"Hey, You Wanna Hear the Most Annoying Sound in the World?"

Jim Carrey makes a pretty good case for that in Dumb and Dumber, but lately my vote goes to these little buggers, the cicada. They are fairly common in temperate or tropical places all over the world, so being from the north back in the States, Japan is my first experience with them.

For most of their lives, 13 to 17 years in all, cicadas live under ground. That is until they embark on their final journey to mate when the summer gets to be its hottest. Once above ground, they don't last very long, but they certainly like to be heard. When these little guys get going it can really mess with your head if you allow yourself to focus on it. They typically reach 120 dB at close range, and combined they make for a constant buzz everywhere you go, but then as if it were planned the buzz stops and there's nothing. It can really drive you crazy. They can even be heard within the confines of home, which makes sleeping a bit more difficult.

Here's an example of one I recorded recently:



And in case you wanted to compare, check out the clip from Dumb and Dumber.