Greetings Blogfestians,
I am Blahgman, the newest contributor at the Funtown Blogfest. Word to your mother!
I hope you are ready for some of best blogging OF ALL TIME. Because that is what’s about to happen.
I’m happy to be here, and in the words of George W. Bush…
“Some people call you the elite; I call you my base.”
-Blahgman
“I came, I saw, I blahgged.”
Lets just say it included a knife, a few forks, a cutting board, and a room full of anxious young adults… ;) Try it sometime… or every time until it gets old. This new technique could change your life!
-Matt
This weekend was full of inspirational moments and plenty of warm weather. Friday was pretty low key but Saturday was a whole different experience! I was a featured entertainer at the Red Ball, an annual fundraiser for the Red Cross. This ‘red tie’ event was held at the Please Touch Museum at Memorial Hall in Philly. I’ve never been to the venue before so I had no idea what to expect. As I arrived with Jen Web and Rachel Rubin, I thought to myself… this is going to be epic. The giant horses, columns, statues and the sheer magnitude of the venue gave off a stellar first impression. It is an architectural masterpiece!
I did some research and found out that Memorial Hall was originally built in 1875 to serve as the art gallery for the Centennial International Exhibition in Fairmount Park. The Please Touch Museum spent over $88 million dollars and six years restoring this building and moved into the space in late 2008.
When I arrived, I was greeted by an extremely friendly staff that directed me to set up in front of this giant Liberty Torch. There were two spotlights illuminating this impressive structure and it was placed right at the end of the dance floor across from the stage.
I was honored and bit surprised to see a banner with Funtown Productions listed on it and a sponsorship shout out for the Delaware River Port Authority. There was a live tarot reader, stilt walker and about a million fun activities and interactive art installations that you could check out during the event. I spent four hours there and only experienced about 1/4 of the venue. Oh and did I mention there was free food from over 40 of Philly’s best restaurants and an open bar featuring all kinds of mixed drinks, wine and beer? I tried the alligator and it was pretty awesome.
Jen Web helped out by shooting a video of my live painting session. She included the view I had of the Liberty Torch and the giant illuminated dome above my head. What an amazing spot to create some art! The music was easy to paint to as well. The night started off with Grammy-nominated artist, Adam Crossley and ended with CTO artists playing some fun tunes.
After some painting and dancing in front of my canvas, I finished my painting. The Red Cross is going to post it on their site and auction it off. All the proceeds from the event are going to the Southeastern Pennsylvania Chapter of the Red Cross and the operations of their one-of-a-kind Red Cross House recovery facility located in West Philly. I’ll be sure to spread the word once the painting is available online. Over 1200 people attended the Red Ball and over $215,000 was raised for the Red Cross! I am so glad to have been involved with such a special event.
The next morning I awoke to beautiful 60 degree weather and after a tasty breakfast decided to grill out and celebrate! I edited the pictures from the Red Ball, sent out some texts to my friends and headed out to Fresh Grocer to grab some food for the grill. Rachel Rubin and I gripped up some burgers, chicken, potato salad, ribs and other delicious food and soaked up what was left of the sun. A bunch of people showed up and we ate, talked, danced and welcomed the warmth back into our lives. Once it got dark we started up the first Funtown camp fire of 2010. After ripping through the left over wood supply from the Fall we went deep down into the Funtown HQ and started working on some new blacklight paintings. There was, of course, plenty of hooping going on too.
Despite all of the warmth there was still a stubborn pile of snow that just wouldn’t melt, so I decided to banish it from the yard in style by ceremoniously dumped it all on top of the fire… it felt like the right thing to do. This whole weekend felt right!
-Matt
For more photos from the Red Ball visit:
http://tinyurl.com/theredball2010
Jo and I are getting super excited for the Spring. We decided to bring our creative energy indoors for the meantime to collaborate on some hoop-making! Check out our first creation:
Jo putting the finishing touches on our first joint hoop!
We decided to name this one Celestial Vibes! :)
Here I am testin’ out the new hoop!
Jo givin’ it a go!
Over the past few years of my festival going experiences I’ve noticed a growing number of people who assume it’s okay to light up their fire toys whenever/wherever they please at big festivals on the East Coast. I’m really not sure why people would ever assume it’s okay to do this. Lighting up unexpectedly in the middle of a bunch of festival goers can be incredibly dangerous to you, everyone around you, the property and the reputation of the venue and the promoters. I’ve seen many random, amateur, fire ‘performances’ happen out of nowhere at a number of events now and it’s really starting to scare me. Last year there was an incident at a festival where a girl with no fire safety lit up a fire hoop in the middle of a crowd. When security asked her to extinguish the fire toy she was not able to properly (safely) do so. I also witnessed a guy doing very high tosses with fire poi right under a bunch of wires feeding electricity to the main stage! Why are people who do not have basic fire safety/spinning knowledge doing this? I know not everyone does, but I do have a lot of experience of working behind the scenes at events (as well as being front and center).
From a promoter/venue owner perspective, I would feel very disrespected that someone would assume it’s okay to do such a dangerous act without my permission. It’s my event, everyone will link my name to the event. If a fire ‘incident’ happened it could be detrimental to my name in the game of entertainment as well as my personal life. Not only is it the promoter’s job to ensure a successful event, it’s also their job to ensure a SAFE event for all.
This kind of behavior also greatly worries me from a professional performer’s perspective. I would not want anyone to confuse me or anyone in my troupe as being related in some way to these random fire spinning happenings. Especially when there is a very obvious lack in knowledge of safe fire spinning practices. I do not tolerate that from anyone I perform with. Interest in the fire arts is growing every year and it is a beautiful thing, but I feel as though not everyone who falls in love with fire is ready for it just yet. There is so much to take into consideration when playing with such a dangerous toy.
I can only speak for myself and what I’ve witnessed at festivals in the north east. There are certainly fire arts related festivals where it is common for people to be lighting up in multiple locations and this info really doesn’t apply. However, if it is a music and art festival where most people are congregating to experience live music and ‘let loose’, special precautions need to be made for working with fire around that type of crowd.
In conclusion, I’d love to hear other performers’, promoters’, and festival goers’ opinions on this subject. I am in no way trying to limit how much this art should be held in the spot light. I am simply trying to ensure that the outcome of every performance is a safe and enjoyable one.
-Jen Web
Matt Deifer
Jen Web
rachellehoop
bluepaisleydiamond
jomehl
bethanne2688
blahgman
