Today I visited the IMAX Theatre at the Aquarium of the Americas. The film was called Epic Journeys - The Great Migrations. It showed breathtaking scenes of animals covering great distances in even greater numbers. The one that startled me the most was the migration of the beautiful & elegant monarch butterfly. Brian and Jodi released a number of monarchs at their wedding. I think I would have been more impressed if I knew what a substantial effort those butterflies were going to put forth-- billions of butterflies fly all the way to just a small patch of Mexican mountain forests to spend the winter. The film showed entire trees completely coated with those latent insects. It was amazing.

The only disappointing thing about the film was that it left out one key epic migration-- one that is just as breathtaking of the monarch. The film neglected to depict the migration of the Hokie fan. This season, driven by natural urges, gasoline and the football schedule, Hokie fans have made long round-trips. Unlike that of the monarch, the Hokie migration occurs multiple times in a single season. While the monarchs travel to the same Mexican forest year after year, the Hokie fans have taken over Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and New Orleans just in 1999. However, just like the monarchs transform the trees to branches of red, black and orange, the Hokies have transformed the rues of New Orleans to a sea of orange and maroon. The Hokies are more dominant than even the humans who are indigenous to the streets of New Orleans.

The true beauty of their migration is no matter the locale, they will come. They will travel great distances through air (I met a guy yesterday who flew from Alaska) or through ground in their flag-bearing vehicles. Their calls are heard throughout the city they infest and others return those calls. They are loud with pride. They are Hokies.

1/4/2000
Addendum- Even the street performers were playing the Hokie Pokie!

2/8/2000 - Supplement from Email to Jason Pitt
How did your New Year's Eve party go? Mine was pretty uneventful. A few people (maybe like 5) came over to my place and we watch the New Year's celebrations from around the world. Paris was da bomb! Anyway, our New Year's celebration was very fitting because the next morning we were leaving for a road trip to New Orleans... so it would not be the optimal time to get wasted and encourage hangovers.

I had mixed feelings about New Orleans. On one hand I got incredibly tired of the whole Bourbon Street scene, but boy, sometimes it was just incredibly wild! My friend flashed these famous sportscasters for beads. We went out dancing one night and there was this stage that random girls kept jumping on, dancing and showing off their boobs. Most girls flashed very intermittently... you know, nourished the suspense. There was this one girl who just did it, unsolicited, unprovoked and repeatedly. Although she had quite an impressive pair she didn't get many beads.... I guess the saying, "Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free" applies to bead transactions.

One evening, we were packed on Bourbon Street like sardines, barely able to move at all, and certainly unable to move without getting alcohol spilt on us one way or another. Our group agreed that we should get off the street and go into one of the many bars. "Sawyer, you pick a place" our unofficial group leader demanded. I looked up and a little down the street there was a dance club with strobe lights and soft purple neon lights seeping through the man-made fog within. "That place looks cool!" I pointed and then being overly redundant with everything I had been saying all day long I added, "I wanna dance!". We started to weave our way through people damp with sweat and spilt booze and as we got closer I noted that there was TONS of hot guys in our selected destination. There were even hot guys dancing on tables! This place was going to ROCK! It wasn't until I got a bit closer that I noticed there was a remarkable abscene of females in the bar. When we finally got to the door was when we noticed a giant sign proudly exclaiming "New Orleans Largest Gay Bar!". I wasn't allowed to pick any future destinations.

I became quite the gambler in New Orleans. I put a whole quarter in the slot machine and won $2.50. What a return on investment. After that I sat around and watch everyone else lose money.