Apocalypse Dance Party
Streaming from his apartment amidst a heavy wildfire haze, Mike attempts to foster a lighthearted "apocalyptic" party atmosphere while contending with constant Bluetooth and speaker failures. Concluding with a "safety moment," Mike warns fellow smokers to extinguish their smoking materials completely, urging viewers to travel carefully and monitor official news updates.
It is a beautiful, hazy morning here in Tigard, Oregon. It is Friday, 11 September 2020, and we made it. I’m so thankful my apartment is still standing and that the wildfires haven't come down this way. It’s just been such a weird, intense couple of days. Honestly, if you look outside, the sky is turning red and it feels like we're living through a hazy, smoky micro-climate.
I was actually looking at the fire maps earlier, and there's no rain in the forecast for days. The fires are incredibly close to Portland. Estacada—which is actually where we were planning to host our Crimson Rouge spring "Phantasm" retreat—is literally burning right now, so I'll have to reschedule the whole event. It's so surreal when these wildfires start affecting the actual people and places you love before you've even had a chance to fully experience them. But you know what? I’m staying physically and mentally safe. In fact, a part of me is honestly enjoying the wildfires. I think of them as nature reclaiming her space. We have disrespected this planet, and these fires are like a blessing—God's way of clearing out the dead wood. I’m still praying for everyone losing their lives, families, and property, but we are going to enjoy the end of the world together. I even have a special playlist for us called "The End is 2020".
Let's do a quick safety moment before we vibe out. As some of you know from my time in the utility industry, safety is a culture of excellence we have to live and breathe. First, for anyone who thinks I'm having a schizophrenic episode: I took my meds, and I'm just in a good mood! But seriously, if anyone is concerned enough to call the cops on me, I will literally hunt you down, so let's keep things chill. Second, if you are a smoker, make sure you put out your butts and joints completely. Things burn up incredibly fast around here, and it's not cute. Fortunately, my roommate Paulo is amazing and got us an air conditioner with an air filter, so I'm breathing good quality, certified HEPA indoor air while Portland burns.
To keep my hands free and improve the cinematography, I actually bought a selfie stick—can you believe it’s 2020 and Mike George is using a selfie stick? It's this bendable, strong stick that I'm wearing around my neck like a neck cast, paired with some cheap ghetto headphones. I'm trying to host virtual concerts and get better at my terrible lip-syncing. I want to host a virtual dance party on September 30th through Crimson Rouge Studios. I'm just so tired of sitting inside my apartment when I should be out making out with twinks. I'm unemployed in a third-world country right now—because let's face it, the United States is officially a third-world country—and that gives me an ominous pit in my stomach. I've been dealing with a lot of physical, mental, and sexual challenges lately, and I'm tired of hiding behind a facade of politeness. I came out ten years ago, and I promised myself I would never hide again. It also makes me so sad to think that I have to move out of this apartment in a month, so this might be the last time I get to enjoy this porch.
For those wondering why the music keeps cutting out, my Bluetooth is extremely vulnerable to technical snafus. Davey, I know you're watching, and as a fellow electrical engineer, you'll appreciate this: trying to get these multiple Bluetooth speakers to play in tandem off a single sync clock is an absolute nightmare. It's basically the equivalent of trying to synchronize multiple generators on a power system to create an "audio power grid". Speaking of the grid, I work as a transmission operations engineer for PGE. We've had a lot of power outages lately, and I've been working from home studying the impacts of those outages. I'd like to apologize to anyone who has been affected by them.
My roommate Paulo just popped in and warned me not to open the door because of the air quality, so I'm going to start winding down. Let's do one last weather check before I go. There are active fires to our southeast in Estacada, Colton, and Molalla, and Oregon City is serving as the command center for the rescue operations. We are perfectly safe here in Tigard, but please keep an eye on the news and take extra precautions if you're driving out there. Stay safe, Facebook Live! This is Mike George, and I'll see you guys later.
