A Poll: The Most Famous _______

  1. Painting
    Mona Lisa

  2. Piece of Sculpture
    David

  3. Instance of Classical Architecture
    acropolis

  4. Instance of Medieval Architecture
    Notre Dame?

  5. Instance of Modern Architecture
    Sydney Opera House

  6. Piece of “Classical” Music (the genre, not the period)
    Beethoven’s fifth

  7. Piece of Jazz Music
    Maybe In the Mood by Glenn Miller if that counts.

  8. Piece of “Pop” Music
    Hard Day’s Night

  9. Piece of Rock Music
    Smells Like Teen Spirit

  10. Piece of Blues Music
    Summertime

  11. Piece of Folk Music (English language)
    Blowing in the Wind

  12. Piece of Latin Music
    Oye Como Va

  13. Novel
    War and Peace

  14. Poem
    I’m not sure

  15. Movie
    Gone with the Wind

  16. Stage Play – Drama
    Macbeth

  17. Stage Play – Musical
    The Phantom of the Opera

  18. TV Drama Series
    Law and Order?

  19. TV Comedy Series
    The Simpsons

  20. TV News Program
    60 Minutes

Painting
Mona Lisa

Piece of Sculpture
Michelangelo’s David

Instance of Classical Architecture
No clue

Instance of Medieval Architecture
Notre Dame

Instance of Modern Architecture
Eiffel Tower (is it modern?)

Piece of “Classical” Music (the genre, not the period)
Beethoven’s 5th

Piece of Jazz Music
I know little about Jazz

Piece of “Pop” Music
Something Michael Jackson - Thriller or Billy Jean

Piece of Rock Music
Stairway to Heaven - probably…

Piece of Blues Music
No clue - George Thurogood, maybe…1 bourbon, 1 scotch, and 1 beer.

Piece of Folk Music (English language)
Blowing in the wind - Bob Dylan’s version

Piece of Latin Music
I have no clue…

Novel
I think of Huck Finn, but probably another one is more famous.

Poem
Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening

Movie
Wizard of Oz

Stage Play – Drama
Romeo and Juliet

Stage Play – Musical
Oklahoma

TV Drama Series
CSI type show…I don’t know

TV Comedy Series
The Simpsons

TV News Program
CNN Headline (it’s the only one I watch)

Brendon

Ahah, someone else agrees with me that the most famous poem probably won’t be that impressive.

And I’d agree that probably one of the Mother Goose ones would be a better guess than Shel Silverstein.

I had no idea Take Five would be considered the most famous jazz piece by so many! It passed through my head but then I thought of how many times “In the Mood” has been in commercials and things.

I would also change my movie vote to Titanic, and I don’t know why I said Macbeth when I should have said Hamlet.

  1. Painting -Mona Lisa
  2. Piece of Sculpture -Michelangelo’s David
  3. Instance of Classical Architecture -Colliseum
  4. Instance of Medieval Architecture -Notre Dame de Paris
  5. Instance of Modern Architecture -Sydney Opera House (or the WTC, for a very different reason)
  6. Piece of “Classical” Music -Haendel’s Hallelujah Chorus
  7. Piece of Jazz Music -Maple Leaf Rag, perhaps?
  8. Piece of “Pop” Music -?
  9. Piece of Rock Music -Like a Rolling Stone
  10. Piece of Blues Music -?
  11. Piece of Folk Music -This Land is Your Land
  12. Piece of Latin Music -?
  13. Novel -Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone
  14. Poem -Roses are Red :slight_smile:
  15. Movie -Casablanca
  16. Stage Play – Drama -Romeo and Juliet (you didn’t say how old…)
  17. Stage Play – Musical -The Music Man
  18. TV Drama Series -CSI
  19. TV Comedy Series -Saturday Night Live
  20. TV News Program -60 Minutes

You wouldn’t expect so, would you?

:smiley:

Regards,
Shodan

  1. Painting – Mona Lisa
  2. Piece of Sculpture – The Thinker
  3. Instance of Classical Architecture – The Parthanon
  4. Instance of Medieval Architecture – Notre Dame de Paris
  5. Instance of Modern Architecture – Empire State Building
  6. Piece of “Classical” Music (the genre, not the period) – William Tell Overture
  7. Piece of Jazz Music – Take Five
  8. Piece of “Pop” Music – My Way
  9. Piece of Rock Music – Stairway to Heaven
  10. Piece of Blues Music – The Thrill is Gone
  11. Piece of Folk Music (English language) – Puff the Magic Dragon
  12. Piece of Latin Music – Ave Maria
  13. Novel – Huckleberry Finn
  14. Poem – The Raven
  15. Movie – The Wizard of Oz
  16. Stage Play – Drama – Hamlet
  17. Stage Play – Musical – The Sound of Music
  18. TV Drama Series – Twilight Zone
  19. TV Comedy Series – I Love Lucy
  20. TV News Program – 60 Minutes

Oh for crying out loud, most famous TV drama has to be “Star Trekl”

  1. Painting - Mona Lisa
  2. Piece of Sculpture - Michelangelo’s David
  3. Instance of Classical Architecture - Parthenon
  4. Instance of Medieval Architecture - Notre Dame
  5. Instance of Modern Architecture - Tough…maybe the Sydney Opera House?
  6. Piece of “Classical” Music (the genre, not the period) - Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy”
  7. Piece of Jazz Music - “Take the A Train”
  8. Piece of “Pop” Music - hmmm, not sure
  9. Piece of Rock Music - Presley’s “Hound Dog”
  10. Piece of Blues Music - also, not sure
  11. Piece of Folk Music (English language) - Scarborough Fair
  12. Piece of Latin Music - don’t know
  13. Novel - War & Peace. Not that it’s the most widely-read, but it’s very commonly referred to.
  14. Poem - “She Walks in Beauty”
  15. Movie - Casablanca?
  16. Stage Play – Drama - “Romeo & Juliet”
  17. Stage Play – Musical - “Oklahoma!”
  18. TV Drama Series - don’t know
  19. TV Comedy Series - I Love Lucy
  20. TV News Program - don’t know
  1. Painting - Mona Lisa
  2. Piece of Sculpture - Rodin’s 'The Thinker’
  3. Instance of Classical Architecture - Pyramids at Giza
  4. Instance of Medieval Architecture - Westminster Abbey
  5. Instance of Modern Architecture - Sydney Opera House
  6. Piece of “Classical” Music (the genre, not the period) - Beethoven’s 5th
  7. Piece of Jazz Music - Wonderful World
  8. Piece of “Pop” Music - Dancing Queen
  9. Piece of Rock Music - Living on a Prayer
  10. Piece of Blues Music - Don’t know, so I’ll go for Greased Lightning as it has the right chord structure!
  11. Piece of Folk Music (English language) Greensleeves
  12. Piece of Latin Music The Macarena
  13. Novel Pride and Prejudice
  14. Poem Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18
  15. Movie Gone with the Wind
  16. Stage Play – Drama The Mousetrap
  17. Stage Play – Musical Cats
  18. TV Drama Series Lost
  19. TV Comedy Series The Simpsons
  20. TV News Program CNN
  1. Painting- Mona Lisa
  2. Piece of Sculpture- Venus Di Milo’
  3. Instance of Classical Architecture Roman Coliseum
  4. Instance of Medieval Architecture- ?
  5. Instance of Modern Architecture- Empire State Building
  6. Piece of “Classical” Music (the genre, not the period)- Beethoven’s Fifth
  7. Piece of Jazz Music- ?
  8. Piece of “Pop” Music- Thriller by Michael Jackson
  9. Piece of Rock Music- Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin
  10. Piece of Blues Music- ?
  11. Piece of Folk Music (English language)- ?
  12. Piece of Latin Music- ?
  13. Novel- The Catcher in the Rye
  14. Poem- Footprints in the Sand
  15. Movie- Gone with the Wind
  16. Stage Play – Drama- ?
  17. Stage Play – Musical- Les Miserables
  18. TV Drama Series- Dallas
  19. TV Comedy Series- I Love Lucy
  20. TV News Program- 60 Minutes

tiger lily has proposed that I collate the responses in this thread and post a summary so we can determine at least what interested SDMB posters consider to be “the most famous instances” of the items in the poll.

Except for a brute force counting or tallying, I have no simple way to do such a thing. I’m asking for any help from any of you whose programming or database software skills might streamline the process.

Any takers?

Tell you what, I will tally 1-5, somebody else can do 6-10, 11-15 and 16-20.

Sounds great. Thanks for that suggestion on how to deal with the issue.

Since I brought it up in the first place, I’d be happy to take on 6-10, as per Gangster Octopus’s suggestion.

How should we deal with multiple responses from people - take only the first one, or record both? I could go either way. :smiley: I don’t think we should start counting posts in which folks changed their mind later, though, because that’s likely to get confusing.

My initial reaction to the issue is that the first one mentioned should be counted, but if the second response supports a good-sized count (from other posters) then it might be mentioned as a “supporting vote.”

Example: Poster A answers “Take the A Train” for most famous jazz piece, but also mentions “Take Five.” Twenty others mention “Take Five” as “most famous” piece. In the summary for “Take Five” (assuming it’s a high favorite) you could mention it was “also mentioned” however many times.

How does that sound to you?

I agree with the idea of ignoring “changed mind” responses. Muddies the water too much.

It should be noted that the OP asked for guesses as to how most people would select these things, not what one’s personal favorites are. I do sense that that part of the poll may have been confusing.

I have been ignoring changed minds. For multiple responses I have been doing something like awarding half a point if they give two replies.

That sounds reasonable. Especially if you explain in your summary how the exceptions (including others we may not have discussed beforehand) were handled.

Multiple spellings should also be dealt with appropriately.

I think as long as the intent was clear - and I don’t think we had anything terribly ambiguous yet - multiple spellings should be grouped together as one response.

Tally for the first five. 54 Votes total, although for some reason I only have 53 for Medievil Architecture, sorry if I missed someone’s vote)

1) Painting
Mona Lisa (53 Votes)
The Persistence of Memory (1 vote, also known as “that painting by Dali with the melting clocks”)

2) Sculpture
Michelangelo’s David (30 votes)
Venus de Milo (14 votes)
The Thinker (7 votes)
Statue of Liberty (2 votes)
Bust of Nefertiti (1 vote)

3) Classical Architecture
Parthenon (26 votes)
Roman Colloseum (11 votes)
Acropolis of Athens (8 votes)
Pyramids of Giza (6 votes)
Abstain (2 votes)
Notre Dame Cathedral (1 vote)

4) Medieval Architecture
Notre Dame Cathedral (30 votes)
Abstain (8 votes)
Tower of London (4 votes)
Chartres (3 votes)
St. Peter’s Basilica (2 votes)
Westminster Abbey (2 votes)
Cologne Cathedral (1 vote)
Mont Saint-Michel (1 vote)
Sistine Chapel (1 vote)
Taj Mahal (1 vote)

5) Modern Architecture
Sydney Opera House (15 votes)
Empire State Building (10 votes)
Eiffel Tower (8 votes)
Fallingwater (6 votes)
World Trade Center (5 votes)
Guggenheim Museum New York (2 votes, although I suppose they could have meant Guggenehim Museum Bilbao (2 votes)
Gaudi’s Cathedral (1 vote, actually I am guessing the link is what it is, because I could not find anything called specifically by that name)
Golden Gate Bridge (1 vote)
MOMA (1 vote)
Petronas Towers (1 vote)
Statue of Liberty (1 vote)
Villa Savoye (1 vote)
The White House (1 vote)
Abstain (1 vote)