San Diego Taiko performed today at the WorldBeat Cultural Center’s 34th Annual Global Earth Day Festival. I happened to arrive when they were drumming. Perfect timing!
I happen to love Japanese taiko drumming. If the powerful, deep beats, and the stirring complex rhythms don’t accelerate your heartbeat, I’m not sure what will! Taiko gives me a feeling of uplift and joy. The smiling performers were obviously loving it, too!
Many in the audience stood up and joined a dance!
The WorldBeat Cultural Center vibrated with percussive energy!
I see the group has taiko workshops and welcome people who’d like to learn the art.
On their website, there’s also a section about the Folk Club of San Diego. Members study traditional Japanese folk songs that feature song, dance, taiko, and other traditional Japanese instruments.
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Three classes of schooner, small to large, raced from a point off Shelter Island, out of San Diego Bay through the channel, around a couple of buoy markers, and back. Participants came from up and down the West Coast.
I was privileged to be aboard Bill of Rights out of Chula Vista. Our primary antagonist of similar size (Class C) during the Schooner Cup was Californian of the Maritime Museum of San Diego.
Bill of Rights began its journey out of Chula Vista Harbor under its diesel engine. At this time we got our sails ready. Once the race began under watch of the SGYC Race Committee boat off Shelter Island, it was all wind power!
Several dozen people were aboard–crew members plus passengers–and many volunteer hands were employed pulling on lines when raising the sails and tacking during the race. The ship’s dog Justice kept watch on all the activity!
I took lots of photos!
Mind you, I’m a complete novice when it comes to sailing. I asked a bunch of questions, and I hope my descriptions here have been accurate.
Who won? As of this moment I don’t know where to find the results. (If you know leave a comment.)
I do know Californian came in last–we left her far behind. However, as I understand it, we DNFed because we missed out first mark! No matter. It was a fun, wonderful day for all on an amazing, historic tall ship, sailing out on the sunlit water.
My photographs begin as we start out from Chula Vista Harbor…
We’re near Shelter Island, where the various schooners are sailing around before the race begins…
Maneuvering for position as the America’s Schooner Cup race is about to begin!
Here we go!
Soon after this dramatic moment out on the Pacific Ocean, the schooners chose different tacks and became widely separated. No more close up photos of our competitors.
Finally, sailing back into San Diego Bay. That’s Justice the ship’s dog keeping lookout!
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I met Brian Forristal today. (That’s him on the right.) He is the founder of Veteran Sailing, a non-profit organization that is dedicated to empowering and supporting veterans and service members by hosting no-cost sailing events that facilitate mindfulness and connection to nature, strengthen camaraderie and teamwork, and ignite a lifelong passion for the sea and sailing where adventure awaits.
Where did I meet Brian and his smiling sailing comrades? On the tall ship Bill of Rights during today’s America’s Schooner Cup Race off the coast of San Diego! (Photos of the fantastic race coming up tomorrow!)
The Veteran Sailing website is full of information. They offer a therapeutic Discovery Sail for veterans out on the water. Soon they’ll offer mission-oriented sailing, multi-day excursions, sailing retreats, community events like bonfires and barbecues, and our own sailing school.
Let your veteran friends know this great organization exists! Or perhaps help Veteran Sailing out with a nice donation!
Thank you all for your service!
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This weekend you have one last chance to experience a very special exhibition of art in Balboa Park. Members of the San Diego Museum of Art Artists Guild are exhibiting work that celebrates the history and culture of Logan Heights and other neighborhoods along Imperial Avenue east of downtown San Diego.
One Day in the Life on Imperial is the title of the exhibition, now on display in Gallery 21 of Balboa Park’s Village Arts Center (still known widely as Spanish Village).
Last month, at the TULAROSA gallery, I visited the first version of this exhibition. It has greatly expanded and moved since then, and many more diverse artworks are now collected together for visitors to enjoy!
The art you’ll encounter shows what life is like along historic Imperial Avenue. Families and shopkeepers, happiness and struggles–every aspect of a community is the subject matter of local artists who walked the street, absorbing all they experienced. Many of the resulting pieces are energetic and colorful.
One Day in the Live on Imperial continues through Monday, April 20th, 2026. If you’re heading to Balboa Park this weekend, you ought to swing by!
A few examples…
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A cool kinetic sculpture stands in Escondido at the intersection of Valley Boulevard and East Grand Avenue. It’s called, appropriately, Ovalesque. Two ovals containing dichroic glass move independently in the wind, flashing brilliant sunlit colors!
Jeffrey Laudenslager and Deanne Sabeck collaborated to create this beautiful sculpture in 2024. If you want to view more of Jeffrey’s kinetic sculptures, check out his Instagram page here. See Ovalesque moving about by clicking here.
These photos of Ovalesque were taken during my most recent Escondido walk. It was somewhat overcast that day. Imagine bright sunlight and beautiful colors moving through a blue sky!
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Perhaps you’ve seen this old plaque in downtown San Diego’s Gaslamp Square, steps from the Gaslamp trolley station. It memorializes Christopher J. Mortenson, who was a pioneer in the 1980s revitalization of the Gaslamp Quarter, today a National Historic District.
Who was Christopher John Mortenson?
This link to his Find a Grave page describes a man who was an architect and developer in San Diego, where he was also known as a generous philanthropist. He was associated with many Gaslamp District landmarks including the Ingle Building (Golden Lion Tavern), the Krasne Building and the Pioneer Building at Fifth and K Street in San Diego. He also restored the Marston Building at Fifth and C, and the Abbey Restaurant.
He is also known for ferrying the 1887 Victorian house “Baby Del” by barge from Sherman Heights to Coronado. To see photos of the Baby Del, which resembles a small version of the Hotel del Coronado, click here.
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Some of the most jaw-dropping Warhammer 40k cosplay creations are now on display in San Diego’s Comic-Con Museum! They’re gigantic and amazing in their detail! For an idea of scale, see my first photo.
Head downstairs and walk into the gallery devoted to costumes created for Comic-Con’s world-famous Masquerade. Among other fantastic creations, you’ll see these Warhammer 40k character suits that can actually be worn. They are made out of EVA foam sheets by Joe Ramirez.
Not surprisingly, Joe has won multiple awards for his cosplay productions. His handle is @Beyonderjoe.
The costumes in this gallery change from time to time, so make sure to have a new look every time you visit the museum.
Top Secret: Inside the High-Stakes World of Naval Intelligence is a fantastic exhibit that opened on the USS Midway Museum last year. I finally checked it out a few days ago.
The exhibit takes visitors through the Carrier Intelligence Center, which is contained in a surprisingly large area (1,500 square feet) under the USS Midway aircraft carrier’s flight deck, spanning its entire width. During Operation Desert Storm in 1991, the Carrier Intelligence Center served as the nerve center for intelligence gathering and analysis, mission planning, and strategic decision-making.
Today visitors can enjoy interactive displays that demonstrate how, years ago, in a less technologically advanced era, naval intelligence was gathered and analyzed, to aid combat operations, search and rescue, and humanitarian missions.
Walking through the exhibit, I observed how Intelligence Specialists worked like detectives. It was interesting to see how analog instruments were used to analyze gathered information. Imagine my surprise seeing an old-fashioned slide rule, which was used to calculate the size of structures in photos taken from a great distance! Some of the original, restored equipment includes teletypes and radio receivers.
I learned that specialists who gathered, analyzed and acted upon critical information included Air Intelligence Officers, Aerographer’s Mates, Photographers Mates, Cryptologic Technicians, Squadron Aviation Intelligence Officers… In combat, when every moment might mean life or death, everyone must work quickly and efficiently as a team to achieve success.
Top Secret: Inside the High-Stakes World of Naval Intelligence is so amazing it earned the MUSE Gold Award in the Experiential and Immersive Exhibition category!
If all this sounds interesting to you, head over the USS Midway Museum in downtown San Diego and check it out!
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In downtown San Diego, numerous scrolls of wisdom are waiting to be unrolled. If you step into the studio of artist James Watts (@jewattso), you can easily attain that wisdom!
James was at work in his studio this morning, and I said hello. He showed me one of the projects he’s now working on. There on one table were a bunch of new scrolls!
Last year I posted a blog about his ambitious scroll project. I explained his handmade scrolls are painted on fabric and utilize wood sticks he’s found, cut to size and sanded smooth. He loves philosophy, religion and literature, and bits of inspired thought make their way into his work.
Yes, indeed, it is what it is!
And more!
He accompanies the wise sayings with still life paintings. Such as an egg and swiss cheese. Interpret as you may!
I don’t know whether you had a chance to see James Watts’ exhibition at the Oceanside Museum of Art four years ago. If you didn’t, click here and check it out!
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Cool San Diego Sights! 