New Monitor

            On Monday morning I finished posting my translation of “Epsilon” by Serge Gainsbourg and memorized the first two verses and the chorus of his song “Monna Vanna et Miss Duncan.” There’s only one verse left and it’s pretty simple so I should have the whole song nailed down tomorrow. The song is about a movie star named Monna Vanna who leads a double life as Miss Duncan, who wanders the streets of Los Angeles at night, naked under her fur coat, looking for sex with strangers. “Monna Vanna” means “vain woman” in Italian. It’s also the title of a Romantic painting by Gabriel Rossetti, which is derived from a character in Dante’s “La Vita Nuova”. Other than the name there doesn’t seem to be any connection between Gainsbourg’s character and those of Rossetti and Dante. He might have gotten "Miss Duncan" from Isadora Duncan who was infamous for being somewhat vain while being famous as a dancer and innovator. 

            I was feeling kind of depressed. Maybe because I found out that I still owe almost $1000 for my course this last term, even though I’d received the Noah Meltz grant for the fall. It’s usually split up into two awards in the fall and in January. I’ll have to call U of T and find out what’s going on. 

            I weighed 86 kilos before breakfast. 

            In the late morning, I called the Admissions office at U of T to find out what happened to my Noah Meltz Grant. I was on hold for about half an hour before I got through. The person I spoke with created a ticket for me. She assured me that if I can’t get the Noah Meltz grant the university would help me find another means to cover the tuition. 

            From around midday until about 12:30 I finished cleaning my wire dish rack. Tomorrow I’ll give the kitchen counter and sink a wash and then for the next few weeks I’ll start cleaning the shelves and drawers under the counter. 

            I weighed 85.7 kilos before lunch. 

            In the afternoon I took a bike ride with the intention of purchasing a new monitor before it was over. I rode first to Bloor and Spadina and then south to College where I checked out Canada Computers. All of their monitors are in boxes but unlike Walmart, they at least weren’t tied together by security wire which would make it difficult to read the specs. Although they had some cheap 56 cm Acer monitors they didn’t really have a deal comparable to the one at Staples. They had a 60.5 cm LG for the same price as the HP that Staples has on sale, but I wasn’t familiar with LG. When I looked it up later the general consensus is that LG is slightly better than HP. Oh well. 

            I went to Staples because tomorrow is the last day their HP monitor is on sale and tomorrow it is supposed to rain. The HP monitor was the only one not working. I told the salesperson that doesn’t help their image. They had others of the same kind in stock and so I asked why they just don’t open up a box and have a working one on display. He said they need approval from the head office to do that. I said, “That’s bizarre!” He just shrugged and said that’s the way it is. I decided to buy it anyway and he got a ladder to get one for me. I asked if they deliver. He pointed out that it’s light. I said I’m on a bike. He said the only way to get delivery is to buy one online, so I just said I’d put it in my bag. After-tax the monitor was $203.39. 

            I put the monitor in my recyclable PC shopping bag and hung the handles over my right handlebar. While riding I had to put pressure with my thumb on the handle to twist the bag outwards so my knee didn’t bump against the box while I was pedaling. It wasn’t very difficult getting the monitor home. 

            I weighed 86 kilos at 18:00. 

            I got caught up on my journal at 19:15. I removed the new monitor from the box and it wasn’t hard attaching the mount. I moved my old computer and monitor into the bedroom and set them up on the dresser. I powered them with an extension cord so I have a working second system. There still may be things to move over from the old system, plus now I can use the old one for storage. 

            I cleaned the top of my desk and set up the new monitor. I was confused by the monitor’s power cord because I couldn’t see how to attach it. There was no place for the three holes. But then I realized there are two parts to the power cord, and one has a jack that goes into the monitor with its other end going into the three holes of the power cord. 

            I connected the information cord to the monitor and computer and my desktop came up on the screen with my personalized background but the icons were missing. I restarted but the same thing came up again. There were icons on the taskbar but none of them would expand. 

            While I was working on this problem I made dinner. I had a large potato with gravy and a small honey garlic pork chop. But I had to keep everything warm on the stove while I tried to figure the display issue out. 

            I tried to open an Astro Boy video but it would only play as a thumbnail. I tried to open the Task Manager and everything but the cursor went black. I manually shut the computer down and started it again. The monitor gave me a message that the cord wasn’t working and said it was going to sleep. Finally, I unplugged the cord from the computer and put it back in and suddenly all my icons were there and I was able to expand the Astro Boy video from the taskbar. 

            I had dinner about twenty minutes late while watching two episodes. 

            In the first story Dr. Elefun, Astro Boy, and Astro Girl are in a helicopter investigating two mountains that rose from the ground after an earthquake. They fly between the peaks and crash into a desolate world with a forest of dead trees. When it starts to rain they take shelter in a cave where a large robot approaches. It asks if they are human and when Astro Boy says he is a robot too the big robot attacks him. Astro Boy responds by knocking the big robot’s arm off. 

            Then Dr. Elefun tells it he is human and suddenly the robot is very happy. He says he is the robot called Mr. Meek and he picks up Elefun and cradles him like a child. Meek says he’s been waiting 50,000 years to see a human being. He shows them the human graveyard where the last humans were buried 50,000 years ago. He takes them to the human museum where are kept all of the great human inventions such as atomic-powered lint pickers, and automatic hangnail removers. When Meek says it was 10,000 years before he was made that human beings first developed flying machines, Astro Boy realizes they must have passed into the future when they went between those two peaks. 

            There is a noise and Meek says the Lokis are coming after them. Meek goes to head the Lokis off and Astro Boy follows. The Lokis seem to be a cross between laughing hyenas and grasshoppers but they are anthropomorphized so they can talk and have the ability to use tools and sword fight. 

            While Astro Boy is fighting the Lokis elsewhere they also invade the Human Museum where Dr. Elefun and Astro Girl are. For once Astro Girl shows her fighting ability and protects Elefun by fencing with several Lokis at once. When Astro Boy and Meek return from fighting their battle they find that Astro Girl has been overwhelmed and abducted. Meek explains that the Lokis are the dominant species on Earth now that humans are gone. They rule over the vegetable people the Oriads. Meek tells Astro Boy where to find the Lokis but afterward, he is so low on energy that he dies. How did he maintain his energy for 50,000 years and then suddenly die now? 

            On the way to rescue his sister, Astro Boy meets the Oriads. They are extremely passive. One of them falls in the river and the rest just keep sitting. Astro Boy rescues her and afterward, she just walks away without thanking him. He talks to one named Poopay who says her fifteen siblings were taken away by the Loki. Astro Boy encourages them to protect themselves but she says there is no point because the Loki will win. 

            That night the Loki attack the Oriad village but Astro Boy fights them. But while he is busy, Elefun and Poopay are abducted and taken to the Loki Queen. They are thrown into a cell with Astro Girl who uses the last of her strength to break the door. They escape with Elefun carrying her but are recaptured. 

            Meanwhile, Astro Boy doesn’t know where the Loki village is but suddenly the Oriads all approach him, saying they are now going to help him fight the Loki. He rescues his friends but they get lost in the tunnels and wind up in the Loki queen’s throne room. One of the Loki shoots a spindly substance from its mouth that covers each of them in cocoons. But then three of the Oriads break them free. 

            Elefun has a plan to reroute the river and flood the underground Loki lair. He finds some energy for Astro Boy and his sister in the old human city. The Loki city is flooded but the queen escapes on her flying superbug, which is almost indestructible. Astro Girl and the Oriads fight the rest of the Loki but Astro Boy is overwhelmed by the grip of the big bug. Astro Girl shouts for him to use his jets and that does the trick. The bug crashes with the queen and the Loki are defeated. 

            Astro Boy flies his sister and Elefun back between the mountains to the year 2000 and afterward, there is another earthquake that swallows the mountains. 

            In the second story, the brain surgeon Dr. Numbskull Cranium saves the life of the wealthy Herringbone Tweed but he does not know that Tweed is actually a criminal. When Cranium leaves he finds the brakes on his car are gone and he is lost in a crash. 

            Later Tweed’s home is vandalized and a mysterious car speeds away. Three of Tweed’s men pursue the car to an abandoned amusement park where it eludes them by blending in with the rides. When they catch the car there is no one inside, then it transforms into a giant robot named Monstro. It chases the men and when Astro Boy hears their calls for help he comes to the rescue. 

            Monstro thinks Astro Boy is another member of Tweed’s gang. Astro Boy fights Monstro but loses him when he transforms back into a car. Tweed offers to hire Astro Boy as a bodyguard but Astro Boy finds him suspicious. Monstro attacks Tweed in his home but the police are there and open fire. Monstro turns into a flying car and disarms the cops, then Astro Boy fights Monstro in the air but Monstro blasts him with a ray gun and he falls. Dr. Elefun has to repair him. 

            Meanwhile, the cops are surrounding Tweed's house when he needs to leave to rob a bank. He has his men knock out the police and make it look like they are abducting him. But Monstro finds out Tweed is hiding out on Haunted Mountain and Astro Boy learns the same from Tweed’s men. Tweed’s stronghold can sink into the ground and disguise itself as part of the woods. When Monstro arrives he is caught in a magnetic force field. After he is caught he buries an electronic brain.

            Astro Boy sees the energy waves coming from underground and tunnels down. Tweed pretends he is caught in a cage and asks Astro Boy to save him. But Astro Boy is suspicious and throws a chair which is immediately disintegrated. Tweed’s men attack. Astro Boy escapes but then hears a voice calling from underground. He digs up the electronic brain. The brain tells him it is all that is left of Dr. Cranium. He asks him to take him to be recharged but when Astro Boy tries to fly away with him they are caught in a magnetic field. Tweed tries to force Astro Boy to hand the brain over but he refuses so Tweed increases the power. Astro Boy is in danger of being destroyed but he uses his boot jets to knock over a tree and break the path of the rays. Astro Boy smashes Tweed’s weapons, beats his gang, and then plays with Tweed’s hideout like it’s a yoyo until Tweed surrenders. 

            Inspired by Astro Boy, Cranium decides to have his brain transferred into a robot. 

            I fell asleep sitting on the couch after dinner. When I woke up I wrote in my journal for a while but didn’t get caught up before bedtime.