Friendly guy at Pacific Islander Festival representing Tokelau shows how skirts are fashioned using natural fibers.
Today I went to San Diego’s annual Pacific Islander Festival. Wow!
The awesome event was held at Ski Beach Park on Vacation Isle, at the center of Mission Bay–and it was much, much bigger than I had expected. Thousands sitting in lawn chairs or walking among dozens of colorful tents enjoyed music, dance, food, fascinating crafts and a huge variety of cool sights.
Here’s some of what I saw. I’ll let the photo captions tell the story…
Miss Pacific Islander of San Diego greeted me with a warm smile!The popular annual festival attracts thousands, who enjoy lots of music and dance on a big main stage.The theme for 2015 was Heroes of the Pacific, honoring military veterans from Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia.Youthful dancers on stage were a favorite of the crowd.Many tents contained interesting artistic and cultural exhibits from different Pacific islands. Here we see Guam.Native arts and crafts fascinated visitors to the festival.Lots of super nice people were enjoying the day at Ski Beach Park in Mission Bay, and many wore colorful costumes!Glass floats are incredibly beautiful, like solid bubbles of light.Tivaevae Polynesian quilting from the Cook Islands, finely made fans, and other handcrafted works on display.Those are two very cool ukuleles!Chamorro outrigger canoe (proa) Sakman could be boarded by curious festival visitors at Ski Beach.An exotic boat in genuine blue Pacific Ocean water on a glorious San Diego day.This lively juggler simply had to be photographed.Drummers create rhythmic beats for event performers rehearsing behind the stage under some shady trees.The Heiva San Diego tent contained colorful Tahitian sights.Typical foods one might find on a South Pacific Ocean island.A sea turtle is swimming above the grass!Artist representing Samoa creates Siapo, also known as tapa, using ink made from native seeds and tree bark.A funny octopus and dancing knife on display at the Samoa tent.Books include Myths and Legends of Samoa.A beautiful wooden bowl was among many cultural artifacts from American Samoa.Palau’s tent had many interesting photos and unique objects for everyone to enjoy.Lots of life and energy at the Pacific Islander Festival!
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Fishing from sailboat moored in Crescent area of San Diego Bay.
Before the Trolley Dances began this morning, I walked for a stretch beside the quiet water, between Grape Street and the Coast Guard Station. It was an ordinary morning on San Diego Bay, in an area where few tourists venture. I photographed some typical scenes of real life.
People and dog climb into a small dinghy from floating dock.Man rows boat across the water. A typical scene of city life on the North Embarcadero.Homeless man stretches out on a public bench beside the water.Looking out across the blue water. Hangars of U.S. Coast Guard Air Station San Diego can be seen in the distance.Working on the weekend. A guy pushes a bunch of bright yellow floats out onto a pier.
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Photo of guy surfing near the pilings of the awesome Ocean Beach Municipal Pier.
The Ocean Beach pier is one of my favorite, favorite places in all of San Diego. Why? Check out these photos!
The beach near the foot of the OB pier is a favorite place in San Diego for tourists and locals alike.Climbing up to the high pier from the beach boardwalk below. This is almost like a stairway to heaven!Guy at top of the steps looks down to greet surfer on the sand below!Loads of surfers are out on the Pacific Ocean on this perfect late summer day. The water is warm and the waves have nice form.Looking down the Ocean Beach Municipal Pier, my own favorite pier in San Diego. It’s long and always jammed with cool sights!Kids gaze over the rail at surfers directly below. The action is amazing today!Two surfers wait for a good wave.This guy caught one, and is riding it in toward the shore, just south of the pier. That low wall you see on the right belonged to the long-defunct saltwater Plunge.Pick a wave any wave! The OB vibe is laid-back and life-loving!Photo of someone on the foaming crest of a curler.Two surfers share a wave side-by-side. They went completely under the pier and came out the other side!This surf dude caught himself a sweet liquid ride!While surfers catch cool waves, people farther down the OB pier try to catch some big fish!These fishermen at the t-shaped end of the pier are trying to catch bass, bonito, mackerel, or just about anything that bites!When you stand at the very end of the Ocean Beach pier, you feel like you’re far out on the ocean. I love it!Someone’s got something big on their line! A kid leans way over the rail to see!He’s got a nicely sized bonito! Everyone likes catching this active fish closely related to the tuna. It puts up a good fight!And these guys caught a really big Calico bass! The fish are definitely biting today!
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The Earth and a crescent moon. One of 26 terrazzo inserts arranged in a circle at entrance plaza of the Balboa Park Activity Center. Created in 1999 by artist Joyce Cutler-Shaw.
I recently enjoyed looking at some very cool public artwork. Located in front of the Balboa Park Activity Center, The Circle and the Self: A Picture Story by artist Joyce Cutler-Shaw is a series of images that tells a unique story about human activity and sport. Twenty six terrazzo inserts are arranged in a circle on the building’s south plaza, within a large tile map of the western United States, which was designed by another artist Raul Guerrero. I took a close-up photo of each terrazzo square and show them in sequence. That way you can easily follow the artist’s narrative, and the thought-provoking transformations.
The gymnasium-like Balboa Park Activity Center is where many San Diego residents go to participate in badminton, table tennis and volleyball. Similar artwork by the same artist can be found inside the building. Seventy two laser-cut metal plates depict the bodies of athletes engaged in sport, in many different, often imaginative environments.
Human figure poses beneath the slender blue moon. That moon will transform as the narrative moves counter-clockwise around the circle.Reaching up toward the ring-like moon. Striving toward hopes and dreams.After grabbing hold of the ring, and another, a gymnast swings through space.This outdoor public art titled The Circle and the Self tells the story of human athletic pursuit and competitive sport. Each tile measures 16 by 16 inches square.Planet Earth seems to transform into a ball. Is it a tennis ball being served?Here’s a planet-sized ball swooshing through a cosmic basketball net!Perhaps that ball is a round blue moon orbiting the Earth.A player tosses the ball toward the net.This fun artwork causes the curious viewer to actively walk around the large Activity Center patio. Now that’s true kinetic art!A ball and net, half light, half shadow.A competitor leaps!Another figure aims to shoot the ball.Is this an Olympic athlete engaged in shot put competition?The circle is a common image in sport. A sphere moves and bounces equally. The playing field is level.Is that a flying ball and baseball player?Here comes the ever-changing blue ball!Getting ready to catch the ball–or is it the Earth moving through space?Dynamic artwork shows human physical activity while traveling along life’s circle.Is this man playing handball?A blue ball on a stick. What sport is this?Perhaps this ball is about to be served in table tennis.The magical blue ball suddenly grows!The blue circle now seems to be a lake inside the contours of an ocean coast.As scale is altered and perspective changes, ocean and coastline become the planet Earth once more. Other blue circles are heavenly bodies throughout the universe.Our big blue marble is third planet from the sun. It has its own small orbiting moon.The viewer of this art has returned to the beginning. We’ve come full circle.The Circle and the Self by Joyce Cutler Shaw, 1999. City of San Diego Civic Art Collection. Commissioned for the citizens of San Diego.
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A monarch butterfly has found some milkweed. I snapped this photo just in time.
Early this afternoon I managed to capture some elusive living colors. I caught them with my camera, during a leisurely visit to Balboa Park’s beautiful Zoro Butterfly Garden.
Created in 1915 for the Panama-California Exposition, the unique amphitheatre-like stone grotto features meandering paths tucked beneath some shady trees. An easy stroll down into the hollow reveals a lush garden full of flowers specifically planted to attract butterflies. That wasn’t always the case. In 1935, during the California Pacific International Exposition in Balboa Park, this partially hidden area was called the Zoro Garden Nudist Colony!
In this peaceful garden you’ll experience monarch, sulfur and swallowtail butterflies, fluttering quickly past your astonished eyes. Most of the time, my old camera finger reacted much too slowly! But I got a few pics!
An artistic bird bath in the garden depicts leaves, flowers and butterflies, naturally!A tiny insect takes a walk on a sweet sun-yellow carpet.Zoro Butterfly Garden contains rustic, ragged beauty along its stony walkways.This sneaky lizard would’ve been happy to capture a quick butterfly, too! I don’t know if he had any luck.Cool close-up photo of red passion vine flower.I’m not sure who this guy is. Is it a Mourning Cloak? Some kind of moth? If you know, leave a comment.Sunlight reflects from a butterfly winging past some weathered public art in a section of the garden.Painted mural in Balboa Park’s Zoro Butterfly Garden shows an Orange-barred Sulphur and Cassia.Another section of this informative artwork depicts Passionvine and a Gulf Fritillary.A third section shows that Monarch butterflies are attracted to Milkweed.The underside of this Gulf fritillary almost looks like a torn, crumpled brown leaf.A swallowtail butterfly takes flight!Looking upward from the lush hollow where butterflies thrive, toward blue sky and fluttering, living color.An Anise Swallowtail spreads its wings on a glorious day in San Diego’s wonder-filled Balboa Park.
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Crew of live bait catching fishing boat Cougar works to transfer an immense net onto the G Street Pier at Tuna Harbor.
Late this morning I went down to HarborFest in Chula Vista. I’ve got to sort through a couple hundred photos–so I’ll blog about that cool event later. But first, here are some interesting pics which I took during a walk along San Diego’s Embarcadero this afternoon. As I strolled along Tuna Harbor, between Seaport Village and the USS Midway Museum, I noticed a lot of activity beside one of the live bait boats which docks at the G Street Pier. So I investigated.
Turns out, fishermen were removing a huge seine net from the Cougar, a commercial fishing boat which catches live bait. The bait is then distributed to local sportfishing vessels. I don’t claim to be an expert on these matters or to thoroughly understand what I saw, but I believe the captions I wrote are correct. I hope so! If a correction is required, leave a comment!
A crane is utilized to help transfer the heavy net from the boat’s big cylinder-like winch drum at its stern to the pier.Lots of seagulls were attracted to this picturesque scene on San Diego Bay. Perhaps they expected to spot some fish.Wrestling with the huge live bait encircling seine net, which is lined at the edges with yellow and white floats.Commercial fishing requires a lot of hard physical work on both land and water.Winch and crane operators work in tandem to keep the net moving from boat to pier smoothly and neatly.Working with a smile on a sunny summer Saturday on San Diego’s busy Embarcadero.Just a great photo of nets, gulls and human activity on a working public pier.
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Delivery man with fresh bread awaits morning opening of restaurant in the Gaslamp Quarter.
I woke up earlier than usual today. During the summer it’s pleasantly cool outside at daybreak, so I decided to take a long walk.
The city, at the six o’clock hour, had just begun to blink open its sleepy eyes. But a few signs of life were already evident downtown.
Here are photographs of early morning activity that I snapped while meandering randomly about, before I finally boarded the trolley for work…
Life in the city stirs into action as another weekday begins in downtown San Diego.City employee checks parking meters before the streets become much busier.Brad Perry of KUSI News had finished a segment on Good Morning San Diego when he spied a silly guy with a camera walking by.A dog also noticed that same curious guy, who just sauntered on by down the sidewalk.Early morning commuters wait separately at the Convention Center trolley station.One guy has most of this quiet patio to himself as he enjoys a morning read and coffee. A hungry dog peers into the doorway.A lone jogger heads down Martin Luther King Jr. Promenade while many San Diegans are still lying in bed.
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Another easy, carefree day of fishing at the Embarcadero Marina Park Pier in downtown San Diego.
I have lots of favorite places. One is the small public fishing pier in downtown San Diego, located at Embarcadero Marina Park South. I walk there quite frequently. When I stand on this short pier, leaning against the rail above the bay’s gently lapping water, I feel my mind and spirit expand.
I walked past the pier last Saturday morning. I’d seen a sign announcing a Kiwanis fishing tournament, and thought it might be fun to take a few photos. But when I arrived, nobody seemed to be there. Perhaps I was too early.
When I got home and reviewed all the photos on my computer, I figured I’d blog about the pier anyway!
I casually know a few of the regulars. Back when JJ’s Sunset Deli by the Bay was open, we’d eat, sit and talk on JJ’s patio at the foot of the pier. Jim had the best ribeye steak sandwiches. I even blogged about it. But I deleted that post when he shut down and retired at the end of last year. It’s a very big shame a new tenant hasn’t taken over the cafe. It’s a small gem that adds unique charm to San Diego and thousands of fond, priceless memories.
The Embarcadero Marina Park Pier extends less than a hundred feet from the shore, but the T-shaped end is about 300 feet long. At times many fish can be caught here. It’s possible to catch mackerel, bass, croaker, halibut, guitarfish, bat rays, leopard sharks and many more local species. Kids love the place. There’s grass nearby and picnic benches, and curving paths for running and riding, and rocks to climb down that are covered at the waterline with tiny, quick crabs.
There are homeless people scattered about the park. But they’re generally just hanging out, talking, sleeping, trying to enjoy the sea breeze, some shade or warm sunshine.
Know what’s really cool? No fishing license on the pier is required! That’s the case with all public pier fishing in San Diego.
Across the bay from the pier (which is located behind the San Diego Convention Center) lies beautiful Coronado Island.The small pier is a favorite spot for fishermen and families. It’s an affordable way for many locals to enjoy their beautiful (but sometimes expensive) city. The pier is most popular on weekends and during the summer.This friendly pier regular drags the bottom of the bay hoping to snag lost fishing poles and other sunken treasure!Someone caught a small mackerel, which flops around on the wooden pier.Another wonderful San Diego day on the Big Bay. The modest pier is located at Embarcadero Marina Park South.Two brown pelicans perch on a rail hoping for a handout from sympathetic fishermen.Fishing poles in a line on a hazy day. Across the gentle water to the south stretches the long San Diego–Coronado Bridge.Joggers, bicyclists, skaters, city residents, tourists, people attending Summer Pops concerts nearby…almost everyone likes to visit this pier for great peaceful views.Just spending some time on the pier, relaxing, talking, enjoying life among friends and fellow fishermen.Birds are plentiful on San Diego Bay…And so are boats, of every kind!Walking along the path that encircles Embarcadero Marina Park South. The small structure which housed the pier cafe, unfortunately, has been vacant this year.Kids look excitedly into the blue water. Maybe the big one is down there just waiting to be caught!
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With love and (what seems) magic we can actually change the entire world. I’m absolutely serious.
Here’s a very short story I wrote a couple months ago. It seems to affect people deeply. I’m going to reblog the story just this once. Perhaps you might enjoy reading it. The story is titled An Unexpected Sunflower. Simply click the link. As you will see, you can truly change the world.
Cool San Diego Sights! 