Tag: events

Enormous soccer ball in San Diego’s Gaslamp!

Am I hallucinating? There’s an enormous soccer ball in downtown San Diego’s Gaslamp Square!

I spoke to a security guard in Gaslamp Square who indicated the gargantuan soccer ball appeared Thursday and will vanish tomorrow. The gigantic inflatable promotes the MLS 2025 soccer season kicking off yesterday on Apple TV.

Gaslamp Square, located conveniently between popular Petco Park, the bustling San Diego Convention Center, and the iconic Gaslamp Quarter archway sign, seems to have become our city’s small version of Times Square. It’s overlooked by the nearby Hard Rock Hotel. There’s the big MTS video board installed last year. There’s the history of Gaslamp Square being a center of exciting outdoor activities during Comic-Con.

Come to think of it, I remember how, in 2017, a small aircraft was mounted here on a pedestal to promote a Red Bull Air Race over San Diego Bay.

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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 X.

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Living Art Experience in Southeast San Diego!

A joyful celebration of culture and history was enjoyed this afternoon in Southeast San Diego. The Friends of the Malcolm X Library: Living Art Experience honored Black History Month with dance, music, poetry, a fashion show, plus local artists and a live painting demonstration. Refreshments were included!

The community room at the Valencia Park/Malcolm X Branch Library was filled with energy as the free, family-friendly event got underway. Words from the stage expressed gratitude to our Creator, and the audience was encouraged to remember our ancestors and think of those who would follow us after we leave this world. Lift Every Voice rose from many voices.

A fun fan dance followed! It seems half the room participated!

I enjoyed looking at the art, crafts and clothing displayed at various tables. I took several photographs during this wonderful, very colorful event.

Reginald Green, an instructor for Veterans Art Project (VETART), had a table full of artwork. He works out of VETART’s ceramic and glass studio in Vista.

VETART provides a process-intensive arts encounter proven to help Veterans and Active Duty (some with post-traumatic stress, TBI, and MST) find their voice and work through the life-changing process of transitioning from military to civilian life.

Some more photos…

Christie’s Place was present. As their website states: Love Grows Here.

Christie’s Place is the only agency in San Diego whose mission is dedicated to serving women, children and families whose lives have been impacted by HIV/AIDS.

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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.

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Dreamscapes of nature’s wonders in San Diego!

Walk through Galleries 14/15 at the San Diego Museum of Art and you might think you’re strolling through a bright dream–a dream of intense beauty that is both real and unreal.

Ruud van Empel: Theatre is an exhibition that opened a little over a week ago at the San Diego Museum of Art in Balboa Park.

Ruud van Empel is a Dutch photographer and visual artist who makes spectacular digital collages like the ones you see in my photos. He finds beautiful plant forms in nature–in forests, marshes, deserts, and wherever he travels–then digitally combines them into images that look both alien and familiar. To me, the images are of a paradise. He’ll introduce the human form into some of the creations.

When you visit this exhibit, make sure to watch the short film, which describes Ruud van Empel’s creative process. I’m envious. He gets to journey through some of our world’s most amazing natural places while simultaneously creating dreamlike worlds of his own.

If you’d like to view his beautiful worlds, step into the two free combined Galleries 14 and 15. You can access the galleries near the entrance to the courtyard Panama 66 restaurant, located on the west side of Plaza de Panama and the museum. Simply walk through the door that leads to the public restrooms. Ask someone working at Panama 66 if you’re not sure where to go!

Ruud van Empel: Theatre will be on view through July 27, 2025.

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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.

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Dancing to Boot Scootin’ Boogie at Seaport Village!

One reason I like to walk through Seaport Village on a weekend is the live music. There’s always a great local band performing on stage in the Lighthouse District. Today it was The Tradesmen.

The best thing is how random people descend onto the outdoor “dance floor” and completely let loose: moving to the music, swaying, arms lifted skyward, prancing about dizzily without inhibition. What a blast!

I paused for a while during my Embarcadero walk, to tap my toes to Boot Scootin’ Boogie.

No, you couldn’t make me dance like that in front of everybody. I’m chicken.

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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.

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Words of inspiration at the library for San Diego authors.

The 59th Annual Local Author Showcase can now be visited at San Diego’s downtown Central Library.

Books and ebooks written by San Diego authors that were published in 2024 are featured. The published works are displayed on the library’s first floor during the month of February.

One of the display cases caught my eye. It contains words of inspiration for our local authors.

“Start writing, no matter what. The water does not flow until the faucet is turned on.” –Louis L’Amour
“I think writing is another form of thinking, and story telling is not only a way to remember, but a way to create something new that is a part of us.” –Tommy Orange
“No song or poem will bear my mother’s name. Yet so many of the stories that I write, that we all write, are my mother’s stories.” –Alice Walker
“You can’t wait for inspiration…You have to go after it with a club.” –Jack London
“Description begins in the writer’s imagination but should finish in the reader’s.” –Stephen King
“Toda mi vida he tenido miedo en el momento en que me siento a escribir.” (All my life I have been afraid of the moment I sit down to write.) –Gabriel García Márquez
“The first draft is just you telling yourself the story.” –Terry Pratchett
“You can always edit a bad page. You can’t edit a blank page.” –Jodi Picoult

One of the books in the 59th Annual Local Author Showcase contains the writing of homeless young people. Hopeful students who attend Monarch School have written about things they know.

More Odes to Common Things, Volume VII is by the Monarch Seven Collective. I posted a blog concerning the book two weeks ago. Read a few of those odes and learn more by clicking here.

I, myself, write fictional short stories. If you’re curious, you can read them here.

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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.

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Artists celebrated in San Diego at Black Comix Day!

Have you been to Black Comix Day in San Diego yet? It’s a super cool Black History Month pop culture event that is similar to San Diego Comic-Con, but it focuses on creators of African Descent.

Black Comix Day 2025 brings comic book artists, writers, independent publishers and fans together in Balboa Park at the WorldBeat Cultural Center. There are dozens of amazing exhibitors. See the event website here.

Black Comix Day is free to the public and taking place all this weekend. I swung by to check it out on Saturday–you really should go on Sunday! There’s so much to see, collectibles to find, and fun discoveries to make. Most importantly, perhaps, it’s an opportunity to support visionary, independent creators, many of whom call Southern California home.

I had a blast. I recognized some friendly faces from last year’s event. There were many new exhibitors, too.

I encourage my readers to head on down Sunday, February 16, between 10 am and 6 pm. This pop culture extravaganza is free, but you might like to purchase a few comic books, graphic novels, posters, t-shirts or other cool collectibles!

There’s also a great selection of ethnic food inside the WorldBeat Center, too, so bring an appetite!

Some photographs to provide a flavor…

I was told that Harriet Tubman: Demon Slayer will be an upcoming show on Hulu!

How cool is that!

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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.

Feel free to share this!

Meet a Hollywood legend in San Diego!

You can meet Erik Betts, a Hollywood legend, in San Diego this weekend!

Erik, a self-taught gymnast and martial artist, has acted and performed stunts in so many movies and television shows that it would take forever to list them all.

He’ll be hanging out at Black Comix Day in Balboa Park, inside the WorldBeat Cultural Center, signing collectibles, comics, posters, action figures, t-shirts and more on Sunday, February 16, 2025, from 10 am to 6 pm.

You’ve almost certainly seen Erik (without possibly knowing it) all over entertainment. He was the Red Power Ranger! He has acted, been a crew member and performed amazing stunts in countless Hollywood movies, including Avatar, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, Batman Begins, Mission: Impossible III, and Ant-Man. He has worked in dozens of television shows, such as Westworld, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Heroes, CSI: Miami, even the Young and the Restless, and many, many more! He has also contributed to video games!

Here’s his IMDb page with all of his credits and a full biography. Here’s his Instagram page.

Want to know the coolest thing about Erik? His huge smile and infectious enthusiasm. I was so excited just meeting him, absorbing his incredible energy. At Erik’s table you can watch a video of him creating jaw-dropping action in many of Hollywood’s most popular movies!

Make sure to swing by Black Comix Day on Sunday, February 16, 2025. It’s absolutely overflowing with talented creators–writers, artists, animators, publishers… Here’s the event website!

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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.

Feel free to share this!

Leo and the Science Project puppet show!

Wow! Look what’s coming up at the Marie Hitchcock Puppet Theater in Balboa Park! It’s Leo and the Science Project!

If you have young children and you’ve never been to the Marie Hitchcock Puppet Theater, you’re missing out on a long-time San Diego tradition and tons of happy fun.

This coming show looks awesome! Its description: The Magic Jacket Kids are back! Join Leo, Zhuri, and Elijah as they create fun science projects for school and learn that when they work together, everyone succeeds!

(I hope these smiling characters succeed better than my poor attempts at Science Fair way back when!)

Leo and the Science Project will be presented February 21 to 23, and February 28 to March 2. Showtimes are 11 am, 1 pm and 3 pm. Grab a ticket at the box office window in front when you arrive!

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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.

Feel free to share this!

A colorful Chinese New Year Fair at Balboa Park!

If you love color, culture, food and fun, you should head over to Balboa Park tomorrow, Sunday, February 16, 2025. The second day of the Chinese New Year Fair, hosted by the House of China, will be taking place at the International Cottages!

I walked through the free festival today and photographed a wide variety of cool sights. In addition to the vendors of ethnic food and unique gifts, and the colorful cultural entertainment, the Hall of Nations features artists who are showcasing traditional Chinese art, including calligraphy, brush painting and gourd decoration. I found plenty of references to the Year of the Snake!

There’s something new and exciting to see everywhere visitors turn.

Sunday the entertainment lineup runs from 11 am to 4 pm, with lion and dragon dances and dancing by various groups, plus fashion models, music and more!

These three young journalists were at the event. Write, write, write! Start a blog! Be curious! Be persistent! Be passionate! You never know where your efforts might lead!

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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.

Feel free to share this!

Year of the Snake in San Diego’s Gaslamp!

Chinese New Year is being celebrated this weekend with a festival in downtown San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter. 2025 is the Year of the Snake!

The 42nd Annual San Diego Chinese New Year Fair is a free cultural event taking place along two city blocks by the San Diego Chinese Historical Museum. The food, entertainment, lion dancing and more can be found at the corner of Third Avenue and J Street–the center of San Diego’s Asian Pacific Thematic Historic District.

I’ve been under the weather the last couple days, but I found the energy today to walk down from Cortez Hill to experience a little bit of the fun. I snapped these photos.

The family-friendly 42nd Annual San Diego Chinese New Year Fair is presented by the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association of San Diego.

The big event is taking place Saturday and Sunday, February 8-9, 2025. Hours both days are from 10 am to 5 pm.

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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.

Thank you for sharing!