  We present a simple formalism for parton-shower Markov chains. As a first
step towards more complete uncertainty bands, we incorporate a comprehensive
exploration of the ambiguities inherent in such calculations. To reduce this
uncertainty, we then introduce a matching formalism which allows a generated
event sample to simultaneously reproduce any infrared safe distribution
calculated at leading or next-to-leading order in perturbation theory, up to
sub-leading corrections. To enable a more universal definition of perturbative
calculations, we also propose a more general definition of the hadronization
cutoff. Finally, we present an implementation of some of these ideas for
final-state gluon showers, in a code dubbed VINCIA.
