JAN 8, birdfeeders: more photo attempts

For comparison, you might like to review our first attempts at photographing the birdfeeding clients, not to mention enjoying a poem to mark the launch of this activity on December 26. Click HERE.

Now, proceed to today's fare!

Eastern bluebirds

House finches

 male (above right), female (below, left)

 

Authors' Note: The house finch is the principal actor in an illustrated verse on "birdlore" published on January 12. Click HERE. 

American goldfinches

  

Woodpeckers

downy woodpecker

red-bellied woodpecker

Chickadees     

Titmice     

                                    

(the head crest may be less prominent
 when the bird has recently moulted)

Mockingbirds        

JAN 7, submitted palindromes, targeted: "A SANTA LIVED AS A DEVIL AT NASA"

 

For word nerds like us, who adore palindromes, hours of delight await  on our blog "Edifying Nonsense".

First of all, there  is a series of posts, on the 25th of each month (2020 through 2024) featuring collections of "submitted palindromes", attributable to the contributing authors shown above, constituting a loosely organized compendium of intriguing back and forth phrases; frequently, these are inspired by the "classic" palindrome repertoire, as is the case in today's offering as shown in the above slide.

Then, on the 20th of each month, original topic-based collections of wordplay items are displayed, often as "wordplay maps". These include anagrams and other forms of wordplay in addition to palindromes. However, the latter lexical device is honored in major outpourings including "New World Palindromes", "Old World Palindromes", "Magical Palindromes" and even a post on "The Meaning of Life as Revealed in Palindromes". 

The first three posts of each month on "Edifying Nonsense", (on the 5th, 10th and 15th), are the repository of short poetic verses, mostly limericks and "limerrhoids",  the majority of which have gone through rigorous collaborative editing on an online site. But even there, wordplay, particularly limericks are honored and discussed. So you can, by following the links, find some five collections (with eight verses each),  dealing  with the "classic palindrome repertoire", not to mention  extensions displaying terse verses about the fabled "Palindrome Valley" and parodies about the "Panama canal". 

And, even further, there is under construction a group of parody-songs honoring the classic palindromes. The song lyrics will be posted here, on this blog ("Daily Illustrated Nonsense") and also, with more musical direction on "Silly Songs and Satire."  We will update you when that project has been completed, but if you insist, you could sneak an advance peak at the song "Sin and Redemption".    

b) current birdie-pic

a flap at the Ibis Hotel

JAN 6, palinku (poetic novelty): politics

  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. 

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

Also, if you enjoy the concept of political palindromes, you can review how they are constructed, and see a slew of examples, by undertaking an adventure-journey of bidirectional blogposts entitled 'Political Palindromes'. Click HERE to start. 

JAN 5, waterfowl: pelicatessen

reprise from January 2020:

JAN 6, waterfowl: pelicatessen

Authors' Note:

fress is a loanword verb from either German or Yiddish implying eating heartily or snacking frequently.

delicatessen has been applied to both high-end retail food stores selling unusual and imported prepared foods, and to restaurants preparing German, Jewish or other ethnic cuisine (frequently, the two functions are combined). It may also refer to the products purchased in these outlets.

Sushi is not among the expected foods in such an establishment, so the analogy to a pelicatessen for waterfowl has been unexplored until now. At least in Canadian official documents, for the sake of gender-neutrality, fishermen are referred to as fishers.

After initially using this neologism (word-creation) as a descriptor on the blog "Edifying Nonsense", and misconstruing it as his personal invention, the author became aware, via the internet, that there is a restaurant located at a resort on Bald Head Island, North Carolina with that name. Although that fact is of interest, it is of limited relevance. Seabirds are apparently not served at the establishment, either as customers, or as menu-fare.

pelicans strolling after a meal at the 'pelicatessen'

 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'.  

JAN 4, American satire: make-believe 2016

 a) reprise from January 2000

JAN 4, American satire(1): make-believe 2016

Author's Note: In the political swirl leading up to the US presidential election, a national convention is a meeting of party delegates to nominate candidates for office and to adopt party rules and platforms. In 2016, these gatherings proceeded in their conventional format, Note that in 2020, with restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, national conventions were held primarily as on-line events.

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) current birdie-pic

bluebird crossing yard, 1

bluebird crossing yard, 2

JAN 3, Carolina lowcountry: walkability in Mt Pleasant SC

 

a) reprise from January 2020

JAN 3, Carolina lowcountry: walkability in Mt Pleasant SC

pizza delivery boxes in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina, 
 touting service to 'the Lowcountry'

b) current birdie-pic

bluebird, frontal close-up

JAN 2, postal places, Canada: Grande Prairie, AB

 

Authors' Note: The above verse combines three disparate plot-elements: limericks about bar jokes, our verses on North America's postal places, and the approach of Hallowe'en.

If you want to know more about the Canadian province of Alberta, consult our verse on Red Deer, AB, or ask speedysnail, author of the OEDILFian poem Alberta.

 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 !

JAN 1, New Years' Day concert, Vienna

 If today is January 1, we must be in Austria!

(PBS viewer's world-view)

Christian Thielemann, conducting the Vienna Philharmonic

    interior of the Musikverein, Viennese concert hall

              

dancers from the Vienna State Ballet,
 a fixture of the second part of the television programme

DEC 31, birdlore: new birdfeeder!

New birdfeeder!!!

Initial photo-experience on a rainy day using a cell-phone camera. Stay tuned as the technique develops! 

tufted titmouse

i-phone photo with automated "removal of background"; this software works relatively well with persons, but for birds, the tails and legs get detached relatively often

 

house finch (male)

Eastern bluebird

COMPARISON EXPERIENCE: 

tree-squirrel inspecting a conventional birdfeeder

Readers interested in a truly funky experience are invited to review our bizarre verse about "seabird-feeders" by clicking HERE. And you are also invited to check out our subsequent moderate success in photographing our avian dining guests HERE. 

You can also view an encyclopedic collection of illustrated poems on this topic (land-birds) by proceeding to the posts "Poems about BIRDLORE" on our full-service blog "Edifying Nonsense". Click HERE.

Corresponding, there is a slew of illustrated poems in five linked posts dealing with WATERFOWL that you can access by clicking HERE.

DEC 30 (2023), singable satire: "POLYVINYL for MILLENIA"

SATIRICAL LYRICS

ORIGINAL SONG: "Carolina in the Morning" written 1922, best-known version is performed by Al Jolson.

PARODY COMPOSED:  Giorgio Coniglio, January 2014. The initial accompanying photos are borrowed from various online websites; the final pair are attributable to Giorgio and his trusty cellphone camera.

PARODY-SONGLINK: To find ukulele and guitar chord-charts to help you accompany "POLYVINYL for MILLENIA" on your favorite instrument, click HERE.

POLYVINYL for MILLENIA


(to the tune of "Carolina in the Morning")



What could be more drastic than our seas awash in plastic for millenia?
Plastic junk accumulates and traps or blocks the GI tracts of fauna.
Landfills are offenders; poly-bags wind blown,
Threatening fragile creatures in the intertidal zone.

Vortices of sea-dumped trash, like "Great Pacific Garbage Patch" keep growing;.
Astronauts can even spot them from their place in space; up there, they're showing.
If we had Aladdin's lamp and only one wish, 
We'd ask, not me, but seals, whales and fish - 
Every Jane and Michael, it's not hard, so please recycle all your pla-a-astic. 

What could be more drastic than our seas awash in plastic for millenia?
Particles accumulate, then hydrocarbons degradate in fauna.
Population's highest, polluting near the shore.
Altering constitution of the worldwide ocean floor.

Jellyfish get jealous of those gels the plankton relish for their vinyl,
Seasoning our seafood and inciting crude reactions that are final.
If we had Aladdin's lamp and only one wish, 
We'd ask, not me, but seals, whales and fish,

Every Jane and Michael, it's not hard, so please recycle all your pla-a-astic. 

real-life brown pelican
 perched on a post 

Pete, the  plastic pelican 

DEC 29, patients and their maladies: hemiplegia

Authors' Note: In medical jargon, a stroke (cerebro-vascular accident) that leaves the victim with complete loss of function in the affected area is said to be dense. Patients like old friend Dave, who have had a dense stroke with severe one-sided weakness (hemiplegia) in mid-life, may survive with appropriate early treatment of atherosclerotic lesions in the opposing carotid artery and other major arteries, to prevent further loss of function. With appropriate physiotherapy, targeted at flexibility in the affected area and strength on the unaffected side, such patients can get through several decades, walking hesitatingly, with the use of canes and other assistive devices. As these courageous persons age, mobility issues become even more problematic than for the rest of us.

You can view collections of verses on this topic by proceeding to "Nurse-Verse: PATIENTS and their MALADIES" on our full-service blog "Edifying Nonsense". Click HERE!

DEC 28, pill-poppin' poems: antimalarial

 

You can view informative verses like this one in a wider context by proceeding to the collection "Pill-Popping Poems (selected pharmaceuticals)" on our full-service blog "Edifying Nonsense". Click HERE! 

Also, please check out the Lancet's concurrent study on the acute use of antimalarial drugs as published online  at  https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)31180-6/fulltext
Or, check this link to the story in the Washington Post.

b) current birdie-pic

northern cardinal

DEC 27, poetic non-sequitur: cumulative song

 

a) reprise from December 27, 2020

DEC 27, non-sequitur: cumulative song

 Authors' Note:  The cumulative song "I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly" was created by two Canadian folksong aficionados in 1952, and then recorded by Burl Ives in 1953.  Other well-known cumulative songs which are traditional include "Old MacDonald had a Farm" and "The Green Grass Grew All Around".

 Our collection of 'Non-Sequiturs' on our parent blog "Edifying Nonsense", contains 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.

b) current birdie-pic

poolside, late afternoon
at the Ibis Hotel

DEC 26, Canadiana: Haida Gwaii

reprise from December 2020

DEC 30, Canadiana: Haida Gwaii

web-photo

Authors' Note:

snowbird: a Canadian retiree seeking a warmer venue to spend the wintry months

  The Queen Charlotte Islands are a Canadian archipelago situated between the northwestern tip of Vancouver Island and the Alaska Panhandle, with landmass one-third that of the Hawaiian Islands (the latter located considerably further south). They had been the heartland of the aboriginal Haida people, who numbered thirty thousand at the time of first contact with European explorers in the eighteenth century. Their territory has a unique environment based on moderate temperatures and heavy rainfall. The province of British Columbia renamed the islands Haida Gwaii (HIE-duh GWIE[-ee], "islands of the people") in 2010.

You can review poems, pictures and diverse nonsense related to Canada on the post "Canadiana" on our full-service blog "Edifying Nonsense".

DEC 25, Xmas post

 

reprise from December 25, 2020

DEC 25, holiday verse: every Adventuality

 

Incidental Photo:

decoration of a gingerbread house

DEC 24, postal places, Canada: Red Deer AB

Authors' Note: AB is the official abbreviation for the Canadian province of Alberta, in which the city of Red Deer, population 100,000, is located mid-way between the province's two main cities of Calgary and Edmonton.

Prior to the arrival of European settlers, aboriginals had called a local stream "Elk River". European settlers renamed it as "Red Deer River" after the more familiar Eurasian species, and founded a village there in 1894, at a river crossing used by Fort Normandeau, a stockade stronghold in the Northwest Rebellion of 1885. The town of Red Deer expanded dramatically during the 1940s owing to the discovery of major Albertan oil and natural gas reserves. 

If you want to know more about the Canadian province of Alberta, ask speedysnail, author of the OEDILFian poem Alberta.

 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 !