APR 26, trees: gnarling

a) reprise from April 2020:

APR 26, trees: gnarling

TO ENLARGE any slide or stand-alone photo on this blog, just click on it. To reverse the process, and return to this standard view, find the little 'x' in the upper right corner of the black field and click there.

You can review these illustrated verses in a wider context by proceeding to 'Uprooted Verse: 'Poems about Trees' on the full-service blog "Edifying Nonsense". 

b)

APR 25, Carolina lowcountry wildlife: continuation

A continuation from the post of April 18 

processing the morning's catch

the "pelicatessen" reopens for lunch

See our previous posts about the "pelicatessen", and brown pelicans.

Henrietta poses for a formal portrait

another five-lined skink

tractor-seat plant

snowy egret, afternoon fishing

sediment balls, intertidal zone,
sign of crabs' feeding activity.

fiddler crab, carrying food,
sandy edge of brackish marsh at low tide

glossy privet hedge in bloom

great blue heron, in crepuscular light 

Get a poetic glimpse of the term "crepuscular" by clicking HERE.

sunset view from the boardwalk

APR 24, scopes of medicine: endoscopic spectrum

 a) reprise from April 2020

APR 24, scopes of medicine: endoscopic spectrum

Authors' Note: 

Uro: medical jargon for 'urologist'

scope: (jargon, as here) in modern usage, a camera with flexible fiberoptic cable to visualize internal viscera; abbreviated from endoscope

   This verse deals with endoscopic procedures that use flexible fiberoptic devices to inspect and sometimes to biopsy or to treat the lining of various hollow body organs (viscera). Recently, as  such instruments have become more technically sophisticated and widely used, these procedures have expanded their role and their accuracy in specialty medical practice. Advanced training is required for practitioners to acquire expertise. In addition to the procedures mentioned in this collection of verses, similar considerations underlie operative laparoscopy, culdoscopy, etc.

You can view a collection of verses on this topic  by proceeding to 'Inner Enlightenment: The Scopes of Modern Medicine' on our full-service blog "Edifying Nonsense". Click HERE !

b) today's wordplay

c) rainy-day excursion:

trip to a charming rural church for a chamber-music concert

APR 23, American satire (prolongation): obstruction of justice

 

Author's Note: 

A.G.: Attorney General, a political appointee heading the US Department of Justice   

prez: casual term for president, used in lightweight discussion of the American political situation

Forty-Five: a sequential numbering system is used in the United States for successive holders of the elected office of President; we are currently on number Forty-Six (Joe Biden)

capo: 'head', or 'boss' in Italian, frequently used in connection with the Cosa Nostra (Mafia)

We hope that you enjoyed this verse. You can find 40 more on this topic in 6 collections on our full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense'. Click HERE to start! 

 

APR 22, boating: kayaking at Shem Creek

a) reprise from April 2020:

APR 22, boating: kayaking at Shem Creek

Start of the 'maiden voyage', 2015
(archival photo per RCH)

SONG-LYRICS: You may not be surprised that we have a parody song entitled "My Blue Sit-On" that you can enjoy by proceeding HERE on this blog. 

b)

APR 21, mammalian wildlife: star-nosed mole

a) reprise from 2020

APR 21, mammalian wildlife: star-nosed mole

You can find a song about the star-nosed mole on our blog 'Edifying Nonsense'. Click HERE to access it! 

You can also review the whole collection of illustrated verses about mammals (both domestic and exotic) by checking out the more extensive post on our full-service blog "Edifying Nonsense".

b)

  

APR 20 (2024), singable patter-satire: "The UNIQUENESS OF NUCLEAR"

ORIGINAL SONG:  "The Elements", Tom Lehrer, 1959. 

Tom Lehrer, parodist

PARODY COMPOSED: Giorgio Coniglio, October 2013, a follow-up to our childhood enjoyment of Latin classes, as expressed in the earlier song "No Elements". Please note that T.L.'s genius has provided inspiration for a further handful of parody patter-songs. 
An earlier version of this particular song was first web-published in 2013 on the site "AmIRight" under the title "Residents and Presidents". It has now been extensively updated for presentation to you, our favorite readers. 

PARODY-SONGLINK: To find ukulele and guitar chord-charts to help you accompany this song on your favorite instrument, proceed to our lyrics-blog "SILLY SONGS and SATIRE" by clicking HERE (and when you get to the bottom of the SillySongs post, you can find links to our other songs inspired by Lehrer.) 

THE UNIQUENESS of 'NUCLEAR'

(to the tune of Tom Lehrer's "The Elements")

Singable Introduction:

There was a swarm of parodists who pounced straight for the jugular;

They satirized a Prez whose speech was smug yet sometimes struggular;

Disdain for George the Son, less blame for James from Plains in evidence;

They pegged the mis-spoke "NUCULAR" the catchword of the Presidents.

I toiled for several decades in the Section known as "NUCLEAR";

Though now fairly famili-ar, I still find it peculi-ar

That highly educated voices, palatal and uvular

Would schedule tests, requests infested with the mis-spoke "NUCULAR".

Presidents
 Jimmy Carter and George W Bush

test requests
(web-illustration)

 

Patter-Song Lyrics

There's popular and insular and regular, oracular

Cuticular, vehicular, vesicular, vernacular

And tabular and tubular and muscular and modular

And cellular and singular and circular and nodular.

There's fibular, follicular, and pustular and jocular 

Vestibular and valvular, auricular and ocular

And vascular, crepuscular and titular, testicular

Peninsular, peduncular, avuncular, particular.

Triangular, corpuscular, spectacular and annular,

Articular and angular, glomerular and granular,

And glandular and scapular and spicular and globular

Molecular, trabecular, lenticular and lobular. 

And endless adjectival terms in Med'cine and Biology

With current usage driven by their Latin deriv-ology,

Like saccular and secular and ovular, fascicular

Reticular, radicular, furuncular, funicular.

So, clearly there's no stimulus for apparatus cochlear,

That simulates the sound unique of proper-spoken "NUCLEAR".

 

APR 19, postal places, USA: Hoboken, NJ

 

Authors' Note:  NJ is the official abbreviation for the American state of New Jersey, in which Hoboken, a town with population of about 60,000, is situated, commuting distance from New York City.

THe town was first settled by Europeans in the 17th century as part of the New Netherland colony. Following the Dutch era, it became known as the site of the first recorded game of baseball, and as the birthplace (1915) and hometown of Frank Sinatra. 

At one fell swoop, you can review all our postal poems about intriguing places in the USA and Canada, by proceeding to the encyclopedic blog "Edifying Nonsense". Click HERE !

APR 18, this week's Carolina lowcountry wildlife

green anole, on backyard fence

Henrietta, the sociable great egret,
at Shem Creek boardwalk

"Blue-tailed skink",
 the origin of that common name is obvious here;
(juvenile five-lined skinks and broad-headed skinks
 have a similar appearance)

jellyfish, recently washed ashore,
Sullivan's Island, SC

a weight-lifting skink

foraging nocturnal opossum
 captured in our porch light 

Henrietta watching kayakers

"Hop to it" (on one leg),
peculiar habit of many shorebirds

African iris
(floral break from all the fauna)

pelican flight

Editor's Note: More photos on this topic can be found on a later posting HERE.

APR 17, homophonous verse: self-indulgence

 

You can view our whole collection on this topic -- verses intentionally crafted with contentious repetition of the rhyming syllables --  in a wider context on our full-service blog "Edifying Nonsense". Check the post "Homophonous Verse" by clicking HERE. 

APR 16, classic palindrome: 'Do geese see God?'

a) reprise from April 2020 

APR 16, classic palindrome: "Do geese see God?"

Authors' Note:     As with many classic palindromes, the origin of the iconic query,  ‘Do geese see God?’ is, in fact, unknown. The verse, however, suggests that it dates back to at least the fifth century B.C.E. The philosophic query is felt by some to be tarnished, and it remains unanswered into modern times.

web-photo
Plato (portrait bust)
sculptor: Silanion 370 B.C.E.

You can review these illustrated verses in a wider context by proceeding to 'Reversing Verse: Limericks About Classic Palindromes' on the full-service blog "Edifying Nonsense".

b)

APR 15, selected OEDILFian verse: "identity verse" (G.Coniglio editor)

 For a different take, you could check out Giorgio's collection of  "homophonous" (identity) rhymes by clicking HERE.

APR 14, A-VERY-STABLE-GENIUS #4/#5

a) reprise from April 2020 

You can review an amazing number of anagrams based on this book title on our full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense'. There are two posts to view:  'A Very Stable Genius': Theme and Variations (97 anagrams), and 

'A Very Stable Genius': additional funky anagrams

b)