out of the city hurricane katrina was also a catalyst for a rather unlikely survivalist writer and former new york times music critic neil strauss watching hurricane katrina and seeing that our own government even with a disaster that they know is coming cant necessarily help their people strauss said his book emergency offers his account of his gradual conversion to survivalism spurred several years ago by his distaste for the bush administration i just wanted a backup country in case i didnt like the way mine was going so that i could just leave strauss said thats where it all began and my only goal was to get a second passport which i got to the island of st kitts then i started realizing that its all about having the skill to be selfsufficient and i think that there is a side to it that is just fun as a guy you should probably know it anyway neil strauss owns livestock and a survival bike inside the garage of his hollywood hills home is a sports car that seems appropriate for a guy who counts rock stars as friends but hes also got a speciallydesigned motorbike the rokon that would allow him to speed away in tight situations its sort of your ultimate allterrain survival bike he said the wheels are actually hollow and can store water or gasoline two gallons each the bike is stores along stockpiles of canned food bottled water and toilet paper and in the backyard his goats which serve not only as pets but also as a source of milk and he says meat should it ever come to that but for strauss having survival skills that can help him out of a bind is more important than having the toys while he practices those skills to keep them fresh including working as a volunteer emt he said he hopes hell never needed them if strauss said you spend your whole life preparing for doomsday and doomsday never happened strauss said two things you were wrong and you have wasted your life