Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1545215
by Ric Teller and shows so far from Broadway that you would have to consult the Hagstrom New York City Five Borough Atlas to locate the theaters. LA friends, the Hagstrom Atlas is the New York version of our Thomas Guide. Young people, The Thomas Guide was like Google Maps, but on paper. I've been in waist-deep water up close with a dolphin named Lono, while carrying a mixer and a fishpole in Hawaii, and on the same trip, I enjoyed a long bike ride from Waikoloa to find a Malasada and coffee. On one trip, I walked the Freedom Trail in Boston. I've explored all over Washington, D.C. Gone sailing off Waikiki. And the most memorable, watching a Space Shuttle Discovery launch (STS 96) with friends from the causeway at Cape Canaveral. To be able to share so much fun while on location with wonderful friend workers has been one of the great pleasures of my life. And now for something completely different. I took a little break from writing, and now It's Oscar time. No, not while you are reading this, it's Oscar time while I am writing. Working on the Academy Awards has been one of the great honors of my career. I believe this was my 34th. Maybe 35th. Bob Hope hosted the first live broadcast of the Oscars in 1953; I was too young to appreciate it. We didn't have a television until six or seven years after that. The Oscar audio crew which totals around forty mixers, techs, and A2's all collaborate to work for a common goal: to find a decent place to have lunch near the Dolby Theatre. Lead A2, Steve Anderson, assigns tasks to each of the A2's: Bandey, Hostey, Leader, Tuxey, Patchey, Short Straw, Schoepsey, and Edgey. Some jobs are part of the setup, others are important for rehearsals and the live show. Steve keeps the Audio Patch Book that he creates, along with FOH Engineer Pat Baltzell, Orchestra Mixer Caleb Morris, and Denali Engineer Hugh Healy. He then assigns mics on the rundown and creates a mic grid. The rest of us organize, set up, and prepare for rehearsals and the show. The biggest challenge was wiring the eighty-input orchestra by dropping the cables through holes cut in the platform for a clean look. Eddie, Damon, and Niles did an amazing job. My little portion includes patching in the rack room. A2's all dressed up Splitters and stage boxes