MrsOC's Feral House of Bongos Presents: CHARADE

Theme From "Charade"
Henry Mancini

CHARADE – noun

1. charades, (used with a singular verb) a game in which the players are typically divided into two teams, members of which take turns at acting out in pantomime a word, phrase, title, etc., which the members of their own team must guess.
2. a word or phrase acted out in this game.
3. a blatant pretense or deception, esp. something so full of pretense as to be a travesty.

From French, charade, from Prov. charrada "long talk, chatter," of obscure origin, perhaps from charrar "to chatter, gossip," of echoic origin. Originally not silent, merely relying on enigmatic descriptions of the words or syllables; the silent form was dumb charades. Welsh siarad obviously is a loan-word from Fr. or Eng., but its meaning of "speak, a talk" is closer to the Prov. original. originally a kind of riddle, probably invented in France during the 18th century, in which a word or phrase is divined by guessing and combining its different syllables, each of which is described independently by the giver of the charade. Charades may be given in prose or verse. The following is an example of a poetic charade:M y first is a Tartar, My second a letter; My all is a country, No Christmas dish better.

charade
charred aid
black bodies
lying hard in the sun
followers of the
Way too much
slain burned in the street
purple thumbs
forgotten
~ joyvox, shamWHOA

Let us all CHARADE,
A game that can be played,
By guessing who is who (is that you?)
And what is what,
And who am I?
Am I the pie man in the sky?
Or just a lonesome hobo,
Donchaknow,
Flying through the sky,
Looking for my slice of pie,
You can guess for what, or why,
Behind my silly grin,
You know, you'll never win,
Because I'm mad of onion peel,
I am not here, I am not real,
I'm just a modern day charade,
Made in the shade,
A game to be played!
~ TalkinKamel

Dressed up like Audrey Hepburn
The charade played
Upon the street was akin
To that played
When Syd Charisse was the model
Except this time
The fitted suit
With the straight-fronted jacket
And the tight collar
Seemed less fitting
To his athletic figure.
The charade thus fell
Before the clashing visions
Of vigorous manhood
And womanhood
Or better the attractive form
Of boys.
~ Lucius Septimius

My PSAT score said
I would never get laid
Was as personable as Raid
But my fears were allay'd
Eventually I'd be made
Through absurd charade
A buxom milkmaid
Or a Pimp with a fade
Maybe Sam Spade
And cash would cascade
Through riches I'd wade
If I the fee paid
In their clutches stayed
My carcass all flayed
On their altars arrayed
In their graven arcade
Their god to dissuade
~ Lucius Septimius

There was a time
When a carousel was not a ride
But rather a pageant
A courtly diversion
To carouse merely means
To walk about
And processions glorious
Typifying the virtues
Were the subjects of the
Courtly carousels
In the golden age of kings.
In our times a carousel is become
A diversion for children
While carousing is no more
A dramatic representation
Of virtue's victory over vice
But the very essence of the latter
Defined in terms of pleasures
Of the flesh rather
Than of the heart.
Charade likewise is a children's game
Played at time by adults
A useful means of teaching
The meanings of words
The layered forms of language
The connections between word and image
The active component of speech.
But for adults it has become
A way of life.
Lies and obfuscation
Masks and larvae.
While those of the past wore masks
In carousing pageant
That were intended to portray
Inner virtues to which they aspire
And charades the game
Intends to reveal through signs
The meanings hidden from the eyes
Now the masks of the charade
Are meant to obscure meaning
To hide from view the face
And enable the wearer
To proceed in the silent
Carousel of admiration
While aspiring to no virtue
But quelling the hunger
For human flesh
And sucking the air from others'
Screeching lungs.
Charade is the game of life
Played wickedly by those
Who must cover their viciousness
And walk about in masks
Which reflect not inner virtues
Aspired to, but instead
Are there to fool the madding crowd
In vain pursuit of advantage
That lasts but precious short.
~ Lucius Septimius


Rubber baby booty bottom
Push up bra ~ yo mama got'um
Pluck and primp
and bleach and stage
Squeeze and squish
and permanent wave
From your cradle
to your grave
Charading are the slaves of crave.
~ BabbaZee

Charlatan, begins again...
gets back on the horse he rode in on
Remakes his brigade,
Rebrands his charade ~
Leads his shamwow parade to oblivion!
Charlatan, begins again...
resurrected perverted messiah
he'll cover your sin
with a layer of skin
but from there you can't climb any higher.
~ BabbaZee

Shah Raid Sayed:
I ran, I wrack,
I rate, I ruin.
A parade of charades
vs: an unhinged loon.
Babble on, Obamanable!
~ BabbaZee


My small attempt at fooling fate
though I knew how it would end
Physician with your drooling face
would my left foot suspend
To check its Fahrenheit and size
against its right side sister
And laugh at me most horribly
whilst causing boil and blister.

“Alas!” he cried and I responded
“Leave those toes alone!
They may be cold and funny looking
but they’re all the toes I own!
Go seek some other toes to pilfer”
Thus had I inveighed
But he walked away with 15 toes,
a cruel and mean charade.
~ mrsoc


Don't rain on my charade
because my dear I'm unafraid.
~ 20 seconds between PK

Serj Tankian
Charades