Dean and I saw Slumdog Millionaire last night at our neighborhood theater in Columbia City. Wow. What a great movie! The gist of the story: two brothers and a girl are orphaned in India, survive countless trials, and later become separated, only to have theirs lives come together again as adults. I loved the cinematography. All the great shots in the slums of Mumbai, on the railrods of old India, on location at the Taj Mahal, and in the call centers and the condos of the new India. The plot device of the game show is riveting. The game show host, a sort of Indian version of Robin Williams, is just a hoot, especially when he draws out the phrase, "twenty million ruuuuuupeees!" Jamal, the game show contestant and goat/hero of the story, is very cute, and amazingly calm in the center of the storm. And the love story at the heart of it all, though a little schmaltzy, is so sweet. Highly recommended!

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Earlier in the day I did some reading & writing, and a little clinic work from my laptop, as well as some touch-up painiting in the bathroom, all while watching the UW-UCLA men's basketball game out of the corner of my eye (it was too intense and stressful to watch directly!). It was a great game. After spotting UCLA a 9-1 lead early, UW came back and pulled away late to win 86-75. Wow. It's the fifth year in a row we have beaten UCLA: who else in the nation can say that? And now we are alone in first place of the Pac 10. But it's too soon to celebrate: our next four games are on the road in Arizona and in the Bay Area. Tough tough road trip. We will be lucky to go 2-2.

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