Can seaweed be beautiful? It definitely is in an exhibit now on display on the first floor of San Diego’s Central Library!
The Curious World of Seaweed explores the science and historical importance of seaweeds, algae and kelp, and does so using fantastic images, such as the ones you see in my photographs.
Indigenous peoples have utilized seaweed for thousands of years. Taking various parts of certain seaweeds, they would create fishing lines, containers for water and funnels for fish traps. Edible seaweeds were commonly used for food–as they are today! Sushi anybody?
In modern times, the thousands of species of algae and seaweeds have been studied and more completely understood. These living organisms sustain ocean biodiversity and are an important part of our planet’s ecology.
The extensive exhibit is based on the research, photography and writings of Josie Iselin. Her latest book is also titled The Curious World of Seaweed.
As explained here, Iselin’s writing and art focusing on seaweed, kelp and sea otter puts her on the forefront of ocean activism, presenting and working with scientists and environmental groups working to preserve the kelp forests of our Pacific Coast.
There’s much to learn when viewing this exhibit, but what struck me most was the exquisite beauty and complexity of the different colored seaweeds. You’ll enjoy viewing the illustrations, photographs and works of art.
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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.
Russell from movie Up cosplay in the Central Library’s special Cosplay Repair Station.
Are you attending Comic-Con 2024 in San Diego? Is your cosplay costume sadly torn, falling apart, or in need of repair? Head a few blocks over from the convention center to the San Diego Central Library–you know the building with the big metal lattice dome!
On the fourth floor of the Central Library you’ll find the Cosplay Repair Station. They have everything you could conceivably need. Sewing machines, tools, tape, different glues and adhesives, you name it!
I swung by the library today to take a peek inside…
You can even make your own cosplay repair kit and take it with you!
You can make buttons, too!
Got some swag you don’t like? Swap it for something better!
The Cosplay Repair Station is open during San Diego Comic-Con on Friday and Saturday 10 am to 4 pm, and Sunday from 1 to 4 pm.
And what’s more–down in the Central Library lobby, at the used book store, there are comics to buy for only a buck each!
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If you’d like to view my coverage of Comic-Con so far, which includes hundreds of cool photographs, click here!
Every year at San Diego Comic-Con the Petco Park Interactive Zone offers lots of free family fun. In 2024, if you like being creative, playing games, winning prizes, getting free stuff, and chowing down on tasty food, there’s a lot of fun!
On Thursday I entered the zone to see what I might see. And it was hard to miss the 21 foot tall Exploding Kittens statue of Devilcat. From its feline derriere I extracted a super cool Exploding Kittens Good vs Evil party card game!
Then I checked out the Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree photo op. Something weird was hatching from an enormous egg…
Then came perhaps my favorite activation. The Sharpie Creation Station! Visitors could check out a new line of Sharpie Creative Markers by making art by the Sharpie bus. Cool!
Then I entered the Attack of the Metallic Menace, which informs people about the dangers of smoking. Check out the creature inside! I believe I remember it from last year…
The ever popular Hello Kitty Café truck is here…
And other food trucks are present, including “We Slaughter Barbecue” with its The Texas Chain Saw Massacre 50th Anniversary graphics!
There are plenty of picnic benches to sit at while eating and people/cosplay watching…
Finally, I enjoyed walking by the Game of Thrones Legends activation where there are several cool and spooky sculptures! I heard an announcement that someone playing the game was winning a prize, too!
The Petco Park Interactive Zone is located in the Lexus Premier Parking Lot adjacent to the Padres ballpark. It’s right next to the Harbor Drive pedestrian bridge.
The fun opens at 10 am each day of San Diego Comic-Con!
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
If you’d like to view my coverage of Comic-Con so far, which includes hundreds of cool photographs, click here!
The Sonic the Hedgehog Speed Café pop-up fast food restaurant has returned to San Diego for Comic-Con 2024. And they’ve opened before the convention begins!
I swung by 910 J Street today shortly after the the Speed Café opened at 11 am. Not many people were about. In a few days, during Comic-Con starting Wednesday, there will probably be a line halfway down the block–like last year!
I took these photos of the fun Sonic the Hedgehog themed interior, then ordered a milkshake and chicken sandwich (that I consumed a moment ago) from the super friendly people behind the counter.
I must admit the mocha shake and spicy fried chicken sandwich were actually really good! Better then some other fast food joints! The chicken was tasty, crispy and moist inside–yum!
When the Sonic the Hedgehog Speed Café pop-up officially opens on Wednesday, I’m told Sonic himself will be present for the kids. And, of course, there will be Sonic video games that can be freely played, too!
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
If you’d like to view my coverage of Comic-Con so far, which includes hundreds of cool photographs, click here!
It’s less than a week to go before the start of Comic-Con 2024. Preparations for the big international event in downtown San Diego have accelerated into high gear!
If you’ve been following this blog, you’ve seen a number of trolley and building wraps that are already finished or in the process of being applied. Today, however, completely new building wraps are appearing by the waterfront, and “offsite” activations have begun construction!
I walked around East Village early this morning and the Gaslamp Quarter late this afternoon. I’ve captured a number of photographs that provide a taste of the exciting pre-Comic-Con action in downtown San Diego!
Peacock’s Those About to Die Chariot Racing offsite is under construction in Gaslamp Square. It’s near the big new video board, which is showing an advertisement for the Roman gladiator series that premiered yesterday! (You can spy the growing wrap for FOX’s Animation Domination on the Omni hotel in the background.)Presumably chariots will be racing here!Here’s a relatively new trolley wrap design that I hadn’t seen until today. It promotes The Boys on Amazon Prime.The Hard Rock Hotel is being wrapped with SpongeBob graphics. I posted other photos recently.Is this Comic-Con? No, this is Patrick!Wrapping the Fifth Avenue side of the Hard Rock Hotel is now beginning in earnest.On the convention center side of the Hilton San Diego Gaslamp Quarter, a wrap goes up promoting Anne Rice’s Immortal Universe on AMC. I’ve photographed a couple of other related wraps on the hotel already–one of which you can glimpse here.I’ve spotted a couple of Comic-Con logos now on the San Diego Convention Center.On the Marriott Marquis, looks like a Star Trek wrap is going up. The thing on the left is an Esri User Conference wrap now being removed. That convention in San Diego is over.A huge wrap is also going up on the Hilton San Diego Bayfront. It will likely promote a show on FX.Advertisements posted along Fifth Avenue promote a special Comic-Con cruise!Walking Dead’s Daryl Dixon, The Book of Carol characters in the windows of the Pendry hotel.Graphic in the window of the Sonic the Hedgehog Speed Cafe pop-up. I plan to go there tomorrow!A simply painted Dungeons & Dragon 50th Anniversary expanded into this awesome mural a few days ago. It’s outside Super7.Some of the fun collectibles in BAIT in the Gaslamp Quarter. They’re going to have all sorts of activities during Comic-Con 2024!
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
If you’d like to view my coverage of Comic-Con so far, which includes hundreds of cool photographs, click here!
Dungeons and Dragons mural painted outside Super7, days before San Diego Comic-Con 2024.
With about a week and a half to go until the start of Comic-Con 2024, more and more signs are appearing around San Diego that anticipate the epic international pop culture convention!
I took these photographs this morning during a walk in downtown San Diego–through the Gaslamp Quarter, East Village and Seaport Village.
The Chuck Jones Gallery will have a pop-up in Seaport Village during Comic-Con 2024.A sneaky peek through the window of the Chuck Jones Gallery pop-up in Seaport Village.One of several cool posters inside the Gaslamp Lumpia Factory in San Diego. Offsite events will be held here during Comic-Con 2024.Deadpool holds a Comic-Con Pronto card on the big outdoor MTS video board, across from the San Diego Convention Center.Ad outside American Comedy Co. promotes Doug Loves Movies Comic-Con Edition.Marvel superheroes in the window of CVS in the Gaslamp Quarter.Fifth Avenue in the Gaslamp will be filled with fans and cosplayers during Comic-Con.The Onyx Nightclub will have a load of fun waiting during Comic-Con weekend!
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
If you’d like to view my coverage of Comic-Con so far, which includes hundreds of cool photographs, click here!
The 12th Annual East Village Block Party is being held today along several blocks of J Street, just north of Petco Park. The event, usually held on the San Diego Padres opening weekend, was originally scheduled for March 20, but rainy weather that day caused a postponement. In 2024 it’s a summer block party!
I walked along J Street late this morning to absorb some of the festive atmosphere. Many of San Diego’s other sports teams were present. There was music and art and lots of smiling Padres fans. And there was a ton of food, too!
If you read this in time, you might head down to the East Village Block Party before it ends at 4:30 pm. It takes place on J Street between 7th and 10th Avenue.
A sunny day in San Diego’s East Village.Kid has fun at San Diego Legion rugby challenge.Special shout out to the San Diego Mojo professional volleyball team. I won a cool t-shirt!One of many smiles! That Topo Chico sparkling mineral water was great!Peter Seidler in an awesome Padres baseball spray paint mural created by @dyseoneclothing, @hasler.88 and @bigchill8825.A blessed smile at the East Village Block Party in San Diego!Providing block party music!Lots of Padres merchandise could be found.Larry Turner, candidate for San Diego Mayor, smiles for a photo!More smiles!A fine Saturday in downtown 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.
A new exhibit is being readied at the San Diego Central Library. Voices on the Inside presents the written words of women who’ve been incarcerated.
The exhibit is created by Poetic Justice, an organization that provides writing workshops for women serving time in prisons and jails, including the Las Colinas Detention Facility in San Diego.
As their website explains: Poetic Justice’s in-person writing workshops are typically offered for 6-10 week sessions…the participants explore therapeutic writing prompts and community building activities. At the end of a session, the participants graduate and receive an anthology of their writing and a graduation certificate.
Many of the women share their innermost thoughts, filled with humanity and new wisdom and hope that otherwise might be ignored or dismissed. The exhibit will be filled with examples of what they’ve written.
The opening reception for Voices on the Inside will be held at San Diego Central Library on Sunday, May 5, 2024 at 2 pm. Learn more by visiting the Instagram page @capoeticjustice.
To see this new exhibit, simply walk into the Central Library and turn right when you reach the main elevators. Many faces and words await you.
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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)!
Beginning this May, everyone is invited to join free, twice-a-month art walks in downtown San Diego!
Did you know a new 1.7 mile pedestrian experience has opened called the Bay to Park Paseo? And that the Paseo boasts over a dozen new art installations?
The art-filled Bay to Park Paseo leads from the Hilton San Diego Bayfront (rising behind the San Diego Convention Center and Petco Park) and leads north up Park Boulevard–all the way to Balboa Park!
Yes!
Ready to go on a fun walking adventure?
Free public guided tours of the Bay to Park Paseo will be available starting Saturday May 4, 10:30 a.m. and will continue on the first and third Saturday through November. The tours meet in the front of the Hilton San Diego Bayfront and end in Balboa Park at Presidents Way. Put on your walking shoes!
Self-guided tours are also available at any time using the public sidewalk along Park Boulevard. One of the installations makes use of very cool augmented reality!
To learn more about the Bay to Park Paseo, click 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)!
Yesterday afternoon, a walking celebration of the new Bay to Park Paseo took place in downtown San Diego!
The inaugural walk moved north from the Hilton San Diego Bayfront hotel up Park Boulevard to Presidents Way in Balboa Park. A good crowd gathered, then followed a three-piece band and our guide, Pete Garcia of the non-profit URBAN INTERVENTIONS. Pete, holding his red umbrella, provided insights into each art installation and was joined by many of the participating designers and artists.
The Bay to Park Paseo is a walking experience that features over a dozen different temporary art installations. The Paseo leads walkers over the Harbor Drive Pedestrian Bridge, then past Petco Park, the Central Library, UC San Diego Park & Market, NewSchool of Architecture & Design, IDEA1, City College, and San Diego High School.
The idea for a pedestrian friendly corridor connecting San Diego Bay to Balboa Park actually originated in 1908. It was envisioned by John Nolen, the first American to identify exclusively as a town and city planner. San Diego’s new Bay to Park Paseo serves as a temporary prototype of what the future might hold for this corridor.
As you’ll see in the upcoming photos, some of these temporary art installations aren’t finished yet. Some also appear very different from their original conception, due to budgetary constraints.
Take a look at these colorful installations, then imagine how awesome a future Paseo with permanent public art would appear!
People gather for the inaugural walk in front of the Hilton San Diego Bayfront. The Bay to Park Paseo has been created in conjunction with San Diego/Tijuana’s selection as World Design Capital 2024.We wait for the band, which was a bit late.The first art installation is a stained glass panel in front of the Hilton San Diego Bayfront.Welcome to the start of Bay to Park Paseo! The project has a butterfly as its symbol.The beautiful stained glass panel was designed by local artist and muralist Shirish Villaseñor, who happens to also work at the Hilton! She has been working on restoring the famous murals in Chicano Park.This butterfly loosely resembles the huge Hermes Copper Butterfly that will be installed on the nearby Harbor Drive pedestrian bridge.Pete Garcia welcomes the excited walkers.Here we go!I learned some of the band members participated in artist James Hubbell’s Friendship Walk on Shelter Island, which you might recall seeing on Cool San Diego Sights.You can see part of pre-existing Wind Palms public art in the background. The San Diego Convention Center appears on the right.Starting across the Harbor Drive Pedestrian Bridge.A designer from Safdie Rabines Architects (who designed this bridge and many other structures in San Diego) describes how a huge Hermes Copper Butterfly will decorate the Harbor Drive Pedestrian Bridge. The landmark public art will remain on the bridge for five years. Small dangling tiles will compose the butterfly, which should move with the wind.Once the butterfly appears, you can bet I’ll take photos!Resuming our walk over the bridge.Walking past Petco Park.Overcast this Spring day, but no rain during the walk.That big square “hole” across the street at Park 12 will contain colorful string-like artwork by acclaimed artist Inés Esnal. You can see the unrelated Growing Home public art seashell on the left.Now we’re approaching the Connector Block 1 installation.Colorful pallets and desert cacti and succulents!Stay and Play is the title of this fun, colorful sidewalk installation.Stay and Play and SMILE!Walking north to San Diego’s iconic Central Library.We gather in front of the Central Library where the Before There Were Borders installation provides a unique augmented reality experience on passersby’s phones.I already blogged about Before There Were Borders. Check that out here.North we go again!We’ve arrived at Connector Blocks 2 and 3. This fun installation, called Walk and Learn, allows people to view historical photographs from downtown San Diego.Spin the dial on a huge “viewmaster” to discover the liveliness of our city’s streets and sidewalks from the past.I see East Village’s very cool Crushing It street mural in the background!Moving along up the new Bay to Park Paseo.Passing the Park & Market trolley station, which already contains artistic elements like curvy benches.Members of the UC San Diego Design Lab pose for a quick photo!What Does Home Mean to You? is the thought-provoking installation at the UC San Diego Park and Market building. I posted a blog concerning it here. One of the three “silhouettes” has appeared. Pushing a button activates an audio recording. A homeless person tells of the hardships she has encountered.UCSD students who contributed to the installation’s design are acknowledged.Here comes the Memories at Midpoint installation. I saw them putting up the artwork and posted photos here.Our walking group has arrived in front of the NewSchool of Architecture & Design.We learn about this fun, surprising installation.What’s inside these colorful mailboxes?Some surprising discoveries!This is fun! What’s next?Along the trolley tracks we go…This cool artwork is next!This installation is called The Desert Super Bloom. It’s in front of IDEA1. There will be three such colorful clusters–two are completed.I love it!Kids painted those tall poles. I see, in the photo’s background, The Strength of Women mural by Rafael Lopez.Walking up toward the City College trolley station.Local artist Armando De La Torre poses for a photo in front of his Along the Blue Line installation before the crowd of walkers arrives! He wants his art to connect with ordinary people.Read more about this installation on a construction fence here. We also learned about artwork in the windows of the nearby Smart Corner building. That installation, called Reading Between the Lines, is best seen at night.Here we are moving right along past the City College trolley station and the Smart Corner building that rises above it.We’ve arrived at the corner of San Diego City College. The originally intended bench installation has to be changed. Now banners proclaim I Have a Dream. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s famous words are perfect at a diverse college where there are many dreams.A dream in beautiful San Diego.I’ve blogged a couple times about the sinuous, wavelike JOURNEYworm in front of San Diego High School. Delicate black mosquito netting was replaced by stronger plastic safety fencing because of destructive winter storms. The bright orange definitely attracts the attention of students and others passing by!The inaugural walk up the Bay to Park Paseo is approaching the finish line. There is one more art installation to check out.Multiple panels along the sides of the Park Boulevard bridge over Interstate 5 aren’t ready yet. But we saw the representation of one mural. It’s a palm tree! The images will be reflective of San Diego’s beautiful Balboa Park.1.7 miles of walking nearly completed!You can see downtown’s Cortez Hill neighborhood in the distance. That’s where I live!The Bay to Park Paseo walkers pose for a concluding photograph in Balboa Park! Why don’t YOU take a walk up the art-filled Paseo? It’s fun!
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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)!
Cool San Diego Sights! 