MAY 20, singable satire: John Denver sings "INDIANA SONG"

SATIRE COMPOSED: Giorgio Coniglio, May 2018. Readers interested in this topic might also enjoy Giorgio's lyrics posted on these earlier blogposts...
Dark Schemes
Rosenstein
Brennan's Tweet 
"Get Me Roger Stone - the Song" 

ORIGINAL SONG:  "Annie's Song" by John Denver, 1974.

Enjoy Denver's recording HERE on Youtube. 

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

BACKGROUND INFO: George Will's opinion-editorial  was published in the Washington Post under the rubric "Trump is no longer the worst person in government". It appeared in our local newspaper on May 10, 2018, under the heading "Mike Pence sets sad standard for governing by groveling."

Here is the link to the particular newspaper column which generated all the interest.

INDIANA SONG

to the tune of "Annie's Song"

  

George Will writes Mike Pence sets
A 'sad standard for ... groveling',
Like at cabinet meetings
Where he's 'humbled' by Trump.
Using barbs like 'oleaginous', 
Like 'repulsive' and 'toady',
George fills up his column -- 
His disdain doesn't slump.

Then George targets invective
At Mike's praise for Arpaio,
At a rally in Tempe
Near the home of McCain.
George invokes Mike's 'vocation'
(Servile ingratiation)
And asks voters repudiate
That mob's M.A.G.A.* again.

*  Make America Great Again, slogan of the 2016 Republican campaign.

CAST OF CHARACTERS

George Will  'conservative political commentator' and popular columnist with the Washington Post Writer's Group.
Mike Pence  Vice-President 2017- . Previous experience as Republican governor of his home-state of Indiana. Described as 'conspicuously devout' by Will, presumably picked for his current post due to his freedom from financial or lifestyle imbroglios. 

Donald Trump  President, 2016-.

"Sheriff Joe" Arpaio   controversial local political figure in Arizona, self-styled as 'America's toughest sheriff', convicted of contempt of court in relation to repeated racially charged practices, 'pardoned' by Trump in 2017.
John McCain   high-profile long-serving senator from Arizona, Republican candidate for President in 2008, struggling with terminal brain cancer at the time of these events.

 

MAY 19, doctors and their practices: ex-hospital chief

You can view these informative verses in a wider context by proceeding to the collection 'DOCTORS and their PRACTICES' on our full-service blog "Edifying Nonsense". Click HERE!
 

links for any date: scroll over to the calendar-based listings of 'Past Posts' in the righthand column on this page, choose your year then month of interest, and then select (by clicking) the specific post of your choice. 

MAY 18, insects: gnats

Authors' Note:   The term 'gnat' can be used to described a variety of small, swarming flies. Owing to their small size, the sort that bite are often known as 'no see 'ums'. There is a companion piece to this verse 'gnat repellent' that extends the details of this topic.    

You can review Giorgio's other verses about pesty and occasionally beneficial insects, as  collected in 'Buzzwords: Verses about Insects' on the full-service blog "Edifying Nonsense". Click HERE.

MAY 17, palinku (poetic novelty): Dennis's ongoing sin

  In this post, we continue with a novel form of poetic wordplay. Inspired by Japanese haiku poetry, the new format is used for a terse verse with a total of 17 syllables displayed on three lines; this concoction, however does not mandate the precise distribution of the syllables among the three lines, but does stipulate that each word in the poem be included in a palindromic phrase or sentence in English (i.e. one that can be read either forwards or backwards). 

  To help the reader discern the origin of the lyrics, each palindrome (generally occupying one of the three lines of the poem) has been color-coded. 

The continually widening circle of Dennis's sins is indicated by the following recently discovered palindromes ...

Dennis and Ed, Nadine, Enid and Edna sinned. 

Dennis and Ed, Nadine, Eve, Enid and Edna sinned.

Dennis and Ed, Nadine, Eva, Dave, Enid and Edna sinned.

Dennis and Ed, Nadine, Eva, Dana, Ana, Dave, Enid and Edna sinned.

Also, you might want to check an earlier posting on this site for a somewhat different take on Dennis's entourage. And, if you are overwhelmed by an urge to sing about Dennis's sinful relationships, you can satisfy those urgings by clicking HERE. 

 (Ed. note): Verses of this type have continued to proliferate, and the total now is approaching 60. You can view them all at one swoop if you proceed to our more encyclopedic blog "Edifying Nonsense". Click HERE. Or, if you want to stay on this daily blog, you can enter 'Palinku' on the search line in the browser and find individual verses of this type published here over the last year.

  

MAY 16, planet-saving verse: species loss

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.)

Authors' Note: Scientists have determined that of all the species that have been present on our planet, more than 99% are now extinct. Many of the extant (current) species are under increasing pressure due to global warming, loss of habitat, and in some cases, exploitation and pollution.

You can help save the planet by viewing all our verses in this series at "Edifying Nonsense". Click HERE!

Incidental photo: 

a great egret in low flight over a saltwater creek

MAY 15, pathos and poetry (gun control verse): massacre at Mother Emanuel Church

 You can review our entire poetic outpouring on this important topic by proceeding to a post on our full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense'; click HERE.

MAY 14, waterfowl: action-photos from Swan Lake / Iris Gardens

Continuing from the posts of two days towards the end of April, after our wonderful outing to Sumter SC two weeks ago. 

mute swan, egg-laden, lumbering

whooper swan, in a flap

 

black swan, grabbing a snack

navigating the ponds

black swan, takeoff plan canceled

a posterior flap

a frontal flap

black swans in flight

swans, like this nesting mute couple,
 spend a lot of time preening themselves

You can review Giorgio's illustrated verses on this topic by proceeding to the post 'Immersible Verse: Limericks about Waterfowl' on the full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense'. Or, if you prefer, you can find most of this stuff in photo-albums on Giorgio's Facebook profile.

MAY 13, funny bones: contortionists

swan contortionists
observed by a colleague

a double-headed circus swan:-)

You can view verses on this topic in a wider context by proceeding to the post 'Breaking News: FUNNY BONES' on our full-service blog "Edifying Nonsense". Click HERE! 

MAY 12, limerick for lovers of classic languages: Homo latinophonius

Authors' Note:

mus (MOOS): Latin for ‘mouse’

puer (POO-er): 'boy', a prototype Latin noun, often used in early lessons to introduce the topic of declension

faex: Latin for 'dreg', 'sediment' or 'deposit'

faeces: the more familiar plural form

The author has several decades of experience in attempting to get trainees who had never studied Latin to use Anglo-Latin words appropriately in medical reports. 

Presumably, Linnaeus' associates and protégés in 18th century Swedish academia were all well-versed in Latin.

To review all of our output on the topic of classic languages, go to our encyclopedic compendium, "Edifying Nonsense"; click HERE !

MAY 11, variant Nantucket limerick: the Canadian expat

 

You can review our whole collection of spoof verses based on the iconic Nantucket limericks on our full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense' by clicking HERE.

links for any date: scroll over to the calendar-based listings of 'Past Posts' in the righthand column on this page, choose your month of interest, and then select (by clicking) the post of your choice.

MAY 10, a brief saga (word-pairs): echoic binomials

PARODY-SONGLINK: These verses were originally conceived as poetic lyrics. However, they can, like almost all limericks, be easily sung using  certain well-known tunes.  For this effort, we have used as the base song Carole King's "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow", and changed the title of our song to something more catchy.

  Click HERE to access ukulele and guitar chord-charts to help you accompany the song ("Again and Again") on your favorite instrument.

But, if you are interested only in the lyrics, continue with the presentation that follows ...  

 To review the poetic effusion that we have accumulated about binomial phrases, proceed to our blog "Edifying Nonsense", and enjoy 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 !

To access the next 'brief saga' (June 2022), proceed to 'Canada'. 

To access the most recent previous 'brief saga' (April 2022), back up to 'Anglo-Latin and -Greek'.

MAY 9, numbers: nine (9) ninety-nine

 You can review our cumulated nonsense about numbers by clicking HERE. 

MAY 8, reprehensible modern history: submarine warfare #1

Charleston South Carolina played a major role in the development of submarine warfare. The Cold War Submarine Memorial is located at Patriot's Point in Mt. Pleasant SC, on the eastern side of Charleston harbor. 

At our full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense', you can review our entire collection of panels about the history of submarine warfare, as well as the lyrics to the parody-song "Relic Submarines". Click HERE. 

View the entire collection of poetic assertions on this topic (currently small, but growing) at our more encyclopedic blog 'Edifying Nonsense', by clicking HERE.

MAY 7, diagnostic imaging: Fluorine-18 PET

 

You can review all our verses on this intriguing topic by proceeding to a post on 'Edifying Nonsense' entitled 'Selected Topics in Diagnostic Imaging'. Click HERE!

MAY 6, birdlore: dawn chorus

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.)

 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. 

MAY 5, mammalian wildlife: hippos (-otamuses vs -otami)

 The above is iambic verse; therefore it scans: 

'MOST of US to QUELL the FUSSes

PreSUME we're HIPpoPOtaMUSes'

HERE is a nonsense posting from last November that also features hippopotamuses; it has been written in more familiar anapestic (limerrhoidal) meter.

You could 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 !

MAY 4, pluralia tantum: 'imply/infer' (life-cycle celebrations)

 

Authors' Note: Plurale tantum, meaning plural only, is a Latin-derived term (with plural form pluralia tantum), for a noun that has no, or only a minimally used singular form, e.g. alms, auspices, and dregs. There are over one hundred of these in English. In other languages, such forms are commonly used to refer to ceremonial time-points on life's journey, but in English we have only the relatively archaic terms banns, nuptials, obsequies and remains, also last rites and final respects. Bryce's attempt to help his audience is incorrect, as these peculiarly plural nouns generally are paired with a plural verb-form.

 We have discussed in other verses here the relationship of pluralia tantum to medical nomenclature, to cooking ingredients and to fields of study.

upscale nuptials

Grandpa Greg asked us to pass on this message: "You can view the entire collection of verses about 'pluralia tantum' by clicking HERE."

MAY 3, bar-fauna: ark's bar (on board with Noah)

 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.

Followup illustration:

"Two by Two", Alice Anthony
Quilt exhibited at 
N.Charleston Convention Center, March 2022. 

MAY 2, trees: ponytail palm

You can review these illustrated verses in a wider context by proceeding to 'Uprooted Verse: 'Poems about Trees' on the full-service blog "Edifying Nonsense". 

MAY 1, defining opinion: hamuli (little hooks)

Authors' Note:

hamulus: (Latin) a little hook, plural = hamuli, with biologic implications discussed at OEDILF in a verse by Snowy Owl. Also, the hamate bone of the human wrist, bearing a prominent hook-like extension is a relatively frequent site of human fractures, as in a verse by your blogging team (see link below).

Remus: one of Rome's mythological founding twin infants, most often pronounced in anglo-Latin as REE-mus, but here, invoking more classic Latin, as RAY-mus.

 

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.

APR 30, singable satire: "CAROLINA -- A REDAWNING" ( a parodley, i.e. parody medley)

PASTICHE with PARODY-LYRICS

ORIGINAL SONG#1: Buona Sera, Louis Prima
ORIGINAL SONG#2: Carolina in the Morning, Al Jolson
ORIGINAL SONG#3: Mona Lisa, Nat King Cole
PARODY COMPOSED: Giorgio Coniglio, December 2014.



Notes: 

1) This trio of substituted parody lyrics can be thought of as a parody-medley or parodley 

2) The pacing for the first song works much better when "Capri" is pronounced Italian style with the accent on the first syllable. 

BUONA SERA  

(to the tune of "CAROLINA IN THE MORNING")

What could make me keener than to kiss you, signorina, ‘Buona sera’ ?

Say goodbyes to Napoli and magic Isle of Capri, ‘Buona sera’

Where the mist-clad mountains wrap around the shore,

Sheltering village fountains we snap as we explore.

Strolling with my ‘bella’, I’m a hell’va lucky fella, signorina

But jewellery shops are tourist traps, and credit card got stuck in bank 
machin’a

If I had a stash of cash – a lot more euros,

We’d linger over dinner, and here’s what I’d propose:

Let's spring'a for that wedding ring'a, after doing traveling, signori-i-na. 

MONA LISA

 (to the tune of "BUONA SERA")

   

Are you snickering? Mona Lisa, men are asking -

La Gioconda – playful name for family;

But it’s hard for us to question L. da Vinci,

When that old guy died so long ago in Italy.

Are you smiling, Mona Lisa, to tempt lovers?

Or are you puffed with child and have your little laugh?

But from art critics we get speculating theory;

Leonardo’s face and yours – please, I get weary!

In the meantime, we’ll just view you in the Louvre,

Hang on in there, Mona Lisa, keep up the smile.

Hang on in there, Mona Lisa, keep up the smile!

CAROLINA IN THE MORNING 

(to the tune of "MONA LISA")

Carolina - it's much finer, in the morning,

Like my sweetie when I greet her before noon;

Where the vines so fine entwine around her doorstep,

I'd prefer to slide inside into her room.

I feel butterflies all flutter up, can’t ask her,

 Shall we stay and kiss your buttercup at dawn?

If I just had the lamp of Aladdin,

I would stay there, and just play there.
Are you wanting to stroll, whirly girlie,

Out where there’s pearly early dew upon the lawn?

Are you wanting to stroll, whirly girlie,

Out where there’s pearly early dew upon the lawn?

Squirrelly girlie, squirrelly gir-lie.