A moment of Enlightenment

No surprise, I'm behind schedule with an update, but tonight, back in the middle of one of the most remote places on earth, I had an indescribable moment of connection to the universe (Samantha being the conduit) -"enlightenment" if you will. I wrote some of the most meaningfully inadequate words I've ever written about that moment -here's a bit:

"My woman is the wilderness,

my lost-ness

the kiss,

bliss,

endless

the one truth,

one mystery,

she is eternity,

treachery

my ending,

beginning

birthing 10 thousand things,

the birth of me.

My woman is

before

and beneath

and between

she is the seams,

nothing,

the dream..."

Once Upon A Time (live solo)

Farewell Taiwan, Hello Philippines!

Well, we've said goodbye to Taiwan. We spend our last night eating some awesome pizza at Sandro's, one of the few places in Taiwan where you can get authentic Italian food. We gave big hugs to our son Willie and lots of petting to our dog and two cats, who we won't see for about a year. After getting about two hours of sleep we hit the road bright and early to catch our plane.

We were happy to make it through the Manila airport without a hitch, the whole process of immigration, customs, and getting our bags took maybe 15 minutes. This was a pleasant surprise, Manila airport has been ranked one of the worst in the world and we'd heard horror stories about it. The only annoyance was the friendly cab driver constantly asking to take us all the way to our destination Olongapo instead of to the bus station. 

While we hear that Manila is an underrated gem of a city for the true adventurer, we decided to just pass through quickly this time. We headed to Baloy beach, Olongapo, a town on the main island of Lizon in Northern Philippines. Most of the four hour bus-ride was just to get out of Manila due to major traffic and infrastructure issues.

We were instantly struck by the similarity to Central America in everything from the cultural vibrancy to the style and color schemes of the buildings. It must be the hundreds of years of Spanish colonialism. The economic divisions here are stark, especially compared to Taiwan. We passed areas of modern skyscrapers and upscale malls with Western shops and shanty neighborhoods with houses made of pallets, tarps, and tin roofs. The people here seem quite vibrant and friendly, but unlike Taiwan, caution is warranted. 

The coolest thing we've seen so far are the colorful “jeepneys”. These little privately owned buses are decked out by their owners and are all over the country. Another popular form of transportation, which we used to get from the bus station to our hotel are rickshaws, they have both bike and motorized versions.

Unfortunately a small tropical storm arrived at about the same time we did, so we've been mostly holed up in the hotel during our first day here. We ventured out a bit to see the beach. It is very close to the small town we're in, and almost reaches the doorways of the hotels and homes that line the beach. I imagine this place gets some serious flooding when typhoons pass through.

When the storm passes we plan to head to Jest Camp to see what we can learn about jungle survival. We hope to learn a bit about food foraging, and some basic survival skills we can use when we get to Fiji, or other places as the case may be.

Well, that's my adventure so far. It's still early in so stay tuned for more updates! As always I encourage you to comment and let me know what you think. This is an intimate group and I will always take the time to talk to you and/or answer any questions you might have.

Much Love,

Mike

The End of the Beginning

It's been a long time coming but I've finally gotten a glimpse over the horizon. After years of putting my life and blood into this music and story it's almost ready to go out into the world. It hasn't been an easy road and you wouldn't believe the hurdles I've had to jump to get to this point. Overcoming these hurdles has created a huge sense of achievement. 

I've just received the masters of the music from my engineer in London and I'm preparing to send them out for duplication. I've finished designing the album artwork which you're seeing before anyone else, and I'm ready to take the music on the road for an indefinite period. This fall I'll be finishing the radio theatre version and in 2016 developing a psychedelic shadow-puppet show. I'll be travelling far and wide and I hope to make it to your neck of the woods eventually. However, you may not know that there is more to this adventure than just the music.

While the tour will take me through major cities, I'm literally headed into the wilderness to learn what true sustainability looks like. My wife, Samantha and I will be doing jungle survival workshops in the Philippines and we'll be sharing the music in farm and jungle communities in Australia and Fiji while we learn how to provide for ourselves. We'll take what skills and knowledge we've accumulated to our own small plot of land on Koro island, Fiji. Here we'll have to survive completely off the land and off the grid using what skills and resources we can manage to pull together. 

In the meantime I'd like to give you a sneak preview of The Wilderness. Please take a listen and tell me what you think. I'm always happy to hear your thoughts and feelings about my songs!

Buckle up and enjoy the ride, I'm happy to have you along.