Less than a day to go until Comic-Con officially opens for 2022! As you might imagine, lots of people are bustling around trying to get their stuff ready!
Workers at many activations are in a hurry to complete the downtown “offsite” attractions that will welcome huge crowds beginning tomorrow.
I took one final long walk through the Gaslamp Quarter and around the San Diego Convention Center this afternoon to see what I might see..
Barriers are being set up on Fifth Avenue just north of the convention center. This section of street will be cosplay central beginning tomorrow!Someone attached a memory from last year to the Tin Fish restaurant sign. This is where the SDCC Shrine was located during the two years Comic-Con was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.An offsite by the Omni hotel is setting up. Looks pretty crazy at the moment.And just down the walkway, Bob’s Burgers was setting up their Comic-Con activation.Getting the Sanctum Sanctorum ready! A small offsite promotes the recent movie Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.The hotel shuttle buses this year all have Amazon Prime Video wraps on them. This one promotes Invincible.A helpful smile and an answer awaits!A little detail work to ready the big FX offsite.All sorts of graphics are now up at ABC’s Abbott Elementary offsite.Oh, look! That is this year’s Adult Swim on the Green.I’ll keep it a mystery.Workers were putting up big graphics on the IMDboat.Yikes!Getting the Voodoo Ranger IPA “pirate ship” ready!The Gray Man offsite is ready, just waiting for the big crowds tomorrow. I was told the race/obstacle course itself is relatively short. But once inside it’s definitely cool looking!The Audible sand artists are running out of time!A big smiling Franklin Armstrong has appeared on the windows of the Peanuts offsite.A long banner has been added to the MLK Promenade side of the House of the Dragon.And the front of the castle is beyond awesome. Look at those doors!Getting the Dungeons & Dragons tavern ready. They better hurry up!
If you’d like to view my coverage of Comic-Con so far, which includes hundreds of cool photographs, click here!
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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!
Are you going to Comic-Con this year? If so, prepare to have lots of fun!
I walked around downtown San Diego this morning, Wednesday, the day of Comic-Con Preview Night. Most of the following photos were taken in the vicinity of the San Diego Convention Center or Petco Park.
Most offsites are approaching completion, but it looks like a few are still just setting up in the Interactive Zone at Petco Park. It’s impressive how quickly various activations are assembled and readied for the public with just hours to go.
I’ve already photographed tons of stuff on walks during the past few days. Here’s some new discoveries I noticed this morning…
Krapopolis graphics are now all over the place at the FOX offsite, which includes a big slide!The Bandai offsite near the Marriott Marina now has lots of huge action figures providing awesome Dragon Ball photo opportunities!Comic-Con attendees will be soon be lining up along the bayfront, even camping overnight to get good spots for favorite panels and exclusives.The IMDb boat has returned to Comic-Con. A good place to watch for Hollywood celebrities crossing over from the convention center for interviews.Willard R. Abbott Public School has appeared at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront’s Promenade Plaza! The offsite promotes the ABC mockumentary television series Abbott Elementary.Someone has a swag bag, walking by the big FX offsite. Most offsite activations open tomorrow, Thursday.Here I am walking over the Harbor Drive pedestrian bridge.The Lexus Premier Lot by Petco Park is filling up with activations for the Interactive Zone. Those campsite tents below are Pinecone Trooper Pete’s Friend Zone. It promotes the CBS show Ghosts.Nintendo Switch will have a lot of cool video games and stuff, too.A cool graphic. Mario Strikers: Battle League.And here’s Kirby and the Forgotten Land.These friendly guys set up by the sidewalk early with great comic books! I got a few!
If you’d like to view my coverage of Comic-Con so far, which includes hundreds of cool photographs, click here!
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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!
Bugs Bunny came out of his hole this morning, emerging on a sidewalk in San Diego. Walking around, chomping on a carrot, what did he see?
He saw that preparations for 2022 Comic-Con continue downtown at breakneck speed!
Among other things…
A big silver Vulcan salute will greet visitors to Star Trek’s cool Starfleet Outpost. Most Comic-Con offsites open to the public on Thursday. (I believe I saw this big hand at the Comic-Con Museum during their Gene Roddenberry exhibit.)The second Severance building wrap on the Hard Rock Hotel is done. Looks like some coworkers I’ve known.More photo op panels have appeared at the NBCU Corner.Boxes full of Good Guys. The clerk needs to check the shelves. One isn’t completely unwrapped.The Rookie wraps are completed, decorating Petco Park.Many box trucks in line. It’s the Comic-Con move in at the San Diego Convention Center. Here come the big exhibitors!The Bandai offsite behind the Marriott Marquis is taking form.A wall provides the history of Dragon Ball films.Very cool!The Krapopolis super slide now has Greek graphics. Where are the oars?The Gray Man offsite now has rubble.The Audible sand sculptures, still being created, are like works of art.Another amazing sand sculpture.The Peanuts offsite activation on MLK Promenade will feature The Armstrong Project.The House of the Dragon castle’s appearance just keeps getting more awesome. This might end up being one of the coolest ever Comic-Con offsites…A very sedate, tranquil Fifth Avenue in the Gaslamp Quarter, on a quiet Tuesday morning. That will change drastically in two days!
If you’d like to view my coverage of Comic-Con so far, which includes hundreds of cool photographs, click here!
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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 amount of cool stuff popping up for 2022 Comic-Con is mind-blowing! A walk around downtown San Diego this Monday afternoon yielded more fun photos!
Among the burgeoning pop culture sights are vampire drinks, a large, rampaging Great Ape, a Starfleet Outpost, amazing sand sculptures, and some large, creepy dolls. And loads of the other stuff that I’ve already covered during previous walks!
I suppose what I really like about this time of year is how thousands of creative ideas suddenly come together and flower simultaneously in one place. It’s like some sort of human miracle.
Of course, the dreamers, creators, planners, builders, deciders all contribute innumerable hours of combined effort. But look what can suddenly arise if many minds and hands come together!
Why does so much of the popular culture center upon fantasy, science fiction, absurdity and horror? Because, I suppose, our brains are wired for survival. They become excited and active when faced by unknowns…
Crates that were marked Picard have been unloaded into the Starfleet Outpost, a Comic-Con offsite by Paramount+. The public can swing by starting Thursday. It’s located at Happy Does on Fifth Avenue in the Gaslamp Quarter.Lots of colorful building wraps cover the Hilton Gaslamp. All four sides, in fact!Yikes. I knew Butt-Head would eventually show up.The three Audible sand sculptures on MLK Promenade are becoming more incredible as the sand artists do their thing.The modest Krapopolis offsite by FOX is a bit hidden, across from The New Childrens Museum. Hopefully people can find it. Look for the Super Slide sign above some trees.The big The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power wrap is coming along on one of the Marriott Marquis towers.It’s Great Ape Vegeta rampaging through the Bandai offsite behind the Marriott! I don’t think it can do much damage without its hands, however.Spotted in the distance between two crates.Looking at big The Rings of Power wrap from the San Diego Bay side.Forklifts lined up behind the San Diego Convention Center, with the American Horror Stories dolls wrap on the Hilton looking ever more creepy.Here come The Incredible Hulk! Thank goodness he’s in a good mood.Flying a kite where the Adult Swim on the Green has been in past years. I thought Abbott Elementary was going to set up somewhere back here, but I don’t see them yet.As I crossed the Harbor Drive pedestrian bridge, I saw several large The Rookie wraps going up on Petco Park. Those workers on super duper cherry pickers work fast.Well, whoever is going to build the Petco Park Interactive Zone here better get busy. They have two days to do it!The Rookie: Feds is being promoted by ABC at 2022 Comic-Con in a big way!And the big Krapopolis wrap on the Omni, promoting an upcoming animated FOX show, is almost done.Someone checks their phone beneath the IGN balcony outside the Hard Rock Hotel. Keep your eyes on this balcony for celebrities during Comic-Con.NBCUniversal is getting their NBCU Corner ready now. I see a bunch of Good Guys graphics. Those might be going into the Tin Fish.Quantum Leap is back on NBC this Fall.And here is Reginald the Vampire, coming to Syfy. No, I’m not thirsty. Thank you.
If you’d like to view my coverage of Comic-Con so far, which includes hundreds of cool photographs, click here!
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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!
As we get ever closer to the opening of 2022 Comic-Con, more and more cool stuff is popping up in San Diego, particularly near the convention center!
For the past several days I’ve been documenting Comic-Con preparations downtown. Well, today, Saturday, I walked around again and found more stuff to share!
The distinctive Comic-Con logo now appears all over the San Diego Convention Center!Workers are setting up the outdoor canopies near the convention center. There will be huge crowds for Comic-Con as usual. Fortunately, the weather is forecast to be quite comfortable.That huge Star Trek wrap on the Marriott Marquis is looking really awesome. (I had to add contrast to my hazy zoom photo.)FX continues to set up their large offsite activation by the Hilton San Diego Bayfront. I believe those artificial hedge sections will form the walls of a simple labyrinth.Local artist Shirish Villaseñor works on the Starbucks windows graphics. They show scenes from Shrek. Her painted windows on Sweet Things Frozen Yogurts next door are the Faces of Comic-Con.The rear of the FX offsite for Comic-Con under construction.The big American Horror Stories wrap on the Hilton is getting bigger…Almost done with the cool Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero wrap decorating the Marriott.The other day I was informed correctly! FOX will have a small offsite with a Super Slide and photo opportunity on the grass opposite The New Childrens Museum.Cool trolleys all over!Sand artists have begun carving the three Audible sand sculptures.The big TREK building wrap seen from MLK Promenade across Harbor Drive.Looks like a Beavis and Butt-Head wrap on one side of the Hilton Gaslamp!House of the Dragon offsite looks ominous. I’m now told there won’t be a maze inside, but something. Looks exciting, whatever it might be!More graphics have appeared at the Hilton Gaslamp for The Walking Dead special event.The Krapopolis wrap grows on the Omni hotel. NBC hasn’t begun their offsite construction by the Tin Fish yet, nor is there anything on the grass by the Omni…The cool Severance wrap on the Hard Rock Hotel is nearing completion.That banner on the Gaslamp trolley station fence is left over from the recent ESRI conference at the convention center.Here comes another wrap on the Hilton Gaslamp! This one promotes Interview With The Vampire.Nerdy stuff is popping up all over downtown San Diego with less than a week to go before Comic-Con!
If you’d like to view my coverage of Comic-Con so far, which includes hundreds of cool photographs, click here!
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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!
Today is the Fourth of July. Our nation’s Independence Day.
This afternoon I walked along San Diego’s Embarcadero.
Families from neighborhoods throughout the city were streaming into downtown’s waterfront, setting up tents and canopies and lawn chairs, preparing barbeque, throwing footballs, getting ready to view the Big Bay Boom fireworks show this evening.
Flags were everywhere: flying from shops, restaurants, pedicabs, boats on the water…
As I walked along, I tried to capture a little bit of the color.
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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!
Did you know the world’s longest mural was painted in Vista, California?
That’s according to Guinness World Records. The amazing “Vista Historical Mural” is 564 feet long!
Originally painted in 2005 by artist Clayton Parker, the colorful mural covers the rear of eight businesses. It’s located along the alley-like Vistacado Lane between Indiana Avenue and Michigan Avenue. The history of Vista is depicted as a very long parade.
I took photos at one end of this mural back in May. I captured much of the recently restored part near the corner of Main Street and Indiana Avenue, with its scenes from the Vistacado Festival Parade. You can see those particular photos and learn a bit more here. At the time I regretted not photographing the entire long, world record mural.
So I returned later. I’ve now documented the whole length! As you can see, some parked vehicles, trash containers and other objects prevented my camera from capturing absolutely everything.
Walk east down Vistacado Lane, as I did, and the painted representation of Vista’s history moves back in time.
Enjoy!
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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!
Is it too early to get excited about Comic-Con returning full force to San Diego?
Of course not!
It’s been two years since the crazy, wonderful, international phenomenon known as Comic-Con filled the Convention Center and streets and hotels of San Diego!
As I walked down Fifth Avenue through the Gaslamp Quarter this morning, looking right and left for interesting material, I remembered that the big pop culture celebration is less than two months away now.
I’m starting to get fired up!
As usual, I’m taking Comic-Con week off from work. I’ll be walking randomly around downtown (where I live) making fun discoveries and photographing the endless cool sights!
Pretty soon the Comic-Con trolley wraps should be appearing! My eyes are peeled!
Not much to see yet, but these shop windows anticipate the big event…
UPDATE!
I spotted Sailor Moon a week or two later!
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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!
What in the world are Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Edison doing in North Park?
They’re decorating the exterior of the very unique San Diego Gas & Electric Company’s Substation F!
I happened to look up and see the two historical figures as I walked along the El Cajon Boulevard sidewalk just east of Iowa Street.
These gentleman made groundbreaking discoveries and inventions that remain important in our electricity dependent world. Both esteemed men, in North Park, are busts made of cast stone!
Learn more about SDG&E’s beautifully restored Station F, originally built in 1926, at this web page.
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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!
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