One Last Post About Pillow Fights

my%20perspective.JPG Ok. We're as sick as you probably are of hearing about Sunday's pillow fight in Ballard. But a few comments on our post yesterday about it and an e-mail from Brooke, the organizer, prompted us to put up one last item about it. Namely, we'd like to ask those who think the pillow fight organizer is "self-absorbed" and worse to please calm down.

Maybe we weren't clear enough in yesterday's post, but Brooke voluntarily contacted the Parks Department and volunteered to do community service to make up for the time that the Parks Department spent cleaning up the feathers. She was and is contrite and apologetic. And, in an email we received late yesterday, Brooke told us that even Parks wasn't as worried about the situation as some of the comments we've seen about it.

I've been in touch with the Mayor's office, as well as Seattle Parks and Rec. They were surprised to hear how much negative press it had brought the club. They said they "just wanted to chat." They were very pleased that I contacted them directly.
We called a truce :-) They acknowledged that we aren't vandals.

Finally, keep in mind that the feathers weren't even her fault.

Someone brought a feather pillow and had supposedly knifed it beforehand to make it explode. Granted, that person, Brooke, or all of us should have cleaned up the feathers. However, like others here, we didn't think it was a problem because many feathers were blowing away. It seemed like they would soon become a memory. Obviously we were wrong.

So please ease up on Brooke. She was just having fun, realized the problem right quick, and took steps to solve it so fun like this can be had again by those who want to.

As a side note, the pillow fight got coverage last night on Evening Magazine and on Q13 where they used our footage of the fight.

Sheesh. Pillow fights. Who knew? We're thinking that if we go to Saturday's World Pillow Fight Day fight in Red Square, we probably won't write about it here...

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By Charles Redell in Miscellaneous on March 21, 2008 9:59 AM

Comments [rss]

Troy Morris

The feathers could clog the run off and cause unnecessary back up and, while natural, pollutants are still pollutant. I'm pretty sure a few pillows worth of treated or un-treated feathers would cause an issue floating down stream.

and z33bleoop, yeah, everyone has an opinion and I fully respect that. However, a "troll" by definition brings is an unnecessary force. Comments should bring something to the table. They should encourage a discussion. Not just blow a load on the article and walk away.

I have even had dear friends delete a comment I made because it did nothing. I typed a comment "Yep." in response to a persons semi-rhetorical question on flickr. My friend deleted it and told me it's because it was just wasted breath (which is was).

Trolls are like those people at a party that interrupt a great conversation to say "Yeah! I know." or "You're stupid." and then shut back up.

It's little babies wanting attention. It's dribble. They can have an opinion, but it has to be an opinion and not just an excuse to say/type something.

An Internet troll, or simply troll in Internet slang, is someone who posts controversial and usually irrelevant or off-topic messages in an online community, such as an online discussion forum, with the intention of baiting other users into an emotional response[1] or to generally disrupt normal on-topic discussion.
- Every one's favorite source-- wikipedia

Kevin Bracken

Admittedly I am a little biased (I created pillowfightday.com) but why are people worrying about the feathers? It's synthetic material that is the problem - feathers blow away and biodegrade, either on grass or in the ocean.

Also, of all the pillow fights that happened in the world, Seattle's was by far the cleanest.

Good job Seattle PFC!

z33bleoop

everyone is entitled to their opinion, even trolls. you may not like it but it's their right to post what they want.

if they want civilized discourse then seattlest needs to change to a moderated, private forum and not a publicly accessible blog.

Troy Morris

You do that, I'm likely to continue drinking and then start denigrating all over the bathroom.

MvB

I hate to see the Seattlest get denigrated by trolls like so much of the internet. Let's elevate the level of discourse ever so slightly back to what it was 6 months ago.

Somebody buy this commenter a beer! Or two!

Troy Morris

I've noticed that the Seattlest has gotten a load of comments lately blasting folks personally who have little to no idea about who that individual is. It's really friggin' irritating. I don't mind if people start insulting me and calling me names, I deserve it.

But Brooke? Some of the writers? To just walk out calling people morons and worse is disgustingly bleh. I hate to see the Seattlest get denigrated by trolls like so much of the internet. Let's elevate the level of discourse ever so slightly back to what it was 6 months ago.

Potty humor and bad puns are where it's at.