JAN 14, American satire: Vladimir's hope

 

a) reprise from January 2020

JAN 10, American satire(1): Vladimir's hope

Author's Note: 

IOC: International Olympic Committee          

  The fanciful concept of medals being awarded to a 'hacking team' grew out of the conjunction of developments in 2017 and 2018, notably (i) censure of Russian athletic organizations, including subsequent retraction of Olympic medals, and (ii) investigations into Russian efforts to sway the results of past and upcoming American presidential elections. 

NEWS UPDATE !!!:  In the Senate trials of impeached American President Donald Trump, constitutional issues have taken precedence. Senators from many locales across the United States bring their specific viewpoints on the interpretation of this document to the debate. Some of these locales are shown on the map below.

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) recent birdie-pic

bluebird

JAN 13, poetic non-sequitur: bush plane

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) incidental nostalgic photo, 2020

Elegant table service at an outdoor charity event:
 Steamed oyster clusters

JAN 12, birdlore: house finches

 

Authors' Note: The gregarious house finch, Haemorhous mexicanus,  originally an inhabitant of the western US and Mexico, was introduced into Long Island, New York, in 1940. Although the female is not showy, the male is distinguished by the rosy red coloration of its face, neck and upper breast areas. The species quickly spread across the eastern US and southern parts of Canada. A strict vegetarian, this bird is now the most common visitor to feeders in many parts of its current range.

For more titillating pics of the house finch at our feeder, click HERE.

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

JAN 11, trees: Norway maples

a) reprise from January 2020

JAN 18, trees: Norway maples

Authors' Note: You might also enjoy a poem posted in April 2021 entitled "Leif the (viking) Norway Maple: a Bilingual Complaint". Click HERE.  

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". 

b) current birdie-pic

tufted titmouse

JAN 10 (2024), singable satire: New Years' song, updated by R. Burns, "AULD LANG's SINE"

 PARODY-LYRICS    

Robert Burns 

Repercussions of what we sang on New Years Eve (Hogmanay to the Scots)

ORIGINAL SONG: "Auld Lang Syne", by Robert Burns, 1788.

PARODY COMPOSED: Giorgio Coniglio, January, 2015.

EXPLANATORY NOTES: Robert Burns, born 1759, became Scotland’s ‘national poet’, and a cultural icon at home and among Scottish diaspora around the world. In his short life - he died at age 37 -  he wrote hundreds of well-loved poems and songs; the most famous is Auld Lang Syne, traditionally sung on Hogmanay (New Year's Eve). Robbie Burns Day is celebrated on his birthday, January 25, often with a Burns Night supper. 

Burns' best-loved poems include "To a Mouse", "To a Louse", "Tam o' Shanter", "Parcel o' Rogues", and "Address to a Haggis".

WORDPLAY LINK: A somewhat different version on the Simon Lang story, with a more modern take, has been twisted into limerick verse, and can be seen HERE.

PARODY-SONGLINK: To find ukulele and guitar chord-charts to help you accompany "Auld Lang's Sine", a song about the origins of trigonometry, on your favorite instrument, click HERE.

AULD LANG’S SINE

(to the tune of "Auld Lang Syne")

A clever Scot, Auld Simon Lang

Rests in a box o’ pine;

His contributions near-forgot -

‘E invented Auld Lang’s Sine.

Dreamed up the trig’s sine function, 

And its coz’n bright an’ fine;

[One minus (Lang’s-Sine)squared], my dear,

Its square-root – Auld Lang’s Cosine.

And though his mind did grow less clear,   

His concept’s been refined –

One o’er t’other – Tangent, dear

All derived frae Auld Lang’s Sine.

And at the end, his sight grown dim

Ideas still implant –

Turned on its head, Auld Lang’s Cosine,

We know as Auld Lang’s Secant.

His final word, “Cotangent”,

Then his soul was carried up;

So kindly pass the pi', my dear,

And to Lang we’ll drink a cup.

For Simon's radiant angles,
Bright his ratios still shine!
O' Trig we'd all be mindless were

It nae for Auld Lang's Sine. 

Related Palindromes

T. set stats test.

Crazy Z-arc.

I-pen is rotator: sine pi.

JAN 9, Charleston garden: Loutrel Briggs

a) reprise from January 2020

JAN 9, the Charleston garden: Loutrel Briggs, garden designer

 

You can review these illustrated verses in a wider context by proceeding to 'Poetry Praising the Charleston Garden' on the full-service blog 'Edifying Nonsense'. Click HERE!

b) current birdie-pic

goldfinch

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, wordplay maps: new world palindromes (#1,#2)

 

a) reprise from January 2020

JAN 7, wordplay maps: new world palindromes(#1,#2)

  You can view the entire collection of "New World Palindromes" on our full-service blog "Edifying Nonsense";  start by clicking HERE.


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