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September 11th 2008

Celeb Surf Dudes Go Barefoot For A Cause

Filed under: campaigns — michael @ 11:25 am

On September 6th, celebrities united to raise ocean awareness at the Surfrider Foundation Celebrity Expression Session at First Point, Surfrider Beach in Malibu as part of the 45th Anniversary of the Malibu Surfing Association Classic.

An event like no other, the Surfrider Foundation’s Celebrity Expression Session allowed celebrities to show off their surfing skills and moves in a free surf format. In addition, for every wave caught, Barefoot Wine donated $50/per wave to the Barefoot Wine Beach Rescue Project, a partnership between Barefoot Wine and the Surfrider Foundation to keep America’s beaches “barefoot friendly.” (Since 2007, Barefoot has done $250,000 to the organization!)

Celebrities who took part in the surf session included Chad Lowe, Richard Burgi, Flea, Sal Masekela, Peter DiStefano, Brandon Cruz, David Chokachi, and Jason Mraz. Over $4,000 was raised for the Surfrider Foundation.

“As surfers, we are always at the beach and in the water, so raising awareness on the conditions of our oceans and beaches is really important to us,” says actor David Chokachi. “This event is a great opportunity for us to do so and catch some waves with our friends.”

The MSA Classic is a two-day longboard competition honoring the association’s founding members. Started in 1962, the MSA Classic is the longest running longboard competition in Southern California.

July 30th 2008

Jason Mraz Set To Release An Eco-Friendly Coffee Table Book

Filed under: books — michael @ 2:36 pm

Jason Mraz has recently experienced a paradigm shift of sorts. Over the past couple months, we’ve seen the popular singer transition to a raw foods, vegan diet and reconsider his impact on the environment. Inspiration from artists like Jack Johnson, Adam Gardner, and organizations like the Surfrider Foundation have all been contributing factors. Now, on the announcement of details regarding his new Fall tour, we’ve also got word that Mraz is releasing an eco-friendly coffee table book filled with photos from his travels.

Called a thousand things, the book will contain 54 original photographs, including several self-portraits — taken with Jason’s old-school classic Polaroid Land Camera. All of the film he notes, might be “found at your local drug or general store.”

“None of the pictures in this collection have been altered or modified after they were ejected from the camera,” he writes in a thousand things. “Any streaks, scratches or double exposures are just some of the accidental beauty marks that lure me into this brand of instant photography.”

On the green side of things, Mraz had some very specific requirements. The book is to be printed on FSC & ISO certified woodfree paper. The cover stock is FSC certified as well, fully recyclable, and chlorine-free. All printing will be done with soy-based inks. Only environmentally harmless glues will be used in the binding process. All printing films, plates, and waste paper will be recycled.

Look for a thousant things to be released this coming October. For more on Mr. A to Z’s upcoming tour, jump here.

One more thing — check out Jason’s iChat with Perez Hilton in which he talks about his shift to raw foods and why he’s doing it.

June 18th 2008

Jason Mraz On Reverb, Polluted Beaches, And Jack Johnson’s Solar Studio

Filed under: interviews, music — michael @ 11:39 am

I missed a brilliant interview Grist had with Jason Mraz last month — but in retro, it’s kind of cool to approach it after reading the musician’s recent dive into the vegan and raw foods scene. This is truly someone who is in transition from knowing nothing about sustainability at all, to embracing, learning, and championing its cause. Here are some highlights: 

On polluted beaches and becoming inspired to help:

I started spending every morning at my local beach. And on days when it rains, we usually have to spend anywhere from a day to three days — four days on a hard rain — outside of the water because the coastline is so fucked up. [The coastlines are] just so polluted that you’ll get sick. And it made me realize, we are some dirty people. Humans are becoming a bacteria over the surface, and I want to do what we can to clean this up. So I joined the Surfrider Foundation and wanted to give my attention, give my time, give my money to an organization that’s protecting our coastline.  

On those he respects working to reduce the impact of music on the environment: 

Certainly Guster for what they were doing — Adam [Gardner, Guster guitarist/singer], for starting Reverb with his wife. For someone who spends a lot of time on the road and realizes, “Hey, we can do this — it’d be easy to do this.” Definitely can respect that. 

I love the idea of what Jack Johnson did with his studio, running it off of solar energy and wind energy and building a studio right in the middle of L.A. out of all-recycled materials: recycled wood and the walls are stuffed with used pairs of blue jeans as sound baffling. Saving money and using old parts to put that together, I can most certainly respect that.

For the full interview, jump here. Also — be sure to check out the 100% bamboo t-shirt company that Mraz started with two friends called Blend Apparel. 

June 4th 2008

Jason Mraz Raves About His Raw Foods Diet, Rocks The Speedo

Filed under: food & drink — michael @ 2:30 pm

Mr. A to Z, otherwise known as singer Jason Mraz, just posted some pics and a healthy dose of raw foods praise on his MySpace page. Citing the need for an extreme amount of energy while on tour, the 30-year-old delves into the whys and hows of his diet — all the while posting pics, including one of him in a speedo holding a knife, and looking like Hugh Grant in the morning. Here’s what J had to say: 

On his healthy green machine: “I also bring along a Vita-Mix blender, a powerhouse of a tool. I start each day with a crazy ass Superfood Smoothie that most people refer to as, the Green Sludge.”

On what’s in his fridge: “Super Greens, Hemp Protein, Goji Juice, Coconut Water, Flax Seed Oil, My own homemade cashew milk, Raw Cacao, Bee pollen, sometimes a banana, a little crushed ice, toad knuckles, agave nectar, Stevia, and/or Natural Vaginal Juices to sweeten to your liking. All this stuff is checked at the airport in what I like to call my “Movable Feast,” a handy box that puts the kit in kitchen. I update the staples when I need to, about every two weeks. But the salad fixins are refreshed daily.”

On eating healthy: “If it seems costly it’s not. I think about the cost my body pays for eating processed food and immediately I’m happy about the investment of time finding these natural alternatives. ALTERNATIVES? How did we let nature’s supply take a back seat and become so hard to reach? You are what you eat. And since April 1st, this has been an experiment worthy of the effort. My trusty sidekick, Toca Rivera, has also been eating this way, relying only on raw and natural foods. We started this diet when Toca discovered he was Diabetic. But now, thanks to eating REAL food, his numbers are closer to normal and soon his blood tests will not reveal any sign of Diabetes.”

On maintaining the super-green diet: “I will likely keep this up for a long time. I don’t crave any other foods anymore. Anything processed just doesn’t seem real. I may as well eat cardboard if it has the same nutritional value. And I’ll keep getting creative with food. That’s the best part. I’m starting to see myself in the meals I make. And I have no trouble spending hours in the grocery store reading the labels and talking with other customers. Plus, hot girls fresh from yoga hang out in natural food stores. And I suspect they’re horny. More and more people are getting excited about health and we’re all tired of being offered cheap replicas of food. We want change and we believe we CAN have it.”

via JustJared