Actually, "verse," is more like it, although, of course, verse of the
most delightful sort.

I saw it here recently, but now I can't find it.  My favorite line
said "All your friends are bloody loons," and the last stanza rhymed
"Daisy" with "crazy."

Anyone have a copy?

Thank you,
Archae0pteryx

---

Request for Question Clarification by googleexpert-ga on 22 Oct 2004 19:58 PDT

Is this from a song?

Thank you.

-googleexpert

---

Clarification of Question by archae0pteryx-ga on 22 Oct 2004 21:35 PDT

No, actually, it was from a birthday greeting.

Tryx,

At your request, I am posting an official, capital-A Answer: the poem
which you seek was written by silver777-ga, a gentleman known for his
spicy wit. Among the members of the Peanut Gallery, it might be said
that Phil is truly a Legume in His Own Thyme. The complete poem has
been re-created by Phil and posted below.

I've attempted to resurrect my little verse, too. My probonographic
memory is imperfect, but I think my ditty went something like this...

Birthdays are such magical things;
They slice you open and count your rings.
Another year has been bought and souled,
And you grow older... but never old.

Best,
Pink

Five stars for your memory, Pink, and I would give an extra one for
your versification if I could.

Thank you,
Tryx

I believe the poem in question was written by silver777-ga, one of
GA's most erudite commenters. I hope he will stop by and post it here
for you.

The verse I wrote for the same occasion is, I fear, irretrievably
lost, since I did not save a copy.

Four lines, something touching about birthdays adding rings / bought
and souled / grow older but never old.  I wish I'd kept that one too.

Archae0pteryx

Hi Tryx and Pink,

Thank you for directing me here Miss Tryx. Thank you Miss Pink for
your photographic memory. You both are too kind with your interest in
what might have been lost. Erudite !! My God Miss Pink, that's the
first time I have seen that word and reference to me in the same
sentence. You are far too generous.

Anyway, what happened? Did one of us contravene the rules somehow, or
what? I had hoped to see the party continue, with at least the final
word offered to the Birthday Boy.

I composed the scrawlings over a Scotch last night. I had chucked out
my notes, since retrieved ....

The Life of Brian

Perusing the depths of his glass screened box
Scrolling .... ever scrolling
Seeking questions deserving of his wit
Akin to fishermen a-trolling

One word answers are a favourite
Succinct and to the point
Arid humour bestowed upon us
The direction seekers in this joint

A man of knowledge unsurpassed
There lays another side to he
Urgent information needed
He shares so willingly

A salutation to his birthday
Even mushroom filled balloons!
Brazen vixens costumed out
All his friends are bloody loons

And so, scrolling .... ever scrolling
With occasioned pats to "Daisy"
He contemplates existence
"Is it me or them whose crazy"?

If you see this Bryan .. Happi Byrthday .. to an unknown beyond your
witty words, deserving of recognition.

Miss Pink .. you wrote a verse also? Would you please attempt to recollect it?

Miss Tryx .. $3.11 .. I detect the colour green with a hint of yellow
.. perhaps avacado.

Is there a charity box here somewhere to deposit funds such as these?

Kind regards to all, Phil

Hi, Archie & Phil  ... TWO of the most Erudite Commoners

Thank you ever so much for your good wishes, etc.

The poem is great!

I have now taken a copy as a more permanent keepsake.

(I bet someone nicked the original and that millions of copies are now
being knocked off in China.)

All the Best

Bryan

Hi Tryx, Pink, Probo, and Silver,

Silver, I saw your comment on my *other* question. 
The GA HONCHOS removed our party, I'm afraid. They sent me a note
saying one reference to the Great One's birthday was enough ;)

Pink, I really must find a dictionary to look up "erudite"....it does
sound very glamorous....

Tryx, Thanks for all your help with the *party* and for being my pal:)
Methinks a cruise on an ark would still be a wonderful holiday!

Probo, I hope you had a wonderful day yesterday and hope to see you
around here for many birthdays to come.

Steph53

Steph, I'm disappointed, but I can see that we might have crossed the
line from socializing on the site to using the site for socializing. 
Too bad, because I thought it really fostered the sense of community
that is so much a part of the GA experience--and is undoubtedly good
for repeat business.  But you were a *great* hostess (all that
champagne!).  Thank you for the wonderful party.  Think of the
Internet as an ark, a floating virtual zoo, and let's keep cruising.

Pink, I think you should post your answer and help me make this a
legit Q&A posting.  You correctly pointed to the source, and Silver777
isn't a researcher, so he can't.  And yes, do, please, try to remember
your poem.

Phil, thank you so much for reposting your splendid verse!  I enjoyed
it all over again.  I must ask, though:  when you said "loons," did
you mean me???  (Me and Steph, that is.)  Actually I am complimented. 
The loon is my favorite bird, a true beauty with a thrilling cry.  I
have loons all over my website, and some years I buy calendars with a
picture of loons for every month.  I even have a wooden loon whistle! 
And a classical rendition of "Clair de Lune" with Debussy's music
blended with--guess what.  You may as well know, too, that my true
role model is the British eccentric, who I think should be regarded in
the UK as a national treasure.

Hence the rainbow-striped woollen stockings.

Nope, 311 is red, black, and white.  But I didn't pick it for the colors.

Bryan!  I hope you got to see the whole thing before it went down. 
Did you at least have some champagne and get to open the present with
the Ortolan Helper in it?  Your birthday was as much fun as I've had
on GA since you and Pink nicknamed me.  Would you like to see my
bagpipe melody again, in case you want to try to identify it?  I
thought somebody would recognize it straight off.

Other guests, Nelson, Johnfrommelbourne, I don't recall them all (they
left too suddenly when the cops came!), thanks again for coming, and I
hope you had a good time.

Tryx

Hi, All

My thanks to one and all for giving me the most memorable birthday pressies ever.

There are just a few areas that we can work on though: the bagpipes
and kriswrite-ga's singing.

Methinks those are the real reasons that the cops raided the joint.

Our neighbours complained.

Well, it was a bit rowdy.

The highlight for me was when they wheeled in that huge cake and ...

Digsalot-ga gulped it down in one.

All the Best

Bryan

Hi ladies,

Yeah I know, I wanted Bryan to have the last word, considering it was
his birthday. But I just had to respond to you girls. Perhaps Bryan
can still have the last word, if he cares to contribute further!

Pink, I enjoyed your stanza, "count your rings". An excellent play on
words, as one would expect from you ..
photographic/probonopublico/probonographic/photonopublico even .. well
done.

Steph .. I had wondered about the use of the site as a largesse for a
birthday party. Glad to see it wasn't removed due to any recalcitrance
from the contributors. Sure was fun to read.

Tryx .. Yes, I was referring to the diving birds, not loons as in lunatics!!

Catch you all again soon I trust.

Phil