SEP 30, singable satire: Rick Steves sings "POSTCARD TO CHUBBY CHECKER" (travel to Limbo)

PARODY-SONG

ORIGINAL SONG: "Limbo Rock", as recorded 1962 by Chubby Checker.

PARODY COMPOSED: Giorgio Coniglio, May, 2015.

PARODY-SONGLINK: To find ukulele and guitar chord-charts to help you accompany "POSTCARD to CHUBBY CHECKER" on your favorite instrument, click HERE.

The name "Limbo" conjures up an intriguing mixture of Caribbean dancing and Dante's Inferno. In another posting here, part of the Inferno sequence, Dante provides us with on-site reporting which seems to eliminate it from serious consideration as a longterm retirement home. Perhaps it is more realistic to consider it an untapped tourist destination.  

POSTCARD TO CHUBBY CHECKER

(to the tune of "Limbo Rock")

Want to visit Limbo-land?

Rick Steves help vacation-plan

Limbo-folks are tourist-shy

Complicated reasons why. 

Limbo-visa hard to get - 

Seems that none been printed yet

I.T. system's way behind

Limbo-stuck in Dante's time. 

What to pack for Limbo-trip?

Don't need sunscreen - get a grip!

Limbo-weather always same

Sticky days, we're not to blame.

Limbo-neighbors turn up steam

Get so burned they moan and scream

Don't advise excursion there

If no Hazmat suit to wear. 

Limbo-talk in Limbo-land

Locals hard to understand

Few speak Eng., they all speak It.,

Antique Limbo-dialect.

LIMBO is the outermost complete circle

Limbo-customs might appeal - 

Walk feet flat with weight on heels

Limbo-nights - no moon or stars

Lean back in or under bars.

Got good staff at Limbo-Inns

They commit no Limbo-sins

New construction in bare feet

Projects never get complete.

Might not find a hotel room

Now or when you're in your tomb;

Limbo-book with kids and wife

For the Limbo-afterlife.

Rates discounted now.

Rates discounted now.

How low can they go?

 

SEP 29, STD-poetry: monkeypox

Authors' Note:   In June 2022, the World Health Organization announced that

it would find a new name for 'monkeypox', to de-emphasize its overstated enzootic connection.    

You can review verses on this topic in a wider context in a post on our full-service blog "Edifying Nonsense" by proceeding to the post 'Ruination, Rumination and Reminiscence: STD-Poetry'. Click HERE. 

 

SEP 28, spineless verse (invertebrates): chelipods

 

READING MORE WIDELY:

You can find all our illustrated verses about various 'INVERTEBRATES' , as compiled on our full-service blog "Edifying Nonsense" HERE. But, in fact, we had hived off verses about INSECTS, and they are gathered in separate blogposts, that you can get into HERE. So, follow these links, and enjoy.   

SEP 27, wordplay: Scramble-towns eastern Canada,11

Who would ever have guessed? It turns out that an unparalleled word in generating anagrams, i.e. 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 next Canadian map (12), eh?

Back up to the first Canadian map.

Back up to the first American map.

SEP 26, organic brain poetry: CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy)

 This is consecutive daily post #1000 on this blog!!!

ROSH HASHANAH: To Jewish friends, L' shanah tovah! 

Authors' Note:  Although military recruits and physically abused spouses also number among the victims of this disease of insidious onset, (characteristically diagnosed with certainty only at post-mortem examination), it is the scourge of those who earlier in life indulged in contact sports, particularly those with a risk of repetitive minor brain trauma.

Everything that you wanted to know about chronic traumatic encephalopathy can be found in the author's note appended to MikeAq's verse on the subject.

You can view and review all our verses on the topic of 'Organic Brain Poetry' by following this link to the encyclopedic collection on "Edifying Nonsense."

SEP 25, submitted palindromes: RANDOM PILES 26

 

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.

SEP 24, toxic vignette: antifreeze (ethylene glycol) poisoning

Authors' Note:   Poisoning with sweet-smelling ethylene glycol is a common toxic problem for humans and pets owing to its wide commercial distribution in products including antifreeze and windshield washer fluid.

 Discovered in 1958, denatonium benzoate (sold under various tradenames, including Bitrex), tastes unbearably bitter to most mammals, even in low concentations, but is not apparently harmful otherwise. It has been used to prevent ingestion of a variety of consumer products. In 2012, all American manufacturers of antifreeze voluntarily agreed to add denatonium to these liquids in order to reduce fatal poisonings.

     

Learn more about this topic on the web at these sites:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethylene_glycol_poisoning

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denatonium

http://www.petmd.com/dog/emergency/digestive/e_multi_antifreeze_poisoning

Review all our poems of toxicologic interest by clicking HERE.  

SEP 23, news-post: Fore! (Letitia's civil lawsuit)

FORE! (Letitia's Civil Lawsuit)

At the tee, brave Letitia yelled, "Fore!",

Strode the fairway to even the score.

"Donald's trapped in the sand;

As we've planned, he'll be banned

From playing this course any more."

(Folks suspected this drama before.)

 Giorgio Coniglio, 2022

online photo

Author's Note: The golfing terms fore!, and fairway are explained in other OEDILF verses.

In September 2022, Letitia James, Attorney General of the state of New York initiated a civil lawsuit against the Trump Corporation and its executives (the former 45th American president and three of his children) for longstanding business malfeasance including bank, insurance and tax fraud.

SEP 22, classic palindrome: 'step on no pets'

You can review a collection of such illustrated verses in a wider context by proceeding to 'Reversing Verse: Limericks About Classic Palindromes' on the full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense'. 

SEP 21, higher connections: views from Queen Elizabeth's funeral

 Readers can view our collected verses dealing with 'higher connections' by clicking HERE.

SEP 20, singable satire: "The BALLAD of GIULIANI", part #1, as sung by Tennessee Ernie Ford

PARODY SONG-LYRICS

ORIGINAL SONG: "The Ballad of Davy Crockett" , by Bruns and Blackburn, Walt Disney Studios 1954, anthem of the "Crockett craze". Several versions of the song were prominent on the Top Ten in 1955.

Youtube versions of the song by several performers are available via links to...

Bill Hayes

Fess Parker

Tennessee Ernie Ford 

   

SATIRE COMPOSED: Dr. G.H. and Giorgio Coniglio, June 2018.

 Readers interested in this topic might also enjoy Giorgio's lyrics posted on these earlier blogposts...

Dark Schemes

Rosenstein

Brennan's Tweet
Vlad Putin's Blogger  

PARODY-SONGLINK: To access ukulele chord-charts to help you accompany "The Ballad of Giuliani, part #1" on your favorite instrument, click HERE.

BACKGROUND INFO: Max Boot's opinion-editorial appeared in our local newspaper on May 8, 2018, under the heading "The long, disappointing fall of Rudy Giuliani". Here is the link to the particular newspaper column.
Other takes on Giuliani's statements about the Presidents' legal and personal imbroglios are given by Jennifer Rubin HERE, and Amy Sorkin HERE. However, this first part of the song deals with the more positive earlier portion of this flamboyant leaders' life-story.

The BALLAD of GIULIANI, part#1

(to the tune of "The Ballad of Davy Crockett")

Rudy Giuliani!

Voice of those wild Trump Years! 

Born in East Flatbush, down in NYC,

'Greenhorn' family from Tuscany.
Dad done time in Sing Sing for robbery,
An' Rudy volunteered for Robert Kennedy.
Rudy Giuliani,
Voice of those wild Trump Years!

At Manhattan College, took philosophy.
Enter the priesthood? "No, that's not for me!"
Studied Law at New York University,
To graduate cum laude with J.D. degree.
Rudy Giuliani,
Startin' up his career. 

To prosecute felons gave him a thrill.
Though tactics like the 'perp walk' were 'overkill'
As U.S. Attorney he showed great skill.
His record of convictions is unequalled still.
Rudy Giuliani,
Outshone his legal peers.

He fought single-handed through the Mafia Wars.
Racketeering mobsters he did abhor. 
Put their capos behind bars, and settled the score, 
And RICOed* inside traders, and convicted more.
Fearless Rudy launchin'
His politickin' career.

Two terms as Mayor start in '93.
First Repub. in office there since John Lindsay.
Libs felt queezy with the GOP, but he
Cleaned the streets, cut crime, and folks said "That's for me!"
Rudy Giuliani,
The Big Apple's brigadier. 

He craved a Senate seat; to lose was gall.
'Specially to Hillary, he'd hate to fall.
But marital scandal, and a doctor's call,
And bad race relations triggered his withdrawal.
Rudy Giuliani,
Back in the Mayor's chair. 

Rudy was the guy in charge when Towers fell.
At Ground Zero visited and stayed a spell.
Folks felt he handled the disaster well,
And was honored by the Queen as I've heard tell.
Rudy Giuliani!
Time's Person-of-the-Year.

Rudy Giuliani!
Time's Person-of-the-Year.

* RICO - The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. 

The song continues ... Click HERE for part #2.

  

SEP 19, death and the afterlife: garbage disposal in Heaven

Authors' Note: You may have gathered that the editors think that Heaven is a bureaucracy-ridden place. So, of course, as a resident there you may  have to fill out a lot of documentation to obtain permission to import Earthworms and related paraphernalia. 

 You can review more poems about 'Death and the Afterlife' in context ('death and the afterlife') on our full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense'. Click HERE!

If you prefer, you could view most of this topically arranged material on Facebook, in Giorgio's photo-albums. (About 20% of those offerings consist of political satire or adult limericks, and you will have to be a 'friend' of Giorgio's to view that stuff.)

SEP 18, funny bones: distal radial fracture

Authors' Note: Injuries to the metacarpal bones, such as knuckle fractures, are most common in injuries occurring with the closed fist, e.g. a punch thrown in a fistfight. In fact, an isolated fracture of the head of the fifth ('pinky'-side) metacarpal is known as a boxer's fracture. 

  On the other hand, fractures of the wrist (including the distal ends of the radial and ulnar bones of the forearm and eight intrinsic small carpal bones) are most commonly caused by a fall on the outstretched hand. Of all of these, fractures of the distal radius, sustained when attempting to break a fall, are by far the most common.

 

You can view verses on this topic in a wider context by proceeding to the post 'Breaking News: FUNNY BONES' on our full-service blog "Edifying Nonsense". Click HERE!

SEP 17, palinku (poetic novelty): schoolboy humor #1

 

 

 You can view all our 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.)

SEP 16, hellenophilia: approaching Santorini

 

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

SEP 15, Italian loanwords: vendetta

For this verse we must acknowledge the inspiration of "The Flea and the Fly", a verse of unknown authorship, sometimes mistakenly attributed to Ogden Nash. You can read more about this issue HERE.

 You can review our entire poetic outpouring about Italian loanwords by proceeding to a post on our full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense'; click HERE. If you prefer, you could view most of this topically arranged material on Facebook, in Giorgio's photo-albums. (About 20% of those offerings consist of political satire or adult limericks, and you will have to be a 'friend' of Giorgio's to view that stuff.)

SEP 14, Ontario nostalgia: native cactus

 

 hidden cactus corner:
Allan Gardens Conservatory, Toronto

Authors' Note: Species of plants belonging to the cactus family are native only to America. Although they are generally heat-loving, a few species of the genus Opuntia are sufficiently cold-tolerant to live in parts of Canada. One of these, the eastern prickly pear, Opuntia humifusa, thrives in the US in dry areas such as along beaches on the Atlantic coastline, and some inland areas. At the northern limit of its range, in areas along the Great Lakes in Ontario (located centrally in Canada), this species has been susceptible to territory loss by severe winter storms and is now considered locally endangered. Three other species of low-growing cacti are still flourishing in the prairie provinces of western Canada.

There's a different story in other parts of the globe, where these and related species were relocated by human activities during and after the sixteenth century. Owing to their edible summer fruit, prickly pears are tolerated as invasives in parts of South Africa, southern Europe, Polynesia, South America, etc. However, the cochineal insect that feeds on the cactus in Mexico can be ground to produce a valuable brilliant red dye kmown as carmine or cochineal. British colonists established a cactus plantation in New South Wales in the early 1800s to supply a nascent dye industry. With hospitable conditions, sandy warm soil, there and in Queensland, these an other host cactuses spread quickly and vigorously, taking over a huge chunk of grazing and horticultural terrain, and are now prohibited throughout the island continent.

                                                  web-photo: Australian cactus infestation 

Resources on the web:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opuntia_humifusa
https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/cactus

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. 

SEP 13, pluralia tantum: 'condolences'

 

Authors' Note: The above verse provides several further examples of the grammatical phenomenon pluralia tantum. An idiom associated with providing condolences for the family and friends of a single deceased person is to 'pay one's final respects'.

  Grandpa Greg asked us to pass on this message: "You can view the entire collection of verses about 'pluralia tantum' by clicking HERE." 

SEP 12, folio-entry, couples: goats

SEP 11, numbers: a dozen (12)

 You can review our cumulated nonsense about numbers by clicking HERE.

If you prefer, you could view most of this topically arranged material on Facebook, in Giorgio's photo-albums. (About 20% of those offerings consist of political satire or adult limericks, and you will have to be a 'friend' of Giorgio's to view that stuff.)

                                                                         

Authors' Note:   As stocks around the planet have suffered from overfishing, the price of fresh wild fish has mounted incessantly. As of 2016, aquaculture has apparently resulted in over 50% of the global supply of this foodstuff, both marine and freshwater varieties. 

  Carp, catfish, Atlantic salmon and tilapia are the leading four types of fish currently involved, with recent improvements in the quality and reliability of farmed flatfish (turbot, flounder, halibut, etc.).

You can help save the planet by viewing all our verses in this series at "Edifying Nonsense". Click HERE!