{"id":403,"date":"2008-10-21T20:54:47","date_gmt":"2008-10-22T03:54:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hwireroad.org\/2008\/?p=403"},"modified":"2008-10-21T21:41:17","modified_gmt":"2008-10-22T04:41:17","slug":"singing-into-lonoke","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hwireroad.org\/2008\/?p=403","title":{"rendered":"Singing into Lonoke"},"content":{"rendered":"

It should come as no surprise that there is a direct correlation between the songs that a person sings into their helmet and their mood.<\/p>\n

In the weeks before I left on this trip, my motorcycling friends offered extensive advice on subjects ranging from safety to comfort. All appreciated and mostly complied, there was one suggestion that was made almost unanimously, that I rejected. It was to equipt myself with a bluetooth enabled helmet. This would not only allow me to use my cell phone, but also my ipod and a radio.<\/p>\n

I knew almost the moment that I conceived this trip that one of the benefits would be the long periods of silence being on the scooter would require. While it was never a monastic impulse, after years of filling every non-scheduled moment with the Daily Show\/Colbert Report, 24 hour news and NPR (yes, I secretly love you Ira Glass) it was clear that part of my personal journey needed to include some quiet time.<\/p>\n

It has been remarkable. For now, I will spare you the personal revelations, but here are some general learning’s about singing on the road.<\/a><\/p>\n

1.\u00a0 Know more than one verse – No matter how much you love a song, repeating the same verse over and over is just, well, sad.
\n2.\u00a0 All Motown music will result in head movement which other drivers will find unsettling – Just take my word for it.
\n3.\u00a0 Show tunes, particularly early Sondheim or anything from Guys and Dolls, are good.
\n4.\u00a0 If you find that you are lapsing into the Battle Hymn of the Republic, take a break. It is not a good sign.<\/p>\n

Special note: If you have not heard it, I invite you to listen to Sarah Vowel tell the story of the Battle Hymn of the Republic (This American Life<\/a> , Sarah is Act two, approximately 22 minutes into the episode). Priceless.<\/p>\n

Today was mostly show tunes and Van Morrison. I was mid-Moondance,\u00a0and pulling off the interstate\u00a0when I\u00a0noticed that I was being followed by the only other scooter rider that I have seen on this trip.\u00a0 He was riding a Suzuki Burgman 650, which is over twice as powerful and heavy as mine and\u00a0it was nice to meet a kindred spirit.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Meet Raymond Fowler.\u00a0 A disabled veteran, Raymond lost his leg in service to our country.\u00a0 We talked outside the Exxon station in Clarksville, Arkansas and, even through the road noise, I think you can hear his\u00a0genuine concern and love for our country.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/object>
Raymond Fowler<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It should come as no surprise that there is a direct correlation between the songs that a person sings into their helmet and their mood. In the weeks before I left on this trip, my motorcycling friends offered extensive advice on subjects ranging from safety to comfort. All appreciated and mostly complied, there was one […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-403","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hwireroad.org\/2008\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hwireroad.org\/2008\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hwireroad.org\/2008\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hwireroad.org\/2008\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hwireroad.org\/2008\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=403"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.hwireroad.org\/2008\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":411,"href":"https:\/\/www.hwireroad.org\/2008\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403\/revisions\/411"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hwireroad.org\/2008\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=403"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hwireroad.org\/2008\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=403"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hwireroad.org\/2008\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=403"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}