May 30, 2020
May 29, 2020
MAY 29, etymology: 'havoc'/'haven'
For fans of etymology, we have two blogposts on our topic-based blog "Edifying Nonsense" that summarize our poems about the origin of some English words. You can start to review some of this intriguing material by clicking HERE, and then following the links!
May 28, 2020
MAY 28, the Charleston garden: creeping fig
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 'Poetry Praising the Charleston Garden' on the full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense'. Click HERE!
May 27, 2020
MAY 27, wordplay map: American Scramble-towns, 5
Same old introduction ...
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.
LINKS to other nonsense in this series:
Forward to the first Canadian map.
Forward to the next American map (6).
Back up to the first American map.
May 26, 2020
MAY 26, illustrated verse, Ontari-oases: Trent-Severn canal
Keep more to yourself for a while, wash your hands frequently, wear a mask in public, remember to laugh on occasion, and stay well!
Authors' Note:
docktails: slang for drinks, and/or a cocktail- snack social hour at dockside, as used by North American motorboating cliques
mocktails: abbreviation for mock (non-alcoholic) cocktails
The Trent-Severn Waterway is a system operated by Parks Canada and enjoyed by recreational motorboaters. It meanders for 400 km (250 miles) across southern Ontario, joining L. Ontario's Bay of Quinte and L. Huron's Georgian Bay via intervening smaller lakes, rivers and manmade canals. With over 40 locks en route, the altitude near the system's midpoint reaches a level of 180 m (590 feet) above the starting point. The world's highest lift-lock, located at Peterborough, is an impressive piece of engineering and a tourist attraction.
The Trent-Severn Waterway is a system operated by Parks Canada and enjoyed by recreational motorboaters. It meanders for 400 km (250 miles) across southern Ontario, joining L. Ontario's Bay of Quinte and L. Huron's Georgian Bay via intervening smaller lakes, rivers and manmade canals. With over 40 locks en route, the altitude near the system's midpoint reaches a level of 180 m (590 feet) above the starting point. The world's highest liftlock, located at Peterborough, is an impressive piece of engineering and a tourist attraction.
You can review the entire series of illustrated poems about the good old days in Ontario by checking the post 'Ontario Nostalgia' on our full-service blog "Edifying Nonsense". Click HERE.
May 25, 2020
MAY 25, TARGETED PALINDROMES, submitted, D to F
You have reached the "Submitted Palindromes" thread on the blog "Daily Edifying Nonsense", a light literary entity that emanates through the blogosphere daily (almost), i.e. 30 times per month.
On the 25th of each month you will find a slide-filling group of palindromic phrases submitted to the editors by a panel of 7 palindromists. These folks have all been working on this project since January 2020. The personal profiles for each of these contributors are displayed in panels published here at the start of things, and then, we have asked them to provide (palindromically, of course) their views on one of the iconic items in the classic literature, starting with "A man, a plan, a canal -- Panama", continuing with other well-known phrases, such as "Dennis sinned". Otherwise, their contribution will be grouped in monthly random piles (a phrase that you might recognize as an anagram of the word p-a-l-i-n-d-r-o-m-e-s).
You can access this delightful entertainment right here by entering submitted palindromes in one of the two search bars at the top of this post and scrolling downwards through the wordplay posts that you will discover, OR, just follow the links indicated above.
Devotees of palindromic wordplay can further explore limericks and other short verses about the classic palindromes (and quite a few recent concoctions) that are randomly scattered on this blog after September 2000, or collected into grouped postings on our more scholarly blog "Edifying Nonsense" -- start HERE.
May 24, 2020
MAY 24, anagram swarm: A-VERY-STABLE-GENIUS, #7
Bonus wordplay concoction:
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
May 23, 2020
MAY 23, wordplay maps: new world palindromes (#23,#24)
You can view the entire collection of these 50 wordplay maps, by accessing the collection 'Tourists Palindromic Guides: The Americas'. Start by clicking HERE!
May 22, 2020
MAY 22, wordplay map: sister-cities anagrams (9) TarCode/CleanPubs
Keep more to yourself for a while, wash your hands frequently, remember to laugh on occasion, and stay well!
May 21, 2020
MAY 21, geysers: geyser guru
Authors' Note: The geyser (GHIE-zer or GHEE-ser) is an unusual hydrogeologic phenomenon which occurs in volcanic zones where magma (molten lava) is close to the surface, and there is fissuring of rocks due to earthquake faults. Minerals dissolved from adjacent rocks precipitate out, forming a lining for a type of 'plumbing system' in which steam builds up, resulting in regular eruptions of boiling water. Changes in the colour of the swirling hot water in the pool help predict the arrival of the next photogenic discharge.
Yellowstone Park, in the American Rockies, is a site of these natural wonders, including the famous geyser ‘Old Faithful’.
May 20, 2020
MAY 20, singable satire: Harry Belafonte sings "ISLAND IN THE SUN" (Iceland)
ORIGINAL PARODY-LYRICS
MUSICAL UNDERPININGS: "Island In the Sun", a 1957 popular song by Harry Belafonte 1957. The widely known original song has been covered in versions in German and Swedish, but not as far as I can ascertain tell in Icelandic.
PARODY COMPOSED: Giorgio Coniglio, December 2015.
EXPLANATION: This song resulted from a family trip to Iceland in June 2015. Our few days there were packed with wonderful sightseeing excursions. The weather was as good as it gets in Iceland (only minimal rain, not interfering with our travels). The highlight of the trip was the recently opened IceCave excursion; after a palpitating ride by giant truck over a huge ice-field, we walked into a system of tunnels in the glacier itself, led by an excellent informative guide.
The Icelandic language, a venerable tongue which has apparently changed little since the first settlers came to the island in the 9th century, seems challenging to learn. Fortunately for us, the friendly locals we encountered, at least in Reykjavik, all spoke English quite well.
Ísland = Iceland , pronounced eess-lant.
góðan daginn = good morning, hello, pronounced goh-than die-in.
Eyjafjallajökull (j's pronounced as y) = Island-Mountain-icecap, the subglacial volcano whose brief eruption caused the Icelandic ash problem in 2010; the volcano has now been considered dormant for 5 years.
ÍSLAND (Iceland) IN THE SUN
(to the tune of Belafonte's "Island in The Sun")
This year we flew with Icelandair
Europe-bound and stopped halfway there.
We left TO, our kids from DC,
A meet-up trip for our family.
Oh, Ísland, land of sun
Nights stay bright for the month of June;
Four full days, awesome sights to praise
Geysers, glaciers, volcanoes
 |
| IceCave, Langjökull |
A neat idea, break our trip
Meet at hotel-suite in Reykjavik.
Restos coped with vegg-necessity
And one kid GF lactose-free.
Didn’t know, but they’re eco-smart
Geo-thermal at system’s heart
Hot water piped everywhere you see
Heat all home and greenhouse for free.
Oh, Ísland, northern light
 |
| Eyjafjallajökull eruption March 2010 |
Hotel choose, or your sleep you’ll lose
Weekends downtown bars
Never close at night.
Recent attraction, not to skip
Monster truck, glacier Ice-Cave trip
Bundle up, walk though colored ice
View crevasse, bottom-up is nice.
Oh, Ísland, isle of fun
Nights stay bright for the month of June
Four full days, awesome sights to praise
 |
| Glacier overlying dormant volcano, 2013 |
At Blue Lagoon.
I'll greet old friends - “góðan daginn”, soon
When we go back some year in June
Next time stay longer, get my fill -
Climb, and say, “Eyjafjallajökull”.
Oh, Ísland, isle of sun
Nights stay bright for the month of June;
More full days, awesome sights to praise
Geysers, glaciers, volcanoes
And Blue Lagoon.
 |
| tourist-party atop the glacier |
 |
| 'night'-time hike down volcano to a steamy bathing spot |
May 19, 2020
MAY 19, wordplay maps: new world palindromes (#21,#22)
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 view the entire collection of these 50 wordplay maps, by accessing the collection 'Tourists Palindromic Guides: The Americas'. Start by clicking HERE!
May 18, 2020
MAY 18, mammalian wildlife: raccoons in the swamp
Authors' Note: We are indebted to Bill Wingfield for contributing the idea for the previous poem.
May 17, 2020
May 16, 2020
MAY 16, trees: silver maples
Keep more to yourself for a while, wash your hands frequently, remember to laugh on occasion, and stay well!
 |
silver maple in Toronto park; large broken-off limb |
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".
May 15, 2020
MAY 15, photo-collage: a quiet day in the Carolina lowcountry
If you really enjoy these daily posts, consider subscribing using the gadget located in the upper right margin of each post.
If you know of others who might enjoy these posts, please feel free to share them, and pass them on, using the buttons located at the bottom of each post. For example, if you click on the M symbol below, you can email the post to a friend.
May 14, 2020
MAY 14, American satire: "It Is what it is"
May 13, 2020
MAY 13, waterfowl: mute swans
Authors' Note: lim: abbreviation for 'limerick', used by poetry-nerds.
 |
| immature swans, more greyish-brown in colour lack the prominent forehead 'knob' seen in male adults |
To see more photos of these birds, you might want to review our posts "photo-collage: mute swans" and "folio-entry: a mute-swan couple".
You can review our illustrated verses in a wider context by proceeding to 'Immersible Verse: Limericks about Waterfowl' on the full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense'.
May 12, 2020
MAY 12, patients and maladies: flu-like illness
Authors' Note: Flu-like symptoms are caused by a variety of illnesses, which are mostly transient viral infections. The diffuse muscle aching and mild fever sometimes accompanying the flu may be mimicked by polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR), an inflammatory disease of the elderly (average age 72), cause unknown. PMR responds dramatically to steroid therapy, and is usually self-limited.
May 11, 2020
MAY 11, poetic non-sequitur: gifted children
Authors' Note: For educators, giftedness, e.g. in intellectual abilities, implies an ability significantly above average that motivates differences in school programming. For gifted children, social isolation from the majority of their age-peers is a major problem in their development and maturation. Various educational theories and practices abound in attempting to deal with this problem.
Our collection of 'Non-Sequiturs' on our parent blog "Edifying Nonsense", contains an admittedly bizarre assortment of nonsensical odds-and-ends, that don't quite fit into other topic-based offerings. But should you want to review the entire collection, click HERE.
May 10, 2020
MAY 10, a brief saga (dental feelings): fluoridation
Authors' Note: A controversy over fluoridation of public water systems peaked in the 1940s through 1960s in North America. Municipal water-suppliers with low ambient levels of the natural mineral were motivated to adjust that in order to reduce childhood tooth decay. Despite initial vocal opposition, fluoridation was adopted by many municipalities in North American and elsewhere. In Europe, in contrast, fluoridation of municipal water-systems has never achieved wide support as a public health measure.
“Do you realize that fluoridation is the most monstrously conceived and dangerous Communist plot we have ever had to face?” Brig. Gen. Jack Ripper, a character in the 1964 film classic Dr. Strangelove”.
 |
You can review the collection of illustrated verses on other dental topics by proceeding to the post 'Dental Feelings' on our full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense'.
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 usual shorter poems, wordplay and other general offerings.
To access the next 'brief saga' on this blog (June 2020), proceed to 'Life as a Loon'.
To access the most recent previous 'brief saga' (April 2020), back up to 'Claire's celerity'.
To access all of our 'brief sagas' by the year of their creation, click on your selection below.
Re Medical-Related Verse: Altogether, a hundred or so intriguing verses on medical/dental topics can now be found on various posts in collections, including:
Patients and their Maladies (parts #1, #2 and #3)
Funny Bones (parts #1 and #2)
Doctors and their Practices (parts #1 and #2)
Doctors and their Practices (parts #1 and #2)
and in 'brief sagas' including:
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)