Love, As Always, Pete

The Weekly Letters, by A. Pedersen Wood

September 30, 2004

Dear Everyone:

This will be a very short Letter as I was in the office until nearly 7:00 this evening.  I had been asked to give a demonstration of our document management system to a potential customer who happens to work in the Philippines.  When it is 5:30 in the evening on Thursday here in California, it’s 8:30 in the morning the following Friday in the Philippines.  I was quite willing to do it, but the timing was not exactly great.

But enough of that, on to the important thing:  Movies.

Last Saturday “Jeannie” and I decided to go and see Vanity Fair.  For those of you who may not be familiar with the story, it takes place near the end of the Napoleonic Era.  Becky Sharp is the impoverished orphan daughter of an English artist and a Parisian opera singer.  Doomed to be a governess, she longs to shine in Society.

Pretty, intelligent and just a touch scheming, Becky sets out to improve her situation.  She weds the second son of an equally impoverished nobleman.  The English nobility were unhappily aware that having a title no longer guaranteed wealth.  When the power base shifted from agriculture to industry the wealth shifted with it.  And nobles were faced with marrying their offspring to rich merchants in order to bring money back into the family.  In addition, only the first son could expect to inherit.  The second son was on his own, which is why so many of them went into either the military or the church.

Becky’s husband is a soldier, but also a gambler who sometimes wins well.  And their adventure is off.  The movie charts their ups and downs.  It certainly holds your attention.  When it ended, I was surprised to realize how long it was.

What makes Vanity Fair significant is that it marks the beginning of the Oscar Season.  From now until the end of the year, studios will release the movies they hope most will win the coveted little statuette.  Not that Vanity Fair is the best movie you may see this year.  But in terms of costume design and set decoration, it is definitely a contender.

It is also populated with actors that will look familiar because you’ve seen them time and again on Masterpiece Theater or in Merchant and Ivory productions.  If you decide to see it, go soon.  In a few weeks it will be supplanted by yet another Oscar hopeful.

That’s all I have time for tonight.  I have laundry to start so that I can pack Saturday morning.  I’m off to Long Beach for the annual ARMA International Conference.  You all, of course, know that ARMA stands for Association of Records Managers and Administrators.  Although, technically, it could also stand for Asphalt Roofing Manufacturers Association.

Love, as always,

 

Pete

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