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?

Those who know me know that on July 1, 2 and 3, I’m usually in Gettysburg for really geeky battlefield tours.

Because of Scoot 66, I’ll be missing them this year. However, PCN TV is there and records them. They show older ones from past years throughout the day and then at 6pm on each day they show the ones that took place that day.

I’m particularly interested in one that will be on probably around 7 or 7:30pm on July 2nd (Wednesday). If someone could record that one (and any others) for me.

The ones they’re running this year are:

Tuesday, July 1
Gettysburg Battlewalks - Day 1
Union 1st Corps on Seminary Ridge (2008)
Brigadier General Doles’ Brigade (2008)

Wednesday, July 2
Gettysburg Battlewalks – Day 2
New 2008 Battlewalks begin at 6:00 p.m.
Major General Hancock’s Leadership (2008)
Brinkerhoff’s Ridge (2008)
Lt. General Longstreet: Culprit or Scapegoat (2008)

Thursday, July 3
Gettysburg Battlewalks – Day 3
New 2008 Battlewalks begin at 6:00 p.m.
Longstreet’s Flank Attack (2008)
Confederate Cannonade Examined (2008)
Pickett’s Charge, Confederate Perspective (2008)
Pickett’s Charge, Union Perspective (2008)
Big Round Top (2008)

Again, I’d really appreciate someone recording the Brinkerhoff’s Ridge one. That would make me happy. Also, Longstreet’s Flank Attack would be fun.

PCN is the Pennsylvania Cable Network. Usually they show tours of weird/normal Pennsylvania things, but over the Gburg anniversary, they show the battle walks. Anyone willing to help a geeky fellow out?

Thanks!

I don’t have a lot to say. I mean, I’m pretty busy, but it’s pretty busy hanging out. Not a lot of interesting things to write about.

Seattle is a bunch of fun and the weather’s been great.

Mostly, we go to parks or eat. Sometimes we eat vegan doughnuts. I had some this morning. Oh, it’s good stuff. Seattle is great for that.

I rode a bit yesterday, hoping that the problems with the scooter would occur again, but they didn’t. Right now, the scooter is fine. It’s a good thing, but if something is going to go wrong, I want it to do it here so I can fix it.

Several people have suggested that I leave the scooter on the west coast, fly back to PA, spend the summer there and at the end of it, fly back out to the west coast for the Cannonball. It’s tempting and I’ve given it a lot of thought.

Though I’m not convinced that it’s the best choice, I’m going to be riding back. There’s also the option to ship it out to California before the Run and then fly out. That is pretty tempting, to be honest. We’ll see how it goes. There’s also the option of simply not doing the Cannonball. But that’s an option I don’t really want.

One of the reasons I was going to be home was to change out the engine on the Stella. I ordered a PX200 engine and I’m pretty excited about it. However, that doesn’t get here for another six weeks. That should be in mid-August. We’ll see how/when that happens.

So… hm… anyone have any questions about stuff?

Sorry there isn’t much to talk about. Hmhmhm.

As most of the regulars will know, there is a 3,400 mile, coast-to-coast endurance event for scooters that takes place every other year. It’s called the Scooter Cannonball Run (no affiliation with Burt Reynolds). 20 or so scooterists ride from the Pacific to Atlantic Oceans over the span of about 10 days. It’s a grueling event that puts you in the saddle for sometimes over 400 miles a day.

This year’s Cannonball starts on Sept 11 in San Francisco. It ends ten days later in Ocean City Maryland.

Some ride for fun or to see if they can do it. Some ride to race. And some ride for charity (with a bit of the other two thrown in). And that’s me.

After a lot of thought, I’ve decided to do it. I’ve also decided that I will be riding to raise money for Food For Life, a world-wide food relief organization.

Currently, I’m in Seattle, having ridden my Vespa GTS , zigzagging my way across the country for a distance of 7,500 miles.

After visiting Seattle and getting some work done on the scooter, I will be riding back to central Pennsylvania in the next couple of weeks. Then, in mid-August, I’ll be heading west towards San Francisco for the start of the Cannonball Run.

How you can help.
Like I said, I’m riding to raise money for Food for Life. I’ll have a donation page set up and you can donate a flat sum or donate based upon how many miles I do (for example, if you donate a buck for every 100 miles, at the end of the Run (which totals around 3,400 miles), you will have pledged to donate $34).

Whatever money that is donated goes to Food for Life. None of it goes to me. I’m keeping not a farthing. I’m only asking you to donate to Food for Life, I’m not asking you to fund my vacation.

All of this will be set up in the next month or so.

I have little doubt that I can complete the Run. The scooter is in great shape and so am I (relatively speaking). I’m used to long days in the saddle and riding a ton of miles a day. The only differences will be that I’ll be “racing” a bunch of other riders and I’ll be riding with a purpose other than “seeing what there is to see.”

I guess there’s not much to say. My big trip to Seattle was shortened to a three hour ride on the interstate.

Riding on the interstate isn’t fun. It’s not scary or anything like that, it’s just not fun.

Before I left Portland, I stopped in at Corazzo to say good-bye to those folks.

I felt really at home in Portland. A lot of that was because of the town, but a good chunk was because of Ashley. Hey, thanks! It’s great to have folks in places. I think this is the first town where I felt really at home. Woo!

The ride to Seattle was lame. There’s a ton of really great things to see along the way, if you leave the interstate. But I just didn’t feel much like traveling. I wanted to get to Seattle, but just didn’t want to travel there. Makes sense?

One big concern is the scooter. The spark plug boot came off at a gas station - that’s not good. And after that, it was idling weirdly. It would be fast for a second or two and then slow down. Over and over. Why would it do that? I’m not sure. But I turned it off and started it again and it was fine. I wonder if I need a new spark plug.

So that’s my big day.

I arrived in Seattle around 4pm and it was great to see Ryan, Jaime and Jeff again. I’ll be here for about a week. Hopefully that week will be action-packed!

Miles today: 248
Miles total: 7684