async messaging from mysql to java ?

Is there a way to send a async message from mysql to the JVM. I want to execute a java method on a row insert in the mysql table. Is there a neat or a standard way to achieve this? I want to avoid polling the table. I think it should be doable using GET_LOCK, RELEASE_LOCK function calls and some application level logic, but there are side effects to this function and doesnt seem to me to be a cool solution :)