The Accidental Metaphor

Today, we, meaning the freshmen of the Photo/Video Boot Camp pre-orientation group, Brian Palmer, and myself interviewed a retired sailboat racer named Ralph "Towney" Townsend. He grew up in Chestertown and has been sailing since he was ten years old. After high school he planned to attend the Naval Academy, and after passing all but one of the required tests for acceptance, he was asked to identify a couple letters within colored circles. He could not do so, was told he was colorblind, and rejected from the Academy. So he attended Washington College and graduated in 1952 with a major in Physics.

He's been hugely successful in sailing and racing, winning so many awards and trophies he started giving them away to his crew, and when one of the students asked him how he became so successful as a sailor, his response was accidentally some of the most inspiring [and metaphoric] advice I have ever [indirectly] received.

Well...I guess it could be because I've been at it for so long, but I think it's because I'm so focused. I'm always focusing on making the boat go. That's the most important thing; making the boat go. I see these other skippers focusing on the other boats and where they're going, where they're headed, how fast they're moving, what they're doing. Yeah, they're making sure they don't collide with the other boats, okay, but I'm just focused on making the boat go. Not how fast it's going, not where I might end up...just making it go.

If you don't get it or just don't care, that's cool, but I was frozen when he said this. I knew after he said it that every single word was literal and that he was talking about actual sailing the entire time, but man, was that just amazing, yet simple, to hear as a senior in college. I was blown away that every single phrase seemed to build upon this unintentional advice. It was a little crazy that there was no part of what he was saying that wasn't sinking in. It all fit into this fantastic metaphor created by him telling us why he was considered a talented sailor. I have never really been asked why I am good at something, and that sounds like a peculiar, maybe awkward, question to answer, but I think that if I could answer it...and I mean really answer it and not just say "practice, practice," I think I might be able to inspire someone, too. Just like Towney.

It truly was inspiring. Maybe it's the boat metaphor, maybe it's hearing it from a man in his 70's that I am quite convinced I would love to talk to for hours, but the mindset that he has when he is sailing is what I want and what I need to be able to tackle the sometimes overwhelming path that I have chosen to follow to my future.

Twittered. :O Second City?

Well... I made a Twitter a while back, and within a week I deactivated my account, thinking it was useless, annoying, and kind of a lazy blog. Well...I could no longer deny its usefulness for advertising and since the internet community is steadily getting lazier, I thought it would be a good idea to reactivate it. I refuse to actually answer the question "What are you doing" unless I have something interesting to say though! Otherwise, I'll just update with stuff about my upcoming videos or something funny. Once I graduate, I hope to be able to update it [and this blog] with news about future performances and strides I'm making in the comedy industry.

So, before I move on with that thought - http://twitter.com/CoreyHolland - Follow if you're interested. Though I'd much rather people subscribed to my youtube page ;)

So I've been thinking a lot about what I'm going to do after graduation, and one thing I'm highly considering is taking classes at Second City in Chicago. Some amazing performers have come out of Second City, and I know it would be a really great decision for me. They have courses in improv, comedy writing, comedy performance, sketch, stand up, and they have their own sketch and improv groups. Of course nothing is final right now, but it is definitely an option. It's an awesome gateway into other jobs in the industry as well, even performing on one of the teams Second City has. Justan audition for one of those would be a huge honor.

Well, it's back to school this weekend...

Summer is winding down...

I finished work at the MPC last Friday, and I'm home for 2 weeks before I return to school once again. I'm working the Photography and Videography Boot Camp again this year, so I'm going back a week early.

For the past few days, I've been at Claire's house which was great! I love hanging out with her! We saw Funny People, which was alright, but, like most Judd Apatow films, it needs some script editing. Someone needs to give that man a second opinion. It was a wonderful weekend, and I even got to stay an extra night since there were pretty bad thunderstorms. Her parents insisted that I stay :) Claire and I went to this great coffee house called Saxby's and got smoothies. It was a really nice place. I wish The Cove at our school was like that, I'd totally love to hang out there! I told Claire that I think it would be awesome to own a place like that and hold performances there - live sketch and improv, bands, stand up comedians, and even video showings or whatever. Maybe someday.

What the hell is up with this commercial where Jack-in-the-Box sings with midgets?

So I ordered a brand new HD video camera, the Canon Vixia HG21 and it came today! It's awesome! I love it! I looked at the difference between my ZR500/800 and the new HG21, and it's such an enormous step up! I can't wait to start filming with it!

Travis and I are currently working on a few different projects that we are really excited about. I'll explain the larger project later, but right now we're focusing on making a Batman vs Rorschach fight! We were actually a bit surprised to see that it hasn't been done yet, which is awesome! We better get to it before someone beats us to the punch. (...no fight pun intended. Ew.) We have pretty much worked out the opening and closing plot (if I could juuust get Claire to help out), and we're meeting soon to work on fight choreography and figure out some costume and location details. This shall be EPIC!

Here's a little preview of how the fight will go. Let's look at the facts here... Batman is basically a super ninja that knows almost every style of martial arts. He's super rich and can afford to have all sorts of crazy gadgets and has dealt with some of the most insane villains in the DC universe. His "superpowers" are being super rich and the ability to prepare for anything. Rorschach is definitely badass, but he's just a street fighter who refuses to go down. He'll put a good fight, but let's not kid ourselves...

I clicked Small, so sorry it looks enormous...just click and look at it. I don't know why it's not cooperating. Oh wells.