Several years ago I was in the basement watching my two cousins playing during some family function. It was just the three of us, most likely during some sort of summer party. Well, both of my young cousins were pretty mischievous and they decided to play on this old spinning couch/lounge chair. They started spinning faster and faster, until one of them flew straight off and hit the basement floor, luckily it was carpeted.

This weekend I watch The Pianist, a very well done movie in almost every respect. It clearly deserved all the Oscar attention it received. As much as I enjoyed the movie, at times it was very hard to watch its sad depictions and depressing scenes. The German occupation of Warsaw is shown in grim detail through the eyes of a Jewish pianist. As a survivor his very real story was eventually told.