Extreme Polka

Take Me Out To The Ballgame

The boys of summer are back and we are taking a trip to Milwaukee on Friday April 9th to watch the Milwaukee Brewers stomp the Astros...and we are playing polka to celebrate.
Thanks to America's Finest News Source-The Onion The Polkaholics will be playing at Miller Stadium in Milwaukee for the opening of the Milwaukee Brewers baseball season.

So hey- why not take a road trip on Friday April 9th to Milwaukee and watch The Polkaholics play a hour and a half of our crazy brand of Extreme Polkafrom noon till 3:30p!? The game starts toward the end of our set so you'll be able to see us and catch some great baseball as well!

Thanks to The Onion for making this all possible!!

Polka On!!
Jolly James

TONS of Photos

There is a great photo album of our last Zakopane show that polka pal Lisa Jarrett made- there are 162 total photos!!
If you take the time to look at them all you'll find some great action shots of the Polkaholics® plus some funny crowd shots.

To see the entire album click here once you are logged in click on the slideshow.

Thanks Lisa! This is a great shot of Action Jackson

Public Service Announcement

Since it's officially spring now- lots of bands are playing more shows and consequently posting more fliers for shows. Consider this my Public Service Announcement to all of you.
I was not aware of this but it is illegal to post fliers, or posters for shows (or for that matter garage sales, lost cats, etc.) in the city of Chicago according to the City Clerks Office web site

10-8-320 Posting bills

A. No person shall post, stick, stamp, tack, paint or otherwise fix, or cause the same to be done by any person, any sign, notice, placard, bill, card, poster, advertisement or other device calculated to attract the attention of the public, to or upon any sidewalk, crosswalk, curb or curbstone, flagstone or any other portion or part of any public way, lamppost, electric light, traffic light, telegraph, telephone or trolley line pole, hydrant, shade tree or tree-box, or upon the piers, columns, trusses, girders, railings, gates or parts of any public bridge or viaduct, or upon any pole box or fixture of the police and fire communications system, except that the city may allow the posting of decorative banners in accordance with Section 10-8-340 below.

B. There shall be a rebuttable presumption that any person, business or entity whose goods, services, activities or events are promoted by a sign is a person who posted it or caused it to be posted

C. Any person violating any of the provisions of this section shall be fined not less than $10.00 nor more than $50.00 per pole for a first offense, and not less than $50.00 nor more than $200.00 per pole for any subsequent offenses.

D. In addition, any person violating any of the provisions of this section shall be liable to the city for the cost of repair of any damage caused by the hanging, presence or removal of any such sign and for any and all claims arising out of the hanging, presence or removal of any such sign, including any claims relating to signs or the structures upon which they are hung falling on people or property. (Prior code 36-30; Amend. 7-31-96, p. 26980)

First Ever POST St. Pat's Polka Party

The first ever Post Saint Pat's Polka Party was held on Saturday night at Zakopane Lounge. Be sure to check out the photo album here.

There was a great crowd and the dance floor filled up pretty fast! There was a polka train, and a chicken dance circle, and the Hokey Pokey went over great! The "irish" Polkaholics Stickers were a hit as well.

We played The Metro Polka to celebrate our one year anniversary of playing at The Metro (March 7th, 03) and wow I think we should play that song more than once a year as it's a great song!

Thanks to everyone that came out on Saturday: especially Tony, Ms. Lis, Kung Fu Hamstress and all of their friends as well as Craig, Lisa, Paul, Big Bill Taney and the Fun Lovin Germans, Owen and Mike and all of the new faces that came to experience Extreme Polka- we hope that you'll come out again and bring a friend along!!

In short a great time was had by all and we can't wait for our next show at Miller Park in Milwaukee for The Milwaukee's Brewers opening day on Friday April 9th.

The Day The Music Died

Those of us who are old enough to remember when MTV actually stood for MUSIC Television may remember one of it's first pioneers- J.J. Jackson- who in the 1980s helped usher in the music video era as one of the first MTV on-air personalities, died of an apparent heart attack Wednesday while driving home from dinner in Los Angeles, friends and radio industry colleagues said Thursday. He was 62.
He was never as cool as the host of Soul Train, but he sure had better taste in music, and he was a hullava lot funnier. In a statement, MTV said Jackson's love of music and good humor helped set the tone for the cable music network in its formative years. J.J. was the first person to bring members of KISS to the world- without their makeup- on MTV, I remember thinking to myself, "Arrgh put the makeup back on you ugly mo-fos!!"
Yes I am a little sad to hear that he passed away. He was the first "VJ" that I ever saw on MTV.

Time to Laugh

I thought this was very funny...and how true this is!!
Saturday is the first day of spring- please come out and help us celebrate at Zakopane Lounge!!

Green Haze...

Here is a quiz for you- who was Saint Patrick? Why is there a day named after him?

As a boy of fourteen or so, he was captured during a raiding party and taken to Ireland as a slave to herd and tend sheep. Ireland at this time was a land of Druids and pagans. He learned the language and practices of the people who held him.
Patrick's captivity lasted until he was twenty. He was ordained by St. Germanus, the Bishop of Auxerre, whom he had studied under for years. Later, Patrick was ordained a bishop, and was sent to take the Gospel to Ireland. He arrived in Ireland March 25, 433, at Slane. Patrick began preaching the Gospel throughout Ireland, converting many. He and his disciples preached and converted thousands and began building churches all over the country. Kings, their families, and entire kingdoms converted to Christianity when hearing Patrick's message. After years of living in poverty, traveling and enduring much suffering he died March 17, 461. Patrick was a humble, pious, gentle man. He feared nothing, not even death, so complete was his trust in God, and of the importance of his mission.

Please folks- if you go out and drink green beer today be careful- the Irish are fed up enough with your silly ass- and please clean up after yourselves!!

Another good night

Be sure to check out the Polka Mobiles photo album as I ran across a sweet 58 Plymouth last night- wow what a beauty!
Well I now really feel like a Polkaboy as I now own my very own bowling ball! And shoes and a bag. I got sick and tired of using balls that did not fit my fingers (hey keep those jokes to yer selves!) and wearing other peoples stinky shoes- ew!! The Lovely Laura had a good night as well- she won $106!! She is a far better bowler than I am but watch out- as soon as I figure out how to actually throw the damn ball....well I keep you all posted on how that goes.

Hope to see you all this Saturday @ Zakopane

Happy Monday!

Hey Polka Pals. Wow I had a great weekend! Not only did I get to spend the entire weekend with the Lovely Laura-I also ran across the badest of the badest Polka Mobiles that I've seen in a while. I liked this car so much I decided to create a new section in the photo albums. I am going to be on the lookout for what I consider to Polka Mobiles, be sure to check it out here as I'll be adding more Polka Mobiles as I find them.

We had polka practice on Friday night and damn did we sound good! We are all looking forward to our show this Saturday night at Zakopane- (1734 W. Division, between Ashland and Wood) and we all hope that several of you can come out and party and polka and drinka with us- it's been too long since we've seen you all!!

If anyone is going to be a Diversy Rock and Bowl tonight- come on out and say hi as my bowling team, "die Scheisse" is bowling our second game tonight. So why not come out and have a beer and make fun of how bad of a bowler I am!

And if Brianne is out there today- HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

It's an addiction

I need a fix! Hell all of the Polkaholics® need a fix.
Tonight will be the first practice that we have had in a couple of weeks and we're all itching to POLKA! You see we normally practice once a week and have a show (or 2) every weekend- and when we play three sets a night, well that's like playing three shows in one!
It takes a lot of hard work being a Polkaholic but what can I say? I am addicted!! I hope that all of the rest of the addicts will make their way over to the Zakopane Lounge (1734 W. Division, between Ashland and Wood) Saturday March 20th phone 773-486-1559, to see us get our fill of polka. Show starts at 10pm and is $5- we will play till around 1:30a.m. We are true professionals so we will be sure not to overdose on the polka- now the beer is another story! But then again we are trained professional drinkers, or is that drunkards? Mmm well come on out and judge for yourself!
Oh- this will also be the premier of my brand new Italia Maranello Gold Sparkle Bass! After all of the damn St. Pat's green you will need to be subjected to some new color's!! That's right to celebrate the first day of SPRING we'll be decked out in the gold sparkle vests with gold sparkle guitars to match- Dandy Don also has a way cool Les Paul gold Sparkle guitar!! Ahhh you may want to bring some sunglasses!

We also have other shows coming up in April and May- be sure to check out the Official Polkaholic® Web Page for the details.