SUNRISE - June 8, 2011

June 8, 2011 Sunrise 5:41 am

So, just when you think you have put enough TIME (see, I got the 'T' word in early) in on earth and "been there - done that" (sometimes twice) and you think you have heard and seen everything, NPR (National Public Radio) comes along with an interesting bit of trivia that is now and forever, near and dear to my heart.

I have been a Classic Rock fan from the beginning - when it was new and not yet classic - and what budding bass player can not feel the beat in any AC/DC song (some naysayers have been overheard committing Rock Blasphemy - saying that all AC/DC and ZZ Top songs sound alike).  


And then you endure the years filled with semi-guilt, all the while, building up your record collection of all the great AC/DC songs, but half believing the claim that listening to them at full volume (my speakers only had a 10  on the volume dial, as 1-9 were mysteriously missing) would turn your brain to mush and make you go deaf (WHAT??  DID YOU SAY SOMETHING?)

So, getting back to NPR - on the radio today, they shared that when you play an AC/DC song through underwater speakers in the ocean (doesn't apparently matter which song, as they all sound alike) IT ATTRACTS SHARKS!.  Now that fact in itself, is totally understandable, as sharks obviously are attracted to good old rock-n-roll more than, say, jellyfish.

Here is the cool part of the new discovery (I can just see underwater scientists playing Mozart under water to attract whales and dolphins, attempting to communicate) and then they leave the set-up unattended and the hippie grad-student intern slips an AC/DC MP3 player into the system and cranks his iPod up to +30 (I am sure their investment includes much higher levels better than my +10 max speakers) to see what would happen.  In addition to scattering all of God's gentle ocean gentle creatures for miles, lo and behold, hundreds of sharks appeared for the impromptu concert at the reef. Here was their discovery:

AC/DC songs calmed the sharks down and reduced their aggressive hunt mentality:

"It shouldn't come as a surprise that great white sharks like heavy metal. But when Matt Waller, a charter boat operator in South Australia's Port Lincoln, played "Back in Black" and "You Shook Me All Night Long" by AC/DC underwater, he says the sharks become less aggressive. Some even rub their snouts against the caged speakers, which is adorable in a terrifying way."

Since I have has a somewhat wild and exciting ride in life filled with rock & roll, it is somewhat comforting to know in the sunset of my life that there is finally an acknowledged, albeit, heretofore under-appreciated, but understandably meditative quality to rock-n-roll that will soothe the savage beast - or at least the shark within us.

rlw

AC/DC - Therapy for Sharks,