Tag: Air Conditioning

Sleeping With ASMR

Sometimes it is hard to remember that there might be someone who happens across this blog who has not been here before. If this is you, I hope that you enjoy it and go on to tell everyone you know about how great it is.

The blog exists purely as a review of ASMR videos. Habitually, it reviews videos that were created with a purpose other than ASMR and quite a few of those have turned out to be medical videos. For some reason a number of medical professionals turn out to have relaxing voices.

Each week there are more videos and each week those videos get added into the Procrastination Pen playlist which, by this time, is getting quite long.

However, I keep listening to the playlist and sometimes find a loud noise I hadn’t noticed before, or that the background noise, I had noticed, now appears a heck of a lot more irritating than I remember. In such cases, the videos are banished to the archive list.

In this way, I hope to drive up the quality of the Procrastination Pen playlist and to continually review videos for their excellence.

This week another medical video, the key voice here is that of the medical professional rather than the narrator. Dr. Alex Henri-Bhargava is the medical professional. The video was posted 28 June 2018 and it is part of a professional channel, of which more in a minute.

Neurology: Clinical Skills – Cranial Nerve Exam

Like previous professional videos we have seen this one comes with a healthy chunk of notes:

“28 Jun 2018 The cranial nerve exam consists of a series of tests and observations designed to assess the function of the twelve cranial nerves.

This video will showcase how to exam these nerves.

Filmed, written, and directed by:

Chris Calvin

Kashi (Siyoung) Lee

Kero (Yue) Yuen

Ge Shi

Supervised by:

Dr. Alex Henri-Bhargava (Department of Neurology, UBC)

Zac Rothman (PRISM)

Edited by:

Stephen Gillis”

Phew, and I have truncated the notes quite a bit. One of the original comments states that very few people have seen the video. However, it has 2,664,040 views as at the time I’m looking at it. It must have taken off a great deal since then. There are no ASMR-connected comments so this might be a discovery for this blog. (Although ASMR fans have ferret noses when it comes to a good ASMR video so that seems distinctly unlikely).

Dr Henri-Bhargava has a great voice from our perspective. It is very relaxing. The narrator is not quite as good, but not as bad as in many of the videos I have watched of late.

The examination is very relaxed and methodical.

The channel is UBC Medicine – Educational Media, this has one hundred and forty-five videos and 194K subscribers which as I’m sure you’ll agree is more than a few.

There are nineteen playlists and as luck would have it our first video is part of a playlist:

UBC Medicine: Learner driven and learner made

This consists of ten videos including the one that we started with.

Cardiology: Re-entry Circuits

This one is designed as a learning experience. As with the previous video there are a healthy set of notes, I’ve truncated them a bit (and I’ll do this from now on):

“14 Feb 2017 A UBC medical student explains his own unique take on Re-Entry Circuits.

Animation and Editing- Paul Milaire

Produced by MedIT at UBC Faculty of Medicine

Executive Producer – Zachary Rothman

Faculty Lead – Dr. Carol Ann Courneya

Produced in 2014, released for 2017 Valentine’s Day.”

Judging by the comments, this is great for a learning experience. Sadly, for us this is not relaxing enough to lull you off to sleep so it will not be in the Procrastination Pen playlist.

Cardiology: Wall Stress

The notes state “14 Feb 2017 A UBC medical student gives his unique take on wall stress in the heart.

Animation and Editing by Paul Milaire.

Produced in 2014, released for 2017 Valentine’s Day”

This follows the format of the last one and, like that video, will not be in the playlist.

Cardiology: Action Potential In The Heart

Notes again “14 Feb 2017 Two UBC medical students explain their take on electrical conductivity and action potential within the heart.

Animation and Editing by Paul Milaire.”

This is equally unsuitable for the Procrastination Pen playlist.

Neurology: Clinical Skills – Gait & Coordination Exam

The notes state: “28 Jun 2018 Full Gait & Coordination examination video.

Supervised by:

Dr. Alex Henri-Bhargava (Department of Neurology, UBC)

Zac Rothman (MedIT)

Doctor – Dr. Alex Henri-Bhargava

Filmed, written, and directed by:

John Liu

Chris Calvin

Kashi (Siyoung) Lee

Vincent Soh

Kero (Yue) Yuen

Ge Shi

Special thanks to:

Stephen Gillis and Paul Milaire (MedIT – Educational Technology) Faculty of Medicine, UBC”

Here we discover that the “patient “is Paulina. Again the medical professional is Dr Henri-Bhargava. We discover that his voice is consistent, it is also calming in this video.

Neurology: Clinical Skills – Cranial Nerve Exam

This video is the one we started with.

Neurology: Clinical Skills – Motor, Sensory, & Reflex Neurological Exam

The notes state: “28 Jun 2018 This video will cover, in detail, the motor, sensory, reflect components of a neurological examination.

Filmed, written, and directed by:

John Liu

Vincent Soh

Chris Calvin

Kashi (Siyoung) Lee

Kero (Yue) Yuen

Ge Shi

Doctor – Dr. Jason Valerio (Department of Neurology, UBC)

Supervised by:

Dr. Alex Henri-Bhargava (Department of Neurology, UBC)

Zac Rothman (UBC FOM Digital Solutions: Ed Tech)

Edited by:

Stephen Gillis”

Dr Valerio does not have as great a voice as Dr Henri-Bhargava but this is still properly relaxing. This one belongs in the Procrastination Pen playlist.

Anatomy: Introduction to your first lab

The notes state: “29 Aug 2019 New to anatomy?  Not sure how to start your first lab? 

One of our med students wanted to provide a simple, step-by-step guide to prep you for your first lab experience.  Perfect for anyone studying anatomy!

Animations, Script, Narration by Maryam Garabedian

With Filming and Technical Support by Zachary Rothman

Subject Matter Expertise by Dr Claudia Krebs”

This is quite off-putting; I can’t imagine getting much sleep after watching this. Others may find it ok for them (the voice is certainly good enough in terms of relaxation) but dissection of a human cadaver is not really the kind of thing I want to sleep to. This will not be in the Procrastination Pen playlist.

Introduction to Refugee and Canadian Health Care

The notes state: “22 Mar 2017 Meant for refugees and new arrivals to Canada – an introduction to the Canadian Health Care System.

Written, Animated and Narrated by Maryam Garabedian

Additional Technical Support and Supervision – Zachary Rothman

Subject Matter Expertise

Dr. Mei-Ling Weidmeyer

Barbara Harvey, RN

Stacy Barry, RN

Dr. Videsh Kapoor

Project Support by Jirair Garabedian

Special Thanks to

Refugee Health Initiative

The Bridge Clinic”

This is very helpful in terms of information but is not that great in terms of slipping off to na-na-land. Therefore, it too, will not be in the Procrastination Pen playlist.

Heart Functions: Preload, Afterload, and Heart Failure (Part 1)

The notes state: “13 Feb 2014 What do dogs & frogs, rowing and rubber band sound effects have in common?

A fun and informative look deep into the human heart.

‘From Filaments’ is a basic science explanation of how the heart functions, and why it can fail.  A perfect overview for first year medical students!

This podcast was supported by UBC Faculty of Medicine, MedIT Educational Technology with pedagogical support from Dr.Carol Ann Courneya and the participation of Dr. Edwin Moore.

Narration by Tahara Bhate, Carol Ann Courneya, Edwin Moore, Zachary Rothman

Edit, Audio Edit and Visuals by Zachary Rothman”

Sadly, this has a number of distracting sounds which make it unsuitable for the Procrastination Pen playlist. It’s a shame because the person narrating has a great voice. But some of the additional noises would cause a listener to wake up, rather than to start drowsing.

Heart Functions: Preload, Afterload, and Heart Failure (Part 2)

The notes state: “13 Feb 2014 What do dogs & frogs, rowing and rubber band sound effects have in common?

A fun look deep into the human heart.

‘From Filaments’ is a basic science explanation of how the heart functions, and why it can fail.  A perfect overview for first year medical students!

This podcast was supported by UBC Faculty of Medicine, MedIT Educational Technology with pedagogical support from Dr.Carol Ann Courneya and the participation of Dr. Edwin Moore.

Narration by Tahara Bhate, Carol Ann Courneya, Edwin Moore, Zachary Rothman

Edit, Audio Edit and Visuals by Zachary Rothman© 2010-2020 UBC Faculty of Medicine ”

Unfortunately, this is very like the last one and so is also unsuitable for the Procrastination Pen playlist.

The UBC Medicine playlist on the Procrastination Pen is here:

The Procrastination Pen playlist (which is no-doubt what you have all been reading this in order to locate) is found here:

I have been listening to this playlist most nights and some of the videos that were members have now been removed. If any of your favourites are missing from that main playlist, you can find them here in the archive list:

Quite often the videos getting removed have no faults other than occasional intrusive noises.

The playlist of items that are great for ASMR (but contain an age verification function), usually a great way to interrupt your listening in the middle of the night, is here:

I hope that you find the playlists restful and that you get a good night’s sleep.

Hope to see you again back here for the next blog article.

If you liked this blog item, why not subscribe to this blog.

Until next time.

Photo by Shona Macrae

Sleeping With ASMR

I’m sure this happens to a number of people who write blog articles. I often find that in reading back through the blog, I am not convinced that I wrote it. Certainly, there seem to be some articles that do not sound like me at all, as if I had on a Hyacinth Bucket accent whilst typing it. In any case, the endeavour is to produce high-quality output of the type that many of you will desire to read on a weekly basis. If you find that to be true do tell all your friends, by the way.

By this time, we are some way into the journey that has been “Sleeping With ASMR” such that many of you will be familiar with how it has worked so far. This is also how it is probably going to continue to work, unless one day I decide to shake things up a bit.

To fill in the gaps for anyone new to the blog, it exists to review YouTube videos. Each week I will find a video and review it to see if it might be helpful in the drive to encourage the restless to restful. I will focus on whether it is sufficiently quiet and whether the participants have a pleasant, relaxing voice. I will also point out the detractors such as loud equipment noises, oppressive air conditioning, background chatter and so on and so fifth.

Many of the videos I find are posted on a YouTube channel containing more than one video. Where this is the case, I will frequently take the opportunity to look at other videos from that channel to determine if any others would be great for relaxation or better still, could produce ASMR symptoms in those lucky enough to have them.

This week a video which is slightly less than fifteen and a quarter minutes in length, which is not lengthy in comparison with some we have seen.

Respiratory Assessment

Immediately the medical professional has a good quiet voice. Even though the style is of a presentation it is not overly loud which makes a nice change.

The video continues quietly and without extraneous noises, which is great to hear (or not hear perhaps). The video cuts at intervals abruptly from one scene to another, but if you are listening you may well not notice.

It does cut to background breathing noises which might be off-putting for some people. Also, the narrator abruptly changes to someone who is a bit louder (but still not overly loud).

I think I’ll put this in the Procrastination Pen playlist, but it might be subject to weeding in the future.

The channel is:

University of Manitoba Nursing Skills, there are eighty videos and 55K subscribers.

The University of Manitoba turns out to be a university in Western Canada.

Of course, it has its own channel with 1.2K videos as at today’s date. However, experience tells us that these will be predominantly about promoting the university and little to do with ASMR (unless it is quite exceptional).

The medical professional in the video chosen above appears in quite a number of the others. This makes slimming down those eighty videos to a number that can be comfortably reviewed in one blog post less straightforward.

However, as luck would have it the video selected occurs in an existing playlist:

Health Assessment

I will focus on the videos in this playlist, but I may well return to this channel in the future.

There are four further videos in this playlist as follows:

Abdominal Assessment

This video is a little under seven and a quarter minutes. It starts quietly again. There remains no clue as to the participants. The approach is gentle and considered.

This one is a substantial improvement on the first one selected in that there are no intrusive breathing noises added. No doubt for their educational rather than restful value (that is the point of the video after all).

CVS & PVS Assessment

This one is just less than seventeen and a half minutes so the longest we have seen so far and in fact the longest of the five videos in the playlist. At odds with other professional videos we have seen this one has no associated notes. But at least comments are denied (We’ve seen enough bizarre and rude comments to last a long time).

The presenter’s voice is really excellent and if it were not for the odd equipment noise or inserted sound track these videos would be up there with some of the better ones reviewed so far. As it is I will put them all to protracted listening review and if those extraneous noises prove off-putting, I will consign them to the archive list.

This one starts as beautifully quiet as the others. However, there are inserted heart beat sounds which may be off-putting to some people, they are louder than the medical professional for example. There is also a set of pulse sounds and associated crackles which are not fantastic either.

Neurological Assessment

This one is less than seven and a half minutes and as before it starts quietly. We discover that the “patient” is called Justin but still no means of determining who the presenter is. It is consistently quiet and so quite possibly the best one of the set so far.

Integumentary System Assessment

This is the shortest one of the videos featured in this article at just over six and a quarter minutes. It has the same approach as the others and so is equally quiet and well presented. I also like the intonation that the presenter uses, your mileage may vary. The medical professional is very gentle in approach and the video appears to be to be relaxing. Thankfully this one does not have any added noises. That is welcome given so many of the others do have this.

Overall this is a good playlist. I will add them to the Procrastination Pen playlist but some of them, I have a suspicion, will be weeded in the future.

The University of Manitoba Nursing Skills playlist on the Procrastination Pen is here:

The Procrastination Pen playlist (which is no-doubt what you have all been reading this in order to locate) is found here:

I have been listening to that playlist most nights and some of the videos that were members have now been removed. If any of your favourites are missing from that main playlist you can find them here in the archive list:

Quite often the videos getting removed have no faults other than occasional intrusive noises.

The playlist of items that are great for ASMR (but contain an age verification function), usually a great way to interrupt your listening in the middle of the night, is here:

I hope that you find the playlists restful and that you get a good night’s sleep.

Hope to see you again back here for the next blog article.

If you liked this blog item, why not subscribe to this blog.

Until next time.

Photo by Shona Macrae

Sleeping With ASMR

On The Procrastination Pen there is the occasional foray into sites purposefully created for ASMR videos, but it is not the main purpose of these blog posts (well not so far anyway).

Occasionally, it is so much easier to just review a video from one of these sites as they’ve been selected previously for ASMR. So I do not have to find one from amidst the many noisy and poorly recorded videos out there.

However ASMR symptoms seem to be stimulated by many different triggers, such that many of these sites cater to people who are looking for a very different kind of video to the ones I would find restful.

Today, I am once again on a channel whose purpose in life is stated right up front “ASMR Sandwich Breath” is the channel. We’ve covered “sandwich breath” before. The whole ASMR world is now like a giant clique with its own terms and ideas (only a very few of which I understand).

The channel has forty eight videos. Fortunately for us all on a medical theme which is an area this blog has largely been focused on (although I do occasionally stray). Unfortunately a number of them have been covered before as they are still available on the original sites.

For that reason I am a bit nervous about today’s video, as I guarantee in a short while I am going to find it wherever it originally came from and will then feature it again.

This is today’s video:

Health Assessment Unintentional ASMR

It seems to be one amongst the rich seam of student videos which has been mined for material on this blog of late.

This one does not have the greatest sound, which makes me wonder why a curated selection of this sort would have nominated it, as we know absolute gems like the Vicki Scott video are out there. However I have chosen to run with it as well, so there must be aspects to it worthy of listening to.

The sound is far too muted, but the approach is gentle and calm which makes a positive difference. I’d be interested in finding the original if it is still out there as I do like to feature original videos (where they still exist).

As usual, where comments are permitted, a smattering of unwarranted nasty comments. I am getting in favour of videos that don’t permit comments for this reason.

The patient “Bernie” (probably misspelled) and the medical professional “Caitlyn” (also likely misspelled), not quite enough for me to go searching independently for the video.

There are playlists on ASMR Sandwich Breath and I could use them to guide selection of videos for this blog article. However, we are in danger of covering videos already featured elsewhere in this blog.

I think I will go for the tested technique of selecting videos which feature the same “patient” or the same medical professional.

I have to make some guesses, but I am pretty certain the following have the same medical professional:

HEENT Exam Unintentional ASMR

As with the previous video the sound is still a bit muted. However the approach remains calm and gentle.

This also features Bernie and Caitlyn – the spellings are fixed now until someone corrects me…

Musculoskeletal Exam Unintentional ASMR

Bernie and Caitlyn again. I notice that they even share nail polish colour (which might be coincidental, but I would have thought indicates this is more likely two students involved in an assessment video).

One of the commentators refers to a participant as “Brittany” so possibly I may have misheard the name here.

Neuro Exam Unintentional ASMR

From the comments, others have been looking for the original videos for this set and not been successful in finding them. So I am a bit reassured in featuring videos from a site designed to curate ASMR videos – it’s doubtful we would find them elsewhere.

We’re now thoroughly used to the approach of this exam. Some people could probably repeat the steps themselves from the sheer number of times they’ve seen videos of this type.

I think these are consistent enough to be in The Procrastination Pen Playlist

In deference to the commentator, I’ve labelled the playlist on The Procrastination Pen “Brittany and Caitlyn” it is here:

The Procrastination Pen playlist (featuring all videos covered so far on this blog) is here:

A number of videos, that were once in that overall playlist, became tiresome to listen to over a period of time. This is usually due to excessive noise of one type or another. All such videos are in the Archive Playlist here:

I only keep this list at all in case I weed out a video that is somebody’s favourite.

I hope you find the videos restful and that they help you to grab what sleep you are able to.

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

Photo by Shona Macrae.

Sleeping With ASMR

For those of you who have been following the blog the subject matter will not come as any surprise or the purpose of this writing. For everyone else welcome to the blog. It exists purely to review unintentional ASMR videos, to locate the best ones and to create a playlist of those videos.

The aim is to find the most relaxing videos on YouTube (or occasionally from elsewhere) which can be used to help you drift off to sleep, get back to sleep when you wake up in the middle of the night, and to completely fail to disrupt your sleep due to loud music, loud equipment noises or strange contributions from the air conditioning.

This week, a video which seems to fit into the range of student assessment videos, of which, we have seen more than a few already.

The entire Channel contains fifteen videos which is way more than I usually review at one sitting. However, as you can see the longest of these is less than seven minutes, such that I may make an exception in this case.

The video is this one:

Head, Face, and Neck

It is barely longer than three minutes so it isn’t going to take long to listen to. The medical professional is Leah and it is safe to assume that it is she who owns the channel (as we shall see).

The volume track is muted and sounds distant as if being recorded under water. There is the ever-present sound of air conditioning (which we’ve heard often before).

The approach is gentle and methodical. However, there is the noise of people apparently talking in the background. This is heavily muted though and so in this specific case, is none too intrusive.

The video has no comments and it looks like it is unlikely that we will find out where it was filmed. Although posted in 2023, of course, it could have been filmed at any time.

The channel is Leah Barlow and has eighty five subscribers – which isn’t a huge number in comparison to some we have seen.

There are fifteen videos which is a large number for any single blog post. However, in overview it appears that Leah appears with a different “patient” in several of these videos. Therefore, if we stick with Leah and the patient featured in this video, we have a much more restrictive list (we can return to Leah in a future blog post).

Musculoskeletal Exam Practice

This is slightly longer at five- and three-quarter minutes but still not particularly taxing in terms of attention. It is almost identical in terms of sound with the last one. I think the patient states her name as Mackenzie and d.o.b. 2/15/01 which for those of us in the UK is 15/02/2001. However, I had a hard time making that out and the spelling is probably incorrect in any case.

Again, the presentation is muted in comparison to the background noise which includes a healthy amount of chatter coming through from adjacent rooms.

There are loud noises as footwear drops to the floor, which may cause this one to ultimately be dropped from the Procrastination Pen playlist. (Off-putting noises are the commonest reason for dropping videos into the archive list). It is not the first time I have wished that I could alter a video in order to eliminate such noises, given that a number of videos are excellent in part, and dire in another part.

At intervals there are raised (even excited) voices from an adjacent room and this proves to be quite distracting.

There are also noises from the equipment as the “patient” moves around.

Neuro Exam Practice

Just over six and a half minutes and if anything, the background noise is trying for a starring role. The video proceeds as for the two we have already reviewed. It is gentle, methodical and, background noise allowing, relatively quiet. If there was a God of air conditioning then a few sacrifices need to be made to appease him or her. There are loud equipment noises and some hilarity about the loud equipment noises. (This will probably see it dropped into the archive list). Mackenzie seems to have developed a cold as there is much snivelling and coughing.

This one is really too loud, including some quite energised chatter from an adjacent room.

There is also entertainment due to the fact that Mackenzie proves to be ticklish.

Cardiac Exam

A bit over four and a quarter minutes. There is loud knocking to start with. Mackenzie seems to say that her surname is Delavaso, but it probably isn’t that at all. The air conditioning has started playing drums for Motorhead but thankfully the background chatter has settled to the level of irritating that can be safely ignored (I think).

Thorax and Lungs Exam

Four minutes long. Loud knocking to start, as before. More loud equipment noises more air conditioning noises, but the conversationalists have decided all the loud discussions of previous videos were dreadfully rude and so a background murmur is all that can be heard.

It would be truly quite a good video if the clunks and clangs of the equipment didn’t attend every movement of Mackenzie. Not the first time equipment noises have proved to be a deal breaker for this blog though.

Cardiac Practice

A little under five minutes and the microphone is now officially inside the air conditioning outlet. The voices in this are heavily masked by the sound of forced air.

This really isn’t suitable for the Procrastination Pen playlist.

Ear exam

Less than two and a half minutes, in other respects similar to previous videos. Leah has a good voice but the extraneous noises are at intervals off-putting or irritating.

I’m inclined to include this one, if only because it is so short.

Nose, mouth, throat exam

A bit more than four and a quarter minutes. The knocking at the start seems a little more muted but the background conversation has reasserted itself, somewhat irritatingly.

Mackenzie has an identity badge which could have told us where this is being filmed but sadly it is out of focus so I can’t make it out.

Leah seems much more hesitant in this one than the others we have seen here. There seems to be much hilarity again, so presumably both participants are uncomfortable with the process.

That’s it for this item, but I think we will be revisiting Leah in the future.

The Leah Barlow playlist on the Procrastination Pen is here:

The Procrastination Pen playlist (which is no-doubt what you have all been reading this in order to locate) is found here:

I have been working through that playlist repeatedly and some of the videos that were members have now fallen from favour. If any of your favourites are in there you can find them here in the archive list:

Quite often the videos getting removed have no faults other than excessive background noise.

The playlist of items that are great for ASMR (but contain an age verification function), usually a great way to interrupt your listening in the middle of the night, is here:

I hope that you find the playlists restful and that you get a good night’s sleep.

Hope to see you again back here for the next blog article.

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

Until next time.

Photo by Tatyana Eremina on Unsplash

Sleeping With ASMR

This week, for a change, I thought we’d look at a medical teaching video in the hope of finding some relaxing material. Actually, that’s no change at all as we have covered this channel and this institution in a previous blog post.

In that blog post I concluded that the sound quality really wasn’t all there. I limited the post to just five videos, concluding that a number of them were not going to make it to the Procrastination Pen playlist.

However, there was the matter of the remaining videos to review, so I thought I’d give the channel a second chance, in the hope that there is a diamond in the rough as it were.

As previously indicated the tutor is Justine Ward who desperately needs a better microphone and quieter surroundings to get the best sound on her videos. Sadly she has neither here.

The channel is Dominican College. The purpose of this set of videos is not completely clear. I do not think they were designed with audio quality in mind.

In which case I think I will limit myself to reviewing just five videos on this occasion as well.

September 22, 2019

A bit longer than the last (previous blog post) at four and three-quarter minutes.

It shares the same limitations as the others reviewed so far, in that the voice of the teaching professional seems to be at the end of a long tunnel.

One thing that does come across is how gentle she is with the “patient” in this. It is also the first time I have come across a video in which a person with restricted motion is reviewed (left shoulder).

Again, the video ends abruptly (this has become somewhat of a theme).

This appears to be a duplicate of the video called “C-spine and UE ROM screen 9/22/19”. We only need one in the playlist so I’ll drop this one.

September 22, 2019

Definitions again

Goniometer a device used to measure an angle.

Nares the nostrils.

Occiput the back of the skull.

Acromion the upper part of the shoulder.

It is interesting that the focus is on reimbursement based upon Insurance Companies. This is strange to a person in an NHS system that money payment for treatment is a contingent process, like stage payments on a mortgage. Health obviously having a very definite value in such a system.

It appears to be a duplicate of the one entitled “C-spine goniometry 9/22/19” we only need one in the playlist so I’ll drop this one.

September 22, 2019

Again, we see the extreme care taken in manipulating. With feedback felt about where rotation should cease. Any pressure on joints is applied with care.

September 22, 2019

Definitions:

Lateral epicondyle: the rounded bit on the outside of the elbow.

C-Spine and UE ROM screen 9/22/19

We can probably rattle through these barring any surprises because they are consistent in terms of sound quality.

C-spine Goniometry 9/22/19

We covered this above as the second September 22, 2019 video.

The Dominican College playlist on the Procrastination Pen is here:

The Procrastination Pen playlist (which is no-doubt what you have all been reading this in order to locate) is found here:

I have been working through that playlist repeatedly and some of the videos that were members have now fallen from favour. If any of your favourites are in there you can find them here in the archive list:

Quite often the videos getting removed have no faults other than excessive background noise.

The playlist of items that are great for ASMR (but contain an age verification function), usually a great way to interrupt your listening in the middle of the night, is here:

I hope that you find the playlists restful and that you get a good night’s sleep.

Hope to see you again back here for the next blog article.

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

Until next time.

Photo by Shona Macrae

Sleeping With ASMR

Another week and onwards towards a longer playlist and another set of videos (from YouTube) to review.

Today we have another set from a student, presumably this was originally created as part of an assessment process.

As is typical for this type of channel, the last update was some time ago and now the channel is not maintained. We have already seen that some videos can be taken down and these could become the same, so my advice is “get ‘em while you can”.

The channel is Jordynlee21 and the updates are nine years ago (2015). There are four videos, which as you will see, have pretty much the same title but feature different “patients”.

There are no playlists available on the channel so, in no particular order, this is the first one.

Head to toe Ashley Brehmer- South University

The camera pans the room in the most disconcerting way. The initial verbal description is a bit drony, as if it is narrated by someone who is just going through the motions.

There is an ever-present background noise (probably air conditioning). This is a situation with which we are now well familiar.

South University appears to be located in Savannah Georgia as we’d expect it has its own YouTube channel.

As is usual, the channel for South University does not include medical examination videos.

I’m always fascinated by the terms used by those using a stethoscope such as “Intercostal Space”, this gives a good definition:

“2nd intercostal space (i.e., the space between the second and third ribs).

3rd intercostal space (i.e., the space between the third and fourth ribs).

4th intercostal space (i.e., the space between the fourth and fifth ribs).

5th intercostal space (i.e. the space between the fifth and sixth ribs).”

At intervals the presentation does settle down to be more gentle and is more the kind of video that we’re looking for (or “hearing for” if that could be a term).

In this case the medical professional is Ashley, I am not clear who Jordyn Lee (the name of the channel) is. The channel has been around since 2009 so considerably before the video.

Callie Donnay head to toe- South University

Again, with the maniacal whirling of the camera about the room, presumably to demonstrate that there are no prompts in the room for the student. However, I would have thought it straightforward to pan the room initially and then introduce material subsequently, but maybe I’m over thinking this.

The medical professional is Callie Donnay, again, the video is posted nine years ago. The air conditioning noise remains ever present. The “patient” here is the medical professional from the previous video i.e. Ashley Brehmer.

Sensibly there are no comments permitted; we’ve seen negative comments against such videos before.

Eventually the video settles down and gets reasonably quiet. I wonder if initial nerves in such videos is the reason that they often set off loud and settle down later.

There is the occasional clatter as equipment is moved around. This is distracting but not massively off-putting.

Alana Haas head to toe- South University

Alana Haas is the medical professional. Again, the camera pans the room. The “patient” confirms it is actually a hospital and not a domestic setting as we have often seen before. The patient states her name as Jordyn Hutchinson. The surname isn’t Lee – so perhaps she is not the owner of the channel. The patient states the date as 2013 so the video is posted somewhat later than that (which seems a bit odd if it is part of an assessment process).

Like the previous videos, the voice isn’t spot on for ASMR and the background noise is always present. However, there are periods of calm. Again, there are clattering noises which are only marginally distracting.

Jordyn Hutchinson head to toe- South University

Here, Jordyn becomes the medical professional. I’m not sure how common the spelling Jordyn is seen (I’m more used to Jordan). However, it is conceivable that Jordyn married and took the name Lee and hence the channel belongs to the self-same Jordyn.

I’m not sure how that could be verified as the videos lack any notes.

As before the camera sweeps the room and the medical professional starts off loud, so far, so familiar.

The patient is Alana Haas who appears in the previous video.

It settles down and is moderately quiet. I do often hope for another Hollie Berry but I think these videos are adequate for getting to sleep.

They’re going into the playlist and I’ll rely on the review process to sweep them into the archive list if they cease to be appealing.

The Jordyn Lee playlist on the Procrastination Pen is here:

The Procrastination Pen playlist (which is no-doubt what you have all been reading this in order to locate) is found here:

I have been working through that playlist repeatedly and some of the videos that were members have now fallen from favour. If any of your favourites are in there you can find them here in the archive list:

Quite often the videos getting removed have no faults other than unwelcome loud equipment noises.

The playlist of items that are great for ASMR (but contain an age verification function), usually a great way to interrupt your listening in the middle of the night, is here:

I hope that you find the playlists restful and that you get a good night’s sleep.

Hope to see you again back here for the next blog article.

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

Until next time.

Photo by Jennifer Uppendahl on Unsplash

Sleeping With ASMR

Recently, I am finding some variability around the efficacy of using just the ASMR videos to get some sleep. Some nights very effective, some nights a distraction, and some nights just not effective at all.

On such nights, I tend to lie on the sofa and tune into the dreariness that is late night television (dreariness is probably advisable as really compelling television is only going to keep you awake for longer).

However, there are other things to try, for example, there are free online meditation resources. Some people I am told find the discipline of meditation really diverting. I have until recently found focusing on meditation to be one more thing I do not want to do when I am tired and I want to sleep.

However, never say never, I recently have received a gift subscription to Calm and I am giving some of the meditations a try. So far without positive outcome, but you never know.

Meantime I am back to finding more ASMR videos. I am trying to stay ahead as I notice that some of my blog posts already have blank spaces where videos used to be. Videos are obviously being taken down.

Previously, we have dealt with the Sterling Freeman part of this partnership.

Now we have Olivia Rabone and, as we saw in that previous blog post, this looks like it is a video designed as part of an assessment.

Head-to-toe physical assessment-Olivia Rabone and Sterling Freeman

As we have heard before, the ever-present air conditioning to provide an audio background for us. In this, Sterling Freeman is the “patient”.

Sterling is currently a Registered Nurse at Martin County Hospital District Texas. She attended Howard College

Olivia Rabone attended Howard College Texas until 2022

Howard College has (as we’ve come to expect) has its own channel.

However, the badge on the shoulder of Sterling does not look anything like that on the Howard College Channel.

Sterling also studied at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center.

This college also has a YouTube channel. However, the badge is not like that on the uniform.

Sterling early in the video confirms that they are both at Howard College, Big Spring Texas. (Perhaps the college has subsequently changed its branding).

We also get the confirmation that this is 2019, which was very likely Sterling’s final year there (although Olivia appears to have attended for longer than that).

I always find it amusing that in these videos the students provide privacy by drawing an invisible curtain. We have seen this before of course.

I’ve seen a few applications of a blood pressure cuff in these videos. Given how far Olivia has to wrap that cuff around Sterling’s arm I think it might be bit on the large side.

The assessment proceeds at the pace of an express train. This makes me wonder if trainee health professionals are under the cosh to get things accomplished in the smallest amount of time possible.

Olivia seems to be reciting from a mental script as the empathy quotient in this video is not obviously high.

Against that, the tone is really pleasant; it is not excessively loud. It makes a good Procrastination Pen playlist candidate.

The channel, unsurprisingly, is called Olivia Rabone. It has eight videos on it, which is a number I think I can cover here without over stretching your attention. (The Procrastination Pen playlist is at the end of this article if you want to skip to that point, simply scroll down to find it).

The remaining seven videos are:

Head-to-toe physical assessment- Sunny Kuykendall & Olivia Rabone

Although Olivia hosts this one on her channel the medical professional here is Sunny and the “patient” is Olivia.

Sunny has her own channel which might be worthy of a future review.

Judging by Sunny’s shoulder badge (which is the same as Sterling’s in the previous video) this is also filmed at Howard College.

We have the constant drone of force-driven air to keep the ears entertained. In this case the medical professional’s volume is not aligned with this background noise. It is quite difficult to hear what Sunny is actually saying. This might be ok if the air conditioning noise was more restful but I do not find that it is.

The camera appears to be a huge distance from the two participants. This is unusual for videos of this type. However, given we are mainly here for the listening experience I cannot judge this video solely on that basis.

Sunny at intervals seems to be distracted. Potentially she is trying to follow some standard assessment checklist.

This does make it a little difficult to relax into the experience (and fall asleep to it for example).

Overall, I think the sound quality discounts this video from the Procrastination Pen playlist.

Head-to-toe physical assessment- Olivia Rabone & Stacy Kuykendall

This continues in the vein of the last video, with a high background noise in relation to the main spoken audio track.

Stacy Kuykendall is a remarkably common name in Texas it turns out (including one woman whose children were killed). The upshot of which is that I have been unable to determine if Stacy has a YouTube channel.

To be honest given this is set up exactly like the last one it didn’t stand a chance from the outset so I will not be adding it to the Procrastination Pen playlist.

CNs, Musculoskeletal, & Neurovascular Assessments-Olivia Rabone

The background noise on this is really intrusive, including what sounds like a whole flock of rock doves trying to outcompete one another.

There are a number of non-medical and non-ASMR comments with this video. But none of these have any interest to us.

There is the noise of overflying planes. At one point Olivia starts laughing, which given the challenges involved in filming here, is probably unsurprising.

If you’re watching as well as listening, there are also some strange artefacts coming from sunlight across the lens.

As before, there are occasional gaps as Olivia consults a checklist so it is a little staccato in approach.

It just isn’t there in terms of ASMR, so it will not be into the Procrastination Pen playlist.

CN’s & Musculoskeletal-Olivia Rabone and Sterling Freeman

Here we are straight back to the partnership that we started this blog item with. Although the partnership is the same, it appears that someone stuck the microphone actually inside the air conditioning outlet.

The audio track is nearly completely occluded by the constant whirr that is going on.

It is a shame because in all other respects this is the equal of the video that we started with in this article, but I don’t think it can really go through to the Procrastination Pen playlist.

Respiratory & Cardiac assessment-Olivia Rabone and Sterling Freeman

Yet again the background noise is high. However, I think this is just acceptable. It is very calm and considerably more methodical than some others featured in this blog post. However, it may well suffer an early weeding if it proves to be distracting on subsequent review.

A louder vocal track would have compensated for the air conditioning. Perhaps YouTube videos of the future will incorporate an air conditioning filter designed to eliminate all that excess noise.

HEENT assessment-Olivia Rabone and Sterling Freeman

This seems to start a bit louder, but so does the air conditioning. I could probably provide a good service to listeners if I could somehow process all the sound tracks to eliminate background noise. Sadly, however I am no sound engineer.

There are relatively few comments but just shy of seven and a half thousand views, which sounds remarkable.

To be honest, I’m not certain it is a great Procrastination Pen playlist candidate.

NG tube/EN/PN discussion

This is so much quieter than the others which must be down to the change of venue. This is filmed inside someone’s house. The start of the video though is not restful. It is almost in the format of a lecture with the delivery a tad hesitant.

Someone off camera starts coughing and Olivia is merely reading from a script.

This one isn’t for the Procrastination Pen playlist either.

The Olivia Rabone playlist on the Procrastination Pen is here:

The Procrastination Pen playlist (which is no-doubt what you have all been reading this in order to locate) is found here:

I have been listening to that playlist most nights and some of the videos that were members have now been removed. If any of your favourites are missing from that main playlist you can find them here in the archive list:

Quite often the videos getting removed have no faults other than occasional intrusive noises.

The playlist of items that are great for ASMR (but contain an age verification function), usually a great way to interrupt your listening in the middle of the night, is here:

I hope that you find the playlists restful and that you get a good night’s sleep.

Hope to see you again back here for the next blog article.

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

Until next time.

Photo by Shona Macrae

Sleeping With ASMR

Continuing in our search for medical videos which may induce ASMR in some listeners (or at the very least induce enough relaxation to see you napping) we have today’s video:

Hip Extension and Hip Abduction MMT

This one is from the channel Dominican College which has just seven hundred and three subscribers as at today’s date (this seems a little low for a college). There are one hundred and ninety-four videos at the time I’m looking at it. This is a tad too many for any single blog post. There are seven playlists but many of these have a high number of videos in them. So in this case using playlists to narrow the field may not be effective. This is thirty-eighth in a thirty-nine video playlist “PT541 Basics of PT (2022)”

I do not think that we will be covering thirty-nine videos in any single blog post even though some of them are quite short.

Today’s video is obviously filmed in a classroom setting, there is a general hubbub happening as for people chatting in the background. The sound is quite muted and the background noise is prevalent (I’d guess air conditioning again). It ends rather abruptly as well which might be off-putting.

It is marginal in terms of the purpose that we wish to put it to (engendering restfulness). This is no Hollie Berry or Vicki Scott. I’ll let it sneak into the Procrastination Pen playlist but it might be subject to future weeding.

The channel tells me very little about the college itself – merely that the channel was established in 2018.

Checking for Dominican College online I find that it has been rebranded to Dominican University now. I think I’ve found the correct one as it offers a PT programme (which is the subject of the playlist).

It is located in New York and has an interesting history.

Whilst we’re in the playlist let’s see if there are any others worthy of examination.

Given the large number of videos in this playlist I think we’ll need to arbitrarily cut the number. I’m going to choose five and then revisit on another occasion.

Gross UE ROM Screen

I wonder if the small number of subscribers is because it was posted for a specific reason, say a class during a time of Covid or something similar.

The tutor is Justine Ward. Sadly there is no channel for Justine, there might have been a chance to find something with better audio quality.

The sound quality is no better on this video and given it is less than three minutes it isn’t worth adding to The Procrastination Pen playlist.

Assessment of knee flexion end feel

A short video at just over a minute. Sadly the sound quality does not improve, the teaching professional really needs a lapel mic. Given it is so short, again, I don’t see the point in adding it to The Procrastination Pen playlist (it might have sneaked in had the sound quality been better).

The theme of these videos is they all seem to end abruptly which is even less great given it gives the opportunity for a loud YouTube advert to kick in immediately afterwards.

UE strength screen

This is two minutes long and the sound quality is not great. There is however no classroom banter in this one which helps. Someone does clear his throat part way through (I assume the person holding the camera).

There is a repeat of the “don’t let me move you” phrase we’ve encountered before. Again, I don’t think this will make it to The Procrastination Pen playlist.

Assessing ankle DF and elbow ext end feel

This is very short at just over one and a half minutes and the noise quality is not the greatest here. It’s noisy to begin with, slightly better as it settles down later on.

It’s also unnerving in places. I’m sure if some of the manipulations were tried on my elbow for example, I’d be nursing it for a long time afterwards.

It doesn’t belong in The Procrastination Pen playlist.

There is only one candidate video this time. As a consequence I will not create a playlist on The Procrastination Pen for Dominican College.

However, the playlist for all videos covered on The Procrastination Pen so far is here:

I recommend you view it on YouTube (rather than on this blog) then you will be able to use the shuffle function so that the videos play in a random order.

The archive playlist of videos that were in the above playlist but found after repeated review not to make the grade, is here:

I keep this in case subscribers to the Procrastination Pen have personal favourites that they want to hear.

The playlist of videos requiring age verification is here:

I can’t be bothered to stop trying to relax in order to log on, this interrupts the listening experience. You may not mind this in which case this list is for you.

I hope that you find the playlists restful and I hope you get plenty of sleep.

If you liked this blog article why not follow this blog.

I hope you find the playlist relaxing, any feedback is welcome.

Until next time.

Photo by Shona Macrae

Sleeping With ASMR

It came to me today that this series has been going on so long that I should provide an ongoing introduction to these articles, so that any newcomers will know what is happening. This needs to be brief enough though, so that the stalwart reader doesn’t get bored.

The aim of this particular blog series is to explore the use of ASMR videos for sleep. Specifically, to be helpful in the getting off to sleep and getting back to sleep when you awake in the middle of the night.

I’m assuming you have a device that can attach to the Internet somewhere near to your bed. On this device that you can open YouTube, browse to The Procrastination Pen playlist, click on shuffle, lie back and listen to the rest in peace. (This might require some kind of sleep-friendly headphones or similar).

My focus so far has mainly been on ASMR videos which have ASMR effects despite being designed for something else (most commonly medical exams so far). These are so-called “unintentional ASMR” videos. There are quite a number of these so I doubt we are going to run out of these any time soon. However, I do occasionally stray into the professional ASMR arena and select one of those videos that appeals.

Each article reviews a video or videos that came up on YouTube. These frequently are found through recommendation by YouTube. I then determine whether the ongoing playlist needs to be enhanced by addition of the reviewed video or that the video needs to be rejected. (In which case the video will still be clickable from the article itself – if you decide you rather like it).

You are free to recommend videos that you feel fit the bill or to disagree with my choices (I may even change the playlist in response to contributions).

At intervals, I review the playlist and pull out the less-successful videos into an archive list of those that seemed to make the grade but over time have not proven to be quite so restful. I use the Procrastination Pen playlist myself so I have a reasonably constant interaction with it.

Today’s video appears to have once been on YouTube on a different channel but was taken down for some reason. The comments indicate that it is a very welcome restoration.

The channel is ASMR Archivist and the notes state that its mission is “an archive for lost AMSR videos” (I assume that’s ASMR). This seems like the kind of place that we could enjoy.

That said, on exploring ASMR Archivist we find just one video (today’s video) and zero playlists.

So today’s article is going to feature just the one video.

Cate Darnell – Head to Toe Assessment

It is so popular that we find that it has an entry in the Internet Archive.

This indicates that it was deleted in 2020, but sadly not where it was deleted from – i.e. where its original home was.

As a consequence of being so popular we find that a similar thing has happened to this video as for the Vicki Scott video covered previously That is, the video is now posted in several places on YouTube. For example here:

On a channel called Sleep ASMR (which seems appropriate)

Our video is just shy of twenty-six minutes long so not the longest we’ve seen. It seems to start with “Miss Spagboll” (I’m sure I heard that incorrectly).

The badge on the patient is just not discernible enough to make it out however it could be Honors College which resolves as The University of Alabama in Huntsville. This has a channel UAH Admissions. This channel has forty-three videos and seven playlists but it appears this is all about marketing the university rather than medical examinations.

Possibly the Cate Darnell video once came from a Cate Darnell channel which has now gone.

Our video looks like an assessment video for a nursing university. We’ve seen these before of course. There is the normal level of background noise, air conditioning again, I think.

Cate has a brilliant accent and talks very quietly, just the sort of thing we are looking for in a video.

As usual the odd definition may help (well they do me – as I have no medical background) in this case bruit is an abnormal sound generated by a turbulent flow of blood.

I have no idea what Cate did next but for our purposes it is a shame that she did not produce a whole wealth of videos à la Dr James Gill.

The comments as usual are very helpful, one points out that details of Cate are online and that the video is over a decade old.

As many commentators state this is an excellent ASMR video. Definitely one for the playlist.

Sadly there will be no playlist for ASMR Archivist on the Procrastination Pen (there is only one video)

However, the overall playlist of videos covered so far on the Procrastination Pen is here:

(and now it includes the Cate Darnell video).

The archive playlist of videos that were in the above playlist but found after repeated review not to make the grade, is here:

I keep this in case subscribers to the Procrastination Pen have personal favourites that they want to hear.

The playlist of videos requiring age verification is here:

I can’t be bothered to stop my listening experience to log on, this interrupts the listening experience. You may not mind this in which case this list is for you.

I hope that you find the playlists restful and I hope you get plenty of sleep.

If you liked this blog article why not follow this blog.

Until next time.

Photo by Shona Macrae

Sleeping With ASMR

In writing this it is all too easy to assume that you have made the journey thus far with me and have some idea what this blog is for. However, it is to be hoped that people are meandering into the blog, from some search engine or other, all the time. If you have done that, this article may be your point of entry.

If so welcome.

I hope that those who have been reading (and subscribing) for a period of time will have patience whilst I tell you what you’re looking at.

The purpose is to generate a playlist – simply that. A great long playlist of videos from YouTube. Videos which, after careful listening and review have been found good for ASMR (or at the very least to be restful and relaxing, sufficient to nestle a person off to sleep when they have a stressful day to come and desperately need the rest).

The writing is actually the review process and I assume that a lot of people will just scroll to the end of the article and pick up the playlist.

Some people may take an interest in the review and take a moment to read and reflect on it or to vehemently disagree and to leave comments.

At intervals I will further edit the playlist to try to ensure that only the more restful videos are included.

This time we are starting with a video on a much more official sounding channel than some of our recent dalliances have been. No professional ASMR curation here.

The Exam for Shoulder Pain – Stanford Medicine 25

A rather nice piece of introductory music this time, although what it will sound like once you’ve heard it a few dozen times in the dead of night and you’re tired, irritable and have an important meeting in the morning, I’m afraid I can’t predict.

The medical professional this time is properly announced in the video Dr. Brinda Christopher Sports Medicine Physician FFSEM MRCP BSc MBBS. A rather dazzling array of qualifications there. The patient isn’t introduced.

But how does her voice sound and is the video very relaxing is what we have come to find out (well I have and I assume you have too as you’re reading this).

Certainly, Brinda has a very quiet voice, sufficiently quiet that the background aircon is quite apparent in this video.

The comments are quite enlightening with some comments from people seeking instruction for exams and some from those coming to this channel for ASMR videos. (I am not the first to find this video for ASMR purposes).

Although it is quiet it isn’t tops for ASMR with me. It is worthy of a review though and probably worthy of the Procrastination Pen playlist. (It might fall victim to a subsequent weeding, we’ll see).

The channel is Stanford Medicine 25. There are two hundred and forty-four subscribers at the time I’m looking at it. There are eighty-five videos as at today’s date and thirteen playlists. This video occurs in a playlist called Stanford Medicine 25: Musculoskeletal Exam.

This playlist consists of eight videos of which the above one is the very last in the set.  Dr Christopher only features in three (of which the above is one).

The other two featuring Dr Christopher are:

The Exam for Knee Pain – Stanford Medicine 25

As usual with institutional videos (see the ones from Warwick) these are of a brand i.e. the same introductory images and the same image bottom right-hand side. (This last presumably in an attempt to preserve copyright of the entire video).

You might be intrigued (as I was) by the term crepitus, which is a noise coming from the joints on movement.

I’m not sure what the “patient” is called here, I thought that Brinda thanked “Chad” but it might just be my ears.

The last video with Dr Christopher in this playlist is:

The Exam for Ankle & Foot Pain – Stanford Medicine 25

In this we establish that the patient here is “Chad” the same patient in all three videos covered in this article. From the accent I would guess Chad is an American person. That’s in keeping with the institution location but is in quite a contrast to the more English accent of Dr Christopher.

These three videos obviously belong together, the same medical professional, the same “patient” the other five in the set (contained in the Musculoskeletal Exam playlist) less so.

Therefore, I think I’ll call this article at an end here and resolve to follow on with the rest of that playlist (and the channel) in future blog items.

The Stanford Medicine playlist on The Procrastination Pen is here:

The overall playlist of items covered so far on The Procrastination Pen is here:

The archive playlist of videos that were in the above playlist but found after lengthy review not to make the grade, is here:

I keep this in case subscribers to the Procrastination Pen have personal favourites that they want to hear.

The playlist of videos requiring age verification is here:

I dislike these as they expect me to login to verify my age. This interrupts the listening experience in my view. You may be happy with this interruption in which case this list is for you.

I hope that you find the playlists restful and I hope you get plenty of sleep.

If you liked this blog article why not follow this blog.

Until next time.

Photo by Heyphotoshoot on Unsplash