A month or so ago I posted about my love for early to mid 80’s rap music. It’s true. Now, some might think that I ironically like it. But no, I discovered it in 6th grade and completely fell in love with it.

I couldn’t really relate to urban black culture (being a wiry little white kid from central Pennsylvania), but something seemed real about it.

The first song that I heard was probably “Walk This Way” by Run DMC and Aerosmith. That was 1986. From there, I delved into rap’s history (yes, as a middle schooler) and got into acts like UTFO, Whodini, Kurtis Blow, Doug E. Fresh & The Get Fresh Crew and LL Cool J. I also stuck with rap for a bit with folks like Boogie Down Productions, Public Enemy, De La Soul and Arrested Development.

I got out of it when NWA came on the scene. I still thought it was good, but it was moving in a direction that I really couldn’t understand. I lost interest in current rap, but still listened to a lot of the early stuff.

Looks like I’ll be in Seattle for a few more days. I’ll make it fun for you (hopefully) by chucking some rap videos at you.

Let’s start with Boogie Down Productions “My Philosophy.” This was released in 1988 and had an amazingly profound effect on me. Especially the lines about being a vegetarian where KRS-1 equates eating meat to “suicide.” It was the first time I had ever heard of vegetarianism. Thanks BDP!

There, wasn’t that fun?

Let’s jump back a bit in history to 1984 with Whodini’s “Friends.” I discovered Whodini from the “Raps Greatest Hits” tapes I’d buy with my allowance money. Whodini always rapped about stuff that I could relate to. Well, usually. This song especially.

And back to ‘88. As a kid in the mid-80’s I’d listen to a reggae radio show on the local college station WSVU. And while I never really got into reggae (though I dug it and still do a bit), I really appreciated some of the artists who could make it work in the hip hop community.

Shinehead was one of the best examples of that and his song “Chain Gang Rap” is catchy and fun. It makes you want to take the subway, I promise!

I must have listened to rap pretty intently up until 1991 when such amazingly horrible rappers came about. Vanilla Ice immediately comes to mind. 3rd Bass’s (Base?) song “Pop Goes the Weasel” is about him and way back then it made me giggle. Watching it now, it still makes me giggle! Take THAT, Vanwinkle!

You’ve made it through the first segment of my jump back in time. Stay tuned for more!

It doesn’t look like I’m leaving Seattle just yet.

Today, while riding in the car with Ryan, I accidentally dropped my phone into a cup of water. Needless to say, it’s fried.

I’ll be getting a new one tomorrow morning and leaving… well… I’m not sure about when exactly.

Right now, the idea is to leave on Wednesday. But there’s something fun that I’d like to see on Saturday. More on that later if it happens, ok?

I’m getting ready for my last full day in Seattle, and honestly, I don’t want to leave. I’m having a wonderful time here.

It’s not that I’m sick of traveling, I’m really really not. But I am ready to settle down for a bit. I guess I’ll be doing that in Pennsylvania when I get back, but I don’t have my own place and that’s pretty rough and still feels vagabondish.

Tuesday morning, I’ll be pulling up the stakes and rolling out. I figure it will take me about two weeks.

My tentative schedule looks like this:

July 8 - Opportunity, WA
July 9 - West Glacier, MT
July 10 - Malta, MT
July 11 - Minot, ND
July 12 - Aberdeen, SD
July 13 - Pipestone, MN
July 14 - West Bend, IA
July 15 - Bridgeport, WI
July 16 - Kenosha, WI
Day off in Kenosha?
July 18 - Plymouth, IN
July 19 - New Vrndavana, WV
Few days off in NV
In PA around July 22 or 23

For the first part, I’ll be on US 2 and then US 12 around Aberdeen. From West Bend, I’m taking the Straight Story route.

After Kenosha, it’s US 30 or US 40 to Wheeling/New Vrndavana.

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And for the rest of the summer? Not sure. It’s looking more and more like the Cannonball Run is out. Money alloted for travel is running out thanks to the $700 I gave the scooter shop while in Seattle. I have enough to get home and a few smaller trips, but I don’t have enough for another trip across the country.

But we’ll see.

Hi folks! Sorry for the lack of updates. I’m in Seattle and having a really great time with Ryan, Jaime and Jeff (Taviri and Arcadi, RyJa’s kids, too!).

Arcadi is great. They mostly call her “Pretty Pretty.” She’s fun and giggles a lot at the goofy noises and faces I make. She’s a big gal now and sometimes they speculate that she’ll be a tough broad when she grows up. They make her say, in a really gruff voice, “When you get to hell, tell ‘em Pretty Pretty sent ya!”

These are fun people.

On the scooter-front, it’s again not so great. The cost of drilling out and retapping the bolt came to roughly $340. That’s quite a bit of money. I threw about $700 at the scooter while in Seattle. It’s a lot more than I thought it would be. Money for the Cannonball Run is becoming a concern. I’m seriously considering calling it off.

There’s always 2010, right?

I’ve been checking out Ebay and Craigslist for what the Toyota Yaris is bringing on the market these days. Turns out that if I’d sell it now, I’d actually make $2000 on it!

Anyone want a 2008 two-door Yaris? I’m serious. I get 42 mpg!

Good chance I’ll be selling the Vespa too, but that won’t be till later - maybe Spring ‘09. I’ll still have Whitey Will Pay, of course. And I’ll probably have another one (a vintage) by then.

I’ll be leaving for the east on Monday or Tuesday. I’m ready to get back on the road, but also ready to just move in with RyJa. They’re great and I’ve missed them quite a bit. We’ve known each other for around 15 years and I think they, with Jeff, are the folks I’ve been closest to the longest.

It’ll be sad to leave them, but definitely more exciting as far as the blog thing goes.

Today was not a good scooter day.

I’m still in Seattle (which is a good thing - with friends, that part is really great). But I went to a scooter shop for a rear tire change and rear brakes. They asked if I wanted an oil change and a few other things. I did for sure.

The total came to $350ish. Is that a lot? Yes it is. But is that normal for a modern Vespa? Yes, it sure is.

During the service, they informed me that the bolt holding the exhaust on was broken off in the case. The mechanic said it was either the last place that worked on it or I hit something. Either could be possible with the roads I’ve been taking. It’s hard to say. I certainly don’t want to accuse Scooter Lounge of anything like that.

Anyway, I have to bring it back in on Friday. They’re going to drill it out and re-tap it. I’m not thrilled that it will cost me $210 (though I’m betting closer to $250). But it needs to be done. If the exhaust comes loose, it won’t fall off, but it will melt my brake line.

The more I think about how all of this could be avoided by riding a vintage Vespa, the more I’m disliking the modern Vespa.

On the vintage, I could change the tire myself (split rims), forgo the oil change (it’s two-stroke), do the gear oil myself, the exhaust attaches in a way that makes some sort of sense and about a billion other things.

Sure, vintage does need a bit more attention, but I can do that myself and it doesn’t cost nearly as much.

Will I end up selling dear Ruby II at the end of my travels? It’s a good possibility. Especially since I’ll be putting a 200cc engine in Whitey. And for around-the-town, I hope to get a small frame Vespa. I’m really excited about both prospects.

I need a favor to be done for me. Could someone please record a couple of things on their VCR (or DVR, etc)?

As I mentioned a couple of days ago, PCN TV is running those geeky Gettysburg tours that I like. This year they are running two that I really want to see.

The first airs tonight, but I’m not sure when. Probably around 7pm. It runs for up to two or three hours (depending).

The second airs tomorrow night at 6pm and runs for the same amount of time.

Could someone please record them for me?

My mother was going to, but she can’t get her VCR to record the upper channels.
Please? Anyone?