October 30, 2020
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 Nonsense" HERE.
October 28, 2020
OCT 28, Toronto ravines: Seton Park (Central Don), photocollages #1-#2
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| 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, wordplay map: American Scramble-towns, 10
LINKS to other nonsense in this series:
Forward to the first Canadian map.
Forward to the next American map (11).
Back up to the first American map.
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
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 Nonsense" HERE.
October 22, 2020
OCT 22, old world palindromes #1
Geographically focused concoctions are among the many palindromic treasures honored and displayed on this site.
October 21, 2020
OCT 21, 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 20, 2020
OCT 20, singable satire: Tom Lehrer sings "RHYMING BINOMIALS, M to Z"
PARODY SONG-LYRICS,continuing from "Rhyming Binomial Phrases, A to L"
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.
CHORD-CHARTS, etc.
As is usually the case with potential song-lyrics, we have simultaneously provided suggested chords for ukulele, guitar or whatever-stringed-instruments for the parody and for the original lyrics on our music-buff site "SILLY SONGS and SATIRE".
As is usually the case with potential song-lyrics, we have simultaneously provided suggested chords for ukulele, guitar or whatever-stringed-instruments for the parody and for the original lyrics on our music-buff site "SILLY SONGS and SATIRE".
To access ukulele chord-charts to help you accompany "RHYMING BINOMIALS, M to Z" on your favorite instrument, click HERE.
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| 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, and neither (either), game of blame,
And meet and greet, and meter-feed, and moans and groans, and name and shame.
It’s my way or the highway, metes and limits, also leer and jeer,
Obama and Osama, and the news and views, both near and dear.
An ocean of devotion, moon in June —they’re grouped with odds and sods
An Okie from Muskogee, onward — upward, also nods and prods.
There’s pedal to the metal, but a man sans plan? no pain — no gain,
And slump or hump, and scrimp or primp, and 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.
There’s slice or dice, and shake and bake, and surf and turf, and scowl and frown,
And shop ’til drop, and slim and trim, and sag- and baggy, town and gown.
There’s sine and cosine, thrills and chills, son of a gun, and 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, very wary, 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!
If you want to continue singing a recitation of binomial phrases, you will have to switch now to the alliterative binomials, but waiting for a few days is all that’s required.
And, for those interested, here's how you find the lyrics-only-version
of the tennine 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
9. LEGALISTIC DOUBLETS, in the style of "Supercalifragilistic..." from the musical "Mary Poppins"
October 19, 2020
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.
October 18, 2020
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'.
October 17, 2020
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.)
October 16, 2020
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 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.
October 13, 2020
OCT 13, magical palindromes: 'A man à Paris'
You can become an expert fan of our wordplay concoction 'magical palindromes' by reviewing the explanatory material found on our full-service blog "Edifying Nonsense" HERE.
October 12, 2020
OCT 12, photo-collage, Toront-oases: salmon run on the Humber River
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| 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.
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, 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'.
October 9, 2020
October 8, 2020
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.
October 7, 2020
OCT 7, photo-collages, Toront-oases: Leslie Street Spit, 1 and 2
This series of photos continues with two more collages dealing with the Leslie Street Spit (Tommy Thompson Park, Toronto). Click HERE.
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.
October 6, 2020
OCT 6, political palindromes, OOO
From this point, you can proceed either forwards or backwards.
For FORWARD, proceed to the next and final set of 'POLITICAL PALINDROMES' on Nov 23.
For BACKWARD, return to the previous set on Sep 12.
OR, return to the ORIGINAL POST on this topic on May 17.
OR (if you have befriended us), check out this whole series of 40 presidential palindromes in our photo-album on Giorgio's Facebook profile.
October 5, 2020
OCT 5, Carolina lowcountry: shrimpboats at sunset (photo)
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shrimpboats at sunset, Carolina lowcountry |
October 4, 2020
OCT 4, classic palindrome: 'contrived' (saw- and see- lines)
Keep more to yourself for a while, wear your mask when in crowds, remember to laugh on occasion, and stay well!
You can review these illustrated verses in a wider context by proceeding to 'Reversing Verse: Limericks About Classic Palindromes' on the full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense'.