Hot and Not

Here's an interesting section of the Google website that I'd never encountered before: Google Zeitgeist. It's a list of "gaining" and "declining" search queries. For example, the following search queries were the Top 10 Gainers for the week ending October 27th (I assume sex-related queries were eliminated):

1. elliott smith

I have no idea who that is . . .

2. diwali greetings

What are they? It sounds like an African counterpart to Hallmark.

3. halloween costume ideas

A not-surprising seasonal query.

4. daylight savings time

Why are people searching for that? Is it so hard to remember "fall back, spring forward"?

5. california fires

Of obvious topical interest.

6. dia de muertos

The Day of the Dead. Another seasonal/holiday query.

7. spencer tunick

Who? Any relation to Walter Turtleneck?

8. concorde

Another "in the news" item. Now I'll never cross the Atlantic at supersonic speed . . .

9. scary movie 3

The box-office champ, for a while. My wife and son saw it. He liked it; she thought it was "stupid."

10. south beach diet

Stay away from those carbs . . .

The Top 10 Decliners included "David Blaine"--recently released from his aquarium--and the World Series also-rans: "chicago cubs" and "red sox."

I guess I'm really not part of the zeitgeist (which is German for "the general intellectual, moral, and cultural climate of an era"). I've never searched for any of the above topics.