July 7, 2012

At the Night Owl Café...

"Urban Fantasy"

... night thoughts are different.

ADDED: The painting — which is about 6' square — is "Urban Fantasy" by Theodore F. Wolff, done in 1973, and on view at the Chazen Museum in Madison, Wisconsin.

53 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm not into owls, but that owl is amazing, beautiful!

Perfect summer night in Wisconsin. Cool, dry, not one mosquito. Out on my deck listening to the three doors down neighbor's Calypso band and enjoying a rum and cream soda, what could be better?

The heat wave is over.

Gabriel Hanna said...

Oh, that's beautiful. Right up there with Courage Wolf and Yell Bear.

Jason (the commenter) said...

I think Althouse meant "different", but even if she didn't, that's how I'm reading it.

Ann Althouse said...

Click on the image for the name of the painting and the artist.

Gabriel Hanna said...

Meade should totally get a tattoo of that.

Gabriel Hanna said...

If Meade doesn't I will--well, I would if my wife would let me. :(

Carnifex said...

Hi guys!

I'm in the hospital. after days of picking and selling corn in 100 heat. Whoda' thunk it? actually, my hernias got me. I had 7, and they were starting to "incarcerate" my bowels. After the vomitting, and screaming in pain, there came more vomitting and screaming. My stepson drove me to the hospital. Had to keep telling him to slow down, Wouldn't do me any good to wind up in a ditch.

Tired now so Immma go back to sleep. Bye for now.

yashu said...

Carnifex, sorry to hear that! Sounds excruciating. Get well soon.

Gabriel Hanna said...

If evolution had gone differently, this might have been the cover of Ziggy Stardust.

Anonymous said...

Carnifex, seven hernias?! How are you doing now, do they have the pain under control for you? Sorry to hear this, I know that must have been hellish. Did you have the surgery already? I imagine they took you in immediately.

leslyn said...

With 7 hernias, screaming and vomiting, Carnifex says,

"Hi guys!"

That's some good pain meds working there.

Sleep tight.

ed said...

Not into owls frankly.

But I would like to present the comment of the month to other readers of this blog site. The writer is "Aletheia101":

Washington Post: "What price clean air?" by George Will. (it's at the very bottom)

Please read it. You can't miss something this insane without having experienced it.

The utter cluelessness is almost delicious. Like a luscious creme brulee with that thin layer of caramelized sugar on top.

ed said...

@ Carnifex

Ouch!

I know the feeling. I'm home after having spent 5 weeks in the hospital.

Hope you get better soon. Remember though. If they put you on a clear liquids diet don't cheat. I did that and I lived to regret it.

Scott said...

Watching Law & Order reruns. I miss Jerry Orbach. It would have been so cool to be able to see him in The Fantasticks. I heard a recording of him singing "Lullaby of Broadway" -- what a fantastic rich voice!

Saint Croix said...

The owl is okay. It's no Reagan Riding a Velociraptor.

JAL said...

Ok OK

google is becoming increasingly annoying. (Are you reading this google bots?)

Every time I come to Althouse since joining google+ (to enter a contest) I get a MESSAGE FROM GOOGLE ont he picture asking me if I want to share this through google+.

NO!

Go. Away.

(Solution: Shut down google+ page.)

Scott said...

@Saint Croix: Wonderful!

Saint Croix said...

I know! Way better than dogs playing poker.

edutcher said...

Somehow, it looks Russian.

In a good, Czarist way.

Shanna said...

Wow, Carifax. That sounds awful.

Coincidentally, I bought some sweet corn just this morning at the farmers market (it is pretty amazing too!) from a black family who was also selling watermellon because the farmers market is racist, just like the bear on drudge.

God, An Original A-hole said...

Let's consider some similarities between Joseph Smith, the founder of Romney's Mormonism, and Charles Manson:

- Both took Christianity as a basis and built upon it with their own divine scripture: Smith's golden plates, and Manson's interpretation of the Beatles' White Album.

- Both attracted a group of committed followers who considered him a savior. Smith labelled his followers "Saints", and Manson labelled his "the Family". Both groups of followers would eventually commit theologically-motivated massacres-- the Mountain Meadows Massacre, and the Manson Murders.

- Both considered himself at least a prophet (in Smith's case on the order of Moses), or perhaps a second-coming of Jesus Christ.

- While leading their followers, both escaped intrigue and disputes and criminal charges in one place by moving the group to more remote places: Smith from Western New York to Ohio to Missouri to Nauvoo; Manson from Haight-Ashbury to Dennis Wilson's House to Spahn Ranch to Death Valley.

- Both were paranoid that their followers might be plotting against them, and both took pre-emptive action to get rid of these perceived troublemakers.

- Both engaged in, and promoted, unusual group sex practices: Smith under the tenuous guise of "plural marriage" and "spiritual wifery", and Manson under the blunt non-guise of "drug-fueled orgies".

- And, most importantly, both told their followers that they would soon rule the world: Smith via his millennial Kingdom of God plan, and Manson via his Helter Skelter plan. (Both of which were pre-ordained, btw...)

QUIZ: Which one was declared by his followers, while leading a life with multiple sexual partners, in a location retreated to as an outlaw, to be "prophet, priest and king"? Joseph Smith? Or Charles Manson?

chickelit said...

Give-a-hoot, don't poll yute

Petunia said...

That painting looks like something you'd buy at a gas station. Next to the velvet Elvis.

chickelit said...

An Original A-hole said...
Let's consider some similarities between Joseph Smith, the founder of Romney's Mormonism, and Charles Manson:

Hey Crack, let's also consider the similarities between James Cone, a founder of BLT (Rev Wright's church) and Adolf Hitler...

Besides, if you really want to reap a whirlwind, why don't you tout Kevin Madden?

Jason (the commenter) said...

God, An Original A-hole

Oh, that name! I'm not religious and I should be your target audience, but it turns me right off. And I was already eye-rolling at the first sentence you wrote. Couldn't get any further.

Shanna said...

I rewatched the southpark episode on mormons yesterday, in honor of romney (and then I watched the scientology one just for fun).

ITA with Petunia about the elvis owl.

Anonymous said...

That owl is not something you'd get at gas station painting prices.

JAL said...

Carnifex -- so sorry! I hope you got to the hospital in time to avert any complications. That can be nasty.

Glad you had someone bring your puter in to keep in touch. Hate it when people disappear for days / weeks and then we find out they have been seriously ill. (Looking at you, TradGuy.)

If I were Catholic I'd light a candle for you, but I'll do the protestant thing and pray you know God's good providence and healing.

Wisdom is something that comes from learning from experience, right? ;-)

Jason (the commenter) said...

Althouse: Click on the image for the name of the painting and the artist.

Althouse can't be bothered to copy and paste stuff for the likes of us!

Doesn't she have a moral, if not legal, obligation to give a transparent attribution to works of art she's pirating/using for educational purposes?

P. S. Everybody better be edumacated by this owl painting or Althouse is going to prison.

JAL said...

What's with the commenters on George Will's column?

I don't think any of them mentioned the people impacted by this situation -- which was his point, I think.

And has the air quality diminished or been negatively impacted at the Grand Canyon by the coal plant? Evidence? Real evidence, I mean, not religious belief.

Jason (the commenter) said...

Petunia: That painting looks like something you'd buy at a gas station. Next to the velvet Elvis.

I'm thinking of someone who owns one of those wolf shirts. This would be on their other shirt.

Ignorance is Bliss said...

For some reason the owl reminds me of this picture of the San Diego fireworks screw-up

leslyn said...

From a distance, it looked to me like it was wearing some variant of a Medal of Honor.

I suppose that's not what the artist meant.

leslyn said...

And are those teeth? Scroll up and down fast and they look like teeth.

It's good you can't do that with the real thing, or that would be a pretty scary tooth owl.

ed said...

And for those recurring debates on socialized healthcare, this article:

Daily Mail: My 17 hours of hell ... by Melissa Kite

Because honestly, life is too short to spend it admiring paintings of goofy birds.

Now if it was a *penguin*. Well then you'd have something.

Jason (the commenter) said...

leslyn: Scroll up and down fast and they look like teeth.

Oh my god, you're right! This painting is from the '70s, so you probably need to be in an altered state to fully enjoy it. What drug in the '70s did people take to induce seizures?

leslyn said...

Carnifex,

Maybe this will help you and your family feel a little better.

Or maybe not. But I'm trying.


Why Worry.

MadisonMan said...

Carnifax, I'm sorry to read of your health troubles. Get well quickly!

God, An Original A-hole said...

Barney Frank has married his gay lover.

Making him the first sitting Congressperson to be in a gay marriage.

leslyn said...

To "God," re the whole thing: Let's not.

leslyn said...

Jason the commenter,

Induce seizures? Who would want to do that?

Never mind. Stupid question.

garage mahal said...

Rise to the sun instead.

Don't even think of not clicking on that link by the way. I know who you are.

MadisonMan said...

So nice to be free of the tyranny of a/c tonight. The stale air of the house has vanished, and the welcome sounds of the night come in.

leslyn said...

garage,

I have a suspicion he'll have a selection to peruse.

(Nah...You don't.)

Chip Ahoy said...

The owl looks like it's wearing clothes. The official clothes and broad collar of a chief or Parliamentarian. He is one of a parliament of owls.

A photoshop site member's favorite theme is owls wearing Scandinavian hats with the ear flaps. If you google [owls in hats] you might see one of his but the rest will be real hats like that in the shape of owls.

I do not think that owls have interesting lives. They just sit there all day in their Scandinavian flap hats then go silently out into the night, I'm imagining this, and catch a rodent, bring it back, tear it up and scarf it, digest it all day, hurl the indigestible bits and poop the rest. The next day same thing all over.

Before you go, hey wait a minute that's not much different from what people do, I'm comparing them with other birds that do all kind of wonderful awesome and interesting things all day long besides turn their head all the way around. Like this woo.

For a birder, I'm imagining again, an owl would be a great find but not all that fun to watch.

Dad had one. And he had nothing to say about it either, and I drilled him about that owl too when I found out about it, except to say that I can't have one.

I couldn't have a hawk either.

So don't even ask about an eagle or a vulture.

That's how deprived I've been this whole time. Yes, for I am but a poor boy and my story's seldom told. I have squa

The point is I was never allowed to have a serious bird and the canary doesn't count.

leslyn said...

Chip Ahoy,

LOL! (I know that's trite and you're not, but it's late and that's the best I could do.)

I found one baby owl in a hat. :o

I see you've learned how to pic link.

God, An Original A-hole said...

Is this Owl one that converses more with the buttock of the night than the forehead of the morning?

traditionalguy said...

Woo are chinese owls. American owls hoot, hoot, hoot.

It may be a language difference.

Owls are creepy. This blog needs sea otters. Sea Otters must be the cutest and most frivolous creatures on earth.

They live in the coldest waters but don't have blubber fat for keeping warm, so instead God gave them a fur coat that has a half million hairs per square inch.

Sea otters are mammals that are sometimes called sea weasels, but they hate that name.

Craig said...

Parliament is made up of fowls, a category that does not exclude owls.

Sydney said...

For some reason, that owl reminds me of a Thomas Kinkade painting.

Anonymous said...

With analysis like your Charles Manson and Joseph Smith piece, God, I wonder how you haven't solved every social problem known to mankind, cured cancer, cleared up the traffic on I-5 in LA, and coached the Cubs to 10 world series.

You, my fried, are literally the smartest man on the planet. Your facts are superior to all other facts, just because you utter them.

Your analysis leaves a room full of electric-fire smelling smoke.

And your conclusions are right not just for the issue you solved, for for 10 or 12 other unrelated issues as well.

My eyesight was corrected to 20/20 just by reading your comments.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

(But seriously, that's you, isn't it Charles. They let you have a computer in prison?)

Paco Wové said...

The style of the owl reminds me a bit of Louis Wain, before he went completely nuts.

leslyn said...

Carnifex,

Here's a funny story for you. DON'T LAUGH. Yet.

The favorite inquiry received at the National Archives is this one:

"Why did so many Civil War battles take place in national parks?"