May 21, 2022

MAY 21, Carolina lowcountry: farewell, wildlife!

'Til next year, IAC!


Readers' advisory: You can expand any photo on this blogpost, or any other, by clicking on the photo (those embedded in slides are an exception.) 





great egret at a pond in a nearby luxury condo.
Watch your step!



unabashed swimmer in a gatory pond



another suburban pond, close by






a green (Carolina) anole, on patrol




Carolina anole at leisure,
 sunning on our front-yard sago palm



a handsome southern toad,
occasional visitor to our backyard



brown pelicans strolling
 after dinner at the neighborhood 'pelicatessen'
'



paper-wasp mother building her nest




And, here's a verse about another domesticated great egret ...




pelican swimming fantasia




wood stork and Canada goose



a white ibis sits for a portrait




May 20, 2022

MAY 20 (2022), singable satire: John Denver sings "INDIANA SONG"

SATIRE COMPOSED: Giorgio Coniglio, May 2018. Readers interested in this topic might also enjoy Giorgio's lyrics posted on these earlier blogposts...
Dark Schemes
Rosenstein
Brennan's Tweet 
"Get Me Roger Stone - the Song" 

ORIGINAL SONG:  "Annie's Song" by John Denver, 1974.
Enjoy Denver's recording HERE on Youtube. 

SONGLINK: See the version designed for ukulele and guitar players on 'SILLY SONGS and SATIREHERE

BACKGROUND INFO: George Will's opinion-editorial  was published in the Washington Post under the rubric "Trump is no longer the worst person in government". It appeared in our local newspaper on May 10, 2018, under the heading "Mike Pence sets sad standard for governing by groveling."
Here is the link to the particular newspaper column which generated all the interest.




INDIANA SONG

to the tune of "Annie's Song"
  

George Will writes Mike Pence sets
A 'sad standard for ... groveling',
Like at cabinet meetings
Where he's 'humbled' by Trump.
Using barbs like 'oleaginous', 
Like 'repulsive' and 'toady',
George fills up his column -- 
His disdain doesn't slump.

Then George targets invective
At Mike's praise for Arpaio,
At a rally in Tempe
Near the home of McCain.
George invokes Mike's 'vocation'
(Servile ingratiation)
And asks voters repudiate
That mob's M.A.G.A.* again.

*  Make America Great Again, slogan of the 2016 Republican campaign.


CAST OF CHARACTERS

George Will  'conservative political commentator' and popular columnist with the Washington Post Writer's Group.
Mike Pence  Vice-President 2017- . Previous experience as Republican governor of his home-state of Indiana. Described as 'conspicuously devout' by Will, presumably picked for his current post due to his freedom from financial or lifestyle imbroglios. 
Donald Trump  President, 2016-.
"Sheriff Joe" Arpaio   controversial local political figure in Arizona, self-styled as 'America's toughest sheriff', convicted of contempt of court in relation to repeated racially charged practices, 'pardoned' by Trump in 2017.
John McCain   high-profile long-serving senator from Arizona, Republican candidate for President in 2008, struggling with terminal brain cancer at the time of these events.

 

May 19, 2022

MAY 19, doctors and their practices: ex-hospital chief






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!
 

links for any date: scroll over to the calendar-based listings of 'Past Posts' in the righthand column on this page, choose your year then month of interest, and then select (by clicking) the specific post of your choice. 

May 18, 2022

MAY 18, insects: gnats



Authors' Note
  The term 'gnat' can be used to described a variety of small, swarming flies. Owing to their small size, the sort that bite are often known as 'no see 'ums'. There is a companion piece to this verse 'gnat repellent' that extends the details of this topic.    

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.

May 17, 2022

MAY 17, binomial phrases: "bump and grind"

 





Authors' NoteThe above verse features a number of binomial expressions, most of which are in common use. The most striking binomial phrases are alliterative (like 'on and off') or rhyming (like "Tease and Please" and 'hot to trot'). As part of their catchy appeal, binomial phrases are often chosen as the names of restaurants, bars and small businesses, but the name proposed here for a strip-club is an original use.
  To help the reader to pick them out, the six contained binomial phrases, dancing across the lines are portrayed in italics and colored font.           


To review the poetic effusion that we have accumulated about binomial phrases, proceed to our blog "Edifying Nonsense", and check out the post  'Grandpa Greg's Grammar: Binomial Expressions'. Click HERE ! 

May 16, 2022

MAY 16, planet-saving verse: species loss

BTW, should you ever need to log in directly to this blog, its simple address is...

daily.edifyingnonsense.com

(Just type that into your browser search-line.)




Authors' Note: Scientists have determined that of all the species that have been present on our planet, more than 99% are now extinct. Many of the extant (current) species are under increasing pressure due to global warming, loss of habitat, and in some cases, exploitation and pollution.


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


Incidental photo: 


a great egret in low flight over a saltwater creek


May 15, 2022

MAY 15, pathos and poetry (gun control verse): massacre at Mother Emanuel Church







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

May 14, 2022

MAY 14, waterfowl: action-photos from Swan Lake / Iris Gardens

Continuing from the posts of two days towards the end of April, after our wonderful outing to Sumter SC two weeks ago. 



mute swan, egg-laden, lumbering




whooper swan, in a flap

 


black swan, grabbing a snack




navigating the ponds



black swan, takeoff plan canceled




a posterior flap




a frontal flap




black swans in flight




swans, like this nesting mute couple,
 spend a lot of time preening themselves


You can review Giorgio's illustrated verses on this topic by proceeding to the post 'Immersible Verse: Limericks about Waterfowl' on the full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense'. Or, if you prefer, you can find most of this stuff in photo-albums on Giorgio's Facebook profile.

May 13, 2022

MAY 13, funny bones: contortionists









swan contortionists
observed by a colleague



a double-headed circus swan:-)





You can view verses on this topic in a wider context by proceeding to the post 'Breaking News: FUNNY BONES' on our full-service blog "Edifying Nonsense". Click HERE! 

May 12, 2022

MAY 12, limerick for lovers of classic languages: Homo latinophonius







Authors' Note:

mus (MOOS): Latin for ‘mouse’
puer (POO-er): 'boy', a prototype Latin noun, often used in early lessons to introduce the topic of declension
faex: Latin for 'dreg', 'sediment' or 'deposit'
faeces: the more familiar plural form

The author has several decades of experience in attempting to get trainees who had never studied Latin to use Anglo-Latin words appropriately in medical reports. 
Presumably, Linnaeus' associates and protégés in 18th century Swedish academia were all well-versed in Latin.


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


May 11, 2022

MAY 11, variant Nantucket limerick: the Canadian expat









 
You can review our whole collection of spoof verses based on the iconic Nantucket limericks on our full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense' by clicking 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.






May 10, 2022

MAY 10, a brief singable saga: echoic binomials

PARODY-SONGLINK: These verses were originally conceived as poetic lyrics. However, they can, like almost all limericks, be easily sung using  certain well-known tunes.  For this effort, we have used as the base song Carole King's "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow", and changed the title of our song to something more catchy.
  Click HERE to access ukulele and guitar chord-charts to help you accompany the song ("Again and Again") on your favorite instrument.

But, if you are interested only in the lyrics, continue with the presentation that follows ...  









 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 !


 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 iLimerick Form'. On the OEDILF site, rigorous standards for content and format are involved 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. We have been publishing these poetic adventures here monthly.

To access the next 'brief saga', proceed to 'anagram swarms'
To access the most recent previous 'brief saga', back up to 'Anglo-Latin and -Greek'

May 9, 2022

MAY 9, numbers: nine (9) ninety-nine




 You can review our cumulated nonsense about numbers by clicking HERE. 

May 8, 2022

MAY 8, reprehensible modern history: submarine warfare #1



Charleston South Carolina played a major role in the development of submarine warfare. The Cold War Submarine Memorial is located at Patriot's Point in Mt. Pleasant SC, on the eastern side of Charleston harbor. 


U.S.; Civil War; submarines; Confederacy; H.L. Hunley; Charleston; Giorgio Coniglio South Carolina


At our full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense', you can review our entire collection of panels about the history of submarine warfare, as well as the lyrics to the parody-song "Relic Submarines". Click HERE





View the entire collection of poetic assertions on this topic (currently small, but growing) at our more encyclopedic blog 'Edifying Nonsense', by clicking HERE.

May 7, 2022

MAY 7, diagnostic imaging: Fluorine-18 PET







 

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!

May 6, 2022

MAY 6, birdlore: dawn chorus

BTW, should you ever need to log in directly to this blog, its simple address is...

daily.edifyingnonsense.com

(Just type that into your browser search-line.)





 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

May 5, 2022

MAY 5, mammalian wildlife: hippos (-otamuses vs -otami)







 The above is iambic verse; therefore it scans: 
'MOST of US to QUELL the FUSSes
PreSUME we're HIPpoPOtaMUSes'

HERE is a nonsense posting from last November that also features hippopotamuses; it has been written in more familiar anapestic (limerrhoidal) meter.

You could 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 !

May 4, 2022

MAY 4, pluralia tantum: 'imply/infer' (life-cycle celebrations)

 



Authors' Note: Plurale tantum, meaning plural only, is a Latin-derived term (with plural form pluralia tantum), for a noun that has no, or only a minimally used singular form, e.g. alms, auspices, and dregs. There are over one hundred of these in English. In other languages, such forms are commonly used to refer to ceremonial time-points on life's journey, but in English we have only the relatively archaic terms banns, nuptials, obsequies and remains, also last rites and final respects. Bryce's attempt to help his audience is incorrect, as these peculiarly plural nouns generally are paired with a plural verb-form.
 We have discussed in other verses here the relationship of pluralia tantum to medical nomenclature, to cooking ingredients and to fields of study.


upscale nuptials







Grandpa Greg asked us to pass on this message: "You can view the entire collection of verses about 'pluralia tantum' by clicking HERE."






May 3, 2022

MAY 3, bar-fauna: ark's bar (on board with Noah)







 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.


Followup illustration:

"Two by Two", Alice Anthony
Quilt exhibited at 
N.Charleston Convention Center, March 2022.
 



May 2, 2022

MAY 2, trees: ponytail palm






You can review these illustrated verses in a wider context by proceeding to 'Uprooted Verse: 'Poems about Trees' on the full-service blog "Edifying Nonsense". 







May 1, 2022

MAY 1, painterly poetry: 'decamp' (the birth of impressionism)

 



                                                       

Authors' Note:  The above story, dating from France in the 1860s, and relating to the birth of Impressionism, is apocryphal.

Check out our entire collection of illustrated verses on 'painterly poetry' as exhibited on the encyclopedic blog "Edifying Nonsense" by clicking HERE