I just googled it up for the etymology and found a drinking game of it in the urban dictionary:

A drinking game played while watching the Starz TV Series, “Spartacus: Blood and Sand”. Each time the word “cock” is spoken, everybody must drink a shot. As a kicker, when the words, “Jupiter’s Cock”, is spoken, everybody must do a double shot.

Seeing as how there’s a lot of “cock”s mentioned during each episode, I can see why this would work as a drinking game.

I think it was an expression coined by the writers of the show without etymological foundation.

By the way, unlike Deadwood, Battlestar, and Rome, this would not be a show I recommend to many.  The first two episodes are atrocious and it’s bloody as hell.  Makes True Blood look tame.  It’s sort of like a cheesy ass male-fantasy only version of Rome without the anal attention to historical detail with the look and slow-mo battle violent nature of 300 a.d.  But I REALLY enjoy looking at the women’s costumes.  Man I wish I could sew.  I also wished I could look as good and perky in those toga gowns as they do.

Being that the crux of the show is about the Gladiators; the one dubbed “Spartacus” in particular; I suppose I should bother to actually post at least one visual for why both sexes and multiple-sexualities have been attracted to the show.  Lots of bodies to view in this show; the dead and the very much alive – sweating, fighting, bleeding, and/or copulating.

As for the men, I guess I’m partial to Doctore myself.  I think his beauty has been under-appreciated by the public.

Should I bother to put a preview?

I had not intended to be about Spartacus, merely about the curse from it.  But since I’ve already talked so much about the show…I want to warn anybody who may watch it – the first few episodes are dreadful.  I can’t control the groans and eye rolling during some of the lines, their poor delivery, and plot predictability.  However, that said, it really does get much better.  If I had Tevo I would blast through the fight scenes – which in my humble opinion are way too numerous, ridiculously unrealistic and over-dramatized, and tediously drawn out.   And yet, I still watch it.  There’s something there besides the hot bodies and beautiful[ly garbed] women.  They are just working out their look and tone of it still.  OH, and Viva Bianca plays the bitchiest twisted bitch with a capital “B” as “Ilithyia”.  Yowsers!!!!!!!!!  You can see what I mean just by these 2 pictures:

I love Zooey Deschanel, her voice, her quirky personality, and her retro vibe.  I cut Kosette some bangs on the 4th of July.  Turns out I gave her the same cut as Ms. Deschanel herself, but it was subconcious I swear!

As usual, we would’ve changed the ending.  But Kham and I do that a lot, mentally reconstruct endings of films.  I enjoyed watching it mainly because I enjoyed watching her and Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

Who DIDN’T like him in 3rd Rock from the Sun?

And I am glad for his professional successes.  It’ll be fun to see him fight his way in to the in-crowd of young Hollywood “it” actors.  But to me, he’ll always be the polite, little boy in my piano class and Kelli’s drama class lisping, and squeaking (his voice was starting to change), his way through “Wells Fargo Wagon” from Music Man (we have photos and videos somewhere).  He was shy when you spoke with him but then would come alive on stage.  He so obviously LOVED performing and lacked visible nerves.  He stole the “show”.  But watching him grow up is making me aware of my aging as well.  Yikes.  I hope he’s retained some of that sweetness.  Here’s them doing a fun little music video for the movie but I think it shows some of his yet-untapped talent:

Kosette and I have enjoyed watching and listening to clips of her singing on YouTube.  I’d like to get her album one of these days.  She’s part of a duo called “She & Him”.  It’s sweet and syrupy and fun.  Good summer listening.  Here’s Zooey in her own video for She and Him for the same song as above.  I love the vintage look of it.

When I was in Jr. High, Twin Peaks came out.  Yes, that dates me.  I was shocked to hear on NPR that it recently celebrated its 20th anniversary.  My Lord has it really been that long?!  It was a sensation back then.

The infamous “dirty” book – the murdered girl, Laura Palmer”s diary, circuited my Lutheran school’s classrooms behind textbooks to every student’s delight and teacher’s horror.  Many were confiscated but not before our innocent little brains were enlightened.  But I didn’t watch the show.   (Another thing that didn’t make me popular with my peer group – that, and not liking New Kids on the Block)

Sure, I caught a couple snippets here and there sometimes but it went against my personal policy of never watching a series out of order.  I’m anal that way.  And plus, it was so avante-gard and twisted and complicated, I couldn’t figure out what the hell was going on.  I think it also competed with some other show I watched or maybe it was on a weekday.   Or maybe I was just to friggin’ square to appreciate something so cool and dark.

So when I heard it discussed at length on NPR, I wanted to give it another try.  My friend Michelle, had the whole first season on dvd so I borrowed it and watched it while I was sick.  I figured maybe I’d find it more intriguing now that I’m older, wiser (ahem), and my horizons have been broadened with experience.  I love foreign and independent films so I thought I’d like it now.

I was wrong.  I’m still too square or not as artsy as I’d hoped.  I couldn’t even make it through two entire episodes and found it absolute torture.  EXCEPT, the two things I already knew:

ONE:  Sherilyn Fenn is sexy as hell in this and could turn the straightest of women!  Of course, she was gorgeous and positively exuded sex from her every poor, but she so perfectly portrayed a young woman practically drowning in her own carnal desires….

TWO:

The music is the best thing about the show, in my humble opinion.  The soundtrack by Angelo Badalamente is INCREDIBLE!!  In fact, I heard the theme song and bought the cd on that alone!  That was a lot of babysitting money to fork over back then.

Sidenote: I put “The Nightingale” (my faire nickname) by Julee Cruise  on the first mixed tape I ever made for Kham.

Well, I did.  Just yesterday in fact.   And this was the song that was the comedic ice breaker:

Lyrics to “Undun” by The Guess Who

She’s come undun
She didn’t know what she was headed for
And when I found what she was headed for
It was too late

She’s come undun
She found a mountain that was far too high
And when she found out she couldn’t fly
It was too late

It’s too late
She’s gone too far
She’s lost the sun

She’s come undun
She wanted truth but all she got was lies
Came the time to realize
And it was too late

She’s come undun
She didn’t know what she was headed for
And when I found what she was headed for
Mama, it was too late

It’s too late
She’s gone too far
She’s lost the sun
She’s come undun

Too many mountains, and not enough stairs to climb
Too many churches and not enough truth
Too many people and not enough eyes to see
Too many lives to lead and not enough time

It’s too late
She’s gone too far
She’s lost the sun

She’s come undun
Doe-doe-doe-doe-doe doe un doe-doe-doe un doe-doe-doe
Doe doe-doe-doe-doe un doe-doe-doe doe-doe-doe
Doe doe-doe-doe doe doe-doe-doe doe doe

—— flute ——

It’s too late
She’s gone too far
She’s lost the sun

She’s come undun
She didn’t know what she was headed for
And when I found what she was headed for
It was too late

She’s come undun
She found a mountain that was far too high
And when she found out she couldn’t fly
Mama, it was too late

It’s too late
She’s gone too far
She’s lost the sun

She’s come undun
No no-no-no-no-no no
Doe doe doe-doe

On the flipside, I handled a very similar moment to this comic strip the other night much better than my aforementioned breakdown.  After being awoken in the middle of the night to tend to Kellen’s growing pains (this entails Ibuprofen, Ben Gay type substance massaged into legs and sometimes arms, and nuking a sand/rice hull heating pad in the microwave).   I had been enjoying this quiet, private, very sweet, tender moment with my son whereupon many kisses and lovey dovey words were exchanged and had turned to leave when Kellen suddenly cried out with great urgency, “WAIT!!!”  Startled, I asked him what was the matter.  The reply and subsequent interchange went something like this:

Kellen:  I have something important to ask you.

Me: Yeeees?  (thinkingto myself:  What on earth could it possibly be?  That’s so urgent and so important to know right now at 2 am?!!)

Kellen:  How do you make pizza?

Me:  Giggle, giggle, snort, tear, tee hee…  I love you Kellen.  I’ll show you tomorrow.  You can help me make it for dinner.

Kellen:  Ok.  Mom, will you get off my blanket?  I want to sleep now.

Me: Ok.  Giggle.  You are too cute, Little Man.  Sweet Dreams.

(door closes)  Man, I wish Kham was awake so I can tell him that one!!!

Compared to Kosette’s thought-provoking but taxing and loaded questions of late like “Who and why was the earth created?  And why does Mother Earth give me headaches?  Why did Mother Earth make me so short when you’re so tall?  And why would someone want to kill themselves?” it was a relief to get a question I could answer without having to think so hard and answer so carefully.  Ah, my children amuse me so much.  Think I’ll keep them around a little longer.  <Wink>

Tonight we went to the free concert in Central Park here in Corvallis and listened to three different acts whilst sitting on our picnic quilt and watching our kids gallivant with other youngins.  We couldn’t help but chuckle as the music seemed to match our children’s antics to a tee, making it the perfect soundtrack.  It was absolute mayhem resembling a mad chase scene from Scooby Doo or some other cartoon: they were running around in circles, doing mad puppy sprints, dog piles, dives back onto the quilt, cartwheels, and dress spinning while the band played.

Looking like this:

Only to music more along the likes of this only a little more 60s Scooby Dooish:

Later, a different band played some retroey funky stuff that Kham and I were sorta able to swing dance to.  I kept on wanting to break out into a frug like in some Bob Fosse number from Sweet Charity:

or the big dance scene in Austin Powers (which, by the way, if this music doesn’t make your toes twitch and you want to dance, you’re made of stone!!!)

And as we left the clouds in the sky were the most amazing peachy pink against the periwinkle blue…I wish I’d had my camera.  This is some other person’s random picture on the internet and it resembles our sky alot. 

I call it Maxfield Parrish sky.  We get that around here and it is so stunning.  How lucky am I to live here in this place where I can pretend I’m living in a Maxfield Parrish painting?!!  For those who don’t know who Maxfield Parrish is, well, he was an amazing artist who painted a lot of landscapes as well as nudes in fantasy settings with a blue and white sky undertoned background.  I’m not even going to attempt to describe his work to you.  But he is famous for the luminosity and interesting hues in his skies.  I’m sure you’ve seen posters and prints of his work or a coffee table book somewhere.  He is one of my favorite artists and here is a wiki link where you can learn more.  Maybe these will help jog your memory:

See what I mean jellybean?

Today, despite the cold, bite to the air, the daffodils are blooming strongly, the pussywillow’s catkins have burst open, the tulips are headed up, and the maples are impersonating the cherry blossom trees with their salmony colored tender leaves unfurling like blossoms.  Winter is on the wing….we can feel it.  And so do the customers, because work is buuuuuuusy.  In all of your day-to-dayness don’t forget to “stoop and feel it and stop and hear it”….all those little signs of life swelling on branches and emerging through the earthen crust…this cursory time in season’s transitions.  It’s fun to find those bitty signs of life.  Before gardening, all I really knew was it’s cold so it’s still winter, but since we have warmish days here and there and I knew spring was coming.  Or I’d see the daffodils bloom and know it for the obvious sign that springtime is near.  But now my more trained eye is attuned to so much more.  It’s like someone gave me these magical glasses that I can slip on and now I can see all the secret things that other people are oblivious to (I see dead people = I see spring coming).  There’s no going back now.  My visual world has been forever changed and winter no longer feels so long now that I can note its passing with each bud swell or seed germination.

The Secret Garden Cast – Winter’s On The Wing Lyrics

DICKON:
Winter’s on the wing,
Here’s a fine spring morn’
Comin’ clear through the night,
Come the day I say.
Winter’s taken flight
Sweepin’ dark cold air
Out to sea, Spring is born,
Comes the day say I,

And you’ll be here to see it.
Stand and breathe it all the day.
Stoop, and feel it. Stop and hear it.
Spring, I say.

And now the sun is climbin’ high,
Rising fast on fire,
Glaring down through the gloom,
Gone the gray, I say.
The sun it spells the doom
Of the winter’s reign,
Ice and chill must retire
Comes the May say I,

And you’ll be here to see it.
Stand and breathe it all the day.
Stoop, and feel it. Stop and hear it.
Spring, I say.

I say, be gone, ye howling gales,
Be off, ye frosty morns!
All ye solid streams begin to thaw.
Melt, ye waterfalls,
Part ye frozen winter walls.
See, see now it’s starting.

And now the mist is liftin’ high,
Leavin’ bright blue air
Rollin’ clean ‘cross the moor
Comes the day I say.
The storm’ll soon be by
Leaving clear blue sky,
Soon the sun will shine,
Comes the day, say I.

And you’ll be here to see it.
Stand and breathe it all the day.
Stoop and feel it. Stop and hear it.
Spring, I say.

I just wrote a very lovely post about Kellen and his birthday party.  You won’t be reading that because this *&*^#^#(*&&$*&& just reset as I was hitting publish so it is all lost.  ARG!!!!!!!!!!!!   Now all I’m going to say is Kellen turned five this week and we’re throwing him his very first birthday party tomorrow.  So I’ve been busy, and will be extremely so today, readying the house and stuff for it.  Maybe I’ll even sew him a costume if I have time.  Yes, it is themed.  Yes, I’m going all out like I did with Kosette’s 5th, Fairy themed.  I don’t even know if more than 2 kids are coming at this point which is frustrating.  Could be a potential of 12.  That’s a wide margin of absences/attendees to plan for.

I’m happy for Kellen who is so excited….he has been counting the days, and now is counting down the hours.  His sister demands so much of the attention around here, that I look forward to him having the chance to shine and hog our focus for a day.  We will be his minions, as is your due when it’s your birthday dontcha think?

Even though it’s not as easy to adjust.  I love my bed with its cozy flannel sheets and fluffy down comforter and pillows.  And I love my animhouseplants and photos of the kids on the walls.  I love looking at the shelf with all the books I can’t wait to have the mental faculties to read.  And I love my cats who have acted as my personal heating pads – something that I have my  mom nuking constantly.  I really need to make another one so I can rotate.  You know what I also love, staring up at my ceiling and having it finally be finished painted.  It was partially painted in from the corners by a foot or so for over a year.  I knew reclining in bed for 3-6 weeks it would drive me insane to look at that.  Insane to want to paint it the second I could.  I’m so grateful Herma helped me finish that long overdue project.  I rest easier, I swear.

I woke up in the middle of the night and tried to read to get back to sleep, but was still awake reading almost an hour later so I took an Ambien.  I love the book, as I have all other, Barbara Kingsolver novels but this, Animal Vegetable, Miracle is just terrific.  I could underline practically everything.  So often I’ve written a notation about how incredible her writing is.  She really brings points around perfectly and wittily refers back to her initial comment at the end of a paragraph or as the final sentence in a chapter, in a way that is like a smackdown – THERE!  Take that!  Woops, percosets taking effect…

I came across this quote from Mark Twain that I just love.  It was just what I wanted to say, and close to my heart’s sentiments:

“For us, our house was not unsentient matter—it had a heart, and a soul, and eyes to see us with; and approvals, and solicitudes, and deep sympathies; it was of us, and we were in its confidence, and lived in its grace and in the peace of its benediction. We never came home from an absence that its face did not light up and speak out its eloquent welcome—and we could not enter it unmoved.”
—Mark Twain, 1896

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100+ days. Capsicum annuum. Plant produces good yields of 2 ½” long by 1″ wide penis shaped peppers. Peppers are mildly hot and turn from green to red when mature. Plant has green leaves, green stems, and white flowers. United States Department of Agriculture, PI 593566. A variety from the USA. Plant Height: 24″ tall. pk/10