Top Searches: Funny and Unexpected Keywords Searched for

Lists of popular words searched for on the internet are a good place to get ideas on what to blog about, and every once in awhile, I’ll use those to inspire me to write.  That’s how I came up with the article Does Smoking Marijuana Make You Smarter?  It seems that marijuana is one of the most searched keywords in search engines like Google and Yahoo.

As I was going through the top searches recently, I realized there were a lot of strange searches going on, so I thought I’d share.

 

Top Searches You’d Expect

Of course, there are the usual popular searches you’d anticipate.  Britney Spears is always ranked high in the search engines, but interestingly, beat out by searches for dogs in one search engine results list.  Kim Kardashian, Barack Obama, and funnily, viagra are popular search words (but I guess not that funny if you’re the one searching for viagra).  The term free essays is also predictably popular.

 

Top Searches You Wouldn’t Expect

Among the usual top searched for keywords were some that I didn’t see coming.  Dogfart is apparently an extremely popular search.  Spanking, dogpile, and crack also rank high.  Surprising in a good way were top ranked word searches for poem, poetry, and love poems.  Yes!  There are still literate people in the world somewhere.

 

Top Searches For Words I Didn’t Know Existed

Okay.  So this was going to be the section where I talked about top searched for words I never heard of before.  I thought we’d both learn something new.  I learned something new alright.  I found out when googling them that most of my new words were either gaming terms or sexual practices I’d never heard of before (and would have been quite happy never knowing about).  So…uh…we’re going to to just skip that section.

 

Top Search Listings

Here are the top keyword sites I used to write this article.

• Portal Mix Most Searched Words
• Yahoo Buzz
• Ask.com Top Searches
• Search.com Top Searches
  

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Edgar Allan Poe – Alone

The poetry of Edgar Allen Poe, dark and menacing, has always been some of my favorite.  Here is a poem he wrote called “Alone.”

From childhood’s hour I have not been 
As others were; I have not seen 
As others saw; I could not bring 
My passions from a common spring. 
From the same source I have not taken 
My sorrow; I could not awaken 
My heart to joy at the same tone; 
And all I loved, I loved alone. 
Then – in my childhood, in the dawn 
Of a most stormy life – was drawn 
From every depth of good and ill 
The mystery which binds me still: 
From the torrent, or the fountain, 
From the red cliff of the mountain, 
From the sun that round me rolled 
In its autumn tint of gold, 
From the lightning in the sky 
As it passed me flying by, 
From the thunder and the storm, 
And the cloud that took the form 
(When the rest of Heaven was blue) 
Of a demon in my view.

2008 Summer Olympics: The Short Version – The Games in Rhyme

Are the Summer Olympics taking up too much of your time and digital recording space?  Want to get right to the nitty gritty?  Here are several sports in the 2008 Olympic games, all recapped in 17 words or less.  This is a work in progress; I’ll add more as I watch more Olympics.

2008 Summer Olympics in Verse
by Edie Montgomery-Pool

The big red dragon
From seclusion unfurled
Opening its gates
To embrace the world

Phelps swam eight times
Eight times won gold
The world in awe
Watched history unfold

Olympic gymnastics
A glorious scene
China was fantastic
But nowhere near sixteen

Nastia Liukin
Put to the test
As all-around gymnast
She proved she’s the best

A beaming smile
From balance beam‘s ace
Shawn Johnson nailed it
And took first place

Yelena of Russia
Loved by crowds
Broke another world record
Pole vaulting the clouds

Volleyball‘s queens
Won every heat
Walsh and Misty May
Unfamiliar with defeat

A Jamaican giant
With an appropriate name
Made racing look easy
And Bolted to fame

As baseball and softball
Faded from view
BMX racing
Made its debut

In Tae Kwon Do
A national disgrace
That guy from Cuba
Kicked a ref in the face

In ping pong and diving
Hardly a nation
Could compete with China’s
World domination

James DeGale
Fighter from Britain
The middleweight champ
Despite being bitten

Through ten tough sports
He fought his way
World’s Greatest Athlete:
Bryan Clay

Allstars and small stars
Played as a team
For basketball greatness
And took back the dream

Feeling creative? Add your own verses in the comments section.  To read more of my poetry, visit the Edie Montgomery-Pool poetry section of this blog.

Edit: 8/23/08 Added verse 4, re: Nastia Liukin
Edit: 8/23/08 Added verse 5, re: Shawn Johnson
Edit: 8/23/08 Added verse 8, re: Usain Bolt
Edit: 8/24/08 Added verse 1, re: China
Edit: 8/24/08 Added verse 10, re: Angel Valodia Matos
Edit: 8/24/08 Added verse 12, re: James DeGale
Edit: 8/25/08 Added verse 9, re: baseball, softball, bmx
Edit: 8/25/08 Added verse 13, re: decathlon
Edit: 8/25/08 Added verse 14, re: basketball
Edit: 8/26/08 Added verse 11, re: tabble tennis, diving

Edit: 8/26/08:  This Olympic poem is complete now.  I might tweak a few words here and there in the next few weeks, but I’ve now written about all the topics I wanted to include.  It’s a very old tradition to commemorate the Olympics in poem, dating back to B.C., so it’s my great honor to be a tiny part of that grand tradition. 

_______________

(You may reproduce this poem in part or whole, on or in a website, email, podcast, or broadcast; permission for electronic reproduction is granted on the provision that the website on which the poem is published is not a vanity publisher or a scam poetry contest which requires its “winners” to make a purchase or pay a fee before being published.  You may also reproduce this poem in print material for which net profits do not exceed $1,000.  Author name must be included in any reproductions, and author must be notified whenever this poem is, or parts of this poem are, used.  For all other uses not mentioned here, just ask and I will most likely say yes.) 🙂

Olympic Poems

Olympic poetry seems like it would be abundantly available in the midst of 2008 Olympic mania, but the only really good Olympic poet I could find was an old standby…from 476 B.C.  Here are parts of some very old yet very cool Olympic poetry, both from a poet named Pindar:

 

Olympic Poetry (1)

Water is supreme, and gold
Like fire at night stands out
Among all the subtances that heighten human pride–
But if you want to celebrate 
Greatness in games, O my soul, you’ll find
No brighter star in the vastness of space
Than the sun, no contest more glorious
Than Olympia–

 

Olympic Poetry (2)

Nikeus sent the stone
spun from the whirl of his hand
past them all, and as it passed his comrades in arms
sent a shout roaring after it.
And then the radiance
of the moon’s beautiful eye made everything shine.

I’m not sure who did the translations.  If you know, please post.  Or if you have any modern Olympic poetry favorites, you can share those in the comments section, as well.  Both of these excerpts were found at Online Newshour — Olympic Poems, where you can read more complete versions of Pindar’s original “old school” Olympic poetry.

You can also read a poem specifically about the 2008 Summer Olympics here:  2008 Summer Olympics: The Short Version – The Games in Rhyme.

Header Graphic August/September 2008

The current header artwork for A Bunch of Wordz is courtesy of the following photographers and artists:

• Background Graphic – Thank you Paulo Correa for the amazingly artistic background.  Paulo is a graphic designer from the Phillipines.  (View Paulo’s entire graphics gallery at Stock Xchange.)
• Coffee Cup/Newspaper Photo – is from Jean Scheijen from the Netherlands.  Very nice!  (View Jean’s entire photo gallery at Stock Xchange.)
• Model Photo – This model is photographer Ophelia Cherry of Italy, and the photo was shot by her little brother.  The dress was made by grandma.  🙂  (View Ophelia’s entire photo gallery at Stock Xchange – WARNING: some partial nudity.)

So the graphic is a compilation from me in the U.S., the Phillipines, the Netherlands, and Italy.  Isn’t the internet cool??  Thanks, everyone!

8 Olympic Medal Categories I’m Taking it Upon Myself to Add

Olympic medals:  I’m handing my own out today, including Most Annoying Journalist Voice, Hottest Guy on the USA Swim Team, and Most Ridiculously Funny Summer Olympics Sport. Read on to find out who wins and who places.

 

1. Most Annoying Journalist Voice in the 2008 Summer Olympics

• Olympic Gold — Whoever That Chick is Who Announces Synchronized Diving.  With a Nancy-Grace-like twang reminiscent of nails on a chalkboard, this Olympic announcer’s voice wins a gold medal for most irritating in the world. People are watching synchronized diving on mute because of her.
• Olympic Silver — Alex Flanagan of CNBC.  This female Olympic journalist is beautiful, but she talks from the back of her throat. Possibly a close relative of Kermit the Frog; we’re running the DNA tests now.  
• Olympic Bronze — Mary Carillo.  NBC Olympic correspondent, Mary Carillo, does those great, short segments on Chinese culture. Good journalist, terrible voice. It’s disconcerting to hear a man’s voice coming out of a woman’s body. I’m still a little startled by it every time I hear her speak, even though I’m expecting it now. 

2. Hottest Guy on the 2008 USA Olympic Swim Team

• Olympic Gold — Matt Grevers.  In a surprise upset, Michael Phelps doesn’t get the gold this time. Instead, it goes to blonde 6’7″ cutie and real-life Olympic medalist, Matt Grevers, who won silver for the 100-meter backstroke.
• Olympic Silver — Ben Wildman-Tobriner.  Biomechanical engineer, Stanford grad, and future doctor, USA Olympic swimmer Ben Wildman-Tobriner hasn’t won any Olympic medals in the pool, but he gets the silver from me on sheer good looks.
• Olympic Bronze — Ryan Lochte and Michael Phelps.  In a tie for the bronze medal are Ryan Lochte and Michael Phelps. Ryan Lochte is best known for his sense of humor, quirky personality, and individual fashion sense. Michael Phelps is best known for being Michael Phelps.

3. Most Fun 2008 Summer Olympic Athletes to Watch

• Olympic Gold — Michael Phelps.  Whether he’s sliding into the top spot by 1/100th of a second or wildly cheering on his Olympic teammates, Olympic phenomenon Michael Phelps is not only a swimming machine, he’s also a sure crowd pleaser.
• Olympic Silver — Misty May Treanor & Kerri Walsh.  The May Walsh Olympic volleyball team seems to be unstoppable. The impossible plays Misty May and Kerri Walsh make are exciting to watch, and their deep friendship is evident on the court, which makes them an even more likeable pair.
• Olympic Bronze — Girls Chinese Olympic Team.  It’s apparent to anyone with eyes that most of the Chinese 2008 Womens Summer Olympics gymnastics team is not even close to the required competing age of 16. But two things they definitely are: cute and talented. If 12-year-olds can perform world class gymnastics like that (and obviously they can), then perhaps the minimum age to qualify for Olympic gymnastics should be lowered. Which doesn’t in any way excuse the Chinese government’s lack of integrity during the 2008 Olympic gymnastics event, but I did enjoy watching those little girls, and the girls themselves have a lot to be proud of.

4. Most Ridiculously Funny Summer Olympics Sport

• Olympic Gold, Silver, and Bronze all go to — Speed Walking.  Also takes the gold for gayest sport ever. They’re getting rid of softball and keeping Olympic Speed Walking? Really??

5. Most Painfully Slow Summer Olympic Event to Watch

• Olympic Gold — Waterpolo.  I put my tivo on the first speed, and it was still too slow.
• Olympic Silver — Cycling.  Unless someone falls spectacularly like the Korean cyclist did during the126km race, watching people pedal puts me into a coma.
• Olympic Bronze — Marathon.  Can be grueling for both the runner and the audience. Although seeing if the 2008 Olympic runners drop dead from the insane amount of pollution in China might add an extra element of excitement to the 2008 Olympic games.

6. Most Underrated Summer Olympics Sport

By far, the “field” part of track and field is one of the more interesting areas of Olympic sports, yet we see a lot of track getting coverage on television, and very little field. It’s a shame this part of sports isn’t given more air time. Here are some deserving yet short-changed sports that need more media attention:

• Olympic Gold — Pole Vaulting.  The people who do this daring and dangerous sport are always a little bit crazy; they have to be. There are so many ways to get hurt in pole vaulting, a sport where you’re upside down and perpindicular to the ground at one point, with no mat beneath you, flinging yourself into the air on a bendy, breakable stick.
• Olympic Silver — Javelin.  There’s something inspiring about a sport that was probably played at the very first Olympics. The Olympic Javelin throw also has that cool, barbaric, Spartan “300” thing going for it.
• Olympic Bronze — Hammer Throw.  I’d be afraid to be in the live audience on this one, but the Olympic Hammer Throw is a fascinating sport to watch…from a distance.

7. Olympic Athlete Most Likely to Say “You Know” 100 or More Times During a 3-minute Interview

• Olympic Gold — Michael Phelps.  Yet again, the gold goes to, you know, Michael Phelps.

And last but not least…

8. Best Blog Post About the Olympics

• Olympic Gold — This One.  Really? I won? Oh my gosh, I can’t believe it! What a huge and unexpected honor.
• Olympic Silver — Campus Squeeze.  And the silver goes to: We Get It Already: 14 Olympic Stories We’re Tired of Hearing.
• Olympic Bronze — Some Blog in Chinese.  This blog post might not actually be about the Olympics; it’s in Chinese, and I’m too lazy to run it through a translator. It features a photo of Michael Phelps in a mermaid costume, though. So on that alone, it gets the bronze.

Did I forget anything? Award your own Olympic medals in the comments section.

If you liked this post, you might also like:  2008 Summer Olympics: The Short Version – The Games in Rhyme