Strung Out

Send us Fan Mail Martin talks with Pastor Drew Jacques with the Around the Campfire series.  In this episode, we start off talking about art and how the creative expression of individuals is running headlong into a sort of group think that Pastor Drew identifies as "sheeple."   Martin looks at this sort of "group mentality," like the Ottawa Trucker Rally as something that is mo...

Send us Fan Mail American culture is strange.  We pride ourselves of being one-people out of many, however, when it comes to identifying who we are, we usually resort to the good 'ol hyphen.  What those hyphenisms are and who came up with them are open for debate.  For example, Native-American or African-American only scratch the surface when describing two very diverse groups of Americans. ...

Send us Fan Mail Marty talks to Herbalist, Writer (and wife to Marty) Anne Baudouin de Courtenay about the latest odd video habit displayed by their daughter, Aine.  That is watching on YouTube a video of people playing the video game Minecraft.  For some reason, this is very entertaining to Aine, yet causes some concern to us, her parents. We ponder if this waste of time (in our opinion) leads to...

Send us Fan Mail Remember geeking out and talking about bands?  Everyone would have an opinion on who was the best band and the worst band.  For this podcast, Tim Goldich, Paul Schneider and Martin McCormack have a round robin on who they think the worst bands or artists were and are.   Support the show We are always grateful to have you listening to STRUNG OUT.    Here are some important links: S...

Send us Fan Mail On part two of our Peace Plea's, the Reverend Drew Jacques continues to explain a roadmap of reaching out to fellow souls in an effort to "wage peace".  Here is the Peace Plea's Treatise on YouTube .   And here is the text of the Treatise: I’m a person of faith. I’ll put my “religion” aside, so we can talk about important things. The important things…are Peace,...

Send us Fan Mail As a species, humans are experts at making war.   Part of what the Reverend Drew Jacques refers to as "our monkey brain", the human brain has that primal flight or fight capacity.  It also can be the source of anxiety, again the triggering of the flight or fight reflex.   War and what comes with it, unfortunately comes much more naturally to the human condition. Peace an...

Send us Fan Mail According to Wikipedia, in economics, Kondratiev waves (also called supercycles , great surges , long waves , K-waves or the long economic cycle ) are hypothesized cycle-like phenomena in the modern world economy. The phenomenon is closely connected with the technology life cycle. And it is stated that the period of a wave ranges from forty to sixty years, the cycles consist of al...

Send us Fan Mail Our planet continues to face a threat from humanity.  Pollution, war, disease and other conditions have ruined land, created sea level rise.  Let's face it, we may need to remove ourselves from at least part of the picture.  While such people as Elon Musk feel that moving humanity to Mars might be the solution, there may be a need to remove human population from certain areas...

Send us Fan Mail The 21st Century has been a disappointment thus far.  With the advancement of technology, the idea that we could all be globally connected, our trade would ensure peaceful engagement and enlightened rulers would meet for big selfies has all proven for naught.  Instead, we are smack dab back at the drawing board. We are looking at the rise of tyrants and probably the most consequen...

Send us Fan Mail With the invasion of Ukraine, the world witnesses (again) the result of Authoritarianism, when a decision by one person can potentially destroy a country and sadly, the world.   As an artist, one has to make a decision on how to confront such evil.  Songwriters in the past have written songs that have taken evil head on.  The great Woody Guthrie wrote "Talking Off Hitler&apos...

Send us Fan Mail As we bid farewell to Black History Month, we take a look at how Black American history has been shaped by Canada.  Martin talks to Pastor Drew Jacques of St. David's Presbyterian Church in Campbellville, Ontario.  Jacques starts with a lithograph that appeared in Harper's Magazine in 1891, showing four African-American men, musicians, heading to a gig.  Entitled, "...

Send us Fan Mail Russia, the largest country in the world, wants to get larger.  Specifically, Vladimir Putin, has made it his legacy to create a world in which Russia is the Empire that strikes back.   He has chosen Ukraine as his target, apparently by force or threat of force wanting to have that democratic country once again under the thumb of the Russian Federation.   As the West threatens bac...

Send us Fan Mail Switchback is back at work!  Brian and Marty detail the effort behind their new album project.  They also talk about Saint Patrick's Shows for March 5 at the Grand Theater in Keokuk, Iowa and March 17 at FitzGerald's in Berwyn, Chicago.  Capers the dog gets in on the act and the lads reflect on the secret to Brian's songwriting ideas, the physical effort that goes i...

Send us Fan Mail Annie and Martin bring back another podcast about their ongoing experiment in being Airbnb hosts.  Their residence called "A bit of the North Woods on Chicago's North Side"  has earned them Superhost Status for two years running.  With that status has been some hard work.  One thing that has helped them sell the residence, is that the space tells a story.  A lot of...

Send us Fan Mail Ever thought about turning that spare bedroom or vacant garage into an Airbnb place?  Well, tune in as Annie and Marty talk about their adventures with their Airbnb abode called "A Bit of the North Woods on Chicago's North Side!"   This is the first in an ongoing series that will be presented by Annie and Marty as they share their secrets, suggestions and experience...

Send us Fan Mail  A little more than a year ago, John and Patricia Kennedy, of Chatham, Illinois found their lives overturned and upended with Covid .  In the late fall of 2020, John attended a family reunion that centered around a ritual that is familiar to a lot of rural Midwesterners: deer camp.  That deer camp had particular importance.  His brother Patrick was dying with cancer.  His father w...

Send us Fan Mail Áine McCormack recently celebrated her 8th birthday.  Already she has made some strides in the music world, having been on two albums.  The last one, Miss Rack's Zoo features her singing voice quite prominently throughout. We took the moment over a very crowded birthday weekend to sit down and ask her what is on her mind as an 8-year-old girl.  The result is an insight into w...

Send us Fan Mail Sandeep and Marty talk about adjusting to wintertime and in the second half of the podcast, Marty describes what is going on with his website, his visual art and music.   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. MARTINM...

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...