The scandals continue in our once beautiful but always beloved sport of bicycle racing. Former doper Gilberto Simoni wins a stage in the Giro d'Italia with a little help from a teammate. The latest dominoes to fall: Multiple Tour de France Green Jersey and stage winner Erik Zabel ("I only tried EPO once.") and CSC team director and former Tour de France winner Bjarne Riis! Who's next?! Only time will tell.

In Oklahoma, 300 kids got their bikes stolen before a youth ride. OK, whoever it was, give them back now!!

I think I'm going to go out on an easy ride up to the local Brazilian market in Kita Otsuka for a few kilos of beans (grão de bico, feijão preto, etc), some guava paste and maybe a new Brazilian CD. We'll see what other goodies they have in stock for me!

Posted by Rob.

Tags: NFTOS, The War on Mold, bicycle, velo, radsport, bicicleta, cycling, velonews, Giro d'Italia, Bjarne Riis, Erik Zabel, Hans, O Irmão da Xuxa, h-monster, Rob, El Gringo

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Posted by Rob.

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

Posted by Rob.

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

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

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

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

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

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