AH Cultural Descriptions

[pvicente]

Alternate nickname for the phenomenon of the crackdown on migration after a brain drain in the USSR after the second world war, despite USSR having been on the victor's side, there were many trying to flee for a "capitalist" lifestyle which was not well seen by the rulers.


Summer of October, Winter of November, Apocalypse of December

Napoleon's victory brought many changes to Europe, one of them was the fortunes of three little sleepy southern Italian towns, favoured by the emperor (and soon a lot of European high society) for his winter vacations, which got the nicknames of "October, November, December" from the months in wich he would visit, especially in his later years, with things settled and matters of state delegated to competent hands.

Actually there were more like two towns and the third one a a marker on the road with some houses, an inn and a very pleasant river nearby, and no, the emperor wouldn't visit them on a three month rotation (that would have been silly, of course), instead wandering around the vicinity in his visits without a rigid plan, but the story became popular, it was turned into a catchy song, and the locals helped the thing along, being keen on luring visitors and their money.

The region then had it's ups and downs over the years but it always kept the reputation as a vacation spot and later a place for cultural events.

And then it was the 1940s, progress was moving at an incredible pace and the new wave of "electro-music" was sweeping across Europe with bands such as Dead Deaf Leopard, João Bom Jovem, AeroJoe, or the "four Bonaparte seasons", you known, that gimmick with four closely related bands under the same label, Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter?

Ok, in the end, only Summer and Winter had actual staying power and they were quite successful, they were the main attraction in a festival in the three Napoleon towns not long ago, and they the new, up and coming, energetic (some say frenetic, surely not for everyone's taste) Apocalypse among the secondary bands.


The government approves of this shark now

 

[brunohusker]

The government approves of this shark now

A famous line often printed on the popular Icelandic dish, shark jerky, which was finally allowed to be sold for export in 1980. The dish became especially popular in the midwestern US, and the slogan printed on its package became something of a comic non sequitur in the 80s. Eventually the slogan was taken off of shark jerky packages until it was added again in 2020 as part of a response to an online campaign of fans of the treat.

Navaho Joe has got to go!

 

[Crazy Boris]

A famous line often printed on the popular Icelandic dish, shark jerky, which was finally allowed to be sold for export in 1980. The dish became especially popular in the midwestern US, and the slogan printed on its package became something of a comic non sequitur in the 80s. Eventually the slogan was taken off of shark jerky packages until it was added again in 2020 as part of a response to an online campaign of fans of the treat.

Navaho Joe has got to go!

Slogan promoted by Arnold Hernandez, a city councillor for San Luis Obispo to support the eviction of Raymond Hatahle, a Navajo man who owned a large rural property on the outskirts of the city in the1970s. Hernandez wanted this land to be used to build a new gated suburb, but Hatahle refused all offers simply because he liked having it and enjoyed the natural landscape. Hernandez created the “Navaho Joe” slogan at the behest of the development company who wanted the land, who wanted some way to turn the largely apathetic public against Hatahle. The misspelling of “Navaho” and the fact Hatahle’s name wasn’t Joe brought more attention to the situation, but also spurred a wave of criticism that Hernandez didn’t know what he was talking about if he didn’t even know the name of the guy he was trying to evict. When it was discovered that Hernandez had been given $14 million dollars from the development company to try and force Hatahle to sell the land, he was investigated for corruption and sacked from the city council, and public opinion, which was already none too enthusiastic about the notion of a new bland suburb, was firmly in Hatahle’s corner. Raymond Hatahle still owns the land to this day, and often wears a t-shirt emblazoned with the slogan as a joking way to remember those stressful months.

The Barack Obama variety show

 

[Don Corleone]

Slogan promoted by Arnold Hernandez, a city councillor for San Luis Obispo to support the eviction of Raymond Hatahle, a Navajo man who owned a large rural property on the outskirts of the city in the1970s. Hernandez wanted this land to be used to build a new gated suburb, but Hatahle refused all offers simply because he liked having it and enjoyed the natural landscape. Hernandez created the “Navaho Joe” slogan at the behest of the development company who wanted the land, who wanted some way to turn the largely apathetic public against Hatahle. The misspelling of “Navaho” and the fact Hatahle’s name wasn’t Joe brought more attention to the situation, but also spurred a wave of criticism that Hernandez didn’t know what he was talking about if he didn’t even know the name of the guy he was trying to evict. When it was discovered that Hernandez had been given $14 million dollars from the development company to try and force Hatahle to sell the land, he was investigated for corruption and sacked from the city council, and public opinion, which was already none too enthusiastic about the notion of a new bland suburb, was firmly in Hatahle’s corner. Raymond Hatahle still owns the land to this day, and often wears a t-shirt emblazoned with the slogan as a joking way to remember those stressful months.

The Barack Obama variety show

Popular afternoon talk show that replaced the Oprah Winfrey show when Winfrey was elected President in 2012. Most episodes feature up and coming authors and artists, but every March it becomes a college basketball show and defeats ESPN in the rankings.

Tree Fitty

 

[vandevere]

Popular afternoon talk show that replaced the Oprah Winfrey show when Winfrey was elected President in 2012. Most episodes feature up and coming authors and artists, but every March it becomes a college basketball show and defeats ESPN in the rankings.

Tree Fitty

Title of a cartoon series featuring the eponymous hero, and his gang of boy and girl scouts tasked with saving the world's forests...

One Tree at a Time.

 

[brunohusker]

One Tree at a Time.

A country song from 1973 by Johnny Cash, based on his experiences as a lumberjack in the Smoky Mountains as well as a song about environmentalism as the song’s lumberjack subject also plants a tree for every one he cuts down helping the world one tree at a time.

Doctor Fuego

 

[Mort the Reaper]

A country song from 1973 by Johnny Cash, based on his experiences as a lumberjack in the Smoky Mountains as well as a song about environmentalism as the song’s lumberjack subject also plants a tree for every one he cuts down helping the world one tree at a time.

Doctor Fuego

A popular Mexican telenovela initially centered around Doctor Maya Rivera, whose specialty in treating burn victims earns her the nickname Doctor Fuego. Her role in the series becomes less prominent as the show goes on, but she remains an important character, and her retirement remains one of the most-watched programs in the history of Mexican television.

Paul Pepsi

 

[John Spangler]

Paul Pepsi

A mascot created by the Pepsi company to counter their Coca Cola rivals' Cola Carol (a cheerful blonde girl wearing a Coca Cola themed dress that emphasized her ample bosom). However, Paul wasn't very succesful, lasting little more than a year, and soon faded into obscurity.

A Nightmare on Crime Alley

 

[MNM041]

A Nightmare on Crime Alley

A comic crossover between Nightmare On Elm Street, which sees Batman go up against the Springwood Slasher after a string of murders where the victims were killed in their sleep. The story eventually leads to Batman teaming up with some of the survivors of Freddy's previous killings.

Threat Level Midnight

 

[brunohusker]

Threat Level Midnight

A 1964 film directed by Stanley Kubrick about a drunken General who accidentally tries to launch the American nuclear arsenal towards Berlin, and causing a state of panic in both the United States and its Allies as well as the Greater German Reich and its client states. The film was regarded as one of the best satires of all time, and was most known for the performance of Jerry Lewis, who played President Moses “Moe” Raun, Air Marshal Herb Blitz, and Professor Ivan Slutsky.

Fisherman’s Dwarf

 

[Sokolov]

Fisherman’s Dwarf

A Shetland folklore story dating back to the 9th century of a single Dwarf that would magically appear on lonely fishermen's boats and guide them to lucrative fishing spots in return for 6% of the profit of the catch. The fishermen would then have to place the coins in a bag and bury it in their garden for him to collect or else the dwarf would come for them for 6% of their hand and they wouldn't be able to fish ever again. The story's iconography is a prominent image in the Shetland isles as a fantastical Dwarf with a braided beard holding a bushel of fish in one hand and an axe in the other. On one hand it signifies luck and success in finance, on the other and strength and justice. It features somewhat prominently on the Shetlandic republic's flag.

The Celery Incident

 

[brunohusker]

The Celery Incident

A political even from 1996 involving outgoing President George Bush having to leave a state dinner due to “food poisoning.” A rumor spread on the internet that apparently he not only didn’t like broccoli, but also celery and the rumor go so big that a reporter from ABC asked him if he was allergic to celery, to which he simply laughed so hard that he did a spit take. The image of Bush’s spit take arguably became the first GIF.

Three Men and a Baby Yoda

 

[MNM041]

Three Men and a Baby Yoda

A Lego Star Wars themed parody of Three Men And A Baby, featuring Din Djarin, Greef Karga and Luke Skywalker taking turns looking after Grogu, who of course took is known as Baby Yoda to most of the internet.

The Adventures of Nuktuk: Hero Of The South

 

[brunohusker]

The Adventures of Nuktuk: Hero Of The South

An alternate history novel written by Harry Turtledove, who wrote it as a response to poor reception of his alternate history novels about the German Empire being defeated in World War One.

The novel involves a group of time traveling neo confederates who try to give guns to the southern confederacy. However, a caveman known as Nuktuk sneaks aboard the strange craft he finds while the neo confederates are lost and thus ends up in 1863 Maryland, where he interrupts a union soldier who just happened to see a loose piece of paper on the road. Eventually, the reader finds out these are Lees invasion plans. Lee is eventually successful in sacking Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington. Meanwhile, Nuktuk is kept in captivity by the union army and later becomes a circus freak, though after an escape, he wanders into Virginia and is adopted by a group of escaped slaves heading for the north but trips them up.

Turtledove wrote the book to “show critics what bad alternate history really looks like.” However, it became unexpectedly popular and many felt it was a satire or farce.

Burgermeister Meisterburger

 

[PolishMagnet]

An alternate history novel written by Harry Turtledove, who wrote it as a response to poor reception of his alternate history novels about the German Empire being defeated in World War One.

The novel involves a group of time traveling neo confederates who try to give guns to the southern confederacy. However, a caveman known as Nuktuk sneaks aboard the strange craft he finds while the neo confederates are lost and thus ends up in 1863 Maryland, where he interrupts a union soldier who just happened to see a loose piece of paper on the road. Eventually, the reader finds out these are Lees invasion plans. Lee is eventually successful in sacking Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington. Meanwhile, Nuktuk is kept in captivity by the union army and later becomes a circus freak, though after an escape, he wanders into Virginia and is adopted by a group of escaped slaves heading for the north but trips them up.

Turtledove wrote the book to “show critics what bad alternate history really looks like.” However, it became unexpectedly popular and many felt it was a satire or farce.

Burgermeister Meisterburger

In one of the earliest Reddit pranks, users worked together to organise a fake candidate and campaign for "Max Meisterburger" to run for the position of Burgermeister of Oldenburg. In the resulting memes, vote, and victory of their fake candidate, new laws were passed in the Holy Roman Empire to prevent a similar fiasco from occuring.

Today, uninspiring candidates are jokingly referred to as "Burgermeister Meisterburger"s, in reference to how the fake candidate won despite not actually promising anything except the status quo.

Father Bill and Father Ted

 

[triscreen]

Father Bill and Father Ted

The aliases of William Sutton (1879-1911) and Theodore Wayne (1882-1911), a pair of prolific criminals who became well known for disguising themselves as Catholic priests in a string of crimes around the turn of the 20th century. They would be sensationalized in national press for a time, before being killed in a shootout with police in Shreveport, Louisiana on April 16, 1911.

Their legacy would be cemented in the 1943 classic film "Father Bill and Father Ted", which is considered one of the best films of the "golden age" of American cinema, and continues to be referenced in the present.

Flavortown

 

[danteheadman]

Flavortown

After the Great Molasses Flood of 1919 killed 21, injured 150, and caused tens of thousands of dollars in damages, over a hundred Bostonians brought a class action lawsuit against the United States Industrial Alcohol Company. The USIAC claimed - falsely, as most Bostonians believed, since no group ever claimed responsibility - that the tanks of molasses had been blown up by anarchists. After three years of litigation, the court-appointed auditor found in favor of the USIAC and concluded that they were not liable.

Incensed Bostonians decided to take matters into their own hands. In one of the largest violent protests in the Northeast since the Draft Riots of 1863, the aggrieved citizens of Boston broke into both USIAC corporate offices and the courthouses of Boston to seek revenge. Dubbed the "Flavortown Riots" after the short-lived anarchist commune of Flavortown which sprung up in central Boston, over 1,000 people were injured and dozens were killed by state forces.

We stand together - the Knights who say Ni!

 

[brunohusker]

We stand together - the Knights who say Ni!

The chant of the Northern Illinois Knights, a prominent minor league basketball team from Rockford Illinois. Ni ( pronounced en-eye) was the common way to refer to the team, which was known for its rabid fan base, as well as being a team that produced many future NBA All Stars.

Twit in Chief

 

[Thesaurus Rex]

Twit in Chief

A 1984 35-minute satirical polemic by conservative think-tank American Pride against then-President Jerry Brown's handling of the Soviet-Afghan War. As the rebellion against the Soviet Union escalated, members of Brown's cabinet as well as private political analysts all concluded that backing Afghan resistance forces would not only deal a serious blow to its military reputation but potentially bankrupt the Soviets entirely. Brown's policy on the war was, at most, to allow a pathway for Afghan refugees to enter the United States. Both this and the desire to stay militarily neutral -- even in simply supplying resistance members -- in favor of advancing domestic social goals earned Brown the reputation of a brainless featherweight that allowed the Communists to recover their strength; a somewhat bipartisan opinion but strongest among conservatives. The program aired shortly after the primary election with Brown remaining incumbent and American Pride had the funds to hire many B-list actors from Flash Gordon star Sam J. Jones to the now past-his-prime struggling actor Ronald Reagan.

A Species New to Science: Tyrannosaurus rex

 

[Baron Steakpuncher]

A 1984 35-minute satirical polemic by conservative think-tank American Pride against then-President Jerry Brown's handling of the Soviet-Afghan War. As the rebellion against the Soviet Union escalated, members of Brown's cabinet as well as private political analysts all concluded that backing Afghan resistance forces would not only deal a serious blow to its military reputation but potentially bankrupt the Soviets entirely. Brown's policy on the war was, at most, to allow a pathway for Afghan refugees to enter the United States. Both this and the desire to stay militarily neutral -- even in simply supplying resistance members -- in favor of advancing domestic social goals earned Brown the reputation of a brainless featherweight that allowed the Communists to recover their strength; a somewhat bipartisan opinion but strongest among conservatives. The program aired shortly after the primary election with Brown remaining incumbent and American Pride had the funds to hire many B-list actors from Flash Gordon star Sam J. Jones to the now past-his-prime struggling actor Ronald Reagan.

A Species New to Science: Tyrannosaurus rex

An article in the Krakow Science Journal about the discovery of a massive prehistoric lizard fossil found in Australia. The fossil creature, related to the extant Komodo Dragon, was initially mistaken for a late surviving dinosaur based on fractional remains, yet the technically accurate title of "Tyrant Lizard King" remained in use by the scientific community due to the lack of better suggestions, and the influence of the original discoverer of said fossil, the famous Palaeontologist Mihail Mikołajczyk.

The Wilno Files