APR 4, excursions: around Monterey and Carmel

selfie at Monterey hotel with large palm tree

old theatre with whalebone decor

old whaling station, Monterey 

old codger with old wisteria vine, old Monterey

view of Fisherman's Wharf, Monterey

view from Fisherman's Wharf

view from Fisherman's Wharf

 

wall art, Cannery Row district, Monterey

Basilica at Carmel Mission

bird-of-paradise plant,
Carmel Mission

fantasy house, Carmel

APR 3, birdlore: turkey on the roof (Berkeley)

 

TURKEY ON THE ROOF -- Berkeley, California

TURKEY FLIGHT

SUNSET, SHORTLY THEREAFTER

You can view an encyclopedic collection of illustrated poems on this topic by proceeding to the post 'Poems about BIRDLIFE' on our full-service blog "Edifying Nonsense". Click HERE.

APR 2, excursions: SF Bay, local wildlife

western fence lizard,
Pinnacles National Park

coot, 
Lake Merritt, Oakland 

 

black-capped night heron,
Lake Merritt, Oakland

hybrid duck (male),
Aquatic Park, Berkeley

greater scaup (male), 
Lake Merritt, Oakland

Canada goose,
Point Lobos Natural Reserve

wild turkey,
North Berkeley

turban snails, etc., in tidepool,
Asilomar State Park

cormorant and pelican rookery,
Point Lobos Natural Reserve

harbor seals (mother and pup),
Point Lobos Natural Reserve

flight of the hybrid duck,
Aquatic Park, Berkeley

California gull,
Moss Landing

APR 1, organic brain poetry: cerebral metastases

 

You can view and review all our verses on the topic of 'Organic Brain Poetry' by following this link to the encyclopedic collection on "Edifying Nonsense."

MAR 30, singable satire: "MACADAMIAS"

 PARODY-LYRICS

ORIGINAL SONG: "Desperado", The Eagles, 1973.

PARODY COMPOSED: Giorgio Coniglio, December 2014.

EXPLANATORY NOTE: 

On December 5, 2014 at JFK Airport,  Korean Air Flight 86 to Seoul returned to the gate before take-off. An executive vice president, also the daughter of Korean Air chairman Cho Yang-ho, had demanded the removal of a crew member from a flight for failing to serve macadamia nuts in a ramikin, rather than in a bag.
This episode provoked outrage concerning the ongoing role of the chaebol or family conglomerate in South Korean society. The CEO later appeared on television to apologize, announcing the dismissal of his daughter from further roles within the company.

MACADAMIAS

         

Macadamias, when they get served before take-off,          

It’s a breach you can’t  shake off -  in the bag’s a disgrace.  

Flight procedure - 

I know that you’ve checked the entry,

So do it correctly or

I’ll surely lose face.

Don’t offend the Inflight Service Veep

(Perhaps a tad unstable),

The CEO of airline is my Dad.

Now your manual lists how first-class snacks

Should be laid out on tray-tables -

But your short-cut variations make me mad.

Desp’rate outburst? No, it ain’t ‘cause I’m thirsty,

I’m pained that this purser

Won’t obey protocol.

And cockpit,  the cockpit follows my orders,

We’re delaying departure

Have them radio Control.

Though Daddy might apologize

If he feels this action’s not too wise,

We all must keep respect for Cho chaebol   

You’ll lose access to KA flights,

It ain’t funny, you’ll need days to get to Seoul.

 Macadamias, when they get snarfed on the runway,

 There’s only the one way, the bag just ain’t right. 

 It may be ‘nutrage’, but as the Airline’s chief nutcase, 

 And as Korean Airlines heiress,

 The airline-chief’s heiress,

 And as Korean Airlines heiress,

 I’m aborting this flight.

Mar 29, binomial phrases: "birds and bees"

  Another alliterative example ...

Authors' Note:  Birds and bees is an alliterative binomial phrase used here in a euphemistic sense.  The counterintuitive fact that MENses are a female function could make this poem a companion-piece to the authors' verse on gender-neutral language. 

 

To review the poetic effusion that we have accumulated about binomial phrases, proceed to our blog "Edifying Nonsense", and check out the post  'Grandpa Greg's Grammar: Binomial Expressions'.

 Click HERE !There is also an entire collection of lyrics to patter songs, somewhat older material, dedicated to various kinds of binomials, that provides more didactic material and an extensive series of examples, and allows you to sing these expressions for your own enjoyment, or for that of others around you. Click HERE !

A personal INVITATION: Come along, and enjoy our upcoming trip to California, starting tomorrow !!!

MAR 28, excursions: Berkeley, CA

 

Pictured at left, bottom row, is pride-of-Madeira, a beautiful, but invasive flowering shrub.

MAR 27, death and the afterlife: Will's last testament

 Author's Note:  Although the short forms 'Will' and 'Bill' may be casually interchanged as first names (short forms of ‘William’), the nouns 'will' (as in 'last will and testament') and 'bill' are generally used with more careful scrutiny. ‘Will’ and ‘testament’ being essentially synonyms, the expression is a prototypical example of the redundant binomial expressions that seem to be loved by lawyers.

 Subtle differences in the form of idioms may underwrite important differences in meaning. ‘At last’ and ‘at the last’ seem similar, but in fact their usage and meaning differs considerably.

 You can review more poems about 'Death and the Afterlife' in context ('death and the afterlife') on our full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense'. Click HERE!

Incidental photo:

 recently added signpost with directions for tourists ...

MAR 26, bar-fauna: at 'The Lizards' Lair'

BTW, should you ever need to log in directly to this blog, its simple address is...

daily.edifyingnonsense.com

(Just type that into your browser search-line.) But, here you are for today, so welcome aboard!

And, here's a photo of the barkeep; he's a fence-lizard, and a little vignette about this species can be found HERE.

                                                                   

photo info: Images of the anole, the skink and the fence lizard were recently captured by G.C. on his i-phone7 camera. 

If you liked this submission, 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.

MAR 25, 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!