Comments on The Annual Blue Angels Gripefest

FIRST! OMG!

I like my Blue Angels served with slice of Organic Tomato.

Using the term "sky-rape" is more offensive than the actual Blue Angels. Disgusting.

You forgot to add that they are convenient, attractive propaganda to recruit for the military.

Thanks for providing option #4, you Commie queers.

I now live right in their flight path (which I JUST discovered 10 minutes ago). YAY! Now I can enjoy them from my own front yard.

PS, by the way, my cat just doesn't care about them.

I'm glad to see option 4, so that those of us who realize that the Red Bushies are really communists can vote our true feelings.

The Blue Angels are an effective recruiting tool for the war on terrorism in Iraq, you know that crazy invasion that Dan supported way back a hundred years ago.

And yes, I know he changed his stance since, but those soldiers are still dead.

@4 - I'm still waiting to see any evidence that the Blue Angels are an effective recruiting tool for the military. Everyone always claims that, but I guess I just don't give them that much credit.

Can I come over on Saturday, Monkey? I LOVE the Blue Angels- they represent America, American Engineering, and the fact that we have the best toys EVAR! haha.

I drank a bunch of cheap box wine last night called "Angel Juice" and now this whole topic makes me uncomfortable.

I don't mind the blue angels when they come to san francisco once a year, it is the people that ride Harley Davidson moter cycles by my apartment building year round that piss me off.

Hate the Blue Angels? (I do, too!) All Seattle residents are hereby invited to Vancouver Pride this weekend. Surely our population of hot leather bears, cyclist dykes, and all the other wonderful segments of the population on display Sunday afternoon is more interesting than yet another display of the over-militarization of the United States.

http://www.vancouverpride.ca/parade/

See you there! :D

I voted for "fuck you commie queer" tho' technically I am one too. All the other things may be true, but I do loves me some Blue Angels sky-lovemaking. And then they get out of the COCKpit and they're all so hot looking in those jumpsuits.... *sigh*

I love the Blue Angels. I guess in the back of my mind I knew they were a recruiting tool, but lately I just view them as a symbol of cool engineering and a demonstration to us of what the people we're at war with live through every day. At least we're fairly certain the Blue Angels won't be dropping any bombs on us...

There's a world-historic jet fuel crisis now? What's Dan Savage going to do?

the most offensive part? the annual gripefest, of course. At least it reminds me that there is a good reason for the venerable tradition of the Seattle Freeze: I don't like you, fellow citizens.

Oh, just get over yourselves. There's so many more worthwhile issues to protest than this one.

you forgot: "they cause me twitch uncontrollably and seek safe shelter."

or maybe that falls under pets peeing in weird places.

You forgot, "You loud blue bastards are encroaching on my right to sleep until noon on a Thursday, goddamnit!"

p.s. Ken Schram says "Shut up and enjoy the ride."

http://www.komonews.com/news/26145944.html

Can we get that sign blown up large enough that the fuckers in the planes can actually read it?

yes, like $500 pairs of shoes and plastic grocery bags...

I love the war-like noises.

I might, at most, give you all war-movie-like noises.  One of the last things a real war sounds like is a Blue Angels air show.

Blue Angels. Critical Mass. The lifeblood of Slog.

I'd not miss either if it took the other with it... Solution: Blue Angels collectively careen out of control into a Critical Mass "rally"! - Ah... sweet peace...

But at least the pilots make for good eye candy... (same can not be said for the Critical Mastards.)

I couldn't decide between #1 and #2, and couldn't find "stops up I5 solid", so I went with #4.

...Can anyone confirm that the pilots occasionally fly in the nude - or does a pressurized body suit prevent inverted body parts? The Blue Angels are part of our "bread and circuses" mentality and help us disremember 20-cent plastic bags, pit bulls and the heartbreak of Heath Ledger.

The Blue Angels demonstrate the force and strength with which America and Israel must deal with our enemies. Without the superior force of the American and Israeli military Jews around the world would suffer another holocaust at the hands of Muslim terrorists. Bush is the most pro-Israel president we have ever had. America needs to stand strong with Israel now. The Stranger has gone against conventional Seattle wisdom and been pro-war. Bush is the best American president Israel has ever known, and many in the Seattle Jewish community show our appreciation for Bush with our support of the Blue Angels.

I voeted #4 and now worried my anger may just be masking some commie/queer thing.

I voted #4 just because I LOVED the commie reference!

@29: Issur! Shoshana! We've missed you!

I say we bikers cork those Blue Fuckers and go critical mass on their ass!

@9- I didnt say they were effective. I was mearly going off their mission statement on their site http://www.blueangels.navy.mil/index.htm

"The Blue Angels’ mission is to enhance Navy and Marine Corps recruiting efforts and to represent the naval service to the United States, its elected leadership and foreign nations. The Blue Angels serve as positive role models and goodwill ambassadors for the U. S. Navy and Marine Corps."

I think Issur's been hanging out with me on the WaPo boards, actually.

But I for one am glad that I-5 gridlocks - serves those SOV Saudi-terrorist-supporting scum right.

So the Blue Angels cork I-5 and Critical Mass corks the whole fucking downtown area... How can the former be bad if the later is good?

Or visa versa?

I loathe pretty much everything about Seafair. The pirates (when did stealing, raping, and leaving people adrift at sea to suffer a slow death become funny?), the boat races (ooooh, boats doing things cars do), and especially the god-damn Blue Angels.

Without Pirates, global warming would be a lot worse.

36: Read the available answers in the poll. None are applicable to Critical Mass.

remind me again why we are planning on hanging fighter jets in The Capitol Hill subway station again. People 200 years from now will look up at it and think what about us?

I'm with 31. The other options are truer to my feelings, but I think option 4 is just funny.

kyle, remind me again about the military monuments built in the 17 and 18 hundreds, or earlier. Oh wait, those are part of our culture and city now. Arc de Triomphe being a great example.

@40

I refuse to be limited by your options...

@ 43. Bellevue Ave, I believe they were built to commemorate a great battle, a great triumph, to never forget why they sacrificed so much. The people/government that built them wanted to remember the great evil they defeated, how the put down the aggressors, how they were superior to whomever they fought... I am not feeling it.

Wait... is this going to be going on all weekend? Because they're seriously cutting into my midday sleep.

@46 - um, yeah, kind of.

Buy ear plugs - you know, the kind we get for Burning Man?

Give me a fuckin break. Not only are we wasting an unbelievably frivolous amount of fuel, but I think that this is a really tacky display courtesy of the military during war-time. On a personal note, as a New York implant who fled to Seattle not long after 911, I do not appreciate military planes making pretzel shapes in the air near downtown skyscrapers. Maybe it's just me, but it conjures some dark images from the past that I don't need to think about all day. And on a practical note, I am trying to make business calls and it sounds like I'm calling from a bunker in Baghdad.

@48

Not everything is about you...

You know what? You live in a city. You have freely chosen to live in a city. Cities are loud, and ocassionally very loud. If you don't like the noise, move to Bumblefuck Vermont.

The Blue Angels set my loins all a-quiver, in spite of the ostentatious display of bloated military spending and the horrific association with war. I don't want to lust after them. I just can't help it.

Panties.

Traditionally, moving to a city is the best way to put distance between yourself and NASCAR. I wish this also applied to the NASCAR of the sky.

Not sure how the Blue Angels are that important to gripe over. Honestly, they're not recruiting anyone who wouldn't already be joining.

If you actually cared about decreasing the number of people joining the military, make the economy more supportive of the types of people who join, so that the only people joining the military are those who "want" to be there, and not those who see it as a way to ensure they have food and shelter.

David,

Wish in one hand and shit in the other and tell me which fills up faster...

(Blue Angels rock!... Especially naked in the locker room at my gym!)

I love the Blue Angels. The screaming sound as they turn above you is a rush that can't be met by many other experiences. And then, always, unavoidably, I think about what it would be like if they were dropping bombs or firing rockets, and I think about how many people have heard those same sounds moments after their kid 20 meters away in a playground was burned alive. And I cry, I always cry. And for that, I love the Blue Angels, and I hate the Blue Angels, and I always, always go outside to feel the full force of fear and terror they bring to me, and I thank them for never letting me forget. I look around at the other people gazing up, or shooting pictures, or laughing and smiling, and I cry.

My problem with the Blue Angels is 100 percent about the horrifying noise.

I'm on Schram's yack show today on KVI at 4p to talk Blue Angels. I'm sure I'll get my teeth knocked in but I plan to be reasonable. I used to wonder why suckers sign up for these shows. Still don't know, really. But it sounded like fun.

call in and subvert:
206-451-5757

Regarding bumblefuck Vermont. I grew up in Upstate New York about 10 miles from the Vermont border, and had to deal with god damn A-10s practicing low altitude manuevers over my house. They practiced in that area because of the low population density.

Cities are loud, but they aren't usually military airfield loud.

@13, I go up every year for Pride and the Fireworks Festival... and to get away from the Seafair craziness!

I agree that the worst part of the Blue Angels coming to Seattle each year is how people I normally agree with completely lose their minds and equate their visitation as "sky rape."

And as far as it being a recruiting tool:

a) I doubt it.

and

b) So what if it is? Granted the Iraqi War, like Vietnam, was terrible mistake made by depraved politicians. But joining the Navy (which is who the Blue Angels are) and other branches is an honorable choice of profession. It's fine that you don't want to do it, but you don't have to shit on the people who do.

elswinger @60, very well said.

Seafair and the Blue Angels have been part of Seattle tradition for longer than much of the complaining transplant crowd. Don't like it? Move to a "world-class city" and stop trying to ruin mine. The cost of jet fuel for this show is negligible on a global scale, and as for the noise, well, boo-hoo.

All of us have bought these planes and pilots with our tax money and once a year we get to see them in action! Sure it's a waste of fuel but in light of other hideous wastes (Iraq, SUVs) it's miniscule, and at least has an entertaining payoff.

joykiller, the complaining transplant crowd can't possibly be from california considering the following of fleetweek in SF and the entrenchment of the Navy in SD. I'd blame NYCers and Montana residents who are all airforce and shit.

Where's option 5: "I just think they're rather boring"?

Oh, they're flying in a formation. Ooh, now they're flying back the other way in a slightly different formation. Oh, oh, oh, look, a new, different formation.

Also, I'd guess the Blue Angels are about as effective a recruiting tool for the Navy as Stargate: SG-1 was for the Air Force.

What we -really- need are Blue Angels pilots who also ride in Critical Mass, thus creating the ultimate moral dilemma for Slog posters.

Blue Angels? Awesome, and I love the noise! It sure is a fabulous distraction to see (and hear) the planes whoosh by from my office on Capitol Hill. I LOVE it, and my boss knows that my production goes down for these two "practice" days.

The noise and fuss from the hydro races... well, that's another story. Screw the hydros.

For all you patriots out there who claim to love the Blue Angels cause they are patriotic and we "must" be patriotic in a time of war... It takes over 1300 gallons of fuel for one Blue Angel flight in Seattle. Multiply that by 6 planes and by 4 days. That's a lot of fuel that the Dept of Defense is paying for (which means you, American taxpayer). And that doesn't include the $28 million it costs to build one Blue Angel jet.

So, don't you think that money would be better spent on better armor for humvees in Iraq, or better veteran health care for all the vets coming home with PTSD and missing limbs, for example? (Not to mention spending it on public education or health care for folks back home). It's a big fat obscene waste of money and resources, yet it always gets reduced to the issue of noise. Yeah, noise is annoying, but it's not the biggest reason the Blue Angels SUCK.