Yesterday we were down at Pike Place Market feasting on a Three Girls Bakery sandwich and on the way out we spotted the Seafair Pirates making their rounds. "Pardon us, pirates coming through!" they said, making their way through the molasses-like flow of tourists which we thought was probably not authentic pirate behavior. (We wouldn't be completely outraged if a pirate lopped off a head or two of the sidewalk-gawking variety of tourist who's astonished to see, you know, peaches! and bread! for sale in a public market and has to stop in their tracks to verify the observation.) The pirates landed at Alki on July 7, and from the looks of their site's photo albums, they've made their way from there to Mercer Island, Kent, Chinatown, and up to Greenwood since.

This means that soon -- hey, next week! -- we'll be getting buzzed by the Blue Angels. I-90 will be closed at what are likely to be inopportune moments for their practice runs from August 2 on. The hydroplane races are August 3-5. Last year that really snuck up on us, so we're giving you more of an alert this time around. Lotta people think it's a good time to strap on a backpack and hit the trail, but be warned: you'll miss Mudhoney.