Open Mike LIVE

Open Mike LIVE

Join Mike George for his wanders, as he completes his quest to return home from Louisiana, battling various foes, fears and follies along the way…

Featuring occasional appearances with Dave, unidentified stoners in the park, WANDA, and Parking Garage KAREN.

Play along and join my next LIVE stream. You might be the next essential guide for Mike to finally reach home.

This collection chronicles over 7 years of live-streaming video posts I’ve recorded.

This raw format is a move from static text to video, facilitating a more immediate and direct connection with others. They are unscripted and unpolished slices in my life, documenting my travels and adventures across various locations in North America.

A man with dark hair and a bandana around his neck stands in front of red and white striped fabric and a blue section with white stars, reminiscent of the American flag.

I hope you enjoy these productions and find some small value from my story.

I’m an engineer in the industry of energy and electric power who, like many of my beloved colleagues, asks myself “how can we do better?

Gazing upon the marvels of which humanity is capable, I can’t help but compare the promise of our time to what we see happening on the news today and what anxieties haunt our children about the world we leave them. And that comparison grows more and more difficult to paint kindly.

But I cannot stay silent. So here I am to offer some civility, humor, and critical insight into how I believe we can restore American excellence, starting with each of us.

Follow my journey through the following places in America in which I’ve called home:

  • Columbus, Ohio

  • Portland, Oregon

  • Montreal, Quebec

  • Alexandria, Louisiana

  • Steubenville, Ohio

Featured Episodes

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  • The Nightmare Is Over
    11/10/20

    The Nightmare Is Over

    Mike broadcasts from Portland, Oregon, during a celebration of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris winning the 2020 presidential election, expressing immense relief and excitement that the "nightmare" from the previous administration seems to be over.

  • Escaping Hell
    1/4/21

    Escaping Hell

    Mike vents about a relentless stream of hardships and trauma that have followed him since leaving Portland, Oregon, during a period of hell that includes being a victim of rape and theft by an ex-partner, an illegal eviction spurred by friends of the ex, and precipitously losing his job after a mental health crisis sparked by the wildfires that besieged the state of Oregon in summer 2020.

  • Bobtailing from Tacoma
    9/1/17

    Bobtailing from Tacoma

    This episode captures Mike and Matt on their trucking journey, bobtailing south of Tacoma, Washington, after delivering corrugated steel. Their travels take them towards Portland, Oregon, where they anticipate a fun evening and plan to meet friends.

  • Finding Renewed Purpose in Portland
    7/4/20

    Finding Renewed Purpose in Portland

    Mike shares personal updates, particularly about recently starting his "dream job" as a transmission operations engineer at Portland General Electric, which he is passionate about and sees as a significant positive change after a challenging year.

  • Portland Debacle
    11/24/17

    Portland Debacle

    Broadcasting aboard his car in Portland, Mike vents on his recent breakup with Matt and welcomes special guests Dakota Conduct and Mya James. He highlights Dakota's new podcast series "Thots and Shares" and navigates a cluster of technical difficulties while driving.

  • The Dark of Smoke
    9/19/20

    The Dark of Smoke

    In the peaceful pre-dawn hours, Mike outlines the personal turmoil faced in Portland during the Oregon wildfires.

  • Humility, Listening, & Understanding
    12/4/22

    Humility, Listening, & Understanding

    Mike reflects on how social media and the internet has fundamentally changed the way we talk to each other in real life - listening to respond vs. listening to understand.

    Perhaps a dose of humility would enrich this form of conversation. Divided we fall - to some of the worst people imaginable…

  • The Portland She-bacle
    9/7/22

    The Portland She-bacle

    Two years after the 2020 West Coast wildfires, Mike opens up and shares the series of traumatic events he faced mere months after moving to Portland, Oregon.

  • Double Rainbow
    11/14/20

    Double Rainbow

    A double rainbow unexpectedly greets us while enjoying some music from Hairspray the Musical, days following the 2020 election.

  • Election Party
    11/11/20

    Election Party

    Celebrations in downtown Portland in November 2020, following Joe Biden and Kamala Harris's presidential election victory.

  • Waterfalls
    10/4/20

    Waterfalls

    Mike embraces a waterfall at a suburban Portland cafe to accompany it with some TLC.

  • The Apocalypse is Nigh
    9/9/20

    The Apocalypse is Nigh

    The moon is red in the sky, shrouded by the thick smoke from the wildfires surrounding Portland, Oregon, in August 2020.

Journals & Musings

  • A hand-drawn graph on white paper shows the relationship between boredom and the tendency to write a blog. The graph has two lines, one in pink labeled "intensity of opinion" and one in orange. The pink line increases more steeply than the orange line. The title at the top reads "Figuring things out..." in green. The pink line and text indicate that as the intensity of opinion increases, so does the tendency to write a blog, especially at higher levels of opinion intensity.

    Figuring Things Out

    2013-2020

    Graphics are colorful, they invite a myriad of differing interpretations, they portray trends, etc.  Plus, they're less prone to language barriers.

    Figures make complicated concepts easier to understand, simplify, and organize. Plus, I was too lazy to write longwinded essays anymore.

  • Close-up of a person's face with blue lighting, showing a serious expression.

    My Little Corner of Semi-Reality

    2004-2013

    My life is an open book. Please don't burn it.