Friday, May 19, 2017

Mike Rowe, at last...


My sole reason for tagging along to Nashville was to see Mike Rowe--narrator of Deadliest Catch and host of Dirty Jobs and Somebody's Gotta Do It, as well as executor of the mikerowe Works Foundation. He has a deep love for our country and it seems as though he's the only one with a realistic view of the work force situation playing out in America.

His foundation offers scholarships for trade schools and training and apprentice programs in fields like plumbing, welding, electrical, etc. There's a huge skills gap in our country and he's single-handedly trying to fill it. I try to help out by sharing stories from his Facebook page.

His presentation was everything I'd hoped it be, and he looks and sounds just like he does everywhere else. I will never *not* know his voice until the day I die. I was able to get my picture taken with him although, sadly, he had limited time which meant no chance to chat with each of the one thousand people who wanted a picture with him. It was get pushed to his side, smile at the camera, and scurry off. (But I was 4th in line. :0) I was not missing that opportunity!)

The story goes that in order to apply for your Screen Actors Guild card, you have to have an acting job, but in order to get hired for acting jobs, you have to have a Screen Actors Guild card. You can see the problem. There are a few exceptions and way back in the day, Mike Rowe found a gig that would qualify him to get the card, but didn't require one to get hired: bit player in an opera.

There are clips on YouTube, but after the Q & A with Mike at the conference, the MC asked Mike if he'd be willing to sing a little opera. And he agreed! I was so thrilled. So anyway, it's hard to see him well, but the audio is all right--I was right next to a speaker.


And have a great weekend!!!


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