The Smarmy Carny

Springfield, Vermont has been announced the Simpsons' home state in a vote organized by USA Today. It will host the official premiere for The Simpsons Movie on July 21.

The Simpsons' mystery home state has long been a running gag in the series. For instance, Marge once gave their address over the phone as "742 Evergreen Terrace, Springfield, Oh-hiya Maude, come on in!," leading the audience to falsely believe that Ohio was about to be named the home state.

According to some research posted on The Simpsons Archive, there are 71 Springfields in 36 states. Each of the following 14 Springfields submitted a video promoting their own Springfield as the home to The Simpsons:

• Springfield, Colorado
• Springfield, Florida
• Springfield, Illinois
• Springfield, Kentucky
• Springfield, Louisiana
• Springfield, Massachusetts
• Springfield, Michigan
• Springfield, Missouri
• Springfield, Nebraska
• Springfield, New Jersey
• Springfield, Ohio
• Springfield, Oregon
• Springfield, Tennessee
• Springfield, Vermont

See the promotional videos from each of these Springfields at USA Today. The other towns will be rewarded with screenings of The Simpsons Movie the night before the movie opens nationwide.

As posted in December, the NewOpenWorld Foundation narrowed the list of the New Seven Wonders of the World from a field of 200 possible sites down to the final seven that were ultimately chosen by the world in a global vote.

And the winners are:

• Chichen Itza Aztec site — Yucatan, Mexico
• Christ the Redeemer — Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
• Colosseum — Rome
• Great Wall — China
• Machu Picchu — Peru
• Petra city — Jordan
• Taj Mahal — Agra, India

Voting has been going on for The New 7 Wonders of the World. The contest is run by the NewOpenWorld Foundation and started out with 200 possible sites for the new seven. The choices have now been narrowed down to 21 choices:

1. Acropolis — Athens, Greece
2. Alhambra — Granada, Spain
3. Angkor Wat temple — Cambodia
4. Chichen Itza Aztec site — Yucatan, Mexico
5. Christ the Redeemer — Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
6. Colosseum — Rome
7. Easter Island Statues — Chile
8. Eiffel Tower — Paris
9. Great Wall — China
10. Hagia Sophia church — Istanbul, Turkey
11. Kiyomizu Temple — Kyoto, Japan
12. Kremlin/St Basil's and Red Square — Moscow
13. Machu Picchu — Peru
14. Neuschwanstein Castle — Fussen, Germany
15. Petra city — Jordan
16. Pyramids of Giza — Egypt
17. Statue of Liberty — New York
18. Stonehenge — Amesbury, United Kingdom
19. Sydney Opera House — Australia
20. Taj Mahal — Agra, India
21. Timbuktu city — Mali

If you're interested in what other sites were considered, check out the previous list of the Top 77 nominees.

Head over to the site and read up on how to vote by phone or online. Registration is required.

Since most people can't name the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, here they are:

1. Great Pyramid of Giza
2. Hanging Gardens of Babylon
3. Temple of Artemis at Ephesus
4. Statue of Zeus at Olympia
5. Mausoleum of Maussollos at Halicarnassus
6. Colossus of Rhodes
7. Lighthouse of Alexandria

The primary reason that most people can't name the Seven Wonders is that only one of them still exists today. Four were destroyed by earthquake, and two were destroyed by fire. The Pyramids have withstood the test of time, and are the only Wonder to survive past the year 1500.

An alternate list of New Wonders was created by USA Today and Good Morning, America. The list included 7 Wonders along with an 8th viewer-selected Wonder.

1. Potala Palace — Lhasa, Tibet
2. Old City of Jerusalem — Israel
3. Polar ice caps — Polar regions
4. Northwestern Hawaiian Islands National Monument — Hawaii, United States
5. Internet
6. Mayan ruins — Yucatán Peninsula, Mesoamerica
7. Great Migration of Serengeti and Masai Mara — Kenya and Tanzania
8. Grand Canyon — Arizona, United States (viewer-selected)

As I mentioned in an August post, Advertising Week held a poll during August and September to vote for your favorite advertising icon and favorite slogan. The winners were announced today and will be inducted into the Madison Avenue Advertising Walk of Fame this afternoon.

The two 2006 icon winners were Colonel Sanders and the Kool-Aid Man. The two winning slogans were "Don’t Mess With Texas" and "When it Absolutely, Positively Has to Be There Overnight."

I am not thrilled with the winners this year, but there's always next year!

Update: The 2006 winners have been announced!

For most of August and September, you can vote for your favorite icon and your favorite slogan.

Previous icon winners include the M&M Characters, the Geico Gecko, and the Pillsbury Doughboy. Slogan winners include Wendy's "Where's the beef?" and Verizon's "Can you hear me now?" This year, you can choose only one of 26 icons and also one of 26 slogans. Trust me, for fans of pop culture, it's not an easy choice. Next year, I suggest that they allow people up to 5 votes to spread around.

For the third consecutive year, Advertising Week is conducting this poll to determine which two icons and slogans are added to the Madison Avenue Advertising Walk of Fame.

On September 29th, you'll be able to head back to Advertising Week to see who won this year.

Do you see any favorite icons or slogans that are missing? The icon I am surprised didn't make the list is Ronald McDonald. The missing slogan that I just can't believe didn't make the list is Miller Lite's "Tastes great! Less filling!"

Do you see any other icons or slogans missing? Comment here and let your opinion be known!

The Razzie

Now that the real nominations have been presented, allow me to give you the scoop on the Razzie nominations.

If you're not familiar with the Razzies yet, the Razzie is an award given as a sort of anti-Oscar for the worst achievements in film.

Some may remember that I was upset about the Razzie's blatant political agenda last year, but with the lack of any popular political mockumentaries, the same problem couldn't have been repeated.

And the Razzie nominees are . . .

Worst Picture

• Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo
• Dirty Love
• Dukes of Hazzard
• House of Wax
• Son of the Mask

Worst Director

• John Asher - Dirty Love
• Uwe Boll - Alone in the Dark
• Jay Chandrasekhar - The Dukes of Hazzard
• Nora Ephron - Bewitched
• Lawrence Gutterman - Son of the Mask

Worst Actor

• Tom Cruise - War of the Worlds
• Will Ferrell - Bewitched and Kicking & Screaming
• Jamie Kennedy - Son of the Mask
• The Rock - Doom
• Rob Schneider - Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo

Worst Actress

• Jessica Alba - Fantastic Four and Into the Blue
• Hilary Duff - Cheaper by the Dozen 2 and The Perfect Man
• Jennifer Lopez - Monster in Law
• Jenny McCarthy - Dirty Love
• Tara Reid - Alone in the Dark

Worst Supporting Actor

• Hayden Christensen - Star Wars III
• Alan Cumming - Son of the Mask
• Bob Hoskins - Son of the Mask
• Eugene Levy - Cheaper by the Dozen 2 and The Man
• Burt Reynolds - The Dukes of Hazzard and The Longest Yard

Worst Supporting Actress

• Carmen Electra - Dirty Love
• Paris Hilton - House of Wax
• Katie Holmes - Batman Begins
• Ashlee Simpson - Undiscovered
• Jessica Simpson - The Dukes of Hazzard

Worst Screenplay

• Bewitched - Nora Ephron, Delia Ephron & Adam McKay
• Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo - Rob Schneider, David Garrett & Jason Ward
• Dirty Love - Jenny McCarthy
• The Dukes of Hazzard - John O'Brien
• Son of the Mask - Lance Khazei

Worst Remake Or Sequel

• Bewitched
• Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo
• Dukes of Hazzard
• House of Wax
• Son of the Mask

If you thirst for more horrible movies from 2005, check out IMDB's Worst of 2005 list, based on votes by IMDB members.

Hot now!

Krispy Kreme is currently allowing people to vote on Featured Doughnut flavors for next year. Which one will you choose?

It's time to pick our Featured Doughnuts for next year and we need your help! Our Research and Development Chef, Chef Ron, has created a bunch of new flavors for next year. We need your help narrowing down the options. Please click here to take the survey. It doesn't take long and we would love your opinion!

You don't get anything, except for possibly one of your favorite Featured Doughnuts for an entire month!