The movie "Office Space" came out in 1999 to poor box office response, but has since gained cult status.
Director Mike Judge ("Beavis and Butthead") says more people talk to him about "Office Space" than any project he has worked on.
The tale of a fed-up high-tech office worker who rebels against the system and winds up getting promoted and finding love and happiness is receiving a new life on DVD and video.
For those who have discovered the pleasures of "Office Space," here is some trivia courtesy of imdb.com.
- Director cameo: Mike Judge is Stan, Joanna's boss at Chotchkie's. He's listed in the credits as "William King." He is also the corporate kiss-up who is always nodding his head in agreement at the Initech meetings.
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- When Peter (Ron Livingston) is in the meeting room, on the white board behind him there is a complicated flow chart titled "Planning to Plan."
- The set for Chotchkie's is actually the restaurant The Alligator Grille in Austin, Texas.
- Peter Gibbons lives in the Morningwood Apartments, a reference to a frequent theme of Judge's "Beavis and Butthead."
- The red stapler that Milton was so afraid of having taken away was never actually manufactured by the Swingline company; it was instead painted red by a crew member in the prop department. However, following the movie's success on video, the demand for red Swingline staplers -- apparently as a symbol of quiet rebellion among cubicle-bound employees -- was so great that the company began to sell the red Swingline stapler on its Web site.
Interesting anagrams
An anagram is a word or phrase made by rearranging the letters of another word or phrase.
The following, from the BBC's Web site, are clever. Apparently, someone out there either has way too much time to waste or is deadly at Scrabble.
- Dormitory -- Dirty room.
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- The Morse Code -- Here come dots.
- Mother-in-law -- Woman Hitler.
- Snooze alarms -- Alas! No more Zs.
- The Public Art Galleries -- Large picture halls, I bet.
- Eleven plus two -- Twelve plus one.
- Astronomer -- Moon starer.
- Princess Diana -- End is a car spin.
To contact The Rail, send an e-mail to features editor Dean Rhodes at drhodes@forumcomm.com and he'll forward the message to the room full of monkeys with typewriters that write the column six days a week.
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Today's best bet
Ed Christianson Quartet, noon, during the Music at the Muse series
Plains Arts Museum, Fargo
