Gon' Pow Wowin'

but I'm back now. I'd wanted to post some stuff before I left, including the continuing saga of Livin' La Vida Low Budget, but I got home Wednesday night from work and dun-dun-dun-duuuuunnnn, no internet. No phone, either, since I use VoIP. Not cool. But I have to say, I've used Acecape for about 6 years now, and this was the first time I've ever been down. And, it wasn't them, I think it was Verizon. So I called the service line and one of the two or three Russian techs who usually calls (I swear, it's got to be a family op) told me they'd put in a service ticket. It was up when I got home. I should advertise for them, but right now, here's a free "plug". If you're in the Big Apple area, I highly recommend Acecape as a dsl/VoIP provider. They rock. And you can't beat them for courteous support.

(As opposed to Sprint wireless, who suck so bad that I am seriously considering not becoming a customer of theirs, except I really want that new Treo.)

Anyway.

We got on the road Thursday about noon; me and The Sun, Mima and Bigbear. The rest of the tribe came up in the Professor's van. We stayed at Two Trees, which a few years back was cheaper and had bigger rooms. But this year they did away with any Pow Wow rates, which sucked... but still. You can pack an awful lot of people in a Junior Suite and there's enough space where people don't get on each other's nerves too much. (Which is why, methinks, all the dancers and drum groups stay there.) Me and the Diva with our boys shared the back room, and Moodmagic Barbie and her two freinds stayed in the front. They are cute kids... good girls really but I'm so glad I'm not a girl mom. Pre-teen girls (well, one is a newteen) just get on my nerves really really bad. Especially when they devoured my coffee cakes. Didn't save nary a one. I was looking forward to them with my morning coffee. And they tend to leave wet bathing suits and towels everywhere, and they stay up till 3 AM giggling with an occasional piercing shriek. But they're all beautiful, busty girls, and that comes in handy when you want to dump your pre-pubescent Sun with someone for some "me" time. And they love the Chocolate Wonder (aka PerpetualMotion) so that was handy for the Diva. And Diva and I get along quite well.

The Professor took advantage of the situation to go sleep in "The Elder's Room" with Mima and Bigbear. Friday night, after PerpetualMotion was asleep and The Sun was bathed, the Diva and I dragged the Professor out to roam the hotels. It took some doing. She was layed up on the pull-out complaining how tired she was, while the Elders walked around in their jammies and polished off a bottle of wine. "What are you, 50!?" we taunted, so to prove us wrong and that she wouldn't be any fun anyway, she came along.

The Club (which had Latin Night on Thursday night) was closed. We tried to get the Diva into the Mezz Ultra Lounge at the Great Cedar, but security wasn't having it, and after the Diva got her quick dance on outside the club with some passing dude that grabbed her, we walked over to the Atrium. There were all the bull riders, just like last year, hanging out and listening to the live band. We probably could have snuck the Diva up to the bar (it wasn't as strict as the Mezz) but we didn't, so she wandered for about 10 minutes while theProf and I had a quick drink. Had I had slightly more Tequila and a little more time, things could have gotten really interesting for me (bullriders are HOT) but....

So that was the "entertainment" part.

The Pow Wow part, the whole reason we were there, was awesome.

We saw Grand Entry Thursday evening at six. There's nothing like Grand Entry. But it's the kind of thing you have be there to feel.




Over the years that I've been going to Pow Wows I've tried to catch the dancers, but lately my obsession are the drum circles. Talk about your real Rock Stars. There's no better feeling than standing up close and watching while you feel the steady beat pulse like lightening through the tips of your hair right down through your heels. And some circles are more powerful than others. The Boyz, Southern Boyz, Battle River, Midnite Express... standing close to them makes your hair stand on end. I confess I'm not quite sure who was who, but I'm trying to go through all my pictures and identify. Host drums this year, as most years that I've been going, were Mystic River.

In no particular order:

This one, I know is Mystic River.

And while the drums are going, the dancers are dancing:

This young man was a member of Mystic River, and every break I saw him with his baby.

A few small repairs

Sunset

To my mind, there's nothing more patriotic than a bunch of bullriders listening to the Indian National Anthem...

then watching the bulls kick their ass.

The dance tent had a nice white background, which was convenient when MoodMagic Barbie asked "Take my profile, Auntie". So I did.


And then BigBear was taking one of the Professor and I, but she kept saying "It's not clicking!" but it did. I like this picture because this is pretty much what we're like....

There are many many more pictures, but I'll put them up on Flickr in a bit, and Snapfish for my freinds and family who know me... more to come. Stay tuned!

Oh, p.s. I have to take a picture of my new beige buckskin. With fringes and beaded medallions. Kick ASS!