Listening to Game 2 of the Sabres-Flyers series (I’m emotionally invested now, after watching that amazing Game 1 in Buffalo) on WGR 550 over the Internet, and so far, it’s a slaughter: 4-0 Sabres, less than 10 minutes into the game! Woohoo!

You wonder if this is one of those situations, like the ALCS last year, where a really close game early in the series causes such a huge momentum swing that the winning team ends up running away with the series. Buffalo fans can hope so, anyway. (Knock on wood!)

On a related note, this audio clip is funny.

UPDATE: Buffalo scores again! 5-0 at the end of the first period. Heh.

UPDATE 2: Our resident Buffalonians will no doubt appreciate this audio clip of Rick Jeanneret’s goal calls from the first period:

source file
MP3 File

Incidentally, it’s 6-1 now.

For much more Sabres blogging, visit BFLOBLOG.com. (Hat tip: BuffaloPundit.)

P.S. You can download a video of the final play of Game 1, with Jeanneret’s radio call, here. (Hat tip: In da Buff, via BFLOBLOG.) And you can view the memorable Campbell-Umberger hit here.

FINAL UPDATE: Sabres win, 8-2, to take a 2-0 series lead. The AP article begins:

The rest of the Philadelphia Flyers know exactly how rookie R.J. Umberger felt after they, too, where flattened by the Buffalo Sabres.

Heh. Game 3 is Wednesday night in Philadelphia.

More than 90 people reported killed or injured in 3 explosions in town of Dahab, an Egyptian Interior Ministry official told CNN. Visit CNN for the latest.

Doctor in Egypt reports casualties in explosions that rocked resort city of Dahab, The Associated Press reports. Visit CNN for the latest.

The city of Darwin, Australia will be spared the worst of Cyclone Monica — until recently, one of the most powerful tropical cyclones ever recorded on planet Earth — thanks to an unexpected left-hand turn and early landfall. Monica, which had been expected to track briefly over the Cobourg Peninsula and then re-emerge over water en route to the city of 100,000, instead came ashore well east of the peninsula, slamming into a sparsely populated area west of Maningrida, and is now proceeding over land, weakening as she goes. The Storm Track has more, including a satellite image of the monster storm at landfall:

As you can see, she looks considerably weaker now:

It now seems almost certain that Monica will not re-emerge over water until she is well past Darwin, meaning her closest approach to the city will be as a shadow of her former self. The current forecast calls for a “Category 2″ Monica at closest approach to Darwin, which actually means a strong tropical storm — not even a hurricane — on the American scale. (See explanation here.) The latest forecast track is below:

If you compare that to last night’s forecast, you can see what a drastic change this is.

Monica’s left-hand turn, sparing Darwin the worst, is somewhat reminiscent of Hurricane Katrina’s right-hand turn, which spared New Orleans the worst (preventing a much higher death toll and more severe and rapid flooding). Of course, Katrina’s turn was much more last-minute, and thus New Orleans still got hit quite hard. In this case, if the current forecast holds, Monica won’t be much of a problem at all for Darwin.

Phew.

P.S. Dr. Jeff Masters has more, including an awesome image of Monica at its peak intensity — 879 mb of pressure, making her the most intense cyclone ever recorded in the Southern Hemisphere. She weakened a bit before landfall, though, and probably came ashore as a Category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale (still a Category 5 on the Australian scale).

P.P.S. After the jump, an animated GIF microwave image of Monica making landfall. She appears to have been weakening significantly even as she was moving ashore. (It’s a 6.4 MB image, so be patient; it’ll take a while to load. You can download it by right-clicking here.

(more…)

As I set myself up to go back to school to earn (another) Master’s Degree, this one in Special Education, I find myself strangely attracted to the unconventional learning that our friend and frequent commentator Sean holds dear. Today the Washington Post printed an article (on Page A1, above the fold, no less) about the Fairhaven School in Prince George’s County, MD. Sean, having applied to work at this school, is likely more capable of writing about it, but I found the article staring me in the face at 5:30 this morning when I left for work.

Students follow no curriculum other than curiosity and whim. Sometimes they seek out a class or workshop, but they are not compelled to take English, geometry or any other subject. Often they just hang.

But the point is that at this school, like at all other Sudbury schools, students get to choose what they learn and when.

Isn’t this the purest form of education? I have always tried to model my teaching method in a way such that students make their own discoveries. Which is better? Being told about something in a lecture or actually going out and experiencing it? Most educational theorists will tell you that it is the latter.

The biggest drawback, IMHO, of Sudbury schools is that students do not (necessarily) fulfill all state requirements for education. Of course, you can make the argument that the requirements are pointless, too, but getting into college after attending one of these schools usually requires something more…

Students at Fairhaven earn no course credits toward a state-recognized high school diploma. Without conventional transcripts, graduates who aim for college rely on SAT scores, essays, letters of recommendation and interviews.

I’m going to step back for a while and let other folks comment … I’m really trying not to preach here on the main page…

This guy gives a whole new meaning to the phrase “house call”. Although I think I’ve encountered one or two of this man’s business partners at The Backer.

Cyclone Monica is now a category 4, weakening as it heads inland. Northwestern Arnhem Land between Maningrida and Jabiru is being affected by 260 km/h gusts. Monica is expected to hit the Darwin-Daly area tomorrow afternoon with gusts up to 175 km/h.

Latest track and threat map as at 11.00pm CST here

Cyclone Monica has crossed the Northern Territory coastline. Around 200 residents have been evacuated from Goulburn Island by light aircraft to Jabiru and bussed to Pine Creek where shelters have been set up by Emergency Services and the Defence Force.

Monica has touched down at Maningrida, in the territory’s far north. The category five cyclone will weaken after making landfall but is still expected to be category four or three when it hits Darwin tomorrow afternoon.

We have checked in with my partner’s children who reside in Darwin and they are packed up and prepared, although a little scared. We will be checking in with them regularly tomorrow.

Updated track and threat map as at 8.00pm CST here

Cyclone Monica, with gusts to 350 kilometres per hour, is expected to begin affecting the coast between Maningrida and Goulbourn Island in the next few hours, and approach the Darwin-Daly and Tiwi Island area on Tuesday afternoon with gusts to 220 kilometres per hour.

Gales with gusts to 100 km/h are currently being experienced on
the north of the Top End coast, and will extend westward ahead of the cyclone

The current cyclone track and threat map as at 5.00pm CST from the Bureau of Meteorology can be viewed here.