Jerry Gordon arrived in Osaka on 4 June 1994--Year of the Dog. Anyone on the Osaka art or performance scenes in the past 12 years has probably at least heard of him. Most recently, he was one of the directors of this year's [re]GARB event. I first started seeing his name pop up associated with the Voicebox poetry event. Check out some of his writing at moontriangle and at softlogicmonkey, and this musical collaboration with Charles Billard called Smouldering Door. Anyway, Sunday is 4 June 2006--Year of the Dog. To commemorate the completion of this calendar cycle, he says "I'm going to play music and read poetry and generally howl my thanks to the streets of Osaka for all of you folks who I have met and become friends with." The performance will run from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m., on Sunday, 4 June 2006. It will happen in a narrow alley between two Yodoyobashi office buildings. Jerry describes the place as "a beautiful little urban canyon." The event is free, but please bring something to eat, drink and sit on. And, bring your own glass if you want to drink some Dog to Dog whiskey. If it's raining; the event is cancelled. Directions: From Yodoyobashi Station (Midosuji Subway / Red Line) go out either exit 9 or 12. The alley is one block south of Exit 9 and one block north of Exit 12. Posted by Rob.

Here's our third song from John Hayden, a.k.a. Quest, who currently lives . John, do you have any comments you'd like posted with this song, or artwork you'd like the people to see? Please mail them to me. And go enjoy a cup of coffee at The Mill for me would ya? Thanks! -Rob

This is our first song by Smouldering Door who are Jerry Gordon and Charles-Eric Billard. According to Charles, it's about "the bearable lightness of the the living daylight..." Those of you who know Jerry, are probably aware that the Year of the Dog is Jerry's 12-year anniversary since arriving in Japan. Jerry will be celebrating his 12 years (one full astrological cycle) with an outdoor party of urban poetry, improv and performance art (see From Dog to Dog). Also, Charles is organizing a tunnel party on 25 June. He says it's going to be big--at least 13 artists will participate. Charles, could you please send me a photo or a graphic for this post? Some more info about the tunnel party would be great too. -Rob

Late last summer, 19 September 2005 to be exact, a bunch of us went to a "Mexican Fiesta" under the Umeda Sky Building (which you can see in the Loop Line #2 and ALT Rap videos). At the fiesta, we ate prized dishes that are hard to come by in Osaka, bought CDs, straw hats and t-shirts. What I like most about this video is that it is old skool Alex Brooke at its best! Collaging mobile phone stills and video with editing tools he was just figuring out how to use. Blending English, Portuguese and Spanish text without blinking. It ain't pretty, but it's pretty funny, don't you think? Well, maybe you just had to be there. Oh, and sorry 'bout the obscene gesture--didn't think it was going to end up in a movie! Posted by Rob.

We've tried out MySpace and You Tube, and now there's this thing called Revver. Hey, anything for more exposure!

Now that News From The Other Side has opened up a new office in Tokyo, we'll be getting the low down on the latest and greatest in the capital. We're hoping to get some more audio ramblings for you lovely people soon so you can keep tabs on what the hell's going on in Osaka, Tokyo and beyond. What did we talk about? What didn't we talk about! Posted by Alex and Rob.

Hans and Jim wrap up Cinco de Mayo festivities* and prepare to go out birdwatching at night and all day the next day which would've been 6 May...!? Honestly, I don't really get it either. *(Aparently Cinco de Mayo is getting really big in America and they're talking about making it a national holiday someday). Other stuff about Hans or by him: http://newsfromtheotherside.libsyn.com/index.php?post_id=90494 ... I'll post his other links soon, but for now, just have a look around NFTOS and you'll find him several times! This post is by Rob.

"Here's the Quest remix of the ALT Rap. I don't consider it an improvement. Just new packaging. Make sure to give the special thanks and acknowledgments required when you post it. And some art is attached. It's one of my crappy little speakers. Hope it sounds better on yours! Have a good one. -Johnny a.k.a. Quest" OK! Are those some Nabe Party samples I hear in there Johnny? Link to all versions of the ALT Rap on MySpace. Vocals by Rob. Credit for the lyrics go to John Sanders and Rob, and for the recording of the vocal track to Alex. Posted by Rob

This is the already infamous ALT rap. It was kicked off the JET Program's ALT forum, but has managed well over 5000 downloads for the video on this site and on Learn Japanese (and no telling how many downloads on other sites). Shout out to Bike Club Osaka for giving us encouragement and helping us generate interest in Osaka in the early going. There have been requests for the just the vocal track--um, are you sure?--so here's a link to that: ALT Rap vocals only. All versions are also on MySpace. Feel free to samlpe, mix, whatever. Just make sure that credit for the lyrics go to John Sanders and Rob Holbrook, and for the music to Alex Brooke. Dozo yoroshiku onegaishimasu! Posted by Rob.

Café Vélo (a mixi community) was an idea Alex Brooke and I came up with sometime around October of last year. Until then, Alex had been blogging on Kansai Underground and dabbling in audio podcasts on the Beb & Alex Show, while I had been blogging on my MSN Community (until erroneously deleting the whole thing late one night). I believe our earliest Café Vélo experiments were hosted on the nascent Learn Japanese Pod. We wanted to hang out and do audio podcasts in cafes that could be easily reached by bicycle. Each show would feature a new Osaka location and special guests. We would discuss upcoming events, art, music, food, culture, the menu, etc. Here are four links, while I try to track down media to upload from my laptop. Intro: What is Café Vélo?, Broadcast #1 @ Café Kiti, Broadcast #2 @ Café Absinthe, Broadcast #3 @ IMP McDonald's, and Broadcast #4 @ Café Absinthe VIDEO. Click below for a previously unreleased Café Vélo archival recording (23-Oct-2005) featuring Alex, Wakako and me at Amanto in Nakazaki-cho, Osaka.

Graphic by Rob.
Posted by Rob.

Tags: NFTOS, Café Vélo