Yesterday evening, as I walked along the waterfront to the Return of the Jedi concert at The Shell, I paused to watch Katch Zed (@KatchZed) performing her sky dance at Embarcadero Marina Park North near Seaport Village.
I took these photographs into the sun as she twirled on the moon.
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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 evening I enjoyed a really great Return of the Jedi concert by the San Diego Symphony. The popular John Williams score was performed live at the outdoor Shell as the film played on a big screen above the musicians.
Before the concert began, Star Wars cosplay could be seen throughout the crowd. Dude Vader (pictured above) and several local Star Wars cosplay groups were in attendance.
Fans eagerly posed for photographs with Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi, Princess Leia, bounty hunter Boba Fett, evil Emperor Palpatine and other favorite characters.
During the movie, at triumphant moments, scattered lightsabers in the audience rose glowing in the darkness!
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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!
The world-famous 2021 Surf Dog Surf-a-Thon was held today in Del Mar!
The non-stop surfing action took place at Dog Beach, and dozens of furry athletes did their best to score style points as they conquered the waves and entertained the crowd in support of Helen Woodward Animal Center.
The surfing I observed was freestyle. That meant two or three dogs per surfboard! Whether contestants faced forward or backward seemed unimportant!
I took the following photos of this amazing canine sporting event for your enjoyment and amusement. Yes, it’s all a bit silly, even crazy. But you know what? It was evident that the excited dogs were having a blast! Many were jumping back toward the ocean the moment they landed on the sand!
If you’d like to help rescue dogs and other critters find a loving home, support the Helen Woodward Animal Center by clicking here.
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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!
Whenever I walk through Balboa Park, I almost always spend some time at the Japanese Friendship Garden, even if it’s only for a few minutes.
Today I noticed there’s new artwork on display in the Exhibit Hall. It concerns breaking ocean waves, and includes many images of surfers on surfboards. The art is so vivid and unique, it’s hard to describe.
The exhibition is titled Hokusai Waves. It showcases the work of San Diego photographer Kotaro Moromura, whose images are inspired by Japanese Ukiyo-e painter and printmaker Katsushika Hokusai.
Powerfully curling water and flying droplets, captured with a high camera shutter speed, seem to leap right out of the display cases. The images are not unlike the impressively crashing waves created by artist Katsushika Hokusai.
As you can see from a couple of my photos, the wave images that include surfers are dynamic and definitely very cool!
Anyone visiting San Diego for the next several days for the international World Surf League Championship event up at Trestles might enjoy a peek at these!
Learn more about Hokusai Waves here!
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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 concert at Balboa Park’s International Cottages today, the 20th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, was filled with healing warmth and tenderness.
The group Island Mist and Friends was playing gentle island music for a world that could use a little extra kindness.
I listened to a few songs, saw many smiles, then my legs carried me forward.
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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!
Wonder.
Elation.
Ecstasy.
What word best describes an extraordinary experience that is free to music lovers in San Diego?
When the San Diego Symphony rehearses at The Shell at Embarcadero Marina Park South, anybody can sit mere feet away from the musicians. Just walk on up and take any seat. And listen. You’ll hear some of the finest music ever composed, played by a world-class symphony orchestra.
Sit close and feel the thunder!
This morning I sat in front of The Shell and felt the power of music wash through me, while I enjoyed the sunshine, the gleaming downtown skyline, and boats of every kind sailing by on San Diego Bay.
UPDATE!
Here come more pics! I took these during another sunny weekend rehearsal…
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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!
I was walking through San Ysidro today when I noticed The FRONT Arte Cultura gallery was open. So I walked in!
Francisco Morales, Gallery Director of The FRONT Arte Cultura, showed me the above artwork, which remains from the recently closed And We Will Sing in the Tall Grass Again exhibition. The powerful piece is titled A Poetic of Living and was created by artist Larissa Rogers.
As I gazed down at human forms made of crumbling soil, with flowers cropping up, I could see the theme had something to do with decay and regeneration. Death and birth.
The artwork, according to a long description I read, also concerns human trauma, amnesia, confrontation and persistence. “Soil holds trauma, displacement, memory, and history but is also a place of regeneration, possibility…The viewer is prompted to walk over the soil. In this action, they no longer become a spectator without agency, but rather, have to confront the soil to continue…”
It seems to me this art reminds us of one unifying truth. A truth many would rather forget or deny. That we are all made of the same earth…and that we are mortal.
It also shows that seeds planted in life continue.
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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!
Three years of construction at Balboa Park’s House of Charm is completed. The reimagined, redesigned, greatly enlarged Mingei International Museum, which occupies most of the historic building, has finally reopened!
The multicultural Mingei Museum, whose focus is crafts and design, opened its doors to the public yesterday. To celebrate, admission to the upstairs galleries will be free during Labor Day weekend through Monday, September 6.
I slowly walked through the new spacious indoor pavilion that occupies the ground level. The ground floor will always be free to the public.
A big seating area invites visitors to relax. Several large glass cases display colorful museum pieces. There’s a nearby gift shop and café, too. Through one door anybody can go outside to sit in a beautiful courtyard at tables under shady umbrellas. (That might become a favorite place to read and write!)
The second floor’s main galleries are approached up stairs through the House of Charm’s tower. As you head up the steps, look up. You’ll be wowed by renowned artist Dale Chihuly’s glass sculpture chandelier! (Lights in the stairwell walls cast intricate shadows, which one guide at the museum said he really likes!)
I walked about the upstairs galleries and admired the many exhibits. I particularly like folk art. I laughed at some pieces, stood in wonder before others.
Artwork handcrafted by “ordinary” folk from all around the world often feels more powerful and authentic than so-called fine art. Because its creation typically flows from human experiences that are unique but universal. Folk art represents what day-to-day people consider desirous or meaningful in life.
By the way, if you’re an artist in San Diego seeking inspiration, or if you want to do some art research, there’s a huge library on the second floor! The Frances Hamilton White Art Reference Library features a specialized collection of over 12,000 books!
I took some photos to provide a taste of the new, more-extraordinary-than-ever Mingei International Museum.
Next time you’re in Balboa Park, you definitely need to check it out! And make sure to venture outside on the second floor, to enjoy amazing views of the Plaza de Panama!
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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!
I can’t believe it. A couple days ago WordPress notified me that this Cool San Diego Sights blog is now eight years old. Time flies.
I see that five years ago, in September 2016, there were many interesting events going on in San Diego, particularly during the Labor Day weekend.
Among other things, I took photos at the Festival of Sail, the U.S. Sand Sculpting Challenge and Fleet Week. Later in the month I also documented the departure of a popular Civic Organist and a beloved Padres broadcaster.
Check out the upcoming links and you’ll see my camera was very busy back then!
Click the following links for lots of photographs…
Amazing, beautiful tall ships visit San Diego!
Cool California Carvers create sand sculpture art!
The most amazing sand sculptures in the world!
Photos from 2016 Fleet Week in San Diego.
A wonderful Chinese Moon Festival in Balboa Park!
Roald Dahl celebrated in San Diego’s Balboa Park!
Fun photos of Trolley Dances at Fault Line Park!
San Diego says goodbye to popular Civic Organist.
Celebrating Dick Enberg at his final Padres home game.
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This blog now features thousands of photos around San Diego! Are you curious? There’s lots of cool stuff to check out!
Here’s the Cool San Diego Sights main page, where you can read the most current blog posts. If you’re using a phone or small mobile device, click those three parallel lines up at the top–that opens up my website’s sidebar, where you’ll see the most popular posts, a search box, and more!
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Every time a world-class organist performs in Balboa Park, the Spreckels Organ shines.
Tonight the Spreckels Organ, largest outdoor instrument in the world, one of San Diego’s most unique and precious treasures, absolutely sparkled.
Concert organist Hector Olivera filled Balboa Park with magic during the first performance of the two-month-long San Diego International Organ Festival.
Hector Olivera, considered one of the greatest organists alive, took the stage with his humor and deft touch and created something extraordinary. I sat mesmerized throughout the concert. The music he summoned from the Spreckels Organ was subtle, luminous, alive.
Hector Olivera was a child prodigy. As a five-year-old he played for Eva Perón. Before he’d left his teens he’d performed for heads of state. He has since played in many of the world’s most prestigious venues.
Tonight he started the 2021 San Diego International Organ Festival with an act that will be hard to top. But more top organists are coming, including San Diego Civic Organist Raúl Prieto Ramírez!
If you love listening to world-class musicians you must go to this free weekly event. The Spreckels Organ shines in Balboa Park every Monday at 7:30 pm through October 25, 2021!
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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!
Cool San Diego Sights! 