Two very different photographic results from one visit to Balboa Park

I decided to visit Balboa Park today before the heat built up too much (we are in the middle of San Diego's first significant heat wave of summer 2012.)

Upon parking, in the lot closest to the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center, I had a good chuckle from this banner, which was advertising one of the current exhibitions in the Science Center.

I then made my way to the Botanical building, and found a display of a completely unfamiliar plant that had an unusual-looking means of flowering: the Golden Candle (scientific name Pachystachys lutea).

Rather than trying to write up my own description of the plant, I am going to provide a link to an excellent discussion of it on an Australian site:http://www.burkesbackyard.com.au/2000/archives/2000/in_the_garden/flowering_plants_and_shrubs/golden_candles

I saw I had a possible diptych after first finding some nice drops from the days watering on one of the plants, then finding a small web, itself covered with water drops, on another of the plants. The spider didn't give itself much space to work, which I'm guessing may have something to do with how untidy the web was.

Visiting "Fallen Star" on site

Having previously taken photos of UCSD's latest public art piece, "Fallen Star", from the ground, I have strongly wanted to visit the piece when the site it is on became available for public visiting. Here is one of those ground views:




The availability for public visiting started roughly a couple months ago, but I had not been able to make a visit due to when visiting is available: Tuesdays and Thursdays, from 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM each of those days. Having scheduled a day off from work for today (August 9, 2012), I decided I'd finally make the visit, and of course bring along my camera.

One minor aggravation of visiting UCSD on a weekday is you have to purchase a parking permit; on campus parking is free on weekends! Oh, well. At least finding a space wasn't too much of a headache, as student presence is always lighter during summer quarter.

So I made the walk to the main building of the Jacobs School of Engineering; Fallen Star sits on top of one its towers. I walked into the lobby and was interested to find no mention whatsoever of the piece to be seen; interesting. So, I got into one of the lobby elevators and went to the top floor, Stepped out of the elevator, and voila, there was Fallen Star. There's a door built into that floor's elevator lobby that leads out to the site, the small garden that is part of it, and of course the Fallen Star piece itself.

This was just before 11 AM. There were already a few people standing around the garden, but the door for the piece itself was locked. Turned out that is unlocked by a staff attendant who remains on site to answer questions and apparently act as de facto security by just being present.

Fallen Star proved to be fascinating, outside and inside. Everything about is deliberately off kilter, which makes just standing in it, much less moving around in it quite an experience! The one exception to this is the chandelier, which hangs on a true plumb, but that is just a factor of gravity.

Also, I seem to recall reading somewhere that all the furniture and fixtures were made at three-quarters scale, which just boosts the slightly unreal feel

One interesting note is that even though it is bolted down to the building, only six adults (plus the staff attendant) can be in it at once.

All in all a fascinating experience.

Here's a photo taken today: