My phoneline is down at The Pond, so I may not be around much for a couple of days... we had something like a half-foot of rain last night, and all of Duckford is suffering.

UPDATE, 1030pm: Honey, I'm home! The phone came back about 20 minutes ago, about 24 hours sooner than was predicted... they must've found the break/water-damage/whatever.

Quite the interesting day, all told. As I mentioned, Duckford got a half-foot of rain overnight. When I went to bed, it was raining, but nothing out of the ordinary. From people I spoke to, around 4am all hell broke loose, and there were sightings of pairs of animals heading north.

By the time I woke up (around 720am), the rain had stopped, and around The Pond there was no obvious sign that there had been anything untoward about the storm. It was on the drive in to Duck U. that I started to notice little things... like entire yards covered with water, or big honkin' trees down, or live power lines sparking and zatzing in the road... that seemed to indicate that something large had happened.

Then the city evacuated the land to the west of Duck U. The U. is positioned on top of a hill, y'see... along with a 'water retention structure' located in a park. Said structure (aka 'dam') was about, oh, a foot or so from being overfull (additional rumors were that the dam was leaking and about to let go), and was beautifully positioned to swamp a chunk of the business district to the west.

As you can guess, we weren't all that busy at the Duck U. Bookstore today. When I did leave, I went to pay a visit to Momzerduck and Ph.Duck, and drove by the park in question... which was completely submerged. I noticed one of the baseball diamond backstops, just the top of which was visible... eep.

However, all is right now... except it's damn hot, and really damn humid.

Posted by: Wonderduck at 11:17 AM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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Earth to go splat on the Sun like bugs on windshield.

Posted by: Wonderduck at 10:26 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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There will be no F1 UPDATE! for the Hungarian Grand Prix. Due to a heavy storm last night (and the subsequent knocking-out of the apartment complex's satellite dish and lack of replay on SPEEDchannel this week), I'm going to miss a F1 race for the first time in four years.

I'm mildly annoyed about this, but considering that Hungary is traditionally the least exciting race of the season (last year's race notwithstanding), and the results listing suggests a processional, I'm not too upset about missing this one.

I am upset that I don't get to do a F1 UPDATE!, but... *shrug*

Results
1 L. Hamilton McLaren 1:35:52.991
2 K. Räikkönen Ferrari + 0.715
3 N. Heidfeld BMW + 43.129
4 F. Alonso McLaren + 44.858
5 R. Kubica BMW + 47.616
6 R. Schumacher Toyota + 50.669
7 N. Rosberg Williams + 59.139
8 H. Kovalainen Renault + 1:08.104
9 M. Webber Red Bull + 1:16.331
10 J. Trulli Toyota + 1 laps
11 D. Coulthard Red Bull + 1 laps
12 G. Fisichella Renault + 1 laps
13 F. Massa Ferrari + 1 laps
14 A. Wurz Williams + 1 laps
15 T. Sato Super Aguri + 1 laps
16 S. Vettel Scuderia Toro Rosso + 1 laps
17 A. Sutil Spyker F1 + 2 laps
18 R. Barrichello Honda + 2 laps
Did not finish
19 V. Liuzzi Scuderia Toro Rosso + 27 laps
20 A. Davidson Super Aguri + 29 laps
21 J. Button Honda + 35 laps
22 S. Yamamoto Spyker F1 + 65 laps

Alonso was bumped 5 spots on the grid, as was Giancarlo Fisichella, also for blocking. Felipe Massa gets no points for his 13th place finish. Raikkonen and Alonso have both bitched about the track being boring, joining just about every fan on the planet... maybe something'll be done sometime.

So... that's it. If'n y'all want more info on today's race, I suggest GrandPrix.com... they're my favorite F1 website!

Sorry.

Posted by: Wonderduck at 03:54 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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What a bloody mess.

Ferrari screwed up Felipe Massa's last stop in Q2, neglecting to give him enough fuel. He had to stop in the pit lane, get pushed back to the stall, get more fuel, then try and hoist himself out of the relegation zone into the top 10 for Q3.

He couldn't. He'll be starting 14th.

I'm not sure WHO'S on pole. Fernando Alonso had the fastest time in Q3, but he petulantly sat in the pit stall for what seemed an eternity, preventing his teammate, Lewis Hamilton, from getting in until it was too late for him to change tires, do his out lap, then cross the start/finish line before the 15 minute session ended. Alonso on the other hand crossed the line with only seconds to spare and turned in his pole-winning lap, bumping his teammate in the process... and denying Hamilton a chance to bump HIM.

The FIA stewards, however, saw it all, and came down hard on both Alonso AND McLaren. They ruled that Alonso impeded another driver (Hamilton), and nailed him with a five-spot grid penalty. They also decided that Alonso did so under team orders (though perhaps just his crew chief's), and have barred McLaren from scoring any Constructor's Championship points in Hungary. McLaren is appealing both rulings.

During the post-qual interview session, Hamilton looked like he was on the verge of assaulting Alonso: not his usual relaxed self, he was rigidly stiff and some of his reactions to Alonso's answers were, frankly, disbelieving. Of course, Peter "Smarmy" Windsor completely avoided the only question he should have asked Alonso: "Why did you sit in the pit box for 10 seconds after the lollypop was raised?"

Some websites are saying that Alonso will be starting 6th, others (including the official website of Formula 1, F1.com) still have him listed on pole.

We'll know more tomorrow at racetime. Until then, I'm going to just list the qual order as-is, without any penalties... but if I had to guess, there's gonna be some movement.

01 F. Alonso McLaren 1:19.674
02 L. Hamilton McLaren 1:19.781
03 N. Heidfeld BMW 1:20.259
04 K. Räikkönen Ferrari 1:20.410
05 N. Rosberg Williams 1:20.632
06 R. Schumacher Toyota 1:20.714
07 R. Kubica BMW 1:20.876
08 G. Fisichella Renault 1:21.079
09 J. Trulli Toyota 1:21.206
10 M. Webber Red Bull 1:21.256
11 D. Coulthard Red Bull 1:20.718
12 H. Kovalainen Renault 1:20.779
13 A. Wurz Williams 1:20.865
14 F. Massa Ferrari 1:21.021
15 A. Davidson Super Aguri 1:21.127
16 V. Liuzzi Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:21.993
17 J. Button Honda 1:21.737
18 R. Barrichello Honda 1:21.877
19 T. Sato Super Aguri 1:22.143
20 S. Vettel Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:22.177
21 A. Sutil Spyker F1 1:22.737
22 S. Yamamoto Spyker F1 1:23.774

Say, look! Sebastian Vettel is 20th in the Toro Rosso... guess maybe it wasn't the driver's fault after all, eh?

Posted by: Wonderduck at 11:56 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Hi, I'm Scott Speed, formerly of Scuderia Toro Rosso and the winner of Red Bull's "Young Driver" contest. Yeah, formerly. If you've been living under a rock for the past two weeks, there's been no news as big as my being unjustifyably fired from Toro Rosso, after Franz Tost assaulted me after I skidded off the Nurburgring track in that impossible rainstorm.

But I'm not bitter, oh no. Just because they put me in a crappy car that broke if you looked at it funny, then blamed me and Liuzzi for the problems, that doesn't make me bitter. Then he punched me, and expect me to be a nice quiet little boy? THAT makes me bitter.

But, thanks to the good folks at F1 UPDATE! here at Wonderduck's Pond, I've got a new gig now! I'm now the presenter for F1 On SPEED!, and glad to do it, too... they've always appreciated my skills here at F1 UPDATE!. Let's get to it, shall we?

First off, we've got live coverage of the 2nd Friday Practice from the Hungaroring from 7am to 830am... I hate that track, and since the 'death' of Christijan Albers, I don't want to be anywhere NEAR Hungary.

Just in case.

Then on Saturday morning, from 7am to 830am, SPEED! brings you live coverage of the Quals session from Hungary. I'm sure Sebastian Vettel will do ever-so-much better than I did in that Toro Rosso piece of junk... and pigs will flugtag out my @$$.

Finally, everybody should be gathering around the television set at 630am for the LIVE broadcast for the Hungarian Grand Prix. It's as close as you can get to Monte Carlo without any of the glitz, glamour, or attractiveness, the Hungaroring is, so watch and... um... well, just watch. Maybe it'll rain, like it did last year?

I'm Scott Speed, and THIS has been F1 ON SPEED!!!

Hey, why is there a smoking "Z" on the last page of this script?

Posted by: Wonderduck at 01:58 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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About 3 hours ago, a major bridge across the Mississippi river collapsed during rush hour in Minneapolis. I-35W is a large traffic artery in the Twin Cities, and this bridge carries an average of 100K-200K cars every day. It's very close to the U of Minnesota (MSP Campus), and near Dinkytown.

Breaking news shows six dead, six in life-threatening condition, and dozens (possibly hundreds) with 'minor' injuries. The whole bridge just fell down with no apparant warning. We're not just talking about some of the bridge, but the entire thing. The section over the river, the sections that run to the land, everything.

The bridge was an "over-under" span, with a road bridge over a rail bridge. There was a train loaded with tanker cars on the bridge when the road span collapsed on top of it.

Eyewitness reports say that there "had to have been" hundreds of cars bumper-to-bumper on the bridge at the time of the collapse. There was construction ongoing on the bridge, but not structural: pothole fixes and that sort of thing.

Fortunately, Ph.Duck's family, many of whom drive this bridge every day, have all checked in: everybody's okay.

I lived in Minnesota for two years, and have driven across this bridge dozens of times. I'm just... stunned.

Posted by: Wonderduck at 02:42 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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