"There isn't enough memory available" to open a pasted Excel table

Version: 2008
Operating System: Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard)
Processor: intel

I have a very simple excel table that I've pasted into ppt as an excel
object so that others using the presentation can resort and customize at
will. When I double click on the table, I get the message, "There isn't
enough memory available to open worksheet".

I've checked for updates, run disk utility, restarted, and only had
powerpoint open while trying to open the Excel object and I still get this
error. I have 2G of memory and 25G available on my hard drive, so this
*really* isn't a memory issue, is it?

Any suggestions greatly appreciated--thanks!