JAN 30, singable satire: Jake Shimabukoro plays "WHILE MY UKE WORDLESSLY SINGS"

 PARODY SONG-LYRICS

ORIGINAL SONG: "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" written by George Harrison, and recorded by the Beatles for their 1968 album "The Beatles".         

JAKE'S RENDITION, "While My Uke Wordlessly Sings": Jake Shimabukuro had started playing instrumental ukulele as a band member, but in 2002 broke into a solo career. In 2006, a video of Jake's virtuoso rendition of the Beatles song became one of the first to 'go viral' on that site, and has accumulated 16 million hits. The author of this blog has been privileged to attend three Jake concerts in the last 5 years; recently these have included guitar collaborators and a few vocals, but the emphasis remains on instrumental ukulele. 

PARODY COMPOSED: Giorgio Coniglio, January 2019.

SONGLINKS: The parody-lyrics for "While My Uke Wordlessly Sings" with accompanying chords for guitar or ukulele players are found on our lyrics-blog "SILLY SONGS and SATIRE" HERE. 

(Giorgio's other satire lyrics substituted to Beatles' songs include "Vonnegut" (Imagine); "Saturday Night" (Yesterday); "Brennan's Tweet" (Let It Be), and "Relic Submarines" (Yellow Submarine).)
 

WHILE MY UKE WORDLESSLY

 SINGS

George Harrison

(to the tune of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps")

To Jake Shimabukuro I listen enraptured

While his wordless ukulele sings.

I look at his band, the song's spirit they've captured,

Arranged so his ukulele sings.

Hawaiian family that enclosed you

Teach and perform on uke.

Though you don't sing, some force convinced you to 

Play virtuoso uke.

You played with teen bands, then began upward spiral,
Developing a novel style.

And "While My Guitar.." went iconically viral

You did instrumental uke all the while.

Your reputation's undisputed --

The world's saluted you.

On concert tours you speak unmuted,

Ukulele-san, that's you.

I listen enraptured to Jake Shimabukuro

While his wordless ukulele sings.

I look at his band, the song's spirit they've captured,

Arranged so his ukulele sings.

JAN 29r, magical palindromes: introductory poem, with examples #1 to #5

 

a) reprise from January 2020 

JAN 29, magical palindromes: introductory poem and examples #1 to #5

b) current birdie-pics (repeated window strikes):   Almost with the timing suggested by the video, a foolish pair of Eastern bluebirds repeatedly attempted to fly from their perching spot atop the birdfeeder's crook, through the upper part of our dining-room window; this despite our attempt to cut down the reflection of the sky behind the feeder and the false appearance of a nesting space in the interior. Finally, the feeder was removed from the crook, and the drama ended. See further posts for the follow-up.

bluebird repeatedly trying to fly through the dining-room window

temporary "cure":
markers on window to prevent bird strikes

JAN 28r, waterfowl : great blue herons

 

a) reprise from January 2020

JAN 26, waterfowl: great blue herons

  

b) (live action) birdie-pics

great blue heron, near Pitt St. Bridge,
Mount Pleasant, South Carolina

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". 

JAN 27r, insects: bumblebees

a) reprise from January 2020

JAN 27, insects: bumblebees

Author's Note: One week ago, this fellow seemed to land for a rest on the roofrack of our car, parked in our lowcountry driveway. He stayed for a while, not seeming to mind posing for photos, and then took off again. Pictures were taken with my i-phone 7 camera.)

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.

b) current birdie-pic

     

common grackle

                  

guests at poolside, Ibis Hotel

                              

JAN 26, limerick extension: Collection of Internal "LIMERRHOIDS"

Learn more about these limerick variations as described by their "inventors" and perpetrators HERE !

Readers can find a collection of even more of these variant verses by clicking HERE !

 

JAN 25r, fabric art: the fabric artist

a) reprise from January 2020 

JAN 25, fabric art: the fabric artist

You can find other examples of awesome illustrative fabric art on this blog in posts for the  February 20, and March 19, 2020.

b) current birdie-pic
 

Eastern bluebird

JAN 24, defining opinion: homogenized milk

 

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 23, Canadiana: crept and leapt

 

Authors' Note:   We have the good fortune in Canada, in some instances, of choosing either standard British grammar or the American version thereof. In the US, the commonly employed past tenses are "creeped" and "leaped"; these would alter the rhyming of the poem's second and fourth lines. A US-compatible version of this poem is also in the works, but to date preliminary efforts remain heaped under the carpet.

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

JAN 22, photo-collage: unusual sightings, Toronto wildlife

JAN 21, terminal (poetic) exclamation: cold? I'M SOLD!

Readers might want to hold off reading this submission until they have have familiarized themselves with concepts exemplified in the posts on  "Limerick Variations", and "Terminal Exclamations" on the blog "Edifying Nonsense".

                                                                    final OEDILF approval April 2024, #125236

Authors' Note: Our protagonist, presumably a Canadian snowbird, can take little comfort in the higher values of Fahrenheit than Celsius temperatures in the reasonably livable range. The temperature is what it is; only the describing numbers differ, although they are precisely related as defined in PGS's conversion. And below -40 degrees, Celsius is higher (but not warmer) than Fahrenheit.

The above verse was written on a brisk January morning when the temperature in degrees was -12C (10F) in Toronto, -10C (14F) in Atlanta, and 11C (52F) in Miami.

You can review our collection of poems on the topic of "Terminal Exclamation (Limerick Variations)" as it evolves on our more encyclopedic blog "Edifying Nonsense"; click HERE.  

Birds along the south Atlantic coast of the US, like this goldfinch, don't seem to mind. Perhaps they know that it's going to warm up shortly! (At 10:30, it's already up to 31F!)

goldfinch

Incidental additional poetry:

JAN 20, singable satire: Dean Martin sings "ROBBIE BURNS' DAY"

  

PARODY-SONG: "Dean Martin Sings Robbie Burns Day" 2024, a parody pastiche with lyrics by Giorgio Coniglio, substituted to "That's Amore", the Dean Martin 1953 classic.

PARODY COMPOSED: Giorgio Coniglio, December, 2018, updated from earlier blogposts, and with improved verse-charts. 

Explanatory Notes: Robert Burns, born 1759, became Scotland’s ‘national poet’, and a cultural icon at home and among Scottish diaspora around the world. In his short life - he died at age 37 -  he wrote hundreds of well-loved poems and songs; the most famous is Auld Lang Syne, traditionally sung on Hogmanay (New Year's Eve). Robbie Burns Day is celebrated on his birthday, January 25, often with a Burns Night supper. 

Burns' best-loved poems include "To a Mouse", "To a Louse", "Tam o' Shanter", "Parcel o' Rogues", and "Address to a Haggis".

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

Robert Burns 

ROBBIE BURNS DAY

(to the tune of "That's Amore")

INTRO (Tremolo)
In Aberdeen and overseas
Kilt-wearers freeze below the knees.....

When friends honor the haggis and flag of St Andrews - 

That's Burns Day.

First you’re piped to your place, they intone Selkirk’s Grace -

Robbie Burns Day.

Cock-a-leekie soup, cook will boast, address-by-the-host,

Offer toasts to the haggis.

The Saltire, or St Andrews cross

You think, “oops!” – dinner-wasn’t-cheap, eat tatties an neeps *,

Hope to sleep through the speeches.

Poems recite –- Mouse-that-gets-a-fright, Louse that’s-in-plain-sight,

Witches’ night – "Tam o’ Shanter"

Greed retold, Scotland’s future sold, England’s bribing-gold,

"‘Parcel o’ Rogues"  - truth or slander?

With slurred speech you sound Scottish, sipped Scotch ‘til you’re sottish - 

That's Burns Day.

Yes, you’ve downed too much malt, might be mostly your fault -

You feel plough'd.

Finally guests’ vote of thanks, you chant, closing your ranks

Like Hogmanay.

Let the world praise today the auld Bard o’ Alloway -

Robbie Burns Day!

JAN 19, photo-collage (sequel to yesterday's 'crepuscular rendez-vous')

 

The next day, we took our foray a bit earlier in the afternoon. The weather was clearer and considerably colder, but the late afternoon light had a golden hue....  

a pair of bottlenose dolphins hunts in synchrony

a lone cormorant flies low above the creek's surface

\

a goofy-looking penguin preens itself 

a more formal pose

at the ibis hotel

 

JAN 18, photo-collage: crepuscular rendez-vous

 "Crepuscular" is defined in our poem HERE.

snowy egret

black-crowned night heron

 white ibises in pondside shrubbery

white ibises finding a resting perch in the trees

further dimming of the light

ominous appearing cormorants

Is this a good place to spend the night?

wings of man

Be sure to check out the sequel to this foray, to be published tomorrow. 

JAN 17, palinku (poetic novelty): politics

  In this post, we continue with our novel form of poetic wordplay. Inspired by Japanese haiku poetry, the "palinku" is  a terse verse with a total of 17 syllables displayed on three lines. Unlike its earlier English-language forerunners, 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  (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. Readers will note that we have been publishing verses of this type on the 17th of each month.

 You can readily 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.)

Also, if you enjoy the concept of political palindromes, you can review how they are constructed, and see a slew of examples, by undertaking an adventure-journey of bidirectional blogposts entitled 'Political Palindromes'. Click HERE to start. 

JAN 16, photo-collage: visit to Washington's National Gallery of Art

John Ward, "The Northern Whale Fishery", 1840 

Edouard Manet, "The Old Musician", 1862 

 

Pierre-Auguste Renoir, "Pont-neuf, Paris", 1872

Alfred Sisley, "The Meadow", 1875 

Gustave Caillebotte, "Skiffs", 1877

Pierre-Auguste Renoir, "Oarsmen at Chatou", 1879

Mary Cassatt, "The Loge", 1879

Georges Seurat, "The Lighthouse at Honfleur", 1886

Mary Cassatt, "The Boating Party", 1893

Camille Pissarro,
"The Louvre - afternoon, rainy weather", 1902 

Mary Cassatt, "Woman with a Sunflower", 1905

snowy Washington street
on the morning of departure

high tea at a DC hotel
 prior to the Gallery visit

 Editors' Note: You can view illustrated verses about some of the artists by clicking HERE.