Thursday 4 October 2001

Pic of the day: So, now we know where the superhero cape comes from. It's actually a raincoat. It used to be like a law, you know: All superheroes shall wear a cape.

"Unbreakable" laws

"When you want to show off something, it doesn't work." This is one of those laws of nature that you won't find in your physics books. You'll have to find them out by yourself. I was thoroughly convinced of this one when I was 17 and, as the resident student genius, entrusted with demonstrating our high school's computer equipment for a load of dignified adults. The printer choose this day of all days to replace all spaces with a ring of the bell. I don't think anyone was impressed.

"When you want to show that something doesn't work, it works." This is a really subtle one, isn't it? I am probably not the only one to only discover it a generation after its opposite. I guess I have had a hunch for a while, but today really proves it.

I went to work as usual, but in the lunch break I strode over to North Corporation, the guys who sold me the desktop computer this summer. I wanted to make an appointment for handing in this defective computer and getting a new one, or at least a new motherboard. After all, I can't continue to have two computers at this table, one for Internet and one for the rest. (The rest is mainly games, truth to tell, at least if you count the journal as "Internet" even though I write it off line.) So I explained that the new internal modem did not work well either. It disconnected me ca 15 times in one evening, on a phone line where I used to have 2 disconnects a week. A phone line I've used for years now. Plus, I could not use the external modem either.

Predictably, the tech guy told me this was not possible. Internal and external modem use different pathways, and there is no defect that would affect them both while the rest of the computer works normally. I don't care whether there is one defect or two, as long as I can't use my computer. Tech guy hinted that it could be my phone line. I explained that this was the phone line I had used with several different modems and computers over several years, and one of these modem was the external modem that did not work at all with this computer on the net. I told him that I had already told him, and a ccused him of accusing me of lying. He said that he did not accuse me of lying, but he would like to have the computer in and test it for an hour. If it did not disconnect, it was the phone line and not their problem. I left, fuming, as my body screamed at me to kill and destroy. Blood, blood and steaming entrails!

I decided that when I came home, I would keep a minute by minute log of my disconnects, to use in the upcoming court case. Well, I guess you can all see where this is heading. I logged on the Internet at 20:00, and logged off 21:25 to write my journal. The connection had not broken, paused or slowed during this time. I know that when my computer reads this, it is likely to go into a frenzy of disconnects as soon as I log on to upload it. Heh. But because I predict this, perhaps it won't ... Man, it takes a steady mind to manipulate inanimate objects! You never know how they'll react to anything you say.

***

The main difference from yesterday to today was that 1) I had installed StarOffice, finally and 2) I played my first DVD movie! Well, it's mine only because I have bought it, not made it! I had originally planned to initiate the virgin DVD player with a nice child-friendly Lion King, but I have been unable to obtain it locally. I shall have to find an online supplier, perhaps. But I did buy Unbreakable, the action movie of sorts. The reason for this choice was the high praise by Al Schroeder (of Nova Notes fame). He's a fellow comic book fan, only more so than I. So I was sure that if he liked it, I would.

Nor was I disappointed. OK, it was probably not worth actually buying, I should have rented it. Because when I have seen a movie (or indeed a comic book) it tends to stay. I do not have a photographic memory. I have a "story-graphic" memory. I can remember stories, in whatever form: From a friend telling me a story to reading it to watching it. Often I cannot even remember where and when I learned it, but the story itself remains. A few years ago I happened upon a Superboy comic from my childhood, almost 30 years ago. (It was actually about Superboy and the Legion, and the main story was about the ghost of the Ferro lad. (Not sure about his English name – this was all in Norwegian.) Anyway, I opened it on page 1 and instantly remembered the whole story. After almost 30 years. It is kinda scary, isn't it?

This is why I rarely read or watch anything twice. The main exception is, as I've said, holy scriptures. But Lion King (the original) comes pretty close. I don't know if anyone else feels like that too, but I felt it was a very spiritual movie, more of a parable than an ordinary story.

Of course, thinking lions are always a good thing, too. :)

Anyway, I'm sorry to say, Unbreakable won't fit that bill. I may see it again for the simple reason that I can, but mostly to save on the heating bill.

***

Yes, for some obscure reason, I grew glowing warm while watching it. Now it was fairly warm in the room, but I wasn't that hot when I started. A ways into the movie, my face was uncomfortably hot, and my whole upper body was kinda flushed. Oh well, at least it was a dry heat ... I continued to radiate heat for a long while after the movie ended.

My best guess is that I somehow produced a lot of energy in my brain while watching the movie. I don't watch movies often, and I don't have a TV, so I am not jaded like most of you. I tend to react very strongly to movies. (SuperWoman tends to pick action-filled movies: Batman forever, Judge Dredd, and that horrible Tom Cruise film whose name always escapes me. "This is a typical Magnus movie!" she'll say. I wonder if she does this because she likes them, or because she thinks 'this is a guy thing, he'll like that'. Anyway, I close my eyes much of the time and still almost pee my pants.) So it stands to reason that even on a small screen, my brain is working overtime to handle the information overload.

I sometimes grow this hot when I discuss with someone intelligent, too. But it does not happen often. :)

Then again, it could just be my latent mutant power trying to manifest ...