After spending several years reading largely YA, I'd like to read some grown-up secondary world fantasy novels. Persnickety tastes below the fold.
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posted by PhoBWanKenobi
on Apr 30, 2013 -
58 answers
The standard format for a romantic comedy has both key characters introduced very early in the script/movie -- say, in the first ten pages/minutes. I'm looking for examples of romantic comedies where one of the romantic leads is introduced later in the movie.
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posted by allnamesaretaken
on Jan 22, 2013 -
38 answers
I normally listen to bluegrass/folk/classical, but I recently found out I really love Bad Religion's "Sorrow". What other punk tracks might I enjoy?
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posted by Bardolph
on Jun 6, 2012 -
25 answers
What are good sources for finding out about new and forthcoming horror books? I'm not talking about anything with vampires and/or werewolves, I mean books that really inspire a sense of dread or fear.
posted by lirael2008
on Feb 18, 2012 -
2 answers
Is there a single word for finding pleasure in well done formulaic stories not because they are doing something new or even being particularly clever, but because they hit the notes well, manage the tropes, and deliver what they promise?
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posted by The Whelk
on Jan 22, 2012 -
34 answers
Is there a web-site/forum where I can have a sensible/intelligent/non-flame wars discussion about appropriate ways to classify the
genre of particular music, artists, etc of my mp3 music collection? I know I can classify my music with any genre I wish, but I would like to have a discussion of our other people classify the music, for example, of Paul Robson. Is it Classical, Classical vocal, or whatever?
I have looked at MusicBrainz, but that doesn't, as far as I can tell, have the
genre of music. Everything but it seems.
posted by vac2003
on Dec 28, 2011 -
9 answers
The Rework. I'm looking for examples of the self-cover in a different style, i.e. a reimagining, where the musician reinterprets their own song in a new genre. Is this a thing?
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posted by stroke_count
on Sep 25, 2011 -
39 answers
Ask whether the universe of the story recognizes the existence of persons. Is
this distinction between SF and Fantasy original with Ted Chiang? Can you think of any counter-examples that don't fit?
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posted by straight
on Sep 14, 2011 -
30 answers
Give your best examples of the SF/ Survivalist/ Wish Fullfillment sub-genre "libertarian engineers do everything better" or "objectivist superman saves history". More specifically ones where someone is the last man on earth/sendt back in time and constructs a free market utopia through sheer smarts and rationality ( with himself on the top of it, of course).
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posted by The Whelk
on Jun 9, 2011 -
28 answers
Can you name me some thoroughly cross-genre albums by a particular singer/band? If I ever made an album, I'd throw in a pounding hard rock song, a groovy disco number, twangy country, some crooning, new wave, a folksy Americana ballad, etc. But I'm sure this has already been done.
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posted by TheSecretDecoderRing
on Dec 21, 2010 -
20 answers
I seem to be teetering on the edge of getting somewhere with my writing, but I'm not there yet. How can I learn to get a handle on pacing and characterization in my novels and short stories?
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posted by PhoBWanKenobi
on Dec 8, 2010 -
17 answers
Point me toward movies were a rag-tag bunch of outsiders shake up this stuffy small town! I'm looking for the opposite of
this question, canonical examples of the Outsiders Cause Chaos In A Small Town trope, from
The Music Man to
Pleasantville (Or
..The Devil's Rejects). Any genre, any peroid, just so long as a town is turned upside-down, inside-out, or gored to death.
posted by The Whelk
on Nov 7, 2010 -
39 answers
When people say "what kind of music do you like?" I don't have an answer to tell them. Two of may favorite albums ever are Martin Tillman's
A Year In Zurich and Jeremy Soule's
Morrowind soundtrack. But, I can't put my finger on what genre these albums are. Classical and Jazz are too vague.
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posted by rebent
on Oct 24, 2010 -
6 answers
Okay what is the name of the kind of swing music where the band does call and response with the singer? Not the backup singers. The horn section.
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posted by rileyray3000
on Dec 14, 2009 -
10 answers
Can you suggest books that push the envelope of "self-help"? I record books for a library-owned radio station for the blind and visually impaired. One of our genres is Self-Help. We have no shortage of the usual sort of self-help book - I've been asked to come up with something a little wider-ranging or quirky.
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posted by tomboko
on Oct 21, 2009 -
16 answers
When I was in England I was in a bar where I heard a whole night's worth of music that sounded like "Atomic" by Blondie. Is this a genre of some kind? If so, what's it called and where do I get more?
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posted by rileyray3000
on Oct 7, 2009 -
21 answers
No quiero literatura: I'm looking for recommendations for genre fiction in Spanish. Help me avoid being overfaced when I arrive in the library.
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posted by itsjustanalias
on Jun 14, 2009 -
8 answers
what genre of music is the song from the generals daughter during the credits at the end?
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posted by kgreerRN
on Mar 27, 2009 -
8 answers
Trying to find stories that begin and end in totally different genres/styles.
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posted by minkll
on Jan 31, 2009 -
35 answers
Are there any reasonably well-known (or even famous) writers who are truly multi-genre?
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posted by wackybrit
on Nov 10, 2008 -
54 answers
How can I browse and listen to iPod playlists or genres by ALBUM instead of by artist or song title?
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posted by stst399
on Sep 24, 2008 -
8 answers
Has anyone ever attempted to estimate the total number of films made in Hollywood that we today consider
film noir? What about other long-lived genres of the high era of the silver screen?
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posted by mwhybark
on Jan 24, 2008 -
6 answers
Anal mp3 tagging question: I'm organizing my mp3 collection and frustrated with how inaccurate the genre tags are. Does anyone know of any good programs that can automatically scan mp3 and update accurate and more specific mp3 genres?
(iam currently using fixtunes which uses the amazon database, which is quite awful.)
posted by nyu2
on Sep 29, 2006 -
17 answers
I'm trying to remember a theory about the arts in which the progression of a genre moves through various well-defined stages...
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posted by dydecker
on Aug 18, 2006 -
4 answers
How much or how little and in what ways should one consider breaking up the "Rock" genre when tagging MP3s?
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posted by Witty
on Jul 26, 2006 -
20 answers
Is the Woman Who Has Too Much Power and Must Be Stopped a commonly recurring plotline in genre works? If so, what are some examples?
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posted by Prospero
on Jul 8, 2006 -
27 answers
Can anyone enlighten me on the genre of music called "French Ya Ya"?
posted by protocool
on Apr 12, 2006 -
10 answers
Has anyone ever managed to use iTunes and COM to access the iTunes database and modify MP3 meta-data tags? I need to change the genre for every track by a certain artist and since I have a list of over 800 artists, it is not something I can do by hand.
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posted by mr_silver
on Apr 7, 2006 -
13 answers
Film buffs: I just watched
Crash last night (I've now seen all the Best Picture nominees and feel soooo enriched). It reminded me of how very, very tired I am of the whole Random People's Lives Intersect Meaningfully genre, and it made me wonder how it got started. I know that the large-cast-intersecting gimmick is an Altman staple, but are there any precursors to his using it, or is it more or less his invention? Was
Nashville where this whole thing began, or are there commonly-known, generally-acknowledged precedents for this genre?
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posted by logovisual
on Feb 7, 2006 -
26 answers