I'm sure you have seen all the food trucks that have popped up around the Bay Area in the past several years. But have you seen a music truck? After years of working in event and music production, Cole Valley local Robert Culos dreamed of running his own music venue. Rob and his wife, Liz Coglianese, had the innovative idea of making a food truck but for music, a mobile music venue retrofitted out of a vintage trailer. With Rob managing event production and Liz handling marketing and publicity, their new business was born! BandWagon officially launched last August [2014] at Noise Pop's 20th Street Block Party with major success. Rob was excited that BandWagon launched in San Francisco and at a hyper local street fair. He stated, "The people here love music, they love to be outdoors and they're truly supportive of new ideas." Since BandWagon's launch they have been seen at major festivals, such as Hardly Strictly and Treasure Island Music Festival. BandWagon seems to be transforming the local Bay Area music scene in a new and innovative way and telling folks to get outdoors and listen to some good tunes! 

 Can I rent it out for private events?

Rob informs us that BandWagon is available to rent for private parties, community gatherings, large festivals, corporate events, and beyond. Depending on the event, Rob, Liz, and team are happy to work with you to bring the entertainment or just have the stage, lights and sound. Got questions about rentals, you can contact them directly at thecrew@bandwagonsf.com or 415-742-5154. 

So Rob, what do you guys like most about Cole Valley?

We hope you aren't forgetting that Rob and Liz, and their son Jack, are Cole Valley residents . They love everything about Cole Valley. Although they settled into Cole Valley almost by accident five years ago, they definitely plan to stick around. Rob said, "I think if I had to put it into simple words, it's the sense of a real village community here" that makes it the greatest place to live. 

Hopefully we'll see BandWagon around the neighborhood, maybe even the Cole Valley Street Fair (pretty please!!). 

There's another antique shop coming to Cole Valley, Past Perfect. While some might have passed by their large space (over 7,000 sq. ft) in the Marina, Past Perfect is expanding to the former Cole Valley Cardio studio at 854 Stanyan. There's no timeframe on when they might be opening but just looking at their new storefront gives us the impression that they are opening soon!

Thanks to SF Racked for finding the info! 

We have a new business in our quaint little neighborhood: Pieces by Violet, a antique furniture rental business. In order to get the inside scoop of our new addition, I was able to speak with Kate, the owner, to learn a bit more about how Pieces by Violet started.

While her and her husband are originally from England, they settled in Cole Valley several years ago after her husband was offered a position as a software developer. Since their immigration visa only permitted her husband, Simon, to work, Kate started to pour her creative energies into turning their empty Cole Valley apartment into a home. "I started to collect a mix of vintage furniture, most of which required some TLC. I learned how to restore the pieces, and brought them back to their original beauty. Over time I grew a huge passion for the work.."

After using some of the vintage pieces she restored for their wedding in 2012, and getting very positive feedback she received about the pieces, Kate thought, "maybe this is something I could do professionally." Once she got her green card in 2013, she knew creating her own business was now possible. However, rather than simply selling vintage pieces, it seemed a more exciting opportunity to rent the pieces to events, complete with a delivery and staging service. She called the newly formed company 'Pieces by Violet', after her Grandmother, Violet. In early November 2013, Pieces by Violet finally launched and received a great response. 

Now, I bet you're asking the question, "what services does Pieces by Violet offer?" Well, Kate has provided us with a great list:

• Vintage rentals. Pieces by Violet rents vintage furniture and other unique items to events in the San Francisco Bay Area and Wine Country. We have a very eclectic collection of pieces, that is growing all of the time.
  
• Delivery, staging and return. We aim to make the rental process hassle free, and will deliver and collect anywhere within a 100 mile radius of the city. We'll liaise with event planners and venues to make sure everything goes smoothly. 
  
• Sourcing. If there's something that you must have for your event, and it's not listed within our collection, contact us as we'll happily source it for you.

Find out more about Pieces by Violet and get in touch with her if you are interested in her services.
Website: www.piecesbyviolet.com
Email: kate@piecesbyviolet.com
Telephone: 415-595-0299
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/piecesbyviolet

There have been mobiles popping up all over the city in the past few months. While many other blogs have speculated who the artist is or if they are all connected, we still don't really know. For more info on these art installations around SF, check out Uppercasing and Haighteration's blog post.

The 11th Annual Cole Valley Street Fair will be on Sunday, Sept 29th. We are very excited to celebrate our incredible neighborhood community. This year's fair is sponsored by MIDLINE Studios, Recology, Cole Hardware,  UCSF, Padrecito, and others. It will showcase various local vendors and musicians. 

Here's a list of some of the booths and entertainment you'll see at this year's fair:

- Urban Bazaar
- Made In The Haight
- AcroSports
- Chabad of Cole Valley
- Friends of Sharon Art Studio
- La Boulange de Cole
- an obstacle course by MIDLINE
- Buki the Clown
- a jumpy house
- music by: The Fly Right Sisters, Great Highway, and more!

For the complete list check out MIDLINE's site. 

Last week there was a lot of talk on Twitter about this painting of a Viking that appeared in our neighborhood. @KayCockerill was able to snap this photo but wasn't able to give us the exact location. It seems as though a treasure hunt to find the Viking went underway and now we're happy to announce it's location! 

You can now find this Viking on Beluah, between Stanyan and Shrader. Can't wait to see this one myself.

Thanks to our local CV resident, Paul for finding out the exact location!