JAN 31, doctors and their practices: neighbourhood analyst (capsaicin)

 

Authors' Note: 

 (kap-SAY-sin, or kap-SAY-uh-sin)

  Capsaicin is a chemical derived from hot peppers that creates a sensation of heat on the human skin and in the human mouth. Almost all other mammals also dislike the sensation, so the chemical has come to play a role as the major ingredient in many products touted for repelling mammalian pests.

  Despite the mostly-true story related here, the drug has seldom been prescribed as a treatment by psychoanalysts or other psychiatrists. Moreover, the difficulty of repeated applications (repetition may be needed after each rainfall) to rooftop sites makes its use in this setting hazardous. 

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!

* JAN 30, Canadiana - Eastern Canadian funky towns

 

reprise from January 30, 2020

JAN 30, Canadiana: Eastern Canadian funky towns

JAN 29, reptiles: red-eared sliders

Authors' Note: Most commonly, we think of asymptomatic carriers as humans who can transmit a microbial infection, but have no symptoms themselves; such diseases as typhoid and salmonellosis are well-known to be transmitted by such carriers.

Similarly, pets may harbor organisms that cause human disease, although the animals themselves don't become ill. Salmonella bacteria are commonly found on the skins of certain lizards and most turtles. The red-eared slider (Trachemys scripta), a reptile native to the US, has attained notoriety in this regard; as children's pets they are cute, easy to care for, and inexpensive. Combined with their penchant for taking over ponds from native turtles, these traits underlie their status as an invasive species whose sale is now banned in many countries around the globe.

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

* JAN 28, western Canadian funky towns

 

reprise from January 28, 2020

JAN 28, Canadiana: Western Canadian funky towns

JAN 27, cinematic guide: George Formby's films and songs

 

"WHEN I'M CLEANING WINDOWS"

George Formby's song gives this impression:

Window cleaners, a storied profession,

Can get prurient views          

Anytime that they choose.

As he tells it, that happens each session.

Dr G.H. and Giorgio Coniglio, 2022

Authors' Note: Perhaps the best-known song by British singer, actor, comedian and consummate ukulele artist George Formby, Jr. (1904–1961) was "When I'm Cleaning Windows." The song appeared in the 1936 film Keep Your Seats, Please; initially banned by the BBC, the song was later revealed to be a favorite of the royal family. 

online photo as displayed in "Ukulele Magazine"

In his films, Formby portrayed a good-natured but incompetent little man from rural county Lancaster, with songs interspersed throughout in which Formby, his character "laced with shy ordinariness", sings while accompanying himself adroitly on ukulele or banjo. Apparently, the Beatles, particularly George Harrison, were among the musicians influenced by Formby's performances. 

JAN 26, (ecto)-parasites: host

Authors' Note: The term host has become a classic descriptor used in infectious diseases, and particularly in parasitology, although such usage may seem distasteful to many. Symbiosis describes a relationship in which the parasitized host and the invading organisms share a mutually beneficial association.

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 (and keep following along 'til you get to the section on ecto-parasites).

JAN 25, national and multinational verse: Iceland

You can review our collection of verses about various individual nations, and about the groupings to which they belong, on our topic-based blog "Edifying Nonsense". Click HERE. 

* JAN 24, new world palindromes -- (#3,#4)

 

reprise from January 24, 2020

JAN 24, wordplay maps: new world palindromes(#3,#4)

You can view the entire collection of these 50 wordplay maps, by accessing the collection 'Tourists Palindromic Guides: The Americas'. Start by clicking HERE! 

JAN 23, braincheck: homonomous hemianop(s)ia

  

Authors' Note: Lesions in the occipital, or posterior portion of the brain's cerebral hemispheres are notorious for producing visual disruption. Each side of this sensitive area of brain tissue is targeted at integrating one half of the patient's visual field (to left or right). So for example, a tumour in the right side of the occipital lobe interrupts the signals arriving from the nerve fibres in the right side of the retina in both eyes; the patient's ability to see objects in the well-defined semi-circular zone to his left is eliminated in a fashion that is homonomous or congruent - both eyes are affected similarly. The resulting pattern of contralateral loss of visual sensation (homonomous hemianopsia) may be mapped by a test known as perimetry (visual-field analysis).

You can check your knowledge of brain structure and function in health and disease by reviewing our entire collection of illustrated verses on this topic. To review 'BRAINCHECK' on topic-oriented  blog "Edifying Nonsense", click HERE.

JAN 22, poets' corner: wit's end

 

WITZ' END

I'm upset, at the end of my wits,

'Cause my blogposts no longer get hits. 

Fans and fam liked my stuff,

But they've now had enough.

My new role? A sole twit -- that shoe fits.

Dr G.H. and Giorgio Coniglio, 2022

You can find lots of other verses on this blog under the rubric "Poets' Corner".  Most of them are in limerick format, and have been subjected to the editing process at OEDILF, the Online English Dictionary in Limerick Form. To access the others, type the phrase Poets Corner into the searchline on this blogpost (at the top of the righthand navigation column).

Incidental Photo:

a snowy egret, fishing near the old bridge

JAN 21, creative anachronism: the dawning of history

Along the same lines, readers are invited to review our small but growing collection of "creative anachronisms" on our blog "Edifying Nonsense" by clicking HERE.

* JAN 20, holidays and celebrations -- Robbie Burns Day

reprise from January 20, 2020

JAN 20, holidays and celebrations: Robbie Burns' Day 

Authors' Note: The mathematical expression in the second line of the fourth verse should be read as "sine-over-cos", cos being the mathematical abbreviation for cosine. The mathematical abbreviation for tangent is tan.

 

JAN 19, a brief saga: squid in the time of COVID

 

* JAN 18, personal and family history: relations

 

reprise from January 2020

JAN 17, mythed opportunities: Cronus

Authors' Note: The nasty Greek deity Cronus, (sometimes transcribed as Kronos) has intermittently been conflated with the Father Time-like figure Chronos, but eventually merged with the more benign Roman god Saturn, for whom Saturday, the planet Saturn, and the harvest festival saturnalia are named.

In the harsh Greek version of the myth, the youth Cronus castrates his father, Uranus, at the urging of his peevish mother Gaia. Later, Cronus learns that he, too, is fated to be overturned by his own offspring, and devours them, except for Zeus, who escapes and eventually does overthrow him to become king of the gods.

You can take advantage of the whole spectrum of illustrated poems dealing with 'Mythed Opportunities' that we have collected on our full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense'. Click HERE!

JAN 16, invertebrates: endo-parasites

 Authors' Note: The term parasite derives via Latin from an old Greek term meaning "one who dines at another's table". To clarify more fully the terse explanation in the verse, endoparasites, taking up residence inside their host, get their nutrients by passive absorption or by burrowing in the tissues of their host, which could be you! There are very few cases where they spontaneously leave to go to another restaurant. Fortunately, effective treatments have been developed for many of these types of infestation.

You can find all our illustrated verses about various 'INVERTEBRATES' , as compiled on our full-service blog "Edifying Nonsense" HERE.

JAN 15, classic palindromes, 'no left felon'

Authors' Note: Apparently a few felons are politicians, and vice versa.

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'. 

JAN 14, curtained verse: octogenarian sex

EDITORS' WARNING: You must be at least 12 years of age to read this post!

You can review other mildly scurrilous illustrated verses in a wider context by proceeding to 'Curtained verses: Faintly Obscene (Selected) Limericks' on the full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense'.

JAN 13, (re)duplication: fuddy-duddy

Authors' Note: 

(FUD-ee-dud-ee, or as a possibility here, fud-ee-DUD-ee)

Another example of a (re)duplication.

Readers willing to go down an internet rabbit-hole HERE can easily get to a collection of more than a dozen other short verses in which we have dealt with specific reduplications, as well as three fairly lengthy patter-songs about this fascinating linguistic phenomenon. 

JAN 12, postal places, USA: Hoboken, NJ

 

Authors' Note:  NJ is the official abbreviation for the American state of New Jersey, in which Hoboken, a town with population of about 60,000, is situated, commuting distance from New York City.

THe town was first settled by Europeans in the 17th century as part of the New Netherland colony. Following the Dutch era, it became known as the site of the first recorded game of baseball, and as the birthplace (1915) and hometown of Frank Sinatra. 

At one fell swoop, you can review all our postal poems about intriguing places in the USA and Canada, by proceeding to the encyclopedic blog "Edifying Nonsense". Click HERE !

JAN 11, patients and their maladies: gynophobia

EDITORS' WARNING: You must be at least 12 years of age to read this post (perhaps we should have listed it as a 'curtained verse')! 

 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!

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.)

JAN 10, defining opinion: hose

Our blogpost "Defining Opinion" on the topic-based blog "Edifying Nonsense" shows a selection of similar verses submitted to OEDILF (the online Omnificent English Dictionary in Limerick Form). You can see all of these on one visit by clicking HERE.

JAN 9, palinku (poetic novelty): family life

  In this post, we will 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 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 poem) has been color-coded. 

  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'); click HERE. 

 

(Ed. note:) Verses of this unique type have continued to accumulate. You can view them all at one swoop if you  proceed with a single click to our more encyclopedic blog "Edifying Nonsense". Click HERE.

links for any date: scroll over to the calendar-based listings of 'Past Posts' in the righthand column on this page, and select (by clicking) the week of your choice.

 

JAN 8, mammalian wildlife: hoary marmots

Authors' Note: Living in the US Pacific Northwest, generally in sites 2500m (8,000 feet) or more above sea-level, and at lower elevations as well in British Columbia and Alaska, North America's largest ground squirrel (a relative of the prairie dog and woodchuck) lives an apparently idyllic life. An herbivore, it emerges to survey the mountain views while dining on vegetation, and spends its morning sun-bathing on the rocks. It avoids the inhospitable part of the year by hibernating in communal well-hidden burrows for seven months. The downside is provided by several predators, most notably golden eagles; unfortunately, its characteristic high-pitched alarm call (underlying nicknames like "whistle-pig") does not give complete protection when these dangers are present.

Whistler, BC, is a destination whose name is linked to this local mammalian resident. You can check out an illustrated verse about this town by clicking HERE (link available at the end of November 2023). 

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 !

JAN 7, objectionable adjectives: flaky (floccular)

 

Authors' Note: 

ovine: adjective pertaining to sheep
ovular: adjective pertaining to egg

A broad spectrum of adjectives, many abstruse and pedantic, are based on Latin roots. A few of these, like bovine and regular, have been fully adopted into modern speech patterns. Others, such as the pair ovine and ovular, are a source of confusion. A minority, including the relatively obscure floccular, do rhyme with each other, providing a benefit only to poets. Is floccular snow falling? The author finds that use flaky.

You can review our editorially selected doggerel (eight verses) relating to 'Objectionable Adjectives' by clicking HERE.

JAN 6, Canadiana: over-wintering waterfowl (downy)

Authors' Note: Ron, the anthropomorphic trumpeter swan, first appeared on this site in the verse 'trumpeter swan' in a blogpost dealing with waterfowl.

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

JAN 5, incidental photo: Canadian cactus

 

Incidental photo (2023):

barrel cactuses

JAN 4, dental feelings: cavities

 

JAN 3, neologism (classic): hipsters vs hippies

Authors' Note: Readers might also enjoy the authors' verses dealing with the epicurean hippy, the prosthetic hipster, hip replacement, the hippocampus, and the Congolese hippodrome.

(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.

JAN 2, 2023, waterfowl: willets, + Viennese waltz

 

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'. (Or, if you prefer, you can view them on Facebook in Giorgio's photo-albums).

A

JAN 1, urban concerns: the tropical conservatory

Authors' Note: We are fortunate to have moved into an apartment building just across the street from a public conservatory whose warm, humid, glass-roofed galleries offer the visitor views and dreams of escape to tropical floral environments. Visits are especially reinvigorating on dark and depressing winter days, and admission is free!

You might also enjoy reviewing photo-enhanced poetry posts related to poinsettias, koi, red-eared sliders(turtles), Ontario cactuses, and Leda and the Swan at the same destination.

Our collection of illustrated poems about "Urban Concerns" on our parent blog "Edifying Nonsense", contains a number of intriguing verses that you can access by clicking HERE.