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'.

DEC 25, personal and family history: a brief personal bio xxxxxxxxxxxxx Nate

That's my older brother in 1945 holding Dad's photo;
  (lower left). I wasn't quite on the scene, yet!

Mom and Dad with their offspring,
50th anniversary celebration

Update:

seasonal gourmet feast, 2021:
 (a dual-mode family celebration)
Xmas lunch in the Carolina lowcountry

DEC 24, classic palindrome: 'a Santa at NASA'

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TROOPER, WHEREVER YOU ARE!

AND

HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL

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

seasonal scene pre -Xmas:
office lobby in Toronto 

DEC 23, variant Nantucket limerick: zoophile from Nanoose

 Such adventures show etiquette loose.

Authors' Note: You can find another daily offering on this blog dealing with zoophilia by clicking HERE.

Or, you could review our entire collection of spoof verses based on the iconic Nantucket limericks on our full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense' by clicking HERE.
 

DEC 22, planet-saving verse: shorebird council's demand

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'. 

ruddy turnstone at a narrow Carolina beach-strip
 littered with oyster-shells. This bird is a long distance migrator, roosting in the high Arctic.

shorebird, seen near Toronto lakeshore: killdeer?

turnstones (running), and oystercatcher

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

DEC 21, Carolina lowcountry: delicious December days

 Editor's Note: As old age and aversion to cold weather have descended, we spend time whenever we can in the Carolina low-country. It is a cliché to say that winter is shorter in more southerly places, but that sometimes means that there are days when winter rages back in central Canada, but is not in evidence down here in lotus-land. On this particular day we learned from our weather-app that it would be snowy back home in Toronto, but would be a short-sleeve day in coastal Carolina.

Note the mid-day temperatures in Toronto and Charleston, South Carolina

The boardwalk takes you past the trawlers at Shem Creek, Mt. Pleasant, SC

Pelicans perched at creekside awaiting the returning fishers

Tranquility near the center of suburban action

Setting up for a community-center wedding with a harbor view

\

Grillwork fence with wisteria seedpods and a view of a 'sea' of jonquils 

Geometric restored oyster-bed at the Pitt St. Bridge park,
Arthur Ravenel Bridge in background 

American white ibises in the marsh

white ibis in flight

cormorants on dock

seasonal decor at the beach

toothpick grasshopper on papyrus leaf

pizza delivery boxes in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina,

touting service to 'the Lowcountry'