The latest Headstand was a real treat and is now available for streaming. Patrick kicked off the show with Tic Tac Toe, a track by Auckland's cusp. (I'd like to think I had something to do with that). Later in the first hour of the show, he played News by Wellington's Jet Jaguar, who just performed here last weekend. Coincidence? I don't think so!

He kicked off the second hour with a track from Kyoto resident Drew Moon, then bravely went where no radio DJ has probably ever been with a half-hour of Charles-Éric Billard--Osaka resident and NFTOS event anchor.

Tonight, we are passing up seeing The Earlybirds at the Kings Arms, who we saw live when we first got to NZ, opting instead for Pecha Kucha Night at the Te Tuhi Center for the Arts out in Pakuranga. Makiko and I haven't attended before, so we thought we'd give it a try this time around.

PKN_AKL_09 is a collaboration between Pecha Kucha Nights Auckland and Te Tuhi Centre for the Arts. It starts at 8:20 p.m. local time, doors open at 7:30 p.m. For full details, conatact Renée at 09 577 0138 or e-mail renee@tetuhi.org.nz

Posted by Rob.

Make sure to tune into Headstand Radio right away!! You'll be able to stream it live between 21:00 and 23:00 GMT. The second half of the show will feature 30 minutes of eclectic stuff from Osaka legend Charles Billard.

Posted by Rob.

Tags: NFTOS, Boobs on Bikes, Headstand, Takedao Tunnel Party, Auckland, Osaka, Cambridge, New Zealand, England, UK, Japan

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Part dream, part plagiarized speech, mostly nonsense. This is my homage to an Osaka original, Ray [surname omitted minimize Google detection]:

Full skull and seven flaming ears aglow, all feathers, brought froth on this countertop, a new notion, consumed by Liberty, and dedicated to the indecent proposal that not all men are created equal.

For Raymond, crafting open-chested bust with a head inside this chest causing us to look at another head inside its own chest, his own chest? Took us up onto the mountain top, and in his Texan drawl, "I've raced all up and down this here back road [forgot the name, as it came to me in a dream], cops a chasin' after me, and I done drank at every bar down on that there beach." (He points through the trees to a sparkling pristine beach unspoiled by the simplest of structures).

Now we are so enslaved to a great Silver Whore (money), testing whether that notion, or any new sensation, so convoluted and so degraded, can long endure. We met on the great dance-floor, introduced to one another by that Whore. We have come to desecrate the love potion of that floor, at a final resting chill-out space for those who left their wives at home that we might LIVE, baby, live. It is all together tight-fitting and improper but we should do this thing. And, in a larger sense, we can not desecrate--cops can not confiscate--we can not...

Hallo?--this ground...

Um, where am I? Uh...

Right now?

The brave men, those still living and some undead, who stumbled here, have consummated it, far above in our DJ booth, poor quality audio does indeed detract from the pure quality party vibe. The world will little note, unless they accidently stumble onto BikeClubOsaka.com, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what we did here. It is for us, the half-living, rather, to be decimated by the unfinished work which we, who have fought here for no particular reason except maybe that we had one too many to drink, have thus far so nobly advanced from apes to cavemen to Osaka Erectus and descended upon the Holy City.

It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great TSK, TSK, TSK, awaiting us when we get home--that from behind those horn-rimmed glasses concealing dead eyes demanding increased devotion in the form of increased salaries to the carcass upon our own grave, yes, over our dead bodies--and a last full measure of sweet devotion! that we may highly dissolve into thin air like the morning mists in the muggy kansai summer sun, rather than 'wake half-dead in the park, just two blocks from home, sun high in the sky, mouth bone dry, stomach churning like a raging sea, skin burning, head pounding, eyes aching--that this notion, under-awed, shall have a new bath of freedom--and back scrubbing of the people, by the people, for the people, blah, blah, blah, AMEN!

Channeled by Rob.

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Sunday afternoon in Auckland. It's been rainy and grey all day. No surprise there. Recovering from the fun and foolery of last night at Khuja Lounge, where we attended the CD release party for ...Apropos of Nothing. If you get too focused on the lint in your own belly button, however, you totally miss out on stuff like the totally unrelated video above, which was created for a regular Tokyo event by vjay David Roy.

Back here in Auckland, three of us (Andrew, Makiko and myself) ended up in Nonbe, just before closing time, where we had an entirely unnecessary nightcap of kumara-jochu and Sapporos.

We arrived home to find Hans on Skype, and proceeded to record what is probably our least intelligent sounding podcast to date. We discussed the Olympics, particularly Greco-Roman wrestling, football (soccer) and cycling--mainly the time trial.

Greco-Roman wrestling got us sounding like silly homophobic third-graders, while the football made Hans nostalgic for pre-globalized days when Dutch nationality meant blond hair and blue eyes. "Where's my Steven Rooks?" he whined. Cycling finally got us back on track for awhile, with Hans providing expert analysis, breaking down the time trial play by play, so that I now feel like I watched it myself.

Posted by Rob.

Tags: NFTOS, Bicicleteiros, Olympic football, Greco-Roman wrestling, Steven Rooks, enema (español, nf), shochu, 浣腸*

WARNING: Multiple categories of offensiveness.

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I've recorded this thing twice and ditched both recordings. Maybe I'll just put up some links for the time being. Some of the links are for the last podcast, which I was having trouble with. The media file kept disappearing every time I tried to edit the text...

☂ YouTube link for Bicicleteiros #36 for the intro music De Puta Madre.
☂ Wikipedia link for Bicicleteiros #36 regarding the Sonoma Desert Toad.
☂ Hans set a Japanese-Italian pronunciation trap for me as Sella tests positive for CERA (CyclingNews link).
☂ YouTube page for Gabriel White who currently has a DVD projection exhibit, Tongdo Fantasia, at OUi boutique in St Kevin's Arcade.
☂ Homepage for today's (Thursday's) event in St Kevin's Arcade, Craftwerk.
☂ A page full of Jet jaguar interviews related to the upcoming CD release party for Apropos of Nothing this Saturday.
☂ Link for the Auckland Central Library's Travel Nights Featuring Nick Dwyer of C4's Making Tracks

Posted by Rob.

Tags: NFTOS, Andrew, Makikomo, Rob, El Gringo, Jet jaguar, Malty Media, Bignificent D, Group Five, Auckland, New Zealand, homebrew, Tetley's, Khuja Lounge, Electronica, Electro, minimal, live, Saturday night!

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There could've been several titles for this episode. At first, I though we'd celebrate Spain's cycling successes in this year's Giro d'Italia, Tour de France and most recently, in the Beijing Olympics, by calling it "...De Puta Madre!" Then, as I was talking to Hans on Skype, the title "Operation Gila Sting" popped into my head. Finally, when I saw this picture of him on facebook, and I knew the title had to be the one I've finally chosen.

Check out his smugmug where he'll be uploading new photos of his adventures.

Want to hear the full track we used for our theme music? You need search no further than YouTube.

Posted by Rob.

Tags: NFTOS, Beijing Olympics, USPRO, Tour de France, Alberto Contador, Carlos Sastre, Samuel Sanchez, España, Spain, Arizona, Gila Monster, Rattlesnake, Sonoma, Toad, Jim Morrison, Third Generation, EPO

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I'd be lying, if I said I wasn't just a tad bit excited about this weekend's compilation CD release party.

So you don't have to get out a magnifying glass, the flyer reads: Jet Jaguar, Malty Media, Group Five, Bignificent D*. Saturday, 16 August, 7:00 p.m. $10 ($20 + CD) Khuja Lounge (Level 3, 536 Queen St). In even finer print, the music is described as "slippery slidey electronic, subaquatic bass and sampledelic funk. *("in a rare musical appearance!")

This will be my first time to see the above artists in Auckland. I haven't gotten any details other than what you see on this flyer, and what has been posted on facebook, but I'm sure this is going to be a great gig, as I have had the privilege of seeing the two from Malty Media, Michael Upton (Jet Jaguar) and Stuart McDonald (Aquaboogie) in Japan. Michael also performed at two events I organized in Tokyo, one at the Pink Cow in Shibuya, and the other at Bar Bonobo in Jingu.

If you're familiar with the NFTOS music catalogue, you'll know Jet Jaguar's track "Juicy" from Music From The Other Side #5, further back we made his track News available for download.

If you still haven't made your mind up, check out this recent interview and live-to-air set from Radio Active. On it, Michael and Stuart talk about the Tokyo gig mentioned above, and played a good mixture of their own and their friends' music. It runs just under 30 minutes (25.5MB) and is well worth your time!

Finally, I'm not sure where this piece of the puzzle fits, but Angry Rabbitz were also mentioned on the facebook announcement. I guess it's their label? Anyway, it's worth checking out 'cos there's music on it!

See you there!

Posted by Rob.

Alex blames Pikachu for all the problems facing "serious Japan nerds" today. Olympics? "What Olympics?" he asks. Well, you know, the games that those Greek lads played naked every four years, and the winner got to wear an olive wreath. Everyone else stayed naked, I guess. Well, these days, we don't need analog moon computers to tell us when to take our clothes off and run around through the golf course sprinklers on moonlit summer's eves. We just do it. Um...

Jet Jaguar and Malty Media are coming to Auckland for a compilation CD release party, but I'm sure it will be a civilized suit and tie affair. That'll be at the Khuja Lounge, Level 3, 536 Queen Street, from 7:00 p.m. NZ$10.00 will get you through the door. Bring flowers and champagne, if you want to look like a real fan. Genre? Well, if you insist on classifying everything, then so be it: Slippery slidey electronica, subaquatic bass and sampledelic funk. The CD is "...Apropos of nothing."

Photo by Aditya Tannu.

Posted by Rob.

Tags: NFTOS, Pikachu, KATG, Olympics, Beijing, Alan Watts, Kilkenny, Chimay, beer, Alex Brooke, Rob a.k.a. El Gringo, Chiba, Japan, Auckland, New Zealand, football, soccer, Cameroon, China, USA, Korea, Jet Jaguar, Malty Media

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Since humans will never solve global problems such as environmental pollution, social strife and political conflict, it's always refreshing when an event like the World Cup, or the Olympics, comes along every second or fourth summer to take our minds off our collective failures.

The Games give us a chance to do what humans do best: Cheer our fellow sapiens clad in shiny colorful outfits as they lift things, throw things, ride things, run, jump, box, wrestle and kick. The ridiculousness and the irony of it all should be lost on no man, woman or child this time around. Beijing is a truly worthy host to this, a socio-political hydra, les 29ème Jeux Olympiques à Pékin du 08 au 24 août!

Here at NFTOS, we're partial to two forms of the aforementioned expressions of human genius: Particularly the riding around of bicycles really fast and the kicking around of the round ball on the grass pitch, between the posts and into the back of the onion bag. GOAL!!!!!!

Um, where were we? Oh, yes, and when I say "we," I'm referring to myself, El Gringo, and my brother Hans, my co-host on the bicicleteiros podcast. Two of us. Alex isn't particularly fond of spectator sport, his national icon, the footie, least of all, perhaps. He does, however, enjoy the two wheels, since there are not many other things to do in Japan which are free. It is through the action of doing sport, that I've tried to lure Alex into watching sport and feigning interest.

You see, with me, sport has always been an outre-nationalist pursuit. Having grown up in Peru and Ecuador, as well as in los Estados Unidos de América, I grew up understanding futbol. It's not just something you do or watch. It is something that makes people completely lose their shit! In my earliest childhood memories, I can recall seeing people hanging out of car windows as they raced through the cool Lima night, horns blaring La Cucaracha, La Cucaracha! This was powerful knowledge. Back in the States, it puzzled me that no one had ever heard of this game being played as a sport.

I first recall watching a World Cup final in 1986. I was in the U.S. and it was broadcast on PBS television, that ugly-duckling American version of the BBC. Looking back, it feels like it happened in a Twilight Zone time warp--the small black and white Sony portable, in my room, alone--I had no idea how nerdy this was at the time, because I had always been quite outgoing and athletic.

The 1984 Los Angeles Olympics had been broadcast on network TV, and the gringos had won tons of medals, because the Russians and other commie ilk had stayed behind their rusty curtain. The sport I was unknowingly being sucked into was cycling. That summer the U.S. won 12 medals, if I remember correctly, the most memorable of which was in the Men's Road Race--the darkhorse Alexi Grewal had taken the race in a two-up sprint from Canadian Steve Bauer. I had just bought my first bicycle with my own money, and it seemed like this was a very cool way to don the Stars and Stripes--as a lycra skinsuit! The Tour de France had also flashed on the screen that summer, and the American Greg LeMond was riding in third place, behind les deux frogs obligatoires, Laurent Fignon et Bernard Hinaualt. I was already hooked!

In 1988, the year I got my drivers license, my family moved back to South America, this time to Brazil. Ayrton Senna and Nelson Piquet were at their zenith. As cycling was unheard of as sport then in Brazil, there were only two spectator sports available to me: Futebol and Fórmula 1.

To be continued...

Photo by Brian R. taken in Xinle, Hebei Province, in May 2002.

Posted by Rob.

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This a video series we've mentioned before on a previous podcast, and links to it posted. Now several episodes are available on YouTube.

Here's the source: http://www.fat-pie.com/salad.htm

Posted by Rob.