OCT 30, 2022: W-I-P

 

OCT 29, dental feelings: sugary treats (Hallowe'en Verse for a dentist friend)

 

You can review the entire collection of our illustrated verses on this topic by proceeding to the post 'Dental Feelings' on our full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense'.

OCT 28, travel reviews: INN-dwelling

OCT 27, wordplay: Scramble-towns eastern Canada,12

 

LINKS to other nonsense in this series: 

Forward to the next Canadian map (13), eh?

Back up to the first Canadian map.

Back up to the first American map.

OCT 26, limerick variations: O'Malley's concept (C-rhyme extension)

 Author's Note:  Well, yes. This verse does go on at length (including a D-rhyme extension), but in a highly regulated fashion that would have been applauded by the famed lyrical seer and his followers. Support by a cadre of Irish disciples had materialized initially, but to O'Malley's bitter disappointment, was unsustained globally.

 You can review our entire collection of poems on the topic of "Limerick Variations" as compiled on our more encyclopedic blog "Edifying Nonsense"; click HERE.  

OCT 25, submitted palindromes: RANDOM PILES 10

 

  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).

OCT 24, patients and their maladies: brain symptoms post-trauma

Authors' Note:  In American or Canadian football, rushing means running the ball after starting behind the line of scrimmage, not including forward passes. The play continues until the player carrying the ball, usually a backfielder, is tackled.

Concussion, as a medical term describing brain trauma is discussed by SheilaB here. The above verse deals primarily with the delayed effects of multiple brain concussive injuries. See also chronic traumatic encephalopathy or CTE.

 

You can view these verses in a wider context by proceeding to 'Nurse-Verse: Patients and their Maladies' on our full-service blog "Edifying Nonsense". Click HERE!

OCT 23, photo-collage, Toront-oases: Rouge National Park

OCT 22, planet-saving verse: phosphate detergents

Authors' Note: 

Detergent is a Latin-derived term for a product that 'wipes away' dirt.

You might be interested to review our recent post about the dishwasher as a residential appliance.

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

OCT 21, hellenophilia: Cretan gorges

 

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

OCT 20, 2022: W-I-P

OCT 19, Canadiana: seniors' hockey

 Authors' Note: In ice hockey, a hat trick, denotes the scoring of three goals in one game by a single player. 

  The second verse is a spoof on the iconic Nanaimo limerick (the whole collection of these intriguing parodies can be found HERE).

  Hockey has a unique role, said to function as a foundation of national identity, as well as Canada's national sport. Beyond cheering the professional league players and national teams, there has been major growth in recreational hockey, both amateur leagues and informal games. The wide demographic now includes seniors and women. Reserved time at local ice-rinks, even in the wee hours, is a highly cherished commodity.

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

OCT 18, reprehensible modern history: submarine warfare #3

Charleston, South Carolina played a major role in the development of submarine warfare. The Cold War Submarine Memorial is located at Patriot's Point in Mt. Pleasant SC, on the eastern side of Charleston harbor. 

At our full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense', you can review our entire collection of panels about the history of submarine warfare, as well as the lyrics to the parody-song "Relic Submarines". Click HERE. 

View the entire collection of poetic assertions on this topic  at our more encyclopedic blog 'Edifying Nonsense', by clicking HERE.

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

   In this post, we continue with a novel form of poetic wordplay. Inspired by Japanese haiku poetry, this new form is used for a terse verse with a total of 17 syllables displayed on three lines. Unlike its earlier analogues, 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 poem) has been color-coded. 

OCT 16, Ontario nostalgia: bunkie

Authors' Note: Although specific municipalities often have additional stringent regulations, the building code for the Canadian province of Ontario specifies that any property can have a detached structure measuring up to 10 square meters (108 square feet); plumbing and heating are not allowed in such structures. They may accommodate seasonal use for guests, although off-season or year-round storage of equipment is also a major use. Cottage owners and their guests have come to refer to these detached small buildings, often outfitted with bunk beds, as bunkies.

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. 

OCT 15, Toronto ravines: mysterious East Don

'mysterious', or at least, not easily accessible

 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 14, doctors and their practices: the dermatologist

Authors' Note: Dermatology is reputed to be a rather routine and phlegmatic area of medical practice. That view may not be entirely irrational; however, you may be glad that you and your family doctor can consult with these specialists should you be faced with a life- or lifestyle-threatening disorder such as pemphigus, mycosis fungoides, psoriatic arthropathy or melanoma.

You can view these informative verses in a wider context by proceeding to the collection 'DOCTORS and their PRACTICES' on our full-service blog "Edifying Nonsense". Click HERE!

OCT 13, numbers: baker's dozen, bark mitzvah (13)

 You can review our cumulated nonsense about 'Numbers and Counting' by clicking HERE.

OCT 12, folio-entry, couples: lionfish

 

OCT 11, patients and their maladies: hoarding disorder

Authors' Note: Although folks with this engrained problem may be categorized as having depression, schizophrenia or obsessive-compulsive disorder, hoarding disorder may be a psychiatric malady in its own right. The disorder creates difficult family situations on either side of the Canada-US border, as in this mostly true story about a well-meaning friend of the authors'.

Astute readers may note that this verse, longer than most limericks, bears a certain similarity to the limerick format. You can learn more about this insider issue by proceeding to the collection Progress in Poetry: "Limerrhoids" 

You can view verses about medical problems in a wider context by proceeding to "Nurse-Verse: Patients and their Maladies" on our full-service blog "Edifying Nonsense". Click HERE!

OCT 10, a brief saga (organic brain poetry): metabolic delirium

Authors' Note: The authors were surprised, on researching this point, to learn that urgent hospital admissions in patients with unsuspected cancer in the late metastatic phase are commonly triggered by symptoms of delirium. Among metabolic determinants, sometimes hypercalcemia (elevated blood calcium level) is found, but the cause of delirium may remain undiscovered. Hyponatremia (a low serum sodium level ) characterizes a relatively frequent metabolic derangement, not specifically linked to cancer, that may cause confusion, and even delirium or seizures, in elderly patients eating diets low in protein and salt.

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."

 

 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 are involved in a collaborative editing process that may take several weeks to over a year. 

 There are now over 40 of these lengthier bits of doggerel featured at OEDILF in Giorgio's "Author's Showcase". The OEDILF number for each accepted multiverse poem is shown here on the slide with its first verse. We have been blog-publishing these poetic adventures here monthly since January 2020. And the good news is that almost all limerick-derived verses can be set to music!

To access the next 'brief saga' on this blog (November 2022), proceed to 'Palindrome Workshop'. 

To access the most recent previous 'brief saga' (September 2022), back up to  Beri-beri (vitamin B1 deficiency).

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

2020
2021
2022
2023.

OCT 9, waterfowl: black skimmers

You can review our entire collection of 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).

OCT 8, poets' corner: editorial balking

 

Authors' Note: This verse bypasses the requirement at OEDILF for 'definition', in favor of the more reasonable targets of 'exemplification' and 'entertainment'. The author points out hesitatingly that 17 prior 'balk-verses' in OEDILF's data-base (as of 2022) altogether provide minimal definition of the many meanings of this puzzling word.

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

OCT 7, American satire (prolongation): 'a meticulous archivist'

Author's Note: Some readers may wish that the fifth line's 'BLOCKhead' could be replaced by another  assonance-laden word, targeted at the second line's melodic term 'riDICulous'.  

We hope that you enjoyed this verse. You can find 40 more on this topic in 6 collections on our full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense'. Click HERE to start! 

 

OCT 6, duplication: helter-skelter

Authors' Note: This (re)duplication has elements of impulsiveness, thoughtlessness and randomness in common with harum-scarum, pell-mell and hodge-podge.

Readers willing to go down an internet rabbit-hole can easily get to a collection of more than a dozen other short verses SHORT VERSES  in which we have dealt with specific reduplications. 

If interested you could also discover three fairly lengthy PATTER-SONGS about this fascinating linguistic phenomenon. These songs form an important part of our cycle of 9 songs about "Word Pairs".

OCT 5, inspired by Ogden Nash: 'a sloth in a slough'

Ed note: Here's a morbid version of the iconic verse, "The Flea and the Fly" ...

Authors' Note: We love Ogden Nash poems, and we know that many readers do as well! So, you might enjoy our previous poetic perambulation around the topic 'Attribution to Ogden Nash'. Click HERE! 

 

OCT 4, variant Nantucket limerick: the lad from Salinas

Happy Thanksgiving to all our Canadian friends. See tomorrow's post for an illustrated verse about that great fall holiday!

Editor's Note: In order to read today's verse, you must provide proof that you are over the age of 12. 

Hint for readers: to enlarge any photo or slide in these presentations, click on it, then follow the thumbnails at the bottom of the post. To exit this enlarged mode, CLICK on the small 'x' at the upper right of the black background field.

Authors' Note: The Sankaty Head Light is a famous lighthouse on the US island of Nantucket. It also serves as the pictorial symbol for OEDILF, the Omnificent English Dictionary in Limerick Form. 

You can review our entire collection of spoof verses based on the iconic Nantucket limericks on our full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense' by clicking HERE.

OCT 3, bar-fauna: Gary the gator

Authors' Note:  "See you later, alligator" is an idiom used in the southern U.S. that sparked a 1950s smash hit by Bill Haley and His Comets.

With respect to attacks on humans, American alligators are less aggressive than their relatives the crocodiles. Nonetheless, at least 30 fatal attacks on humans have been recorded in the United States since 1970. The present story, dealing with an attack in a food-service location, is apocryphal.

You can review photos and illustrated herpetologic verses in a wider context by proceeding to 'Verses about Reptiles' (don't worry! no snakes)' on the full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense'.

Or, if you particularly liked this submission, you might want to refer to our entire collection of verses about bar-fauna: human and animal denizens of bars, pubs and other watering-holes. Click HERE.

Gary, as seen here is an excellent swimmer.

OCT 2, Italian loanwords: ciao

Authors' Note: You can probably figure out how to pronounce the word 'ciao' if you  already know how to say ...

cello: the musical instrument, and 

Fauci: the well-known director of the American CDC (Centers for Disease Control), and pandemic maven.

Note, however, that in expressions like che schifo, the Italian letter 'H' blocks the vowel ('E' or 'I')  from softening the sound of the Italian 'C' into the ch'(church) sound of English, so that it retains its 'k' value. 

BTW, che schifo! means 'How disgusting! or How repulsive!, or Yuk!

You can review our entire poetic outpouring about Italian loanwords by proceeding to a post on our full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense'; click HERE.

OCT 1, photo-collage (waterfowl): snowy egrets

 Recent birdie-pics

 A reminiscence of South Carolina. We do sometimes see the great egret in marshes around Toronto. Its cousin, the snowy egret, named for its coloration, not for its habitat, restricts its range to more southern zones. The snowy egret is smaller in size with a shorter neck, but is distinguished primarily by its black bill, and yellow feet at the end of its black legs. 

You can see our poem about this bird HERE.  

You can review  illustrated verses by proceeding to "Immersible Verse: Limericks about Waterfowl" on the full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense'.