Author: Michael McCornack

I recently watched the Duck/Huskie football game with a couple of close and dear relatives who happen to be Beaver fans. This kind of division can happen in the best of families. At any rate, I was concerned that the situation might be stressful for them as they are unaccustomed to rooting for the Ducks. I provided them with the following primer to help ease their discomfort. I hope that you, too, might find this useful. Throughout the day of the game, and especially during the game, you need to occasionally and randomly shout “GoDucks!” at the top of your lungs. Shout this anytime anyone in the room does anything, like coming back from the bathroom, applauding a good play, sneezing, or […]

Recording is hard. Okay, digging ditches in the rain and cold is hard, but discounting for obvious physical labor endeavors like that, recording music, and recording music worth listening to, is very, very difficult. Self-recording adds even more difficulty. There are some technical difficulties right from the start, like having a good acoustical space to record in, having access to the equipment (a recording device, microphones, stands, pop filters and the like), and having good, well-rehearsed music to record. But beyond that, things get tough. When you self-produce, you are creating a situation where you must do two very different things at the same time. You need to be an artistically engaged, immersed performer, filling the core of your performance. […]

Okay, I probably should be worrying about other things, but other things have had me so terribly worried lately that I’ve had to seek diversion. The question I’m posing here is not one I sought, but it popped into my head, and it’s now stuck in my brain like a song-worm, and I’m hoping I can find an answer. So, you know those little ditties that the organist in baseball parks plays during the slow times when they’re trying to get the crowd engaged? One of them is a clapping pattern that I don’t recall hearing anywhere other than at baseball stadiums. That is what is bugging me; it seems to be a baseball only thing, and I don’t recall hearing […]

Waiting is one of those inevitable states of existence to which we give very little thought, at least during those times when we are notwaiting. We wait in many different situations: at stop lights, in lines at the store, for a phone call that is expected at a certain time, or as I am now, for an oil change to be finished. Waiting has different weights, hominymic pun not intended. Waiting for news of someone undergoing surgery feels very different than waiting at a stop light, unless of course that stop light is between you and the person undergoing surgery. Waiting for your turn at the doctor’s office for a routine exam, waiting at the DMV, or waiting for the […]

There is something wonderfully satisfying about construction. To be able to start off with something in one form, and with a need or space waiting to be filled, and to engage in a creative process and thereby end up with a tangible result can be a real joy.

The following remarks are from a speech I was asked to make at a Kiwanis scholarship banquet on April 24, 2014 at Shadow Hills Country Club in Eugene, Oregon. The evening began with the attendees singing together “God Bless America” and “Oh, Canada” as the event was called to order. My original text included a ruse to get the group to sing “Happy Birthday”, a plan that was rendered unnecessary by the singing of the two aforementioned songs. This version of the speech includes a couple of paragraphs about my grandson, Henry, which time constraints prevented me from including at the banquet. Those paragraphs are included here as italicised text enclosed in brackets. Good evening. My name is Mike McCornack, and before I get started with my talk, I’d […]

I have problem sometimes with having too much to do, and too many choices. My thoughts can become frenzied, and a chaotic inertia sets in. This past week I experimented with a self-managed intervention, and I’m pleased with how it worked for me. The idea is this. When I recognized the impending hurricane of thought starting to swirl, I selected the first item that came to mind among the many that were swirling. In my first test of the technique, the item that came to mind was a speech I’m in the process of writing. The second step was to set a timer. Having one readily available on my phone was a benefit. I set the timer for 15-minutes, and sat […]

I have been blessed in my life with wonderful parents and many wonderful teachers, some by design, some by effect. When I saw the bulletin on the news last night about the passing of Pete Seeger, it marked the passing of one of my greatest teachers, and a spiritual parent. And while I do feel sadness at his passing, I also feel a tremendous wave of thanksgiving that he came into my life when he did. So much of who I have become in my life I owe to Pete. I believe I was 11 or 12 when I checked out a copy of one of the LPs in the “American Favorite Ballads” series from my local library. The recording […]

Don’t try to do everything. Do one thing. If that works, move on.

Sometimes a dream becomes a compulsion. You don’t understand it, you’re not sure where it’s going, but you don’t want to leave it. There is an addictive curiosity about what might be next. I have this same issue with the radio. When the radio is on, I drift into the flow of the programming even when I don’t pay close attention. I find that as I move room to room, I feel the need to take the radio with me. I may not even be sure what the current program is about, but I don’t want to leave it. I need to see it through to it’s next chapter. It is the same feeling that I have in a sleeping […]