Hello, blog, my old friend. Since the last time we talked, we elected our first half-black president, I turned 26, "the list" now has 76 items on it, and Arizona was in the Super Bowl. Who would have thought that?!? With work, the website, and more Facebook time, there has been a lack of posts here. But today, I'm bringing the back the annual post of predicting the Academy Award winners.

Small films litter the nominations this year headlined by the wonderful feature "Slumdog Millionaire." This story of an Indian villager who answers questions on "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" based on his own life story was easily the best picture of the year. So with best picture, directing, and writing locked up, who else do I think will win tonite? Let's look...

Best Picture - Slumdog Millionaire
Best Director - Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire
Best Actor - Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler (Don't be surprised if Sean Penn steals this.)
Best Actress - Kate Winslet, The Reader
Best Supporting Actor - Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight
Best Supporting Actress - Penelope Cruz, Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Best Adapted Screenplay - Slumdog Millionaire
Best Original Screenplay - Milk
Best Animated Feature - WALL-E
Best Art Direction - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Best Cinematography - Slumdog Millionaire
Best Costume Design - The Duchess (The Academy loves period pieces.)
Best Documentary Feature - Man on Wire
Best Documentary Short Subject - The Witness: From the Balcony of Room 306
Best Editing - Slumdog Millionaire (Best Picture films usually win Best Editing.)
Best Foreign Language Film - Waltz with Bashir (If not this, then The Class.)
Best Makeup - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Best Musical Score - Slumdog Millionaire
Best Song - "Jai Ho" from Slumdog Millionaire
Best Short Film (Animated) - Presto
Best Short Film (Live Action) - Toyland
Best Sound Editing - The Dark Knight (This category loves action films so Iron Man could win too.)
Best Sound Mixing - The Dark Knight (Plus, there are no musicals this year.)
Best Visual Effects - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (They made Brad Pitt an old man!)