The “Chicken Shack” Video that ran on In Wisconsin recently is now available online (although if your internet connection is anything like mine, it may take forever to load):
Watch the full episode. See more In Wisconsin.
Home of Michael Perry – Author, Humorist, Singer/Songwriter, Amateur Pig Farmer
Archive for October, 2010
In Honor of Otis…To A Point
My 3-year-old was hanging out with me in the office. Struggling to convey which song she wanted me to play.
Finally, she said, “The ‘pitiful’ song.”
“‘Call Me Mr. Pitiful’?”
“Yes!” Her face all lit up.
A-ha! Otis Redding! Coulda just busted with pride.
Then I just had to push it too far. “Is that your favorite song?”
“Yes…”
Pause.
“…except for VeggieTales!”*
*specifically, “I Love My Lips.”
Mike (and Chickens) on Wisconsin Public Television Tonight
See fuzzy chicks! See fuzzy-headed man! In Wisconsin, 7:30 p.m. CST tonight, encore airing (encore, not rerun, nossir!) 10:30 p.m. CST this Sunday.
Did Not Fly the Coop
The wind is still freight-training, so I’m not sayin’ we’re in the clear, but I did wake up three times last night to peer out of the window to see if the chicken coop (which is mounted on the running gear from an old haywagon) was still upright, and it was, and is now in the daylight. I was worried, because when I was in there at dusk, she was just a-rockin’. It was parked broadside to the wind and the rain had left the ground too soupy to move it. So, as the blurry rain-whipped cellphone photo below demonstrates, I took measures…
That’s a ground anchor, a boomer, and the chain from my deer-skinner.
Batten the Hatches
Wow. The straight-line winds have arrived. And left chicken coop windows open last night. Scared to go look…
P.S. OK. Looked. Deluge of rain hit at same time. Running through yard in pre-dawn dark and horizontally-blown Noah-grade precip. Good news is, not too much rain in chicken coop. Bad news is, windows open inward and are hinged at top of sill. Had a headlamp on but couldn’t see up through dirty glass and when I pulled out prop, window dropped six sleeping chickens and a week’s worth of chicken manure on my head. A cackling explosion of feathers and scat. Today is bath day.
Molly Pitcher
Weird. On Moose Country 106.7 the other morning, Jay Moore mentioned Molly Pitcher. Grade school history came rushing back. I don’t think I’ve thought about Molly Pitcher since before I had whiskers. Makes me wonder how many other iconic people just slip through the drain-catch of our brains over time and as a result quietly pass from history itself…
Reedsburg Fermentation Fest – Guest Author
Edgerton Book and Film Festival
Chickens in Literature
At some point during the Coop hardcover tour in 2009, I picked up the Library of America’s Flannery O’Connor: Collected Works and have been working my way through it off and on since (I know I read it at least once during my stop in Portland, Oregon, based on a restaurant receipt stuck between the pages).
One section of the book contains O’Connor’s correspondence, including the following lines from consecutive letters, both written on September 30, 1955:
My greatest exertion and pleasure these last years has been throwing the garbage to the chickens…
I can still throw garbage to the chickens, so life is still beautiful…
I believe I understand.
2010 Chippewa Valley Book Festival
The Clodhopper Monologues
Featured Items
The Clodhopper Monologues Live
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Not so long ago, author, humorist and amateur pig farmer Michael Perry fed the chickens, changed his boots, kissed his wife and daughters, and drove…
Long Beds “BedHead” T-Shirt
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We can’t all be DeadHeads. Special thanks to our firefighter friend Barry – he’s the first person we heard use this phrase. T-shirt features Mike’s…
Long Beds “Gordon” T-shirt
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After we played a benefit show in Mike’s hometown of New Auburn, a sweet lady told us we sounded, “Just like Gordon Lightfoot…only zippier!” We figured that was about perfect.