Unlike baseball prognosticators or the hundreds of talking head political experts…
I don’t conveniently forget about my forays into the crystal ball. The enclosed post was a response to the story about the New Seven Wonders poll in March.
I present for all to see that I failed to agree on even one of the winners. As it was an international poll, I can assuredly say that I am outside the mainstream. So be it. My March 14, 2007 posting carried the title:
What About Hot Doggers?
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By Tracy Wilkinson
Times Staff Writer
July 8, 2007
LISBON — The world’s most wondrous wonder is actually the computer.
Millions of people from across the globe joined in what was essentially a huge publicity stunt, voting via the Internet to choose a new list of the Seven Wonders of the World, announced Saturday.
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The wonder list
The winners of the contest to name the new Seven Wonders of the World. The Egyptian pyramids in Giza will retain their exalted status as an eighth wonder.
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Great Wall of China
The 4,160-mile barricade in northern China is the longest man-made structure in the world. The fortification, which largely dates from the 7th through the 4th century BC, was built to protect the dynasties from the Huns, Mongols, Turks and other nomadic tribes.
Colosseum, Italy
The 50,000-seat amphitheater in Rome was inaugurated in AD 80 by the Emperor Titus in a ceremony of games lasting 100 days. The Colosseum, which has influenced the design of modern sports stadiums, was an arena where thousands of gladiators
dueled to the death.
Taj Mahal, India
The white marble-domed mausoleum in Agra was built by Mogul Emperor Shah Jahan from 1632 to 1654 to honor his favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal, who died in childbirth.
Petra, Jordan
The ancient city of Petra in southwestern Jordan, built on a terrace around the Valley of Moses, is famous for its water tunnels and stone structures carved in rock.
Christ the Redeemer Statue, Brazil
The 125-foot-tall statue of Christ the Redeemer with outstretched arms overlooks Rio de Janeiro from atop Mt. Corcovado. The statue, which weighs more than 1,000 tons, was built by Polish-French sculptor Paul Landowski in pieces in France starting in 1926, then shipped to Brazil.
Machu Picchu, Peru
Built by the Inca Empire in the 15th century, the giant walls, palaces, temples and dwellings of the Machu Picchu sanctuary are perched in the clouds at nearly 8,000 feet above sea level in the Andes Mountains.
Pyramid at Chichen Itza, Mexico
The majestic step-pyramid surmounted by a temple is one of several structures in the city, one of the greatest Maya centers on Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula. The pyramid is built according to the solar calendar so shadows cast at the fall and spring equinoxes appear like a snake crawling down its steps.
On the Web: http://www.new7wonders.com
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The Classic List
Seven Wonders of the Ancient World:
· Pyramids at Giza
· Colossus of Rhodes
· Hanging Gardens of Babylon
· Pharos (Lighthouse) of Alexandria
· Statue of Zeus at Olympia
· Mausoleum at Halicarnassus
· Temple of Artemis at Ephesus
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The Seven Wonders Reconsidered
Internet Campaign Draws Millions of Votes, Both Predictable and Puzzling
By John Ward Anderson
Washington Post Foreign Service
Tuesday, March 13, 2007; Page A10
PARIS, March 12 — Maybe it simply feeds modern society’s obsession with lists and rankings, but more than 2,000 years after ancient Greeks identified the Seven Wonders of the World, millions of people around the globe are casting Internet ballots to update the list.
Whether motivated by nationalism, conservation, curiosity or sheer boredom, more than 4 million Chinese, Indians, Mexicans, Brazilians, Americans and others have cast 28 million votes, organizers say. They have generated 21 wonder finalists, including the Great Wall of China, the Taj Mahal, the Acropolis in Athens, Jordan’s ancient city of Petra and the pyramids of Giza in Egypt.
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What follows are Seven Wonders which did not make the cut…
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Swanson TV Dinners–1954
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While large-size ketchup bottles and porcine hamburger boys
are well know in the realm of roadside architecture, the 75-foot high
Chinese Dim Sum and 100-foot Bottomless Cup of Coffee were worthy
of inclusion. Circa 1989
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General Motors demonstrated America’s Can-Do attitude
to the Cold War world. The Buick Limited and Oldsmobile 88 convertibles
were objets Sartre. Circa October, 1957
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Busby Berkeley was the architect of dance throughout the 1930s and ’40’s.
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The Mitchell, South Dakota Corn Palace began life in 1892. It is the official
residence of King Corn and his court of huskers. The Corn Palace is sometimes
mistaken for the Reno, Nevada Porn Callous.
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Somewhere in Minnesota. 1992
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Images: (Classic Wonders) en-wikipedia.com; (swanson) facts.trendstoday.com + swansonmeals.ca; (58’s) cusslercollectibles- geocities.com; ketchup) cruisin66.com; (big boy) archived.ccc.gov.nz; (various busby) mindjack.com; + danceheritage.org; + home.nau.edu; + people.tribe.net; + (corn palace) banks collections-usd.edu; (bridge) fortleeonline.com; (mall) bordneraerials.com; (mall sign) mnbln.org; (cup) dragonsale.com; (coffee) bigislandgrinds.com; (dim sun) siu lung bao-a5.eden.vox.com;
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The Washington Post article is here.
LA Times story.