Ah, the May long weekend. That magical time when we alternate periods of frenzied spring cleaning with periods swilling beer on a lawn chair.

And what a delightful coincidence that our collection for the Great Glebe Garage Sale should be happening at the very same time.

Just think, you’ll be surrounded by the casualties of your spring purge, while being just drunk enough to donate items that your sober, stingier self would try to sell on kijiji.

Now, before you go getting all mad at us for being manipulative, try to remember that all the proceeds from the event will go to Project Jessie (who keeps stray companion animals out of the hands of animal experimenters) and to the Ottawa Food Bank.

So I’m going to give you the drop off details in a second. But first my other asks:

1) We’re looking for bakers. 90% of the thousand dollars we made last time came from the bake sale. Because for some weird reason the same person who will squawk about paying $3 for a CD player will cheerfully shell out $5 for a brownie. I’m not criticizing – I’m the same way. But if any psychologists out there are reading this and can explain this phenomenon to me, I’m all ears.

2) We’re looking for volunteers to staff the table. You’ll have to put baked goods in bags. Maybe put some other things in bags. Maybe haggle a bit with the customers if you’re feeling feisty. Or you can secure your place in heaven by volunteering to set up the table/tent (at 6 am) or break down the table/tent (at 4 pm).

3) Come buy stuff! I’ll have my ubiquitous scones. Markey will certainly bring something delicious but so insanely complicated that it takes her all night to make and causes her to arrive at the event overtired with crazy eyes and hair. And if you’ve never experienced the little slice of madness that is the Great Glebe Garage Sale, I promise you won’t regret making the trek.

Ok, so now back to the garage sale donations: You can drop stuff off this Saturday, May 18th, from 2-6pm at 236 Bayswater Avenue. Email me (at ncva.events@gmail.com) if you need to bring it by another time.

Don't miss the insanity that is the Great Glebe Garage Sale - Photo by Mike Gifford

If you have something big, like furniture or something that won’t fit in a Hyundai Accent, please bring it right to the Garage Sale – that will be on Saturday May 25th in the Glebe. We’ll be set up on Percy Street between Glebe and First Avenue. Do yourself a favour and come early – if your car is in the Glebe at 8 am on Garage Sale Day, you ain’t getting out ’til 4. it gets that packed.

So: prospective bakers, donors, & volunteers, email me at ncva.events@gmail.com or Markey at markeyisapunk@yahoo.com. And check out the facebook event, too!

And remember, spring cleaning and beer this weekend! Animals’ lives may depend on it!

Remember those cartoons where a character’s conscience would appear as a devil on one shoulder and an angel on the other?

Ever had your vegan conscience tested like that?

Where the angel says, “Eat kale, run a marathon, sprout something! It will make you a good person and a role model for veganism and not a drain on the public health system.”

And you pretend to listen while the devil surreptitiously feeds you cinnamon buns with extra icing?

No? Just me?

Well, get ready, because the smackdown between the angel and devil vegan in all of us will be happening this weekend.

By some bizarre coincidence, Plant Power 2013 and the Worldwide Vegan Bake Sale are both scheduled for Saturday, April 20th.

So which will it be folks? Plant Power with Dr. Greger’s sensible health advice and Rich Roll’s buns of steel? Or the Worldwide Vegan Bake Sale with its cheerful disregard for all sensible health advice and some big fat buns of cinnamon?

Actually, Plant Power sold out a while ago. So you might as well just suck it up (your gut, that is) and go to the bake sale. And if you’re feeling guilty, don’t. Proceeds from the sale go to the Rideau Valley Wildlife Sanctuary and the Otesha Project (which I’d never heard of before but has something to do with bikes and theatre and eco-friendly youth – awesome!).

See? A good deed even your little vegan devil will love. Oh, and if you want to guarantee your spot in vegan heaven, I think the bake sale organizers are still looking for bakers

Good morning pancake lovers!

Just wanted to remind everyone of this Saturday’s vegan pancake/waffle breakfast and to provide some logistical details.

The what, where and when are already posted here.

Some other important stuff:

1) The event runs from 9:30 am to 1:00 pm. We’ll be cooking the whole time so don’t all feel compelled to show up right at 9:30. 9:30, 10:00, 10:30, 11:00…basically whenever you drag your sorry self out of bed is good by us.

Here is the front entrance.

2) Parking: It’s in a residential area, so there’s a goodly amount of street parking. Worst case scenario is you’ll have to walk a few blocks. And really, given you’re about to eat about a pound of starch, that may not be a bad thing. And hey, see that wee blue thing in the picture – a bike rack! From what I understand, this is a very hippie building (in a good way), so I’m sure there are lots more of those around. Here’s a map.

3) Plates, utensils, cups, mugs. We’ll have disposable stuff. But won’t you be setting an excellent example for the youngsters if you bring your own re-usable stuff?

4) We’re also going to have samples of  Nelakee vegan bacon and Yves’ vegan sausage links. Unfortunately, there will be a one-piece per person limit on these  because they’re damn expensive. We’re mostly just bringing them so neophyte veggies can try them out; and because we want the hipsters to come and apparently they don’t go anywhere there’s not bacon. We’ll cook batches throughout the day so latecomers can try ‘em too.

5) We’ll have a donation jar for Fauna there, in case you want to make a bigger donation. Which you will if you are a good person and not going to hell.

6) Don’t forget we’ll be collecting garage-sale donations for the Great Glebe Garage sale (proceeds to Project Jessie)

7) Fabric: What? Yes, fabric. Turns out there’s a fabric sale going on in the area and the organizers asked us to let our breakfasters know. Just in case they need some fabric to make, say, some larger pants. Check out the ad below.