October 31, 2020

OCT 31, gruesome verse: by halves (autophagia)

Happy Hallowe'en!




Authors' Note: The term autophagia or autophagy  may refer to a rare psychiatric disorder, but is more commonly used to describe an intracellular process in the realm of cell biology, as described by the author HERE.

Check out the whole collection called "Gruesome Verse" on our blog "Edifying NonsenseHERE.




October 30, 2020

OCT 30, commercial products: cyber-box

 

                                                                                                         final approval: #120270, Apr 2023.

Authors' Note: This verse deals with a nonsensical 'tall tale' prevalent in the author's family. Our children grew up in the 1980s in a universe in which 'remotes' (remote controllers) miraculously helped manage elements of their computerized daily lives. With its expandable dimensions and the ability to either hide or display, the Cyber Box offered a digitized but imaginary solution to logistic problems, worthy of attribution to Aladdin. Unfortunately, no one could ever find the misplaced 'remote' for the mythical device.    


October 29, 2020

OCT 29, gruesome verse: scary upshot

Hallowe'en is approaching!






Check out the whole collection called "Gruesome Verse" on our blog "Edifying NonsenseHERE.

 

October 28, 2020

OCT 28, Toronto ravines: Seton Park (Central Don), photocollages #1-#2








The Canadian Pacific rail bridge across the West Don valley south of Eglinton Avenue.























If you are interested in wending your way through an encyclopedic collection of four blogposts stuffed with photo-collages on Toronto ravines, click HERE.


October 27, 2020

OCT 27, diagnostic imaging: technetium generators











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!

 

October 26, 2020

OCT 26, Toronto ravines: Wilket Creek / Edwards Gardens




 


If you are interested in wending your way through an encyclopedic collection of four blogposts stuffed with photo-collages on Toronto ravines, click HERE.

October 25, 2020

OCT 25, Toronto ravines: Nordheimer Ravine




 If you are interested in wending your way through an encyclopedic collection of four blogposts stuffed with photo-collages on Toronto ravines, click HERE.


October 24, 2020

OCT 24, Toronto ravines: Mimico Creek




 


If you are interested in wending your way through an encyclopedic collection of four blogposts stuffed with photo-collages on Toronto ravines, click HERE.




October 23, 2020

OCT 23, gruesome verse: untimely demise

Hallowe'en is approaching!




Check out the whole collection called "Gruesome Verse" on our blog "Edifying NonsenseHERE.



October 22, 2020

OCT 22, old world palindromes #1













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

October 21, 2020

OCT 21, Toronto ravines: Moore Park (Mud Creek) Ravine, photocollages #1-#2




 





If you are interested in wending your way through an encyclopedic collection of four blogposts stuffed with photo-collages on Toronto ravines, click HERE.




October 20, 2020

OCT 20, singable satire: Tom Lehrer Sings "RHYMING BINOMIALS, M to Z"

 PARODY SONG-LYRICS


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


PARODY COMPOSED: Dr. G.H. and Giorgio Coniglio,  2015. This song is the fifth of nine in the series on Word-Pairs. You can find the links to the lyrics of the previous songs at the bottom of the post. Also, our prior exploration of this theme resulted in a lexicon of rhyming binomials on this site as displayed here.

EXPLANATION: For discussion of binomials specifically and word-pairs in general, check an earlier post on this blog-site by clicking here

Most binomial pairs are not rhyming







The inherent music of language is an important element in the toolkit of parodists. When all of this began, I used Tom Lehrer’s format to sing a nonsense-song about irreversible binomials. The current offering highlights pairs in which the 2 elements rhyme, e.g. ‘make or break'. Specific cases may border on cliché, but delight us with their musical quality. Sneak a peek!


UKULELE and GUITAR-FRIENDLY LINK: Our whole series of songs can be found in a friendly format for ukulele (and guitar)-players on our sister blog  "SILLY SONGS and SATIREwith chord-charts and helpful performing suggestions. Click HERE to proceed to this site.

There’s make or break, and move and groove, neither or either, mash- and mish-
And meet and greet, and meter-feed, and moans and groans, and meat or fish.
It’s my way or the highway, metes and limits, also leer and peer
Obama and Osama, and the news and views, both near and dear.

An ocean of devotion, moon in June -it’s grouped with-  odds and sods 
An Okie from Muskogee, onward upward, also nod and prod
And pedal to the metal, a man with a plan, no pain - no gain 
And slump or hump, and scrimp or primp, there’s pump and dump, and planes and trains.

There’s red or dead, and rough and tough, and rude and crude, and rain in Spain
And Seven and Eleven, stash and dash, and stain you can’t explain
And slice and dice, and shake and bake, and surf and turf, and scowl and frown
And shop ‘til drop, and slim and trim, saggy and baggy, town and gown.

Son of a gun, and thrills and chills, and sine and cosine, twine and line   
And twirl and swirl, and use or lose it, weed and feed, and wine and dine.
Whale of a tale, wham bam and thank you, wary chary, wheel and deal
And wear and tear, and yeas and nays, and zoot suit, and religious zeal.

There’s likely umpteen others, but so far I can’t imagine them
They’d spread across the alphabet from a-ardvark to zymogen!


Funny (rhyming) money
Loonie and Toonie



October 19, 2020

October 18, 2020

OCT 18, a brief saga: Cyclades (Greek islands)














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  stuff that we offer.    
To access the next 'brief saga' on this blog (November 2020), proceed to 'the Acropolis'.
To access the most recent previous 'brief saga' (September 2020), back up to 'food intolerance'.  

 




October 17, 2020

OCT 17, Toronto ravines: Taylor Creek




 

If you are interested in wending your way through an encyclopedic collection of four blogposts stuffed with photo-collages on Toronto ravines, click HERE.

October 16, 2020

OCT 16, wordplay maps: American Scramble-towns 11,12



(Same old introductory 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. 


 

LINKS: 
Forward to U.S.A. map #13
Back to U.S.A. map #9
Let's skip all this stuff and get on to the Canadian version, eh?


October 15, 2020

OCT 15, pandemic poetry: preventive cocktails

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 'Pandemic Poetry' on the full-service blog "Edifying Nonsense".



October 14, 2020

OCT 14, Toronto ravines: Humber River Valley (photocollages #1-#3)









 





If you are interested in wending your way through an encyclopedic collection of four blogposts stuffed with photo-collages on Toronto ravines, click HERE.



October 13, 2020

OCT 13, mammalian wildlife: beavers (Rod the rodent)






You can 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". Click HERE !




 

October 12, 2020

OCT 12, Toronto ravines: salmon run on the Humber





If you are interested in wending your way through an encyclopedic collection of four blogposts stuffed with photo-collages on Toronto ravines, click HERE.

October 11, 2020

OCT 11, Canadiana: Canadian Thanksgiving

 Get ready for tomorrow's festivities (by Zoom and other online modalities).






Authors' Note: 

Acadia (uh-KAY-dee-yuh, as here, or uh-KAY-dyuh) or  l'Acadie: (French), name given in colonial times to the region corresponding to today's Atlantic Canada (the Maritime provinces)

tofurkey: a vegetarian substitute for turkey made from tofu

Action de grâce (ak-syon-duh-GRAS): literally action of grace; name derived from continental France for a harvest festival

habitants: French colonial settlers, a term honored in the title of Montreal's professional hockey team

   Thanksgiving Day, or Action de grâce, is a statutory holiday in the majority of Canadian provinces and territories, observed on the second Monday of October.



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



October 10, 2020

OCT 10, waterfowl: Caribbean brown pelicans










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).



October 9, 2020

OCT 9, poets' corner: authorly skill






You can find lots of other verses on this blog under the listing "Poets' Corner".  Click HERE.

October 8, 2020

OCT 8, Ontario nostalgia: stormy Ashbridges Bay (DTl)











 










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


b) Decorative Touches L