Date Your Favorite Celeb & Donate To A Good Cause

I thought this was a particularly cool email that came through my inbox today and that many of you out there might be interested in hanging out with Jewel, Joan Jett or Kelly Clarkson.

Right now, you can help Farm Sanctuary help farm animals and also get a wonderful gift for yourself or your friend who's obsessed with Bill Mahr...we all have that friend, don't we?

From now until March 31, check out their auction for unique celebrity experiences, rare memorabilia, and special services and merchandise to raise funds for Farm Sanctuary.

Auction items include everything from yoga classes and life coaching packages to once-in-a-lifetime celebrity one-on-ones. Here's just some of what there is to bid on:

* Cruelty-free shopping spree with AlternativeOutfitters.com
* Framed photo from “America’s Next Top Model” judge Nigel Barker
* Meet Kelly Clarkson after seeing her show
* Meet and greet with “L Word” star Daniela Sea
* Home-cooked meal prepared for you by legendary vegan Chef Adam Sobel
* Hollywood Hills hike with Farm Sanctuary Co-Founder and President Gene Baur
* Framed giclée print from the famous “Opus” cartoonist Berkeley Breathed
* Tickets to "Real Time with Bill Maher"
* Organic, vegan, eco lingerie set from Clare Bare
* Hair cut and coloring in NYC by stylist to the rock stars Wendy Kidd
* Day of wellness with vegan superstar Alex Jamison
* Gorgeous Matt and Nat vegan bags
* Brunch made for you in your home by Chef Josh Katcher (“The Discerning Brute”)
* Talk green living over lunch with star Amy Smart
* Have high tea with actor/author Mariel Hemmingway
* Tickets to the “Rachael Ray Show”
* Visit the set of the Disney hit "The Suite Life on Deck"
* Two tickets to meet Joan Jett after your choice of shows
* Have dinner with actress Ali MacGraw
* Meet Janeane Garofalo in Austin
* Have a private photo shoot with famed shutterbug Penny Dinn
* Learn the joys of raw food with raw expert Gabrielle Brick
* Gorgeous eco vegan shoe shopping spree online at Beyond Skin

Go on, bid now!

Jen Coolidge, Corey Feldman, Daniela Sea and On The Verge Support The Animals: Exclusive From Farm Sanctuary's Winter Wonderland

Approximately 10 billion farm animals are slaughtered in the U.S. every year. Farm Sanctuary is working to end cruel farming practices. This past Thursday, On The Verge had the honor of attending Farm Sanctuary's Winter Wonderland benefit to help raise money for Farm Sanctuary to continue their programs in public education and protecting farm animals.

The event was well attended by concerned animal-friendly people, community leaders and green celebrities including Jen Coolidge, Laurie Anderson, Lou Reed, Corey Feldman, Rory Freedman, Daniela Sea, Tatum O'Neal, Ally Sheedy and more.

We made a lot of new friends and will be bringing you exclusives with On The Verge including:

*Gene Baur - President of Farm Sanctuary and author of bestselling book Farm Sanctuary Changing Hearts and Minds About Animals and Food. Gene`s first fundraiser for Farm Sanctuary was selling vegan hot dogs out of a van at Grateful Dead concerts!

*Daniela Sea - Max Sweeney from The L Word, shares with us how she became vegan, her favorite meals and how she got involved with Farm Sanctuary.

*Maria Dahvana Headley - author of The Year of Yes who shared insights with us from her book about the year that she stopped considering and starting saying yes...to every man who asked her out; from the 70-year-old at the laundromat to countless construction workers!

*Chloe Jo Berman - she'll be a TV star soon showcasing greener ways to live well and fashionably on The Style Network and currently runs The Girly Girl Army (seriously check this out and sign up now for yummy recipes, compassionate living and great fashion finds for the green and glamourous)and is Farm Sanctuary's Celebrity Coordinator...talk about a cool job!

We also met the lovely and talented Elizabeth Olsen of olsen Haus, designing pure vegan amazingly fashionable and apparently also comfortable high end shoes. (I was complaining that my feet were hurting but everyone in olsen Haus shoes seemed totally fine on their feet!) Stay tuned for a special sit down with Elizabeth and a viewing of her gorgeous line.



Jordana with Elizabeth Olsen


*By Jordana who is currently vacationing in Argentina and still a vegan...more on that to come as well!

Celebrate Compassion with Farm Sanctuary and On The Verge

If you're in NYC it's not too late to get your ticket to Farm Sanctuary's Winter Wonderland. Join us along with special guests Laurie Anderson, Alison Becker, Jennifer Coolidge, Corey Feldman, Peter Max, Patrick McDonnell, Tatum O'Neal, Maulik Pancholy, Daniela Sea, Ally Sheedy, Princess Superstar, Loretta Swit and Justin Theroux to celebrate compassion for all beings and give farm animals the gift of life.

Farm Sanctuary works to end cruelty to farm animals and promotes compassionate living through rescue, education and advocacy. They envision a world where the violence that animal agriculture inflicts upon people, animals and the environment has ended, and where instead all exercise values of compassion.

On The Verge will be on hand to film at Winter Wonderland with celebrity guests, Farm Sanctuary reps and other awesome vegans as part of our Start Something segment for the upcoming internet TV show. (More on the launch and some video previews soon, sit tight!) I'll also be auctioning off a 90 minute personal yoga session... are you not convinced yet that you should check it out? Head on over to Farm Sanctuary and donate.

Club sandwiches, not seals.

There are a few good things that come from Canada. They've got Hot Hot Heat, Alanis, maple syrup, and damn exciting hockey.

But our neighbors to the north also have some bad things, like Dave Coulier, ham that they try to pass as "bacon," and seal hunting. I'm not here to lecture on the first two, though I could--and so could Alanis, Uncle Joey. We're onto you.

In the past three years, nearly one million (that's 1,000,000--six zeroes) seals, most under three months old, have been killed for their fur.

This is a problem.

First off, fur is ugly. Second, it's not even the greatest insulation man has come up with, so there's not a single excuse to wear it.

Third: the seals aren't killed mercifully (the irony of which shouldn't be lost, gentle reader.) Even seals who are shot, not clubbed, don't die instantly--because many are shot from moving boats. For every bullet found, furs lose two dollars in value, so sealers are loath to shoot a single target more than once. As a result, most shot seals are merely wounded and left to agonize in their final moments.

Fourth, how could you possibly let something this cute suffer?



Go here to learn more, sign a petition, and find other ways to help the plight of these innocent animals.



*By Jess, who didn't come up with that title--she saw it on a t-shirt a while ago.

Save the orangutans because they are awesome.

Joelle and I have huge soft spots for animals, and let's face it, I don't have them for much else. I urge you to help the orangutans, because they are awesome, and because they're related to us. Actually, maybe not. I'm trying to figure out if the men I've dated are proof of the missing link or if they completely disprove natural selection. In any case, please copy and paste this (or use the one on the site--I tweaked mine a bit, obviously) and use it to harass your representatives. The site automatically inputs it for you once your address is entered, and they won't harass YOU in return. Sweet deal, right?


As a fan of fellow primates as well as an awesome human being, I strongly urge you to co-sponsor the Wyden-Alexander Amendment to the Federal Farm Bill.

This amendment would make it a crime in America to knowingly import, sell, buy or transport illegally-sourced wood and wood products. Would you sell a stolen car? No, because it's illegal. Same idea, right? In addition:

Illegal logging triggers a chain of events that results in further deforestation, large fires and carbon emissions. This reckless and unregulated logging often occurs in national parks and indigenous reserves, destroying large areas of intact habitat many critically endangered species need to survive. For example...

* Indonesia is undergoing some of the most rapid deforestation in the world, up to 88% of which is illegal. A recent U.N. report declared a state of emergency for the orangutan, predicting the species could go extinct within the next 20 years. Illegal logging has recently taken place in 37 of Indonesia's 41 national parks, some of the last strongholds of the endangered orangutan. These numbers? Not awesome.

* The Amazon Basin, home to a rich biodiversity which includes jaguars, ocelots and macaws, is under severe threat due to the illegal logging of mahogany. An estimated 80% of exported Peruvian mahogany is illegally sourced. This constitutes a grave threat for indigenous people, who often fall victim to novel diseases and violent confrontations with illegal loggers. ILLEGAL loggers: Not awesome.

* In the Congo Basin, the illegal timber trade is associated with the illegal trade in wild-caught meat, or bushmeat, including gorillas, chimpanzees and other protected species. In addition to the risk of extinction for wildlife, the bushmeat trade poses a serious disease risk to the local human population, as documented by recent outbreaks of the Ebola virus and other zoonotic diseases associated with the handling and consumption of bushmeat, which are not awesome.

* In the Russian Far East, approximately 50% of timber harvested is sourced illegally. This contributes to lasting corruption within state forest management and the timber industry in addition to endangering local wildlife. Illegal logging in the Russian Far East has been linked to the future risk of extinction for the Amur leopard and the Siberian tiger, and those risks are not awesome.

The insatiable demand for cheap wood products and luxury hardwoods in the United States, Europe and Japan is driving illegal logging operations worldwide. Yet America has no law against importing illegally harvested wood into the U.S. That is not awesome!

The Wyden-Alexander Amendment to the Federal Farm Bill will give enforcement agencies a powerful tool in the fight against illegal timber traffickers and increase the risks associated with illegal timber trade without creating more obstacles for legal trade, thus leveling the playing field for businesses that already do things the right way. Score one for fair capitalism!

The diverse groups and people supporting this amendment include major industry representatives, labor and human rights proponents, environmental organizations, and Jessica Sager, who I hear is awesome.

It's time to let criminal timber barons know that America won't subsidize their destruction of vital wildlife habitat. I strongly urge you to support inclusion of the Wyden-Alexander Amendment in the Federal Farm Bill and take this vital step to protect habitat for the world's disappearing wildlife.

Thank you for considering my views on this issue, because they are awesome.

Truly,
Jessica Sager