Tag: san diego

Holocaust survivors speak at La Jolla library.

You have an extraordinary opportunity. Holocaust survivors and their family members have been speaking all year at the La Jolla/Riford Branch Library. See the above schedule. The next speaker will be at the La Jolla library on Tuesday, May 13.

The second floor of the La Jolla library is currently hosting the exhibition RUTH: Remember Us the Holocaust, which recalls the horrors of a nightmarish period in human history that no one should ever forget.

I blogged about this exhibition several years ago when it was showing in Chula Vista. See those photos here. I’ll be blogging about the current exhibition in La Jolla (which is even more powerful) shortly.

Meanwhile, please spread the word. Holocaust survivors will continue to recall their personal experiences the second Tuesday of each month. Bring your friends. This is incredibly important.

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Hoover High School students exhibit at MCASD!

An exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego features art by students who attend Hoover High School in City Heights. Across the Chaparral includes the work of students in two classes: Advanced Drawing and Painting, and AP English Language.

The students, after viewing and learning about relevant pieces in the museum, were asked to interpret contemporary life in our complex, uniquely dynamic, culturally diverse border region.

Across the Chaparral can be experienced in the museum’s Axline Court, a magical architectural space that I blogged about yesterday. See those photographs here.

Here is some of the student art…

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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.

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Magical light and form inside the Axline Court.

How does one describe the Axline Court inside the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego?

Magical, perhaps?

Should you ever visit the museum in La Jolla, step into this space and look up. Move about as your eyes are lifted. See how the light and form changes as if by magic. (Come to think of it, doesn’t the entire world operate this way?)

The Axline Court was designed by famed postmodern architect Robert Venturi. It was part of a 1996 expansion of the historic building, which originally was home to newspaper journalist and philanthropist Ellen Browning Scripps.

The star-shaped Axline Court, a spacious atrium with simple white columns, bright high angled windows, and curvaceous neon fringed fins descending from the ceiling, was retained in the building’s latest redesign and expansion. Today it can be used as a gallery, or for weddings or special events.

I wandered about the space and took these photos. You have to experience the magical effect yourself. I personally wonder how, with the neon, it appears at night.

(My next blog post will concern an exhibition of art by Hoover High School students along one wall. You can glimpse a bit of it on a table in the next photo.)

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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.

Feel free to share!

John Lennon returns to Pacific Beach.

I finally had a chance to get an unobstructed photo of this John Lennon mural in Pacific Beach. It was painted last summer at 1020 Garnet Avenue, replacing an earlier depiction of John Lennon on the same wall that had been vandalized beyond repair. You can see photographs of that first mural here.

This second John Lennon mural looks great! It was painted by Jon Hamrick. Check out his Instagram page by clicking here. I see he has helped Maxx Moses paint murals around the city. I photographed some of that work here and here!

Read an extensive article about the history of the two John Lennon murals in Pacific Beach here.

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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.

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Shotgun Tom and train fun in Balboa Park!

Can you believe it? Today I met legendary radio personality “Shotgun Tom” Kelly at the San Diego Model Railroad Museum in Balboa Park!

Shotgun Tom was running trains as he often does on Wednesday afternoons. His pleasant greeting brought me back to my younger days, when his distinctive radio voice was a part of my life.

Shotgun Tom is a model train enthusiast. He has his own elaborate layout at home. A display at the museum concerns his love for the hobby and how it developed. I blogged about this not too long ago–you can see what I posted by clicking here.

I asked whether he was still on the radio, and the answer was YES! You can catch his 60s Gold program on SiriusXM Channel 73 on week nights 4 -9 pm Pacific Time. He has also written a book titled All I Wanna Do is Play the Hits, which you can check out on Amazon here. The book’s cover shows him with his Hollywood Walk of Fame star.

I went to the San Diego Model Railroad Museum today because they are participating in the San Diego Museum Council’s “Big Exchange,” which allows members of one museum to visit others for free from May 1 to May 18. See which museums are participating by scrolling down this page.

If you’ve never been to the San Diego Model Railroad Museum, you’re missing out on a ton of fun! I took a few random photos, some behind glass.

One of the museum’s five amazing layouts (six if you include the outdoor Garden Railroad) is undergoing construction as it expands, as you might notice…

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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.

Feel free to share!

Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson in Logan Heights!

The other day I took photos of a cool mural in Logan Heights that shows legendary boxers Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson. It’s painted at the corner of Imperial Avenue and 27th Street.

Ali’s famous quote “Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee” is written above the boxers. Tyson’s quote “I’m a dreamer. I have to dream and reach for the stars…” appears, too, along with an image of one of his tigers.

I didn’t realize it until I did some searching on the internet, but San Diego’s own Archie Moore boxed Muhammad Ali (when he was known as Cassius Clay) back in 1962. You can read a Wikipedia article about the event here.

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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.

Feel free to share!

Bizarre AI images of Balboa Park!

I performed an experiment today. I asked the AI Drawing Assist on a Samsung Galaxy phone to create artistic images of “Balboa Park at sunset.”

Well, the AI, as you can see, produced some rather bizarre results!

Sure the towers and facades appear superficially like those in Balboa Park, but take a close look. The configurations of buildings, towers, fountains and reflecting pools are truly weird.

In the above photo, why are two towers side by side? Why is the pool located where it is, and so curvy? Why is there a big mountain in the background? Low mountains in reality are far to the east, and Balboa Park’s grand entrance at the California Quadrangle is to the west where the sun sets.

Why is image construction so apparently arbitrary?

It all makes me wonder: How exactly are these images generated? Is there no accurate reference to countless photographs on the internet? Is the AI just too primitive at this point in its development? Is it capable of creating only fantasy worlds? Someone out there with technical expertise might expound on this.

Of course, when the AI images are created, the user is cautioned: Image generation may produce unexpected results. No kidding!

Here are more bizarre examples. The only prompt I used was “Balboa Park at sunset.”

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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.

Feel free to share!

Tribal Shields For Common Ground in Logan Heights.

For the past 25 years, this very unique public art has decorated the exterior of the San Diego Police Department Central Division building in Logan Heights.

During a walk through Logan Heights today, I went around the building to check out the Tribal Shields For Common Ground. I failed to photograph all of the artwork on the building, but these photos provide a good example of what you’d see.

Tribal Shields for Common Ground – Alber de Matteis – January 2000

Commissioned for the citizens of San Diego through the City of San Diego Police Department, Engineering and Capitol Projects, and Commission for Arts and Culture.

About the artwork: Each shield is inspired by traditional cultural designs from around the world. Ancient geometric design used in basket weaving, rock painting, rug weaving and wood carving are used to celebrate the ethnic diversity of our city. The choices made here represent the four corners of the world…

If the artist name is familiar, I’ve covered other Alber de Matteis artwork around San Diego. I’ve spotted his sculptures at Shelter Island, National City and Liberty Station. Click here and here and here and here.

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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.

Feel free to share!

Wild animals on a Logan Heights corner!

Ferocious wild animals have gathered in San Diego’s Logan Heights neighborhood!

It appears that a leopard, tiger, snake, wolf and gorilla now hang out at the corner of Imperial Avenue and 32nd Street!

Check out this cool artwork on a wall and building that is presently vacant. It was painted by Matt Spangler.

Love it!

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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.

Feel free to share!

Eat at a farm next to Snapdragon Stadium!

Did you know there’s a farm immediately next to Snapdragon Stadium’s parking lot?

Did you know that on Saturdays this farm is open to the public and offers a café and fresh vegetable stand? (Not to mention tours and fun activities.)

Yes!

The MAKE Farm is a Community-Supported Agricultural (CSA) Program that empowers refugees and immigrant women. So when you eat here, you’re helping other people as well!

MAKE Farm is located immediately south of the large Snapdragon Stadium parking lot, a little east of the Stadium trolley station. According to signs I spotted today, their offerings include Garden Veggie Wraps and Yogurt Parfaits, and you get a free cookie during your visit, too!

Going to a Saturday game at the stadium? Enjoy a unique and healthy lunch in the outdoors here.

I suppose I’ll have to swing by some weekend!

Late last year, before they opened their on-site café, I toured the farm. You can see that blog post by clicking here.

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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.

Feel free to share!