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Of Human Interest: News-lite

By PENNY NELSON BARTHOLOMEW, United Press International
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TOM GREEN GETS RAZZIED

It was a notoriously unfunny comedy. And on Monday, MTV personality Tom Green's "Freddie Got Fingered" led the list of nominees for the 22nd annual Razzie Awards honoring the worst of Hollywood.

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The movie was nominated for eight Razzies by the Golden Raspberry Award Foundation, which began its annual exercise in "dishonoring the worst achievements in film" in 1980.

In addition to worst picture, the box-office bomb garnered nominations for worst director, actor and screenplay for Green, worst supporting actress for Drew Barrymore and Julie Haggerty, and worst supporting actor for Rip Torn. The picture's repeated and aggravated reliance on scenes of animal abuse also earned a nomination for worst screen couple for "Green & any animal he abuses."

Razzies founder John Wilson said "Freddy Got Fingered" deserved every nomination it received. "The movie has no redeeming value," he said. "If (Green's) point was to be offensive and stupid and obnoxious, he made a masterpiece. But then, it still is offensive and stupid and obnoxious."

Other multiple dishonorees included Sylvester Stallone's "Driven," with seven nominations; "Pearl Harbor" and "Glitter," with six each; and "3,000 Miles To Graceland," five nominations.

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Green and Stallone tied the record with four nominations each, while Stallone extended his own record for most Razzie nominations overall to 29. Stallone has snagged nine Razzies and was named the worst actor of the century in 2000.

The 22nd Razzies will be handed out March 23 in ceremonies in Santa Monica, Calif.


REASONS TO CELEBRATE TODAY:

TUESDAY: Today is Mardi Gras -- a.k.a. Shrove Tuesday or Pancake Tuesday -- the last big blow-out celebration before the austerity of Lent begins with Ash Wednesday.

This is International Pancake Day in Liberal, Kansas, where the annual International Pancake Race will be run. This is the 53rd year in which the women of Liberal have competed with the women of Olney, England, where the contest is known as the Shrovetide Pancake Race. (Web site: pancakeday.com)

It's Paczki (pronounced "poonch-kee") Day, celebrating those round, sugar-coated, fruit-filled Polish pre-Lenten pastries. YUMMY!

Chinese New Year is observed today, which begins the year 4700 or the Year of the Horse.

This is Darwin Day, marking the anniversary of the birth, in 1809, of Charles Darwin. (Web site: darwinday.org)

It's also Leadership Success Day (Web site: leader-success.com); Lost Penny Day, a day to gather up all those pennies stashed in jars and donate them to charity; and Safetypup's Birthday.

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Today is Bursting Day in Iceland, celebrated with feasts of salted mutton and thick pea soup.

And it's Union Day in Myanmar, the nation formerly known as Burma.

(Thanks to Chase's 2002 Calendar of Events)


BY THE WAY...

Abraham Lincoln is most often associated with the state of Illinois, but where was the 16th president of the United States actually born?

Kentucky -- Hardin Co., to be exact.

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