The advent of digital cameras and pocket video recorders has brought a new era to Sturgis.

Growing up in the Hills in the 1980s, the Sturgis motorcycle rally was the dark unknown, an event spoken about by men in hushed tones and by mothers in the form of warnings.

Of course, the rally was quite a bit wilder then. But those tales from the wild side were only shared by word of mouth. Other than a professional documentary or location movie shoot from time to time, cameras were pretty scarce - motion or stills.

Today, cameras are ubiquitous. The odds that you see will someone snapping a quick digital image along Sturgis Main Street in the height of the rally - which is, by the way, today - are far greater than you would see someone unsnapping their leather halter there.

Times have changed, but not entirely.

People still come to Sturgis to let loose, and let loose they do. There are plenty of user based photos and videos on the Web that test the bounds of common decency, and even the less offensive videos tend to drop an expletive or two, if not by those being filmed, then those actually shooting the video.

This is the dilemma of covering the rally for a family newspaper. The lure of Sturgis is in part lurid, and thus, there is still a part of Sturgis that remains in the dark corners. And while some of the new media manages to shed a little light on all that - at least for the unblinking camera eye - it also brings to view plenty of other odd tales from rally world.

Here's a quick G-rated tour of some of the oddest, more sanitized side of the Sturgis rally on YouTube.

Oh, Deer!

I noted this video last year of YouTube video in the Hills area.

The audio has since been removed, but I don't know if it really subtracts from the overall effect of the man meets fleet footed beast on Hills highway.

In the time that this has been up on the site, hundreds of thousands have logged in to watch, and it still defies reality - or at least gravity - to me.

I still wonder what the driver must have been thinking when the deer made its dash and then went airborne. And I still wonder if the oncoming biker even ever saw it coming.

Dancing of a different kind at the Chip

First and foremost, it should be noted that this guy can dance.

Still, it's hard to believe anybody - and that includes relatives and close friends - made the trip to Sturgis to see a man in farmer bibs and overalls make like some "In Living Color" refugee and dance the night away.

That being said, he is dancing with a rather attractive and scantily clad female dancer - there tends to be a few of those at the Buffalo Chip - and they do say you can see anything there.

And, of course, he is a good dancer.

An artist in their midst

Few would consider the Sturgis rally an inspiration for art. Uh, inspiration for some other things, most unmentionable, but not really art.

The exception is Michael Lichter, a renowned artist who uses the rally, motorcycles and their owners as his muse. This promotional video shows Lichter at work in the field - quite literally - as he attempts to catch the late afternoon on a day at the rally to create his works of art.

With camera in hand, he moves quite naturally from camper to camper, chatting them up and catching them in their element. And his.

Old-school hill climbing in full technicolor

For old-school rally goers, the inclusion of such video is a must. Among the more popular events from the rally's earlier days was the hill climb.

Yeah, the bikes are much different, as are the uniforms the riders wear, but the result is the same. Its kind of like watching NASCAR. You don't really want anyone to get hurt, but without a few wild spills, it wouldn't be half as fun to watch.

The Wall of Death

And for those that are into a little more unconventional form of riding at the rally, there's the Wall of Death.

The name is pretty imposing, and the riding is certainly worth the watch. I, like at least one other YouTube watcher, questioned how he could pull off the feat with no hands since, generally, the throttle is on the handle bar.

A fellow YouTuber noted that it was likely a small bolt called a throttle lock, which would keep the throttle in place while the rider pulled off the feat.

Which only brought another question to mind. If he fell off, where would the bike go?