Now we have photographic proof that some Seattleites don't hide under the bed when the jets go by. At our Seafair party, one guy was telling us about how Military.com has real attack videos showing what air power can do with ammunition instead of smoke cannisters. "You can see body parts go flying," he said. It was awkward for a moment.......

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. All three leads sing with impressive musical power. Soprano Lisa Daltirus, who won plaudits here as Tosca earlier this year, returns as the doomed Aida. Tenor Antonello Palombi, who......

Beware of drunk viking boaters this weekend, courtesy of Seattlest Flickr Contributor Wayne Wooten 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......

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)?......

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. Combined with the Navy sending a sampling of its Pacific Fleet into Elliott Bay this week, Seafair isn’t so much a summer celebration as it is a friendly flexing of our military might. Since the Seattle area may......

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......

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." Says Prentice:I just think it's part of Seattle's elitist attitude that somehow or another we're too cool for sports.Yes, if we weren't such anti-sports......

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......

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. Dutchman is Wagner's first major work, with roots squarely in the tradition of German romanticism (Beethoven musically, Heine philosophically). He was still years away from composing his interminable, mystical Ring (which, like Seafair, has become a touchstone of Seattle's civic religion). In......

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. Speaking of moving on, we'll be moving on down......

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. Here's what we're going......

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......

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. Strap on your safety helmets and stock up on adult-sized diapers, Stranger staffers.......

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. Austinist has a chat with the ever-fashionable Golden Girl Rue McClanahan, and managed to catch some local fashionistas making......

A lot of Wagner makes you wonder: what's the point? And then a performance comes along that makes your spine tingle, your flesh crawl, your hair stand on end. James Rutherford delivered it on Saturday night at McCaw Hall, culminating the phantom mariner's dramatic monologue from Der fliegende Holländer 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......

They're not big fans of the Blue Angels over on SLOG. Anthony Hecht writes: Aptly described by a friend as “sky NASCAR”, these giant wastes of taxpayers (sic) dollars whiz around the city at like 300 feet all weekend, scaring the bejeeezus out of everybody. Are the Blue Angels "wastes of taxpayers (sic) dollars"? Depends on how you define "waste." For many people, watching the Blue Angels "whiz around the city" is an exhilarating experience.......

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. And then the last few days happened. Is there something about......

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......

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. The bridge is closed until 2:45 pm, and the humane society suggests keeping your poor pups confined while the jets are blasting away. Seafair Air Show schedule......

Ah summer in Seattle. You never know what you might find around the bend. Whether it’s 19 cannons being fired off at Pier 36 this morning, bad traffic, or the Blue Angels screeching overhead, Seafair continues into August. So don’t forget to check the schedule to mark where you want to be or not be. Personally Seattlest can’t wait for the Parade of Ships on August 3rd. And guess what? You can actually take a......