JUL 28, Founding Fathers

 

TODAY'S POEM ('senryu' *) 

 

leadership enforced

by presidential lawsuits -- 

Founding Fathers weep.

 

Giorgio Coniglio

* learn more HERE about "senryu", a term that designates a lesser-known Japanese short poem that shares the physical characteristics of haiku (nominally 17 'on' / syllables in three non-rhyming lines), but deals in a satiric or humorous way with human foibles rather than with Nature. 

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JUL 25, submitted palindromes: RANDOM PILES 59

   

 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.

You can access this delightful entertainment right here 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, OR, just follow the links indicated above. 

Devotees of palindromic wordplay can further explore limericks and other short verses about the classic palindromes (and quite a few recent concoctions) that are randomly scattered on this blog after September 2000, or collected into grouped postings on our more scholarly blog "Edifying Nonsense" -- start HERE.  

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 OR, go back to the latest post on this blogsite ("Elegy to Tom Lehrer") HERE. 

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JUL 22, transparent motive

 

TODAY'S POEM ('senryu' *) 

transparent motive:

cut Medic- and foreign aid -- 

leave more for the rich.

Giorgio Coniglio

* learn more HERE about "senryu", a term that designates a lesser-known Japanese short poem that shares the physical characteristics of haiku (nominally 17 'on' / syllables in three non-rhyming lines), but deals in a satiric or humorous way with human foibles rather than with Nature. 

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OR, go back to the latest post on this blogsite ("Elegy to Tom Lehrer") HERE.

 If you aren't on the 'web-version', you can get there by clicking that choice ('view web-version') at the very bottom of this blog-page! 

JUL 20, #singable satire: "NARY AN ELEMENT", elegy for incomparable satirist Tom Lehrer

PARODY-LYRICS

MUSICAL UNDERPINNINGS: "The Elements", a popular parody by Tom Lehrer, 1959, a song whose peculiarities are explained in the Wikipedia article. 

PARODY COMPOSED: "Nary An Element", Giorgio Coniglio, 2013 --  a patter-song that borrows the tune and musical style of Lehrer's song, but with lyrics consisting of  examples of the third declension of Latin nouns,  a group of 'neutral' (non-gendered) names that are often absorbed as loanwords directly into English. Such nouns, numbering a few hundred, typically ending in -ium or -um, impart a classic or formal tone into discussions. 

Giorgio's spoof lists more than a hundred of these formal-sounding terms, were incorporated into lyrics that were posted on the online parody-lyrics site "AmIRight" in 2014 HERE. A decade later, it might be worthwhile to review these lyrics again!

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 spoof.

The names of the chemical elements have been heavily influenced by the classics, with more than half derived directly from the Latin third declension forms, e.g. sodium, platinum. Lehrer's lyrics, consisting of a somewhat random list of the names of the known chemical elements highlights these forms, that may seem 'foreign' to non-chemists, e.g. scandium, tantalum.

Giorgio's lyrics, also a somewhat random list, honours the broader spectrum of third declension Latin nouns that have infiltrated our formal language, with particular involvement of areas such as law, mathematics, medicine, biology and architecture.  As Lehrer had adequately covered the chemistry territory, such elements were not included in Giorgio's take, accounting for the title "No Elements".  

UKULELE and GUITAR-FRIENDLY LINK: Our whole series of songs can be found in a friendly format for ukulele (and guitar)-players on our sister blog "SILLY SONGS and SATIRE" with chord-charts for both the parody and original song, as well as helpful performing suggestions. 

To find ukulele chord-charts to help you accompany "NO ELEMENTS", click HERE.

But warning! It is not an easy task, particularly the singing part! 

NO ELEMENTS          

(to the tune of Lehrer's "The Elements")    

Tom Lehrer became a legend with his scientific patter-song...

These lyrics have been moved, along with ukulele chord suggestions, to a posting on our song-blog "Silly Songs and Satire".

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OR, back up one step to see the photo-collage posted July 19 HERE.

If you aren't on the 'web-version', you can get there by clicking that choice ('view web-version') at the very bottom of this blog-page! 

JUL 19, photo-collage: talking heads ('lower' creatures), G to Z

 

 This tongue-in-cheek collection is a followup to earlier series  "Talking Heads, avian" (6 blogposts), and "Talking Heads, mammalian" (3 blogposts). A hundred mavens from various portions of the animal kingdom have been involved altogether. 

All the photos were taken by our registered pseudonym Giorgio,  using his i-phone camera. Most of the sites were in "the wild"; a minority of the photos were taken at zoos, refuges and aquariums (and a few were captured in his library). None of the subjects were reimbursed for participation, and the natural aspect of the encounters was respected wherever possible. None of the subjects were abused in any way, although a few did become anxious at our presence, altering their routines to "take off".  

Click HERE if you want to return to the beginning of the whole series.

The present group of participants includes well-known personalities from the communities of reptiles, amphibians and fish.

prior reptilian, amphibian and piscine participants (June 19 -- click HERE): alligator (juvenile), American toad, bearded dragon, broad-headed skink, burrfish, Carolina green anole, copperhead snake, five-lined skink, French angelfish.

CURRENT PARTICIPANTS: gator (adult), ghost crab, green chameleon, green treefrog, koi, komodo dragon, lionfish, longnose gar, southern toad, turtle.

alli__gator (adult)

ghost crab

green chameleon

green treefrog

koi

Komodo dragon (Toronto Zoo)

lionfish (toxic, invasive)

longnose gar

southern toad

turtle (red slider)

Click here if you would like to go back and review the entire series of "talking heads", starting with avian talking heads.

Readers who would like further information on the subjects, locales or technique of these photos are asked to leave a query in the Comments section. 

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OR, go back to the latest post on this blogsite ("Elegy to Tom Lehrer") HERE.

 

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JUL 18, dabbling ***

TODAY'S POEM ('senryu' *) 

"dabbling" -- upended

ducks, swans, geese and poets probe 

beneath the surface.

Giorgio Coniglio

 

* learn more HERE about "senryu", a term that designates a lesser-known Japanese short poem that shares the physical characteristics of haiku (nominally 17 'on' / syllables in three non-rhyming lines), but deals in a satiric or humorous way with human foibles rather than with Nature. 

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To navigate around the 2,000 posts on this blog's web-version, scroll downwards until you get to a widget with a clickable SUMMARY OF CONTENTS BY DATE displayed with blue fonts. the most recent are at the top; the oldest at the bottom of the list. Then just click on any year or month to view the detailed contents.

 

OR, go back to the most recent post on this blogsite (elegy to Tom Lehrer) HERE.

If you aren't on the 'web-version', you can get there by clicking that choice ('view web-version') at the very bottom of this blog-page!  

IMPORTANT NOTICE: 

The editors find it necessary to announce to our public (admittedly only a few handfuls of readers) that this blog, having communicated our offbeat, sometimes bizarre and possibly entertaining thoughts for 2,000 episodes (30 per month since January, 2020), will be drawing to a close. We have been "dismissed"; there are no replacements to be engaged, and our "show" in its present form will be discontinued immediately. Thus, there will be no new postings after July 20, although we will hang around for a couple months, and fill a few remaining old 'post-holes' (i.e. some twenty 'missing' or duplicate emanations), tidy our punctuation, revitalize some 'dead' links, concoct a few summaries reviewing our material, and finish the chord charts for playing our parody-songs. 

Thank you, It's been fun!!! 

Giorgio and Dr GH 

JUL 16, plaster preferences

 

TODAY'S POEM (senryu *) 

 

outdated ceilings --

"popcorn" easily went up,

messily comes down.

Giorgio Coniglio

* learn more HERE about senryu, a lesser-known Japanese short poem that shares the physical characteristics of haiku (nominally 17 'on' / syllables in three non-rhyming lines), but deals in a satiric or humorous way with human foibles rather than with Nature. 

 Readers might enjoy an earlier verse, dealing with extensive popcorn ceilings at a different location. Click HERE.

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 OR, go back to the latest post on this blogsite ("Elegy to Tom Lehrer") HERE. 

 

If you aren't on the 'web-version', you can get there by clicking that choice ('view web-version') at the very bottom of this blog-page! 

JUL 13, implication

 

TODAY'S POEM ('senryu' *) 

 

late pederast's file

evokes bitter contention.

Who has been involved?

Giorgio Coniglio

* learn more HERE about "senryu", a term that designates a lesser-known Japanese short poem that shares the physical characteristics of haiku (nominally 17 'on' / syllables in three non-rhyming lines), but deals in a satiric or humorous way with human foibles rather than with Nature. 

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OR, go back to the most recent post on this blogsite (elegy to Tom Lehrer) HERE.

If you aren't on the 'web-version', you can get there by clicking that choice ('view web-version') at the very bottom of this blog-page! 

JUL 10, green anoles

TODAY'S POEM (senryu *) 

 

wise lizards welcome

(unlike short-sighted leaders)

persons of colour.

Giorgio Coniglio

* learn more HERE about senryu, a lesser-known Japanese short poem that shares the physical characteristics of haiku (nominally 17 'on' / syllables in three non-rhyming lines), but deals in a satiric or humorous way with human foibles rather than with Nature. 

You can find many more pictures of these cute little tree-lizards by clicking to links for blogged photo-collages HERE (suburban neighbours), HERE (pole-dancer), and HERE (coloration), among others.

There are also other illustrated poems --  HERE (dewlaps), HERE ("going green"), HERE ("skink-busting") and HERE ("patrolling").

Or, you could review photos and illustrated herpetologic verses in a wider context by proceeding to 'Verses about Reptiles' (ophidiophobics, don't worry!  no snake-photos)' on the full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense'.

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To navigate around the 2,000 posts on this blog ("Daily Illustrated Nonsense", or D.I.N.), 

be sure you are on the web-version, 

scroll downwards until you get to a widget with a clickable SUMMARY OF CONTENTS BY DATE displayed with blue fonts -- the most recent are at the top; the oldest at the bottom of the list. Then, just click on any year or month to view the detailed contents -- illustrated short humorous poems, wordplay, parody song-lyrics, funky photos, etc. 

 OR, go back to the latest post on this blogsite ("Elegy to Tom Lehrer") HERE. 

 

If you aren't on the 'web-version', you can get there by clicking that choice ('view web-version') at the very bottom of this blog-page! 

JUL 7, remembrance of Lillian

 

TODAY'S POEM (senryu *) 

Remembering Lil:

friendships, family, knowledge --

mother's legacy.

Giorgio Coniglio

* learn more HERE about senryu, a term that designates a lesser-known Japanese short poem that shares the physical characteristics of haiku (nominally 17 'on' / syllables in three non-rhyming lines), but deals in a satiric or humorous way with human foibles rather than with Nature. 

 Readers can check out more memorabilia by clicking HERE and HERE.

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 OR, go back to the latest post on this blogsite ("Elegy to Tom Lehrer") HERE. 

If you aren't on the 'web-version', you can get there by clicking that choice ('view web-version') at the very bottom of this blog-page! 

JUL 4, portable dehumidifiers

 

TODAY'S POEM (senryu *) 

these days, need service? 

old dehumidifier --

purchase a new one.

Giorgio Coniglio

* learn more HERE about senryu, a term that designates a lesser-known Japanese short poem that shares the physical characteristics of haiku (nominally 17 'on' / syllables in three non-rhyming lines), but deals in a satiric or humorous way with human foibles rather than with Nature.  

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To navigate around the 2,000 posts on this blog ("Daily Illustrated Nonsense", or D.I.N.), be sure you are on the web-version, scroll downwards until you get to a widget with a clickable SUMMARY OF CONTENTS BY DATE displayed with blue fonts -- the most recent are at the top; the oldest at the bottom of the list. Then, just click on any year or month to view the detailed contents -- illustrated short humorous poems, wordplay, parody song-lyrics, funky photos, etc. 

 OR, go back to the latest post on this blogsite ("Elegy to Tom Lehrer") HERE. 

If you aren't on the 'web-version', you can get there by clicking that choice ('view web-version') at the very bottom of this blog-page! 

JUL 1, Canada Day

TODAY'S POEM (senryu' *) 

North America's

Best part is quietly 'woke'.

Touché, Canada !

Giorgio Coniglio

you might also want to check out another recent verse on this topic.

* learn more HERE about senryu, a term that designates a lesser-known Japanese short poem that shares the physical characteristics of haiku (nominally 17 'on' / syllables in three non-rhyming lines), but deals in a satiric or humorous way with human foibles rather than with Nature. 

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READY TO SEE MORE ?

To navigate around the 2,000 posts on this blog ("Daily Illustrated Nonsense", or D.I.N.), be sure you are on the web-version, scroll downwards until you get to a widget with a clickable SUMMARY OF CONTENTS BY DATE displayed with blue fonts -- the most recent are at the top; the oldest at the bottom of the list. Then, just click on any year or month to view the detailed contents -- illustrated short humorous poems, wordplay, parody song-lyrics, funky photos, etc. 

 OR, go back to the latest post on this blogsite ("Elegy to Tom Lehrer") HERE. 

If you aren't on the 'web-version', you can get there by clicking that choice ('view web-version') at the very bottom of this blog-page!