I Pitty the Fool

Not a bad Monday. I just won a $100 gift certificate to the Pottery Barn by predicting the winners of the Golden Globes. I have no idea how I won, because I got four answers wrong on the survey. Here's hoping that they sell more than just Pottery there.

In other news, I ran into Mr-T today during lunch. Actually, he ran into me and I almost fell over. That'll teach me to stand in his way. Indeed, he pities the fool, and today I was that fool.

-chc

P.S. Stories of being knocked over by Mr.-T are greatly exaggerated.

On Voices, Famous

This is why I love being out there. I was at Starbucks with a friend yesterday talking about a few small video projects we're working on. I mentioned that we still need to find someone good to do our voiceover, and a man next to us perked his head up.

"I used to do some voiceover work," he chimed in. Then he said a few lines for us in a cartoon-like warble that I knew was the genuine article. There's no faking a voice like that. We were sitting next to the original Bullwinkle. If you don't know who that is, ask your parents.

The best part is that he's still a successful writer after all these years. He was working on a couple of rewrites while we sat next to him. He even interjected words of wisdom and jokes a few more times. At one point he said "Don't worry, I won't steal any of your ideas."

I replied by telling him that I didn't think any of my ideas were worth telling right now, let alone stealing.

"Everyone has a story worth telling," he said.

I have a feeling he's right.

-chc

Everybody Comes to Hollywood

It seems like everyone out here has a script in their back pocket that they're trying to sell. If not, they're probably a musician or an actor hoping to get a break. I find it amazing that almost everyone has these high aspirations, regardless of what they do to make a living. I was talking with a coworker at lunch about the projects that we do in our free time, and it turns out there are quite a few others in the company that do the same. Usually it's just small video projects to satiate our creative spirit, but sometimes we get it together enough to work on something bigger.

Along those lines, I have finally joined a writer's workshop. If all goes according to schedule, I should have a completed first draft of my screenplay in twelve weeks. In the past I've found that the feedback really helps, and I'm betting that the same will be true this time. Then all I'll need to do after the workshop is revise the script until it is actually good, shop it around to people who don't want to give you the time of day, and pray that I can find someone who likes it enough to make it into a movie. Easy, huh?

-chc

Ok, I'll admit it: I'm hooked on American Idol. Again. I don't really even care about who wins. As a matter of fact, I'll probably stop watching when the singing gets good. Right now, though, I think it's just hilarious to watch people audition who should know that they'll never make it.

I can empathize with them a little because, hey, even people with no sense of pitch have the right to sing once in a while. You just shouldn't do it by trying out for a national vocal competition. Keep it confined to Karaoke or something where you're expected to be bad. That's what I do.

-CHC

The following is an exchange that I overheard in the other day. It made an impression on me, so I thought I'd repeat it here.

Bob: "How's it going today Randy?"

Randy: "I'm doing pretty well thanks, and how are you?"

Bob: "I'm living The Dream, Randy...Living The Dream."

What a great answer, I thought.
-CHC

I'm back after a good but exhausting weekend in Vegas. It was great to visit some friends I haven't seen in a while, but I'm not much for the whole scene there. I did come out a little ahead (and by a little, I mean "about a dollar"), but that's only because I didn't bet much of anything. I wasn't gong to bet more than I could afford to lose, plus I don't really care for any of the games there.

It was still a fun time overall, though. Check one more thing off my life's to-do list.

TO DO

___ Run a marathon
___ Climb a 14 k mountain
_X_ Go to Los Vegas and come out ahead (it doesn't matter how much--it's the principle of it)

-chc

I thought I wouldn't be able to write this weekend, but I just helped my friend's uncle install DSL--It looks like I may have internet access after all.

So right now in Los Vegas for the weekend with some of my old housemates (ACE teachers from Brownsville and elsewhere). I'll try not to let the house take me for too much--you'll hear about that later.

-chc

I'll be away from computers for a while because I'm going out of town for the weekend. New posts will begin again on Monday.

Have a great weekend!

-chc

It's funny how we somtimes ask God for signs but then get frustrated when we can't see any. We have these crazy ideas about what might make our lives better, and sometimes we just need affirmation that we're doing the right thing. But this isn't Joan of Arcadia, and signs can seem hard to come by these days.

This morning I had one of those rare moments when you see a sign, and can't deny it or explain it away. Fittingly enough, it was actually a trafic sign (funny, huh?) with some very specific grafitti on it that I thought must have been written specifically for me. Just as I was trying to convince myself that it was a coincidence, I glanced to the bottom corner of the sign and saw my initials there. Thank goodness there are some times when God just won't let His message be overlooked.

They say that the 80's are back "in" now. As far as I'm concerned, they never went anywhere. 80's music is the best, even when it's really, bad. Just take any song from that era, remix it, and you'll have a hit in 2004. As a matter of fact, I think I'll start a recording career by doing just that. I'll invent the re-re-remix.

While we're on the topic of music, I recently added a section for songs of the week to this blog. Before you get to excited about free music, you should know that these links are 100% legal, and that you can only listen to a 30 second sample of each song. If you want to hear the whole thing you'll have to buy it for $0.99. Also, you'll need itunes, which you can download for free from the link.
Happy Listening!
-chc

There is a phenomenon out here in LA that I've never really experienced before. Even though I've been here for five months I never even noticed it until this week. I'm talking about the Smog. (Not Smaug--for that, see the Hobbit, though it would be equally as bad).

I have a great view from my window at work where I can see over much of the valley and into the mountains. On Monday, though, there were no mountains--Just a haze in the distance. It was so bad that my eyes started itching. No joke. Luckily it lifted and went somewhere else after day or two.

This is great. My webpage is finally up and working if you have a flash plug-in, and I can blog to my heart's content. One of my former students suggested that I should have a "comments" section on this page, so I'm going to work on that.

I suppose I should start off with a little introduction. Allow myself to introduce--myself. (Is that quote getting old? Oh well, as a former English teacher I find some humor in it.) I moved to LA about five months ago, and am currently working at a wonderful company that produces and distributes radio shows. My hope is to learn as much as I can in my current position and eventually make the move over to film and television.

I was going to give you the rest of my life's story, but you can just read it here: (http://www.holden-corbett.com/assets/bio.htm)

The current plan for this blog is that I will update it frequently with as many of my adventures/misadventures as possible. It will undoubtedly be very stream-of-conscious at times, so please be patient.

Happy reading!
-CHC

This is my first post. I hope it works.