Tweet
RIP Charlie Ajar, Jr.
I've already shared this news with some Film-Techers privately, but I see now that it's in the public domain, and so feel comfortable making a post here.
This was a big shock. I've only worked in and around Hollywood since 2014, but knew of the Ajar dynasty pretty much from day 1. Tom and Charlie Jr. looked after the booths in Bel-Air Circuit theaters, and Charlie in particular was a go-to person if you needed a part for a long EOL film projector. Charlie was a character - frustrating, irritating, lovable, and admirable (especially for his political incorrectness), all at the same time. What makes the news of his passing such a shock was that I last worked with him twice, very shortly before he went into the hospital. The first time was to install an SP4K in a Bel-Air Circuit house that he looked after in early July; the second was to fix a DSS200 in another, on August 6, which was the last time I saw him. I was explaining to him why a flat CMOS battery would prevent it from booting if it lost mains power (the BIOS "boot up when the power comes on" option is not checked by the motherboard's factory default, and so is forgotten if the battery discharges), when Charlie interrupted me and asked me my age. After I replied, he said "Well, I got 22 years on ya. That's why I can't stand this computer shit!"
Anyone who did Crestron programming was a fucking asshole who wanted to fuck you up the ass (by which he meant overcharge you) in Charlie's book, and he referred to the millionaires and billionaires whose home theaters he looked after using language that, if revealed here, would violate several NDAs that I've signed. But at the same time, bore no ill will to any of them and fought like a tiger to prevent them from having to overpay to keep those theaters going. I'm really going to miss him.
This was a big shock. I've only worked in and around Hollywood since 2014, but knew of the Ajar dynasty pretty much from day 1. Tom and Charlie Jr. looked after the booths in Bel-Air Circuit theaters, and Charlie in particular was a go-to person if you needed a part for a long EOL film projector. Charlie was a character - frustrating, irritating, lovable, and admirable (especially for his political incorrectness), all at the same time. What makes the news of his passing such a shock was that I last worked with him twice, very shortly before he went into the hospital. The first time was to install an SP4K in a Bel-Air Circuit house that he looked after in early July; the second was to fix a DSS200 in another, on August 6, which was the last time I saw him. I was explaining to him why a flat CMOS battery would prevent it from booting if it lost mains power (the BIOS "boot up when the power comes on" option is not checked by the motherboard's factory default, and so is forgotten if the battery discharges), when Charlie interrupted me and asked me my age. After I replied, he said "Well, I got 22 years on ya. That's why I can't stand this computer shit!"
Anyone who did Crestron programming was a fucking asshole who wanted to fuck you up the ass (by which he meant overcharge you) in Charlie's book, and he referred to the millionaires and billionaires whose home theaters he looked after using language that, if revealed here, would violate several NDAs that I've signed. But at the same time, bore no ill will to any of them and fought like a tiger to prevent them from having to overpay to keep those theaters going. I'm really going to miss him.
Comment