Notebook

By Kathleen Adams, Amanda Bower, Val Castronovo, Randy Hartwell, Ellin Martens, Sora Song, Joel Stein and Josh Tyrangiel

WINNERS & LOSERS

[WINNERS]

STEVEN SODERBERGH Director gets Oscar nominations for Traffic and Brockovich. Drugs and busts big with Academy

THEODORE OLSON Payback time. Defended W.'s election before Supreme Court, now tapped as Solicitor General

THE BEATLES Album of No. 1 hits tops 34 nations' charts. So that's what the kids are listening to

[LOSERS]

BILLY ELLIOT Miramax-hyped Chocolat gets Oscar nomination over sugarcoated Brit flick

BROOKLYN MUSEUM OF ART Tax $$ for nude black female Jesus in Yo Mama's Last Supper gives Giuliani acid reflux redux

CRUZ BUSTAMANTE Calif. Lt. Gov. uses N word in Black History Month speech. Are all state's bulbs dim?