Greetings!

I am so excited to have Sottol Weng join us! If you read the previous blog he introduced himself and his role. I had the privilege of working with Sottol on the San Francisco Halloween Festival. CUE the social venture arm of Gregangelo & Velocity Arts & Entertainment was responsible for volunteer solicitation and organization for the event. Sottol's big heart, tenacity and follow-thru was impressive to experience. Since then we invited him to become part of our team. He is working with me on very exciting projects for next year..

On another note we were part of YouTube's Live Broadcast on Saturday where we had programmed our "American Icons", Bronkar Beat Boxer, Henry Holloway- stunt stilter, Les Aerialles- Janene's aerial troupe, and of course the Merthlings at the event. Super Gigi lovely assistant for make-up was none other than Gregangelo and Darkhia carried the rest of the make-up call for the troupe. You can see some footage captured at the event at this link-

http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=Live&view=videos

Hiromi Yoshida our media guru is compiling several new videos including a new "American Icon".

We filmed Jim Berenholtz today for an upcoming project soon to be announced which incorporates his incredible knowledge of ancient cultures, our dance company and ethnic programming.

The photo above is "American Icons" on the YouTube Red Carpet

Well it has been quite a week. Lots of movement in the air and the Earth, yesterday there was a lunar eclipse and today a 6.3 earthquake near Elko Nevada. Gregangelo and I pulled a 16 hour day yesterday, no regrets, it was full of art, artists, laughter and magical moments, we interviewed Milan who is interested in a summer internship, she is currently attending Cincinatti U, in fashion design and was up on the roof with us last night trying to catch the eclipse. I turned to this courageous young artist and welcomed her to San Francisco as we stood on the roof under the stars, looking for the moon. She has something quite special about her, I know her path will be full of adventure and success. As is the norm after an eclipse and earthquake the phones were wringing off the hook, so I saged the house, said a few prayers and listened closely to the calls and questions coming in. I have been following the primaries closely and have decided to back off, as it is getting ugly and the disappointment in human behavior is too much to add to my plate. I did find time to bake a pumpkin pie and a savory pide in between contracts and phone calls. When I bake, I can think about what is on my plate and desk carefully, the baking allows me to step away and contemplate the business and moving it forward. The previous evening I attending a reception hosted by the San Francisco Symphony for the Director of Cultural Affairs for the City of San Francisco. His name is Luis R. Cancel. There were quite a few Arts Task Force members present. Public Policy and the Arts can bring together an interesting collection of people. Hiromi is in high creative and her eye is right on the mark as she edits the footage from our recent Heliopolis show. The image attached to this blog is from the death scene of Heliopolis. This video is an edit that Hiromi created from the show.


Until later, keep creative and never forget~ art and social change are congruous!
Jeffrey

good morning everyone
today is just a continuation of my monthly internship which is getting to a close. But in the mean time i still have a lot of work to do so i can't be worrying about that. i've got much editing to do, which i am a little nervous about because i've said so much about how much i want to do this and that, i now it's finally happening and i hope i can stnad up to my own hype.
Now, what i've been seeing is a lot of the process of how they work an event. i've seen the begining where it starts off as just a phone call, then the negotiating of the venue, artists, price etc.... i've seen and been helping out to the drawing of the contracts. One step i haven't seen is the rehersing of the acts. But i've seen the making of the extravigant incredible costumes. I've had to help out with the set up of the events, not physically helping out with the setting up but, i'vemaking sure the artists are going to be there at the right place at the right time. That was a task i didn't like so much, i don't like being on the phone with strangers....i don't know why. but it's a skill i have to get accustomed with whether i like it or not. And then the final step, the actual event. Of which i have not yet seen, but i have seen pictures. I will very soon come to an event and be able to see the seting up of the venue and the show itself. Gregangelo and Velocity Circus are having an exhibition at the DeYoung museum in San Francisco on Friday 17th of August (2007). I've heard the bustling excitment among the artists as well as the costume designers, costume makers, the artists not even involved and of course the managers of the whole thing. Should be very exciting.
I'm actually going to film the event which, again, makes me nervous. as far as i know, i'm the only one filming this event, so it's all on me...exciting.
well anyway, till tomrrow.
actually tomrrow's my day of so till thursday.


By:Tara Bayat

hello everyone,
well, i haven't done this in quite a while. i've been really busy with a lot of data base work that i've been doing for the company. it's not the most interesting work to do but it is work that has to be done. that actually has been what i've been doing for the past week and a half. But for this week, my last week here at velocity, i'm going to be working a lot with film, i'm continuing with my life by working here and being in the san francisco film world. Progress is coming with that but coming slowly. i'm also filming tours that gregangelo gives of the house. really interesting stuff. i've been here 3 weeks already and i had no idea what the house was all about. it's much more than unconventional. It's almost unimaginable. Each room has a story and a theme to it. I liked seeing the reactions of the people looking at the rooms in the house and listening to gregangelo's explanation of it all. Every detail in this house has been thought of and thought through carefully so it makes sense to others. Speaking of the tours, i'm going to be doing another one today, it'll be nice to take me away from the work i normally do here, and do something more creative.
I actually should take this blog to a close, i've got a lot of work to do. i'll see you next time.

By:Tara Bayat

My summer with Velocity Circus started on Monday 16th of July. A late start to a summer internship, but i had only arrived in San Francisco on the 10th and i thought a week would be a good length to get settled in.
My first taste of my work space was from the outside of the house. Two small sphinx sat at both sides of the steps. i walked up to the door where a watered budah sat next to me. i rang the door bell and was greeted by my two new bosses, Gregangelo and Jeffrey Ferns. Walking into the house, i was in sensory overload with all the rich colours and the ancient Egyptian/Persian feel of the room. I've never seen any room more alive and vibrant than each room in this house. Every room has been carefully thought of and has been taken care of. It's obvious just from walking in that house that the people who live here live and breathe what they do, and then transfer it to their walls.
It was a releif to know that i'd be working in an enviorment that's alive and i'd be around people that are passionate about that they do. My first task was to read the artists contract to understand what restrictions and obligations they have. i was sitting next to Hiromi Yoshida, a japanese film maker who handles Velocity's film and media department. just from sitting next to her i was able to see the process of cutting together some film (more plainly known as editing). The purpose of my first day was to understand the motions of how people work at Velocity Circus and how i'd be able to get caught in it too.
Looking forward to what Jeffrey has in store for me today

To be continued.......

By Tara Bayat