a pedestrian undertaking

I'm still in the process of sorting out storage with my host, and the upcoming week looks pretty full-on, so I'm taking the low road and posting a mini-mix of tracks from Facebook status updates. I have some plans for what I hope will be interesting mixes coming up, but please accept this token in the meantime. The mix spans late January to mid-March 2009. I used to dance to The Chameleons UK (as I knew them in the States) during retro night at a Detroit club in the 90s. The lyrics are reminiscent of TS Eliot's allusions to the legend of King Arthur. At the time, I was writing a series of papers about the Arthurian cycle during my last years at uni. In February of last year, I underwent injections of botulinum toxin, in an attempt to relieve spasticity in my calves. This involves lying on my belly with needle electrodes inserted into various nerve plexuses within the leg muscles. A small current is run through the needles to target the nerves for the botox injection. There is no anaesthetic; none is needed for such a minor procedure. What no one expected was that the current would trigger waves of spasms across my legs and back. The pain was extraordinary. I flopped up and down like a landed fish, banging my head against the plinth, spittle flying. They could hear my screams across the entire floor. The doctor continued the injections, at my insistence. I came home, exhausted, and posted that I was feeling cross-eyed and painful. A few weeks later, it was apparent the botox wasn't bringing much relief. My taste in lyrics became progressively morbid. TRACK 01 "Swamp Thing," The Chamelons UK INDEX: 00:00:00 TRACK 02 "Crosseyed and Painless," Talking Heads INDEX: 05:54:74 TRACK 03 "Coconut," Harry Nilsson INDEX: 10:39:13 TRACK 04 "Stella Was a Diver and She was Always Down," Interpol INDEX: 14:28:12 TRACK 05 "November Spawned a Monster," Morrissey INDEX: 20:52:54 TRACK 06 "City," Primal Scream INDEX: 26:14:53