DART launches butterfly holocaust
Posted By Teresa Gubbins in Square Pegs on September 23, 2009
The 2009 State Fair of Texas, which begins Friday, is the first fair in which visitors will be able to get there via DART Rail. To mark the occasion, the city is holding a meet-and-greet, and no amount of hoopla is enough, including -- gasp -- the sacrifice of dozens-if-not-hundreds of innocent butterflies. Here's the official press release:
"Please join us for this inaugural occasion as we gather to greet the arrival of the Dallas Area Rapid Transit Green Line train at Fair Park Station, Parry and Exposition. Officials, dignitaries, costumed characters, and live butterflies aboard the train will be met at the station with great fanfare, including daytime fireworks and the USMC Drum & Bugle Corps from Washington, D.C."
Wow. I get the officials. I get the dignitaries. I get the fireworks, drums & bugles, even the "costumed characters" (maybe).
But live butterflies? Is that something you can just order up? "Hi, I'd like 300 butterflies for a ceremonial event we're holding tomorrow." So the butterflies will just be hanging out on the train? And once the "great fanfare" is over, what of the butterflies? Will they be ordered to disperse peacefully? Or is there some kind of butterfly wrangler. Or will we find butterflies croaking under the seats of the Green Line trains for the next 20 to 40 days? (Average lifespan for an adult butterfly.)
I sometimes worry about how disorienting it must be for an insect to get into a motor vehicle, travel for a little while, and end up in a completely foreign place far removed from their former lives.
I wish these live butterflies the very best.
Chris Edgemon Staff
2 months ago
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The event isn't special unless you can kill something for no reason whatsoever.
OEsophagus Anonymous
2 months ago
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It is original (and a bit strange)...
RanLoot Anonymous
2 months ago
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Those butterflies probably come from the large exhibit..one imagines some will simply reside in a netted tent somewhere near the festivities. Otherwise they better pay the dam fare like the rest of us!
Travis Bush Verified
2 months ago
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I went to a "butterfly release" event earlier this year. They gave us cellophane envelopes that held two butterflies, which seemed to be hibernating. When we lifted the envelope flaps, the butterflies woke up and flew out. It was sad and exhilarating at once.
Shannon Sutlief Staff
2 months ago
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http://www.swallowtailfarms.com/pages...
DC Anonymous
2 months ago
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So you can get bouquets?
That is twisted. Imagine the warped market for glad bags full of tiny defenseless mammals, ready to scurry around in celebration of some High School Gym christening or something.
Makes my ethics molar hurt.
Jason Rice Verified
2 months ago
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Jason...just imagine, a hedgehog in every program.
Travis Bush Verified
2 months ago
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WELL,........ Dallas has to have a red carpet..for somethings..And the art type preformance is rare and yet..intresting to say ..Yep.....A/T, ..More art in transit in the Metroplex...
alexander troup Verified
1 month, 4 weeks ago
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Trav - or at the Trinity River Tollway ribbon cutting, releasing two thousand lemmings.
j
Jason Rice Verified
1 month, 4 weeks ago
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[B]RELEASE THE BUTTERFLIES![/B]
<img src="http://imgur.com/OJFd1.jpg">
Pavel Lishin Verified
1 month, 4 weeks ago
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Welp, this isn't BB code. I keep forgetting.
Pavel Lishin Verified
1 month, 4 weeks ago
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Hi all, Don't worry: no butterflies will be released on (or near) the DART train. (That's not to say you won't see any migrating monarchs, which come through Dallas in the next few weeks)! There will be two representatives from Texas Discovery Gardens dressed as butterflies, and we hope you will stop by to see actual live butterflies out in the gardens and in our new butterfly house. We encourage you to plant host and nectar plants in your yard to attract butterflies in your backyard. Remember to maintain your garden organically if you want to attract any wildlife, including butterflies.
texasdiscoverygardens Anonymous
1 month, 4 weeks ago
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I should totally bring out my Halloween costume from the past few years.
<img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2074/1814310306_3f9d3d34ce.jpg">
Pavel Lishin Verified
1 month, 4 weeks ago
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"...two representatives from Texas Discovery Gardens dressed as butterflies"? sounds fabulous!
[pavel, you rule]
Teresa Gubbins Staff
1 month, 4 weeks ago
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Is that monitor from 1985?
jtmbls Anonymous
1 month, 4 weeks ago
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That is not Pavel's home..where are the empty vodka bottles?
Travis Bush Verified
1 month, 4 weeks ago
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Man Pavel is a weird Russian guy,,do they have sex in those outfits or do they fly DART...A/T, Give me another swing man, I am sick of the Mayors concripts...
alexander troup Verified
1 month, 4 weeks ago
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"<i>Is that monitor from 1985? </i>"
'95
"<i>That is not Pavel's home..where are the empty vodka bottles? </i>"
Behind the books that are behind the camera. <img src="http://imgur.com/o2m26.jpg">
"<i>do they have sex in those outfits or do they fly DART</i>"
I'm sure that will depend entirely on how liquored up I get, but for now, enjoy this.
<object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/T-V621BxHZQ&hl=en&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" height="344" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/T-V621BxHZQ&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425"></object>
Pavel Lishin Verified
1 month, 4 weeks ago
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Not really sure whose news release you're quoting, but it's not ours. There's no butterfly release on the train Friday. Thanks, Morgan Lyons, DART
Morgan_Lyons_DART Anonymous
1 month, 4 weeks ago
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that release was a "bulletin" from Big Tex himself and his friends at the State Fair. maybe he was still a little woozy after his <a href="http://www.pegasusnews.com/news/2009/sep/21/video-big-tex-gets-lifted-place-2009-state-fair-te/">recent erection</a>
Teresa Gubbins Staff
1 month, 4 weeks ago
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