The Machine’s Pump Volume 28 – #12 – December 2025

So, here we are, between the Christmas holiday orgy and New Year’s Eve sobfest; a “lost world” sort of time, when not much is supposed to happen. Maybe it’s just me, but the lead-up to this year’s tradition addiction seemed rather forced and oddly, though not surprisingly, joyless. Most people I know were not particularly happy during this “most wonderful time of the year” and felt like they were just going through the motions. And who can blame them? It’s been a rough year, overall, with so many awful things taking place at the hands of people who are openly gleeful about the suffering they’ve inflicted. It’s impossible to keep up with the atrocities, right? Do I need to recap some of the horrors for you? I don’t think so. Besides, I’m not fond of year-end recaps, anyway, even at the end of normal years. Dullsville, man! So, since we are, unbelievably, witnessing the potential demise of our democracy and the actual de-evolution of humans, in real time, we better learn how to enjoy the non-stop earthquake our daily life has become and embrace the insanity, right? At least that’s my plan; to only do crazy, senseless stuff, with no expectations, which has always been my plan, come to think of it. So, going forward should be pretty easy for me, then. Brave Combo could never have had typical expectations, or we would have built something predictable, based on typical expectations and not simply followed our noses to the next opportunity. Chance has played a bigger role in our ridiculous journey than one might imagine. In a way it’s been like a religion, in that we’ve had to rely on faith every step of the way. But not faith in God. Faith in music and art and ourselves. At times, it was, literally, blind faith. And the really cool thing is that when I saw Jesus downtown recently, he gave me a thumbs up and told me his dad was behind Brave Combo 100%! And I said, “Great, but is that why we never had a big mainstream hit record, to keep us humble?” And he said, “Yeah, probably, but who knows for sure. He works in mysterious ways.” And I said, “Yeah, I heard about that.” Then he said, “And, for what it’s worth, you know, you guys play polka music. Dad and I can only do so much!” And I replied, “Yeah, I know. It’s cool. Don’t worry about it. I don’t care that much about fame and riches.” And he gave me an awkward fist bump and said, “That’s the point, dude!”

So, speaking of making music, Brave Combo remains on vacation and is not making any right now, which means I have more time to spend on animal stuff. I love and hate all the obligations this kind of commitment entails but, unfortunately, you can’t do it halfway, if you want to make a difference. It’s that way with everything, damn it! I would love to do most stuff halfway! But it doesn’t work. That’s also why we (Brave Combo) will be hitting the rehearsal studio with much gusto very soon. We have a lot of new music to not learn halfway. You will benefit from our hard work, too! No need to thank us. We just have to live with ourselves!

Speaking of animals, here I am holding a chicken I found cowering under a truck very late one night, AND an A.I. version of the image (thanks, Tomo) with me in a chicken suit, holding the chicken. See, there’s hope, even in the virtual world!

Before I go, this is a little promo clip I made for Texas Folklife’s 2026 Big Squeeze Accordion competition. Great event! Great people! Check it out! https://texasfolklife.org/the-big-squeeze/

Okay, thanks popping in and examining our point-of-view. And, as always, don’t be afraid!