Strung Out

Send us Fan Mail Marty turns to his trusted political consultant, society editor, gossip columnist and fashion plate, Sandeep Gopal to make predictions for 2022.  A must listen show.  Support the show We are always grateful to have you listening to STRUNG OUT.    Here are some important links: SUPPORT THE SHOW: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/MartyfineaK MARTIN'S WEBSITE: http://www. MARTINMcCOR...

Send us Fan Mail Very few songwriting duos have as much recognition power and songs that are hotwired into our own personal lives, as that of Lennon and McCartney.  While there have been some epic songwriting duos, such as Rodgers and Hart, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Lerner and Lowe, Difford and Tilbrook, Gilbert and Sullivan, few of these teams have the backstory and the sheer drama that befell Len...

Send us Fan Mail Let's talk Beatles!  For most of us, they are the soundtrack to our youth, or they became something to study when thinking about what influenced the bands that were the soundtrack of our youth.   Everyone has a memory associated with the band, one way or another and it might be another 50 years before people don't.  However, right now, fascination has again been sparked...

Send us Fan Mail A lot has been going on with the Beatles lately.  With the release of the movie Get Back, directed and produced by Peter Jackson , the fab four are once again put under the magnifying glass.   This time, unlike the move Let It Be, there seems to be a more kind and gentler approach to the film around the implosion of the band.   Even if you haven't seen the "documentary o...

Send us Fan Mail Marty and Sandeep, being banned from their respective homes by their wives, conduct the podcast from the "Mobile Unit" or Marty's minivan.  Parked on the street in Rogers Park, Illinois, the two muse about the end of the 20th-century style expectation of work in an office.  The two predict that we will see growth in two new industries: the mini-study or miniature of...

Send us Fan Mail We are a nation of sloppy dressers.  Partly due to the pandemic, but partly due to cheap, accessible, comfortable clothing, we have become sweatpants nation, better known as the United States of Slobovia.  Each of us has that outfit or shirt that has one too many stains on it.  Each of us has that sweatshirt, either with a university we have never gone to or a state we have never...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to a special Thanksgiving edition of Around The Campfire with Pastor Drew Jacques, the pastor of St. David's Presbyterian Church in Campbellsville, Ontario.  We look at taking the much touted idea of gratitude and turning it on its head.    Pastor Drew starts by using the word Thanksgiving or Thankfulness. Thankfulness and not gratitude enables a complete surrender to...

Send us Fan Mail According to Wikipedia, With a population of almost four million, Indian Americans make up 1.2% of the U.S. population and are the largest group of South Asian Americans and the second largest group [7] of Asian Americans after Chinese Americans . The New York metropolitan area comprises the largest population of Indian Americans among U.S. metropolitan areas. A national populatio...

Send us Fan Mail Marty and Annie pick up where they left off after now having their dog Capers, living with them for the past three months.  A lot of changes as well as surprises for these new pet owners.  Especially for Marty, who has made the adjustment from not wanting to have a pet, to now becoming a member of that secret society, the Dog Tribe.    Support the show We are always grateful to ha...

Send us Fan Mail In our third Around the Campfire with Pastor Drew, we follow up on last weeks exploration of the existence of evil or the Devil.  Reading M. Scott Peck's 1983 blockbuster, People of the Lie, I wanted to ask Pastor Drew about the existence of evil in people.  One of the points Peck laid out in his book is that it seems that embracing  Evil/Devil is a choice that people make to...

Send us Fan Mail The late comedian Flip Wilson used to joke that "The Devil Made Me Do It."  Perhaps it was a more innocent time, when the notion of a Satan that could influence people to do bad things could be joked about.  But the idea that there is an evil spirit, a force that attempts to counter good in the world is as old as religion itself.    Is the Devil real?  Marty and Anne de...

Send us Fan Mail "First it is ridiculed, then it is persecuted, then it is marketed."  So says Blake Malliway, quoting one of his teachers from Glastonbury, England.  Blake and Wycke Malliway are the village witches of Rogers Park, Chicago, Illinois, having established a shop on Morse avenue that offers what one would expect a shop for witchcraft to offer.  (To view the shop, watch the M...

Send us Fan Mail An article from the National Geographic Magazine put it plainly enough in its title:  How can the most endangered ecosystem in the world be saved?  Immediately one thinks of the Amazon Rainforest.  The reality is, that the greatest carbon sink has been right here in the Midwest. The Prairie.  As the article states: The loss of the Amazon rainforest may get the headlines, but grass...

Send us Fan Mail Sandeep and Marty break down this podcast into three sections.  Part One deals with the difference of approach to problem solving between artists and engineers.  You can guess who is who by now.  The talk revolves around getting ready for winter, infrastructure (such as sewers) and who is better equipped for handling such challenges.  The arrival of a Union Pacific Rail-laying tra...

Send us Fan Mail Sandeep and Marty take this week to the local level in Rogers Park,  discussing the arrival of Fall, the homeless camp springing up in a public park,  the dog Capers, the odd furniture store on Clark Street that Marty thinks is a front, the Rusty Patched Bumblebee, and how odd it is that planes always seem to be flying overhead when STRUNG OUT  is recording.  A lot of laughter, PL...

Send us Fan Mail Seán Cleland is an Irish fiddle player, Irish music teacher, adjudicator, collaborator, producer and executive director of the Irish Music School of Chicago, a non-profit traditional Irish music, language, song and dance school, which he founded in 2003. Seán grew up on the North side of Chicago in an Irish-American household.  He started classical violin lessons at age 7, and at...

Send us Fan Mail The southeastern corner of Iowa is home to Lee County.  There, a little town called Donnellson has one water-tower, some shops, a nice city park and the distinction of having its first organized music scene created by one live-music-loving farmer by the name of Doug Seyb.  For 15 years, Doug ran the quasi-house-concert-meets-Grange-meeting-meets-Austin City Limits "Under The...

Send us Fan Mail Marty and Brian take on the microphone to do a podcast about where things are right now in the musical world.  A special glimpse of a song under construction is revealed as well! Support the show We are always grateful to have you listening to STRUNG OUT.    Here are some important links: SUPPORT THE SHOW: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/MartyfineaK MARTIN'S WEBSITE: http://www....

Send us Fan Mail Support the show We are always grateful to have you listening to STRUNG OUT.    Here are some important links: SUPPORT THE SHOW: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/MartyfineaK MARTIN'S WEBSITE: http://www. MARTINMcCORMACK.COM   (note---you can get my weekly bulletin when you sign up on the list!) MARTIN'S MUSIC: Music | Martin Laurence McCormack (bandcamp.com) Martin McCormack...

Send us Fan Mail Calle Sur is what happens when you combine man and woman, Black and White, urban and rural.  Seeing Calle Sur is living proof that the terms "Hispanic" and "Latino" can't be summarized.    Ed East is Panamanian. His upbringing in Panama City meant noise, hustle, bustle, and those chaotic smells and sights so characteristic of any Third World metropolis. It...

Send us Fan Mail Marty and Sandeep talk about their very unscientific, yet tasty taste test in which they compared grass-fed beef with the Impossible burger, which is a pea protein based patty.  They also reached out to Upside Foods for some lab cultured meat and hope that in the future they can compare that as well.   While they couldn't participate in this taste test,  we may be able to obt...

Send us Fan Mail Sandeep and Marty look at the changing landscape with America's farmland.  We start with a great article by Michael Pollan, which can be accessed here.   We then move into the realm of lab grown meats and the amazing new world that protein may replace organic means of obtaining such food, i.e., imagine a restaurant 20 years from now offering a streak of sabre toothed tiger? ...

Send us Fan Mail Marty is joined by analyst Sandeep Gopal as they ponder wild rabbits being an efficient eco-alternative to mowing, violence in Chicago, the German Unitard approach to the Olympics and why not? Rudy Giuliani.  Support the show We are always grateful to have you listening to STRUNG OUT.    Here are some important links: SUPPORT THE SHOW: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/MartyfineaK MART...

Send us Fan Mail Marty is joined by his analyst and consultant on all things political and cultural, Sandeep Gopal, to look at where we are at with Covid, Climate Change, Politics, the Olympics and so much more.  Support the show We are always grateful to have you listening to STRUNG OUT.    Here are some important links: SUPPORT THE SHOW: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/MartyfineaK MARTIN'S WEB...

Send us Fan Mail Tim Goldich, author and men’s work facilitator, has devoted the last 25 years to researching, pondering over and refining viewpoints regarding gender issues. His first book, Loving Men, Respecting Women: The Future of Gender Politics is part of a four-book series on the topic . The second book – Love and Respect in the Past: The History of Gender Equality – is due out in 2022. Ded...