Spring is in the air and its time to look your best! Slip into a fabulous dress, glam it up with some blingin jewelry and pin on a corsage; its Prom season! Oral Fix and O2 Max gym recently helped a group of teens look beautiful for their big day.This season, O2 Max gym, located in the Los Angeles area, focused on teens dealing with the obesity epidemic and created “Get ready for Prom workout challenge.” All teens participating were put on a strict exercise regimen and in the end; these beauty queens were primped and pampered with a day of makeup and hair tips, perfect for prom! To keep the members motivated and complete their looks, each glamourella was given a set of Oral Fix mints, for minty fresh breath to last ‘til dawn! With the help of O2 Max and Oral Fix, these girls were the Belle’s of the Ball!

Wow, has it been that long? I know, I missed you guys too. So what have we been up to? Tons. Believe me its a blur but I am certain we visited some amazing cities among them Long Beach, Chicago, Atlanta, and we have one more tradeshow to go before things settle down around the Chocolate Factory. After the Summer Fancy Food show coming up next weekend, the Oral Fixation Team starts its vacation schedule woohoo! Henry just returned from a week overseas and a relaxing stay in Greece. I am off to Rome in about 2 weeks and I always pack at least a few tins of Mojito and Fab Fruit so I have the best stories when I get back to the Chocolate Factory. Where are you and your Oral Fixation Mints heading to this summer? Send us your vacation photos and mint stories and we’ll be sure to feature our top picks in an upcoming blog, winners score some free mints! Write to us.

Speaking of stories, Henry and Eric went to a special screening of Rescue Dawn presented by GENART last night. The guys gave the film rave reviews but their after parties plans were dashed by the torrential downpour that hit the tri-state area No worries, Henry and I totally got our GENART fix last week at SHOPNYC. It was this amazingly overwhelming showcase of young fashion and accessory designers set to great music and yummy Insomnia cookies. Henry and I definitely got our shop on as we both left with our arms full of goodies. Who can say no to totally unique ties and summer dresses? The best part, the Mimosa Mints in the gift bags! Interested in becoming a member, go here you won’t regret it. GENART is your ticket in to all the latest in Film, Music, Art and Fashion.

Do I classify this as a rant? There is still so much to blog about! But, I guess now technically we are all caught up. Time sure did fly. Are you craving a bigger helping of Oral Fix News? Then you need to sign up for our BlackBook newsletters out each month, here. We have so much going you don’t want to miss a thing! Enoy the tradeshow candids below. We’ve been working hard, promise. Oh, and don’t forget to have fun in all the summer sunshine for this upcoming 4th of July holiday. I have a special post up my sleeve just for the occassion!

xoxo

Delpha

As promised I’m posting pictures from some of the fabulous events Oral Fixation Mints has gotten the opportunity to be a part of. Our best shot comes from Fashion Week L!VE where hosts Naomi Campbell (before her stint as a janitor) and Tyson Beckford took New York Fashion Week on tour around the country and ended the extravaganza in San Francisco with a blowout runway show and party. The VIPs (note: beautiful people in the front rows) received luxe gift bags with Oral Fixation Mints inside and from the morning after stories, we were a hit! A shout out is in order for Christine who held it down for OF Mints in San Fran and snapped these great photos. Thank you!

We also have some gorgeous photos from a Music & Commerce event here in New York City. Attendees to this intimate affair received Mojito and Mimosa Mints which created a real buzz. Not only were there delicious brandys to be sampled and enjoyed, Oral Fixation Mints were the talk of the event and that’s just the kind of buzz we like to get from a Mojito or a Mimosa wink wink. Stay tuned to the Daily Fix for more updates from the frontlines of the Oral Fixation party scene, we’ve got some truly jetset events coming up and trade show mania starts next week for the rest of the summer! Enjoy the pics

Happy Valentine’s Day everyone! Here at the Chocolate Factory, and pretty much the entire Northeast, the forecast is snow, snow, more snow and oh yeah- some freezing rain. But, being the plucky mint masters we so proudly are, it was going to take a lot more than the winter blues to dampen our Valentine’s Day (or stop blog Wednesdays for that matter)! Today after the requisite water cooler gossip on who got flowers, who’s taking their sweetheart to dinner where, and other juicy details we finally settled down and got to work. As we waited patiently by the phones carrying on with our daily duties it soon became clear, a SNOW DAY had been officially called and was in full effect. There really was no bigger hint than the snow plows crawling down Railroad Place, and we just had to celebrate!

Pictured in front of the Chocolate Factory are Eric, Delpha (me!), and Henry – our intern Cat took the pictures.

We hope all of you have had a safe and wonderful Valentine’s Day whether you’re one half of a “we”, swearing “its complicated”, or flying solo with your best friends. Enjoy the pics!

Valentine’s Day is right around the corner, and Oral Fix aficionados in the New York metro area better watch out for cupid’s arrow at the Human Rights Gala on February 10th! Why? Well, Oral Fixation’s Fabulous Fruit will be making a dazzling appearance at the event for starters, and what better way to celebrate the love-ly holiday than supporting everyone’s right to love and be loved? Among the speakers for the evening are: New York senator Hilary Clinton, director Ang Lee, actresses Rosie O’Donnell and Anne Hathaway, actors Alan Cummings and Nathan Lane, and designer Kenneth Cole just to name a few. We are proud to support such a noteworthy cause and the nation’s largest civil rights organization. Our delicious Fabulous Fruit mints (engraved with a heart) will be featured in the gift bags for the event. Plus, photos of the black tie gala which is being held at the über posh Waldorf-Astoria, will be posted on Daily Fix after the event so be sure to check back! What are we loving? The Heatherette tees designed exclusively for the Human Rights Campaign with the words ‘Love is Real’, shop here.

But don’t worry if you can’t make it to the event, or even get a cool new tee, there’s always Oral Fixation Mints to show you care! Try our Fabulous Fruit for your sweetheart, or even 7 deadly cinnamon for a spicy secret admirer…its all up to you! XOXO peace and love from the Chocolate Factory.

Oral Fixation makes its literary debut in the first chapter of Laura Vanderkam’s Grindhopping, published by McGraw Hill. In her book Laura documents the Oral Fixation success story and how the company and its young execs, Henry & Eric, are the prime example of how creating your own job description can lead to a rewarding career – sans the lifetime spent climbing up the corporate ladder. Laura vividly recounts her visit to the Chocolate Factory and even mentions our buddy Jack! To get your hands on a copy and read Laura’s take on the Chocolate Factory’s interesting décor, how Oral Fixation breaks the mold, and fab quotes from the Mint Guys…click here.

“Grindhopping is the hottest career alternative for anyone who wants to skip the long hours, low pay, and lackluster rewards of entry-level corporate jobs. Join the wave of young professionals who are starting their own companies, freelancing, consulting, job-hopping, and networking their way to success.” – back cover of Grindhopping by Laura Vanderkam.

Lovelines is an online art piece created by myself (Jonathan Harris) and Sepandar Kamvar. Lovelines employs large scale blog analysis to illustrate human desire, as expressed online, using a system we developed for our recent collaboration, We Feel Fine. Our statement about the project is as follows:

Lovelines is an exploration of human desire.

Through large scale blog analysis, Lovelines illuminates the topography of the emotional landscape between love and hate, as experienced by countless normal humans keeping personal online journals.

Using a data collection engine created by the artists for their recent collaboration, We Feel Fine ( www.wefeelfine.org ), Lovelines examines thousands of blogs every few minutes to find expressions of love and hate, posted by all manner of people. When it can, Lovelines identifies and saves the age, gender, and geographical location of the person who wrote the post, and then presents that information along with the post. The entries range from frivolous to profound, offering a glimpse into the hearts and minds of people blogging about their wants and needs.

Lovelines presents a stark white screen, bounded on the bottom by a slider running from “Love” to “Hate”, with a draggable heart that becomes scratched out to the point of illegibility as the heart approaches “Hate”. As the slider is pulled through Love, Like, Want, Indifference, Dislike, and Hate, words and pictures appear above to represent the chosen state of desire or despair.

Lovelines is structured around three movements: “Words”, “Pictures”, and “Superlatives”. Words and Pictures iteratively present individual examples of human desire, while Superlatives provides a daily zeitgeist of the most loved, wanted, liked, and hated things. Interactive timelines represent the changing magnitude of love and hate over time, and allow navigation into the past.

The artists were invited to make this piece by Oral Fixation Mints ( www.oralfix.com ), a breath mint company devoted to “making everyday objects beautiful”, of which Jonathan Harris is a co-founder. We realize that the heart of all fixations is the desire to own, possess, and consume. Great desires imitate the physics of giant pendulums: the higher they rise, the deeper they fall. In this sense, love is inextricably tied to hate, desire to despair. Lovelines walks the line between these two extremes, painting pictures of the shifting landscape of desire.

Constructed entirely from found artifacts – words and pictures posted to blogs – Lovelines draws its identity from a world of strangers, brought together by shared degrees of desire.

– Jonathan Harris & Sepandar Kamvar, May 2006

Go on and open up.

January UPDATE

Rich & Royal Return to CBGB’s
It’s our first show in a month so we’re ready to throw down.
If you need your R&R fix before March make it out
NEXT FRIDAY
January 27th
11PM
CBGB’s Lounge
315 Bowery between 1st and 2nd Street in the Lower East Side of Manhattan New York, NY 10003
www.myspace.com/richandroyal

RICH & ROYAL NEW YORK TOUR

Rich & Royal Are Embarking on a Gigging Tour of New York City. Remember where you heard them first.

The New York City tour begins tommorrow October 13th at The Knitting Factory at 11PM

RICH & ROYAL’s New York Tour

10/13/2005 11:00 PM - The Knitting Factory
74 Leonard St, New York, NY 10013,US –
Part of M.E.A.N.Y Fest 2005. www.meanyfest.com
————————————————————————————————————————

10/16/2005 08:30 PM - CBGB’s
315 Bowery, New York, NY 10003,US –
R&R hit OMFUG! The best band to hit the Bowery since the heyday of The Talking Heads and Television. You all know the spot. Be there as Rich & Royal make Rock N’ Roll History
———————————————————————————————————————— 11/03/2005 10:00 PM - Love Sexy @ Blaggards
8 W 38th ST btwn 5th and 6th, New York, NY 10028,US – $7.00
Rich & Royal has qualified for the NYC/NJ Buzz Band Search. This is the first of four rounds of shows that will definitely result in Royal success. Mark the dates as you see us passing through the quarters, semis, and finals. Be a part of it.
———————————————————————————————————————— 11/08/2005 10:00 PM - Alphabet Lounge
104 Avenue C, New York, NY 10009,US –
R&R hit the notorious Tuesday Night Rock N’ Roll Floor Show at the Alphabet Lounge. Perfect way to end your pre-hump day hump day. http://www.studio9c.net/alphabetlounge.html
———————————————————————————————————————— 11/17/2005 10:30 PM - Kenny’s Castaways
157 Bleecker Street between Thompson & Sullivan, New York, NY 10012,US – 8.00?
Rich & Royal set sail at the great Kenny’s Castaway’s in the heart of SOHO. Get ready for some of the best music ever heard echoing down the halls of Bleeker st. http://www.kennyscastaways.net/
———————————————————————————————————————— 11/26/2005 10:00 PM - Ace of Clubs
9 Great Jones St (at Lafayette Street), New York , NY 10012,US – 8.00
Rich & Royal return to the Ace of Clubs (formerly the ACME Underground). I know you’ll all be ready to rock and royal after you’ve had enough turkey leftovers and aunt sandwiches. Neighborhood: Noho 6 at Bleecker St; B, D, F, Q at Broadway-Lafayette St +1 212 677 6963
————————————————————————————————————————————— 12/09/2005 10:00 PM - R&R
416 W 14th St, New York, NY 10014,US – 10.00
R&R live at R&R. If ever a show was meant to be. Check out the Hottest New Band at the Meat Packing districts Hottest new club. As always, Dress to Impress.

justcurio.us is an anonymous question and answer system, open to anyone, with one simple rule: to ask a question, you must first answer someone else’s question. Question yields answer yields question. Strangers helping strangers.

The questions can be about anything — the best Beatles album, your saddest moment, your biggest regret, your best childhood memory, the meaning of life, whether you should break up with your girlfriend, the best crepe place in Paris, the best cure for loneliness. Anything at all. This is our chance to lean on each other, to look to a stranger for help, to discover what other people think.

justcurio.us is entirely confidential, allowing anyone to ask and answer questions with complete anonymity. So, what’s on your mind?

And, for you mint lovers, start by answering this one.

No matter who you are, or where you live, we are quite sure that our neighbor is much cooler than yours. Richard Speedy lives next to us, with his lovely wife Mara, in the other half of the Chocolate Factory, and he is one cool guy, in that wonderful dusty, windburned Clint Eastwood Man With No Name sort of a way.

Richard lives a double existence, spending half his time at the Chocolate Factory as a professional photographer, and the other half of his time deep in Mexico’s Sierra Madre mountains, riding in on horseback and staying with his friends there, who include Peyote healers. Richard and Mara have set up a fair trade jewelery business with local women from the Sierras, whose gorgeous designs they sell in the U.S., sending the profits back to the villagers who make the jewelry.

Take a look at Richard’s Mexico photographs—they’re really beautiful. In Richard’s words:

“It was early April. Snow was falling. Large flakes blanketing the rocks unlike any rocks I had ever seen. I could only imagine what lay ahead, but I had a sense that something would happen, that this first visit to the Sierra Madre would not be my last. Falling asleep that night I could feel their calm and ancient presence all around me. The mountains, the barrancas, and something else. Life as old and vital as the mountains. The Tarahumara.

My intent with these photographs is to convey some impression of this spirit choked landscape, and possibly to preserve in time a thing that powerful forces, human, political, and otherwise, conspire even now to alter forever. They may succeed in some measure, but they will never subdue the entities that inhabit every rock, every tree, every shadow of this mysterious and fascinating place. They are legion.”

Here are some of Richard’s photographs: