Blue Angels at Seafair 2007
Because of the great success from last year, Kunlun, a roommate of his, and I hit up Coleman Park just south of I-90 to watch the Blue Angels. Most everyone else was lame and wanted to play frisbee or study or work, but we still had a good time: the roommate and Kunlun brought a grill and meat, I brought the buns and condiments, and we had some good hamburgers while watching the show.
Honestly, the show seemed a little toned down this year — Kunlun suggested that maybe this is because the Angels lost one of their own a few months ago? At any rate, the sky opened up to the sun just in time and it was hard to beat the view. Of course, having the jets roaring overhead always makes for a worthwhile activity.
August 4th, 2007 at 10:59:38 pm
Did you notice whether they were allowing pedestrians on the bridge during the closure? I’ve always wanted to get a picture of Mount Rainier from mid-span, with the lake in the foreground, but of course they put the damn bike path on the wrong side of the bridge! The official seafair site claims it is closed to pedestrian traffic, but I swear I saw people on it during the evening news.
I take great issue with allowing what is essentially a military recruitment effort to endanger the general public. It is one thing to perform high risk maneuvers at an air show in an unpopulated area, where everyone is there by choice. It is quite another to do so over a heavily populated city. According to Wikipedia, 26 Blue Angel pilots have died over the years during training or at air shows. The most recent accident, which was held at an airbase, non-the-less injured eight people on the ground in a residential neighborhood and from the video I have seen, it is a freaking miracle nobody but the pilot was killed.