DonJon at the Wheel, The MoBus Cruises Through St. Louis, MO

The MoBus back on the road from the blow out cruises through St. Louis, MO with DonJon at the wheel and Big Tone navigating.

First Night on the MoBus with Blown Tire in Illinois

by Tony Floriani

After an overwhelming, but nonetheless awe inspiring couple of days in Madison fixing the bus, we picked up our first two passengers, and hit the road. While Donjon took the wheel and I navigated and watched our considerable blind spot, I can only imagine what was going through the minds of our Swiss friends' heads. Over a thousand miles from home, in an unimaginably large vehicle that had failed to even start up only days before, with a cowboy bohemian at the helm and a wild haired ex businessman explaining to them that we'd drag the bus on our backs if we had to...

Just a few hours into the trip, a little after 11pm, we put that theory to the test. We all jumped and there was a moment of confusion as one of the tires blew out with a loud bang that jangled my already fraying nerves. DJ handled the situation like a master, though, and a few seconds later we had the bus steady enough to guide her onto the shoulder. I'd been worried since we began the journey that the bus simply wouldn't make it through the 6,000 mile journey we had in store for it, and suddenly that sickening reality settled in. But despite my period of pessimism, by no means were we without hope. I'd said we'd carry the bus on our backs if we had to, but before we reached that eventuality, we were damn well going to do everything in our power to get her rolling again.

After setting up the emergency triangles and messing around with the disordered rewiring that the previous owner had applied to the exterior lighting, we all gathered around to have a look at the blown tire. We discovered that it was one of the starboard tires, just in front of the articulation. I marveled at how badly the tire had shredded, which unbeknownst to me at the time was pretty much what happens when large tires go boom. Even knowing that now, the sight was impressive. The treads had separated, peeled away from the rim as if raked by the claws of a terrifyingly large animal. Perhaps a polar bear or a T-Rex. 

The Swiss just rolled with it, didn't seem perturbed much. Perhaps they had the mistaken impression that we knew what we were doing, or perhaps it didn't matter. I couldn't say. Meanwhile, if DJ was frustrated, he nonetheless took it in stride, and Randy, our mechanic who more or less single handedly got the bus rolling out of its barn-turned-mausoleum just a few hours back, set to work contacting local tire shops. I stewed a bit, realizing that we'd certainly get rolling again, but now facing a related worry, that which pertained to our shoestring budget. 

It was about that time that I looked up and across the length of the bus to notice how our position on the shoulder had, in removing us from the traffic flow of the highway, placed us on a good fifteen or twenty degree tilt, which the blown tire was directly under. I'm sure my shoulders must've slumped heavily when I saw that, and seeing that we'd have to wait for a mechanic in any event, we retreated back onto the bus. I kept the Swiss company as we prepared for the possibility of a long night while Randy and DJ used what little charge our phones had left to make there calls. It took about an hour, during which we'd begun telling stories and listening to music on a cheap portable speaker, to determine that we wouldn't be getting any help until morning. The tire we'd lost had a bizarre configuration that the mechanics later referred to as "suicide rims." Aside from being wickedly unusual and hard to replace, these rims apparently had a tendency to separate from the axle mid-drive. Not the most comforting revelation, to say the least, but by that measure it would seem our situation was actually fortuitous. It revealed a potentially dangerous design faux pas without killing us. Sometimes, it's all about that silver lining.

Given our situation, DJ felt, correctly, that a little booze was just the thing we needed to keep our spirits up. So he and Randy took our chase car down the road and bought us a few six packs and some snacks. We spent the rest of the night drinking, and getting to know the Swiss. They were a couple, Simon and Karen, and they'd seemed perfectly comfortable with our outlandish situation from the start, when we found them outside a gas station and I'd leapt out of a still moving car shouting "I come from the MoBus!" Turns out, Simon had done an exchange program in school years ago and had been coming to visit his host family in Madison, every year since. He therefor spoke excellent English. Karen didn't speak much English at all, or at least, she didn't choose to at the time. So when something came up that was mutually incomprehensible, she'd speak to Simon in what I think was German, and he'd translate. Finally, after getting good and tipsy, and revealing Karen's extreme dislike of U2, we called it a night and tried restlessly to find decent places to sleep in our new, tilted home. And so ended our first night on the MoBus. Things would only get weirder from there, and that's the way we like it.

-Tony

MoBus Blowout in Illinois

When the MoBus departed Madison, a dude at a big rig garage told us that these tires were very uncommon and they were on 'split rims,' commonly refered to in his line of work as suicide rims.  Apparently they have blown peoples heads off.  We blow a tire on the road and upgraded both rear tires at a cost well above our meger budget.  Oh well, such is life on the MoBus.

First Tour of the MoBus - Madison WI

As we prepare to depart Madison, WI, our friends, the Swissassins, take the first video tour of the MoBus, all 60 feet!

DonJon Pilots MoBus One for the First Time

This is the earliest video we took of the MoBus in action, and its a beautiful sight. As the video was being shot, I stood and watched DJ put the ol' girl through her paces in a truck shop parking lot. I'd just retrieved our first two passengers, Simon and Karen, soon to be known affectionately as the Swissassins, and it was starting to sink in that we might actually succeed. Our quest to take the largest interstate bus ever built, on a 6,000 mile journey to Burning Man and back was madness, pure madness, but it was happening. After all the planning, fundraising, organizing, the frustration and the setbacks, I hardly believed that I was actually seeing our work come to fruition. The doubt that I'd been poorly concealing since we left Austin was finally starting to fade.

About a week before, I'd just returned home from a trip to El Salvador. The first call I got was from DJ, letting me know that our man in the Midwest had failed to pick up the bus as planned. It had felt like a long trip, because exciting as it was to be in another country, I still couldn't fully insulate myself from the torrent of bad news that had begun to pour out of the MoBus project since I'd left. Fundraising commitments fell through, riders had begun dropping out, others were loosing faith, and all I could do was send a reassuring email once or twice a day, even as my own confidence began to wane. When I got off the plane and walked out of the Austin airport, I didn't want to hear anymore. I was desperate to go home and do nothing for a few days, clear my head before game time. But that wasn't to be.

When I first got the call, I balked at the prospect of dropping everything to drive a thousand miles for a bus that might not even make the return trip to Austin. I was tired, and if truth be told, a bit depressed that everything seemed to be falling to pieces mere days before our Grand Departure. So when DJ asked if I'd come with him to pick up the bus, I told him "no." He'd seemed a bit injured at the idea that I wouldn't be coming, but he assured me that he and our mechanic, Randy, could get it done on their own. I was off the hook.

Over the next five hours though, I stewed. I'd made no pretense of an excuse that might have kept me from going, and as I sat there I realized that it just wasn't good enough. Aside from DJ, I'd invested myself in the project more than anyone. Actually, I was obsessed. The outrageous idea that began as a conversation on DJ's patio had grown to encompass most every aspect of my life. I wanted to set it aside, get my bearings, but I couldn't. I couldn't let it go, and I couldn't let DJ go to Madison without me. I think in the back of my mind, I feared that if I didn't go and see the bus myself, it wouldn't be there for us when we needed it.
So I phoned DJ and told him to pick me up. It took us three days, a thousand miles, several dozen false starts and a broken barn door, but the damn thing came to life! Randy had resurrected her, and there she was, happily rolling around the parking lot. More challenges were definitely coming, of course. We knew that even then, but now we'd seen it. We glimpsed a hint of our vision fulfilled. That's when the MoRoadtrip really began in earnest.

Anthony Floriani

Mr. Four Loko on the MoBus

"We have flipped the crazy switch on the MoBus, or the Loko switch rather," DonJon.

Chelsea Hotel (MP) - DonJonVonavich HRH King of the MOs, referred to as DonJon by his friends and foes, has issued a statement confirming that super-star-spokesperson, Mr. Four Loko, is joining the MoBeg'n tour.  Mr. Four Loko is the leading advocate for the caffeinated malt beverage lifestyle and has been under investigation by Attorneys general in Texas, Nevada, and Tijuana for the potential health risk of his behavior to the general drinking population.

"We have flipped the crazy switch on the MoBus, or the Loko switch rather, " states DonJon.  Mr. Four Loko will be traveling with the Loko-ettes, Blue Raspberry, Lemonade, Fruit Punch, and Watermelon. Negotiations are still under way regarding Mr. Four Loko's super-star-spokesperson contract riders requiring unlimited Four Loko on ice, a waterbed filled with Four Loko, twenty one quarts of Four Loko infused hair tamer, and a weekly Four Loko colon cleanse.  DonJon has balked at the requirement that the MoBus be converted to burn blue raspberry Four Loko.   

Asked for comment Mr. Four Loko stated, "Life is Short, Drink Four Loko First"  

DonJon's MoBoho RoadShow - The MoBeg'n Tour will hit the road on Austug 19th for twenty-one days with twenty-one Artists.  The MoBeg'n Tour will travel the American West extemporaneously performing a modern adaptation of The Beggar's Opera, culminating with a week run at the Burning Man Project in Blackrock City, NV.

The MoBeg'n Tour will travel on a vintage 60 foot 1988 Prevost touring coach with travel stage.  The new MoBus will be christened the MoRevenge and hand painted in route.  A troupe videographer will capture the full performances and background activity.  Additionally, each troupe member will have a personal video camera to capture individual content.  As the troupe drives between performance sites they will work with the home support team to locate camp locations and show venues, edit and post video content, and promote the upcoming show.

The MeBeg'n Tour is produced by MoRoadtrip, Inc., a Cooperative Corporation that creates road trip events referred to as "Living Art on the Road."  The projects are developed and supported by teams of shareholder artists and produced, documented and distributed by MoRoadtrip.  All MoRoadtrip projects are dedicated to developing connection, cooperation, and community.

To register to join The MoBeg'n Tour: https://sites.google.com/site/moroadtrip/

My Friends on the MoBeg'n Tour

   

To: Jamie, Harayz, Harry, Tony, Reed, Marco, Briana, Guy, Josua, Sarah, Tabatha, Gage, Jorge, Will, Virgina, Mario, Igor, H, O’dell, Ava, Kiko, Carol, Corina, Bradford, and those that have played, paid, and prayed for our success,

Fr: DonJon 

Re: The MoBeg'n Tour

I have a dream, too!  That was the tag line for the original 2010 MoRoadtrip.  It was titled The MoDream’n Tour.  The plan was to take a caravan of three MoBuses and The Dream Machine, a vintage bread truck converted into a lucid dream inducing laboratory that would carry the dreams of thousands across the country.  For 21 Days 21 Artist would seek to manifest the dream of a World Community of Human Being dedicated to Being Human.  

It was a grand dream, typical of the quixotic foundations of the Art of DonJon.  Reality set in that only with significant begging would we be lucky to get one MoBus on the road, a bus not yet identified or procured.  But the dream did not die, and the tour became about the reality of our time; that the social and political order has reduced all but the Plutocracy to begging.  The MoBeg’n Tour was conceived and a MoBus manifested.  The dream may live after all...

But a theme and a verbal agreement does not make a tour.  Talented and dedicated individuals would have to believe in the dream, make it their own, manifest the future, and beg.  They would have to be extraordinary individuals that see through the haze of a social construct that places profit over people.  Individuals that understand that the personal connections of Human Being when coupled with cooperative acceptance could create communities dedicated to Being Human; that the simple moments of Artistic creation could plant the seeds of these communities.

I found you have a dream, too!  You, the extraordinary individuals dedicated to extraordinary community, accepted the empty vessel this dream was and poured your energy, your talent, and your dream in; a community of dreams waiting to happen.  We now stand one in the dream as actors playing our part on the meager stage of our making, unsure if the roar of applause will rise to accept our gift.  

Today I rise to accept the gift of your faith and trust and belief in this project and the goodness that it represents.  To those of you dedicated to making The MoBeg’n Tour a reality, Jamie, Harayz, Harry, Tony, Reed, Marco, Briana, Guy, Josua, Sarah, Tabatha, Gage, Jorge, Will, Virgina, Mario, Igor, H, O’dell, Ava, Kiko, Carol, Corina, Bradford, and those that have played, paid, and prayed for our success, Thank You.

One Great MoLove,

DonJon.

To register to join The MoBeg'n Tour: https://sites.google.com/site/moroadtrip/