Profit Prevention Tour (Australia) - Final entry

Pt. 1 Byron and Newcastle

After Australia (Invasion) day I spent some time with Kirstie and her hilarious and clumsy dog Falkor for a few days. Mostly we just went swimming.

Had a farewell swim in the ocean with Marcus and Rick before Kirstie and myself drove down to Newcastle. after an exhausting 8 1/2 hours we arrived at Amy's and slept like you wouldn't believe. The next day we visited the skatepark, checked out the bogey hole again* and ate thai food (of course). Played a show on the Hamilton Station Hotel with Will Wagner and the smith street band, The Anorexic Olsen Twin, Like...Alaska and Phat Meegz. A rowdy and fun filled event** that dragged on into the next day. After the show I said my goodbyes to Kirstie (sadly), and went back to Amy's for a sleep. The next day was a nice and quiet show in Suzie's zine shop with the bands from the night before all playing acoustically. Afterwards had dinner at Govinda's (a Krishna restaurant), and hung out for a record party at Totoro's Teahouse a few blocks away. Jamming on the sidewalk with some of the smith street band, a car passed and an egg was thrown at us. Luckily the person sucked at throwing (and probably at life as well) and the egg landed a few feet short. We kind of just had a laugh and kept on shredding. Somehow I ended up saying goodbye to the smith street band probably about 3 times... once at the zine shop, again at the teahouse, and then the next morning when Liam and I ran into them at the public baths we said it again. Skated the park for a few minutes, and then caught my train out to Sydney.

Met Amber at Central station, though I didn't know what she looked like and she didn't recognize me either. I just saw a girl wearing a Gorilla Biscuits shirt walking around, so I figured it was probably her. After Correctly Identifying her we ate at the Green Palace in Newtown (of which I had 2 plates of my own food, and the rest of hers), ate some banana splits and watched Interview with a Vampire (Tom Cruise is a weirdo).





*A man died at the swimming hole a day before we got there. Drunk and all partied up from Australia day, he jumped off a ledge into the shallow water and split his head open. A helicopter airlifted him out but he died in the hospital the next day. The city may be using this as grounds to close the Bogey hole, which would be a major bummer.

**I have officially brought "logging" to Australia. A game where you fold up a piece of paper, place it on someone's shoulder, watch and wait till it falls off or they discover it. Chris from the smith street band had 5 on him at one point, but Will Wagner holds the current record with 7 on his shoulder while he was drunkenly hugging someone goodbye. It was like a feeding frenzy... right as he turned his back me and 2 others bombarded him with Logs until there was no more room on his shoulders. I doubled over with laughter at that point.

Pt. 2 written in the sydney terminal

A lot of emotions are running through me right now, and I'd be lying if I said I was eager to return to the states. Sitting in the airport waiting for my flight, I have a bit of time to reflect on my stay here. Although this trip overall was an awesome and amazing experience, there were some extreme lows as well. Though I could go on about the negative things about this trip I'm not going to... the people that fucked me over and/or abandoned me are well aware of this, and talking about it in further detail will just make me angry. Instead I'll take this time to thank all of the people who have done amazing things for me since I've been here, and without them this trip would have been a total disaster.

Alix for taking care of me when I couldn't walk and giving me a comfortable place to stay. Joe for working so hard at getting me shows when everything fell apart, and recording my performances. Kirstie for helping me get back to Newcastle when I completely ran out of money, and for letting me hang out with her super rad dog. Marcus for all the emotional support and friendship (you definitely helped me through some dark times). Mitch and Laura for housing me when I was on crutches, and just being all around sweet people. Jamie Hay, Babs and Bosma for helping me get on some shows in Melbourne and being super accommodating. Will Wagner and the Smith Street band for all the high fives, hugs, sing alongs and late night jam sessions. Steve, Lewis and Rayne for all the late night skate jams and impromptu ginger beer parties. Liam for being an awesome friend and bogey hole enthusiast. Josh, Gab, Brooke, Morgan, Louise, Ben and everyone at the Canberra Vegan House who have helped me out so much. Rhys and Sommer, Mark Jolley and Ben from Maclean for opening their houses to me to perform. Suzie, Jen, Amy and Like...Alaska! for helping me out with Newcastle shows and all the fun times. and lastly, Amber in Newtown for feeding me banana splits and being the last person I see before I leave Australia.


Going home broke, filthy and exhausted. I have less than a month to prepare for my Euro tour with xTrue Naturex so I literally have to get to work as soon as I land. I have a long few months ahead, but keeping busy generally keeps me happy. I'm starting to feel like what I'm doing actually makes a difference again, and I want to continue on this path.

See you all soon.

for love and liberation,
Mike XVX