I would substitute "ugly and dangerous" with "easily abused in ways that lead to buggy and unmaintainable code." Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and the real danger is misuse, rather than simply use in general.

I upvoted your node, because it did a nice job of explaining one way of creating a symbolic reference, and offered words of caution. But most of all, because you explained "strict 'refs'" rather than just repeating the tired mantra of "use strict;", with no mention of the specific aspect of strictures that targets this coding practice.

Maybe you've already read MJD's article, here: Why I Hate strict (part of a series of twelve lightning talks). If not, you might find it interesting.