jeff Bridges can't do sleep tapes.
my alarm isn't working anymore. I have so much trouble sleeping the night through some nights that I'm just too tired. I've asked Dan to wake me and he waits till late, but at least I still am there in the morning to care for the birds. My alarm goes off and I turn it off, just like that, feeling like I need more sleep. I should try to get to bed earlier again I guess. But that would mean getting ready for bed right this minute! Yech.
I discovered Jeff Bridges's "sleep tapes." What they are, it's clear, are a series of guided meditations as taught to him by various people over his life. These are the things he uses, variously, to calm himself. Suggested for someone else, they're so utterly absurd as to be beyond belief. Unfortunately he does not keep his guided meditations clean. Even for himself this would be anything but relaxing as he runs off topic frequently, and is interrupted by a variety of disturbances from sullen spouse to boisterous children, to helicopters. Whether it's the dusty dumpyard ravine he traverses to take in the sunset, or the chaotic blind journey he takes you on behind his eyelids, these scense could only be considered relaxing from within Jeff's own tortured experience. There surely must be some madness in this man's mind. I do hope he's happy in spite of it.
For me, it's absurdly funny. I kept uttering out loud "Oh Jeff, you SADIST!" This was prompted by his habit of lulling you to near sleep then shocking you awake with sudden loud and jangling noise and topics. Every track does this to the listener and one can't help but hear the wicked giggle suppressed in his tone as he rolls you back down from another wild startle.
So bad it's good, I keep wondering if he knows what he's doing. I doubt it.
www.dreamingwithjeff.com is where you can find it, and the option to donate to a perfectly worthy charity if you wish.
Next day:
I decided to play the tracks through while attempting to sleep. I was kind of going along with it till the hum track through which I laughed 75% of the way. The kind of hearty laughs that keep you well awake. Then I was a bit brought down to listen to his marriage limp through a morning. I spent the following track wondering why she hadn't divorced him yet. I would periodically start to drift off, feeling relaxed, then with a sadistic chuckle he'd introduce something jarring and difficult to ignore. Every now and then the web buffering would stop the streaming music or it would change tracks and again I'd begin to drift off. Then he'd come along with something too weird or too loud again and, again, seem to enjoy doing that to his listeners. The timing of the disturbances are such that I really think he's letting his inner sadist get in the way. Since Jeff doesn't understand the concept of creating extra material and editing out the crap, you get everything, even the ridiculous foray into imaginary greed satisfaction when the trash filled desert ravine has "gold dubloons" in the sterile runoff creek below. Then he says "well we're not here for dubloons, we're here to fall asleep!" Thats when you want to slap him and tell him to quit waking you up already. Finally the web stream just quit, I dont think I suffered the whole album, and fell happily to sleep in the peaceful quiet.
Here's the thing about his crazy sleep tapes. It does keep you from mind-racing on your own life. If you're very ADHD it also might be better for being less boring. The laughter in the hum track, which has hit me every time I hear it, is probably a better relaxant than a massage, all in all. I keep wondering, is there some kind of mad genius to this whole thing? Probably not. I was really tired already.
I discovered Jeff Bridges's "sleep tapes." What they are, it's clear, are a series of guided meditations as taught to him by various people over his life. These are the things he uses, variously, to calm himself. Suggested for someone else, they're so utterly absurd as to be beyond belief. Unfortunately he does not keep his guided meditations clean. Even for himself this would be anything but relaxing as he runs off topic frequently, and is interrupted by a variety of disturbances from sullen spouse to boisterous children, to helicopters. Whether it's the dusty dumpyard ravine he traverses to take in the sunset, or the chaotic blind journey he takes you on behind his eyelids, these scense could only be considered relaxing from within Jeff's own tortured experience. There surely must be some madness in this man's mind. I do hope he's happy in spite of it.
For me, it's absurdly funny. I kept uttering out loud "Oh Jeff, you SADIST!" This was prompted by his habit of lulling you to near sleep then shocking you awake with sudden loud and jangling noise and topics. Every track does this to the listener and one can't help but hear the wicked giggle suppressed in his tone as he rolls you back down from another wild startle.
So bad it's good, I keep wondering if he knows what he's doing. I doubt it.
www.dreamingwithjeff.com is where you can find it, and the option to donate to a perfectly worthy charity if you wish.
Next day:
I decided to play the tracks through while attempting to sleep. I was kind of going along with it till the hum track through which I laughed 75% of the way. The kind of hearty laughs that keep you well awake. Then I was a bit brought down to listen to his marriage limp through a morning. I spent the following track wondering why she hadn't divorced him yet. I would periodically start to drift off, feeling relaxed, then with a sadistic chuckle he'd introduce something jarring and difficult to ignore. Every now and then the web buffering would stop the streaming music or it would change tracks and again I'd begin to drift off. Then he'd come along with something too weird or too loud again and, again, seem to enjoy doing that to his listeners. The timing of the disturbances are such that I really think he's letting his inner sadist get in the way. Since Jeff doesn't understand the concept of creating extra material and editing out the crap, you get everything, even the ridiculous foray into imaginary greed satisfaction when the trash filled desert ravine has "gold dubloons" in the sterile runoff creek below. Then he says "well we're not here for dubloons, we're here to fall asleep!" Thats when you want to slap him and tell him to quit waking you up already. Finally the web stream just quit, I dont think I suffered the whole album, and fell happily to sleep in the peaceful quiet.
Here's the thing about his crazy sleep tapes. It does keep you from mind-racing on your own life. If you're very ADHD it also might be better for being less boring. The laughter in the hum track, which has hit me every time I hear it, is probably a better relaxant than a massage, all in all. I keep wondering, is there some kind of mad genius to this whole thing? Probably not. I was really tired already.