this is the google search trends from ‘04 to ‘08 from florida for the words “surfing,” “apple pie,” and “orgy.”

for a moment i couldn’t figure out why “apple pie” kept spiking each year - until i realized it was likely a recipe search spike for thanksgiving/christmas. “orgy,” on the other hand, had a spike in early 4th quarter ‘06. anyone know if anything was going on around halloween that year?¹

(the trends are being used to argue that “contemporary community standards” are much more pro-sex than prosecutors in an obscenity case would have you believe. but what i find interesting, as you can see, are the trends themselves, rather than the relative popularity of the terms.)

hat tip: mr. pogue
________________
¹ a google search on the terms “orgy” “2006″ “halloween” indicates i’m not the only one making that connection. interestingly, a likely culprit from that time seems to be the coverage of the arrest of the guy who is the defendant in the case at hand.