Althouse: "We thought if we started calling it the 'Owlpath,' that would help remind people that it gets dark here at night, and that's special...."

June 22, 2012

"We thought if we started calling it the 'Owlpath,' that would help remind people that it gets dark here at night, and that's special...."

Ha ha. You've got to hit these lefties where they feel it.

Oh, owls! l looove owls!

ADDED: Owls were a favorite motif of 1970s females. If you want to revisit that aesthetic, check out this collection of crap at Etsy.

Meade just asked me: "What is it about women and owls?" I blabbered something about:

1. Eyes in front... like a baby... unleashes maternal instinct.

2. It's the bird of prey that — unlike hawks and eagles — doesn't say "bird of prey" to women. (Men like hawks and eagles, which wear their aggressive instinct on the surface. Women, like men, have their aggressive instincts, but they're less out and proud about it.)

AND: Don't forget the decoupage!

65 comments:

Meade said...: "What we've heard from some women is that the Southwest Bike Path, after dark, is intimidating," says Fernandez.

The Southwest Bike Path is the intersection of liberals' need for gender-balancing, female-coddling, and Strigiformesphilia. Make sure you have your helmets on - there's about to be a collision.; 6/22/12, 1:34 PM
Farmer said...: But I like coddling females.; 6/22/12, 1:36 PM
Patrick said...: What is it about women and owls?

It's all about the hooters, isn't it?; 6/22/12, 1:40 PM
Simon Kenton said...: It's the connection with Athene. (So long as you forget the high-forceps delivery from the brow of Zeus.); 6/22/12, 1:42 PM
Ann Althouse said...: "But I like coddling females."

But now the debate is set up so women are coddled either way.

The female-coddling impulse is now neutralized.

Now, we are free to pick the CHEAPER choice.; 6/22/12, 1:42 PM
Palladian said...: I love owls.; 6/22/12, 1:42 PM
Ann Althouse said...: Hey, I just realized it's been a long time since I've seen academia depicted in the form of an owl wearing a mortarboard and holding a rolled up degree.; 6/22/12, 1:43 PM
wyo sis said...: In Harry Potter books owls are messengers. In Native American lore they bring death. In Winnie the Pooh the owl is a pompous windbag.; 6/22/12, 1:47 PM
edutcher said...: When I see owls, all I think of is Wise potato chips

The Farmer said...

But I like coddling females.

Coddled females taste better than coddled eggs.; 6/22/12, 1:49 PM
traditionalguy said...: I think owls are the symbol of the Goddess Minerva/Athena who is a Goddess of War and thus one of Romes big three along with Jupiter and Juno. They have recently gained the power to shut down areas of the USA with EPA Super-nonsense about endangered species.

And men also attribute wisdom to owls. That may have something to do with athletic teams at Rice and Temple calling themselves Owls.; 6/22/12, 1:49 PM
BarrySanders20 said...: Those who want a lighted bike path at night should get a bike light. Walkers can use a flashlight.

Why overcomplicate things?

And yes, I'm for coddling the hooters.; 6/22/12, 1:52 PM
John Burgess said...: Obviously, owls are an erotic symbol of femininity: Two orbs above a downward facing triangle. Their popularity is an instance of self-recognition.

In Arab culture, owls are really bad omens. Not a single good thing about them.; 6/22/12, 1:53 PM
wyo sis said...: After looking through the Etsy site I understand the word vintage to mean crap no one ever wanted and no one wants it now either, but if you do it'll cost you.; 6/22/12, 1:54 PM
Tibore said...: Time for owl cuteness!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPQrMPyWaRg; 6/22/12, 1:59 PM
Patrick said...: How about the old Red Owl grocery stores? Any of those still around?

Yes, apparently a few are: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Owl; 6/22/12, 1:59 PM
chuck said...: I think the owl-female connection derives from Athena and is not due to any profound biological connection. It's just a mythological leftover from an ancient religion. I think there are many such subliminal traditions.; 6/22/12, 1:59 PM
Rabel said...: "But "safe use" isn't possible without adequate lighting, says Tony Fernandez, the city traffic engineer who designed the path in 1999 from an abandoned west-side rail line."

Every personal injury lawyer in Madison just bookmarked this quote.; 6/22/12, 2:00 PM
Michael K said...: What is it with the lights ? I would be annoyed if I lived there no matter what the owls thought. Tucson is a "dark city" because of the Kitt Peak observatory. Our house there has bats flying at night every summer evening. I was going to put up a bat house. It's like a bird house except the opening is the bottom and they hang upside down during the day. Lots of people there have them. Owls, too.; 6/22/12, 2:01 PM
ooonaughtykitty said...: Ask Mr. Owl...

http://bit.ly/MoTTj1

:); 6/22/12, 2:01 PM
Tibore said...: And now, if you want to wash the taste of saccharine out of your mouth, here's some owl evilitry (is "evilitry" even a word?...):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YvyXu7coXA; 6/22/12, 2:02 PM
Blue@9 said...: Well, you know what they say about big eyes.; 6/22/12, 2:06 PM
Jason said...: If the owl is presented as a mask, or replica of a mask on a pendant, it may be an allusion to The Story of O.

And "O" doesn't stand for "Owl."; 6/22/12, 2:18 PM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: If given the opportunity, an owl will kill your small pet. An owl will grab a small animal, fly up high and then drop it, wounding it so that the prey is easier to manage.

Or so I've heard...; 6/22/12, 2:20 PM
tastid212 said...: hooters, indeed

and those t-shirts say "my eyes are up here ^"; 6/22/12, 2:21 PM
SeanF said...: Sorry, Tibore, but this is owl eviltry.

(Skip to about 1:05 for the truly evil bit, but the whole thing is fascinating. I just wish the video was better quality.); 6/22/12, 2:23 PM
Paddy O said...: Growing up we had that macrame owl... but who didn't?; 6/22/12, 2:24 PM
MadisonMan said...: Hey, I just realized it's been a long time since I've seen academia depicted in the form of an owl wearing a mortarboard and holding a rolled up degree.

Like the old Beanie Babies! My son loved the owl, and Pellet, the hamster.

Re: The path. If anyone is feeling threatened while on the dark path, (a) they are a wimp, but (b) why not carry? Take some ownership of your own safety, don't rely on someone else to provide for you. And yes, get a light. If safety is not possible without proper lighting, then it really does behoove you to get a light, right? And not depend on someone else to provide for you.

I bike down the path after dark all the time in autumn. It's very soothing.; 6/22/12, 2:24 PM
bagoh20 said...: I have 2 barn owls living behind my house right next to Los Angeles International Airport. Between living in a big city and next to the airport, it's never dark. They could go elsewhere, but they appreciate adequate infrastructure like the rest of us. They actually seem most active at dusk and dawn when it's even lighter.; 6/22/12, 2:24 PM
Denton said...: On Prof. Althouse's second point - I guess it's lack of knowledge, 'casue knowing falconers and people who work with large birds, owls are scary as hell, aggressive as all get out, and damn near pure killing machines....; 6/22/12, 2:46 PM
coketown said...: I have an idea based on an idiotic liberal (but I repeat myself) idea they tried in Boise a few years back. On either end of Owlpath/Rape Point (if the city called it that, it would be covered in stadium lighting by sundown), you have bins full of expensive infrared goggles. People can put on the infrared goggles to safely traverse the path and then drop them off at the opposite end of Rape Point. The people are safe and the owls remain undisturbed from artificial lighting, and the moron featured in the article doesn't have to deal with the moral dilemma of jeopardizing people's safety so he can write in this years Christmas card, "We have owls living nearby. Owls! Knock knock. Who's there? Owls. Owls who? Exactly! ISN'T IT DIVINE!? RIGHT OUTSIDE THE FUCKING DOOR!"

(This plan is modeled after one in Boise in which giant poles with florescent green flags were stationed at intersections, and pedestrians carried the flags across the street so cars would see them. Obviously people just picked up the flags and walked off with them. Duh.); 6/22/12, 2:52 PM
Dust Bunny Queen said...: We have Great Horned Owls nesting in the trees near our bedroom. Besides the annoying deep hoo hooing,they are mean vicious animals. One actually attempted to take off with our cat who was lingering outside one evening (wouldn't come in, stupid cat). She had deep puncture wounds in her back. Needless to say, the cat does not go outside at night anymore.

They have been known to attack and kill small pets, newborn goats and sheep.; 6/22/12, 2:54 PM
Jason said...: A side note... Encyclopedia Dramatica's entry on Etsy is hilarious.

WV: hoownl 26; 6/22/12, 2:58 PM
Q said...: One actually attempted to take off with our cat who was lingering outside one evening (wouldn't come in, stupid cat).

"The Owl and the Pussy-Cat went to sea
In a beautiful pea-green boat."

"The Owl looked up to the stars above,
And sang to a small guitar,
"O lovely Pussy, O Pussy, my love,
What a beautiful Pussy you are"."

Sounds like attempted kidnap and rape to me.; 6/22/12, 2:59 PM
Balfegor said...: Owls! My favourite. For reasons not entirely clear to me, one of my relations had a drawing room in his house that was full of owls.

When you went in, you might notice that the glass display cases were full of porcelain and glass figurines. After a few minutes, you might realise that all the figurines were, in fact, owls. And then you might notice that the paintings on the walls were all paintings of owls. That the newspaper stand was a sculpture of an owl. That the drapes had a pattern of owls on them. That the carpet had a pattern of owls. That the upholstry had a pattern of owls. I don't remember whether there were antimacassars and doilies, but if there were, I am certain they were patterned with owls.; 6/22/12, 3:04 PM
Rusty said...: Dust Bunny Queen said...
We have Great Horned Owls nesting in the trees near our bedroom. Besides the annoying deep hoo hooing,they are mean vicious animals. One actually attempted to take off with our cat who was lingering outside one evening (wouldn't come in, stupid cat). She had deep puncture wounds in her back. Needless to say, the cat does not go outside at night anymore.

They have been known to attack and kill small pets, newborn goats and sheep

Don't blame an owl for being an owl.; 6/22/12, 3:07 PM
Farmer said...: Ann Althouse said...

But now the debate is set up so women are coddled either way.

The female-coddling impulse is now neutralized.

Now, we are free to pick the CHEAPER choice.

Sorry, I thought we were talking about cuddling females, not coddling them. To hell with coddling them.; 6/22/12, 3:15 PM
campy said...: Ha ha. You've got to hit these lefties where they feel it.

Don't tempt me ...; 6/22/12, 3:22 PM
JC said...: Cycling acroos the Rice University campus, on my way home from a few pints at the Graduate Student Association pub (Valhalla) I was swooped upon by one of those Great Horned buggers.
The totem of Rice is, of course, the OWL.; 6/22/12, 3:26 PM
Shanna said...: If you are afraid to ride in the dark, just don't ride in the dark.; 6/22/12, 3:33 PM
Anonymous said...: Between living on a lake and having a nature preserve behind all the yards, we get nature at her finest. Owls may be cute, but the sound of a screech owl circling your house in the middle of the night will make your skin crawl. Sounds like a low voiced woman being murdered.

Contrast that to the rabbit being killed by that owl, a high pitched blood curdling scream. Just a reminder that mother nature doesn't coddle.; 6/22/12, 3:43 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: I had these lyrics all wrong..

But I'm not gonna let 'em catch me, no
Not gonna let 'em catch the midnight rider

... in my mind I was hearing midnight owl.. midnight hour?

go figure.; 6/22/12, 3:45 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Midnight Hour..; 6/22/12, 4:08 PM
rhhardin said...: My Dobie Susie long ago discovered an owl in the yard one day, apparently sick, just standing in the yard.

I scooped him up in put him is a large carboard box in the shade, labelled in large magic marker, WOL, inside which he continued to stand.

Owl rehab was then called.

Owl rehab is a guy in a Jeep.

He took box and WOL away.; 6/22/12, 4:18 PM
rhhardin said...: A ten-miles-distant Kroger used to be open all night, so I'd rise at 2am and head off for the day's groceries on my bicycle.

Usually I made it without passing a single car. If there was the slighest moonlight, you could turn off the light and follow the ghost road.

Mysterious cows watched from the fields.

Now a bar is open near the Kroger until 2am, so they close the Kroger at 1am.; 6/22/12, 4:22 PM
Chip Ahoy said...: This goes way back. Waaay back.

G17

G birds
17 owl

signifies the same voiced bilabial nasal sound as the letter M.

It is a very common sign. You see it everywhere all the time. I can draw an hieroglyphic owl M as fast as you can write, say 25 or 30 or so regular Ms. Well I guess that isn't so great is it, okay forget I brought it up.; 6/22/12, 5:05 PM
wyo sis said...: Farmer
I'd stick to cuddling non-progressive women if possible. Progressive women require coddling, but don't cuddle well. I speak as a mother of boys who dated both types.; 6/22/12, 5:18 PM
Original Mike said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 6/22/12, 5:20 PM
Original Mike said...: "Those who want a lighted bike path at night should get a bike light. Walkers can use a flashlight.

Why overcomplicate things?"

And, we can see the stars.

Win. Win. Win.; 6/22/12, 5:23 PM
Anonymous said...: Farmer, don't listen to Wyo Sis, my son has a progressive girlfriend, she's hot and she knows how to change a tire.

But your wife may want to save the cuddling for herself.; 6/22/12, 5:32 PM
YoungHegelian said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 6/22/12, 5:50 PM
YoungHegelian said...: One word more about giving instruction as to what the world ought to be. Philosophy in any case always comes on the scene too late to give it. As the thought of the world, it appears only when actuality is already cut and dried after its process of formation has been completed. The teaching of the concept, which is history's inescapable lesson, is that the ideal first appears over against the real and that the ideal apprehends this same real world in its substance and builds it up for itself into the shape of an intellectual realm. When philosophy paints its grey on grey, then has a shape of life grown old. By philosophy's grey on grey it cannot be rejuvenated, but only understood. The Owl of Minerva spreads its wings only with the falling of the dusk.

G.W.F. Hegel --- The Philosophy of Law (Right); 6/22/12, 5:53 PM
Quaestor said...: I just realized it's been a long time since I've seen academia depicted in the form of an owl wearing a mortarboard and holding a rolled up degree.

It's been a long time since academia has deserved a reputation for wisdom -- not that owls are wise, in fact they're rather stupid.; 6/22/12, 5:58 PM
Quaestor said...: Allie Oop
Sounds like a low voiced woman being murdered.

Is this like what you've heard?; 6/22/12, 6:05 PM
Synova said...: Great horned owls are an awesome way to solve the feral cat problem.; 6/22/12, 6:41 PM
Synova said...: Oops. Sorry, Rusty. I'm sure you didn't think that was funny.

(We keep our cats inside, too.); 6/22/12, 6:44 PM
coketown said...: If given the opportunity, an owl will kill your small pet. An owl will grab a small animal, fly up high and then drop it, wounding it so that the prey is easier to manage.

I think this is called Irritable Owl Syndrome. Or so I've heard.; 6/22/12, 9:13 PM
Petunia said...: I have to say I'm with the lefties on this one. I live near the bike path and if you don't want to bike it at night, there are plenty of streets nearby that approximate the route.

Keep the path dark.; 6/22/12, 9:22 PM
Meade said...: Who is "Curious" and what have you done with Leslyn?; 6/22/12, 11:48 PM
Anonymous said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 6/23/12, 1:00 AM
SCOTTtheBADGER said...: You will need a rather large pot to coddle even a small women. I doubt it would be worth the effort expended.; 6/23/12, 3:36 AM
Rusty said...: Synova said...
Oops. Sorry, Rusty. I'm sure you didn't think that was funny.

I'm no great fan of cats. Around here they're kept in check by the coyotes. We used to have a problem of crazy left wing nutjobs feeding the feral cats along the river in downtown Batavia. dozens of em. Coyotes cleared that right up.
Every spring for the last 10 years a pair of Great Horned Owels work the old railroad right of way behind my house. One will perch on my neighbors roof and the other will fly along the tree line to spook any prey out into the open. Then the other will fly down and grab whatever comes out. Mostly ground sqirrels.
I'm no big fan of ground squirrels either.; 6/23/12, 6:16 AM
Largo said...: What do we want with a light?
In the dark we can manage alright.
If they had one when,
all our dads was young men.
most of us wouldn't be 'ere tonight!; 6/23/12, 9:17 AM
ken in tx said...: An owl is a totem of the Chi Omega sorority. My step-daughter was a member.; 6/23/12, 9:23 AM
Jose_K said...: So long as you forget the high-forceps delivery from the brow of Zeus.)
Or her virginal conception of a son by Hefaistos.
Mars was also God of War,. they needed two for that; 6/23/12, 12:29 PM
Peter said...: There's no evidence that this lighting will make the path more safe, and it might decrease safety.

BUT the lights might provide an illusion of safety.

So, the question is: Since safety is unobtainable here, do women prefer the illusion of safety, even if they may actually be safer (because they will be more vigilent) without the illusion?; 11/29/12, 1:59 PM