Tag: fun

Comic-Con at San Diego public libraries!

Do you live in San Diego, but can’t make it downtown for Comic-Con this week? Why not celebrate Comic-Con 2024 at your local library!

Walking through San Diego’s Central Library yesterday, I saw a display of graphic novels. When I checked out the library’s website, I discovered that all sorts of creative activities can be enjoyed at many San Diego branch libraries that correspond with the phenomenon that is Comic-Con!

Many of these events are coming up in a day or two, so make sure to check out the website right away by clicking here.

At the Point Loma/Hervey Library, there’s Your Life as a Graphic Novel Memoir: Take-Home Art Journaling Kits.

At the College-Rolando Library, there’s Mini Comic-Con (adapted for adults with ASD).

At Oak Park Library, there’s Anime Club for Young Adults.

Sketch Night: Comic Con Edition is a virtual event on Zoom, by the San Diego County Parks and Recreation Department in conjunction with staff from SDPL.

At the Valencia Park/Malcolm X Library, there’s Super Hero Workshop with ClicBitz San Diego.

At the Rancho Bernardo Library, there’s Kids Craft: Paper Superheroes.

At the Clairemont Library, there’s Superhero Preschool Storytime at the Library.

And, finally, at Pacific Beach Library, there’s Most Wuthering Heights Day Ever.

Click here to learn all the details!

And by the way, the Central Library will have their 4th floor IDEA Lab open during Comic-Con, where cosplayers can make repairs to their costumes. There will also be comic-theme makes and photo ops according to this sign that I spotted nearby!

There’s more! If you’d like to score a cool collectible, come down to the Central Library to get your 2024 Commemorative Comic-Con Library Card! It was designed by John Jennings, author, graphic novelist, New York Times Bestseller and 2018 Eisner Winner!

During Comic-Con, you can also obtain this year’s commemorative library card at the San Diego Public Library’s booth in the San Diego Convention Center. They’ll be at Booth 5523!

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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!

More creativity, outdoor fun before Comic-Con!

What the heck is that green thing? It’s part of another fun, surprising offsite being created outside the San Diego Convention Center before Comic-Con 2024!

What I love about walking around before Comic-Con is the mushrooming creativity. Sure, the offsite activations, building and trolley wraps, and carnival rides are all about marketing movies, television shows, video games and whatnot–but it is creativity that brings delight to the buying public. Art and storytelling are an essential part of it all.

So it’s now Sunday afternoon before Comic-Con 2024. Several days to go before the pop culture convention officially opens. I’ve already posted lots of photos the past few days. But more stuff keeps materializing!

Local artist Shirish Villaseñor has begun painting the windows of the Starbucks at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront. It’s a SpongeBob SquarePants theme celebrating the cartoon’s 25th anniversary! (She has some big community mural projects coming up in San Diego which I hope to cover in the next couple months.)

The smile of a friendly artist!

The FX offsite and building wrap are getting ready. Like most Comic-Con offsites, it opens on Thursday.

Hulu’s Animayhem has returned in 2024. They’ll have a huge offsite behind the convention center.

I’m pretty sure you can’t slide inside this huge green pipe.

Some sort of fun factory.

A big swing ride at the A.V.A. FEST. Woo-hoo!

That cool Star Trek wrap is now 100% complete on the Marriott Marquis.

Crates have arrived for the Dragon Ball offsite. It’s going to be awesome as usual!

A big Dragon Ball wrap is being placed on part of the Marriott Marquis.

The second side of a trolley wrap design that I hadn’t been able to photograph earlier. The Boys.

The big, fun Marvel Contest of Champions Ferris wheel under construction along MLK Promenade.

More spooky Immortal Universe graphics placed on the Hilton Gaslamp.

A wider look.

My goodness! Wrapping the large Hard Rock Hotel all around with SpongeBob graphics takes many days of work.

The Lodge by Paramount+ is starting to look like a lodge.

The transforming power of human creativity.

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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!

Big carnival rides pop up for Comic-Con!

A pair of big carnival rides have popped up outside Comic-Con in San Diego!

It’s several days now until Comic-Con 2024 commences, and today a big swing ride and a Ferris wheel are being installed for two different outside activities that will be open free to the public!

The YOYO swing ride that you see in the first photographs is part of the family friendly A.V.A. FEST offsite, which will also include a ball pit and water squirt game. The carnival-like activation promotes the ABC series Abbott Elementary.

You can join the fun starting Thursday behind the San Diego Convention Center. It will be hard to miss!

On the other side of the convention center you’ll be able to freely ride the Marvel Contest of Champions big Ferris wheel, also starting on Thursday. (To ride you must play an exclusive Marvel Contest of Champions quest on your phone.)

The Ferris wheel is located on the grassy side of the Hilton San Diego Gaslamp Quarter hotel, alongside Martin Luther King, Jr. Promenade. It will be hard to miss too!

Learn more about this activity here.

What fun!

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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!

Here come the San Diego Comic-Con offsites!

Comic-Con is back in full force! After a few difficult years, due to COVID and a writers strike, it seems that in 2024 the epic international pop culture convention is going to be bigger and more exciting than ever! And outside the San Diego Convention Center there will be many fun offsites for the public to enjoy!

Many of those offsite activations are now under construction with less than a week to go until Comic-Con begins.

I walked around downtown San Diego, the Gaslamp and the convention center this morning and found all sorts of exciting activity. Check out these photos…

First up, The Lodge is under construction at the Happy Does Bar on Fifth Avenue. The Lodge is an activation that will showcase Paramount+ shows…

Next, at Gaslamp Square, Peacock’s unique Those About to Die Chariot Racing offsite is under construction. I was told visitors can actually ride around the tiny colosseum that is being built!

When I walked over the Harbor Drive pedestrian bridge, I noticed a lot of canopies are being prepared outside the San Diego Convention Center! It’s summer, the lines and crowds will be big, and shade will be welcome!

Between the convention center and the Hilton San Diego Bayfront, FX is setting up on the grass in their usual spot. I suspect that big building wrap on the Hilton will promote What We Do in the Shadows…

Not much is ready with Adult Swim’s offsite, yet. Looks like their usual setup…

I believe that next behind the convention center is the Hulu offsite. I’ll have to wait and see. I read the Abbott Elementary A.V.A. Fest offsite will be somewhere back here, too…

The Marriott Marquis San Diego Marina’s Terrace is where Dragon Ball will have their always super cool offsite. Workers were cleaning to get ready this morning…

A Shaun of the Dead offsite will be at 520 Fifth Avenue during Comic-Con 2024. I spotted a Winchester Tavern sign on the sidewalk outside!

What are these mysterious props coming down the street in a truck? Time will tell!

UPDATE!

The following morning I walked around to see what progress had been made…

First, I found where the Abbott Elementary offsite will be–at the end of the superyacht landing. They were getting ready to erect the A.V.A. FEST’s big swing ride!

Then I walked past Hulu’s huge site, which they continue to work on…

I passed the Adult Swim offsite by, where not much had happened yet, and then checked out FX’s progress, including their big wrap on the Hilton…

I crossed over to the Gaslamp where I checked out Peacock’s Those About to Die chariot racing offsite. My next blog post will show what I saw here this Sunday morning in more detail.

On the grass to one side of the Hilton San Diego Gaslamp some workers had begun conferring. I didn’t speak to them, but I’m assuming the Marvel Champions Ferris wheel will be here.

Some more construction going on at The Lodge…

And the Shaun of the Dead offsite up Fifth Avenue is making progress..

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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!

A visit to Sonic the Hedgehog Speed Café!

The Sonic the Hedgehog Speed Café pop-up fast food restaurant has returned to San Diego for Comic-Con 2024. And they’ve opened before the convention begins!

I swung by 910 J Street today shortly after the the Speed Café opened at 11 am. Not many people were about. In a few days, during Comic-Con starting Wednesday, there will probably be a line halfway down the block–like last year!

I took these photos of the fun Sonic the Hedgehog themed interior, then ordered a milkshake and chicken sandwich (that I consumed a moment ago) from the super friendly people behind the counter.

I must admit the mocha shake and spicy fried chicken sandwich were actually really good! Better then some other fast food joints! The chicken was tasty, crispy and moist inside–yum!

When the Sonic the Hedgehog Speed Café pop-up officially opens on Wednesday, I’m told Sonic himself will be present for the kids. And, of course, there will be Sonic video games that can be freely played, too!

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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!

Animation Domination returns to Comic-Con!

FOX has returned to San Diego Comic-Con in 2024 to assert their Animation Domination!

This afternoon I saw that a huge building wrap is now being applied to the Omni San Diego Hotel. Over the years, the tall building has been Fox Broadcasting Company’s canvas during Comic-Con, strategically overlooking Gaslamp Square and the San Diego Convention Center. Their past wraps have promoted their perpetually popular animated shows.

How long has The Simpsons been running now? Almost four decades? Is that possible?

Here are some photographs. I’ll take more photos as the wrap grows and post them as an update below.

What’s this? Alvin has arrived and is photobombing me!

He must be jealous of FOX’s Animation Domination.

Alvin! ALVIN! ALLVINNNNN!!!

UPDATE!

The next day (with no pesky Alvin)…

ANOTHER UPDATE!

And later…

ANOTHER UPDATE!

The next day…

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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!

SpongeBob SquarePants checks into Hard Rock Hotel!

Today I spotted SpongeBob SquarePants checking into the Hard Rock Hotel in San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter! Perhaps I should say onto and not into, because he’s part of the super fun graphics now arriving on the exterior of the hotel!

Check out today’s photos of the Paramount+ promotional wraps that are now being applied. It’s the 25th anniversary of SpongeBob SquarePants as you can see on the smaller wrap, which faces Fifth Avenue.

I’ve learned the interior of the Hard Rock Hotel will also be decorated with a SpongeBob theme for Comic-Con 2024. I’ll take those photos when that happens!

I’ll also take photos of these exterior wraps as they progress, and I’ll post them below in an update.

UPDATE!

Next day…

ANOTHER UPDATE!

And the next day…

YET ANOTHER UPDATE!

Annnnd, the next day…

AND YET ANOTHER UPDATE!!!

How many days will this go on? SpongeBob–you’re wearing me out!

Enough! If you want to see the rest of this immense Hard Rock Hotel wrap, head down to the Gaslamp during Comic-Con 2024!

YIKES! I CAN’T STOP!

One more…

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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!

Abbott Elementary wraps appear on Petco Park!

Large building wraps that promote ABC television’s series Abbott Elementary are now being applied to the exterior of Petco Park for Comic-Con 2024!

Check out some photos that I took today. I’ll take more photographs in the days to come and will post them as an update below.

Abbott Elementary will have an “A.V.A. FEST” free-to-the-public activation behind the San Diego Convention Center during Comic-Con. The offsite will feature lots of fun and giveaways!

Have you seen the Abbott Elementary trolleys now running around San Diego? I posted pics of one here!

UPDATE!

Next day…

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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!

Photos of 12th Annual East Village Block Party!

The 12th Annual East Village Block Party is being held today along several blocks of J Street, just north of Petco Park. The event, usually held on the San Diego Padres opening weekend, was originally scheduled for March 20, but rainy weather that day caused a postponement. In 2024 it’s a summer block party!

I walked along J Street late this morning to absorb some of the festive atmosphere. Many of San Diego’s other sports teams were present. There was music and art and lots of smiling Padres fans. And there was a ton of food, too!

If you read this in time, you might head down to the East Village Block Party before it ends at 4:30 pm. It takes place on J Street between 7th and 10th Avenue.

A sunny day in San Diego’s East Village.

Kid has fun at San Diego Legion rugby challenge.

Special shout out to the San Diego Mojo professional volleyball team. I won a cool t-shirt!

One of many smiles! That Topo Chico sparkling mineral water was great!

Peter Seidler in an awesome Padres baseball spray paint mural created by @dyseoneclothing, @hasler.88 and @bigchill8825.

A blessed smile at the East Village Block Party in San Diego!

Providing block party music!

Lots of Padres merchandise could be found.

Larry Turner, candidate for San Diego Mayor, smiles for a photo!

More smiles!

A fine Saturday in downtown San Diego.

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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.

Independence Day in Old Town San Diego.

Independence Day was celebrated today, the Fourth of July, in Old Town San Diego State Historic Park!

A festival atmosphere drew families to the central plaza, where the public could freely enjoy live music, crafts, old-fashioned outdoor games like sack races and tug of war, and even a simulated telegraph office! The Boosters of Old Town San Diego, raising funds for the park, raffled off a valuable quilt and offered fun handmade gifts for those passing by.

California State Park employees and volunteers wore 19th century attire. With a little imagination, strolling through the grassy plaza would feel like stepping back in time. Lovers of Americana, nostalgia and San Diego’s early history were all smiles.

Red, white and blue could be seen throughout the State Park. The various museums were open and welcoming. Spinners and quilters were demonstrating their craft at Threads of the Past, while several blacksmiths were hammering red hot iron at the Blacksmith Shop. Curious visitors could listen to explanations as they looked on.

It was a special day in a very special place.

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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.