August 5, 1994
Dear Everyone:
For years now we've been trying to get people to release boxes of old
records for destruction, partly because it's good records management
practice, and partly because, if we didn't destroy at least as many
boxes as come in each year, the Records Centers would burst at the
seams. And for years, as soon as
anyone would release a box, the “Tiddly” Department would slap a "hold"
on it to prevent it from being destroyed.
This was because there were so many "open tax years" that
Company was wrangling over with the IRS.
This would lead to frustration. People
wanted to know why they should pay to store boxes that they didn't need
just because the “Tiddly” Department wanted them held.
And if they
had to keep them, why couldn't “Tiddly” pay the storage costs?
And, for years, the “Tiddly” Department declined to pay for boxes that
they were holding. Until a few
months ago, when “Tiddly” did an abrupt about-face and said, "Why,
sure we’ll pick up the storage costs on boxes that are only being
held for “Tiddly” purposes." As
long as the records in the boxes were at least four years old (your
average tax audit takes about 3+ years).
And as long as the charges didn't start coming to “Tiddly” until
the second half of the year.
Last month, we "threw the switch" on a program that divergent the
charges on qualifying boxes from the Owner to “Tiddly”.
Yesterday, “Tiddly” announced that they had "resolved" a number of
issues with the IRS and would be closing all tax years up through 1987.
Think they knew about this
upcoming agreement with "the Service", as they call it, when “Tiddly”
agreed to start paying for boxes?
How does all this affect me? It
meant that I had to drop everything,
Versatile
included, and start running Ad Hoc reports out of CRMIS to find out how
many boxes could potentially be destroyed.
Quite a few.
And how much is it costing Company to "settle" the tax issues?
Quite a lot.
But it will save a fortune in the
future.
In other news…
No movie last weekend, due to getting our hair cut.
So will move directly onto my
list of videos.
At one point, I wandered into the "Epic
Section" (I didn't even know there was such a thing as the Epic
Section), which could also be called "the
Charlton Heston
sub-Section" since the Big Guy was in every third film there.
I picked out
Lady Jane, which is a
fairly romantic version of the young woman who became
Queen of England
for nine days. Lady
Jane was the granddaughter of
Mary
Tudor Brandon, sister of
Henry VIII.
When it became clear that Henry's
son, Edward
VI, was not going to live much longer, Jane’s parents saw a chance
to become the power behind the throne and grabbed at it with both hands,
forcing her into an unwanted marriage to gain the political support they
needed.
Edward duly dies and Jane is pushed onto the throne, even though she
knows that her cousin, Mary, is the real heir.
Imagine her parents’ chagrin
when, scepter in hand, Jane suddenly realizes that now
they have to obey
her. There's nothing like
placing an idealistic 16-year-old with raging hormones (and a religious
fanatic to boot) in charge of the country to put a new perspective on
things.
The sets and costumes are magnificent and the acting stands up to them.
If you know your history, you
know it doesn't have a happy ending.
Gleaming the
Cube.
This is what happens when you
pick something out of the "Action/Adventure" section virtually at
random. Teenager believes that
the Universe revolves around his skateboard until someone close to him
suddenly dies and he feels compelled to find out why.
Christian
Slater does the dialogue and close-ups while a
real skateboarder does the more spectacular acrobatics.
Their appearance is much the
same, due in large part to the hair, which looks as if the stylist
covered the actor’s head with mousse, then quickly grabbed his finger
and shoved it into an open light socket.
The plot has lots of holes in it; or, in this case, potholes.
Like, if
we can hear the skateboard
clackety-clacking over the seams in the sidewalk, why can't the security
guards? Not that it matters.
The whole point is to get to the
finale which involves one desperate bad guy, a stolen police car, a
freeway, many kids on skateboards, a pizza truck, a sports car, a
big-rig, and an airport, and the firm belief that people under the age
of 18 are naturally exempt from the laws of gravity.
Movies I have absolutely no
intention of seeing, due to the complete obnoxiousness of the
advertisements:
Airheads.
The title says it all.
Blankman.
Black exploitation "comedy" that
trivializes violence against women. And
that's just the trailer.
The Mask.
Too disgusting for words.
North.
Spoiled brat demands life
guarantee him perfect parents. What's
next, automatic ‘A’s in school? I'm
just glad that this one is out so I don't have to see the trailers for
it anymore.
If you're interested in any of these, you're on your own.
Love, as always,
Pete
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