A blogsite offering entertaining daily oddities since January 2020. There are now over fifteen hundred posts in these four years. Images -- photographic, computer-simulated and poetic -- 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 28, 2023
JAN 28, Canadiana: western Canadian funky towns
January 27, 2023
JAN 27, cinematic guide: George Formby's films and songs
In his films, Formby portrayed a good-natured but incompetent little man from rural county Lancaster, with songs interspersed throughout in which Formby, his character "laced with shy ordinariness", sings while accompanying himself adroitly on ukulele or banjo. Apparently, the Beatles, particularly George Harrison, were among the musicians influenced by Formby's performances.
January 26, 2023
JAN 26, (ecto)-parasites: host
January 25, 2023
JAN 25, national and multinational verse: Iceland
You can review our collection of verses about various individual nations, and about the groupings to which they belong, on our topic-based blog "Edifying Nonsense". Click HERE.
January 24, 2023
JAN 24, new world palindromes (#3,#4)
a) reprise from January 2020
JAN 24, wordplay maps: new world palindromes(#3,#4)
You can view the entire collection of these 50 wordplay maps, by accessing the collection 'Tourists Palindromic Guides: The Americas'. Start by clicking HERE!
January 23, 2023
JAN 23, braincheck: homonomous hemianop(s)ia
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.
January 22, 2023
JAN 22, poets' corner: noun-verb contractions
Authors' Note: In the above limerick verse, seven noun-verb contractions, each characteristically joining its two elements (a pronoun or noun, and a verb) with an apostrophe, are italicized in blue. But, don't be misled: other types of contractions also use the apostrophe, and these are flagged in red font. Aren't is of course a negative contraction, and one's is a possessive form.
You can find lots of other verses on this blog under the listing "Poets' Corner". Click HERE.
January 21, 2023
JAN 21, creative anachronism: the dawning of history
January 20, 2023
JAN 20 (2023), singable satire: The Four Lads sing "THUNDER BAY" (Ontario)
PARODY LYRICS
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
(Intro theme, mid-Eastern, on kazoo)
Now it's Thunder Bay, not Willi-am and Arthur
It's a [E7]wondrous town with name that's far superior --
Like [Am]Turkish delight, [Dm]on a [E7]stormy [Am]night.
Every [Am]dame today, 'round Lakehead way,
Stays in Thunder Bay, not with William or with Arthur
You've a [E7]rainy date in Fort William or Port Arthur?
She'll be [Am]waiting in [E7]Thunder [Am]Bay.
Even [Am]old Newfoundland hooked up with Labrador.
So, [Am]take me back: Fort William and Port Arthur
No, you can't go back in time, it's so much farther;
Been a [E7]long while past, since Willi-am and Arthur.
[E7] It's no one's business but Ca-[Am]nucks.
January 19, 2023
JAN 19, defining opinion: hose
January 18, 2023
JAN 18, reptiles: anoles going green
January 17, 2023
JAN 17, 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 16, 2023
JAN 16, spineless verse (invertebrates): endo-parasites
Authors' Note: The term parasite derives via Latin from an old Greek term meaning "one who dines at another's table". To clarify more fully the terse explanation in the verse, endoparasites, taking up residence inside their host, get their nutrients by passive absorption or by burrowing in the tissues of their host, which could be you! There are very few cases where they spontaneously leave to go to another restaurant. Fortunately, effective treatments have been developed for many of these types of infestation.
January 15, 2023
JAN 15, classic palindromes, 'no left felon'
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'.
January 14, 2023
JAN 14, curtained verse: octogenarian sex
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 verses: Faintly Obscene (Selected) Limericks' on the full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense'.
January 13, 2023
JAN 13, (re)duplication: fuddy-duddy
January 12, 2023
JAN 12, Carolina lowcountry: photo-study of the Cooper River (Arthur Ravenel) bridge
This photogenic bridge, a part of US highway 17, links the historic city of Charleston, South Carolina, with the suburban town of Mt. Pleasant across the Cooper River.
Photos were taken with the camera function on Giorgio Coniglio's i-phone 7, later upgraded to an i-phone 13. A few other pictures can be found in a pre-pandemic blogpost HERE.
t-shirt motif |
You can see this marvellous feat of engineering as rendered in fabric art by clicking HERE and HERE.
January 11, 2023
JAN 11, patients and their maladies: gynophobia and gamophobia
January 10, 2023
JAN 10, a brief singable saga: squid in the time of COVID
January 9, 2023
JAN 9, palinku (poetic novelty): family life
In this post, we will 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.
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, American satire: impulse control
a) reprise from January 2020
JAN 11, American satire(1): impulse control
January 4, 2023
JAN 4, dental feelings: cavities
January 3, 2023
JAN 3, neologism (classic): hipsters vs hippies
January 2, 2023
JAN 2, 2023, 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).