I like this camisole because it’s seamless and allows free movement 44.

4. Juice Beauty Hydrating Mist -This hydrating mist is perfect to carry in your bag for instant hydration. The white and red grape scent will boost up your mood and enhance your energy level 22.

5. Nathan Stainless Steel Flip Straw Bottle - Drinking small sips of water while exercising will reduce the soreness in your body and keep you hydrated. Nathan offers a wide variety of designs and colors but I liked this one because it helps spread the message of the ‘3Rs’: reduce reuse recycle 19.95.

6. Manduka Yoga Strap - Achieve the correct posture and take your yoga practice to the next level using this 8- foot organic cotton yoga strap 13.

8. Nicola and the Newfoundlander Yoga Pants - These yoga pants are great looking and so comfortable that can also be worn as lounge pants 28.

7. Renuyoga Pants – Organic cotton interlock pants…I love this pale pink color because it’s an alternative to plain white 55. 

9. Vegan Shorts – Show everybody you are proud to be a vegan with these unique shorts. You can also wear them over leggings to get a trendy look 19.95.

kind bride: planning an eco-friendly & veg wedding 

Thank you Fiorella! I love the look of the inner waves camisole and the yoga pants are so cute!

Kind Lifers what’s your favorite item on Fiorella’s list? Do you have any favorite yoga tops or yoga bottoms made with organic eco-friendly natural fibers? 

More kind goodies:
kind classics: natural hair styling products
going green on the red carpet
kind classics: my favorite toiletries
my thoughts on fur...