Lots of activity on the grass behind the San Diego Convention Center. It’s the Saturday before 2017 Comic-Con! A big wrap is being applied to the Bayfront Hilton!
This afternoon I walked all around the San Diego Convention Center and the Gaslamp Quarter. The application of building wraps and the construction of most outdoor venues is well underway with five days to go until Comic-Con! I didn’t walk around Petco Park. The Giants are in town through Sunday. I’ll probably head that way in the next couple days to see what, if anything, is going on!
These guys are starting to set up the Adult Swim site.A guy said Fox will have their site in the middle area of the grass, like last year.Looks like a lot of work is still to be done! They’ve got five days!I see a wrap being applied to the Marriott Marquis!The outdoor site for FX this year, like past years, will be on the grass right in front of the Hilton.A closer look at the developing Marriott wrap. It will promote the TBS comedy television series People of Earth.Working on the Midnight, Texas attraction near the Tin Fish.More Netflix wraps are going up on the Hilton Gaslamp.Will Smith peers brightly from between palm trees.Looks like another strange thing is being attached to a building in downtown San Diego. Five days until the start of 2017 Comic-Con!
I also noticed that work continues at The Tick Takeover site! I haven’t seen a 20-foot-tall animatronic Tick yet! You’ll see it shortly after I see it!
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Banner for 2017 San Diego Comic-Con promotes the upcoming Marvel movie Black Panther.
Another cool discovery! A few banners for 2017 San Diego Comic-Con have already been hung along Harbor Drive near the convention center. For 2017, the promotional banners depict Thor and Black Panther, Marvel superheroes who have highly-anticipated movies coming up!
Thor, one of Marvel Comics’ Mighty Avengers, appears on a banner for 2017 San Diego Comic-Con. It depicts a scene from the upcoming movie Thor: Ragnarok.
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Look! Up in the sky! A Red Bull Air Race plane is about to buzz the San Diego Convention Center!
Check out this cool sight that just went up in San Diego’s Gaslamp, right next to the trolley station and Tin Fish restaurant! A Red Bull Air Race plane appears to be flying low over downtown! I think it might buzz the nearby convention center!
This morning, when I took these photos, I spoke to friendly guys putting up some promotional banners and learned the cool “plane on a post” had just been installed. A couple cranes were nearby. It appears to be an actual plane that is flown during the Red Bull Air Race World Championship.
The next big race comes to San Diego Bay in two weeks. The best pilots in the world will fly a few feet above the water through an insane aerial obstacle course. Some years back a Red Bull Air Race was held in San Diego, and I caught some of the incredible action from a distance. All I can say is those pilots must have amazing reflexes and nerves of steel!
This unique motorsport was devised by the people at Red Bull. The planes move at high speed and are extremely maneuverable. This year the Master Class category features fourteen of the world’s top pilots.
There are eight races around the globe, mostly in cities by water, and San Diego will be the second race. I hope to catch it! If I do, I’ll post photos!
The type of cool airplane flown at a Red Bull Air Race. The upcoming aerial race will be through a unique obstacle course above San Diego Bay.San Diego Trolley leaves the Gaslamp Station and passes a new banner advertising the Red Bull Air Race in mid-April.Poster promotes the upcoming Red Bull Air Race over San Diego Bay, on April 15 and 16.It might be small, but it can turn on a dime and is super fast!One can see some of the airplane’s inner workings. There doesn’t appear to be much room in the cockpit!Now the Red Bull Air Race plane seems to be banking toward the Gaslamp! Perhaps it will fly up Fifth Avenue!
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
Monster Energy Supercross is in San Diego next weekend. Some trucks have already arrived for the event at Petco Park.
What a day! I walked like crazy! In the morning I headed down to the historic center of National City in San Diego’s South Bay. I have five blog posts coming this week about National City, featuring public art, some really cool street art, and a handsome collection of historic buildings. After my walk around National City, I took the trolley back to the 12th and Imperial station, and commenced a slow walk up the Embarcadero. I took my sweet time because the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Parade would be held farther up the Embarcadero later in the afternoon. Yes–I’m going to blog about the parade, too!
But first, here are some photos from my relaxing walk. During the winter months fewer people are about, and few boats are out on the bay. The air is a bit cooler, but the sun still likes to peek through. It’s San Diego.
The new Park 12 luxury apartment building is taking shape just east of Petco Park.Gazing down from the Harbor Drive pedestrian bridge at a long freight train and the edge of the trolley yard.If you live on the West Coast and eat bananas, they probably arrived on a Dole cargo ship at San Diego’s Tenth Avenue Marine Terminal.Engine powered articulating boom lifts in a row behind the San Diego Convention Center.The high masts of super yachts rise behind the convention center into the sky.People and birds can enjoy a view of the San Diego Bay from atop the convention center.Two basketball players and a bicyclist. It’s a fairly quiet day at Embarcadero Marina Park South.Railing creates patterns at the park’s gazebo. Picnic benches are empty this quiet winter Sunday.Pigeons on the pier are taking it easy.A fine day to bat at a ball.Or to catch a wayward ball.Or to just walk along.Or dangle.Visitors to San Diego check out a map of the Embarcadero.These guys must own a boat docked at the Marriott Marina.A couple enjoys outdoor conversation at Seaport Village’s San Pasqual Wine Tasting Room.Member of the Cat-illacs band chats with folks at Seaport Village’s East Plaza Gazebo.Colorful but weathered picnic table at Embarcadero Marina Park North is the remnant of public art from years ago.Several years ago–I forget how long exactly–the picnic benches near the water at Embarcadero Marina Park North were all decorated with colorful tile artwork. This is all that now remains.A quiet day on the bay. A good time to meditate, relax.Just kicking back.
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
A strange liquid falls from the sky in San Diego. What is it?
Umbrellas! In San Diego! My eyes must be deceiving me!
Who said it never rains in Southern California? Whoever that was, they must not have been downtown this morning!
It’s only water. Perhaps those of us who live in sunny San Diego can cope. Most of these smart convention center visitors brought umbrellas!Honest-to-goodness rain has returned this winter, hopefully putting an end to our ongoing drought.Umbrellas have sprouted like colorful flowers in the rain!
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
This is one of the Batmobiles used in the filming of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. It’s on display across Harbor Drive from the convention center at 2016 San Diego Comic-Con.
Here comes yet another batch of cool photos!
2016 San Diego Comic-Con begins tomorrow, and I walked today–Wednesday–all over downtown to see what is rising outside for San Diego’s internationally famous pop culture event!
The answer: tons of cool stuff is popping up!
You might notice in some photos that many fans have arrived in San Diego already. Tonight is Preview Night inside the convention center. And tonight is also the world premiere of Star Trek Beyond, outside beside the water behind the convention center!
(To any of my blog’s readers who aren’t really into Comic-Con, hang on for a few more days! After Sunday, it’s on to other cool sights around San Diego! And as usual, I mostly don’t know what those sights will be! Walking randomly about results in many unexpected adventures!)
Conan O’Brien’s talk show is in San Diego for Comic-Con again. It starts tonight!Hundreds of people were in line early Wednesday morning to watch Conan perform at the Spreckels Theater.Most downtown businesses are now ready for Comic-Con fans. Here’s a window painting of Harley Quinn I spotted at Lolita’s near Petco Park.Various double-decker buses are going around decorated with big flashy wraps. This one promotes Impractical Jokers on the truTV channel.The Interactive Zone at Petco Park was still a work in progress on Wednesday–one day before the official start of 2016 San Diego Comic-Con.These rustic buildings in the Interactive Zone promote Ash vs Evil Dead on STARZ. I was impressed at how detailed and elaborate they appear!Another photo of the Ash vs Evil Dead setting in the 2016 San Diego Comic-Con Interactive Zone at Petco Park.These crane operators were putting up a gruesome banner next to the Suicide Squad movie venue, which remains unseen behind a wall at the Hard Rock Hotel.In the Gaslamp Quarter, Rock The Vote is encouraging people to register. Who would you prefer for president–Snoopy or Charlie Brown?A guy presses Wonder Woman’s feet to the window of a yogurt shop.Perhaps real superheroes will eat this week at Kansas City Barbeque, where scenes from the movie Top Gun were filmed.The Chuck Jones Gallery in the Gaslamp scored some big guests! Stan Lee and William Shatner!Two of the Powerpuff Girls were hovering mid-afternoon above the water at Children’s Park.Looks like a school bus pulled into San Diego from South Park, Colorado. I think I recognize some faces.These smiling ladies were out on the MLK Promenade promoting Hello Kitty!The video screen near the Tin Fish and the center of Comic-Con outdoor action is now operating.Here’s another look at the Batmobile on display near the Omni Hotel. It’s one of several that were used in the filming of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.Okay, I headed over the Harbor Drive pedestrian bridge and now I’m near the Bayfront Hilton.A number of promotional signs are arranged along the walkway where thousands of Comic-Con fans will pass in the next four days.FX is present again in 2016 with their show Sex and Drugs and Rock and Roll. This is as close as I could approach the big red electric guitar.A huge stage is being built in the park behind the San Diego Convention Center, right in front of the Bayfront Hilton.Looks like IMDb is hosting a Comic-Con party on this big mega yacht behind the convention center!Not much cosplay spotted today, but I did catch a guy with Captain America’s shield waiting in line for some soft serve ice cream!The huge event today, Wednesday, is the world premiere of Star Trek Beyond. It’s taking place tonight right here in San Diego at Embarcadero Marina Park South.Looks like the red carpet was almost ready this afternoon for the world premiere of Star Trek Beyond!I assume this is just some boat owner having fun. I took this photo walking along the Marriott Marina.Entertainment Weekly will debut their unique Con-X tomorrow at Embarcadero Marina Park North. It’s billed as a place for Comic-Con goers to just chill and relax.Looks like Con-X has some huge comic book artist and animation guests. I see Jim Lee and Paul Dini! (Click to enlarge.)This blue guy made of Legos is sitting on a bench inside Con-X. I also spotted the back of a huge Jabba the Hutt sculpture. Wish I could’ve entered the event area. Looks cool!Is it Fire Lad of the Legion of Substitute Superheroes? No. It’s Murrugan the Mystic performing at Seaport Village. That flame is coming from his mouth! You might remember him on AMC’s Freakshow. He’s working to keep the carnival sideshow–an important part of Americana–alive.
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
The Statue of Liberty has become a vampire. Either that, or it’s not feeling very well. The Strain building wrap on the Hilton San Diego Bayfront appears more than halfway finished.
What new stuff is being prepared for 2016 San Diego Comic-Con?
Today, like yesterday, I circled all over the downtown and managed to capture a few fun photos that should give Comic-Con fans a little more insight into what’s coming up! Watch out for diseased vampires and aliens! Read the captions!
It’s a good thing these canopies are being erected today for 2016 San Diego Comic-Con and its long lines, because the weather is supposed to warm up a bit later this week.The Conan Live From Comic-Con wrap on the Marriott Marquis hotel is just about done. I’ve seen no graphics yet on Petco Park, the Hard Rock Hotel, or elsewhere.What I referred to as a stage under construction in yesterday’s blog post is actually a small enclosed structure for Amazon’s Thunderbirds Are Go.Private businesses and gathering spots around downtown are just starting to prepare for Comic-Con. I see Fat Man is going to do some standup comedy about Batman.This merchant in the Gaslamp Quarter is betting lots of Comic-Con fans will be on Team Wonder Woman.Good grief! Even a clear skin concoction vendor in the Horton Plaza shopping mall is ready for Comic-Con customers!Lastly, I spotted a very cool venue going up where the Assassin’s Creed obstacle course was the last couple years. This is going to be South Park 20 Interactive Fan Experience! Looks to me like it’s going to be epic!Spread all over the grass, and stacked in crates, an absolutely huge amount of fun artwork is waiting to be installed at the South Park 20 Interactive Fan Experience. A large backdrop is being assembled by workers this very moment.I’ve spotted an alien among those idyllic Rocky Mountain pine trees in South Park!
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
You can explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on my blog’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There are thousands upon thousands of unique photos (including many that concern past and present Comic-Cons) for you to enjoy!
A cool Conan O’Brien building wrap is going up on the Marriott Marquis for 2016 San Diego Comic-Con, even as the MLB All-Star Game wrap hasn’t been completely removed!
Preparation in downtown San Diego for 2016 Comic-Con has finally begun in earnest today, now that the MLB All-Star Game has concluded. Late this morning I walked all over the place–through the Gaslamp, behind the convention center, down the MLK Promenade, around Petco Park–just to see what might have popped up so far.
Talking to some people, I learned a little bit about what we’ll see outside 2016 San Diego Comic-Con! I learned that Timeless and Thunderbirds Are Go will be a center of attention. So will virtual reality, sponsored by Amazon. And I could see the huge presence of Conan O’Brien with my own eyes!
Of course, the massive undertaking required to prepare for San Diego Comic-Con has barely gotten started. Many more wraps and outdoor activities should begin popping up in the days ahead. I’ll keep a sharp lookout!
Read the photo captions, where I describe what I learned about a couple of venues being built outside Comic-Con…
Next to the Tin Fish, directly across from the convention center, an attraction is being built for 2016 San Diego Comic-Con. This will promote the upcoming NBC television series Timeless. It appears to be a huge time machine!It appears to me Comic-Con fans will be able to take a wild spin in a time machine in this Timeless amusement ride.Beyond the construction, I spotted this year’s big new Funko Pop! Conan O’Brien building wrap.Several banners along the trolley tracks promote the newest season of Game of Thrones.Banners along Martin Luther King Jr. Promenade promote Outcast on Cinemax and Vice Principals on HBO.I learned this venue along Martin Luther King Jr. Promenade will have something to do with Amazon’s digital exclusive reboot of an old favorite, Thunderbirds Are Go!Workers get the Thunderbirds Are Go stage ready across Harbor Drive from the San Diego Convention Center.I was told this Amazon pavilion will be the scene of a virtual reality activity. I’m guessing lots of Comic-Con fans will be bumping around inside wearing VR headsets.Like last year, the Hilton San Diego Bayfront will feature a huge The Strain building wrap. This one already looks spooky, even through it’s far from completed.Preparations for 2016 San Diego Comic-Con have finally begun in earnest, now that the MLB All-Star Game has wrapped up!
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
A huge MLB All-Star Game building wrap has appeared on the Marriott Marquis hotel in downtown San Diego! Promoted is the sports talk show on FS1 called Speak For Yourself, with Colin Cowherd and Jason Whitlock.
Preparation for the Major League All-Star Game in San Diego is picking up steam around Petco Park. I was excited during my walk around downtown to see a brand new building wrap on the Marriott Marquis waterfront hotel. It must have gone up almost overnight! It promotes a talk show on FS1 called Speak For Yourself, with Colin Cowherd and Jason Whitlock. As I walked around Petco Park and around the San Diego Convention Center, I spotted a number of other cool sights! Check them out!
Major League Baseball All-Star Game banners line Harbor Drive, near Petco Park. These now appear all over downtown San Diego, temporarily replacing the Doctor Strange Comic-Con banners.All-Star Game sign not far from the grass where a special MLB outdoor event will begin Thursday, called PLAY BALL PARK. The multi-day event will entice youth to have fun playing baseball. Inside the Hilton San Diego Bayfront is the Fox Sports Grill, which should also be a hub of activity during All-Star Game weekend.Another photo of the huge Speak For Yourself building wrap on the Marriott Marquis, just beyond the San Diego Convention Center with its blue umbrellas.MLB All-Star Summer banners along the Martin Luther King Jr. Promenade and the Green Line of the San Diego Trolley. The big game is Tuesday, July 12, on FOX, but there will be many other cool events all weekend leading up to the big game.Here’s a banner in the Gaslamp Quarter that advertises the All-Star Red Carpet Show! I’ll be there and share photos if I’m lucky!A bonus pic. Padres faithful hope to sweep the Yankees today. This is my first photo of the outside of the new Padres Hall of Fame, which plays tribute to Padres history and its most notable players.And one more bonus pic from today’s walk! An MCRD San Diego drill instructor keeps a steady eye on new Marine Corps recruits filing in to watch a Sunday Padres game, a proud tradition San Diego.The countdown clock in back of the Padres scoreboard keeps on ticking down the seconds. It’s now only 9 days until the Major League Baseball All-Star Game!
UPDATE!
Here are two pics I took on July 7 . . .
All-Star Game sign above the entrance to San Diego’s historic Santa Fe Depot.A large banner on the San Diego County Administration Building celebrates All-Star Week in 2016.
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
Stay tuned for fun photos of All-Star Game events, then of San Diego Comic-Con the following week!
Pop culture fans at Preview Night were checking out an old school Batman. Pow!
Without further ado, here comes a second batch of cool photos taken during Preview Night at 2015 San Diego Comic-Con. Enjoy!
Cool graphics promoting upcoming movie Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice at 2015 San Diego Comic-Con.Super awesome suits of armor at the fantastic Weta Workshop exhibit.Flaming Balrog figurine from the Lord of the Rings trilogy.Model of Chappie, from the recent science fiction film.Super Mario and other video game characters have a big presence at 2015 San Diego Comic-Con.Everyone was snapping photos of this ultra cool Superman Hot Wheels car!And here’s another cool Hot Wheels car modeled after a Star Wars stormtrooper helmet.Awesome Star Lord costume and helmet from Guardians of the Galaxy!I believe this prop is used in the upcoming Ghostbusters sequel.Smaller, independent comic book publishers are out in force at San Diego Comic-Con, promoting their brands and original characters.Clive Barker is back at Comic-Con this year with more of his horror-themed artwork.IDW, a comic book publisher right here in San Diego, has their titles on display including Back to the Future.Zombies and the dead are still in fashion. Here are buckets of bloody bones and other gruesome body parts.It’s the Legend of Zelda!Super cool model of Star Wars snowtroopers in an ice cave.Nerds like sexy stuff, it seems! These female stormtroopers are being a bit risque.And, of course, we nerds love straight up, good old-fashioned comic book action figures.A big Captain Marvel graphic next to an exhibit that promotes Ant-Man, which comes out in a couple weeks. I’m stoked!I see good old Charlie Brown. The classics live on!The DC Comics area is similar to last year, but with lots of new stuff.Costume worn by the Reverse Flash on the CW television show.DC’s big three superheroes on display on the San Diego Convention Center floor: Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman.Alfred E. Neuman looks down on huge crowds pressing through hundreds of cool Comic-Con exhibits.Alfred E. Neuman encourages everyone to take a stupid selfie!Some of the models at Comic-Con are so detailed and amazing it almost blows the mind.Just a random pic of something I liked walking down one aisle.Cool t-shirts and merchandise is everywhere. If I had a million dollars in my pocket, it wouldn’t have been enough.More colorful comic book art on a table.Some psychedelic artwork seems to glow in the dim light of the convention center.Sinister face on large ComicBase software graphic seems to be looking down at an exhibitor as he ties his shoelace!There are boxes and boxes and more boxes of comic books, naturally!If you have 40 grand to spare, you can grab this issue of Marvel Comics.Monsters and villains easily outnumber heroes and cute characters. As they say, the bad guys often seem to be more interesting.Here’s a big Wonder Woman poster. Almost nine o’clock and time to walk home. It’s quite nice to live downtown!Bob the Angry Flower wasn’t too miffed to be captivated by a comic book.
Cool San Diego Sights! 