Tag: events

Plaques honor golf champions at Torrey Pines.

San Diego’s beloved Torrey Pines Golf Course is one of the most beautiful and famous golf courses in the world. It has a history of great competitions between the world’s top professional golfers.

Last weekend I walked a little around Torrey Pines Golf Course and took photos of outdoor plaques that honor notable past champions.

Plaques along one side of a practice putting green at Torrey Pines Golf Course.
Plaques along one side of a practice putting green at Torrey Pines Golf Course.
The Century Club WALK OF FAME.
The Century Club WALK OF FAME.
Arnold Palmer, San Diego Open Champion 1957, 1961.
Arnold Palmer, San Diego Open Champion 1957, 1961.
Billy Casper, San Diego Open Champion 1966.
Billy Casper, San Diego Open Champion 1966.
Gene Littler, San Diego Open Champion 1954.
Gene Littler, San Diego Open Champion 1954.
Tom Watson, San Diego Open Champion 1977, 1980.
Tom Watson, San Diego Open Champion 1977, 1980.
Craig Stadler, Buick Invitational Champion 1994.
Craig Stadler, Buick Invitational Champion 1994.
Jack Nicklaus, San Diego Open Champion 1969.
Jack Nicklaus, San Diego Open Champion 1969.
Scott Simpson, Buick Invitational Champion 1998.
Scott Simpson, Buick Invitational Champion 1998.
Gary Player, Buick Invitational Champion 1963.
Gary Player, Buick Invitational Champion 1963.

108th United States Open Championship, June 12-16, 2008. Champion Tiger Woods.
108th United States Open Championship, June 12-16, 2008. Champion Tiger Woods.

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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 photos for you to enjoy!

Actors read literary works online for TwainFest!

The spirit of Twain lives in this wonderful annual festival.

Do you love reading literature from the 19th century?

I do!

I love Mark Twain, Lewis Carroll, Emily Dickinson, Jules Verne, Charles Dickens, Mary Shelley, Edgar Allan Poe, Henry David Thoreau, Herman Melville . . . there are too many great Victorian authors from this period to mention!

If you love to read these authors, too, there’s an online event in progress that you’ll probably like!

During this special event you can listen to selections from 19th century literature read aloud by San Diego actors!

It’s part of Write Out Loud’s virtual TwainFest, and you can subscribe by clicking here to get daily links to new YouTube readings in your email!

What was the event like before the coronavirus pandemic? To see photos from TwainFest last year in Old Town San Diego State Historic Park, click here!

Mark Twain uses his cane to point out his classic novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Many 19th century authors and fictional characters were seen walking about during TwainFest.
Mark Twain uses his cane to point out his classic novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.

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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!

To read a few stories I’ve written, click Short Stories by Richard.

Cool photo memories from August 2015.

Another month has slipped away already? Summer is halfway over? The days fly quickly!

Well, I suppose it’s time to once again turn the clock back and recall what I was blogging about five years ago.

In August 2015 a whole bunch of interesting things were going on in San Diego!

In Old Town the early trades of San Diego came to life again, and Mark Twain and other famous authors seemed to rise from the dead! On the Star of India, the world’s oldest active sailing ship, an extraordinary Moby Dick reading marathon activated the imagination of those who listened. In Balboa Park, a special exhibit retold the history of the Spanish Village colony of artists, and suffragettes went on a march! At Qualcomm Stadium, the Chargers were still in San Diego and putting on their annual FanFest!

And much more was happening all over the city, from Hillcrest to Chula Vista! Of course, I also saw a lot of fascinating activity downtown during my walks.

It was one very fun month!

Click the following links to see many photos!

Trades That Shaped the West live on in Old Town.

White whale glimpsed from deck of world’s oldest sailing ship.

History of Spanish Village artists in Balboa Park.

Photos of San Diego Chargers 2015 FanFest.

Photos of art come to life at CityFest in Hillcrest.

Twain and classic literary characters roam Old Town!

Workers install engraved name pavers at Broadway Pier.

Fishermen unroll a huge net onto Tuna Harbor pier.

Photos of good times at Chula Vista’s HarborFest!

Suffrage rally and parade celebrates 19th Amendment.

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Watching a coronavirus game at Petco Park.

During this shortened coronavirus pandemic baseball season, is it possible to actually watch a Padres game at Petco Park? Assuming you aren’t positioned in one of the nearby high-rise buildings? Well, sort of…

Today after work I headed to Petco Park, knowing a Padres afternoon game would be in progress. I was curious to see whether anything interesting was going on at the ballpark–if there was anything to see at all. The Padres and other Major League Baseball teams have taken many steps to protect the public and their staff from the highly contagious COVID-19 virus.

I did see the Arizona Diamondbacks buses parked outside. I did hear the distant announcer vaguely calling plays, music playing between at-bats and innings, and recorded cheering.

When I walked around to Social Tap and the nearby entrance of Gallagher Square (which used to be called Park at the Park), I noticed some fans were hanging out behind the fence bordering the kids’ small ball field.

I joined them.

We could see the video screen that faces Gallagher Square, and one of Petco Park’s faraway scoreboards. We could clearly hear the game–as one would hear it on television, without the play-by-play or commentary. Through a teeny tiny gap in the fence it was possible to see the tops of the heads of visiting bullpen pitchers, the pitcher’s mound and a little tiny bit of the home dugout. But you really couldn’t tell what was going on.

What was fun was the idea that I was actually at the ballpark, with a few other devoted fans!

I happened to walk up as the Padres were trailing the Diamondbacks 1-2. Right after I arrived, a huge rally began and the Padres were soon leading 6-2. Everyone cheered.

Even though nobody heard the few of us.

The Pads won!

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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!

Awesome cosplay group poses for Comic-Con!

An awesome group of cosplayers assembled near the San Diego Convention Center late this morning!

Members of the Science Fiction Coalition arrived for the special occasion from all around Southern California. It’s Sunday, and while there’s no ordinary Comic-Con in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, local fans have been visiting the Comic-Con shrine during Comic-Con@Home week by the Tin Fish Restaurant.

I was lucky to walk through the Gaslamp Quarter as this fantastic cosplay event was underway. I’ve had a number of encounters with this fan group in the past, most notably in Balboa Park and at the future home of the Comic-Con Museum.

Check it out!

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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 photos for you to enjoy!

More cosplay, chalk art during SDCC 2020!

A plague doctor carries a sign: Wash your hands. Can Dr. Beak pry that alien off the face of that nearby patient?
Fun cosplay in San Diego’s Gaslamp during Comic-Con@Home. A plague doctor carries a sign: Wash your hands. Dr. Beak needs to pry an alien facehugger off a nearby patient, who obviously didn’t use hand sanitizer.

While Comic-Con is online this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, that doesn’t mean we fans who live in San Diego can’t have some safe fun near the Convention Center!

It’s Saturday, and this morning I spotted a little more Gaslamp cosplay and a lot more chalk art at the ever-expanding Comic-Con 2020 shrine!

Check it out!

UPDATE!

I walked through the Gaslamp Quarter again in the afternoon, and while I didn’t see a whole lot of cosplay, I did find some!

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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 photos for you to enjoy!

Chalk art appears at the Comic-Con shrine!

Chalk art reminds passersby in Gaslamp Square that 2020 is the 50th anniversary of San Diego Comic-Con. This year, due to the coronavirus pandemic, the event is being held entirely online.
Chalk art reminds passersby in Gaslamp Square that there have been 50 years of Diego Comic-Con.

The Comic-Con 2020 shrine just keeps on growing!

Now there’s a bunch of chalk art that has been created by passing Comic-Con fans!

It’s Friday, and we’re in the middle of the first-ever virtual Comic-Con@Home. But the coronavirus pandemic hasn’t kept San Diegans from safely walking by the shrine that has been erected next to the Tin Fish Restaurant, directly across from the San Diego Convention Center.

The shrine keeps morphing and growing larger. Today chalk art superheroes and other pop culture characters have appeared in Gaslamp Square!

If you want to see what the shrine looked like on Wednesday, click here. For Thursday (plus several fun photos of cosplay!) click here.

To watch a live stream of the Comic-Con 2020 shrine, you can click here!

The Comic-Con 2020 shrine keeps growing larger. On Friday new fan-created chalk art appeared!
The Comic-Con 2020 shrine keeps growing larger. On Friday new fan-created chalk art appeared!

I spotted some new fan art made with colored markers, too!
I spotted some cool fan art made with colored markers, too!

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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 photos for you to enjoy!

Downtown shrine grows for cancelled Comic-Con.

A shrine has appeared in downtown San Diego lamenting the cancellation of Comic-Con in 2020.

This is the week in July when over 100,000 enthusiastic pop culture fans would have converged upon the San Diego Convention Center. Unfortunately, the coronavirus pandemic has caused Comic-Con International to call off their world-famous event this year.

I was walking by the Gaslamp trolley station a couple hours ago when I noticed a shrine has been created in the plaza near the Tin Fish Restaurant. Fans know that this area, at the south end of the Gaslamp Quarter’s Fifth Avenue, tends to be center of all the crazy, wonderful outdoor Comic-Con activity. At least, it is during normal years.

The shine includes some posters, swag bags and flowers. But the best part of the shrine is the growing number of hand-written messages by fans.

Do not despair!

Because this year is far from ordinary, Comic-Con has done something extraordinary. Comic-Con for 2020 is now entirely online . . . and free! This week fans can visit the virtual Exhibit Hall, watch live panels, and even participate in the annual cosplay competition!

Learn all the details by visiting the Comic-Con@Home web page here!

There is also an awesome free Souvenir Book that you can download. It features 260 pages of articles and cool artwork, and pays tribute to one of the all-time greatest writers of fantasy and science fiction, Ray Bradbury. In my last blog post I wrote a little about that 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!

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 photos for you to enjoy!

Favorite photos from past Comic-Cons!

Are you ready for Comic-Con@Home? The gigantic international virtual event kicks off this Wednesday, July 22. And it’s entirely free!

There’s going to be a live Exhibit Hall!

There are going to be over 350 separate panels viewable on Comic-Con’s YouTube channel!

There will also be many “at home” activities, including art and cosplay challenges, and a video competition!

Learn everything you need to know, and print your free official badge by clicking here!

Plus, visit Amazon’s Virtual-Con here! Amazon is the official sponsor of Comic-Con@Home and will have lots of cool experiences at their website.

Meanwhile, I’ve gone through hundreds of photographs that I’ve taken during Comic-Con over the past six years, and I’ve selected some of my personal favorites . . . in no particular order!

While the world anticipates Comic-Con’s triumphant return to downtown San Diego and the Convention Center in 2021, enjoy this wonderfully mixed-up collection of photographic memories!

img_0408z-get-your-photo-taken-in-some-gigantic-bony-jaws

img_0416z-the-turner-boat-is-all-dressed-up-and-ready-to-go-when-comic-con-opens-tomorrow

img_0668z-the-syfy-band-was-entertaining-the-crowd-on-fifth-avenue-in-the-gaslamp-for-sdcc-2017

img_7133a-theres-so-much-crazy-fun-going-on-my-head-was-on-a-rapid-swivel

img_0845z-syfy-had-a-handy-cosplay-repair-cart-along-mlk-promenade

img_5957a-super-awesome-suits-of-armor-at-the-fantastic-weta-workshop-exhibit

img_6367a-clive-barker-is-back-at-comic-con-this-year-with-more-of-his-horror-themed-artwork

img_6201a-and-heres-another-cool-hot-wheels-car-modeled-after-a-star-wars-stormtrooper-helmet

img_6658a-a-large-troop-of-colony-soldiers-marches-down-martin-luther-king-jr-promenade-during-comic-con

img_9311a-mace-windu-in-a-movie-clip-shown-above-huge-star-wars-exhibit

img_7077a-a-cool-dragon-ball-z-poster-in-window-of-a-gaslamp-eatery

img_9256a-almost-anything-imaginable-could-be-bought-including-these-star-trek-uniforms

img_9370a-clown-masks-used-in-heist-scene-in-dark-knight

img_9451a-lots-of-video-games-could-be-sampled-including-realistic-racers

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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 photos for you to enjoy!

Watch a Padres preseason game at Petco Park!

This afternoon I watched a couple innings of a Padres preseason Summer Camp game at Petco Park!

I and a few dozen other fans watched Padres team players get ready for the season in an intrasquad game. We sat on the grassy hill of Gallagher Square, the area beyond the outfield that until December last year was called Park at the Park.

Unless you had binoculars, you couldn’t really tell who was up at bat, because the ballpark video board is unfortunately out of sight. But you could see some sharply hit balls, and some smooth fielding, and one really bad throw to first base by an infielder! The hurriedly thrown ball hit the ground and the hustling runner was safe!

It was fun to sit in the sun for a while with other excited, cheering Padres fans.

Most watching the game in Gallagher Square kept socially distanced and wore a face mask. That’s the new normal during the coronavirus pandemic.

Unfortunately, nobody will sit in the stands this pandemic-shortened 2020 season. But we can still watch some great baseball action on television, or perhaps from afar!

During Padres Summer Camp and upcoming preseason games, bring a picnic and watch your team in action!

Go Pads!

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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!