Tag: strange

Nikola Tesla, two planets, and El Cajon!

Whenever I walk through downtown El Cajon, I make sure to pass by the Unarius Academy of Science. I peer through the front windows, wondering what weird new thing I might see.

Yesterday, I did find something new.

Yes, there were still displays concerning lost Atlantis, the future arrival of the Space Brothers, a Map of the Interplanetary Confederation, and students engaging in psychodrama as they reenact past-life experiences. But, lo and behold, there’s now a display that celebrates Nikola Tesla!

It’s titled The Unobstructed Universe of Nikola Tesla.

Taking photos through the windows of the building is very difficult due to strong reflections from the street. But here we go.

One sign calls Nikola Tesla a cosmic visionary and a dweller on two planets, and “If you wish to find the secrets of the universe, think of energy, frequency and vibration.”

This display seems apropos, as their website states how Unarius offers “…a course in self-mastery, based on the interdimensional understanding of energy–the joining of science and spirit.“

I don’t get the dweller on two planets, however. Tesla actually journeyed to Mars?

One of the Unarius webpages explains how Tesla thought we could communicate with beings from other planets. In 1899, he believed he had received a message likely from Mars.

Yesterday I also noticed the parking lot near the Unarius Academy of Science has a new mural. Here it is:

Have you seen their cool flying saucer car? I spotted it once during a walk through Coronado.

Just for fun, here it is again!

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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 X.

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AI experiment: Martians arrive in San Diego!

I had a fun idea for a new AI experiment!

Last night I was rereading H. G. Wells’ The War of the Worlds, when suddenly I wondered… What crazy images would the AI Drawing Assist function of my Samsung Galaxy smartphone create, should I use the text prompt: “Martians arrive in San Diego” and tap Generate.

I had my phone create the images in Pop Art style. That explains why words are sometimes splashed as if in a comic book. In many instances, the AI misspelled San Diego or produced absurd words.

I selected the best, most diverse images out of many that were produced.

Most had boats in a bay and flying saucers descending above a city that resembles San Diego. Certain skyscrapers like those of the Manchester Grand Hyatt are recognizable, even if oddly drawn or positioned.

A few surprising images had the green Martians themselves!

This is the third time I’ve experimented with the AI Drawing Assist on my phone. Would you like to see some more bizarre results?

Strange images of “Balboa Park at sunset” are here.

Eye-popping images of “San Diego 100 years in the future” are 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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Uncharted Elsewhere: surreal art at San Diego Library!

Do these works of art represent the “real” world? Are they entirely fantastic?

Surreal pieces now on display in the San Diego Central Library’s art gallery might seem strangely familiar–but why and how?

The free exhibition is titled Uncharted Elsewhere. Stimulating pieces created by nine regional artists transport the viewer into uncharted territory located somewhere in the human mind.

I visited the Central Library’s 9th floor Judith Harris Art Gallery this afternoon and was wowed by the creativity of artists who have a special gift. Through sculpture, textile, painting and works on paper, they make curious people stand a very long while and wonder.

Are those eggs? Are those faces? Are those webs? Is that plant life? Are those landforms? What are these weird, oddly familiar things?

How did these fantastic visions come into existence? And what in our complex world is possible or real?

How, I wondered, might these visions relate to my own experiences in life?

The artists themselves, in their descriptions, explain how, through abstraction, they aim to produce enigmatic, mysteriously organic environments. Their works induce introspection, and perhaps enlightenment.

If you like weird, imaginative works of art, you’ll love Uncharted Elsewhere. For me, it’s one of the most engaging exhibitions I’ve experienced in this gallery.

You can check the artwork out for yourself through January 4, 2026. Learn more about the exhibition, the artists and the gallery hours 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.

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Rest, strength and Lying Fallow in Logan Heights.

One gallery inside Bread and Salt in Logan Heights now contains an art installation titled Lying Fallow. Dried tall grasses rise from soil underfoot in an artificial indoor meadow. One can walk through the small “meadow” and rest on one of the seats, regathering strength.

I love the outdoors and being in nature. That’s where I feel the most healthy, alive. I know many other people feel the same way.

This installation, when I visited it, did remind me that a real meadow, outdoors, with its earthy smell and gentle movement in the wind, calms, restores, inspires, reconnects the mind, body and soul with something larger than ourselves.

But where in the gallery is the sky?

Everything about Lying Fallow is sincere. The artist Helena Westra has assembled something that is an important reminder: Quiet renewal helps us on life’s journey. It helps us to be newly creative.

But what sort of world have we created where we feel compelled to build a realistic natural landscape inside walls?

Are we so hurried and so trapped in artificial environments that “being in nature” is merely an exhibit that we experience for a moment or two?

Real meadows are still out there.

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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!

Museum of Illusions prepares to dazzle San Diego!

Was that a strange mirage in San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter this morning? I don’t think so!

The Museum of Illusions San Diego had its front door open and construction workers streaming in and out. Their building has a brand new paint job and a big Museum of Illusions sign above the entrance. It appears they’re getting ready to open soon!

That’s what their website says, too. Check it out here.

Mind-boggling holograms, optical illusions, rooms that puzzle human perception and play tricks on your mind…

Sounds cool!

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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!

Four short stories about possible ghosts.

Have you ever seen a ghost? Or something bizarre and inexplicable that you thought might be a ghost?

I’ve heard stories from various people over the years about ghostly experiences, including weird encounters at San Diego’s Whaley House, said to be the most haunted building in America. (You can read several of those stories, told by Whaley House Museum docents, by clicking here.)

I love to write bits of very short fiction. A couple days ago I published a short story about a possible ghost sighting.

I’ve written four of these “ghost” stories over the years. If you’re someone who enjoys thought-provoking tales and possibly a slight shiver, you might enjoy reading them.

Unheard Words can be read here.

Ghost Wind can be read here.

Backward Man is found here.

And the very, very short story that I just completed, Touching a Ghost, which in fact might not concern a ghost, can be read 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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Fantastic creation appears in San Diego artist’s window!

What is it?

A weird glowing jellyfish–perhaps giving birth? A wildly creative lamp? Some alien creature from the planet Pandora? A dream-thing resplendent with arcane symbols?

As I walked in darkness this morning through downtown San Diego, a very strange, seemingly living thing caught my eye. It was shining in the studio window of artist James Watts!

How would you describe it?

Check out James Watts’ Instagram page here!

PLAY IT AND LEAVE 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.

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Mysterious eye stares from San Diego rooftop!

Colorful murals have been painted on a rooftop structure above Pinch Pottery Studio in San Diego’s downtown East Village.

Stylized hummingbird and hearts artwork can be seen from E Street, if you raise your eyes to look for it. I love how a strange, mysterious eye seems to be staring back at you from what appears to be a barred window!

Another mural depicting a pink Volkswagen Beetle on the east side of the rooftop structure can be seen from Tenth Avenue, if you look above Pokez Mexican Restaurant.

This artwork’s style appears familiar, but I’m not certain who created these faded murals. If you know, leave a comment!

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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 this!

Enormous soccer ball in San Diego’s Gaslamp!

Am I hallucinating? There’s an enormous soccer ball in downtown San Diego’s Gaslamp Square!

I spoke to a security guard in Gaslamp Square who indicated the gargantuan soccer ball appeared Thursday and will vanish tomorrow. The gigantic inflatable promotes the MLS 2025 soccer season kicking off yesterday on Apple TV.

Gaslamp Square, located conveniently between popular Petco Park, the bustling San Diego Convention Center, and the iconic Gaslamp Quarter archway sign, seems to have become our city’s small version of Times Square. It’s overlooked by the nearby Hard Rock Hotel. There’s the big MTS video board installed last year. There’s the history of Gaslamp Square being a center of exciting outdoor activities during Comic-Con.

Come to think of it, I remember how, in 2017, a small aircraft was mounted here on a pedestal to promote a Red Bull Air Race over San Diego Bay.

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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 this!