October 2, 2022

OCT 2, Italian loanwords: ciao

 





Authors' NoteYou can probably figure out how to pronounce the word 'ciao' if you  already know how to say ...
cello: the musical instrument, and 
Fauci: the well-known director of the American CDC (Centers for Disease Control), and pandemic maven.
Note, however, that in expressions like che schifo, the Italian letter 'H' blocks the vowel ('E' or 'I')  from softening the sound of the Italian 'C' into the ch'(church) sound of English, so that it retains its 'k' value
BTW, che schifo! means 'How disgusting! or How repulsive!, or Yuk!

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


October 1, 2022

OCT 1, palinku (poetic novelty): restaurants, 3-verse medley

   In this post, we continue with a novel form of poetic wordplay. Inspired by Japanese haiku poetry, this new form is used for a terse verse with a total of 17 syllables displayed on three lines. Unlike its classic Japanese analogue, this concoction does not mandate the precise distribution of the syllables among the three lines, but does stipulate that each word in the poem be included in a palindromic phrase or sentence in English (i.e. one that can be read either forwards or backwards). 

  To help the reader discern the origin of the lyrics, each palindrome (generally occupying one of the three lines of the poem) has been color-coded. 

  And, just in case you have forgotten what palindromes are about, your blogsite hosts have arranged a serial set of brief lessons on the topic ('Political Palindromes'); click HERE












The interplay between dining and sinning is also the topic of this recently discovered palindrome ...

Dennis and Edna dined. Enid and Edna sinned. 


Verses of this type have continued to accumulate. You can view them all at one swoop if you  proceed with a single click to our more encyclopedic blog "Edifying Nonsense". Click HERE.

If you prefer, you could view most of this topically arranged material on Facebook, in Giorgio's photo-albums. (About 20% of those offerings consist of political satire or adult limericks, and you will have to be a 'friend' of Giorgio's to view that stuff.)

September 30, 2022

SEP 30, limerick variations: epitomy




You can review our entire collection of poems on the topic of "Limerick Variations" as compiled on our more encyclopedic blog "Edifying Nonsense" by clicking HERE.  


September 28, 2022

SEP-28, spineless verse (invertebrates): chelipods

 








READING MORE WIDELY:

You can find all our illustrated verses about various 'INVERTEBRATES' , as compiled on our full-service blog "Edifying NonsenseHEREBut, in fact, we had hived off verses about INSECTS, and they are gathered in separate blogposts, that you can get into HERESo, follow these links, and enjoy.   


September 27, 2022

SEP 27, defining opinion: diaphoretic




 

 Our blogpost "Defining Opinion" on the topic-based blog "Edifying Nonsense" shows a selection of similar verses submitted to OEDILF (the online Omnificent English Dictionary iLimerick Form). You can see all of these on one visit by clicking HERE.

September 26, 2022

SEP 26, organic brain poetry: CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy)

 This is consecutive daily post #1000 on this blog!!!

ROSH HASHANAH: To Jewish friends, L' shanah tovah! 



Authors' Note:  Although military recruits and physically abused spouses also number among the victims of this disease of insidious onset, (characteristically diagnosed with certainty only at post-mortem examination), it is the scourge of those who earlier in life indulged in contact sports, particularly those with a risk of repetitive minor brain trauma.

Everything that you wanted to know about chronic traumatic encephalopathy can be found in the author's note appended to MikeAq's verse on the subject.
You can view and review all our verses on the topic of 'Organic Brain Poetry' by following this link to the encyclopedic collection on "Edifying Nonsense."

September 25, 2022

SEP 25, classic palindrome: 'step on no pets'











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

 If you prefer, you could also view most of this topically arranged material on Facebook, in Giorgio's photo-albums. (About 20% of those offerings consist of political satire or adult limericks, and you will have to be a 'friend' of Giorgio's to view that stuff.)

September 24, 2022

SEP 24, toxic vignette: antifreeze (ethylene glycol) poisoning






Authors' Note  Poisoning with sweet-smelling ethylene glycol is a common toxic problem for humans and pets owing to its wide commercial distribution in products including antifreeze and windshield washer fluid.

 Discovered in 1958, denatonium benzoate (sold under various tradenames, including Bitrex), tastes unbearably bitter to most mammals, even in low concentations, but is not apparently harmful otherwise. It has been used to prevent ingestion of a variety of consumer products. In 2012, all American manufacturers of antifreeze voluntarily agreed to add denatonium to these liquids in order to reduce fatal poisonings.
     


Learn more about this topic on the web at these sites:


Review all our poems of toxicologic interest by clicking HERE 


September 23, 2022

SEP 23, news-post: Fore! (Letitia's civil lawsuit)

FORE! (Letitia's Civil Lawsuit)


At the tee, brave Letitia yelled, "Fore!",

Strode the fairway to even the score.

"Donald's trapped in the sand;

As we've planned, he'll be banned

From playing this course any more."

(Folks suspected this drama before.)

 Giorgio Coniglio, 2022

online photo

Author's Note:
The golfing terms fore!, and fairway are explained in other OEDILF verses.

In September 2022, Letitia James, Attorney General of the state of New York initiated a civil lawsuit against the Trump Corporation and its executives (the former 45th American president and three of his children) for longstanding business malfeasance including bank, insurance and tax fraud.







September 22, 2022

SEP 22, braincheck: hippocampus







You can check your knowledge of brain structure and function in health and disease by reviewing our entire collection of illustrated verses on this topic. To review 'BRAINCHECK' on topic-oriented  blog "Edifying Nonsense", click HERE.

 

September 20, 2022

SEP 20 (2022), singable satire: Tennessee Ernie Ford sings "The BALLAD of GIULIANI", part #1

PARODY SONG-LYRICS


ORIGINAL SONG: The Ballad of Davy Crockett , by Bruns and Blackburn, Walt Disney Studios 1954, anthem of the "Crockett craze". Several versions of the song were prominent on the Top Ten in 1955.
Rudy Giuliani
Youtube versions of the song by several performers are available via links to...
Tennessee Ernie Ford 
   
SATIRE COMPOSED: Dr. G.H. and Giorgio Coniglio, June 2018.
 Readers interested in this topic might also enjoy Giorgio's lyrics posted on these earlier blogposts...
PARODY-SONGLINK: To access ukulele chord-charts to help you accompany "The Ballad of Giuliani, part #1" on your favorite instrument, click HERE.
BACKGROUND INFO: Max Boot's opinion-editorial appeared in our local newspaper on May 8, 2018, under the heading "The long, disappointing fall of Rudy Giuliani". Here is the link to the particular newspaper column.
Other takes on Giuliani's statements about the Presidents' legal and personal imbroglios are given by Jennifer Rubin HERE, and Amy Sorkin HERE. However, this first part of the song deals with the more positive earlier portion of this flamboyant leaders' life-story.




SONGLINK: (for those who are signed up to visit our private song-lyrics blog)" See the version of this post designed for ukulele and guitar players on 'SILLY SONGS and SATIREHERE


The BALLAD of GIULIANI, part#1

(to the tune of "The Ballad of Davy Crockett")


Rudy Giuliani!
Voice of those wild Trump Years! 

Born in East Flatbush, down in NYC,
'Greenhorn' family from Tuscany.
Dad done time in Sing Sing for robbery,
An' Rudy volunteered for Robert Kennedy.
Rudy Giuliani,
Voice of those wild Trump Years!

At Manhattan College, took philosophy.
Enter the priesthood? "No, that's not for me!"
Studied Law at New York University,
To graduate cum laude with J.D. degree.
Rudy Giuliani,
Startin' up his career. 

To prosecute felons gave him a thrill.
Though tactics like the 'perp walk' were 'overkill'
As U.S. Attorney he showed great skill.
His record of convictions is unequalled still.
Rudy Giuliani,
Outshone his legal peers.

He fought single-handed through the Mafia Wars.
Racketeering mobsters he did abhor. 
Put their capos behind bars, and settled the score, 
And RICOed* inside traders, and convicted more.
Fearless Rudy launchin'
His politickin' career.

Two terms as Mayor start in '93.
First Repub. in office there since John Lindsay.
Libs felt queezy with the GOP, but he
Cleaned the streets, cut crime, and folks said "That's for me!"
Rudy Giuliani,
The Big Apple's brigadier. 

He craved a Senate seat; to lose was gall.
'Specially to Hillary, he'd hate to fall.
But marital scandal, and a doctor's call,
And bad race relations triggered his withdrawal.
Rudy Giuliani,
Back in the Mayor's chair. 

Rudy was the guy in charge when Towers fell.
At Ground Zero visited and stayed a spell.
Folks felt he handled the disaster well,
And was honored by the Queen as I've heard tell.
Rudy Giuliani!
Time's Person-of-the-Year.

Rudy Giuliani!
Time's Person-of-the-Year.

* RICO - The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act.   

SEP 20, hellenophilia: approaching Santorini

 



 Other verses discussing our appreciation of Greece and things Greek can be found on our blog 'Edifying Nonsense'. Click HERE.


September 19, 2022

SEP 19, death and the afterlife: garbage disposal in Heaven




Authors' Note: You may have gathered that the editors think that Heaven is a bureaucracy-ridden place. So, of course, as a resident there you may  have to fill out a lot of documentation to obtain permission to import Earthworms and related paraphernalia. 

 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!


If you prefer, you could view most of this topically arranged material on Facebook, in Giorgio's photo-albums. (About 20% of those offerings consist of political satire or adult limericks, and you will have to be a 'friend' of Giorgio's to view that stuff.)

September 18, 2022

SEP 18, curtained verse: braless

EDITORS' WARNING: You must be at least 12 years of age to read this post! 




 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'.



September 17, 2022

SEP 17, cinematic guide: gainless (M*A*S*H theme-song)



Authors' Note: Director Robert Altman had initially requested music for a single scene in the 1970 movie M*A*S*H; in keeping with the plot, this was to be "the stupidest song ever written". Having difficulty in completing the lyricist's task himself, Altman called on his 14-year-old son, who presumably finished the job in a few minutes. The music for "Suicide is Painless" went on to become highly popular as the principal theme for the movie and the TV series; the lyrics are not widely known, but earned the junior Altman large sums in royalties.



You can view our collection of verses about the cinema on our encyclopedic blog "Edifying Nonsense". Click HERE

September 16, 2022

SEP 16, poets' corner: poetic inventiveness

 

(Ed. note:) Palinku verses of this type have continued to accumulate, and there are now more than 50 of them. You can easily view them all, and learn more about their derivation, if you  proceed  to our more encyclopedic blog "Edifying Nonsense". Click HERE.

Also, you can find lots of other verses on this blog under the listing "Poets' Corner" by clicking HERE.

September 15, 2022

SEP 15, Italian loanwords: vendetta




For this verse we must acknowledge the inspiration of "The Flea and the Fly", a verse of unknown authorship, sometimes mistakenly attributed to Ogden Nash. You can read more about this issue HERE.


 You can review our entire poetic outpouring about Italian loanwords by proceeding to a post on our full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense'; click HEREIf you prefer, you could view most of this topically arranged material on Facebook, in Giorgio's photo-albums. (About 20% of those offerings consist of political satire or adult limericks, and you will have to be a 'friend' of Giorgio's to view that stuff.)

September 14, 2022

SEP 14, Ontario nostalgia: native cactus

 



 hidden cactus corner:
Allan Gardens Conservatory, Toronto

Authors' Note: Species of plants belonging to the cactus family are native only to America. Although they are generally heat-loving, a few species of the genus Opuntia are sufficiently cold-tolerant to live in parts of Canada. One of these, the eastern prickly pearOpuntia humifusa, thrives in the US in dry areas such as along beaches on the Atlantic coastline, and some inland areas. At the northern limit of its range, in areas along the Great Lakes in Ontario (located centrally in Canada), this species has been susceptible to territory loss by severe winter storms and is now considered locally endangered. Three other species of low-growing cacti are still flourishing in the prairie provinces of western Canada.


There's a different story in other parts of the globe, where these and related species were relocated by human activities during and after the sixteenth century. Owing to their edible summer fruit, prickly pears are tolerated as invasives in parts of South Africa, southern Europe, Polynesia, South America, etc. However, the cochineal insect that feeds on the cactus in Mexico can be ground to produce a valuable brilliant red dye kmown as carmine or cochineal. British colonists established a cactus plantation in New South Wales in the early 1800s to supply a nascent dye industry. With hospitable conditions, sandy warm soil, there and in Queensland, these an other host cactuses spread quickly and vigorously, taking over a huge chunk of grazing and horticultural terrain, and are now prohibited throughout the island continent.


                                                  web-photo: Australian cactus infestation 


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


September 13, 2022

SEP 13, pluralia tantum: 'condolences'

 




Authors' Note: The above verse provides several further examples of the grammatical phenomenon pluralia tantumAn idiom associated with providing condolences for the family and friends of a single deceased person is to 'pay one's final respects'.

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



September 12, 2022

SEP 12, numbers: a dozen (12)




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

If you prefer, you could view most of this topically arranged material on Facebook, in Giorgio's photo-albums. (About 20% of those offerings consist of political satire or adult limericks, and you will have to be a 'friend' of Giorgio's to view that stuff.)



September 11, 2022

SEP 11, planet-saving verse: the fishmonger







                                                                         

Authors' Note:   As stocks around the planet have suffered from overfishing, the price of fresh wild fish has mounted incessantly. As of 2016, aquaculture has apparently resulted in over 50% of the global supply of this foodstuff, both marine and freshwater varieties. 

  Carp, catfish, Atlantic salmon and tilapia are the leading four types of fish currently involved, with recent improvements in the quality and reliability of farmed flatfish (turbot, flounder, halibut, etc.).

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


September 10, 2022

SEP 10, binomial phrases: "high and dry"





Authors' Note: In deciding on their wedding vows, brides and grooms often pick binomial expressions owing to their aura of tradition and their musicality. Such phrases, bordering on clichés, include:
for better or for worseto have and to holdricher or poorer, and in sickness and in health. The ultimate cliché in this formulaic construct (that protagonist Cliff felt pressured to recite) is usually "til death do us part" (not a binomial).

Generally,  following recitation of the vows, the co-opted man and wife get photographed, and then the whole wedding-party goes off to celebrate. In the case described above, the mandatory recitation was distorted, and the guests were left high and dry


September 9, 2022

SEP 9, ecto-parasites: cat fleas




Authors' Note: (tee-no-seh-FA-li-deez FEE-luhs)
As discussed in our previous verse on fleas, our voracious protagonist, Ctenocephalides felis, is the chief ectoparasite inflicting misery on canines in North America. Unfortunately, its life-cycle — egg, larva, pupa, adult (the hopping wingless blood-sucker), can result in its persistence for up to a year in a warm environment, like the carpet in your rented flat (apartment). In the absence of its usual victims, the flea will consider humans as a predation target of secondary interest. Another piece of bad news is that, through longstanding attempts at control, the species is becoming resistant to insecticides.

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 (and keep following along 'til you get to the section on ecto-parasites).