Heavy Metal Sunday feels the power.

Tesla formed in 1984 in Sacramento as City Kidd, and was renamed Tesla during the recording of their first album, 1986's Mechanical Resonance, on the advice of their manager that City Kidd was not a great name (in addition, there was already another band going by that name). The band derived their name, certain album and song titles, and some song content from events relating to Nikola Tesla, an inventor and electrical engineer born in the 19th century in Croatia.

They enjoyed moderate success through the eighties and early nineties, scoring hits with the radio-friendly power ballad Love Song, and their cover of of "Signs", a 1971 hit by the Five Man Electrical Band off their live acoustic album Five Man Acoustical Jam. In 1994, the band announced an indefinite hiatus to allow guitarist Tommy Skeoch to deal with substance abuse problems. The hiatus lasted until 2000, and the band began a slow reformation period, releasing a covers collection, playing smaller venues and nostalgia tours, and doing a lot of club dates.

In 2008, the band released their eighth studio album, Forever More on their own label, Tesla Electric Company Recordings. It is from that album that we proudly present Sacramento's own Tesla, Breakin' Free

Radiance Bath!

Hypathia the Samurai just ascended to Demi-Goddesshood!

I was trying a strategy I've read about in the past that involves two-weaponing Grayswandir and a generic silver saber (both as enchanted as you can get them) through Gehennom, since demons and undead at silver-haters, then switch to Excalibur and the silver saber for the run up to the end game and the Planes.

Let me just say, short of a patch that gives me a nuke, this is perhaps the easiest ascension I've ever had. I got Grayswandir from an early Wand of Wishing, then dipped for Excalibur. I had Snickersnee from offering early, and of course got the The Tsurugi of Muramasa as my Quest Artifact. But I never really used either of them, as the Grayswandir/Excalibur-silver saber combo was going through enemies like they weren't there.

One unique feature of this game was conflict. My usual strategy involves getting a Ring of Conflict early and letting the tougher baddies wail on each other. Rings were surprisingly rare this time, so I had to do all my own slaughtering. Did genocide "L" and "h" since Arch-Liches and Master Mind Flayers are a pain.

My niece can kick your butt.

Emergency Back-up Niece Kylie, who is awesome, and her mom, who does an awesome job with the kids, at Kylie's first soccer game. I am pleased to report that she kicked the ball a couple of times. Photo taken by baka49er, who may finally get the jock she's always wanted. :)

Crashlanding. Yadda. yadda. yadda.

Current needs in bold.

Increase population: http://crashlanding.myminicity.com

Increase industry: http://crashlanding.myminicity.com/ind

Improve the transport network: http://crashlanding.myminicity.com/tra

Increase security: http://crashlanding.myminicity.com/sec

Improve environment: http://crashlanding.myminicity.com/env

Increase business: http://crashlanding.myminicity.com/com

How's this for an opening?

"This close to the Melt common caution gave way to paranoia. The prospector bus crept forward, pausing every meter to lash the ground with sensors, looking for weakness and hot spots. Other sensors monitored the atmosphere looking for disturbances that might indicate potential disaster for the crew. Over and over, the bulky bus repeated the maneuver, inching forward on its six wide tracks, pausing, then lurching into motion again. Had there been any living being on the surface of Surtur, they might have thought that the thing on the valley floor was dying."