This just in from the ever vigilant Stone River:

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20090311a3.html

Please allow me to remind you that the Colonel is full always of spice!

Photos used without permission.  We'll take it down, if threatened.

Posted by Rob.

Tags:  NFTOS, KFC, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Colonel Sanders, Randy Bass, Hanshin Tigers, Central League, the curse, Kansai, Osaka, Doutonbori, canal, finger licken'

Osaka mission accomplished:  Much fun was had. [Photos: Elixir photo gallery, more to come]  We're now back in in Shiga eating osechi and basically just being lazy.  I've been alternating between the computer screen and the window, watching wet sloppy snowflakes steadily plummeting to earth as random daytime TV broadcasts ekiden exploits and shogi strategies into our lives.  The Emperor's Cup final has just started under sunny Tokyo skies--Osaka Gamba vs Kashiwa Reysol.  Go Gamba!

Posted by Rob.

NFTOS will be back after the holidays (unless Alex has something to post during our absence).

Osaka is rockin'!  After DJing at Absinthe (28 Dec) and Elixir (29 Dec), my next stop is Cafe Balbora on New Year's Eve, where Sachiko and friends will be DJing.

http://www.geocities.jp/balbora_cafe/

Photo:  Mt Fuji from the Shinkansen.

Posted by Rob.

Tokyo video footage by Eric Seaholm, http://seaholm.com

Posted by Rob.

Tags: NFTOS, Tokyo, Japan, DJ, Monkey

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My work permit has been approved, so after over 5 months of impoverishment, I can finally get back to work!  I'll be doing the usual, while Makiko will be joining a local Japanese publication as an assistant editor.  Both of us will be trying to weasel our way onto a Saturday evening radio program for the Japanese community as volunteer DJ/MCs. 

Of course, as soon as we have all the other necessities taken care of, we'll get an internet connection at home, and more podcasts will follow.  I've got all sorts of stuff edited and ready for upload: 

Videos:

1. The Four Seasons of Osaka (Makiko & Rob)
2. Forgotten Talk Show footage from Jan 2008 (Alex & Rob)
3. El Pulpo, Spanish Tapas in Kagurazaka (just the food)
4. Drinking in Seoul with Flying Koala & Co.
5. Auckland Truckies' Strike, 4 July 2008

Audio:

1. The If Factor, a 45-minute jam sesssion (proto-NFTOS feat. Alex, Jonny Heartbreaker & El Gringo)*
2. Priceless Talk #1 (a recovered file feat. Andrew & Hans)

*(with already more than 15 incriminating minutes removed, Alex is asking for more omissions, so this one may never see the light of day... and I haven't even heard from Jonny yet!) 

In the meantime, I'm hoping Alex, Hans, Jarrod or someone else will be able to upload something, anything, because we're only using 38% of our storage at the moment.  In any case, July should be a great month for NFTOS!  Stay tuned...

Posted by Rob.

Jarrod Lio has very kindly contributed to News From The Other Side in the form of "The Motorway" his new podcast and travelog. In this first episode, Jarod tell us what he's doing in Langkawi, Malaysia as a tropical thunderstorm rages outside. This is packed with interesting and useful information on traveling in Malaysia along with Jarrod's personal observations and opinions. This is a great travelog and welcome addition to News From The Other Side. I'm looking forward to hearing more. This is an enhanced podcast which means graphics are contained in the audio file which can be viewed in Quicktime, iTunes or your iPod. The visuals are photos taken by Jarrod.  

Posted by Alex.

p.s. Jarrod, feel free to post something extra here.

Tags:  NFTOS, Jarrod Lio, Malaysia, Langkawi, Holiday, Motor Way, Travelog, Travel, Aussie, Australia, Southeast Asia, Pacific Islands

Subscribe to Motorway with Jarrod Lio, on iTunes

This is my new year's hello from Japan with Wes on the Dotonbori bridge in Osaka. In this video, Wes gives us his theory on police barriers and people jumping into the Dotonbori Canal. Notes by Alex.

Posted by Rob.

Tags: NFTOS, DJ Wes, Alex Brooke, Dontonbori, Osaka, Japan

I've been traveling around the UK and now I am in Dublin to hang out with the lead singer of the IF Factor Jonny Heartbreaker in La casa del Jonny. He's in top form as always and will be my guide in showing me around the city for a day or two just so I can find out how good real Guinness is.

Jonny tells me his new year's resolution is to not change anything which is good because that means we can expect some cracking new songs from him soon. I hope to be posting them up here soon.

So have a great new year !

Written by Arex.

Tags: NFTOS, Alex Brooke, Jonny Heartbreaker, Johnny, Dublin, Ireland, New Year's, Guiness, songwriters, poets, rock stars, on holiday

By fakepilot who has other stuff up on NFTOS already. I'll try to track it all down, but why don't you have a look around in the meantime. There should be something in the "reports" folder and something else in the "music video" folder. He does amazing flash design. Check him out.

Posted by Rob.

Tags: NFTOS, Fakepilot, more coming soon!

I've been trying to find out why a certain podcast that I disabled or hid was still getting a lot of hits, and I came across our ranking on podcast alley--1604th so far for the month July! Well, one person had already voted, so with my vote that should make two. Please go vote at http://podcastalley.com/podcast_details.php?pod_id=17959# ...It's democratic or something. I promise not to bring this up again (unless it works). Photo: DJ El Gringo @ Cafe Absinthe back in the day. Posted by Rob.

So Waka, how was Mexico? Pardon my poor Japanese. Posted by Rob.

Here's an update from former Osaka resident and BikeClubOsaka crew member Liz Lambert:

As some of you know, I started writing a column in a Melbourne-based magazine. It is actually free street press, and heaps of u have asked how to get a hold of it, but since you are all interstate or overseas you will have to order it from

http://www.ldrmagazine.com.au/ and go under subscibe.

It is really cheap - $2.95 (around 300 yen) including postage and handling and it would be great if you do go ahead and order it. After all the DJ gigs, websites photography exhibitions, art exhbitions, fashion lines, bars, restaurants, festivals etc that I have supported you my lovely friends for over the years, it's my turn!!

Let me know what you think. I've not seen it yet, still waiting for a copy to come to me in northern Oz. xo

Thanks lovelies!!

Liz's blog is http://www.transitlounging.blogspot.com/ ...I had a graphic from her somewhere. Posted by Rob.

Alex left for Mexico today. His farewell blurb, Prapatang Living #2 has been delayed due to us being over quota (we've only ever been paying $10 per month). Maybe we should stop being cheap and kick it up to $20? When Alex left us he was armed with a travel-sized guitar, a small digital camera, his cell phone (for photos and video) and his iRiver .mp3 recorder. I am really looking forward to his updates. And I'm green with envy.

Check out A Harmless Poet for "Widdess and Widdess," Patrick's latest podcast with his brother Will whose music we featured on Music From The Other Side #4.

Podcast description: "Back home chatting to musician and sibling Will about Malaysia, New Market, Big Brother, Walker's crisps, strip clubs and more. Plus some great tunes from Muxu, Will Widdess, Moth Conspiracy and Lemon Jelly. Check out the Mighty Boosh." -Patrick.

I think these two make a great podcast duo, and I'm sure Will can help with Patrick's transition back into the Cambridge scene.

WARNING: Reverse culture shock can be a bitch. Gentlemen, please keep doing podcasts like this one!

Finally, my brother Hans has more travel and nature photos up on his smugmug account.

Posted by Rob.

Dianne Orrett will appear on "BBC Japananorama vs Shaberanaito!" on NHK TV this Monday night. Check out the link for details. Diane is famous for her Japanese and English rakugo performances and for being a one-of-kind kids' entertainer. She serves children afternoon tea at outdoor festivals and she can make anything out of balloons--she once made me a pair of headphones at one of my gigs. Besides showing up regularly at my Osaka DJ events, Diane is always genuinely warm and friendly. Osaka would've been a different place for me, if she had never been there! The newspaper clipping is a file she sent me. I can't read the fine print, and as you can probably see, it is some kind of promotional piece on Kansai International Airport (KIX).

Posted by Rob.

Tags:  NFTOS, Dianne Orrett, Japanorama, Shaberanaito, rakugo, Osaka, Japan

Down in Osaka, Bike Club 2.0 will be up soon. It's amazing how far you can go when you have a clear vision combined with a solid plan and action! Lots of ACTION!

Here in Tokyo, Alex and I just finished recording "Music From The Other Side #4," which he will take with him to Chiba to edit over the weekend. Such is the life of the travelling Business English teacher. Our flyer is finished for the NAMA art show, and the homepage is still under construction, but it is up. Check it out! NAMA Artists and performers, please send your bios and a photo to mail@alexbrooke.com .

Finally, we've got two VJs who've agreed to work with us on the opening party night at the The Pink Cow. One is Hadi who has worked with the Expansion, QuickFlickWorld and Flo-Union events. The other is Richard Boase. Check him out at http://www.richardboase.com .

Posted by Rob.

Okha was here with her friend Hyun-ju! Now their off in Osaka, and Jonny Heartbreaker is our current house guest. This is a recording of the first night he was in town. I recorded a few hours worth of us goofing around on Friday night, most of which will probably never be heard by the masses. Thank me. Cheers! Posted by Rob.

A farewell party for a Swede leads to revelations and worldwide reconciliation, at least between Americans, English, Japanese and Norwegians, as we rediscover the roots of football, or soccer as it is known in the States. Oh, and Louis Vuitton means something in Scandinavian perhaps, or does it? Well, check out fakepilot.com and learn the mysteries of Swedish flash editing. Posted by Rob.

As in the folks from Cafe Discobeans in Taisho, Osaka, the band Pig & Machine, etc, etc. They are a regular Osaka institution. In case you've forgotten about it already, here's a Discobeans video by Alex from early last year.

Posted by Rob.

Holiday greeting from NFTOS regular Charles Billard.

http://www.charlou2006.blogspot.com

Posted by Rob.

A holiday greeting from friend and Osaka resident Rik of Chorizo Smells.

Posted by Rob.

I'm not a big fan of the commercialism, the obnoxious last-minute once-a-year shoppers or the in-your-face proselytizing rampant this time of year.

In Japan, I'd be completely oblivious to it all, if it weren't for the ubiquitous Christmas music (even at temples and shrines) and the occasional crucifed Santa Claus, but this photo by Alex warms the heart.

Posted by Rob.

Tags:  NFTOS, homeless, ホームレス, クリスマス

David Roy discusses a recent animation project he was a team member of, as well as product placement in Japanese anime. I'll be putting up more details of the next QuickFlickWorld soon. The theme this time is "Unpredictbale!" Here's a mixi link for now. Posted by Rob.

A Report is precisely that. We were someplace and recorded ourselves telling about it. Here's a classic example of one Alex sent me a little over a year ago from Fukuoka called i've got the sea. Now, a Report differs from one of our Talk Show programs in that it is usually spontaneous, sometimes on location and is recorded alone more often than not, although it might sometimes contain a spontaneous interview of sorts. Alex's and my Talk Show series usually involves very little preparation or scripting (often painfully obvious), but we've recorded it long-distance many times now, and it has become a sort of routine where agree beforehand more or less what we're going to talk about, and cue up new ideas through a Skype chat window, or edit later. Sometimes there are guests. Anyway, once I moved to Tokyo, I found it necessary to talk about things which couldn't wait, so I did my first solo podcast or report called Panic Living and Alex followed shortly thereafter with his One Man Ramble from Nakatsu, Osaka. Our portable recording device of choice is the tiny iRiver, which we take with us everywhere, even on bike rides, which is when Alex recorded Sunset Ramblings from Miyakojima Sports Island. Unfortunately, Alex finally lost it all, in Fukuoka by the sea one night after one too many English interview tests, but luckily for us, he left this farewell message. Let's enjoy podcasting! Yoroshiku onegaishimasu. Photo by Alex taken someplace else in Japan, maybe in Aichi Prefecture?

Posted by Rob.

Hey everyone, remember the reason for the season. It's time once again to let the pagan out! Happy Halloween from Tokyo, Japan. Wanna see Halloween photos from Japan? I didn't take many, but Bikeclubosaka.com always has tons of photos and the occaisional video.

Posted by Rob.

Here's an mp3 file we recorded at JR Ebisu Station, on the Yamanote Line, which is kind of like Tokyo's version of the JR Loop Line in Osaka. We recorded video footage which is now posted. You can also watch it above, on Revver or on You Tube. Posted by Rob.