My first Bolllywood Flick

This evening I saw my first Bollywood film, Bride and Prejudice. It was actually pretty good, even with all of the cheesy musical dance numbers.

I think it was especially fun for me to watch since I finally read the real Pride and Prejudice a couple of months ago for the first time. I had managed to go most of my life without reading a single Jane Austen book - but it was for sale on the 3 for 2 rack at the bookstore so I picked it up for my trip to Greece. It was a suprisingly good book - I can see why so many contemporary filmmakers re-do Austen, because it is one of those timeless gossip pieces that everyone can relate to easily.

Anyway, the reason I mentioned the movie was that it also had many references to London that I picked up and recognized quickly. The evil Mr. Wickham lives on a houseboat in the canals, he takes the innocent sister on the London Eye, and they go see a Bollywood movie at the National Theatre. However, I must point out that the chances of running into someone you know at Heathrow are probably slim to none.

BBQ and Basketball

I was very pleased to discover that there is a place in town to watch college basketball.

Bodeans is a Kansas City-style BBQ joint in Soho that for some reason, plays US sports. I found it from the UK Boston Red Sox supporters site and when I looked at the calendar earlier this week, I was very surprised to find out that they were showing Michigan State vs. Illinois, the big ten opener for the Spartans, on TV Friday night. And at a decent time even, 7 p.m. GMT.

I went with a friend on her way to Italy for her sabbatical - she was a good enough sport to do something this American on her first evening of her European trip. The place was not bad - the chicken and ribs dinner was pretty decent. They had a selection of nasty North American beers (Miller Lite, Sol, Dos Equis) - but also a pretty good Czech beer.

Even though my Spartans lost, I look forward to seeing more games here. I may get to live March Madness after all.