The Machine’s Pump Volume 29 – #4 – April 2026

As our country continues to unravel and fall apart in so many unbelievable and insane ways, one must dwell on bigger issues. For instance, I wonder how I am supposed to figure into all this social/political upheaval and what this forced education in extreme human cruelty and weakness will teach me. Because, no matter what happens, for my understanding of the craziness, everything is, ultimately, between me and myself. The answers I need are already inside and I just have to be honest with myself, which is not easy for anyone. Look in the mirror. Look into your own eyes. Look past your insecurities, so you can see what’s actually there. Just try to believe what you already know and trust it. You don’t need an external being or entity to tell you what you need to know. You don’t need a book to teach you how to be fair or kind to people. Simply ask yourself how to be fair or kind. Unfortunately, solutions to specific problems are often not simple at all. Trapping and tending to feral cats takes a lot of patience and strategy and it usually requires one to be out late, often in bad weather, if you really want to make a difference. And it’s often not exactly what I would call fun. But, what’s the point of being alive, anyway? To just take as much as we can, so we don’t feel like we were cheated out of something while we lived our scary life? Or to view Earth as our plaything? Not for me. Plus, way too many cool, inexplicable things have landed in my lap for me to think everything is just random nuts and bolts. And to a great degree, I believe I can control aspects of my destiny, whatever cornball thing my destiny turns out to be. So, I just choose to think of life as a big-ass puzzle we are required to solve, no matter how many times we have to repeat the class. And, in my opinion, it’s always good to look at the big picture, whatever the challenge. That’s why I am so obsessed with the enormity of the universe. Our sun is insignificant. Our planet is insignificant. And we, as a species, and individually, are certainly insignificant. We should get over ourselves and try to see through the constant fog of fear. Then we can, indeed, discover our incredible significance inside the reality of being nothing. Anyway, this is what makes sense to me. The world may be full of fools, who have chosen to be fooled into being fools. But I don’t have to be one, too.

“It’s one, two, three
What are we fightin’for?
Don’t ask me, I don’t give a damn,
“bout bombing ol’ Iran”

Speaking of music, Brave Combo has been busy again, rehearsing, performing, and bringing back some hits from the past we haven’t played in a while. So come out and laugh and cry because life is long and too short at the same time. We always try to make you react emotionally to our sounds and manipulation of the elements (melody, harmony, and rhythm) and hope we’re all feeling the same thing. Please check our itinerary often. We might add an unexpected gig or two or decide to livestream a show in front of our office, in downtown Denton, at 2 am, just because.

Many years ago, we recorded an album of old Japanese songs. Traditional and early popular stuff. We sang in Japanese only, except for one track, “Aoi Sanmyaku (Blue Mountains).” There were three verses, and Bubba sang one in English, one in Spanish, and one in Japanese. We actually hired tutors to help us with our Japanese, to get as close as we could to something acceptable. The song is about holding your head up and moving forward, through the tears, when your world is shattered. During one tour, we got to play this song on a big Japanese variety show, and we were all dressed up in Santa Claus outfits because we were also releasing a Christmas album and performed “Must Be Santa” on the show, too. This was surreal to the max. We sat in a warm dressing room for a long time, in heavy Santa Claus suits, waiting to perform, laughing at the predicament we were in. Here’s “Aoi Sanmyaku.”

Did you hear that new 45rpm 7-inch by Jesus and The Buddhists, called “Life Is Suffering, So Get Funky?” Me, neither, but someone should name their band that and write and record that song. In the meantime, enjoy the ridiculous, but frightening, daily dramas we’re bound to witness and experience in the coming weeks and months.