Results tagged “seafair>”

Neighborhood News And Local Blog Round-Up

Blue Angels Air Show 1:30-2:30 Today and Tomorrow

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.

Blue Angels, Blue Angels, Won't You Be Kind?

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.

Can't Miss It: Weekend Edition July 31-Aug 2

KEXP FAVORITES LIVE & FREE!: Kick off the weekend tonight by heading to KEXP's Concerts at the Mural, the first of the free all-ages concert series put on at the Seattle Center. Tonight's tunes will feature a few of KEXP's favorite bands: Blitzen Trapper and Throw Me The Statue. The show is tailored to the culturally curious, seeking out best of the area’s independent music scene. Most importantly, the beer garden opens at 5 p.m. with the show shortly after. 6:00-8:00 p.m., Fri. // Seattle Center Mural Amphitheatre, 305 Harrison St // Free (not including beer)

Sound Transit says weekday ridership is at estimated at 12,000 per day--with 15,000-17,000 on the weekend, so suck it, Seattle Times. ST is aiming for 21,000 riders per day by the end of this year, with another 5,000 daily stragglers due to board after the final leg to SeaTac opens end of December. Events like last weekend's Sounders FC and Seattle Mariners games, and the Seattle Seafair Torchlight Parade have boosted ridership--coming up, ST will be running free shuttles from the Othello light rail station to Seafair's hydroplanes and air show on Lake Washington on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

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.

Seattlest Pix: 09Jul13

The outcome of this race has some kind of metaphorical meaning, we're sure of it. Thanks for adding this to the Flickr Pool, ntisocl!

Neighborhood News and Local Blog Round-Up

  • Seattle's famed musician Dave Matthews is never too good for a ride around Green Lake. He's one with the locals, and we like that.
  • Powerball no more. That means, no bouncing balls spinning in a bubble, no cheesy ball reader wearing sequins, and no additional $12 million for the state of Washington.

Organizers announced the course for the Seattle Rock and Roll marathon today, which will replace last year's bungled Seafair Marathon. The hilly June 27 race is a for-profit event run by a California company. It starts in Tukwila, near a casino and sexpresso stands, and will show off the industrial area around Boeing, and Rainier Beach, before heading up the Alaskan Way Viaduct and must-see Highway 99. And since there's a rock music theme, expect to hear "Smells Like Teen Spirit" approximately 26.2 times.

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.


  • My Ballard and Phinney Wood shared a post on the annual Dead Baby Bike Race. With the recent fear-mongering regarding bicyclists in the local media--the bike race could likely have not come at a worse time. We're sure already freaked out Subaru drivers, aren't thrilled to think of the idea of a crudely named (see: hilarious) bike race that celebrates "Mutant Bike Culture."
  • Rejoice Francophiles and hipsters not allergic to the sun! Capitol Hill Seattle reports that Cafe Presse has opened a deck to accommodate outside seating. Few things are more French than enjoying a delicious and refined meal at a neighborhood sidewalk cafe, so we're thrilled to have a chance to mimic the experience at our neighborhood pseudo-Parisian cafe.
  • The Central District News breathed a sigh of relief and celebrated that this year's Umoja parade was bigger and better than ever.

Dave Villwock won the Chevy SeaFair Cup hydroplane race Sunday after apparent-winner Miss Beacon was penalized for shenanigans during pre-race warmups. Tomorrow, the media will report that 7,000 boats were on the log boom and 700,000 people were jammed onto the shores of Lake Washington to watch boats going 700 mph and pulling 70 g's. Whatever. Seattlest is just glad that the one weekend a year that makes us actually anticipate the following Monday is drawing to an end. But, we will sleep well tonight knowing that if we ever need to attack Mercer Island, there is a fighter squadron at the ready. We are watching you, Islanders.


  • 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.

At least that's part of the lesson we learned from reading the Seattle Times feature news story on how corrections officers and cops troll Seattle festivals like The Bite and Seafair for lapsed felons and folks with outstanding warrants. The other thing we got from reading the story was never wanting to go to another free festival again. You only have to read the first sentence of the story to be convinced, but we assure you the whole thing is filled with reasons not to attend.... The opener:

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.

In the wake of a brutal tussle between car and bicycle last weekend, it's good that New Belgium Brewing's Tour de Fat, the "traveling celebration of all things bicycle," arrives in town on Saturday, opposite the carbon-spewing, combustion engine worship-fest that is Seafair, what with the supersonic jets and souped-up motorboats.

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