Carlsbad Fire and Police Event

For being a well to do, relatively crime free city, Carlsbad police and fire departments appear to be ready for foreign invasion.  Their training facility must be the envy of the nation!  Anyway, after the demos, we headed back to our house for some lunch and fun.  Here are a few pictures to compliment Andria's blog photos of the event.

The entry to the training facility.

Look whose making a beak for it!  Zanny can only take the stroller for so long.

"Whatever the big kids can do, I can do!"

As I was saying!  We tried out the Twister to music game that Gail scored in a thrift store - wow was it hard to follow those dance moves!

"Back to the Future" Happy Hour

Last night, we took part in a collaborative painting experience with artist Madeline Sherry at the Oceanside Museum of Art where we are members.  Participants painted a 10" by 10" square canvas section of one of  Sherry's paintings, and then hung it on the wall to create a collaborative large-scale finished artwork.  Pizza, beer, and wine added to the fun and friendly atmosphere.  I had to use my phone for pictures, so the quality is not what you have come to expect  -  sorry!

 Each person was given a Masonite square, photo of their section, paint, and brushes.

Finished squares were added to the wall with  laughter, oohs, and ahs.  A copy of the original is on the right of our collaboration.

Gail dipped her brush into my wine by accident, thinking it was rinse water  -  another artist shenanigan!

Gail demonstrated her French lineage by painting in a style reminiscent of Monet.

I, on the other hand, seemed to find my Dutch roots in unmistakable Van Gogh style.

We were all amazed how neat the finished project looked!

 The artist, Madeline Sherry, is in black hanging one of the squares. She seemed relieved and excited by the results!

Last looks before departing.

OMA continues to be a fun, unpretentious place to enjoy quality art, artists, and its fun loving members!

Carlsbad Art Splash

Sunday, we rode our bikes over to the Carlsbad Art Splash, a fundraiser for community school art programs.  There was music, a car show, arts and craft sales, etc., but the main attraction is the chalk art.  These are just some of  the artworks that we saw.  A street sweeper erased them all at the end of the day  :(

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This portrait of Salvador Dali was one of our favorites.

This is a Norman Rockwell picture.  Who knew?

My favorite car of the car show section.  It is a "rat" in that it looks cobbled together by '50s teenagers, but every last detail was thought out for total effect.

This is the interior -  kind of a steam punk look.

This 1912 Baker electric car was modified in 1958 to run on solar energy.  It was supposedly the first full sized solar car.

We end this segment with a nice looking woody.  Would you want to pile in the kids for a day at the beach in this show car?

Adams Avenue Street Fair

Okay, we walked 5 miles from Tour De Fat to Adams Avenue - it looked closer on the map.  But...  we saw some surprising art along the way.

The Left Hand Black tattoo shop had an extensive exhibition of cleaver art - just in time for Halloween.

Check out this amazing grasshopper made from pruning saws, cleavers, and knives.

Awhile later, we came to a laundromat with striking murals.

Resting our feet to some great blues, baby.  Right on!

Out on the street, kids were being zipped into plastic bubbles and thrown in a pool.

The Brothers of Praise Phase II played rockin' gospel music.  Over the weekend, there were 90 different music performances on 7 main stages.

What a neat idea for a food truck!

We absolutely enjoyed this rockabilly group, Roy Rapid and the Rhythm Rock Trio.

 

We ended the evening with a rousing set by The Creepy Creeps.  Despite their name, they were positive, fun, and showed concern for all of the audience.  Oh, and I was "blessed" by Sir Gravy! 

Other groups we saw and enjoyed were Euphoria Brass Band, Chris Trapper, and Neveready.  We started the 5 mile walk back to the car, but fortunately discovered a direct bus route after about 20 minutes - yeah!!

Tour de Fat

Saturday morning, we headed down to San Diego's South Park neighborhood with our '74 Schwinns for the annual Tour de Fat bicycle event and parade.  The event, sponsored by New Belgium Brewing, raises money for bicycle groups. 

All ages, all styles, not much Spandex.

 



 We did "quick" costumes.

There were many old vintage bikes - way cool.

Before the parade, we had time to check out the interactive displays and admire bikes and costumes. That's a giant kaleidoscope, much of it made from bicycle parts.

Trippy!

The Slinky display was a good match for Gail!

Human powered whirly-gig.

The El Choperados arrived on their choppers.

Chopper bikes.

Chewy!

A bit like the Bay to Breakers.  The MC and his two dancers got us fired up with aerobic exercises, safety rules, and zaniness.

And we're off like a herd of turtles!

 



 

After the parade, we put our bikes in Blue and hoofed it 5 miles to the Adams Avenue Street Fair for music and festivities. Blog post coming soon!