Pop Culture Florida

A behind-the-scenes look at some of the people and events that have played a part in the pop history of the Sunshine State from 1945 to the present

This three-volume reference set explores the history, relevance, and significance of pop culture locations in the United States—places that have captured the imagination of the American people and reflect the diversity of the nation. Pop Culture Places: An Encyclopedia of Places in American Popular Culture serves as a resource for high school and college students as well as adult readers that contains more than 350 entries on a broad assortment of popular places in America. Covering places from Ellis Island to Fisherman's Wharf, the entries reflect the tremendous variety of sites, historical and modern, emphasizing the immense diversity and historical development of our nation. Readers will gain an appreciation of the historical, social, and cultural impact of each location and better understand how America has come to be a nation and evolved culturally through the lens of popular places. Approximately 200 sidebars serve to highlight interesting facts while images throughout the book depict the places described in the text. Each entry supplies a brief bibliography that directs students to print and electronic sources of additional information.

"Critical discussion of popular culture in Florida, which began drawing winter visitors before the Civil War (now boasts a hundred million+ visitors annually). These essays explore many facets of Florida's culture: Mickey; Shamu; early tourist sites; Key West and its favorite son Ernest Hemingway; and an overview of several iconic Florida institutions (Daytona 500, Spring Break)"--Provided by publisher.

Tomorrow morning in thousands of newspapers around the country, opinion editorials (or "op-eds") will appear by well-paid columnists like George Will, Michael Barone, Linda Chavez, and many others. Their sharply tuned vocabularies and finely crafted articles serve an important function in shaping public opinion on politics, social issues, and more. But they ain't the only ones. The Internet has made publishing and widespread distribution available to a new brand of opinion writers. They are teachers, lawyers, construction workers and parents with plenty of insightful things to say. And they're saying them at OpinionEditorials.com. OpinionEditorials.com is the only online editorial site that publishes op-eds from writers of all levels and backgrounds-from seasoned columnists to everyday Americans-on a wide variety of topics. The popular web site has become the only resource for what "the rest of America is saying." Americans on Politics, Policy, and Pop Culture contains 101 of the best op-eds published to date at OpinionEditorials.com. In it you'll find a wide variety of short pieces on everyone from President George W. Bush to John Kerry. You'll also find opinions both poignant and humorous on: Janet Jackson's wardrobe malfunction CBS' newsroom malfunction Howard Dean's brain malfunction What other book offers you that?

"A graphic novel retelling of Jesus Christ's descent into Hell between the crucifixion and resurrection"--

In this book, Cecilia Tossounian reconstructs different representations of modern femininity from 1920s and 1930s Argentina, a complex period in which the country saw prosperity and economic crisis, a growing cosmopolitan population, the emergence of consumer culture, and the development of nationalism. Tossounian analyzes how these popular images of la joven moderna—the modern girl—helped shape Argentina’s emerging national identity. Tossounian looks at visual and written portrayals of young womanhood in magazines, newspapers, pulp fiction, advertisements, music, films, and other media. She identifies and discusses four new types of young urban women: the flapper, the worker, the sportswoman, and the beauty contestant. She shows that these diverse figures, defined by social class, highlight the tensions between gender, nation, and modernity in interwar Argentina. Arguing that images of modern young women symbolized fears of the country’s moral decadence as well as hopes of national progress and civilization, La Joven Moderna in Interwar Argentina reveals that women were at the center of a public debate about modernity and its consequences. This book highlights the important but underappreciated role of gendered figures and popular culture in the ways Argentine citizens imagined themselves and their country during a formative period of cultural and social renewal.

Applying innovative interpretive strategies drawn from cultural studies, this book considers the perennial question of law and politics: what role do the founding fathers play in legitimizing contemporary judicial review? Susan Burgess uses narrative analysis, popular culture, parody, and queer theory to better understand and to reconstitute the traditional relationship between fatherhood and judicial review. Unlike traditional, top-down public law analyses that focus on elite decision making by courts, legislatures, or executives, this volume explores the representation of law and legitimacy in various sites of popular culture. To this end, soap operas, romance novels, tabloid newspapers, reality television, and coming out narratives provide alternative ways to understand the relationship between paternal power and law from the bottom up. In this manner, constitutional discourse can begin to be transformed from a dreary parsing of scholarly and juristic argot into a vibrant discussion with points of access and understanding for all.

This fascinating collection of myths, legends and folktales celebrates the diversity of characters and cultures across the Sunshine State. Florida boasts mysterious tales that stretch back more than twelve thousand years. In Florida Lore, storyteller Caren Schnur Neile shares a treasure trove of colorful, curious tales that capture her home state’s history, mystery, and unique personality. Delve into the lives of the proud Wakulla Pocahontas and the Ghost of Bellamy Bridge. Meet local lawbreakers like John Ashley, as well as transplants like Ma Barker and Al Capone. Stalk stumpy gators or Hogzilla as they prowl Florida's swamps and suburbs. Discover the quintessential Cracker cowboy and the Barefoot Mailman, plus the origin of names like Boca Raton and Orlando.