Tomorrow, Sunday, October 26th, you and the kids have a cool opportunity to watch a Halloween magic and puppet show!
The Ghouls, Goblins and Giggles Show (a playful party of puppets and prestidigitation) can be enjoyed at the Marie Hitchcock Puppet Theater in Balboa Park!
Showtimes are 11 am and 2 pm. You can buy tickets shortly before the performance at the front window box office.
Steve Taylor is back with his marionettes and magic! He’s truly awesome!
I passed the theater today as a performance concluded and families who were leaving told me the show was great!
Fun fact! That puppet he’s holding with three pumpkin heads was made by Marie Hitchcock herself 60 years ago and given to Steve. Sixty years later, the pumpkin-heads puppet is returning to the stage!
Some stage props I photographed…
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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.
Laurel and Hardy entertained a huge crowd at the Spreckels Organ Pavilion in Balboa Park during another very popular Silent Movie Night. (Appropriately renamed Not-So-Silent Movie Night!) The entertaining concert was part of the 37th San Diego International Summer Organ Festival.
The comedy duo starred in three silent films as San Diego organist extraordinaire Russ Peck added his own incomparable, equally humorous soundtrack!
Putting Pants on Philip, 1927, had the ladies chasing Stan Laurel, to the chagrin of Oliver Hardy. Two Tars, 1928, had Laurel and Hardy causing absolute havoc wherever they went. Liberty, 1929, saw the two bumbling heroes high up in the city sky balancing precariously on steel girders. All very silly, all hilarious!
As the San Diego evening sky darkened, Russ Peck played jaunty, sunny, nostalgic old tunes from the 1920s, getting the audience in the mood for silent films from the same decade. Then he joined “Stan Laurel” on stage for a fun little skit concerning hats.
Then the pavilion lights were dimmed and classic silent film antics commenced!
I can’t tell you just how wonderful it all was. Laughter all around!
After the films, I approached a table where I learned a big international Laurel and Hardy convention is coming to San Diego in 2026! The 24th International Sons Of The Desert Convention will be held on June 21-25, 2026 at The Legacy International Resort and Spa in Mission Valley.
Do you love Laurel and Hardy? Read all about the big event by clicking here!
San Diego Civic Organist Raúl Prieto Ramírez says hi before the start of Not-So-Silent Movie Night.Raúl Prieto Ramírez gets the evening started.Introducing Russ Peck, who is House Organist for the Balboa Theatre in San Diego.Russ Peck with Spreckels Organ curator Dale Sorenson.A fun Laurel and Hardy skit has the audience laughing.Two Tars on the way to causing mayhem.The 24th International Sons Of The Desert Convention is a big Laurel and Hardy event coming to San Diego in 2026!
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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.
Spirited people were learning how to folk dance this afternoon in San Diego’s historic Balboa Park Club building!
During today’s Dance Festival, which was sponsored by the San Diego Park and Recreation Department and the International Dance Association, folk dancing lessons were provided for beginners. The spacious ballroom was filled with joyful music representing diverse cultures. Several friendly teachers were on hand.
I watched for a bit as participants learned fun new steps in the ballroom.
As you can see from my photos, the dancing sculpture at the center of the grand foyer of the Balboa Park Club had been decorated for the event. Next door, in the Santa Fe Room, international crafts were for sale by a variety of smiling vendors. Some puppets were also visiting from the nearby Marie Hitchcock Puppet Theater!
Would you like to learn how to folk dance? Or ballroom dance? Go to the website of the International Dance Association of San Diego County by clicking here, then check out their information and future events!
“Laughter, song, and dance create emotional and spiritual connection; they remind us of the one thing that truly matters when we are searching for comfort, celebration, inspiration, or healing: We are not alone.”
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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 (formerly known as Twitter)!
Dozens of funny characters are running amok inside the Omni San Diego hotel. They’re swarming up the columns near the front desk and crowding about the elevators in the lobby. They’re even inside the elevators! Amused hotel guests can’t avoid them!
But what do you expect when it’s Comic-Con 2023, and FOX’s Animation Domination has taken over the Omni?
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I’m covering Comic-Con again this year. To see all my current and past blog posts concerning Comic-Con, click here and scroll down!
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’s own Fern Street Circus performed in City Heights today! They set up in Teralta Park and commenced their big show at 2 o’clock.
Many families in the community came out for the fun. City Heights was one stop during Fern Street Circus’s free Neighborhood Tour 2023!
As usual the skits were delightfully silly. A chicken was chased about with a net in order to make soup. Somehow that pollo always got away. Kids encouraged the bird to run, and laughed. Adults laughed, too.
And there was the happy, upbeat music and the audience singing along. Lyrics were all about the value of Cooperation.
And there was the hilarious ringmaster with his wonderfully absurd interjections.
And there were, of course, traditional circus acts galore, many featuring super talented circus students.
The whole experience was one of pure joy.
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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!
The Gingerbread Man emerged from a hot oven and arrived in Chula Vista today, thinking he could easily outrun families and kids attending Arts in the Park. But, alas, the famous little cookie met his fate.
The story of The Gingerbread Man was acted out, to the delight of the audience, in a very small wooden theater.
It was a fun demonstration of Kamishibai, a form of outdoor story telling that was popular in Japan during the first half of the 20th century.
The Kamishibai version of The Gingerbread Man was presented by Write Out Loud, who brought their live reading performances to the annual Arts in the Park event, held at Memorial Park in Chula Vista.
Run, run as fast as you can! You can’t catch me. I’m the Gingerbread Man!
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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!
Enjoy a fun collection of photographs taken during a walk outside Comic-Con this afternoon!
In addition to many cosplay photos, which I’ll post shortly, my camera captured lots of smiles and laughter.
I experienced many things.
I saw a vampire fly. I saw a flying shark. I listened to Karma sing. I saw five Sherlock Holmes. I saw a walking pickle. I got a smile and a free poster from local radio station 91X. I got a smile and some licorice from Wiley Wallaby. I saw Thor wield a huge hammer. I watched a crazy whack-a-mole.
I laughed, too!
If you’d like to view my coverage of Comic-Con so far, which includes hundreds of cool photographs, click 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!
Two dummies in El Cajon were caught climbing electrical power line poles today.
Caught by my camera, that is!
They were a pair of real dummies, because, well, they were in fact real dummies!
I was walking along West Main Street past the SDG&E Construction and Operations facility when the corner of my eye was taken by surprise. Through a gap in the surrounding fence, this is what I saw…
During today’s walk in El Cajon I captured more surprising and amusing photographs. The next blog post might really make you laugh.
Stay tuned!
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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!
Cool San Diego Sights! 