Heavy Metal Sunday feels a little foolish.

Tuesday is April 1st, and I was thinking about doing some sort April Fool's prank, like writing a set up for a dramatic extreme Death Metal video, then playing Barry Manilow or something.

But I hate Barry Manilow.

So instead of a prank, let's get really odd. Green Jellÿ (formerly known as Green Jellö) has probably the oddest history of any band in history. Really. 204 official former members. And their one big commercial success, 1992's Cereal Killer, got them sued by Kraft Foods, the Kellogg Company, and Metallica.

Most people know them for their insane version of Three Little Pigs, but I prefer this track. Ladies and Gentlemen, we are entering the Electric Harley House of Love.

Did you spot all the celebrity cameos?

The King of Biodieselbilly

Had a great time at the Bill Kirchen show last night. We got there a little later than I would have liked, but even sitting way in the back in such a small space meant great sound and an almost clear line of sight to the stage. The Freight & Salvage is moving to new digs next year, and from the model it's going to be a really neat space.

A constant riff last night was the whole Earth Night thing, which led to Bill rechristening himself as the King of Biodieselbilly, attempting to play the Telecaster unplugged, and constant jokes from the stage. The first set was incredible, featuring several cuts off the latest CD Hammer of the Honky Tonk Gods along with a fun segment where his backing band each got to sing a song. Drummer Jack O'Dell brought the house down with I Should've Been A Lawyer, But I Couldn't Pass The Bar. An ode to that other kind of bar that the legal eagles on my friends list will surely appreciate.

There was a bit of drama during the break. A gentleman collapsed near us, and was having some difficulty breathing. Fire Department was summoned, and kshandra and I got a laugh when we heard the man's wife/SO say "you are going to the hospital." Yeah, we've had that conversation a few times. I bought a few CDs, and grabbed a Freight & Salvage t-shirt. I support places that play cool music.

The second set was hotter than the first. Kirsten squealed when Bill played Sleep Walk. There was an amazingly funny extended Rockabilly Funeral (complete with Earth Night joke) and the mandatory Hot Rod Lincoln. This song veered off into the wild blue yonder when Bill added John Philip Sousa and the Colonel Bogey March to the list of people who pulled over and let him by.

A nice encore was highlighted by Dylan's It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry with Bill and Austin De Lone trading lead vocals.

Good night out.

Out of the jaws of defeat, a radiance bath!

A few weeks ago I had a very good Samurai running the endgame in Nethack. He was wielding Sunsword (+5, RP) and a Silver Saber (+5) as a two-weapon combo, had good protection, and was already to kick elemental plane butt.

Until the Plane of Fire, when a wand of lightning vaporized my rings of levitation and conflict. Which are an important part of my endgame strategy.

Fearing yet another late game death, I put aside the game for a while. Just now, I decided to finish the damn thing.

Getting through the fire plane without levitation or conflict is tedious. You're mobbed by elementals who keep setting you on fire, but you're fire resistant (or better be at this point) so you keep scrolling through the endless messages after each attack. This is one reason why I like having Frost Brand as a primary weapon for Valkyries and Barbarians. Cleans out the fire elementals quickly. But I made it over to the portal, and blipped to the Plane of Water. Where, thanks to not having levitation, I had to work my way from air bubble to air bubble tracking down the portal which is floating in one of the bubbles! Takes forever, and in the meantime, you're fighting off giant eels, krakens, and water elementals. Find that portal. blip to the Astral Plane...

.. and luck out. Pestilence drinks a cursed potion of invisibility which shows me where he's hiding. So I decide to try the right-hand temple first. This is guarded by Death, weakest of the three riders. Having the Guardian Angel actually helped (usually I find the GA to be an annoyance at best, which is why I rely on conflict.) Having a half-dozen or so fully charged wands of death helped clear the priests, and I bust into the inner temple to find that I've chosen the right temple on the first try.

Here, God-dude, have an amulet.

I used 10 wishes (none for artifacts,) never changed form or polymorphed an object, and had no genocides.