To Dance Gazing at the Sun

I am a sun dancer.....

To most that means nothing.

Some recognize it but their only exposure has been from Hollywood.

A select few know exactly what I am saying. To those the know I ask them to relax. I will not be giving details, this is not a how too.

Sun dance is not the correct term. The Lakota word is Wi wang yang wacipi, it means to dance gazing at the sun. The dance is not a right of passage. It is not a right of anything but a deeply personal choice and expression of faith and love. It is a demonstration of thanks, a sincere request for help, the completion of personal vision. Each man and woman who commits to the dance has individual reasons for doing so.

Many Nations of the plains have sun dances. They are all very different yet are all the same in that those who commit to perform the ceremony must suffer greatly. They go without food and water for 4 days in exhausting prayer. Dancers are isolated from friends and family, their world is the dance arbor, the songs, and their prayers.

People ask what it is like to sun dance, and I am at a loss for words. How do I describe the indescribable? I would think that Neil Armstrong feels the same way when asked "what is it like to walk on the moon?" I struggle to find a common reference. Most people do not go 4 days without liquid and those that do certainly do not do such a thing willingly. People understand hunger but the idea of a thirst so strong that you do not even think of food....

so what is it like?

The sun is relentless, there is no shade and until recently no sun block. If the stones are not bruising your feet the grass is cutting them to ribbons. Your body is exhausted, sleep deprived and cramped. By the end of the dance you feel as though your entire body is shriveled up, the saliva in your mouth becomes a thick foul tasting paste. I am Lakota so along with that is the piercing.

The piercing gathers the most attention. It is real and people can relate to it better than the thirst. It has also been featured in some films in a highly exaggerated fashion. The skin of the chest is pierced and a small piece of wood or bone is inserted. a rope is then tied to the pin, the other end is tied to a tree placed at the center of the dance arbor. The dancers then dance and pull against these ropes till the skin breaks thus freeing the dancer.

Oyate yanipi ktelo - So that others my live

The piercing is an offering, a sacrifice of the only thing that a person truly owns for the good of others. Does it hurt, well it certainly does not tickle but it is also far from excruciating. I have hurt myself more at midnight stubbing my toe getting ice cream from the fridge. It is more symbolic than anything else. It is not cruel and it is not torture by any stretch of the imagination and it is all by choice. No one is forced to dance.

You bond with your fellow dancers, they become closer than brothers. At the end of 4 days of suffering you take a few bites of your coming out feast, it is amazing how little you eat after a 4 day fast, push the plate away and start making plans for next year. You forget about all the conversations you had on the 3 day about how insane you are, how much you hurt, how much you miss your family, how much you just want water and how you could be doing anything else but baking in the sun....

I danced for 8 years. I am pretty much retired now. I sit on the drum. It is my job to sing the songs that keep the dancers in prayer. I may dance again, I might feel the need to give of myself in such a way again. I would not give it up for the world. This is what I do, if you wish to do it too, I will spend many hours trying to talk you out of it.

Now if you think the dance is hard, wait till you have to follow the sun dance way the other 361 days of the year.... but that is another post.

For all you dancers thank you

For all those pledged to the tree thank you

For all those that support their dancers thank you.

A Whole Different Animal

I have very little faith in corporate intelligence, but today something hapened that has made me ridiculously, stupidly happy, and it is all related to a local airline called Frontier. I am not a frequent flier by any means. Last time I stepped foot on an airplane was back in 02 for a trip to Hawaii. I have never even flown on the current incarnation of Frontier.

Frontier is a local carrier, they filed for bankruptcy many many years ago and after a long time being gone they reappeared bigger better and stronger. They returned and in a stroke or marketing genius they put pictures of animals on the tails of their aircraft.

Old Frontier

New Frontier

The animals are awesome just on their own. But what came next was an amazing TV and radio ad campaign. Over the years we got to know.

Larry the Lynx

Flip the Dolphin

Grizz the Bear

Jack the Rabbit

Sal the Cougar

Foxie the Fox

Hector the Otter

and the Penguins

A couple months ago Froniter was acquired by Republic Airways. There was great concern about the future Frontier's branding, the beloved animals and their advertising campaign that has been entertaining locals for many years. Today it all came to a head with Republic making the decision of what branding to use going forward. Midwest "Care in the Air" with their chocolate chip cookies for all fliers, and Frontier and their "Whole Different Animal" There has been a large amount of anguish over this in Denver the past month. "Save the Frontier Animals" was chanted at rallies in front of the capital and with marches down the 16th street mall. The Frontier Animals are a big deal here.

Republic has decided to go with the Frontier branding and animals, along with the chocolate chip cookies... everybody wins today. I can see the next Frontier commercial now with Griz jamming cookies in his mouth.

Still the One

Avatar Sound Track

I guess I will start with a Sound Track post for my friends at SST.

Hey guys, girls, and whatevers!

Yay Avatar. I wanted to hate this movie. I really wanted to hate it. It is an old story. Outsider sees primitive culture and then inserts himself into that culture and then saves that culture. The story is not new. Man Called Horse, Shogun, Dances With Wolves, Last Samurai, we have all seen them, but I had to see it. I had to see why I would hate it as much as MCH, and LS. I give DWW a pass because it is about my people and the details are great, but the overall story still annoys me.

Ok back to Avatar. I decided to go all out. IMAX 3D the whole bit. I ended up really enjoying it, the story was old and tired but told extremely well and the graphics were amazing. Yea I am a sucker for the flashy stuff on the screen. fantastic. I also really liked the music by James Horner.

I am a sucker for James Horner. I have been since Star Trek II, and the music in Avatar was some of the best I have heard from him. I ran out and purchased the Avatar Sound Track. 12 bucks, BTW the cost of sound track cds is a topic for another post in the future. I liked the Avatar release but there was a lot of missing content and major cues. Other tracks seemed combined. It was just ok but not what I remembered. I mentioned my displeasure to a friend of mine and he came back to me later in the day with a cdr that contained a .rar file.

I unzipped the files on the cd and was astonished to find a 3 disc promo release of the Avatar sound track. Ok ok it is a boot, and that is bad, No I am not going to tell you where to find it and I did not ask my friend. I did some research and discovered that this 3 disc promo release was sent to some academy voters.

I played the tracks... My jaw dropped. There it was, a bit rough around the edges, but it was all there. It is amazing, like LOTR Complete Recordings amazing. The LOTRCR is what I want from ST releases, and I think they are worth every penny of their initial 60 dollar release price. I would gladly hand over 60 dollars for a full official release of the 3 disc Avatar promo set.

But I can wait.

Rumors are that there is an extended version of Avatar in the works for a Nov DVD/BR release and possibly an extended re release of the movie in theaters this summer. The extended release will contain 20 to 40 minutes of added content... that means more score.

I have seen Avatar twice in the theater.
I have purchased the current ST release
I will purchase the barebones DVD to be released on April 22nd.

I want the option to purchase an extended ST along the lines of the epic LOTR releases.

So Here I Am

I have decided, after prodding from friends at http://www.streamingsoundtracks.com/ to start a blog of my own. I have no idea how this will work out but lets start with a bit about me so you get some idea of what you are in for when you read this.

My name is David. Ikce Wicasa means Common Man in the Lakota language. I am 1/4 Lakota and follow the traditions as best I can. sometimes it feels as though I am walking in 2 very distinct worlds and that can be difficult at times. I sing, I am a Northern Traditional dancer, I can work with beads, leather, and feathers. My religion is traditional.

But that is not all that I am. I have a degree in Computer Information Systems. I work in an office. I enjoy, movies, movie scores, fancy cars, good food, and technology.

My politics are Libertarian, for the most part, but no true political philosophy matches my belief structure.

I live in Castle Rock Colorado, and I work in Denver Colorado. I love Colorado and think this is the absolute best place on Earth.

I have missed quite a bit but I hope that by reading you will get an understanding of who I am and the sometimes bizarre world I live in.