* FEB 7: brief saga -- Chemainus, BC (part #2)

reprise from February, 2020

FEB 7, a brief saga: Chemainus, British Columbia part #2

Continuing from part #1 (the first three stanzas of this six-verse poem) ...

Click HERE to see part #1.

Authors' Note:   For ecological reasons, the mining of uranium has been banned in British Columbia for several decades. Uranium has been extensively extracted from pitchblende ore at sites elsewhere in Canada, and is present in the reduced or 'uranous' chemical state.

   In the late 1890s, copper, gold and silver were discovered at Mt. Sicker on Vancouver Island. A gold-rush ensued, and mines were operated profitably in the area until 1909.   

   Today, the town of Chemainus (sheh-MAYN-uhs) is best known for its extensive exterior wall-murals which depict the history of its once-thriving resource extraction industries.

   The Dominion Astrophysical Laboratory, site of many important discoveries about the Milky Way, is located 70 km south, in Saanich BC.

 For the purpose of this blog, a 'brief saga' is defined as a poem, usually narrative, but occasionally expository, that tell its story in at least 15 lines. Most commonly, the format involves three stanzas in limerick form. Your blogging team has been presenting these concoctions at the rate of one per month, mixed in with the shorter poems, wordplay and other  and other general offerings.    

To access the next 'brief saga' on this blog, proceed to 'Walrus and Carpenter (Carolina lowcountry version)' . 

* FEB 5, savoir-faire -- Gallicisms

 

reprise from February, 2020

FEB 5, savoir-faire: Gallicisms

 

 You can review verses on this topic in a wider context on our full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense'. Check the post 'Vers Francais: Savoir-Faire' by clicking HERE. 

* FEB 3, American satire -- US intellgence

reprise from February, 2020

FEB 3, American satire: intelligence (Californians)

Authors' Note:  In the midst of the Trump-Russia investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller in February 2018, Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee issued the 'Nunes Memo', a four-page document that alleged that the FBI had conspired against President Donald Trump.

   Nunes has proceeded in the same vein in his later career, organizing the Republican Party’s role in the politically-charged 2019 House of Representatives Judiciary Committee’s impeachment hearings, as the Ranking Minority Member.  

We hope that you enjoyed this verse. You can find 30 more on this topic in 5 collections on our full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense'. Click HERE to start!  

* FEB 1, lowcountry excursions

 

reprise from February, 2020

FEB 1, Carolina lowcountry: winter afternoon bicycle outing

If you are viewing these photos with an i-phone:
1) Hovering the selection arrow over any photo will prompt the appearance of the 'title'.
2) You can enlarge any photo (a black background may appear) by clicking it.
3) To escape from black-background-display limbo, look for a TINY 'x' in the far upper-right corner, and click there.
The procedure is mostly the same on a PC, but the tininess of the escape mechanism on my iphone7 is truly remarkable.

Giorgio (on the left) with
Pete the Plastic Pelican

Other Canadian retirees

At the harbor,
Mt. Pleasant SC

Lunch: Heron-herring?
No! That's a great egret with a shrimp

lowcountry pizza-boxes

* JAN 30, Canadiana - Eastern Canadian funky towns

 

reprise from January 30, 2020

JAN 30, Canadiana: Eastern Canadian funky towns

* JAN 28, western Canadian funky towns

 

reprise from January 28, 2020

JAN 28, Canadiana: Western Canadian funky towns

* JAN 26, waterfowl --- great blue herons

 

reprise from January 26, 2020

JAN 26, waterfowl: great blue herons

  

You can review these illustrated verses in a wider context by proceeding to 'Immersible Verse: Limericks about Waterfowl' on the full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense'. (Or, if you prefer, you can view them on Facebook in Giorgio's photo-albums).

* JAN 24, new world palindromes -- #3 and #4

 

reprise from January 24, 2020

JAN 24, wordplay maps: new world palindromes(#3,#4)

You can view the entire collection of these 50 wordplay maps, by accessing the collection 'Tourists Palindromic Guides: The Americas'. Start by clicking HERE! 

* JAN 22, American satire -- laying blame

reprise from January 22, 2020

JAN 22, American satire(1): laying blame

Authors' Note: We were influenced in this formulation by TV interviews given by the protagonist's niece, clinical psychologist Mary Trump.

 We hope that you enjoyed this verse. You can find 30 more on this topic in 5 collections on our full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense'. Click HERE to start! 

* JAN 20, holidays and celebrations -- Robbie Burns Day

reprise from January 20, 2020

JAN 20, holidays and celebrations: Robbie Burns' Day

 

Authors' Note: The mathematical expression in the second line of the fourth verse should be read as "sine-over-cos", cos being the mathematical abbreviation for cosine. The mathematical abbreviation for tangent is tan.

 

* JAN 18, trees -- Norway maples

reprise from January 18, 2020

JAN 18, trees: Norway maples

You might also enjoy a poem posted in April 2021 entitled "Leif the (viking) Norway Maple: a Bilingual Complaint". Click HERE.  

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". 

* JAN 16, American satire -- borscht

 

reprise from January 16, 2020

JAN 16, American satire(1): borscht

We hope that you enjoyed this verse. You can find 30 more on this topic in 5 collections on our full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense'. Click HERE to start! 

* JAN 14, American satire -- D-O-N-A-L-D T-R-U-M-P anagrams

 

reprise from January 14, 2020

JAN 14, American satire(1): D-O-N-A-L-D T-R-U-M-P anagrams

Author's Note: Generally, anagrams give results which are bizarre, unexpected and somewhat random, like "fake news". At least to his current detractors, there may appear to be a compelling stories hidden in these anagrams (italicized) of the name of the 45th U.S. President, but in fact the possible links are coincidental.  It should be remembered that composers of wordplay, such as anagrams and palindromes, do not 'invent' the material, but only report it.

We hope that you enjoyed this verse. You can find 30 more on this topic in 5 collections on our full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense'. Click HERE to start! 

* JAN 12, etymology -- 'horse'

reprise from January 12, 2021

JAN 12, etymology: 'horse'

For fans of etymology, we have three blogposts with collections of verses about word-origins such as the one above on our more encyclopedic blog "Edifying Nonsense". You can start to review some of this intriguing material by clicking HERE, and then following the links!

* JAN 10, American satire -- Vladimir's hope (hacking teams)

reprise from January 10, 2020

JAN 10, American satire(1): Vladimir's hope

Author's Note: 

 IOC: International Olympic Committee

          

  The fanciful concept of medals being awarded to a 'hacking team' grew out of the conjunction of developments in 2017 and 2018, notably (i) censure of Russian athletic organizations, including subsequent retraction of Olympic medals, and (ii) investigations into Russian efforts to sway the results of past and upcoming American presidential elections. 

 

We hope that you enjoyed this verse. You can find 30 more on this topic in 5 collections on our full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense'. Click HERE to start! 

* JAN 8, old world palindromes #7 and 8

 

reprise from January 8, 2021

JAN 8, old world palindromes #7 and #8

 

  You can view the entire collection of 'Old World Palindromes' on our full-service blog "Edifying Nonsense";  start by clicking HERE.

* JAN 6, waterfowl -- pelicatessen

  By the way: Readers may note that for the next while, or perhaps indefinitely,  this 'daily' blog will be published every other day. Except for the very finicky among you, that's probably close enough. 

reprise from January 2020:

JAN 6, waterfowl: pelicatessen

 

Authors' Note:

Fress is a loanword verb from either German or Yiddish implying eating heartily or snacking frequently.

Delicatessen has been applied to both high-end retail food stores selling unusual and imported prepared foods, and to restaurants preparing German, Jewish or other ethnic cuisine (frequently, the two functions are combined). It may also refer to the products purchased in these outlets.

Sushi is not among the expected foods in such an establishment, so the analogy to a pelicatessen for waterfowl has been unexplored until now. At least in Canadian official documents, for the sake of gender-neutrality, fishermen are referred to as fishers.

After initially using this neologism (word-creation) as a descriptor on the blog "Edifying Nonsense", and misconstruing it as his personal invention, the author became aware, via the internet, that there is a restaurant located at a resort on Bald Head Island, North Carolina with that name. Although that fact is of interest, it is of limited relevance. Seabirds are apparently not served at the establishment, either as customers, or as menu-fare.

 You can review these illustrated verses in a wider context by proceeding to 'Immersible Verse: Limericks about Waterfowl' on the full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense'. (Or, if you prefer, you can view them on Facebook in Giorgio's photo-albums). 

* JAN 4, American satire -- make believe 2016

 

reprise from January 2020

JAN 4, American satire: make-believe 2016

Author's Note: In the political swirl leading up to the US presidential election, a national convention is a meeting of party delegates to nominate candidates for office and to adopt party rules and platforms. In 2016, these gatherings proceeded in their conventional format, Note that in 2020, with restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, national conventions were held primarily as on-line events.

We hope that you enjoyed this verse. You can find 30 more on this topic in 5 collections on our full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense'. Click HERE to start! 

Incidental photo (2023):

barrel cactuses