There is a universe, which contains everything. There are galaxies within the universe. There are solar systems within the galaxies. Stars, planets, asteroids, and comets make up solar systems, although comets may travel outside of its solar system. Earth is a planet within a solar system. On Earth we find land masses and water masses. People have gathered on different clumps of land masses around planet Earth and have formed countries, which contain states and territories and cities and communities. I live in one city with my family. We are one family in one house in a city full of houses, but at my house we had to decide to put our 15-year-old boy dog to sleep a couple of days ago. His name was Bobby. We rescued him and his sister, Foxey, and their mother, shortly after he and Foxey were born. So, for right here, right now, nothing has mattered but Bobby and his needs. He suddenly stopped eating about a month ago. We’ve been through this many times with other pets over the years and started bracing for the reason. Our fears were confirmed via ultrasound. Wide-spread cancer, of course. He was fine one minute, on the road to the death, the next. It’s been a bad month and, in fact, culminated with the worst possible outcome, other than he only suffered for about a month. He left behind a very sad family and a confused and anxious sister. For now, Foxey is getting more attention and treats than ever before. I see more walks in her future, too. We have a big backyard, and she looks pretty lonely, standing in the middle of it, by herself. And in the house, she is constantly surrounded by cats, of which she’s always been just a little scared. We’ve rarely had just one dog. The balance is way off. I could tell you what a great dog Bobby was and describe his unique quirks, but you probably already know how great dogs are. The most positive and cliché word I can use to describe our current state is “surreal,” which is better than the word “devastated” from a couple of days ago. But, you know, life goes on, right? It just keeps on keeping on. All of Earth’s beings, no matter what, are just brief blips on the screen. We use our time the way we use it. Then we move on. So what’s the point? We’ll get to that.

New corny autobiographical lyrics to a song which will never go beyond the lyrics stage because, well, see for yourself.
GOT TWO SHOTS OF PFIZER
NOW I’M SAFE AND WISER
BOTH WERE QUICK AND EASY
NEITHER MADE ME QUEASY
(REPEAT)

I never wanted Brave Combo to be viewed as a novelty act, plus I never paid much attention to songs built around funny, clever lyrics a whole lot, like Ray Stevens stuff or something like Steve Martin’s “King Tut.” I know a lot of people love that sort of thing, but usually one listen is more than enough for me. The occasional clever line or funny reference within a thought-provoking verse was fine, but, for my tastes, not a lyric full of one-liners. This isn’t to say I don’t appreciate people who can pull it off. It’s like I can appreciate a person is a great golfer but also have zero interest in it. When I was a kid I water-skied a lot and LOVED it, but when we went on a family vacation to Florida once and saw the super fancy colorful water-skiing exhibition at Cypress Gardens, I thought it was pretty boring. The best part of that whole vacation was collecting all the cool kids’ placemats from the various restaurants where we ate. Anyway, I am ALL VAXXED UP and ready to continue wearing my mask, as if I were not ALL VAXXED UP! Not quite READY TO ROCK!!!!

THE FUTURE. Believe it or not, many gigs appear to be looming ahead. Only a handful will happen between now and the end of summer. But then, if the good Lord’s willin’ and the COVID numbers don’t rise, Brave Combo’s gonna be insanely busy the rest of the year, with the emphasis on insane. I might have to look at this as a fresh beginning; a beautiful butterfly emerging from an 18-month cocoon. Imagine the buzz! “BC’s got a whole new look, everybody! Check out their happening duds!” Everyone will think we’re “Q” and will be screaming, “Mod, Baby, Mod!” I liked the Mod look when I was in junior high. Striped shirts with solid cuffs and collars and designs like paisleys, whatever those were supposed to be. I never looked better. Seriously and sadly.

THE POINT. So, in the previous issue of THE MACHINE’S PUMP I started the process of explaining what’s going on, in the big picture, from my perspective and focused on the Golden Rule, which, basically says don’t judge others and treat them as equals. This is a cornerstone of most religions and I wondered, beyond it being the nice thing to do, why this, as an activity kept coming up. On one hand, something like the Golden Rule, seems pretty simple, like a little kid’s lesson in Sunday School on getting along with each other. But what if it’s actually a key; a means of connecting your current little self with your bigger spiritual self, with the results being that you have proof of the existence of that spiritual self, which transcends your attachment to Earth. Isn’t this the reward most religions offer; to be less attached so the hassles and horrors of Earthly life don’t hurt so much? With that in mind, here’s an exercise, if you care to follow me down this rabbit hole.

EXERCISE #1: Try to become less opinionated; to reduce the actual number of your opinions and/or reduce the intensity of most of your opinions. This doesn’t apply to those issues of which you are understandably passionate, but it might apply to how you feel about those people who have a different opinion from yours. This is mainly an exercise to get you comfortable with the process and to prepare you for what’s to come, by starting to think about opinions as things and to become aware of how many of the little critters are out there.

Please check our itinerary often. I anticipate unanticipated gigs to pop up quickly, like a Spring Texas Thunderstorm and you don’t want to be caught out in the rain with your pants around your knees with egg on your face, do you? Okay then. Chin up! Here’s a cool song. Listen to it and be glad!

Sometime in August, about four months ago, Texas was really hot. I was concerned about our AC at home. It shouldn’t still be working so well. We thought we might have to replace it years ago, but it just keeps on doing its thing. Anyway, Christmas Holiday music seemed a long way off. Polka season hadn’t even happened yet. Slowly, but surely, though, time marched on. The days got shorter and by October the temperatures began dropping dramatically. Not much Autumn in Denton this year. September was stupidly warm, then, suddenly, it was cold. Then everyone was anticipating Halloween and once that happened, the flood gates opened. Halloween equals Thanksgiving equals Christmas equals New Year’s Eve. Bam, Bam, Bam, Bam! Everyone’s all revved-up now, ready to travel in bad weather and spend, spend, spend. An unseen force has taken control and is moving us along. I find this phenomenon both curiously entertaining and curiously annoying. No one can really escape being involved to some degree. Our poor little town is bursting at the seams and it appears Dentonites are hitting the stores in record numbers this year. Why not? We have Target, Bed Bath and Beyond, Best Buy, Kohl’s, Rooms-To-Go, Party City, Macy’s, Guitar Center. You name it, we’ve got it. Just like you, wherever you are. We even have our token struggling mall and two different theaters where you can eat a full meal during the movie, just like watching TV at home, without the luxury of being able to pause it. This town is full of stuff, ready for the masses to buy and take home. And the masses in Denton number about 10,000 more people than were here in 2018. Whatever, during this “most wonderful time of year,” stuff is definitely king. New things in boxes give us a thrill. We simply LOVE boxes with stuff in ‘em. The problem is that we sorta do this all year long. Most of us, if we can afford it, treat ourselves every day to special things. According to reruns of the old TV show, THE RIFLEMAN, back in the wild west days, for Christmas, you might only get an orange. I know, I know. This isn’t a new observation. People have been trying to get back to “the real meaning of Christmas” and away from over-commercialization since I was a little kid. But, apparently, a healthy economy depends on all of us spending extravagantly as much as possible. I mean, would things fall apart if we didn’t buy tons of new crap constantly and then, at the end of each year, go consumer berserk? It doesn’t matter. I’m just thinking out loud. Nothing can change, so it’s hardly worth pondering. And besides, the holiday season has been very good for Brave Combo over the years. It has added about 30 songs to our permanent repertoire. Bob Dylan even covered one of our arrangements (“Must Be Santa”) for his Christmas album a few years ago. We did a whole tour of Japan in support of our album, IT’S CHRISTMAS, MAN, a year before we even released it in the USA. Did you know Japan goes Christmas bonkers, too? Maybe even more so. But Jesus isn’t really part of the festivities. Love hotels are, though. Anyway, I’m always thinking about how to improve something or make it more efficient or, perhaps, even more meaningful. It really bugs most people around me that I’m constantly unsettled. From my point of view, there’s always something different around the corner, waiting to be discovered, created or fixed. The world is forever new. Merry Christmas!

Speaking of now, Brave Combo has some super-duper shows coming up. The Holiday Funhouse is waiting for you! On Friday, December 6, we return to Andy’s, in Denton, for our annual hometown bash. On Saturday, December 7, we’ll be at Poor David’s Pub, in Dallas, for our annual North Texas bash. On Friday, December 13, we are really excited to bring the funhouse to Knucklehead’s, in Kansas City. Our good friend, Mike Dillon, will be joining us for this show. If you live within 100 miles of KC, you must attend this event! On Saturday, December 14, it’s the ultimate Christmas happening, at mighty FitzGerald’s, in Berwyn (Chicago), Illinois. Another good friend, Danny Jerabek, will be on stage with us, playing some excellent notes! And on Sunday, December 15, it’s matinee party time at the Zoo Bar, in Lincoln, Nebraska. Get off your butt and come out and party with us. You can sing along with everything! “O, Holy Night (Cha Cha Cha)!”

Speaking of Christmas music, we have just received a shipment of IT’S CHRISTMAS, MAN CDs. This has been somewhat tricky to order in recent years, so we’re glad to have a decent stock for the holidays. BUT, do not tarry, if you want one. They tend to sell out. It’s a classic. Go to our store right now and order several today!

So, here we are, nearing the end of another year. Things seem hopeless, in many ways. The United States is divided into two tribes and, it appears, the best we can hope for is “our side” keeping a lid on “their side,” whatever that means to you. Unfortunately, winning-at-all-costs doesn’t really work anymore, especially when our enemies are the people with whom we share the country. I think people want to get along more than certain people in high places would have us believe. When I’m walking my dogs, and cars pass by, I usually wave and smile at the drivers. Almost every time, even if those people don’t look anything like me, they will do the same. Most people want you to like them and they want to please you, believe it or not. We are united in our insecurities and long for acceptance. This is a wonky world and no one knows what will happen next. It might behoove us to concentrate a little more on the ways we’re all similar. For instance, I’ve had a pretty terrible cold for over two weeks. I bet we can all be united in our desire to not catch really bad colds. See, that’s a place to start. Most of us like our favorite foods and hate road construction. We all, I assume, hope to sleep well and wake up refreshed. And I’m sure we would all like to put five dollars in a slot machine and get back five thousand. That would put almost everyone I know in a good mood, even if they had a headache. Oh yeah, no one likes headaches, probably. We can agree on that, right? Okay, you can take it from here. Have a Damn Happy Holiday Season. Make music part of your fun. Yes, fun! Have some fun!