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When last we left the Caps, here on the old Poly, they were down in their playoff series. 3 games to 1. Last Friday they won in a dominating performance that chased the star goalie of the Rangers from the net for his back-up. On Sunday afternoon they repeated this feat to make the series 3-3.

Tonight game 7 began in ominous fashion. In every single game of the series, and in 90% of every series played this year, the team scoring first won the game, and the Rangers managed to put one in the twine against our 21 year old rookie goaltender. Score: 1-0 Rangers. Throughout the first period the Capitals, having overwhelmed the Rangers with puck possession, thundering hits, face0ffs won, shots taken, and by a wide margin shots on goal, looked like they were greatly outmatched. However, they managed an ugly shot that dented the net late in the first. Score:1-1.

The second period was awful. The Rangers had the puck 80% of the time in the Caps zone, and had 14 shots on net. They were out skating, out hitting, out shooting, and winning more face-offs. Unbelievably, the period ended in a stalemate, still 1-1, and the home crowd, dressed in a sea of red, murmuring discontent.

The final period looked different from the very beginning. The play was split evenly at first, but the Capitals play was getting stronger while the Rangers looked weaker and weaker. Great opportunities to score were thwarted by the Rangers world-class goalie, Hendrik Lunquist. With a lesser player the Caps could have been up 5-1, but it remained, as the clock clicked down, a tie at one per side. One an innocuous play, Matt Bradley, a rough and tumble role player passed the puck in his own zone, up the boards to the oldest player on the team, 39 year old Russian Sergei Fedorov, the highest scoring Russian in NHL history, who hadn’t scored a goal the entire playoffs.  Collecting the puck at his own blue line, Feds took five or six of his unmistakable long strides through the neutral zone, deked an inside move that slowed the Rangers defense man, and pulled up short. With all-world superstar Alexander Ovechkin skating into the slot between the circles, Federov released a bullet shot wrister that beat Lunquist high glove side. The net bowed, the puck sat in the goal and the score was 2-1 Capitals with about 4:30 to go.

If you’ve never been in an indoor arena full of fans cheering non-stop for the team you are rooting for you are missing out on one of the great social binding experienced of all time. I never wanted the game to stop so I could savor that feeling. It was as if we were one bellowing red entity, tied in spirit and hopes to a clock that counted down towards jubilation. And it did. In the end the Caps won the game and the series. It was the first time in the New York Rangers’ history that they had lost a series in which they had a three games to one lead. I can barely speak my voice is so hoarse and my hands are literally bruised from clapping and slapping high fives with fellow Cap fans. During the 50 minute ride home from Washington D.C. to Southern Maryland, at every traffic light that was red cars honked the triple cadence that to every Cap fan means one thing: Let’s Go Caps!

It really was only one series, but it was the first playoff series the team has won since 1998. Now we must face what amounts to our biggest rival, the Pittsburgh Penguins ( a lousy name but still better than the “Eels”). It will be a harder series for two reasons: the Pens have beaten the Caps the last five times they’ve met them in the playoffs, and Pittsburgh has a great offense led by captain Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. To show you how the teams are connected, the Caps Alexander Ovechkin won the rookie of the year award against Crosby. Crosby won the MVP award the next year. Last year Alexander Ovechkin won the MVP award (and many others). This year the MVP (or Hart as it is known in the NHL) is between Ovechkin and Malkin. Add to that the fact that Penguin fans have always come to D.C. in droves to support their team and it makes for a compelling and tense series.  Updates to come.

There seem to be two responses to the swing flu outbreak. Calm, reasonable, responses that separate the reality from hype (via Tigtog).

And there are the sensational, no relation to reality “OMG, the end of the human civilization” that passes for MSM reporting. Which naturally brings us to zombies.

Max Brooks’ most excellent World War Z actually tackles zombie epidemiology. The outbreak first appears in China and spreads around the world pretty much like how swine flu found its way out of Mexico. People naturally traversing borders with the authorities ill-prepared or even unaware of the danger.

Zombie epidemiology does attract all sorts of interesting, armchair internet theorists. There is the Zombie Infection Simulation which shows how quickly one zombie can create a horde of the living dead.

Evolgen and Andart discussed the evolution of zombie populations. Zombies do have to be careful not to eat all of that tasty living human flesh.

And in a remarkably prescient article from early April, Justin Berk in the Yale Daily News uses zombie movies to discuss public health and the spread of pathogens through the world.

And if you are really worried then the Zombie Survival Guide is a good investment for the future.

An excellent interview with the wonderful Diamanda Galas. She takes to the pretensions of the avant garde and simpering angst of some singer/songwriters with wicked daggers:

“Most singers just repeat themselves over and over again. They are songwriters, not musicians,” she says. “When I sing a note, I need to know where it is in my skull, my sternum and my diaphragm. My performance is catharsis, and it is impossible to do that if I am limited technically.

“People tell me I am avant garde – well, avant garde means ahead of the frontline. Some people think they are avant garde because they sit and play one note for an hour, and maybe sob. Do they think they are fascinating? You can go to a mental institution and see that stuff! It is pathetic – where is the art?

“So there are those imbeciles, and then we have all these stupid songwriters who keep writing the same song about somebody leaving them and making them suffer more than anybody else has ever suffered! Oh, you know how they sound …”

Ignoring the curious stares of the rest of the breakfast room, Galás gives an exasperated sigh and begins to sing in an effete, mocking drawl: “I sat alone last night/ And I thought about slashing my wrists, but I didn’t/ Then I had a glass of wine … ”

It’s the superficial nature of the angst that annoys you?

“Fuck, yeah! These people say they are depressed – well, show us! Go to the bottom of that depression! Don’t be prosaic and just play with it – let us see the fucking razor blades! Bleed for me, baby!”

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As Shaun surmised, my beloved Capitals have qualified for the National Hockey League playoffs. In fact they were the second seated team in the Eastern Conference. As such they drew the New York Rangers as an opponent in the first round and lost the first two of a seven game series More »

I am assuming the majority of those reading this blog are friends of Shaun’s and that the majority of that subset live in Australia. What a wonderful thing it must be to be from a first world country that is not the U.S. these days.  I love my country and all the potential greatness insured by its founding documents and storied history. I will even admit that my hope and pride were strengthened with the last election. Unfortunately, the horrendous abuses inflicted on my country or on others in the name of my country, by the Bush administration continue to come to light under Obama, if not quite nullifying my renewed belief, but at least dampening my ability to revel in it unchecked. More »

I do detest Cardinal George Pell, the Catholic Archbishop of Sydney. An insufferable priest full of smug arrogance and the boundless need to ensure that he is in the Pope’s good graces. He seemingly lacks any trace of compassion as he pronounces from on high witless diatribes that place rigid orthodoxy above any sense of understanding of the realities of life. Such as his support for the Popes comments on the efficacy of condoms in fighting AIDS.

I listened to Pell last night on the wireless driving home and he once again,in that haughty, superior than thou voice devoid of any charm dripping with condescension, mentioned the “citations” that allegedly support his stance on condoms. Now for two of the studies, I’ve found them online based not on exact citation but Pell’s comments. And Pell disingenuous how he uses the data. But before that, lets have a look at Uganda. A country whose AIDS prevention efforts are often approvingly cited by those with a morbid condoms.

AIDS first appeared in Uganda in the early 1980s. After the initial epidemic, President Museveni (after arriving in power on 1986) fronted the ABC campaign. A = abstinence. B = be faithful and if A and B fail, the C = use a condom. And it seemed to work with a dramatic decrease in the incident of AIDS between 1992 and 2000.
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One of the most disgraceful episodes in Australian political history was the Children Overboard Affair. The then Howard Government used misinformation to craft a policy on asylum seekers where inhumane treatment was applied under the guise of toughness. Shamefully, this won Howard the 2001 election when 911 was still very much fresh in the voters’ minds.

And today, with the explosion that killed three asylum seekers on a boat of the Western Australian coast, political vilification of asylum seekers continues.

Most disgraceful was the odious Sharman Stone, the opposition immigration spokeswoman. The feigned sympathy for the dead and injured asylum seekers was easily overshadowed by her gleefully, morbid attack on the Rudd Government concerning immigration policies.
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Something so odd happened to me about two weeks ago that I’ve been told it was impossible. My computer literally caught fire. Smoke poured from it as I rushed to turn off the power strip, and it smoldered for a good hour afterwards. Needless to say I had to wait until I could afford another computer, but even now all my contacts are lost as well as all my bookmarks, and well, everything. Fortunately as I was clearing the rubble of the old set up I stumbled on a piece of paper that had the address of this Polydaidaloi dashboard site and I was able to post this. However, if anyone wants me to have their address they’ll have to email me something (I’m looking at you Shawn). In any event, let’s get on with it.

As some of you may know, today was tax day in the U.S. It was also the day chosen by certain Republican Corporate Sponsors to hold tea parties- anti-tax demonstrations. More »

Ah, Easter. A time for Sydney’s religious elite to uncritically espouse their reactionary, outdated views of the world. For Georgie Pell to agree with the Pope about condoms is not surprising. A lot has been said before and no need to rehash the arguments. And nothing surprising about Dr Phillip Jensen, the Anglican Dean of Sydney, sorta agreeing with Pell. What did stand out was Jensen’s statement that it was all the fault of “Virginia Woolf and that crowd (in England in the early 20th century)” (and thank you to Lucy Tartan for the tweet).

I’m no Virginia Woolf scholar but Jensen does link it back to the sexual revolution. He seem to think that simply wanting a room of one’s own ruined society. But I wouldn’t expect anything less from a reactionary priest. One who can’t see beyond the myopic misogyny sustained by adherence to a comfortably numbing patriarchal mindset that hasn’t progressed in 2000 years.

Which allows a tangent to comment on an article I’ve been wanting to do for a few months now.
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Today, the Federal Opposition announced their response to the Federal Government’s next generation broadband network.

Via his Dictaphone, Malcolm Turnbull has stressed that the Opposition’s response will bring a new era of fast communications for residents and business.

“The Liberal party understands best the need to move forwards with technology. And that is why our Avian Resource Signal Enterprise (ARSE) proposal will be cheap, reliable and provide 100% coverage for all Australians. ARSE will be wireless and have little need for extensive infrastructure other than the odd base station otherwise known as a hutch. It is based on current technology of a potential we are fully yet to realise.”

“In addition to ARSE, we propose developing a steam powered postal system to replace the existing, inadequate electronic version. We believe our proposal will provide all Australians with a fast, efficient means of communication that will revolutionise business, government, schools but not likely the porn industry. “

Turnbull continued as he polished and admired a bust of himself, “I think Rudd has become intoxicated with his own magnificence. And he’s perhaps seeking to build monuments. Which, if this is the case, I know this bloke in Vaucluse who is really good. “

Turbnull also revealed the new mobile devices being trialled in parliament house. “So, If I want to talk to Minchin – and this was Hockey’s idea – I pick up this tin can which is tied to a long piece of string that goes to Minchin’s office with another tin can at the end. Here, I’ll demonstrate.”

“Hello, Nick?…Nick? Hello? Must be a problem. Can someone check for a cut string outside Peter’s office again?”

When contacted for a response, the Prime Minster replied via Twitter:

In response to the proposal put forward by the Leader of the Opposition responding to the Government’s broadband initiative let me just say,