Memi Update – (매미)Continuing my obsession…
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Two weeks ago (August 23, 2010), when the temperature in Daegu, the hottest part of Korea, hit 36 degrees, the memi (매미-cicadas) chorus screamed from the pomegranate tree and bushes near my one-room. I made a recording in exactly the same location as I recorded the first memi I heard, on July 7th, of this year. There was one day, Saturday 30th of August, when it was refreshingly cool with little humidity and a fresh breeze. That was a strange day as the memi were silent. It’s an interesting feeling to leave your one-room and the sanctuary of air-conditioning, to step out into intense sunlight that actually seems to have weight, and be surrounded all the time by muggy humidity and that incessant scream from the trees. In the two recordings here you can hear the different levels of intensity. In the second recording, on one of the hottest days of the year, the memi song was verging on painful.
Alternative Links
Link to Flickr video: On Hearing the First Memi of Summer, 2010
Link to Flickr video: Memi in Full Chorus August. 2010.
© Nick Elwood 2010 Creative Commons Licence.
Stumbled across your blog a few months back when I was doing research on Seoul. Your blog is quite insightful and sometimes entertaining.
Lala
September 6, 2010 at 2:26 pm
Thanks for you comments. Much appreciated. I visited your blog but couldn’t find a place to leave comments! Your photos are fantastic, I generally avoid any with me in them!
Nick
September 7, 2010 at 12:49 am