August 20, 1993
Dear Everyone:
Joke making the rounds here at work: What's
the difference between Company Park and
Jurassic Park?
Answer: One’s a theme park
overrun by dinosaurs. The other’s
a horror movie.
Someone at the Park leaked this to
Herb Caen of
The San
Francisco Chronicle, who reported it in his column.
(Herbie will report anything.)
Two days later, as dutifully
reported by Herbie, a 30-foot dinosaur, bearing a banner reading, "Not a
Horror Movie", appeared mounted on the roof of the main building of
Company Park.
I asked “Brett”, one of the members of my RMSEP Team, who works in the
Park, if this was true and he confirmed it.
What's more, the author of this
little prank may turn out to be none other than the president of one of
Company's Operating Companies. Who
says executives never have a sense of humor?
Of course, it does lead one to
wonder what the head of an Opco is doing with a 30-foot dinosaur, and
where, exactly, it resides when not atop buildings.
In other news…
Many congratulations to “Alice” and “Kelly”, who are expecting a
derivative of their combined DNA sometime in the Spring.
Best of luck to both of them as
well as to the itty-bitty, little “Harlequin” that's on its way.
Next…
None of this is set in concrete, of course; but it looks very much like
a lot of us will be spending Christmas in sunny California this year.
“Jeannie” and I plan to stay here
at home. “Alice” and “Kelly” have
expressed a desire to visit while “Alice” can still fit into an airline
seat. Mother and Dad are
considering a trip down here to see old friends (and us, of course).
“Marshall”, who lives in
Fresno
(or, as he calls it, Fresburg)
is welcome anytime. Anyone else
who would like to avoid all that cold stuff (snow, rain) is welcome, of
course. Get your reservations in
early.
Movies…
Saw
Heart and Souls
last weekend, primarily because “Jeannie” likes the theater it’s playing
in better than the one that's showing
The Secret
Garden (which I still want to see).
Frankly, the popcorn's better
there, too.
H and S is yet another "chick
movie". Any movie that manages to
contain no less than five
happy endings, by definition, is a "chick movie".
Pack lots of Kleenexes.
It's about four "souls", people
who were killed suddenly, in San Francisco, and who must each accomplish
something that they didn't complete while still alive, before they can
move on. In order to do this,
they are required to "possess" a person.
What saves this from being a soggy, gooey mess is the performance put in
by Robert
Downey, Jr. as the young man who allows them, however reluctantly,
to use his body on a temporary basis. Downey
has a gift for this kind of physical comedy, just as he has a gift for
looking cynical and naïve at the same time.
When one of the ghosts takes over
his body, he simply becomes that person. Needless
to say, any actor would give his eye teeth for a role that allows him to
play five different people in one part. But
not many can pull it off as well as Downey.
When the cocktail waitress
decides to "take the plunge", Downey shift from dynamic junior executive
to gushing female in an instant. The
fact that this suddenly takes place in the middle of a board meeting
only adds to the general fun. Cute
movie. Check it out.
Meanwhile, at work, this has been one of those weeks when you try to
squeeze a little bit of work in between all those meetings.
Consequently, I've been working a
lot with Ogden, the laptop PC, in the evenings and on weekends.
I know, I know, I'm turning into
such a workaholic. Even my
horoscope yelled at me this week. Therefore,
I solemnly swear not to take Ogden with me to the hairdresser’s this
weekend.
The truth is, when “Yvonne” does my hair, I have to take my glasses off,
and, without them, I can't see as far away as my lap.
Love, as always,
Pete
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