Tag: events

Tranquility with Flowers at ikebana show.

This weekend the San Diego Wabi Chapter of the Ohara School of Ikebana presented their Annual Flower Show in Balboa Park. I strolled through Room 101 in the Casa del Prado and was amazed at the beauty assembled before my eyes!

Ikebana is traditional Japanese flower arrangement, and a sign at the entrance to the show this year promised Tranquility with Flowers.

Each work of ikebana appeared like a perfect work of art. Color, balance, form, human creativity, adherence to formal rules, and nature’s inherent beauty are combined with skilled hands and eyes into what you see here.

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Cool photo memories from March 2018.

Five years ago, back in March 2018, my camera captured hundreds of colorful photographs around San Diego. Festivals, street art, nature walks and exhibitions provided a very wide variety of subjects.

The big event in late March was the San Diego Architectural Foundation’s 2018 OPEN HOUSE. The public was invited to tour and learn about notable buildings all around the city. I took full advantage of the opportunity!

Oh, and Rex the Lion debuted during an exciting ceremony at the San Diego Zoo, too!

If you’d like to revisit some of those past blog posts, lots of links are coming up!

Click the following links for many colorful memories!

Fun, laughs and thrills at Busker Festival!

Exquisite flower arrangements at ikebana show.

Sexy space warriors and aliens in North Park!

Photos of 2018 Cherry Blossom Festival!

Museum exhibit shows evolution of fashion.

Art from different colleges across San Diego.

Art and history at Lemon Grove Trolley Depot!

Beautiful sanctuary of historic San Diego church.

Amazing views from sky deck of The Barcelona!

Rex the Lion sculpture debuts at San Diego Zoo!

Architecture and light at Timken Museum of Art.

A tour inside the historic Spreckels Theatre.

The fun 2018 Padres Opening Weekend Block Party!

A short architectural tour of the Santa Fe Depot.

The natural beauty of Sweetwater Marsh.

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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 Twitter!

A game of Telephone with words and visual art!

A brilliant exhibition can now be enjoyed in the 9th Floor Art Gallery at San Diego’s Central Library. The exhibition is called Lost in Translation: A Game of Telephone!

You know the game called Telephone? It’s that verbal game where somebody conveys a message to a second person, who then the conveys the message to a third person, and so forth, on and on, until the message becomes so changed that it bears little resemblance to the original.

Well, imagine Telephone being played with written words and visual art!

The several “messages” in this unusual art exhibition morph strangely and unexpectedly.

Sequential threads can be viewed on the gallery walls. Each thread begins with a poetic passage written by a local writer. Those words are then interpreted by a local artist, whose resultant creation is then interpreted by another writer, whose words are then interpreted by another artist . . .

Cool idea, right?

I found it interesting that some of the threads maintained a certain amount of cohesion when it came to the conveyed message. But other threads mutated wildly, with subjects and themes lurching in completely different directions!

This is one very unique exhibition that you really have to see for yourself!

Check it out before April 15, 2023.

The following is part of one thread…

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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 Twitter!

Defending Freedom in a San Diego rain.

In San Diego this afternoon, blue and yellow umbrellas sheltered a tight-knit gathering from the rain. Supporters of Ukraine met near the El Cid statue in Balboa Park’s Plaza de Panama, waving flags, giving heartfelt speeches, asking for help.

It’s now a year since Putin’s Russia invaded Ukraine, and in San Diego many are appalled that dictatorship and murderous barbarism can rise again in the 21st century.

Powerful images and messages that concern one year of Defending Freedom surrounded the group.

As I stood in the crowd listening, a young person voiced her optimism that Freedom, in the end, would prevail.

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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 Twitter!

San Diego Bird Festival 2023 this weekend!

Looking for a fun adventure this weekend? Do you love the great outdoors? Do you love birds?

The San Diego Bird Festival 2023 has kicked off at Marina Village Conference Center and continues through the weekend!

The annual event is presented by the San Diego Audubon Society. The public is invited to attend a variety of educational lectures at Marina Village and bird-watching activities around the city.

The cool thing is many of the activities on Saturday and Sunday are free, including outdoor birding adventures along the San Diego River and at Santee Lakes!

Never gone birding before? Don’t know much about it? That’s fine! Bird lovers are a friendly, knowledgeable bunch and very welcoming. I happened to meet a few of them this morning during my quiet walk through Marina Village about an hour before the day’s activities began in earnest.

The San Diego Bird Festival also has a bookstore with every sort of bird-related resource one could ever need. And for those who are curious, there are displays of binoculars and other gear. There’s also an auction that features some very cool collectible items!

Who are those bicyclists I photographed? They were just setting off for a ride along the San Diego River. I wonder how many birds they identified?

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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 Twitter!

Mushrooms become popular in San Diego!

The 25th Annual Fungus Fair of the San Diego Mycological Society was held today in Balboa Park. I’ve checked out this event in past years, but I’d never seen such enormous crowds before. The popularity of mushrooms in San Diego appears to have greatly . . . mushroomed!

Not only was Room 101 of the Casa del Prado jammed with people gazing at informative exhibits, but numerous vendors were displaying mushroom art and crafts and edible concoctions in the building’s outdoor courtyard.

I wandered about amazed by all the varieties and apparent benefits of fungi. Mycophiles in attendance could learn how to grow and forage mushrooms. Curious people like me could learn about the characteristics, medicinal uses and dangers of different types.

Check out some fun fungus photography!

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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 Twitter!

Dolphins leap near bow of whale watching ship!

This morning a whale watching excursion off the coast of San Diego intercepted an unusually large pod of 200-300 dolphins.

I stood at the bow of Flagship’s vessel Marietta and marveled at how the Pacific white-sided dolphins raced before us, conveniently riding the water pushed forward by our ship.

A crew member aboard Marietta explained we were traveling 10 miles per hour. The dolphins are capable of going four times that speed!

Pods of dolphins are frequently encountered during trips in the ocean beyond Point Loma. Every time I’ve gone whale watching, no matter the season, we’ve spotted them.

The tightly knit pods move about while using their echo location ability to search for schools of fish. Adult dolphins have to eat about 5% of their body weight in food every day!

We were fortunate to be accompanied by such an unbelievably huge pod.

Every so often dolphins would playfully leap through the air in front of our ship!

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 Twitter!

The US Grant hotel’s façade refresh!

The world famous US Grant hotel in downtown San Diego is receiving a façade refresh!

I noticed several workers on scaffolding today as I walked down Broadway.

The hotel opened in 1910–over a century ago. The son of President Ulysses S. Grant oversaw the building of the Grant Hotel, which was designed by architect Harrison Albright. Past guests have included Albert Einstein, Charles Lindbergh and twelve United States Presidents!

Did you know San Diego Comic-Con held their very first convention at the U.S .Grant Hotel back in 1970? Back then the nascent convention was called San Diego’s Golden State Comic-Con.

Here’s a page on the hotel’s website providing a bit of the history, including a period when the elegant building had become sadly neglected.

After the current refresh, the hotel should appear simply glorious!

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 Twitter!

Balboa Park readies for Valentine’s Day!

Valentine’s Day is two days away!

As I walked through Balboa Park this afternoon, I saw signs that several of the International Cottages are ready.

Not to be outdone, the Marie Hitchcock Puppet Theater is heralding an out of this world Alien Valentine!

Enjoy a few quick photos…

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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 Twitter!

House of Turkey raises earthquake relief funds.

The House of Turkey in Balboa Park is now raising earthquake relief funds. I learned this today as I walked through the International Cottages.

According to a House of Turkey flyer, one hundred percent of the money donated will go toward the earthquake relief effort, which includes providing life saving supplies.

If you’d like to help, 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 Twitter!