A blogsite offering entertaining oddities since January 2020 at the rate of 30x/month. There are now over sixteen hundred posts in these four years. Images -- poetic, photographic, and computer-simulated -- are drawn from daily life as well as from poems and wordplay grouped by topic on our parent blog "Edifying Nonsense". The poetry displayed is all original (as are the song-lyrics), although portions evolved through rigorous editing on a collaborative website.
January 10, 2023
JAN 10, a brief saga (pandemic poetry): squid in the time of COVID
January 9, 2023
JAN 9, mythed opportunities: Cronus
In the harsh Greek version of the myth, the youth Cronus castrates his father, Uranus, at the urging of his peevish mother Gaia. Later, Cronus learns that he, too, is fated to be overturned by his own offspring, and devours them, except for Zeus, who escapes and eventually does overthrow him to become king of the gods.
January 8, 2023
JAN 8, mammalian wildlife: hoary marmots
Authors' Note: Living in the US Pacific Northwest, generally in sites 2500m (8,000 feet) or more above sea-level, and at lower elevations as well in British Columbia and Alaska, North America's largest ground squirrel (a relative of the prairie dog and woodchuck) lives an apparently idyllic life. An herbivore, it emerges to survey the mountain views while dining on vegetation, and spends its morning sun-bathing on the rocks. It avoids the inhospitable part of the year by hibernating in communal well-hidden burrows for seven months. The downside is provided by several predators, most notably golden eagles; unfortunately, its characteristic high-pitched alarm call (underlying nicknames like "whistle-pig") does not give complete protection when these dangers are present.
Whistler, BC, is a destination whose name is linked to this local mammalian resident. You can check out an illustrated verse about this town by clicking HERE (link available at the end of November 2023).
You can 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 !
January 7, 2023
JAN 7, objectionable adjectives: flaky (floccular)
ovular: adjective pertaining to egg
January 6, 2023
JAN 6, Canadiana: over-wintering waterfowl (downy)
January 5, 2023
JAN 5, ambulatory verse: pre-amble
January 4, 2023
JAN 4, dental feelings: cavities
January 3, 2023
JAN 3, neologism (classic): hipsters vs hippies
January 2, 2023
JAN 2, waterfowl: willets
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).
January 1, 2023
JAN 1, urban concerns: the tropical conservatory
December 30, 2022
DEC 30, singable satire: "CAROLINA WINTER MORNING"
ORIGINAL SONG: "Carolina in the Morning" written 1922, best-known version is by Al Jolson.
PARODY COMPOSED: Giorgio Coniglio, January 2014, in response to an unusual weather phenomonon.
You can also view these lyrics and commentary (without images or chords) displayed on a parody-lyrics website at AmIRight.com Post "Carolina Winter Morning".
PARODY-SONGLINK: To find ukulele and guitar chord-charts to help you accompany "CAROLINA WINTER MORNING" on your favorite instrument, click HERE.
Bridges closed confine ya', snow in coastal Carolina; cancel meetings.
Blame the Great Designer, don't malign the coal strip-miners - no El Niño.
December 29, 2022
DEC 29, for HOGMANAY (New Year's Eve): Auld Lang's sine
reprise from December 31, 2020
DEC 31, a brief saga: Hogmanay (New Year's Eve)
midnight scene from our Toronto aerie |
December 28, 2022
DEC 28, painterly poetry: Alfred Sisley, en plein air
December 27, 2022
DEC 27, poetic non-sequitur: "The Secret Life of Plants" (+ US news)
December 26, 2022
DEC 26, mammalian wildlife: gerbils
December 25, 2022
DEC 25: holidays and celebrations: poinsettias
December 24, 2022
DEC 24, curtained verse: florid
Authors' Note:
Although it's principal meanings revolve around the Latin term for flowery or flourishing, florid has come to imply, in the medical context, "referring to a disease or to a symptom in its fully developed form", or perhaps "fragrantly, flagrantly florid".
December 23, 2022
DEC 23, objectionable adjectives: fulsome
Authors' Note: Pretentiousness may be at work when the word fulsome is (ab)used by a writer or speaker who feels that 'full' is not sufficiently impressive.
December 22, 2022
DEC 22, higher connections: great chain of being
December 21, 2022
DEC 21, defining opinion: hollow
December 20, 2022
DEC 20, singable satire: Tradition Al sings the carol "KOOKY PRESIDENTIAL"
PARODY COMPOSED: Dr. G.H. and Giorgio Coniglio, February 2019.
ORIGINAL SONG: "Good King Wenceslas", written by English hymnwriter John Mason Neale in 1853, but often now mistakenly referred to as 'traditional'. (The artist mentioned in the byline, "Tradition Al", is apocryphal). Neale's piece (based on accounts of the Bohemian Wenceslas legend and a 13th century 'spring-carol' tune), was highly criticized in the 1920s as "ponderous moral doggerel", but as you all know, has become a seasonal classic.
On You-Tube, you can readily find a spectrum of video recordings of the original lyrics, from the Choir of Westminster Abbey, to Bing Crosby and the Irish Rovers (the last-mentioned is highly recommended for its quirky nature).
SONGLINK: See the version of this post designed for ukulele and guitar players on our lyrics-blog 'SILLY SONGS and SATIRE' HERE.
KOOKY PRESIDENTIAL VIEWS
(to the tune of "Good King Wenceslas")
“Scour the penitentiaries, find Hispanic hitmen,