I knew, but I watched it anyway ..

Boy in the Striped Pajamas ... I knew it, I just KNEW this movie was going to make me WEEP. But I guess I'm a masochist when comes to Holocaust films. The only one I didn't weep while watching was Schindler's List because, well, I hated it. Now, the Pianist was the best film about that tragic period of European history. And all you Polanski haters can hate all you want, he richly deserved that Best Director Oscar, which was presented by Harrison Ford in France .. the Pianist is one of the best films ever made, period.

ok ok ... The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. A German family is moved to the countryside because the father, who is in the SS was promoted. The kids had no idea what his Dad was going to be in charge of. They lived in this huge mansion, walled off from everything, except for the little boy could see through his window, the barbed wire of the concentration camp that his dad was in charge of ... so there ... recipe for me weeping uncontrollably. And wouldn't you know ... the boy in the striped pajamas was a little boy, the same age as the German boy, only he was a prisoner ... the boys meet almost on a daily basis separated by barbed wire. They manage to play games through the barbed wire ... but you just know this can't end well ... it just can't. But man, it ends SO SO SO HORRIBLY. It's worse than what I thought it would be. These two little boys united in friendship by a horrible tragedy .. well, I won't give it away ... let's just say that I cried and cried for a good 20 minutes in the bathroom after watching the movie. I mean, I wept. I wept worse than when I wept during the entirety of the Pianist. At least the Pianist had a little bit of a happy ending. The Pianist was about survival.

And then ... I watched The American Experience on The Dust Bowl. What a tragedy that was. So many children died from pneumonia from breathing in all that dust that was swirling around. The pictures of the oncoming dust storms were truly amazing to see. The interviews were mesmerizing and the people who survived this catastrophe are testiments to longevity. One of the ladies lost her little brother ... he was no more than 5 when he died from what they called Dust pneumonia. She still can't talk about it. So sad. So very very sad. I didn't weep, but I cried.

Watched Terror in Mumbai. FRIGHTENING isn't the word. First of all, it was narrated by Fahreed Zakaria, the most brilliant commentator in the world. Truly. He can boil down any international topic and be not only objective, but explain it so it can be understood by anyone. Apparently, the Indian government intercepted dozens of phone calls that came out of pakistan to the terrorists and they shot their way through Mumbai. And yes, arrests have been made in Pakistan. There was even someone arrested in Chicago for conspiracy! Chicago!!!! The phone calls were so very scary to listen to. The controller was very calm and directed the terrorists in what they were to do and these young men carried out the orders without hesitation. One was captured alive and they interrogation was again, fascinating and scary. He'll be hung, no doubt ... but the audio and video of the attacks and their aftermath were something to see. The Mumbai police ... so incompetent and ill equipped to handle this type of, heck, any type of terrorist attack. I just hope that for the sake of the citizens, they've learned their lessons.

Curb Your Enthusiasm's season finale was magnificent. Jerry Seinfeld deserves an Emmy for his performance. He and LD have such a great synergy together. I hope they don't bring any of the former cast members back again. It was a great run. And I loved how LD made reference that this reunion was to make up for the Seinfeld series finale that was supposedly so bad ... which ... I guess I'm a whacko because I liked it. I also like the Sopranos series finale. Just color me kooky.

And here's a tidbit ... the slurpee capital of the world is Winnipeg, MB ... who knew????