This week’s art is digital. There’s a reason for that.

Last Tuesday I had a medical test done at the behest of my neurologist. He was concerned that, in addtion to Myasthenia Gravis, I might have something else causing weakness in my hands.

I went along with this even though the weakness in my hands is something that I only notice when I go to the doctor and he checks my hand strength.  After beginning meds for MG I have retrained myself to hold a pencil, pen and brush, and because I was never terribly good at playing guitar, I quickly regained the ability to play as badly as I had before the onset of MG. But he thought I might have a pinched nerve in my neck, so we scheduled the test…and then it got bumped back several months until last Tuesday.

I do not have a pinched nerve. I apparently have pain-free, moderate Carpal Tunnel and Cubital Tunnel issues. I do not intend to even consider surgery. I will say that, this particular test combined with an EMG, which is thoroughly unpleasant, was something I was not fully informed of in advance…the sticking of needles deep into my muscles up and down both arms and into my neck felt as brutal as it sounds.

I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that this is a test that I don’t imagine many people ever agree to have done a second time. On top of the shocks and the needles, the technician did not read my chart ahead of time and used rubbing alcohol on my palms before I realized what was going on (I’m allergic to the stuff). So I had about three days of burning, itching, tender palms, and aching arms and no chance in hell of creating any physical art. The fun part was, three days later when the bruises began appearing. It looks like I was running around backhanding fire hydrants.

So that’s why this week’s art is digital. As for what it is…I decided to indulge in a bit of synaesthesia. What you see above is my impression of the sound made by the machine that the needles plunged into me was making.  The needles had little microphones on them, and they go by those sounds to detect what’s going on in your body.  It was basically loud and annoying static, turned up very high.

Aren’t you glad you asked?  I hope I’m able to make some real art for next week.

And apparently this is the third time I’ve used this as a title for a Monday Morning Art piece.

If you want to see this image larger, click HERE.

Meanwhile, over in radioland, beginning at 2 PM (EDT) on The AIR, we bring new episodes of Nigel Pye’s Psychedelic Shack, and Herman Linte’s weekly showcase of the Progressive Rock of the past half-century, Prognosis.  You can listen to The AIR at the website, or on the embedded radio player elsewhere on this page.

Nigel Pye has managed to hit episode 102 with Psychedelic Shack. For some reason, Nigel was more excited about this episode than he was about episode 100.  It’s a pretty cool collection of trippy music.

Check out the playlist…

Psychedelic Shack 102

Andy Partridge “Humanoid Boogie”
Lickerish Quartet “Lighthouse Spaceship Revised”
Mike McGear “Rainbow Lady”
Roger Glover & Guests “Sitting In A Dream”
TC&I “Comrades of Pop”
Reparata & The Delrons “Captain of Your Ship”
Prince “Pop Life”
The Beach Boys “The Elements-Fire”
Oingo Boingo “Change”
Grace Slick & The Great Society “Sally Go Round”
The Turtles “Last Laugh”
Klaatu “Around The Universe In 80 Days”

At 3 PM (EDT), Herman Linte put together a mixtape show paying tribute to the late Chris Squire, the virtuoso bass player for YES, who passed away ten years ago last month. Since Prognosis had not begun when Squire died, Herman wanted to take this occasion to collect some of his most memorable bass and vocal perrmances.

Check out the playlist…

Prognosis 129

Chris Squire “You by My Side”
YES “Heart of the Sunrise”
Squackett “Life Within A Day”
Rick Wakeman “Chamber of Horrors”
Pink Floyd Tribute “Comfortably Numb”
Conspiracy “Say Goodbye”
The Syn “Mr. White’s Flying Machine”
YES “Cinema”
YES “Onward”
Chris Squire & Alan White “Run With The Fox”
Conspiracy “Violet Purple Rose”
YES “The Gates of Delirium”
Squackett “Perfect Love Song”
The Syn “14 Hour Technicolor Dream”
Chris Squire and Billy Sherwood “Days of Wonder”
Cinema “It Can Happen”
YES “Tempus Fugit”
Chris Squire “Amazing Grace”

Psychedelic Shack can be heard every Monday at 2 PM, with replays Tuesday at 9 AM, Wednesday at 10 PM, Friday at 1 PM,  and Saturday at 9 AM. You can hear Prognosis on The AIR Monday at 3 PM, with replays Tuesday at 7 AM, Wednesday at 8 PM, Thursday at Noon, and Saturday at 10 AM.

At 8 PM you can hear an hour of music from Weird Al Yankovic The Comedy Vault.

Tonight at 9 PM for the Monday Marathon we bring you ten hours of Beatles Blast, featuring episodes heavy on the Ringo, as it is the lad’s 85th birthday today.