The Discerning Brute: fashion, food & etiquette for the ethically handsome man » partybots

Fresh Friday Finds

TheDiscerningBrute — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 05:09:27 +0000

1. If you thought they couldn't possibly be any more disgusting, the parting Bush Administration has denied dwindling, drowning and starving Polar Bears protection under the Endangered Species Act. Human generated global-warming, mostly caused by meat & dairy production, is the #1 culprit. Read the full article here.

“This rule makes a mockery of the Endangered Species Act, our nation’s most important wildlife protection law,” said Defenders of Wildlife executive vice president, Jamie Rappaport Clark. “The polar bear doesn’t have time for political maneuvers. Its habitat is melting away, its food is becoming scarce and the science is clear that the cause is global warming - yet the rule this administration released today affirms that little will be done to save the species from sure extinction.

2. If you wear glasses or sunglasses, and you don't know about Fabulous Fanny's, you are missing out! Get the most amazing selection of thrift & vintage frames and shades. Buying thrift is the greenest way to shop! It's one of the East Village's best kept secrets, and one of my personal favs. 3. Farm Sanctuary strikes again! With an awesome party, of course! With Miss Guy on the turn table, more amazing vegan food than your eyes and tummy can handle, and the most inspiring crowd of activists and celebs from Danilea Sea and Alison Becker to Jennifer Coolidge, Corey Feldman & Inder Bedhi of Matt&Nat - this Winter Wonderland fundraiser was not to be missed - but if you did miss it, make sure to make it to next one! Farmsanctuary.org 4. Our friend Karl at PARTYBOTS has designed some awesome, 100% post-consumer recycled, originally designed notebooks! These are sweet and under $6 each! Cheap gifts for everyone this holiday! 5. This holiday, you may be feeling philanthropic. However, be very aware of organizations like Heifer International - whose promises of alleviating malnutrition and poverty through providing animals, actually has disasterous results. Like the little fact that over 90% of the Africans who are given dairy cows are lactose intolerant. Our friends at WFAS school us on this, and tell us how we can really help: "While this might sound good on paper, the water and land needs of livestock in areas that are often short on both quickly outweigh the benefits -- instead it increases human dependence on an unsustainable food-system that depletes the environment and does not fulfill all of a community’s real nutritional or long-term survival needs" Read the full article. 6. Organic Cotton from Alternative Apparel is so much better than conventional cotton from the notoriously homophobic Urban Outfitters. 7. December 20th is National "Adopt, Don't Shop" day. The Saturday before Christmas is the biggest puppy-buying day of the year. This year, In Defense of Animals is teaming up with activists in dozens of cities around the country to educate the public about the horrors of pet factories (puppy mills) and encourage people to adopt a homeless animal from a shelter or rescue group instead of buying one from a pet store. Enzo and I say you should adopt! 8. In case you missed it on Ecorazzi, Chloé Jo Berman, and yours truly were interviewed about ethical fashion. Read the interview! 9. Elephants should not be in zoos. For example, the Los Angeles zoo has killed 13 elephants. Help close down this horrible slave-trade, and save Billy from the same fate that his previous 13 fellow elephants experienced. These intelligent, emotionally complex and gorgeous beings belong in their native habitat, not in captivity. You can view video of Billy and the Los Angeles Zoo here. You can donate to IDA's campaign to Free Billy here. 10. The sleek Pool Collection from Matt&Nat has arrived! Get it while it's hot, then take a dip in the pool. 100% vegan, recycled lining, and cool as hell.

Totes Awesome!

TheDiscerningBrute — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 23:13:18 +0000

Check out these new organic cotton totes from Partybots! The size is 15x15 inches with a 25 inch dual strap. They are hand cut, printed to order and sewn in-house in Seattle, WA. As always, any of his artwork can be printed on these fancy but simple and extremely usable tote bags.

Babycakes & Secrets

TheDiscerningBrute — Wed, 14 May 2008 16:48:35 +0000

Is there anything better than eating the best vegan cupcakes and brownie/icing sandwiches on earth while sporting an eco/poly-blend Tshirt about cupcakes from Partybots? I think not. Reconstructed vest by This Old Thing?. Friend of DB, feature film director Esther Bell got in on the action too! These vegan sweets ring her bell! Check out:

Do It On Sunday

TheDiscerningBrute — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 21:16:43 +0000

There are a couple of things you should check out if you're in New York on Sunday April 27th! 1. Bust Magazine Craftacular!

At the last Bust Craftacular, I met my obsession, Amy Sedaris. The lovely ladies at BUST Mag are at it again, having a Craftacular at the Warsaw in Brooklyn tomorrow. Hop on the L - Train and make your way to Hipster-Disneyland; Williamsburg. This is the place to get handmade stuff from small-scale artisans and crafts(wo)men. In the past, I've gotten some pretty sick necklaces and some pretty hot dates. DATE: Sunday, April 27 from 11 am to 9 pm LOCATION: The Warsaw Williamsburg, Brooklyn, 261 Driggs Avenue. 2. Go Green Expo Our friend Karl Addison of Partybots will have a table, along with other green vendors, at the Go Green Expo. "Go Green Expo will change not only the public's perception of environmentalism but also how events like this are produced and managed. Inviting companies large and small to showcase what they are doing to reduce their respective carbon footprint, consumers will have hands on experiences with "eco-friendly" alternatives to current everyday products and services.Even the event itself is environmentally friendly utilizing STETSON Convention Services ZERO Carbon footprint approach to event production. Biodegradable table coverings, recycled signs, compostable sponsor banners and more. Event waste will be separated and sorted to ensure the least amount of refuse going to the landfills." Time: 10am-6pm. Location: The Hilton New York, 1335 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York, United States 10019 - Contact: 212.586.7000. PURCHASE YOUR TICKETS IN ADVANCE! (Click HERE to purchase tickets) Adults - $10 one-day pass; $15 two-day pass Children under the age of 12 - Free Senior citizens (65+) - Free

Fresh Friday Finds

TheDiscerningBrute — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 17:00:25 +0000

1. **Exclusive Discerning Brute discount at Partybots.org.** Organic graphic Tshirts by Karl Addison! Clothing Art! The coupon code is "brute". All you have to do is put that in the "Enter Redeem Code" field on the "Payment Information" page before you check out, and you get $10 off your order. Sweeeet! 2. Smells Like 1966. When asked to sum up his work in three words, CB said "Scent is Life". I Hate Perfume is a Brooklyn-based, alcohol-free, cruelty-free line of sensual delicacies. I use "Burning Leaves" because it makes me feel like I'm camping in the autumn. 3.Green Drinks. Smooze with other like-minded green and eco professionals. Tuesday April 8 - At EYEBEAM

4. Got skillz in the kitchen? Are you single and in Brooklyn - but know that if you could just get a date to your apartment, you'd win over anyone with your culinary mastery? Thanks for the tip from our Girlie Girl Army friend, Chloe Jo, you can apply to be on a dating show where you show off your vegan cooking prowess. Click HERE to apply

5. Talk about the end of the world! If you sit around philosophizing and conceptualizing the end of civilization, this event is for you! April 16th at 6pm at the Vault, Click HERE to sign up.

6.Discerning Depot: If you live in the NYC area, check out Build It Green, which is the punk-rock, dumpster-diving, freegan cousin of Home Depot. Build It Green! NYC, is New York City's only non-profit retail outlet for salvaged and surplus building materials. Their warehouse has everything from panel doors to high end refrigerators and shutters to movie props. Their mission is to keep these materials out of the landfill, while offering deep discounts on their resale.

7. Trashion: Cufflinks by Wabisabi Brooklyn. The team uses vintage elements, recycled papers, and humble metals such as copper to create their designs. "We want our pieces to embody the meaning behind the name of our company," says LoVerme. "Wabi-sabi is a Japanese aesthetic concept that means finding beauty in imperfection. (from Trashion)

8. Tie Again: Narwhal Co. is pretty amazing. They make dope, recycled tie accessories, and they even do CUSTOM ORDERS. Wow... I'm thinking about a paisley loin-cloth.

9. LIME teaches us how to recycle everything - from fleece to tools to paint. Get on top of your spring cleaning without dumping all your crap in a landfill. Click HERE for the simple guide.

10. Get in shape: Check out Vegan Bodybuilding.com, so your testosterone-induced, machismo-pursuing, bad-ass, tough-as-nails attitude can be used for the powers of good.

Vegan Bodybuilder Kristopher "Topher" Flannery

Soft Spot: 'White Gold' & Partybots

TheDiscerningBrute — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 00:14:08 +0000

1. PARTYBOTS

Who doesn't want awesome, organic tee-shirts with illustrations of dorks, animals, robots and skulls? I know I do... Karl Addison, designer and artist, started Partybots "out of a love of clothing and art that would break the norm", and that he did. In 2003, Karl gave two friends tee-shirts with Robots on them. Obviously, this was magical, and the rest is history. His humor and warmth penetrate even the website. Check it out!

"The colors, placement, effects and more continually evolve, the end result being work that’s always one-of-a-kind—even when it’s reproduced. All of my printing, painting and production is done in-house by me. This allows me to use a variety of media—clothing, bags, books, posters, textiles—and easily create custom work." - Karl Addison

He uses soy inks, water-based glues, organic and eco-blend apparel, and low-impact color-dyeing. Who needs Urban Outfitters (with their right-wing President) when we have people like Karl Addison making original clothing-art? Karl is certainly a Discerning Brute. Thumbs up. 2.WHITE GOLD "One of the most staggering disasters of the twentieth century" - UN official statement about the conventional cotton industry. I've had a lot of people ask me recently, "whats wrong with cotton? It's a plant!". When I think of cotton, I imagine tucking my knees up under a soft tee-shirt, white cotton-candy-puffs growing in a field, and those incredibly melodramatic "cotton, the fabric of our lives" commercials. Whose lives are they referring to? Ours? When we look more closely, we'll see that the fabric of many peoples' lives is falling apart due to that fibrous, little cloud-like plant.

Gentlemen, the switch to organic cotton we see happening in so many clothing lines is not just a hip trend or buzz-word to sell products. I do not believe it is a passing fad either. 'Organics' is here to stay - and for good reason. Organic, fair-trade cotton has some real legitimacy when the social and ecological devastation caused by conventional cotton industry is considered. Toxic dust from pesticides and thirsty plants are destroying aquatic ecosystems and causing TB and cancer-rates to skyrocket in Uzbekistan. The social injustices have even led to murdered cotton laborers, who were shot by state security in 2005 while protesting their treatment. Educate yourselves (it's sexy). Did you know:

Uzbekistan is the second-largest exporter of cotton in the world

It takes about 530 gallons of water to produce 1 tee-shirt

The Aral Sea, once the world's fourth largest inland lake, providing the region with fish and water, has shrunk to 15% of its original size due to cotton production

Up to one third of Uzbekistan's workforce is made to labour on cotton farms; denied ownership of the land they work, and forced to labour without reasonable wages

In Uzbekistan, laborers are unable to opt out of cotton cultivation -- those who try are subject to violence, imprisonment and intimidation

Much of the cotton comes from child labor

Watch this video:

DB 's Etiquette Recommendation: Read labels and take responsibility for how you vote with your dollar. Refuse to buy cotton products coming from socially and environmentally destructive situations. Spread the word and support fair-trade and organic products.