MK Tales

Summer of Joel – The Free Market Economy

Thursdays were always Mum & Dad’s special day to spend with the child protection lady, so as a kid I spent the afternoons at Joel’s playing with his Micro Machinesâ„¢. I don’t think we ever ended up really playing with the toys at all. We only ever poured the whole collection onto the floor and came up with new and marvelous ways of divying up the spoils for everyone in attendance.

On the Lam with Chris

A while back I wrote about Joel and I racing his Honda motorcycle against my (event winning) BMX. I mentioned there was only one other time when I’d ridden that fast. Now is the time when we take the time to look at that time. I hope you have time… 0 Many years after my astonishing victory against Joel, during my high school internment, classmateÂ Chris and I used to borrow his crazy uncle’s rusty old mountain bikes and cycle around the city.

Don Jaime

Since neither set of our parents were really into the whole ‘looking out for you’ deal, Joel & I mostly just roamed free around the countryside growing up, chatting to homeless people and playing in filthy, dark alleyways whilst child slave traders looked on with a gleam in their eye, dreaming of thumbing through reams of greenbacks.

Queensland Holiday

The thing about being an MK is that once you return home and attempt reentry, the process is like jamming a pickle in an electrical outlet: shocking. And everyone stares at you since you smell horrid and have green goo on your hands. In our 3rd world country (sorry, Developing Nation) we’d become accustomed to wealthy friends and the country clubs, spas, and sauna access they provided.

An MK Christmas

‘Twas the night before Christmas and all through the barrio, not a creature was stirring, not even drunk Mario. Because in Bolivia they did it all early,
The Day before! Which made me quite surly. The only kids ’round without any gifts,
still waiting for presents, ex-patriot twits. The stockings weren’t hung by the chimney with care,Â And under the tree was also quite bare; We knew Santa might skip us outright,
so we prayed for abundance all through the night.

Abi

Ah… where to start with Abi? The beginning I suppose. That’s a good place to start things. Let me take you back through the murky mists of time to Grade 5… I know this will be hard for most of you to believe, but when we first arrived in Bolivia I was pretty dorky and not much of ‘the cool’ at all.

The Giant WaterPark of Carnaval

Now that all the tin is gone, and all the lithium is being sold to the Iranians, Bolivia’s greatest asset is Carnaval. I know you all agree. Sadly non-exportable, save for in the hearts of MKs the world over, the Carnaval de UrkupiÃ±a is the greatest thing ever conceived by man, except for maybe Chuck Norris.

Spur of the Moment Poll

I’ve been toying with the idea of maybe putting an online store on here to spread the joy, but I really have no idea how to go about it, or whether it would even be worthwhile. So I look to the collective wisdom of my listeners:

Inca Trail with James & Jeremy: Part 3

We continue our exposition into the hiking adventures of James, Jeremy and myself along Bolivia’s Inca Trail. If you’ve only just joined us, here’s parts 1 & 2. Why would the Incas built a trail leading down to a cinder block camp ground in the jungle? No one knows. But we were grateful anyway.

MK Tales: Special Holiday Edition

OK, there’s actually nothing special about this at all. That was aÂ complete loadÂ of False Advertising. But I’m on holidays and too lazy to bother writing anything decent this week. I would like to take the time to thank everyone reading the site. If you’re an MK you’re allowed to write here too if you like.

Stupid Bike

With the 20/20 vision that the rose-coloured glasses of hindsight provide, history can be boiled down to more clichÃ©s and monumental confrontations for the most part. Clashes replete with victors and losers. The making and breaking of civilizations. Bush V Gore, The Romans V Everyone, Napoleon V debilitating shortness, the American Public V the chance at decent healthcare… The list goes on.

For my 11th Birthday, in a flash of parenting brilliance that sadly didn’t set a precedent, Dad thought it would be a good idea to take a trip down into the jungle to visit one of the obscure tribes out in the middle of nowheresville. It would be a personal growth exercise; seeing how other people live, how they deal with their own personal growths etc.