Comments

1
Hmmm. I thought your tenure with The Stranger went back to the 90s, but that must no be true if you were born c. 1981.
2
What made this post even better was some kind of embedded ad that let the Blue Angels strafe my browser while I was reading it. As if working in SoDo didn't give them enough opportunities to be loud and obnoxious.
3
I lived in Bellevue a few years back right under one of the places where they did their far turn. I loved hearing them roar overhead. I'd usually run outside and wait for the next go round.

If nothing else, take it as a moment to reflect on what it would feel like if they were shooting at you or dropping bombs. That's what people in many parts of the world experience when they hear that noise.
4
That jet-flying-across-the-webpage effect is fantastic! Congratulations to whoever designed that (or maybe to whoever picked the mushrooms for my omelet this morning).
5
Sloggers and Stranger writers letting us know their opinions of the Blue Angels is such a tired, redundant yearly tradition on Slog every year. Even the brilliant and gifted observer fletcher @3 can't change my mind.
6
Speaking of tired and redundant, @5.
7
I must be the only person on the planet who is terrified of loud noises but still LOVES the Blue Angels. They're totally, totally awesome.
8
@4: I saw it too. Mushrooms not psychedelic. Or maybe they are...if the Angels fly off the screen and across your living room, rethink your day.
9
@6
Nice. I never said I wasn't a product of my environment.
10
oh, that's what those noises were? some sort of angels, you say?
12
Speaking of noiseโ€” have we never, ever once discussed how awesome H1 Unlimited hydroplanes are? For one week a year, Seattle has its own Formula 1 and shares an obscure sport with some very unlikely places. Bummed Miss Bud was retired, the sport needs a legacy star, but still... jet powered boats ferchrissake!
13
I too am one of those who don't like the Blue Angels in concept but still find their shows to be beautiful displays of flying skill. It captures the imagination I (and probably most kids-at-heart) have about flying far more than the lumbering man made albatrosses that are commercial jets.
14
If anyone actually lives or works anywhere near Lake Washington where it gets 120-130 decibels (enough to permanently damage hearing, especially for babies, children, and pets) -- and thinks the Blue Angels are on okay thing -- there's something seriously wrong with their values.

They also trigger PTSD in veterans and refugees and others. Jonathan Golob wrote about this when he worked at the VA hospital in seattle.

There's also a seriously significant probability that they'll crash. That's why they close down I-90 and Lake Washington-- the coast guard has that authority and there's a large risk they'll crash into it. Nobody seems to have authority to evacuate the large crash zone on land. There's a Blue Angels crash every few years.

The last crash in South Carolina they crashed at high speed right into a residential neighborhood. Luckily, it was sparse rural South Carolina over an airfield, not on top of a dense city.
15
LOL "sonically terrify Seattle and Bellevue" #TRUTH
16
They're war planes. That says it all.
17
I guess I am one of those "skittish" people who are bothered by the intrusive presence of the Blue Angel combat aircraft in Seattle skies.(as per the Capitol Hill Blog). While some of my friends think they are cool and beautiful, my memories are of blown apart kids, courtesy of US F-100 jets. But you don't have to rely on the memories of a 69 year old vet, you can see up front close and personal - just look on TV at the dead kids in Gaza, courtesy of US made F-16s.
18
I love them. I love that they are so loud they make jump, and so fast that they are long gone before I hear them. I've worked downtown when they are flying and the noise bounces back and forth off the buildings, and I've worked by Boeing Field where we would all go down and hang off the fence by the flight line to watch them come in. You could feel them through your whole body.
I love, love, love them. But I come from a family of pilots, and my brother is a retired AF fighter pilot, so we are biased. My mother likes to stand at the end of the runway at Luke AFB in AZ when they go down there for baseball spring training and jump up and down and wave at the fighter pilots there ( not the Angels obvs, since they're Navy) as they fly in and out.
They think she's adorable.
Oh and Raku, in their coming up on 60 year history they have had an air show related crash only twice. The rest have all been training accidents which took place away from populated areas.
19
I guess I am one of those "skittish" people who are bothered by the intrusive presence of the Blue Angel combat aircraft in Seattle skies. (skittish as per Capitol Hill Blog) While some of my friends think they are cool and beautiful, my memories are of blown apart kids, courtesy of US F-100 jets. But you don't have to rely on the memories of a 69 year old vet, you can see up front close and personal - just look on TV at the dead kids in Gaza, courtesy of US made F-16s.
20
Much better, thoughtful, competently written piece. Trent should see this.
21
They exist to promote the world's biggest military, currently approaching a 70-year dry spell since the last real victory, despite unbelievable cost and suffering.

Taxpayer-funded propaganda for the Ministry of Fear and Permanent War.
22
speaking of waste, a big picture reminder... #TRILLIONS #ThisIsDiddlySquat http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-tic…
23
This is the annual grip that that I cannot for the life of me get, but now I get it. Those who hate and dont understand the Blue Angels or Seafair did not grow up in Seattle. This is a part of the summer that brings out the kid in pretty much all of us that grew up in this city and every year the Stranger Staff that have no fucking clue what it was like to be a kid in Seattle bag on it. Stranger - no one fucking cares that you hate the Blue Angels, Seafair is fucking rad, boats in the water on 85 degree days are fucking rad, planes in the air flying over said boats are fucking rad, beers in your hand while in water while planes are flying over are fucking rad and girls in boats having beers with you while planes fly over and its 85 out is pretty much lifes trifecta.
For a the kid who grew up in Seattle and has to put up with shit weather every year weekends like this remind you why you love this town. This doesn't have anything to do about left or right or what they symbolize it has to do with fun in the mother fucking sun that brings us all back to being a dumbfounded kid in the summers of our youth. Yes I'm white, yes I'm male and yes I'm straight but if you go down to Seward Park this weekend your going to see GENERATIONS of multicultural families that come out every year to be a part of it. Send some reporters down there and get a fucking clue.
24
@14, a few seconds of 120 dB is not enough to permanently damage hearing. And rather than "every few years", it's more like one every twenty years; almost all of the Blue Angel crashes have been during practices, not shows. Anything else you'd like to lie about today?

I'm not a fan of the Angels but you are ridiculous.
25
Why don't we just admit that we like the Blue Angels and stop trying to play it safe and have it both ways? They fly for what? 45 minutes? Get over it. Only in Seattle.
26
Nice to see the author approve of Trent's earlier sexual harassment the Blue Angel's representative. I guess sexual harassment is ok when they make big scary noises?
27
Once in summer of 2002 I was new to Seattle, couch surfing in capitol hill until I found a solid place here and I heard these planes screaming through the sky and I totally thought it was a terrorist attack, I had been freaked out from 9/11 even though I hadn't experienced 9/11 first hand. Totally thought planes were flying into downtown or something, I was just like, what other explanation could there be? jumped into the street from couch, in pajamas, to look around and see what the hell was going on
28
24: I'll just post two links, but seriously, you're the most annoying disinformation commenter I've ever dealt with.

http://med.stanford.edu/ohns/resources/l…

http://www.blueangels-usn.org/accident_h…
29
@26: They're like Stephen A. Smith, doubling down on stupid.
30
@28: 3 accidents in the last twenty years, and only pilots injured. I'm sorry, you were lying?
31
@28: your link includes combat missions, flying from factory delivery, take offs and landings on air craft carriers, practice, practice, practice and yet more practice.
And two air shows,
That's two air shows in almost 60 years of flying. And of course they are going to crash more often when they are practicing, which is why they practice their very complex routines over unpopulated areas.
They close down the bridges so that the cars don't crash into each other because drivers are busy gawking at the show.
32
@28 and others: Don't get me wrong, I understand that for some people the Blue Angels come with significant political baggage and they are VERY, VERY LOUD,and feel free to hate them for whatever reason, but they're not going to fall out of the sky.

::shrug::I think they are breathtaking and beautiful.

33
They are beautiful graceful machines of terrible destructive power. Frankly I think all the butt hurt and annoyance they cause should serve as ritualized reminder of that fact.

It's not like if there was no Blue Angels suddenly Israel, Syria, or Russia would suddenly just stop slaughtering children.

People in Seattle don't really want to do what it takes to stop war and death. That takes work. No. They just don't like to be REMINDED about war and death.
34
I like it. It's simply another wonderfully word part of a Seattle summer
35
Does A.Q. have fighter jets? I've decided to cope with my instinctual terror upon their near-annual arrival by reminding myself that "at least they aren't dropping bombs."

Which is maybe the point?
36
Bunch of fuckin pansies.
37
@14

Ragu, does your vagina always hurt this much?
38
Seattle is full of the biggest pussies on the planet.

Funny thing is, like another commenter said, most of the pussies seem to be from out of the area and have no clue to Seattle's history.

I'm slowly starting to hate this place - its has just become a haven to skinny-jean wearing, faux-men who are the biggest pussies on the planet.
39
I do know those JQuery Blue Angels on Slog's Leader are freaking me out.
40
I'm a pretty liberal dude and this pathetic thread is even too much for me to take.

Get over it, you pansies.
41
Sorry #36.

Read the first fifteen posts and after throwing up in my mouth a little bit, skipped to the end and posted.

Then I say you say the same thing... and I agree.

Suck it up and get over it, you pansies. Then gin up your faux-outrage for something useful, like student loan rates.
42
I fundamentally hate those stupid fuckers. But I do agree that they are some kind of American symbol. Large, loud, wasteful, and blissfully unaware that their aggressive prescence is read as needless antagonism by most of the world. Anyone who claims to "enjoy" their annual display is a sick fuck in my book.
43
@33 Nailed it. Kudos.
44
@42

Trust me. ..us normal think the same about you and you and everyone who thinks like you.

you ever wonder why you're such a tiny minority of complaining losers?
45
Respectfully, to all, I lived in the shadow of the El Toro base, in '91, with my wife, and children. Watched CNN images of families in the Middle East, huddled, in sealed rooms, gas masks affixed, praying that a Scud missile wouldn't land on their house. Every time one of those beautiful FA-18's flew overhead, I gave thanks that those brave pilots made sure that my house was safe. Thank you.
46
I'm waiting to hear the debate after one of 'em takes out a chunk of West Seattle, or Phinney Ridge, of god forbid (!), Madrona! Man, if one of those fuckers crash in Madrona or Beaux Arts or some other upscale neighborhood, the Blue Angels will be illegal sooooooo fast.
47
I think you will be waiting an long, long, long, long time.

You will probably die of old age before that happens.
48
All this pussies who like the Blue Angels are fricking pansies. Loosen up for christ sake. They completely suck. Don't hate you blue angel lovers.
49
All these pussies who like the Blue Angels are such fricking pansies. Loosen up for christ sake, learn to have a good time and get into the amount they massively suck. Don't be hating on us you blue angel lovers. Just chill.
50
Dayum!
I don't think we could more cranky and nasty to each other unless this thread was about bicycles!
@46: You don't really mean that, and besides, as has been discussed, it is highly, highly unlikely to happen.
@42: I take it you are not a fan of air shows. :)
51
I'm non-veteran who has PTSD and lives on the eastside near Lake Washington. When they go over, I realize that I flinch up, hold my breath, and I find myself praying out loud, in repetition, like a mantra, for it to be over (I'm a relatively spiritual person, but I never pray out loud.) After B.A. fly over, I'm dissociated for hours. I feel tingly. My heart is still racing. Trying to write about it hours later.. I'm getting kind of overwhelmed. My palms are still sweaty. I can't concentrate on my work, no matter how hard I try or how many mindfulness skills I use. I don't have money to get out of Dodge every Seafair.

I didn't realize that the practices were starting on Thursday, so I was caught off guard. When was driving over the 90 to get to my therapy appointment, just after they opened it up - the inconvenience is a whole 'nother post- I was pretty triggered. I wasn't aware that I was triggered. I shouldn't have been driving. I could have hurt myself or others. Luckily the only thing I hurt was my side mirror, which got cracked as I was attempting to re-park in a tight spot, next to a cement pillar, in a public garage near my therapist's office. Had that not happened, I don't think I would have become aware of my numbness, my dangerous mindlessness. In the scheme of things, I'll take having to duck-tape my mirror for a few months to what could have happened.

I don't want to be a Debbie Downer or a kill joy. I love the art of fast cars. I want to soak up every summer festival, outdoor movie, parade. The other day someone at my job asked me if I was going to Seafair and i judo-ed the conversation to my love of my Seafair pirates. I didn't want to be "that person," but perhaps I am that person.

I have an account, but am too anxious to post this using it.
53
We went down to the Mercer Island end of I-90 yesterday and walked around on the closed freeway while the Patriots did their air show. Then we had lunch at Stopsky's deli on Mercer Island which was quite lovely. As we were leaving one of the Blue Angels did a low turn over the parking lot with a deafening roar. Simply amazing to see it so close. You can almost feel the sound.
54
"All these pussies ...Blue Angels are such fricking pansies. ... they massively suck. Don't be hating on us you blue angel lovers. Just chill."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Going to post this on Wikipedia under "Examples of Irony". Was this posting misguided, or intentional ? ROTFLMAO all day long ;) Thanks !

Please wait...

Comments are closed.

Commenting on this item is available only to members of the site. You can sign in here or create an account here.


Add a comment
Preview

By posting this comment, you are agreeing to our Terms of Use.