July 26, 2007
Dear Everyone:
I work for the Information Technology Company (ITC), in Information Management (IM). There is another department called the Enterprise Project Management Office (EPMO), which is a cool name because it can mean just about anything you want it to. EPMO has something called the Project Management (PM) Academy. It is a series of courses that employees can take to learn more than they already know about how to manage projects.
Our upper management has given our immediate manager a new “opportunity”. It is to set up an IM Academy, for people who need to learn more about Information Management, patterned after the PM Academy. The reason this has come up now, and not twenty years ago, is because of the GIL 3 Project, which will give each and every employee a new computer to work with and a new way to manage their information.
Part of this project has resulted in the formation of an “army” of IM Coordinators, people who will help their individual work groups to use this new information management. And, as of now, most of these IM Coordinators don’t know records management from a hole in the ground. They need to get up to speed quickly. (“Please have this done by a week ago Thursday.”)
Hence, the need for the IM Academy. And guess who is going to come up with the curriculum, courses, training, etc. That’s right, the friendly folks in IM Consulting. This is going to be exciting, interesting, and the most fun you can have with your clothes on. Stay tuned…
Movies…
I knew I’d never get “Jeannie” to go to an animated feature with me, so I went by myself back when I took some time off after July Fourth.
Some day a producer from Pixar will be walking off the stage with the Best Picture Oscar in his, or her, hands. Ratatouille is not that film, but it’s only a matter of time. This is because the people at Pixar understand that it’s not animation for the sake of animation; it’s using animation to tell a story that could not otherwise be told the way they tell it.
Ratatouille is really Cyrano with a happy ending. It is also a tale of two chefs. First, there’s Remy, born with a highly acute sense of smell, a natural at combining flavors and textures. But there’s a drawback: Remy is a rat.
Then there’s Linguini, a bumbling young man whose only real ambition is to get a job working at Gusteau’s restaurant, once the toast of Paris, but fallen on hard times since the its founder passed away. Linguini can’t cook to save his life.
Remy and Linguini form a partnership of sorts, each providing the other with what he wants or needs, but can’t accomplish on his own. They can’t talk to each other, although Remy seems to understand human speech. Remy only talks to the audience and other rats.
The movie is really about family, forging friendships, building trust, having disagreements, and above all, loyalty. When push comes to shove, Remy’s extended family rushes in to help in a finale that is exciting and moving at the same time. Added pluses: Peter O’Toole as a food critic, and a health inspector with the world’s worst timing.
As the movie says repeatedly, “Anyone can cook.” But not everyone can make a classic. Ratatouille will quickly become a classic, more for adults than kids.
Also, before the movie actually begins, Pixar presents a short film about what you might call a Student Driver. Like For the Birds, which won the Oscar for best short animated film, this one is universal because there is no dialogue. You’ll understand when you see it.
Love, as always,
Pete
| Previous | Next |