City Hearts in the Sky
posted by on January 29 at 11:41 AM
Did anyone else see the fabulous fireworks over South Lake Union on Saturday evening and think they’d forgotten some mid-winter holiday? The Seattle Times reported yesterday that Microsoft was behind the surreal display:
Fireworks show was only a game
Seattle residents who live in the vicinity of Lake Union were treated to — or subjected to, depending on their point of view — a brief fireworks display Saturday evening.
The display, produced by Microsoft, was part of a global game for employees called the Microsoft Worldwide Puzzle. The presentation was supposed to contain game clues and was to be webcast for players outside the area.
I saw it and it was great. Views of Lake Union fireworks are much better in January than in July, with no pesky foliage blocking my view!
Too bad Microsoft was behind it, I was thinking it was Chinese New Year.
I live on Stone Way and 42nd and saw the fireworks. They were very cool. I wondered what it was about. I seem to remember it happened last year too.
It's not just for employees, and it's actually called "Vanishing Point".
More on the game here:
http://www.vanishingpointgame.com/
Very cool indeed. And all for a game! Fun.
I wonder, though, how many hungry people that display could have fed.
Hungry: I think fireworks are mostly gunpowder and, therefore, unedible.
Mmmm. Saltpeter.
too bad Vista sucks. i guess they had to have fireworks to stir up interest. memo to Microsoft cocksuckers: YER DONE! adios, it was nice stealing your software but there's better open source available now. i won't need to steal from you again!
Thanks for the clarification. I thought they were part of the war protest. They sounded like gunshots and scared the s**t out of me until I saw the fireworks above the treeline.
I thought, "how clever of those protesters to use fireworks to simulate what war might be like." It brought home the message to me, at least.
I saw it! It was tooooootally awesome and weird and magical, and I don't even like fireworks.
I was there to watch the sunset and there were fireworks instead. There was hardly anyone there and no one knew what was going on. it was really strange. I took pictures. look!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/amorris/372556619/
I was there to watch the sunset and there were fireworks instead. There was hardly anyone there and no one knew what was going on. it was really strange. I took pictures. look!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/amorris/372556619/
My son thought it was the softening-up barrage of an assault on the city. My pointing out that any remotely concievable assault on the city would likely involve one or two large munitions failed to calm his nerves until we saw the fireworks over the Lake.
We still had no idea what the point was. Still don't.
My initial reaction was also battle-related, and I felt silly when I finally ventured outside and saw the colored bursts over the horizon. The display was not all that brief, and it shook the walls of my house on upper Queen Anne. I felt they were more of a nuisance than a treat. I also hate surprises, though.
Blah, I'm posting your photo, thanks!
Soooo I've got a pretty good view of the lake, and I took some pretty good digital video of the show. If anyone's playing the game and wants a copy, I guess I could hook it up.
We were out walking the afternoon before this event. The people putting it together had the terraced viewing area down at Gasworks and beyond blocked off with chain link fencing. When we asked what was happening, they were uncooperative, saying only it was a "private event" - on public property -and they couldn't reveal its nature. Couple of sullen jerks.
I was wondering about that. They were fantastic fireworks, I have to say. I've never seen smiley-face ones before.
Much ado about nothing. How do you spell flop? V-I-S-T-A or
too little to late?
Z-U-N-E
I live in eastlake and saw the barge out in the lake for about 24 hours before the show went off.. I told my roomate it looked an awful lot like the barge they bring in right before the 4th of july but didnt think anything more of it until 6pm on Saturday! WOW! This show was better then the july event.
I had my camera handy and took an arseload of pictures. Here's the best one:
http://flickr.com/photos/veo/371385600/in/set-72157594503485899
I live in eastlake and saw the barge out in the lake for about 24 hours before the show went off.. I told my roomate it looked an awful lot like the barge they bring in right before the 4th of july but didnt think anything more of it until 6pm on Saturday! WOW! This show was better then the july event.
I had my camera handy and took an arseload of pictures. Here's the best one:
http://flickr.com/photos/veo/371385600/in/set-72157594503485899
A big FU to all the Microsoft employees. You guys suck.
Yeah, Microsoft can suck it. If only their new products were one-tenth as impressive as their fireworks show was.
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