Alex teaches us how to pronounce a big word today. Listen to the full podcast for the meaning! We mentioned Foom-Foom's blog post about Cafe Absinthe, which, despite it's seemingly depreciative tone, highlighted many of the reasons why it's a great restaurant & bar! Nice photos too!

Why complain about Absinthe though, when you're two doors down from Masago, a great shochu bar, just around the corner from Mahina, a rum bar, a five minute walk from Covent Garden, another five from Cafe Barbes, which is just around the corner from Soul Kitchen. The latter 3 establishments I've walked out of into blinding daylight after all night sessions, while my first night at Mahina turned into a chaotic trip that somehow ended in Taisho-ku, where nothing was open anymore.

And then I saw on his blog what he keeps in his fridge... Happoushu! Let the evidence speak for itself. (follow the link and have a look at the fridge photo down near the bottom of the page). Happoushu, which we discussed in Priceless Talk #11, is the cheapest malt beverage money can buy in this country. That stuff does not even qualify as cheap beer. So, I guess a "yuppy" is a person who drinks real beer?

Anyway, enough of that. I've got Mundo Popular 4 coming up on 17 June, at L'Institut Franco-Japonais, with live bands and DJs (that's a poster for it that I'm pointing to in the photo).

p.s. I'll be DJing at Bar Bonobo tonight, spinning my usual blend of Brazilian, Latin and African music. Joining me will be guest DJ Mateus Branco (a.k.a. Matty)

p.p.s. BEB and Alex have a new song which you can hear on her blog now, and which we'll have here for you to download via NFTOS soon. Posted by Rob.

Last Sunday I span my hard drives @ Absinthe for Jonny Heart Breaker and other friends. It was a little quiet that night but it was good to play my favorite tunes, hang with friends and get the odd free beer. This was my low key sayonara party in town. Thanks for coming out guys, you know who you are.

Sorry for the crappy video but it was taken on my phone. Yoroshiku. Posted by Alex.

This is a video Charles Billard made 19 years ago while still in Quebec! If you're interested in fighting Le Ninja Rouge yourself, watch it until the end when you will be called out! Download an entry form at Charlou2006.blogspot.com ...he'll fight you! Posted by Rob.

After DJing at Absinthe, I went home in a taxi with Jonny Hearthbreaker, who sang for his dinner. The title is "Song for my girl". Posted by Alex.

I just made this mash-up by combining the voice of Curt and some sounds by Mattias Lindberg (a.k.a. fakepilot).

The formula:
Swedish Star Wars video
+
Evil Flash site
=
the file below.

When I asked Mattias if maybe the moview needed subtitling, he replied "Yes, maybe it needs subtitles. It's funny, mostly because he doesn't get what is funny."

"Oh, look! There's Lucky Luke! Hrmmph.."

"My name is not Lucky Luke! It's Luke Skywalker."

I think that's part of the humor, and another part is the dead-serious tone. I wonder, are there other episodes? Could there be a sequel??

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

Alex and Rob countdown the top 40 NFTOS audio and video podcasts and attempt to explain why some are more popular than others. Lots of shoutouts. This recording is LONG-- 42:28. Sorry about the whirring fan throughout the podcast. My computer overheats now that it is summer. Direct links to all the tracks mentioned coming when I get around to it, in order of lowest ranked to highest...

1. ALT Rap music video. 2. ALT Rap Osaka-jyo Stylee improv with live drums. 3. Makiko Soap Monster - Alex. 4. Talk Show #1. 5. Loop Line #1. 6. Nakatsu Music Project - Charles & Alex. 7. How to Pick Up Girls. 8. Nabe Party video. 9. Discobeans video. 10. Shinbashi Station - Quest. 11. ALT Rap Vocal track - Rob. 12. Alex Wins the Tour de France. 13. Panic Living #1 with Rob. 14. ALT Re-Rap - Quest. 15. Talk Show #3. 16. Nebra-ska - Quest. 17. Take Anything You Want - Alex's megamix! 18. An evening at Cafe Absinthe. 19. I Like Meat (the .mp3 file, not the movie). 20. Alex's Sunset Ramble from Miyajima. 21. Music Program: MFTOS #2. 22. Talk Show #7: Home is Where the Heart Is. 23. Loop Line #2. 24. Music Program: MFTOS #3. 25. Music Program: MFTOS #1. 26. Original ALT Rap recording - Alex & Rob (Lyrics by John Sanders & Rob). 27. All the Little Things - Quest. 28. Icitte les Oeufs - Charles Billard. 29. Loop Line #4. 30. Wroclaw Panache - Smouldering Door. 31. News - Jet Jaguar. 32. Wanna Tell You - Alex. 33. A misleading title: Learn English! 34. Makiko & Rob Watching People In the Park. 35. Irripressible Urges of Spring - Trenchparrots. 36. DJ Wes Kansai Info. 37. Talk Show #6: Baka Gaijin. 38. Alex's One Man Ramble from Nakatsu. 39. 24 Hours in Nakatsu (Alex's room clean-up video). 40. JR Song - Will Spin; Talk Show #12 (with MC Suspek).

The flyer is from Charles Billard in Osaka. Posted by Rob.

Another classic from Jonny Heartbreaker. Pardon the chatty intro, it was the Irish whisky... or the Yebisu. Or maybe it was the wine! Please FFWD! Posted by Rob.

Some of the links mentioned in this podcast were for QuickFlickWorld which is being held at Loop-line Cafe in Sendagaya this time, instead of Superdeluxe as before. It's pretty easy to get there from JR Sendagay Stn., Soubu/Chuo Lines. Also mentioned was Charie Nishino's Swingdance Journal. His band The Pimpwalkers has a new music video watchable on YouTube. More notes and links will be posted soon. Posted by Rob.

Here it is, Prapatang living, my answer to Rob's Panic Living. A creative urge took me tonight and I had to surrendar to it and record something. This is a reading from my new blog about the various thoughts knocking around the insides of my skull as my life in Osaka comes to an end and new adventures in Mexico hide in the bushes to ready ambush me.

The music is the apt "days to come" by Bonobo.

Enjoy.

Subscribe to Alex's solo podcast, Prapatang Living, on iTunes

Hans and Rob talk about the current cycling soap opera (Landis vs LeMond). If you're a decent person, don't listen!

Posted by Rob.

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(ENGLISH TRANSLATION COMING IN A DAY OR TWO--BUSY!!)

6月17日（日）Mundo Popular 4 (& Taiyo Record 2nd Anniversary)

MUNDO POPULAR 4 〜大洋レコード2周年記念パーティー〜

[ワールドミュージックã?®æŒ?ã?¤ãƒ?ピュラリティをより多ã??ã?®çš†æ§˜ã?«ã€‚
�京日�学院�ブラスリー���異国情緒溢れる空間を国境を自由�飛� 越��音楽�満����。]

2007年06月17日（日）18時〜22時
�京日�学院ラ・ブラスリー
当日：1,500円（ドリンク別）��売：1,300円
（＊�売券 販売：大洋レコード）

Live Performance :
Tamanco Buco (Coco, ブラジル北�部音楽)
Banda OkaraQubari (Tropical Latin Punk)
Beakers (Folklorico Japon)

Slide&Talk Show:
栗本斉 Hitoshi Kurimoto (~旅�リズム~, Argentina and all Latin America)

DJs :
Samba-Nova Crew (every 2nd Saturday at Shibuya Roots)
KTa★brasil (excite公�ケイタブラジルblog / TOKYO FM digital "RITMO")
Rob Holbrook (el gringo)

Shop :
Ponto (Brasilian college T-shirts)
中�米マガジン

Officially sayonara'd last month, Patrick is back in Osaka for a last hurrah. Posted by Rob.

Greg, a.k.a. Jonny Heartbreaker, and Rob recap a Saturday in Tokyo. Jonny Heartbreaker sings "I Want More."

Also, check out this guy's short film's on asamustak.com. This one's my favorite: Love You Like Water. I'll try to upload it and a few of the others soon. They're really good!

Photo of Jonny Heartbreaker at Ayumi's "Mysterious Wine Party" held at Hoju in Shimbamba, near JR Shinagawa Station. Please pardon my laptop's fan whirring throughout the recording! (I lost my iRiver recently) Posted by Rob.

You're going to like this one! The band is Don't Date Me, with norville providing the jams and Russ Leslie on vocals. Anyone else get any credit for this track? The songwriters? Photo: norville does the "blue steel" pose. Posted by Rob.

今晩ã?¾ã?ŸFM cocolo 765ã?«æˆ»ã?£ã?¦ã??ã?¾ã?™ï¼?木曜日ã?®æœ?２時頃（2:25 〜 2:30?)放é€?ã?•ã‚Œã?¾ã?™ã€‚今回ã?¯ãƒ­ãƒ–ã?¨ã?¾ã??ã?“ã?§ã?™ã€‚
we're back on fm cocolo 765 tonight at 2 a.m.! (maybe around 2:25 or 2:30?) this time it's makiko and rob.

先週放��時�撮��ビデオ�： http://japanese.libsyn.com/index.php?post_id=211533
watch a video of last week's radio show at: http://japanese.libsyn.com/index.php?post_id=211533

�週�greg(a.k.a. jonnyhearbreaker)�alex brooke...
next week's show is greg (a.k.a. jonnyheartbreaker) and alex brooke...

ã‚‚ã?—録音ã?§ã??ã?Ÿã‚‰ã?Šé¡˜ã?„ã?—ã?¾ã?™ï¼?
please record it, if you can!

よã‚?ã?—ã??ï¼?
yoroshiku!

Ivan Basso joins Jan Ullrich in Operacion Puerto infamany as he admits to "attempted doping." Hans and Rob review the latest cycling goss from the English-language cycling press. Hans was on his way out the door to go to work, and I'd just gotten home, so we didn't have time to cross reference the news with L'Equipe, La Gazzetta or Marca yet. Tentative Giro d'Italia rosters have been announced. No podemos esperar hasta il GIRO!

Posted by Rob.

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I know these people. If you've been around NFTOS for awhile, you probably know some of them too. The credits are in the film. I'll explain this one better later. Posted by Rob.

Last week Rob and myself were interviewed at FM Cocolo, one of the major radio stations in the Osaka area. The DJs were Yui and Chiyako who are also known as Yaneka, a band we featured on this podcast previously.

Our friends Makikomo and Jonny Heartbreaker sat in on the proceedings. You can hear their interviews on FM Cocolo in the Osaka area on Thursday 10th and 17th from 2am to 4am.

Posted by Alex.

Today I jammed in the street with the members of Le Jardin de Luxembourg (a.k.a. Luxembourg Koen), a 5 piece accordian group. We played outside of Mirrianbis, a store in Minami Semba in Osaka. The highlight for me was playing with the musical saw. It was a great day, Jonny Heartbreaker turned up and we gorged ourselves on beer and Kebabs served by the great Guido. Makikomo and El Gringo were there to sing and film the proceedings.  Thanks to everyone for a fantastic day spent with friends, drinking, singing and generally making fools of ourselves in the streets of Osaka. This video is a snippet of more to come. Photo by Kaori? Posted by Alex.

Alex and Rob were guests on Yui (first on left) and Chiyako's late night open mic on FM COCOLO 76.5 tonight (actually Thursday morning here in Osaka). Next Thursday, at around 2:00 a.m., tune in for Makiko and Rob, and the week after for Alex and Greg (a.k.a. Jonny Heartbreaker) for some of his brand new tunes!

Tonight we filmed and recorded the program. We'll try to get permission to upload both! Yui and Chiyaki are the musical duo Yaneka which opened our music show #3. They can also be found on MySpace at http://www.myspace.com/yaneka. Photo by Makiko.

Posted by Rob.