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Napoleon came out one more time.

Yes, it's true, there was more than one sighting of Napoleon at Sundance.  The 2nd was perhaps even more powerful than the first. 

Indeed, Napoleon decided to take to the streets and to dance through out the most populated movie theaters of Sundance, Eccles and Holiday Village Cinemas, with only his t-shirt stating 'Pedro votes for sweetriot' and his hand-created sweetriot Tin Belt.  He had his rigged up iPod boombox on his shoulder and danced to his favorite tune lovingly chosen from the movie.   Why might Napoleon do such a silly thing?  We can only spectulate it was simply "for the love of cacao."

Pictured here is the riot team after all of the commotion...unfortunately, the dancing did not last long at either venue as we were kicked out for not being "Official Sponsors" -- however, it was fun while it lasted.

Rioting live from Sundance!

I am here on Main Street at the Sundance Film Festival.  Our day started at the Greenloop eco suite hosted by Aysia from Portland, Oregon.   sweetriot was standing by along with some great organic and recycled fashion products. 

We shared some cacao at the very cool Alpine Cafe and made a stop at the Turning Leaf Lounge where they are sampling their wines.  Wine and cacao luckily go very well together.   At Turning Leaf, we definitely had a riot going on...with cacao revellers approaching us from all sides.

Alpine Cafe is one of our favorite riot locations.  The owners, Eric and Bryan, are rioters themselves and understand how important it is to support small companies.  Here is a picture of Eric behind the counter.  This will be one of last stops today before we spend the day tomorrow watching the amazing award films of Sundance. 

On the last day of the festival, all of the 'winning' movies are shown, which have by chosen by the audience or the grand jury.  The entire team of rioters is looking forward to it!  I'm not sure if you'll hear from us again -- we'll see how our day goes tomorrow.  Signing off again live from Sundance.

The Queer Lounge at Sundance

The Queer Lounge at Sundance is a very cool place.  This progressive organization based out of Los Angeles takes their lounge around the country to promote diversity in the film community.  They always have a very unique set up and design in their venue.  Ellen and Kellie are great - they featured sweetriot at a Filmmaker event and had yummy martini glasses of product available through out the festival.

Here Joe and I are pictured with Reichen Lemkuhl, former winner of the Amazing Race.  Of course he has yummy sweetriot cacao in his hand!  Matt and I and the crew went to their closing party, which was quite memorable.

Ben Folds Live at Sundance...wow!

Just coming home from a live Sundance concert with Ben Folds...he is breathtaking...  I didn't know his music but we decided to take the riot into this concert.  At first I was standing in the back and slowly I inched myself up to the stage...it was then that I realized the true talent before me.   

If you haven't had a chance, please take a moment to listen...as my friend said, Ben is the Elton John of our generation.  If you take a few minutes to hear him, you will realize that he is indeed the future.

Napoleon and Pedro together again!

That's right - you've heard it here first.  Napoleon and Pedro were together again at Sundance 2006!  In fact, Napoleon told us that Pedro is voting for sweetriot if you can imagine that! 

Here we are on the streets of Park City with the very funny and very lovable Pedro himself.  And yes, that's Napoleon staring at himself in the mirror - some things never change.   If you haven't seen Napoleon Dynamite which I'm sure you have, it's time to refresh the laughter....and perhaps you will want to bring along some sweetriot Cacao just like Pedro and Napoleon.  :)  Even WireImage covered the fun!

Sundance!

sweetriot is having an amazing time at the Sundance Film Festival.  I would have written sooner but this place is just a little bit nuts every single day!  We are out on the streets spreading cacao everywhere.

sweetriot has already been featured at the Yahoo! Music Cafe, the GenArt MySpace Beastie Boys party, The Queer Lounge, the Solo Dios Sabe party and more!  In fact, you can even find sweetriot at the NY State Film Commission's Filmmaker Lounge.  Pictured here is the Commissioner herself!

I had a chance to see a movie one early morning (movies play here from 830 am - midnight) and watch out for this one!  The House of Sand is absolutely beautiful, moving, and courageous filmmaking from Andrucha Waddington of Brazil pictured here.   

Lauren Curie Lewis from Salvage is a New Yorker and a real sweetheart pictured here with sweetriot.  The sweetriot team also saw The Hawk is Dying with Paul Giametti, who had another powerful performance. 

Signing off but I hope to be back soon with more news!

Arrested at Fancy Food?

sweetriot had an incredible time at the San Francisco Fancy Food Show!  There were cacao lovers everywhere!  Once someone experiences the cacao bean directly, there is no going back.  Why eat processed bars and truffles, when you can eat little 'peaces' of the yummy cacao bean?!

In fact, at one point, the rioting simply got out of control.  It's true that my first handcuff experience occurred on the show floor.  (Here I am pictured with the police during our struggle.) 

Part of the zealous rioting occurred due to the amazing news that sweetriot is moving through out the Whole Foods Northeast Region - yes, that's right, it's not just NYC that deserves cacao -- everyone along the Eastern Seaboard does!  We love our Whole Foods partners because they are indeed just that - partners.  They care about our success just as we care about their's. 

Special thanks to all of the San Francisco Guest Rioters -- Ted, Pam, Sean, David, Michelle, Joe, Jane, and more!  They truly led the cacao line dance, and Ted became a fast expert in holding 5 signs at once - truly impressive!

San Francisco Rioting....wow!

Last night, almost 400 rioters showed up to celebrate the arrival of sweetriot Cacao in San Francisco...it was incredible and 111 Minna Art Gallery was the perfect venue!   We had cacao everywhere, amazing DJs Hey Man! and Drei, and a wonderful riot host team.   I wish you could have been there especially for the sweetriot Rap, which was created by the incredible Bay Area Rapper, Radioactive (pictured here with beautiful art from Minna in the background).  I'll let the pictures speak for themselves regarding the outrageous rioting that took place!    

Special thanks again to the San Francisco host committee led by Darian Heyman and Ted Ko (pictured here) plus Ben Allen, Justin Anderson, Catriona Fallon, Katy Hendrickson, Larry Higdon, Tina Hsiao, Sean Jacobsohn, Kim Johnson, Farouk Ladha, Liz Maw, Cindy & Alex Panchula, Pedraum Pardehpoosh, Jason McBriarty, Pam Webber, Jane Wong, Shalini Sharp, Austin Sharp, Michelle Gansle and the wonderful full-time team of Nina, Matt, and Heidi.

If you're in San Francisco and looking for sweetriot, check out one of our beautiful stores:  Rainbow Grocery, Bi-Rite Market, The Pasta Shop, Real Food, Bittersweet, Citizen Cake, and Harvest Urban Market.

Rainbow Grocery rocks!

Rainbow Grocery is an amazing store.  It is a worker owned co-op and everyone has a sense of ownership in the store.  If you read their value's statement, you'll get an idea of how unique Rainbow Grocery truly is.   

sweetriot demo'ed there today and met some of the cool teammembers.  Kristen, our lovely cacao buyer, is a sweetie and a true cacao lover.   If you have never been to the store, I recommend a visit - the selection is natural, organic, fairly traded, and fresh!

Featured Artist #2 coming soon!

We are very excited to announce our Featured Artist #2, Jelene. That's right, our current artwork on the tins is soon coming to an end. In fact, you voted and selected Jelene, so thanks for taking the time to vote.  (Huge thanks go to Mike Hammer for his beautiful art.)   

Today, yes today, we are busy working to make sure the new tins look perfect for all of you with new artwork.

Soon, you will begin to see the amazing pop art of Jelene.  Here is a special preview straight from Jelene's website.  Jelene hails from South Carolina and has a wonderful art blog too.  We wish she would come visit us in NYC.  :)  We are excited about the beautiful detail and vibrant colors of her art.  Don't forget, it's your last chance to collect your Mike Hammer Tins -- there are just a few left.