February 29, 2024

FEB 29b, singable satire: homage to Ed Burtynsky "VIEW OF EARTH"

   a) Reprise of material posted on February 29b/28c in previous years ...


2020: pandemic verse, Kermit's prediction (illustrated poem)
2021: reptiles, fived-lined skinks (illustrated) 
2022: singable satire, Palace of Malice (parody lyrics)
2023: singable satire, Let's Do It (guest parody lyrics)

To access the details of any item in slide format, type its title, as displayed above in red font (e.g. ... five-lined skinks), into one of the two search bars at the the top of your blog-page. Underneath the slides for each entertaining delight that you discover, you will find a clickable link that lets you easily explore a more widespread collection of wonderments (verse, photos, wordplay, song-lyrics etc.) on the topic of your choice. 

five-lined skink


b) Today's Offering (Feb 29b, 2024): 


PARODY-LYRICS

ORIGINAL SONG: "The Book of Love", 1999 by Monotones; best known cover by Peter Gabriel 
PARODY COMPOSED: Giorgio Coniglio, October 2013.
PHOTOS: Edward Burtynsky website

With the recent book “Water” and film “Watermark”, Edward Burtynsky (“Manufactured Landscapes”) has used aerial photography to further document extensive degradation of our planet’s water-resource. As Burtynsky brings a Canadian sensitivity to the issue, I have used a few French words in these lyrics. eaux, water (pl) and haut, high, are pronounced as ‘oh’. autrui, others, and  ouïe, ouch!  rhyme with ‘see’.













VIEW OF EARTH  

(to the tune of "The Book of Love")

To view our Earth is disconcerting;
Dammed place may land up dry as bones;
With overuse and exponential
Expansion of industrial zones.




But,  eyes high I spy ......
Icefloes’ demise from polar seas;
And eaux-----oh those emotive
Haut-photos of Burty-ynsky’s!

Ice-caps dislodging, likely toasted;
Will flood the coastlines, raise the seas;
Less rain on heights, our food-stores threatened; 
Our stewardship’s a travesty.


Water-woes….. we owe to no one
Only ourselves, not autrui;
Ouïe! unwilling eyes we open
Edward’s lament-landscapes we see.

Parched Colorado River delta
Flow diverted – raise some herds –
Fish and amphibians find no shelter; 
Plundered profits, pain deferred.


Manufactured western suburbs,
Life floats on dwindling aquifers;
Next door the ancient ghostly remnants
Of cultures faltered, disappeared.

And drought------ no doubt about it
We’re drifting to that turn of things.
What clout .....   to save our offspring ?
 - Cherish each drop that wetting wrings.

Our leaders opt for obfuscation
A short-term outlook is obscene-
A final geologic  e - ra;
Warm welcome to Anthropocene !

And whoa! ….... those emotive
Views captured by Burty-ynsky!
Decry .…..... and why not try
Avoid our man-made destiny ?

(Rit.)
 The news from Earth is disconcerting………….



FEB 29, photo-collage: views from the Carolina lowcountry

  a) Reprise of material posted on February 29/28b in previous years ...


2020: Carolina lowcountry, unusual wildlife (photo-collage)
2021: gun control verse, the hitman (poem) 
2022: toxic vignette, moonshine whiskey (illustrated poem)
2023: American satire, grift (poem)

To access the detals of any item in slide format, type its title, as displayed above in red font (e.g. ... grift), into one of the two search bars at the the top of your blog-page. Underneath the slide(s) for each entertaining delight that you discover, you will find a clickable link that lets you easily explore a more widespread collection of wonderments (verse, photos, wordplay, song-lyrics etc.) on the topic of your choice. 


Giorgio (on the left) with
Pete the Plastic Pelican
in the Carolina lowcountry



b) Today's Offering (Feb 29, 2024): 



boardwalk at Shem Creek, Mt. Pleasant SC








Carolina anole, napping in our backyard



longleaf pine, re-establishing itself
on an old rice plantation


Carnival cruise



political perturbation


allee of moss-covered live oak trees,
 lining an old road at a rice plantation



pelican, skimming surface of the creek

a small boat tries to imitate the pelican




                                                  
 

February 28, 2024

FEB 28, Olympic sport: volleyball

   a) Reprise of material posted on February 28 in previous years ...


2020: American satire, disingenuous Don (poem)
2021: classic palindromes, Gnu dung. (illustrated poem) 
2022: Canadiana, snow-biota (illustrated poem)
2023: urban concerns, elevator reluctance (illustrated poem)

To access the details of any item in slide format, type its title, as displayed above in red font (e.g. ... Gnu dung), into one of the two search bars at the the top of your blog-page. Underneath the slide(s) for each entertaining delight that you discover, you will find a clickable link that lets you easily explore a more widespread collection of wonderments (verse, photos, wordplay, song-lyrics etc.) on the topic of your choice.
a wildebeest (gnu)
photo:  B. Weinstock


b) Today's Offering (Feb 28, 2024)

Olympic Sport

volleyball



February 27, 2024

FEB 27, defining opinion: honk

  a) Reprise of material posted on February 27 in previous years ...


2020: anagram swarm, US scramble-towns, (wordplay maps)
2021: basic medical science, left ventricular ejection fraction (poem) 
2022: bar-fauna, medical watering-hole (poem)
2023: classic palindrome, T. Eliot's toilet. (illustrated poem)

To access the details of any item in slide format, type its title, as displayed above in red font (e.g. ... t.Eliot's toilet), into one of the two search bars at the the top of your blog-page. Underneath the slide(s) for each entertaining delight that you discover, you will find a clickable link that lets you easily explore a more widespread collection of wonderments (verse, photos, wordplay, song-lyrics etc.) on the topic of your choice. 

b) Today's Offering (Feb 27, 2024): 



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 iLimerick Form). You can see all of these on one visit by clicking HERE.

February 26, 2024

FEB 26, chemical states: Canadian provinces and territories

  a) Reprise of material posted on February 26 in previous years ...


2020: Charleston garden, garden-tour docent (illustrated poem)
2021: anagram swarm, EX-PRESIDENTIAL (illustrated poem) 
2022: Palindrome Valley, Nauruan, second language (poem)
2023: handyman's lesson, restoring old greenhouse (photo-collage)

To access the details of any item in slide format, type its title, as displayed above in red font (e.g. ... Nauruan), into one of the two search bars at the the top of your blog-page. Underneath the slide(s) for each entertaining delight that you discover, you will find a clickable link that lets you easily explore a more widespread collection of wonderments (verse, photos, wordplay, song-lyrics etc.) on the topic of your choice. 

b) Today's Offering (Feb 26, 2024): 





 You can view the collection of posts on this topic with this link to our full-service blog "Edifying Nonsense" -- click HERE.



February 25, 2024

FEB 25, Submitted Palindromes: RANDOM PILE #5

  a) Reprise of material posted on February 25 in previous years ...


2020: American satire, covfefe (poem)
2021: dental feelings, fillings in Billings (poem) 
2022: classic language lovers, Aramaic (illustrated poem)
2023: Submitted Palindromes, presenter - Sarah Palindrome (wordplay)

To access the details of any item in slide format, type its title, as displayed above in red font (e.g. ... Aramaic), into one of the two search bars at the the top of your blog-page. Underneath the slide(s) for each entertaining delight that you discover, you will find a clickable link that lets you easily explore a more widespread collection of wonderments (verse, photos, wordplay, song-lyrics etc.) on the topic of your choice. 

b) Today's Offering (Feb 25, 2024): 






 You have reached the "Submitted Palindromes" thread on the blog "Daily Edifying Nonsense", a light literary entity that emanates through the blogosphere daily (almost), i.e. 30 times per month.

  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. Their profiles are indicated 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", and continuing with other well-known phrases, such as "Dennis sinned". Otherwise, their contribution will be grouped in 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).

You can access all of this delightful entertainment by entering submitted palindromes in one of the two search bars at the top of this post and scrolling downwards through the wordplay posts that you will discover. 

February 24, 2024

FEB 24, American satire (prolongation): gov by dopes (Nikki Haley rally)

  a) Reprise of material posted on February 24 in previous years ...


2020: canal verses, St-Martin, the Paris canal (illustrated poem)
2021: Greek prefixes, endo- (poem) 
2022: defining opinion, academically (poem)
2023: creative anachronism, academically (poem)

To access the details of any item in slide format, type its title, as displayed above in red font (e.g. ... endo-), into one of the two search bars at the the top of your blog-page. Underneath the slide(s) for each entertaining delight that you discover, you will find a clickable link that lets you easily explore a more widespread collection of wonderments (verse, photos, wordplay, song-lyrics etc.) on the topic of your choice. 

b) Today's Offering (Feb 24, 2024): 








 We hope that you enjoyed this verse, concocted just in time for the South Carolina primary election. You can find 40 more on this topic in 6 collections on our full-service blog "Edifying Nonsense". Click HERE to start! 

c) current political turmoil, US version 


polling station for SC Republican primary,
all quiet (2024) 
,


February 23, 2024

FEB 23, birdlore: eastern bluebird (frontal close-up)

  a) Reprise of material posted on February 23 in previous years ...


2020: insects, fire ants (illustrated poem)
2021: literature survey course, pass / fail (poem) 
2022: reprehensible history, cantankerous leaders (poem)
2023: lexicon of word-pairs, alliterative binomials E to K (wordplay)

To access the details of any item in slide format, type its title, as displayed above in red font (e.g. ... fire ants), into one of the two search bars at the the top of your blog-page. Underneath the slide(s) for each entertaining delight that you discover, you will find a clickable link that lets you easily explore a more widespread collection of wonderments (verse, photos, wordplay, song-lyrics etc.) on the topic of your choice. 

b) Today's Offering (Feb 23, 2024): 


 current birdie-pic

bluebird, another frontal close-up


February 22, 2024

FEB 22, Carolina lowcountry: a) elegant oyster-roast, b) garden-tour docents

  a) Reprise of material posted on February 22 in previous years ...


2020: bottom-line humor, gastrointestinal pact (poem)
2021: amphibians, green tree frogs (illustrated poem) 
2022: American satire, schadenfreude/deserved (poem)
2023: signs of confusion, third collection (photo-collage)

To access the details of any item in slide format, type its title, as displayed above in red font (e.g. ... George), into one of the two search bars at the the top of your blog-page. Underneath the slide(s) for each entertaining delight that you discover, you will find a clickable link that lets you easily explore a more widespread collection of wonderments (verse, photos, wordplay, song-lyrics etc.) on the topic of your choice. 

b) Today's Offering (Feb 22, 2024): 


 oyster-roast nostalgia 
     
seafood; oyster clusters; Mt. Pleasant; South Carolina; Giorgio Coniglio

Elegant table service at an outdoor charity event:
 Steamed oyster clusters


 garden tour docents 

gardens; docent; Giorgio Coniglio

February 21, 2024

FEB 21, birdlore, Blue Jays' mascot

   a) Reprise of material posted on February 21 in previous years ...


2020: American satire, revision of NAFTA (poem)
2021: pandemic poetry, 2 contagiously funny verses (poems) 
2022: trace minerals and vitamins, vit A deficiency (poem)
2023: curtained verse, ho -- give it a go (poem)

To access the details of any item in slide format, type its title, as displayed above in red font (e.g. ... vit A deficiency), into one of the two search bars at the the top of your blog-page. Underneath the slide(s) for each entertaining delight that you discover, you will find a clickable link that lets you easily explore a more widespread collection of wonderments (verse, photos, wordplay, song-lyrics etc.) on the topic of your choice. 

b) Today's Offering (Feb 21, 2024): 


 birdie-pic (from last summer) 


blue jay




February 20, 2024

FEB 20, singable satire: Tom Lehrer sings "NO ELEMENTS"

  a) Reprise of material posted on February 20 in previous years ...

2020: singable satire, Constantinopolis (parody lyrics)
2021: singable satire, Formulaic ..Legalistic Doublets (parody lyrics) 
2022: singable satire, Mergerwocky (parody lyrics)
2023: singable satire, Dark Schemes, Russian hacking (parody lyrics)

To access the details of any item in slide format, type its title, as displayed above in red font (e.g. ... George), into one of the two search bars at the the top of your blog-page. Underneath the slide(s) for each entertaining delight that you discover, you will find a clickable link that lets you easily explore a more widespread collection of wonderments (verse, photos, wordplay, song-lyrics etc.) on the topic of your choice. 

b) Today's Offering (Feb 20, 2024): 



PARODY-LYRICS

ORIGINAL SONG: "The Elements", a parody by Tom Lehrer,1959. 
PARODY COMPOSED: "No Elements", Giorgio Coniglio, a patter-song based on examples of the third declension of Latin nouns, April 2013. A decade later, it might be worthwhile to review these lyrics once more!

EXPLANATION: Lehrer had adapted the tune of "The Major General's Song" from Gilbert and Sullivan's "Pirates of Penzance". There are 3 somewhat different melodies/chord-sequences used in alteration through the GandS song, and in Lehrer's derived take-off.

PARODY SONGLINK: You can view the lyrics for "No Elements" with chord indications for ukulele or guitar, if you wish to accompany your singing of these lines. But warning! It is not an easy task, particularly the singing part! Click HERE.




NO ELEMENTS          


(to the tune of "The Elements")    




Singable Introduction:
Tom Lehrer became a legend with his scientific patter-song,
More popular and loved than his unpublished “Anti-Matter Song”;
Enhancing humdrum discourse, just to quote his ode lends elegance
To conversation thrumming with the spectrum of the Elements.
  
We face this glum conundrum as alumni of Philology:
Lay-folk would like a list replete with Latin etymology
The possibilities for neutral nouns in -U-M loom awesome;
No need to invoke hokum terms like tantrum or opossum, chum.


Most names for elements are
 neutral Latin nouns


The Roman empire included England


  
A famous building in Rome


      




 













Patter-Song Lyrics:
There’s atrium, asylum, arboretum, auditorium
Compendium and modicum and rostrum, crematorium
And coliseum, quantum, condominium, euphonium
And album, acetabulum, museum, pandemonium.
            
There’s maximum and minimum and optimum and medium
And opium, opprobrium, colloquium and tedium
Colostrum, serum, sputum, sebum, nostrum and meconium
And sternum, talcum, labium, ovum, spermatogonium.  

Caladium, nasturtium and laburnum and geranium
And sacrum, c(a)ecum, ischium and tympanum and cranium
Consortium, memorandum, and symposium and podium
Desideratum, datum, vacuum, ultimatum, odium.

There’s pablum, perineum, paramecium, petroleum
And locum and inoculum, lyceum and linoleum
A few English words ending in -UM
 are not of Latin origin
And tritium, deuterium, trapezium and trillium
Mycelium, flagellum, endothelium and cilium.

There’s quorum and decorum, mausoleum, moratorium
And premium, per-annum, honorarium, emporium
And pendulum and forum, fulcrum, speculum, bacterium
And cerebellum, plenum, sum, curriculum, delirium.

Gymnasium and stadium and magnum and terrarium
Solarium, momentum, myocardium, aquarium
And scrotum and factotum and postpartum and continuum
And duodenum, referendum, rectum and residuum.

Addendum #1
There's stratum, alum, allium, alluvium et alia,
And mom's pouch called marsupium, but mostly in Australia.

Addendum #2
To plural them, heads swirling them, “What single rule? - please answer, Pa”.
My dictum, “Don’t inflict ‘em with erratums or chrysanthema !”