I think that kind of self awareness will never happen for that reader because he hasn't been out there where the necessary exposure and experience occurs. Instead it's all a projection of firelight on the cave-wall of his passionate mind...
On one of his funnier recent shows, he was working in a fireworks "factory"; the job was mixing powders and manufacturing star-shells by hand. The factory owner kept reminding him not to treat the stuff he was mixing too roughly becuase it was sensitive. At the end of the show they fired off the products that he had built - a couple of eight-inch shells. Unfortunately a fog had come up that evening and the effects were completely lost.
So in an afterword Rowe explained what had happened that and they refilmed the effect on the following night.
Good stuff. An angle of approach I've heard elsewhere is in critiquing the Bill Gates (and others) motto that "every child deserves a college education." Well, what if they don't? Or at least, what if they won't benefit from it? A functioning school system would provide at least basic literacy and numeracy by the eighth grade, and wouldn't run down manual labor. Our system shoves everyone it possibly can along into regular or community college, with student loan debt whether they graduate or not, and imagines that the "breakage" will somehow find their way into high-paying, skilled blue collar jobs at age 23 despite low literacy, little to no work experience, and little to no technical training. We complain about having a service and fast food economy, but the root of that lies in our education system.
I strived with all my might to get out of the trades when they collapsed here in Texas in the mid '80s oil crash. Worked my way into sales, into management, even into "Who's Who of Professionals" in the mid '90s.
Now, having busted my ass to rebuild the house after Ike, I've regained touch with the skills of my manual labors. I've done magazine-quality work in tile, in hardwood flooring and in trim carpentry.
When I say "magazine quality", I mean that my work is scheduled to be photographed for a local "coastal living" kind of publication.
This could lead to inquiries and contracts, should I desire that path. It is a fulfilling one, I know from experience. That I wish to pursue it in my 50s is what's in doubt.
Still, I appreciate Mr. Rowe's video, and his show, which I watch often.
If I go the contracting route, I'm going the "Expensive and Slow" route. CHEAP they can find elsewhere. My tile runs to +/- 1/64th the inch. My trim carpentry is better. And yes, my paintwork is stupid-good, you'd swear my brushwork was sprayed.
I enjoy doing that for my own house, but if they'll pay me to do theirs and pay the price, well, at least it gets me out of the office? Oh, and it seems to be in demand here, much unlike other so-called "professional" occupations.
Note:
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JS-Kit/Echo comments for article at http://smallestminority.blogspot.com/2010/01/anagnorisis-and-peripeteia.html (9 comments)
Tentative mapping of comments to original article, corrections solicited.
Simply brilliant.
And a lesson in self awareness that one reader in these parts is so sorely in need of.
I think that kind of self awareness will never happen for that reader because he hasn't been out there where the necessary exposure and experience occurs. Instead it's all a projection of firelight on the cave-wall of his passionate mind...
Wow!
That was incredible. Godspeed, Mr. Rowe!
On one of his funnier recent shows, he was working in a fireworks "factory"; the job was mixing powders and manufacturing star-shells by hand. The factory owner kept reminding him not to treat the stuff he was mixing too roughly becuase it was sensitive. At the end of the show they fired off the products that he had built - a couple of eight-inch shells. Unfortunately a fog had come up that evening and the effects were completely lost.
So in an afterword Rowe explained what had happened that and they refilmed the effect on the following night.
Good stuff. An angle of approach I've heard elsewhere is in critiquing the Bill Gates (and others) motto that "every child deserves a college education." Well, what if they don't? Or at least, what if they won't benefit from it? A functioning school system would provide at least basic literacy and numeracy by the eighth grade, and wouldn't run down manual labor. Our system shoves everyone it possibly can along into regular or community college, with student loan debt whether they graduate or not, and imagines that the "breakage" will somehow find their way into high-paying, skilled blue collar jobs at age 23 despite low literacy, little to no work experience, and little to no technical training. We complain about having a service and fast food economy, but the root of that lies in our education system.
Superb then, and superb now.
I strived with all my might to get out of the trades when they collapsed here in Texas in the mid '80s oil crash. Worked my way into sales, into management, even into "Who's Who of Professionals" in the mid '90s.
Now, having busted my ass to rebuild the house after Ike, I've regained touch with the skills of my manual labors. I've done magazine-quality work in tile, in hardwood flooring and in trim carpentry.
When I say "magazine quality", I mean that my work is scheduled to be photographed for a local "coastal living" kind of publication.
This could lead to inquiries and contracts, should I desire that path. It is a fulfilling one, I know from experience. That I wish to pursue it in my 50s is what's in doubt.
Still, I appreciate Mr. Rowe's video, and his show, which I watch often.
If I go the contracting route, I'm going the "Expensive and Slow" route. CHEAP they can find elsewhere. My tile runs to +/- 1/64th the inch. My trim carpentry is better. And yes, my paintwork is stupid-good, you'd swear my brushwork was sprayed.
I enjoy doing that for my own house, but if they'll pay me to do theirs and pay the price, well, at least it gets me out of the office? Oh, and it seems to be in demand here, much unlike other so-called "professional" occupations.
Jim
Sunk New Dawn
Galveston, TX
Mike Rowe is an Eagle Scout, so it Michael Moore. What a difference a propper upbringing makes.
That was excellent, Kevin. Thanks for hosting it.
Note: All avatars and any images or other media embedded in comments were hosted on the JS-Kit website and have been lost; references to haloscan comments have been partially automatically remapped, but accuracy is not guaranteed and corrections are solicited.
If you notice any problems with this page or wish to have your home page link updated, please contact John Hardin <jhardin@impsec.org>