What?
Laurie Anderson has a piece where she tells an anecdote about an elderly couple, driving across the country, whose car horn gets stuck somehow along the way. After some miles, the wife says, “It’s like the sound of far-away bees on a summer day.” To which her husband replies, “What?”

We’ll leave the story there, I think, despite 5 days in the company of my parents, and go on to mention the new hearing test service being offered in Australia, Telscreen, which allows anyone to ring in on a toll-free number to get a diagnosis. Given the Walkman revolution and prevalence of iPods (and, judging from the way people speak into their mobile phones, I’d put that technology on the list, too), I expect this isn’t a service for the elderly alone. I know I’ve got trouble in loud environments, but then I had an eardrum burst when I was young, and spent a lot of time at rock concerts (but have since bought a pair of Hearos for the upcoming Died Pretty concert), so I may wait to try it out for a little while yet. Nice idea, but.