February 28, 2021
FEB 30, (28c), singable satire: "UKULELÍ, UKULELÁ", volcanoes and copyright
PARODY-LYRICS
MUSICAL UNDEPINNINGS: "Funiculi, Funicula, a song written by Luigi Denza, in Neapolitan to honour the 1880 opening of the now-defunct funicular railway taking tourists up Mt. Vesuvius.
PARODY COMPOSED: Giorgio Coniglio, February 2013, with initial posting at the online parody-lyrics website "AmIRight". The lyrics have undergone some minor updating since, including a change in song-title from the original 'Anacroni, Anacrona'.
EXPLANATION: This mostly-true story has 3 characters - the volcano itself, Vesuvius, which dominates the Bay of Naples, and 2 music composers. Luigi Denza wrote hundreds of songs, mostly in Neapolitan, including this smash hit composed for the opening of the funicular in 1880. Richard Strauss lived in Munich; after visiting Naples in 1887 as a young man, he incorporated the tune into a symphonic work aus Italien, which was poorly received by critics. Later he became famous for symphonic tone-poems including Thus Spake Zarathustra, the theme for 2001: A Space Odyssey, and modern operas - der Rosenkavalier, Elektra.
The fanciful existence of ukuleles in Europe in the 19th century is an anachronism; hence, the song was initially titled Anacroni, Anacrona.
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 for both the parody and original song, as well as helpful performing suggestions.
To find ukulele or guitar chord-charts to help you accompany
"UKULELÍ, UKULELÁ" on your favorite instrument, click HERE.
"UKULELÍ, UKULELÁ" on your favorite instrument, click HERE.
The fanciful existence of ukuleles in Europe in the 19th century is an anachronism; hence, the song was initially titled Anacroni, Anacrona.
UKULELÍ, UKULELÁ
(to the tune of "Funiculi, Funicula")
INTRO: ’Ncoppa jammo ja’, ukulelí, ukulelá.
One day, while Strauss was tramming up Vesuvius,
He heard a song, a catchy song.
He heard a song, a catchy song.
And as he’d brought along his uke and notebook,
He wrote it down, then strummed along.
He gave the borrowed pencil back to Denza,
With whom he jammed, as up they swayed.
With whom he jammed, as up they swayed.
And as the active crater hissed and rumbled,
Strauss missed him mumble, above Pompei.
Strauss missed him mumble, above Pompei.
(Denza sang)……
“ Copy-, copy-, copyright is mine,
Specific terms the sanctioned use define.
While jamming here is gen’rally fine,
While jamming here is gen’rally fine,
While jamming here's not out-of-line,
Legal friends opine, Vesuvius - Sì, but Munich
Years later, Strauss was brooding back in Deutschland,
He read reviews, scathing reviews.
He read reviews, scathing reviews.
And found Luigi’s letter on his credenza,
No how-d’ya-do’s, but howled j’accuse.
It fumed, “My sunny, fun-filled tarantella,
While fun to croon, is no folk-tune.
While fun to croon, is no folk-tune.
Our case is legally air-tight, feckless fella,
Piacere, please, pay royalties."
(Denza warned)……
“ Copy-, copy-, copyright is mine,
Specific terms the sanctioned use define.
While playing 'fok-tunes' there was fine,
While playing 'fok-tunes' there was fine,
But steal my property -- I'll whine;
And legal friends opine, Vesuvius - Sì, but Munich
One day, if you should hike up on Vesuvius,
(The tram’s no more, - since 'forty-four).
Inspired up there where lava’s been effluvious,
You write a score; but one thing more.
Take care ! - “O Sole”, “Funi” even “Torna”,
They might be groovy, but out of bounds;
When streaming from the steaming hot caldera,
A rumbling sounds, and then resounds.
(A voice spews outs)……
“ Copy-, copy-, copyright is mine,
“ Copy-, copy-, copyright is mine,
Specific terms the sanctioned use define.
While jamming here's not out-of-line,
While jamming here's not out-of-line,
Even up here on this incline,
Legal friends opine, Vesuvius - Sì, but Munich
Bb F C7 F ‘Ncoppa jammo ja’, ukulelí, ukulelá.
FEB 28, wordplay map: new world palindromes (#36)
You can view the entire collection of these 50 wordplay maps, by accessing the collection 'Tourists Palindromic Guides: The Americas'. Start by clicking HERE!
February 27, 2021
FEB 27, wordplay maps; American Scramble-towns, 14
LINKS to other nonsense in this series:
Forward to the first Canadian map.
Forward to the next American map (15).
Back to the first American map.
February 26, 2021
FEB 26, anagram swarm: 'E-X -- P-R-E-S-I-D-E-N-T-I-A-L'
As often happens in trying to portray a swarm of anagrams, I have left out a few relevant places; in this case, it was simply because I ran out of room on the map (which was progressively updated to a total of 65 entries). Apologies to the villages of Alien Preside, Pilsener Idea and Needier Pails TX in Texas, Exited Spiral NE in Nebraska, Delete Praxis IN in Indiana, and Axis Repented and Ex-Sardine-Pet IL in Illinois!
If you have enjoyed this post, you can find a series of other 'American anagram swarms' gathered in three posts on our 'parent' blog Edifying Nonsense. To get started, click here.
February 25, 2021
FEB 25, submitted palindromes: RANDOM PILES 7
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 encyclopedic blog "Edifying Nonsense" -- start HERE.
February 24, 2021
February 23, 2021
FEB 23, English literature survey course: pass/fail
Authors' Note: During the author's stint as a university science major, a modicum of knowledge of the liberal arts was putatively assured by subjecting students to pass/fail survey courses. "Getting by", as in the above described English class, seemed to be the modus operandi of students, and occasionally of teaching staff.
You can review the entire curriculum for our 'English Classics Survey Course' at "Edifying Nonsense" by clicking HERE.
February 22, 2021
FEB 22, amphibians: American green tree frog
Be sure to check out the whole collection of 'Amphibians' by proceeding to "Edifying Nonsense." CLICK HERE !
February 21, 2021
FEB 21, pandemic poetry: 'two contagiously funny verses'
Authors' Note: Thanks to M.A. of Bloomington IN for the idea for the second verse.
You can review these illustrated verses in a wider context by proceeding to 'Pandemic Poetry' on the full-service blog "Edifying Nonsense".
February 20, 2021
FEB 20, singable satire: "LEGAL LANGUAGE NONSENSE",Mary Poppins sings about legal doublets -- "FORMULAIC-PLEONASTIC-LEGALISTIC DOUBLETS"
PARODY SONG-LYRICS
ORIGINAL SONG: "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious", from the movie "Mary Poppins", Sherman Brothers, 1963, as performed by Dick Van Dyke and Julie Andrews.PARODY COMPOSED: Dr.G.H. and Giorgio
Coniglio, 2015. This song is the final entry in a group of nine dealing with Word-Pairs. And, development of the song lyrics resulted in our home-grown guide to legalese, found HERE.
PARODY-SONGLINK: To access ukulele chord-charts to help you accompany "Formulaic-Pleonastic-Legalistic Doublets"on your favorite instrument, click HERE.
In spite of various campaigns to improve the language style used for communication by lawyers, most of us still can't understand what they say. One particularly vexing element is their apparently mandatory use of redundant pairs of words in a form of cliché, sometimes having an archaic sound.
For better or worse, there does not appear to be a covenant and agreement between linguists and lawyers as to what to call these expressions. Such pairings of items with similar or overlapping meaning are known as doublets in the legal literature. They consist of pairs of nouns, verbs adjectives or even adverbs, joined by a conjunction, most commonly 'and'; hence they would usually be referred to as binomials by linguists. Linguists generally have a specific concept in mind with respect to word derivation in using the term doublet.
FORMULAIC-PLEONASTIC-LEGALISTIC-DOUBLETS
(to the tune of "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" - Mary Poppins)
Now, "formula" applies
Whereas word-order's always set;
These lyrics have been moved, along with ukulele chord suggestions, to a posting on our personal song-blog "Silly Songs and Satire".
Other Examples of Legal Doublets
Other expressions with legal implications were included in my previous posts dealing with alliterative binomials. These include.....
drunken and disorderly
lend or lease
lewd and lascivious
mind and matter
search and seizure
wrack and ruin
A compendium of other commonly used "legal doublets" that you might encounter is found HERE.
Note that a number of the particularly-redundant expressions e.g. "terms and conditions", have been criticized in official and academic circles as contributing to lack of clarity in communication, and have been purged from specific usage in certain jurisdictions.
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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
9. LEGALISTIC DOUBLETS, in the style of "Supercalifragilistic..." from the musical "Mary Poppins"
February 19, 2021
FEB 19, etymology: 'mentor'
February 18, 2021
FEB 18, neologism (personal): electile dysfunction
Electile dysfunction has not been as popular a topic.
(Ed. Note:) To make this effort easier, we have now collected these neologistic verses in a collection on our parent blog "Edifying Nonsense"; click HERE.
(If, for some reason, you would like to obtain confidential information about 'eRectile dysfunction', click HERE.)
February 17, 2021
FEB 17, palinku: partying #4
In this post, we will continue with our novel form of poetic wordplay, inspired by Japanese haiku poetry. This new form, in its English-language version, is used for a terse verse with a total of 17 syllables displayed on three lines. Unlike its classic Japanese analogue, this concoction does not mandate the precise distribution of the syllables among the three lines, but does stipulate that each word in the poem be included in a palindromic phrase or sentence in English (i.e. one that can be read either forwards or backwards).
To help the reader discern the origin of the lyrics, each palindrome (generally occupying one of the three lines of the stanza) has been color-coded. And, as you likely noticed, the first three verses in this collection have already been published here, in November 2021 through January 2021, using the 17th of each month. Here we present the final element, part #4, in what happens to be a relatively long study in verse. Other topics for palinku have usually resulted in shorter creations, most commonly one or two verses. Although the format for these poems is highly constraining, readers can look forward to a spectrum of poems involving such divergent topics as human emotions, family interactions, gender relations, workplace dynamics, politics, culinary matters and the natural world.
And, just in case you have forgotten what palindromes are about, your blogsite hosts have arranged a serial set of brief lessons on the topic ('Political Palindromes') which you can review by clicking HERE.
You can view all our "palinku" verses of this type 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.)
FEB 16, classic palindrome: 'O Stone, be not so'
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".
February 15, 2021
FEB 15, anagram swarm: 'I-N-C-I-T-E-D A R-I-O-T'
Authors' Note:
Sens: slang for American senators.
Representative Jamie Raskin was the chief House Manager (prosecuting the charge of impeachment) during the recent trial of ex-president D.J. Trump in the U.S. Senate.
Editors' follow-up note: We mistakenly omitted a few locales in Iowa (IA), including 'Contrite I.D.', 'Erotic Dint', 'Tired Tonic', and 'Rote Indict'; also 'Tide Action RI' in Rhode Island. Sorry, Impeachment Team! Sadly, there are still not quite enough anagrams for the needed majority in the U.S. Senate!
If you have enjoyed this post, you can find a series of other 'American anagram swarms' gathered in two posts on our 'parent' blog Edifying Nonsense. To get started, click HERE.
February 14, 2021
FEB 14, holidays and celebrations: Valentine's Day
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| "The Kiss" by Auguste Rodin, marble, 1882 (photo by G.C. at Rodin Museum, Paris, 2019) |
Ed Note: This work was still 'in-progress' at the time it went to press. It eventually evolved into a three-verse 'brief saga' that you can find HERE.
February 13, 2021
FEB 13, old world palindromes #15 and #16
Quote of the day from 'Buzzfeed':
“Fellow Americans beat and bloodied our fellow police. They stormed the Senate floor. They tried to hunt down the Speaker of the House. They built a gallows and chanted about murdering the vice president. They did this because they’d been fed wild falsehoods by the most powerful man on earth because he was angry he’d lost an election,” said (American Senate leader Mitch) McConnell.
You can view the entire collection of 'Old World Palindromes' on our full-service blog "Edifying Nonsense"; start by clicking here.
February 12, 2021
FEB 12, folio-entry, couples: Aurora and Cephalus
You can view these photos from our portfolio of 'Couples' portraits in a wider context on our full-service blog "Edifying Nonsense" HERE.
February 11, 2021
FEB 11, classic palindrome: 'Dennis sinned' ... PLUS, A PALINDROMIC DAY CELEBRATION, 12/02/2021
CELEBRATING A PALINDROMIC DATE -- 12/02/2021
Here's a reprise honoring last year's palindromic day...
IN CELEBRATION OF A PALINDROMIC DAY -- 02/02/2020
(With many thanks to my good friend, Eric K., for his reminder about this important occasion.)
This brief poetic musing was originally published here on February 2, 2020. By the way, if you are overwhelmed by an urge to sing about Dennis's sinful relationships, you can satisfy those urgings by clicking HERE.
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'.
February 10, 2021
FEB 10, a brief saga (bottom line of medical humor): the word on GERD
Authors' Note: The role of the esophagus under normal conditions is the one-way transit of food from mouth to stomach, keeping tissue-irritating acid in the stomach; the gastroesophageal junction plays the key role in this function. Most of the medical and dietary treatments for GERD (gastro-esophageal reflux disease) only block some symptoms due to acidity of the regurgitated gastric contents. Surgery is generally reserved for severe, chronic and recalcitrant cases.
You can view these informative verses in a wider context by proceeding to the collection "The BOTTOM LINE of MEDICAL HUMOR" on our full-service 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, constituting a single submission to the online humor site 'Omnificent English Dictionary in Limerick Form'. On the OEDILF site, rigorous standards for content and format proceed in a collaborative editing process that may take several weeks to over a year.
Generally, OEDILF has not been enormously welcoming of multi-verse submissions, but Giorgio Coniglio has persisted, and the OEDILF accession number for each of his 100 or so submitted multi-verse poems ('brief sagas numbering over 40) is shown here on the slide with its first verse.
To access the next 'brief saga' on this blog (March 2021), proceed to 'Workplace Pollution' (compensable).
To access the most recent previous 'brief saga' (January 2020), back up to 'Italian Treats'.