NOV 14r, pandemic poetry: social distancing

a) reprise from November 2020

NOV 14, pandemic poetry: social distancing

You can review these illustrated verses in a wider context by proceeding to 'Pandemic Poetry' on the full-service blog "Edifying Nonsense".

b) Decorative Touches (DTz)

 fabric art by R.C.H., presented with thanks

NOV 13, terminal (poetic) exclamation: KERPLUNK!

Authors' Note: Kerplunk is an onomatopoeic expression for the sound produced as a non-buoyant object suddenly sinks below the watery surface.

You can review our collection of poems on the topic of "Terminal Exclamation (Limerick Variations)" as it evolves on our more encyclopedic blog "Edifying Nonsense"; click HERE.  

NOV 12r-, Toronto ravines: art installations

reprise from November 2020

NOV 12, Toronto ravines: art installations 

 

 The sculpture is the work of the renowned Canadian innovator, naturalist and artist William Lishman.

If you are interested in winding your way through an encyclopedic collection of four blogposts stuffed with photo-collages on Toronto ravines, click HERE.

NOV 11, poetic non-sequitur: hoggishly

 

The collections of short verses entitled "Non-Sequiturs" on our parent blog "Edifying Nonsense", contain an admittedly bizarre assortment of nonsensical odds-and-ends, that don't quite fit into other topic-based offerings. But should you want to review the entire collection, click HERE.

NOV 10, brief saga W-I-P

NOV 9r, bi-lyrical limerick: 'a poet and his bros'

a) reprise from November 2020

NOV 10, bi-lyrical limerick: 'a poet and his bros'

 Authors' note: We (i.e. Dr. G.H. and his registered pseudonym Giorgio) have two brothers who have each written a textbook in his chosen field of endeavour. Our personal choice, however, is to indulge in the delights of poetry, using rhyme rather than free verse as our preferred modality.  

Be sure to check out the whole collection of 'bi-lyrical limericks' by proceeding to "Edifying Nonsense." CLICK HERE ! 

reminiscence of South Carolina

b) Decorative Touches 

 fabric art by R.C.H., presented with thanks

NOV 8, postal places, Canada: Goose Bay and Gander, NL

 Authors' Note: NL is the official abbreviation for the Canadian province comprised of the Atlantic island of Newfoundland, and Labrador — the sparsely populated section of mainland Canada that borders the Atlantic Ocean to its north.
Gander, population 12,000, located on the island north of the capital of St. John's, had been founded in the 1930s as a refuelling stop for the expanding number of commercial transatlantic flights. It recently became famous as the recipient town for diverted passenger aircraft during the 9/11 debacle.

The town of Goose Bay, population 8000, now administratively known as Happy Valley - Goose Bay, is the largest settlement in the icy northern portion of the province. Founded in 1941, it was selected for its potential as a military airbase, and served that function throughout World War Two.

A terse story about "dangerous": A recent novice visitor from France, flying overnight to Toronto, sleepily noted the key towns on the plane's route-map, and wondered why "Danger" was prominently displayed near the country's east coast.

 At one swell foop, you can review all our postal poems about intriguing places in the USA and Canada, by proceeding to the encyclopedic blog "Edifying Nonsense". Click HERE !

NOV 7, submitted palindromes, targeted: "A MAN, A PLAN, A CANAL -- PANAMA"

 b) recent birdie-pic

black-crowned night heron

NOV 6r, waterfowl, gallinules

a) reprise from September 2020

 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'.

b) Decorative Touches 

 fabric art by R.C.H., presented with thanks

 

NOV 5, Toronto excursion: down by the Lake

\\

 

NOV 4r-, insects: beer bugs

 

reprise from 2020

OCT 21, insects: beer bugs

NOV 3r, American satire: conspiracy theories

a) reprise from November 3, 2020

NOV 3, American satire(3): conspiracy theories

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!

b) Decorative Touches 

 fabric art by R.C.H., presented with thanks

 

NOV 2r, magical palindromes: more from Paris

a) reprise from November 2020

NOV 2, magical palindromes: more from Paris

 

You can become an expert fan of our wordplay concoction 'magical palindromes' by reviewing the explanatory material found  on our full-service blog "Edifying Nonsense" HERE.

b) Decorative Touches

 fabric art by R.C.H., presented with thanks

NOV 1, objectionable adjectives: horrible

 Authors' Note:  Horrible (like its close cousins terrible and frightful) has become a difficult term to define. Originally meaning full of horror, or capable of engendering horror, it can now be applied in two opposing directions.

SINGING THIS POEM

Some readers will be itching to sing the above verse. Here's our suggestion as to how to do it, using the well-known tune of "Home on the Range", slightly modified to fit the situation. Have fun !!! 

Horrible    (uke chords: E9 = 1222; A9 = 0102);

verse:

This Oct[D]ober my [D7]poems won't be [G]snorable [Gm]

Grisly, [D]gruesome. they're [E9] terribly [A7]gorable.

Critics, [D]reading at [D7]night,

Can't a[G]void taking [Gm]fright --

They'll con[D]demn them as [A9]"Hallowe'en-[D]horrible."

chorus:

Next [D]month dispo[G]sitions are [D]sunny;

With Thanks[E9]giving-fest sweeter than [A7]honey.

Critics [D]won't be an[D7]noyed;

They'll de[G]light, over[Gm]joyed

At my [D]verse they'll term [A7]"horribly [D]funny".

You can review our editorially selected doggerel (eight poems) relating to 'Objectionable Adjectives' by clicking HERE.

OCT 30, singable satire: Julie Andrews sings "EWE-YEW-YOU" (the English homonym medley)

 PARODY-LYRICS 

ORIGINAL SONG: "Do-Re-Mi", as performed by Julie Andrews and the cast of von Trapp children in the 1965 film version of the musical hit "The Sound of Music". The song was composed by Rogers and Hammerstein for the stage version of the iconic American musical, that premiered in 1959 featuring Mary Martin in the lead role of "Maria". 

  

PARODY COMPOSED: Giorgio Coniglio, September 2014; the medley, in fact, contains two spoofs based on the same original song. The parody-medley was added to Giorgio's predecessor blog "Giorgio's Ukable Parodies" as one of his earliest parody-songs.

.

PARODY-SONGLINK: To find ukulele and guitar chord-charts to help you accompany "EWE-YEW-YOU (the English homonym medley)" on your favorite instrument, click HERE.

EWE-YEW-YOU

(to the tune of "Do-Re-Mi") 

Dough -- it's paste I knead for bread

Rey -- the Spanish word for "KING"

Mea culpa -- Latin guilt

Fa't -- it's so embarrassing

So -- an adverb meaning "MUCH"

LA -- Louisiana mail

Tee -- a shirt for golf or such

Dough -- there's what I'll need for bail.

Dough, rey, mea, fa't, so, LA, tee, dough !  

Ewe -- a sheep, a female sheep

Yew -- a hedge that's evergreen

You -- a name to call yourself

U- -- a turn to leave the scene

Hugh -- an entertaining guy

A job that's carving wood -- that's hew

Hue -- a tint to catch the eye

And that brings us back to ewe. 

Ewe, yew, you, U-, Hugh, hew, hue, ewe !  

Editor's Note (added April 2024):

"When you know the notes to sing, you can sing most anything."

(The melody and words of this delightful song remain with us as an "earworm".) With this fact in mind, we have concocted another pair of spoofs dealing with the French version. We have labelled this effort, a French homonym song, as "Jeux-de-Mots". (Click the link to enjoy it, available in mid-April 2024). 

Solfège system of naming musical notes, shown here for key of C

OCT 29, duplication: hocus-pocus

 

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".

OCT 28r, death and the afterlife: ghostbusting equipment

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

b) Decorative Touches 

                                                           fabric art by R.C.H., presented with thanks

OCT 27r, diagnostic imaging: technetium generators

a) reprise from October 2020

OCT 27, diagnostic imaging: technetium generators

You can review all our verses on this intriguing topic by proceeding to a post on 'Edifying Nonsense' entitled 'Selected Topics in Diagnostic Imaging'. Click HERE!

b) Decorative Touches

Continuation from "Pictures at a Renovation -- finishing touches" (fabric artwork), September 22, 2023. 

Night view: Cooper River Bridge

                                                         

                       fabric art by R.C.H., presented with thanks

For a comparison of modalities you might want to see the post of July 29,  "Photo-Study of the Cooper River Bridge".

OCT 26, gruesome verse: hidey-hole

 Check out the whole collection called "Gruesome Verse" on our blog "Edifying Nonsense"  by clicking HERE.

OCT 25, gruesome verse: horripilation (goose bumps)

 

Authors' Note: Goose bumps or goose pimples are a common transient physiological change produced by stimulation of the skin's small and widely distributed arrector pili, tiny muscles at the base of each hair follicle. Their appearance may be provoked by physical conditions (such as a cold environment) or emotional factors, including embarassment, a sexual turn-on, or fear. The latter, accompanied by profound anxiety (the heebie-jeebies), and "hair standing on end" (piloerection or horripilation) is a reaction scaled down from that found in the animal kingdom, e.g. porcupines throwing their quills to put off predators. 

  Heebie-jeebies is gramatically another of those appealing (re) duplications, like helter-skelter and hocus-pocus, and represents a topic appropriate for discussion on Hallowe'en.

Check out the whole collection called "Gruesome Verse" on our blog "Edifying Nonsense" HERE.