Category: Mike’s Blogs

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Mike Rowe’s Response to Facebook Comments on Walmart Commercial Voiceover

Shari

Here is post #1 of 3 on Facebook regarding the Facebook response to Mike’s Walmart voiceover commercial, February 9, 2014 Last night during the Olympics, a commercial started running called “I Am a Factory.” It’s part of a larger campaign sponsored by Walmart, called “Work is a Beautiful Thing.” The commercial features real people doing real work in real factories all across America. It’s not very glamorous, but it’s honest and authentic, and I was honored to narrate it.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OQcoDQq3-o Today, I see that some people are calling for my head. Other’s want me to run for office. And some have Read More

Clean-Up In Aisle Four!

Shari

This whole Walmart thing. Wow. Just…wow. If you’re just tuning in, here’s a brief timeline. – Last week, I did the voiceover for a commercial that announced Walmart’s commitment to purchase 250 billion dollars of American made goods and put them onto their shelves. – This Saturday, the commercial ran during The Olympics, and people started talking. Some of the talk wasn’t very pretty. – Sunday evening, I opened a bottle of Whistle Pig, and responded to a few of my detractors. I attempted to clarify a few things. By midnight, the Whistle Pig was badly depleted and I was Read More

I Like Cops

Shari

I like cops. Always have. And as far as I know, they like me. Couple years ago, I was invited to host the annual Medal of Valor ceremony in Los Angeles. There, 21 of LA’s finest were awarded the highest accommodation a police officer can receive. My job that day was to read the details of 21 meritorious acts into the public record, and recognize those that fell in the line of duty. Very humbling, and quite an honor. Of course, my encounters with law enforcement have varied over the years. Most recently, I found myself in a dumpster, attempting Read More

DUCK!!!

Shari

So I was walking around the streets of San Francisco this morning, enjoying a cup of organically roasted, free-trade coffee from an independent, minority-owned establishment run by some immigrants whose legal status is completely irrelevant, when an elderly woman asked me out of the blue how Phil Robertson was holding up with all the drama around Duck Dynasty. “Pretty good,” I said. “Looks like he’s got his job back.” “Oh, that’s nice,” she said. “Please tell him I said hello.” Like my grandmother, this woman was under the impression that everyone on her television lived together on a private island. Read More

Mike Rowe Responds to TedWeekends Comments on Huffington Post

Shari

Last weekend Huffington Post posted Mike Rowe’s Ted Talk in their Ted Weekends series online and hundreds of comments poured in on the site. Mike Rowe responded to some of the comments and a few appeared underneath the Ted Talk on the Huffington Post site. There were a few more comments and responses from Mike’s fans that we thought should be posted here on the Profoundly Disconnected site. Let us know what you think. Johnjlws • 5 388 Fans Have a friend who teaches industrial technology in a middle school (7-8 graders). His equipment is something out of the 70’s Read More

Deadliest Catch’s Johnathan Hillstrand offers his kids’s books & Mike gives the coat off his back for C.R.A.P.

Shari

Another big day in the wide, wide world of C.R.A.P. (Collectibles Rare And Precious). My good friend Johnathan Hillstrand of Deadliest Catch — captain of the F/V Time Bandit and lover of motorcycles, broncos and women (he’s been thrown from all three) — has written a book: “Crab boat captain turned children’s book author” Three books, in fact: The Adventures of Little Bird: Pirate Dreams, The Adventures of Joey and Andy Crab: Crab Day Afternoon and The Adventures of Joey, Andy and Little Bird: A Pirate’s Treasure. And not only did Johnathan write them, he illustrated them as well. Through Read More

Bill Lamb of WDRB in Kentucky likes Mike’s promotion of Work without Politics

Shari

Bill Lamb of WDRB in Kentucky likes Mike’s promotion of work without politics. I always used to think that a photo of me, positioned over the left shoulder of a newscaster wearing a suit and tie, would be a harbinger of certain doom. Happily, I was mistaken. Say hello to my new pal, Bill Lamb, and check out the finest commentary ever recorded in the long history of local journalism. Thanks, Bill – I owe you one. WDRB 41 Louisville News

Twelve Thousand (and One Hundred) Dollars – All to Help the PR Campaign for Hard Work

Shari

On Sunday, November 10th, 2013, a woman named Candace purchased a “Work Smart AND Hard” poster for $12,100.00. (Plus shipping and handling.) That’s right. Twelve THOUSAND, One HUNDRED United States DOLLARS. (Plus shipping and handling.) The poster in question is identical in almost every way to the hundreds of other autographed posters we routinely sell for $12,000 less than what Candace paid. The only difference?  On this particular poster, my signature is accompanied by Glenn Beck’s, along with a few highly personalized, completely original, and decidedly juvenile artistic embellishments. So – what can we deduce from the unexpected popularity surrounding this Read More

Semper Fi Marines & Happy Veterans Day to ALL Who Serve

Shari

On 10 November 2013, The Marines had a party, and Mike had a Ball. The old theater looks like the one in Young Frankenstein – the one where Gene Wilder and Peter Boyle sing “Putting on the Ritz.” Every seat is taken, and the air is filled with a weird mix of anticipation and familiarity. And maybe a faint hint of mothballs. I’m in the mezzanine this year, sipping champagne and jammed into a tuxedo that’s undeniably smaller than it was last November. Behind me, a retired general is singing The Star Spangled Banner, along with the rest of the Read More

Work Smart AND Hard Poster Signing Mania

Shari

I used to have an office. Now I have a space where I sign stuff and get in the way. Apparently, several thousand of you have suddenly purchased our Work Smart AND Hard poster, which means that hundreds of glossy and full-sized representations of yours truly are being rolled and stuffed in cardboard tubes on a daily basis – labeled, stamped, sealed, and trundled off to the nearest post office, bound for parts unknown. Not that I’m complaining. These posters are catching on, and popping up in schools and offices across the country. Very cool. They’ve raised nearly $40,000 so Read More

S.T.E.M.(S!)

Shari

Promoting STEM-related jobs at the Science, Technology, Engineering Festival in Washington, D.C. (I thought it needed another “S.”) Here’s a link to press release full of exciting information that no one is ever going to read: mrW Joins Forces with USA Science & Engineering Festival on Pioneering Skilled Trades Pavilion Why? Because the only people who read press releases are the people who write them, and, of course, the people mentioned in them. Since I fall into the second group – and since I want you to be informed of all my movements – I have provided for your convenience Read More

Mike Puts Glenn Beck and C.R.A.P. Together

Shari

Here’s a super-special piece of C.R.A.P. (Collectibles Rare And Precious) that many have already suggested just might be priceless. Nevertheless, it’s for sale, RIGHT HERE, right now to the highest bidder. And I’m more than a little curious to see where it winds up. As you can see, the C.R.A.P. in question is a “Work Smart AND Hard” poster, thoughtfully signed by Glenn Beck and yours truly. For those of you that saw the PSA on GBTV, these posters are regularly available here at mikeroweWORKS. They were designed to be displayed in high schools in order to stimulate conversation and Read More

Is There a Zombie in Your House?

Shari

Psychologically, the journey from TV host to brain-dead zombie is a fairly short one. Physically, though, the transformation requires time, skill and a lot of hard work. I learned this firsthand from Toby Sells, a talented special-effects artist who turned me into a soulless corpse for an episode of Dirty Jobs with Mike Rowe back in 2007. Toby plies his trade in a creepy little studio outside Atlanta. He studied his craft for years as an apprentice, practiced under the supervision of a seasoned professional, and worked his butt off getting very good at what he does. Then the world Read More

Devil or Angel, Whichever You Are

Shari

Shannon K. Walsh wrote on The Real Mike Rowe Facebook page, ” Mike – How could you associate with such a horrible and psychotic person that is Glen Beck? I wouldn’t accept a dime off that hateful, nasty racist. Very disappointed to see this post.” Well, hi there, Shannon – and a pleasant good morning to you too! If you want a detailed answer to your question, please take a moment to read my earlier reply to Bob Reidel, another crestfallen soul who couldn’t reconcile my association with a TV host that he personally despised. As you read it (out Read More

Making of the Poster

Shari

  Mike Explains Further In the long history of bad advice, you’d have look pretty hard to find something dumber than Work Smart Not Hard. It first appeared years ago as part of a recruitment campaign for college. It was bad advice then, but today, it’s just plain dangerous. Google Work Smart Not Hard and you’ll see just how far this idiotic cliche has wormed it’s way into our collective conscious over the last forty years. It’s repeated daily by millions of people like some timeless chestnut of conventional wisdom. Is it possible we actually believe such nonsense? You bet Read More