A blogsite offering entertaining daily oddities since January 2020. There are now over a thousand unique posts in these three years. Images, both visual and poetic, are drawn from daily life, as well as from verses, photos and computer-graphics on our parent blog "Edifying Nonsense".
January 31, 2023
JAN 31, doctors and their practices: neighbourhood analyst (capsaicin)
January 30, 2023
* JAN 30, Canadiana - Eastern Canadian funky towns
January 29, 2023
JAN 29, reptiles: red-eared sliders
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.
January 28, 2023
January 27, 2023
JAN 27, cinematic guide: George Formby's films and songs
"WHEN I'M CLEANING WINDOWS"
Can get prurient views
Anytime that they choose.
As he tells it, that happens each session.
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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.
January 26, 2023
JAN 26, (ecto)-parasites: host
January 25, 2023
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.
January 24, 2023
* 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!
January 23, 2023
JAN 23, braincheck: homonomous hemianop(s)ia
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.
January 22, 2023
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:
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a snowy egret, fishing near the old bridge |
January 21, 2023
JAN 21, creative anachronism: the dawning of history
January 20, 2023
* JAN 20, holidays and celebrations -- Robbie Burns Day
reprise from January 20, 2020
January 19, 2023
JAN 19, a brief saga: squid in the time of COVID
January 18, 2023
* JAN 18, personal and family history: relations
January 17, 2023
JAN 17, mythed opportunities: Cronus
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.
January 16, 2023
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.
January 15, 2023
JAN 15, classic palindromes, 'no left felon'
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'.
January 14, 2023
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'.
January 13, 2023
JAN 13, (re)duplication: fuddy-duddy
January 12, 2023
JAN 12, postal places, USA: Hoboken, NJ
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 !
January 11, 2023
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')!
January 10, 2023
JAN 10, defining opinion: hose
January 9, 2023
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.
January 8, 2023
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 !
January 7, 2023
JAN 7, objectionable adjectives: flaky (floccular)
ovular: adjective pertaining to egg
January 6, 2023
JAN 6, Canadiana: over-wintering waterfowl (downy)
January 5, 2023
JAN 5, incidental photo: Canadian cactus
January 4, 2023
January 3, 2023
JAN 3, neologism (classic): hipsters vs hippies
January 2, 2023
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).