AS@UVA Yellow Pages: Popular Culture
Popular Culture

Revised and revitalized by Frank Diller. Mail us with questions and/or suggestions.



For general information on all kinds of popular culture, see Bowling Green State University's Popular Culture Department site.

Circuses and Outdoor Entertainment Comics and Animation
Film Music
Popular Genres Television
Toys and Games Food



Circuses and Outdoor Entertainment


Circuses | Zoos | Rodeos | Amusement Parks and Rides

Circuses:

Circus Lingo
When the Boss Canvas Man asks you to handle his King Pole, check this dictionary of circus terms to see whether you should be flattered or offended.
Circusweb
A flashy site detailing the history of the circus and containing a number of valuable links.
Family Entertainers
"Here we are now, entertain us." Comprehensive resources on how to do it right.
Jim Rose Circus
The traditional circus Freak Show continues.... Worth a look if you're of age and not squeamish.

Zoos:

Los Angeles Zoo
Cute design. This site has mostly LA Zoo-specific information with some extensions on specific animals.
National Zoo

Part of the Smithsonian, this site incorporates National Zoo-specific information as well as a growing library of animal photos.
ZooNet
A virtual zoo chock full of pictures, an index of worldwide zoos, and animal info.

Rodeos:

Prorodeoinfo.com
With information on bull fighters, clowns, cowboys, and everything else that runs in the ring.

Amusement Parks and Rides:

Carousel
History, reviews, and preservation resources all devoted to the horizontal equivalent of the ferris wheel.
Coney Island History Web Site
An impressive image-filled project on the history of the New York park that set the standard.
National Amusement Park Historical Association
A text-heavy site dedicated to the pleasure and history of parks around the world.
Palisades Park Historical Society
A tribute to the memory of this New Jersey institution.
World of Coasters
News and info on the best stomach-churning rides across the nation.

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Comics and Animation


General Comics | General Animation | Production | Editorial Cartoons

General Comics:

Comic Arts and Graffix Gallery

A self-described "virtual museum and encyclopedia" of comic art. History, biographies, information on collecting, plus links to other comic resources.
Comic Art at Princeton University

An interesting online exhibition curated by former New Yorker cartoonist Henry Martin.
ComicsPage.com

Featuring cartoonists such as Mike Peters and Jeff MacNelly--if you don't know their names, you'll definitely know their work.
Comics Research Bibliography

Huge text-based comics bibliography with over 4,300 entries to browse through.
Comics Research Library

Comprehensive listing of comic holdings at college libraries across the nation.
Creators Syndicate

Home of such strips as One Big Happy and B.C.
United Media

The site of such Sunday mainstays as Dilbert and Peanuts.
Words and Pictures Museum

A frame-based comic art museum that's not much on images but has a solid quarterly newsletter.

General Animation:

Cartoon World
Cartoon information divided by genre (mystery, adventure, the greats, etc.) and including images, sounds, and games.
International Museum of Cartoon Art
Biographies of illustrators from the golden ages to the funny pages.

Spike and Mike's Festival of Animation
The annual anarchic animation festival of shorts. Well worth a look.

Production:

Primordial Soup
Frames site with tons of animation news, tips and galleries
Industrial Light and Magic
The unofficial page for the great special effects company but with plenty of information to satisfy.

Editorial Cartoons

The Inkwell
The "first and only collection of award-winning, nationally-syndicated editorial cartoons."
Tom Tomorrow's This Modern World
The nationally syndicated cartoon that has the courage to take on the political world and even Scott Adams' Dilbert juggernaut.

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Film

Production Companies | Film Education
| Film Guides | Early Cinema

Production Companies

20th Century Fox FineLine MGM and United Artists
Miramax October Films Paramount
Sony: Columbia and TriStar Touchstone Universal

Film Education:

American Film Institute
A research, preservation and education institution that is now home of the infamous "Top 100" movie list.
Film Society of the Lincoln Center
Home of the New York Film Festival and Film Comment Magazine.

Film Guides:

Ain't It Cool News
Movie geek heaven featuring rumors, reviews, and Harry Knowles' often hilarious and almost always endearing running commentary.
Coming Attractions
Database with tons of films sorted by genre.
Dark Horizons
A great site complete with rumors and full-length trailers from the past three years.
Hollywood On-line
A multimedia site featuring current movies and videos.

Early Cinema:

The Silent Movie Directory
Everything about the Silent: bios, essays, links, etc.
Early Motion Pictures, 1897-1916
The Library of Congress' archives and essays.

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Music


Reference | Genre | Miscellaneous

Music Reference:

JHU Sheet Music Collection
Nothing special to look at but a very useful site. The collection numbers 30,000, of American Sheet music, 1780-1960 and includes the images of the cover and the music itself which are almost suitable for printing and playing from.

Mud Cat CafeComprehensive listings of blues and folk music.
Boasts 6000 searchable songs.

Music Genre:

Blue Flame Cafe
Simply a great blues encyclopedia.
Hip-Hop.Com
Flashy shockwave enhanced site that's heavy on graphics.
Jazz Central Station
This site comes close to "stunning." Tons of information: reviews, features, sale items, festival and tour information, artist features, live chat, audio interviews, outlinks... All this is a beautiful navigational environment.
Musicals.Net
All the Broadway and off-Broadway musicals in one spot.
OperaGlass
Nothing special in looks, but browseable by composer, opera, librettist, as well as choice outlinks.
Rap Dictionary
Wonderful site with a dictionary of references, a subdictionary of places in rap, a "Who's Who" of the industry.

Miscellaneous Music:
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Quicktime VR, audio in 3 formats, photos, inductee summary pages, and visiting information. Navigation is a little hazy, but lots of potential.
iMusic
Choice of "alternative" or "club" genre-specific sites. A magazine format.
Pollstar
THE concert listing web site.
Vaudeville Memories
Comprehensive clearing house for vaudeville sites.

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Popular Genres


Science Fiction | Mystery | Western | Romance | Horror

Science Fiction:

Star Wars
If you have to ask, you'll never know....

Mystery:

Mysterynet.com
The online mystery network.

Western:

Cowboys, Outlaws, Ne'erdowells and Sidekicks
Silver Screen Cowboys of 30s-50s plus miscellaneous Western links.
Westerns.com
A great site with almost two dozen short films available in their entirety (with the RealAudio plug-in).

Romance:

Ultimate Internet Romance Book Site
Author bios, links to publishers and agents, collectibles info, cover image gallery.

Horror:

HorrorNet
Articles, authors, bookstores, events, publishers, interviews, magazines, e-texts, fan clubs, etc.

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Television


Networks | References

Networks:

A&E ABC AMC BET Biography
Bravo C-Span Cartoon Network CBS CNN
Comedy Central Court TV Discovery Disney E!
ESPN Fashion Food FOX History
Independent Film Channel Lifetime MSNBC MTV NBC
Nickelodeon PBS QVC SciFi TBS
UPN USA VH1 Warner Brothers Weather

References
Museum of Television and Radio
New York and Los Angeles based museums preserving the history of tv and radio.
TV Guide Entertainment Network
Updates on soaps, movies, sports, and an online version of the weekly magazine.

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Toys and Games


Toys | Games

Toys:

Action Figure Times
Newsletter dedicated to rumors, sightings, and collecting.
Adventures of Mr. Potato Head
Featuring the spontaneous spud in a number of exotic outfits and locales, plus a history of the character's evolution over the past forty years.
American YO-YO Association
Tricks, rules for competition, and even a museum featuring the Duncan Family collection.
Barbie: the dolls, the dish, the dollars
From a collector, but with pages dedicated to humor and cultural criticism.
Die Cast Car Collectors
News, reviews, and even an online auction for model car enthusiasts.
Fibblesnork Lego Guide
Each set rated for form, function, color, and compatibility with alternative building suggestions.
Gallery of Monster Toys
Comprehensive pictures of monster toys from the 60's to the 90's
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe
Part of he-man.org with a number of sounds and pictures of comic books and action figures from the popular 80's cartoon series.
Star Trek Collectors Page
For Trekkers or the casual fan.

Games:

U.S. Air-Table-Hockey Association
Rules, tournament results, and upcoming events.
The Foosball Source
News, outlinks, images, tournament information, official rules, glossary, and history.
American Paintball League
A liability insurance program for paintball field operators featuring rules and results.
American Pool Players Association
Chat room, events schedule, rules, and more.
National Puzzlers' League
Text-heavy site with convention news and sample enigmas.
Shuffleboard.net
Calendar of events, history of the game, and rules of engagement.
U.S.A. Table Tennis Association
Rankings, rules, and highlights from Table Tennis Magazine
North American Tiddlywinks Association
The mothership of tiddlywink action.

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Food


Caffeinated Magazine
Reviews of coffee houses and blends across the nation.
Flake World
A cereal box love fest with each page featuring a background from a different cereal.
Slurpees: Nectar of the Gods
Slurpee etiquette, pictures, and stories.
Spam
The official Spam homepage--'nuff said.
Tabasco Pepperfest
An on-line festival: Postcards, a music area with the house band and animated instructions for the Cajun two-step, recipes, history, art, product information, and, of course, a country store.

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