NOV 30, singable satire, original lyrics: "TTC VOICES"

 Today's Offering (Feb 20, 2025):  SINGABLE SATIRE

ORIGINAL SONG (music and lyrics)

MELODY: generic railway song (chorus similar to "New River Train")

LYRICS: Giorgio Coniglio, January 2013; performed at the Corktown Ukulele Jam. 

 PAODY-SONGLINK: To find ukulele and guitar chord-charts to help you accompany "TTC VOICES" on your favorite instrument, click HERE.

GLOSSARY of TORONTO INTERSECTIONS:
AVenue Rd and DAVenport Rd 
CARLeton St and PARLiament St
GERrard St and SHERbourne St
YORK St and Queen's QUAY
KEELE St and STEELES Ave
UNIVERSITY Avenue and COLLEGE St.
KING St and QUEEN St, main streets that run parallel through the downtown, then intersect where they cross the Don River

TTC VOICES  

(Chorus)
We're riding the Red Rocket - TTC
It's the urban transportation mode for me.
When I die, don't make a fuss

Waive the hearse I'll take the bus !
I'm a discount-senior transit devotee.

(Voice #1)
Near my penthouse flat at Av and Dav
Castled hills and toney shops and trats are what you have.
To avoid those traffic fines,
I speed up Spadina Line,
 And save my dime for trips to Waikiki.

(Chorus) 
We're riding the Red Rocket  - TTC
It's the trusted transportation grid for me.
I would only jump on GO
To get west past Mimico
I'm a discount-senior transit devotee.

(Voice #2)
Beside the hillside farm at Carl and Parl 
Where streetcars veer toward the Valley, squeal but seldom snarl
As at other petting zoos
You'll hear bleats neighs, oinks and moos
But look down and see stalled traffic from afar.

(Chorus)        
We're riding the Red Rocket - TTC
It's the urban transportation mode for me.
I would only take a cab
To get laid out on a slab
I'm a discount-senior transit devotee.

(Voice #3)
I camp out in the park near Ger and Sher
Where what we smoke and drink and introduce ain't always pure.
I can't dance that shelter jive,
I'm just trying to survive,
Please spare me change for lunch and TTC.

(Chorus)
We poor folks, we may still need to commute,
Though paying higher mil-rates you taxpayers may not suit -
Homeless, school-kids, unemployed,
Nanny for great-uncle Floyd,
 We're all discount urban transit devotees. 

(Voice #4)
I perch above the Lake at York and Quay (kway? kwhy?) 
Where yachts are docked you see so many towers block the sky,
Angels, Orioles, Jays and owls
Watch for Sky-Dome balls hit foul,
While the Mariners, Rays and Pirates sail the seas (the harbour?)

(Chorus)
We're riding the Red Rocket - TTC
It's the urban transportation mode for me.
I could start up my old tank,
But I'd rather walk the plank,
Or even watch old ballgames on TV.

(Voice #5)
Back home in my large garage near Keele and Steeles
Where life, as it rolls on, is sure dependent on 4 wheels;
SUVs and mowing grass,
I could use relief from gas,
Earth and I would fare much better - TTC.

(Chorus)
You too could ride Red Rocket into town.
It's the eco-friendly way to keep those greenhouse gases down.
You'll reduce your income tax,
Just submit your Metro-Pass
Labelled " new suburban subway devotee"

(Voice #6)
It's our Physics lunch at University--
College-cars accelerate, but seldom approach 'c'.
 We learn "Think, therefore I am",
Munch your sandwich on the tram,
It's where Einstein dreamed up relativity.
   
(Chorus) 
Looking down the track what can we see?
A better system for posterity.
We should work on frequent trains, 
And forget the 'gravy-stains',
Let's perfect our city's gem, the TTC.

(Voice #7)
My Queen-, your King sees how it ought to be,
It's signed and sealed and witnessethed in my last Will-and-T,
When my time is done and gone,
Strew my ashes cross the Don,
Donate my last token to the TTC.

(Chorus)
We're riding the Red Rocket - TTC
It's the urban transportation mode for you and you and me.
When we die, don't make a fuss
Waive the hearse; we'll take the bus !
We're all discount-senior transit devotees.

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NOV 29, folio-entry, couples: bust of lovers

 

You can view all of our folio-photos from the collection of 'Couples' portraits in a wider context on our full-service blog "Edifying Nonsense". Click HERE.

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NOV 25, submitted palindromes, RANDOM PILES 47

 

You have reached the "Submitted Palindromes" thread on the blog "Daily Edifying Nonsense", a light literary entity that emanated through the blogosphere daily (almost), i.e. 30 times per month. Unfortunately, due to advancing age and other limitations, the frequency of posting on this site has been reduced to 15x times per month as of 2025.

  On the 25th of each month you will still 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. The personal profiles for each of these contributors are displayed 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", continuing with other well-known phrases, such as "Dennis sinned". Otherwise, their contribution will be grouped in monthly 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 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. 

NOV 21, ambulatory verse: amble

 a) Reprise of material posted on January 10 in previous years ...

2020: exotic destinations, Chemainus, BC (poem - 'brief saga')
2021: Italian loanwords, Italian treats (poem - 'brief saga') 
2022: pill-poppin' poems, drug development (poem - 'brief saga')
2023: pandemic poetry, squid in the time of COVID (poem - 'brief saga')

 

Authors' Note:  Hot to trot is an intriguing established idiom, as reflected by its many tribute-verses, such as this one. 

Not to trot, a variant employed in the above verse's final line, has received considerably less attention.

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NOV 13, Canadiana: Alberta dinosaurs

Authors' Note: The above poem was inspired by recent newspaper articles reporting that there are places in Canada where people approve of the comments and attitudes of the current US president, despite widespread national disapproval.

Drumheller, a town of some 8,000 inhabitants located 110 km northeast of Calgary, has a number of distinctive features. Once the largest coal-producing site in western Canada, it can boast, due to aggressive amalgamation with neighboring communities, its status as the largest "city" geographically in the oil-rich prairie province of Alberta. Located two hours drive from Dinosaur Provincial Park, Drumheller's Royal Tyrrell Museum of Paleontology has the largest collection of fossils in Canada, and the town vaunts this tourist attraction with a fiberglass statue of a Tyrannosaurus rex measuring over 80 feet in height.

Binomial Linnaean names for extinct species can be a source of confusion, and that is certainly the case in this instance. But many experts apparently feel that the Tyrannosaurus rex is equivalent to the Tyrannosaurus rump (T. rump), and that the genus-name Trumposaurus may represent a preferable designation for the fearsome predator.  _______________________________________________________________________

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NOV 11, stand on guard (Canada): tariff terror

 

too late!

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NOV 11, at heart: atrial fibrillation

 

Authors' Note: Atrial fib, also abbreviated to a-fib or AF, is medical jargon for atrial fibrillation. Causes for AF include various heart and lung conditions, particularly valvular heart disease, but half of cases occur spontaneously.

AF may be symptomatic or not, and may be intermittent rather than sustained, particularly in its earlier phase. In any case, it is associated with the formation of clots in the atria of the heart, leading to an increased risk of brain stroke, caused by emboli.

To reduce the risk of stroke, patients with AF may be asked to take blood thinners for life.    

You can view more poems on this topic by proceeding to "Cardiologic Tracings: AT HEART" (parts #1 and #2) on our full-service blog "Edifying Nonsense". Click HERE!

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NOV 9, selected pics: black-capped night heron in wind

NOV 8, selected pics: 1-hour breath-taking visit to Switzerland

 

These photo were obtained just after sunset, somewhere between Barcelona and Frankfurt.

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NOV 7, basic medical science: horseshoe kidney (congenital malformation)

Authors' Note: Horseshoe kidney is a relatively common congenital malformation, occurring in 1/500 individuals. Also known as renal fusion, it results from the merging of two fetal kidneys in the pelvis during the stage of embryonic organ development and consequently failing to undertake their normal upward migration. Fortunately, health consequences are usually mild, if any; occasionally, one of the ureters becomes obstructed. The abnormal structure is often discovered incidentally during procedures, e.g. CT scanning or ultrasound, targeted at pelvic discomfort or unrelated symptoms (and of course, no normal kidneys are seen in their usual position).

Readers can enjoy our whole collection of verses devoted to "basic medical science" by clicking HERE. 

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NOV 5, bar-fauna: lack of enlightenment

 

If you liked this offering, you might want to refer to our entire collection of verses about human and animal denizens of bars, pubs and other watering-holes. Click HERE.

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NOV 3, bi-lyrical limerick: 'disparity' (daughter and son)

poetry lyrics:/ A daughter they had (and a son):/ She loved water, (but he sailed for fun)./
She would swim (while he'd boat),/ More than him (while he'd gloat),/
A shy otter (his exploits would stun)./ She's a potter (for office, he'll run)./
Is this 'nature', or 'nurture', or none?

Be sure to check out the whole collection of 'bi-lyrical limericks' by proceeding to "Edifying Nonsense." CLICK HERE ! 

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