{"id":6849,"date":"2016-05-09T13:39:34","date_gmt":"2016-05-09T09:39:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.oontz.ru\/?p=6849"},"modified":"2016-09-27T01:05:44","modified_gmt":"2016-09-26T21:05:44","slug":"english-all-over-the-wax","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oontz.ru\/en\/2016\/05\/09\/english-all-over-the-wax\/","title":{"rendered":"All Over the Wax"},"content":{"rendered":"

All Over the Wax is a feature about the sounds heard by the Odysseus boaters as they were passing the Sirens island.<\/p>\n

00.00<\/strong><\/p>\n

Female voice
\nTo the left. Yes, you can go now.<\/p>\n

Vladimir Kryuchev (narration)
\nIt’s Monday, 9 am, and I\u2019m going to see the doctor.<\/p>\n

Yuri Prilutsky
\nVladimir (Vyatcheslavovich)!<\/p>\n

Vladimir Kryuchev
\nIt\u2019s me!<\/p>\n

Yuri Prilutsky
\nRight. Come in, have a seat.<\/p>\n

Vladimir Kryuchev
\nHere’s is my health record.<\/p>\n

Yuri Prilutsky
\nOk. What seems to be the trouble?<\/p>\n

Vladimir Kryuchev
\nActually, nothing. I go for a regular hearing test.<\/p>\n

Yuri Prilutsky
\nUhm.<\/p>\n

Vladimir Kryuchev (narration)
\nThis is the authentic record of a dialog at the otolaryngologist\u2019s. The doctor is Yuri Prilutsky.<\/p>\n

Yuri Prilutsky
\nWhen have you noticed the first signs of a trouble?<\/p>\n

Vladimir Kryuchev
\nNo, I’m fine. I just want to make sure my hearing is ok. To be sure I\u2019m not losing it, and my auditory acuity is ok, and\u2026<\/p>\n

Vladimir Kryuchev (narration) It could easily be the same Monday but some 3000 years ago when a person was looking at the other person’s ear very closely. And he could be saying something like\u2026<\/p>\n

Yuri Prilutsky
\nThe right one is ok, the left one is ok.<\/p>\n

Vladimir Kryuchev (narration)
\nThat was Odysseus wadding his oarers ears with wax as their ship was passing by the Island of the Sirens. The Sirens, those half-women, half-birds, half-fish were known for their hypnotic voices, that brought death to any human. Odysseus knew that, he blocked his men ears with hot wax, and they tied him to the mast in return. That is how they passed the island and survived.<\/p>\n

Vladimir Kryuchev
\nWhat will happen if I put some hot wax into my ears?<\/p>\n

Yuri Prilutsky
\nWhat for?<\/p>\n

Vladimir Kryuchev (narration)
\nNow it\u2019s time to put cards on the table.<\/p>\n

Vladimir Kryuchev
\nI’ve told you the half-truth. I\u2019m doing a feature that will try to recreate what the Odysseus oarers have heard when they got their ears stuffed with hot wax.<\/p>\n

Yuri Prilutsky
\nWell, they’d rather hear their own body sounds \u2014 the pulsation of blood.
\nYes, that\u2019s what they’ve heard. The nerve and the blood vessel are very close to each other at the bone canal. When the blood pressure goes up, the sound transmits onto the nerve. Hot wax temperatures can be tolerated by the body, but the eardrum is different. It would be ok to do it with local anesthesia.<\/p>\n

Vladimir Kryuchev (narration)
\nOdysseus is known for a number of labours, but he is not a one-dimensional superhero. He can afford to be afraid of the Laestrygonians \u2014 the Ancient World bad guys. He can admit his faults getting stuck at the Polypheme cave. He can even cry on public. But his boatmen are neglected. We know almost nothing about them \u2014 neither what they felt, nor what they heard.<\/p>\n

Alexander Solodovnikov
\nTaking into account the time they were away, the oarsmen were anticipating the joy of reuniting with their families. The good things like that \u2014 it was all they could think about.<\/p>\n

Vladimir Kryuchev (narration)
\nAlexander Solodovnikov is the canoe coach with a long distance rowing background.<\/p>\n

Alexander Solodovnikov
\nSometimes you have to cover a distance really fast. It\u2019s not only about those oarsmen passing the Sirens island. But this is what it’s all about. That\u2019s when your body starts to act as a single mechanism \u2014 and the heart starts beating heavily. Boom! It’s not in your chest at these moments, it\u2019s in your head, in your temples. Your only wish is to keep the pace. Row! Row! Row!<\/p>\n

Vladimir Kryuchev (narration)
\nThe oarsmen may have heard not only their body sounds but the low frequency beats coming up from the water below and the water-bed.<\/p>\n

Alexander Solodovnikov
\nWe were rowing in the Sayan Mountains with lots of healing water springs all around. It was raining all night. But suddenly the powerful beats and a rumble reached us from the river. I didn’t get it at first but my coach said \u2014 lads, these are the 3-meter stones rolling through the river-bed. That\u2019s what we’ve heard.<\/p>\n

Natalia Sidortsova
\nThe Sirens\u2026<\/p>\n

Vladimir Kryuchev
\nThis is Natalia Sidortsova, a singer.<\/p>\n

Natalia Sidortsova
\nThose voices are a mystery for sure. Now, armed with the laws of physics, we may suppose that their vocal cords were producing some sort of extra low or extra high frequencies, inaudible to us. A direct hit at the subconscious. That\u2019s what I think about it. Well, there should be something beyond the laws of physics. Some sort of magic.<\/p>\n

Vladimir Kryuchev (narration)
\nThe singers can be a Siren and a boater at the same time. This happens when they are on stage.<\/p>\n

Natalia Sidortsova
\nI used to work with in-ear headphones, those stage monitors that block any sound outside and send you only the sound of your voice and the music. I can\u2019t stand them \u2014 I got such a nasty feeling of being isolated from the world outside with in-ears on. I don’t think those sailors were happy with that ear wax. But at the same time it was something that saved their lives, right?<\/p>\n

Vladimir Kryuchev (narration)
\nThere\u2019s only one track on Alexey’s Michkov playlist. Here it is \u2014 it leaks from his headphones. Alexey doesn\u2019t know the performer’s name, he\u2019s not aware of the title of the song. And even it’s origin is obscure to him.<\/p>\n

Alexey Michkov
\nI have no idea. I\u2019ve just stumbled across it one day, and I liked it. That\u2019s all. Later, I recalled this song, and when I played it \u2014 that was it. My headphones save me from the people around me when I can’t focus on my work. I press play. This tune repeats for a half-an-hour. I don\u2019t pay much attention to it but it prevents any sounds that could trigger my reaction. It’s an unusual way to escape the sounds that irritate me. I may not be the only one, but I\u2019ve never met anybody else escaping the reality the same way.[\/expand]<\/p>\n


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