A human connected to technology in this new public art mural. Park it, charge it! The seven-story parking garage is located at 707 Broadway. This photo was taken from 7th Avenue.
During a walk several days ago my eyes lifted with surprise at a very cool new sight. An absolutely gigantic mural has appeared downtown, on the seven-story parking garage located at 707 Broadway!
A quick internet search revealed the identity of the creative person behind this public artwork. Christopher Konecki of Cohort Collective is a self-taught spray paint artist whose work can be seen elsewhere in San Diego, including nearby at SILO in Maker’s Quarter. This particular piece, which was finished a couple weeks ago, is said to be the largest mural in San Diego. The wildly imaginative, cartoon-like design is meant to convey the intersection of evolving communication technology with art and personal human experience.
These photos proceed from the west side of the parking garage, to the north, and finally to the east. You can see just how colorful and amazing this art is!
The huge cool mural wraps around the parking garage. I see a hot air balloon, phonograph, radio tower, satellite and various buildings, all interconnected like a circuit.The artwork engages the eyes and mind with its detailed composition. Two clusters in the image are connected by the Coronado Bay Bridge.Moving around toward the brightly sunlit east side and 8th Avenue. The high mural is viewed beyond some trees.The parking garage adds its color to the adjacent building’s futuristic graphic, at 707 Broadway in downtown San Diego.And finally we are on the east side of the parking garage. Very cool!
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Photo of guy surfing near the pilings of the awesome Ocean Beach Municipal Pier.
The Ocean Beach pier is one of my favorite, favorite places in all of San Diego. Why? Check out these photos!
The beach near the foot of the OB pier is a favorite place in San Diego for tourists and locals alike.Climbing up to the high pier from the beach boardwalk below. This is almost like a stairway to heaven!Guy at top of the steps looks down to greet surfer on the sand below!Loads of surfers are out on the Pacific Ocean on this perfect late summer day. The water is warm and the waves have nice form.Looking down the Ocean Beach Municipal Pier, my own favorite pier in San Diego. It’s long and always jammed with cool sights!Kids gaze over the rail at surfers directly below. The action is amazing today!Two surfers wait for a good wave.This guy caught one, and is riding it in toward the shore, just south of the pier. That low wall you see on the right belonged to the long-defunct saltwater Plunge.Pick a wave any wave! The OB vibe is laid-back and life-loving!Photo of someone on the foaming crest of a curler.Two surfers share a wave side-by-side. They went completely under the pier and came out the other side!This surf dude caught himself a sweet liquid ride!While surfers catch cool waves, people farther down the OB pier try to catch some big fish!These fishermen at the t-shaped end of the pier are trying to catch bass, bonito, mackerel, or just about anything that bites!When you stand at the very end of the Ocean Beach pier, you feel like you’re far out on the ocean. I love it!Someone’s got something big on their line! A kid leans way over the rail to see!He’s got a nicely sized bonito! Everyone likes catching this active fish closely related to the tuna. It puts up a good fight!And these guys caught a really big Calico bass! The fish are definitely biting today!
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The Ocean Beach Municipal Pier was the place to eat an awesome pancake breakfast this morning!
This morning a very cool local event took place. The annual Ocean Beach Pier Pancake Breakfast was held near the end of the long OB pier!
Proceeds from the breakfast are used to fund the OB Food and Toy Drive, which benefits many families in the beach community who could use a helping hand. This tasty event is put on each year by the Ocean Beach Town Council!
Enjoy a few photos!
The Annual Ocean Beach Pier Pancake Breakfast raised funds for the Ocean Beach Christmas Food and Toy Drive.The Ocean Beach Town Council puts on the cool event. Some people bought tickets at the foot of the pier from Team Pancake members!Here comes the OB Pier Pancake Breakfast Shuttle!A long line of hungry folks waits near the much-beloved Ocean Beach pier cafe, which has been a cool place to go for many years.Various tables in front of the WOW Cafe had sumptuous, mouth-watering goodies ready to eat.A few people were lucky to enjoy breakfast right at the edge of the pier. This might be one of the most scenic dining spots in San Diego!These hungry guys have their hands full of super yummy pancakes, eggs and sausage!There was even live music just outside the pier’s unique cafe high over the Pacific Ocean.Tables were arranged near the end of the pier for the special, super popular annual event.I tried not to stare drooling at the food as I walked nonchalantly by.Speaker of the California State Assembly Toni Atkins is a powerful politician, but she’s addressing a Queen! Toni said she’s happy to be back in San Diego, where it’s cooler than Sacramento.Unfortunately, I had already eaten breakfast. Looks delicious!
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Morning photo of the new Fault Line Park in San Diego’s East Village. The Central Library’s dome is visible in the background.
An incredibly cool new public park opened in East Village a couple weeks ago. It’s called Fault Line Park, and is located south of Island Avenue between 14th and 15th Street. The park is situated directly above a shallow rupture of the Rose Canyon Fault System, which stretches through downtown San Diego.
In addition to a children’s playground and places to sit and walk, the 1.3 acre Fault Line Park contains a really unique feature. A public art installation, titled Fault Whisper, by artist Po Shu Wang of Living Lenses, allows visitors to monitor our active planet. Large, shining spheres stand on either side of the fault line. At the west sphere, curious ears can listen to the Earth’s subterranean movements, which are recorded by a seismometer embedded below in the actual fault! They can also look through an eyepiece toward the opposite sphere, to see whether the Earth has shifted!
What brilliant, interesting artwork!
Even though I listened intently, I couldn’t hear the Earth whispering early this morning when I took these pics. Perhaps old Mother Earth was still sleeping!
This line marks where a part of the Rose Canyon Fault System has ruptured, just 14 feet below the surface. According to geologists, there’s no great earthquake danger here.Photographer records cool reflections in one of the large stainless steel spheres in Fault Line Park.Plaque describes Fault Whisper public art, created by Po Shu Wang in 2014. Two spheres stand on either side of the fault line. From one you can listen to the Earth and monitor movement.Here’s the opening where you can press your ear to listen. There’s a speaker just inside. The Earth’s movements are translated into musical notes.Looking through eyepiece at the opposing sphere. If the Pacific and North American tectonic plates have shifted since the art’s installation, it isn’t very noticeable.Stella Public House restaurant in East Village is located right next to the cool new Fault Line Park.If Stella Public House is as awesome as the super friendly employee I met, you’d better head over there at once!View of Fault Line Park in East Village from outdoor patio shared by Stella Public House and Halcyon coffeehouse and cocktail lounge.
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The Loading Dock is a large public mural painted by Linda Churchill of Muralizing. It’s located on the west side of the Ace Hardware building in Hillcrest.
Check out this public art! You can find it a few steps south of University Avenue on 10th Avenue, in Hillcrest. The large mural enlivens the Ace Hardware store building and is a cool sight for those passing by. It was painted by local artist Linda Churchill, whose work can be seen around San Diego. According to one article I found on the internet, “The Loading Dock” received an Orchid Award from the San Diego Architectural Foundation.
The Loading Dock, dedicated 1998 to the Community of Hillcrest by Joe Jeter, Bruce Reeves, Hillcrest Ace Hardware. Building our community one home at a time. Linda Churchill, muralist.The cool, nostalgic trompe l’oeil painting depicts an old-fashioned hardware store loading dock, complete with realistic Ace Stores delivery truck.This image of yesteryear appears to include some modern hardware store products, including shiny new garbage cans and a nice big barbecue grill.Two helpful Ace Hardware employees seem to have emerged from the past to welcome neighbors and shoppers who walk down the sidewalk in art-filled Hillcrest.
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Conceptual art displayed by County of San Diego Supervisor Ron Roberts at CityFest shows proposed aerial skyway from downtown to Balboa Park.
I just got back from walking through CityFest in Hillcrest. Lots of cool pics are coming! But first, I saw some conceptual artwork being displayed by San Diego County Supervisor Ron Roberts that has renewed my enthusiasm for a proposed transportation project.
The proposal, which I read about months ago, is for an aerial tramway, or skyway, which would connect downtown San Diego to Balboa Park. It’s an idea that’s both visionary and practical!
San Diego is an extremely popular tourist destination. There are many great things to see, including beautiful, amazing, enormous Balboa Park. Balboa Park, over a mile (to its center) from downtown, is often said to be one of the two best urban parks in America, along with New York City’s Central Park. But there’s one problem. If you don’t have a rental car, you must reach it on foot, by rented bicycle, taxi, or by city or tour bus. For some tourists this might be impractical, too time consuming, or unappealing. A skyway linking downtown’s many hotels, attractions and convenient trolley network to Balboa Park, I believe, would be wildly successful.
Can you imagine all the folks who work in offices downtown, easily heading up to Balboa Park during lunchtime? Can you imagine how visually unique and appealing such a project, tastefully designed, might be? Forget a Ferris wheel or tower on the waterfront, I say. That’s been done elsewhere. Let’s create something that’s both fun and extremely useful!
Living atop Cortez Hill, directly between downtown and Balboa Park, I can’t tell you how often I’ve given directions to lost San Diego visitors. They drive north only to reach a dead end at Tweet Street Park. They have to navigate confusing one way streets to find their way across Interstate 5, then figure out how to enter Balboa Park and locate a parking place. An aerial tram would help solve that problem, as well!
According to some literature I picked up from Ron Roberts, the San Diego Bay to Balboa Park Skyway, powered by a 500 horsepower electric engine, could carry up to 2400 people per hour.
The views of downtown, San Diego Bay and Balboa Park would be breathtaking. The ride itself would almost certainly become one of San Diego’s top tourist attractions.
From what I’ve heard so far, the idea is awesome!
The cool San Diego Bay to Balboa Park Skyway would travel from the Gaslamp up Sixth Avenue, covering two miles in 12 minutes.
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Cool neon sign in shop window of Centre City Sports Collectibles.
Over time I’ve collected these photos. They’re just of colorful neon words that brighten downtown San Diego. I spot all sorts of neon signs during my walks, sometimes in daylight, sometimes at night. Glowing advertisements in windows, on building walls and marquees add life and character to the streets of any city. San Diego is no exception.
Neon words above downtown San Diego cafe door read Pastries Espresso Cappuccino.Patterned neon adds pizzazz to marquee of Ghirardelli Ice Cream and Chocolate Shop on Fifth Avenue.Bub’s near Petco Park has its brilliant red name in this window.Neon in the distinctive Gaslamp Quarter landmark sign, which is instantly recognized by both locals and tourists.Classic neon signage is often seen in pawn shop windows.The Golden West Hotel near Horton Plaza has a flashy neon sign above its main entrance.Glowing neon Bail Bonds advertisement at this open-all-night Inmate Information Center.Off the Wall Tattoos has an “in the window” neon sign.Lots of super colorful neon at the San Diego Bike Shop on C Street.Neon words and their reflections broken up by a security grill in front of one store.Great Wall Express located on Broadway downtown has yummy Louisiana Fried Chicken, as you can see! (Admittedly, I eat too much of it.)Lucky’s Lunch Counter has a unique sign that really stands out.Crab Hut invites hungry passersby with its neon logo.Eye-catching neon sign informs everyone that pizza, chicken wings and sandwiches are on the menu.An awesome ice cream cone creatively rendered using neon. Okay, I suppose this doesn’t count as a word.These words instantly got my attention! I hope I have room after all that fried chicken!
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The Sheldon House is a very cool sight at the corner of 13th and Island in San Diego’s East Village.
Like most cities, San Diego has its share of cool old houses. Here’s an example of one that’s located in downtown’s East Village neighborhood.
Standing at the corner of 13th Street and Island, the 1886 Sheldon House was designed by the famous architects Comstock and Trotsche, and is an amazing example of the flamboyant Queen Anne style. The grand, extravagant Victorian mansion was built for Dr. F. C. Sheldon and his family, and included a multiple-gabled roof, a large, elegant front porch, and stained glass features in every window. Unfortunately, the doctor died soon after the mansion’s construction. To support the large surviving family, his wife converted the home into a successful boarding house.
Lots of decorative details include an elaborate porch and stained glass crowning every window.View of the sunlit Sheldon House from the east. A skeleton stands in one window!The 19th century Victorian mansion seen from the north, with modern residential buildings behind.
UPDATE!
Years later, I noticed this old photograph projected on a wall at the San Diego History Center. It is of the Sheldon Residence being moved by the Palmer Brother House Movers from 11th and D Streets to Island Street in 1913…
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Old poster highlights points of interest reached by past San Diego streetcar and railroad lines. Depicted are orange groves, Mexican bullfighting, an ocean liner and Balboa Park.
When I catch the trolley at downtown San Diego’s Santa Fe Depot, I often walk through an outdoor passageway that separates the hundred year old train station’s enormous waiting room from it’s original baggage terminal. The latter building was converted years ago into an interesting space used by the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego (MCASD).
Recently, while strolling through the passageway, I paused to examine three eye-catching graphics created by the museum to promote one of its current exhibitions. Two of the images incorporate old train posters from San Diego history, which I find to be very cool. I thought you might enjoy a look!
MCASD’s exhibition titled “John D. Spreckels and The Impossible Railroad” concerns a railway project undertaken a century ago by one of San Diego’s most prominent entrepreneurs and benefactors. Perhaps Spreckels’ greatest accomplishment was to complete the logistically difficult San Diego & Arizona Railroad, our nation’s southernmost transcontinental railroad route. I haven’t visited the exhibition, but according to what I’ve read it utilizes interesting visual devices to demonstrate the near impossibility of building Spreckels’ railroad, which had to wind around and over deep mountain gorges. (Spreckels was also responsible for a large network of electric streetcars which traversed San Diego decades before our modern day trolleys.)
Outdoor passage between the Santa Fe Depot and the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego’s downtown Jacobs Building, which years ago was the train station’s baggage terminal.John D. Spreckels and the Impossible Railroad is one of the current art exhibitions at MCASD. These interesting promotional graphics also incorporate historical newspaper articles.Old advertisement for the San Diego and Arizona Railway, called the Carriso Gorge Route, which included possible destinations Chicago, New Orleans, Kansas City, El Paso, San Diego.
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Camera aims toward surfing action from the Oceanside Pier during 2015 Supergirl Pro World Surf League (WSL) competition.
Here’s my second blog post about yesterday’s huge Supergirl Pro event near the Oceanside Pier. If you haven’t already, check out these super cool photos of the surfing action which I posted last night!
The 2015 Supergirl Pro was a three day event with a record 108 female surfing contestants. It’s the largest professional women’s surfing competition in the world. But it’s also a big fun festival celebrating women who participate in extreme sports. Amazing young women were skateboarding on a halfpipe, and visitors could learn about snowboarding. There was also a beauty contest, and the crowd along Oceanside Beach had plenty of cool sights, sounds, delicious food and fun.
Enjoy some photos…
Spectators filled the beach, boardwalk and Oceanside Pier as people enjoyed many cool things to see at Supergirl Pro.The annual female sports festival included high flying girls skateboarding a big halfpipe.Three day surf competition schedule on a sign near the pier. I viewed the Quarterfinals on Sunday.People watch an athlete defy gravity on the halfpipe at 2015 Supergirl Pro!Unlike surfers in the ocean, should a skateboarder fall off their board, there’s no soft landing!Young girl watches female skating athlete complete a trick at Supergirl Pro. Perhaps what she sees will provide her with inspiration.Just walking along the huge event venue, checking out interesting sponsors, vendors, food, and fun surf-related stuff.The Surf Diva has a big pink canopy on the sand!A couple of lifeguards watch the huge crowd from their tower on Oceanside’s always popular beach.Some surf graphics on a banner hung beneath the Oceanside Pier.Youth and a surfboard just north of the pier. It’s another perfect sunny weekend in Southern California.Someone walks past the Supergirl Pro staging tent, where contestants assemble and get ready to compete.Colorful umbrellas and waders in the water can be seen for miles south along the coast, all the way through Carlsbad.Folks in the shade of beach umbrellas look toward the surf, where dueling Supergirls are performing astonishing feats during 25 minute heats.And hundreds are watching from up on the pier, as well.Amazing action like this took place for three straight days. The event is all about female strength and empowerment.Walking farther out on Oceanside Pier to get closer to the powerful Pacific Ocean breakers.Guys on the other side of the pier seem more interested in fishing.Now this person had the best view of all. A paraglider soars quietly above!Eyes are fixed on the water below.This year’s 2015 Supergirl Pro winner, Tatiana Weston-Webb of Hawaii, rides a wave during the Quarterfinals.When the competitors return to shore, a crowd forms around them for a post-heat interview, photos and autographs.I see a pink Supergirl cape on one superheroic surfing celebrity! The event is in part sponsored by DC Comics, where the fictional character was born.Just kicking back and taking in all the cool World Surf League action.As I walk back down the pier, ready to go home, I hear something’s going on at the outdoor Junior Seau Pier Amphitheatre.It’s an announcement of this year’s winner of the beautiful woman contest. Supergirl Pro’s main sponsor is Paul Mitchell, maker of beauty products.Blogging about an awesome surf event requires a photo of someone walking along with a surfboard on their head!
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Cool San Diego Sights! 