Althouse: Let the tree be purple.

February 11, 2009

Let the tree be purple.

107 comments:

Ron said...: "When Prince Came To Madison" -- a photo series.; 2/11/09, 7:06 PM
Ron said...: or given today's earlier thread, is this tree Paglianius Purpleosa?; 2/11/09, 7:08 PM
veni vidi vici said...: ...and let the balls be blue."; 2/11/09, 7:13 PM
ricpic said...: Purple And Persecuted

A tree with a permanent bad hair day
Stood alone by itself in a field;
Exiled by its kind 'cause it would not yield:
Born frizzy, frizzy it would stay.; 2/11/09, 7:18 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: I bet there is money in the "stimulus" to un-frizzy it.

BTW, Sorry for my absence Professor... I been working like a dog... some people got laidoff... the light are on late around here.; 2/11/09, 7:30 PM
The Dude said...: Lem, there have been many dog posts today.; 2/11/09, 7:31 PM
Tom said...: I love this photo! Thanks for posting it.; 2/11/09, 7:36 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: A 70 year old dog winning Mr Universe..

Whats his secret ;); 2/11/09, 7:42 PM
Curtiss said...: Purple is the color of death.

But you know that, don't you?; 2/11/09, 7:42 PM
Ann Althouse said...: I think men don't like the color purple. Women love it to excess, and men don't really understand. Death, indeed!

And Veni, is my photograph frustrating you?

***

Lem, I'm glad you haven't lost your job, and thanks for checking in.; 2/11/09, 7:49 PM
traditionalguy said...: Watch out in the trees for a camouflaged One-eyed Purple Eater still alive in this pre-1958 neighborhood. That song was enough to make us like the Beetles' music. But after reading earlier posts about Beetles song lyrics, I now suspect that we all missed a lot of secret code in those lyrics. Now I Think of "one-eyed"as a reference to a certain male organ. And I Think of "People Eater" as a reference to a certain sexual activity act. And I Think of "Purple" as a reference to a certain lostness in passion.Or was it just a goofy song???; 2/11/09, 7:52 PM
Michael Haz said...: Althouse, that is a beautiful photo. Was anything done to enhance the colors, or is the photo exactly how it was colored by nature?; 2/11/09, 7:54 PM
Ann Althouse said...: I moved the sliders around in iPhoto to get colors I liked. What you see is completely unnatural.; 2/11/09, 7:59 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Huggy Bear wore purple ... and apparantely still does; 2/11/09, 8:01 PM
George M. Spencer said...: Kronos Quartet recontextualizes "Foxy Lady" for the black turtleneck-sweater set.

Notice the passion with which these white people attack their European instruments. It is not seizures that they are having. They are merely attempting to get their "mojos" filtering, not so unlike Mr. Jack Benny's boy "Rochester" singing a smokin' "L.S.M.F.T."; 2/11/09, 8:01 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Apparantely that's all he wears..

Must be a pimp thing..; 2/11/09, 8:11 PM
Jason (the commenter) said...: The purpleness of the tree was fake? I'm so disillusioned.; 2/11/09, 8:13 PM
Ron said...: Mad scientists at Welch's keep trying to make purple trees...to what end, only fear can say.; 2/11/09, 8:17 PM
ricpic said...: Purple is the color of death.

I thought purple was the color of royalty, as in, born to the purple.; 2/11/09, 8:21 PM
traditionalguy said...: Purple must be a new Obama Homeland Security color code picked by Michelle and the girls.Its use comes right after Netanyahu first strikes the Persian Empire's Nuclear umbrella. It stands for "last one into the shelter is a Purple egg".; 2/11/09, 8:22 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Mad scientists at Welch's keep trying to make purple trees...

Give them some crack and see them turn into any color they've been holding back!
;); 2/11/09, 8:24 PM
traditionalguy said...: Purple is the color for the Emperor, not allowed for use by mere kings or princes. MSNBC may soon start calling the Obama's residence the Purple House.; 2/11/09, 8:27 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: MSNBC may soon start calling the Obama's residence the Purple House.

Rachel Maddow's slobbering of Obama has only been matched by her feminization and weight gain.; 2/11/09, 8:48 PM
Palladian said...: "I think men don't like the color purple."

I don't like anything Alice Walker ever wrote.; 2/11/09, 9:01 PM
Ann Althouse said...: LOL, Palladian. Me neither. But quite apart from that, I think visual perception is partly deeply biological and there's serious sexual discrepancy about purple.; 2/11/09, 9:04 PM
Curtiss said...: I think men don't like the color purple. Women love it to excess, and men don't really understand. Death, indeed!

Over 21 million people died from the Spanish Flu in 1918.

In the U.S., it was called "Purple Death".

But that has absolutely nothing to do with trees that aren't really purple. And, I really do like the color purple. But not the book.; 2/11/09, 9:17 PM
TitusLetTheSunshineIn said...: I hate purple.

It is either blue, black, white, green or red for me. Those are my only colors.

What color are you?

Did you know the world is alive with color?; 2/11/09, 9:25 PM
TitusLetTheSunshineIn said...: Palladian and I had computer sex today. It was hot.; 2/11/09, 9:28 PM
Ann Althouse said...: The glory of all the colors is red. Should you not want to live forever, because there is red? There is also blue, with all it's complicated variations and I have a complicated relationship with blue. It depends on the blue But still, I would like to live forever because of blue. Yellow, I have done things for yellow. I have dropped everything and proceeded toward yellow. Green is everywhere. Orange is important. We've already spoken of purple. In between all these things there are infinite gradations. I won't belabor them, but really. Please think about it. Color alone is reason to live.; 2/11/09, 9:32 PM
The Dude said...: All that makes me glad I am colorblind and color unconscious.; 2/11/09, 9:34 PM
traditionalguy said...: Blood in the veins returning to refresh its red, oxygenated, color reminds men of the delicate blood flow we are made from. Women have accepted this as part of Life ( which they create), but us men don't want to think about our dependence on a mere blood circulatory system? Supermen don't bleed.; 2/11/09, 9:44 PM
Jason (the commenter) said...: there's serious sexual discrepancy about purple

Hmm... Because pink is for girls, blue is for boys, and purple is a mixture of the two?

But there's eggplant. It's purple and masculine.

I think it has to do with the value of the color. A light red (pink), light purple, and powder blue all seem feminine. I might be uncomfortable wearing them, whereas dark versions of those colors are sitting in my wardrobe.; 2/11/09, 9:45 PM
Meade said...: "I think men don't like the color purple. "

The professor speaks truth. And she does so in a most colorful way.

I, however, as a man am an exception to the rule: I love purple. In fact, I wear a purple hat and a purple scarf. Men leave me alone while women can't seem to keep their hands off me. That is, as long as I wear the hat and scarf.; 2/11/09, 9:46 PM
Revenant said...: Purple is obviously masculine, because it is as ugly as a man's ass.; 2/11/09, 9:47 PM
Curtiss said...: My fondness of purple is fading.

But not of trees.; 2/11/09, 9:50 PM
Meade said...: Do you guys TRY to not get laid?; 2/11/09, 9:55 PM
TitusLetTheSunshineIn said...: I don't like brown, purple, pink, yellow, orange or any off shoot of any of those colors-at least for clothes.

I like them in trees and bushes and shit but not clothes.

I like women in black, green and red.

A women in a tailored black suit is always nice.; 2/11/09, 9:59 PM
Simon said...: Ann Althouse said...
"I think men don't like the color purple. Women love it to excess"

But why?; 2/11/09, 10:02 PM
TitusLetTheSunshineIn said...: I have a serious question. What % of women trim their bush?

I am not talking total waxing just a light clearing every now and then.

My guess is 80%.; 2/11/09, 10:02 PM
Meade said...: "A women in a tailored black suit is always nice."

Especially at a funeral.; 2/11/09, 10:02 PM
Jason (the commenter) said...: Meade: "A women in a tailored black suit is always nice."

Especially at a funeral.

Ah, so you have an eye for fresh widows. Interesting.; 2/11/09, 10:05 PM
TitusLetTheSunshineIn said...: I saw a woman at the beach once and her bush was spilling out from her bathing suit. Does that kind of thing turn on straighties?; 2/11/09, 10:06 PM
Curtiss said...: Back to death, again.; 2/11/09, 10:06 PM
TitusLetTheSunshineIn said...: I had a girl friend once who dyed her cooch purple so I guess it's true women are gaga for purple.; 2/11/09, 10:08 PM
Palladian said...: "Purple is obviously masculine, because it is as ugly as a man's ass."

Um... maybe your ass is ugly, but there's some beautiful male butts out there.

I tire of these silly "real men don't..." generalizations. Real men used to be proud of having a developed aesthetic sensibility. But the crass, lowbrow, defensive masculinity of the U S of A took care of that. You needn't be a "sissy" to care about the visual world.; 2/11/09, 10:10 PM
TitusLetTheSunshineIn said...: I guess my question is is there ever too much bush?

Can it get unruly and hard to find the hole?

Also a big afro bush can cause a little fluffing up in the jeans and perhaps make someone look heavier than they are. And no one wants that.; 2/11/09, 10:10 PM
Curtiss said...: Do you guys TRY to not get laid?

I have to.; 2/11/09, 10:10 PM
TitusLetTheSunshineIn said...: I have my juliet balcony door open right now and I am hearing many sounds of the city. People walking by singing, car alarms, car radios, car horns, cars hitting potholes, car accidents which I hear daily, lovers fighting, buses rolling by. There goes another car alarm.; 2/11/09, 10:13 PM
TitusLetTheSunshineIn said...: What are we going to do with the two ladies from Maine and the senator from Pennsylvania? A travesty took place today and three of our own participated.

I just farted.; 2/11/09, 10:15 PM
TitusLetTheSunshineIn said...: I love the sounds of the city. It is very comforting.

I like the sounds of the country for a weekend though.

There goes another car alarm.; 2/11/09, 10:17 PM
Meade said...: "I love the sounds of the city. It is very comforting.
I like the sounds of the country for a weekend though.
There goes another car alarm."

You know you can download those sounds from iTunes right onto your iPod and then take the comfort of them with you whenever you go skiing in Vail.; 2/11/09, 10:20 PM
JAL said...: I am turning purple listening to the spin on my local ABC station about the "Stimulus Agreement." I shut it off to avoid the lies.

Sorry to ruin the discussion of a cool picture.

(If I did what you did to your picture, rotated it 8.5 degrees, and stuck a label "tree" in Harrington typeface on it, would it be derivative and could I sell it with my name on it legally? Just asking.); 2/11/09, 10:21 PM
Jason (the commenter) said...: Palladian: Real men used to be proud of having a developed aesthetic sensibility. But the crass, lowbrow, defensive masculinity of the U S of A took care of that. You needn't be a "sissy" to care about the visual world.

It sure seems to help though.

And if any straight person had your attitude towards my lack of interest in sports...; 2/11/09, 10:24 PM
traditionalguy said...: To men there are three major color groups: blonde, brunette and redhead. Then there are so many variations and shades that do truly make life worth living.And add to that the asian black/brunette. My favorite is a strawberry blonde, which my granddaughter has in a perfect hue, like a young Anne Margaret. I also like silver/white on a beautiful woman.The purples are only for Halloween costumes.; 2/11/09, 10:29 PM
BJM said...: Blogger Psychedelic George said...
Kronos Quartet recontextualizes "Foxy Lady" for the black turtleneck-sweater set.

Now's the time when we dance.; 2/11/09, 10:29 PM
JAL said...: If any of the Group of Three is up for election in 2010, I would suggest explaining the problem to her, him, or them in language she, he, or they could understand.

Nominate someone else in the primary and fire her, him or them.; 2/11/09, 10:29 PM
Donna B. said...: 80%? I doubt it Titus, though in certain age ranges it might be near that.

My father has several pink to lavender shirts that look fantastic with his wavy mane of silver hair.

My black-haired, blue-eyed, pale-skinned son-in-law should always wear blue-tinted shirts. A handsome dude he is and always wears a suit to work.

My black-haired, brown-eyed, dark-skinned son-in-law looks fantastic in yellows and orange. He prefers black and wears fatigues to work every day. Put him in a hawaiian shirt and dayum, he's handsome.

Did you know that Filipino men have an aversion to wearing belts and shirts tucked in?; 2/11/09, 10:32 PM
TitusLetTheSunshineIn said...: I am a big pooftah and I know tons about sports. Love sports. Love the statistics in sports.

I don't go to Vail. All of my vacation spots are districtly east coast and on the ocean. Southern Coast of Maine, The Cape and Fire Island. I love the sound of the ocean. I love the smell of the ocean. I love the fucking ocean. I love to walk on the beach at dusk while the wind blows on my taut hairless pecs. The ocean is so magnificent. If the ocean was a guy I would fuck it.; 2/11/09, 10:32 PM
TitusLetTheSunshineIn said...: Snowe and Collins are unbeatable in Maine. The southern coast of Maine where the majority of the population live are incredibly liberal and if those two senators weren't in they spots would go to democrats.

They are also two of the most popular senators in the country. I think like over 70% of the state of Maine approves of them. They will not go anywhere.

I read that those two ladies and Specter are the most powerful people in Washington today.; 2/11/09, 10:36 PM
TitusLetTheSunshineIn said...: Suze Orman is on CNN now. She eats vaginas. So on CNN now we have Anderson Cooper who is a big Mary and Suze Orman who is a big dyke.

Very sad.; 2/11/09, 10:38 PM
Meade said...: "I love to walk on the beach at dusk while the wind blow"

That's nice.

I'd rather go skiing over creamy white luscious mounds of earth with my purple hat and scarf. Skip the iPod.; 2/11/09, 10:38 PM
BJM said...: Aubergine...

"She's got a Gioconda kinda of dirty look."

...which perfectly dovetails in with the classic pigmentation of Althouse's photo; cerulean,royal blue deep, indigo, ochre, umber, carmine, magenta, violet, white, Alzarin, burnt sienna and Vandyke brown.; 2/11/09, 10:41 PM
Frisbee Painting said...: zi just thought it was a cool picture

http://frisbeepainting.com; 2/11/09, 10:43 PM
TitusLetTheSunshineIn said...: Olympia Snowe is kind of glamorous.; 2/11/09, 10:43 PM
Jason (the commenter) said...: I have to stay up until 3am making sure water keeps dripping. I'd take Titus's beach or Meade's hills. But I'm not giving up my iPod! Without it I'd go insane.; 2/11/09, 10:46 PM
Simon said...: TitusLetTheSunshineIn
"Olympia Snowe is kind of glamorous."

She's terribly nice, also. She's my very favorite liberal Senator. Susan Collins is kind of like that woman on Seinfeld who looked okay in one light and frightening in other lights. Speaking of Seinfeld:

TitusLetTheSunshineIn said...
"Suze Orman is on CNN now. She eats vaginas."

Not that there's anything wrong with that... Honestly, I don't know what's wrong with you gay fellas! Of course, there's plenty of things wrong with Suze Orman. She wasted almost a minute of airtime the last time I saw her with this vaporous self-impressed stream of hot air that boiled down to what a normal person would have said in answer to the question: "yes." TV people suck.; 2/11/09, 10:49 PM
TitusLetTheSunshineIn said...: I think Susan Collins is pretty attractive too. I saw her on tv today and she looked very nice. Olympia Snowe looks great with the black hair. I haven't seen Susan Collins ever look bad. Kay Bailey Hutchinson is attractive too.

National Velvet is on TCM. Liz Taylor was a beautiful child. Oh and there's the ocean. Love that ocean.; 2/11/09, 10:54 PM
TitusLetTheSunshineIn said...: It's wrong when another woman eats another woman's vagina Simon.; 2/11/09, 10:55 PM
Revenant said...: there's some beautiful male butts out there.

I will take your word for it.

Real men used to be proud of having a developed aesthetic sensibility. But the crass, lowbrow, defensive masculinity of the U S of A took care of that. You needn't be a "sissy" to care about the visual world.

The lowbrow, defensive masculinity of the U S of A? As opposed to all those other countries in the world where men routinely admire each others' asses?; 2/11/09, 10:58 PM
Simon said...: Titus - why?; 2/11/09, 10:59 PM
DaLawGiver said...: I thought I saw an angel in that tree which made me think of Asian Kung-Fu Generation!; 2/11/09, 11:00 PM
Donna B. said...: Why do we think only gay men admire another man's butt? My husband is 67, but still has a nice butt.

That is why I always walked behind him :-); 2/11/09, 11:04 PM
Palladian said...: The word "purple" comes to us from the Greek (via the usual circuitous route through Latin and Old English) πορφύραν, porphura, of the mollusk that produced the only bright, deep, color-fast purple dye available in the world until the mid-nineteenth century. Walk through any art museum and you'll see no bright purple color in any painting produced before then. The color to which the name "purple" referred has changed many times depending on the time period and the culture being discussed. The "Prince" sort of purple that most people think of is not the color of the purple of antiquity. The ancient purple, Tyrian purple, is more akin to the color of a fresh Welch's grape juice stain on a white cotton shirt, only much more intense. Tyrian purple is made from the fresh mucous secretion of a big sea snail that is variously known as Murex brandaris and Haustellum brandaris. It requires harvesting and killing 10,000 of these gastropods to produce one gram of the dye, hence the astronomical price and rarity of the color.

I have a sample of the dye, about 50 milligrams, which cost me nearly two hundred dollars. To put that in perspective, an extra strength Tylenol pill contains 500 milligrams of Acetaminophen alone, not counting the weight of the other ingredients.

As I said, there was no other bright, color-fast purple dye or pigment available to artists until the 19th century. The use of Tyrian purple pretty much died out by the 11th century in the West. Artists could mix purple hues by glazing blue pigments with red pigments, but as there were only three bright red pigments available to artists until the 19th century, two [1; 2] of which faded rapidly and one of which is both too opaque and too orange to actually produce a mixed purple, not many artists bothered.

What changed everything (and by extension, the world as we know it) was W.H. Perkin's discovery and production of the world's first synthetic organic dye: 3-amino-2,±9-dimethyl-5-phenyl-7-(p-tolylamino)phenazinium acetate, or Mauveine, later known as the color mauve. Perkin was, on a challenge from one of his professors, trying to synthesize quinine and failed, producing a black lump. While he was trying to clean the lump out of his flask, he discovered that a portion of the lump dissolved in alcohol and produced a bright purple. Voilà! The first aniline dye, which changed not only the world of fashion and art, but as I said before, changed the entire world. It was through Perkin's discovery and subsequent manufacture of Mauveine and the resulting proliferation of aniline dye research and industry that the first antimicrobial drugs, the sulfonamides (the early examples of which were dye-based) were invented. Not to mention Tylenol, Polyurethane and the whole synthetic chemical industry.

Not bad for a chemical that started as an accident involving a substance (aniline, phenylamine) that stinks of rotting fish. An apt smell for the chemical that was responsible for the rebirth of purple in the modern world, the olfactory memory across the millennia of those vast piles of dead, rotting mollusks that yielded the color of Emperors.; 2/11/09, 11:07 PM
Jason (the commenter) said...: Lawgiver, that video made me think of Old Boy. Someone in the video was wearing the same angel wings.; 2/11/09, 11:08 PM
Palladian said...: "The lowbrow, defensive masculinity of the U S of A? As opposed to all those other countries in the world where men routinely admire each others' asses?"

Never been to the Middle East or Greece I suppose?; 2/11/09, 11:10 PM
Simon said...: Palladian, interesting history. :); 2/11/09, 11:20 PM
JAL said...: I am watching Jimmy Kimmel (don't ask) and he actually made a joke about the President (and the strange McDonald's student worker) as well as one about both Mrs. Obama and the President in a Japanese show -- "Yes we can!" (?)

Will more dare to touch the anointed one?; 2/11/09, 11:24 PM
Jason (the commenter) said...: JAL,

Don't know if you watched his prez[sic] conference the other night, but the media was asking some hostile questions.; 2/11/09, 11:26 PM
TitusLetTheSunshineIn said...: I was kidding Simon.

I don't care who eats whom's cooch or hog.

I am very libertarian when it comes to sex.; 2/11/09, 11:27 PM
TitusLetTheSunshineIn said...: Speaking of Japan my neighbor was in Japan and everywhere he went Japanese people yelled Yes We Can at him...I guess because he is an American. He said this lasted an entire week. Restaurants, stores, on the street, everywhere, Yes We Can. How scarey.; 2/11/09, 11:30 PM
Donna B. said...: Palladian - fantastic history on purple. Of course if it was so expensive it was only available to royals.

Mauve is one of my favorite colors :-); 2/11/09, 11:33 PM
BJM said...: Palladian, yes, Murex purple is an interesting story. Brit historian and documentary maker/presenter Michael Woods did an "in search of" film about Murex in the 80's for the Beeb.

Archeologists now believe that over harvesting by the Phoenician dye industry produced the first example of technology driven species extinction.; 2/11/09, 11:37 PM
William said...: Sex is God's joke on humanity. To consider oneself an aesthete and to have go thru life obsessed by men's butts--the internal contradictions have got to wear you down....Just as a sidebar, do gays consider the scrotum attractive? I can see where some butts are less hairy than others but is it even possible to idealize the scrotum? Every part of a woman's external body can be idealized and eroticized, but there's not much you can do with a wrinkly ball sack. Also the scrotum is kind of purplish which may explain the male antipathy to the color purple.; 2/11/09, 11:37 PM
john said...: Jal asked -

Will more dare to touch the anointed one?

Only the hem of his cloak.; 2/11/09, 11:38 PM
John Burgess said...: Althouse: In the 1950s, at least in my New England part of the US, men's wearing purple was a flag. It signaled (or was said to signal) that one was gay and cruising.

That put rather a damper on hetero men's willingness to wear the color.

That flag--if indeed it actually was one--eventually went away, but the hetero view of it has a long tail.

I love purple, but don't wear it. Possibly for the above reason, but more likely that it really doesn't look great with my red hair and pale complexion. Other colors--blues, greens, beiges, and browns--seem to draw more favorable attention and commentary.; 2/11/09, 11:40 PM
John Burgess said...: And since purring for purple is the perfect way to start the day, I present an object lesson in why today's men don't wear purple much:

Courtney Love in her Purple Crown.

Purple lends itself so easily to bad taste that it scares men away. Women, being the bolder sex, will test their mettle against the color, even after it has been demonstrated a mistake.; 2/11/09, 11:46 PM
Matt Brown said...: And the tree said, "When I am old I shall wear purple. And a big-ass red hat, so I can gather with other purple-wearing trees who prefer big-ass red hats, and we can lunch together. And the other trees will stare at us, with our purple clothes and our big-ass red hats, and marvel..."; 2/12/09, 12:11 AM
Palladian said...: "Sex is God's joke on humanity. To consider oneself an aesthete and to have go thru life obsessed by men's butts--the internal contradictions have got to wear you down"

You imply contradiction where there is none. Ask the ancient Greeks, their copyists the ancient Romans, or perhaps Michelangelo of the "contradiction" of appreciation of aesthetics and the male body. If that were possible, they might laugh at you.

"....Just as a sidebar, do gays consider the scrotum attractive?"

Depends on the scrotum. Some balls are quite pretty.

"I can see where some butts are less hairy than others..."

I prefer hairy butts.

"but is it even possible to idealize the scrotum?"

Sure. What isn't it possible to idealize?

Every part of a woman's external body can be idealized and eroticized,"

Huh. I like how you've decided that your particular erotic attraction to the female body serves as a universal truth of the superiority of the eternal feminine. Hate to tell you, but just because you like tits and tail doesn't make the female form any more perfect than the male form.

And have you looked at a harshly-lit pussy? Not really a thing of beauty.

"...but there's not much you can do with a wrinkly ball sack."

Really? Obviously we've never slept together...

"Also the scrotum is kind of purplish which may explain the male antipathy to the color purple."

Your scrotum is purplish? See a doctor.; 2/12/09, 12:23 AM
Jason (the commenter) said...: William : To consider oneself an aesthete and to have go thru life obsessed by men's butts--the internal contradictions have got to wear you down....

Since an aesthete generally takes pride in having opinions different from the common man how is there a contradiction?; 2/12/09, 1:17 AM
Donna B. said...: Why all the emphasis on what a male thinks of another male's butt?

Am I the only woman here who appreciates the male posterior?; 2/12/09, 1:28 AM
William said...: Upon deeper thought on the subject, I think it is fair to eliminate elbows as an object of erotic consideration. I have never heard of anyone having an elbow fetish. Girls can have cute knees, i.e. the bee's knees, but elbows are difficult to eroticize...Are there gays with foot fetishes, or an attraction to a slender, graceful neck, or to a trim ankle, or to the silkiness of the inner thigh. I get the sense that straights find more rhythmns and turns in their dance than do gays--the difference between a minuet and a Funky Broadway. You see the paradox: the aesthetes do the funky Broadway and the heteros bow, and curtsey, and circle and stand......I think when men use the expression "blue balls" they actually mean purple balls. As noted earlier, this is why they have antipathy to this discolored color, and, also, perhaps why women are attracted to it.....I'm wrong about most things, and these observations are just meant to increase, however marginally, the world's share of ignorance and misinformation....And so to bed.; 2/12/09, 1:50 AM
blake said...: <kaff>

Katisha. But I have a left shoulder-blade that is a miracle of loveliness. People come miles to see it. My right elbow has a fascination that few can resist.; 2/12/09, 2:16 AM
Revenant said...: Never been to the Middle East or Greece I suppose?

So we're using the middle east as our standard for enlightened attitudes towards masculinity, are we?; 2/12/09, 2:34 AM
Revenant said...: You imply contradiction where there is none. Ask the ancient Greeks, their copyists the ancient Romans

Well I would, but they've been dead for thousands of years. Besides, for every enlightened Greek or Roman who extolled the virtues of masculine beauty you had a thousand whose idea of great art was dick jokes. That's why the plays were so famously smutty.

or perhaps Michelangelo of the "contradiction" of appreciation of aesthetics and the male body.

I have no doubt Michelangelo appreciated the beauty of the male body, considering the man was as gay as a picnic basket. I don't see how that's a commentary on the aesthetics of the time.; 2/12/09, 2:39 AM
Ralph L said...: In the early 70's, I had a dark purple velour bedspread, purple crushed velvet curtains, light blue walls and a red-orange carpet. My parents apparently believed in letting us learn the hard way.

Donna, your blue-eyed s-i-l shouldn't wear blue above the waist--it detracts from his eyes, not accentuates them.; 2/12/09, 3:31 AM
Jason (the commenter) said...: I don't see how that's a commentary on the aesthetics of the time.

Palladian was only trying to show examples of people who were both gay and artistic.; 2/12/09, 3:35 AM
blake said...: Or maybe he was just pointing out that if you can't appreciate the aesthetic of Michelangelo's David, there's something seriously wrong with you, gay or straight.; 2/12/09, 3:39 AM
Ralph L said...: My grandmother used to say she could pick my father out of a USNA marching formation when they turned a corner, because he had the biggest rear end (he was a sprinter). No one quizzed her about checking out all the young men.

It looks like they could have made murky purple with groundup porphyry.; 2/12/09, 3:54 AM
Jason (the commenter) said...: Blake,

But I don't think he appreciates David. He linked to a butt shot of him sans hair and then made a point of saying he preferred hairy butts: "I prefer hairy butts."

The same goes for his examples of Greek and Roman art. He would have liked them better hirsute.; 2/12/09, 3:54 AM
Chip Ahoy said...: To imitate Susan Collins speech pattern, I push my tongue forward to the front of my mouth so that it takes up all available space, then over enunciate every single syllable with equal emphasis and s...l...o...w e...v...e...r...y...t...h...i...n...g w...a..y d...o...w...n. This provokes your impulse to punch me in the face.; 2/12/09, 4:05 AM
Ralph L said...: "Byzantine historians distinguish two sorts of emperors: those who won power through a coup and those "born in the purple". These porphyrogénnētoi were born to the imperial family in the Porphýra, the purple porphyry-veneered delivery room in the Great Palace"; 2/12/09, 4:14 AM
AllenS said...: Roses are red
The tree is purple
If you were my teacher
I'd give you an apple

AllenS -- 3rd grade; 2/12/09, 4:35 AM
Anonymous said...: 103 comments about a purple tree.

Think what it will be like when she puts up a purple cow.; 2/12/09, 5:30 AM
AllenS said...: To Theo--

Roses are red
You wanted a purple cow
If you were my teacher
I'd have to say ciao

AllenS -- 3rd grade, 2nd attempt; 2/12/09, 5:38 AM
Ann Althouse said...: @Theo Yes, what was it about a purple tree that got you all going. Meade inflames the ladies with his purple hat and scarf, and I inflame the commentariat with a purple tree.; 2/12/09, 5:42 AM
Simon said...: Palladian, I think that's a matter of aesthetic taste. Harsly-lit or otherwise, I think it's a thing of beauty.; 2/12/09, 7:57 AM
Palladian said...: "Palladian, I think that's a matter of aesthetic taste. Harsly-lit or otherwise, I think it's a thing of beauty."

Well then don't fault me for liking a nice set of balls and a shapely male posterior! :); 2/12/09, 8:15 AM