MAR 31, lowcountry excursion: Brookgreen Gardens, SC

The largest sculpture garden in the United States, Brookgreen Gardens  was founded in 1931; it has on display some 1500 outdoor sculptures in an incredible natural setting located at Murrells Inlet, South Carolina. 

visit to Brookgreen Gardens, South Carolina

"The Saint James Triad", bronze sculpture 1997,
Richard McDermott Miller 

"Torse de Femme", limestone sculpture 1989,
David Klass

"Time and the Fates of Man", bronze 1939,
Paul Manship

visitor admiring Spanish moss

a quiet, floral corner

"Pegasus", granite 1954,
Laura Gardin Fraser

"Girl with Squirrel", 
Sylvia Shaw Judson

"Diana of the Chase", bronze 1922,
Anna Hyatt Huntington

Other Brookgreen Gardens statuary has been used to illustrate a number of verses and song-lyrics on this blog-site. Interested readers might want to review. ..

"Egad! No bondage!" verse, Terminal (poetic) exclamation  

"Three Bears in our Hot-Tub", parody-song lyrics, link available after April 30, 2024.

"Leda and the Swan", verse, Mythed opportunities

"Aurora and Tithonus", verse, Mythed opportunities

MAR 30 (2024), singable satire: James Taylor sings "BABY JAMES SUITE"

 

PARODY-LYRICS 

ORIGINAL SONG: "Sweet Baby James",  by James Taylor. The song was presumably composed during a winter car-trip that Taylor made from Boston to North Carolina for the christening of Baby James, his nephew, and the first of a new generation in the Taylor family.   

PARODY COMPOSED: Giorgio Coniglio, September 2013 (despite its name it contains only a single song). It was added to Giorgio's original blog "Giorgio's Ukable Parodies" as his fourteenth parody-song.

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

BABY JAMES SUITE

(to the tune of "Sweet Baby James") 

A young lonely ranch-hand takes shape in James’ mind 

As he slows behind snow-ploughs, quick-naps at a Daze-Inn;

Then he steers through clear traffic, babe-nephew to christen,

And blows past green road-signs to North Carolin’.

  

While musing o’er hues in his faux-cowboy’s scarf

Far-off plays this tune which we all know as fine,

A choir, disembodied, seems mainly to laugh,

And he ponders, horse-powering across the state line

As the moon starts her upward incline.

Slow-down for road construction,

Day-dreaming beer and old flames.

Surgical blues aren’t the colors to choose -

We’re glad he must have stopped for caffeine:

Deep Greens/Blues,
fiber-art courtesy  RCH

His fans adore Sweet Baby James.

Now the Great Lakes on Monday were dreary with snow,
And so per my e-mails were D.C. and Boston;

Lord, their Dad’s prone to SAD by account of our offspring,

Most worklife behind me, a few winter months to go.

There’s an earworm that plays when I’m stuck in the sigh-way

 A sad song contrived on a drive by “JT”,

A song we’ll escape where old fogeys retire,

We’ll unsaddle that song and its two puzzling themes

When we take to our place near the sea.

So Ciao, frozen char from the Arctic

Hey there! fresh flounder and grits.

The earworm is shared by a workmate named Shaun

Who helps shake me out of my sad fits:

We’re both great fans of Sweet Baby James.

MAR 29, mammalian wildlife: Geebo's angwantibo

 

a) reprise from March 2020:

MAR 29, mammalian wildlife: Geebo's angwantibo

Keep more to yourself for a while, wash your hands frequently, remember to laugh on occasion, and stay well!

Authors' Note:  The angwantibo (an-GWAN-tee-boh) or golden potto, Calabar angwantibo, is a small golden-haired primate inhabiting parts of Central Africa, including the country of Gabon. It undertakes its propagation rituals while hanging from tree-branches. The results of attempts at such matings by unskilled participants are unrecorded.

  To some readers the name Geebo may seem unlikely, but the author assures you that for the first twenty years of his life this nickname (one of the few of which he approved) was in common use, at least by his siblings; it is still used occasionally in close circles.

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 !

b) 

MAR 27, Charleston garden: gazebos

a) reprise from March 2020:

MAR 27, the Charleston garden: gazebos

You can review these illustrated verses in a wider context by proceeding to 'Poetry Praising the Charleston Garden' on the full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense'.

b) 

 

MAR 26, postal places, Canada: Whistler, BC

Authors' Note: BC is the official abbreviation for the Canadian province of British Columbia in which the resort-municipality of Whistler, permanent population 14,000, is located. Two million tourists visit Whistler annually for winter alpine sports, and for the summer pastimes of hiking and mountain biking.

Prior to European settlement, the site was the shared territory of the Squamish and Lil'wat First Nations. Trappers and prospectors were gradually attracted, but completion of the Pacific Great Eastern Railway in 1914 provided easy access from Vancouver, and brought logging and escalating tourism. The resort-city is named for the call of the hoary marmot, a ground squirrel dwelling at high elevations. The Whistler-Blackcomb area served as a major venue for "Vancouver 2010", the twenty-first Olympic Winter Games.

 

You can read more about the hoary marmot in another of our verses HERE.

At one swell foop, 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 !

 

MAR 25, holidays and celebrations: Greek Evzones (Greek Independence Day)

a) reprise from March 2020:

MAR 25, holidays and celebrations: Greek Independence Day

 

Authors' Note:

evzone: (EHV-zohn, anglicized form), member of an elite unit drawn from the Hellenic Army Infantry Corps

Grand Change: a more elaborate version of the hourly changing of the guard that takes place on Sunday mornings at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Athens' Syntagma Square, providing a popular photo-op for locals and tourists

Kleft (KLEHFT): Greek fighter in the War of Independence

fustanella: kilt made from 30 meters of white cotton, supposedly with 400 pleats to represent each of the years of Ottoman occupation. 

Greek natives, members of the diaspora and general enthusiasts might also enjoy our collection of illustrated verses on the subject of "Hellenophilia".  

b) 

MAR 24, palinku (poetic novelty): two more verses about partying

 

(Ed. note) Verses of this type have continued to proliferate, and the total now exceeds 50. You can view them all at one swoop if you proceed with a single click to our more encyclopedic blog "Edifying Nonsense". Click HERE.

MAR 23, defining opinion: honorifics

 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.

MAR 22, life in Palindrome Valley: politics

You can review other illustrated verses on this topic by proceeding to the collection 'Life in Palindrome Valley' on our full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense'.

to continue daily titillations: BE SURE TO BOOKMARK THIS SITE!

MAR 21, Carolina lowcountry: springtime excursion (reprise)

 

a) reprise from March 2020:

MAR 17, Carolina lowcountry: springtime excursions

"Nice hot street pavement for sunning"
(Eastern painted turtle)

immature white ibis (less than two years)
Note the duller color of the bill and legs
and the brown-black body feathers
 versus its older companions

early azalea blooms

great egret in the reeds

evening view from Shem Creek Park

                                                                 

b)                

                                                                                     

MAR 20 (2024), singable satire: Elvis sings "RETURN TO 'SURRENDER' "

 PARODY-LYRICS

ORIGINAL SONG: "Torna a Surriento"; E. DeCurtis(music), G. DeCurtis(lyrics), 1902 

PARODY COMPOSED: Giorgio Coniglio, February, 2013. the thirteenth song posted on "Giorgio's Ukable Parodies", the original parody-blog.
PARODY-SONGLINK: To access ukulele and guitar chord-charts to help you accompany "Return to 'Surrender' " on your favorite instrument, click HERE.


The wonderful original song, written in Neapolitan, has been recorded by Caruso, Lanza, Pavarotti, and Bocelli among others. Its famous English knock-off, "Surrender" written by Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman in 1961 was widely popularized by Elvis Presley.
For this parody, the difficult words in Neapolitan have been replaced by names of Presley songs and movies.
The few remaining words are similar to modern Italian and readily understood. 
e = and
guarda = see
io = I

ma = but
'o = the 
tu dice = you say

STUCK ON ELVIS

(to the tune of "Torna A Surriento" - Return to Sorrento)

Vide ‘o movie Blue Hawaii 

Moonlight Swim e Aloha ‘Oe….

One Night, e Hawaiian Wedding

Io Can’t Help Falling In Love.

Guarda, gua’ Viva Las Vegas:

Santa Lucia, Tutti Frutti,
Bello Yellow Rose of Texas,

I Need Somebody to Lean On.

E tu dice "Please Surrender"
Stuck on You e Love Me Tender,(ma)

Girls, Girls, Girls, It's Now or Never.

You Gotta Stop  Your Cheating Heart.

  

Ma Don’t Be Cruel;
All Shook Up,  Cryin’ in the Chapel !

Return To Se-e-ender……

Heartbreak Ho-tel !

MAR 19, wordplay maps: American Scramble-towns 3,4

 

a) reprise from March 2020

MAR 20, wordplay maps: American Scramble-towns 3,4

Who would ever have guessed? It turns out that an unparalleled word in generating anagrams (letter scrambles) is P-A-L-I-N-D-R-O-M-E-S. We have taken advantage of that property to create this unique series of wordplay maps of imaginary American (and Canadian) locales, each one completed by its official two-letter state (or provincial) abbreviation.

 

LINKS:

Forward to U.S.A. map#5

Back to U.S.A. map #1

Let's skip all this stuff and get on to the Canadian version, eh? (stay tuned!)

b) 

MAR 18, poets' corner: blogosphere

 

MAR 17, Charleston garden: tractor-seat plant

 

a) reprise from March 2020

MAR 21, the Charleston garden: tractor-seat plant (Farfugium)

You can review these illustrated verses in a wider context by proceeding to 'Poetry Praising the Charleston Garden' on the full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense'. Click HERE!

b) 

MAR 16, American satire: intelligence

 

a) reprise from February 2020

FEB 3, American satire: intelligence (Californians)

Authors' Note:  In the midst of the Trump-Russia investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller in February 2018, Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee issued the 'Nunes Memo', a four-page document that alleged that the FBI had conspired against President Donald Trump.

   Nunes has proceeded in the same vein in his later career, organizing the Republican Party’s role in the politically-charged 2019 House of Representatives Judiciary Committee’s impeachment hearings, as the Ranking Minority Member. 

 We hope that you enjoyed this verse. You can find 40 more on this topic in 5 collections on our full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense'. Click HERE to start! 

c) current birdie-pic

red-bellied woodpecker

MAR 15, lowcountry excursions: early spring in coastal Carolina