MAR 7, urban concerns: in the distance

view on a foggy day

Authors' Note: 

Frequently, to increase the musical quality of the modifier, distant and distantly are rendered in song-lyrics and poetry as in the distance, or at a distance.

Another rather weird view of the city setting, highlighted in a short poem can be found HERE.

Our collection of illustrated poems about "Urban Concerns" on our parent blog "Edifying Nonsense", contains a number of intriguing verses that you can access by clicking HERE.

MAR 6, exemplification: fauna

 To review our whole collection of "exemplary exemplifications", click HERE. 

MAR 5, Canadiana: prairie home

Authors' Note: In its evolution from poem to unofficial anthem, the iconic American song "Home on the Range" was known, for a time, as "Western Home". The lyrics evoke the wilderness surrounding settlements on the "High Plains" in the old west, but do not mention the construction techniques for homebuilding. With little timber available to build cabins in some areas, thick prairie grass could be used as a covering for dwellings, even allowing the cutting of standard door and window openings.

   In Canada, the geographically similar area bordering the American plains has been known almost exclusively as the Prairies. The author imagines that living in a sod hut ('soddy') on either side of the border would be a more inviting prospect for settlers once the herds of buffalo had been thinned out by overhunting (an environmental desecration that occurred in the latter part of the nineteenth century).

For further reading; 

1)https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/sod-houses  

2)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Home_on_the_Range

3)readers interested in understanding the human-buffalo interaction in modern times might also enjoy our further posts "Mammalian Wildlife: Buffalo", and "Selfie with Bison".

Alberta, 1908
web-photo, Glenbow Archives

WANT TO SING THESE LYRICS? WE CAN HELP!

If you have an undeniable urge to sing these lyrics, we have the tools to help. Grab your guitar or ukulele, remember the tune used for the verse of "Home on the Range"as sung by Gene Autry on YouTube HERE, and then follow the bouncing ball! 

Prairie Home    (uke-chords: E9 = 1222; A9 = 0102);

verse:

I'll e[D]rect us a [D7]home on a [G]large grassy [Gm]plot;

Only [D]building tools: [E9]shovels I [A7]bought.

With tech[D]nique skilled or [D7]shoddy,

The [G]hut called a [Gm]soddy

Has got [D]used on the [A9]Prairies a [D]lot.

Safe to [D]roam there, with [A7]bison herds [D]shot.

(optional chorus):

[D]Home on a [G]large Prairie [D]plot;

Walked ten [E9]miles for the groceries I [A7]bought.

Where [D]seldom is [D7]heard

A dis[G]couraging [Gm]word --

Sit a[D]round nights, swat [A7]bugs and smoke [D]pot.

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

MAR 4, magical canal palindromes -- Pisa

 

You can become an expert fan of our wordplay concoction 'magical palindromes' by reviewing the explanatory material found in ancient days on our full-service blog "Edifying Nonsense" HERE; then, you could check how we applied this technique to 'canal palindromes' by viewing this more recent post.

MAR 3, signs of confusion: fourth collection

This post is the fourth in a series of 5. You can attempt to get all of this straight by reviewing the collections in the previous posts ...

signs of confusion #3
signs of confusion #2
signs of confusion #1

This post has been the fourth in a series of 5. If you have been having fun, you could soldier on and get all of this straight ...

signs of confusion #5

MAR 2, duplication: holus-bolus

 

Readers willing to go down an internet rabbit-hole can easily get to a collection of more than a dozen other short verses SHORT VERSES  in which we have dealt with specific reduplications. 

If interested, you could also discover three fairly lengthy PATTER-SONGS about this fascinating linguistic phenomenon. These songs form an important part of our cycle of 9 songs about "Word Pairs".

MAR 1, Ontario nostalgia: across the Great Lakes

Authors' Note: The southern flank of the Canadian province of Ontario, abutting the border with the United States is a watery region comprised primarily of the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River. The names of these lakes, and their order of progression to the Atlantic Ocean, are frequently covered in school curricula.

   Apart from flying, coming by ferry is the mode of access to the island province of Newfoundland for citizens of either Canada or the United States. The Confederation Bridge, 13 km in length, linking New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island, has replaced ferry traffic to our smallest province since 1996.

   Tourism in most parts of Canada is highly dependent on Americans driving across the border. The industry has suffered a major depression in 2020 owing to restrictions related to the pandemic.

 

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. 

FEB 28b, American satire (prolongation): grift

 

"Pardon me. When is the next available tee-off time? And by the way, would you like to purchase online a mugshot enhanced souvenir?"  

Astute readers will have noticed that this extended verse, with seven lines, fulfils the criteria for being an "external limerrhoid". Click HERE to enjoy a post that explains and exemplifies this intriguing poetic variant. 

We hope that you enjoyed this blogpost. You can find 40 more on this topic in 6 collections on our full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense'. Click HERE to start! 

FEB 28, urban concerns: elevator reluctance

Authors' Note: 

groundling: the author's nickname for people who live on the ground floor, such as, up 'til now, his immediate family members

lift: Canadians, like their American neighbours, usually term this device an 'elevator'; to fit the tight space here, we borrowed the British synonym; however, it is noted that we retained our customary spelling of story (rather than the British storey)

helluva: common undefined slang that has been used in 40 verses on OEDILF to date (2023); presumably a distortion of hell of a ...

Another true personal story, apart from taking liberties with the floor numbers. The author currently inhabits a rental unit across the building from the suite being gloriously renovated/demolished by 'Carl the contractor'. This situation accords with advice by a relative to 'try out the lifestyle change' to ease the transition from house to 'bungalow in the sky'.

 

FEB 28c, birdlore: Eastern towhees

 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. 

FEB 27, classic palindrome: 'T. Eliot's toilet'

You can review more illustrated verses in a wider context by proceeding to 'Reversing Verse: Limericks About Classic Palindromes' on the full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense'. 

FEB 26, handyman's lesson: restoring your old greenhouse, introduction

You can watch for further lessons in the restoration process on April 20.

A NOTE FOR (potentially) DISAPPOINTED READERS !!!

Athough the Palm Court has been closed for renovations, portions of the Conservatory facility remain open, If you can't manage to come by for a look yourself, you can still take in the joys of a visit by clicking HERE. 

  

FEB 25, Submitted Palindromes: Introduction to presenters -- Sarah Palindrome

 GREETINGS, WORDPLAY ENTHUSIASTS !!!

  

You have reached the "Submitted Palindromes" thread on the blog "Daily Edifying Nonsense", a light literary entity that emanates through the blogosphere daily (almost), i.e. 30 times per month.

  On the 25th of each month you will 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. Their profiles are indicated 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", and continuing with other well-known phrases, such as "Dennis sinned". Otherwise, their contribution will be grouped in 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). 

FEB 24, creative anachronism: the Hippocratic oath

Authors' Note: The origins of the Hippocratic Oath, as discussed in the above verse, join several others by the authors under the rubric "creative anachronism". Although little is known of classic Greek office routines, there is no confirmation that clerks transcribed dictated medical reports during that epoch. One has to wait to the modern era for the invention of the typo.

Hippocrates of Kos was putatively the author of many texts (the Hippocratic Corpus) deriving from the school of medicine on his native island, one of two that thrived in Greece during its classical period. Surviving writings describe early concepts of diseases, symptoms and treatments. Among these were comments on the humanistic basis of medical practice that were formalized centuries later into the assertion of medical ethics and professionalism that we know today.   

   

Along the same lines, readers are invited to review our small but growing collection of "creative anachronisms" on our blog "Edifying Nonsense" by clicking HERE.

FEB 23, lexicon of word-pairs: alliterative binomials E to K

Giorgio's lexicon of binomials (alliterative)

Quite a few alliterative binomials have been hightlighted in other short verses by the authors:  

Matching the selection on the first slide, these include "hale and hearty", "Heaven and Hell", "(to)have and (to) hold", "hem and haw", "his and hers", and "kith and kin". 

Matching the selection on the second slide, these include "flora and fauna".

You can easily find all of these on our topic-based blog "Edifying Nonsense" by clicking HERE, and following the links.  

FEB 22, signs of confusion: third collection

 This post is the third in a series of 5. You can attempt to get all of this straight by reviewing the collections in the previous posts ...

signs of confusion#2
signs of confusion #1

We hope that you enjoyed this post, the third in a series of 5. You can attempt to get all of this straight by pushing on to review the collections in these subsequent posts ...

signs of confusion #4

signs of confusion #5