Category: Mike’s Blogs

migrated from pd

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

A Prick in Congress

Shari

As some of you know, mikeroweWORKS was launched on Labor Day back in 2008. Every so often somebody asks me how that came to be, and whether or not Dirty Jobs with Mike Rowe had anything to do with it. Here’s my original reply to that question. A couple years ago I went to Congress, to see if anyone there was still up for an honest day’s work. Turns out, there is. Dave Moralez has worked in Congress his whole career, but holds no elected office. He’s a third-generation cattle rancher in Congress, Ariz., a tiny town in the Sonoran Read More

Your Headline, My Face

Shari

From:  Mike Rowe Re:  Your Headline, My Face. Hi Steve, Mike Rowe here, Dirty Jobs. Thanks to the necromancers over at Google, I’ve been alerted to your most recent Question of the Day: “Are Bad Jobs Good for the Economy and the People Who Work Them?” Immediately under your headline I noticed a photo of me, taken on the Mackinac Bridge while filming a segment on Dirty Jobs. Given the juxtaposition of my face with your headline, a reasonable person might conclude that a “Dirty Job” and “Bad Job” are one and the same. This sentiment is not only inconsistent Read More

A Talk About Ted

Shari

Back in 2008, I got an invite to speak at something called EG, or “The Entertainment Gathering.” The Entertainment Gathering is a conference that evolved from TED, another well-known speaker series that I had never heard of. Against my natural instincts, I wound up attending EG, and spoke for exactly 20 minutes, as instructed. I had no recollection of what I actually said until several months later when people started asking me about “my relationship with sheep testicles.” That’s when I realized my comments at TED had been posted on the interweb. I have no complaint about being recorded, and Read More

MTI and Mike Rowe Putting Faces to the mikeroweWORKS Scholarship Project

Shari

So I was in Springfield (Illinois) yesterday, and took a tour of a trade school called MTI. These guys have something like an 85% job placement rate for graduates, and I wanted to see what they were all about. I’m glad I did. Halfway through the tour, a group of guys approached me to say thanks. I didn’t know what they were talking about, but said “you’re welcome” anyway, because well … it’s polite. As it turns out, these guys all received scholarship funds from mrW. I had no idea. I knew MTI was on the list of schools whose Read More

mrWF Scholarship Recipients from 2013

Shari

Here’s a video that will never go viral. It features no cats, no talking babies, and no grown-ups falling down the stairs. It’s just footage of a few regular guys making a case for welding, and personally thanking me for their mikeroweWORKS Scholarships. Posting it here feels a bit self-serving, but I’m doing it anyway because a) it’s short, b) it’s classy, c) it’s important, and d) it wouldn’t have happened without you. Like most foundations, mikeroweWORKS raises money and gives it away. If you’ve purchased a copy Profoundly Disconnected, or a Work Smart AND Hard poster, or a S.W.E.A.T. Read More