Beer tasting with El Gringo and Stone River. Standby for links and details.

Posted by Rob.

Tags: NFTOS, Natural Lawson, Yona Yona, Ale, Beer, Ginga Kogen, Coedo, Sun Sun, tasting, sampling, Tokyo, Setagaya-ku

Subscribe to NFTOS Talk Shows

Alex and Rob manage to fill 45 minutes of podcast with probably the worst French an Englishman and a Yank have ever produced.  Actually there was some English, Japanese and Spanish thrown in there as well.

Some may ask "Pourquoi?!"

Posted by Rob.

Tags:  NFTOS, En Français, Seppuku, Otaku, Setagaya-ku, Sangenjaya, Chiba, Tokyo, Japan

Subscribe to NFTOS Talk Shows

Happy Thanksgiving from Tokyo, Japan. Here are some recordings from the past few days spliced together in into one podcast. There's a lot of misinformation contained within due to the lack of maps and general sense of my whereabouts at the time of the recordings. Please standby for clarification and links!

Posted by Rob.

Tags: NFTOS, Panic Living, High Horse, audio, enhanced, podcast, Setagaya-ku, Kuhonbutsu, Okusawa, Oimachi, Tamagawa, Tama River, cycling, Tokyo, Japan

Subscribe to Tokyo Panic Living on iTunes

Looks like someone in Canada, kanarakuotoko, has created a playlist for our 8 Loop Line videos and called it Cycling in Osaka. Cool!

Posted by Rob.

Subscribe to our cycling adventures on iTunes

That's right folks, your host, Rob a.k.a. El Gringo is back in Tokyo for better or for worse, so please tune in semi-weekly for what's happing in my neighborhood. I've already been back for two weeks... (to be continued)

Photo of NFTOS Studios' Tokyo Tower by Stone River.

Tags: NFTOS, Panic Living, Rob a.k.a. El Gringo, Stone River, David Roy, Flo-Union, Mundo Popular, Taiyo Record, Institut Franco-Japonais, music, events, Kagurazaka, Shinjuku, Shibuya, Ryogoku, Popeye, Altgate, beer, Tokyo, Setagaya, Sangenjaya, Japan

Subscribe to Tokyo Panic Living on iTunes

Patrick Widdess' latest headstand can now be heard at headstand.209radio.co.uk featuring top poets Jude Simpson, Luke Wright, Hugo Williams and J T Chameleon and all this:

The Avalanches - Frontier Psychiatrist
The Psychotic Reaction - Over-draft Blues
Bob Dylan - Subterranean Homesick Blues
Ivor Cutler - Life in a Scotch Sitting Room Vol. 2 Episode 2
Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip - Back From Hell
Syd Barrett - Baby Lemonade
Dan Jefferies and Tom Adams - Come Back
Martin Figura - I work in the Arts Now
J.A.L - Ice Climber
Salads in Space - Putting on The Moon Suits*
The Morning People - If Wishes were Horses
Half Man Half Biscuit - The Trumpton Riots
Hugo Williams - Words
Mr Scruff - Fish
Moth Conspiracy - Husband and Wife
Melt-Banana - Spathic!
Motorhead - The Ace of Spades
Norville - Clowns*
Sucia - I want my Records Back*
Cusp - Vinegar Pouch

*(Should sound familiar to regular members of the NFTOS audience)

Posted by Rob.

Subscribe to NFTOS Music on iTunes

Five of us met up for beers and real ales at Popeye on Wednesday. What transpired was recorded for posterity and edited to protect the guilty. This enhanced podcast may meet further censorship by the participants, so this version is special, as it might be replaced by one less offensive to interested parties. Or something like that.

Stand by for more detailed notes, which we all took, or at least attempted to, and which might appear over on Learn Japanese Pod, or on the forums.

The photo is of a poster in the bar.

We might do this again sometime. Please join us if you'd like!

Posted by Rob.

Tags: NFTOS, Alex Brooke, Learn Japanese Pod, coffeebot3000, Stone River, Rob a.k.a. El Gringo, real ale, forum, Popeye, beer, tasting, Yona Yona, Hitachino Nest Beer, Tokyo, Japan

Subscribe to NFTOS Talk Shows

"Je ne suis pas comme une damme de la cour de Versailles, qui disait: c'est bien dommage que l'aventure de la tour de Babel ait produit la confusion des langues; sans cela tout le monde aurait toujours parlé français." Votaire, 1767

We learn how Alex sounds so intelligent in Japanese, why, it's by studying "How to Sound Intelligent in Japanese." We talked about having had gyudon at Yoshinoya for lunch, and about waiting for B-Chan, so we can go out to an izakaya in the evening, among other things. Recorded in Chiba. Standby for more links and stuff.

Posted by Rob.

Tags: NFTOS, Alex Brooke, Rob a.k.a. El Gringo, Coffeebot3000, makikomo, Chiba, Tokyo, Japan

Subscribe to NFTOS Talk Shows on iTunes

Poster by Norville. Notes coming soon!

Posted by Rob.

Tags: NFTOS, Hans, Rob, Kloden, Simeoni, Gerdemann, Simoni, Basso, Armstrong, cycling, ciclismo, cyclisme, Tokyo, Japan, Hagerstown, Maryland, NFL, Monday Night Football, J-League, Obama, Norville, forum, Tokyo Cycling Club, Learn Japanese Pod Forum

Subscribe to Bicicleteiros on iTunes

What has he been taking? I have come back to Japan to find out.

Posted by Rob.

Subscribe to NFTOS music videos

Pinch, punch, first of the month! Rabbit, rabbit!

Photo by Hans.

Posted by Rob.

Subscribe to Bicicleteiros on iTunes

Bicicleteiros are going to be out of town(s) for the weekend, but never fear! We recorded edpisode #45, which will be posted Saturday. and this is sort of a "p.s."

Photo: Source unknown. Forward of an e-mail forward of an e-mail forward...

Posted by Rob.

NFTOS, Hans, Rob, Halloween, Auckland, New Zealand, Hagerstown, Maryland, MD, NZ, Dexter, TV

Subscribe to Bicicleteiros on iTunes

DJ Wes has been climbing Japan's 100 famous mountains (Hyakumeizan) over the last five years. This is the final peak, Mt. Hijiri, Southern Alps, Elevation 3013 meters. Wes was accompanied by his wife Kanako and friends Yuuki and Fumito.

Video by Alex Brooke.

Posted by Rob.

Subscribe to NFTOS People on iTunes

Posted by Rob.

Just like the flyer says, "Jerry Gordon plays small chords in a dark room," Friday, 31 October 2008 from 5:30 p.m. at Cypher Cafe in Morinomiya, Osaka.

Posted by Rob.

Subscribe to NFTOS Music on iTunes

[notes to be edited, please stand by]

Italians for life bans on doping.
La Gazzetta
L'Equipe
Lombary won by Cunego
Vino comeback? We don't think so!
Lance, Alberto (Lance for the 2009 Tour, or the Giro, or both?)
New 2009 Tour route announced.
Mont Ventoux stage the next-to-last stage.
Japan Cup.
The new Norvilleintro might sound familiar...


Posted by Rob.

Tags: NFTOS, O Irmão da Xuxa, Hans, El Gringo, Rob, cycling, cyclisme, ciclismo, radsport, bicycle, race, Auckland, New Zealand, Hagerstown, Maryland, Japan Cup

Subscribe to Bicicleteiros on iTunes

Another little treat from Norville. When Andrew heard it, he blurted out, "(Norv) sounds like Tom Waits' and Leonard Cohen's love child."

Posted by Rob.

Subscribe to NFTOS Music on iTunes

Here's another vid from Auckland's Gabriel White.

Posted by Rob.

Tags: NFTOS, Gabriel White, Aucklantis, DVD, exhibition, Kiwi, artist, videographer, camera, video, YouTube, Korea, Seoul, Tongdo, Fantasia, ASB, Queen Street, Wellesley, corner, Auckland, New Zealand

Another clever little flash animation by Sir Alex Brooke which you can find more of at Prapatang World.

Posted by Rob.

WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE!! Or at least we were supposed to...

This one was recorded on a Thursday just before the Moon Festival weekend awhile back. Check your Asian calendars...

Requested by Coffeebot3000.

Posted by Rob.

Tags: NFTOS, makikomo.com, Alex Brooke, Rob, el gringo, Hadron Collider

Subscribe to NFTOS Talk Shows

Some will remember this podcast as the October surprise. Introducing Stone River!

Stone River of Learn Japanese Pod forum ilk has met up with us (um, me) on Skype and we recorded this podcast, which might get edited after Stone gives it a listen. Many groovy tag words will follow as soon as I can read the notes I've been taking while listening to this recording.

Photo: A pair of Maricks (Palin and http://norville.uber.com/greatest_hits">Parchment).

Posted by Rob.

Tags: NFTOS, Stone River, Bicicleteiros, filter, Coffeebot3000, The Barge Inn, bar, pilots, flight attendant, air hostess, stewardess, Kagurazaka, Narita, Tokyo, Japan, Auckland, New Zealand, October surprise

Subscribe to NFTOS Talk Shows

Posted by Rob.

p.s. I'll ask Alex to upload this in a higher quality .m4v format or something you can download on iTunes and/or play on your iPod/iPhone/whatever thing you may use.

This just in from the creators of Learn Japanese Pod. Ladies and gentlement, Ben and Alex!



Posted by Rob.

Video: Bicicleteiros archives - On safari in Nebraska, 3 July 2007.

Random notes (work in progress):

I watched Ewan McGregor in Deception this weekend. Speaking of deception, Frank Schleck has been suspended having sought gynecological treatment chez le docteur Fuentes. Ullrich likes Lance's chances. If Jan believes, then so do we! Meanwhile, Huey Lewis is back in the studios cutting a techno remix of the 80s classic "I Want a New Drug." Et pourquoi pas?

Hans cites a the doping related incident at the World Championships--The usual drug raid that goes down every time the veloboys are back on Italian soil. Something about Benoit Joachim's oxygen tent raising suspicions, um, the dude sleeps in an Oâ‚‚ tent. Nothing suspicious here. Michael Jackson used to live in an amusement park and sleep with his pet monkey. Everyone move along, please. Nothing to see here...

Anyway, Ballan won World's, and we're cool with that. Some crybaby Russian or Ukrainian was on the wrong wheel in the finishing stretch and couldn't repeat his silver or bronze of last year, which had probably just been a fluke anyway. Where did I read that? I can't find the story now.

Last Saturday, I was romping around Rangitoto Island, hiking up the extinct volcano, taking videos of fantail (a species of bird) up around the crater, and later a stingray and a blue penguin in the waters at the foot of the volcano. Topped it off with tea and scones with fresh cream. A lovely day was had. Ferry boat info: http://www.cadabra.com/Services/SERDetail.aspx?SER_ID=7435

On Sunday, I did the coast to coast walk, connecting the dots between the Waitemata Harbour on the east side, and Manukau Harbour on the west. The walk itself follows a north to south trajectory from downtown Auckland through the Domain, up Mt Eden, down the other side, and up One Tree Hill (which gave U2 a song title) and then down again to Onehunga Park.

Attention! Attention all CSC and former CSC riders involved in Operación Puerto. It's time for a roll call: Ivan Basso, Tyler Hamilton, Frank Schleck and who else? Fabio Cancellara? All present and accounted for? Look, guys, if you're going to dope, we suggest you either ride for different teams, or don't all ride so damn well at the same time. Hans suggests that may be the reason why Sastre is choosing this occaision to cut and run from Riis & Co. Might be a little too late. Ever heard the story in the Bible of Lotz wife? (sic) Just don't look back!

Can you hear the Tui bird?

Rob is reading Major, as in Major Taylor now. If they had it back then, over 100 years ago, what makes you think they're not doping now, with 100x greater methods?

Top 8 finishers in the Volta a Portugal were riders implicated in Operación Puerto: Francisco Mancebo, Santiago Pérez, Eladio Jiménez, David Blanco, Isidro Nozal, Rubén Plaza, Koldo Gil, David Bernabeu...

Riccardo Riccò "was expecting more sympathy'' for his stupidity involving EPO positives and hanging out with pariah-for-life Carlito Santuccione. Henceforth, he will be referred to on Bicicleteiros as as Rico Suave.

The Learn Japanese Pod forum's beer thread blends brew and cycling.

Posted by Rob.

Tags: NFTOS, Hans, El Gringo, O Irmão da Xuxa, Riccardo Riccò, Rico Suave, ciclismo, cyclisme, radsport, Hagerstown, Maryland, Auckland, New Zealand

Subscribe to Bicicleteiros on iTunes

Posted by Rob

It's high time we got this recording posted (over two and a half years later). It was recorded at Alex Brooke's old place in Nakatsu (see also Nakatsu Music Project, Nakatsu Music and Poetry, The ALT Rap, The Making of ALT Rap video, Tsuchifumazu art show, Nakatsu Nabe Party, etc).

If you heard The If Factor's Taste Test, this contains all 15 minutes contained in that recording, plus another half hour, all recorded the same night in one take. However, nearly 15 more minutes were edited out, for various reasons, mostly self-censorship.

Posted by Rob.

Tags: NFTOS, The If Factore, Alex Brooke, Jonny Heartbreaker, The Conservatives, Rob, El Gringo, mixi, Learn Japanese Pod, music, Nakatsu, Osaka, Japan

A quick rundown of the past week's events in the cycling world. Lot's of stuff's been recorded by us since the weekend before last, stuff which will eventually be uploaded in a carefully edited and self-censored format.

The big race this weekend is the Vuelta stage up to the Alto de L'Angliru. I had to look it up in Spanish to confirm it's spelling. I was expecting it to be "del Angliru."

Tyler photo from last year's race in Philly by Hans.

Posted by Rob.

Tags: NFTOS, Tyler Hamilton, Lance comeback, Vuelta, Missouri, Bettini, Alto de L'Angliru

Subscribe to Bicicleteiros on iTunes

Alex and Rob with a dash of Makiko.

Photo taken by Makiko on 2 April 2006 at Chove Chuva in Higobashi, Osaka.

Posted by Rob.

Tags: NFTOS, Alex Brooke, makikomo, Kiwi Experience, skydiving, Travel Nights, Nick Dwyer, C4, New Zealand, South Island, Auckland, Pecha Kucha, Gabriel White, Tongdo Fantasia, Japan, Chiba, Yachiyodai, Brazilian market, Wellington, Malty Media, Jet Jaguar, Wine Cellar

Subscribe to NFTOS TALK SHOWS on iTunes

Gabriel White will have a screening at 8:00 tonight in the Wine Cellar, St Kevin's Arcade, on K Road. The title is "Tongdo Fantasia," featuring footage from his Korean experiences, however, I'm hoping he will also show some of his "Aucklantis" works as well. You can check out some of his stuff YouKnowWhere and at his homepage. There'll be a door charge of $5.00.

Posted by Rob.

Tags: NFTOS, Gabriel White, screening, video projects, DVD, exhibition, event, St Kevin's Arcade, Wine Cellar, Kiwi, artist, videographer, camera, video, YouTube, Korea, Seoul, Tongdo, Fantasia, Auckland, New Zealand

Subscribe to NFTOS Events on iTunes

Charles is back with another event...

Friday, September 5th, 2008 from 7:00pm to 2:00am

JunKroom presents a Special Event at UrBANGUILD with an amazingly eclectic and International Program, including Performance Art, Modern Dance, Improvised Music, Sound Installation and more... An evening of Multi-disciplinary performances and artistic collaborations that will surprise, and astound you.

Salads in Space, a trio composed of Rick Tuazon, Jerry Gordon and Charles-Eric Billard, will mezmerize you with their sense of belonging to underground agroovating culture, to say the least. Salads in Space might play early, so please come early if you want to see us!

Doors open 6:30 JunkRoom Event starts at 7:00pm and ends at 2:00am Entrance 1000 yen + 1 Drink (total 1500yen)

0752-12-1125
http://www.urbanguild.net/

http://charlou2006.blogspot.com

Posted by Rob.

Subscribe to NFTOS Events on iTunes

The Vuelta a España promises to the be the showdown that never got a chance at the Tour de France this year. I've taken the liberty to chop up this podcast à la Tarentino (I use his name quite liberally here), so that cycling fans can cut to the chase, since time is of the essence with the Vuelta starting today in Granada.

Hans predicts Contador will take amarillo from day one, and wear it all the way to the finish in Madrid. I say there'll be a surprise similar to the first stage of the Giro, where Christian Vande Velde took the jersery in another team time trial stage. When you start a stage race like that, it's even more of a lottery than in an individual time time, because you could have a total newcomer roll across the line with the fastest time, because he's been fortunate enough to find himself on a strong team. Of course, I also predict Contador will be in yellow come Madrid.

To kick things off, Hans un- (synthetic) corks a Mas Delmera tempranillo, a Spanish wine from Tarragon. He's not sure what year it was though.

I'm still fumbling around with Garage Band and I managed to delete a not-so-vital portion while edition, which may have been worthwhile for our diehard fans we know you're out there! For a bit Hans is talking about the picture of the fireman holding up an ouriço, or hedgehog, and that comes up again later. (36:35)

How can you talk about the Vuelta this year without mentioning the Tour de France? The organizers of the Tour and 49% owners of the Vuelta barred Contador's Astana team from riding, so he had to settle for winning the Giro d'Italia instead. This could set up a treble for him, which would see him being the fifth rider to win all three major tours, and become the rider to have won all three grand tours within the shortest amount of time. Inevitably the failed ProTour format, the AIGCP, the old FICP rankings and the English Premiership all come up in the course of conversation.

For those of you who dropped by for more than just the cycling, maybe you stopped by for Hans' ability to drop in appropriate background music and poignant comments like "it's like Bruneel, he's in a downtown situation, and he's the minority," he quips at 20:08, followed up by "it's the American dream," at 22:00, and remarks about Leonardo Piepoli at 25:00. We eventually end up talk about creating a nature slideshow presentation (26:00), for which I recommend the Pecha Kucha format.

Other fine moments to note are at 30:27 (...but dude, I know how to put that look on!), 35:00 (...and I'll just drop some Latin names to this), 36:10 (...I can narrate to this kind of stuff), and finally the golden moment at 37:25 with "I have something beautiful for you..."

Photo of a fresh mountain lion kill, a mule deer perhaps, by Hans.

Posted by Rob.

Tags: NFTOS, O Irmão da Xuxa, h-monster, el gringo, Rob, Hans, Auckland, New Zealand, Hagerstown, Maryland

Subscribe to Bicicleteiros on iTunes

Watch out for the audio levels! Used lots of different audio, and no, I am not a Garage Band pro.

Posted by Rob.

Tags: NFTOS, Tetley's

Subscribe to Rob's Solo Podcasts on iTunes

All live!

Jet Jaguar* http://nonwrestler.com/music/
Malty Media http://maltymedia.net.nz/mm/
Group Five (down from Auckland) http://www.additiverich.com/groupfive/
Panoramica* (up from Dunedin) http://www.panoramica.co.nz/
*(lots of free downloads)


Friday 29th August from 9.30pm The Burgundy Room, under Bodega $10 to get in, $20 gets you a CD as well. Bargain!

Posted by Rob.

Subscribe to NFTOS Events on iTunes

This was Makiko's first attempt at making a music video shot last summer (which runs until February or March here).

Posted by Rob.

Tags: NFTOS, Auckland, New Zealand, Aotearoa, cicadas, dance

Subscribe to NFTOS music videos

We've been having fun lately, for a few hours each Saturday night, at Auckland's Planet FM 104.6 with DJs Megumi, Mari, Makiko, Kazu and Budgie on the mixer. Tune in every Saturday for Japanese news, music, talk and nostalgia from 10:35 p.m. to 12:05 a.m.

This video is part 3 of 3. There segments will be put up during the course of the next couple of weeks.

Posted by Rob.

Tags: NFTOS, radio, Auckland, New Zealand, Japan, Japanese, 104.6 FM, news, oldies, music, talk show, J-Pop, young people, ラジオ, オークランド, ニュージーランド

Subscribe to NFTOS Events on iTunes

Hans looks into his crystal ball to predict the outcomes of cycling races and to direct bellybutton relocations...

He also recommends trying beer from the world's oldest brewery, Weihenstephan.

Photo by Hans.

Posted by Rob.

Tags: NFTOS, Bicicleteiros, Hans, Rob a.k.a. El Gringo, Auckland, Hagerstown, New Zealand, Maryland, US Pro Championships, Beijing Olympics, cycling, baseball, football, soccer, Weihenstephan, beer

Subscribe to Bicicleteiros on iTunes

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

Posted by Rob.

Tags: NFTOS, Tokyo, Japan, DJ, Monkey

Subscribe to NFTOS News Flashes on iTunes

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.

Subscribe to NFTOS Events on iTunes

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

Subscribe to Rob's Solo Podcasts on iTunes

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.

Subscribe to the so-called Poetry on iTunes

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.

Subscribe to Bicicleteiros on iTunes

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!

Subscribe to Rob's Solo Podcasts on iTunes

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

Subscribe to Bicicleteiros on iTunes

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

Subscribe to NFTOS TALK SHOWS on iTunes

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.

Subscribe to Bicicleteiros on iTunes

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.

This is how I would make videos, if I knew what the hell to do with a computer!

Jet Jaguar & crew will be coming up to Auckland from Wellington on the 16th for a Malty Media event. Stay tuned to NFTOS, or just go check out nonwrestler.com for details.

Posted by Rob.

Subscribe to NFTOS music videos

Posted by Rob.

Tags: NFTOS, Kyoto Jazz Massive, Club Noon, HiJak, DJ Jules, Brett, Tenjin Matsuri

Subscribe to NFTOS Events on iTunes

Merely two weeks have passed since Buffalo Yo* (see resume) rode into Gotham City, making his triumphal entry, and rumors are already swirling around him like the tornadoes which used to menace him as he once grappled with the Red, White & Blue, All-American English language in the MidWest cornrows of Nebraska and Kansas when just a teenager.

There's chatter he's been spotted just a table away from Gohei Nishikawa's Steinway, and in the booth with The Englishman in New York, DJ Neal. However, reliable sources claim that he's already become Jean-Michel Basquiat to Norville Parchment's Andy Warhol.

Jayson Blair, formerly of the New York Times, is rumored to have asked him, but don't quote us on this, "do you see yourself as a Japanese artist, or as a Japanese-American artist?" Yo reportedly shot back, "Do you see yourself as an African-American plagiarist?" Touché!

Although he is just as likely to show up in the dugout next to Godzilla (Hideki Matsui), he's even more likely to suit up for the Red Bulls with the name Mothra stenciled on his back. Bend it like Beckham has nothing on this ace midfielder when he goes on a bender, although some nostalgists claim his style is more like Hidetoshi Nakata with the looks of Shunsuke Nakamura. By the way the girls scream in ecstasy when he sets foot on the pitch, he's the fifth Beatle, and he'll be the first to tell you that, no, Yoko Ono is not is real mother.

It will take more than his word alone, however, to dispel the even more vicious tabloid drivel that he was dating both Cibo Matto's Yuka Honda and Miho Hattori at the same time! He swears he's into far younger women, that he's not partial to Yamato Nadeshiko, though one shouldn't put it past him having a one-night stand with Madonna, if she was the last person in the bar.

Whatever his next move, it is already clear that the (karaoke) lounges of Vegas had become too cramped for this (punk rock) crooner, his agent having decided only weeks before, while drunk at a 4th of July Barbecue party--with rockets red glare and bombs bursting in air--that it was high time to get the hell out of Dodge and take a bite out of the BIG APPLE.

Who is this man, part samurai, part sweet and tender hooligan, said to have been raised by wolves on the Hokkaido tundra, or as some tell it, along the unforgiving shores of Fukui Prefecture? No one really knows for certain where he came from, but sometime, not long after God created man in His own image, out of fistfuls Shigaraki clay (or was it Joseon?), the DNA of the wandering nomad had already been created. This became clear to Yo himself only lifetimes later, as he roamed the prairies like a tumbleweed in search of gopher pelts, Indian arrowheads and other fragments of vanishing Americana. The realization that he carried strands of this very same DNA must have been painful indeed.**

As for his football (now pronounced sahr-kur***) career, often thought of as more of a sideshow, Yo made the grade in Lincoln, Nebraska, back in 1997 with indoor soccer's FC South Park, before he stepped outdoors and into the silver jersey of FC Porto International. It was only a matter of time before he was inevitably scouted by the Rangers. It doesn't surprise anyone now, that he even donned the fabled orange kit of the indomitable Woodpeckers International futsal club for a season.

Though Paul Bunyan-esque legends abound of him being the source of crop circles, or the father of five-card stud poker, one thing is certain--it's out of the frying pan and into the fire for the greatest embodiment of kamikaze ninja Japanese clichés ever to set foot in Times Square. Raise that Threat Level to RED. BANZAI! BANZAI!!

[The above information meets and exceeds the Falsification Standards set forth in Patriot Act I and Patriot Act II, and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise. -Proverbs 20:1.]

*Disambiguation: William Frederick Buffalo Bill Cody

**Disambiguation: Human, rather than Raëlian DNA

***Disambiguation: Soccer, also known as Association football

Compiled from various news feeds. Posted by Rob.

Is it just the ART you're into?

*(recorded in New Zealand)

In this podcast we do bad accents. We talk about rugby (not our an area of expertise for either of us). We talk about PBT (a piss poor delivery service that still has an iron Makiko purchased on trademe.co.nz which they refuse to deliver). And Courier Post, who couldn't do any better, although there is a post office located nearby, so we were able to have something taken there to be picked up. We discuss service in general, in various countries and from various angles.

The positive side? There's a cool little Japanese tachinomiya on Queen Street, which we've already mentioned, and which I'm sure we'll be mentioning again!

Pardon the therapy session, but having gone without regular internet for over a month, means that we've been saving all our gripes for the next podcast for sometime now, and it all boiled over in this podcast. Having lived in Japan for 10 years has made one Englishman, Alex Brooke, an expert on EVERYTHING, just as my leaving Japan has suddenly made me an expert on the world outside Japan.

Why, why, why do we record and then upload this rubbish? Hopefully someone somewhere gets a laugh out of it, and realizes that the grass is NEVER ever greener over there, and the best thing to do is to just make do with what you've got when you've got it.

Do you think we ever follow our own advice? Not a chance!

Posted by Rob.

Tags: NFTOS, Alex Brooke, Rob a.k.a. El Gringo, Chiba, Japan, Auckland, New Zealand, rugby, All Blacks, Australia, Nonbe, Queen Street, delivery service, Courier Post, PBT, trademe.co.nz

Subscribe to NFTOS TALK SHOWS on iTunes

Posted by Rob.

Tags: NFTOS, Rob a.k.a. El Gringo, Auckland, New Zealand

Subscribe to Rob's Solo Podcasts on iTunes

Here's one that didn't get edited before I left Japan. Alex has the other camera angle. Alex...

Posted by Rob.

Subscribe to NFTOS TALK SHOWS on iTunes

Heading home on New Year's Day 2007, after DJing at ノScrub and greeting the first sunrise of the New Year at Oasis Lounge. We had been given the keys to lock up, and we were supposed to put them in the *secret place* afterwards. When we got home to Alex's pad where we were staying, I realized I had put Alex's keys in their *secret place* instead, so we had to go back to Oasis to exchange keys. It was a long long morning.

Posted by Rob.

Tags: NFTOS, DJ El Gringo, Osaka, ノScrub, Oasis Lounge, Miyakojima, Sakuranomiya, Japan, ノScrub Oasis Lounge, HiJak, New Year's party, January 1st, DJ El Gringo, makikomo, 新年, 元旦, 都島, 桜宮, 大阪, 日本

Subscribe to Rob's Solo Podcasts on iTunes

This podcast was recorded about 3 weeks ago, but I was unable to upload it because we didn't have internet at home.  This brings to a close almost 2 months of depending on computers and internet at cafes, the library and at work.

I can't remember what it was about now...

Photo by Ben Brooke borrowed without permission from his facebook album.

Posted by Rob.

Subscribe to Rob's Solo Podcasts on iTunes

Since we've been offline for awhile, I thought we'd celebrate by uploading some vintage NFTOS footage! Previously unreleased footage from July 2007!

Posted by Rob.

Tags: NFTOS, Omaha, Lincoln, Nebraska, Hans, Makiko, Rolf, airport, interstate 80, SAC, Martin Buscaglia, CSS, Cansei de Ser Sexy

Subscribe to NFTOS People on iTunes

Tonight, four of us are going out to catch Phoenix Foundation member Samuel F. Scott & The Bunnies On Ponies (I think that's what they're called).  That's kicking off in about 2 hours at the Whammy Bar on K Road.  Opening act:  White Swan Black Swan.  Should be good craic.  Bought the tickets at Real Groovy yesterday afternoon, for the not-so-bad-price of $15 each (can't even buy a caipirinha for less than that in this town!).

Before the show we'll be checking out Tanuki's Cave (an izakaya on Queen Street) for some eats and drinks.

Tomorrow we should finally be getting internet at home, so I won't have to keep on coming out to the library to check my e-mail, and that means I'll also be able to upload podcasts regularly again!

Just in time too, because a terrible storm is on its way for the weekend...

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10523423

Posted by Rob.

P.S. Expect photos and/or video of the distruction, if we survive it!

P.P.S.  Tune in to Midnight Japan on Planet FM 104.6, Saturday night from 10:30 p.m., if the storm doesn't end up being so bad that we're not able to drive to the studio...

Subscribe to NFTOS Events on iTunes

Tune in to Headstand Radio with Patrick Widdess on Cambridge, England's 105 fm (http://headstand.209radio.co.uk) tomorrow, from 21:00 to 23:00 GMT.

This month's Headstand promises to be a real mixed bag (as usual) featuring live music in the studio from Clare Connolly (www.myspace.com/connollyclare) and another mini lecture from Nick Stibbs on the life and work of William Blake.

There'll also be an interview with Yako from Tokyo's legendary hardcore punk band Melt-Banana. (www.myspace.com/azap)

Posted by Rob.

Subscribe to NFTOS Music on iTunes

Last night we went to Nonbe, a tachinomiya on Queen Street.  It's one bar in a row of Japanese-owned shops along one side of the street between Wellesley and Mayoral.  The first thing you see when you walk in, besides the smiling matrons, is the huge phallic nose of a tengu mask.  The decor is a kitschy mix of traditional Japanese, and "Oh my gosh!  This looks so Japanese" (from a Western perspective) nick-knacks.  There are overturned ban kasa for lamps, images of tanuki, a hyottoko mask and a little red man shaped like a kite (this description escaped Makiko's knowledge of traditional Japanese images, so I'll have to look it up at the library when I have internet). 

 

There are rows of sake bottles along the top shelf (presumably empty, just there for decoration), but the bottles on the second shelf are well within reach of the knowledgeable staff.  For example, a purple bottle of Wakamurasaki looked like it might be a sweet shochu at first glance, like Tantakatan, but I was assured a manly man such as I could drink it and not lose face.  It had a much more complex and interesting flavor than Tantakatan has, and at $8 or $9 (New Zealand, of course) I highly recommend it.  "And who are you to be recommending Japanese sake" you might be asking?  Well, please allow me to introduce myself... Sometimes known as El Gringo, I am also known as Shochu Man!

 

My first drink of the night was a mug of Asahi draught beer (NZ$7), and Makiko had  Hana-awaka, a sparkling sake drink ($9) perfect for the girlier members of your posse.  I had to have one of the same drinks I had last week, Ikkomon (NZ$9), an imojochu listed as being made from kumara, the local word for imo, sweet potato.  There is also Sapporo beer on tap, and bottles of the big four (Asahi, Kirin, Sapporo and Yebisu) in the fridge.

 

Although you'd be better off going to Tanuki (an izakaya up the street) for a meal, Nonbe offers "Japanese tapas," a.k.a. otsumami.  Last week we tried some meat on a stick with a fancy name, but our memory of our first time there is a bit hazy.  It was yummy though.  In short, there is a long list of items to choose from including edamame and takoyaki.

 

The music is a very un-Japanese, blend of electro & alternative which makes the vibe way hipper than most tachinomiya you'll set foot in in Japan.  However, don't let that put you off, as it's played at background volume.  Makiko was happy to see her coaster artwork still up in the same place it was last week.  Mine was too!

 

The customers are mostly friendly locals or residents of various nationalities, although it is not unlikely for the random (very) drunk Irish traveler to stumble in, as Nonbe is on Auckland's main drag. 

 

Nonbe is open Tuesday-Satruday from 5:00 p.m. onwards, and is located at 309 Queen Street, Auckland City.  Phone:  09-379-5152.  http://www.sakebars.co.nz

 

I'll get a photo of the place the next time we go.

 

KANPAI!  CHEERS!  SLAINTE!

Posted by Rob.

Subscribe to NFTOS Bars and Restaurants on iTunes

...but I'm stuck in an internet cafe waiting for makikomo.com to finish a translation.  What?!  On a Sunny Sunday?  Yes, she does translations, Japanese to English, and English to Japanese.  She'll do them at any hour of the day or night, and if she's doing them into English, that means I'm also in business as a proof-reader. 

So, what else is on my mind today?  Why, it's that Tour de France thing, of course.  Can't wait to chat with my brother regarding the latest developments, particularly the rise of Kim Kirchen (Luxembourg) and the demise of former Lance Armstrong lieutenant Manuel 'Triki' Beltrán.

But don't rush to make conclusions they tell us... alleged EPO use in the 1999 Tour, Heras, Hamilton, Landis, Contador and now Beltrán.  Hans will probably be able to name a couple more tainted former Postal/Discovery riders off the top of his head, but don't worry, we are not rushing to conclusions, we're just letting the circumstantial evidence pile up.  Whenever we get around to it, there'll be all that to discuss and more, on another edition of Bicicleteiros. 

Make sure you tune into it and to my solo podcast, Psychotropic of Capricorn, both of which you can subscribe to separately if you like on iTunes.

Posted by Rob.

 

Subscribe to Bicicleteiros on iTunes

Oh, the tribulations of not having internet at home.  Today I bought some quiche, a muffin and a flat white at an Esquires Cafe on Lorne Street, so I could use their internet.  You get 1 hour & 60MB with any purchase.  After about 20 minutes, and this upload of about 3MB, plus a software update (not sure how many MB, but it didn't seem like that many), I suddenly found myself without any internet.  When I went to ask the cashier/barrista, he reiterrated the above details to me, to which I replied that I wasn't anywhere near my 60MB limit.  He repeated the bit about the 1 hour, to which I responded, "have I been here an hour?"  He just shrugged.  Customer service anyone?

Now I'm at the library, where I'm having a heck of a time with multiple page reloads, just trying to get from the homepage login to the libsyn publishing tool that I'm typing in now.  It's taken me 20 minutes!  It's time to get some internet at home, now that I can afford it again.

Anyway, here's something shot back in Kagurazaka, Tokyo, where the internet flowed like the MIGHTY MISSISSIPPI and the champiñones were sizzling...

Photo coming soon.

Posted by Rob.

Tags:  NFTOS, El Pulpo, Kagurazaka, Tokyo, Japan, Auckland, New Zealand, coffee shops, bad service, library, slow internet, mushrooms, champignons, cogumelos, kinoko, champiñones

Subscribe to NFTOS Bars and Restaurants on iTunes

I chose this video because I think it's been the most exciting stage so far. Paul Sherwen commentating at 1:50, in the heat of the moment, saying something Hans would've said: "Cadel Evans, in about 4th position, he's pretty happy just to be there..."

Anyway, here are links to videos from the first 5 TdF stages on YouTube:

Stage 1

Stage 2

Stage 3

Stage 4: Time Trial

Stage 5



With no prologue to sort things out from day one, I'd have to say Valverde (Stage 1), Schumacher (almost on day 1, Yellow Jersey from Stage 4), Kirchen (active on day 1, 2nd overall now), Cancellara (always in the hunt) have been the most impressive so far. The time trial was a bit too short and too early to have much of an impact, I think. Let's wait till the mountains before making any further prognostications, although Hans, who has been watching it all on conventional TV, will surely have something to say on the next Bicicleteiros!

I've chosen a variety of sources, in English, Dutch?, Spanish and so on, to show the global scope of the Tour. Let me know if any of the links go dead...

Posted by Rob.

Subscribe to Bicicleteiros on iTunes

>

With special guest Courtney, who has a life-in-Japan, travels-in-NZ, US-reverse-culture-shock blog at bakalicious.blogspot.com.

Photo by Courtney.

Posted by Rob

Tags: NFTOS, bakalicious, Courtney, Japan, New Zealand, Auckland, Seattle, hiking, tramping, backpacking, wwoofing, travel, photos, stories, poetry, writing, blogging, etc

Subscribe to Rob's Solo Podcasts on iTunes

I'm using the internet at a coffee shop to upload this timely podcast which got disconnected in the middle of our conversation. We had plenty of time for Hans to put forward a perfect prediction for the podium (looking back now, after the Tour has finished -ed), saying that if Cadel Evans could be counted as a favorite this time around, then we'd have to include Carlos Sastre on the list as well. Hans has been making some astute predictions on this podcast, and I can't wait till our next chat, to get his Olympic forecast!

Posted by Rob.

Tags: NFTOS, Cadel Evans, Carlos Sastre, glory hole, Tour de France, Phil Anderson, 4th of july

Subscribe to Bicicleteiros on iTunes

As the captain of the H.M.S. News From The Other Side languishes in the land of no internet, I shall be taking the helm this week with Prapatang Living.  I'll be posting links up here soon...

Posted by Alex.

Prapatang Living has moved here:  http://alexbrooke.com/prapatang-living-08/

Tags: NFTOS, Alex Brooke, Japan, Patrick Widdess, Brian Ruckle, 4th of July, Independence Day, Terence McKenna

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

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.

Join NFTOS regular Patrick Widdess for his monthly 2-hour FM radio show from Cambridge, England, which you can stream via headstand.209radio.co.uk.

This month's show features the usual mix of music and spoken word including poetry from local poets Dominic Mulvey, Richard Osmond and Glen Hutchinson, and a presentation on the life and work of Pablo Neruda by Nick Stibbs.

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

It's game day today, All Blacks vs Poms, but first we must have a barbecue and drink some homebrew.

This morning, we went to the Britomart Farmers' Market for some veggies, but the camera battery was dead.  I'll have to take some video footage next time, although the Otara and Avondale Markets we went to before are much bigger and have more of an international feel to them.

Photo coming soon!

Posted by Rob.

Tags:  NFTOS, Britomart Farmers' Market, Eden Park, All Blacks, BBQ, beer, Rugby, Auckland, New Zealand, England

Subscribe to Rob's Solo Podcasts on iTunes

News From The Other Side Art Show #5

Date: December 2008

Place: Cafe Revel, 146 Karangahape Rd, Auckland, New Zealand

Title: ?

Theme: ?

Flyer designer: ?

Artist Roster as of 13 June:

Andrew Blaker (Auckland)
Charles-Eric Billard (Osaka, Japan) Charlou2006.blogspot.com
Joe Baldwin (Chicago, Illinois) Noisivelvet.com
Hayden a.k.a. Quest (Lincoln, Nebraska)
Makiko Mizutani (Auckland) Makikomo.com
Okha Ryu (Seoul, Korea) groups.msn.com/RecentlyOkha
Patrick Widdess (Cambridge, England) headstand.209radio.co.uk
Peter Morris (Lincoln, Nebraska) HaloEffect.us
Rob Holbrook (Auckland)
Samantha May (Vancouver, British Columbia)
Sridhar Ramasami (ZhangYe, Gansu Province, China) svrart.com

...and you?

Map to the venue:

View Larger Map

Posted by Rob.

Alex's Tour of Japan (Series?).

Posted by Rob.

Subscribe to our food channel, Prapatang Kitchen, on iTunes

I'm a sucker for funky flyers, and though I don't know much about this event info (sent by Tokyo resident DH Rosen), I noticed Fumiya Tanaka's name and someone from the OVUM label on it, so it can't be that bad now, can it? -Rob

ローゼン��～。�無沙汰���り���。皆様�元気��ょ��？？？

４月�輪派絵師団�展覧会�[en]��越�下�����皆様���も有り難���� ����見逃�れ�方々も下記�リンク�レビュー�写真を�覧��れ������ �ェック��下��。

http://www.public-image.org/report/2008/04/30/rinpa-eshidan-exhibition
http://ex-chamber.seesaa.net/article/95261198.html
http://blog.nicorico.com/?eid=812895

���オプンニング�ライブ�様�もYou Tube�見られ��：
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yg4b--EDTYY

����次�ライブ�ユニット���今度�土曜日３１日�決定�詳細�添付�フラ イヤーを�覧下��。FUMIYA TANAKAを���凄�ラインアップ��～。僕も� �UNIT�ステージ�電動���!?! �楽���。Open: 23:30, Close: 6:00 http://www.unit-tokyo.com/schedule/2008/05/31/080531_redbox_and_clubberia_pr .php

通常￥４����入場料��下記�メールアドレス宛�金曜日���フール・�ーム を���頂�れ��￥３����ディスカウント・リスト�載����頂���。
discount@redboxproject.com

輪派絵師団�新��DVD�[en]も会場�販売�����よ����願�����
-Daniel
www.dhrosen.com

Hi everyone,

Howszit? My apologies to those of you who only seem to hear from me when I am sending out heinous spam... I'm really busy. No, really...

Many thanks to everyone who came out to the Rinpa Eshidan exhibition [en] at the Artcomplex Center Tokyo. For those of you who missed it, you can check out photos and reviews at the links below. Sorry, the reviews are in Japanese only, so I'll take the liberty of letting you know they couldn't say enough good stuff about us. ;-)

http://www.public-image.org/report/2008/04/30/rinpa-eshidan-exhibition
http://ex-chamber.seesaa.net/article/95261198.html
http://blog.nicorico.com/?eid=812895

You can also see some footage of our live set with zycOs minus one at the [en] opening party here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yg4b--EDTYY

Next up we're at UNIT on Saturday 5/31 doing a live set to an incredible DJ lineup till dawn. Look for me on stage covered in clay....
Check the flyer attached and link below for details. It's 4,000yen to get in the door, but this party is going to be huge. And if you send an e-mail to the address below by Friday, they'll put you on the discount list for 3,000yen entry!
discount@redboxproject.com

http://www.unit-tokyo.com/schedule/2008/05/31/080531_redbox_and_clubberia_pr .php

Our new DVD [en] will also be on sale at the venue so please come out and party with us! Hope to see some of you soon.

Cheers,

-Daniel
www.dhrosen.com

Posted by Rob.

We've tended to stay away from politics in the past, but New Zealand politics, and the local government here, are far more interesting (to me at the moment) and far more focused on the issues than what's going on in politics "back home" right now. That includes Obama, Hillary, McCain and anything Sharon Stone might say about China or Tibet.

If you find Alex's and my usual banter tiresome, uninteresting, boring, offensive, not-offensive-enough, or whatever, stick around for Andrew at about 22:00 minutes into this enhanced podcast, where his arrival easily doubles the show's IQ.

Posted by Rob.

Tags: NFTOS, Alex Brooke, Rob, El Gringo, Andrew, filter, manzai, Kiwi English, Labour, National, Party, New Zealand, politics, legalization, criminalization, marijuana, party pills, ecstasy, MDMA, amphetamine, methamphetamine, Queen's Birthday, Queen of, Canada, England, liberal, right wing, left wing, crystal meth, "P"

Subscribe to our TALK SHOWS on iTunes

[Uncensored version. I'll probably be editing this, once Hans has time to hear it and reflect on the more "racy" bits of his proclamations. Or maybe not. -rob]

Hans and Rob talk shop. Four riders now on Hans' Giro d'Italia grupetto. First off we discuss stage 16, the uphill time trial, at Plan de Corones, which turned to dirt and hit gradients of up to 24 percent. Rob mentioned these photos from stage 16 on CyclingNews.com.

Next, Hans outlines the fundamental difference between asthma inhalers, which contain the controlled substance salbutamol, and whippets, which contain nitrous oxide. This in relation to Alessandro Petacchi's 1-year suspension.

Then it's Jens Voigt, who won the latest Giro stage, which features the course which will be used later in the year as the World Championship. Looks like he'll have some extra confidence going into that race.

In other exploits, Hans almost breaks his personal best on the trans-Maryland segment of the Appalachian Trail, despite getting pulled over for speeding and having to wait for a late-comer. Out birdwatching, he discovers another first for dragonflies in Maryland.

Then Rob tells a little more about the Coromandel hike up to the Pinnacles, and pesters Hans about the Whale video link.

Hans gives his Philly predictions. Rob picks Tyler Hamilton. Hans picks Ben Johnson, or someone from Rock Racing, like Santiago Botero to solo. Hans reminds us of a poster Rob made on the back of a Victoria Secret poster, which was popular on the Manayunk Wall a few summers ago...

Back here in Auckland, we've been brewing beer, while in Hagerstown Hans plans to get a wine kit.

Finally, Rob had a great link to David Millar breaking his chain and throwing his bicycle at the end of stage 5, but "Cycling Television Limited" got it taken off. As short as that segment was, it was nothing more than a great advertisement for their DVDs, or however it is they're making a living off cycling. But they don't even have their own YouTube channel! Stuck in the past... However, after looking around a bit more, an even better version, in super-slo-mo was discovered: http://youtube.com/watch?v=xqTKaDmUr1w

Posted by Rob.

Tags: NFTOS, Giro d'Italia, Hans, Alberto Contador, Alessandro Petacchi, Tyler Hamilton, Rock Racing, Santiago Botero, Philly, beached whale, kiwi, New Zealand, Auckland, Hagerstown, Maryland, trail magic

Subscribe to Bicicleteiros on iTunes

Usually I try to steer NFTOS content away from religion and politics, although I let Alex's occasional atheistic profession of faith slip through uncensored, but I forgot to mention one very current issue regarding religion in this podcast, and it concerns Sharon Stone. Someone should issue Eastern Religions' equivalent of a fatwa on her for talking out her self-righteous ass. Maybe she can tell us whose fault it was when Hurricane Katrina wreaked havoc on New Orleans...

I'm becoming a bit of a hikikomori lately, up at all hours everyone else is not. This allows me to contact those who are awake on the other side. What is a hikikomori you ask? Well, Héctor García can tell you about the phenomena in Spanish and English, so I don't have to. Language nerds, check this out: Geonames. Ever wondered what the name Haiti looks like in every major language in the world? Well, now you can see! Big shout outs to everyone over at LearnJapanesePod forums and at Prapatang.com.

Don't forget to tune into Patrick Widdess' headstand radio tonight from 9:00 to 11:00 p.m. GMT (which is early Thursday morning here in NZ) on 209radio.co.uk. The Pixiphones will be playing live in the studio, and there will be poetry recorded specially for the show from Magic Phil, Hollie and Nick Stibbs. Nick will also be talking about the life and work of Walt Whitman.

Now, I'm not very cool, but I know quite a few people who are, in my humble opinion, and one of them reads another "news" blog called boingboing.net. He's always steering me in the direction of interesting tidbits on the net such as this site which helps the US government track Hassan Elahi by Hassan Elahi himself. Meanwhile, on the cartoon front, foyf informs us on ptikobj that, when a half-eaten dog falls from the sky, it's good luck. This reminded me of an old favorite, explodingdog.com. Well, it's time to go back to sleep, but first I must caress this rusty kettle...

...and to the narcos in Narita Airport, no, you can't have your 142g back!

donuts and regular coffee for breakfast
old glory flapping in the tainted breeze
dawn's early afrodesiac

Posted by Rob.

Tags: NFTOS, psychotropic, Tropic of Capricorn, Henry Miller, Indiana Jones, Pinnacles, Coromandel, poem, poetry, prose, spoken word, Auckland, New Zealand, homebrew, beer brewing, Celestine Prophecy, Green Brain, Dune

Subscribe to Rob's Solo Podcasts on iTunes

Hi to everyone at News From The Other Side,

My radio show goes out this Wednesday live on 209radio.co.uk at 9pm local time. Featuring local poets and the magnificent Pixiphones playing live in the studio it promises to be a good 2 hours. If you don't catch it live you can listen again at headstand.209radio.co.uk. You can also subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, just search for "headstand 209 radio".

If you haven't aleady done so, join the facebook group at www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=6061328090 and test your knowledge of the show with the headstand quiz http://apps.facebook.com/flixster/quiz?q=908190

Thanks

Patrick

[Alex got 50% on the quiz, Rob got 80%]

Posted by Rob.

Voici La Grande Danse de Robert et Makikomo et porquoi pas?



By Alex and Ben.

Posted by Alex.

Subscribe to NFTOS music videos

You're in Detroit and you're just getting off work... Well, then I guess you have this to look forward to!

I love the flyer, so I couldn't resist putting it up.

See the previous post for the complete line-up including Los Hermanos, Domenico & the Underground Resistance crew!

Posted by Rob

For all you Detroit Techno-headz...

Haqq says: "Buzz Goree's party featuring Los Hermanos and many good DJ's. We hope to see you there!"

Posted by Rob.

Looooong over due, I've finally decided to fly solo on this one and managed to patch together 6 songs on garage band. After one listen, it should be obvious that Alex is the technical brains behind our two-man podcast extravaganzas (if it wasn't already).

Back in Tokyo, I think Alex is working on a more Latin-Brazilian batch of songs, and he's actually been contacting some fairly well-known artists to get their blessing on his project.

I've got a few friends with music in the hip-hop and folk-rock genres, so I'm hoping to make one podcast of each. Also, it's New ZeaIand music month now, and that's got me thinking of trying to make an all-Kiwi artist podcast in the near future as well.

Playlist:

Intro music by Alex Brooke and Andrew a.k.a. filter.

1. A New Logic - Chris Perren
2. The Smell of New - Seaholm
3. Juicy - Jet Jaguar

Interlude (sorry about the lo-fi recording!)

4. Seven Years (3rd version) - halo effect
5. Sojurn - Noisivelvet
6. Dappled - Quest

Don't forget to subscribe to us on iTunes, and check out our 4 previous music shows in the "musicprogram" folder: http://newsfromtheotherside.libsyn.com/index.php?post_category=musicprogram

Posted by Rob.

Tags: NFTOS, MFTOS, Alex Brooke, Andrew, filter, Rob a.k.a. El Gringo, Chris Perren, Mr Maps, Seaholm.com, Jet Jaguar, Peter Morris, Halo Effect, DJ Kung-fu Grip, Joseph Baldwin, Noisivelvet, Quest, Hayden, music, podcast, instrumental, ambient, electronic, Tokyo, Chiba, Japan, Auckland, New Zealand, Wellington, Queensland, Brisbane, Australia, Lincoln, Nebraska, Chicago, Illinois

Subscribe to MUSIC FROM THE OTHER SIDE on iTunes

MUTO, animation on walls by blu on Vimeo.

Discovered by Andrew. Posted by Rob.

Alex and Rob talk about--what else? Japan, life in Japan, all things Japan, but now that Rob is in New Zealand, you can start to expect a bit more about "the land of the long white cloud," The Southern Hemisphere, The South Pacific, The North Island, Auckland, etc.

This YouTube video was previously uploaded here as an .m4v file with the 15 May blog post. Please add it to your favorites, rate it (5 stars, of course!) and forward it to ALL your friends!

Posted by Rob.

Tags: NFTOS, Alex Brooke, Rob a.k.a. El Gringo, Japan, New Zealand, Tokyo, Chiba, Auckland

Subscribe to our TALK SHOWS on iTunes

Cycling's Tour of Japan starts in Sakai City, OSAKA tomorrow. It's not one of the major races in the world, but it is Japan's biggest race. The average Japanese citizen has never heard of the race, but there are some interesting stages (i.e. a time trial up to the trail head of Mt. Fuji) and here's always an international field albeit made up of second and third tier professional teams and some U-23 national squads.

May 18 - Stage 1: Senboku Circuit, Sakai City (Osaka) , 140.8km
May 19 - Stage 2: Todaiji Temple - Nunome Dam Circuit, Nara, 146.2km
May 20 - Stage 3: Old Imai Paper Wholesale House - Mino Japanese, Paper Village Circuit, Mino, 164.7km
May 21 - Stage 4: Iida Station - Shimohisakata Circuit - Matsuo - Stadium, South-Shinshu, 155.3km
May 22 - Rest & transfer day
May 23 - Stage 5: Mount Fuji ITT, 11.4km
May 24 - Stage 6: Shuzenji Station - Japan Cycle Sports Center, Izu, 112.5km
May 25 - Stage 7: Hibiya city - Ooi Wharf Circuit, Tokyo, 148.9km

Teams for Tour of Japan: Skil-Shimano, A-Style Somn, Nippo-Endeka, Seoul Cycling, South Australia.com-AIS, Stegcomputer-CKT-Cogeas, Trek-Marco Polo Cycling Team, Mroz-Action-Uniqa, Meitan Hompo-GDR, Team Bridgestone Anchor, Aisan Racing Team, Matrix-Powertag, Pearlizumi-Sumita-Ravanello, Team Comrade-Giant, Narsima Frend, Team JBCF

Stage and team info from CyclingNews.com.

Photo: 2005 first stage, Sakai City, Osaka.

Posted by Rob.

Tags: NFTOS, Tour of Japan, Tour du Japón, ツアー・オブ・ジャパン, 自転車, レース, サイクルレーシング

Subscribe to Bicicleteiros on iTunes

Alex's brother Ben sent me this video response to my comment on his sinkfull of dirty dishes, and my informing him that Vegemite contains GMOs (which is just a terrible rumor I heard), and that he should switch to Marmite. Thanks for the live painting Ben!

Photo stolen from Ben's facebook. Thanks for the photo too!

Posted by Rob.

Tags: NFTOS, Ben Brooke, Rob, portrait, Vegemite, Marmite, art, painting, cracker, blackmail, dirty, dishes, kitchen, sink, lemon, Tokyo, �京, �所, アート

This from Patrick Widdess' YouTube channel, where you can find more videos of Moth Conspiracy and others live at the Boathouse in Cambridge, England, 11 May 2008. Also check out www.mothconspiracy.com.

Posted by Rob.

Subscribe to NFTOS music videos

ABOVE: "La Cumbia del Mole" by Lila Downs.

BELOW: Alex's and Rob's audio podcast. This is what we talked about...

Giro d'Italia
Dr Conconi, The Godfather of EPO in cycling
Kiwi English - NEW FEATURE!
Japan - 6000 miles on a bicycle (new book release party)
Norville's Greatest Hits
KIX on frisky radio
facebook groups (NFTOS, headstand, KIX on friskyradio, learjapanesepod, bananas prove God exist, etc)
Patrick Widdess and his Harmless Video Podcast #1
Street performance
Fiesta Mexicana
Lila Downs, Oaxaca and "La Cumbia del Mole" (above video) LearnJapanesePod
facebook gift application
Prapatang.com

Posted by Rob.

Tags: NFTOS, Alex Brooke, Rob, El Gringo, Japan, New Zealand, Aotearoa, Auckland, Tokyo, Chiba, Cambridge, England, UK, headstand, prapatang.com, learnjapanesepod, 日本語, �京, �葉県, ニュージーランド

Subscribe to our TALK SHOWS on iTunes

Here's a link to the blog dedicated to promoting the book by Tokyo resident Leigh Norrie: Japan - 6,000 Miles On A Bicycle. More links and info coming soon. Posted by Rob.

This YouTube video and blog post will go up awaiting Hans for a Bicicleteiros podcast. I'm sure he'll be more excited than usual because Christian Vande Velde, someone he raced against as a kid in Chicago, is in the lead of the Giro d'Italia after his team won the opening "Team Time Trial," a race which would take some explaining for the uninitiated...

After crossing the line first among his teammates, Vande Velde gets to wear the race leader's pink jersey in tomorrow's stage. Most casual sports fans are probably aware that the race leader's jersey at the Tour de France is yellow, but in Italy the jersey color was chosen to remind people of the race's sponsor, La Gazzetta dello Sport, which is printed on pink paper. The last American to wear it was Andy Hampsten, back in 1988! Hampsten now lives in Italy and has a vineyard and an olive orchard...

Besides La Gazzetta's multilingual coverage (Italian, French, English, German, Spanish), you can follow the race with VeloNews' Live Coverage, CyclingNews' Complete Live Coverage.

While we're on the topic of cycling, here's a blog dedicated to promoting a book by Tokyo resident Leigh Norrie: Japan--6,000 Miles On A Bicycle.

Stay tuned for a podcast covering all of the above and more, as soon as Hans gets home from Philly!

Posted by Rob.

Tags: NFTOS, Bicicleteiros, Giro d'Italia, Christian Vande Velde, Team Slipstream-Chipotle, TTT, Andy Hampsten, Leigh Norrie, Italy, Japan, bicycle, tours, touring, 自転車, レース

Subscribe to on Bicicleteiros iTunes

Norville Parchment (Trenchparrots, Sucia, Don't Date Me, etc) has decided to follow in the footsteps of Radiohead and NIN, but he's taking it a step further and making much more of his back catalogue available for download. There are about seven albums worth of material here: http://norville.uber.com/music.

Posted by Rob

This just in from Ian Handsley:

"Please join us for a special KIX show on friskyRadio.com tonight at 11pm JST [2am New Zealand -rob].

It's been a year since I launched KIX on friskyRadio, and I have to say that it's been quite a year. It started out simply as way to connect Kansai DJs with a worldwide community of EDM lovers, but in the course of putting each show together something very cool happened. I saw each and every guest DJ raise their art to a higher level, so what we've ended up with is a community of local DJs who have played to huge international audiences, who have earned every amount of respect they received, and who now know a whole lot more about making Osaka dancefloors rock. Here are the guest DJs we've had so far:

Deadmau5
Bloisy
Shawn Basik
Dan Elliot
bRoTheRmAn
Dom Pang
B-Ko
DJ Nat

This special anniversary edition has a very old and close friend of mine - i-bec - as the guest. I-bec and I met in 2002 out the front of Namba Hatch before an Anthony Pappa gig, and then when he opened Freeza a few months later, we...er...well, did a bit of DJing there. Since then many people have come and gone and much has changed but our love for the tunage has remained, and we've been able to share our journey through electronic music and the dark art of mixing it for a dancefloor. I-bec's a bit of magician when it comes to that, as many will tell you, and his taste in music reveals an appreciation of complex beauty boxed up in trunks of funk. But strangely getting an hour-long mix out him has been an exercise in futility...until today (literally).

So here he comes, finally, for a KIX mix, and since it may be another 6 years before he gives me another mix, you shouldn't miss it."

KIX on friskyRadio.com

Thursday, May 8
7am San Francisco
2pm London
11pm Osaka
Friday, May 9
2am Auckland

1st Hour: Ian Handsley
2nd Hour: I-bec

I-Bec photo by James (BikeClubOsaka).

Posted by Rob.

Patrick Widdess (headstand radio) is joined by Nick Stibbs for the video version of A Harmless Podcast. The banana reference comes from Alex's Prapatang Living solo enhanced podcast series, and the QES reference either comes from our 2-man Talk Show #48, or from my own new podcast Psychotropic of Capricorn #2, I can't recall which at the moment (due to being stuffed up with a cold).

Posted by Rob.

Tags: NFTOS, Patrick Widdess, Nick Stibbs, 209radio.co.uk, headstand, A Harmless Podcast, Cambridge, England, UK authors, poet, poem, poetry, Queen's English Society, banana

This one's from Brian who says he's seen better. Where? In the big city? In Beijing? Not in Portland, Tennessee, I'll bet! I want the guy's soundtrack. Any way you could find out for me what it is? I find it very motivational! Gonna use it to help me get out of bed in the morning...

Posted by Rob.

Tags: NFTOS, Brian Ruckle, China, Liaoning, street performer

WARNING: Contains an offensive gesture. Also, please pardon the titles--Alex was just starting to mix his Spanish and Portuguese back then.

Video and photos shot way back on 19 September 2005 at Osaka's Umeda Sky Building, during a festival that was officially labeled "Spanish" (or was it Mexican?) that turned out to be run mostly by Peruvians and Brazilians (which there are many of in Osaka). In this montage, which was shot with a cell phone and a digital camera, Alex pulls out all the post production editing stops he knew of at the time. This saved me from having to use all the same cheesy effects in my first videos! Thanks Alex! Music by Mono Blanco who performed that day.

Here's the original video (much higher quality!) that we posted previously on NFTOS, and another one from our archives to commemorate Cinco de Mayo, Hans with Horns.

Posted by Rob.

Tags: NFTOS, Alex Brooke, Hans a.k.a. h-monster, Cinco de Mayo, festival, party, video, Osaka, Umeda Sky Building, 大阪, 梅田スカイビル, 日本

What started out as a Latin label in Japan with a monthly event, now has a compilation CD and a radio program on UniqueRadio.jp.

Tune in at http://www.uniqueradio.jp and answer the short demographics questionnaire (in Japanese) by clicking in the appropriate boxes.

The show starts at 21:00 Japan Time tonight.

Posted by Rob.

Armchair linguists, Alex in Tokyo, and Rob in Auckland, get together on Skype for their first Talk Show since when?! More details and links will be posted soon.

Photo taken at Osaka's Umeda Sky Building, during a sort of Fiesta Mexicana, 19 September 2005.

Posted by Rob.

Tags: NFTOS, Alex Brooke, Rob a.k.a. El Gringo, Tokyo, Japan, Auckland, New Zealand

Subscribe to our TALK SHOWS on iTunes

Trenchparrots on Headstand Radio!

Accidentally played Yaneka's "Black Coral" as part of the intro, which featured Andrew's ukulele.

Posted by Rob.

Tags: NFTOS, psychotropic, Tropic of Capricorn, Henry Miller, The Trenchparrots, Headstand, 209radio.co.uk, Patrick Widdess, Alex Brooke, Prapatang Living, olive picking, wwoof.org,

Subscribe to Rob's Solo Podcasts on iTunes

Words and photo by Jerry Gordon.

Posted by Rob.

This just in from poet, podcaster & radio DJ Patrick Widdess:

Subject: If you're in Cambridge DON'T listen to Headstand this Wednesday 9-11pm
 
"Greetings Listeners,

The next Headstand promises to be a great show with an interview and poetry from Melanie Challenger, recent artist in residence for the British Antarctic Survey and local Poet Nick Stibbs talking about the life and work of 13th Century poet, Rumi. All this and the usual eclectic mix of music and spoken word.
But if you"re in Cambridge switch off your radios and head to the Drama Studio on Covent Garden off Mill Road for an evening of performance poetry hosted by the Anglia Ruskin Literary Society. Headlined by renowned Carribean poet Jean 'Binta' Breeze, it'll also feature open mic from literary society members and music. It starts at 7pm.
From Thursday onwards you can listen back to the show on headstand.209radio.co.uk

Stay tuned,
Patrick"

Posted by Rob.

Tags:  NFTOS, Headstand, 209radio, Cambridge, England, poet, poetry, poem, music, show, spoken word, Rumi, Drama Studio, Covent Garden, Mill Road, Anglia Ruskin Literary Society, Jean 'Binta' Breeze, The Trenchparrots ?

What didn't I talk about on the show? You'll just have to listen.

Here are links to some of the things I mentioned

Curumin
Lila Downs
Reggie Watts
Headstand Radio

Posted by Alex.

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

Hans is cooking up a storm as a thunderstorm rolls in, meanwhile, in Auckland it's been raining off and on for days...

Photo from a mural in downtown Auckland. Posted by Rob.

Tags: NFTOS, Bicicleteiros, Tour of Georgia, Sivstov, Liège-Bastogne-Liège, Ivan Basso, Liquigas, Jorg Jaksche, AIGCP

Subscribe to Bicicleteiros on iTunes

You may recall us mentioning Natsu's 2006 film Rudy Soup, and the opening party which I had the privilege of DJing for. Well, Natsu is back with another project, this one titled "Crazy Girl Sweet Broken Case." I don't know anything about it yet, but I'll find out as much as I can. In the meantime, enjoy the trailer!

Posted by Rob.

Tags: CRAZY, GIRL, SWEET, BROKEN, CASE, LOVE, MOVIE, TRAILER, INDIES, JAPAN, 失�, ゑ�り, 大山�, ��, �カスカジャン, テレパシー NATSU, eyllie, 映画, 予告編, 自転車, トマト, Tokyo, �京, film, independent, art

Another music nerd gadget to experiment with, this one is still in its infancy, and you can help program it! Just join the News From The Other Side Group on last.fm. At the moment, we only have 4 people signed up including Alex, Patrick, Raevin_Roth (a member of LearnJapanesePod forums) and myself. So far, Patrick doesn't have any music scrobbled, so it's really more like 3 people's music listening habits playing. In listening so far, I've heard music ranging from 80s New Wave to Latin to Japanese Anime theme music, and from Jack Kerouac to Jack Johnson. My favorite played so far was "Debrah" by Beck. It's really a mixed bag, but it could always use more seasoning, so sign up to add a dash of your favorite spice!

Posted by Rob.

This just in from DJ D-Mac in D.C.

Posted by Rob.

Tags: D-Mac, Faction Theory, Modernist Society, Washington D.C., event, documentary, a/k/a Tommy Chong, Neville C, Bourbon, 18th Street

NOT intended for decent folk. Sensitive viewers should FFWD through the "intermission" segment as it contains video footage of digital images of upper area wardrobe deficiencies. You have been warned.

As for you regular viewers, if you haven't watched every episode, 1 through 7, go do that first! Click on the Loop Line video folder and scroll to the bottom of the page!

Almost 2.5 years after the feat, the 8th and final episode of our JR Osaka Loop Line Tour is complete with flash intro by Alex and drum n'bass conclusion by Will Spin (JR Song).

At the end of the previous video, Alex and Rob were leaving Time Table Cafe, which is located under the tracks, between Momodani and Teradacho stations. This video starts at Teradacho Station and continues on to Tennoji Station, with a brief stop at Danyk's place. Danyk rode the Loop Line with Rob earlier in the year, but no video was taken, only photos, so a visit to his place was an appropriate way to commemorate that momentous occasion.

From there, it was back to Tennoji Station, then Shin-Imamiya, Imamiya and finally, back to where we started several hours earlier, Ashiharabashi Station!

If you enjoyed this unconventional tour of Osaka, then you may appreciate our other urban cycling saga shot in Tokyo, the Yamanote Line Tour, which we are still in the process of editing. Stay tuned to http://newsfromtheotherside.libsyn.com !

Tags: NFTOS, JR, Osaka, Loop Line, Alex Brooke, bicycle, Teradacho, Tennoji, Shin Imamiya, Ashiharabashi, Station, Bike Club, Danyk, Don't Panic, DJ, Tin's Hall, Japan, 大阪, 環状線, 寺田町, 天王寺, 新今宮, 電車, 駅, 自転車, 日本

Subscribe to our Urban Cycling Adventures on iTunes

Just a reminder that we have videos on Revver (31 from Elgringo and 25 from hunyaga. Revver videos can be subscribed to directly or via iTunes. The video featured above is from the early days of the podcast, shot in Shibuya, Tokyo, on Japanese National Foundation Day, 11 February 2006.

Posted by Rob.

This one is from the end of 2006. We spent a couple days with the family by the sea, at Ise-shima in Mie Prefecture. Ukulele intro by Andrew.

Tags: NFTOS, Ise, shima, Mie, Japan, makikomo, Rob, sea, ocean, splash, wet, falling, rock, scrambling, jumping, soak, ukulele, 伊勢志摩, 三�県, 日本

Posted by Rob.

DOWNLOAD Charles' Binary Lullaby!

This just in from Charles-Éric Billard, who needs no introduction to NFTOS or those on the Osaka art-music scene:

"Soon will be Cloneliness's first SOLO LIVE SHOW in Japan : April 26th, from 20:00 to 22:00.

Cloneliness will perform home-made instruments including slitars, inflatable beetle toy, wooden house and various custom-made variations on the above. Some pre-recording samples will include drum work by JERRY GORDON and spoken poetry by RALPH FAMULARO. Please come and enjoy ABSTRACT ROCK! Between sets, there will be video projection of Clonelness music videos as well as the screening of recent animation work by DAIKI MURAKAMI.

  Here is the schedule for the evening :

20:00 first live set
20:30 video projection of video and animation work
21:00 second live set
21:30 open jam session

For the open jam session, feel free to bring any acoustic instrument you may want to play with people in the audience. electronic bleepers welcome if setting up can be done in less than 5 minutes.

Tickets are 2000 yen at the door, 1500 in advance. You can contact Soho (06-4394-7456) to reserve a seat.

Soho gallery is located on Sennichimae Suji, a short walk down the hill when you get off Tanimachi 9 chome Station exit 3.

For more information, or to see samples of previous works, see the website : charlou2006.blogspot.com or send an email to : charles_billard@hotmail.com "

Posted by Rob.

Stop and go animation from still photographs taken by a pinhole camera attached to a flatbed scanner. Actor creit to Samantha Schutte.

Postedy by Rob.

Tags: Noisivelvet.com

What started out as a Latin label in Japan with a monthly event, now has a compilation CD and a radio program! Apparently, this program is only available in Japan, but we'll see about that! More info coming soon, but for now please follow the link.

http://www.joqr.net/blog/uniquewhats/archives/2008/04/radio_samba_nov.html

Posted by Rob.

The Hell of the North is here once again. (official homepage) Back up police from Belgium and Holland have been called in to handle the festive fans from those countries, mostly conduction drunk diver checks. Friends of Paris-Roubaix societies have been maintaining cobblestone roads, and in one case even peeled back some asphalt to reveal well preserved cobbles.

Hans' pick is this year's Tour of Flanders winner, Stijn Devolder, while Rob goes with the safe bet, Fabian Cancellara. Hans says America's Hincapie will finish either 2nd or 3rd, and Rob predicts a 4th or 5th place finish. Follow the race live on CyclingNews.com or VeloNews.

Here's a link to our Roubaix wrap-up last year, and here are links to CyclingNews' preview and to the VeloNews Paris-Roubaix archives.

In other cycling news, Jan Ullrich has been forced to pay a 1 million euro fine for doping fraud which we've already discussed here ad nauseum.

Trek bicycles have severed ties with Greg LeMond whose brand of bike they distribute. LeMond has been very outspoken in the fight against doping, but probably should have been a bit more careful in taking on more current riders like Armstrong and Landis without some concrete evidence.

In addition to cycling, we mentioned the tui, a bird, and Tui, the New Zealand beer.

A recent Skype conversation we decided not to upload included the following cycling related topics: 92nd Ronde von Vlaanderen (a.k.a. Tour of Flanders) on CyclingNews.com and VeloNews.com, Rock Racing's bad boys are finally racing again, Alexi Grewal's essay on doping, Cyclingnews' April Fools' special edition and VeloNews' April Fools'.

The photo is from a friend who shall remain anonymous unless I hear from him otherwise. For now, let's just say he's someone who cycled all over Europe, and he's a fine artist who has participated in, and made a flyer for, a NFTOS art show.

Posted by Rob.

Subscribe to Bicicleteiros on iTunes

Toto, we are not in Kanto anymore. No more Tokyo Panic Living until further notice!

Here's the poem I read by Patrick Widdess called "Slug":

I do not hear its single foot
slip beneath my bed,
turn dust into silver
and make a soggy doily
of last month’s gas bill.
But the morning sheds light
on its nocturnal wanderings
charted in dry mucus,
its glittering autograph
scrawled across yesterday’s paper.
I set mouse traps with lettuce leaves,
surround my bed with half-empty beer glasses,
scatter pellets like deadly confetti.
I sleep well for a week
then find a survivor;
inch long and mossy green,
relaxing by the radiator.
It’s then I notice the leafy odour,
and the sheepskin rug; tacky underfoot.
I dare not look beneath the bed
but lie awake, ear to the mattress
all night.
At dawn I start to drift
and sense the bed being lifted
on a thousand slithering backs,
doors sliding open, and the morning air;
cold and sharp against my cheek.

"Love is All Around" by the Troggs (and according to Patrick, it was covered by Wet! Wet! Wet! in the 90s as well).

Tags: NFTOS, psychotropic, Tropic of Capricorn, Henry Miller, Patrick Widdess, poet, headstand, 209radio.co.uk, Auckland, wwoofing, New Zealand, Otara Market, Coronation Street, Lost, Boston Legal, Sazae-san, Chibi Maruko, Sand, The Inspectors, The Earlybirds, Calamity Jam, The Troggs, Paris-Roubaix cycling classic

Posted by Rob.

Subscribe to Rob's Solo Podcasts on iTunes

KIX on friskyraido.com, 2 hours w/ Shawn Basik (Oasis Lounge) and Ian Handsley

Friday, 11 April in Auckland. All other times, Thursday, 10 April.

200 Auckland
700 Vancouver
1000 Montreal
1100 Halifax
1400 London
2300 Osaka

http://www.friskyradio.com

http://www.myspace.com/osakakix

Photo of Shawn Basik, probably taken from his own cell phone, at 9:00 a.m., on the way home from Oasis Lounge back in the day.

Posted by Rob.

This just in from Daniel Rosen in Tokyo. Daniel creates some pretty wild film projects, the first of which I saw at David Roy's Quick Flick World video extravaganza held last year at SuperDelux in Roppongi. Daniel writes:

"Hey people,

Long time no e-mail! I've been meaning to send out a "Happy New Year" e-mail and before I knew it it's April. How crazy is that? I guess the big news is that the Rinpa Eshidan DVD is finally coming out. And to mark the occasion we're doing a special exhibition opening and DVD pre-release party at Tokyo Artcomplex in Shinjuku on April 19. Details are below. http://www.geocities.jp/wtymd050/exhibition/upcoming/index.html
http://rinpaeshidan.jp/info/

The DVD will be on sale in the gallery for 2,500 yen. For those of you who can't make it and want to buy one, please send me your contact info (mailing address in Japan) and I will add you to a list so we can send you one later. Unfortunately we are not yet able to accept orders from abroad, but hopefully we'll have that sorted out by our official release date in June.

Rinpa Eshidan: [en]
April 16 through May 3 at Art Complex in Shinjuku, Tokyo (closed Mondays) http://www.gallerycomplex.com/home/schedule/hall/rinpa_eshidan.html
Opening Party with Live Events on Saturday, April 19, 5:00pm to 9pm featuring music by DJs Miyoshi, Cut Lemonn, Super Samir and Fencer. At 7pm 'zycOs minus one with Cal Lyall and Keigo Iwami' will join Rinpa Eshidan for a special 'live art and music' set. Opening Party Admission:\1,000, includes wine courtesy of [yellow tail].

Hope to see you all there!

Cheers,

Daniel"
www.dhrosen.com

-------

皆様�

�ん����ダニエル・ローゼン��。�無沙汰���り�������新年�挨拶 �メールを�り����������４月����������。�ん��時間�感 覚�狂���る��僕��？�や～�本当�時間�経���速�も����・・・

���一番�ビッグ・ニューズ�輪派絵師団��よ�よDVDをリリース�る����ょ ������４月１９日��輪派絵師団展示会場�Tokyo ArtComplex��展覧会�オ プニング�DVDリリース・パーティー�行�れ��。詳細�次�よ���： http://www.geocities.jp/wtymd050/exhibition/upcoming/index.html
http://rinpaeshidan.jp/info/

＊DVDã?¯ç”»å»Šã?«ã?¦ï¼’，５ï¼?ï¼?円ã?§è²©å£²ã?—ã?¾ã?™ã?Œã€?会場ã?¾ã?§ã?Šè¶Šã?—ã?„ã?Ÿã? ã?‘ã?ªã?„æ–¹ã?¯ã€? ã?Šå??å‰?ã?¨é€?ã‚Šå…ˆã?®ä½?所を僕宛ã?«é€?ã?£ã?¦ä¸‹ã?•ã‚Œã?°ã€?後日郵é€?ã?•ã?›ã?¦é ‚ã??ã?“ã?¨ã?¯ã?§ã?„ã?¾ã?™ã€‚

輪派絵師団展 「en�

4月16日（水）�ら5月3日（土）（月曜日�休廊）
The Artcomplex Center of Tokyo（新宿）�� http://www.gallerycomplex.com/home/schedule/hall/rinpa_eshidan.html
4月19日（土）�オープニングイベント��輪派絵師団�よるライブペイント� スペシャル・ゲスト� よるライブ音楽を披露�る。(Music by DJs Miyoshi, Cut Lemonn, Super Samir, Fencer and live performance by 'zycOs minus one with Cal Lyall and Keigo Iwami.)
オープニングイベント入場料：1,000円,　[イエローテイル] ワイン付ã??。
皆様���場を�待����り���

�ゃ�～～～

ダニエル・ローゼン
www.dhrosen.com

This just in from Joseph Baldwin (noisivelvet), jack-of-all-arts and regular NFTOS Art Show participant, who will be having his thesis exhibition 18-22 April.

"Please join me at the opening reception of the 2008 UIC School of Art and Design BFA Theses Exhibition on April 18 from 5:00-8:00 pm at CUPPA Hall on 400 South Peoria, Chicago, Il 60607 -- in the Great Space on the 5th floor. It really is a great space.

It is a great group of interdisciplinary artists work (that covers the course of two semesters, and 8 professors) and I'm very excited to be a part of it.

I realize a lot of you that I'm sending this to are in other cities, and likely won't be in Chicago at this time, but please send your good thoughts our way for a great show - and of course feel free to pass along the e-postcard.

I'll have a 5' cube with video installed inside of it and some small sculptures nearby. If you can't make it Friday night and would like me to join you another time, maybe over the weekend, please send me a note and I'll do my best to join you. The show is open from 11:00 to 5:00 through the 22nd.

Thanks!
Joe"

CONGRATULATIONS JOE!!

Posted by Rob.

Sorry, this one's out of sequence. We have one or two more Korea videos to upload though, before we start uploaded our new New Zealand ones!!

Posted by Rob.

Tags: NFTOS, Korea, Kansai, Airport, Incheon, KIX, ICN, makikomo, airplane, beer, tatting, whisky, niagara, 関西空港, 大阪, ソウル, 韓国, 日本

Subscribe to Rob's Solo Podcasts on iTunes

Although NFTOS started out focused on travel photography, culture and art, other topics got picked up along the way such as the 2002 World Cup, which was held in Korea & Japan, and my trip to the 2004 Tour de France, which coincidentally ignited my current obsession with collage as an art form.

Although I haven't found many art enthusiasts who are interested in much in either sport, I've still continued to bring them up as they have been colorful international pageants since day one. Some of my earliest drawings as a child were of national flags, and as a teenager I designed many cycling jerseys complete with fictitious sponsors. The only other people I know who spent any part of their childhood doing this were my two brothers, both of whom raced bicycles with me as "juniors."

Hans and I still bring up cycling in conversation almost whenever we get a chance to chat on Skype. Being the Nixon I have become, much more of this gets recorded than ever gets uploaded. Sometimes it gets a bit "over the top," but we can't help that a lot of what has been in the news regarding doping in sport lately has been truly bizarre. The old timers are coming out of the woodwork and coming clean to varying degrees, the latest revelator none other than 1984 Olympic Gold Medalist, Reverend Alexi Grewal, a childhood hero of mine who I had a poster of on my wall.

Cycling and sport in general remain among our interests nonetheless, although I've definitely backed off the hero-worship, starting way back with the tainted Tour de France of 1988, which was to be outdone by the 1998 Tour, and both now pale in comparison to what has been reveled to on behind the scenes.

On the surface, there still is grace and beauty--the sight of 200 of the best riders in the world, colorfully clad, on their sleek machines, swishing down alpine roads in excess of 100 km/h, or mud splattered warriors pushing their bikes up steep & narrow cobblestones after being held up by a crash. What makes it even more exciting for us though, is that we raced against a few of these guys as kids.

The name "Bicicleteiros" was chosen both for originality and informality, as it is not the correct term for cyclists in any language we know of, rather we heard it coined mistakenly by a gasoline station attendant in the countryside of the state of São Paulo back in 1989 or so. At the time we used it only in derision, the same way "serious" cyclists in the US used the terms "Fred" or "bozo-tourist" for cyclists who lacked the commitment to (maintain the proper image of) the sport. I guess we sort of fall into that category now, so the name fits.

Stay tuned for our continued colorful commentary on this season's big races. Next up are the Tour of Flanders, Ghent-Wevelgem and Paris-Roubaix!

Posted by Rob.

Tags: NFTOS, Bicicleteiros, Rob, El Gringo, Hans, O Irmão da Xuxa, cycling, ciclismo, sports, etc

Subscribe to Bicicleteiros on iTunes

We saw these guys play at one of the band member's birthday party last night.  The Inspectors (a.k.a. Sand) opened up, and they were followed by Calamity Jam.  I'd like to see all three bands live again sometime.

This afternoon we're going to catch Fat Freddy's Drop at Grey Lynn Park, for what I am told is the last official outdoor concert of the summer there.

Posted by Rob.

Makiko and I have been working in an eco-village in exchange for room and board for the past three weeks.  We've been doing a wide variety of farm chores, ecological activities, building and renovation.  In addition, we've been doing purely fun stuff like bottling beer, baking (using fruit we picked ourselves), kayaking and mountain bike riding.  If this sounds like your cup of tea, then check out this link:  http://www.wwoof.org 

Our adventure began with a boost three Saturdays ago with our Auckland homestay host driving us as far north as Warkworth, nearly halfway to the eco-village.  From there we almost immediately hitched a ride, but the driver was another foreigner who was lost and looking for the golf course.

A few minutes later, we got picked up by a couple who were headed to Kaiwaka for an anniversary party.  They took us right to our turn off, where we were fully intending to walk the rest of the way, but got another ride after about 200 meters.   At the entrance of the eco-village, one of the original founders spotted us and took us to the family we'd be staying with for the first five days.

In my next audio podcast, Makiko and I will tell you more about the wwoofing experience itself.  We've taken tons of photos and video, which I hope to upload little by little, once we're back in Auckland. 

Today we're just taking it easy, and there's a big birthday party tonight with at least 3 bands!  Of course, that means even more photos and videos to sift through once we get back to the big city.  

In the meantime, please stay tuned to our podcasts, as Alex and others keep us entertained and informed on what's going on in Tokyo and the rest of the world...

Posted by Rob. 

Prapatang living is back as Alex takes the wheel while El Gringo and Makikomo go wwoofing in New Zealand.

Also in the program I mentioned Mundo Popular,  a music event that promotes world music to a wider audience in Japan.

Sunday April 6th, 6pm-10pm
MUNDO POPULAR 6 featuring florencia ruiz TOKYO
@ L'institute Franco-Japonaise, La Brassarie
(http://www.institut.jp/apropos/acces.php）
¥2500 on the door, ¥2000 yen pre booked
Station: Iidabashi

Live Performance :
Florencia Ruiz
Luminous Orange Solo Set
Beakers folklorico japon

DJs :
DJ Syril (medvacances)
Richard Counord (Kind of Blue)
Ryosuke Itoh (Taiyo Record)


Shops :
Tarot readings
Ponto [ Brasilian college T-shirts ]
Chunanbei magazine

Mundo Popular

Also check out this link to Tokyo Cooney's hanami party in Yoyogi

Hanami in Yoyogi

---

4月6日（日）06:00 pm - 10:00 pm
MUNDO POPULAR 6 featuring florencia ruiz TOKYO
at �?±京日�?学院ラ・ブラスリー（http://www.institut.jp/apropos/acces.php）

当日 : 2,500円 (ドリンク別) / �?売 : 2,000円 (ドリンク別 )
※�?売券販売 - 大洋レコード�?«�?¦

Live Performance :
フローレンシア・ルイス florencia ruiz
ルミナスオレンジ・ソロ・セット luminous orange solo set
ビーカーズ Beakers folklorico japon

DJs :
DJ Syril (medvacances)
Richard Counord (Kind of Blue)
Ryosuke Itoh (Taiyo Record)

Shops :
�?°れん�?¬�?®タロット�? �?� [ タロット�? �?� ]
ponto [ Brasilian college T-shirts ]
中�?�米マガジン

Clothes Supported : H.P. France [ 衣装�?�力 : アッシュ・ペー・フランス

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

This event developed by musician Kristy Farkas and presented at Kobe's Big Apple, will feature five live experimental music bands. Jerry Gordon, Rick Tuazon and Charles Billard (Cloneliness) will perform a 25 minutes set from the second half of the show, from 20:00.

STAGE 1

5:30 California 18
Sakiyama Kazuhiro (drums)
Wada Yoshiharu (bass)
Kinoshita Kazushige (violin)

6:00 Isohata Shin'Ichi (guitar, etc.)
Kristy Farkas (piano, etc.)

6:30 Melagukan
Miyake Woshinichi (s sax, etc)
Suzuki Masaru (banjo, etc)

7:00 Play Plot
Kuramoto Takahiro (tablePc, Viola daGamba)
Morikawa Norie (koto,musical saw)

STAGE 2

8:00 Jerry Gordon (sax, percussion)
Charles-Eric Billard (slitars & effects)
Rick Tuazon (laptop)

8:30 Isohata Shin'ichi (guitar)
Won Jiksoo (vocals, etc.)
Nishikawa Bunsho (guitar)
Toshimori Akira (piano)

9:00 Lonesome Hope (cello, guitar)
Kristy Farkas (piano, etc)

9:30 Open Session

1800yen with reservation (contact 078-251-7049)
2000yen at the door.

Big apple is located a 10 minutes walk away from Sannomiya station.
Visit the Big Apple's web page bekkoame.ne.jp/i/big-apple for directions and decent size map.

Visit myspace.com/andsoon to hear some of the organizer's music samples.

KIX on frisky w/ Dan Elliot (Oasis Lounge)

Thursday, March 13

0700 San Fran
1400 London
2300 Osaka
2700 Auckland

http://www.friskyradio.com

http://www.myspace.com/osakakix

Photo by James, BikeClubOsaka.com

Posted by Rob.

After spending the last two years podcasting about, in and around the bars, cafes, izakaya, pubs, restaurants and tachinomiya of osaka and tokyo, now it's time to cover new territory.

I first came to New Zealand back in late 2000 and stayed for 4 weeks. During that time I got to check out quite a few establishments, not only in Auckland, but also in Wellington, Greymouth, Queenstown, Christchurch and many of the smaller towns along the well worn tourist track (my journal of that trip is packed away in a box someplace in Oklahoma right now, or I'd elaborate further).

So far, the only place I remember which I've been able to return to is Cafe Melba on Vulcan Lane--a great place for breakfast and flat whites. It was a good reference point in the city, and an easy place to meet up with other travelers, back before everyone was carrying cell phones. Nowadays it's crazy busy, but the staff are still friendly and patient.

New places we've checked out include Bouchon (nice salade niçoise) and Fridge (great looking wraps and pies, though we only had tea and coffee) in Kingsland, and Roasted Addiqtion, also in Kingsland, which I'm sure we'll be back to, so I'll be telling you more about it later.

Last night four of us went out downtown to Mezze Bar on Durham Street. I had a Green Fern organic lager while the others had tea and desserts. Looking around, it appeared the crowd were mostly locals out for an evening meal (unfortunately, we'd already had dinner). Many were sharing bottles of wine, however, I didn't see any beer on tap, and the drink prices seemed like they were set to keep out the riffraff, which seemed to be working as I didn't notice any backpacker or student looking types in a joint that was otherwise pretty casual. It would be a nice bet for a first date, but please, $14 caipirinhas? That's over 1100 yen, and this ain't Tokyo! In Brazil, a bottle of cachaça only costs... ah, nevermind.

Anyway, Makiko and I will keep you posted as Andrew, Claire and other friends introduce us to new spots around Auckland and elsewhere.

Photo: Makiko's chicken and apricot sauce sandwich at a sidewalk cafe in Coromandel, very appropriately named Coromandel Cafe. The sandwich had nice veggies in it including beets. Mmm. I had the fish and chips.

Posted by Rob.

Tags: NFTOS, Kingsland, Auckland, New Zealand, Cafe Melba, Bouchon, Fridge, Roasted Addiqtion, Mezze Bar, カフェ, �ー, オークランド, ニュージーランド

NFTOS regular Okha a.k.a. Flying Koala recently had a birthday, and Hans a.k.a. h-monster, O Irmão da Xuxa, MC Luncbox, etc, is currently having his.

Posted by Rob

Tags: NFTOS, camping, wwoof.org, organic, Coromandel Peninsula, Waikawau, Cathedral Cove, Hot Water Beach, organic, Auckland, New Zealand, ニュージーランド

Subscribe to Rob's Solo Podcasts on iTunes

News From The Other Side started out as an online community on groups.msn.com in early 2001. It served as a travel blog and art gallery, and provided the network for our first group art show in Seoul, Korea, in 2004. Since then we've had 3 more group shows, 2 in Osaka and one in Tokyo.

In the 7 years which have passed, the old MSN community got deleted once and came back, and this weblog and podcast have since emerged. Most who know about NFTOS are probably only familiar with the latter, while many more have probably only seen the NFTOS videos on YouTube, MySpace or Revver.

So, what's next? Hopefully another art show in the not so distant future, but for now, Makiko and I are in New Zealand staying with friends Claire and Andrew (a regular participant in NFTOS art shows). We'll be doing some volunteer organic farming, or wwoofing, then we'll probably try to find jobs and it will be back to business as usual. In the meantime, you can help keep this thing going by telling your art-culture-music-travel oriented friends about NFTOS. Make sure to subscribe to us on iTunes--newsfromtheotherside--it's free! And, if you're feeling generous, send us a PayPal donation!

Posted by Rob.

Panic Living video player.

Posted by Rob.

Tags: NFTOS, 209radio.co.uk, Headstand, Patrick Widdess, Rob a.k.a. El Gringo

Subscribe to Rob's Solo Podcasts on iTunes

Rob and Makiko's wedding at Matsuo Shrine, Kyoto, through Okha's camera.

Posted by Rob.

Check out the wonderful world of Yo.

CONGRATULATIONS YO!!

Posted by Rob.

Better renditions have been performed for sure, but none have been filmed.

iTunes version coming as soon as we have enough storage. Since we are on holiday, we're going with the cheapest account for now. You can help upload podcasts more frequently by donating. Just click on the PayPal button in the upper right hand corner.

Posted by Rob.

Tags: NFTOS, Rob, El Gringo, Jonny Heartbreaker, Hans, makikomo.com

Posted by Makiko.

"Thank you to those who came to the opening of "3-D Images and Videos" exhibition opening event, February 23rd. It was a really enjoyable event for me and I was happy to gather such fine performers. Here are some pictures of the event, and the link to "Cube Taisou" (cube gymnastics) 3-D video, all viewable with red and blue glasses." -Charles

Cube Taisou video: http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=WZKNl48XUx0

As bales of coke wash up in Cornwall, England ( CNN link ), the boys roll into Conway, New Hampshire, the home of the Moat Mtn. Brewery.

The cycling season is up and running with the Tour of California, which was taken by Levi Leipheimer. Already there is controversy aplenty with the Tour de France and Paris-Nice organizers ASO vs the Union Cycliste Internationale.

Make sure you check out Hans, Bobby and Pete's Mt. Washington photos at: http://hansholbrook.smugmug.com and http://picasaweb.google.com/bobbybyrd9

Photo by Hans. Posted by Rob.

Tags: NFTOS, bicicleteiros, Hans, Rob, ASO, UCI, Tour de France, Paris-Nice, High Road, Rock Racing, Slipstream, Auckland, New Zealand, Hagerstown, Maryland, Moat Mountain

Subscribe to Bicicleteiros on iTunes

The real reason I had to run away from Japan was that Alex Brooke, Jonny Heartbreaker and El Gringo (that's me) planned a comeback concert styled after the reunion tour success of THE POLICE. I was chased out of the country by the men in black vans...

Snippets of "Take the Skinheads Bowling" and "The ALT Rap" (rock version) are the crime scene exhibits "A" and "B" you see here.

I believe the original file may have been left behind on Okha's computer, so it is not available on iTunes or for direct download at the moment.

Posted by Rob.

Tags: NFTOS, Alex Brooke, Jonny Heartbreaker, Rob a.k.a. El Gringo, Flying Koala, flyingokha

Andres and Rob continue their chat about Kyoto, Japan, culture, shrines, temples, ryokan guest houses, weddings, etc.

Video from Rolf of Yuhara Inn, Kyoto.

Posted by Rob.

Tags: NFTOS, Andrés, español, inglés, japonés, Spanish, English, Japanese, Mexico City, México D.F., México, Tokyo, Japan, メクシコ, スペイン語, 英語, 日本語, �京, 日本

Subscribe to NFTOS Talk Shows

Tokyo Panic Living goes Seoul searching for inner peace. Papaz ypy apamopor!

Posted by Rob.

Tags: NFTOS, Seoul, Rob, makikomo, Okha, flying koala

Subscribe to Rob's Solo Podcasts on iTunes

Catching up with 209radio.co.uk's Patrick Widdess via Skype...

"Headstand, 209radio's poetry programme is having an event!

When:
Sunday Mar 02, 2008
at 7:30 PM

Where:
CB2 Cafe
Norfolk Street
Cambridge, England

A 209radio fundraiser featuring live music from Steph Brown, Richard McGuire, Toma and Moth Conspiracy and poetry from Patrick Widdess, Helen Mort, Nick Stibbs and Rychard Carrington."

Posted by Rob.

Tags: NFTOS, 209radio.co.uk, Headstand, Patrick Widdess, Rob a.k.a. El Gringo, haiku

Subscribe to NFTOS Talk Shows

A little trip down pre-NFTOS memory lane, this track was uploaded to The Beb and Alex Show as "Deja vu Drive" back in December 2005, although I think it was recorded awhile before that. Here's the original blog post.

The track could've probably used a little more work as it was kind of a one-shot recording.

Posted by Rob.

Tags: NFTOS, Beb and Alex, Rob a.k.a. El Gringo, Deja vu Drive, We'll Be Back Again, Osaka, Japan, 2005

Subscribe to NFTOS Music on iTunes

Tour of California, The Tour, Teams High Road, Rock Racing, Astana, etc. Posted by Rob.

Hans' Smugmug

and last.fm links.

Tags: NFTOS, Hans, Rob a.k.a. El Gringo, Tour of California, Tour de France, High Road, Rock Racing, Astana

Subscribe to Bicicleteiros on iTunes

This is alex who the hell is he?
Looking at bird stuck in a tree
I once met a man who went to tibet
Has the next Japanese PM been chosen yet
6 billion people floating on a rock
Beam me up scotty I'm styling like Spock
The Old Brooke clan have all gone home
My chilly bins are choice give a dog a bone
Look at the pidgeons they know something
Break dancing rapping my panda's calle dling ling
Chairman mao, and Manu chao
Skateboarding in Namba with a holy hindu cow
Oh my buddha now they just had a crash
Here comes jonny heartbreaker pockets full of cash
I know this iddy bitty ditty  just aint funny
But baby, you know you're just so money...

"Keep Left" photo by Rob.

Posted by Alex.

Tags: NFTOS, Prapatang Living, rant, rap?

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

Andres and Rob chat about Kyoto, Japan, culture, shrines, temples, ryokan guest houses, weddings, etc.

Photo of girl cycling in kimono by Andres.

Posted by Rob.

Tags: NFTOS, Andrés, español, inglés, japonés, Spanish, English, Japanese, Mexico City, México D.F., México, Tokyo, Japan, メクシコ, スペイン語, 英語, 日本語, �京, 日本

Subscribe to NFTOS Talk Shows

Tour of California, The Tour, Teams High Road, Rock Racing, Astana, etc. Posted by Rob.

Links coming: Hans' Smugmug link

Tags: NFTOS, Hans, Rob a.k.a. El Gringo, Tour of California, Tour de France, High Road, Rock Racing, Astana

Subscribe to Bicicleteiros on iTunes

Before anyone else in the house is awake, the Panic Living media crew is in action!

Hans's Japan smugmug pics start somewhere around the fourth page.

Posted by Rob.

NFTOS, Rob a.k.a. El Gringo, makikomo.com, Hans, Patrick Widdess, haiku, t-shirt of the day, Seoul, Korea, New Zealand, Shiga Prefecture, Japan, 51 - Uma Boa Idéia, 滋賀県, 日本

Subscribe to Rob's Solo Podcasts on iTunes

Wandering through a cabbage patch, a rebel is spotted.

This one was recorded on my mom's camera. Hi mom!

Posted by Rob.

NFTOS, Shiga Prefecture, Japan, Chinese cabbage, B. chinensis, bok choy, pak choi, xiao baicai, Chinese chard, Chinese celery, hakusai, 白�?�, 滋賀県

Patrick Widdess, UK Authors' September 2005 writer of the month, is back with another headstand program on 209radio show featuring no less than 5 NFTOS artists! Count them: 1. Alex Brooke, 2. Hans a.k.a. MC Lunchbox, 3. Charles Billard (The Smouldering Door), 4. Jerry Gordon (The Smouldering Door) and 5. Quest a.k.a. Hayden.

-----------------

"Headstand, 209radio's poetry programme is having an event!

When:
Sunday Mar 02, 2008
at 7:30 PM

Where:
CB2 Cafe
Norfolk Street
Cambridge, England

A 209radio fundraiser featuring live music from Steph Brown, Richard McGuire, Toma and Moth Conspiracy and poetry from Patrick Widdess, Helen Mort, Nick Stibbs and Rychard Carrington."

------------------

Today I recorded a podcast with Andres in Mexico and another Bicicleteiros with Hans, which I'll be posting in another day or two. Also, I'll be recording another episode of Panic Living, just as soon as I can get around to it! Gotta get back to repacking. One week to go before the big move...

Posted by Rob.

Tags: NFTOS, headstand, 209radio, Alex Brooke, Charles Billard, That Ass Is Your Meal Ticket

( Words of advice from silverlucy design )

happy valetino's day!!!
to all my gals n' pals
i'm forevahhh yourrrrs,
faithfully.

kisu,
slvr
silverlucydesign.com fashion catalyst

---------------

Make sure to check out KIX / FriskyRadio with Ian Handsley and bRoTheRmAn. Ian writes on facebook:

"This Valentine's night, invite your insignificant other over, slip into pachinko suits, open a couple of Ozeki One-Cups, crack a new deck of Mild Seven Lights, and tune into friskyRadio.com for 2-hours of steamy, Osaka-styley minimal tech and electro house with me, Ian Handsley, and bRoTheRmAn.

This one's a bit special, not just because it's Valentines, but because this will be my last frisky mix for a while, as I'm heading to Venezuela to study Beauty Pageantry.

It's also special 'coz bRoTheRmAn has given me a 'killer' mix to air on the show. If it doesn't get your freak on, then you've had too many One-Cups."

-Ian Handsley
FriskyRadio.com

Hello? Who is this?

Introducing MC Lunchbox (a.k.a. Hans, the h-monster, O Irmão da Xuxa) vs Alex Brooke.

"That's my gaunlet I am throwing down at everyone out there who wants to do a remix." -Alex

Here's the original vocal track.

Photo by Alex (but I don't think it's a rattler). Posted by Rob.

Tags: NFTOS, rattlesnake, baby, MC Lunchbox, h-monster, O Irmão da Xuxa, Alex Brooke, Hans, drum n'bass, Hagerstown, Maryland, Chiba, Japan

This is a guy we've mentioned before who I've collaborated with at VJ-DJ events. You've gotta watch him recap the year that was with his Show Reel 2007! The file is pretty big, so you might want to pause the .mov file and let it load up before trying to watch it.

Posted by Rob.

Tags: NFTOS, Richard Boase, VJ, graphic, art, design, video, flash, animation

[There was supposed to be a YouTube video here. Seems like there's either a YouTube bug or a Libsyn one, and I'm going to try and find out which it is. It's been happening with all new posts and edits since yesterday. All the code just disappears. I'll get to the bottom of this...]

Video by Alex Brooke. Posted by Rob.

Tags: NFTOS, Patrick Widdess, Alex Brooke, Cambridge, England, UK, A Harmless Poet, Headstand, etc.

Subscribe to the so-called Poetry on iTunes

This procession went by outside our house. I could hear it coming down the street and had enough time to run outside and film them walking past. I've lived here almost a year and a half, but I don't know anything about it. Last year, I was probably still at work at this time. I'll see if I can find out anything about it and report back! Also, it was shot on an old digital camera, so sorry about the poor lighting and bad audio.

Posted by Rob.

Tags: NFTOS, procession, Kagurazaka, Tokyo, Japan

I made this video just for fun and as a reminder of the many hours I have spent looking out of the Shinkansen at the countryside gliding past. I must have used it close to a hundred times commuting between Tokyo, Osaka and sometimes Fukuoka for work. It's clean, fast, on time and generally quite a smooth experience. However for some reason there always seems to be a competition between the pensioners as to who can eat the weirdest and most stinky bento. One old man opens his bento box with an expression on his face that seems to say "behold, sliced boiled eggs and crunchy fishy snacks". And then another old lady will open her bento "dried stinky squid, I win!". It is usually better to bring your own food on the Shinkansen on a long journey. Although the food isn't bad, it is expensive and if I wanted to burn money when I ate out I'd live in London.

The thing I love about traveling on Japanese trains is that speaking on the phone is considered rude. Oh, the times I've had to endure idiots on buses in America and wankers on the tube in London screaming down their phone things like "I'm on the train...no...I SAID I'M ON THE TRAIN". The Shinkansen also has quiet cars where phones have to be switched off completely.

The Shinkansen started running in 1964 in time for the Tokyo Olympics and hasn't had a single fatality due to collisions, derailments, typhoons or even earthquakes. There was one fatality when a child got caught in one of the doors and there are jumpers too but it is a safe train.

Top potential speeds of the Shinkansen would be 443 kph set by the Class 955 (300X) test train but general operation speeds are around 300 kph so I believe the TGV in France is actually faster. If you want to know more nerdy stuff about the Shinkansen you can go here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shinkansen

The music in the video is "Muziqawi Silt" by the "Wallias Band". I chose the music because of the driving beat and the pentatonic melody slightly reminiscent of Japanese music. Here's to Ethiopian jazz. Enjoy the video.

Video and blog text by Alex. Direct download and blog: Learn Japanese blog.

Tags: NFTOS, Alex Brooke, Shinkansen, Osaka, Tokyo, train, travel, journey, sights, Kyoto, pagoda, temple, Shitenno-ji, 新幹線, 京都, 大阪, �京, 日本

There is a well researched and documented social disorder called the "I'm the Only Gaijin in Japan" Syndrome. Hundreds of foreigners seem to be affected by it, even more so where the concentration of them is the greatest. Those who live in the countryside and actually ARE the only foreigner within miles seem to the least affected by it, and those foreign residents of Japan even go to such lengths as to seek out other foreigners for human company--believe it or not!

We will look into such phenomena among other random things on this podcast...

Did i say "drink fish?" It must be the mercury getting to my brain. Apparently the mercury in blue fin tuna is reaching dangerous levels, according to a newspaper article by Marian Burros (el burro, Equus asinus, heh, heh). In the background, coming at you real low-fi, The Egg's Travelator CD.

Now you can Learn English, Spanish and/or Japanese all at the same time with Alex's new podcast. What's this? Only in Japan... Bug fights!

Painful experiences teaching English in Japan on YouTube. While you're there, make sure to check out my video pimp, and I was trying to think of how to slip a V.I.P. joke in here, but couldn't, so just go check out these poor and lonely videos, which for whatever reason don't have that many downloads yet.

Here's some general advice on living and working in Japan to a friend from the learnjapanesepod.com forums.

Finally, rock out with me to the "Oshiri kajiri mushi" KARAOKE version!!

Photo of a cold and slushy day in Kagurazaka. Posted by Rob.

Tags: NFTOS, mercury, sushi, bug fight, burro, Equus asinus, learn English, Spanish, Japanese, social disorder, syndrome, gaijin, living, working, Video Pimp, Oshiri kajiri mushi, karaoke, Kagurazka, Tokyo, Japan, 神楽�?�, �?±京, 日本, カラオケ, �?��?�り�?��?�り虫

Subscribe to Rob's Solo Podcasts on iTunes

Notes coming soon!

Posted by Rob.

Tags: NFTOS, Tokyo, Panic Living, Rob, Talk Show, Kagurazaka, Japan, veranda, balcony, art, geta, sandals, 神楽�?�, �?±京, 日本, 下駄, 歩�??, アート, 油絵

Subscribe to Rob's Solo Podcasts on iTunes

They say that 21 January is supposed to be the most depressing day of the year. Well, I don't know about that, but I sure hate moving, so I've made a playlist to keep me company while I'm packing today. So far, there are only 6 songs, but the list is growing quickly. As I start, the mood is acoustic, folky, Latin and/or French. Check back in a few hours to see how the playlist evolves.

Posted by Rob a.k.a. El Gringo.

Tags: NFTOS, YouTube, music, video

This YouTube video is a promo for the "Tour Down Under," which we were talking about in the podcast. Also, here's the link to the dragonfly and damselfly exploits discussed on MDOsprey.

Later, I found this audio file related to the above TDU 2008 video, Phil Ligget on the Floyd Landis scandal. As Mario Cipollini comes back out of retirement, it's got us thinking maybe it's time for the next generation: Taylor Phinney!

Since the podcast was uploaded, Hans has updated his SmugMug photo album.

Posted by Rob.

Tags: NFTOS, TDU, Tour Down Under, Hans, h-monster, O Irmão da Xuxa, Rob, El Gringo, MDOsprey, Taylor Phinney, Mario Cipollini

Subscribe to Bicicleteiros 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

At the end of this podcast, there is a surprise announcement, but please listen to as much of it as you can bear before racing off to the finish. There are a lot of shout outs and an upcoming event that you should know about, if you are living and playing in Tokyo.

Just got a package from Daniel Boone Daniel of Deep Fried Pickle Project, and in it was his latest compilation of kids music. Much more on that later, however, I will point out now to any DFPP fans that NFTOS, this blog's podcast, is probably best NOT PLAYED for your children, and is generally not recommended for decent folk in general. Proceed at your own risk.

There are a lot of stats (some which I got wrong and then corrected), which might be a bit confusing in the third quarter of the podcast. You might want to fast forward through them. Here are the links:

1. Quest - That Ass Is Your Meal Ticket. 2. DJ Wes - Upcoming Events (back in 2006). 3. Jet Jaguar - News. 4. Jonny Heartbreaker - Baby. 5. Alex & Rob - ALT Rap (the .mp3, not the video). 6. Alex - Sunset Ramblings. 7. Alex - One Man Ramble. 8. Rob - ALT Rap vocal track (don't ask me why). 9. Rob - Panic Living #1. 10. Quest - All the Little Things.

The stats on Rob's YouTube, MySpace and Revver are self-explanatory. As are Alex's on YouTube and Revver. Other NFTOS crew members with videos includes FlyingOkha, Charlou2006 and Noisivelvet. Did we miss anyone?

Artwork by Rob. Posted by Rob.

Tags: NFTOS, Rob, El Gringo, Kagurazaka, Tokyo, Japan, Unemployment

Subscribe to Rob's Solo Podcasts on iTunes

This is a self-censored version, however, it is still NOT FOR DECENT FOLK. Alex, Hans and Rob chew the fat, talk about life, batem papo. This is how we roll. Alex is in London, Hans in Hagerstown, Maryland, and Rob in Kagurazaka, Tokyo.

The podcast ends with a little jam by Alex called "Message to mates" (which I got from a video he is being bashful about showing anyone but his YouTube "friends"). If you are not his friend, well, zannen.

Photo by Hans. Posted by Rob.

Tags: NFTOS, Hans, O Irmão da Xuxa, h-monster, Rob, el gringo, Alex Brooke, England, Cambridge, Mt Washington, New Hampshire, Tokyo, Kagurazaka, Japan, 神楽�, �京, 日本

Subscribe to NFTOS Talk Shows

I visited Patrick Widdess in his hometown of Cambridge and he gave me the grand tour before we recorded a session for Headstand, his show on 209 radio. He knew his stuff and in this video you can hear some of his recommendations for visiting the town. Well worth a visit and well worth looking Patrick up if you are in town.

A big thank you to Patrick for being such a great host and tour guide. A big shout out to Patrick Sheil ( front man of the moth conspiracy ) for your excellent music, poetry and general excellence.
And a domo arigato to 209 radio for letting me in your studios.

Posted by Alex.

Tags: Patrick Widdess, Headstand, King's college, Cambridge, 209 radio, Headstand, Patrick Sheil, Moth conspiracy

This is an almost weekly audio podcast available on iTunes, and here it goes in video format for the first time! Today we are taking out the sodaigomi or large trash items. This requires calling the trash collectors in advance and paying a ridiculous amount of cash for them to haul it away. The items? Some hand-me-down speakers and the old sofa I've recorded many Panic Livings on, and where and where Alex and I have filmed quite a few NFTOS talk shows recently. It served us quite well, R.I.P. old couch.

I was still half asleep while recording this, and maybe still a bit drunk from a small house party the night before. After filming, I went back inside and slept till almost 2:00 p.m. The national holiday I mentioned was called "Seijin-no-hi," or "Coming of Age Day" as it is often transliterated. Everyone turning 20 this year celebrates by dressing up (girls in kimonos, boys in suits) and getting smashed. I'm sure if you search YouTube over the next couple of days, you can find many videos dedicated the festivities. I'll try to get the kanji for it, but i think it's: �人�日. The legal (though not very strictly enforced) drinking age in Japan is 20.

Posted by Rob.

Tags: NFTOS, Tokyo, Panic Living, Rob, Talk Show, Kagurazaka, Japan, sofa, couch, non-burnable trash, trash, garbage, reuse, recycle, refuse, rubbish, dechets, lixo, basura, Seijin-no-hi, 日本, �京, 神楽�, 粗大ゴミ, �人�日

Subscribe to Rob's Solo Podcasts on iTunes

Two years of NFTOS! Here's a little flashback, a short video by Alex Brooke of a night out at Panorama. It was taken on a mobile phone so the sound quality isn't so good. Name that tune! Artwork by Chika Yoshii.

The original video and blog.

Posted by Rob.

Tags: NFTOS, Panorama, El Gringo, Rob, DJ, Osaka, Japan, Chika Yoshii, High Llamas, Alex Brooke, hunyaga, party, 大阪, 日本, アート, 展覧会, パーティ

[There was supposed to be a YouTube video here. Seems like there's either a YouTube bug or a Libsyn one, and I'm going to try and find out which it is. It's been happening with all new posts and edits since yesterday. All the code just disappears. I'll get to the bottom of this...]

Patrick reads his poem "How to Paint an Elephant" from his new book of poetry entitled "è©© Shi"

Patrick Widdess is a poet who lives in Cambridge and broadcasts his own radio show, Headstand, on 209 radio.

On the most recent Headstand show, Patrick announced two facebook stories which will be read on the next show. He posted this message in facebook: "As you may have heard on the latest show I've posted a couple of stories for listeners to contribute to on the Facebook stories application. You don't have to write the whole story, just a sentence or a single word will do. My guests both gave the title and opening to a story and now it's your job to get typing the next bit. Alex Brooke's story Patrick and Patrick can be found here http://apps.facebook.com/stories/story/8282/

Patrick Sheil's story The Primrose Path is here http://apps.facebook.com/stories/story/8281/

I look forward to reading your responses and sharing them on the next show."

Patrick

Posted by Rob.

Tags: NFTOS, Patrick Widdess, poet, Cambridge, Alex Brooke (more coming soon!)

Subscribe to the so-called Poetry on iTunes

It's episode 26 (episode 25 might have had too much that needed to be censored, but I'll give it a shot someday, and maybe upload it as Vintage NFTOS in the future), and we're back for another season of what will probably be more scandal than ever before in cycling this year! But we're not so lonely anymore, now that Baseball's dirty little secret is... What? It wasn't a secret? Oh, anyway, it's Hans a.k.a. O Irmão da Xuxa (Xuxa's brother) and Rob a.k.a El Gringo, back for more shamelessness. Hope no relatives or prospective future employers are listening to this, unless you want to hire us to do Bicicleteiros in the traditional media formats of radio or TV! Hey, we're up for it...

WARNING: Not for decent folk! But, if lycra-clad junkies on two wheels is your thing, then make sure to tune in and SUBSCRIBE to Bicicleteiros on iTunes! Hans, got a photo?

Posted by Rob.

Tags: NFTOS, Hans, O Irmão da Xuxa, h-monster, Rob, el gringo, cycling, cyclisme, ciclismo, velo, bicycle, bicicleta, etc

Subscribe to Bicicleteiros on iTunes

I went to Dublin in the first few days of 2008 to meet up with my tour guide Jonny Heartbreaker of the If Factor. We had a grand old time as they say there. Pub crawling, Guinness factory crawling and then just crawling at one point. Jonny is in good form as ever with plans to take over the world in a musical fashion. So lift up your glasses and do the river dance, it's 2008!

Posted by Alex.

Tags: NFTOS, Jonny Heartbreaker, Alex Brooke, Dublin, Guinness, The IF Factor

On this podcast, Rob talks to Alex about the latest Headstand fm radio show which has been posted for streaming.

I hope to have some of our favorite bits up here as .mp3 files eventually, including some video which Alex shot. Details coming soon! See previous post for more related links.

On the lastest Headstand show, Patrick announced two facebook stories which will be read on the next show. He posted this message in facebook: "As you may have heard on the latest show I've posted a couple of stories for listeners to contribute to on the Facebook stories application. You don't have to write the whole story, just a sentence or a single word will do. My guests both gave the title and opening to a story and now it's your job to get typing the next bit. Alex Brooke's story Patrick and Patrick can be found here http://apps.facebook.com/stories/story/8282/

Patrick Sheil's story The Primrose Path is here http://apps.facebook.com/stories/story/8281/

I look forward to reading your responses and sharing them on the next show."

Patrick

Posted by Rob.

Tags: NFTOS, headstand, 209radio, Patrick Widdess, Alex Brooke, Patrick Sheil, fm, radio, Cambridge, England, UK, poetry, poem, music, impromptu, jam, session, trip hop, live

Subscribe to NFTOS Talk Shows

I talked to Patrick Widdess this morning. He is getting a good night's sleep now, and will be hosting Alex Brooke and Patrick Sheil on his 209radio.co.uk FM RADIO show Headstand.

Patrick writes on his blog: "Don't forget to tune in from 10pm-12am this Wednesday for the latest show.

This month's show features two guests.

Musician, traveller, and podcaster Alex Brooke is visiting from his adopted homeland, Japan to talk about his artistic ventures in the land of the rising sun (check out learnjapanesepod.com).

Patrick Sheil is well known to regular listeners to the show as a writer and frontman of local band Moth Conspiracy (www.mothconspiracy.net).

He'll be in the studio with his guitar and best singing voice."

More links for Headstand and Patrick Widdess:
Headstand podcasts on Podomatic.com
http://www.headstand.podomatic.com/
Headstand on MySpace.com
http://www.myspace.com/headstandradio
Harmless Poet (previously "Patrick in Osaka")
http://patrick_widdess.podomatic.com/

p.s. On the January Headstand show, Patrick announced two facebook stories which will be read on the next show. He posted this message in facebook: "As you may have heard on the latest show I've posted a couple of stories for listeners to contribute to on the Facebook stories application. You don't have to write the whole story, just a sentence or a single word will do. My guests both gave the title and opening to a story and now it's your job to get typing the next bit. Alex Brooke's story Patrick and Patrick can be found here http://apps.facebook.com/stories/story/8282/

Patrick Sheil's story The Primrose Path is here http://apps.facebook.com/stories/story/8281/

I look forward to reading your responses and sharing them on the next show."

Patrick

Posted by Rob.

Tags: NFTOS, Patrick Sheil, Alex Brooke, Patrick Widdess, headstand, learnjapanesepod.com, Moth Conspiracy, Cambridge, England, UK, Kagurazaka, Tokyo, Japan

This is a little video of one of our favorite hangouts in Osaka. Disco Beans is a groovy little cafe bar & art space, just off the beaten path, in the Taisho-ku neighborhood, which is not far from Osaka Dome (see Loop line #1 of 8 and Cycling in Osaka videos. There's a map and foolproof directions on our original post from back in January of 2006, nearly two years ago! And, of course the original video format is much clearer.

Posted by Rob.

Tags: NFTOS, Alex Brooke, Rob a.k.a. El Gringo, Disco Beans, Taisho-ku, Osaka, Japan, 大正, 大阪, 日本, ディスコビーンズ

This track was used in NFTOS Talk Show #38. There are several other Quest songs in the music folder. Maybe I'll put links to all of them and show you the total number of downloads each one has gotten so far. At the moment, That Ass Is Your Meal Ticket is his most popular track on NFTOS, in fifth place, with 1070 downloads.

I thought we were going to include this song in the next music program, but I decided to upload it now rather than wait, because we haven't uploaded any new music lately, and who knows when we'll get around to doing the next music program.

Hayden (that's what we like to call him) says: "Shout out to all seeing eye bitches! This is a band that did some of the music for the movie 'Everything is Illuminated' which takes place in the Ukraine. The lead singer of the band is in the cast." Download some mp3s at gogolbordello.com

Posted by Rob

Tags: NFTOS, Quest, electronic, electro, music, Lincoln, Nebraska, US, Hayden

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

This video features Sazoon, a friend of Alex's, eating scorpions in Vietnam. Just when I thought I was tough.  Bon apetit!

By the way, happy New Year everyone!!

Posted by Rob.

Tags: NFTOS, Sazoon, scorpion, Vietnam, eat, weird, strange, food, snack, finger food

Subscribe to our food channel, Prapatang Kitchen, on iTunes

Does anyone know where I can get some proper prapatang? "What is prapatang," you ask? This video is an out-take from Loop Line #8 of 8, meaning that Alex must be almost finished with the final episode of our Loop Line adventures filmed just over two years ago. Way to keep the fans in a perpetual sense of NEED. Alex is the qunitisential (sp?) pusherman.

Posted by Rob.

Tags: NFTOS, Loop Line, JR, Osaka, Alex Brooke, Rob a.k.a. El Gringo

Subscribe to our Urban Cycling Adventures on iTunes

2007.12.28 (Fri) @ Sunsui
OPEN/START 21:00-5:00
ADV/2,000YEN(W/1D) DOOR/2,500YEN(W/1D)
ã?ªã?œã?‹å…ˆç?€ï¼•ï¼?å??様ã?«ãƒ—レゼント有りï¼?

2007年最後ã?®NKC!ã?§ã?™ã€‚今年ã?¯ãƒ•ãƒ­ã‚¢ã?®çœŸã‚“中ã?«æ¨½é…’ã?§ã‚‚ç½®ã?„ã?¦å‘‘ã?¿ã?ªã?Œã‚‰å¿˜å¹´ä¼šæ°—分ã?§ã‚„ã‚Šã?Ÿã?„ã?¨æ€?ã?„ã?¾ã?™ã€‚ 皆ã?•ã‚“よã‚?ã?—ã??ã?Šé¡˜ã?„ã?—ã?¾ã?™ï¼?

LIVE
ddubfactt (AKIO HARA＋元町金次郎)
u-lala
BUNVESTRO
��兄弟
bolshoiz
http://myspace.com/bolshoiz
俺���ロック
ヘニルコーツ

DJ
NKC Parliament
スミダトモヨシ(psybava/organica)
DJ Rob a.k.a. El Gringo
DJ�ー�ラ

More info:
http://www.myspace.com/nuttykingcall 

It's great to be back in Osaka!  Makiko and I crashed the HiJak x-mas party at GARB on the 23rd, and I got to DJ a bit then.  On Christmas Day, we explored the hills of northeastern Osaka, an area we'd never been to, near the Nara and Kyoto borders.  The last few days, I've been hanging out with my pals Claire and Andrew (former Osaka residents and current world travelers).  We've been dropping in on our favorite old haunts and pretending we never left. 

NFTOS regulars will be familiar with many of those old haunts from videos which bear their names, i.e. Chove Chuva (Brazilian music shop & cafe), Barbes (Bar & restaurant specializing in Cous cous and Pho), Kasu Udon (fantastic udon shop near Laba Laba), Cafe Absinthe (if you have to ask...), Omoni (Korean restaurant downstairs from Oasis Lounge) and Bar Uno (which you can see in Loop Line #5 of 8:  http://www.newsfromtheotherside.libsyn.com/index.php?post_id=255472 ).  We've also been trying some new places too!

Tonight I'll be DJing at Cafe Absinthe from about 8:00 p.m., then heading over to nearby Laba Laba (the first place I ever DJed) to hangout for the rest of the evening.  I'll try to post the exact times here later today, before heading out.

Right now I'm staying in Suminodo, in northeastern Osaka.  At the moment I am enjoying an early morning cup of coffee and watching the sun come up over Mount Ikoma. 

Posted by Rob.

Tags:  NFTOS, Osaka, bars, cafes, restaurants, DJing, DJ events, HiJak, Garb, Chove Chuva, Barbes, Deligo, Kasu Udon, Absinthe, Omoni, Bar Uno

Hans and Rob re-cap the year of cycling. And oh, what a strange year it was! If you listen past the John Tesh, past the Xuxa ramblings, we finally get down to business. When Hans hits his stride, he turns into a detective as he tries to put together the pieces of the T-Mobile team's shenanigans prior to the 2006 Tour de France. Though the damage has been done, and the former team of Jan Ullrich have lost their title sponsor, Hans wonders out loud what happened to certain riders who may have slipped through the (drag)net.

For now, I'm waiting for a photo from Hans to spruce up this post. If you want to hear a more coherent podcast covering the current cycling happenings, including next year's routes of the three major tours, then look no further than VeloNews's Podcast 35 which you can find on their podcast hompage.

Posted by Rob.

Tags: NFTOS, Xuxa, John Tesh, Hans, Irmão da Xuxa, Rob, El Gringo, cycling, Ivan Basso, Contador, Vinokourov, Stuary O'Grady, Chopper Reid, Ronnie Johns, Paris-Roubaix, Football, Oil for Drugs, World Cup, ProTour, Marino Lejarreta, Dave Zabriske, Bjarne Riis, Erik Zabel, Confessions of a Soigneur, T-Mobile, Rolf Aldag, Olaf Ludwig, Giuseppe Guerini, Patrick Sinkewicz, Oscar Sevilla, Jan Ullrich, Bobby Julich, Aaron Olson, Landis vs LeMond, Paris Hilton, Mary Kate, Ashley, Olsen, twins, Lance Armstrong, Michael Vick, dogfighting, Shawn Taylor, Washington Redskins, Boston, lead singer, Ramones, Dee Dee, Johnny Ramone, Johnny Cash, Saunier Duval, 24, Hagerstown, iTunes, iPod

Subscribe to Bicicleteiros on iTunes

Saturday, 22 December 2007

CREAM LATTE @ The Pink Cow in Shibuya, Tokyo

DJs: El Gringo and Mateus Branco (who recently changed his name to a symbol or something)

Spinning chilled out tunes early on that later morph into who knows what!

A buffet dinner from 7:30 p.m. till 9:00. Come after that, if you don't want to pay the 2,650円 for food.

Details, map: ThePinkCow.com

Or in case I missed something, check Cowlander of events for December, which states:

Sat. Dec. 22nd – CREAM LATTE' Lounge Night Happy Holidays from the CL Crew! 180:productions:live presents Cream Latte' A warm blend of Cafe Lounge, Latin & House grooves with a cream topping of Short films. djs Mateus Branco & el gringo plus guest dj. Visuals by David Ray & QFW directors. Vj kila kila killa! no charge!! one80productionslive.blogspot.com

9:30pm - am?? No Charge!!

DJ's: forensic dj, basal, dj miki & el gringo!

expansion dj & vj event: www.expansionjapan.com

come early for buffet dinner and stay for the music!

Posted by Rob.

Tags: (you can probably figure them out for now!)

Alex and Rob chillin' at Café Barbès back in the day, before it moved from Minami Horie to Higobashi, near Utsubo Park. We order cous cous and mutton burgers, and pass on the ika (squid). I tried to recall the lyrics of King Missile's My Heart is a Flower and managed only part of them, which sounded quite un-poetic coming from my mouth, I admit..

If you're a fan of Café Barbès, you should check out this other equally whacky video by the Flying Koala, Prapatang's the Word.

Please click here for the Libsyn original podcast, which is higher quality, of course.

Posted by Rob.

Tags: NFTOS, Café Barbès, Alex Brooke, Rob, El Gringo, Minami Horie, Osaka, Couscous, King Missile, poetry, poem, mutton, lamb, hamburger, squid, ika, ��, �堀江, 大阪, �ルベス

Not suitable for decent folk, this audio podcast features Alex in Chiba, Hans in Maryland and me in Tokyo talking about the latest goings on. Alex reads Burroughs, Hans talks about old age and about dating a body builder, Rob reminisces about growing up in Alabama and tries to recall details about the previous night out with Mexican hecklers at the Boca Juniors game in Tokyo National Stadium, and what exactly transpired after the game. If you're wondering what a squat toilet looks like, check out this video by Tkyo Sam.

Video Talk Show #44 is already up, and #43 will be up as soon as we get them edited. There'll be a photo for this post as soon as I get the disposable camera developed. Stay tuned!

Posted by Rob.

Tags: NFTOS, Hans, Alex Brooke, Rob a.k.a. El Gringo, Boca Juniors, Fondo de la Madrugada, soccer, futbol, Costa Rica, Bar Bonobo, Jingu 2 Chome, 立�飲�や, サッカー, �京

Subscribe to NFTOS Talk Shows

The weather grows colder as the year draws to a close. We talk about the short film "Rudy Soup," Christmas, Olivia Ruiz, Wales, Whales, having tea, Bruce Chatwin, "In Patagonia," Lumberjacks, Olivia Newton-John, Samantha Foxx, Carrie Fisher, Star Wars and who knows what else. Music from Seaholm.com

The original file was too big to upload, so I had to trim it down a bit. That means the Libsyn version is shorter than the YouTube version by about one minute. Or, put another way, the Libsyn version is shorter, therefor sweeter.

Posted by Rob.

Tags: NFTOS, Alex Brooke, Rob, El Gringo, Seaholm.com, Rudy Soup, Christmas, x-mas, whales, Wales, Welsh, in Patagonia, Bruce Chatwin, Olivia Ruiz, Olivia Newton-John, Carrie Fisher, Samantha Foxx, limmy.com, Lumberjacks, Star Wars, Kagurazaka, Tokyo, Japan, 神楽�, �京, クリスマス, �正月正月

Subscribe to NFTOS Talk Shows

Dochi ga hen? Which is the odd one?

This podcast opens with another track by Quest who would like to give a shout out to "all seeing eye bitches! This is a band that did some of the music for the movie 'Everything is Illuminated' which takes place in the Ukraine. The lead singer of the band is in the cast." Download some mp3s at gogolbordello.com

And the good morning greeting came from Nonoko courtesy of YouTube, or sans permission rather.

The podcast had the usual "T-Shirt of the Day" (although I might be repeating this one) and contains another train story. It closed with the usual haiku or two:

sense of completion
pervades gnawing hunger pangs
tokyo 3 AM


tokyo 3 AM
gnawing hunger pangs pervade
sense of completion


Posted by Rob.

Tags: NFTOS, Tokyo, Panic Living, haiku, t-shirt of the day, Roppongi, Odaiba, Tokyo Tower, cycling in Chiba, Boca Juniors, futbol, Latin dance parties, Mexican soccer fans, SambaNova, Underground Resistance, MedVacances, DJ Syril, Haqq, Flo-Union, The Pink Cow, Christmas, x-mas, yakiniku, Tokyo Comedy Store, Tokyo Cooney, �京, 日本, 自転車, イベント, 焼�肉, 六本木

Subscribe to Rob's Solo Podcasts on iTunes

Part seven of eight! Alex will finish editing the eighth and final leg of our journey soon. My chest swelled with pride as I watched the raw footage! A nip here and a tuck there. Some subtitles and it will be finished.

Recently, we recorded several episodes worth of Talk Shows and Tokyo Event updates, so stay tuned!

Edited by Alex. Posted by Rob.

Tags: NFTOS, Alex Brooke, Rob a.k.a. El Gringo, Osaka, JR Loop Line, Japan, cycling, bicycle, ciclismo, velo, cyclisme, bicicleta, 大阪, 自転車, 電車

Subscribe to our Urban Cycling Adventures on iTunes

An idea BEB had which Alex and I went along with. I think she did a good job as director, camera person and editor! Her idea was to do a whole series of comparisons between "American and British English" including words, phrases, expressions, pronunciations and so on (there have been volumes published on this in Japan). We never got much further on it, partly because that's precisely what 2/3 of us did for work everyday back then. Lately, as a full-time chômeur, Alex has begun cooking up a homepage for Japanese people who are studying English via the series of tubes. This may be of interest to English speakers who are studying Japanese, I don't know. This one was recorded ages ago in Osaka, Japan!

Posted by Rob.

Tags: NFTOS, BEB, Alex Brooke, chômeurs, chômage, Rob a.k.a. El Gringo, Learn English, Japanese, Osaka, Talk Show, accents, water, agua, beber, acqua, aigua, H2O, boire, eau, wasser, 大阪, 日本語, 飲む, 英語

This just in from regular NFTOS art show participant and podcast contributor Joe Baldwin in Chicago. It's called Sojourn in a Foreign Land...

I have new video work online: http://lamewebdesign.com/home/joe/homeless/sojournweb.html - I would love your feedback.

All of the images were created with a homemade camera. Inside the camera is a modified flatbed scanner, and for the optics it uses copy camera lenses. There were actually two cameras modified for this project along with two scanners. The images are in general unedited, but occasionally stretched to release hidden visual information.

The audio is a mix of gathered sound along with a track that is a direct audio translation of the video - using a light densitometer that was facing the monitor while my timeline played. The light densitometer sends the info through a 1/4" stereo plug and converted to an 1/8" plug and into a .wav recorder.

The concept and images are inspired by Zeno's Paradoxes and Abbott's Flatland.

Thanks,
Joe

noisivelvet.com
myspace.com/noisivelvet

Posted by Rob.

Part 6 of 8.

This is Alex's latest editing project of vintage Osaka footage. I found it sitting at the top of the stack when I opened the NFTOS media files folder after coming home from work tonight. This was a joy to find after a long day's work, and having spaced out and not changed trains at the right station (Ookayama) and finally ending up going home via Oimachi, Shinagawa, Akihabara and Iidabashi Stations. Don't even ask me what train lines I rode, because at times I wasn't really sure. However, with my Pasmo card, I just smack it down on the sensor and go through the turnstiles (sp?). I shudder to think how much the detour cost me.

11 Dec. 2007 update: The next video has already been edited, and we'll be posting it in a few days, once the demand for this video tapers off. We've already gotten 144 downloads in the first 3 days--probably a record for our humble podcast. Also, Alex showed me Loop Line #8, the final segment, over the weekend. All he has left to do is add some titles. That should be up by the end of the year.

In the meantime, we have recorded several episodes worth of Talk Shows and Tokyo Events updates. Stay tuned!

p.s. This thing already has 388 downloads as of 15 December! Why? Maybe 'cos Alex blogged about it on his new blog? Alex's new blog connected to LearnJapanesePod.com.

Edited by Alex. Posted by Rob.

Tags: NFTOS, Alex Brooke, Rob a.k.a. El Gringo, Osaka, JR Loop Line, Japan, cycling, bicycle, ciclismo, velo, cyclisme, bicicleta, Kyobashi, Osaka jyo koen, 大阪, 京橋, 自転車, 電車

Subscribe to our Urban Cycling Adventures on iTunes

He's been on at least one of our music shows. Maybe two. I need to go check. But you can probably figure it out yourself with minimal snooping. More links and stuff coming. Pardon any typos. It's late.

Posted by Rob.

Tags: NFTOS, Kantha, Damien Wardell, Maria Ruocco, Luis, unsigned, electronic, scapism, light at the end of tunnel, safer, child, trip hop

The rhythm is gonna get ya! To get this, you kind of need to check out his previous Oshiri Kagjiri Mushi and maybe look for other related anime / music videos on YouTube.

Posted by Rob.

Tags: NFTOS, Charles-Eric Billard, Charlou, Osaka, Japan, Quebec, Canada, beetles, rhinoceros, bug, music, video, カブト虫メロディ, 大阪, 日本, カナダ, ケベック

The Universal Culture, random writing cut-up read from Rob's journal meets Dream music and video by Alex Brooke.

Posted by Rob.

Tags: NFTOS, Alex Brooke, Rob a.k.a. El Gringo, poetry, poem, stream of consciousness, cut-ups, random, dream, William S. Burroughs, Terence McKenna, Osaka, Tokyo, Japan, Cafe Absinthe, Santa, 大阪, �京, 日本

This video was made available as a podcast back in February 2006. Not sure the exact date it was filmed anymore, but we uploaded it on the 6th. Here's the original blog post.

Flo-Union, is a monthly event that takes place at The Pink Cow in Shibuya.

This event has seen several venues, organizers, and has taken on several incarnations over the years.

It is now organized by David Roy who, among other things, does an event called QuickFlickWorld, VJs for various events, does live paintings and digital animation work for Japanese anime.

Back when I still lived in Osaka, I asked Alex and Makiko to check out the Cow on the advice of Guido Saldana, for a NFTOS art show. Filmed and edited by Alex, it features Makiko David and artist Tomoko Ichimura.

Posted by Rob.

Tags: NFTOS, Flo-Union, The Pink Cow, Cream Latte, QuickFlickWorld, David Roy, Tomoko Ichimura, Alex Brooke, Makikomo, art, music, poetry, live painting, DJ, VJ, event, Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan, 渋谷, �京, 日本