Hidden under counter tops or inside cabinets were jumbled nests of cords and wires, each a vital component to getting the station up and running. Just how vital some of these random zigzagging wires were was another story. What happened if we removed that dusty cord along the back wall: would it disconnect the seldom-used studio television from the audio board (and therefore cause little notice), or was it one that bridged the studio to the newsroom, one that, if removed, would cause the engineer headaches and wild cursing streaks? I dunno – let's unplug it and see.
Anything? Anyway....this general disorder of equipment was something I didn't know about until my senior year, when something was mentioned in passing with one of the production assistants, or PA. PAs were senior-level students that showed some ability to retain knowledge and therefore were paid a scrawny stipend to work after hours and assist other students with audio and video equipment. Doug Landau was one such PA, one more interested in engineering aspects of audio and video production than creative side most students had.
Doug had been supporting the current department engineer with the installation of new equipment somewhere and said how both of them were getting tired of dealing with "the house that Jack built." When I questioned him, Doug said this was their reference to the previous engineer, Jackie Abbott, and his disorganized, slipshod way or setting up equipment.
Ah, Jack! Yes, I remembered Jackie, or Jack, Abbott from my freshman year. He was the older gentleman with the buzzed haircut and black horn-rimmed glasses that looked like he never quite left the 1950s or 60s, the guy who seemed distant and aloof and who had little in common with the students he was surrounded by on a daily basis. Judged solely on age, Mr. Abbott surely must have been the engineer (some sort of parlor magician, perhaps?) who helped setup the original equipment when the Communication Building opened. As new items were added in later years, Abbott apparently did little to keep things neat and tidy behind the scenes. This was why it took longer for Abbott's replacement to tear out the main studio's equipment one summer – he had to sort out what wire went where...and why.
That's why Abbott was the bane of existence to Doug: simply updating a piece of equipment meant sorting through unmarked wires and trying to understand why five cords were used when one should have sufficed.
Jackie all but disappeared via retirement after my freshman or sophomore year – I don’t recall which and frankly it doesn’t really matter. I hope all his original projects have been cleaned up, though.
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Jacked ‘95
(The Parka Kings)
The Parka Kings
From the album 23 Skidoo
1995
We're all dressed up with no where to go
Where to tonite hey I don't know…
Stumbling around, can't even see
All to escape reality
Hacked, I'm jacked
Messed up and out of whack
Hacked, I'm jacked today
(Who) Left with our friends?
When will this drug -crazed madness end?
Responsibilities out the door
I just want more and more and more