Monday, 20 June 2022

Wordplay maps: AMERICAN SCRAMBLE-TOWNS #21 (final)

 

Who would ever have guessed? It turns out that an unparalleled word in generating anagrams, i.e. letter scrambles, is P-A-L-I-N-D-R-O-M-E-S. We have taken advantage of that property to create this unique series of wordplay maps of imaginary American (and Canadian) locales, each one completed by its official two-letter state (or provincial) abbreviation. 



 

LINKS: 
Let's get on to the CANADIAN VERSION, eh? (stay tuned!)


Wednesday, 15 June 2022

PATIENTS and their MALADIES, part #3

This post is a continuation of 'PATIENTS and their MALADIES, part #1', as posted on this blog March 2021 and February 2022.

previous poetic posts (see previous posts for the complete story..)
(part#2)
dyspareunia
eye discharge
flu-like symptoms
ganglion cysts
gluten sensitivity
Graves disease
gynophobia
hemorrhoids

CURRENT CONTENTS:
Hives
Hoarding disorder
Horseshoe kidney
Knee effusion
Lichen sclerosus
Male infertility
Nervous bladder
-OMAs (non-tumorous)
(for continuation, see the link below)


Authors' Note: Hives, known medically as urticaria, is a symptomatic skin condition attributed to the release of the immune mediator histamine, and manifesting at some point in up to 20% of people. Allergy is a common underlying instigator, with drug reactions being causative in some cases. The onset, with progressive randomly distributed spread of batches of reddish raised lesions, is often acute, but the condition may be repetitive and "chronic", (i.e. on-again, off-again), as is the case with Yves' experience.

Formulation of the above poem required the use of binomial phrases, as indicated by italics.



Authors' Note: Although folks with this engrained problem may be categorized as having depression, schizophrenia or obsessive-compulsive disorder, hoarding disorder may be a psychiatric malady in its own right. 
  Astute readers may note that this verse, longer than most limericks, bears a certain similarity to the limerick format. You can learn more about this insider issue by proceeding to the collection Progress in Poetry: "Limerrhoids" .





Authors' Note: Horseshoe kidney is a relatively common congenital malformation, occurring in 1/500 individuals. Also known as renal fusion, it results from the two fetal kidneys merging in the pelvis during the stage of embryonic organ development and consequently failing to undertake their normal upward migration. Fortunately, health consequences are usually mild, if any; occasionally, one of the ureters becomes obstructed. The abnormal structure is often discovered incidentally during procedures, e.g. CT scanning or ultrasound, targeted at pelvic discomfort or unrelated symptoms (and of course, no normal kidneys are seen in their usual position).



Authors' Note: This verse resulted from the author’s personal experience (as patient).
  Following trauma, standard X-rays taken in the Emergency Department show most fractures where the bone fragments are displaced. They can not, however, diagnose many undisplaced fractures, particularly in elderly patients with reduced bone density. 
  Nonspecific swelling with evidence of leaking of fluid into the adjacent joint space (joint effusion) is particularly common in injuries about the knee, and is easily discerned on visual inspection and X-rays. Follow up radiographs after another 3 weeks sometimes display an initially missed healing fracture. In cases where instability, ongoing pain, or persistent effusion are prominent, injury to ligaments may be suspected. 



                                     final acceptance at OEDILF: #123098, November '2023.
Authors' Note
dermatosis: general term for a skin condition
Lichen sclerosus, a chronic skin malady of unknown cause, with lesions affecting primarily the genital areas, is most often a scourge of women, but men sometimes become sufferers. Caring for sensitive skin areas by avoiding scratching and restrictive clothing is a necessary lifestyle change. Lifelong use of potent steroid creams has been shown to reduce the chances of malignant transformation.



Authors' Note:  In medical parlance, ejaculate is pronounced differently as noun (n.) or verb (v.) As a patient in the process of fertility testing, you will undoubtedly be asked to contribute (v.) a sample (n.), to assess sperm quality and cell count.



Authors' Note: Final requests have also been discussed here by OEDILF poet-editor speedysnail.




Authors' Note  Well, yes.
  With advancing age, life becomes a minefield of unexpected diseases; for several of these, the suffix -oma, implying growth or swelling, is used although an underlying neoplastic process is not present.

  In the elderly, subdural hematomas or intracranial bleeds (within the envelope of membranes surrounding the brain) may occur with minimal trauma or even spontaneously, particularly if anticoagulants have been used. 
  The patchy process of atherosclerosis may involves the left main coronary artery or its major division, the left anterior descending artery. In such cases, sudden clotting with blockage of the artery may occur at the site of atheroma, and cause a severe heart attack with cardiac arrest, a major cause of sudden death in the middle-aged and elderly population.
  This verse is a companion piece to others by the author dealing with malignant tumors and benign tumors; these are found in the collection of 'Oncologic Verses'.





Requests from many health professionals, and layfolks as well, have come to fruition; there is now another followup post continuing this theme that you can easily access.  Click HERE for part #4 of 'Patients and their Maladies'.

Here's a LIST OF LINKS to collections of intriguing poems (over 160 of these!) on medical/dental topics that can now be found on various posts. 


DIRECTION FOR WEB-TRAVELLERS: 
To resume daily titillations on our related blog 'Daily Illustrated Nonsense', click HERE. Once you arrive, you can select your time frame of interest from the calendar-based listings in the righthand margin, and check the daily offerings for any month in the years 2020 to the present. (As of September 2023, there are over 1200 unique entries available on the Daily blog, and most of these are also presented here on 'Edifying Nonsense' in topic-based collections.) The 'Daily' format also has the advantage of including some videos and other material that are not shown here on this topic-based blog.


Friday, 10 June 2022

Nonsense about NUMBERS and COUNTING










pas-de-deux,
National Ballet of Canada
Harbourfront Centre, Toronto,
August 2022





bossa nova trio,
Yorkville Village parkette, Toronto,
August, 2022





string quartet,
Dundas Square, Toronto,
June 2022







Authors' Note: The term 'sextet' also refers to a piece of music composed for 6 players. e.g. Francis Poulenc, was the most prolific member of the group of 20th-century French composers known as Les Six. His piece, Sextuor (Sextet) for flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, French horn and piano was composed in 1932. 






















DIRECTION FOR WEB-TRAVELLERS: 
To resume daily titillations on our blog 'Daily Illustrated Nonsense', click HERE. Once you arrive, you can select your time frame of interest from the calendar-based listings in the righthand margin, and check the daily offerings for any month in the years 2020 to the present. (As of September 2022, there are 1000 entries available on the Daily blog, and most of these are also presented here on 'Edifying Nonsense' in topic-based collections.)

Sunday, 5 June 2022

Reversing Verse: PANAMA PALINDROME PARODIES (classic and novel)


   This post provides a continuation of five wordplay collections displayed on December 5, 2020, through December 15, 2021. In these, classic palindromes (phrases and sentences whose letters are ordered identically when they are read either forwards or backwards) were described and extolled in verse by the team of Dr. G.H. and Giorgio Coniglio. The contents of the most recent post (August 2021) included these illustrated verses: 


33. Racecar
34. No left felon 
35. A man, a plan, a canal -- Panama
36. The Dacha: palindrome-enhanced American satire, a brief saga
37. Leigh Mercer's Palindrome Workshop, a brief saga

-------------------------------- 

For your review, here's Giorgio's verse about 'the IPP' (designated above as #35):








CURRENT CONTENTS

Please note that, continuing the convention adopted in the previous posts, there will be an exclusive correlation between green italicized font and palindromes. Not all of the palindromes displayed within these verses' lines are in the 'classic repertoire'; some are recent concoctions by the authors. But of course, all the poems highlighting the wordplay  are verses written jointly by Dr. G.H. and Giorgio Coniglio (registered pseudonym).

1. Classic spoof on the IPP: A man, a potato -- Panama.
2. Classic spoof on the IPP: A man, a plan, a cat, a hat, a canal -- Panama.
3. Classic spoof on the IPP: Sir, a plan, a canal -- Paris
4. Classic spoof on the IPP: A dog, a plan, a canal -- pagoda
5. Classic spoof on the IPP: Amen, a pit -- Ipanema.
6. Novel concoction: One man, a plan, a canal -- panameño
7. Novel concoctionA girl, a plan, a canal, pal -- Riga.
8. Novel concoction: A man, a Pan -- a panama. (hats)
9. Novel concoction: A man, a plan, if final -- Panama.


















Authors' Note: 

pizzazz: an American neologism, first used in the 1930s, for vitality, sparkle or flashiness

Carioca
 is a long-established nickname for the city and the residents of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Ipanema is a section of that city, known for it's bossa nova music, and for its iconic beach.

As explained in the verse, we have the classic palindrome (reminiscent of the Panama concoction):
Amen, a pit — Ipanema, and its many variants.

Newer variants include: Amen, a pizza, jazz — Ipanema, and
Amen, a piece — Ipanema.

















Readers who wish to continue their palindromic journey are advised to proceed in the direction of a followup post entitled "Life in Palindrome Valley". Click HERE


DIRECTION FOR WEB-TRAVELLERS: 
To resume daily titillations on our related blog 'Daily Illustrated Nonsense', click HERE. Once you arrive, you can select your time frame of interest from the calendar-based listings in the righthand margin, and check the daily offerings for any month in the years 2020 to the present. (As of September 2023, there are over 1200 unique entries available on the Daily blog, and most of these are also presented here on 'Edifying Nonsense' in topic-based collections.) The 'Daily' format also has the advantage of including some videos and other material that are not shown here on this topic-based blog.