JAN 31, Carolina lowcountry: 'winter' excursion

 a) reprise from 2020

FEB 1, Carolina lowcountry: winter afternoon bicycle outing

If you are viewing these photos with an i-phone:
1) Hovering the selection arrow over any photo will prompt the appearance of the 'title'.
2) You can enlarge any photo (a black background may appear) by clicking it.
3) To escape from black-background-display limbo, look for a TINY 'x' in the far upper-right corner, and click there.
The procedure is mostly the same on a PC, but the tininess of the escape mechanism on my iphone7 is truly remarkable.

Giorgio (on the left) with
Pete the Plastic Pelican

Other Canadian retirees

At the harbor,
Mt. Pleasant SC

Lunch: Heron-herring?
No! That's a great egret with a shrimp

lowcountry pizza-boxes

b) current birdie-pic

window-strike by persistent bluebird: frontal view

JAN 30 (2024), 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 29, magical palindromes: introductory poem

 

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 this timing, 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 28, 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 27, 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

                                                

JAN 26, limerick extension: Collage 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 25, 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, wordplay maps: sister-cities anagrams (4-6)

a) reprise from January 2020 

JAN 23, wordplay maps: sister-cities anagrams (4-6) 

b) current birdie-pic (from the author's favorite pond)

guests at poolside, Ibis Hotel

JAN 22, unusual sightings: Toronto wildlife

a)

b) current birdie-pic (S. Carolina)

common grackle

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 (2024), 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, crepuscular rendez-vous: the following afternoon's events

 

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 19, waterfowl: 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.