Prisoners Prefer Cassettes

Need to share Those Darn Accordions with your inmate friends? Pick up No Strings Attached on cassette for $5, while supplies last. The last remaining TDA album on cassettte in the TDA store will make a valuable gift in the slammer as CD's are prohibited for their easy conversion into weapons. As Reuters reports, prison inmates are one of the largest remaining purchasers of albums on cassettes. One mail order retailer is reporting 60% of his sales going to US inmates.

For the more tech saavy inmate in your life, you may want to give them MP3s on a Mixa USB Cassette. The European manufacturer lets you design your own label and plastic case on a realistic looking flashback to the 80's.

Air Guitar Championships 2008

You have only a few days left to submit your entry to Finland's 13th Annual Air Guitar World Championship. The MTV sponsored event takes place August 20-22 in Oulu, Finland, about an 8 hour drive north of Helsinki. The rules for competition dictate that you can use either electric or acoustic air guitars, you may use props such as a pick, but no real instruments, and you may hire an air roadie, but no air back-up band.

Started in 1996, the event also offers a training camp if you're worried your playing is a little rusty.

Full details at AirGuitarWorldChapionships.com.

Photo: glynnish/Flickr

The new 3G iPhone is very Boom!

The internet movers-n-shakers have started a new meme, the Supercut. Edits of video or audio down to the smallest instance of a word or phrase. The video above calls to attention how often Mac CEO Steve Jobs expresses Apple's speed with one select word, "Boom!"

Other Supercut superhits are Mr. Job's old buddy Bill Gates' use of "Uh…" in one interview, Chicago artist Chuck Jones' edit of NPR's "All Things Considered" down to only breathing (mp3 link), and for the more calloused ears, NWA's Straight Outta Compton album cut down to only the explicit content. Surprisingly catchy.

Accordionize Your Home

Is your home lacking an air of appreciation for the accordion? The first step may be to purchase this cardboard couch from Molo Design Studio. Squeezing to seat one, bellowing out to accommodate your entire family; we await somebody to mod it into a musical instrument.

Life For Sale

Another kooky eBay auction ended today - Australian Ian Usher auctioned off his life in Perth. For $399,300 AUD (~$326,135 USD) the winning bidder is receiving a house, a boat, a jet ski, motorbike, and a job as a rug store assistant. The seller is offering up his friends' friendship as well to help show the winner around as he situates himself in his new life.

ALife4Sale.com offers up in great detail everything that was on the auction block and answers frequently asked questions, including whether or not the ex-wife is part of the deal. How much is your life worth?

Cotati Accordion Fest Lineup Is Live

Here's the full lineup for the 2008 Cotati Accordion Festival.

Those Darn Accordions is not on the list, but some great and quirky squeezeboxers will perform: Dick Contino, TDA alumna Big Lou, Polka Freakout, The Great Morgani and many more.

Don't stay away on our account.

The Bay Bellows This Weekend

If you're near the San Francisco Bay Area this weekend, Petaluma, Calif. wraps up National Accordion Month this weekend with a free festival. The 6th Annual Accordion Festival celebrates the accordion and its many personalities with experts to amateurs, latin jazz to polkas. Although the event isn't on TDA's tour schedule, it should draw some talented squeezers to help you celebrate our favorite reed instrument.

Full details at ArgusCourier.com

Bigger-Than-Life Bowling

Pottery Barn Kids' jumbo inflatable bowling ball and pins game probably isn't better than the real thing. But it is bigger.

From the catalog description: "Indoors or out, our inflatable games are perfect for parties or afternoon play. The bowling game includes three 42-inch-tall pins and a ball (25-inch diameter). Made of extra-durable, water-resistant PVC."

Now, if they'd just add a 60-inch-tall pitcher of cold draft beer ... (not so good for kids, I guess).

Another Reason to Hit Polish Fest on Saturday

Aside from the food, vodka tasting and final TDA show in Wisconsin this year, Saturday night at Milwaukee's Polish Fest brings another noteworthy event: a set by Jimmy Sturr and his orchestra.

The 17-time polka Grammy winner starts at 7:30 p.m. Saturday on the Miller stage (right before us).

Two Shows Down and One to Go

Our Wisconsin whirlwind mini-tour is two-thirds of the way done, and the first two gigs couldn't have been more different.

The first, at the wonderful Swiss Turner Hall of Monroe, was quite quiet -- the venue calls for a low-key sound. The accordion players didn't even use amps (a return to TDA's roots, in a way). Michael played drums, of course, and I had a bass amp, but we kept the volume tamped waaaaaaaaaaaaaay down.

It made for a sort of storyteller's show -- special thanks to the guy who told the true tale about nailing a 7-10 split in Turner Hall's bowling alley. His demo, with two pins and a bowling ball, was pretty amazing. And the post-show limburger and beer in the Ratskeller was remarkable as always. Special thanks to all our friends at Turner Hall who always make us feel so welcome.

Food note: If you ever find yourself near Monroe, you really owe it to yourself to enjoy a meal in Turner Hall's Ratskeller -- the food is genuinely amazing. (Check out the menus for a taste of what you can expect in the way of Swiss delicacies -- do not miss the rösti.)

Day two of the TDA Wisconsin mini-tour found us on the giant Miller stage at Polish Fest in Milwaukee. The event is on the Summerfest grounds (although it's not nearly as maddeningly crowded as at the Big Gig). The stage is still huge, though, and the sound is truly awesome. The high volume makes for a totally different kind of show: The accordion players ran through amps (Paul reveled in his Marshall half-stack), and Michael banged his drums to his heart's content. My bass rig was taller than me.

In short, it was much more of a rock show. We'll be doing the same thing again tonight -- loud and proud at our first Milwaukee shows since 2005. Can you believe it's been that long?

If you can make it out, we'd love to see you. We start at 9 p.m. tonight and go to midnight (with a break in the middle for fireworks). Come on down and enjoy some great Polish food and piwo -- you'll get to hear a couple new and revived TDA tunes, lots of stuff from our latest CD, Squeeze Machine, plus plenty of back-catalog classics.