What is up, you guys? We'll go back to another one. If you're new to the channel, I am Gold Penny. I do new car track SUV reviews on YouTube. And today we are in the brand new 2023 Volkswagen Atlas Cross Sport courtesy of Hanover Volkswagen in Hanover PA. For more information on their inventory, please feel free to check out the link in the description box below. And so we are in this one today because this is the cooler looking Atlas, at least in my personal opinion. Also, there are some minor changes for the 2023 model year. And you do get two years or 20,000 miles of complimentary maintenance on top of all of that as well. So ultimately in this video, we will be testing out and going over everything about this one from acceleration to braking, steering field, ride quality, sound system, exhaust clip, all that fun stuff. So having said all of that, what do you guys say? Let's just go ahead and jump right into it. And as always, let's start with pricing. And so as you can imagine, there are several trim levels for the Atlas Cross Sport. First one being the SE starting at $34,460. SE with technology for $38,630. SE L for $44,230. SE L R-Line Black for $46,180. And lastly, the one that we have today being the SE L Premium R-Line for $51,625. So for those last three trim levels, all-wheel drive is going to come standard. But for the first two, if you wanted to add all-wheel drive, you can do that, but simply add $1,900 then to either of those prices. So when it comes to the power plan of the Atlas Cross Sport, there are two different power plants available for this one. First one is going to be a two-liter turbocharged four-cylinder, putting out 235 horsepower at 5,400 RPM, 258 pound-feet of torque coming in at 1,600 RPM. That power being sent to front wheels or all wheels through an eight-speed automatic, zero to 60 time coming in at approximately 7.5 seconds. Top speed, if you're interested, 116 miles per hour with MPG numbers coming in at 20 in the city, 24 then on the highway. But there is one other engine configuration available and that is going to be the one that we have with us here today. That is a 3.6-liter naturally aspirated V6, putting out 276 horsepower at 6,200 RPM, 266 pound-feet of torque coming in at 3,600 RPM. Power being sent to all four wheels, yet again, through an eight-speed automatic with MPG numbers coming in at 18 in the city, 24 on the highway. And so before we do any kind of fun acceleration test here in the Atlas Cross Sport, I did want to mention to you guys the drive modes. So there's essentially a little circular dial located just behind the shifter. By the way, I shouldn't mention these drive modes are only for the SEL trim levels, but they will include Eco, Normal, Sport, Custom, and then there's going to be some off-road drive modes where you simply just press in the middle button. That's going to give you modes like off-road and snow, but ultimately adjusting things like the shift points, throttle response, the steering sensitivity, and actually the stability control system then as well. So now that we've got all of that out of the way, let's go ahead and find a straightaway. Let's put the acceleration here to the test end. Let's see how quickly we can get our new 2023 Atlas Cross Sport here up to speed. I will do this from a standstill. Three, two, one, go. You could tell it's a naturally aspirated V6. There's no turbo lag. That's what I meant by that, but yeah, it's plenty of an acceleration. It's nothing too crazy, but you're not going to have any issues in merging onto the highway. That's probably just the right power plant for what the Atlas Cross Sport actually is. So no issues with that. Since it's actually naturally aspirated, should be more reliable than the turbocharged engine as well. I'm just going to throw that out there, but anyway, to go along with that acceleration, as always, braking is equally important.  As far as that braking feel goes, let's actually hit it here since there's nobody behind us. It's fine. It is on the softer side of things, but that's to be expected in SUVs. Traditionally you are going to find that, but it's fine. It definitely brings you to a plenty fine stop. I've felt much worse braking feels in SUVs. So personally for me, I wouldn't have any issues with the braking feel in this thing, but then touching on suspension and handling upfront, you're going to get a McPherson strut front suspension in the back, independent multi-link rear suspension, of course front and rear stabilizer bars. As far as ride quality goes, that has been 100% perfectly fine in my short test drive here today. So definitely absorbing Pennsylvania's road to perfection is perfectly fine. I wouldn't have any issues taking this thing on a long road trip. I'll put it that way. As far as steering feel goes, it's on the looser side of things.  Let me go ahead and change the drive mode a little bit, not to off-road or off-road custom. Let's not do that. Let me go ahead and put it in sport driving mode, and that is a heck of a lot better. So I will say the steering sensitivity is adjustable, dependent upon the drive mode that you put it in. That sport driving mode does give you a much heavier feel to this steering. If you don't have it in that sport driving mode though, it is a very loose steering feel, as expected of most SUVs, but I personally do prefer the sport driving mode just because of that steering sensitivity that it gives you. But anyways, then touching on cabin noise, I am going 35 miles per hour right now. There is a little bit of road noise, I will say that. When noise though is 100% on point, definitely getting none of that, but like I said, there is a little bit of road noise. They're a little bit more than I traditionally find in larger SUVs like this. Touching on visibility, it's actually not as bad as I thought it was gonna be. So because of the shape of the Atlas Cross Sport, traditionally you would think it's not gonna be that great, and it's obviously not gonna be as good as the Atlas, but it's not horrible. It's definitely something that I would imagine you would get used to. So for me, I can see perfectly fine out the back, but it does get better when it comes to forward visibility because rain sensing windshield wipers, of course do come standard on every single trim level of the Atlas Cross Sport. So whenever it detects any kind of mist or rainfall, it's gonna automatically turn on your windshield wipers for you though. So it's just one less thing you gotta worry about, kind of like automatic headlights. So that is pretty darn convenient, but that pretty much rounds off the performance segment of this review, guys. Let's now go ahead and take a look at the exterior of our brand new 2023 Volkswagen Atlas Cross Sport. All right, so here she is you guys, the new 2023 Volkswagen Atlas Cross Sport finished in opal white pearl. In case you were curious of the exact exterior color that we had on this one here today, but take a look at the van. Let's go ahead and start with where this one is made. First character is the number one, indicating that the Atlas Cross Sport is built and assembled here in the US, at least for US customers. But as always, let's go ahead and start up front LED headlights with LED daytime running lights do come standard. And if you were to go with one of those SEL trims, they are actually adaptive front headlights, which is amazing. One of those rare features you typically only find on luxury manufacturers, but essentially what that means is when you're going around to bend at night, those headlights are going to swivel based on the direction of your steering angle, better help illuminating what is around that bench. You're less likely to hit a deer or a possum or a cyclist or whatever the case. So that is a safety feature. And of course it also adds for better visibility at night as well. Automatic feature coming standard, automatic high beams are available. And then taking a look down at the bottom corners there, front air curtains helping direct air around the wheel and tire combination for better aerodynamics as well. And of course, if you go with one of those R line trim levels, you are going to find that R insignia that are badging found in the front grille that you guys are looking at kind of on the passenger side of that front grille. So definitely looks good as well, but that pretty much rounds out the front end. Let's now go ahead and make our way to the side. All right, so as I climb into the corn for you guys, silver roof rails do come standard on this one. Chrome belt line molding also coming standard along with rear privacy glass, cross sport accenting found on those front fenders that definitely looks good. I like that little accent piece there. Body colored power adjustable side mirrors do come standard that will be heated with LED integrated turd signals as well. But one of the most unique aspects for the Atlas cross sport to me is how the side skirts are going to differ substantially depending upon the trim level that you go with.  Otherwise they're going to be matte black side skirts if you were to go with one of the SE trims. It doesn't look bad either way, but I do think the body colored side skirts do look a little bit better in my personal opinion, but they take a look down at the wheel setup, 18 inch alloys for the SE trim level, 20 inch alloys for the SE with technology, SEL and R line black, then 21 inch alloys is what you guys are currently looking at for the premium R line. In case you were curious, but that pretty much rounds out the side profile. Let's now go ahead and make our way to the back. All right, so now let's see you are around to the back of this one all the way to the top, gloss black, shark fin antenna. Just below that rear spoiler with an integrated brake light just below that rear window wiper. You do have LED taillights that do come standard on this one. I like the Atlas lettering spelled out on that chrome bar that goes from side to side there. Definitely looks good as well. For motion badging in the bottom right hand corner of the lift gate there, that's going to signify that it is all wheel drive of course, and just below it all. And by the way, towing package is optional. That's what you guys are looking at. But just below it all, there are actually dual exhaust outlets, but they are tucked away. So there's cutouts that you guys see in the rear bumper kind of throw you off a little bit, but just underneath of it all. You will find dual exhaust outlets, like I said. So having said that, I do believe you guys know what we have to do next. As always here is that exhaust clip. All right, so now since we are around to the back of the Atlas cross sport, when it comes to opening that rear tailgate, believe it or not, it is a hands free power tailgate for every single trim level across the board. That is very rare that a hands free power tailgate comes standard even on luxury manufacturers. So that's pretty crazy. But once it bit up, cargo capacity behind that second row comes in at 40.3 cubic feet. That's impressive. If that was not enough space, there is a 6040 split, meaning the rear seats do fold down, bumping that up to 77.8 cubic feet. Very impressive there. Of course there is cargo lighting back there. There's some grocery bag hooks. There's a 12 volt power outlet. Then if you were to lift up underneath of that cargo floor, you will find a spare tire. And there's actually a good bit of space surrounding that spare tire. So you probably put an ice grape or even a tire inflator kit. There was a good bit of space back there. But anyways, then making our way up to the rear leg room, definitely impressive. Once again, 40.4 inches. For reference, I mean even six feet tall. This is how much space I have back there. Rear ventilation does come standard. There's a little bit of storage back there as well. There are a couple of USB charging ports towards the bottom of those rear air vents at the very bottom there. There's also the 115 volt power outlet, which was kind of cool to see. And actually, if you were to go with the premium trim that we have today, you're also gonna get a heated second row. So heated second row seats. That is definitely pretty dang cool as well. And of course, here we are center armrest with cup holders, but of course the stuff is on it. So let me rip this off real quick. Here we are center armrest with cup holders, like I said. But now let's go ahead and make our way to the front seats. V-tex leatherette seating is gonna come standard on all trims, but the premium, premium trim is gonna give you full leather seating. Of course, power adjustable driver seat with power lumbar coming standard, heated front seats coming standard. If you want a ventilated front seats, that's gonna be had with the premium trim level only. So we do have those today. Overall though, seating was plenty comfortable. Even with the horizontal seams, which I sometimes gripe on, seating is still plenty comfortable. If it wanted to be more comfortable, it could add vertical seams. I'm just saying, but let's take a look at the steering wheel. It is tilt and telescoping. It is leatherette wrapped for the SE trims and the SEL, but then leather wrapped for the R line trim levels. And if you were to go with the SEL trim level and up that steering wheel is also going to be heated. And I like the little R insignia at the very bottom of it too. That looks pretty cool. But now let's go ahead and make our way to the startup and let me start by showing you guys the key here. You got your Volkswagen logo on the one side. When you flip it over, lock, unlock the button to pop the rear tailgate and the times two button. That's gonna be a remote start, which comes on the SE with technology trim level and up. But ultimately it is all keyless entry that they push button starts. So all I'm going to do here is simply put my foot of the brake and press that silver engine start button located just to the left of the shifter. And so once started up eight inch digital gauge cluster for the SE trim levels, but then a 10 and a quarter inch digital gauge cluster for the SEL trim level and up. That of course is what you guys are looking at. I love it. It's very reminiscent of what Audi does, of course with Audi being the big brother for Volkswagen but it is completely customizable. Of course when you adjust to drive modes it's gonna change the look a little bit but my very favorite part about the digital gauges and both Volkswagen and Audi, there's just a view button on the steering wheel. If you hit that view button that is really what completely changes the look up there from your traditional gauge look to all navigation which is probably what I would leave it on. I think that's such a cool look. It still gives you a digital speedometer and how many miles you have left until you hit empty speed limit recognition, outside temperature, all that stuff. So wonderful, wonderful gauges here in the Atlas crossport without a doubt. I absolutely love them at least. Now let's go ahead and make our way to overall interior quality. There is a power adjustable panoramic sunroof for the SE L trim level and up, auto dimming rear view mirror for all trim levels, LED interior lighting for all trim levels as well, dual zoom climate control for the SE technology trim level and up, wireless phone charger with the SE with technology trim level and up yet again. There is some rubber storage as well just above the infotainment screen so you could probably put some stuff there and it wouldn't slide around as much because it is rubberized storage after all. I do like the frameless rear view mirror with Himmler controls and the little compass in the upper right hand corner. I think that looks pretty dang cool. Overall, it's a very functional interior. I do like the contrast stitching on the doors as well. In front of the shifter, there's a good bit of a rubberized storage there, 12-volt power outlet, couple of fin charging ports, two cupholders just to the right of the shifter, electromechanical parking brake as well. Within the center armrest, there is a ton of space, very good bit of space. And that's really the kicker for the Atlas crossport is how much space it has compared to the competition. But overall, definitely a ton of utility and a ton of space with the interior of this thing. But now, let's go ahead and make our way to the infotainment screen here. You're gonna find a 6.5-inch colored touch screen display for the SE, but then an 8-inch colored touch screen display for the SE with technology trim levels and up. Bluetooth and audio streaming coming standard either way. Android Auto, Apple CarPlay as well. Factory navigation system now. That's gonna come on the SEL trim level and up. You can find some weather information up there. There's some stock information, along with your radio information as well. And so, when it comes to the sound systems on the Atlas crossport, six speakers for all trim levels, but the premium. So, therefore, we do have the good sound system with us here today. We got the Fender premium sound system here. I love that. I got a Fender Squire guitar. That was my first guitar. I got way back in the day. But anyways, having said that, I do believe you guys know what we have to do next. Let's go ahead and turn on the radio. See what we got playing today. And let's test out the clarity of this one. That was fun. Actually, that's a really good sound system for the Atlas crossport ton of bass. Pretty darn good clarity as well. Fender, you did a great job. You do a good job with your guitars too. But anyways, last thing I wanna mention to you guys on the infotainment screen is when you do put the Atlas crossport in reverse, you will find a rear view camera coming standard across the board. Not the very highest quality rear view camera compared to the competition, but it's there nonetheless, which is always is going to lead us into safety. Let's do the start, front side, side, current airbags do come standard in the back. You're gonna have latch, aka lower anchors to tether should children for the rear car seats. Rear child door locks, tire pressure monitoring system, but also coming standard. Blind spot monitoring system with rear cross traffic alert, forward collision warning with autonomous emergency braking. If you were to go with the SE with technology trim level and up, you're gonna get front and rear parking sensors. If you were to go with the SE L trim level and up, you're gonna get roadside recognition. And if you were to go with the R line black trim level and up, you're gonna get lane keep assist as well. So overall, what it comes to my final thoughts, like I keep saying within the video here, times of cargo space in this thing. That is really where it excels compared to the competition. You got a ton of relegroom, ton of cargo space, especially for it not being a three row SUV. So that is quite brilliant, great looking SUV as well. It looks like an Audi, but in Volkswagen form. So I love the cross sport styling specifically in the back. As far as for improvement goes, I don't like that there is a very basic sound system on all the other trim levels. But having said that, the sound system that we got in this one is pretty dang good. And the other thing is all those safety features that you continuously get more and more of as the trim levels go up, safety really should come standard on all vehicles out there. And a lot of manufacturers do do that. Like take for example, Toyota, you can get all of these safety features standard on a Corolla that you can get on the top trim levels of the Atlas cross sport only. So that is pretty interesting. I really do think safety should come standard for all trim levels, but that's just my personal opinion. But anyways, that about rounds out this one. You guys, thank you so much for watching. Feel free to follow me on social media at the bottom of the screen if you wanna see what's coming next on the channel before it gets to YouTube. Be sure to hit the subscribe and the bell notification button if you're into new car reviews cause that is what we do here on this channel. After all, do appreciate you guys watching more than you know, and I will see you guys all in the next video. Stay gold.


Does having proper pedaling technique improve your cycling performance? As always, today we're going to be taking a look at the science to answer this question as well as touching on optimal cadence and at the end of the video I'll be discussing how exactly you can go about improving your pedaling efficiency. Welcome back to another video. The question of what proper pedaling technique should look like is an age-old concern for cyclists. And there are many theories out there. I've heard everything from focus on pedaling perfect circles to pulling up on the upstroke, to pretending you have gunk on the bottom of your shoe and you're trying to scrape it off with each pedal stroke. Now if you're thinking, hmm, I didn't know that it was possible to not pedal in circles, well, I can't really argue with you there, but what we're talking about specifically here is when you apply power to the pedals in the pedal stroke. Is it around the whole pedal stroke, only the downstroke, or something else? It seems logical that pedaling more smoothly or applying power more evenly around the pedal stroke would be beneficial. But then again, if this isn't the case, it wouldn't be the first time that a commonly held belief amongst cyclists falls apart when you actually look at the evidence. Dude, I don't know what you're talking about, you're going to have to provide some specific examples. Does your pedaling technique actually affect your cycling performance and if so, is it something that you can work on and improve? Perhaps a good place to start would be by taking a look at the pedaling techniques used by the best riders in the world. Do pros have a more even power delivery to the pedals as you might assume? This study on the pedaling technique of endurance cyclists measured the pedaling technique of elite 40 kilometer time trial lists as the workload increased to race pace. What they found was that there was an even split amongst the participants with two different pedaling styles that were adopted as the power increased. The first was that subjects showed no changes in pedal orientation and predominantly increased the vertical component of the applied force during the downstroke as the workload increased. Essentially what this means is that they did not adopt a more even distribution of power throughout the pedal stroke. As the power increased, they simply applied more force on the downstroke. For the others, in addition to increasing the vertical component during the downstroke, they also increased the toe up rotation of the pedal throughout the downstroke and increased the horizontal component between 0 degrees and 90 degrees. So slightly more force was applied to the top of the stroke when power increased, but were these riders pulling up during the upstroke at all or was the majority of their power being produced during the downstroke? While negative torque about the bottom bracket during the upstroke usually became positive torque at the higher workload, it did not contribute significantly to the external work done because 98.6% and 96.3% of total work done at the low and high workloads respectively was done during the downstroke. In these elite riders, increasing the power meant increasing the force during the upstroke but by way less than you might have previously thought and the vast majority of the power was still being produced during the downstroke. This study on physiology and biomechanical factors associated with elite cycling performance came to a similar conclusion. When looking at elite national class cyclists vs. good state class cyclists, they found that elite cyclists produced more power primarily by producing higher peak vertical forces and torque during the cycling downstroke and not by increasing the effectiveness of the force application to the pedal. This begs the question, if such a large percentage of our power is produced in the downstroke and elite riders set themselves apart by how much power they can produce in the downstroke, then what are we even talking about here? Does worrying about pedaling perfect circles or pulling up in the upstroke even matter? This study on the effect of pedaling technique on mechanical effectiveness and efficiency in cyclists looked at just that. Subjects pedaled at 90 rpm and 200 watts and were told to use four different pedaling techniques. Preferred pedaling, pedaling in circles, emphasizing the pull during the upstroke and emphasizing the push during the downstroke. What they found was that instructing riders to pull up on the upstroke resulted in the highest evenness of torque distribution and index of force effectiveness. Basically, when riders were told to pull up on the upstroke, their power was distributed more evenly. However, this did not equate to higher efficiency, which is the end goal of working on pedaling technique. Pulling up actually had the lowest gross efficiency, followed by trying to maintain circular pedaling, and preferred technique and pushing down were almost the same and had the highest gross efficiency. The study concludes that mechanical effectiveness did not reflect gross efficiency across different pedaling techniques during steady state cycling. This may have had something to do with the fact that the extensor muscles are more efficient power producers than the flexor muscles. These are probably not the results you would expect. It seems that having a less even power distribution may actually be preferred, or at the very least this whole pedaling technique issue is not something that you should worry about. These are just a few studies though, and we should probably do some further investigation before we come to a conclusion. For example, what about pedaling heel down versus toe down? Some people naturally adopt one of these two pedaling styles, and it's not because they're conscious of it, it's just because that's what's comfortable for them. But could actively trying to pedal heel down or toe down improve your performance? This study looked at this very question by instructing cyclists to pedal heel down or toe down during a test. They found that neither method provided benefit, and the preferred pedaling technique was the most efficient. These studies all look at instructing subjects to change their pedaling technique, which doesn't seem to be effective. However, interestingly enough, pedaling style will change under different cycling conditions, completely unprompted. Let's take, for example, your pedaling technique while climbing versus riding on the flats. While your cadence might be reduced while climbing, the activation of your muscles might change as well. This study showed that muscle activation occurs earlier in the pedal stroke with increasing gradient, and that riding uphill increased muscle activity level, mainly induced by increased calf muscle activity. Changes in pedaling technique can also be seen as we get tired. This study tested cyclists to exhaustion and measured their hip, knee, and ankle joints in the process. They found that with an increase in workload, there was an increased knee joint moment, plantar flexor moment, hip flexor moments, higher dorsi flexion, and an increased range of motion were observed for the ankle joint, and the hip joint had an increased flexion angle and a reduced range of motion.  Basically, movements on the bike can get more exaggerated as we get tired.  Not literally pedaling squares because obviously that's impossible, but somebody whose pedaling technique is so ugly that they might as well have a square chainring. That being said, this may be your body's way of trying to eke out every possible watt it can muster. We've already seen that pedaling technique can change as power increases, and it doesn't seem clear that focusing on pedaling technique will help. To sum things up, from this review on gross efficiency and cycling performance, whilst pedaling in circles allows pedaling to become mechanically more effective, this technique does not result in short-term improvements in gross efficiency. From this review on pedal force effectiveness and cycling, economy slash efficiency seems to be reduced when cyclists are instructed to improve pedal force effectiveness. And finally, from this article on post-cycling and efficiency, our findings add to a growing body of literature that short-term interventions in pedaling technique can change pedaling mechanics, but do not improve efficiency during steady-state cycling. In short, no, you shouldn't try to actively change your pedaling technique. Whatever pedaling technique you naturally use is the most efficient one for you. People often cite how smooth pro riders look when they pedal as a reason to improve your pedaling technique. However, if you pay attention, even in the pro peloton, pedaling styles can vary quite a bit. There are a few studies here and there that may contradict this, however, it's always important to look at the balance of evidence when coming to a conclusion, and the balance of evidence shows that pedaling technique is not something that you should be worried about. These findings remind me a lot of the research on cadence, which fits perfectly into the topic of pedaling. A lot of people claim that you need to either pedal with a high or a low cadence in order to improve your cycling performance and that this is something that you need to actively work on. These claims are usually backed up by the last dude to win the tour. People get obsessed with spinning or mashing when they see their cycling heroes do it. Haven't you heard, dude? Spin to win, just like Lance. Mmm, wait now, let me think of a better example. In reality, this may be a complete waste of your time and energy. From this review article on optimal cadence, they stated that it would appear then that a single optimal cadence for all cyclists does not exist, or indeed a single optimal cadence for an individual cyclist. The cadence at which perceived exertion is minimized would seem to reflect the optimal trade-off between the most metabolically efficient cadence and the most mechanically efficient cadence. Just like with pedaling technique, simply doing what comes natural to you and what is most comfortable for you, whether that be a high cadence or a low cadence, is the most efficient cadence. All of that being said, there is something that you can do to make sure that you're pedaling efficiently, and that is having your bike fit dialed. I just did a video on saddle height so I won't go too much into this, but basically what you need to know is that your saddle height and your saddle position can have a huge impact on your pedaling efficiency. Studies on saddle height show that small differences of just plus or minus 2% can affect gross efficiency and a saddle height that's too high is often worse than a saddle height that's too low. Further research demonstrates that the optimal saddle height is one that puts your knee at a 25 to 30 degree angle with cranks in the downward position. I discussed this at length in my saddle height video and I encourage you to check that out if you haven't already. In short, if you're concerned about your pedaling efficiency, stop concentrating on your pedaling technique and your cadence. Whatever is the most comfortable for you is likely the most efficient. Instead, focus on your bike fit and most importantly your saddle position. Thanks for watching. If you enjoyed this video, be sure to give it a like, subscribe, and share it with your cycling friends. I'll see you in the next one.


While the CDC has never studied it, the most common affliction among musicians is definitely Demoitis. But I'm kind of thankful right now they're focusing on more important things. This affliction occurs when someone has heard a mix of a song for so long that any change to it sounds wrong. The only way this song sounds right is the way it was in the mix the afflicted person is used to. Demoitis is most commonly contracted by overly listening to a mix of a song. It's inevitable to contract it after prolonged listening of a single mix of a song. And yes, a rare breed of musicians are immune to it. But for most of us, the more we get used to it in that form, the harder it is to be open to changing it. In this video I want to discuss what the affliction of Demoitis is and how you conquer it so you can always make good decisions for your songs. Hi, I'm Jesse Cannon and this is Muse Formation. I'm lucky enough to have a job where I would get to regularly discuss writing songs with some of the best songwriters in the world. And when you start discussing songwriting with them, the most commonly cited problem is a loss of objectivity. Once you've written a great song, the most treacherous part of creating is maintaining objectivity. After all, if you lose objectivity, the ability to judge options is compromised, which always results in poor decision-making since you have to guess at what's right and odds are you're not going to guess well and the song is not going to come out as well as it could have if you had maintained your objectivity. What makes crafting music so difficult is that even if you have intent and know exactly what you want, you can lose perspective along the way. If you hear a song the same way too many times, you're going to get used to the elements relationship with one another and any change to it is going to sound odd. You subsequently lose the ability to objectively hear changes to decipher whether they improve or detract from your intent in the song and how it should feel emotionally. Just as treacherous is that you can make poor decisions if you don't listen to a mix properly. In a past video linked below and on this card, I talk about the concept of zooming. If you're too focused on the details, you can lose track of the big picture. All of these choices are crucial to consider, yet I've never seen any good insight onto how to properly use the tools at hand to stay as objective as possible. But before we go deeper, we should identify that there are two plagues that kill musicians objectivity constantly that we should define. The first being what we just discussed, demoitis. And then there's analysis paralysis and I know that sounds like some weird heavy metal album name, but anyone that's ever tried their hand at perfecting a song has probably experienced this. In his book The Paradox of Choice, author Barry Schwartz explains the phenomenon like this. When we become paralyzed by the different options in front of us, in music this is most experienced when we've heard so many options, we can no longer make a good decision because we can't tell which one is right for the song. This regularly happens when surfing through plug-in presets or drum samples. The loss of perspective from working too long on a song or hearing too many alternative ideas is debilitating for artists. Now you can make the song sound different. All emotional resonance to judge an option is depleted, leading to confusion about what the best option is. This usually causes the creative process to cease as the song becomes abandoned or becomes completed as the artist can no longer tell what choice to make and they give up on the song and just release it. Producer Greg Wells, who's known for his work with Katy Perry and Adele has said, the hardest part of making music is that you can never hear it the way the listener does the first time they hear it. Now before you crucify me about how much I've talked about making the music you want to hear and not concerning yourself with the listener, take in this concept. As you craft your music, it gets harder and harder to tell if you're doing the right thing since your excitement for a song declines in time as you get used to it.  To make matters worse, while you work on a song, your objectivity gets more and more skewed as you get used to the way the parts sound. Elements you find emotionally resonant on a first listen compared to elements you find interesting after hearing it a thousand times can be vastly different. To make good decisions for our music, we need to acknowledge that we're running a race against this loss of objectivity. At some point your objectivity gets depleted and your ability to make good decisions will be reduced. You should always be conscious of the balance between under developing a song and developing it for so long that you lose this objectivity. While you want to give enough consideration to the composition, you must execute it fast enough not to lose your perspective.  With that said, focusing on details can also bring out the magic in a song. In yourself, you have to find a place where you can find the balance since it's crucial to the execution of making a great song. But now that I've talked about the dynamics of this, let's get into how you actually solve this for yourself. There are ways to regain your perspective. Revisit the greats. I've told you in past videos to make a great songs playlist, which could be the tickets to regaining perspective. In my experience, losses of perspective commonly stem from making judgments against previous drafts of your own song you've made without listening to enough outside inspiration to get inspired again.  Revisiting your favorite music to judge how tight grooves are, the levels of certain elements in a mix or the overall timbre of a song could be a great reference to help steer you in the right direction. I find if I revisit my favorite songs for an hour and revisit the song I'm having trouble on, my perspective as a true north that's easy to see again. As well, employ muting and soloing. When you start off mixing, employing the mute button or solo instruments to analyze songs is a basic practice that's dismissed as being too critical oftentimes. While sewing a track that has too strong a groove, it could sound totally wrong on its own, it could also unveil a perspective that shows a flaw. There are plenty of instruments that may sound odd when sold, especially if they played to a rhythm track with a less conventional groove. But soloing tracks can help give further perspective. While muting various elements of a song is equally helpful in finding perspective on what could be flawed or superfluous within it. The other tool you have is time. Time away from a song is a commodity many musicians don't have during the development process. Sadly though, it's the best cure for lost perspective. Any one experience to making music that's revisited to a past recording in hindsight can hear clear flaws as well as better decisions they could have made. While there's no definite prescription for how much time it takes to regain objectivity, breaking from hearing a song regularly leads to huge epiphanies as well as regain perspective. In fact, time away from a song may be the single grayest way to regain objectivity, which is why you'll hear so many huge artists talk about how they put a song aside and then they released it on another record. They knew they lost perspective, but the song had great potential. But how do we cure analysis paralysis? As it's a particularly tricky affliction to navigate. If it's a regular occurrence, you're probably suffering from self-doubt and need to do some research or gut analysis for what feels right in your heart. The most common cases stem from having to make big decision coupled with a lack of confidence and knowledge on how to make that decision. On a macro level, when coaching musicians through it in the past, I talk to them about who they'd like to be as an artist and what type of decision that artist would make. Reverse engineering how you could be confident in your decision is crucial since deciphering what would be beneficial about each path makes you more prepared when a choice has to be made. This results in solidifying your intent since it's the best guy to avoid this troublesome paralysis. You then need to start creating again. The only way this affliction subsides is by committing to a decision. You can also employ phase decision making. On a more micro level, options need to be whittled down over time by doing some batch decision making. If there's five directions you're considering for a vocal that you can't decide between, get it down to two or three and next week get it down to one. If there's an unclear decision between two key elements, make a decision and if it still annoys you weeks later, revisiting with a different mind will usually give your thoughts clarity. Then there's giving up. Analysis paralysis commonly occurs at the end of a project where uncompleted songs are left hanging to avoid making a crucial but confusing decision. Further consideration of what's best reinforces intent and resonance is the only way to consider this. Time away can help regain objectivity to make that decision, but don't give up during a tight deadline. Employ outside of years to consider the decision after hearing your intent. And what I mean by those outside of years is what I like to call a lifeline. Just as the show Who Wants to be a Millionaire has illustrated for years, occasionally we hit a point where we view their lost perspective or don't know what to do. Perhaps the democracy within your group has broken down or you've lost perspective and the only way to regain it is from trusted ears. You need an outside opinion that hasn't heard this song a million times whose thoughts may help you to come to a decision. The lifeline on that TV show is the person you can call who is not on the stage that can help you get through a tough paralyzing choice. Once you hear from this trusted person, you can usually regain objectivity by knowing whether to trust your instincts or not. Throughout my life, I've collected friends that I can turn to for various dilemmas. My producer friends that I constantly shoot mixes back and forth when we've been working on a song for too long or received feedback on a song that's perplexing us. You should find someone outside of who you regularly make music with who can help give you a perspective. Keeping these lifelines in your back pocket can save your songs. Throughout post-mortem album interviews, you hear that musicians let their friends listen to songs to set them back on course. Sadly, they probably won't make you a millionaire by answering these questions, but still, hopefully you can make great songs from it. That's it, am I missing anything? Is there any way you would have done this? I need to know your questions and what no one else is telling you since I wanna answer them, so leave them in the comments. I hope you liked this video and if you did, please like and subscribe and get notified for my future videos since I'm gonna be breaking down the concepts in this video along with tons of others on promoting your music and how to make music you're more happy with. As well, I have a Facebook group that's linked below that has only helpful information. No one tried to sell you anything, playlist or con artist, only helpful information for musicians looking to be better themselves. If you wanna learn more about me, make a record with me or check out any of my books, podcasts or anything else I do, head to jessicanon.com or at jessicanon.com on any of the socials. Thanks for watching. One last thing, if you liked this video, there's two playlists here with tons more videos that you'll probably enjoy. One's about how you promote your music and the other's about how you make songs you're happy with. Otherwise, you can hit the subscribe button here to see the rest of my videos. Thanks so much for watching.


Hello, everyone, and welcome to the Dokomomo Hawaii Show. I am the host of this particular program here in Think Tech Hawaii. I am DeSoto Brown. I am the Bishop Museum Historian here at home. And we're continuing now with the second of three programs that I'm putting on right now about the history of transportation on the island of Oahu and I'm doing this because our train system, our new rail system will be starting up its first segment in just a few days from now. Or weeks, let's say. So for that auspicious occasion, let us look back and look forward as to what's been going on with transportation on Oahu. So let's go to the first slide. Well, last week or the last time I ended the previous program, we talked about the beginning of automobiles here in Hawaii and we started with this pic. We're starting with this picture today, which I ended with the last program. This is a very early photograph of a very early automobile on Kalakaua Avenue in Waikiki. This picture is probably taken about 1905. This is an oldsmobile, the first very popular car before the Model T, which lots of people know about. This is the first car that really began to sell in any particular quantities in the United States. And as you can see, it's a really little contraption. It only holds two people. It doesn't have a steering wheel. It only can be steered with a tiller bar.  Next picture. This cartoon from a newspaper in 1901 is a very clear indication of what I just said. It is the old year of 1901 being superseded by the new year of 1902. And the old man of 1901 is riding along in a very broken down cart that's being pulled by a mule who's looking very slow. And of course the old year is very aged and decrepit just like the cart is. And on the right is the new year of 1902, the 1902 baby representing the new year, driving by in a new fangled automobile that shows you how people recognized what a big deal this was. Next picture. So when cars first came on the market and the first cars I will point out also were brought to the Hawaiian Islands in 1899, well, those early years of cars only wealthy people could afford them. And so in this picture on the left, you can see this is a chauffeur driven automobile in Kopiolani Park with diamond head in the background, a very well-dressed lady in the back seat and a chauffeur driving her in the front seat. This is an early car probably 1910, 1910 to 1915. But things began to change certainly by the 1920s when more and more people could afford cars. And one of the reasons was as wealthier people bought new cars, they then had old used cars to trade in or sell. So that enabled more and more people to be able to purchase cars. And so by the time of the two pictures on the right, the top one from the 1930s and the bottom one from 1947, lots of regular people, even people who didn't have a lot of money were able to afford and drive automobiles. Next picture. The reason, as I said, all of this, the automobile ownership trickled down, as we might say economically, to people with a lot less money was because of the used cars and used car market and the used car selling procedures became very familiar certainly by the 1930s. These two pictures, one is from the 1950s on the top and the one on the bottom, the large color pictures from 1965, used car lots became a very common sight in Honolulu. And they all looked very similar. At night, they were illuminated by strings of white light bulbs. And during the day, they had these small triangular flags on ropes or strings above them. And used cars, of course, sold for a lot less than a new car. And so almost everybody was able to afford a car who wanted one, meaning there were lots and lots more cars on the roads. Next picture. Even if you could not afford to purchase a car, you could still ride in a car. As I mentioned in the program I did last time, there were horse-drawn vehicles that you could either rent or be driven around in and they were called hacks. Well, that transformed into taxis. And there were certainly taxis by very early on in the entire automobile process. This is a picture of the Black and White Taxi Company, which was on Dillingham Boulevard. This picture is from 1955 and she is standing next to a new 1955 Chevrolet. Well, today we still do have taxis, but of course we've also got the ride-sharing programs which many people use as well. And again, it's not always if you can't afford a car, it's sometimes you don't wanna drive. But even so, cars are available for pretty much everybody now. Next picture. With the growth of automobiles came a whole bunch of things that had to be created for the infrastructure. First of all, automobiles need fuel. They need flammable gasoline in order to run because most cars of course run on gasoline. There are electric cars, there were very early electric cars as well, but most of us drive cars that run on gas. That means that either fuel has to be brought here because we don't have any petroleum here or crude oil is brought here and then it's refined. So that meant that we had to have at least one refinery. And here are pictures of one of those refineries at Campbell Industrial Park. And you can see that not only is this a huge polluting type of procedure, but we also have to have a lot of storage tanks for fuel to be stored. Next picture. These two photographs were taken 40 years apart and they show the standard oil facility in Honolulu. The top picture from 1913 is really ironic because the vehicles that have big tanks on them are carts that are horse drawn carts. There's only one automobile in the photograph, it's on the left. So ironically, while not all of the fuel in this picture might be gasoline for cars, it means that fuel for cars is still being delivered by horses, which is really ironic. In the picture on the bottom, that's from 1943, 40 years later, 1953, 40 years later, excuse me. Now it's a much bigger standard oil facility in Honolulu and furthermore, gasoline is now being delivered by truck, which is run by an internal combustion engine using gasoline. So now the delivery systems have caught up with the automobiles themselves. Next picture. So something that we don't even really think about, but which are an inevitable part of our lives are gas stations. All of those gas stations that we're familiar with and all the ones that used to exist, they all had to be built from scratch. So in order to support automobiles as the main mode of transportation, hundreds of gas stations have had to be built, many of them of course are no longer with us, but we still have them today.  Yes, the famous Duke Kohanimoku, famous swimmer and surfer. He ran two gas stations for a time in 1934, here in Honolulu. This one was on the corner of Palakawa Avenue and Seaside Avenue and Waikiki. The picture on the right is a more modern station. This is from the 1960s and gas stations still look somewhat similar to these today, although there is a very important difference, which I'll get to in just a minute, but let's go on to the next picture. And an important part of gasoline, of course, as I said, is it's flammable. That's how an internal combustion engine works. Gasoline is ignited so that it literally explodes inside the cylinder of the engine. Well, that means that gasoline and oil, which burns too, are in fact not only dangerous because they can ignite and cause huge fires like the large picture that you see, which was a fire in a storage facility next to Honolulu Harbor in 1980, in which, as I remember, either a firefighter was killed or badly injured and burned during this catastrophe. But it also means that car engines, which run very hot, can catch on fire too because they've got a lot of gasoline in them. There's gas tanks. So if a vehicle catches on fire in, as you can see in the picture on the right, sometimes it can be burned. And that means there's danger involved for anybody in a burning vehicle. Next photo. Cars have to be sold to the public in some manner. And that means that dealerships have to be created as well. Places that not only sold cars, but also serviced cars. So here's the picture of an early automobile showroom. This is a company selling Buick cars and it was located on Baratania Street in Honolulu. And car dealerships have come and gone. And some of them have been very big. Aloha Motors, which was located in, right on the edge of Waikiki on the site of where the convention center is now in Honolulu. That for a time was the biggest Chevrolet dealer in the entire United States right here in Honolulu. So car dealerships are an important part of our economy as well. Next photo. One thing I said that has changed about gas stations, they used to be service stations. That was the term that we use because they also serviced and repaired cars. Older cars needed a lot more servicing. Their engines needed a lot more work on a regular basis. They broke down more and they needed a lot more replacement parts. So gas stations in many cases are places where people used to take their cars to be serviced, fixed, et cetera. You could also buy parts at gas stations in addition to getting gasoline. This function is pretty much gone for good now. Gas stations just sell gasoline almost every one of them. And they also have taken up the space that used to be occupied by servicing automobiles by putting in convenience stores. That means that there are a handful of independent stations or independent businesses that service cars, but basically you now have to take your car back to the dealer. This is an important shift in how cars are serviced and it's happened within the last few decades. Next picture. There have been many other changes brought on by the abundance of cars that we have here on Oahu and in the Hawaiian Islands and in fact all over the world. Now one of them was the growth of suburbs because suburbs were created specifically to accommodate people who had cars. And in the large picture you can see an aerial view of a 1960s subdivision here on Oahu laid out in a typical pattern, lots and lots of independently standing single family homes. And this also meant that the homes had to accommodate cars. So in the other two photographs you see first a drawing and then a photograph, one from the 60s, one from the 50s of cars accommodated in homes. It became necessary for new homes to have a two car garage. And that was considered ample for many years. Today a two car garage really isn't adequate because lots more people tend to live in single family homes, all of whom own cars. So there are lots more cars parked on the streets as well as in not only the garages but the driveways of many of these single family homes. And this is a huge change in the sprawl, the urban sprawl created by the city of Honolulu. Next picture. The biggest change I think in how suburbs were developed on Oahu and in Honolulu was because of cars being able to go up steep hills. So after the invention of and the popularity of automobiles, suburbs began to grow and fill in tremendously on the slopes behind the city of Honolulu on the Koalao mountain range. And that's because even though there were some development, some suburban developments that predated cars are were started right at the time of automobiles. And those were Pacific Heights and Wilhelmina Rise. It took a long time for people to start buying and building homes there buying landed building homes because getting up a steep street up a steep hill was not easy in a horse drawn vehicle. But in a car, it didn't make any difference. So that's why so many of our ridges are so developed today because of automobiles. Next picture. There were some other unexpected things that automobiles brought to us. In the picture on the left, you can see the drive-in movie theater. Drive-in movie theaters, there were six of them in all in Hawaii in a period between 1949 and the late 1980s. This is the opening of the Weilai Drive-in Theater in the middle 1950s in the larger picture. This is something that really thrived in the 50s and the 60s and in nowadays is completely gone. We no longer think about going to a movie in a car. At the top right is the introduction of the first car available bank teller machine. I mean, this wasn't literally a machine, a human being did operate it, but it meant that you could drive up to an automatic teller or a teller of some sort and not even get out of your car in order to do a bank transaction. These were very popular in the 1950s. This is the first one which started in 1953 in downtown Honolulu. A number of branch banks were built with automobile accessible teller windows. They're all gone now. We no longer expect to do that, but we still do go to restaurants which serve us in cars. The drive-in restaurant began here in the 1920s, but it really thrived and exploded in the 50s and 60s and there's a picture of Frankie's drive-in and the lower right. Today, we expect to be able to be served in our car by driving up to the drive-through window at least to receive our food. In the 50s, you either had to get out of your car and go to the building to get your food or some of the larger drive-ins had car hops that came out to you. And the car hops have become this sort of nostalgic symbol of the 1950s even though they weren't as commonplace as most people sort of think they were. Next picture, to accommodate automobiles and to give them places to drive, we have built these immense structures on Oahu. On the left is a picture of the Likidike Highway on the windward side as it comes out of the Wilson tunnels at the base of the Kualaau Mountains. At the top, the airport viaduct of the H1 freeway which is an immense concrete structure. And most of us don't even think about it because we are so accustomed to it. It's been there for such a long time since the 1980s. It is a huge and very unsightly thing. And at the bottom is the H3 freeway, again at the base of the Kualaau Mountains which took decades to build. There was a tremendous amount of controversy involved in it. It cost a huge amount of money to build. But again, these are things that we will do to accommodate automobiles. And in truth, our economy requires that we have these huge structures to accommodate automobiles. Next picture. What we find very frequently, unfortunately, is that the roads that we have built for cars gradually fill up so much that we have to either build other roads or we have to widen the roads we have. So here's a picture of the H1 freeway being widened for the, I believe, Pearl City and IEA exit. And look at that. You can see that there already are five lanes there and that wasn't enough. We had to build two or three more lanes in this huge project. And when we have to do that, of course, we can, we cause problems and tie-ups for traffic that's on the existing roads. But pretty much we will do whatever is necessary to accommodate automobiles. Next picture.  So when they're parked, they require space. And here are pictures of parking lots over the years. The picture on the left, the kind of informal parking lot for the Honolulu Stadium when it was located in Honolulu in Mo'ili-Ili. This is a picture from right after when the, from 1927, soon after the stadium opened, the top right is a picture of a parking lot on Kapilani Boulevard in the 1940s, 1946. And then a picture at the bottom from 1959 of a star supermarket parking lot in Mo'ili-Ili. Again, all of this space is required, all of the pavement for us to put our cars because they take up so much room. Next picture. Cars are all independently operated by a driver and that means that with all of these cars in use, but all of these different people controlling them, they can have crashes, they can run into things, they can run into people, they can run into objects, they can run into each other. And so this has been happening since the very beginning when cars first were brought to the Hawaiian Islands. And as you can see in these photographs, cars can be badly damaged or destroyed by running into things. This is a major source of economic impact because not only do people have to pay for fixing cars or buying new cars, they also have to pay for insurance to prevent, to pay for damage like this when it occurs. Next picture. The really terrible aspect of all of these car crashes and collisions, of course, is that people are injured and killed. So these pictures from the 1950s and into the 1980s and 90s show you the results of car crashes. People are injured and people are killed. And the first car crash fatality occurred on Oahu in 1906. Since that time, it's my estimate that over 5,000 people have been killed by automobiles in the Hawaiian Islands. That's probably low. There's probably been more than that. And countless numbers more have been injured and traumatized mentally as well. This is something we live with without even thinking about it. We don't even give any thought to the deaths and injuries because it's just part of our daily existence. If you, however, have been through one of these incidents, personally, it's affected you. And it may even not be because you were injured but because, again, as I said, you were traumatized. Next picture, cars have to be shipped here. This means that not only once they're here, they're using energy. They are using energy to be put on ships and brought here. And you can see in the picture on the right, one car being unloaded from a ship in 1922 in Honolulu Harbor. And in the picture on the bottom from the 1980s, this is what we have now, immense ships bringing hundreds of cars each time they get here. Cars no longer have to be unloaded individually anymore.  But still, this is a huge aspect of what's going on as part of our existence. And we, again, have to accommodate all these new cars. Next picture, when cars go out of use, they don't magically disappear. Cars last usually about 10 years. They begin to wear out and get junked nine or 10 years old and then thereafter more and more of them go away. Well, once they're no longer in use, they, as I said, they don't magically disappear. They have to be put somewhere. They have to be dumped somewhere. They get abandoned in places where we have to cope with them. And in the picture on the right, you can see cars piled up, junked cars next to Kawainui Swamp and next to Kailua on the island of Oahu. That means that they are polluting and damaging this natural wetland. Well, this no longer occurs, but for many years, the swamp was considered this unnecessary, unusable piece of property. So you could dump cars there. Well, fortunately, we no longer think about that, but it still is something that we have to cope with. Next photograph. It would be wonderful if cars magically composted themselves, recycled themselves, just went into the ground and were reduced to all of their original components. That's not what happens, even though it looks like what's happening in this picture, which was taken in the 1990s by me outside of Hilo, Hawaii, not on Oahu. But while parts of cars do in fact go away, and I mean the steel of the car body will rust and will be reduced eventually to nothing, there are all these other parts of the cars that either don't rust or they're not going to. There's glass, there's plastic, there are other types of metals. All of these things are pollutants, all of these things are things that we have to deal with in the environment as we discard the cars which are no longer running. This is a major thing to consider, and this is something everybody probably has some awareness of, but it's something that even though cars are very important to our entire economy, we can't function without cars with mostly internal combustion engines, although again, we've got a lot of electric cars now. But all of these things that I've just mentioned mean that while cars are incredibly useful and they are incredibly convenient, they also have a lot of detrimental factors, particularly for those of us living on an island where it's not easy to dump things out of sight that are out of sight, out of mind. So let's go to the last picture. And this is the end of this particular segment of my three-part series. This is, that's the history of automobiles. Now we're gonna look ahead in the next program I'll be doing towards our future. And the future of Oahu is this new rail system. Now, as I said, at the time that I'm doing this program, the rail system will be opening in a matter of days for the first time. It's gonna be the first segment that opens. There's been a lot of controversy about this rail system. There have been a lot of criticisms of the rail system. And I'm gonna be addressing what are the advantages and disadvantages of the rail and what is it going to be doing for us and to us in the future? We've looked at the past. We've looked at what street cars did. We've looked at what the rail systems that existed before had did for the island of Oahu. We've certainly just looked at what automobiles have done. Now we're gonna look at the rail system when I continue this program, which I'll be doing a week from today. If you're watching this in the future, of course, the weeks don't make any difference. You can watch the three programs all together. Thanks for watching, everybody. This is DeSoto Brown. I have been doing this program for Doko Momo Hawaii, which is a fan club, if you will, for mid-century architecture. And the time period I just was talking about is the time period that Doko Momo looks at the architecture of. I hope to see you for my last of the three programs next time I'm on. And until then, thanks for joining me and Aloha. Thank you so much for watching Think Tech Hawaii. If you like what we do, please click the like and subscribe button on YouTube. You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Check out our website, thinktechhawaii.com. Mahalo.


By special recording General Mills makers of Cheerios the Oats cereal ready to eat and Wheaties breakfast of champions presents The Lone Ranger Fiery horse with a speed of light a cloud of dust and a hotty-hyle silver The Lone Ranger With his faithful Indian companion Toto the daring and resourceful mask rider of the planes Let the fight for law and order in the early western United States No where in the pages of history can one find a greater champion of justice Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear From out of the past come the thundering hoof beats of the great horse silver The Lone Ranger rides again Let's go Band fight hard and fair so in the ring you kids beware He's dynamite because he knows he's got go power from Cheerios yet Oh is the cereal everybody loves no other cereal looks like Cheerios It's shaped like little letter O's no other cereal tastes like Cheerios It's the only ready-to-eat cereal with this fresh toasted out flavor No other cereal is like Cheerios You see Cheerios is made from oats and every delicious spoonful of Cheerios and milk is real muscle-building food Each spoonful contains vitamins minerals and proteins your body needs Yes, the good things in a Cheerios breakfast do good things for your body Help you have healthy nerves good red blood strong bones and muscles have Cheerios every morning Then you'll hear people say He's feeling his Cheerios Here with his features carefully disguised and without his mask Stopped his great white stallion silver at a camp in a wooded grove outside San Antonio Why Marshal San Antonio once see you he told me he received a call for help from the sheriff at New Braunfels Tutto the gang of outlaws have terrorized that territory for the past month and the sheriff and his men haven't been able to stop them We go to a new Braunfels and help maybe yes the Marshal will follow us later and meet us there I'll wear my mask over this disguise Understand the outlaws are very clever. I want to be prepared in case of emergency. We'll start now Be ready The following morning the lone Ranger and Tutto rode along a trail outside of New Braunfels We'll decide on a campsite and we'll send word to the sheriff that we've arrived Look Kimosari down valley outlaws stopping a stage Head for heels you right after the stage you see if anyone was hurt Tutto. I'll follow the outlaw Leaving Tutto the lone Ranger headed after the retreating gunman one of whom was riding a short distance behind the other two In spite of the bullets fired by the outlaw the lone Ranger continued on without shooting his own guns He wanted to take the man alive The lone Ranger realized the outlaws gun was empty so he decided to close in faster The mighty stallion gradually closed the gap between the two riders the fleeing gunman glanced back at his pursuer as if in fear Then he did something totally unexpected The lone Ranger with gun ready look puzzled as he pulled silver to a stop Reason don't move You got the drop on me remove that bandana from your face sure if you say so Yeah, you're guts Cooper What is Boston for murder I thought you might recognize me mister you're the leader of the gang is operating in this territory Yeah, and I know who you are And I know why you came to this territory, so I decided to surprise you I Got tipped off you and your Indian friend were riding along the trail Then I pulled a trick that worked out just as I figured it would what do you mean? Mr. I have men planted among the boulders all around here right now. They could fill you with bullets if I gave the signal All right men close in now mister drop those guns. You won't be needing them anymore drop them I'll see to it. They're well taken care of always wonder don't guns like these Easy boy All right men, we'll take your smash down break our hideout I figure he'll be in for another surprise when he sees his Indian friend there as a prisoner to My friend Toto followed the stage. Yeah, but a couple of my men are honored. It belongs to me belongs to you Friend of mine bought it at auction a few weeks ago when the corpus Christi line went out of business I figured I'd have use for it Let's get going you first mister Come on sir That evening the marshal from San Antonio arrived at the sheriff's office in New Braunfels and was surprised to learn the Lone Ranger and Toto hadn't arrived Meanwhile in a cabin at the outlaws hideout camp the Lone Ranger and Toto bound hand and foot Lay on cots waiting for what might happen the Lone Rangers still wore a disguise under his mask Which so far Gus Cooper hadn't removed The outlaw leader stood looking down at his two prisoners gloatingly as he spoke to one of his men. There they are same The two home braids most outlaws are afraid You sure tricked them Gus. Oh Aren't you gonna take off that mask and see what he looks like? Yeah, I've been waiting to do just that Take it off right now Now we'll get a good look at your face, Mr. That's what you look like. What did you expect Cooper? I didn't expect to see the skyed up looking mug I'm seeing right now You look better to me with a mask on there Word if you like Thanks, what are you gonna do with them?  I think I'm lifting that payroll, huh? Yeah, but what about these two hombres? I'll tell you about that We'll use the old stage coach and head toward town. So it's to meet the buckboard with a payroll To of our men will be on the boot I'll be riding in the coach with a masked man in Indian ace is coming out to follow the stage with arrestee So you think you've figured out a very ingenious plan Cooper sure like I said, I'm smart mister We'll get rid of the sheriff and the deputy Then with these guns of yours, I'll plug you and the Indian Load the four bodies out of the buckboard and send the driver back to town with them And just think of the excitement when people realize what happened by Jiminy Gus From then on you practically run things in this territory, right? I'll make the name Gus Cooper one that even the law will be afraid of Same early in the morning I want you to ride to the cafe and see ace to make sure nothing's been changed and you and him come back here to join us All right. Oh see give me a gun will you I left mine in town to have the trigger fixed here So one of these I took from the mask man, but be sure I get it back These two guns are gonna be mine for key Oh Early the following morning the outlaw Sam wearing one of the Lone Rangers special guns went to town to the cafe to see the gambler ace At one of the tables the marshal and the sheriff were eating an early breakfast The marshal still concerned about the masked man and Indian finally remarked Sure, if I still don't serve you but the Lone Ranger in town to Seems to me if they couldn't get here and they would have said word well so far We haven't found anyone who knows anything about them and I figure I might start back over the transship She's here who's that ombre you just came in Seen him around town now, man Cowpoke from something nearby ranch maybe and why that gun is weird No couple could own a gun like that Fancy looking, but that's a very special gun chef I'm sitting there only to like it in the west. What do you get Matt? The two guns I mentioned are carried by the Lone Ranger Yeah Right You that she is he just got that gun and convinced to belong to the mask man I'll be back in a minute. Maybe I can find out what he says to the man He came to see well marshal slowly sought her to the doorway leading into the gaming room He leaned against the door jam out of sight and strained to hear what was being said just beyond the doorway To the edge of town Be a lot of exciting here in town later today See you later.  Yeah, do it marshal I Have to ride guard with a deputy and take a payroll with a man Then get some in the ride with me if something isn't done I feel sure the Lone Ranger and his Indian friend to be done for The curtain falls on the first act of our Lone Ranger adventure Before the next exciting scenes, please permit us to pause for just a few moments Jenny is 10 and is she good? She's skip rope champ of the neighborhood She's so quick because she knows she's got go power from cheerios. Yes. She's got go power There she goes She's feeling her cheerios Cheerios cheerios That makes sense try cheerios the wonderful old cereal that shaped like a little lateral and you'll agree You like that delicious toasted old flavor and cheerios is ready to eat Just pour out a big bowl full have good fresh milk dig in and start getting your go power because a cheerios breakfast is full of vitamins proteins and minerals and those are the good things you need to help build red blood Healthy bodies and strong muscles So enjoy your breakfast every day with delicious cheerios and milk and get that good go power Then folks will say She's feeling her cheerios Now to continue Meantime at the hideout cabin the Lone Ranger and tato had spent an uncomfortable night under guard Early that morning the guard left them to get breakfast I know if we're going to do anything we'll have to do it now I've been thinking of a way What do you think we do the guard left a bottle on the table?  I'm hoping we can give cooper a big surprise when the proper time comes We can keep them from running. We got loose First we'll have to throw the broken bottle and glass in the fireplace. All right, let's get this out A short time later Gus Cooper entered the cabin with two of his men Sam hadn't shown me that gun he wore to town Gus and never would have believed you really captured these two hombres I hated to give that gun back to you Gus These are my guns from now on That is after I use them on the masked man in indian The stage is ready right now. We'll put these zombies into the coach and get going You men follow but stay hidden till I fire two shots and come riding in fast. All right. Let's go On the trail the marshal and the posse who had been trailing ace and sam from town stopped at a screen Good Let me know zombies great trailer this month They come with their trail here But we have to pick it up again as soon as possible I will split up right along each side of this stream and try to find out where they left it Keep your eyes peeled Now let's start the search Keeping the hideout camp the stage coach owned by Gus Cooper and his gang Moved along back trails then swung over to the main trail and headed back toward new bronfels Gus Cooper with a smile of satisfaction sat between the lone ranger and tato inside the coach Believing they were still securely bound the outlaw leader thought there was no need for precaution The lone ranger and tato noted this The masked man glanced occasionally at his own guns which rested in the outlaws holsters They rode in silence until Gus suddenly spoke Well, mister There comes the buckboard carry in that big payroll The sheriff and his deputy won't suspect a thing until the bullets fly then it'll be too late You have a lot of confidence in your plan to be sure one up nothing can go wrong now While Gus Cooper spoke the masked man and indian eased their hands from the loosened ropes behind them without the gang leader Suspecting suddenly now tato get our guns simultaneously the lone ranger and tato grab the guns from Gus Cooper's holsters Please please Cooper. Oh noise. Are you dying? You were tried. I don't say that's something for you to think about The stage meets the buckboard who stops don't make a sound Hello, I'll keep him covered entire feet quickly Me free hurry use a rope to tie cooper You won't get away with this maybe not this worth a try because he's bandana the gagging tato Me do that within a moment. Gus was tied and gagged Then as the stage approached the oncoming buckboard the lone ranger gave additional directions Now tato where may stop get out on the off side of the coach and cover the two men on the seat I'll get on the other side near the buckboard Let's go tato don't move you covered hey something's gone wrong the engine's got us covered sheriff look come Wait hold your fire that must be the honor the marshal told me about And indians with him Mr. The marshal is plum worried about you. How on earth did you get to be in that stage coach? No time for explanations now sheriff I suggest you and the deputy put the payroll into the stage coach and get inside yourselves You're tying gagged at two outlaws who are riding the seat of the stage Load them and cooper on the buckboard. I don't savvy quickly and briefly the lone ranger told of Gus Cooper's plan Then after firing into the air for the benefit of the outlaws who had followed and must be waiting and hiding nearby The lone ranger and the others quickly loaded gust cooper and the two gunmen All tied and gagged onto the buckboard and gave orders to the driver to deliver them to the turnkey at the jail All right driver turn around and head for town fast sure get up there come on Get into the coach sheriff We'll be protected in here The outlaw gang should soon come riding this way thinking the whole up was successful Look give us a big yes me see riders coming over rise yonder All right, Jiminy here they come and more than we bargained for too. We'll keep out of sight until they get within close range Hey gus we're on the buckboard heading back to town with the bodies in it Hey gus where are you? Hey, why aren't the men on the seat of the stage? Sam, I'm beginning to think there's no more than any of you Hey look, the man in the engine You reached quick. Yeah, we got you covered. Hey something has happened gus isn't here Well, there are four of them to aid us. Why don't we we can handle you use your gun so let them get away with it Sheriff look here comes the marshal in the posse. Hey, there's a posse coming We gotta play our way out of these laws determined not to be taken try to fight their way out of the trap But they soon became panic-stricken as bullets flew thick and fast Several of them were wounded and with the lone ranger and throttle with the two lawmen before them And the marshal and posse closing in behind them. They were hopelessly beaten and one after the other they threw down their guns Here we get them all Once more the lone ranger related what had happened then he asked margeau what brought you in the posse He recessed just at the right time. Hey son umbrae in the cafe wearing one of your guns I got suspicious and trailed him and another ombre to the hideout Stage had already left and so the gang but they left silver and scout in a clear trail from there So we came along brought your horses and heard the shoot I'm glad we got here in time Seems so you thought your own way out of this deal You and tato were slated for death, but you came out of it the flying colors But gus cooper was clever enough in the beginning to lead us into a trap Well now that things are under control tato and i'll go back to san antonio I'm glad everything turned out as it did All right with you missy. Hey rick and the sheriff and his men can handle things from here on You're glad to have your company marshal easy Say sheriff that ombre sure is a real man of action We would have lost that payroll of it hadn't meant for him And we caught the outlaw gang to boot Who is he? He's an ombre the marshal sent over from san antonio To help round up those outlaws You can plainly see he then in the insured did their part You know, he's the only mask man i ever heard of being on the side of the law He is the lone ranger Get on your way with weedies It's inspiring to know champions are made not born Just aimed for the top like bob davies did in basketball He's the great set shot artist for the rochester royals Small bob worked hard at basketball determined he would top them all He learned to make that fast break play and here's what helped bob on his way Weedies for breakfast most every day today bob sinks that payoff shot and weedies still help him a lot A weedies kid a weedies man That's bob davies weedies eater 22 years real man food weedies There's a whole kernel of wheat in every weedies flake. Okay, bob lay it in there Hey He's on his way on his way. He's on his way on his way. Get on your way with weedies Cross champions are made not born. Yes, sir. Get on your way. Get on your way. Get on your way with weedies breakfast of champions Ranger a copyrighted feature of the lone ranger incorporated is created by george w trendle Produced by trendle camber mure incorporated Directed by charles d. Livingston and edited by friend striker The part of the lone ranger is played by brace beamer your announcer fred foyer The lone ranger is brought to you by general mills every monday wednesday and friday at this same time be sure to listen This recorded program has come to you from detroit. This is abc radio network