Table includes an Exposition Cook Book, letters, activity books, and other DAR documents.
When I was in middle school, I won a medal from the Daughters of the American Revolution for an essay I wrote about Francis Scott Key. I’d forgotten all about it until yesterday.
After checking out the English Village Fete at the International Cottages, I moseyed across Pan American Road to see if anything was going on in the Balboa Park Club building (which used to be the New Mexico state building during the 1915 Panama-California Exposition).
In the big Balboa Park Club Ballroom, San Diegans young and old were having a blast dancing. In the smaller Santa Fe Room, as a part of Balboa Park’s centennial events, a few smiling people were showcasing elaborate historical displays.
I was welcomed enthusiastically. The Daughters of the American Revolution San Diego Chapter was holding this event to commemorate our country’s founding and the long, interesting history of the DAR.
Fascinating material covered two rows of tables. Many displays concerned tracing one’s ancestry and how to search historical archives. To be a member of the lineage-based organization your family tree must include a participant in the American Revolution.
The Balboa Park Club building was designed to appear like an adobe in America’s Southwest.Daughters of the American Revolution memorabilia exhibited in Balboa Park.A Daughters of the American Revolution magazine from 1916.Interesting graphic shows first 12 Regents of San Diego DAR.Arrival in San Diego of President General of the National Society was big news in 1915.A cool exhibit by an African American lady shows her rich family history.Pins and medals of all sorts. Some contain the names of patriotic relations.One poster encourages and assists Hispanic Americans searching for their ancestors.Some beautiful quilts were out for visitors to admire.Example of china produced by the San Diego Chapter in 1915.
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This bright, smiling chalk face is gifted with a third eye.
In downtown San Diego, across the street from the New Children’s Museum, right next to the Martin Luther King Jr. Promenade, you’ll find a play area. You might have seen my blog post on Christmas about The Garden Project. The play area can be found right next to it.
Strangely, this playground doesn’t contain many swings or happy things to play on. It does include a wide concrete floor and a high, blank concrete wall, however. Which combine to make an inviting canvas. The hard surface is softened with faces, hearts, strong feeling and thought. The voices of youth.
Here is what I photographed yesterday morning. Many of the ever-changing chalk images are faint. I had to increase the contrast for most pics quite a bit.
Many-colored chalk face appears to be in deep thought.An uncertain heart. No way? Yes way?A large blue eye seems to stare from a hard concrete wall.I wish you could see the world through my eyes!A small pink face with long hair gazes up from underfoot.A burst of sudden joy. WELCOME HOMEA young person worries: Can’t you see me?These words contain terrible agony with a sad nod of wisdom.Guy cleaning the play area in the early morning with a noisy blower.A small delicate flower made of temporary dust.Philosophy written carefully, meaningfully: Embrace The Journey.
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Clan Logan’s crest is a pierced human heart. HOC MAJORUM VIRTUS, translated from Latin is Valor of My Ancestors.
I’d read that the 12th Annual San Diego Tartan Day being held in Balboa Park would end at four o’clock this afternoon. So I arrived during my walk with a good hour to spare. Or so I thought! At three o’clock, the event was already drawing to a close!
I did manage to get some interesting photos. A number of tents and folks in costume were scattered about the lawn of the House of Pacific Relations International Cottages. Unfortunately, I missed the dancing and music. Maybe next year…
A robed Highlander with walking stick strides across the lawn at Balboa Park’s International Cottages. Historical dresses, kilts and distinctive tartans were abundant.The House of Scotland in Balboa Park was the center of today’s 12th Annual San Diego Tartan Day.Some leftover treats in the House of Scotland cottage as the event draws to a close.Displays in Scotland’s small cottage celebrate rich history, art and culture.The crests of many diverse clans hang on one wall.This merry fellow was looking down at cottage visitors from a spot near the ceiling.The Scottish Clan and Tartan Information Center was attracting a great deal of interest.Exhibit on one outdoor table helps identify many differently patterned tartans.Participants from The Stewart Society of Edinburgh celebrate Scotland’s rich heritage.
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The Spock Block celebration is taking place near Encinitas City Hall on Vulcan Avenue.
The City of Encinitas, a coastal beach city in San Diego’s North County, has a week-long celebration underway honoring the late Leonard Nimoy. If the immensely popular actor, author, director, poet, songwriter and photographer had not passed away in February this year, he would have celebrated his 84th birthday last Thursday. Nimoy’s rich life and artistry is being remembered, as well as his iconic role as Mr. Spock on Star Trek. Encinitas City Hall is located on Vulcan Avenue, and as every Trekker knows, Vulcan was the name of Spock’s home planet. So by official decree, a short stretch of Vulcan Avenue has been temporarily renamed Spock Block.
Today I took a long stroll around Encinitas, hoping to spot a few cool sights in and around Spock Block. Unfortunately, there didn’t seem to be much going on. I guess there wasn’t enough time for preparation and publicity. Maybe next year the festival (or Enterprise!) can grow into a much more interesting phenomenon. How about some cool displays? A science fiction film fest? A cosplay contest? Get creative!
Fortunately, I did get lots of other awesome pics around Encinitas, so I suppose more blog posts will be forthcoming!
A fun-loving restaurant on Pacific Coast Highway had a special Live Long and Lobster deal! Seems entirely logical to me!Encinitas surfers arrive from Vulcan Avenue–or perhaps an avenue located somewhere on Spock’s distant home planet…
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Young ladies perform classical music in Balboa Park to raise money for a very worthy cause!
A group of talented young people in San Diego have a lofty ambition. They want to make our world a much better place!
This afternoon I was walking along when I happened upon two members of the Westview Music Outreach Club skillfully playing classical music. They had attracted a small crowd on El Prado in Balboa Park. Their sign really caught my attention:
Westview High School Music Outreach of San Diego has important plans! Its mission is to spread riches of music.
The club is already engaged in many positive activities! Check out their website.
I don’t see why the Westview High School Music Outreach can’t became an enormous success. With a little help anything is possible. Their (and your) generous musical gifts might touch and enrich thousands of lives! Can you help them succeed?
High School students actively working to change the world into a better place!
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Today is the International Day of Happiness! Happy thoughts and deeds were underway in downtown San Diego this morning, just outside Horton Plaza. I swung on by to check things out!
International Day of Happiness in San Diego at Horton Plaza.Early morning vows of how people will make the world a more happy place.Smiling at my kids more.Smiling and saying hi to everyone I pass by today.Sharing my lunch with someone less fortunate.Being a good father and role model.Help make the world a happier place!
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Derek McAlister prepares to open his amazing act with some fire juggling at Seaport Village beside the Marriott Marina.
Rubber chickens were flying this afternoon. There seemed to be a whole flock of them at the Seaport Village Spring Busker Festival! The event continues into this evening, and then more acts follow tomorrow. If you’re in San Diego, check it out!
My favorite performer was Murrugun the Mystic. This is why.
All of the buskers were fantastic! Many of these pics were taken from a bit of a distance, but they provide a taste of the fun…
Derek McAlister climbs a 20-foot Chinese pole and performs fantastic aerial acrobatics at the Spring Busker Festival.Street performers had exciting shows all day at two plazas in Seaport Village. Tomorrow, too!Alex Clark, with training from Cirque Du Soleil, balances atop ladder while juggling knives.Girl throws rubber chicken up to plunger-headed, unicycle-riding “Groovy” Guy Collins, who has starred on the Travel Channel.The Frisbee Show featured juggler and comedian Greg Frisbee.Boy volunteer balances two spinning balls atop two rubber chickens!CREW is a San Diego-based percussion group that creates super cool music with everyday objects.Unusual instruments produce fun beats as busker festival visitors sit in sunshine by San Diego Bay.Some important tools of the busker trade.The Checkerboard Guy David Aiken had everyone laughing with his funny antics!
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Murrugun the Mystic from AMC television hit Freakshow begins his busker festival danger act with fire eating.
Today I witnessed the grittiest performance I’ve ever seen. And I’ve seen a few.
I went to the Seaport Village Spring Busker Festival today and enjoyed a number of excellent, very entertaining acts. But the one that really stood out was performed by Murrugun the Mystic. He’s one of the stars of the AMC television reality show Freakshow.
While in a great deal of pain, Murrugun was first in the world to shoot a flaming arrow out of his throat! Let me describe his entire act…
Unfortunately, I filled up my camera’s memory card midway through his fire eating, just before he got to the really big stuff. At the end of some more conventional (but great) fire eating tricks, he really wowed the crowd. He filled his throat with a large quantity of kerosene combined with light gasoline, then produced two MASSIVE fireballs from his mouth. You had to see it to believe it! These balls of flame must’ve measured 6 feet in diameter. Oh, man! It was a bummer my camera ran out of memory! Afterward, he promptly rinsed his throat out with mouthwash and then water, because the flammable mixture is highly carcinogenic.
Next Murrugun balanced his entire body weight on a demonstrably sharp samurai sword. He leaned over the horizontal blade and supported himself on his stomach, lifting arms and legs from the ground.
Next came the bed of nails. I was volunteered, along with five other guys in the crowd, to help Murrugun wow the gathered audience. Each of us tested the nails, and while they weren’t sharp as pins, they were definitely pointed. Murrugun lay on the bed of nails, placed a board over his torso, and four of the guys, weighing a total of about 910 pounds, stepped up onto the board! I and another fellow helped to balance the four. Ouch! While this sort of thing has been performed for thousands of years, and the many nails effectively support a whole lot of weight, I wouldn’t want to be sandwiched between them and the combined mass of four guys!
Now the show got interesting in an alarming way. Murrugun used a very long pole to support “The Knives of Death”. I believe that’s what he called them. These five long knives faced downward from a ring, and should they topple down from the top of the pole, they’d probably impale poor Murrugun. I’m not sure how his act was supposed to proceed. The knives were balanced atop the pole. Suddenly down came the knives from on high and Murrugun lay flat on his back. The knives mostly missed him. But one sliced his leg. A good three inch gash was visible, and blood. He seemed stunned. He very gingerly hobbled to the back of the stage area, checked himself, and it looked to me like he then decided to tough it out. The audience didn’t seem to know how to react. Like them I just watched, astonished.
He was obviously hesitant and in pain. He told us he’d now perform a world’s first. He’d shoot a flaming arrow from his throat.
I could see his hands visibly trembling while he tried for a few seconds to piece two slender hollow rods together, which formed the shaft of the arrow. He gradually composed himself. He lubricated the long shaft, which was possibly two to three feet long, lit the pointed end, then proceeded to swallow the unique arrow. He bent over, and after attaching the arrow end to a slingshot-like device, shot the arrow out of his throat and through the air! He missed the balloon in the bullseye, perhaps 10 or 15 feet away, but not by much!
I know that street performers–and circus and carnival sideshow performers–have a difficult profession and can endure a lot of hardship. But what I witnessed this afternoon was truly heart-rending and impressive. It seemed no amount of pain could slow down Murrugun’s showmanship and passion for his art.
Murrugun the Mystic noted that because Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus have decided to eliminate elephants from their show (the news just out), perhaps there’s a chance the circus sideshow will make a comeback. That is Murrugun’s wish and personal mission. Can you help make that happen? Here’s his Facebook page.
Thanks, Murrugun, for privileging me to be a tiny part of busker history! Good luck!
Murrugun the Mystic makes his grand entrance near Seaport Village’s gazebo in the Plaza East.Fire eating preceded balancing on a sword, being crushed on a bed of nails, enduring knives of death, and shooting a flaming arrow from his throat!
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At the corner of Ash and Front Street, a San Diego firefighter volunteers to collect donations to assist burn victims.
If you’re driving about San Diego County today and you see a fireman standing at an intersection holding up a boot, throw lots of money in!
Today a small army of San Diego firefighters are volunteering to collect donations for the Burn Institute. The Burn Institute’s mission is to help the victims of severe burns recover from a devastating and very difficult situation. The organization has a strong focus on children. Be generous!
Television reporter and firemen spread the word about today’s Fill the Boot campaign throughout San Diego.Fill the Boot generously to help the Burn Institute help children who’ve suffered from critical burns.
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Brides, grooms and special guests approach County Administration Building on Valentine’s Day.
Today I took the trolley to Qualcomm Stadium to check out the very cool Lunar New Year Festival. Before catching the trolley at the Little Italy station, I walked around the nearby County Administration Building and its beautiful waterfront park. Every year on Valentine’s Day, hundreds of weddings are performed here. According to an article I read, this year 187 ceremonies were scheduled!
I didn’t stay long, and I kept a respectful distance from those who were tying the knot, but I did manage to get a few decent pics!
This happy soon-to-be-wed couple is interviewed by a television reporter.People enter and leave San Diego’s County Administration Center in bliss.The first ceremony takes places at the small wedding arbor in the waterfront park.Love is in the air, and across the street at the waiting taco shop.
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Cool San Diego Sights! 