There's prolly not a soul amongst us who hasn't played that ol' parlor game, to wit: "if you could be someone else, who would you be?" I'd like to modify that jes a lil bit, mainly coz I'm quite satisfied with my life, thankyaverymuch. I'll step out on a limb here by sayin' those who play the "trading places" game aren't particularly satisfied with their status quo, whereas I am... satisfied. We won't do a deep dive into the psychological reasons for that except to say I'd not trade my simple joys and limited problem set for someone/anyone else's.
My change: "If you HAD to trade your life with someone... who would that someone be?"
My choice: Mike Rowe. I like the guy's sensibilities, to begin with. He identifies with the blue collar crowd and that's a BIG plus with me. I've worked both sides of that street... blue-collar and "professional"... and the blue-collar guys seem to have a much better grasp on what's real and what's immaterial to success and happiness in life. Once again: no philosophical deep dives.
But I think this ad is symptomatic of my larger point:
OK, this is some Madison Avenue type speaking and Mr. Rowe is just playin' a part, granted... but this is a part he's well-suited for and, on the whole, makes the ad eminently believable. I'm generally not a sucker for ad copy in any way, shape, or form. But if anything could move me away from my beloved 501s, it would be that ad. Well, sorta.
That resonates with me. So if I HAD to trade places with someone/anyone... Mike Rowe would be the guy. And I wouldn't mind a couple of few women... in my age cohort, of course... tugging on MY jeans.
If the question is "who, among people you do NOT personally know, would you trust with an important decision or to tell you about something?" -- then Mr. Rowe is at the top of the list in my book.
ReplyDeleteIf it's "If you HAD to trade your life with someone who would that someone be?" Ugh. Mr. Pennington, sir. How many episodes of his show have you seen? I hope Mr. Rowe doesn't get word you want to trade lives with him, he'll understandably nurse some doubts about whether he's doing his (number one) job right.
He looks way better than myself without a shirt on, owing to our two spectacularly different day jobs. But Mike Rowe can keep his as far as I'm concerned. I'll find a way to deal with the air conditioning & neon lighting.
I fully suspect that Mr. Rowe is a stand up guy, and is who he portrays himself as.
ReplyDeleteHave you seen the video where he talks about his work on Dirty Jobs?
http://www.ted.com/talks/mike_rowe_celebrates_dirty_jobs.html
Watch the whole thing.
I also figure Mike Rowe is a stand up guy. When some of the jobs he tackles are not so much dirty as unique. He is honest and open about his being more detrimental to the process than helpful.
ReplyDeleteHe is the face of Ford, the voice of The Discovery Channel and now pushing jeans with rather lovely lasses. Nice gig.
Favorites are the fuel cell repair at the 22nd ARW, the cranberry jelly, monkeys in South Africa, the China Star in SD and the Army at Fort Jackson. He goes into these basically unafraid. I commend him on the new MikeRoweWorks.
I have serious respect for the man.
The President and Vice President could take a few pointers from Mike.
I'd say the snake-handling episode was the one where I would not want to trade places with Mike. The "just grab him behind the head, really quick-like" episode.
ReplyDeleteI felt for the guy while he was cleaning "poo" out of this thing or that thing. But that looked like real fear...er, excuse me, let's call it "concern"...on his part. Not staged at all.
Me, I gotta figure out why image files aren't being written out to the write format. Think I'll hang on to that.
write=="right"
ReplyDeleteOh boy, I'm giving more of my brain away to my employer than I'm bargaining for. Maybe I should practice some snake handling just in case.
He seems like the kind of guy you would like to have for a friend, a neighbor. I sometimes have to watch his Dirty Jobs show with one eye closed, but it's always a good show.
ReplyDeleteAnd, Buck, yes, I am ignoring all references to your anatomy, as I will leave the double entendre business to Andy. ;)
I don't watch Dirty Jobs and had never seen the man until the Ford commercials. Not being a Ford person, I have not paid much attention other than he does have a great voice and nice bunz. Yes, women do like to look at the bunz. But my favorite voice and bunz and manly man is still Sam Elliot. If I could trade places with someone, it would be someone with longer legs.
ReplyDeleteApparently there are no women on earth who do not find Sam Elliot to be the hawtest man alive. Even lesbians I know say that he could make them cross the street, at least for one night.
ReplyDeleteHawtest, that is, but for Bunnzy!
That's bec. Sam Elliot has IT. The man is special.
ReplyDeleteMorgan: I haven't seen ALL of Rowe's stuff, but there's only a few episodes where I thought "I wouldn't do that. Period," Like castrating lambs with my teeth, handling snakes, and milking venomous spiders. Dirt washes off, but getting bit or stung not hurts, it could be lethal.
ReplyDeleteBR: I've seen that TED piece... I linked it in my Labor Day post last year. It IS good.
Glenn: ALL your points are spot on.
Kath: We do love our double-entendres, but it looks like Andy's not weighing in on this one. Oh, well.
Lou, Kath, and Gordon: I had to google Elliot, not being a movie guy. In so doing I found out he has excellent taste, given he's married to Katherine Ross, who ain't exactly chopped liver. And Lou... you should give "Dirty Jobs" a try some evening.
"...getting bit or stung not hurts..." = "getting bit or stung not ONLY hurts..."
ReplyDeleteI like your alteration to the question. I'm as you are, in that whenever someone asks me that question in its original form, I always say, "I like being me." And the person who asked it gets all PO'ed, apparently because they don't like being who they are or something. Yours is one I'd answer.
ReplyDeleteBut not now, because I haven't given it enough thought. My initial reaction is to say, "Any one of the Jonas Brothers", because they would seem to have a pipeline to all sorts of interesting young nubile things, but even someone as shallow as I am realizes that will only fill so much of my day, and then I'd have to be a Jonas Brother the rest of the time. So, yeah, more thought required.
I had a comment all ready to go then I read - Sam Elliot.
ReplyDeleteHmm....what was I saying?
Sam Elliot. That's not right.
Sam Elliot. But he is right in Every. Single. Way.
Aw, heck. Where's Andy when double entendre is just sittiin' out there waiting on him!
ReplyDeleteAnd yeah. Sam Elliot.
It might be quite a pleasure to watch Mike walk away from ya, but, geez! The guy handles snakes! There are so many screws loose there I can't imagine why he doesn't fall apart.
v/w: roommi -- I like my jeans to be a little roommi.
Jim: We'll be waitin'.
ReplyDeleteKris & Moogie: Jeeze. Enough of this Elliot thing, mmm-kay? Otherwise I MIGHT post some Loren. Or Pleshette. ;-)
Buck - you can post Loren or Pleshette of course. That won't take away the mental images of Sam that we will have.
ReplyDeleteOh no sir.
Sam Elliot was the hottest man on the planet back in the day, but Mike Rowe is my current favorite.
ReplyDeleteThat is one fine hunk of man.
OK, I'm late reading this, but "bunz"?? I've seen your old pictures here, and "bean-pole" might have been appropriate.
ReplyDeleteYou think maybe the airperson might have just liked skinny people? Was she anorexic? (smile).
I've seen your old pictures here, and "bean-pole" might have been appropriate.
ReplyDelete... Was she anorexic? (smile).
I did say "bunz," NOT lard-ass. Skinny people can have nice asses, or so I'm told. And I have NEVER dated an anorexic woman. Ever. ;-)
I just hit my funny bone about skinny people, when I remembered the joke about "Ally McBeal needing a Ronald McMeal."
ReplyDelete"Exile in Portales needs a big pile of Tamales!"
Put some meat on those bones...
Speaking of Mexico, here's a good one from the travel blog:
http://www.travelblog.org/Photos/101614
Nice pic.
ReplyDeleteI've always been skinny, it's a gene thing. I've built an altar/shrine to my biological father for that, yanno? Coz there are other bennies to this Thin Man frame... like super-low cholesterol numbers, good heart health (despite bad habits) and the freedom to eat what I please, when I please, in quantities that inspire the occasional hateful rant from my more porcine friends. So the piles of tamales wouldn't help much. Been there, done that!
You make me sick! :-)
ReplyDeleteI was "normal" until age 27, and then no amount of exercise would keep the weight off. Slowly but surely I hit 190, then 200, and then I fought to stay at 190 for 15 years. I just weighed myself - 250. There is no God...
You know you're too fat when you open your zipper, and have to fish around. Aha! There it is...