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Thursday, April 27, 2006

Ghost-Riding the Whip on Alki Ave

Posted by on April 27 at 15:43 PM

Alki Beach residents were mortified Sunday by the invasion of music-blaring “gang members” into their otherwise peaceful environs. Various reports indicate that these visitors engaged in some spirited ghost-riding the whip.

I don’t see much MTV/BET, but I think ghost-riding the whip is the party fad popularized by this E-40 video. You get your car rolling in neutral, then you climb out and begin dancing alongside it. A hip-hop blasting stereo is recommended. Judging by this video, performing this stunt on a steep hill is not recommended.

Here is a firsthand report by a resident who wrote in anonymously to the Alki Beach newsgroup to alert neighbors:

On Sunday April 23rd scores if not hundreds of gang members* and their supporters took over the main street at Alki beach blocking traffic in both directions and creating terror in the neighborhood. Harassing every car that tried to get through they stood in front of the cars forcing them to stop then swarming around the victims cars trying to provoke some kind of defense by the victim, no doubt to hoping for an excuse for more violence. They rocked vehicles, sometimes jumping on them or rolling across the hood or trunk. There was one gangster racing an SUV up and down the street snaking back and forth across both lanes into and into oncoming traffic. First forward screeching to a stop at the side a car and screaming obscenities at whomever happened to be the randomly chosen victim trying to intimidate and provoke more violence then he’d slam the SUV in reverse and with the passenger door wide open race toward the next victim’s cars who was forced the veer away barely able to avoid impact or running into pedestrians.

* It is unclear how the witness succeeded in confirming the suspects’ membership in gangs.


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Maybe they were just shooting another E-40 music video......?

Alkai is to racist they think every minority is a gang member. It's funny how they get so upset over loud music and people not like themselves.

Alkai is so racist they think every minority is a gang member. It's funny how they get so upset over loud music and people not like themselves.

HA, "gang members"... they're mostly just suburban-raised punks.

well.. at least no one got shot?

Don't alki residents realize this is a free country. One should be able to wear a baseball cap sideways, wear droopy pants, speak bad english, and walk like you've got arthritis in your legs without people getting freaked out.

Wait, so when was it okay for someone or many someones to randomly attack your car?

the real question is when did ghost riding the whip become legal?

cause if it is, I'm doing that shit down fith ave between cherry and james in my hooptie tomorrow at noon. anyone want to join me?

ghost ride the whip! ghost ride the whip!

I'm confused.

Is it maligning gang members to suggest that they would assault and threaten to run over people in public and chase people in cars?

Or, by suggesting they may be involved in gangs, is it maligning minority young people who are otherwise engaged in the perfectly innocent Alki activity of assaulting and threatening people?

Or is the questioning the "gang" part of the story just code for thinking the whole thing is made up and no one was in fact assaulted or threatened to be hit by a car?

Another example of how not to ghost ride the whip:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=WOiWaTSypt4&search=ghost%20ride%20the%20whip

all i know is that the neighborhood was a mess on sunday. i live up the street from the beach and it was 4th of july level mayhem out here.

it's par for the course on the first Really Nice Day That Falls On The Weekend but, really, sunday was out of hand.

it's the ONLY time i've seen cops close down alki and re-direct traffic, other than the aforementioned independence day. alki beach seems rougher this year, along with much of the city.

gang members? dunno. but definitely lots of open containers being flaunted in cars, an extraordinary number of low riders, souped up hondas, rim-spinning escalades, and the ever-present motorcycles.

it kinda already feels like shit might go sideways along the shore this summer. *sigh* it's a bummer.

and, gotta agree with gomez: a large number of the most obnoxious folks choking the main drag are white frat boy looking dudes in pick up trucks.

as with many crappy situations, it's more an idiot thing than a race thing.

Wow. You liberal Seattleites certainly put up with a lot of shit. It's all good until some nigger grabs your daughter and rapes her on Admiral Avenue. Good luck, permissive white folk. It's all a matter of cultural expression.

Funny how there is no mention of race, yet many who comment are claiming racism. It sounds like a bunch of people were breaking the law and causing a huge traffic backup. Is it too much to ask to keep someone behind the wheel of a vehicle when it's cruising the strip at Alki?

Thank you SDA in SEA!!! Ghost-riding the whip was completely unkown to me until the first Slog post about it a few weeks ago and now I jump at the chance to watch these video clips.

They are absolutely brilliant for their absurdities and I can't get enough. Accidental, self-inflicted injury? Damaged property? A demolished ego resulting from being mowed down by one's own whip? A theme song? Ghost-riding has it all.

Will this activity kill off its devotees faster than it can recruit new adherents? I hope not.

Oh, man, i just watched the video with the truck running into the telephone pole and heard the sound track. I just put two and two together with the song. All this time I thought I was miss-hearing "ghost ride the whip" when I would sing along to irritate my family. cracks me up. Now I understand the meaning of the chorus "go stupid, go stupid"

I was Born and Raised On Alki and have lived here 0ver 40 years, but Not for much longer. The Planet of the APES is quickly becomming the Reality as any of us who witnessed these total loser Punks must agree.

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