old_contents: import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
  import mx.DateTime
  
  x = []
  y = []
  for line in open('hits.txt'):
      tokens = line.split(":")
      ts = mx.DateTime.strptime(tokens[0], '%d %B %Y')
      x.append( ts )
      y.append( int(tokens[1])  )
  
  fig = plt.figure()
  ax = fig.add_subplot(111)
  
  ax.semilogy(x, y)
  #ax.set_xlim( x[0].ticks(), x[-1].ticks() )
  xticks = []
  xticklabels = []
  ts0 = mx.DateTime.DateTime(2001,1,1)
  ts1 = mx.DateTime.DateTime(2014,1,2)
  interval = mx.DateTime.RelativeDateTime(days=1)
  now = ts0
  while now < ts1:
      if  (now.day == 1 and now.month == 1):
          xticks.append( now )
          xticklabels.append( now.strftime("%Y"))
      now += interval
  ax.set_xticks(xticks)
  ax.set_xticklabels(xticklabels)
  ax.set_ylabel("Maximum Daily Web Hits")
  ax.set_title("IEM Website Hits Milestones [17 Jun 2001-2013]")
  ax.grid(True)
  fig.savefig('test.png')
  #import iemplot
  #iemplot.makefeature('test')
  
new_contents: import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
  import mx.DateTime
  
  x = []
  y = []
  for line in open('hits.txt'):
      tokens = line.split(":")
      ts = mx.DateTime.strptime(tokens[0], '%d %B %Y')
      x.append( ts )
      y.append( int(tokens[1])  )
  
  fig = plt.figure()
  ax = fig.add_subplot(111)
  
  ax.semilogy(x, y, lw=3)
  #ax.set_xlim( x[0].ticks(), x[-1].ticks() )
  xticks = []
  xticklabels = []
  ts0 = mx.DateTime.DateTime(2001,1,1)
  ts1 = mx.DateTime.DateTime(2014,1,2)
  interval = mx.DateTime.RelativeDateTime(days=1)
  now = ts0
  while now < ts1:
      if  (now.day == 1 and now.month == 1):
          xticks.append( now )
          xticklabels.append( now.strftime("%Y"))
      now += interval
  ax.set_xticks(xticks)
  ax.set_xticklabels(xticklabels, fontsize=20, rotation=90)
  ax.set_xlabel("Year", fontsize=20)
  ax.set_ylabel("Maximum Daily Web Requests", fontsize=20)
  ax.set_title("IEM Web Requests Milestones [17 Jun 2001-2013]", fontsize=18)
  ax.grid(True)
  plt.setp(ax.get_yticklabels(), fontsize=20)
  fig.tight_layout()
  fig.savefig('test.png')
  #import iemplot
  #iemplot.makefeature('test')
  
subject: make more legible