Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with popular

Mocking School Lunch in the Movies

jacknose — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 09:09:04 -0800

When was the first time "school lunch" was ridiculed in a movie (most likely a teen flick) or a TV show? We're currently producing a documentary on school lunch, and we know that there was a cultural shift in how school lunch was perceived (great social achievement to grotesque laughingstock). If you can help us identify the first instance of this shift in popular culture, we'll give you a film credit.

I suspect it's Gen X, damn them.

Diablevert — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 17:06:00 -0800

When, exactly, did Halloween become so frickin' popular? I have the sense that over the past, say, 10 or 15 years, Halloween has become much more popular, to the point where it's now the 2nd-ranking holiday behind Christmas. Particularly, Halloween has become much more important to adults, to the point where most people in their 20s and 30s assume and plan that they'll have to come up with some kind of costume. Halloween now seems to have the rep of the "fun" holiday: as opposed to the irksome family obligations/religious associations with Christmas, Halloween is all about sex, candy, and a little light deviltry.

What I'm trying to figure out is, what caused this change? Has anyone studied this stuff? What were the markers of the shift? I can think of three things: The Simpsons, Rosanne, and The Nightmare Before Christmas. All circa the mid-90s.

Are there any ore such markers? Are they earlier? Is there any other evidence of the Halloween explosion? Can anyone, for instance, point me to a good source of stats on Sexy Nurse rentals?

Or am I just wrong and Halloween has always been this popular? I'm not saying that there was no such thing as a costume party before 1993, that's clearly not the case. But it does seem like Halloween used to be for kids and now it's not. Can anyone help me prove that?

Why is Nicholas so popular after 1977?

chiababe — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 09:29:00 -0800

Why was the name Nicholas suddenly so popular after 1977 in the US? In looking here and here (you might have to type the name in here because of the Java platform), I noticed the name Nicholas exploded in popularity around 1977. Was there something in pop culture that precipitated this?

What Is That Song They Always Use...?

jfrancis — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 11:23:09 -0800

What Is That Song They Always Use...? You know the one. I can't think of its name. It's the one they always use

When the vikings are killing everyone in slow motion
O Fortuna From Carmina Burana by Carl Orff

When it's a beautiful sunrise on the farm
?

When everybody runs around on the Benny Hill Show
Yakety Sax

When the other vikings are killing everyone in slow motion
Wagner - Die Walküre: "The Ride of the Valkyries" (Boulez)

When Howard Stern wants to stereotype Italians
Tarantella Napolitana

When a beautiful woman enters the scene and it's the 1980's
Yello - Oh Yeah (1985)

When Howard Stern wants to stereotype Chinese people
?? (I still want to know the name of the song)

So what are the songs I missed? And what are some other songs? You know the ones. They're the ones they always play...

Why do you have to go and make things so complicated?

Beardman — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 10:43:06 -0800

I like to gripe about Top 40 radio, but I don't have much of a technical music vocabulary. Are there names for the vocal styles of Avril Lavigne, Taylor Swift, et al.? Recently I found myself trying to articulate the particular way that these singers deliver lines, and I quickly ended up using unsatisfactory phenomenological language to describe it ("they, um, kind of curl their words in this irritating way...and it's kind of nasal and groany...does anybody know what I'm talking about?").

It got me thinking that I'd like to know more about the technical names for the vocal styles that are commonly used in the music they tend to play at my gym, in the grocery store, and so on. Avril and Taylor were the first to come to mind, but I'm interested in all of it, including, say, that heaving, ogre-ish singing in Nickelback. So: is there any go-to resource for this kind of information, or any informed criticism you can point me to? Or is it really as ineffable as my poor attempts to describe Avril Lavigne would suggest?

(Note: I realize that the most obvious thing to say about vocals in contemporary Top 40 is that they're autotuned to hell and back, but I'm asking about the styles of singing, not vocal production. So the fact that Nickelback typically builds a wall of sound out of vocal overdubs alone isn't what I'm after.)

Nonfiction accessible to the layman?

btkuhn — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 04:00:48 -0800

Nonfiction accessible to the layman? Some of the most satisfying books I've read are what I'd call "popular nonfiction" - books written by experts on a subject meant to be accessible to non-experts, or even specifically geared towards non-experts. Some examples that I've read are "A Brief History of Time", "Cosmos", "The Selfish Gene" in science; maybe "Freakonomics" for economics and "Blink" for Psychology, to a lesser extent. These books are fairly common in scienc-y fields (although I welcome suggestions for books on science topics), but what would a linguist suggest as a popular primer? What would an English professor suggest for literary criticism, or postmodernism? What is the best accessible, even interesting, book in your field for the lay reader?

"I did this on a blog for a year and I got famous for it" blogs?

jenfullmoon — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 15:58:02 -0800

I'm looking for blogs where someone did a personal project online for a year and/or it got some notoriety. Examples I can think of:
* Jonathan Coulton's year of songs, of course
* That Julie/Julia Child blog that became a book
* Living Oprah.

Anyone else? Thanks!

Best HCI Examples In Pop Culture

libraryman — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 18:09:26 -0800

What are the best examples of human/computer interaction in tv and movies (please mention specific scenes and episodes if you can). ex: HAL in 2001, The touch screen in Minority Report, Scotty talking to the mouse in Star Trek IV -lol, etc...

I'm popular. Just not in North America.

913 — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 00:38:13 -0800

What are some fashion trends that are popular everywhere else but North America? It can range from clothing to apparel to jewelry.

An example would be the yellow Livestrong bands that blasted North America but didn't really have much of an effect on the rest of the world.

Why does China put lead in/on everything?

flowerofhighrank — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 20:43:12 -0800

what's so great about lead and why are Chinese companies using so much of it? is it because it's malleable or heavy or ?

Apples to Apple, Inc?

InsanePenguin — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 11:39:35 -0800

Research Filter: How and when did Apple become so popular? So I got to wondering, why and how exactly did Apple explode onto the market? Obvious things like redesigned, chic products aside, how did Apple maneuver its way into the industry in the manner that it did?

Bonus points for links to external information, especially ones that deal with an internal shift rather than, like I said, product redesign.

Origina of "Local Boy Makes Good"

abbyladybug — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 08:56:52 -0800

What is the origin of the phrase "Local Boy Makes Good"? I Googled it and see that it was a Mervyn LeRoy movie from 1931, so it's at least that old.

Dr. Disco, I Presume

wittgenstein — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 17:57:40 -0800

What makes disco disco? In particular, what makes it different from funk, r & b or soul? Is it the arrangement? Is it the beat? Is it the horns? Details please.

Favorite / best / any harpsichord songs?

cybertaur1 — Tue, 06 Mar 2007 22:00:34 -0800

I was recently introduced to two songs featuring the harpsichord, and I really liked them a lot. And it got me thinking: is there a lot of this kind of music out there? They're not classical (I think), but they're definitely enjoyable. The two songs I'm referring to are Love is Blue, recorded by Paul Mauriat, and Golden Brown, by The Stranglers.
And yes, I have seen this wikipedia page, but are there lots of other songs out there?

And, actually, I don't want to limit this to exclusively non-classical music; if there's a classical piece with the harpsichord that you love, list it!

Why do we want to one-up one another?

mireille — Sat, 11 Nov 2006 00:03:45 -0800

Why do people (myself included) feel the need to identify oneself with something cultural (i.e., book, movie, etc)-- as having been interested in it PRIOR to another person? What, if any, is the evolutionary purpose for this instinct? For example, the other day I found myself , when hearing about someone's interest in the film "Running With Scissors", on the verge of explaining that it had been my favorite book for ages and that I'd been anticipating the film for quite some time-- (and then telling all about my experiences with the author's other works). This near-instantly struck me as a non-useful addition to the conversation, so I quelled it, but regardless...

I'm not the only one to feel (and do) this-- but why? What's the purpose? Why the "I knew of it first" impulse?

I'm fine with containing it within myself-- just curious as to why I feel it in the first place.

Best 12 albums for the 60's & 70's

leafwoman — Fri, 28 Jul 2006 15:49:13 -0800

We are sending a capsule into deep space to carry a sample of America as it was in the 60's and 70's. We can include 12 CDs (or albums transferred to CD) to reflect popular music of the time (1960 through 1979.) What 12 CDs best represent what was happening then?

Does American popular culture have a negative attitude towards apartments?

gregb1007 — Tue, 21 Mar 2006 18:51:48 -0800

I know many people who don't live in houses but in apartments - empty nesters, young couples with or without children. However, if you were to base your idea of Americans' residences solely on television shows, it would seem that absolutely everybody lives in a house. Aside from occasional shows based in Chicago and New York, most sitcoms place their characters into houses, even groups who by and large also tend to dwell in apartments. For example, the senior citizens on the show Golden Girls and a young urban couple on King of Queens live in houses although they are also statistically likely to live in an apartment. Does this mean that Hollywood does not want to show people living in apartments? If not, do the shows simply happen to reflect the fact that apartment-living is really not a part of the American cultural landscape?

Memes that cause people to think outside the box and shift their paradigm... to the extreme!

Hildago — Wed, 15 Feb 2006 11:07:53 -0800

I am trying to make a list of big new ideas. I want to get a survey of ideas that have been presented recently which have changed the way you think about the world. The ideas that, when you hear them, make you think you've just gotten a roman à clef for some aspects of human behavior, politics, philosophy, technology, art, science, etc.

When I say "big", I mean both ideas that achieved popular acceptance, and ideas which may not be well-known, but are big in terms of scope. Actually, since it's easier for me to come up with popular works on my own, important but relatively obscure ideas are especially welcome.

By "new" I mean ideas that weren't already familiar to most people. I'm anticipating someone pointing out to me that there's nothing new under the sun, and that these things were said long ago, and better. I don't doubt it. However, cleverly repackaging an old idea in a modern form, or reinterpreting it in the context of the 21st century is sufficient novelty for my purposes.

Some of the more obvious examples of what I'm talking about here: The Tipping Point, The Long Tail, The Database of Intentions, The World is Flat.

It's not important that you necessarily buy into the premises of any of these (I don't), I'm just trying to make a list at this point. Thanks!

Where can I find recordings of early American popular music?

jdroth — Sun, 02 Oct 2005 21:21:13 -0800

I enjoy early American popular music (say up until the late 1920s), and especially period recordings of the same. I have about a dozen CDs compiling this music, and have downloaded other songs from alt.binaries.sounds.*. I'm looking for other sources of free mp3s of early American popular music. (Don't fret about copyright issues: the stuff I'm looking for is old enough that it's in the public domain.) I'd also love recommendations for modern(ish) recordings of these old songs. I know Garrison Keillor performs some from time-to-time (and just did on his last broadcast, for example), and I know of Joan Morris/William Bolcome and Jody Dall'Armi.

What is the most photographed thing ever?

djacobs — Fri, 11 Feb 2005 18:32:11 -0800

The Gates could be "the most photographed thing ever." Could be! To date, what is the most photographed thing ever? A landmark like the Taj Mahal or the Grand Canyon? A sporting event? New Year's Eve in Times Square? Something totally different?

Social bookmarking spam

deshead — Sat, 08 Jan 2005 10:45:54 -0800

Is it just a matter of time until spammers usurp the del.icio.us popular page? Or does social bookmarking by nature provide some kind of defense? Seems to me it'd be easy for a spammer to sign up multiple accounts, and have them all bookmark a page (or many pages, even.) If it works for one spammer, the rest'll line up like cattle.

There's a (maybe NSFW) example here, though the spammer actually played nice by using relevant tags. What happens if they start en masse tagging the same kind of site as "rss" or "photography"?

What are some good pop culture blogs?

alidarbac — Thu, 18 Nov 2004 04:37:03 -0800

What are some good pop culture blogs? I'm looking for some good writers who like to riff on anything and everything: music, movies, books, random pop-sociology articles, etc.; people who aren't breathlessly following the latest reality show but also who aren't trying to show off their fanboy Pitchfork-esque indie creds. The less politics, the better. Bonus points for people who do more original stuff and less meme-o'-the-day crap and for people with a wicked sense of humor.