The Party Is Like So Over

A shot appeared on the monitor of a person trying to plant an egg in soil.
It ran for about a minute before another voice broke in, this one speaking
Esperanto with an English accent -- but so intense, so insistent, it didn't
need translation.
The image faded out and a new one faded in: of a guy just sitting alone in a
room in a plain wooden chair, staring down at the floor, obviously on drugs,
talking softly into the air, to himself.

He was difficult to understand and there was almost no inflection in his
voice. The refugees all strained to hear, while sloppy, uncertain
translations were hurriedly whispered around.

"Welcome to 'The Elvis Presley And Jack Kerouac Show,'" the guy mumbled
deadpan, towards his feet, but this time loud and clear enough for everybody
to hear and understand.

"On tonight's show, our very special guest is Mr. Frank Sinatra," he paused
for a second, as if to let the applause pass, though there was nothing but
dead silence in the background.

"And later on in the show, we'll have a visit from Mr. Marlon Brando," again
he paused, "And then ...."

And he mumbled some more names which couldn't be heard, but were still
recognized by everyone watching, regardless of language.

"And of course," he continued, "Our studio band is The Jimmy Hendrix
Near-Death Experience who'll be doing their smash hit 'The Pen Is Mightier
Than the Pencil' for us a little later."

A soft buzz ran through the ranks of the refugees. They all knew this song
because it was the theme music for the annual World Refugee Council
Spectaculathon held at Cabo San Lucas each December.