Extreme Polka

America's Oldest Treasure!

Can you think of any American company that has been owned and operated by the same family in the same location, and is still going strong since 1829?

Since 1829 this company has seen 38 presidents (the first being John Q. Adams in 1829)
The Spanish American War
The Civil War
Two World Wars
The Great Depression
And our federal government's Noble Experiment-PROHIBITION (1919–1933 R.I.P.).

I had the good fortune to be taken to America's oldest brewery over the weekend- Yuengling & Sons Brewery in Pottsville, PA.
Since 1829 Yuengling & Sons Brewery has been making beer at the same location and have refused to sell out to the big guys- For five generations this little brewery has been making some of the best beer on the planet- For nearly two centuries Yuengling & Sons Brewery has been going strong!

I have been told that Yuengling is the best beer in America because it's made from corn instead of other grains ( the recipe has been fairly consistent for almost two centuries) and that they have an extremely loyal following, and after tasting the fine brews that they have been making since 1829 I can now see, as well as taste, why that is. The Lager is my favorite and I've tasted beers from all over the country as well as from other parts of the world and I have to rank Yuengling in my top 5 favorites. The sad part is that Yuengling can only be found on the east coast, so I brought back a few cases of Lager with me!

If anyone ever makes their way out to Pottsville, Pennsylvania I hope that you'll take a couple of hours to stop by the Yuengling & Sons Brewery, it's the oldest brewery in America and perhaps the best tasting beer in America as well. It's quite a feat to be able to say that the same family has owned and operated the company for 175 years- in the same location!

Another fact that I found interesting was that during Prohibition Yuengling & Sons made not only "Near Beer" but ice cream as well. When Prohibition finally ended in 1933, the brewery sent several cases of "Winner Beer" Franklin D. Roosevelt at the White House, and it's also been reported that Teddy Roosevelt enjoyed some Yeungling when he visited Pottsville.

Here are a few pictures I took while on the tour.

Site of the Day

Now I do not know if these folks like polka, but they sure do rank up there in the "Extreme" category.

Rolling Stoned

Like a Rolling Stone' Named No. 1 Song

While I agree that International Fall's, Minnesota's favorite son Robert Zimmerman, AKA Bob Dylan, is an extremely prolific song writer and has been a powerful voice for more than one generation, I disagree with Rolling Stone giving Dylan's song, "Like a Rolling Stone" the ubiquitous title of Number One Song of all time.

When I first read Rolling Stone's senior editors remark that, "No other pop song has so thoroughly challenged and transformed the commercial laws and artistic conventions of its time, for all time..." I wanted to define what a "pop song" actually is, or was in 1965 when the song was first released. It's no doubt that Dylan's song is a pop song, and has become a part of popular culture, but popular culture cannot be described as just the aggregate product of an industry: Film, Music, Magazines etc. Instead, it is the result of a continuing interaction between those industries and the people of the society who consume their products. 1

So is Rolling Stone's editor saying that based on consumption that Bob Dylan's song should be number one? Or is he saying that since this song has become a part of our culture, that it should be number one?
Either way I have trouble with Rolling Stone's statement because the number one song of all time- should mean just that.
Instead it means the number one song picked from a small list of 500 that only goes back to 1950, five years before "pop" songs were even charted in the country starting in 1955, ( Why is it that Dylan's song does not have the title of, "Number one POP song of the past 49 Years"? ) and the list of voters were told to focus on "the rock 'n' roll era", of the 50's through the 70's. Perhaps I am getting wrapped up with the semantics of Rolling Stone's latest gimmick to sell more of their magazines, but this bothers me when a song about a person who had it all only to loose it all and wind up on the streets, to be lost and forgotten-- not a new theme in 1965 -- can be given this rather impressionable label of Number One Song of all Time.

Of all time.
Of all time? Perhaps they are tying to sell more copies of the same named magazine?
Hasn't this theme been written about and recorded by black slaves and Blues musicians since the medium was available?
Does this constitute challenging and transforming commercial laws?
And what about transforming artistic conventions? This style of music had been recorded long before Bob Dylan changed his name from Robert Zimmerman, and the lyrical content did not tread on new ground, nor did the way in which the song was recorded.
Is it because a white, Jewish, Midwesterner was singing it, instead of a black, Baptist southerner? Was the popular culture of 1965 lost and forgotten? What about the popular cultures of decades before, the lost boys of World War 1? The slackers of the 90's?
I realize that if I were to ask 10 people to pick the number one song "...of all time..." I would wind up with 10 different answers (and for the record I do like Dylan's song), the point I am trying to make with all of this is that this song should not be considered the Number One Song of all Time when only 500 songs with a focus of only 3 decades were the criteria.

My number one song of all time? If I am to base this on issues of "commercial laws and artistic conventions of its time..." Id have to pick Bach's "Toccata and Fugue in D Minor" from 1707. This piece has been included in several contemporary pieces and films as well as plays for over 300 years. In 300 years I doubt Bob Dylan will still be as important.
My number two song would be Peter Daniels "Strange Fruit", as recorded by Billie Holiday in 1939.

New Photos Added!

I've finally added new photos.
There are photos from last night's show at The Guild Complex and select photos from various shows that we played during the summer.

Thanks to everyone that has come out to see us play live this summer and fall, and we hope to see you at our next show at Lincoln Square Lanes on 12/18.

Be sure to listen to the Erik and Cathy show on WTMX 101.9 PM on 12/14 to hear us perform live.

My rebuttal

So it looks like I upset a few "stupid religious morons" with this Ebay grilled cheese auction, and to all of you who took the time to e-mail I have to say "thanks" for reading my blog, as this post had absolutely nothing to do with Extreme Polka but more with Extreme Ignorance.

When I first checked the bidding it was over $1000, so I bid $100,000- fully knowing that this was a joke.
Apparently there are several of you out there who thought that this auction was some legitimate miracle from the great beyond- and to those of you I only have to say that you scare me, you honestly frighten me when you think a 10 year old grilled cheese sandwich that was obviously made by a prankster in Florida- is a legitimate artifact.

So to the Extreme Polka fans I will apologize for going off on this tangent, and for those keeping track the wining bid for the Jolly James Cheese Pizza is up to $5.50.

With all of that said- come and see us play tonight @ The Guild Complex from 7:30p to 10:00p.

Virgin Cheese

Some people are just stupid- I can't believe that some idiot has bid over $100k for 10 year old grilled cheese sandwich that "looks like the Virgin Mary." $100k for a grilled cheese sandwich with a "face" on it that could be created with a template and a hot-plate. I can't believe that people fall for this, I actually bid $100,000 for this- knowing that I would be outbid by some stupid ignorant religious moron- and I was correct.

This is just beyond words- I can not believe that there are people in this world who believe that the Virgin Mary would appear in a cheese sandwich. And if you ask me it looks more like Marlene Dietrich.
Does this mean that Mary is trying to reach out to Rednecks?
Does this mean that the world is over?
Does this mean that Bush is the anti-Christ?
Notice that the auction is taking place in Florida- the same morons who put Bush back into office.
No- it only means that there are some STUPID ignorant brainwashed people out there.

You know- I think I have some leftover Chinese food in my fridge that looks like Mohammad.

This Just In:
Jolly James face found in a piece of week old cheese pizza by Polka Pal Ken Abbott- let the bidding begin.

All Ages We Must Polka Party

All Ages We Must Polka Party- over three hours of The Polkaholics®

Wednesday November 17th - Guild Complex, 7:30pm
@ The Chopin Theater, 1543 W. Division, just east of Ashland, phone: 773-227-6117, Chicago.

$7 in advance, $10 at the door

For the Guild's last show of 2004, they decided that THEY MUST POLKA – it is the Chopin Theatre, for heaven’s sake – and they want all of you to be their partners. (The good thing with all the hopping around in polka is that no one really knows who’s dancing with who…or is it whom?) They’ll provide refreshments. Bring something to share if you like. Definitely bring your friends. They want a big, big party to help them polkarock a finish to a great year.

The Polkaholics® crank out a high-speed collision of polka and rock ‘n’ roll. Their clever lyrics and tributes to such polkarock bands as KISS, make for plenty of fun and plenty of polka. Their songs include Fanny Shake Polka, Polka Enemy #1, SoundGarden Polka, Dude Looks Like a Lady-hoo, and the Guild Complex’s favorite – Existentialist Polka. “Am I you? Am I me? Am I you or am I me? The Existentialist Polka.” Everybody polka!

Happy and Gay

All sorts of new Extreme Polka News for You'se!

First off thanks to WLUW 88.7 FM for playing the Polkaholics® on the air last Friday.

Proving that Polka music knows no boundaries- self proclaimed gay man Ronald McAllister has proclaimed his love of Polka. Well welcome to The Extreme Polka lifestyle Ronald- hey If I can wear polyester and sequins and proclaim my love of polka, then it makes me happy to know that Ronald can proclaim his love of other men and of The Extreme Polka Blog.
Polka knows no boundaries- let us all spread the word that Polka is for everyone no matter what age, race, gender, or religious or sexual preferences.
Sorry to disappoint you Ronald but all of The Polkaholics® are spoken for.

Our show at Saint Josaphat School on Saturday was a lot of fun! If you missed the show you missed a good time and some great raffle prizes such as Blackhawk, Bulls, and Wolves tickets as well as some really cool German beer paraphernalia, and Chicago's very own indie radio station WLUW 88.7 had some kick-ass T-shirts to give away.
$20 bought all of the beer and food that you could drink and eat, and Saint Joasaphat raised some much needed funds for their school and we were honored to have been able to help them out! We hope that we are able to be a part of this in the future.

For the couple from "E-Town" let me apologize now for not keeping up with photos- yes I've been slacking in that area but rest assured we have some cool shows coming up as well as our annual New Years Eve Bash at Zakopane Lounge so there will be some new photos here soon.

Our next show is on Wednesday November 17th at theGuild Complex, 7:30pm
@ The Chopin Theater, 1543 W. Division, just east of Ashland, phone: 773-227-6117, in Chicago.
The last time we appeared here was as Uncle Shappy's backing band for a Poetry Slam.
Poetry Slam? This one-of-a-kind POLKA SLAM just doesn't happen every day (maybe for good reason!), so don't miss it!

And in other Polkaholics® related news- CHRONICLING OUR POLKA
Scott Richert chronicled our crazy polka ways and manic performance at the On The Waterfront fest in Rockford IL in Chronicles Magazine This is a great article, and I want to thank Scott for taking the time to interview Dandy Don and I for this article,

Dear Alcohol

Thanks to Smidge for this one.

Dear Alcohol,
First & foremost, let me tell you that I'm a huge fan of yours. My friend, you always seem to be there when needed. The perfect post-work cocktail, a beer with the game, and you're even around in the holiday's hidden inside chocolates as you warm us when we're stuck in the midst of endless family gatherings. However, lately I've been wondering about your intentions. While I want to believe that you have my best interests at heart, I feel that your influence has led to some unwise consequences, briefed below for your review.

1. Phone calls: While I agree with you that communication is important, I question the suggestion that any conversation of substance or necessity takes place after 2 a.m. Why would you make me call those ex-boyfriends/girlfriends when I know for a fact they do not want to hear from me during the day, let alone all hours of the night?

2. Eating: Now, you know I love a good meal, but why do you suggest that I eat a kabob with chili sauce, along with a big Italian hoagie & some stale chips (washed down with chocolate Nesquik & topped off with a Kit Kat all after a few cheese curls & chili cheese fries)? I'm an eclectic eater, but I think you went too far this time.

3. Clumsiness: Unless you're subtly trying to tell me that I need to do more yoga to improve my balance, I see NO need to hammer the issue home by causing me to fall down. It's completely unnecessary, and the black & blue marks that appear on my body mysteriously the next day is beyond me. Similarly, it should never take me more than 45 seconds to get the front door key into the lock.

4. Pictures: This can be a blessing in disguise, as it can often clarify the last point below, but the following costumes are banned from ever being placed on my head in public again: Indian wigs, sombreros, bows, ties, boxes, upside-down cups, inflatable balloon animals, traffic cones, or bras. Also, what is with you making me take pictures with people I clearly don't like when I'm sober? Yet they suddenly become my best friends when a flash is presented?

5. Beer goggles: If I think I may know him/her from somewhere, I most likely do not. Please do not request that I go over & see if in fact, I do actually know that person. The phrase "let's F***" is illegal from now on. While I may be thinking this, please reinstate the brain-to-mouth-block that would stop this thought from becoming a statement, especially in public.
Please stop me from talking to the guy/girl with the crooked teeth; acned-up face; bad breath; beer belly, etc. Why are they so appealing to me while I'm with you & why are they so disgusting to me the next morning after you have worn off??

6. Furthermore: The hangovers have GOT to stop. This is getting ridiculous. I know a little penance for our previous evening's debauchery may be in order, but the 3pm hangover immobility is completely unacceptable. My entire day is shot. I ask that, if the proper precautions are taken (water, vitamin B, bread products, aspirin) prior to going to me/passing out facedown on the kitchen floor with a bag of popcorn, the hangover should be minimal & in no way interfere with my daily activities.
Alcohol, I have enjoyed our friendship for some years now & would like to ensure that we remain on good terms.
You've been the invoker of great stories, the provocation for much laughter, and the needed companion when I just don't know what to do with the extra money in my pockets. In order to continue this friendship, I ask that you carefully review my grievances above & address them immediately. I will look for an answer no later! than Thursday 3pm (pre-happy hour) on your possible solutions & hopefully we can continue this fruitful partnership.

Thank you,
Your biggest fan

P.S.
THINGS THAT ARE DIFFICULT TO SAY WHEN DRUNK:
1. Innovative
2. Preliminary
3. Proliferation
4. Cinnamon

THINGS THAT ARE VERY DIFFICULT TO SAY WHEN DRUNK:

1. Specificity
2. British Constitution
3. Passive-aggressive disorder

THINGS THAT ARE DOWNRIGHT IMPOSSIBLE TO SAY WHEN DRUNK:

1. Thanks, but I don't want to have sex.
2. Nope, no more beer for me.
3. Sorry, but you're not really my type.
4. Good evening, officer. Isn't it lovely out tonight?
5. Oh, I couldn't. No one wants to hear me sin

Listen to us on the radio

For those of you that can tune in- 88.7 FM- my all time favorite indie radio station on the planet- will play The Polkaholics® tomorrow, November 4th at noon Central time. They will also be at Saturday's show handing out stickers, buttons and the like and will have some cool raffle items!

For those who are not in north Chicago- listen on the web at www.wluw.org
 
Try to listen if you can tomorrow, 88.7 fm or online at www.wluw.org