Volume 8 – #8 – August 2005

We’re all shocked and saddened by Hurricane Katrina’s devastation of the beautiful gulf coast and so many historically and culturally rich communities, including New Orleans, Gulfport and Biloxi. In many ways, my disbelief, as I watched the news unfold, was similar to how I felt right after 9/11. People in our country are experiencing unbearable misery and loss right now and will continue to need help for a long time. Brave Combo has been approached to perform at several fund-raisers and we plan to choose the event(s) that we believe will have the most impact and do the most good. Keep your eye on our site for the latest info. In the meantime, think about how important this region is to the colorful texture of the United States. We can’t afford to be cavalier with our people. In my opinion, the human error in this tragedy had more to do with very poor planning, rather than a deliberate ignoring of peoples needs. And, it seems, we should all focus our energy at this point, on helping people and animals that are hurting. I trust an investigation of some sort will figure out what went wrong, but I don’t feel too poised to blame anyone. It’s just all so terribly sad. Perhaps some silver linings will appear that we can’t imagine right now. This edition of THE MACHINE’S PUMP was written before Katrina was a threat.

I’m tired of thinking so hard. There are so many distractions I have no control over, yet they creep into my head and, well, like I said, distract me. There are a lot of little pieces of mail to get out between Brave Combo sojourns and I don’t have time to worry about all the civil unrest in Canada and the growing fear that New Zealand, apparently, has the ability to make nuclear weapons (a missile is actually aimed at Ayers Rock in central Australia) and those farmers all over our country’s heartland forcing us to buy their food. On top of that, the insurgent situation in Denton is really getting out of hand. We’re being consumed by consumerism, brought on by all the thrill-seeking outsiders moving to our once-quaint, unique little burg. However, I did get an email today offering me a free “Jesus” T-shirt if I would answer a few simple questions.

Actual Thursday lunch menu for a high school in East Texas: Tacos or macaroni and cheese, rice, beans, gelatin. My suggestion: Iceberg lettuce wedge, drizzled with plain yogurt or a slice of bread, plus a fiesta patty smothered in special happy gravy, ketchup-flavored popcorn, cool whip soup, baked M&Ms, pink Lebanese turnip pickles.

Speaking of turnip pickles, how are things going in Iraq? It appears some Americans are waking up and seeing things in a different light. I’m aware that we, as common people, don’t know everything about everything, but President Bush was hired by and works for the citizens of the United States. He’s my employee, in a way, and I advise him to give more thought to other points of view. Arrogance isn’t as attractive as he thinks it is and someone needs to tell him. Pride only works when one is in an atmosphere where the golden rule still exists. The golden rule is pretty simple. Do unto others, as you would have them do unto you. Of course, there are exceptions to even the golden rule. Sometimes you absolutely must do what you have to do and regret the consequences. But, also be sure you have communicated your sincere regret about the consequences. We’re not perfect. We all mess up on occasion. But, there’s no real feeling that Bush and his entourage remember how to express unrehearsed compassion. Maybe I’m wrong. I still hope that some great truth about the world’s instability will be revealed to us all and we’ll understand our leader’s logic. Sometimes I fear that he might even be dumber than I am. And I don’t know much. But I definitely know this. Bush’s propaganda machine could try a lot harder to show us daily, positive stuff representing how average Iraqis are benefiting. FOX NEWS would show it. Whatever, I’m not even qualified to comment on things this large and complicated. However, I can tell you what key “Flying Saucer” is in.

I am so embarrassed! For years I have been introducing the song “Skokiaan” and commenting about how it’s South African beer made from pineapple. This is not true. It’s South African beer flavored with pineapple. Why didn’t someone correct me sooner? How much credibility have I lost by brazenly declaring, night after night, that it’s made from pineapple? This is humiliating. Please understand that I have a lot on my plate (see paragraph six) and I simply can’t be everywhere at once. You know what? Maybe I’m over-reacting. It’s possible that no one ever heard me the first 1000 times I said something about the song. Maybe this won’t be important news to anyone. I find it unbelievably interesting, but only for a second. Then I’m off to conquer some other strange land, spreading my weird philosophies like pineapple-flavored poison.

Summer touring has been amazing in many ways: great shows, lots of fans, dangerously hot everywhere (we even played an indoor venue without air-conditioning when it was 95 degrees outside), hard traveling (for example, Dallas one night, Cleveland the next night and Buffalo, NY the next night), learning more new songs in two months than we’ve learned in the last two years, performing with a brand new bass player, finally finishing our new CD, HOLIDAYS, all in the midst of the chaos. Life on the road can be quite chaotic, even if you plan everything down to the last deli tray. No one has control over delays in travel and, let me tell you, one should expect delays no matter where you go. There are lots of vehicles out there. And people who think their missions are as important as yours inhabit them. We were in Amsterdam and came across a large protest in one of the city’s squares. A bunch of people were standing around an upside-down car. Our road manager told us it was a demonstration against automobiles. In most European cities and small towns, bicyclists are just as numerous as car drivers. We stayed in a medium-sized town in Belgium for a week once and there were so many grandmothers on bikes all day long, there was almost no room to walk. Gas has been unaffordable for excessive errand running in most parts of the world forever. Many of the citizens of Tokyo are practically held captive. They can’t even afford the gas to get them to Mt. Fuji for the weekend and it’s not that far. Plus, everyone one else in the world is accustomed to public transportation. I’m not really suggesting anything here, other than it might be time for us Americans to rationally examine our habits. The United States is one pleasure/entertainment-addicted place. I know, because I live here and enjoy our self-indulgence as much as anyone. But, any method of dealing with any issue depends on the individual and how much he/she is willing to alter his/her lifestyle. What if it was possible to totally eliminate the drive to have something just because someone else has it? And, what if fast food wasn’t so convenient and so easily available? And what if the government was willing to give a fantastically superb bicycle or electric scooter (plus, let’s say, another $1000) to any citizen that pledged to keep his/her gas consumption down to a certain level? Okay, maybe I am suggesting a couple of things, but I’m not qualified to decide what’s best for all people. Although, I am delighted that Kinky Friedman is running for Governor of Texas. This state needs a facelift and he just might be the one to do it. At this writing the Crawford, Texas peace movement continues to bloom and the more the opposition fights it, the bigger it gets. No matter which way you lean, you have to admit, this is exciting stuff. Come on. It’s okay if we just go ahead and think of everything as entertainment. We’re already conditioned to it, anyway. There are some creepy old men (well, some aren’t that old) in high places not looking so good right now. Come on. It’s perfectly acceptable to shake our heads in disbelief.

And speaking of disbelief, my mother, Emma Finch, has moved to Denton. She’s lived in Texarkana for-uh-ever and has decided she’s had it with their high gas prices. Hmmm, maybe I should get her a bike to ride around town. She could become a symbol for the revolution of common sense. The rat-a-tat-tat of the marching snare drum signals us all to look to the skies and ponder our fate. Be nice to everyone. You’ll be amazed.