Late yesterday I sat for a spell on the poop deck of Star of India, gazing out across San Diego Bay. The cool sea breeze felt so refreshing after a day of summer heat. White sails traversing the sparkling water gave my eyes a welcome rest.
As my attention shifted, I became aware of the tall ship’s ropes that rose in a web all around me. Many were fastened to a row of wooden belaying pins along the ship’s rail.
Those beautiful ropes seemed like magic. Silent and unbreakable, coiled and knotted–twisted, mysterious, purposeful. Threading together a small wind-tossed world.
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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!
Cosplay and magic fill the area behind the San Diego Convention Center during 2018 Comic-Con!
Late this morning I enjoyed Comic-Con by walking behind the San Diego Convention Center, then through The Experience by Petco Park. This first batch of fun photos is from the area behind the convention center.
As usual, I encountered a bunch of super creative cosplay and magic at every turn!
A Star Wars stormtropper holds a humorous sign. Support the Troops.Long morning lines wrapped this way and that, but nobody seemed to mind.Cedric Diggory cosplay. An early glimpse of magic.Some cosplay pooches are part of the big spectacle.These Wonder Women made cool superhero skirts out of old Justice League swag bags!Good thing Nick Fury called Captain Marvel. Here she comes now to save the day!These zombies paused for a photo at the foot of the steps up to the convention center.I was told this cosplay is Bird Person.Check out this awesome cosplay! It’s Fire Archangel Velajuel, a Summoners War Sky Arena Monster.I was told this funny cosplay is Pac-Gentleman.Lots of visitors to 2018 Comic-Con were checking out the Bandai Dragon Ball activation.Vegeta cosplay.Mario and Luigi prepare for battle.I was told this cosplay is Radioactive Man.That’s my kind of superhero. One who brings ice cream! Who needs a utility belt?Cyclops was good enough not to remove his visor. The ice cream might melt.Amazing cosplay of some Mad Max post-apocalyptic characters.Hopefully Kylo Ren does me in before I have to witness another one of his ridiculous temper tantrums.At the FOX activation for The Passage, a scientist in a white lab jacket shows me the first human to be resistant to all known diseases. Unfortunately he has to drink human blood.Rorschach cosplay. Somehow using his lips he could make the inkblot on his mask change appearance.Some poor guy is caught between a fight between Peter Griffin and Ernie the Giant Chicken.A look at the FXhibition area near the Hilton Bayfront, behind the San Diego Convention Center.Another look. It’s late Saturday morning at 2018 Comic-Con.People place their heads in Archer character cubes for an unusual photo opportunity.Here’s Camp Paddy’s outhouse.Now that’s one very bizarre photograph being taken.Zatanna cosplay. Magic is her specialty.She must have waved her magic wand, because there’s wonderful cosplay all over the place!A cool FX guy poses beside a Mayans MC motorcycle for my camera.Mera blinked. Must be all that dry air above the water.Chillin’ at the FXhibition.Magicians perform, delighting young and old alike. There’s endless magic at Comic-Con!
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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!
You can easily explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on my blog’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There are thousands upon thousands of photos for you to enjoy!
Professor Minerva McGonagall and Albus Dumbledore cosplay at 2018 San Diego Comic-Con.
I missed the Harry Potter cosplay meetup today at 2018 San Diego Comic-Con, but I did manage to photograph many of the characters when I happened to see them walking about the Gaslamp Quarter!
Of course, wouldn’t you know, the one character I didn’t find was Harry himself.
Hermione Granger cosplay.Newt Scamander cosplay.Knight Bus conductor and Hogwarts Express conductor cosplay.Molly Weasley cosplay.Bellatrix Lestrange cosplay.Dolores Umbridge cosplay.Narcissa and Lucius Malfoy cosplay.Alastor “Mad-Eye” Moody cosplay.Rubeus Hagrid cosplay along with “Mad-Eye” Moody at 2018 San Diego Comic-Con.
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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!
You can easily explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on my blog’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There are thousands upon thousands of photos for you to enjoy!
This afternoon I headed to the Pacific Rim Festival in Chula Vista’s Bayside Park. I’ll blog more about this fun event shortly!
The highlight of my day was an incredible performance by Naruwan Taiko!
Imagine resonant, heart-pounding, pulsing beats, and drummers swinging unstoppable arms in a synchronized dance. Imagine smiles and shouts, muscles and sweat, powered by a pure love of life. For a few moments Bayside Park was stirred by magic. Hearts were lifted by thundering, unabashed joy!
I was ready to leap over the sun!
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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!
Magic in this world is abundant. I sensed some of it this evening during my walk home.
As I headed west along Broadway, slanting sunlight touched downtown buildings in unexpected ways, as if cast by a wizard with a flashing wand. The sun rolled away and the moon brightened. And then a few city lights blinked on.
The magic was plainly visible to anyone with lifted eyes.
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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!
The Timken Museum of Art in Balboa Park is designed to be filled with natural light.
Would you like to enter a truly magical place? Step into the Timken Museum of Art. Walls disappear, and suddenly you are surrounded by fine art masterpieces, natural light, and the greenery and open space of beautiful Balboa Park.
I took a special tour of the building during the San Diego Architectural Foundation’s 2018 OPEN HOUSE event. I jotted a few notes and will now try to describe my experience.
According to our tour guide, David Kinney, a Balboa Park Conservancy Board Member, the building housing the Timken Museum of Art is disimilar in many respects to the extremely ornate Spanish Colonial buildings lining El Prado, which were designed for the 1915 Panama-California Exposition. The Timken has clean, symmetric, simple lines. It is the only building in Balboa Park specifically designed for people to walk around. The museum was built in 1965 and incorporates many facets of modern architecture. It was designed by San Diego architect John Mock, who intended it to be a “see-through” museum, where boundaries are blurred and gardens and sky are visible from many points inside.
When built, the Timken was the most expensive building ever constructed in San Diego. The building is widely considered to be one of the finest examples of mid-century Southern California Modernism and the International Style in the nation.
The abundant travertine, bronze and glass create a magical effect. Visitors to the museum feel surrounded by San Diego’s native sunshine. There are views of small gardens, the Plaza de Panama, the Lily Pond and families enjoying picnics on nearby grass.
By taking a few steps into the museum’s intimate galleries, visitors can view one of the most amazing small collections of fine art in the world. There are 60 major works, paintings by the likes of Copley, Johnson, Bierstadt, Veronese, Guercino, Clouet, Claude, David, Brueghel, Rubens, van Dyck, Zurbarán and Murillo. The Timken owns the only Rembrandt to be found in Southern California. Every work is partially bathed in indirect natural light, from hidden skylights along the walls in each gallery. During our tour, as we gazed at the Rembrandt, a cloud passed over the sun, and the light in the gallery dimmed. It was an extraordinary experience that infused additional life into the moody masterpiece.
Come along with me as I show you a few photos. Read the captions for more info!
Fences enclosing a small garden and sections of the museum seem like airy lacework. The building’s white travertine reflects San Diego’s sunlight.Turning west, we can see the California Tower across the Plaza de Panama.Our tour guide describes an architectural marvel.This small garden by one large museum window was created in 1983 by a Japanese master designer.Inside the central lobby of the museum. The seats are Italian made. Another large window allows light in from Balboa Park’s beautiful Lily Pond.Inside one of the galleries. The small fine art museum is free to the public and a popular destination in Balboa Park.Lights along the ceiling’s perimeter include hidden skylights, admitting natural indirect sunlight.Saint Bartholomew, Rembrandt van Rijn, oil on canvas, 1657.The Timken’s collection was begun by the Putnam sisters, who had a passion for fine art. They also loved Russian Orthodox religious icons, a few of which are housed in one gallery.Our tour ventured into the Timken Museum’s employee lounge and meeting room, where we saw the original blueprints of this iconic building.Also displayed was one early Timken Museum architectural design concept, where the building would have been circular.A very cool free museum in San Diego, the Timken combines the magic of sunlight, a happy, carefree day in Balboa Park and fine art.
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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!
You can easily explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on my blog’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There are thousands upon thousands of photos for you to enjoy!
Trees at Tuna Harbor Park have turned golden just before sunset.
Here are a few photos from my walk along the Embarcadero early this evening. The images I’ve selected were taken between Navy Pier and Seaport Village.
Every walk in San Diego is magical.
A happy smile greets my camera at the foot of Navy Pier!Two people exit the USS Midway Museum.Playing the fife beneath the Grand Union Flag near the Greatest Generation Walk.A reflection of man and fishing boat in Tuna Harbor.A gull ready to alight upon a mast.Lobster traps in Tuna Harbor reflected in ripples of early evening water.The U.S.S. San Diego Memorial attracts walkers. Another day is nearing an end on San Diego’s Embarcadero.A fisherman and sea lion regard each other.People watch another magical sunset across 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 Twitter!
Cool San Diego Sights! 