MAR 11, lowcountry jumpoff: South Carolina outings

 

WOODLANDS NATURE RESERVE, Dorchester County SC, Feb 26, 2022

trails are sandy, but easy to negotiate with wide-tire bikes

historically and ecologically important, the longleaf pine,
characteristic of Southern forests, is again being nurtured.

MIDDLETON GARDENS, Dorchester County SC, Feb 27, 2022

the scenic highway has a mysterious beauty in the rain

it's a bit early in the season for the azaleas,
but the camellias are blooming wonderfully

\

indica azaleas, found blooming in a few of the sunnier spots

An illustrated poem on the indica azalea and its special relation to Middleton Gardens can be found HERE.

MAR 10, a brief saga (death and the afterlife): bequest

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

 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 proceed 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 (April 2022), proceed to 'Anglo-Latin and -Greek'.

To access the most recent previous 'brief saga' (February 2022), back up to 'A Gnat and a Nit' (attributed to Ogden Nash).

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

2020
2021
2022
2023.

       

MAR 9, spineless verse (invertebrates): centipedes

 

READING MORE WIDELY:

You can find all our illustrated verses about various 'INVERTEBRATES' , as compiled on our full-service blog "Edifying Nonsense" HERE. But, in fact, we had hived off verses about INSECTS, and they are gathered in separate blogposts that you can get into HERE. So, follow these links, and enjoy.

MAR 8, poets' corner: creative writing

Authors' Note: 'Creative writing' is a term that has been applied to fiction in prose, but seems to have omitted from its purview fictional poetry accounts, such as those honored on this blog.  

   

You can find lots of other verses on this blog under the listing "Poets' Corner".  Click HERE.
  

MAR 7, limerick for lovers of classic languages: Constantinopolis (Byzantium)

   a) Reprise of material posted on March 7 in previous years ...

2020: Charleston garden, creeping fig saga (illustrated poem)
2021: classic palindrome, sex of foxes (poem) 

2022: California excursions, Oakland (illustrated poem)
2023: lexicon of word-pairs, alliterative binomials L (wordplay)

To access the details of any item in slide format, type its title, as displayed above in red font (e.g. ... Sorry!), into one of the two search bars at the the top of your blog-page. Underneath the slide(s) for each entertaining delight that you discover, you will find a clickable link that lets you easily explore a more widespread collection of wonderments (verse, photos, wordplay, song-lyrics etc.) on the topic of your choice. 

Authors' Note: Our seer in Byzántion likely made his prediction in the early 4th century A.D.

Byzántion: Greek name for the Greek colonial city-state founded on the Bosporus in pre-Roman times; known in Latin as Byzantium, it lent its name to the subsequent Byzantine Empire

Konstantinoúpolis, and Constantinopolis: Greek and Latin names respectively for the expanded city, planned as his empire's eastern capital (Nova Roma) by Roman emperor Constantine; known in English as Constantinople

Hagia Sophia (ah-yah so-FEE-ah) Greek for Holy Wisdom; famed for its huge dome, the third iconic church built on the site served as an Eastern Orthodox cathedral from 537 A.D. until 1453, the year of conquest by the Ottoman Turks

Istanbul: capital of the Ottoman Empire, and subsequently of modern Turkey, the city's current population of 15 million (2017) makes it Europe's most populous city.

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

to review nonsense from any other date: scroll over to the calendar-based listings of 'Past Posts' in the righthand column on this page, and select (by clicking) the month of your choice from 2020 or 2021. 

MAR 6, pathos and poetry (gun control verse): semi-automatic weapons

Satirical verse dealing with a regional form of insanity:

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

Incidental Photo:

MAR 5, Ontario nostalgia: Yonge Street

Authors' Note:  The first Lieutenant-Governor of the province Of Upper Canada (Ontario), Sir John Simcoe, sought routes leading northward from his new 

provincial capital at Toronto, away from the U.S. border.

  In 1793, he designed a road, naming it for the British Minister of War, Sir George Yonge, who was also an expert on Roman roads. Yonge Street passes from Lake Ontario north to Lake Simcoe, where it merges into Highway 11, a rural road that extends 1900 km (1200 mi) northwest to the border with the American state of Minnesota.

  Sir George, fifth Baronet of Escot, had served as Lord of the Admiralty and master of the mint, and governor of the Cape Colony, but died penniless and heirless, Yonge Street being his only legacy.

 

  Prior to 1999, the Guinness Book of Records mistakenly conflated Yonge Street with Highway 11, and described it as 'the world's longest street’.  

See Wikipedia's article on Toronto's Yonge Street, HERE. 

You can review the entire series of illustrated poems about the good old days in Ontario by checking the post 'Ontario Nostalgia' on our full-service blog "Edifying Nonsense". Click HERE. 

Incidental Photo:

Dr. JJ, preparing for a family birthday tribute 

MAR 4, doctors and their practices: (ED) lifelong learning

verse in honour of Dr. JJ, whose love of life included comedy and the music of poetry ...

Authors' Note:  The rapid pace of scientific and technical developments in the field of medicine makes ongoing education for physicians essential. Moreover, regulatory bodies, conscious of public perception, promulgate standards for current best practices. ‘Maintenance of competence’, recertification’ and ‘lifelong learning’ have become buzzwords.

  The serendipitous discovery in 1989 of the use of sildenafil (eventually marketed by Pfizer in 1998 as Viagra, 'a little blue pill' for erectile dysfunction) ushered in an era in which post-graduate medical conferences often featured updates on this now-treatable common disorder. The putative distribution of drug samples to lecture attendees is apocryphal.

Readers who appreciate wordplay might also enjoy a posting entitled 'electile dysfunction' that can be found by clicking HERE.

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!

Incidental Photo:

Dr.JJ on reader's left, 1947

MAR 3, boating: Fauci, a canoe-canny canine

 verse in honour of Dr. JJ, whose love of life included comedy, wordplay, and the music of poetry ... ; he had provided the dog-pics a few months ago for a post here.

You can review illustrated verses on this topic in a wider context by proceeding to 'Reverse Strokes: 'Verses About Canoeing' on the full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense'.

Incidental Photo:

Dr. JJ, 1946

MAR 2, birdlore / wildlife breakthrough: a turkey in our subdivision!

blog-post in honour of Dr. JJ, whose love of life included comedy and the outdoor life ...

   We had never personally seen a wild turkey previously, in our South Carolina suburban subdivision (or anywhere else, for that matter).  Yesterday changed all that !

A poetic tribute to this sighting is underway. In the meantime, here are the pics ...

We do have some other poetic thoughts and photos on the subject of turkeys to share with readers:

"The domestic turkey: a brief saga". Click HERE.

"Wild gay turkeys: True-and-faux photos." Click HERE. 

"Desnooding turkeys: Role of the Mohel (Birdlore)." Click HERE. 

Incidental Photo:

Dr. JJ (left), with his younger bro

MAR 1, patients and their maladies: dyspareunia

And best wishes for a happy St Patrick Day to all decent folks of Irish descent or otherwise ...

Authors' Note: Dyspareunia is the adjective that describes suffering from dyspareunia. That disorder, that may be either transitory or recurrent, is explained elsewhere; please consult as dictionary.

You can view these verses in a wider context by proceeding to 'Nurse-Verse: Patients and their Maladies' on our full-service blog "Edifying Nonsense". Click HERE!

FEB 28c, singable satire: "PALACE of MALICE"

PARODY-LYRICS
ORIGINAL SONG: "Tea for Two" 1925,  as recorded later by Doris Day
PARODY COMPOSED: Giorgio Coniglio, August 2013.


The South Carolina press has intermittently reported ongoing developments in a case of this type. Fortunately, the "hit-team" came to the attention of the police before intense harm was done.

PALACE OF MALICE

(to the tune of "Tea for Two")

Singable Introduction:
Pictures – “View upon page two”
Our Daily News with sleaze imbued;
We cluck and rue a couple’s fall from grace.
Who craves such depravities?
A poisoned slough, attorneys braced;
Why must we face domestic life debased ?

Weird entertainment – A pending arraignment,
Apprehent at an upstate resort.
Murder for hire? - Who’d think he’d conspire
While still settling his child-support?
Far from the exec-lounge glitzy;
Where Bank-Pres ritzy his mess disowned.
The spouse estranged, figuring that he’s deranged,
Had foul back-up schemes of her own.

Incompati - bility,
Just rancor and antipathy,
Just I sue you, and you sue me for spite;
Vendetta vicious, menage meretricious,
No conciliator, “it’s hopeless – I hate her”
We’ll publicly launder, parental rights squander, dear,  hear?

True intractability,
Just perverse animosity,
Just I stalk you, you threaten me for spite;
Spy-camera eyefuls and legal reprisals,
We’ll start with court orders then call in reporters
An overseas split, man, or hire me a hitman; Right? man?–

Scandals break, tabloids impart
You'd undertake death do us part 
The front-page scoop for everyone to read..
You've a sleazy live-in friend
Who'd bar  no holds for your revenge, 
Next nesting spot - the penitentiary !

FEB 28b, toxic vignette: moonshine whiskey

Authors' Note:  The toxic effects of illicit moonshine whiskey often result from the solder of car radiators, items that are conveniently incorporated into clandestine distilling equipment. Chronic kidney failure may be a delayed effect of repeated exposure to lead, cadmium and other heavy metals which leach into the brew from this source, allowing 'Whiskey Rick' and his ilk to escape responsibility for the most devastating effects of their concoctions. 
    

Review all our poems of toxicologic interest by clicking HERE.  

 

FEB 28, Canadiana: snow-biota

verse in honour of Dr. JJ, whose love of life included comedy and the music of poetry ...

Authors' Note:

coyote: wolf-like wild dog,  with range recently extended into southern parts of Canada, and into Carolina coastal communities; a member of the canid family, as are dogs and wolves

cuanto: Spanish for 'how much?’

Pierre (PEER): town named by French explorers, capital of the U.S. state of  South Dakota, located due west of Toronto (2,100 km or 1,330 miles by highway).

  

  In the United States, nicknames (official or unofficial) for individual states are important for aspects such as vehicle licensing plaques, sports team designation and political bloviation. Geographic features and indigenous plants and animals may be so used, as in South Dakota, 'the coyote state’, and South Carolina, 'the palmetto state’. Such symbols are used to a considerably lesser extent in Canada.

You can review poems, pictures and diverse nonsense related to Canada on the post "Canadiana" on our full-service blog  "Edifying Nonsense".

Incidental Photo:

Algonquin fishing expedition, 1952,
Dr. JJ on reader's right

FEB 27, bar-fauna: at a medical watering-hole

 verse in honour of Dr. JJ, whose love of life included comedy and the music of poetry ...

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.

A message from Dr. Gilbert A Hurwitz giolioparody@gmail.com. I hope to add to the recognition of Jeff's astounding professional life. That patient-centered effort, built on sympathy, science, collegiality and expertise was only one of the many pillars on which his life was built. He will be truly missed.

 

A message from Dr. Gilbert A Hurwitz giolioparody@gmail.com. I hope to add to the recognition of Jeff's astounding professional life. That patient-centered effort, built on sympathy, science, collegiality and expertise was only one of the many pillars on which his life was built. He will be truly missed.

A message from Dr. Gilbert A Hurwitz giolioparody@gmail.com.
I hope to add to the recognition of Jeff's astounding professional life. That patient-centered effort, built on sympathy, science, collegiality and expertise was only one of the many pillars on which his life was built. He will be truly missed.

 

FEB 26, life in Palindrome Valley: 'Nauruan' (second language) bd

verse in honour of Dr. JJ, whose love of life included comedy and the music of poetry ...

Authors' Note: 

(now-ROO-uhn, nah-ROO-uhn)

   In Palindrome Valley, parents and administrators had to decide what second language would be taught in schools. The underlying rationale is obvious. and here's the clue: of the almost two hundred nations on the globe, only the Pacific island-nation of Nauru has a national language and adjectival form that is a palindrome. The interested reader might note that on Nauru itself, while the Australian brand of English, the basis of televised entertainment, is widely understood, over 90% use their unique Austronesian language.

   The author, with an interest in foreign languages from an early age, fantasizes that had he grown up in Palindrome Valley, he would have maintained his skill in speaking Nauruan.

ADDENDUM: 'Malayalam', one of the many languages of South India, related to Sanskrit and Tamil, is also a palindromic name, but although spoken by almost 3% of current Indians, it never represented a national language. 

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'.

Incidental Photo:

' JJ' in rare formal attire, 1961

FEB 25, limerick for lovers of classic languages: Aramaic

verse in honour of Dr. JJ, whose love of life included comedy and the music of poetry ...

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

Incidental Photo: