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Simon relishes Best Song nomination 35 years after mistake\nLOS ANGELES -- Paul Simon said he's celebrating his new chance at an Oscar after a paperwork mistake likely kept his song "Mrs. Robinson" out of the competition 35 years ago.\nThe singer-songwriter received his first Academy Award nomination Tuesday for "Father and Daughter," from the animated "The Wild Thornberrys Movie."\nHe said many people erroneously believe he was nominated for "Mrs. Robinson," which he and former collaborator Art Garfunkel sang in 1967's "The Graduate."\n"We forgot to fill in the forms," Simon acknowledged with a laugh. "You know, it was the '60s. We just weren't paying attention. We went along our way and never filled it in. That's what happened."\n"Talk to the Animals" from "Doctor Dolittle" claimed the movie song honor at that year's Oscars.\nSimon, 61, said his three young children inspired him to write a song for "The Wild Thornberrys Movie," a feature film version of a popular Nickelodeon cartoon.\n"It was something that the kids watched," he said. "I thought of it as an opportunity to write a song for a movie that the kids could see."\nSimon is competing against U2 for "The Hands That Built America" from "Gangs of New York;" "Burn It Blue" from "Frida," by Elliot Goldenthal and Julie Taymor; "I Move On" from "Chicago," by John Kander and Fred Ebb; and "Lose Yourself" from "8 Mile," by Eminem, Jeff Bass and Luis Resto.\nOscar nod caps 'Greek' Cinderella story for creator\nLOS ANGELES -- A year ago, Academy Awards nominations were the last thing on Nia Vardalos' mind. She was just hoping a few people would go see the low-budget film she wrote and starred in, an old-fashioned little romance called "My Big Fat Greek Wedding."\nA word-of-mouth blockbuster unlike anything the movie industry has ever seen, the film opened in a few theaters last April and grew into a $240 million sensation as enchanted moviegoers talked it up.\nThe icing on the wedding cake came Tuesday, when Vardalos earned an Oscar nomination for original screenplay. "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" also hit video Tuesday, while still lingering in the top-20 box-office chart at theaters.\n"All I'd hoped for is that really we would be released in one theater," Vardalos said Tuesday in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. "I thought I could bus my relatives in. You know, where is that theater?\n"Now I feel awed -- that's A-W-E-D, and odd, O-D-D -- stunned and thrilled and really, really grateful. I feel like I'm in the middle of a miracle."\nShot on a tiny budget of $5 million, the film is the comical story of a Chicago family that revels in its boisterous Greek heritage and the preparations for the nuptials of an ugly-duckling daughter (Vardalos) to a non-Greek man.\nVardalos based the movie on her upbringing and marriage to a non-Greek.\nHendrix's remains moved to new memorial site\nRENTON, Wash. -- The remains of rock musician Jimi Hendrix have been moved to a new granite and marble memorial that is nearing completion in this Seattle suburb.\nThe remains of his father, Al Hendrix, who died last April, and Al's wife, Ayako "June" Hendrix, also now rest in vaults at the center of the memorial at Greenwood Memorial Park and Cemetery, and the cremated remains of his grandmother, Nora Hendrix, will be placed there as well, said Janie L. Hendrix, the music legend's half-sister.\nThe memorial should be finished shortly after the first anniversary of the death of Hendrix's father, she said.\n"My only regret is that my father isn't still alive to see it," Janie Hendrix said.\nRenowned for such explosive songs as "Purple Haze," "Hey Joe" and "Foxy Lady," Hendrix died Sept. 18, 1970, while being rushed to the hospital for an overdose of sleeping pills in London.\nHis initial burial site, marked only by a simple flat gravestone reading "Forever in Our Hearts - James M. Jimi Hendrix 1942 - 1970," has drawn a steady stream of visitors from around the world.\nJanie Hendrix said her half-brother's remains were moved from his old burial site in the same cemetery Nov. 26, the day before he would have turned 60.\nThe memorial, located on a circular drive in the southwest corner of the cemetery, features a granite dome nearly 30 feet high supported by gray granite columns trimmed in "rainbow" marble. The old headstone is now at the new location, visible from the east.\nA life-size bronze sculpture of Hendrix is being made in Italy to be installed under the dome.\nJanie Hendrix has declined to give the final cost, saying only it is being paid by Experience Hendrix LLC, the family run company that owns the rights to the rock star's music and image.\nABC executive Friedman steps down from news\nNEW YORK -- Paul Friedman, the executive vice president of ABC News and top deputy to News chief David Westin, said Wednesday he's stepping away from management to teach and produce news.\nFriedman, 57, will work part-time at ABC News as senior news consultant. He'll produce major special events coverage and help train young correspondents.\nA veteran news executive with both NBC and ABC, Friedman spent several years as executive producer of "World News Tonight." He was also a London-based manager responsible for international news coverage.\n"My recent experience as producer of ABC's 9-11 anniversary coverage proved to me again that my interests are now more in production than in management," Friedman said. "My new agreement enables me to continue doing what I love at ABC News, with enough time left for other projects and for teaching at the university level."\nThere was no announcement made of a successor.