Photos! Round 1

Haven't had time to update this thing, but thought I'd share some photos with everyone... I'll let these tell the story for now. Maybe when I get back I can do a summary of the whole trip. One thing I will say though is that my dear friend Chonga, from the european tour with xTrue Naturex, is here with me right now in Chiang Mai! We are currently enjoying frozen watermelon juices in the sweltering heat of our hostel. Leaving tomorrow morning for a 3 day trek up into the jungle!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nofuckingwhey/sets/72157625435287218/

A short trip through Thailand pt. 1

Hello everyone,

So today I'll be leaving for a 2 week journey across Thailand. I had initially planned on doing a short tour, but I decided that for once I'd like to travel and actually take some time and enjoy myself. Plus, not having to carry around my heavy, bulky guitar is a definite plus as well. Looking after that thing is almost like looking after a baby; can't be too cold, can't be too hot, someone will steal it if I don't keep an eye on it... etc. etc.

My journey began with a 1,400 mile drive from Vancouver Island, BC to Los Angeles, CA to catch my flight. I stopped off in Portland, OR for a night to visit friends and eat some delicious vegan food. I can't remember the last time I had decent Mexican food... spending so much time in Canada has gotten me used to eating dry, unseasoned beans and bizarre tasting "spanish rice". So naturally I went to Taqueria Los Gorditos and devoured an entire enchilada plate with soy curls and a tamale in about 15 minutes, and amazingly avoided slipping into a deep food coma as I usually do whenever I eat there. If you're ever around Portland I definitely recommend going to this place!

After my second day in Portland I left and headed south around 6 pm. I said goodbye to some friends, drove about 6 hours listening to "The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy" series on Audiobook, and ended up sleeping at a rest stop somewhere near Yreka, CA. Using my Liberate hoodie as a screen to block out the streetlights, foolishly I did not consider that my window had to be slightly cracked open to do this. I fell asleep immediately, slept for a good 6 hours or so sitting upright in the drivers seat, and awoke in the freezing air of Mt. Shasta with ice all over the windshield. As miserable as that was, it certainly made me feel alive... that's for sure.
Later in the day I stopped off at a gas station to buy some oil for the car. Walking into the store I overheard a conversation happening at the counter, little did I know that they were talking about me. I kept hearing a man say "watch him, WATCH HIM. I don't trust him.." over and over again, and when I approached the counter to pay (don't act so surprised) I heard him say to one of the employees "Charge him extra" as he was walking out the door. In a daze from staring at the road for the past 12 hours, I finally pieced together that he was talking about me and that he was most likely the owner of this gas station. Was it my long scruffy hair and beard? my sleeveless 7 generations shirt with it's prominent anti-christian message? The fact that I hadn't showered in 4 days and probably reeked of BO and Thai Food? Whatever. This asshole was wearing khaki pants with a blue tooth in his ear, who's he to pass judgment on me? The womyn behind the counter gave me an apologetic and embarrassed smile, I'm sure this isn't the first time he's acted like an asshole towards her. I paid, walked out and filled my car up with oil. On my way out of the parking lot I saw him changing the numbers on the front sign, which confirmed for me that he WAS in fact the owner. I rolled up alongside him about 6 ft away or so, gave him a friendly *MEEP MEEP* on my car horn, extended my middle finger and gave him the happiest, most excited smile I could muster. He turned to give a friendly wave until he saw that I was quite literally telling him to go fuck himself in the politest of ways. He was bummed to say the least. Fuck you and your blue tooth, I'm still punk.

After the grueling, traffic filled final leg of my drive into LA, I finally made it to my Uncle's house in Torrance. I took them out for some awesome vegan food at Veggie Grill in El Segundo which they all enjoyed and filled up on food bars at Whole Foods for my trip (did you know they sell jars of live ladybugs there?? so fucked).

I only have a few hours left on this continent before my flight leaves. As of now I have about $200 for food and accommodations while in Thailand. People are telling me that it's a stupid idea to go alone to a country you've never been to before with not enough money, but I'll show them who's stupid (or to phrase it more politely: I'll be just fine). It's not my style to go somewhere completely prepared, it just wouldn't be me.

I'll try and keep you all updated with photos and entries as often as I can, but I'm not sure how well that will work out. Take care!

Mike XVX

I Am So Proud of You: working with rescued animals in British Columbia PT. 7 (FINAL)

9/7 - 9/15

The night we headed back from the show in Victoria we were driving through the woods in our neighborhood when I saw a bike tire protruding from a bush on the side of the road. Never passing up a good opportunity for a trash bike I ran out and grabbed it. I threw it in the back of Chuck's truck and headed off back to the cabin, only to realize later how hideous (and awesome) this bike really is. It has: a Maruishi road bike frame, a knobby mountain bike tire on the back, beach-cruiser wheel on the front, bmx bars, cruiser seat, ancient brakes and a 5 speed shifter. As ugly as this thing is, amazingly it rides well and the tires are relatively new. The frame is a bit rusted and the back tire wobbles, but everything runs smoothly and it shifts properly. Anyway, it reminded me of a story that my friend Keegan told me about someone he knew finding a mountain bike in a dumpster and riding it 200 miles. The ferry crossing in Port Angeles, WA is only 250 miles from Portland, OR so I thought if someone else can do it why can't I? I scoured Craigslist for days until I found a cheap, pink Little Tikes bike trailer that I've managed to shove all of my belongings into, and plan to drag it all the way back to PDX. So I've spent this last week preparing for my trip home, and as of recently the cabin has been completely ransacked since 'Hurricane Mike' has come through. Considering that I'll be riding home through the Olympic mountains in potentially freezing weather, I've decided to only take items with me that are essential to my survival over the next 4 or so days. That means I have to leave a few important things behind for now, like my guitar and other bike, but on the bright side it'll give me more incentive to come back to Canada soon (not that I really need any more).

I am currently 2 days away from leaving Canada for an unknown period of time, and what was originally supposed to be 2 weeks here ended up stretching out to nearly 2 months. Ginny and Ron Weasley (the cats) are finally comfortable enough here at the cabin to come down from the loft and play through all hours of the night, and I am super excited for them. Every time I'm home alone Ron sees an opportunity for some bro time, and we usually watch The Office together or I play music for him. I spent my last day at the farm yesterday feeding the animals and shoveling horse manure out of the shed that Romeo (the horse) loves to shit in. I also got to groom Natalie Portman (the turkey) for the first time and he loved it! I wish I had taken a video but I didn't have a camera at the time. We've been avoiding and ignoring Keres every time we've come to the farm as well, and that works out better for everyone; though occasionally we'll see some of her handiwork around the farm when we're feeding on our days i.e. not refilling the chicken's water, leaving a mountain of trash in the tool shed, doing nothing about a horrible infection Romeo had in his eye etc.

This trip has been an amazing and informative experience for me. I got to spend time with animals that I never had the opportunity to be around previously. Got to witness how and why horses get their feet trimmed, learned how chickens eat their own eggs (kinda gross), how some turkeys (like Carl*) love to hump everything in sight and will crawl in your lap and cuddle if you let them, how truly anti-social most cats naturally are with humyns, and when I was volunteering at the parrot sanctuary in Parksville I learned how hard cockatoos can bite**. I made some pretty amazing and inspiring friends here, and I am hoping to come back to stay here again as soon as I can... until then I will miss them greatly. I can't imagine how hard it's going to be to have to leave here tomorrow.

Even though I've heard so many amazing stories of survival about the animals I've come into contact with, there are still millions and millions out there who are never afforded an opportunity at a decent life. Sanctuaries and rescues are amazing places and deserve support and admiration. It's hard work to take care of so many animals, and some people, like Chuck, have to work 2 or 3 jobs just to provide for the animals in their care. Look into a sanctuary or rescue near you and donate your time or money, I'm sure they could greatly use it. Sentient beings are not commodities, trophies or emotional or physical punching bags; THEY ARE OUR FRIENDS.

I don't trust anyone that doesn't love animals.

Love Always,
Mike XVX

Huge thank you's and much love to: Chuck, Stanley, Romeo, Timber, Natalie Portman, Ron and Ginny, Dougie, Reggie, Ebin, the chickens, the bunnies and all the feral cats, Justin, Shawna, Marian, Emma, Tarah, Brooke, Joe, Heather, Tara, Martin, Adrienne, all people who oppose the Canadian seal hunt, people who throw away bikes for no darn good reason, and lastly Chuck's mom for spending hours finding me a tent to ride home with. GO VEGAN!


*Carl used to live at the farm but now lives at a stable where he hangs out with kids all day and teaches them that turkeys are friends, not food.

**I was standing there minding my own business when a cockatoo bit me square on my Achilles tendon and it bled like crazy. I turned around to see 3 or 4 of them standing there so I didn't know who to blame, but it hurt really freakin bad.

I Am So Proud of You: working with rescued animals in British Columbia PT. 6

8/31 - 9/6

It's been getting a little bit colder the past week or so, and I'm excited for Fall to finally be here. We've often had fires in our fireplace here at the cabin and there's nothing more comforting then falling asleep to the crackle of wood burning.

A couple of days ago I needed to make copies, so Chuck dropped me off with my bike at the office supply store on her way to work. Unbeknownst to me, and because of a mis-communication she dropped me off at the store that's nearly 3 times as far from the cabin as the one I assumed we were going to. So with no food and very little water, my journey home began on the treacherous, yet beautiful, Parkway Trail. The trail itself stretches from one end of Nanaimo to the other, most of the ride being through the woods along the highway and over or across bridges. The hills are incredibly steep on the first part of this path, and I ride a brakeless fixed gear bike, so I literally came within inches of colliding with a family of deer while coming down a grade. Accidentally having separated the mother from her 2 babies, I was terrified she was going to seek retribution against me. Luckily she accepted my screamed apology as I flew past. After I had been riding for a couple of hours, I finally reached a nice, flat area that wound through shady woods along a river. Enjoying myself for the first time on the Parkway Trail, I was brought to a halt while coming around a corner to discover that the path abruptly ended. Amidst a sea of construction crews, bulldozers and cement trucks, one worker, who was oh so busy talking on her cell phone, took one look at me and shook her head. So with my original route closed I found an alternative among surface streets, and eventually made it back to the cabin.*

I played a show in Victoria on Sep. 4th at the BCGEU. A friend, who had previously invited me to play the Anarchist Bookfair, set up a benefit show for a womyn named Kelly that was arrested in the wake of the G20 in Toronto**. She is being charged as being one of the leaders of the black bloc which the government is trying to classify as a "hate crime". Hate crime statutes were created to protect people from marginalized communities, but it's now being used against an activist in a completely ridiculous and unrelated context. (you can read more about her case here: http://anarchistnews.org/?q=node/11810) The show went well and I met some pretty awesome people. There were a few performers that completely blew me away, I was seriously impressed! Chuck and I both finished off 2 gluten-free vegan pizzas***, cookies, and a cream soda before the show so after a long drive back to Nanaimo and settling in at the cabin at 3 am we both had some serious stomach aches.

Nearing the last days here in Canada, and I already know I'm going to miss it when I get back to the states. I've made a short video of some of the animals I've met on this trip and set it to some awesome 80's pop music. Let me know what you all think!


Love Always,
Mike XVX

*My thighs are still sore as I type this.

**For 3 years I've been extended an invitation to play the bookfair, every year I've said yes, and every year I've fucked up and missed it.

***Try Daiya vegan cheese, you will NOT regret it!

I Am So Proud of You: working with rescued animals in British Columbia PT. 5

8/23 - 8/30

I've been sick with whatever Chuck had for most of this week, some kind of flu I imagine. There were times when I felt comfortable getting up and walking around, but I pushed it too far when I went for a 30 mile bike ride across the countryside and through the city. I spent the next day completely bed-ridden and miserable... but now after some rest I'm starting to feel better.
I've been riding my bike as much as I can since I've been here, and I've seen deer almost everyday. The route I usually ride takes me through a southern part of town near the lumbermill. It smells terribly of rotting wood and chemicals, but to cross into Nanaimo there's no other way around it. There's a small community that I pass immediately afterward that is eerily quiet, yet there's always people meandering about in the roads that I have to weave around. It reminds me so much of this short story "The Shadow Over Innsmouth" by one of my favorite authors H.P. Lovecraft. In the story, Innsmouth is a small and rarely visited town in New England where everything about the citizens and the architecture is detestable in an indiscriminate and unspoken way. Because of local legends travelers avoid it all costs, though one man chooses to visit despite the warnings of others and slowly pieces together a story of a fishing tycoon that makes a deal with demons one night on the reef that surrounds the town. The traveler gets trapped there and all kinds of crazy stuff starts happening... I won't ruin it for you, but I just thought it would maybe paint a better picture of this area. Anyway, I rode through there one night and immediately after I entered the neighborhood I regretted getting started on my ride home so late. Once through I breathed a huge sigh of relief. Maybe I'm just being silly.


I've been bonding with our 2 cats Ron and Ginny Weasley quite a bit. They both finally worked up the courage to come down from the loft on the crazy box staircase I made for them (which in it's own way must be scary enough to climb down on). Ronald came down for a visit this morning and was loving all over me while I slept. I also saw him kneading Chuck's blanket-covered head and was amazed that she didn't wake up. Though she rose to get the phone a little bit later and Ron, almost being crushed, panicked and jumped straight into the chest at the end of the bed!* I am so excited that they're starting to feel more comfortable here, as anti-social as they are I felt like we were keeping them locked up in a prison. They are both the sweetest, cutest little potatoes ever and it would be so lonely here in the cabin without them.

Stanley is doing better now, his hair is starting to grow back and his wound from the jacket is healing up nicely. We went by the other day and it was incredibly infected, so we sprayed him with some iodine and it's helped quite a bit. Hopefully it will heal up completely and not leave a scar, but only time will tell on that one.

Yesterday evening I was feeling a bit peckish, and with little food at the house I decided to head to the grocery store. My bike was in the back of Chuck's truck while she was at work, so my best option was to hitchhike the 13 miles into town. With the sun setting and remembering how few cars drive by on our road, especially on a Sunday, I was starting to worry that I wasn't going to make it before the sun went down and I would most likely have to walk through the pitch black woods to get back. Consequently I made it in 3 rides, and riding in the back of a pickup truck staring up at the sun setting behind the trees made me feel pretty glad that my bike was locked away and I was afforded this rare opportunity. I managed to get to my destination before the sun set, and while in line at the store another piece of good fortune was thrown my way. As I was paying for my food (surprised?) I was unable to afford 2 or 3 items and had to set them aside. I had got the truck back from Chuck, and as I was about to drive away I saw a young womyn running across the parking lot at me. My first instinct was to run, and then I thought maybe I just dropped some money. Well when I rolled the window down she had those 3 items in her hands, so she put them on the passenger side seat, stared at me for a minute and then said "Have a good night!" and took off running. I could barely yelp out a thank you amidst all the confusion, but left that night feeling pretty psyched on life.



Making tentative plans to ride my bike back to Vancouver, but things are so back and forth here that every time I plan on leaving something else comes up. Anyway, I have about 2 weeks left here in Canada and I'm going to try and make the best of them. Hope you're all doing well!

Love Always,
Mike XVX

*Don't worry, he's ok!

I Am So Proud of You: working with rescued animals in British Columbia PT. 4

8/16 - 8/22

The mayor of Nanaimo and myself.
I asked him to pretend like I was someone really famous for the photo. no big deal. Also, you know someone's a good mayor when they ask you what "chick" you're trying to impress right after you get your picture with him.

I picked up a free mountain bike from a craigslist ad, and one that assured me that it still had some salvageable parts on it, only to find that every component was rusted nearly all the way through. Not having much else to do with it, I traveled to the steepest hill in the city (which is about a mile long and pretty freakin steep) and launched it ceremoniously at 3 am after I picked up Chuck from work. Ready to jump back in the car to follow it down, it made it about 20 ft and took a hard right into someones yard. Needless to say I was disappointed.
That next morning Chuck had her appointment with her psychic, and woke me up at about 9 am with a call right afterward. What I can remember of the conversation was a flurry of excitement on her end, talking about how her psychic knew all about her family situation and that she's making the right decisions etc. with me adding a sleepy and muffled "mmhmm" and "ya" in between. The conversation ended as quickly (and loudly) as it had begun and later I wondered if I had dreamt any of it. Incidentally I did not, but now Chuck is pretty certain that moving to the United States is the right decision for her. Whether this came about from her psychic reading, or maybe a combination of something else I do not know, but I'm glad that she's figured out what she wants and is taking steps to make it happen. It's good to finally be able to spend time with someone who's driven and self motivated, you know?

Drove down to Victoria a couple days ago and visited with a friend. We stopped by a pretty rad art gallery, had some decent vegan chinese food, spent way too much money at the local infoshop, and then bought a vegan gluten free pizza (with daiya cheese!) for the drive back up. Chuck has been really sick with throat ulcers, a fever and an incredibly sore back, but we still had a pretty rad day. I haven't spent much time in Victoria since I've been here and I'm looking forward to going back pretty soon for a show that I'm playing, maybe even riding the 80 miles from here to there.


The liberal leader Michael Ignatieff, who's running for Prime Minister, visited our town to give a talk and have lunch at a local french restaurant downtown. Michael Ignatieff is a big supporter of the Canadian seal hunt, so we organized a demo to hopefully have a discussion with him and raise awareness about the issue. He consistently uses the argument that the seal hunt supports First Nations people, and that opposition to the commercial hunt is a threat to their way of life. In reality, the commercial seal hunt is owned and run by white, male Norwegians, Newfoundlanders, Nova Scotians, and Quebecois; it has no correlation with any traditional indigenous hunt. Though we were getting media attention at first, we weren't sure Ignatieff was paying much attention to us protesting outside at all. We only had 10 or so people, but we still managed to be loud enough to disturb the proceedings inside. Eventually he had his PR person come out and guarantee us that he would answer some of our questions once he was finished inside looking like an idiot and kissing everyone's ass (my words, not hers). But, immediately afterward she asked us: "you guys aren't going to like, throw red paint on him are you?" we all had a really good laugh at that, so she responded with "well that's just what I heard some animal rights people do" hahaha. Here is the discussion once he came outside:



Last night I shaved off my beard, cut my hair and went for a 30 mile bike ride across 4 towns. Rode from our cabin to Chuck's work, treated myself to dinner, rode back to Chuck's work again, and then rode the last 13 miles back to the cabin at 10:15 (on a saturday night*). Riding across each town was fine, but once I got into the forest the moon went behind some clouds and I was left with only my 2 small bike lights to keep me safe on that windy rode. 8 miles of terrified biking, riding as fast as I could thinking that I'm being chased by Skinwalkers, bears, aliens or drunk drivers trying to run me down. Your mind tells you some crazy things when you're scared, and riding all alone on that stretch of road in the middle of the night was as nerve-racking as it gets. Because of how horrifying most of the ride had been I made it back in about 40 minutes from when I had left Chuck's work. Maybe I'll start doing velodrome and have Sasquatch chase me across the track.
Currently still dealing with family drama here and there, and our visit to the farm this morning was as shocking as it gets. Stanley (the ex-racehorse) had been wearing a fly jacket when we arrived and was kicking and shaking his head in a bizarre way. When Chuck removed the jacket she noticed that the chord had left an incredibly painful looking rope burn across his chest, and in seeing it immediately burst into tears. It was incredibly gruesome, and we spent some time afterward putting ointment on his cut and feeding him blackberries. Apparently his jacket had been on for several days, and Keres blames Chuck for "not taking care" of her horses, even though as of recently we've only been designated (and allowed) to come to the farm 3 days of the week. Set aside the fact that Keres was the one who put the jacket on him, which serves nearly no purpose.

We're still in the process of finding Stanley a new home. After all he's been through he doesn't deserve to be mistreated and neglected any further then he already has. It's hard to imagine that this incident wasn't intentional, and while running into Chuck's mom again while leaving lead to another argument and literally no empathy on her end. Animals deserve love and respect, and Stanley is receiving neither of those from Keres. Oh, how laws protect animal abusers... if we only lived in a world where people could actually be held accountable for the way that they treat other sentient beings.

Love always,
Mike XVX

*I will high five you if you can name the band that wrote this song.

A Song For Stanley

A Song For Stanley from mike xvx on Vimeo.