Tag: balboa park

Deadpool from Chile visits Balboa Park!

Deadpool has traveled from Chile in South America to San Diego, and I found him hanging out today in Balboa Park!

This young man with the cool Deadpool cosplay, posing for photographs on El Prado, didn’t speak much English. But I did ascertain he loves the Deadpool movies.

I don’t know if he’s in pursuit of any supervillains at the moment. Perhaps his buddy Wolverine was nearby, but I didn’t see him.

You never know what or who you’ll encounter in wonderful Balboa Park!

If you’re reading this on a serious San Diego newsfeed, sorry. I’m just a blogger who likes to walk around the city, and sometimes I post silly, fun things.

Perhaps you’ll enjoy a quick smile before returning to a world where depressing news is far too common.

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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!

Cool photo memories from April 2019.

San Diego never disappoints. So many cool events were held in April five years ago that I had a difficult time selecting which ones to revisit as this new month begins!

Back in April 2019, my camera recorded knights in shining armor battling in Balboa Park, the inside workings of a Peruvian Navy tall ship, a wheelchair OTL tournament, a couple of Earth Day events, a tour of a United States Coast Guard cutter, Witches’ Night at the Comic-Con Museum, a local skatepark’s 20th anniversary, the Encinitas Street Fair, a big Shakespeare festival, a super fun Pet Day on the Bay…and much more!

I have 15 links coming up to blog posts that contain oodles of photographs!

Click the following links for hundreds of cool photos!

Little Italy’s history, culture at Amici House.

Great ideas at South Bay Earth Day!

Faces of INSIDE OUT still smile in Chula Vista!

Washington Street Skatepark’s 20th Anniversary!

Fun times at the Wheelchair OTL Tournament!

Earth Day at Old Town’s Native Plant Garden.

English knights, cute Corgis, Harry Potter and more!

Photos of Shakespeare celebration in Balboa Park!

Photos aboard Peruvian Navy tall ship BAP Unión!

Cool sights along Adams Avenue west of 30th.

Local history remembered at Trolley Barn Park.

Dogs enjoy a harbor cruise on San Diego Bay!

Take a tour aboard a new Coast Guard cutter!

Cool discoveries at the Encinitas Street Fair!

Images from Witches’ Night in San Diego!

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!

Window to an imagined future in Balboa Park!

What might the future look like? Can science and technology, guided by human compassion, intelligence and imagination, bring forth a better world?

These questions might enter your mind as you peer at works of art created by UC San Diego professor Dr. Pinar Yoldas, now on display in Balboa Park at the Institute of Contemporary Art San Diego.

Pinar Yoldas: Synaptic Sculpture is an exhibition that challenges the world that we presently know. It offers a window to a future that is possible. And some of the ideas are a little weird!

I visited the exhibition last weekend and loved the boundless creativity. Biology, artificial intelligence, psychology, environmental science and more–even mythology–are combined in unique ways by the speculative mind of Dr. Yoldas.

Imagine works of art in your home that grow environmentally beneficial algae! Imagine sitting on enormous molecules while having your mind calmed by an aroma-wafting sensory pendulum! Imagine having your life ruled by a cute kitten AI overlord! (Oh, wait. Would we really want that future?)

The free exhibition definitely stimulates a sense if wonder. It encourages open minds to speculate where all us human types might be headed.

If you choose, head to the Institute of Contemporary Art San Diego in Balboa Park before June 23, 2024 when the exhibition closes!

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!

An invasion of dragons in Balboa Park!

Numerous dragons invaded Balboa Park this weekend! As did tigers and elephants and hummingbirds and panda bears, and almost every sort of creature, great or small.

All were the subjects of amazing works of art, displayed in the Casa del Prado during the Friends of Sumi-E 21st Annual Art Exhibition!

According to the Chinese lunar calendar, we’re now in the Year of the Dragon. So it’s not surprising that many of the brush paintings I saw today depict dragons.

Friends of Sumi-E is a group of San Diego artists who practice traditional Japanese brush painting, which is called sumi-e or suiboku-ga. They also provided classes for those interested in learning the art.

One cool aspect of sumi-e exhibitions in Balboa Park is the public can watch skilled artists at work. And anyone can try their own hand at creating a beautiful, one-of-a-kind piece of art!

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!

Women’s History Month celebrated in Balboa Park!

It’s March, Women’s History Month!

Several walls inside the San Diego History Center in Balboa Park now feature an exhibit that chronicles the fight for women’s equality, highlighting successes by women in music, entertainment, art, and society at large. The exhibit makes use of informative displays that originally appeared in 2015 at the Women’s Museum of California.

Stories of trailblazers in the popular culture are told. In the 1960s and 70s, Helen Ready, Aretha Franklin, Joan Baez, Joni Mitchell, Carole King and others filled the airwaves with music that related the experience of women and furthered their empowerment. In television, the advancement of women could be followed in shows like That Girl and The Mary Tyler Moore Show. With the 1968 television show Julia, Diahann Carroll become the first African-American leading actor on a sitcom.

As one sign explains: During the resurgence of the larger women’s movement in the 1960s and 70s, women artists, writers, choreographers, actors, filmmakers and playwrights sought to create a new dialogue between the viewer and their art through the inclusion of women’s perspective.

Other displays in the History Center concern the historic struggle for equal rights, including the women’s right to vote, as you can see in my photographs.

A couple years ago the Women’s Museum of California moved their archives and administrative offices from their old museum at Liberty Station into the San Diego History Center. Their presence has been online.

I’m told that in the future, a special gallery inside the History Center will be set aside for Women’s Museum of California exhibits.

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!

A giant Balboa Park tree’s tiny beginning!

The giant Moreton Bay Fig tree just north of the San Diego Natural History Museum was not always so huge!

Years before any of us were born, this historic tree was planted in Balboa Park for the 1915 Panama-California Exposition. Visitors to the exposition might have viewed the tiny tree in one of the flower beds in a large formal garden. The garden stretched north of the Southern California Counties Building, which was later replaced by the Natural History Museum–the building visible in the above photograph.

I’ve found two images which show the young tree in the formal garden. Arrows have been added to mark the position of the small tree.

The first image is from a sign located under today’s Moreton Bay Fig, next to the observation platform. The second image is an old photograph–one of many century-old Balboa Park photographs that I posted here.

Did you know Balboa Park’s immense Moreton Bay Fig has a sister tree in National City? See my blog post concerning that here!

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!

St. Patrick’s Day celebrated in Balboa Park!

A big celebration of St. Patrick’s Day was held this afternoon in San Diego. The House of Ireland presented their annual lawn program in Balboa Park, complete with Irish food, Irish music, Irish dancing, and Irish dogs!

A huge crowd gathered for the event. The lawn at the International Cottages was filled with humanity and a sea of green!

As the cultural entertainment began, traditionally dressed performers arrived in a festive procession. Soon thereafter, the Cameron Highlanders turned up the energy with their stirring bagpipes and booming drums.

Performances by several groups would follow. Sprightly Irish dancing earned tremendous applause. Musicians played Irish tunes. Several friendly Irish Wolfhounds took the stage, and we learned about their history in Ireland–the wolves didn’t stand a chance. Then more colorful Irish dancing by young people…

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!

A sunny Saturday bowling in Balboa Park!

Many members of the San Diego Lawn Bowling Club were in Balboa Park today, competing in the Jay Robbins Knockout tournament.

People lawn bowling in Balboa Park? It must be a Saturday!

When I walk through Balboa Park on a Saturday, I’ll often sit on a bench by the lawn bowling green on the park’s West Mesa, at the west end of the Cabrillo Bridge. It’s a fine place to watch games while relaxing or having a bite to eat.

The players, dressed in white or light colors, in various poses on the green, together present a sunny, relaxed scene–like a nostalgic painting of summer. Watch the players closely, however, and you’ll notice they’re competing in earnest, strategizing, concentrating, trying very hard to defeat their opponents.

How does one play lawn bowls? This page explains the game.

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!

Volunteers beautify a Balboa Park garden!

A group of volunteer Garden Stewards were busy in Balboa Park today working in the Casa del Rey Moro Garden!

Garden Stewards were trimming plants, pulling weeds, sweeping away debris, and contributing to the celebrated beauty of this elegant Moorish garden behind the House of Hospitality.

When you walk through Balboa Park, especially on a weekend, there’s a good chance you’ll see these volunteers working in one or more of the park’s eighteen gardens. Their efforts supplement work performed by City of San Diego Parks and Recreation Department employees.

Now that Spring is here, expect to see happy Garden Stewards working their magic among many colorful flowers! Say hello! They like that!

Do you love sunshine, plants and flowers? Do you live in San Diego? Would you like to become a Garden Steward and magnify the beauty of our city? Check out this web page to learn more!

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!

Ikebana and visual poetry in Balboa Park.

Works of visual poetry were read by many eyes today in Balboa Park. The San Diego Wabi Chapter of the Ohara School of Ikebana presented their Annual Flower Show in the Casa del Prado.

Ikebana is the ancient Japanese art form of flower arrangement. Certain rules and a certain symmetry, containing contrasts and elegance, make this art form a bit like poetry. Every part of the arrangement, like every word in a poem, is potent in itself and vital. The assembled composition is more beautiful than the sum of its parts.

During the flower show, participants could learn the essentials of ikebana while watching live demonstrations by masters of the art.

If you love exquisitely beautiful things–or unspoken poetry–keep your eyes peeled for future ikebana shows in Balboa Park.

Meanwhile, enjoy these photographs…

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!