Do you always succumb to what's popular?

I consider myself pretty immune from picking up on trends because I don't watch TV, go to the movies, or listen to pop radio.

I can usually size up a fruitcake on sight and avoid ones I won't like.

Sometimes a song like "Achy Breaky Heart" gets too much prominence too quickly, or maybe it's really more of a dance vehicle than a musical performance, and there's a sort of delayed reaction, "Hmm, good beat, but the lyrics are kind of lame – why did I like this so much?"

Never saw "Titanic" – but I think, like "Jaws", it's become ingrained in our culture. I've seen clips and heard people describing scenes which must have been memorable even if the movie as a whole may have been more of a box-office smash rather than an artistic triumph.

The two primary characters in Titanic alone couldn't carry such a film. It was the realism of the ship itself that made it for me. Plus seeing where each person of note happened to be during specific events, such as the tail section breaking off (a real asshole happened to be right at the breaking point).

There are cheap fruitcakes that I wouldn't eat. Collin Street Bakery makes the ones I like. But I found out they can sit on a store shelf until they are extremely old. I only trust the ones you get directly by mail.

I never liked Christmas cake. My parents would always make a huge one that we'd still be eating come August.

I can just about tolerate it with a slice of Cheddar, but I'd rather have my Cheddar with something else.

I never liked Achy Breaky heart, and I've never seen Titanic, and have no plans to do so.

My reply is basically what hightor said. I don't have a clue what popular culture is and I don't recognize many young actors, comedians, or musicians. I prefer foreign and indie films and they don't have any stars I'd recognize.

When people recommend 'hot' books (The Help, When the Crawdads Sing, e.g.), I read the plot summary but if it doesn't appeal (and I'm picky), I'm not going to waste my time.

I know a lot of people like this -- it could be our age group.

1. The popularity of a movie or a tv series does not dictate or determine what I want to watch.

2. Some of my favorite tv series ended up getting cancelled due to their lack of popularity.

3. Often, many of the most popular tv series, I have no interest in seeing.

4. On the other hand, I am willing to check out popular (non-chain) restaurants that are unique to their local area. Especially if the locals in that local area are raving about how great the food is.

Do you like plum pudding? I'll eat that. I think a lot of people dislike the fruit in fruitcakes - perhaps if they used raisins or something similar it would make a difference.

A worse song for me than the Achy Breaky Heart was Convoy. It was played endlessly in the mid-late 70s.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sd5ZLJWQmss

When I was a kid, I wanted the most popular tennis shoes.

I like it so much that I eat it once a year.

At Christmas. We call it Christmas Pudding.

There's all sorts of different ones available now.

I think Heston Blumenthal brought one out with a whole orange in the centre.

ha ha gotcha

1. The popularity of any song means nothing to me.

2. There are many different reasons I like specific songs.

3. There are many different reasons I dislike specific songs.

4. None of those reasons have anything to do with popularity.

1. I thought fruitcake was a dessert that everyone hated.

2. I definitely disliked fruitcake.

3. Are fruitcakes good for re-gifting?

4. Fruitcakes do make good paperweight

We don't consider it a dessert.

It's cake.

I personally never let others tell me what to like. Most regulars posting on a2k are intelligent enough to see through the hype. I like some music where I can't find anybody who shares that like. Some music I don't like has been very successful, such as The Long and Winding Road, which I have dubbed The Long and Boring song.

My memory of fruitcake was it being hard, rubbery, and chewy.

I've been known to binge on a Collin Street Bakery fruitcake. But I wouldn't gift one to anyone without inquiring first.

Fruitcakes come in varieties of recipes and baking standards. I don't eat them when they are as you describe.

Fruitcake is a term we don't really use, it's Christmas cake.

Something like a sultana sponge would likely meet the definition of fruitcake, but we don't call it that, wecall it a sultana xpong, and unlike Christnax cake it's gone in a couple of days.

1. The last time, I've actually seen a fruitcake was probably in the 1980s.

2. That's probably the last time I tasted a fruitcake.

3. My personal memories of fruitcakes were during the 1970s and 1980s around the Christmas season.