JAN 16, death and the afterlife: giving up the ghost

 EDITORS' WARNING: You must be at least 12 years of age to read this post! 

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

JAN 15, waterfowl: juvenile night herons

 

             

You can review these illustrated verses in a wider context by proceeding to 'Immersible Verse: Limericks about Waterfowl' on the full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense'. (Or, if you prefer, you can view them on Facebook in Giorgio's photo-albums).

JAN 14, toxic vignette: lethal drugs of abuse

 

Authors' Note: Occasionally, the shock of reality may help a victim of substance abuse, like Seth, to focus on his plight. A more professional discussion of drug addiction by SheilaB may be enlightening.

JAN 13, limerick for lovers of classic languages: yukky Roman foods

 

Authors' Note: 

gigeria: Latin term for the delicacy 'cooked bird entrails'; forerunner of the old French term gisier, from which our use of gizzard is derived

garum: highly popular Roman sauce made from fermented fish intestines, used equivalently to our catsup

Gourmands in ancient Rome were notorious for their consumption of exotic (and in modern terms yukky) foods of all sorts.

To review all of our output on the topic of classic languages, go to our encyclopedic compendium, "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, and select (by clicking) the month and then the specific post of your choice.

JAN 12, portraits of couples: pigeons

 

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.

JAN 11, review of 'brief sagas' from 2021

 A NOTE from the EDITORS: 

 As readers may have gathered, this blogsite highlights several types of light, wistful and humorous reflections on current life, chief among them being short verses using the limerick format, more or less (see the blogpost "Limerick Variations"). But on occasion, we feel the urge to continue important themes through several stanzas worth of poetic ideas. So in this post, we highlight the previous years' offerings of 'lengthier' poems of at least 15 lines or 3 stanzas. We have been publishing these at the rate of once a month on this blog ("Daily Illustrated Nonsense"), but as they are found mixed with shorter verses of five lines, i.e. standard limericks, or even three lines, (palinku --palindromic haiku), you might have failed to notice and review them in their entirety. 

  This summary gives you a second chance to explore these lengthier creations that contain as many as 6 stanzas -- hardly lengthy enough to be considered a genuine saga, but we hope reflecting the authors' sagacity.  

  The compressed mode in which our 'sagas' are displayed may enhance your appreciation of the range of topics covered; if you prefer to enjoy the details in a larger and more readable font, you can quickly access the posts on this blog devoted uniquely to their stanza-by-stanza display (as well as notes, related photos and videos), by entering their title into the search lines provided. And from there, you can, of course, explore further to enjoy the multitude of really short verses -- i.e. five lines or less.  

For the curious reader's convenience, we have sorted our treasury of 'brief sagas' by the year of publication on this blog. Altogether, you will find more than 40 whimsical poems, that cover about 800 lines of verse. 

Click below, and enjoy!
2020
2021
2022
2023.

JAN 10, a brief saga (pill-poppin' poems): drug development

  For the purpose of this blog, a 'brief saga' is defined as a poem, usually narrative, but occasionally expository, that tell its story in at least 15 lines. Most commonly, the format involves three stanzas in limerick form, constituting a single submission to the online humor site 'Omnificent English Dictionary in Limerick Form'. On the OEDILF site, rigorous standards for content and format are involved in a collaborative editing process that may take several weeks to over a year. 

  Generally, OEDILF has not been enormously welcoming of multi-verse submissions, but Giorgio Coniglio has persisted, and the OEDILF number for each accepted multiverse poem is shown here on the slide with its first verse. 

To access the next 'brief saga' on this blog (February 2022), proceed to Attribution to Ogden Nash'. 

To access the most recent previous 'brief saga' (December 2021), back up to 'Avian Digestion'.

To access all of our 'brief sagas' by the year of their creation, click on your selection below.

2020
2021
2022
2023.

JAN 9, curtained verse: come and go

EDITORS' WARNING: You must be at least 12 years of age to read this post !

Authors' Note: Bigger and bigger is an echoic binomial. Vim and vigour, and cool and calm are alliterative binomials. You can see our entire colection of poems explaining and exemplifying this type of idiom as an intriguing aspect of language use by clicking HERE.

 You can review other mildly scurrilous illustrated verses in a wider context by proceeding to 'Curtained verse: Faintly Obscene (Selected) Limericks' on the full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense'.

JAN 8, doctors and their practices: waiting-room journal 'Stitches'

Authors' Note: 

Stitches: the Journal of Medical Humour is a monthly Canadian humour magazine. Founded by an Ontario family physician, the journal in its original paper format became the most widely read Canadian medical journal, was licensed in a handful of other countries, and prevailed from 1990. Although targeted at the general public, drug advertisements for medical professionals originally bore the major costs of the project. Since 2007, the jopurnal has survived in a reduced form as a monthly online publication; the author laments that it is no longer a widespread  tool for waiting-room diversion.

You can view additional informative verses on this topic  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 month of interest, and then select (by clicking) the post of your choice.

JAN 7, numbers: sevens (7)

 

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

JAN 6, American satire: 'The Legacy' (free verse)

We hope that you enjoyed this verse. You can find 30 more on this topic in 5 collections on our full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense'. Click HERE to start! 

JAN 5, life in Palindrome Valley: local cuisine

Authors' Note: 

trat: trendy abbreviation for trattoria, an informal Italian restaurant

   Unfortunately, a few specialties have been taken off menus due to recent supply-chain issues. (No melon, no lemon; Wontons? Not now.) 

   But, you can always wash down your meal with a glass of our famous red ice cider or regal lager !

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'.

JAN 4, garden intruders: lantana

 

Authors' Note:  

Lantana camara, native to a few regions in the tropical Americas and Africa, is tolerant of varied growing conditions other than harsh winters. After extensive blooming of multi-colored flowers (yellow, orangy-pink and purple), each plant produces hundreds of berries that are loved by and distributed by birds. Introduced commercially as an ornamental, it spread invasively in 50 other countries, and with foliage toxic to grazing mammals, became an agricultural detriment, particularly in Australia.

In the US, although hybridized with less-obtrusive species native to south Florida, Lantana spp. continues to be an environmental threat, but a favorite in plant nurseries.   

JAN 3, poetry of healthcare: Lewis Carroll's 'the Valgus and the Carbuncle'

You can view these informative verses in a wider context by proceeding to the collection 'Poetry of Healthcare' on our full-service blog "Edifying Nonsense". Click HERE ! (or if you prefer, you can view them on Facebook in Giorgio's photo-albums.)

JAN 2, etymology: 'dollar'

For fans of etymology, we have three blogposts with collections of verses about word-origins such as the one above on our more encyclopedic blog "Edifying Nonsense". You can start to review some of this intriguing material by clicking HERE, and then following the links!

JAN 1, insects: toothpick grasshoppers

 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 ! (or if you prefer, you can view them on Facebook in Giorgio's photo-albums.)

SUPPLEMNENTAL PHOTO: locust swarm

DEC 30, singable satire: Canadian public school reunion: "IN DAYS OF YORE"

 PARODY-LYRICS

ORIGINAL SONG:  "The Maple Leaf Forever", by Alexander Muir, modified
lyrics by Vladimir Radian 1997.
PARODY COMPOSED: Giorgio Coniglio, September 2013, updated 2015, 2017, and 2018.

(FURTHER SONGS ON THE SAME THEME: For other nostalgic takes on Canada's national hymns, you can view (and sing along with) ...
 (January 2015)  Flight of the Loonie

(June 2018)  Something to Groan About)

            

 

Grade 8 classes
Cedarvale Public School, 1958.

You can also view these lyrics and commentary (without images or chords)  displayed on a parody-lyrics website at AmIRight.com Post "Canadian Reunion". 

CANADIAN REUNION

(to the tune of "The Maple Leaf Forever")

While young and frail at Poplarvale

Our mentors taught Muir's stirring song;

It eulogized forefathers’ feats,

Didn’t help us to belong.

As baby-boomers, second-gen,

Homes shaped by cookie-cutters;

Its patriotic sentiments

Maple Leaf Gardens
Carlton Street, Toronto

Dismissed those of our mothers.

No copyright, no fleur-de-lys;

Of insight only traces - 

Muir's “Maple Leaf” excluded half

Our country’s founding races.

       

Though reg’ments touted it their tune,

And Anglo journals ranted,

Decades ago, “O Canada”

Muir’s time-worn chant supplanted.

More recent play: ere Y-2-K,

Ann Murray sings
Maple Leaf Gardens

February, 2013

The C-B-C a contest ran;
So flourished a new pluralist "Leaf"
By songwright Vlad Radian. 

Its fabled British glory tamed,
No heaven or hegemony;
Olympic Closing half-time showed,
While "O (Canada)" did Ceremonies. 

Its reassembled mission clear, 
A newfound "Feuille" quite clever --
Anne Murray sang, The Gardens closed: 
The Maple Leafs forever.        

Five decades late, we congregate,

Our Grade Eight class remembered,  

No “Maple” hymn heard in the gym  - 

The song’s appeal now severed.

Reprise:

Last year Muir's ancient fabled tree

Was felled by stormy weather*.

Still sometimes heard, but seldom hymned -- 

The Maple Leaf Forever. 

* an ancient maple, that presumably had inspired

 Muir’s lyrics, was destroyed by a storm in July 2013.

DEC 29, curtained verse: orchestral pecking-order

 EDITORS' WARNING: You must be at least 12 years of age to read this post! 

Authors' Note: In casual speech, musicians in a symphony may be referred to by their rankings in their orchestral sections, as in "Flo, the first flute". 

 

You can review other mildly scurrilous illustrated verses in a wider context by proceeding to 'Curtained verse: Faintly Obscene (Selected) Limericks' on the full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense'.

DEC 28, patients and their maladies: non-tumorous '-oma's,

Authors' Note:   Well, yes.

  With advancing age, life becomes a minefield of unexpected diseases; for several of these, the suffix -oma, implying growth or swelling, is used although an underlying neoplastic process is not present.

  In the elderly, subdural hematomas or intracranial bleeds (within the envelope of membranes surrounding the brain) may occur with minimal trauma or even spontaneously, particularly if anticoagulants have been used. 

  The patchy process of atherosclerosis may involves the left main coronary artery or its major division, the left anterior descending artery. In such cases, sudden clotting with blockage of the artery may occur at the site of atheroma, and cause a severe heart attack with cardiac arrest, a major cause of sudden death in the middle-aged and elderly population.

  This verse is a companion piece to others by the author dealing with malignant tumors and benign tumors; these are found in the collection of 'Oncologic Verses'.

You can catch other instances of Dr. G.H.'s explanation of medical terminology on posts on this daily blog:

 HERE, re malignant tumors (-omas),

 HERE, re benign tumors (-omas)

Or, you can review the entire collection of poems about 'Patients and their Maladies' on our more encyclopedic blog "Edifying Nonsense". Click HERE.  

DEC 27, binomial phrases: fossil words

Authors' Note:   The concept of fossil words derives from the fact that dozens of obsolete and obscure words, e.g. betwixt, retain currency only as a part of idioms whose use has continued into modern times. The final line of the verse refers to beck and call, goods and chattels, and hither and yon.

 

 More examples of fossil words and phrases are given in the verse hem and haw.

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 !

DEC 26, reptiles: geckos (on ceiling)

Authors' Note: A profusion of tiny setae (filament-hairs) on the lizards' palm-pads, as shown by electron microscopy, explain the gecko's unusual gravity-defying mobility.

You can review these illustrated verses in a wider context by proceeding to 'Uprooted verse: Limericks about Reptiles on the full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense'.