Odd News

SHE'S 'SOLOMON WISE' AND 'SOLOMON WEALTHY'

LOS ANGELES, Dec. 31 (UPI) -- "XXX" is a trashy but entertaining-enough cross between a James Bond movie and one of those '80s action films where muscle-bound, thick-tongued heroes grunt out

LOS ANGELES, Dec. 31 (UPI) -- It's remarkably hard to make a good movie. As evidence, consider that Charlie Kaufman, author and main character of the delightful "Adaptation," is today's hott

LOS ANGELES, Dec. 31 (UPI) -- Overall, 2002 was a better year for movies than the notoriously weak 2001, when many films were rushed to completion to avoid anticipated strikes by writers and

SAN DIEGO, Dec. 31 (UPI) -- There was a time when children used to sit and read, and dream of fairies and princes and princesses. I don't think they do that anymore. Most children spend th

NEW YORK, Dec. 31 (UPI) -- "Imaginary Friends," screenwriter Nora Ephron's first play, is about America's last sensational literary feud between Lillian Hellman and Mary McCarthy.

A survey of 575 singles by the online dating service Match.com finds 46 percent expect a kiss from just one person on New Year's Eve.

It could be like Florida without oranges -- Pasadena, Calf., without the Rose Parade floats. The beautiful floats that draw thousands to the annual procession likely will all be built elsewhere soon.

NEW YEAR BRINGS NEW BAGGAGE RULES

(MIAMI) -- Hotel owners in Miami say that they did better than the national average in recent weeks in attracting visitors.

Today is Tuesday, Dec. 31, the 365th and last day of 2002.

The weekly UPI Blast From The Past package for Jan. 6-12.

With the expiration of the Panama Canal Treaty of 1979, the Republic of Panama assumed full control of the Panama Canal on this date in 1999. The U.S. Panama Canal Commission ceased to exist.

New York's Times Square is primed for an enormous party on New Year's Eve starting at 10 p.m. when Dick Clark begins broadcasting live from the ABC-TV "Good Morning America" studio, then picking up steam at 10:30 with MTV's Pajama Party, hosted by Carson

Today's birthdays include Rex Allen, the "Arizona Cowboy," who was born in 1924 (age 78); folksinger Odetta in 1930 (age 72); Police guitarist Andy Summers in 1942 (age 60); the late John Denver in 1943; original Kinks bassist Peter Quaife, also in 1943 (