Walking past the Lincoln Theatre (To Michael)

I do that every day from my cheap parking spot at a church off the beaten path downtown. I always look at the band names on the marquee. 97 out 100 times, I don't know who they are.

The headliner last Wednesday was Hanzel und Gretyl. You prolly don't remember them, but I drug you to see them playing with Sister Machine Gun at that space at Mission Valley well over 10 years ago. Besides us, there were probably 30 other people in the place. Dunno if you can recall that night, but I freakin' loved both those industrial bands and felt really bad for them: Every step they took on that wooden stage resonated through the nearly empty space.

I was probably among 20 people in North Carolina who bought the H+G cd. I lent it to the one I don't care to hear about after we broke up, then bought my own copy back from Record Exchange. I played it tonight for old times' sake.

My God, it was horrible. I mean, the beats are okay, what you'd expect angry-with-no-reason-to-be, bedecked-in-black-clothes-and

-Dr.-Martens kids in the 90s to dance to, but I don't know how people like I was then expected to be taken seriously using that kind of drivel as our mantra.

To wit: "Dysfunction, in the face of chaos! Swallow my fingers, in the face of chaos!

Gah.