[Rearview]

Aerosmith Rocks Ultra Safe Pest

Editor’s note: Boston’s Ultra Safe Pest Management was thrown a curveball when former neighbor Aerosmith showed up for an unannounced free concert outside the company’s Commonwealth Avenue office. Ultra Safe recounted the day’s events in the following article submitted to PCT.

BOSTON — Monday mornings are usually anything but quiet at Ultra Safe’s Commonwealth Avenue office. “[They] are hectic to say the least,” said President Vic Palermo. “Despite being a 24-hour service company, I think many of our customers wait until Monday to call in.”

In addition to large call volume, Palermo says that Mondays always seem to “throw a curveball at us in some shape or form.”

Monday, Nov. 5, 2012, would set a new standard for craziness! In the weeks leading up to that date, rumors were swirling that the rock band Aerosmith was going to be performing a free concert somewhere in their hometown of Boston, to promote the release of their new album.

It was Friday afternoon when the announcement was made on TV and radio stations across the city: “Boston’s Bad Boys, Aerosmith, will play a free concert at 1325 Commonwealth Avenue, right in front of their very first apartment. It will take place at noon on Monday,” read one headline.

Palermo, who was in his office at the time, remembers having to do a “double take,” recalling, “I was like, ‘What did they just say?’ A quick Internet search confirmed I wasn’t hearing things. They were talking about the building right next door. I remember thinking to myself, ‘Wow, this place is going to be a zoo on Monday!’”

When Palermo left his office Friday evening, he could already see media gathering out front. “As I drove in early Monday morning, the streets were already being blocked off around our shop. I had to park three streets away. Approaching on foot I noticed that police officers were blocking foot traffic from our side of the street. They only let me pass after I told them that I worked in the building.”

As the crowd arrived steadily on the opposite side of the street, Palermo said equipment trucks and trailers started pulling up right in front of Ultra Safe. “I couldn’t believe it, they were setting up right out front. It was like we had back stage passes or something. At one point, I was walking out front and noticed New England Patriots players Tom Brady, Jerrod Mayo and Aerosmith guitarist Brad Whitford hanging around right out front of the office. I remember thinking, ‘I can‘t believe this is happening right now.’”

Palermo said the band played about eight to nine songs on the back of a flat bed truck. “They sounded awesome! I was really impressed by the sound quality. At one point I went back into the office to check on things. We could still hear the music loud and clear from inside of our office. I remember talking to a customer on the phone with the song ‘Back in the Saddle’ cranking in the background. The customer was like, ‘Wow the radio is loud in there, huh?’ I said, ‘No, that’s Aerosmith playing a live concert out front.’”

Palermo and the rest of his staff at Ultra Safe will never forget the Monday that one of the greatest bands of all time rocked their Commonwealth Avenue office!

Bat Calls Make an Eerie Comeback

For the past five years, bats have been disappearing at an alarming rate, falling prey to a mysterious disease called white-nose syndrome. But they’re making an eerie comeback in a new audio exhibit at a national park in Vermont, NPR.org reports. The exhibit features manipulated recordings of bat calls that are funneled through glass vessels hanging from a studio ceiling.

Bats emit high-frequency sounds that create echoes to help them navigate and detect predators. Most of these sounds are inaudible to the human ear, but they can be recorded using special machines and software that lower the frequencies into the range humans can hear. Ecologist Kent McFarland recorded these sounds in 2001, when he took an inventory of long-eared and little brown bats near a pond in Woodstock, Vt.

Andrea Polli, a New Mexico-based digital media artist, wanted to create a project that would celebrate their mysterious sounds. Since humans cannot hear what bats really sound like, Polli gave herself wide artistic license to create her own interpretation. She used looped recordings of bat calls to create a techno-sounding beat.