Joined: Jan 02, 2007
Location: Austin, TX
|
Welcome to the Monkey House
"Welcome to the Monkey House"
After using this phrase for a while, it dawned on me that it had been at least 20+ years since reading the Vonnegut tale from which it derives. Sought out the text yesterday and proceeded to set the scene for an inspirational day today.
With coffee in hand, I stole out onto the enormous screened back porch, overlooking a verdant landscape and gurgling creek. Hummingbirds are chasing each other, vying for the fragrant flowers in bloom that climb up the screens surrounding this sanctuary.
The sun has drifted across the distant field, chasing the shadows and cool dewy morning. Rippling clouds promise a change of weather.
With book in hand, I sought out the story "Welcome to the Monkey House" and found therein a tale of a tightly controlled society and those individuals who fought to break the chains which bound them - yes.... a parallel to riding. It seems that in Vonnegut's literary world, the government controls most everything, including pleasure. "The average citizen moped around home and watched television..." While Vonnegut's story revolves around reproduction and sex, it is also a tale of losing sight of the pleasures in life, dumbing down the senses till they are but a dull memory of what once was.
So.. where is the parallel to riding, you ask? Well, for me and hopefully for many others out there, riding a bike awakens the senses, makes one far more alive than at nearly any other time in one's life (sex aside). When riding fast and hard with the challenges that are constantly thrown in - off camber, decreasing radius corners, entering a turn too hot, bolting amimals, junk in the road, gravel, pot holes, murderous cages - one must be fully alive and aware..... or end up dead!
So it is that in the tale, the government requires its citizens to consume pills which remove all feeling from the waist down and control unnecessary pleasure. And.. so it is in our society, that the "pills" which are not quite forced upon us, but which we greedily consume, have their numbing affect, too. Protected in an enclosed cage with cell phone, soda, music, air conditioning, and assorted other distractions at hand, we are sealed off from the sensual pleasures that are so readily thrust our way when on two wheels.
From inside our fortress-like homes, we insulate ourselves from the pleasures which nature has provided, by sitting stonily in front of a large screen TV, numbly watching the world go by.
However, those of us who have ventured into the world of two wheeled motorized machines know sensual pleasures that others seem to have forgotten, or have never discovered - pleasures which call impatiently to be experienced, to be immersed within, to be consumed greedily while abandoning all recognition of the dull, lifeless, censored world which tends to envelope us.
To those who would ask "But why do you ride, it is so very dangerous?!", I would respond, yes, but I am never more fully aware and sensually alive than when being challenged on two wheels.
So dear riders "Welcome to the Monkey House"!!
---------------------------------
Posted on
05/20/2007 at 17:40
|
Joined: Nov 22, 2006
Location: Denver, CO
|
 Redstreak2 said: Welcome to the Monkey House
To those who would ask "But why do you ride, it is so very dangerous?!", I would respond, yes, but I am never more fully aware and sensually alive than when being challenged on two wheels.
So dear riders "Welcome to the Monkey House"!! Can you consider it this way? When admonished that motorcycles are dangerous, can the reply be a flat "no"? Assuming that the motorcyle isn't badly maintained, poorly assembled or modified, etc. a motorcycle is not inherently dangerous. However it is not inherently safe either. The bike does not have crumple zones, roll cages, or side-curtain airbags. It does have speed, agility, and practically zero blind spots. The act of riding requires the rider to be the key safety feature--to analyze conditions and maneuver strategically to ensure safety. Do the observation, analysis, and strategy then heighten the senses? One becomes both hunter and hunted on the roads. Rather than being an observer of the scenery, the rider is immersed in it. When I ride into a light rain I must adjust my lane positioning to find the driest pavement, but I also get to smell the rain, and I occasionally get to feel thunder. Well, that's my three paragraphs. Good sensing to you all!
---------------------------------
"In wine there is wisdom, in beer there is freedom, in water there is bacteria."."
-- Benjamin Franklin
Posted on
05/20/2007 at 19:04
|
Joined: May 03, 2007
Location: Longwood, FL
|
A) What was in the coffee?
B) What were you smoking with coffee? On a jaunt this weekend I saw the sheep in leather vests herding down the back roads here in central Florida. Not one flock, but many. I also encountered one solo rider and we were both looking for that single moment of magic while riding. People find many different was to escape and feel alive. Some fly planes, others jump out of them, some swim underwater with an air tanks (been there, that is a real leap of faith), while others go to great heights with a tiny rope or bare hands just for the adrenaline rush. So while it may appear stagnation is the rule, in many ways it is not. The rush I feel traveling ??? mph has no substitution for me, yet others seem content to travel ?? (double vs.. triple digits). Is it really more dangerous than repelling down a cliff in Yosemite? let's try it and see. It's human nature to seek thrill in order to feel alive. How we get there is like a bike ride. It's not the destination but the journey!
Bang, Crash, Boom...Ouch, ....I just fell of my soap box 
---------------------------------
Why are you reading ths?
Posted on
05/20/2007 at 20:19
|
Joined: May 03, 2007
Location: Longwood, FL
|
OOOOOPS And my point? It's not the machine that is dangerous. It's the environment and the rider. It's not the individual that's stagnet, it's the environment! Dang ---- I fell off again -- 
---------------------------------
Why are you reading ths?
Posted on
05/20/2007 at 20:34
|
|
Joined: Jan 02, 2007
Location: Austin, TX
|
 Yes, riding a motorcycle IS dangerous, so is driving a car, so is bicycling and sometimes even standing on a chair. For some, even breathing the air when pollution abounds is dangerous.
---------------------------------
Posted on
05/20/2007 at 21:16
|
Joined: Dec 24, 2006
Location: Ephrata, WA
|
Very interesting Pat, / "What motorcycles have taught me." / Keep it to a minimum. / Look where you want to be. / Excess does not look good on me. / merrill
Posted on
05/20/2007 at 21:17
|
Joined: Dec 20, 2006
|
Redstreak2 said: Yes, riding a motorcycle IS dangerous, so is driving a car, so is bicycling and sometimes even standing on a chair. For some, even breathing the air when pollution abounds is dangerous. The truth of it for me is that 'NOT Riding' represents a profound danger to my well being. Henry David Thoreau said: " The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation". My riding... though occasionally desperate, is never quiet.
---------------------------------
" I've tried cruising. I felt dead the whole time i was doin' it ".
me
Posted on
05/20/2007 at 22:03
|
|
Joined: Jan 02, 2007
Location: Austin, TX
|
Terrytori said: My riding... though occasionally desperate, is never quiet. 
---------------------------------
Posted on
05/21/2007 at 10:19
|
Joined: Jan 10, 2007
Location: Seattle, WA
|
Whilst the devil may be in the detail, it's also where the pleasure in most everyday items reside. Motorcycling raises your awareness levels to a point whereby, if you choose to, you can find the rewards in the detail. I rode aware that I wanted to embrace details, my companion read across the USA was Alain de Button's The Art of Travel. I'd recommend it for any who want to get greater fulfilment from not only riding but every day. As you'll learn, for some (French aristocratic recluse) you can even dispense with the need to move. Nice post Red, and this isn't just a mutual appreciation society comment either.
---------------------------------
Lamble
Banish bland
www.unchainedworld.com
recommendations@unchainedworld.com
GS1150 ADV:
Unchained Across the USA blog
www.roughguidesintouch.com/lamble
Posted on
05/21/2007 at 13:59
|
Joined: Feb 23, 2007
Location: Cincinnati, OH
|
I love what you've written. I think what it comes down to is that riding forces you to live (enter heavenly chorus, Aaaaahhhh...) "in the moment". It's what meditation does for some, performing music does for others (including me) and sex does for most. By concentrating on every millisecond that passes, accepting it, enjoying it and letting it go for the next one coming down that pike we are living each moment as much as possible. It doesn't hurt that there's a good dose of adrenalin and "feel goods" swimming around in our bloodstream when we're riding too. Thanks for the post! I enjoyed it!
Posted on
05/21/2007 at 14:50
|
Joined: Nov 18, 2006
Location: Riverside, IA
|
Pat, KV had it so right in so many ways. He will be missed. I got drunk with him some twenty odd years ago after a lecture in college. I'm also a huge Ed Abbey fan and think just about every rider should read "Desert Solitaire". a couple of his quotes: "Running the big rapids is like sex: half the fun lies in the anticipation. Two thirds of the thrill with the approach. The remainder is only ecstasy-or darkness." -- Edward Abbey "Life is hard? True--but let's love it anyhow, though it breaks every bone in
our bodies." --Edward Abbey
I guess you can apply these to a riding philosophy. Chris
Posted on
05/21/2007 at 17:58
|
|
Joined: Dec 20, 2006
|
Nicholasmav said: It's what meditation does for some, performing music does for others (including me) and sex does for most. Sex... riding... sex... riding. I often confuse the two.
---------------------------------
" I've tried cruising. I felt dead the whole time i was doin' it ".
me
Posted on
05/21/2007 at 18:23
|
Joined: Jan 19, 2007
|
Terrytori said: Sex... riding... sex... riding. I often confuse the two. Hmm, let's see... - If you do it with a group, then it's riding. No, wait, that could also be sex.
- If you do it by yourself, then... Nope, that could go either way.
- If you take a few breaks but basically do it all day on the weekends, then... Aw, shucks.
- If you really like it when someone works the loud stick...
Gee, I see what you mean. 
---------------------------------
Posted on
05/21/2007 at 20:04
|
|
Joined: Jan 02, 2007
Location: Austin, TX
|
I had no doubt that when I equated the intensity of riding with sex, that some of you would verbalize what most of you were probably thinking! And... you didn't let me down!! Yes, it is most certainly a meditative experience and one that at the best of times, keeps you in the moment.... (talking riding a motorcycle here.... although....!!) Desert Solitaire - I'll look that up, thanks Chris! Alain de Button's The Art of Travel - thanks Lamble!
---------------------------------
Posted on
05/21/2007 at 21:09
|
Joined: Jan 20, 2007
Location: Pace, FL
|
Redstreak2 said: I had no doubt that when I equated the intensity of riding with sex, that some of you would verbalize what most of you were probably thinking! And... you didn't let me down!! Yes, it is most certainly a meditative experience and one that at the best of times, keeps you in the moment.... (talking riding a motorcycle here.... although....!!) Desert Solitaire - I'll look that up, thanks Chris! Alain de Button's The Art of Travel - thanks Lamble! It's been a really long time since I have looked at Monkey House but I seem to recall that the pills were originally intended for the monkeys in the zoo. A father had taken his family to the zoo on a Sunday after church and the monkeys were, well, "pettin' the monkey" and he thought that this was wrong. The pharmacist developed the pill so that the monkeys would sit in the cages and not masturbate and this would in turn make the zoo a fine place for a Christian family to enjoy a Sunday afternoon. The Government was concerned with a population explosion and thought that the pills could be used on humans in order to controll their carnal pleasures and this would control the population growth. The other method was ethical suicide, assisted by these hot chicks....the protagonist, what's his name...something about a Poet, had a habit of raping these suicide helper chicks and after deflowering one of the virgins left her a note that said, "Welcome to the Monkey House.". I keep thinking that this stream of consciousness will take me to a motorcycle connection, but I'm coming up short......The fog made riding interesting tonight. It was very thick at times, so thick that I couldn't see the ground. The sensory deprivation made it feel like flying....I found myself pushing the bike faster and faster even though I couldn't see very far. It was an unnecessary risk, one totally without reason, just wanted to go fast because I could, even though I have entered into social contract with the Government. A contract that says in part that I will travel in a certain direction at or below a speed determined not by road conditions, ability, or equipment but by politicians. I refused the pill.....and I went really fast, and not a soul was injured, and it felt good. I have been losing weight in preparation for the summer. As a side benefit, my sex-life has been beyond belief. We were standing outside the shower and the mood became more than could be restrained so we jumped in and went wild.......of course we can't shop at Home Depot again.
---------------------------------
Stephen Pearce--Pace, Florida--2004 R1150R (R.I.P.)---1980 HD FLHC--2005 Honda ST1300
Posted on
05/22/2007 at 02:01
|
