Something cool has sprung up at the center of Balboa Park’s theater complex.
Look what I spied today during my walk through Balboa Park! Some people were milling around an interesting work of interactive art in front of the Old Globe, and I had to check it out. Turns out I had stumbled upon The Journey, some fun outdoor artwork created by Dan Reeves. The Journey is inspired by the Old Globe Theatre’s production of Steve Martin’s play Picasso at the Lapin Agile.
I learned this is a section of a larger torus that will appear at the next Burning Man. The Journey is a mortise and tenon structure made of wood, which produces a unique lighting and audio experience best seen at night. Illuminated with colorful LED lights, people can pose for photographs!
Better check it out soon. The Journey will be on display at the Old Globe until this Sunday, January 19!
The Journey is a small section of a larger torus that will be a brilliant, spectacular work of art at Burning Man.The Journey is on view at the Old Globe Theatre’s Copley Plaza through this Sunday, February 19. A cool experience inspired by the Steve Martin play Picasso at the Lapin Agile.Pose in this uniquely colorful work of art after dark and you can have a spectacular photo taken!
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Fans of local sports teams pose with favorite mascots during the big Celebrate San Diego event at Petco Park!
Check out these fun photos! This morning I headed down to Petco Park to enjoy Celebrate San Diego, a big event today that thanks and promotes local sports teams, both professional and college. I believe the special event was designed to give a boost to local teams, now that the NFL Chargers have left San Diego. A great idea!
We’ve got lots of exciting sports action in San Diego, from baseball to hockey to soccer to college football and basketball . . . you name it! Teams strutting their stuff at the big event today included the San Diego Padres, the San Diego Gulls, the San Diego Sockers, and the athletic programs of local colleges SDSU, UCSD, USD, Point Loma Nazarene University, and California State University San Marcos. I hope I didn’t forget anybody!
The event was so cool and uplifting, why not do this every year?
Now, I suppose I need to go watch some of these teams play!
UPDATE! Wow! I just now saw that a summer Padres Blood Drive was announced during the event after I left! (Maybe somebody read my earlier blog post concerning the idea, or the Padres employee I spoke to while waiting for the gate to open relayed the idea. In any event–hooray! Lives will be saved!)
Heading toward Petco Park, where the San Diego Padres play major league baseball. An event today promoted many local pro and college teams, now that the NFL Chargers have left our city.A big crowd waits to enter the gates at Petco Park.Thousands came out today to Celebrate San Diego! We have some awesome sports teams!Many tents were set up in Petco’s Park at the Park by local radio stations and broadcasters. Lots of free stuff was given out. I got a cool MLB Padres cap!Lots of photos and selfies were being taken!The event had barely begun and already the Park at the Park was getting packed!I liked this fun balloon guy on stilts. It was hard to miss him!A table promoted the second round of the 2017 World Baseball Classic, which takes place March 14 – 19 at Petco Park in San Diego.The ball field is seriously messed up with mounds of dirt and bulldozers. Oh–now I remember–Monster Jam is coming next weekend to Petco Park.The San Diego Padres happy mascot, the Swinging Friar, greets visitors to the popular local sports teams event.A city firetruck had a Padres flag flying from their ladder behind the Tony Gwynn statue.Kids were enjoying various sport-related activities at Park at the Park, including shooting hoops.A player from the legendary San Diego Sockers indoor soccer team defends a tiny goal as a young man prepares to shoot.Local colleges had tents up promoting their teams and schools. All sorts of games were scattered around the grass including table football.The small baseball diamond at Park at the Park was alive with excitement. This young fan smashed a line drive.Running the bases wearing an old Chargers team shirt. Now that those guys have “bolted” we can boost our support for other local teams!Posing for photos with Gulliver, the San Diego Gulls hockey mascot, and Sunny the Socker, the new mascot of the San Diego Sockers!According to a countdown clock on the Western Metal Supply Co. building, there are 55 days until baseball’s Opening Day!A family descends stairs near a thank you to Padres members.Diego Torero, mascot for the University of San Diego, hangs out with the crowd at Celebrate San Diego!Cheerleaders get the crowd pumped as free swag is thrown from the stage to the gathered sports fans!Cheer squads performed from UCSD, SDSU, USD, Point Loma Nazarene University and California State University San Marcos. I hope I didn’t forget anybody!King Triton, mascot of University of California San Diego, gives me a hearty greeting!Just good fun. The way sports is supposed to be.These kids seems a bit unimpressed by the Aztec Warrior, mascot of San Diego State University.UCSD cheerleaders start an energetic routine!What a perfect day. It’s a fine city with lots of great sports fans.San Diego came out today to celebrate and root on their local sports teams!
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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!
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A merry sight along the La Jolla Christmas Parade route!
Today I enjoyed watching the annual La Jolla Christmas Parade! After walking a bit around La Jolla, I settled onto the curb and watched Christmas-themed floats, vintage cars and marching bands celebrate the merry season.
It’s a wonderful parade that I hadn’t seen before. Very glad I did this year!
Here are my best photos. Read the captions to follow along.
The Community Christmas Tree is hung with lights and ornaments at the La Jolla Recreation Center park. A festival would be held here at the Christmas Parade’s conclusion.This Community Christmas Tree is dedicated to the people of La Jolla this day, October 27, 1984, by the La Jolla Sunrise Rotary Club.As I walked before the parade down Girard Avenue, I spied some colorful Christmas cookies in a shop window!In the parade staging area, various floats and groups were assembling before the scheduled early afternoon start.A kid checks out the bright red OMBAC Fire Department engine, which is seen in many San Diego area parades.The participants are getting ready for the big Christmas parade in La Jolla!I saw these folks driving a vintage car to the staging area while I walked back to the parade viewing area.In 2016, the theme of the La Jolla Christmas Parade is Christmas in the Future. A special newspaper was printed up for the event by the La Jolla Village News.While people gathered along the parade route, these four guys in Santa hats came strolling along. They were singers!A musical quartet belonging to the Pacific Coast Harmony of La Jolla serenades people along the parade route! Great voices!Pre-parade entertainment included some lion dancers coming down Prospect Street.Residents revel in a time-honored tradition. 2016 is the 59th year of the La Jolla Annual Christmas Parade!Just before the parade started, restored old biplanes flew overhead. They were billed as the Antique Aircraft Flyover.The La Jolla Christmas Parade gets started! It is sponsored by The Dr. Seuss Foundation. The popular children’s author lived in La Jolla.Cool aircraft continue to pass overhead as enthusiastic parade groups march and dance on by.Here come the costumed Sons of the American Revolution parading down Prospect Street!The Stella Maris Academy won Best Overall award. Their float featured an astronaut, a Christmas nativity scene and music lyrics. We believe the children are our future…The La Jolla Presbyterian Church had Joseph, Mary, shepherds, an angel, and two live camels!A young elf hands out Christmas candies to people watching La Jolla’s joyful holiday parade.A horse and carriage and folks dressed in Victorian garb for Christmas.Every parade must have marching bands!Here comes a Girl Scout Troop and a friendly dog.I guess metallic robots will celebrate Christmas in the future! Or wait. It just occurred to me those might be gift-wrapped boxes.Here come the Sweetwater High School Red Devils!The Red Devils band marches by playing Christmas tunes!Just a fun float featuring a surfboard and Dr. Seuss characters. Like many, it was created by a local business. I’ve photographed the guy in the crazy Darth Vader outfit at other cool San Diego events!The La Jolla Sunrise Rotary Club was spraying snow onto the onlookers with their Christmas stocking-covered fire truck!There goes The San Diego Golden Retriever Meetup Group with lots of canine pals!Another cool sight at the annual La Jolla Christmas Parade.Merry Christmas!
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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 might be Santa and Mrs. Claus walking happily through Balboa Park during 2016 December Nights. At least, there’s a good chance. Right?
I went to December Nights this afternoon hoping to photograph Santa Claus. December Nights is one of the largest festivals in the United States that celebrates the holiday season, so one would suppose Old Saint Nick might drop on by. This year I headed home before dark, before the glittering Christmas lights turned on, and before the really huge crowds!
Because I left before nightfall, I missed seeing jolly Bill “Santa” Swank spreading good cheer at the Spreckels Organ Pavilion. Check out his book Christmas in San Diego! It’s all about the history of Christmas in our fair city. I feel very honored that Cool San Diego Sights has a bunch of photos in it!
Now, did I have any success locating the real, actual, honest-to-goodness Santa Claus this afternoon at December Nights? You be the judge!
Over 300,000 people are attending December Nights this year. Surely good old Santa Claus is present somewhere in this crowd.Look! Over there! I think I see Santa wearing sunglasses! Oops. Just a vendor selling treats during December Nights.These fun (but sadly inanimate) Santas are made of beads!You guys aren’t Santa. You can’t fool me! You’re elves from the North Pole.With so many Santa ornaments and gifts everywhere, one might conclude that Old Saint Nick is actually a very astute businessman.Oh, goodness gracious! A “fan man” Santa Claus waving his arms like a silly goof! Nothing is sacred anymore.I see the image of Kris Kringle toting a sack of presents just about everywhere. So, logically, the actual guy has to be around here somewhere.I’ve seen this Santa before. He hangs out in Balboa Park every holiday season. But his sled doesn’t actually fly. It’s all a complete fake. Impostor!Tried to fool me again! That isn’t Father Christmas! It’s Snoopy!Now if Santa Claus actually looks like this, I’d really like to meet him. That would be quite an amazing experience!Multiple possible Santas! Oh, wait. They’re all cloggers, waiting to perform at December Nights. Santa only clogs chimneys.I might not spot the actual real Santa, but this December Nights is rather fun. These folks are singing their hearts out in front of the Spreckels Organ Pavilion’s annual Christmas tree. When the lights come on at night, Balboa Park becomes a magical wonderland!If Santa had a dog, it would probably dress like this. It gets chilly up north.Perhaps this is why I haven’t positively identified the real Santa Claus. He’s probably kicking back at a San Diego beach getting some sun.I’ll just have to make do with Santa Mouse.Wait! I found him! There he is! Santa!
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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!
You can easily 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 fun photos for you to enjoy!
A traditional Sicilian cart on display at 2016 Festa in San Diego’s Little Italy.
Festa is a celebration of Italian culture and history. Every year it’s held along several blocks of India Street, in the heart of San Diego’s historic Little Italy neighborhood. Thousands turn out to enjoy music, food, and all things Italian.
Here are a few photos I snapped yesterday. They provide a taste of what Festa is all about. Read the captions for explanations, and click the images of signs in the cultural pavilion if you’d like to read them. By the way, the food and music were great. I wish this blog could convey the deliciousness of my slice of Filippi’s pizza!
Thousands turned out along several blocks of India Street for the annual celebration of Festa.A cultural pavilion at Festa attracted people who were interested in Little Italy’s rich culture and history.An exhibit in the cultural pavilion included old photos of life in Little Italy, a neighborhood in San Diego once associated with fishing.The Italian neighborhood remained deeply rooted in social tradition revolving around family, work and church.The fishing industry defined the residents’ lives and included labor in boat building, net mending, and tuna and sardine canning.Historical photos of Little Italy fishermen at work off the coast of San Diego.Photo of young man on a boat with a very large catch.Old photos of life in Little Italy include workers at a cannery and fishermen mending nets.A display at Festa includes nets and old commercial fishing gear.A pillar for San Diego’s Italian community, Our Lady of the Rosary Parish has endured for more than 80 years.Photographs and puppets provide a glimpse of San Diego’s past.The Columbus Day Queens are presented on stage during 2016 Festa in Little Italy.The Sicilian Band performs during Festa in San Diego.A crowd admires chalk art, or Gesso Italiano, during Festa. The amazing artwork celebrates Italy’s history and culture.A vendor at Festa sells funny signs and aprons to Italy lovers.Of course, lots of pizza, pasta and other Italian food could be found up and down India Street.Chef Boyardee (Ettore Boiardi) appears on a street lamp banner in Little Italy.People at Festa check out some shiny new Vespas.An exhibition of Italian sports cars included Maseratis and Lamborghinis.A kid and gondoliers at Festa. Anyone can ride elegant gondolas in San Diego at the Coronado Cays.
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Dr. Carol Williams, San Diego Civic Organist for 15 years, in the middle of her final Sunday afternoon performance at the Spreckels Organ Pavilion in Balboa Park.
Thank you Dr. Carol Williams.
Thank you for 15 years of inspiration, dedication, and–most of all–unparalleled music. Thank you for making the Spreckels Organ come so alive. Thank you for your quirky good humor and your wonderful showmanship. Thank you for being such a great part of San Diego’s history, for being one of a long string of distinguished musicians, Civic Organists who first made the Spreckels Organ’s powerful lungs sing in 1915. Thank you for helping culture in Balboa Park to thrive. Thank you for bringing in some of the finest organists in the world for our absolutely incredible Summer Organ Festivals. Thanks for being a part of many Sunday afternoons, at two o’clock, when I could simply close my eyes and feel the music move through me. Just music. Each living note. Thank you!
In the years ahead, may you produce many fantastic compositions for the king of instruments!
A large crowd turned out to enjoy the music produced by Carol and the Spreckels Organ one last Sunday afternoon.Dr. Carol Williams wows the crowd with another amazing performance. She is one of the world’s finest concert organists. And her dog Dietrich up on stage seems quite proud!A special day in Balboa Park as our nation’s first woman Civic Organist plays the king of instruments one last Sunday.The Spreckels Organ Pavilion was filled with people who have enjoyed Carol’s concerts for many years.Carol and pal Dietrich between pieces. KUSI television videotaped the historic occasion.Dr. Carol Williams, a premiere concert organist, plays the Spreckels Organ, the largest outdoor pipe organ in the world.An artist at work.The beginning of a standing ovation, just as Carol asks everyone to stand for the National Anthem.Dr. Carol Williams greets organ lovers in the gift shop after her final Sunday concert in Balboa Park. She has long been a San Diego treasure, and now becomes a part of our city’s history.An organ student thanks Dr. Carol Williams. She worked hard to educate youth, to encourage aspiring musicians, and to build the Spreckels Organ Society into a powerful presence in the music world.
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An imaginative performance at Fault Line Park in San Diego’s East Village during the 2016 Trolley Dances!
Check out these fun photos! They show the energy audiences will experience when they venture downtown to watch the Trolley Dances this year!
The Trolley Dances is all about contemporary dance in surprising public places. This year the Trolley Dances, a collaboration between the San Diego Dance Theater and our Metropolitan Transit System, begins with a performance in Barrio Logan. Mobile audiences, following guides, then make their way by trolley and foot to a variety of unusual downtown locations, where dancers appear like magic and perform. The unique experience lasts about two and a half hours and comes to a conclusion at the relatively new Fault Line Park in East Village. That’s where I snapped a few pics of the final two dances.
I’ll try not to give away too much. Let your imagination go to town–or better yet, buy a ticket. The 2016 Trolley Dances takes places this weekend and next!
A mobile audience arrives at San Diego’s Fault Line Park. The park will be the setting of two energetic dances.The audience takes a seat. Is something behind that wall?Yes, indeed! These suddenly rising dancers seem to have paddled in to shore!Perhaps it’s an invasion!Dancing on boulders at Fault Line Park! Flight of the Valkyries plays!A unique work of modern dance at the 2016 Trolley Dances in San Diego.The dancers approach the audience as if rowing a Viking longship . . .They have conquered!Meanwhile, out on the nearby grass, not far from some people practicing football skills, I spot a circle of baseball players . . .These baseball players also happen to be dancers!Just like professional baseball players, each performer is introduced by name to the Trolley Dances audience.And a joyful dance commences . . .Just a lot of fun.Dancers rest for a few minutes. They await the next mobile audience that will arrive at Fault Line Park during the 2016 Trolley Dances.
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You can help save Balboa Park’s beloved Starlight Bowl!
I’m no expert on this matter. Take whatever I say with a grain of salt. I’m just an ordinary guy who has lived in San Diego for a good chunk of my life.
I would like to raise my voice in support of saving the Starlight Bowl in Balboa Park. I’m not affiliated with Save Starlight. They have no clue who I am. But I’m attached to their cause. A chain of fond memories is my bond.
Years ago I enjoyed watching a variety of theatrical productions with my family in this beloved outdoor amphitheater. Some of those productions I experienced as a child and young adult, and they made a lasting impression. They helped me to develop my particular love for the written (and spoken) word, and for the great outdoors. My small world expanded as I sat beneath a universe of twinkling stars and absorbed great plays–those undying expressions of human longing, emotion and imagination. And it was simply exciting–like going to an outdoor concert!
I’m sure thousands–if not millions–of people have similar memories of the Starlight Bowl: memories of fine drama and pleasure under those twinkling stars, of laughs, tears and smiles, out in the fresh San Diego air, a short walk from the many other wonderful institutions in Balboa Park.
The Starlight Bowl has languished far too long. What a shame. When I walk past it during my strolls around Balboa Park, I can’t help but envision it once again filled with humanity, playing a unique role in our ever-growing city. Save Starlight is working to bring the large, functional amphitheater back to life. According to an email I received, they are now working with the city, and they intend to fill the Starlight Bowl with concerts, musicals, dance recitals, circus acts, magic shows, multicultural festivals, graduations, and much more. A few more ideas have also popped into my head: corporate events, lectures, a meeting place for large community organizations . . .
Many of my blog’s followers either live in or have a personal attachment to San Diego. Would you like to help with this effort? You know, social media sites like Facebook can have a surprisingly big impact if people post and share information and opinions. So why not make your support known? Or perhaps just tell your friends about what’s going on.
Save Starlight is making a presentation to the City of San Diego within a week, and a handwritten letter of support would be extremely powerful. Ideas for a letter might include your personal connection with Starlight, practical reasons why you would like to see the Starlight Bowl reopened, or even how you would like to become involved. Perhaps you’d like to volunteer, donate, use the venue for staging an event, have your product carried in the concessions, etc. If you plan to write, do it soon!
Letters should be sent to:
Stephen Stopper, President
Save Starlight, Inc.
9590 Chesapeake Drive
San Diego, CA 92123
After languishing for many years, the Starlight Bowl might once again be filled with humanity and life. You can help make it happen. Your voice is important.
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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 beautiful dance on the Spreckels Organ Pavilion stage in Balboa Park during the 2016 Moon Festival.
A truly wonderful Chinese Moon Festival is being held this evening in Balboa Park! I took photos before the sun set that provide a sense of how fantastic and entertaining this annual event is.
The Moon Festival is co-sponsored by the House of China in Balboa Park and the Confucius Institute at San Diego State University. Every year, the festival seems to grow and grow!
A very large crowd turned out this year for the Chinese Moon Festival in Balboa Park. The benches in the Spreckels Organ Pavilion were packed.Table provides info about the Confucius Institute at San Diego State University. They co-sponsored the Moon Festival, along with the House of China in Balboa Park.The San Diego Chinese Historical Society and Museum was having a book sale!Huge Chinese Crepes were being prepared near the entertainment.A half moon hangs above the ornate colonnade of the Spreckels Organ Pavilion. Very appropriate!The Moon Festival would provide lots of colorful entertainment into the evening. I took photos while the sun was still up.Thunder drums!Followed by youthful Chinese acrobats!These energetic acrobats were wonderfully talented. They performed feats that seemed impossible.A fluid, colorful dance that mimics the motions of an exotic fish. Everyone in the audience seemed mesmerized.A truly wonderful Chinese dance in San Diego’s Balboa Park during the 2016 Moon Festival!
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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!
Tiny dogs surf mighty waves in Imperial Beach during the 11th Annual Unleashed by Petco Surf Dog Competition!
And now for something on the light side. Surfing dogs!
Enjoy these funny photos of tiny dogs riding “huge” ocean waves near the pier at Imperial Beach! This morning I swung by the 11th Annual Unleashed by Petco Surf Dog Competition, just to check out the action. The first 10-minute heat featured smaller breeds. These dogs are some of the most talented surfing athletes you’re likely to ever see! Well . . . maybe. But they definitely appeared to be having fun!
All you non-dog athletes, take note! No aspiration is too lofty! No wave is too large!
A crowd gathers on the beach in the morning, as the very popular Surf Dog Competition is almost ready to begin!A pooch says “Hi” while hanging out with a few buddies. It’s going to be another great day in San Diego!This thoughtful dog is checking out the perimeter of the surf competition starting area, which is fenced off from those often interfering human types.We’re almost ready for the first heat! These small dogs pose atop their surfboards for photos and make the most of their superstar status.A line of people awaits the start of the Unleashed by Petco Surf Dog Competition’s first 10-minute heat of the day!And these small surf dogs are off, making toward the Pacific Ocean with the help of a few human assistants!The excitement has built to a doggone unbelievable level. Which four-legged contestant will catch the best waves and impress the judges?The crowd watches these talented canine athletes as they take to the thundering waves!Those are awfully big breakers! Only the most skillful and fearless dogs will master this tough surfing competition.An amazing dog athlete has successfully caught the first wave! Here he comes! Great form!A tiny canine contestant receives encouragement as this year’s surf dog competition in IB gets underway.This innovative dog–I believe his name is Samson–doesn’t adhere to those old surfing traditions. He rides his surfboard backwards.Oh my goodness! Three dogs on one wave! Remember this moment, because you’ll probably never see it again!Two furry athletes vie for surfing supremacy!I’m thinking of submitting this amazing photograph to SURFER Magazine. I wonder if it might make the cover. (Just kidding!)Samson seems to have finally straightened himself out. Maybe he just wants to leap back onto dry land.These best buddy pals are happy just to walk along the beach. No need to show off their mad surfing skills.And these two sneaky dogs want to pretend they’re honest-to-goodness surfers. Can’t fool me!Tiny surfing dogs have mastered the mighty waves at Imperial Beach during the Unleashed by Petco Surf Dog Competition. They are superstars, indeed!
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