Posting may be a little bit erratic today, as I’m trying to type up about 3 billion pages of notes from the South by Southwest Interactive Media Conference I attended last week. More on that later, but in the meantime, you may want to check out this awesome interview with PETA’s irreverent VP Dan Mathews, who’s about to embark on a nationwide tour in support of the paperback release of his book, Committed. Check the calendar on his myspace page if you want to catch one of his upcoming booksignings.

Deflocked, baby. Deflocked.

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… Well, a number of dates. Dan Mathews' last cross-country book tour was such a big hit that he’s doing a whole new one. Sometimes I wonder whether the guy doesn’t enjoy sitting around the office and going to endless meetings as much as the rest of us do. There was a nice little piece about Dan in The Windy City Times last week, and another great one in the latest issue of Ocean Drive magazine, which, annoyingly, I can’t link to because they didn’t put it up on their website. I’m not sure I fully understand how people “read” stuff these days if it’s not on the Internet, but they presumably have some kind of system.

Anyway, here’s the schedule for Dan’s book tour in case you live in one of these cities, and even if you don’t, you can order a copy of Committed here. It’s a very funny piece of literature. And it’s got some good stuff in there about animals.

The Canadian group Global Action Network, in collaboration with Farm Sanctuary, just released an undercover investigation of Canada’s largest foie gras farm, Elevages Perigord. It contains some of the most horrible cruelty I have ever witnessed, and it is almost impossible to get through it without ruining your day. Which is why it should be mandatory viewing for anyone who’s ignorant enough to eat this stuff. There’s some more information on foie gras and the steps PETA is taking to get it banned here.

If you want to see firsthand what happens on foie gras farms—or if you’re a foie gras lover who urgently needs some education about the horrors that you’re supporting—I’ve posted the video below.

As if I needed another reminder of how disgusting meat is, my pal Joel Bartlett sent me this. It’s called the Stinky Meat Project and basically, this guy puts some raw meat on a plate, puts it out in the sun for a couple of weeks and records the results with a daily photo. Think it sounds disgusting? Well, wait until you see what happens, or more accurately, what doesn’t happen to hot dogs after sitting out in the sun for 18 days.

Joel was so inspired that he is trying to implement a vegan version of this idea, which he is calling the Stinky Feet Project. Joel is looking for someone willing to wear the same pair of socks every day for a month and he will record the results daily with a photo. If you’re interested in participating, you can reach Joel here. I wish I could tell you I was joking . . .

Marketing Manager Joel Bartlett

MediaVillage/Creative Commons

Any other Big Love fans in the house? I just started watching the show a couple of months ago and now I’m totally addicted. Who knew that a run of the mill everyday suburban family—of polygamists—could be so darn interesting? It definitely helps that my future wife Chloe Sevigny (dare to dream . . . ) is one of the wives on the show, but still. OK, I admit it. I’m a little bit obsessed. But believe it or not, that’s not the point of this post.

A couple of weeks ago my already big love for Big Love became even bigger when an episode featured the oldest son of the family, Ben, being pressured by a friend to go vegetarian. Then last week, there was this whole bit about cruelty to chickens and how they’re abused on factory farms. It was great to see animal rights issues inserted into the plot line of a show on national TV. Especially a show starring Chloe Sevigny.

A huge deal? Maybe not. But it’s small things like this that bring a smile to this lowly blogger’s face. Thanks Big Love . . .

The Burberry campaigners at both PETA and PETA Europe have been extra busy lately. It seems like every day I have photos of some new demonstrations they’re rocking in my inbox.

Check out this shot from a “Burberry: When Plaid Goes Bad” demonstration on the boardwalk in Atlantic City. And here’s a great news story from the demo as well.

Not to be outdone, PETA Europe activists dressed up as bunnies and took to the streets for this beautiful demonstration at Burberry’s annual meeting in London yesterday.

Props to everyone involved in both demos. Great job. And fyi, if you’re interested in being contacted when there are events like these taking place near you, you can sign up for PETA’s activist network here.

Last night, PETA's Lisa Lange made an appearance on The O'Reilly Factor to talk about the "racy" alternative to Pamplona's hideous Running of the Bulls. The story brought tons of new people to the Running of the Nudes website last night to see what all the fuss was about, just in time to see all the amazing new pictures that’ve been put up there.

You can click the image above to check out the updated site, and if you let me know what you think of the new pics, or of the Running of the Nudes concept in general, I'll pick one commenter to win one of the highly coveted Running of the Nudes novelty pens, starring a naked (depending on which way up you hold the pen) Annamarie Lytle.

Just as an FYI, while all comments are welcome, if you leave a rant about Running of the Nudes being a shameful display of skin that's corrupting our nation's youth, I will assume that means you don't want a nudie pen.

P.S. I just got word from those laugh-a-minute party animals up in our Legal Department that if you want to be entered to win the pen it means you’re down with our terms and conditions.

Finally! Yesterday afternoon, four months after similar legislation passed in New Mexico, Louisiana's governor, Kathleen Blanco, signed a bill that will make hers the final American state to ban cockfighting, effective next August. Just to hammer this one home, that means that cockfighting will be outlawed throughout the United States by next year. Yes, there are a couple of nagging questions, like "Why do we have to wait until next August?" and "Why the hell was cockfighting ever legal first place?" but this is really, really good news for roosters, and for everyone who has been working so hard to protect them from this horrible abuse.

mnwelldir/Creative Commons

Props in particular go to Rep. Harold Ritchie, D-Bogalusa, who worked on this bill for more than a year to push it past the numerous people who stand to lose money if cockfighting is outlawed. And congratulations, of course, are due to all the activists who have given their precious time over the years to make this a reality. Go team!

As you probably know, we’ve been in touch with Al Gore and the Live Earth folks about the whole meat production/global warming/environmental destruction connection. Well, I just found out that the video at this link was shown at the NYC Live Earth event last weekend, so it looks like they got the message. Pretty cool if you ask me.

And fyi, you still have time to enter our contest to win a $50 iTunes gift card by checking out the button below.