al pönx

not punk

Soooooo.....
Beer:

Miller Brewing Co. has been owned by Altria Group (Philip Morris) since June 12th, 1969. They were bought in 2002 by SAB (South African Breweries // post-purchase known as SABMiller), but Altria group still "Retains a 28.7% ownership interest" in Miller Brewing Co. SABMiller also owns 58% of MolsonCoors Brewing. On top of their beer record, they're also one of the world's largest coca-cola bottlers.

Avoid These:
Miller:
Miller Genuine Draft
Miller Genuine Draft Light
Miller High Life
Miller High Life Light
Miller Light, Milwaukee's Best
Milwaukee's Best Light
Milwaukee's Best Ice
Miller Chill
Icehouse
Sparks
Sparks Light
Steel Reserve.
Hamm's Beer
Hamm's Golden Draft
Hamm's Special Light
Red Dog
Southpaw Light

MolsonCoors Breweries:
Coors, "The Banquet Beer"
Coors Light
Blue Moon
Killian's Irish Red
Keystone (limited markets)
Keystone Premium (limited markets)
Keystone Light
Keystone Ice
Carling
Carling C2
Carling Premier
Caffreys
Worthington's
Sol (UK)
Grolsch (UK)
Grolsch Weizen (UK)
Grolsch Blond (UK)
Magners Draught
Stones
Zatec
Kasteel Cru
Worthington's White Shield
Dos Equis (UK)
Molson Canadian
Molson Export
Molson Golden
Molson Ice
Molson Dry
Rickard's
Creemore Springs

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What does this really mean? I know most of us already won't buy coca-cola for human-rights violations (including, of course, the hired murder of labor leaders in Colombia). I know a lot of my friends are vegan too. We "vote with our dollar," even if our dollar isn't that much. It seems like a lot of us are slowing down and buying in lately. I've heard the word faggot used casually as much as I did in high school. About a year and a half ago almost all of my friends started smoking. At first it was American Spirits and rolleys - purportedly the "conscious" choice. - and now it's camels, etc. This whole trend is a slippery slope - I've seen many quit being vegan too.

Of course this choice rests on everyone. I'm just bummed that my friends are "norming out" - some of which inspired me to become vegan, or told me about how fucked up coke or mcdonalds or ________ was. If any of these things ever really meant anything to you - please think about who you are giving your money to - and for what.

For those of us who drink alcohol (myself included) there are things to be considered.

Anheuser-Busch InBev Corporation has a shorter list of problems. On the surface, they do own and operate the Busch Gardens and Discovery Cove parks, that make money with their "entertainment zoos," exploiting captive animals. I'm not able to find too much else aside from the usual big corporation stuff - as a sidenote, all AB Beers are vegan. So if this is acceptable to you, A/B beers may be for you when you're getting some beers at the bodega. PBR may also be acceptable, as their own brand, but they are partially outsource-brewed by SABMiller.

Microbreweries are also a good choice, but make sure to check which are vegan - barnivore.com is a good way to look them up. As is googling "(beer name) vegan". As a quick reference - all german beers are vegan by default following the German Purity Law of 1516 that essentially limited what a German-Produced beer could be made from (water, barley, hops, yeast). Also, strangely enough, Guiness Extra-Stout is vegan. Other vegan beers I like:

Weyerbacher Brewing Company: Merry Monks (9.3% abv , Trippel), Blithering Idiot (11.1% abv, English Barleywine)
North Coast Brewing Company: Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout (9% abv - Russian Imperial Stout and my favorite beer), Scrimshaw Pilsener (4.4% abv, German-style Pilsener)
Dogfish Head Brewery: 90-Minute IPA (9% abv, Imperial IPA), Chicory Stout (5.2% abv, American Stout)
Rogue Ales: Mocha Porter (5.2% abv, American Porter), Dead Guy Ale (6.5% abv, Helles Bock)
Orlando Brewing: Blackwater Dry Porter (?% abv, American Porter), Eagle Stout (5.8% abv, American Stout), Miami Weiss (?% abv, Hefeweizen), Pale Ale (?% abv, American Pale Ale)

Obviously there are a ton more out there, and obviously these are more expensive than your usual 18-rack of High Life, but you've got to consider what that cost means. It's more expensive to eat at Ethos than it is to eat at McDonald's, and maybe you'll eat out less or drink less as a result, but there's a reason behind it.
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(incomplete list of brands, there are hundreds) Coca-Cola:
Coca-Cola
Fanta
Dasani
Minute Maid
Nestle (subsidiary - Zephyr Hills water)
Sprite
Seagrams
Barq's Root Beer
Odwalla
Glaceau (Vitamin Water, Smart Water)

Here are the Philip Morris Brands, in case we've forgotten:
Cigarettes:
Alpine
Basic
Best
Bristol
Bucks
Cambridge
Chesterfield (Yes, they've got you by the balls, Jawbreaker fans)
Classic
Collector's Choice
Commander
Drina
Elita
English Ovals
F6
Lark
Long Beach
L&M
Marlboro
Merit
Morava
Next
Parliament
Philip Morris
Players
Saratoga
Sparta
Start
Sampoerna (a brand of Indonesian kreteks)
Virginia Slims

Wine:
Chateau Ste Michelle
Columbia Crest
Stags Leap Wine Cellars
Conn Creek
Red Diamond
Snoqualmie
Spring Valley
Villa Mt Eden
Erath
Col Solare
Northstar
Villa Antinori
Tormaresca
Tiganello
Antica Napa Valley
Solaia
Santa Cristina
Haras di Pirque
Hawk Crest
Fourteen Hands
Champagne Nicolas Feuillatte
Palmes d'Or
Domaine Ste Michelle

R.J. Reynolds Tobacco (the other industry giant) doesn't have much better of a track record. From the National Farm Worker Ministry - "R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company is the second-largest tobacco company in the United States, manufacturing about one of every three cigarettes sold in the country. In 2006 Reynolds American Inc. had sales in excess of $8.5 billion worldwide. While big tobacco makes billions, tobacco farmworkers live in poverty, face racism and harassment, nicotine poisoning, lethal pesticides, staggering deft, and have hardly any labor and human rights protections." - They've come into the attention of several human rights and labor organizations for slave-like conditions in the fields, among the usual laundry list of questionable-at-best lobbying practices and "combative attitudes" (according to internal memos) to the spread of the knowledge of the adverse health effects of second-hand-smoke.

Products:
Camel
Kool
Winston
Salem
Doral
Eclipse
Export A
Pall Mall
Barclay
Belair
Capri
Carlton
GPC
Kamel
Lucky Strike
Misty
Monarch
More
Now
Tareyton
Vantage
Viceroy
American Spirits

Out there still are Skydancers I guess (*until they're bought by someone) - American Spirits are owned by Santa Fe Tobacco, which is owned by Reynolds American - the parent company of R.J. Reynolds.

Snuck into w@rped tour 7 years too late

On friday, Jon Con, Elise and I snuck into the warped tour.

We rode into Barnett Park (immediately next to the fairgrounds) and straight into the tour bus entrance - on bikes. Jon Con said to "look bored and don't stop."

We walked in and locked up backstage, nobody really seemed to think it was weird that we were on bikes. Neat! After exploring there awhile, we went into the non-backstage area. We tried to schmooze the booze tent to give us free beer. no luck. On one occasion, jon con explained that we were traveling through and just wanted some beer, the lady almost gave in until she learned that neither of us had brought an id, afterwards, another woman from the beer tent came up to me an asked if i did food not bombs - yes, i replied, blowing our cover...

At another beer tent, the woman wasn't having any of our antics, so we were all "what about at the end of the night? the beer will be flat the next day" she still said she wouldn't give us free beer, so we said we'd be back at the end of the day for free beer.

After this we spanged a bunch of 14 year olds for their parents money to get beer - no luck, aside from the dollar elise got.

THEN we found $31 after Bad Religion played.

Then Elise and I walked back into the backstage area -looking bored as usual - nobody questioned or stopped us. we hung out near some tour buses, to "blend in," while waiting for jon con who stayed back to try to get stuff off the ground after the next band. He called us and was past us into the backstage (i don't know how he passed us). We met him in the pavillion, where a catered party was underway. After learning that beer and food were money I was hesitant about staying, but was convinced that we could "leave soon, but i'm going to try something" by jon con.

We were near the bikes and jon con reappeared with a handful of beers. Apparently just walking past the counter at the beer stand, taking a handful of beers and just walking back out works like a charm - after we'd each had about 3-4 beers we went towards the tour buses again and wound up sitting at someone else's circle of camp chairs next to their bus (like we own the place - which, i guess we really did). Eventually a couple dudes came out of the bus and instead of confronting us, just sat down and were interested in just hanging out. Cool.

They asked what band we're in - to which we quickly answered "No Qualms" (truthfully the band jon con and I are in - but most definately not playing the warped tour). After the quick q and a I learned (from jon con doing the talking) that we are from boston, playing just 3 dates on the tour - during our separate tour - i had to go along with this, but it was easy. Afterwards, i learned that we had told them we played on 3 different stages - a minor factual discrepancy, that the band ("forever the sickest kids") didn't seem to notice.

After elise got a tour of the bus, and some more shit-shooting, jon con and I went up to deebo some more beer. I watched him from a distance and wound up giggling at how literally nobody looked at him while he was doing that. It was absurd. Leaving the pavillion, however, we heard a "hey you! stop!" and I kept walking. A beat or two later i looked back casually (to skirt any assumption that I was responding to "you") - to see that jon con had stopped - i guess it made him look like he didn't have anything to hide - myself, not being "that guy" walked back. The woman asked if jon con had payed for the beers, and without blinking he said that "the guy in that other band got me for it" (or something like that) - which the woman seemed to buy. Just then the bartender caught up to the scene and "couldn't remember" if that was true - haha.

"are you in a band?!" she asked, nearly out of breath and red in the face.

"uhh, YEAH" we countered.

"well, where are your laminates?" she asked.

Patting myself near the waist - trying to look like i'd forgotten something - I replied "shit - i left them on my other shorts - i changed after we played - they're in the bus" - and jon con agreed.

She radioed some other guy about seeing if "no qualms" were on the warped tour - we interrupted the response smoothly, offering to go get our laminates if that would make it easier - to which she AGREED.

We went back (conveniently) towards the tour buses - (looking like we were going to ours) - to get elise - I announced to the band and her that my cousin was in town and we'd be meeting him downtown to see the city - she got up quick and as we walked back to the bikes I explained to her what had happened. We unlocked the bikes and BOUNCED.

I can't believe any of it worked.

We each saved $40 on admission - roughly $10 bucks on beer - and gained $10 each from ground findings. Even if none of this was true we got away with so much it'd be worth it alone.

BEST DUDE IN ORLANDO AWARD

(photo by anthony positano)

TAKE MY ROOM - PLEASE!

I'm leaving to travel mid-august and want someone to move into my room. It's at Hella Haphy (1201 N. Bumby) - $266/mo + utilities/internet (usually below $300 in total). The room is mid-sized and has a big window, hardwood floor, ceiling fan and a closet. You'd be living with Bryon Botsford and Jonathan Taylor so you'd better be their friends. The house is on a big, weird shaped lot, there's a fenced in backyard, huge "carporch" (carport converted to outdoor livingroom) - two storage rooms outside. Nice average kitchen.

If you or yr friends want my room, get at me!
you could have it as early as august 1st and i don't care about getting it back when i'm back in orlando. I'm even willing to pay yr august rent (you start paying sep 1st)
ryaN!