Irony, thy name is Homer

File this under Are You Serious?

So the producers of "The Simpsons Movie" solicited video presentations from 14 towns named Springfield across the U.S. and asked for fans to vote on the USA Today Web site, with the winner being awarded the worldwide premiere of the flick later this month.

See, Homer, Bart, Lisa and the rest of "The Simpsons" brood live in the ambiguous town of Springfield, though it's never been revealed in the show which Springfield they call home.

Springfields in Tennessee, Oregon and Florida, among others sent in entries, vying for the chance to host the event, and Springfield, Vermont won.

The irony? I used to live in Springfield, Vermont!!!

(Read more about the story by clicking here. I used to work with the author.)

If you look at my little bio over there to the right under my pic (go ahead ... I'll wait), you'll see that I used to work at the Rutland Herald for 15 months, from 1999 to 2000. Well, I didn't live and work in Rutland, which is more like the area in which I grew up.

No, I was stuck in Springfield, which used to be a machinery mecca back in the day. Notice I stressed the phrases "used to be" and "back in the day." When I was there, Springfield boasted a population of about 9,000 (now they say it's 9,300), a McDonald's, a Family Dollar store and little else.


There's a two-screen movie theater on the town's main drag, and I only saw two movies there in my time in Springfield ("Episode One" of the "Star Wars" pre-quel and "Me, Myself and Irene," which was set in Vermont). When I went to that theater those two times, they only sold Crystal Light, and you couldn't bring it into the theater; you had to drink it in the lobby!

The big news when I lived there was that Springfield was awarded a new prison, which was to bring new jobs and (hopefully) prosperity to the town. When my friend, Abby (who comes from the next town over from Springfield, but is now a big-time NYC lawyer) took a short trip to Springfield last August, we both found it as depressing as ever.

I have a feeling when those movie folks leave Springfield after the premiere, they'll have one thing to say: D'oh!