When I was a kid my dad used to take us to the public library in Hamilton and we'd stuff around the place for ages looking up books to read and getting them. Then the library got these hi-tech microfiche readers where you'd put a sheet of film into a viewer which would magnify it a squillion times to fill the screen. So on this 6x4 inch sheet of plastic were listings for thousands of books. And it always used to amaze me how, with the tiniest nudge, the subject you were looking at would change completely. One minute you'd be looking at gardening (well, maybe not when you're a kid, but bear with me) and then >nudge!< you'd be looking at 17th century astrology books.

Sometimes I think that booze is like a mental microfiche reader and as you add alchol the magnification just increases. For instance You're at the pub with someone you don't really know, but after some drinks you're talking to them like one of your good mates - and after a couple of hours of drinks they're your BEST MATE IN THE WORLD! Suddenly their mate-worthiness has been magnified to fill your view. Something similar has been said about people's attractiveness after a few drinks as well... But that's not all. The mental microfiche also seems to be susceptible to slight nudges. One minute someone's the life and soul of the party, the next, they've cornered you and are telling you about the one that stole their heart, put it in a blender with extra-hot chilli sauce and switched it on. Or when someone seems to having a good time, then 2 minutes later is smacking someone over for spilling beer on them or something equally as accidental.

Solution? Buggered if I know - use magnification sparingly I guess.