MAR 30, 2020: W-I-P

ORIGINAL PARODY-LYRICS 

MAR 29, insects: bumblebees

Keep more to yourself for a while, wash your hands frequently, remember to laugh on occasion, and stay well!

Author's Note re the photo: One week ago, this fellow seemed to land for a rest on the roofrack of our car, parked in our lowcountry driveway. He stayed for a while, not seeming to mind posing for photos, and then took off again. Pictures were taken with my i-phone 7 camera.)

You can review Giorgio's other verses about pesty and occasionally beneficial insects, as  collected in 'Buzzwords: Verses about Insects' on the full-service blog "Edifying Nonsense". Click HERE.

MAR 28, personal and family history: anniversary saga

Keep more to yourself for a while, wash your hands frequently, remember to laugh on occasion, and stay well!

MAR 27, wordplay map: American Scramble-towns, 3

Same old message ...

Who would ever have guessed? It turns out that an unparalleled word in generating anagrams (letter scrambles) is P-A-L-I-N-D-R-O-M-E-S. We have taken advantage of that property to create this unique series of wordplay maps of imaginary American (and Canadian) locales, each one completed by its official two-letter state (or provincial) abbreviation. 

MAR 26, Carolina lowcountry: springtime excursions

"Nice, hot street pavement for sunning"
(Eastern painted turtle)

Keep more to yourself for a while, wash your hands frequently, remember to laugh on occasion, and stay well!

woodstork near TV2 pond

sunset view, Shem Creek Park

early azalea blooms

immature white ibis (<2 years)
Note the duller color of the bill and legs
and the brown-black body feathers
 versus its older companions
-compare Jan 30 and 31  

cycling under Spanish moss

a green anole;
one of E.T.'s relations?

oystercatcher on the bank;
photo kindly provided by  B.W.

 

MAR 24, holidays : Greek Evzones, in celebration of Greek Independence Day

 Tomorrow is GREEK INDEPENDENCE DAY !

Authors' Note:

evzone: (EHV-zohn, anglicized form), member of an elite unit drawn from the Hellenic Army Infantry Corps

Grand Change: a more elaborate version of the hourly changing of the guard that takes place on Sunday mornings at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Athens' Syntagma Square, providing a popular photo-op for locals and tourists

Kleft (KLEHFT): Greek fighter in the War of Independence

fustanella: kilt made from 30 meters of white cotton, supposedly with 400 pleats to represent each of the years of Ottoman occupation. 

MAR 23, waterfowl: little blue herons

Keep more to yourself for a while, wash your hands frequently, remember to laugh on occasion, and stay well!

characteristic deliberate movements

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'.

links for any date: scroll over to the calendar-based listings of 'Past Posts' in the righthand column on this page, choose your year and month of interest, and then select (by clicking) the post of your choice.

MAR 22, wordplay maps: new world palindromes (#13,#14)

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

MAR 21, the Charleston garden: tractor-seat plant (Farfugium)

Keep more to yourself for a while, wash your hands frequently, remember to laugh on occasion, and stay well!

You can review these illustrated verses in a wider context by proceeding to 'Poetry Praising the Charleston Garden' on the full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense'. Click HERE!

MAR 20, singable satire: ABBA sings "CANOE CANOE, CANOE, CANOE, CANOE"

PARODY-LYRICS

ORIGINAL SONG: "I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do", ABBA, 1975.

PARODY COMPOSED:  Giorgio Coniglio, March 2013.

"A Canadian is someone who knows how to make love in a canoe", Pierre Berton, eminent Canadian journalist, editor, historian and author.

PARODY-SONGLINK: To find ukulele and guitar chord-charts to help you accompany "Canoe, Canoe, Canoe, Canoe, Canoe" on your favorite instrument, click HERE.

CANOEING LESSON

(to the tune of "I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do")

Intro: 

Need a location, eh? Lakeside assignation?

Space for two:

Canoe, canoe, canoe, canoe, canoe.

You’ll use the J-stroke, to steer straight; and for gay-folk

Take a crew;

Canoe, canoe, canoe, canoe, canoe.

Best pick a partner like Twiggy, but short;

Bow to discomfort if trapped ’neath the thwart.

Put down your paddle, when you climb in the saddle.
’musez-vous !
Canoe, canoe, canoe, canoe, canoe.

Wear your preserver, ’cause things might get rude,

If Mounties spot-check, and you’re in the nude.

Don’t lean on the gunwale, should you enter a tunnel;

This tip’s true:

Canoe, canoe, canoe, canoe, canoe.

Pierre Berton coined it our iconic boat,

Control paroxysms, you’re certain to float.

Get with your tête-à-tête, and not get quite soaking wet,

C’est beau !

Canot, canot, canot, canot, canot.

One final pointer:  l’avant-canotage –

Don’t flirt with fore-play pendant le portage.

There’s no better bateau built for Anglo- or Franco –

Vous et nous;

Canoe, canot, Canuck, canot, canoe.

MAR 19, the Charleston garden: indica azaleas

Keep more to yourself for a while, wash your hands frequently, remember to laugh on occasion, and stay well!

You can review these illustrated verses in a wider context by proceeding to 'Poetry Praising the Charleston Garden' on the full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense'. Click HERE!

MAR 18, the Charleston garden: gazebos

You can review these illustrated verses in a wider context by proceeding to 'Poetry Praising the Charleston Garden' on the full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense'.

MAR 17, nuclear cardiology haiku, continued

 

MAR 16, wordplay maps: new world palindromes (#11,#12)

Keep more to yourself for a while, wash your hands frequently, remember to laugh on occasion, and stay well!

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

MAR 15, diagnostic imaging: parathyroid scanning

 

Authors' Note:   Attacks of renal colic (spasmodic intermittent pain) may occur due to blockage of urine flow by stones in the ureters. In adult patients, stones consisting of calcium salts are most likely. If a high serum calcium level is found (this situation prevails in only a minority of cases of kidney stones), overactivity of the tiny parathyroid (PT) glands may be responsible. Milder cases of excessive parathyroid hormone secretion may also occur without symptoms, but can lead to loss of bone mass and increased risk of bone fracture.

   A single functioning adenoma (benign tumor)  of one of the PT glands is most commonly responsible, but hyperplasia (overgrowth) of all four glands may also result in inappropriate PT hormone secretion, detected by increased blood levels. The radiotracer Tc-99m sestamibi is taken up selectively by overactive PT glands, and may help plan surgery to explore the neck and remove the tumor.

  

You can review all our verses on this intriguing topic by proceeding to a post on 'Edifying Nonsense' entitled 'Selected Topics in Diagnostic Imaging'. Click HERE!

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MAR 15, Canadiana: Canadian "raising" (linguistics)

 

Authors' Note:  This is a mostly true story.

The Canadian internist in question had moved south to undertake a fellowship at an American medical school..As an introduction to potential staff mentors, he was asked to prepare a lecture on aspects of gout.

The transcriptionist, a southern woman, was victimized by her unfamiliarity with "Canadian raising", a speech variation altering and shortening the sounds of vowels in words like house, rice and out; this pattern affects the speech of many speakers in the northern US, as well as in Canada.  

You can review poems, pictures and diverse nonsense related to Canada on the post "Canadiana" on our full-service blog  "Edifying Nonsense".

MAR 14, classic palindrome: 'no X in Nixon'

Authors' Note: 

mike: short form for microphone, used more commonly for 'announcing', but sometimes used for 'denouncing' (condemning or attacking openly).

   Somehow, the misleading statement ‘No X in Nixon’ achieved the status of a famous palindrome. The astute analyst might realize that palindromes are inherently poor tools for orthography.

   On the other hand, here are three 'magical palindromes’ that provide correct spelling information:

No K in Nixon; no X in Nikon.

No C in iron; no R in icon.

No S in union. “No!”, in unison. 

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

MAR 13, pandemic poetry: March Sadness

Authors' Note: Little enthusiasm among college basketball fans was invoked by substituting 'Mulch Madness' for the customary 'March Madness' televised marathon.

You can review these illustrated verses in a wider context by proceeding to 'Pandemic Poetry' on the full-service blog "Edifying Nonsense".

MAR 12, anagram swarm, A-VERY-STABLE-GENIUS: #3/4

b) Giorgio's Lexicon of Binomials

MAR 11, geysers: Geysir, Iceland

Keep more to yourself for a while, wash your hands frequently, remember to laugh on occasion, and stay well!

You can review these illustrated verses in a wider context by proceeding to 'Poetry that Spurts: Verses about Geysers' on the full-service blog "Edifying Nonsense".

MAR 10, a brief saga (Carolina lowcountry): Walrus and Carpenter (South Carolina version)

ORIGINAL POEM/STORY: "The Walrus and the Carpenter" is a poem recited by Tweedledum and Tweedledee to Alice in chapter 4 of Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll, published in 1871.

POETRY-LYRICS: The third verse of the satire was originally composed as a limerick based roughly on the Lewis Carroll poem and submitted to OEDILF.com, an online humour dictionary-under-development by Giorgio Coniglio in 2018. Giorgio subsequently expanded the poem to the current 6 verses.

PARODY-SONGLINK: These verses were originally conceived as poetic lyrics. However, they can, like almost all limericks, be easily sung using  certain well-known tunes; in this case, Carole King's "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?".  

Click HERE to access ukulele and guitar chord-charts to help you accompany the song ("Walrus and Carpenter", lowcountry version) on your favorite instrument.

But, if you are interested only in the lyrics, continue with the presentation that follows ...  

first stanza:/ The sun in October shone brightly/ On the beach and the marsh, day and nightly,/ When the Carpenter said,/ “Foul our oyster-friends’ bed?”/ Sobbed the Walrus, “That wouldn’t be rightly.

second stanza:/ “Great environment! What could be finer/ Than the pluff mud of South Carolina?/ For you oysters, I mean,”/ (Spoke with appetite keen)./ “See you later at Bill’s Seafood Diner.”

third stanza:/ “They disgust almost all girls and boysters./ Jews must shun them, I trust, but not goysters./ Coastal feast I love most/ Is that Lowcountry Roast/ Where they shovel up clusters of oysters.”

fourth stanza:/ “What to think of this vista of pluff mud?/ If you stand there, you’ll sink, it’s not tough mud./ Seven maids, seven mops — / They would clearly be flops/ Scrubbing oil. We’d be left with just scruff mud.”

fifth stanza:/ The Carpenter claimed, “I’m unwilling/ To condone any offshore oil drilling./ If my home were the marsh/ You can bet I would be harsh/ Over every small dro[let they’re spilling.”

sixth stanza:/ The sun in December shone brightly/ All still feared eco-hazards unslightly,/ When the Carpenter pled,/ “Don’t foul friends’ oyster-bed.”/ Sobbed the Walrus, “That wouldn’t be rightly.”

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 or more stanzas in limerick form. Your blogging team has been presenting these concoctions at the rate of one per month, mixed in with shorter poems, wordplay and other general offerings.  

  

To access the next 'brief saga' on this blog (April 2020), proceed to 'Claire's Celerity' (miscellaneous wordplay).

To access the most recent previous 'brief saga' (February 2020), back up to 'Palmetto Trees'.  

 To access all of our 'brief sagas' by the year of their creation, click on your selection below.

2020
2021
2022
2023.