Saturday, July 07, 2007

'Simpsons' premiere bid gets boost. The 'ville's Abramson aids Springfield, Ky.

If a couple of six-packs of Duff, a skateboard and a Louisville Slugger are enough loot to bribe Matt Groening into bringing the premiere of "The Simpsons Movie" to Springfield, Ky., the town of 3,000 is in.

And if it isn't enough, add more than a million votes from people in the Louisville area and the smallest of 14 Springfields across America competing for the right to serve as host of the premiere just might have a chance.

Louisville Metro Mayor Jerry Abramson held a press conference with Springfield Mayor Joe Quimby -- d'oh!, make that Springfield, Ky., Mayor John Cecconi -- yesterday to urge everyone in the area to vote for Kentucky's Springfield.

People can vote through 3 a.m. Tuesday on the USA Today Web site, where each Springfield -- from Massachusetts to Oregon, Michigan to Florida -- has produced a video explaining why it is the "real" fictional home of "The Simpsons."

The city with the most votes will be the host of the premiere later this month.

"Springfield, Mo., has 150,000 people. Springfield, Mass., has 150,000 people," Abramson said. "So to even the score, I'm calling on all 1.4 million Louisville residents to cast a vote."

The "gifts" were all produced locally. Bluegrass Brewing Co. made the Duff beer (complete with a label that said, in small print, "mmm, beer"); Home Skate Shop temporarily changed its name to Homer Skate Shop while making the board; and the baseball bat was emblazoned with the message, "Springfield, Kentucky is a real Homer."

This from the Courier-Journal.

No comments: