Lurch the skeleton conducts concert in San Diego!

Lurch, the gigantic hand-less skeleton, was observed conducting an organ concert today in San Diego’s Balboa Park!

Lurch stood on the stage of the Spreckels Organ Pavilion as San Diego Civic Organist Raúl Prieto Ramírez played Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D minor and other musical selections!

Fearless audience members sat near the outdoor organ and the gigantic skeleton to enjoy the free Sunday afternoon concert –and to stay out of possible rain showers!

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Dia de los Muertos at San Diego Museum of Art.

Dia de los Muertos is being celebrated today at the San Diego Museum of Art in Balboa Park!

Visitors can view the beautiful Altares Peregrinos (which means Pilgrim Altars) outdoors in Balboa Park’s Plaza de Panama. The sheltered installation includes a large four-sided altar. Everyone is invited to add marigolds or photos of deceased loved ones through November 8th.

I stepped into the San Diego Museum of Art around noontime when an indoor celebration of Dia de los Muertos was beginning.

Artist Betsabeé Romero, who created the altar, was among those who spoke about the meaning of Dia de los Muertos.

Speakers were followed by a great mariachi performance inside the museum’s rotunda!

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Echoes of Time art exhibition opens in San Diego.

A special exhibition by Karisma, a local collective of Korean women artists, has opened at San Diego’s downtown Central Library. Echoes of Time features beautiful artwork that invites quiet introspection.

The artists have created spiritual and philosophical paintings that make the viewer pause and reflect about life, and the nature of this world we share.

Many of the images are warm, tender, filled with light, even dreamlike. I personally prefer works like these over those deliberately soaked with darkness and cynicism.

I like to view the world (and living) with a sense of wonder.

What do you see?

Come visit the exhibition on the first floor of the San Diego Central Library before it vanishes on January 1, 2027!

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Bruno Mars, hot dog and pothead in Balboa Park!

WHAT? Bruno Mars, and a human hot dog, and a pothead in Balboa Park? Not to mention two witches, a cat, and a pair of elves?

Don’t believe me?

Take a look at the above photograph!

I spotted that cat, hot dog and pothead at the Museum of Us!

Could it be Halloween is coming?

Then I spotted a witch and Bruno Mars in the Balboa Park Visitor Center!

Plus a second witch!

Okay, who are these folks in the next photo? I spotted them at the Haunted Trail in the southwest corner of the park.

Are the following people pretending to be in a rock band?

No, they are actual musicians. They were rehearsing today at the Spreckels Organ Pavilion for this evening’s Bark at the Moon concert.

Learn more about the Ozzy Osbourne tribute concert here.

Next up, I see a bear has invaded the Balboa Park Senior Lounge!

And look! Two friendly elves are at the front counter of the Fleet Science Center!

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Remnants of 1915 Panama-California Exposition in California Quadrangle.

I discovered these amazing remnants of the 1915 Panama-California Exposition in Balboa Park yesterday during a visit to the Cannibals exhibition at the Museum of Us.

A friendly museum employee explained that the south side of the California Quadrangle served as an art gallery during the Panama-California Exposition. He believes that these ornamental touches inside the long, narrow gallery all date from 1915.

If you can provide more information about these discoveries, please leave a comment.

You can find a beautiful sculpted work at the west end of the gallery. It’s mounted above a door that leads into the California Quadrangle’s chapel, which remains separate from the museum gallery. The imagery appears to include explorer Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo’s galleon San Salvador.

A balcony inside the gallery, which is closed to the public, features four cherubic figures which seem to represent artistic creation…

At the east end of the gallery you’ll find this amazing (now waterless) fountain. It’s near steps that ascend to the closed balcony. Beautiful tiles frame it.

APIΣTON MEN ‘ΥΔΩP in Greek translates “Water is best.”

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History returns to Balboa Park’s Municipal Gymnasium!

History is being made today in Balboa Park at the Municipal Gymnasium! A large cold cast bronze panel (in two halves) is being installed above the building’s entrance.

The ornamental panel reproduces a long lost temporary panel that was created for the building in 1935 when it served as the Palace of Electricity and Varied Industries for the California Pacific International Exposition.

You can learn more about this historic project undertaken by the Balboa Park Committee of 100 and see an old photo of the original panel by visiting this past blog post and this past blog post.

Here’s the first half of the panel going up by crane!

UPDATE!

Later in the day, the second half of the panel arrived! I learned together the two halves weigh about 2 and a half tons!

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Autumn color appears near Lake Hodges.

It’s late October. Trees near the San Dieguito River and Lake Hodges are showing a little Autumn color.

The leaves of willows and cottonwoods have begun to turn yellow.

I took these photographs today as I walked down the Coast to Crest Trail from the Sunset Drive Staging Area in Escondido. I headed south, turned west under Interstate 15, and turned around when I reached the long pedestrian bridge that is visible from the freeway.

It was a perfect day for a leisurely outdoor stroll in San Diego’s North County!

Demolition of downtown’s historic California Theatre.

I noticed today that the demolition of downtown San Diego’s historic California Theatre building is underway. A crew was cleaning out the interior of the long vacant building.

It’s hard to believe the once-elegant 1927 building has stood neglected (directly next to the Civic Center) since 1990.

The California Theatre in its heyday was called the “Cathedral of the Motion Picture.” Its beautiful old marquee and exterior decoration have mostly vanished. Graffiti and broken windows have been an eye sore for years.

The Prebys Foundation purchased the property in July and are having the condemned structure removed. Hopefully this leads to a revitalization of downtown’s C Street corridor.

In 2013 I took photos of the large Caliente advertising mural on the building’s west side. That was before it became defaced. See those past photographs here.

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Setting up Pilgrim Altars in Balboa Park!

The San Diego Museum of Art is setting up an installation in Balboa Park’s Plaza de Panama for Día de los Muertos. The installation is called Altares Peregrinos, which means Pilgrim Altars.

Artist Betsabeé Romero is leading the project. You might recall she created that artistic soccer goal in the same spot back during the World Cup.

Día de los Muertos will be celebrated at these Pilgrim Altars on Sunday, November 1, 2026, from 11 am to 4 pm. The altars will remain on display through November 8th.

Learn more about the free, family friendly event by clicking here!

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Old Globe’s holiday “Grinch Tree” goes up!

Christmas and the Holiday Season must be nearing! In Balboa Park, the Old Globe’s outdoor “Grinch Tree” is going up today!

The ceremonial lighting of the Grinch Tree is a San Diego tradition that I’ve managed to miss over many years. Perhaps this year I’ll make it…

Today’s photographs:

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