This week, we bid adieu to the sailors who classed up our city during Fleet Week, saluted the (possibly last) flight of the Blue Angels, checked out some Mad Homes, hoped that Congress would get it together, celebrated National S'mores day and National Farmers' Market Week, and enjoyed some surprisingly good weather. more ›

Today was a bad day for the stock market, a bad day for Washington oyster farmers, and a bad day to be a crack dealer--but it was a great day to fly the friendly skies, as the Blue Angels delighted the masses (and snarled traffic). more ›

Can't Miss It. Jesse Sykes and the Sweet Hereafter kick off a tour with new, psychedelic tunes at Showbox. The Blue Angels angle and boom into the afternoon. And the Seattle Festival of Dance Improvisation goes Off the Cuff. more ›

The Torchlight parade has wrapped up, the run is over, and now, it's nearly time for Seafair's grand finale which includes Fleet Week, and the flight of the Blue Angels. more ›

A Portland judge slams the Obama administration for not protecting Washington's salmon enough, the Blue Angels continue to make my life terrible on an annual basis, and King County Metro gets double-whammied. Happy hump day. more ›

West Seattle Blog has a nice little interview with the Blue Angels representatives who came to town for a winter planning meeting (and are jetting off right about now). more ›

We here at Seattlest are somewhat divided on the Blue Angels. Some of us associate the elite naval air demonstration squadron with ruined outdoor concerts and a sonic roar that is particularly punishing when you're suffering through a hangover. Although we're not dumb enough to make a 911 call about it. more ›

What’s all that noise in the sky? Why it’s the thing the Seattle-based internet is buzzing about this morning: the Blue Angels are back! For those unfamiliar with this particular brand of American-style noise maker, the Blue Angels are the Navy’s version of the Harlem Globetrotters. They tour around the country, demonstrating just how kick-ass our aerial weapons technology is through impressive maneuvers and choreographed formations (this is what the Harlem Globetrotters do too, yes?). more ›

Seattlest reader David Hoffman took this gorgeous shot yesterday from Madrona Park, as the Blue Angels were doing their practice runs. They'll be out doing an official Seafair air show today and tomorrow from 1:30-2:30 p.m. more ›

The Blue Angels just finished their second practice run prior to Seafair. It's hard to work through what sounds like a jet engine sitting on our roof, so we stepped outside to snap a few pictures. Saturday and Sunday they'll put on a full show from 1:30-2:30 p.m. more ›

The Blue Angels, Navy's elite flying aerobatic team is back in town for the annual Seafair celebration. The bright blue Boeing F/A-18 Hornets are expected to cruise (at mach speed, we hope?) through Seattle's air space around 10 a.m. today, causing all sorts of fun traffic congestion today through Sunday, August 2. As always, WSDOT will be closing all lanes, in both directions of the I-90 between I-5 and Island Crest Way. The I-90 bridge closure times: Thursday (9:45 a.m.-noon, 1:15- 2:30 p.m), Friday (12:45-2:45 p.m.), and Saturday and Sunday (12:45-2:40 p.m.). For pedestrians and bicyclists, the bridge will be closed to you 30 minutes prior to the cars. more ›

It's the most extravagant of all operas. In fact, the spectacle of Aida (that triumphal march! those elephants!) often outshines the music and singing. Not this time. Seattle Opera's current production of Verdi's masterpiece is a finely integrated staging and immensely satisfying night of theater. more ›

• You know it's Seafair when the Seattle Police Department issues a "Boating Under the Influence Advisory." That's right folks, if you're out on the water this weekend, beware: everyone else on the lake is going to be drunk, whatever the boat cops say. As long-suffering Seattle residents who can afford boats, that is their God-given right during Seafair. It's the viking heritage.
• Crosscut Seattle confirmed a long held theory of ours: that the local news and radio broadcasters have remained virtually unchanged for our whole life. And we were right! Jean Enersen celebrates 40 years with KING5 today, and yesterday KIRO Radio personality Dave Ross celebrated 30 years on the air. Sure, the city has quadrupled in size, but you still got the same old Jean and Dave (and Steve Pool...and Kathy Goertzen...and Dan Lewis) to tune in to.
• Central District News warns local dog owners who might take their pups for a dip at Madrona Beach or a romp in the park. Two dogs convulsing from suspected slug poison have been taken to emergency vets, but have thus survived.

Fer crying out loud, we hate those guys. Sitting here in our office on Capitol Hill, with a terrified dog at our feet and a headache, it's only their first day and we are already thoroughly annoyed. Seattlest John's ideas notwithstanding, when the hell are they going to stop bugging us (and, according to a friend, buzzing the VA Hospital, which strikes us as just mean)? more ›

You can tell it's Seafair when your pets are trembling under the coffee table. Nothing signifies the dog days of summer in Seattle like the roar of a defanged F-18 driving your dog to piss himself. more ›

The Seattle Times is reporting that the Blue Angels have arrived. Boy howdy! We're thanking our lucky stars that we're heading to Portland for the weekend and will be able to avoid the traffic and insanity of Sea Fair. But, if you're staying in town, you may want to plan ahead for the impending air show. It'll be our tax dollars at work this weekend, showing off how close to bridges the U.S. military can fly without crashing. Check the Times for a full schedule of bridge closures, so you can plan your jaunts to the Eastside accordingly. more ›

There's one person left in Seattle who thinks Sonics owner Clay Bennett is on the up-and-up, and that's state legislator Margarita Prentice. It wasn't the fact that Bennett's ultimate goal was to take the Sonics to OKC that kept the team from getting an arena. No, it was "Seattle's elitist attitude." more ›

The great thing about Switzerland -- we'll tie Seattle in shortly, hang on -- is that there's no convenience too small for the Swiss to consider. Everywhere you go, some Swiss person has already been there and added a neat little touch. Not that we don't show that consideration here in Seattle -- last night at the Hopvine we noticed they have little coat hooks just beneath the bar so you don't have to throw them over your barstool. Thoughtful, see. Could still use a foot rail, but one thing at a time. more ›

On a weekend when Blue Angels were literally drenching Seattle skies with violent peals of thunder, Seattle Opera's new production of Flying Dutchman saturated McCaw Hall with vibrant voices and reverberant horns. more ›

As we speak, the invasion of the obnoxious roaring planes has begun, so we'll just get the "not a fan of the Blue Angels" admission out of the way. Go ahead and slaughter us in the comments. Apparently we're the only one in the world who doesn't go all ga-ga over them. We have no soul, but that's fine. We'll accept that and move on. more ›

Are you there Seattle art world? It's us, Seattlest. We're trying our best to talk up your First Thursday openings, but it looks like you've crapped out on us this month. We understand: you're on vacation or something, it's kinda hot out, the BLUE ANGELS are in the sky ... We've got posts to post, however, and damned if we won't find something to recommend from your namby-pamby Art Walk offerings. more ›

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. more ›

The Blue Angels, who totally fucking rule, first performed at Seafair in 1952. And despite a crash last month that killed a Blue Angels pilot, they will perform at Seafair again this year. more ›

This week we'd like to congratulate the -ist network's Mother Hen, Gothamist's Jen Chung, who found herself a recipient of Wired Magazine's Wired Rave Award. If that doesn't sound terribly exciting, keep in mind another recipient was J.K. Rowling. Yep, that's right, the -ist network and Harry Potter now have something in common. Go us. more ›

A lot of Wagner makes you wonder: what's the with an invocation for apocalypse, ordering the very planets to stand still. By Jupiter, had we been Jupiter, Rutherford's commanding baritone would have stopped us cold and, yes, brought the universe to a halt. more ›

They're not big fans of the Blue Angels over on SLOG. Anthony Hecht writes: more ›

A friend has recently been trying to convice us to take a tourist flight on one of those Lake Union float planes. No, he hasn't done it, but he's encouraging us, apparently in the spirit of the canary in the mineshaft. "Come on, do it. It's only $50," he says, while unbeknownst to him it's actually $80. For fifty, maybe. For eighty, maybe not. more ›

Seattlest has no time. No time to contemplate our future. No time to mindlessly surf the internet. No time to pick blackberries, baby our sunburn, tune up our bike, while away the hours, smell the roses, make another pot of coffee, stop for a 12-pack on the way home, be annoyed by the Blue Angels or write this post. We certainly have no time to attend the Take Back Your Time North American Conference in Seattle today through Sunday. more ›

Yes, the Blue Angels are in the house, closing down the I-90 bridge and doing aerial maneuvers all over town. They just buzzed the Seattlest compound, causing much distraction followed by contemplation of our out-of-character pleasure at the sight of a symbol of the American military complex. more ›