At the San Diego Museum of Art, you can do more than walk through its amazing galleries. You can create amazing art, too!
Yesterday, during my visit to Balboa Park, I stumbled upon two art-making workshops at the museum.
A table was set up on the grass of the museum’s outdoor sculpture garden. Participants in this Community Art Workshop would use geometry and compass to design their own birthdate star marker. The cool markers have an antique appearance, and depict a person’s birthdate and corresponding constellation.
This workshop will be repeated on Saturday, October 19th.
Next, I was kindly permitted to view a Book Binding activity inside the museum library.
According to the SDMA website, participants explore Islamic book binding techniques and the practices of codex creation by engaging in folding, wrapping, decorating, and binding a book.
Are you a gamer with heart? Would you like to improve the lives of hospitalized kids? Gamers Outreach is a charity that would appreciate your help.
The two cool people in the above photo are raising money for Gamers Outreach during TwitchCon in San Diego. I spotted them today grilling hot dogs at a tent on Harbor Drive. Look for them near a dancing hot dog!
Their objective: help fund programs that brighten the day of sick kids in hospitals, including San Diego’s own Rady Children’s Hospital.
Let me share two paragraphs from Gamers Outreach literature:
WHO WE ARE
Gamers Outreach is a charity that empowers hospitalized families through play. Our goal is to build a world where activity is easily prioritized as part of care. Video games are our tools of choice.
WHY WE DO IT
Being in the hospital can be scary and isolating. Games give kids access to adventure and opportunities to socialize. Sometimes healthcare staff even use games to assist with treatment!
Gamers Outreach has several programs. Click here to check out their GO Karts (Gamers Outreach Karts), which are portable video game kiosks built specifically for hospitals. Kids stuck in bed can play!
The Player 2 program encourages volunteers to distribute, manage, and play games with hospitalized kids! This role is particularly great for college gamers!
The Save Point program provides hospitals with high-tech vending machines that distribute items such as toys, game codes, and fun swag to kids receiving care . . . as they progress through treatment. Make getting better a fun goal! Curious hospitals should check this out!
Gamers Outreach helps thousands of children per year in a multitude of hospitals. Interested in learning more, and perhaps helping this effort? Visit their website by clicking here!
If you’re in San Diego for TwitchCon, head over to the fundraising tent on Harbor Drive across from the convention center, near the Gaslamp trolley station. I spun their prize wheel and got a free hot dog!
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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.
Have you seen the Treasure Hunt mural just outside the main entrance of Kobey’s Swap Meet? Not only is the fun artwork full of life, but it operates as a visual puzzle!
Monte Kobey started Kobey’s Swap Meet way back in 1976. Who in San Diego hasn’t swung by the old sports arena parking lot on a weekend looking for treasures and bargains? Next time you go, take a close look at this mural and you might find various objects of interest!
Clever eyes might detect a corn dog; toy car, boom box, treasure chest, roller skate, Kobey’s Hummer, five Kobey’s K’s; a pig; paint brush; six cats; a surfer; and . . . Waldo! My photographs don’t cover the entire mural, so you’ll have to swing by the swap meet for a thorough look.
Searching these photos right now, I see a small image of Jim Coffee and his street organ Misty! Are there any people in the mural that you recognize? Leave a comment!
Artist signatures indicate this very fun mural was created by Mackie Mason (@aquaboogieart) and Jasmin Marlene Mendoza (@jasmin_seeks).
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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 X.
A great event was held today in Old Town San Diego State Historic Park. Mexico’s Independence Day was celebrated with a fun, cultural Fiestas Patrias!
California State Park employees and volunteers teamed up with the Boosters of Old Town San Diego and the Old Town San Diego Chamber of Commerce to bring an assortment of free activities.
It all began with a late morning kick-off parade circling the historic park’s Plaza de las Armas. The very colorful Fiestas Patrias parade was led by Old Town’s beloved rescue donkey Dulce. Then there were two wonderful performances of ballet folklorico by beautifully costumed young people, representing Gift of Dance.
On the perimeter of the grassy plaza, living history activities could be freely enjoyed by anyone, young or old. There was a calligraphy learning table, tortilla making and traditional crafts. Kids were excited to make corn husk dolls and Mexican cascarones.
What’s more, there was a Guac’ Off Competition! For five bucks the public was invited to try samples of guacamole and judge which was best!
For those who wanted a good look at San Diego’s early history, Historic Adobe Tours were also available to the public, with groups setting off from the Robinson-Rose House Visitor Center.
I walked around the event late this morning and took some photos…
Everyone could get a small Mexican flag to wave during the fun, cultural event.Here comes the Fiestas Patrias parade!Dulce the Old Town donkey leads the Fiestas Patrias parade.Smiles and period attire on parade!The parade included volunteers of Old Town San Diego State Historic Park.Many traditional Mexican folk dances would follow the parade.Young dancers from San Diego ballet folklorico school Gift of Dance.Pure joy.Fiestas Patrias activities for families in Old Town’s historic central plaza.A smile from Strenger Studio, which provides calligraphy workshops and supplies in Old Town.A young Fiestas Patrias visitor learns calligraphy.Kids were learning how to make confetti-filled cascarones here.Traditional tortilla-making demonstration.Friendly Boosters of Old Town work the Guac’ Off Competition tent.Which guacamole is best? Winner gets bragging rights for a year!
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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 X.
A gigantic sand sculpture now stands near the foot of the Imperial Beach Pier. The “Back 2 IB” retro sculpture, created using 80 cubic yards of sand, celebrates nostalgia from the 1980s. It’s the centerpiece of Imperial Beach’s family friendly 2024 Sun & Sea Festival!
Carved into the massive sculpture are images from the 1980s that many will recognize. Pac-Man. Ghostbusters. MTV. Rubik’s Cube. Cabbage Patch Kids. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. Back to the Future. Nintendo Entertainment System. A video game arcade. A boom box. Music on cassette tapes…
Is this the coolest sand sculpture ever, or what? Why was it built? Each summer, during the annual Sun & Sea Festival, Imperial Beach is also known as Sandcastle City!
When I visited the festival late this morning, the local sand artists, including members of the Imperial Beach Posse Sand Carvers, appeared to be nearly finished. They’ve been working on their monumental work of art for several days.
I walked around the “Back 2 IB” sand sculpture and took these photographs of the sand sculptors hard at work…
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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 X.
The Sun & Sea Festival returned to Imperial Beach for 2024, attracting a good crowd as usual. And, as always, the annual event beside the Imperial Beach Pier featured sand sculptures!
A monumental sand mega castle was being finished by a group of local artists late this morning when I walked through the festival.
The “Back 2 IB” sculpture celebrates nostalgia. Carved into the sand are fun retro images that bring back fond memories of the 1980s, from Back to the Future, to Ghostbusters, to E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, to Cabbage Patch Kids, to Rubik’s Cube, to Pac-Man. (I’ll be sharing more photos of the amazing sand sculpture in my next blog post!)
The festival also featured a Kids-n-Kastles competition, with 15 team entries built on the beach north of the pier. There was no adult competition this year. Sadly, there weren’t enough sponsors.
The COVID pandemic and sewage coming from the Tijuana River polluting the ocean off Imperial Beach have visibly hurt this long-running event, not to mention the Imperial Beach community and local businesses. Nobody was out in the water, apart from several surfers who were seriously risking their health.
I spoke to people at a Surfrider Foundation tent. They said very slow progress is being made to solve the sewage problem. The ocean here has been off limits for about two years now. It’s a problem that seems to have no end.
In spite of this, however, there was plenty of fun to be had at the 2024 Sun & Sea Festival! Lots of food! Live music! A fantastic location and SoCal beach vibe!
Here are my 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 X.
Bright, happy colors. PLAY MORE LEARN MORE. Painted Lady butterflies and flowers watered by a rainbow. A bird, a snail, a ladybug. Two kids perched on a mushroom, reading a book.
Mr. Rogers and his quote: Play gives children a chance to practice what they are learning.
The artwork is by Paige and Brenda Townsend (@BrilliantSpectrumArt).
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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 X.
A number of local artists were displaying their work today at the California Center for the Arts, Escondido. I happened to walk by their event, so I had to check it out.
A display of fun, super creative table lamps immediately caught my eye. I was looking at the multi-media artwork of Rainbow artist Clark Warren.
He’s been assembling these wonderful, whimsical lamps for thirty years, Clark told me. People he knows give him the figurines and other found objects that are incorporated into his wonderful “sculpture” lamps.
He turned one lamp on that looked like a steampunk contraption, and the light continuously changed color. I saw photos of other lamps, including one that rises strangely from a sewing machine. His creativity knows no limits! And he’s too nice!
I wasn’t surprised at all when I learned his work will be exhibited at the Oceanside Museum of Art sometime in 2025.
If you’re interested in the Light Expressions art of Clark Warren, I’ve posted a photo of his business card.
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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 X.
It’s the final day of Comic-Con 2024 in San Diego. As usual, I went for a morning walk with my camera in hand.
In the early morning few people were about. I imagine many fans were sleeping in after yesterday’s super exciting Hall H reveals by Marvel, the Crunchyroll concert at The Shell, and other late night San Diego Comic-Con parties.
By mid-morning a crowd was growing in the Gaslamp Quarter and outside the San Diego Convention Center. While two offsites had disappeared overnight (the Bathroom Battlestation and MrBeast Lab), lines for the activations behind the convention center near the bay (FX, Voodoo Ranger, Adult Swim, Hulu, Abbott Elementary, and Dragon Ball) were already long.
Sunday is a day when many local San Diegans come out to enjoy the free offsite activations. I saw lots of families with kids!
Walking down Fifth Avenue early Sunday morning I saw this!Police bomb-sniffer dogs were getting underway. Thank you for keeping everyone safe!A fun photo near the FX offsite early in the morning.The IMDb Boat is gone.Banners remain for the two Crunchyroll concerts at The Shell.Fun graphics at The Shell box office.Additional colorful One Piece graphics remain at the San Diego Symphony’s outside venue, The Shell.No super long Hall H line winding through Embarcadero Marina Park South on Sunday.A Comic-Con view on Sunday morning from Embarcadero Marina Park South.The Dragon Ball line on Sunday morning was long. They give out good swag.Back in the Gaslamp. Wolverine and Deadpool got their masks confused!Sunday morning line at The Lodge.You can see how the crowd was growing during the course of Sunday morning.Romans in togas greet fans passing the Those About to Die chariot racing offsite in Gaslamp Square. A line was growing here, too.Setting up a sign by the SpongeBob squirting activation.A hot dog with mustard and no ketchup. Promotion of Universal Basic Guys on FOX.Shortly after ten o’clock the Petco Park Interactive Zone was already quite busy!Super cool Predator cosplay!Once more I’m behind the San Diego Convention Center. Comic-Con International chalk art!Pirates busy signing in visitors along the Adult Swim line.Having fun on the big carnival swing ride at the A.V.A. FEST of Abbott Elementary.More fun being had at the A.V.A. FEST!Will this guy get dunked?LANFest, through gaming, raises money for charitable causes. See their website here. They have 18 chapters in 3 countries!Stilt walkers greet fans to A.V.A. FEST during Comic-Con 2024.Adult Swim banner flies!Captain Hook cosplay near the FX offsite. Its line was very long by late morning!Now I’m heading back over the Harbor Drive pedestrian bridge. Less cosplay on Sunday, but still some good ones!Waiting a long time for a free slushy isn’t my cup of tea.I’m afraid I missed the Dexter activation. I’m going to steer my feet toward home.I have some cold water at home. Thanks anyway!A decent crowd in the Gaslamp Quarter just before noon. It’s Sunday at Comic-Con 2024.Powdered Toast Man cosplay from The Ren & Stimpy Show. Makes me wonder about lunch: What’s in my refrigerator?
I hope you enjoyed my photographic coverage of Comic-Con 2024. I think I’ll call it quits. My aging legs are tired!
It’s time to transition my blog back to its more normal self. I’ll be publishing a variety of posts concerning San Diego: unique events and festivals, museum exhibits, historic places, nature walks, street art–the usual Cool San Diego Sights stuff. I’m never entirely sure where I’ll walk next. Or what I might discover by sheer chance!
I do know I have photographs concerning Balboa Park coming up in the next couple days. So if you live in San Diego, or simply love the city, stay tuned!
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
If you’d like to view all of my coverage concerning San Diego Comic-Con, including hundreds of cool photographs, click here!
I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things in San Diego, 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.
Hundreds of super creative cosplays could be seen all around San Diego on Saturday during Comic-Con 2024!
Enjoy another collection of fun cosplay photos taken as I wandered here and there outside Comic-Con in the San Diego summer sunshine.
There’s one more day to go. Hopefully offsite lines are shorter this Sunday–there are still a few activations that I haven’t visited!
Too much fun!
If you want to see even more, click here to view 150 cosplay photos taken during past San Diego Comic-Cons!
Venom and Carnage cosplay.Miles Morales cosplay.Helldivers cosplay.Zebra Batman cosplay! First time I’ve seen this!Deadpool cosplay. Very popular at SDCC 2024.Borderlands Psycho cosplay. Also popular in 2024.Moon Knight cosplay.Batgirl and Kite Man cosplay.Powerpuff Girls cosplay.Black Panther cosplay.King Mickey cosplay.The Purge cosplay.Thor and Jane Foster cosplay.The Last Airbender cosplay.Luz Noceda and Jumanji cosplay.Grand Admiral Thrawn cosplay.Mario family cosplay.Cyclops cosplay.Joker cosplay.Joker and Harley Quinn cosplay.Demon Slayer cosplay.Barf from Spaceballs cosplay!Super cool Alien cosplay at San Diego Comic-Con!Average Joe’s from Dodgeball cosplay.Peely from Fortnite cosplay. Very appealing!Pee-wee Herman cosplay!
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
If you’d like to view my coverage of Comic-Con so far, which includes hundreds of cool photographs, click here!
Cool San Diego Sights! 