Middle Age – Page 7 – The Procrastination Pen

Sleeping With ASMR

In a previous blog post I mentioned that Dr James Gill was sufficiently prolific in the world of medical exams that it would be inevitable we would return to his own channel at some point in this blog.

I’m not sure if it is built into the YouTube algorithm but every time I look for a medical exam video Dr James Gill will occur at least once on that list. He is obviously dedicated.

This is one I chose for today’s blog:

Respiratory Examination Master Class

But this is one of a great many

Examining the YouTube channel Dr James Gill we find approximately one hundred and sixty nine videos as at todays date. The longest blog item I ever did was twenty three and I feel that was far too long.

In time honoured tradition (for this blog anyway), I will refine this number down using one of Dr James Gill’s own playlists.

As luck would have it we have been on the subject of cranial nerve exams recently – and I find that he has a playlist for this here:

Ten videos all incorporating Dr Gills calming voice (I have the feeling he must have cultured that over a long period of training).

How to Examine Cranial Nerve I – Olfactory Nerve – Clinical Skills – Dr Gill

A funky intro tune (which I could do without) and the constant accompaniment of air conditioning as background noise. These are all things we are used to after the blog item on Warwick Medical School.

However the voice of Dr Gill makes this seem unimportant. Lovely and quiet and calm. He seems consistent in this respect, I have only occasionally found a video of his in which this is not the case. This is one in which he seems quite young. However it was posted only two years ago, which probably shows how old I am.

As one of the commentators relates – we’re not here for the education but we’re getting one anyway.

How To Perform Optic Nerve Examination – Cranial Nerve II Examination OSCE – Dr Gill

Dr Gill is if anything even quieter here. Intra-video volume is a problem. If you’re playing my playlist regularly you may notice that you have one video at optimum volume for sleep and you can’t hear the next one. Worse still the next one kicks in like Trumpet Voluntary and blasts you from a nice relaxing dose.

I may soon be weeding the existing list to reflect only the highest quality, so some high-volume ones may get archived.

The biggest issue with these videos I find is because they have breaks in the track, YouTube introduces adverts into those spaces. Sometimes these are quite jarring adverts that are not toned to the content of the video or the time of day.

How to Find Your Blind Spot – Clinical Skills – 4K

This appears to be out of order. It refers to a cranial nerve exam yet to come which is in fact the video above in this playlist.

I love the comparison of the cranial nerve with a wiring point for the eye. It’s this kind of thing which must really help students to comprehend what is going on.

I also managed to map my own blind spot which is a piece of fun (I’m unlikely to be paid for doing this).

Cranial Nerves III, IV & VI Explained – What do they do and how to examine them – Dr James Gill

Entitled “Ultimate Guide to…” and just less than six and a half minutes. Quite astounding he could cram it in so effectively. Again with the air con but I think the vocal volume is better here. In all of these videos the best ASMR is definitely during the brief exam part of the video.

Cranial Nerve V: The Trigeminal Nerve – Your Ultimate Guide To Cranial Nerve Examination – Dr Gill

Again, the exam part of the video is best in ASMR terms.

Cranial Nerve VII – The Facial Nerve – Ultimate Guide to Cranial Nerve Examination

A very odd background noise at the start like a light metallic sound, almost as if the sound was vibrating through a duct or similar. This settles down as he gets into the motor neuron part of the video.

The video actually explains some of the behaviour we have seen in other cranial nerve exam videos.

Cranial Nerve VIII – The Vestibulocochlear Nerve – Ultimate Guide to Cranial Nerve Examination

Age related hearing loss strikes home, I am certainly starting to lose mine. Which presumably, eventually, will ultimately impact on any ASMR.

Dr Gill seems to repeat himself in this video, when discussing hearing loss due to old age, that can be distracting. I’ll keep this in the playlist but it might be one that is subject to future weeding.

Glossopharyngeal & Vagus Nerve Explained – Guide to Cranial Nerves IX and X – Dr Gill

So much quieter at the start and so much easier to relax to as a result.

Cranial Nerve XI & XII – Accessory and Hypoglossal Nerve – Ultimate Guide – Dr Gill

This again at the start lacks the air conditioning noise – ah peace.

Cranial Nerve Examination Demonstration – 4K – Clinical Skills OSCE – Dr. Gill

For me, the exam is always where Dr Gill is at his best ASMR wise so this is the pinnacle of this particular set.

The Dr Gill playlist is here:

I have no doubt we will be covering more of his videos in this blog

The overall playlist of videos covered so far in this blog is here:

I hope that you find them relaxing.

If you liked this blog item why not follow this blog:

Photo by S T on Unsplash

Sleeping With ASMR

I recently had a nasty shock when posting an ASMR article. For each embedded video, rather than a nice image of the video from YouTube there is a rather abrupt message from YouTube stating that the content of the video can only be shown on YouTube itself.

I don’t see this as a problem. I was anticipating that in reading this you were eager to get to the playlists at the end and see what new joys of ASMR I had found for you. However, it does look rather unattractive.

I apologise for this. I do not know a workaround other than to delete the video from the blog altogether. That seems a bit counterproductive since you wouldn’t get to experience the video at all.

If anyone has any suggestions as to how the ugly warning box can be dispensed with and something more attractive put in its place, I would welcome that kind of input.

Today’s video subject is another nerve examination – they are a rich source of ASMR material. I have no idea how the medical education process seems to churn out so many people with calm quiet voices but long may it continue and long may they continue to post their videos.

Quick Neurological Screening Examination

Judging by some of the comments I am not the first to divine that this is a great ASMR video. I’m hopeful that you find it soporific, if you’ve decided to use the playlists to get off to sleep, as I do.

Prashant for that is the YouTube channel has posted just ten videos but has 4.06K subscribers as at today’s date. This makes me wonder if there are a shed-load of ASMR devotees out there.

A number of the videos could have been effective but they are in a language I do not understand and hence there is a risk I’m posting something that I shouldn’t. Therefore, I have discounted them.

This next one features Dr Prashant himself. He has quite a good voice, but I’m not sure the coronavirus is a very restful subject so I am discounting it from the playlist.

Corona Virus (COVID-19) Pandemic

Which leaves only one video:

Mental Status Examination

This takes a while to wind itself up, the exam proper does not really start till six minutes five seconds into the video. Sadly whilst it is the sole remaining video in this channel worthy of consideration, I don’t think it really made the grade. (Your experience may differ). So one more video for the playlist, remember it is found here:

I hope you find it restful.

If you liked this article why not subscribe to the blog.

Photo by Emre Camcıoğlu on Unsplash

Sleeping With ASMR

This one is a confessed cheat. Where to find an ASMR video? Well why not choose a channel dedicated to ASMR? However, if anyone watching this can identify the original source of this video, I would be very grateful – perhaps I’ll follow up with a further article to show the original video unadulterated by editing.

Hand and Wrist Examination (ASMR)

In fact this might be a way forwards for me as I have been trying to stick to the more po-faced approach of avoiding those videos dedicated to ASMR and trying instead to find ASMR videos by choosing a subject area – i.e. accidental ASMR videos. But hey, why not get a leg up from the work other people are doing in this area.

I notice it is entitled “ROM and MMT”. Here ROM is Range of Motion, MMT is Manual Muscle Testing.

This perhaps will give me a new category of ASMR videos to search for in the future.

Trace is the “patient” and Jane the medical professional. Judging by Jane’s T-shirt design she is working in Occupational Therapy. However, the entwined snake emblem (Caduceus it appears to be called) is widely used it seems (from a Google image search), so this does not reliably tell me where she works.

Jane has a pretty good voice in terms of ASMR and Trace does not get a lot to say. The surroundings are not typically medical, I would guess someone’s front room. It was uploaded six years ago, but potentially it is older than that. Presumably this video was once on a medical channel and has been snaffled and probably edited to enhance the ASMR effect.

I would make a guess that the two know each other and that potentially this is a student video used for assessment. (There are a large number of these and I guarantee some will appear in future blog items).

Not unexpectedly, ASMR exams – for that is the channel we are dealing with – has a great range of videos. Because the channel owner has done all the work for me, in general the videos are excellent for ASMR.

Twenty six videos as at today’s date ranging in posting date from nine years ago to five years ago. (Which is sad as it looks like the channel is no longer maintained).

It would not be the first time I choose to blog about an item that is now thoroughly out of date.

There is one playlist on the site:

This features only six of the twenty-six videos for some reason, and all seem to have been posted nine years ago. It does not include my chosen video above. You get that as a bonus-extra on this occasion.

This gives me a nice shortlist of videos to cover in one blog post. However, given the other content is good, I will make a point of following on with the remaining twenty (probably spread over a few blog posts to avoid those articles getting too long).

Apologies for the sequential nature of these articles.

I suspect you’re keen to get to the playlist – in which case scroll to the end and there you will find it.

Physical Examination #2 (ASMR)

Fans of this blog should be familiar with this one. It has had an entire article dedicated to it and it is already in the playlist.

Physical Examination #3 (ASMR)

The title at the start of the video is “Abdominal Examination” there is no indication of the originating channel.

The participants are Dr Thomas and Mr Jones the “patient” apparently. It gives on screen prompts to indicate which stage the examination has entered. Dr Thomas’ voice is good: lovely and quiet. No Vicki Scott but great anyway. Both characters could easily be of Welsh extraction (I’m not great at accents) but there is no other clue as to which institution this is.

The abdominal exam looks positively painful but Mr Jones seems completely unfazed by it. It is all very calm.

Strangely at 5:48 it suddenly changes to “Cardiovascular Examination” and Dr Thomas introduces himself to Mr Jones again. Then at 12:18 it becomes “Respiratory System Examination” and Dr Thomas introduces himself to Mr Jones again.

This is the sort of video I dislike – one that was several distinct videos edited together to make one long one.

This is a shame because Dr Thomas has an excellent voice but it’s right down there with ASMR loop videos for distraction – it will not be in the playlist.

I wish I could find the original, separate, videos as they would be of a quality that I would definitely include in the playlist.

Physical Examination #4 (ASMR)

The video quality is not marvellous. In fact, I think I could describe it as fuzzy.

The intro states it is health assessment 3310. The closest I can find is NSG 3310. This seems to have been offered through an institution called Troy University.

There is a channel for Troy University and it has a great number of videos (read too many to count right now). Checking if there are 3310 assessment videos for Troy University we get a list (for example

and

) but I was unable to find this one.

The “patient” is Luke. Presumably students watching this would know who the medical professional was here. At nearly forty-five minutes this is another lengthy exam video, they must be covering every angle.

The voice here is marginal in ASMR terms (I’ve probably been spoiled by Hollie Berry).

Still it is good enough for inclusion in the playlist. (Perhaps it will be one that falls victim to a future weeding process).

Another term I was not clear about prior to this is “Auscultate” – listening to sounds from the chest.

Associated with this is the term “egophony” this is the use of the E sound. If the E is heard to sound like an A then it is diagnostic.

“Stereognosis” the ability to perceive what a solid object is without actually looking at it.

“Graphesthesia” recognising writing on the skin by touch only.

“Brachioradialis” a muscle of the forearm.

Luke seems about as entertained as a small child being asked to “stay still and stop making a noise”. I’m sure he went on to develop a fantastic medical career but he certainly isn’t keen here. Possibly because this is being recorded on a Sunday and he could be out relaxing and having a good time.

Barack Obama is the president so we know this was recorded between 2009 and 2017.

Physical Examination #5 (ASMR)

Twenty-five and a half minutes so a more usual length. This time we get an introduction which tells us it is the Northeastern Physician Assistant Program 2010.

A search on this reveals this channel: redbreadproductions

Where we get the same video but in three parts – this looks like it is going to be one featured in a future blog post

Out of interest the three videos are:

and

I will cover these properly in a future blog post.

This means that this one must be a compilation

Initially it is entitled “The General Physical Examination”. It is going well until the clunking sounds of the weighing scales which are designed to awaken the dead. After that though it calms down a reasonable amount. The medical professional and the “patient” in this seem to be having a lot of fun making the video. I am guessing it is educational in intent.

At the end the thanks go to Rebecca Scott Ph.D, PA-C and Rebekah Saunders, PA-SI.

I’m guessing Rebecca did the exam and for our purposes she has a very good voice. If the video is a compilation this is invisible so it can go into the playlist.

Physical Examination #6 (ASMR)

This one starts with an intro stating “Stritch School of Medicine IPM Physical Exam Series Head to Toe Examination on a Male”

Stritch School of Medicine redirects to Loyola University Chicago

The only one that references Stritch appears to be this one:

Entertaining I’m sure but zero on the ASMR scale.

So how does our video size up?

Dr Michael Koller – searching for him indicates that he has a page of original videos which will be worthy of a future blog post perhaps.

John is the “patient” here. Dr Koller does not at first seem to have your classic ASMR voice. This improves as the examination commences. Although he isn’t going to be a James Gill. The video at just over forty minutes is getting on the long side. It is also on the fuzzy side so we are to be thankful it is the sound that we are focused on. It’s good enough I think so I’m going to add it to the playlist.

Yes I know that there are only five videos here – for some reason YouTube informs me that one of the six videos in this playlist is hidden. I’m still not clear why this is.

I’ll split up the remaining twenty and post them in the next few blog posts.

The playlist for ASMR Exams is here:

The playlist covering all videos featured in blog posts thus far is here:

It may be possible to identify the source organisations for some of these videos, in which case I may do some follow up articles delving more deeply into them.

If you liked this article why not subscribe to this blog.

Photo by Jenny Jackson on Unsplash

Sleeping With ASMR

“Unintentional ASMR” now seems to have become a “hot” category in that a large number of videos are being labelled with this term. It therefore becomes one of those categories that is easily abused. To the extent that I wonder whether some of them are in fact “unintentional” or are instead scripted by ASMR professionals keen to attract additional views.

On the face of it this video looks genuine:

Unintentional ASMR Cranial Nerves Exam

Not that I would be an expert in diagnosing videos that have been put together to confuse the unwary. This has been liberated from somewhere but the text gives no clue as to the identities of the participants. That said, there is limited possibility of tracking the originator down, less verifying that those featured are not simply actors or (whisper it) ASMR artists.

I notice that the comments reference “sandwich breath” which was featured in a previous blog item. However I have to confess I cannot (yet) clarify fightfightfightfight, or putapitapaper. “The bulldog” will be clarified below.

From the video we have Mr Evans and Dr Wu, for whatever credence we can place in this. The crest that appears at 0:08 indicates this could be a hospital or university. A Google Image search indicates that it could be the “Royal Prince Alfred Hospital”.

However a search of the website, does not reveal this video and an overly long search of YouTube using the “Royal Prince Alfred Hospital” title reveals a heck of a lot of videos, but not this one. This might be like the Hollie Berry experience which, lacking further evidence, I put down to older training videos which had subsequently been pulled from YouTube and yet preserved by the ASMR community (for which we need only be thankful).

So after that lengthy distraction/discussion, what is the video like in terms of ASMR? (Which is presumably why most people are reading this). Dr Wu is excellent, a properly attentive voice, measured, calm, not overly loud. I can’t think how many videos I have rejected due to shouty presentation. Mr Evans does not get a lot of opportunity to talk in this one so I can’t really judge how he stands up ASMR wise.

L M (for that is the name of the account where this is posted) seems to have a few of these videos available. At the time of writing ten. As usual they are variable in their ability to produce ASMR effects.

There is but one playlist this contains music videos and not any ASMR material as far as I can tell.

My favourite (of this set of videos) so far being the one above. You will notice that some of them are similar and feature the same people. My guess would be that they were originally destined to be training videos – probably a little while ago by the look of them.

Ten is quite a long blog post but without obvious methods available to filter them I will crave your indulgence. If you’re bored already scroll right to the end where you will find the relevant playlist.

Sadly, we see Dr Wu no further in any of these videos, so let’s focus on Mr Evans who appears in quite a few.

They are here:

Unintentional ASMR Clinical exam

Dr Lynn (I’m not sure about that spelling) and Mr Evans, the title on the video itself is “Clinical Examination Gastrointestinal”. The comments are quite fun – one thing they point out is that Dr Lynn starts scanning the room as if he is sizing the place up to purchase – what is he expecting to find on the ceiling? Perhaps he’s looking for spy cameras? Anyway this does not in any way affect the ASMR-i-ness of this video (now an established term). Dr Lynn has a great voice in this respect and this one is definitely going into the playlist.

Unintentional ASMR Respiratory exam

Dr Lynn (if I’m going to spell it wrong I might as well be consistent) and Mr Evans again. He introduces himself as if he’s never seen him before. So far so normal training video. As someone astutely points out, what is the point of Mr Evans putting on a top in any of these videos since one of the first actions is to get him out of it. However, he seems suitably stoical about it. In my view equally as good ASMR-wise as the previous one. In fact thus far we appear to be achieving a remarkable level of consistency. One more for the playlist then. After this Dr Lynn disappears (from the videos), but Mr Evans, that plucky participant that he is, keeps plugging on.

Unintentional ASMR Hand exam

Mr Evans again with Dr Richards this time. (I’m more comfortable with that spelling).

(The comments on this video are quite hysterical. Normally I would miss the comments, as I would be hearing the audio whilst laid in bed, so it is interesting to review this video whilst I am more awake.) I notice that one comment asks where the “lovely and floppy” comments are – referring to Hollie Berry. This community all seem to be watching the same material that I am – probably unsurprisingly.

Dr Richards again scans for spy cameras in the same way that Dr Lynn (excuse spelling) did previously. This must be established procedure, perhaps hospital rooms get rogue geckos on the walls?

That said Dr Richards has a great voice here. This is a definite playlist candidate.

Unintentional ASMR Back exam

Dr Richards and Mr Evans again. Now we find the origin of that “the bulldog” term mentioned earlier. This isn’t a term I like particularly as to my ears it does not sound respectful. One of the comments states “bull-dog is a colloquial term for examining assistant”. Goodness knows where they found that because I’ve been unable to track it down.

That said, I am trusting that this is not a dreadful term in some way because I’m intending to include this one in the playlist. It would not be the first time that a term in common parlance a decade or so ago is now regarded as basically rude. If anyone finds this to be the case let me know and I’ll delete it from the playlist.

Unintentional ASMR Cardiovascular Examination

Dr Richards and Mr Evans again. Once again with the lighthouse head examination of all the walls in the room – maybe an extreme form of arachnophobia.

One of the commentators states “I know she clearly wanted to show that she is looking around the room for surroundings that can give a hint of heart issues (maybe machines, medicine etc.)” This seems the most reasonable statement on the scanning behaviours we’ve seen but if it’s really to detect all those things it is a bit perfunctory.

Interesting that Dr Richards should choose “stop breathing” as a term rather than “hold your breath” – as if anyone could voluntarily choose to stop breathing. “Cosmic Parsec” comments that this is Dr Bethan Richards.

So ends the videos featuring Mr Evans. Now we are into a much more mixed bag ASMR-wise.

Unintentional ASMR Hands & Arms Exam

Mr O’Neill and Dr O’Carrigan (potentially misspelled both of those). This is such a gentle approach to examination. Very effective in terms of ASMR.

A number of commentators are interested in the use of the term “light monkey grip” which I’ve not heard before this. No doubt this will become another term reiterated in ASMR-related exchanges as we go along reading comments on other YouTube videos.

This one definitely belongs on the playlist.

Unintentional ASMR Leg and Walking exam

Mr O’Neill and Dr O’Carrigan again. Yet again Mr O’Neill spends hardly any time with much in the way of clothing on. As one of the commentators relates, he is suspiciously attractive.

One of the commentators states that this is Dr Daniel O’Neill – neurologist and Dr Brent O’Carrigan.

This is another for the playlist.

And now a complete change.

Unintentional ASMR Scleroderma Exam

Mr Parker and Dr Blaiswell (potentially misspelled). As a number of people comment the catches releasing on that briefcase at the start is far too loud for proper restfulness – in an ideal world I would edit that out. However this is a lovely peaceful exam. Very attentive and careful.

This is another for the playlist.

Unintentional ASMR Activator adjustment (Brasil)

Lots of positive comments with this one but it wasn’t very useful in my opinion. To be honest it is so muted (and there is so much background noise) it isn’t that great as an ASMR video – so I will not include it in the playlist.

The L M playlist is here:

The complete playlist of all videos covered in this blog so far is here:

I hope that you find it restful

If you like this blog item why not follow this blog.

Photo by Matthew Henry on Unsplash

Sleeping With ASMR

Firstly apologies – the sound quality on this is not the greatest. I mean what the heck is that background humming going on? However, it’s also a piece of fun. Even the “patient” finds it highly amusing. In this one the patient will have to go by “X” as they are not identified at any stage.

I’m not sure if it is the giggles which makes it so effective. Usually I dispense with any videos that have the least kind of annoying sound in them. But in this case after a few seconds, it became just background hubbub which I could ignore. Your mileage may vary.

Chest, Lungs, Heart assessment by Nikko Holloway NU 607 Advanced Health Assessment Dr. Wildinger

Initially Nikko (assuming that is the person’s name) is a bit on the loud side, but it soon settles down till the background hubbub is increasingly distracting. (Sadly I have no way of filtering such noises out). It derives into giggles pretty quickly and at one stage they have to quit filming altogether (Warwick medical school this is not).

Nonetheless it was enjoyable and it’s a shame there aren’t any more in this series. (Preferably without the sound of Hades air-conditioning, or whatever it is). I wonder whether Nikko passed whatever assessment it was that she was completing (I’m assuming of course that this is part of an assessment process for a medical establishment.)

Sadly Nikko Holloway (for that is the channel) has only uploaded this one medical examination video. In total there are three videos but whilst the voice is reasonably relaxing, I’m not sure that the others qualify under the medical examination criteria.

For completeness here are the other two:

X- Treme Makeover N. Holloway

This indicates that Nikko attends Jacksonville State University (spring 2020 semester).

Sadly it isn’t up for much in the ASMR stakes so this one will not be in the playlist.

Recording #2

Again it is not up there in terms of ASMR-i-ness (an established term) so I will not add this one to the playlist either.

There do not appear to be a huge number of subscribers or comments for this one so perhaps this is an ASMR find. In any case I hope you find it relaxing.

I haven’t created a playlist for this (it’s one video) however it is in the long playlist of all videos featured in this series.

Why not subscribe to the playlist on YouTube and then you will get automatic updates as I change it.

It’s been a short one on this occasion. More next time.

If you liked this why not subscribe to the blog.

Photo by Mac Reddin on Unsplash

Sleeping with ASMR

For some reason Cranial Nerve Exam has generated a whole heap of videos and not surprisingly a number of these have people commenting that they are great for ASMR symptoms.

Helpfully BrainLine (for that is the YouTube channel where you find today’s video) provides its own playlist for Dr James Kelly (however they call him Dr Jim Kelly on the playlist) which is here:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLe2Je5-cHxP3DqeLtIRlhCW4gxmgbsPyV

However I am in no sense stating that these are all good for ASMR.

In addition, this playlist is no less than twenty one videos long (and I think that is stretching your patience a tad much for one blog item). As luck would have it the first two are the ones that concern a medical examination and so I will limit this blog item to just those two.

Today’s video is this one:

Cranial Nerve Test

By the way I had not the least idea who Pat LaFontaine is but he turns out to be a famous former ice hockey player.

Hence (I am sure) why his name appears in the title of this video. To ice hockey fans I apologise for my ignorance. All I can say is that he has a marvellously calm voice. (He might be a resource for ASMR videos in the future – if anybody has found any please get in touch).

Dr James Kelly turns out to be something of a superstar himself, his YouTube playlist bio states that he was “the neurological consultant for the Chicago Bears”. All I can say is that he has a great soothing voice and is very much worth listening to if you need to be chilled before falling asleep.

By the way this video is the one that started the now famous phrase “sandwich breath” which appears to occur very often in the comments of a number of ASMR videos. No I have no idea why either but a number of ASMR fans seem to appreciate the fact that other fans are also aware of it.

The BrainLine channel is huge. There are so many videos I am not going to set about counting them so I will limit myself to medical exams and Dr James Kelly (so I’ll start with that playlist).

Of the twenty-one videos contained in this playlist by far the majority are interviews to gain the benefits of Dr Kelly’s expertise on brain health.

In terms of medical examinations there is only one further video:

Neuropsychology Test

This is equally as great as the first one in my opinion.

Both of these will now go into the playlist.

The Dr James Kelly playlist is here:

The playlist of all items featured so far in this blog is here:

I hope that you find them restful.

If you liked this blog item why not follow this blog

Photo by Kate Stone Matheson on Unsplash

Sleeping with ASMR

In my opinion the first of these is the best in terms of ASMR-i-ness (if such a term could be said to exist). Yet again a change of direction as we look away from standard medical examinations and move to eye-related exams instead.

The channel comes from the Moran Eye Centre at the University of Utah.

Moran CORE (for such is the channel) provide a number of ophthalmic-related videos, but the best from an ASMR perspective is this one:

The Neuro-ophthalmology Exam: Neuro

The key to this I think is probably the interactions between Judith Warner, ophthalmologist and the “patient” Megan (who turns up in other videos in the series). Megan seems to have the most naturally restful voice here I think.

Moran CORE has so many videos that I gave up counting them and so it is critical to limit the videos that I present here. (Both for my typing fingers and your no doubt tired eyes).

Sadly Moran CORE does not present any helpful playlists that include this particular video so the obvious approach is to filter on videos “starring” the same ophthalmologist or featuring the same “patient” (Megan).

What leaps out scanning the videos is that a number of them feature the same “patient”.

Sticking to videos initially that feature the same “patient” we have this one:

The Orbital Exam

Which is with Tom Oberg instead of Judith Warner. Tom actually has a good voice ASMR-wise but again Megan’s is better. The approach is calm and de-stressing. Both Tom and Judith have been encouraging and patient – the kind of person that you want if someone is going to be examining you.

The Ophthalmic Exam: Retina and Posterior Segment

This is with Andrew Davis, who is technically brilliant I’m sure, but sadly does not have a great voice for ASMR. In this one Megan seems to say very little. So it’s a washout for us sadly and will not be added to the playlist.

The Neuro-ophthalmology Exam: Pupils; Color; Eye Movements; Prism

This is Laura Hanson with the “patient” Megan again. Laura doesn’t have the greatest ASMR voice but Megan here gets more of a speaking role which compensates to an extent.

However as before I do not think this makes the grade for the playlist.

Indirect Ophthalmoscopy with Scleral Depression

This is James Zimmerman with Megan. James’ voice is actually quite good here. But I don’t think it is going to be good enough sadly. This isn’t going to make the grade for the playlist.

How to Instill Topical Anesthetics

Lloyd B Williams with Megan. Lloyd also has a good voice. But again I don’t think this one will graduate to the playlist.

The Neuro-ophthalmology Exam: Eyelids

Laura Hanson again, as far as I can tell the last video featuring Megan and so the last of this blog item. This is slightly better than the earlier Laura video I think. However I still don’t think it is going to make the playlist.

Filtering the videos by the “patient” is an arbitrary method for limiting the videos. However Moran CORE has so many videos and they are so varied that I suspect we will be mining this resource in the future.

The Moran CORE Playlist is here:

The playlist of all videos so far covered in this blog is here:

I hope that you find them restful.

unsplash credit Photo by Drew Coffman on Unsplash

If you liked this item why not follow this blog.

Sleeping With ASMR

One of the consequences of entering the fifth decade of being alive (which no one seemed to warn me about when I was somewhat younger) is that it is almost impossible to get to sleep. And having got there, to stay in that state for any period of time.

I have tried various hacks for this over the last years, to varying degrees of success, and by chance I happened upon the fact that ASMR works for me.

The little reading I’ve managed to do seems to indicate that only some people are affected.

It also appears that different people have preferences for different sounds.

For me, the most potent trigger is a person speaking quietly and calmly.

Sadly though the effect soon wears off, and over time the same person – with the same speech – stops working.

This means that I am more-or-less constantly looking for new material, which may be of some merit for this blog and for people who react in a similar way.

For some time I have avoided revealing that I find ASMR helpful in that a number of commentators respond to it as if it is akin to some kind of sexual perversion.

However for me it feels more of the kind of attention I would see on a David Attenborough programme in which one monkey is grooming another and both monkeys are more relaxed as a result.

As science progresses it appears that there is more acceptance that relaxing to ASMR is not necessarily a sexual experience.

Hence it is moderately safe to give some recommendations around ASMR that I have found work for me.

I am also getting some playlists together on YouTube for those who do not have the time to look around for ASMR videos.

(Most of the ASMR material I find on YouTube at the moment – although other ASMR resources exist.)

Recently I came across an article for a Welsh stone carver who has been an ASMR discovery after he published some YouTube videos about his stone carving.

There are only three and I found them effective. Three is a suitably short number to start with to see if you feel the same way.

My playlists are here:

https://www.youtube.com/@theprocrastinationpensite

the playlist for Leuan Rees is here:

I will be assembling further ASMR into a complete playlist here:

please feed back if they are effective for you or if you have any further ASMR material which would be worth considering.

Sadly these videos no longer work for me so I am looking for new material, which I will shortly publish here.

I hope that you find them relaxing.

Photo by Colin White on Unsplash

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Turn Again

Sometimes the message is an unwelcome one; I re-encountered an album recently. An album

which is an old favourite. One of the tracks has an uncomfortable message that I am still not keen to hear.

(If you haven’t heard this album by the way then you are missing something; in my view the best album this group have produced).

I was reflecting that blogging (and indeed writing) is unrewarding today as there is no audience. It might be no coincidence that the rise in streaming media has coincided with a decline in the time that people spend with a book. (There is one pot of time, if I spend it on one thing I can’t spend it on something else).

Some people have an engaging writing style, and some people don’t. My experience is that the things I like to write about are not stimulating to the few remaining readers out there.

The popular approach seems to include changing my message to make it one that the potential reader may like to hear. Writing and marketing merging until they become synonymous terms. Is the purpose of writing simply to sell something?

For a long time I have avoided writing the blog. The content seemed to be the sort of stuff only my mother would have read. Given she wasn’t available any longer what would be the point in writing any more. Some of the old articles I wouldn’t write today anyway as my beliefs continue to change.

Missing, for me, are any opinions – any opinions that I cared about. However having spent a while reading the comments on Twitter and some of the more inflammatory newspaper web sites I am quite certain that I do not want feedback of that sort about anything I have to say.

However the song tells me “the things I should have said…” Once in a while an article affirms that writing is an act which is enough in itself. Some indicate that perseverance is sufficient even where no one reads it. Sometimes writing for yourself is just as valuable as writing for someone else.

It is also absolutely possible that some people might be reading the material but due to a lack of interaction will be invisible. In the end perhaps just writing, for no good reason, is actually enough.

I can of course mute out the people who disagree with my childish opinions and maybe that is the best thing to do if it allows me to keep going.

Anything that will permit what is left of my imagination to flow.

The song nags: “…dreams lay unrevealed ‘til they were rotten”. (I always imagined it was dreams lie unreleased till they were rotten…).

It is better to do something than avoid doing anything because no one is paying attention.

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Wreck of the Week

My search for a wreck of the week brings up this week the hard cash that underpins a lot of the nostalgia boom we have seen recently:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2560739/Now-thats-fixer-upper-Wrecks-classic-cars-selling-MORE-new-models-prices-rusting-roof.html

“Barn Find” vehicles fetching equal to or more than fully restored vehicles; frenetic bidding over dusty relics; a craze for originality between buyers with infeasibly deep pockets.

This is a world that I can’t even tessellate with. The cars described would have been beyond my reach ten years ago and are beyond my reach today.

However, as we have seen with anything carrying a blue oval, the effects of this are not just confined to the rarefied heights of hedge manager salaries.

It has become (and looks likely to continue for a while to be) very difficult for a person of moderate to modest means to get involved in the classic car hobby.

However I remember a similar time in the 1980s where classic cars started to look a great investment. People bought crumbly wrecks gave them a cheap respray and flogged them for serious money.

Then there was a downturn: several people who bought cars as an “investment” got burned. The upside being that the guy who wanted to tinker in his shed got a look in once again.

We can hope that cars will start to return to sensible in the near future. However, sadly the keys to that E-Type I’ve always dreamed off are likely to remain in someone else’s hands in perpetuity.

“Rust in peace” searches this week bring me to this article https://www.thesun.co.uk/living/2092341/stunning-pictures-show-how-nature-has-reclaimed-cars-left-abandoned-across-europe/ featuring the work of Roman Robroek who loves to take pictures of abandoned cars. I took a chance that the name was unusual and believe that I have found the photography site that the article is about:

https://romanrobroek.nl/#transport

It is a fascinating site which causes me to regret the fact that I cannot operate a camera (even if given instructions designed for a five year old).

Some of the pictures are truly beautiful. In the case of the cars I do wonder where they are and if anyone will step up and try to save them.

Even better I have been in touch with Roman and he is happy for me to use some of his pictures in my blog. So I am very happy about that and grateful thanks to Roman. (The featured image in the blog this week is one of his).

This week’s YouTube video is a light hearted effort from Pathé set in Reading.

This shows a very different attitude in 1963 to today – cars having no value at all when they got to a certain age. As a result cars were dumped – quite literally anywhere that a person could find to dump them.

The announcer refers to the introduction of testing, which leads me to suspect that the MOT is not as venerable as I once thought.

It appears the MOT was introduced in 1960 so just 3 years prior to the film. A very large number of vehicles initially failed and so the requirements for testing were enhanced. (Presumably this was because the roads had many unsafe vehicles on them).

Initially cars older than 10 years were tested (many failed). In 1961 this became 7 years, in 1967 it became 3 years. Since then the requirements for the age of vehicles haven’t changed but the items being tested have increased with time.

The film takes a comedic approach which includes a very strange episode at the end involving explosives. This is more akin to something you might have seen a circus clown performing.

Many of the cars in the film would be very desirable today so it is sad to see that they were just discarded.

However the vehicles would have been merely 10 or so years old at that stage and 10 year old vehicles today have limited value. Little has changed.

I checked the example of LJ2393 (the smoking vehicle in the latter part of the film). It is not on the DVLA database. So it did not survive. No wonder that vehicles of this age are valued – precious few seem to have made it this far. The exploding vehicle has registration HH – TR645 which is an odd plate. Being the suspicious type I checked it. It is invalid and so almost certainly the vehicle isn’t a vehicle at all but merely a film prop.

This week I was sent details of some marvellous BBC sound effects which include some early car sounds and car-related sounds. http://bbcsfx.acropolis.org.uk/

This is listed as “Cars: 1.6 GL (Manual) 1982 model Ford Cortina. Exterior, tickover recorded near exhaust”. Which for anyone who is wondering what a car of the 1980s would sound like is pretty close to how I remember.

Ford Cortina 1982 Tickover Download audio

Back to Wreck of the Week proper and another ruster drawn from the nation’s favourite auction site.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/192460868689?ul_noapp=true

This one struck my eye because it is just up the road from me and very close to where my partner is working currently.

I say is, however the listing has been ended because the vehicle is “no longer available” so we have to assume it found a buyer, eager or otherwise.

Originally listed at £2,300.00 sadly there is no automotive equivalent of the land registry to determine what it actually made in the end. (Even if there was – the absence of any registration details makes such a search impossible).

We’re treated to 5, yup 5 gleaming pictures of marvelousness to sate our nostalgia demons. The text doesn’t do much more to convey anything:

“1966 FORD MUSTANG

SOLID SHELL

WHAT YOU SEE IS WHAT YOU GET

THERE IS NO PAPERWORK WITH THIS CAR

I CAN DELIVER FOR £1.50 PER MILE

CAR LOCATED NEAR ROYSTON HERFORDSHIRE

CASH ON COLLECTION

PLEASE NOTE THE ANGLIA AND FAST BACK ARE NOT FOR SALE”

I’ve left the shouty text in place this time to convey the full-on nature of modern auction site listings. If someone was speaking like this I would rather be at the other end of a very long room.

Now Royston is a big place but for those not of the United Kingdom (or maybe those of its further flung elements of this nation) here is the approximate location of said vehicle:

So what are we getting in this “What you see is what you get” auction.

Shame it is not for sale that Anglia looks much more my cup of tea to be honest. I can’t see enough of the vehicle beyond it to make out what it is, but what a marvellous place with all these pieces of automotive history lined up just ripe for the restorer to feast his eyes upon.

In any case from the text we can ascertain that the car for sale is in the foreground, none of those in the background are so hands off sonny.

All we know about it is that it is 1966. There are no registration details and given there is no paperwork it is easily feasible that the car was never registered in the UK – we’ve covered the niceties of the NOVA system before.

However some comments on the impact where you have no documentation at all are here:

http://www.nsra.org.uk/newforum/showthread.php?61208-NEW-IMPORTATION-RULES-NOVA-(Notification-of-Vehicle-Arrivals)

Put it this way I am not certain I would want to wind my way through the various departments to satisfy them that the vehicle has been properly imported and that all relevant taxes have been paid. It is not clear what happens if you don’t satisfy them but an unregistered car is without value (unless you want to limit it to the race track) and unpaid tax can become an expensive problem…

So apart from the soft-porn focusing (we’re kind of used to that now I think ) what have we. No engine, no gearbox, no front wings, no ancilliaries, no suspension, little or no braking system, no front panels. In fact it appears more like the before in a banger race.

As it stands though what can be seen does not look excessively rusty. So it is possible that this could be used to reshell a car that was completely gone bodywise but had most of the parts.

Unlike a previous Wreck of the Week featuring a Mustang this one has a windscreen and so perhaps there is some hope for the interior.

To be fair, if you’ve been following Wreck of the Week for any period of time then you will have seen much rustier prospects but potentially not cars that have less included with them. (Even the windscreen wipers are absent from this one).

What surprises me from the pictures is that you can fit a stonking V8 between those suspension turrets but scale is something that photographs may not convey well.

Ok, the interior is not quite (but almost) a pond. Heavy moss growth indicates that starting on the car now before it gets much worse is probably an astute plan. The algae covered item may well be the front offside wing although there is no sign of the normal use of car-as-shed approach. This means that there doesn’t appear to be the usual smorgasbord of spares that some of these adverts entice us with.

Not a particularly easy view of much of the interior but apart from the previously noted no gearbox problem, there are no carpets, no seats, no dashboard, a steering wheel which is missing some parts.

On the upside it does look relatively intact metalwise – not much call for Joe le welder here. (Those fans of the welding art form can groan now).

I’m unclear why the rear footwell is a storage vessel for odd fastenings – perhaps it had visions of becoming a shed and never got that far.

Perhaps a better focused version of one we’ve seen before. So no clues about the rear, the boot area, the underside (other than what we can glean from the interior shot), the rear wheelarches – other glass in the car and so on and so fifth.

Well that’s it, no more images to enthral us.

So necessarily a brief one this week. You’ll have to go and do some real work now.

Next week lets hope someone who was a true David Bailey. Preferably one with laryngitis of the advertising text as well.

If you took this one home please let us know what you did with her, it would be fascinating to discover what kind of future she has..

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Image source Roman Robroek http://www.romanrobroek.nl

Credit to the property website from which the original idea (for Wreck of the Week) came:

http://www.wreckoftheweek.co.uk/

(Whilst that site looks at crumbly ruins this one looks at crumbly panels).