Earthlab, 2017, by artist Eva Struble. Acrylic and oil on canvas. Optimistic and energetic colors depict small San Diego farms.
Today I enjoyed some stimulating artwork at the San Diego Art Institute in Balboa Park. Their current exhibition is called High-Key: Color in Southern California, and for a very good reason.
Palm greens, desert tans and ocean blues are primary colors in our region’s sunny landscapes.
Additional vibrant colors live in our diverse urban centers. Like neon and surfboards, lowriders and pinatas, our local culture is saturated with bold, bright color.
High-Key: Color in Southern California can be enjoyed at the San Diego Art Institute through August 12, 2018.
If you visit Balboa Park this summer, you might want to check it out!
Visitor to the San Diego Art Institute in Balboa Park at the exhibition of High-Key: Color in Southern California.Chaparral (II), 2018, by artist Audrey Hope. Canvas and hand wound rope. Swaths of colorful fabric are suggestive of San Diego’s hilly, arid natural landscape.Green, Red-Orange, 2018, by artist Michael James Armstrong. Acrylic sheet, fluorescent light, spray paint.Untitled, 2018, by artist Joshua Moreno. Watercolor, watercolor pencil, gouache, marbling, spray paint.Cleaning Portrait; Whisk #1, 2017, by artist Claudia Cano. Acrylic on paper. A cleaning tool used by a hardworking Mexican immigrant laborer.More artwork splashed with the vibrant colors of Southern California.Rhubarb Moon, 2018, by artist John Oliver Lewis. Porcelain, acrylic.Paradise Prototype, 2018, by artist Allison Wiese. Cast sugar. Patterned concrete blocks were popular in Southern California in the 1950’s and 60’s.
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The 45th Annual San Diego Scottish Highland Games gathers the clans and the public together for a weekend of fun at Brengle Terrace Park in Vista.
This morning I headed to the 45th Annual San Diego Scottish Highland Games and Gathering of the Clans. The big Southern California event is held every year in Vista, in San Diego’s North County, at Brengle Terrace Park.
This was my first visit to any sort of Scottish Highland Games, and I wasn’t sure what to expect.
What an absolutely amazing experience!
How can I adequately explain what I saw? When I arrived I quickly reviewed the thick program, put it in my jeans pocket and just wandered about. The many sights and sounds were almost more than my brain could absorb. There was laughter, smiles and good times in every direction. There were exciting athletic games, traditional Scottish music and, of course, tasty food. And lots of history and culture, too!
I’ll let my many photos do the talking. Read the captions to learn more. If you can, head to Brengle Terrace Park tomorrow, because the weekend event continues through Sunday!
The event attracts people from around Southern California. Visitors are immersed in Scotland’s unique and colorful culture.Dozens of Scottish clans participate in the yearly gathering. Their proud history is on display in many tents on the grass.These friendly Celtic beauty queens smiled for a photo at the information tent.Gentlemen in kilts enjoy their Scottish heritage and each other’s company.The Scottish Clan and Tartan Information Center had different tartans on display, many with ancient origins.The Royal Scottish Country Dance Society was present. I forgot to go watch the dancing in the park’s Recreation Center. I’ll remember next time!Sweeney’s was selling some Irish Soda Bread and Scones, freshly baked!These friendly ladies are the Sassenachs of San Diego. They are big Outlander fans and have a cool blog! Check it out at sass3journey.comMusicians performing on the Main Stage include The Ploughboys.Strong athletes compete on the Brengle Terrace Park’s baseball field. The Scottish Heavy Athletics include Weight Toss, Weight Throw, Hammer Throw, Braemar Stone and Caber Toss.Heaving a heavy stone as far as he can!The athletes talk and rest before each takes their turn.Another stone flies! The ancient sport–Braemer Stone Put–was used for challenges of strength by early Highland Chieftains.World Champion and multiple record holder Vern Alexander lets fly! Many champions are participating in the 2018 San Diego Scottish Highland Games.A seal at the Scottish American Athletic Association table. Strive for Perfection. Settle for Excellence.This guy was retrieving a hammer that he’d thrown far across the baseball field.Here comes another attempt at a record!Some of the hammer throws nearly went over the outfield fence!Not far away, someone checks out the tent of Clan MacLellan.The Scottish American Military Society was present for the annual gathering.I saw many maps of historical Scotland, some showing heraldic coats of arms.Many beautiful crafts bore images of Scotland and the Scottish people.Real men wear kilts! Instructions show how you can make your own Scottish style Great Kilt.A Scottish drum major practices on the field, with flags flying in the background.The 42nd Black Watch Color Guard is the official guard for the San Diego Scottish Highland Games.Gentleman at the Scottish Plant Badge Society tents answers the question of a curious visitor.Different native plants are used by the Scottish clans as badges, or emblems.Some rousing entertainment draws an audience to the stage inside the beer garden.Lots of Scottish food could be enjoyed, including authentic meat pies.Two gents stride across the grass to another area of the park, where pipe bands, drummers and bagpipers compete.Different age groups compete in solo piping, drumming, and drum major for trophies.Someone stands in the distance practicing. The distinctive sound of bagpipes could be heard all around the park!The House of Scotland Pipe Band from Balboa Park joined many other groups from around Southern California for the annual competition. (I love it when they perform at the Spreckels Organ Pavilion.)Good times everywhere I turn!A small group practices on the green.This larger group has just finished their practice up on the hillside.Elsewhere in Brengle Terrace Park, people were watching Sheep Dog Trials!A shepherd uses a whistle to command a sheep dog to herd four sheep.People sit on the grass and watch the fascinating herding competition. Some dogs were really good; others seemed a bit confused.Four sheep are successfully directed into a pen!Back at the athletics competition, I saw men attempting to toss a 42 pound weight over a pole vault bar, and women doing the Sheaf Toss over a bar with a pitchfork.A female contestant readies to toss the sheaf with a pitchfork.Another lets fly!This tough looking guy is going to try to fling that heavy weight over a bar high above him.I don’t recall if this guy made it!As women compete in the Braemer Stone Put, the Caber Toss competition is beginning!Those big wood poles are called cabers. They’re tossed with the objective of flipping them end-over-end, landing as straight as possible.That looks super heavy. One guy went backwards when he lost his balance.A caber goes flying. I saw one successful flip, but I don’t recall which photo shows it.Guys retrieve the heavy caber after an attempt on the baseball field.There goes another caber!A young generation of Scots keeps history alive at the San Diego Scottish Highland Games.Good memories, conversation and fellowship.Drummer for the Wicked Tinkers gets the crowd enthused as he works his way through the beer garden.A wonderful time is had at the 45th Annual San Diego Scottish Highland Games.
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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!
A woodie with surfboard under palm trees and a shining sun. This mosaic greets people walking down the sidewalk in Solana Beach.
During my visit to Fiesta del Sol in Solana Beach last weekend, I walked around the area of Lomas Santa Fe Drive, South Cedros Avenue and Highway 101 searching for cool sights.
I found some colorful art and images of local history which I’ll now share!
Nearby Fletcher Cove was named after “Colonel” Ed Fletcher, who developed Solana Beach and contributed in the early 20th century to the history of San Diego. As businessman and politician, he was the driving force behind many important accomplishments. He created Lake Hodges and other area reservoirs; he built the plank road through the desert that connected San Diego to Yuma, Arizona; he helped save Balboa Park’s temporary buildings from the 1915 Panama-California Exposition from destruction; he raised money to purchase land for the Naval Training Station on Point Loma; he also acquired a statue of Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo that was a gift to California from Portugal–an iconic sculpture that now stands at Cabrillo National Monument overlooking San Diego Bay.
A fascinating electrical box at the corner of Pacific Coast Highway and Plaza Street contains photos of Solana Beach’s origin and early history.
Grill in sidewalk marks historic U.S. Route 101 (also known as Pacific Coast Highway) where it passes through Solana Beach.An electrical box celebrates the origin and early history of Solana Beach in San Diego’s North County. Pictured on the right is Ed Fletcher.Fletcher Cove opened on July 4, 1925, giving Solana Beach easy access to the ocean. A celebration was held that included horse races along the sand.Early photo of Solana Beach, which was developed by Ed Fletcher as a commercial center for nearby Rancho Santa Fe and Del Mar.Old photos decorating the electrical box were provided by the Solana Beach Civic and Historical Society.Horses race along the beach as the opening of Fletcher Cove is celebrated.Cool mosaic artwork on Pacific Coast Highway shows marine life in the nearby ocean.An octopus.A graceful fish.Another beautiful fish made of small ceramic tiles.Nostalgic artwork on an electrical transformer on South Cedros Avenue shows people lounging on the deck of a luxurious ship.More cool street art decorates a utility box on Lomas Santa Fe Drive in Solana Beach.Lose your dreams and you will lose your mind.
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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!
How time flies! Cool San Diego Sights is almost five years old!
You might not realize it, but Cool San Diego Sights now has hundreds of unique blog posts, and thousands upon thousands of fun photos that you can explore!
One easy way to revisit old blog posts that share a particular theme or subject is to click a tag. You might be surprised by all the diverse, unexpected things you’ll discover!
As you explore my blog, you might notice there’s a whole universe of tags. You can find a handful of pertinent ones located at the bottom of each post. If you’re interested in a particular San Diego neighborhood, those tags exist, too!
There’s also a handy search box that you can use. Look for it in the sidebar.
Make exciting discoveries and have fun with me as I explore San Diego! I’m going somewhere fascinating this Saturday that very few people know about!
If you’d like, you can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
Flyer contains details of The Thursday Club’s 2018 Rummage Sale in Balboa Park.
Get ready! The largest rummage sale in Southern California is taking place this weekend! It’s open free to the public and it’s going to be epic!
A simply enormous selection of antiques, clothing, books, housewares, sporting goods and more will be descended upon by eager bargain shoppers once the doors open. The Thursday Club’s annual Rummage Sale will be held March 10 and 11 inside the spacious Balboa Park Activity Center at 2145 Park Boulevard.
Proceeds from this fun event will support a host of local beneficiaries, including Balboa Park, Goodwill, the Ronald McDonald House, the San Diego Youth Symphony and San Diego Zoo Global. Over the years, the Thursday Club rummage sales have raised almost $2 million dollars for Balboa Park and a wide variety of charitable organizations.
To learn more, including the hours of the 2018 Rummage Sale and directions to the Balboa Park Activity Center, check out the flyer. Feel free to share it!
UPDATE!
I ventured up to the Activity Center on Sunday to take a quick look around on the final day and was surprised at all the good stuff still available–all at half price! Make sure you put this on your calendar for next year . . . and the year after that! All proceeds go to charity!
Just for fun, I took some photos while I walked about and browsed the various tables…
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A barely visible SpaceX rocket Falcon 9 rises above Star of India, the world’s oldest active sailing ship!
My plan this cold, partly cloudy morning was to head down to San Diego’s Embarcadero to hopefully photograph today’s SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launch.
I did manage to catch an image of the rocket’s flight, but it’s so tiny you can barely make it out! I suppose I should get a fancier, more powerful camera. Can you see the faint white streak in the above photo?
The Falcon 9 launch was from Vandenberg Air Force Base, northwest of Santa Barbara, about 280 miles from San Diego. To my naked eye, for a few seconds, I could see the minuscule rocket soar into the sky, through the rigging of the world’s oldest active sailing ship, Star of India!
Star of India, originally named Euterpe, is an iron-hulled merchant ship that was built in 1863. Driven by capricious winds, the tall ship circumnavigated the globe 21 times during her storied history.
Falcon 9 is a technologically impressive space launch vehicle. During today’s mission a reused Falcon 9 lifted Spain’s advanced radar satellite Paz into a Sun-synchronous orbit of Earth.
As the satellite effortlessly orbits our planet, it will track ships that ply the ocean–ships that trace their own proud history back to the Age of Sail, when brave vessels like Star of India pushed forward to new horizons.
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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!
People walk past the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego’s building at America Plaza.
I recently noticed new thought-provoking graphics in the windows of the MCASD building at America Plaza.
Last year, a survey was taken of 100 people passing through America Plaza. Questions were asked about racial and ethnic identity. Today an outdoor display at downtown’s Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego expands on the results and explores the complicated subject.
The window graphics are designed to catch the eye and draw visitors into the nearby gallery.
This project was produced by artists with students from local colleges in San Diego and Tijuana who participated in Transnational Seminar 1, lead by Collective Magpie.
On April 20th, 100 pedestrians took a survey here in America Plaza about race and ethnicity. Self-classification data was compiled.Of the 100 surveyed, 83 answered mixed race; 14 white people; 3 people of color.Feelings about racial identity can differ from person to person.One of two panels containing some of the racial and ethnic categories that a person might choose.A splash of words, asking people walking down Kettner Boulevard what the ultimate definition of race is…People might feel differently about their racial identity depending on a range of factors and circumstances, from their appearance…to their dreams…to their immediate environment…to the way they live.Thought-provoking graphics concerning race in the windows of MCASD’s building at America Plaza.
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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!
Workers install Jaume Plensa’s new sculpture Pacific Soul in the public plaza by the Pacific Gate condominium tower in San Diego.
This evening, after dark, I walked past the nearly completed Pacific Gate by Bosa condo tower and noticed an elaborate sculpture is being installed in the building’s public plaza near the corner of West Broadway and Pacific Highway.
I asked one of the workers about the artist and learned this new public art installation is the work of Jaume Plensa, the renowned Spanish artist whose monumental sculptures can be found in major cities and museums around the world. He designed the Crown Fountain in Chicago’s Millennium Park.
This new sculpture, which is titled Pacific Soul, looks intriguingly complex. According to one article I found, it’s inspired by the tangled roots of rainforest trees and is composed of stylized characters from diverse alphabets. When finished it will be about 25-feet tall and appear like a seated person gazing west toward the Pacific Ocean.
I think it’s going to be amazing! I can’t wait to see the finished work!
Pacific Soul by Spanish artist Jaume Plensa, when completed, will be about 25-feet tall and appear like a seated person gazing west toward the ocean.
UPDATE!
I walked down Broadway to see what progress had been made on Friday morning–about two days later. Workers were getting ready to assemble large sections of the monumental sculpture. Here are some photos…
Sign explains that you are viewing the installation of Pacific Soul by Spanish artist Jaume Plensa. (Click image to enlarge the sign for easy reading.)Worker installs Pacific Soul in the public plaza by the new Pacific Gate high-rise condos in San Diego.
ANOTHER UPDATE!
On Saturday the several sections of Pacific Soul had been pieced together. I was told the sculpture will be lit at night from below, and that people will be able to walk through it!
More photos…
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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!
Yesterday I went to Ocean Beach. My walk included a stretch along the water, to the OB Pier. It was late morning, right around high tide.
Huge, unrelenting surf resulting from a stormy Pacific Ocean was pounding like crazy and constantly threatening to break over the pier. So the pier was closed.
I took a few photos of the dynamic waves crashing under the pier.
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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 sky turns red and yellow just before sunrise on Mount Laguna. Photo taken at the Storm Canyon Overlook on the Sunrise Highway.
This morning I left downtown San Diego very early and drove an hour east to Mount Laguna. I wanted to see sunrise from a mountaintop.
I began taking photos from the Storm Canyon Overlook a bit north of the Laguna Mountain Lodge and Store. Breathtaking views of the desert below can be enjoyed at various points along the Sunrise Highway.
I then drove a short distance farther north to the Penny Pines Trailhead, parked, and hiked about a mile and a half northward along the Pacific Crest Trail. I didn’t go all the way to Garnet Peak, because the sun came to me!
Looking down toward a section of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park northeast of the beautiful Laguna Mountains, which rise to around 6000 feet in San Diego County.Sign at the overlook explains Trails Through the Ages. Storm Canyon below was used by the Native American Kumeyaay for thousands of years for seasonal migrations. (Click photo to enlarge for easy reading.)Trees west of the Storm Canyon Overlook are still a bit dark before sunrise.I’ve started hiking toward the Pacific Crest Trail from the Penny Pines Trailhead. The eastern sky is slowly brightening.A slightly chilly early November morning in the Cleveland National Forest near the top of Mount Laguna.I’m now heading north along the Pacific Crest Trail, which stretches 2,650 miles from Mexico to Canada. I’ll go about a mile and a half toward Garnet Peak before turning around. Sunrise is imminent.Many of the trees in the Penny Pines grove have died due to an ongoing bark beetle infestation. The recent drought caused many trees in the Cleveland National Forest to struggle, too.Looking roughly northeast as color creeps over the desert contours below.Miles of beauty, to the horizon.The trail here is still in shadow. Not for long…Early sunlight touches a rocky rise.That shiny strip in the distance is light reflecting from the inland Salton Sea.The sun is about to clear a rocky desert mountain.The sun appears.Sudden morning light brightens vegetation beside the rough trail.The sunshine is warm. I will soon have to remove my light jacket. Even though it is late November, the dry air from the desert is very pleasant.Slanting sunlight on small leaves.Looking down into a small canyon beneath the trail that descends toward the desert.I’m rounding a corner, approaching a light-splashed peak.Garnet Peak, on the left, rises into the morning sunlight. A short trail leads to its summit from the Pacific Crest Trail.Light on one side of a boulder above me.A beautiful view. I encountered nobody else on the trail this morning. Perhaps because today is Thanksgiving.I am thankful that I could pause for a moment and enjoy this.New light all around.The dry contours of one section of Anza-Borrego State Park become more apparent. I believe the bulky mountain on the left is Whale Peak.Looking east, shadows are retreating from fresh mountain green.Looking south, bright light on a broken boulder.Leaves feed on sunshine.I’m now headed back south toward the Penny Pines Trailhead. One last look north at Garnet Peak in full daylight.
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! Occasionally, when I get the itch, I travel to more distant parts of San Diego County. 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!
