EphBlog » Purple Cow

Purple Cows of America – Entering the Purple Valley

Larry George — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 20:27:45 +0000

from an old publication for first-years (copyright Williams College)

Purple Cows of America, Reunion Encore

Larry George — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 13:38:32 +0000

photo copyright Williams College

Purple Cows of America (and beyond!) Grand Finale

jeffz — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 10:00:05 +0000

My google tour of purple cow imagery is, sadly, at an end. But I learned quite a bit about the purple cow oeuvre. You can wash down your purple cow beer with purple cow wine to get nice and groggy for a trip across the Atlantic to the purple cow theater. The following morning, you can nurse your purple cow-sized hangover with purple cow pancakes and purple cow coffee, before loading up on purple cow subs at lunch time. Purple cows come in all shapes and sizes and styles: old school, vulnerable, sartorial, bling-laden, automotive, literary, trippy, hungry, dancing (with Matt Harding at Yahoo!), mailable, mutated, and yes, even sexy.

One thing I knew before, but am even more certain of now: Lord Jeffrey, notwithstanding his perfectly lovely name, is no purple cow — not even close. And yes, even after seeing thousands of fictional purple cows, more than ever, I hope to see a real one … (could the lovely bovine pictured above be her?). So, which is your favorite purple cow?

(Thanks to Kim and JG for pointing me to a few of the links noted above).

Purple Cows of America, Part Five

jeffz — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 10:15:20 +0000

Good luck graduates!

Purple Cows of America, Part Four

jeffz — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 10:10:01 +0000

It’s Saturday, and I miss football, so here are two football-themed purple cows for the price of one:

Purple Cows of America, Part Three

jeffz — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 09:58:42 +0000

Purple Cow Road, Crimora, Virginia

Purple Cows of America, Part Two

jeffz — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 10:47:21 +0000

Some enterprising student should reproduce this image on a t-shirt. I guarantee it would be a HUGE seller on campus.

As Requested ….

jeffz — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 10:18:41 +0000

Someone has now posted something today, thereby delaying part 17 of DK’s 793 part series, “my musings on TIPS.”

Spring Street Demolition

Ronit — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 19:56:29 +0000

From the Images Cinema blog:

The Hopkins Funeral Home is being demolished today. Also on the list to be demolished this week, the former Subway / Purple Pub building.

If anyone will be taking pictures of the Purple Cow in its last days of existence or during demolition, please post in this thread.

Eph Word of the Day: Palinode

Ronit — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 16:00:28 +0000

From A.Word.A.Day at Wordsmith.org:

palinode

PRONUNCIATION:

(PAL-uh-noad)

MEANING:

noun: A poem in which the author retracts something said in an earlier poem.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Greek palinoidia, from palin (again) + oide (song). It’s the same palin that shows up in the word palindrome…

NOTES:

The illustrator and humorist Gelett Burgess (1866-1951) once wrote a poem called The Purple Cow:

I never saw a purple cow,
I never hope to see one;
But I can tell you, anyhow,
I’d rather see than be one.

The poem became so popular and he became so closely linked with this single quatrain that he later wrote a palinode:

Confession: and a Portrait, Too,
Upon a Background that I Rue!
Oh, yes, I wrote ‘The Purple Cow,’
I’m sorry now I wrote it!
But I can tell you anyhow,
I’ll kill you if you quote it.

USAGE:

“The more lighthearted palinodes were more successful, such as Geoff Horton’s recantation of his youthful view that a martini should be shaken rather than stirred.”
Jaspitos; I Take It Back; The Spectator (London, UK); Jan 24, 2004.

Items to discuss may include hallucinogens used by Mr. Burgess, the proper construction of a martini, and whether Mrs. Palin will issue a palinode.