Under the circumstances, even though I was paying for this ride, I felt unable to ask this clearly sensitive man to turn down his deafening rap music.

BBC: In Paris, the customer is not always right

To a heady background of deafening Indian music, machines pump flames into the sky whenever there is a four, while wickets and sixes are greeted by endless fireworks.

BBC: Fireworks, cheerleaders - and IPL cricket

Law enforcement and intelligence officials have said in the past that he was stripped, held in an icy room until he turned blue, subjected to ear-deafening blasts of music by the Red Hot Chili Peppers and other bands.

NPR: A View from Inside the CIA

Hsieh is horrified by its bored-looking employees and deafening hip-hop music.

FORBES: A Step Ahead