"Irene, take this down, will ya? For posterity. You are working for a powerful man, you know that?"

"No sir. I'm just your secretary."

"That's real funny, baby. Irene, the memo goes something like this: 'To Mr. Johnny Blake, Director, Spectrum Entertainment. From... well Irene, you know who I am, right."

"Yes sir."

"'Re: Zoviet France's new record... Shit... what was it called?"

"Digilogue."

"Digilogue... that's right, sweetheart. 'I regret to inform you of this, but your art-student of a stepson's suggestions for our three-day musical extravanganza are simply not what we have in mind. This record is a prime example.

"'Now understand, Helmut is a smart young man. Way smarter than you or I.' Scratch that, Irene. 'Way smarter than I. As such, I feel his tastes in things like music are far too strange. As you know, we have spent months lining up sponsors for this, perhaps the greatest musical event of the century. We've got Hootie, we've got that swell Dave Matthews guy, we've got Richie Sambora... we got a host of big-name, top- of- the- line, crowd-pleasing, market-tested acts here and I don't think this Zoviet France thing is going to fit in. Send my regards to your fifth wife, Uta.' Type it up, Irene."

"Sir, if I may. I think you should explain why. s you have it, he may not take this very well."

"You're right there, honeybuns. Add the following. 'This Zoviet France band is big into this kinda weird atmospheric stuff. No verses, no chords, no solos, no singing. This record consisted of swelling repetitive drones, with flourishes of odd sounds run through all these weird effects. I'll be honest with you, when I first put this into the Beemer's CD player, I thought my speakers were picking up some sort of ominous alien signal. Made me want to lay off that pixie dust, if you catch my drift.' Uh... nix that last sentence, Irene. 'The sounds this outfit produces are interesting for those types that your stepson Helmut hangs around with, but to be frank, I just did not get it. It was, well, really creepy. The kind of stuff that gets under your skin if you concentrate on it. So I don't think it will work for the festival.' I think that's all I can say."

"Right, sir... Sir, if I may be so bold, have you ever thought about selling insurance?"

"Lovely profession... You know, that sounds like something to think about. But now, get me that Jewel chick's publicist on the phone. I've got some asses to kiss."

"Just doing your job. Right, sir?"

"That's right, babe. All in a day's work."

-Samir Khan