Jersey Shore

Vinny was supposed to host the "Kiss Away Cancer Date Auction" today but was grounded in Los Angeles due to the snowstorms ripping up the NE ... so he sent a video message instead.

During the clip, Vinny says he's bummed out that he got "detained" but swears that if the Yalies can raise $4,000, he'll do "whatever it takes" to come out to New Haven and party in the next few months.

But when Snook's new BF Emilio wasn't posing down in his man-panties -- dude found other ways to keep himself occupied ... like beer bongs and body paint. GTL.

TMZ has obtained pics of the new tattoo Vinny was branded with last week -- which we're told took the "Jersey" boy and his tattoo artist 10 hours to come up with.

The new tattoo features a symbol based off the Sicilian Trinacria -- a symbol of the Italian island -- and a statue of an angel.

Shockingly, there's no barbed wire anywhere in Vinny's new tat.

"Jersey Shore's" Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi touched down at JFK for some PDA with her new man last night -- and he's exactly the tan, pumped-up, blown-out guy you'd expect.

Snooki apparently regrets flipping the bird at the city of Philadelphia this morning -- and is now apologizing for her fowl finger.

The "Jersey Shore" star just apologized on her Twitter, posting "Sorry philly for the reaction this morning I got caught up in the moment and wing bowl is nuts!"

The whole thing went down at something called the Wing Bowl ... on live TV.

So much for the City of Brotherly Love.

TMZ spoke with the owner of the 3,200 square foot house who tells us ever since the show aired, demand to rent the place went through the roof.

The 6 bedroom, 3 bathroom house is currently going for $3,500 per night until May ... after that, it skyrockets up to $6,500 per night.

According to the owner, the legendary duck phone is still in the house -- as well as most of the couches, beds, tables and artwork that you saw on the show.

FYI -- the owner did mention that the home received a thorough cleaning after Snooki, The Situation and the rest of the gang moved out.

TMZ obtained a letter sent from the producers of "Jersey Shore" to the owner of Miami's Mynt Lounge -- asking for clearance to shoot footage inside the club in March and April.

The letter says 495 Productions is "currently researching Miami Beach as a possible location" for Season 2 and "won't be able to shoot the show on Miami Beach unless we're able to shoot in the hottest clubs."

But sources close to the show tell TMZ "Jersey Shore" has not committed to one city yet -- and even though they've sent out feelers to a bunch of different places, they're still deciding between 9 other cities both inside and outside of the US.

Two applications were filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in the hopes of sealing the deal on the phrase for use on clothing -- however, neither one of the applicants is Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino himself.

One application was filed by a porn company owned by The Situation's brother, Marc Sorrentino, on December 28. Another app was filed by a corporation called Vadio LLC, and according to TheSmokingGun, the corporation is headed by a guy named Matthew Hunter.

So who's best situated to score The Situation trademark?

Our MTV sources say they've already scouted 10 cities in the U.S. for a place Snooki, Pauly D and The Situation can call home. We're also told the network has expanded its search to other countries. Producers have called cast members to make sure they have valid passports.

Taking the ferry to Staten Island doesn't count as "overseas travel."

According to Pauly D's manager, Reebok is flying the fist pumping DJ to and from Miami so he can attend Super Bowl XLIV at Sun Life Stadium -- where he'll most likely spend his time creeping on tight ends ... except for Dallas Clark and Jeremy Shockey.

We're told Pauly D will also be decked out in complimentary Reebok gear ... which means he'll have to leave his "I Heart Jewish Girls" t-shirt at home.

"Jersey Shore" alleged cast member Angelina is far from being a sure thing for Season 2 -- even though she says she signed a new contract.

Sources involved in the negotiation tell TMZ that the contract Angelina signed is actually a holding deal -- meaning she's agreed to appear on the show, but MTV still has an option to exercise the contract -- or not.

Translation -- Angelina received a holding fee, but MTV can decide down the line whether they want her on the show. If they don't, Angelina will walk away with her holding money -- and that's it.

MTV -- smartly we might add -- is hedging its bet as they map out Season 2 production. The network might be interested in our TMZ poll -- 87% of our readers say they don't want Angelina back.

We got Snicks outside LAX this weekend, where after confirming she'll be back for Season 2, she also added she's got a boyfriend ... and he's cut just the way she likes it.

Now if she could just figure out how to properly use that damn duck phone ...

The "Kim Kardashian of Staten Island" says J-WOWW should prepare for a War on the Shore for dissing her last week on TMZ -- threatening "I don't wanna fight with people in the house, but if I have to, I have to."

The "Jersey Shore" cast will all be paid the same for season 2 of the MTV show, sources connected with the negotiations tell TMZ.

We're told it was important the producers wanted to avoid infighting among the cast ... at least on the subject of money -- so Pauly D, The Situation, Snooki and the gang will all be paid exactly the same.

As we first reported, the cast negotiated their deals like the cast of "Friends" -- either they all got paid the same ... or nobody got paid.

We already posted that Vinnie took the $10,000 per episode offer, so we're assuming the price was right for the rest of the cast as well.

A rep for MTV had no comment.

MTV made it official late last night, right before the Friday deadline we told you about.

Pauly D, The Situation, Snooki, J-WOWW, Sammi, Ronnie and Vinny will return this summer, but not to New Jersey. The network says the crew will "escape the cold Northeast and find themselves in a new destination."

Warm weather cities -- you have been warned.