Owlglass (was:Housecleaning ...)

[Dave Monroe]

Thanks!  This is all very useful, and very relevant, indeed.  Was only really
familiar with the Richard Strauss piece (Till Eulenspiegel), which is how I made
the connection.  Shouldn't, of course, have been difficult for me to find
something of use on this here Infonet contraption, but the vast majority of hits
I got were in German, in which I can recognize a few words at best (e.g.,
"eulen" and "spiegel").  But despite the fact that it's Rachel who's surnamed
"Owlglass" here, the name serves nonetheless to resonate with Benny Profane's
schlemihlhood, his picarosity, whatever, that of the Whole Sick Crew, even.
"Knavish fools," "scape-graces," indeed.  And I do recall that episode of "The
John Laroquette Show," which might well have been the last time I've seen Ted
McGinley, Mayim Bialik or Donna Mills,or, indeed, John Laroquette ...

David Morris wrote:

> http://www.bartleby.com/81/12605.html
> "E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
> Owlglass (German, Eulenspiegel).
> Thyl, son of Klaus (Eulenspiegel) prototype of all the knavish fools of
> modern times. He was a native of Brunswick, and wandered about the world
> playing all manner of tricks on the people he encountered. (Died 1350.)"
>
> http://www.bartleby.com/65/eu/Eulenspi.html
> "The Columbia Encyclopedia: Sixth Edition.  2000.
> Eulenspiegel, Till
> (tl oi´ln-shp´´gl) (KEY) [Ger.,=owl-mirror, hence English Owlglass], a north
> German peasant clown of the 14th cent. who was immortalized in chapbooks
> describing his practical jokes on clerics and townsfolk. The first Till
> chapbook (c.1500) was probably in Saxon, but the story it told spread all
> over Europe and North Britain. Till is the hero of a tone poem by Richard
> Strauss and of many novels, poems, and stories. Tyll Ulenspiegel is one of
> the variant spellings. 1
> See K. R. H. MacKenzie’s adaptation in English, Master Tyll Owlglass
> (1890)."
>
> http://w2.xrefer.com/entry/370267
>
> "Eulenspiegel
> Till, a German born according to tradition about 1300, the son of a peasant,
> and the subject of a collection of satirical tales, German or Flemish in
> origin, published in 1519 (Flemish version 1520-1). He is a scape-grace
> whose knaveries and escapades are carried on under a pretence of simplicity
> and stupidity, and are directed against noblemen, priests, tradesmen, and
> innkeepers. One of these incidents figures in Chaucer's 'Summoner's Tale'
> (see Canterbury Tales, 8). The book was translated into many languages,
> among others into English in an abridged form by William Copland, under the
> title of A merye jest of a man that was called Howleglas (?1555, ?1560). See
> The Marvellous Adventures ... of Master Tyll Owlglass, trans. K. R. H.
> Mackenzie (1860)."
>
> http://epguides.com/JohnLarroquetteShow/guide.shtml
>
> The John Larroquette Show
>
> regulars:
> John Larroquette as John Hemingway
> Liz Torres as Mahalia Sanchez
> Daryl "Chill" Mitchell as Dexter
> Gigi Rice as Carly Watkins
> Alison LaPlaca as Catherine Merrick [ season 2+ ]
> Chi McBride as Heavy Gene
> Lenny Clarke as Officer Adam Hampton
> Elizabeth Berridge as Officer Eve Eggers
> Bill Morey as Oscar
>
> recurring characters:
> David Crosby as Chester, John's AA sponsor (and, later, his ghost)
> John F. O'Donoghue as Max Dumas (first season only)
> Omri Katz as Tony, John's estranged son
> Donna Mills as Carol, John's estranged wife
>
> ********Mayim Bialik as Rachel Owlglass, John's daughter *******
> Ted McGinley as Karl Reese, John's rival for Carly
>
> Jazzmun as Drag Queen, one of the denizens of the bus station's night shift
> Richard Assad as Mr. Soulaymanulo, John's landlord
>
> >From: Dave Monroe
> >
> >--Rachel Owlglass, well, again, awaiting someone who might actually know
> >something about the possible Euelnspiegel connection here (as well as to
> >expalin to me why there is both a puppet theater
> >[http://www.avalon.net/~owlglass/eulenspiegel.html] and an S&M club
> >[http://www.tes.com] of that name), but, also, "owlglass," "hourglass,"
> >that "figure envelope" of Benny Profane's (p. 32, Harper ed., V. I.v.,
> >more generally).  Reminds me, Hourglass Lake in Vladimir Nabokov's
> >Lolita as well (and note that "jailbait" in V., ibid.).
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