OCT 30, 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 Nonsense" HERE.

OCT 29, gruesome verse: scary upshot

Hallowe'en is approaching! 

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

 

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.

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!

 

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.

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.

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.

OCT 23, gruesome verse: untimely demise

Hallowe'en is approaching!

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

OCT 22, old world palindromes #1

Geographically focused concoctions are among the many palindromic treasures honored and displayed on this site.

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

 

OCT 21, insects: beer bugs

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.

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 SATIRE", with 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

And, for those interested, here's how you find the lyrics-only-version

of the nine songs that make up this cycle. If you would like to  accompany yourself on ukulele or guitar, find relevant chord charts by following the links that will take you to the versions in our blog "Silly Songs and Satire". 

1. PAIRS, to the tune of "Words" in the style of the Beegees

...  the following songs in the style of "The Elements" by Tom Lehrer

2. ALLITERATIVE BINOMIALS, part#1

3. ALLITERATIVE BINOMIALS, part#2

4. RHYMING BINOMIALS, part#1

5. RHYMING BINOMIALS, part#2

6. A LESSON ABOUT REDUPLICATIONS

7. REDUPLICATIONS, part#1

8. REDUPLICATIONS, part#2

9. LEGALISTIC DOUBLETS, in the style of "Supercalifragilistic..." from  the musical "Mary Poppins"

OCT 19, 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.

OCT 18, waterfowl: Caribbean brown pelicans

More illustrated verses about brown pelicans and their habits can be found on our blogposts  "at the pelicatessen", and at "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'. 

OCT 17, palinku (poetic novelty): fruits #1

 You can view all our "palinku" verses if you proceed with a single click to our more encyclopedic blog "Edifying Nonsense". Click HERE. (Or if you prefer, you can stay on this particular blogsite and look for the offerings for the 17th day of each month -- there are now more than 60 of these.)

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?

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".

OCT 14, Toronto ravines: Humber River Valley (photocollages #1 and #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.

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

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 !

 

OCT 12, photo-collage, Toront-oases: salmon run on the Humber River

Poor salmon! Most of the time, they don't make it past this first jump!

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

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".

OCT 10, a brief saga (hellenophilia): Cyclades islands

Other verses discussing our appreciation of Greece and things Greek can be found on our blog 'Edifying Nonsense'. Click HERE.

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'. 

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

2020
2021
2022
2023.

OCT 9, poets' corner: authorly skill

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

OCT 8, photo-collage, Toront-oases: stormy Ashbridges Bay

 

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.