Matt Skiba Stares Out Rain Flecked Window Wondering if Mark and Travis Think About Him Too

CHICAGO — Former Blink-182 guitarist Matt Skiba was seen staring out a window on a rainy day this past week while wondering if Mark Hoppus and Travis Barker think about him too, confirmed sources.

“Yeah, of course I’m happy for Tom and the guys, and I know there are no hard feelings,” said Skiba without breaking eye contact with a raindrop on a nearby window. “But sometimes I wonder if it’s something I did. Could I have played those three chords better? Did I not have the right nasally intonation on ‘All the Small Things’? Not enough dick jokes on stage? I just find myself wondering what they are doing right now and whether they think about me like I am of them right now.”

Current Alkaline Trio band members and road crew have noticed Skiba’s growing tendency to find the nearest window during rehearsals and shows.

“Matt’s been distant for a while, and as soon as he posts up by a window on a dreary day, I know what kind of night it’s going to be,” said bassist Dan Andriano. “You can’t help but feel inadequate and less than. It’s hard to compete with playing arenas with fully stocked and luxurious green rooms. We let him sit there and work things out on his own, but when he looks over and asks things like ‘Do you think they still play anything off ‘California’ or ‘Nine’?’ How do you answer that? Because we all know the truth.”

Therapist Dr. Ryan Coe, who specializes in band member relationships, notes this behavior is common among musicians who’ve gone from smaller bands to larger, more affluent ones.

“What Matt’s experiencing is a classic case of displaced loyalty,” Coe explained. “It’s not unusual for him to crave reciprocation, but in Matt’s case, he’s projecting feelings of closeness onto Mark and Travis, who—no offense to him—are probably debating which mom jokes to use on stage tonight or talking about the hundreds of thousands of dollars they made on one show of their tour. In all likelihood, they remember him as Mike Skiba by mistake.”

In a bittersweet twist, fans have reported that Alkaline Trio has added “I Miss You” to their set list, with Skiba singing both Hoppus’ and Tom DeLonge’s parts.

Muppets Ranked by the Likelihood That They Were the Zodiac Killer

The Muppets have been America’s favorite go-to brand of wholesome entertainment the whole family can truly enjoy since the premier of their pilot episode “The Muppets Valentine Show” on January 30th, 1974. Does that particular date ring a bell? It should. It is exactly one day after The San Francisco Chronicle received their final letter from the Zodiac killer. Coincidence? Well, if you’re as versed in the zodiac case as we are here at The Hard Times, you stopped believing in coincidence a long time ago.

We’ve examined the psychological profiles of each beloved Jim Henson puppet, and it has become all too clear that one of them is likely responsible for one of the most notorious series of killings in American history. We may never know which muppet committed these heinous crimes, but we’ve ranked them from least likely to most. FBI, your move.

26. Rowlf the Dog

No way, Rowlf is a certified good boy and possibly the only muppet above suspicion in the Zodiac murder case.

25. Janice

“Okay, so like, tie her up for me, and then tie yourself up, and make sure you tie the bonds really tight or I’ll shoot you mkaaaay?” Yeah, we don’t really see it.

24. Gonzo

When it comes to The Muppets and nefarious activity, Gonzo is usually suspect number one, but not this time. As far as we can tell none of the Zodiac’s crimes were sexual in nature, and since Gonzo can’t so much as see a chicken and not get all horned up, the odds of him killing a person and not immediately having sex with them are extremely low. He’s far from clean, God knows, but he is not the Zodiac.

23. Miss Piggy

Sure, she has a history of violence and has at least one major axis-2 personality disorder, but the idea that Piggy could generate so much attention as The Zodiac and not take credit for it by now seems implausible.

22. Zoot

Other than asking every barely legal girl who crosses his path “What’s your sign baby?” There is little tying Zoot to the Zodiac killings.

21. Floyd Pepper

Floyd is the “lover not a fighter” type, and he’s too bombed out of his mind on pain pills to solve a Sunday morning Jumble much less create his out cryptic ciphers. Still, he gets oddly cagey whenever the Zodiac is mentioned. What does he know? Who is he protecting? Another member of The Electric Mayhem” perhaps?

20. Link Hogthrob

Link is too high-profile to commit such nefarious crimes and goad the police, or at least he thinks he is. He probably isn’t the Zodiac, though the “accidental” drowning in the pool raises some serious red flags.

19. Gene

All of the Zodiac’s bodies were found by police. If Gene did it, they would all be in his stomach.

18. Uncle Deadly

It’s just a name… or is it?!

17. The Swedish Chef

What kind of animal is The Swedish Chef again? Oh right, human, curious species for a muppet. And what’s with the way he talks? Is that supposed to be Swedish? Our linguists can’t make heads or tails of it, and our researchers could find no record of his life before “The Muppet Show.” It’s as if he came out of nowhere, and whenever you ask about his past he responds with his trademark gibberish. He’s definitely a man with a shady past and a dark secret, could he be The Zodiac? Some of his letters did get pretty gibberishy…

16. Animal

It would explain the Zodiac’s frequent spelling and grammar mistakes, but we find the likelihood that Animal could create his own cypher dubious at best.

15. Scooter

He’s the nepo-baby of the Muppets—everyone knows he only got the gig because his rich uncle owns the theater. Yes, Scooter is well accustomed to getting his way, and known for flying off the handle on those rare occasions he doesn’t. A failed pilot, a bumped flight, perhaps a rebuking from a love interest, it wouldn’t take much for Scooter to become filled with rage and desperately seek to regain a sense of control.

14. Sweetums

Sweetums is basically the Arthur Leigh Allen of muppet Zodiac suspects. Everything in your bones tells you this is the guy. He fits the profile perfectly, he once expressed a desire to kill couples at lover’s lane to Dr. Teeth in 1962, every scrap of circumstantial evidence says he did it but son of a bitch if one or two crucial details just don’t match up. You may not have Zodiac’s prints or handwriting, but we’re keeping an eye on you Sweetums!

13. Dr. Bunsen Honeydew

Throughout “The Muppet Show” Dr. Honeydew seems to delight in being smarter than the police, or at the very least smarter than Beaker. He has an ego, a clear superiority complex, and has demonstrated what could best be described as moral ambiguity on multiple occasions. Could he also have murder in his heart?

12. Beauregard

You remember Beauregard, the low-key janitor? Maybe a little too low key. Arthur Leigh Allen was a janitor, coincidence?!

11. Lew Zealand

Consider the life of the niche circus performer. Lonely. Transient. Unstable. It can’t be easy making a living throwing a fish as a boomerang, and over the years that hardship is bound to make a man angry. Angry enough to kill and taunt the police? Perhaps. Let’s just say Lew’s boomerang isn’t the only thing that’s fishy about him.

10. Bobo the Bear

He’s a lifestyle influencer now, same as half the subjects of every true crime doc made in the last decade.

9. Fozzie Bear

Much has been noted in recent years about the psychopathic tendencies of the comedic mind. Fozzie wouldn’t be the first “clean” comic to live a sinister double life. If Cosby can turn out to be a prolific rapist, Fozzie could easily be The Zodiac.

8. Beaker

Killers are frequently the victims of abuse in their formative years? Just how long has the B-man been assistant to Dr. Bunsen Honeydew? How many years of doing his menial tasks, suffering his egotistical insults, being a guinea pig for his various dangerous experiments? The good doctor has instilled a fear in Beaker he dare not challenge, but perhaps in a period of dangerous psychosis, Beaker found a new way to feel a sense of control.

7. Crazy Harry

He is canonically insane, as was Zodiac, and really, wouldn’t being a confirmed arsonist be the perfect cover story for a murderer? Psychiatrists of the time often speculated that Zodiac suffered from multiple personality disorder, and when you start connecting the dots it makes perfect sense that one of those personalities was The Zodiac and the other was a muppet demolition freak. Those are basically the two forces at work within each of us.

6. Statler and Waldorf

The multiple-killer theory has existed since the early ’70s, but the idea that the killers were working together and moonlighting as an insult comic duo is a new wrinkle. New, but not implausible. Consider how dissatisfied Statler and Waldorf seem with the world around them, the inner rage that must fuel those admittedly hilarious jibs. Could they once upon a time have satiated such hatred in a less savory manner, say, a cat-and-mouse game with San Francisco police?

5. Rizzo the Rat

Early psychological profilings of the Zodiac pegged him as a transient fringe type living on the margins of society., sort of like… a rat? Think about it.

4. Lips

The man’s name is “Lips” for god sake, he’s clearly full of rage and capable of anything.

3. Dr. Teeth

Robert Johnson. Jimmy Page. The Bloodhound Gang. Musical history is rife with legends of artists selling their souls to the devil in exchange for wild musical success. Dr.Teeth’s long standing reputation as a calculating fame-obsessive makes him a prime candidate for such an unholy pact. Could the Zodiac murders have been his way of proving his devotion to the dark lord? According to a vinyl copy of “Can You Picture That?” played backwards, yes.

2. Kermit the Frog

“That city pig toschi is good – but I am bu smarter and better he will get tired then leave me alone.” Zodiac frequently used the word pig or piggies in his letters, often referring to police and other perceived enemies. Kermit, meanwhile, has a long and storied history of suffering physical abuse at the hands of Miss Piggy. Could the frequency of this word in the Zodiac’s communications be a Freudian, nay, FROGIAN slip? We all know it ain’t easy being green, so how much could this frog really take before snapping and adopting a murderous alter persona to vent his frustrations?

1. Sam the Eagle

According to psychologists, Sam’s ultra-conservative and reserved exterior suggests a sinister and repressed shadow-self lurking under the surface and waiting to strike, and matches the speculative profile of the Zodiac to a T.

Poser Cannibal Corpse Fan Using Dating App Instead of Cemetery To Find Romantic Partner

WHEELING, W.V. – Supposed Cannibal Corpse fan Gary Morgan is allegedly using a dating app to find a new romantic partner instead of perusing his local cemetery, offended sources scoffed.

“I just got out of a long-term relationship, and I’m trying to get back into the dating scene to find somebody new,” Morgan said. “I downloaded OkCupid, so fingers crossed that it works out and I’m able to connect with someone. Death metal is a big part of my life, and Cannibal Corpse is my favorite band, so of course I mentioned that in the ‘About Me’ section. I gotta say though, when I mentioned this on Instagram I got a bunch of weird comments calling me a fake fan. Not sure what that’s all about.”

Morgan’s friend and fellow Cannibal Corpse fan Octavia Grandview was disgusted to hear of Morgan’s dating approach.

“I nearly fell over when I heard what Gary was doing,” Grandview reported. “Everybody knows a true Cannibal Corpse fan would find a new partner by skulking into a cemetery after closing hours and digging up a fresh grave. I’ve known him for years and I thought it was a given that he understood this. Is Gary even a fan? I mean, we just blasted ‘Tomb of the Mutilated’ in its entirety during a recent trip to visit a friend, but it’s obvious he didn’t get the message. I’m going to have to sit down and talk with him about the effects of poserdom on our friendship.”

Cannibal Corpse lead singer George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher wasn’t shy about providing his take on the situation.

“I thought it was common knowledge that our fanbase is not to be composed of people with living romantic partners,” Fisher mentioned while struggling to maintain hold of the dozens of stuffed animals he had recently won from a claw vending machine. “I guess I was just being naïve in assuming all of my listeners were either single or in relationships with festering corpses. If this Morgan guy has the nerve to show up to one of my shows, I’m going to have to jump into the crowd and beat the shit out of him. I’ve done it before, and I’ll fucking do it again.”

At press time, Morgan had matched with a poser Bolt Thrower fan who wasn’t using Warhammer 40K meetups to find a new partner.

Opinion: This Country Needs Less Weak-Ass Pop Shit, and More 3 Doors Down

It’s no secret that popular music has become completely pussified. I recently asked my teenage nephew what bands he likes, and he brought up some teeny boppers called “Mr. Beats” and “Hack Too.” Pretty pathetic considering that not too long ago, if you turned on your radio you were putting yourself at risk of getting your shit rocked by the hardest band to ever break into the Top 40—3 Doors Down.

Bands like 3 Doors Down brought an edge to the culture that the squares quickly realized they just couldn’t handle. Before they showed up, it was all songs about partying, breakups, and hitting babies. They changed it up by being the first band to sing about being an outwardly strong but internally tortured man who deserves the unwavering support of a woman, no matter how emotionally distant he is. Can you name any other band that wrote a song in the early 2000s about how goddamn hard it is to be Superman?

I think most people don‘t realize that there isn’t anything that sounds like 3 Doors Down. I recently went on a date where after spending 20 minutes explaining how 3DD ripped onto the scene in early aughts, she asked if I also liked Matchbox Twenty. Why would I listen to an “adult contemporary” band? Does “You love me, but you don’t know who I am” sound like a lyric a fucking adult contemporary band would write?

This is not to say I’m a heartless monster. I appreciate a love song, but it had better hit me harder than my ex-wife’s personal trainer after I caught him in bed with her. For example, when another girl I was going out with for about 3 weeks went to Europe, I thought I’d do something nice. I sent her a video of me singing “Here Without You”, and she responded by saying she was staying in Dijon for 3 months. I think she broke it off because she couldn’t handle how fucking dark my music taste is.

From the inauguration of President Donald Trump, to the “Walmart Sounds of the Summer” Stage at the Pomona County Fair, 3 Doors Down is constantly breaking the conventions of popular music with their raw alpha mindset. If America wasn’t run by pussies, I wouldn’t be the only person actively listening to them and not just hearing “When I’m Gone” when it plays on a PA in a 24-hour pharmacy.

Punk Who Won $50 Scratch Off Promises Not to Let Money Change Him

SAEGERTOWN, Pa. — Local punk Brian McFee assured everyone that his newfound wealth would have no impact on his worldview after winning $50 in a ‘Jumbo Bucks’ scratch-off, perplexed sources reported.

“Now that I’m flush, everyone thinks I’m going to start acting all hoity-toity and shit,” the unemployed McFee stated while panhandling outside a coffee shop. “But I feel like I’m going to keep the same down-to-earth persona I’ve always had. I’ll still dumpster dive outside the Acme and hit up the ‘for free’ bin at Goodwill. Sure, I might switch from Keystone to Yuengling, but you can still approach me like always — even though I’m rolling in it. Just don’t think because I’m rich now I’m going to lend you money. I help those who help themselves.”

Friends offered a more sobering and blunt assessment of McFee’s new financial situation when reached for comment.

“$50? That’s $35 after taxes at best, so I don’t know what the fuck he’s talking about,” remarked acquaintance Jason Slater. “That scumbag still owes me gas money for every time I’ve had to drive his sorry ass to court hearings, so if he wants to do anything with that cash, maybe he should start paying back some of the friends he’s been mooching off of all these years. Honestly, I’d like money to change him, maybe he’ll be more responsible and stop asking me to pay for his food every time his card gets declined at Sheetz.”

Still, financial experts remark that for some sects of society, any influx of income can be viewed as wealth given their situation.

“For some, particularly children or those on the fringes of society, $50 can be seen as abundant wealth,” noted financial advisor Carrie Park. “If you go through life never paying for drinks or meals and constantly crashing on people’s couches, your overhead costs are decidedly low and therefore $50 could be viewed as an influx of capital. For people like McFee, however, rather than this money being used to help provide some semblance of financial security or settling up with one of the many bars he still has outstanding tabs with, it’s likely going towards new guitar strings or a keg for whatever house he’s currently squatting in.”

At press time, McFee was running a tab up at a local dive bar, blissfully unaware the entirety of his winnings had been garnished by the state for unpaid traffic tickets.

Nation’s White Progressives Excited By Amount of Diversity in Who They Can Blame for Election Outcome

PORTLAND, Ore. — White progressive voters across the country announced they were excited by how many different races, genders, and ethnicities they can blame for Donald Trump’s return to power, confirmed multiple extremely online sources.

“In 2016 all I was doing was blaming rich white men or poor white men. It got old really fast. You can only post about how uneducated whites are setting us backward so many times before you burn out,” said second-hand gift card boutique owner River Boon. “Now I can blame Latinos, Arab Americans, Black men, and not to mention all the women. It’s beautiful to see. People have called me out of touch, people have called me racist, but it’s not my fault they have no idea what is best for them. They should subscribe to my Substack for weekly musings, poetry, and my thoughts on current events. Then they might actually learn a thing or two.”

Guillermo Chavez, a Latino who voted for Trump, says he is tired of being told how to think.

“I’ve spent most of my adult life voting for Democrats, it got me nothing. I had family members deported, my pay hasn’t gone up, but inflation has, and my taxes are going to foreign wars I want nothing to do with. All I’m trying to do is make sure my rent is paid and my kids are fed, I’d love to buy a house someday. But home prices are insane, but I guess we can’t blame Democrats for that,” said Chavez. “I’m not optimistic Trump will make anything better, but I can’t imagine a world where he makes things worse. My life is already endless toil with no hope for the future, but I’d love to thank all the white people with trust funds who are trying to make me feel bad.”

Cultural anthropologist Adam Bowers believes the most privileged people often have the hardest time empathizing with people outside their bubble.

“We surveyed over 10,000 young white men and women and found that respondents were far more likely to be outraged by the election results if their dad still pays their rent and their car insurance. These people were also more likely to blame minority communities for voting for Trump, while posting glowing Instagram Story posts about their Trump-voting father and how he ‘taught them everything they know,’” said Bowers. “This cognitive dissonance needs to be studied. We need to finally figure out how these people can keep their thoughts to compartmentalized.”

At press time, the nation’s progressive white voters announced plans to blindly support whichever candidate Democrats put forward in 2028.

J.D. Vance Makes History as the First Openly “Extremely Unsettling to Be Around” Vice President

WASHINGTON — Vice President-elect J.D. Vance made history earlier this week when he became the first person to hold the office who is extremely unsettling to be around and genuinely unpleasant to have a conversation with, multiple sources confirmed.

“People have told me all my life ‘Get away from me,’ ‘Please stop talking,’ and ‘Don’t make me call the cops’ whenever I engage in conversation with them. Now I’ll be their Vice President, and they will have to talk to me, or I’ll put them in jail,” said Vance without blinking. “I mean, it’s crazy, I’m just an average guy from a small town who used to torture the cats in my neighborhood, set fires, and read to my mother while she showered. This administration is going to be about change. I’m going to oversee all the security agencies and find out once and for all if they are spying on Americans through the cameras on their laptops.”

Social pariahs across the country were elated to see Vance elected to such a high office.

“As soon as Pennsylvania was called I started DMing a few girls I went to high school with and told them I’m going to be sleeping outside their window tonight, and if they hear anyone whispering, it’s just me whispering Kid Rock lyrics to myself while pulling out the hairs on my leg one by one,” said local weirdo Trip Hutton. “My biggest hope for this administration is lowering the price of groceries at the gas station I shop at. Monster drinks are so expensive I can only afford to drink five or six a day. And the beef jerky by the register is just for special occasions now.”

Historians say there have been a lot of slightly awkward Vice Presidents through the years, but Vance is the most off-putting yet.

“Al Gore was considered stiff, colleagues of his say if you tried joking with him he would stand as still as a statue and say ‘jokes are the candy of the soul’ and grind everything to a halt. But it was harmless,” said Dr. Anna Petrero, a Professor of History at UCLA. “Of course some people will say William R. King was a total oddball, a lifelong bachelor who loved powdered wigs, but unfortunately he got sick and died only a few weeks of taking office. So nobody really talked ill of him at the time, I do hope Mr. Vance follows a similar timeline.”

At press time, Vice President-elect Vance announced plans to pass legislation that women can no longer flush the toilet until he gets a look inside.

Woman Horrified to Learn the “Fur Baby” Her Date Keeps Referring to Is His Braided Goatee

APPLETON, Wis. — Local woman Allyson Boyle was completely turned off after discovering that her date Doug Innis referred to his braided goatee as a “fur baby,” confirmed sources who couldn’t get the check faster.

“I don’t normally date guys who look like they were the bass player of a nu metal band in 2002, but he was seemingly so passionate about animals that I was smitten. I was having trouble understanding what kind of pet he had though,” Boyle explained. “He kept talking about how his fur baby loved getting pets from strangers but that it also had a very pungent smell that could be off-putting. That’s when he dipped that gross 12-inch chin beard into a bowl of corn chowder and said ‘baby’s hungry.’ But hey, at least he didn’t say he had a pet tarantula. I would’ve fled the scene immediately.”

Innis, for what it’s worth, considered this to be one of the better dates he’s been on since going hog wild with facial hair.

“As a fur daddy, dating can be complicated,” Innis expressed. “I’ve found that most women don’t actually like fur babies, even though their dating profiles clearly state otherwise. And yet they’re all obsessed with dogs too, it’s weird. Dogs are kinda gross and you can’t even braid their hair. Believe me, I once tried on an Afghan Hound and it nearly ripped my goatee square off of my face. How dare that thing mess with my precious facial offspring.”

Their waiter, Kenny Ahearn, was one of the many bystanders grossed out by their date.

“There used to be a time when you couldn’t eat in a restaurant with a braided goatee. And for good reason. After all, this is a nice restaurant, Edward Norton’s stunt double eats here,” said Ahearn. “Like, I’m glad they have their rights and protections now, but this is what happens when you leave your fur baby all exposed like that. I’m a fur daddy too but I keep that shit underneath my nose where it should be. My fur baby mustache is too dear to me to leave it so out in the open and vulnerable to the elements.”

At press time, Innis forgot to mention that he also has several cats that he considers his fur pets.

Opinion: While the Music Video for Sisqó’s “The Thong Song” Was Enjoyable, It Did Not Do the Novel Justice

We hear it all the time when a literary classic is put to film: “I enjoyed it, but the movie was so much better.” Even the biggest exemplars of cinematic excellence fail to capture the scope, depth, and beauty of their literary counterparts. Films such as “Gone with the Wind,” “To Kill a Mockingbird,” and “The Grapes of Wrath” are all brilliant works of art that sadly fit into this category. While my lack of desire to add to this list leaves me loath to write this, I simply must express my belief that, having revisited the music video for Sisqó’s “The Thong Song” after 24 years, it simply does not do the novel justice.

Back in 2000, when Sisqó announced the upcoming music video based on his 1999 novel “The Thong Song,” I was eager to see the brilliance of that homage to 19th Century Romanticism put to film, but was largely disappointed in the result. Where were the sprawling Nottinghamshire moors detailed so exquisitely in the book? The shocking juxtaposition in moral orders between the Corning and Henshaw estates?

This isn’t to say the adaptation was a complete loss. I was blown away by the scene portraying scantily-clad women playing beach volleyball, which I understood as a subtle nod to the back-and-forth letters penned by Wilkie and the widow Henshaw at the onset of their tragically doomed love affair in Act 1, and Sisqó’s dyed-white hair adeptly points to the snow adorning the hillside as Adelia rushes to halt their union. I simply feel the direction of the video ultimately went off course a little too hastily for my tastes.

Throughout the video, there’s little mention of the titular “thong song” sung by the forlorn Perry Corning after breaking the fastening on his favorite horsewhip, seen by the reader as an allegory for the ruined ties between the two houses. The “dun-nuh, dun-nuh” portion of Sisqó’s chorus references the sound of Corning’s approaching horse which so excited Catherine up until she tragically succumbed to scarlet fever, but the similarities seem to end there.

With all that being said, please do not let me stop you from rewatching the music video. It acts as a perfectly serviceable representation of the superb tale on which it is based. Its greatest sin is simply that, if you’ll forgive the hackneyed phrasing, it stands on the shoulders of a giant. Just know that you will surely be better off opening the printed work and losing yourself in Sisqó’s astonishingly immersive world of passion and intrigue all over again.

House Show Becomes Basement Show After Sinkhole Opens Beneath Living Room

ST. PAUL, Minn. — A lineup of bands playing at popular punk house Chalet Cretin has been quickly re-billed as a “basement show” after a sinkhole suddenly opened up beneath the living room, injured attendees have reported.

“There’s no need to call 911 and put the kibosh on the fun, it’s just an extremely quick change of scenery caused by the domino effect of never clearing my gutters or checking for groundhogs. Besides, we’ve got like nine bands to go and it wouldn’t be fair to them if we canceled the show just because someone is trapped underneath the rubble,” said house owner Hank Paulson. “Look–we can sit here and cry about everyone’s grievous injuries, or we can point some flashlights into the gaping chasm that was once my living room and fucking party. Besides, I got a semi-famous band to play tonight and I’ll look like an asshole if we cancel the show.”

Members of hardcore band Britney Sneers, who were in the middle of their set when the floor collapsed, were surprised the damage wasn’t worse.

“Classic Hank, trying to spin this as a venue change and not an infrastructure fuck up. These floors have always groaned and creaked louder than the music, I’m surprised this didn’t happen sooner. He’s just lucky our gear was already half busted up to begin with, or this would be ten times worse,” said lead singer Bea Richardson. “Not gonna lie though, the acoustics down are way better if you ignore the people screaming in agony. The biggest challenge now is waiting for EMS to come and help lift these Marshall stacks out of this hole.”

Scene veteran “Jackknife” Lewis commended Paulson for not letting a natural disaster interrupt a good time.

“Gotta hand it to Hank for sticking to ‘the show must go on’ credo. Nowadays I see bitch-ass showrunners cancel gigs before you can finish your first beer over some light rain, but this was a genius move on his part to rebrand the second the floor gave way,” said Lewis. “Real punks don’t let something like a cave-in stop them. Last year my buddy’s house burned down and he still had three bands play in the charred remains hours later. Called it the ‘Phoenix Festival.’ So casualties aside, tonight was a pretty good show.”

Later, Paulson was forced to alter the event title to an “acoustic show” after Jackknife windmill kicked an exposed power line.