Well, there it is, dear listeners, the A-Bomb City Podcast is no more!

The executive committee of the board of directors of the governors and trustees of the sponsors in tandem with the action group, helmsman, caterers, writers, technical staff and the cleaning lady have just adjourned an emergency sitting in Hiroshima's masonic lodge, and in a shaky voice an elderly gentleman in a pith helmet has stated:

"It is with the deepest regret that we announce the demise of the radiophonic extravaganza known as the A-Bomb City Pudcrust, but there you go, a year and fifty episodes is probably more than the world needs."

The reasons for our decision: of late it has become increasingly difficult to find time for recordings due to our very different schedules. Also, we have perhaps taken the concept about as far as it can go. Probably way too far.

In addition, despite a lot of hard work promoting it, we never saw an increase in our very small listenership. We got plugs on other major podcasts, got mentioned by a US radio station, faked our way (momentarily) into the Podcast Alley top 10 and whored ourselves all over MySpace and any forum that would have us, all to no avail. The number of show downloads always remained the same, about 3% of what Another Japan-Themed Show That Shall Remain Nameless gets. Boo-hoo! We felt we deserved better than that, given the effort we put in.

But we've had a lot of fun doing the shows, and it has been a great pleasure to interact with the kind folks who have taken the trouble to contact us. Your support has been much appreciated, and your kind comments have sustained us throughout the year of the show's life. We're very glad that people all over the world got pleasure from our humble little sonic endeavour. Thanks very much!

I'm going to leave the site up for a while so that those who want to can grab the 50 episodes before they vanish into the footnotes of podcasting history.

And.....to lighten the mood somewhat, I (Andy) will be launching a new podcast in the very near future. It won't be like A-Bomb City, but at the same time it may be oddly familiar in some respects.....   ;-)

Stay tuned...

Cheers,

Andy & Dave

Sorry about the lack of shows, but things are in a state of flux within the A-Bomb City camp....

More details to follow shortly...

The A-Bomb City Easter Extravaganza, featuring a squeaking Japanese Easter Bunny, reminiscences of childhood chocolate eggs, and...er...nothing else to do with Easter.

Dave reveals his new internet venture, a website featuring 100-word book reviews, and kicks it off with a summary of Eric Hoffer's little-known tome "The Ordeal of Change". Andy pretends to go and make a cup of tea.

Part 3 of Andy's 'Kyushu Diary' next, in which we discover the Chinese and European past of Nagasaki, and why the Lonely Planet guides are crap.

The musical interlude this week is an old Easter Islanders techno piece called 'Canova da Milano', based on sampled and reversed lute loops, which leads in to a discussion of said renaissance stringed instrument and its appearance in a certain Shakespearian epic.

'Difficult Word of the Week' features that esoteric biblical utterance 'shibboleth', which somehow leads into talk of immersive online world 'Second Life' - watch out for Alric Yoshikawa!

abombcity@gmail.com
www.abombcity.com
www.hirohurl.net
www.ardle.net
www.myspace.com/abombcity
100-word-book-reviews.blogspot.com

This week we kick off with that most important of questions - do the Japanese eat grasshoppers? From here we follow up with an amazing tale of how you can find honey armed with only a long piece of cotton, which somehow gets mixed up with David's fish-selling exploits of yore.

Next our hosts discuss some recent purchases - Andy has had a spring blow-out on musical gear while Dave has begun supporting the arts with his wallet.

In the second part of Andy's 'Kyushu Diary' we find out about how the residents of Nagasaki have come to love the bomb, after which STAVKA (www.ardle.net/stavkahome.htm) hit us with the experimental rock piece 'Modality in Extremes'.

Then it's time for the new 'Difficult Word of the Week' segment to rear its shiny head before Dave returns to feed us some more 'Real Japanese', this week concerning a subject dear to his heart: stinginess.

Don't forget to vote for us on www.podcastalley.com!

abombcity@gmail.com
www.abombcity.com
www.hirohurl.net
www.ardle.net
www.myspace.com/abombcity

We're back!

The usual poorly-recorded rambling returns. Find out what fun Dave had with the trains back in Britain, and listen to part one of Andy's 'Kyushu Diary', detailing his exploits on his recent trip to that particular Japanese island.

Another rude rubbing story from Hiroshima's trams, and then Andy's band STAVKA (www.ardle.net/stavkahome.htm) assault our ears with the track 'Searchlight Serenade.'

Next the lads head into the plastic world of Japanese Pop with an old magazine article of Andy's, and the live dissection of a cheery song by oriental boy band faves, SMAP.

After Dave muses on the need to travel, both of your hosts are then unexpectedly thrown out of the karaoke box in which they had been recording...

Yep, business as usual!

abombcity@gmail.com
www.abombcity.com
www.hirohurl.net
www.ardle.net
www.myspace.com/abombcity

This week kicks off with a pungent tale of what the Earl of Oxford Edward de Vere did when he met Queen Elizabeth I.

Next we hear about our hosts' holiday plans - Dave is set to visit dear old Albion during the most dismal month of the year weather wise, there to spend jolly hours in the family mansion while the aged mother knits. Andy reveals his plans to tour Japan's southern island, Kyushu, in March, and anticipates much sulphurous volcanic activity.

Then we introduce www.gethiroshima.com, a somewhat cliquey English-language website designed to let you know about what's going on in the A-Bomb City. Andy relates an amusing tale of how one of his aquaintances passes the time by replying to the very intriguing personal adds to be found therein.

This week's musical offering is another slice of techno from Andy's electronic outfit Easter Islanders, entitled 'Slosco'.

After that, we tackle a very touchy and tricky subject : the use and meaning of the word 'Jap'. Free speech it seems, needs to be tempered with sensitivity in such areas.

We round off the show with another dose of 'Real Japanese' from David, this time centring on those naughty parts and what you might need to say about them in certain situations in good ol' Nippon.

Amen.

abombcity@gmail.com
www.abombcity.com
www.hirohurl.net
www.ardle.net
www.myspace.com/abombcity

This week Andy tells us of his miserable day at the university and subsequent humiliation in the guitar shop, while Dave enjoys a chunk of schadenfreude.

Next up, we hear some more mangled English from a pudding-faced young  lady under Dave's academic supervision, after which Andy goes off on a rant about Japanese bureaucracy and pettiness - will his woes never end?

This week's music is an old STAVKA song (www.ardle.net/stavkahome.htm) entitled 'The Great Divide', which brings on an interview with Andy concerning his musical endeavours, as suggested by a listener

We conclude with another dollop of 'Real Japanese', this time some rather fruity slang the like of which tends to spout forth from the lips of naughty high school girls - hey!

abombcity@gmail.com
www.abombcity.com
www.hirohurl.net
www.ardle.net
www.myspace.com/abombcity

Today's show comes live from the dining table of Dave's pad in the western suburbs of Hiroshima.

First we bring up the question of the Japanese and cleanliness - are they as squeaky-clean as they would like us to believe? Evidence from the classrooms of various universities in these parts would seem to suggest otherwise. A love of overheating, keeping coats on indoors, the 'wash cycle' and that strange object the 'kotatsu' are all to blame...

Next up, high culture and the well-known poetry form the 'haiku' is analysed and dissected to much mirth. Well, a little bit, anyway.

Andy's band STAVKA (www.ardle.net/stavkahome.htm) serve up the song  'Parzival',  which leads to talk of ancient Britain, and those wanting to reconnect with it.

Finally, a throbbing mail sack is emptied and we answer some listener's questions. First we tackle the reasons for the relative lack of western women/Japanese men relationships, and digress into talk of Russian mail-order brides and mummy's boys. Next we cogitate upon the relative volumes of poo produced by the Japanese and American servicemen in World War II. Hopefully our dear listeners are not eating during this final segment...

abombcity@gmail.com
www.abombcity.com
www.hirohurl.net
www.ardle.net
www.myspace.com/abombcity

The A-Bomb City Emergency Podcast Episode: listen at your peril!

A regular show not being possible this week, a seemingly unconnected collection of outtakes and unused material from the cutting room floor have been glued together between classic songs from Osaka's finest, Shonen Knife (www.shonenknife.net, www.shonenknife.com).

Subjects include the sexual perversions of Roman emperors, undergraduate antics, the dangers of air rifles, and the long lost 'maid cafe' live report featuring Mio who co-hosted Episode #7. There are also cameo appearances by a bevvy of female voice talents, and a sonic snapshot of Mr.B, who sounds suspiciously like erstwhile collaborator Preston Mendoza.

Government Health Warning: This Episode is crap!

abombcity@gmail.com
www.abombcity.com
www.hirohurl.net
www.ardle.net
www.myspace.com/abombcity
 

The lads are back in the studio this week for a bumper helping of good ol' drunken incoherent rambling - just like the old days, eh?

Kicking off with peaty whiskeys from the Isle of Islay, talk then meanders past the late quiz show host and Icelandic scholar Magnus Magnusson, an attack of the winter collywobbles, and islands of various descriptions before Andy confesses that he is a nerdy computer wargamer, and how he recently got into hot water on a gaming forum in which he dared espouse the notion of freedom of speech for all.

Next, a comparative review of both recent Clint Eastwood war movies 'Flags of Our Fathers' and its Japanese-language counterpart 'Letters From Iwo Jima', before the musical break looms with another original composition from Andy's band STAVKA (www.ardle.net/stavkahome.htm), this time the track 'Leper Aesthetic'.

Finally, Andy returns to his long-forgotten series 'History as I See It' and tells of the pivotal but largely unknown conflict between Japan and the Soviet Union in Mongolia in 1939 which had drastic repercussions on the outcome of World War II. On the way, of course, Dave sidetracks it all into a confused and largely misinformed discussion concerning the Roman emperor Constantine.

Yeah, like I said, vintage A-Bomb City!

abombcity@gmail.com
www.abombcity.com
www.hirohurl.net
www.ardle.net
www.myspace.com/abombcity

In this episode Dave is out and about Hiroshima doing the roving reporter bit while Andy tries to nail it all together back in the studio.

First we get to listen to a fun Japanese DVD which instructs youngsters how to wipe their arses properly in the by now obligatory toilet humour section.

We then follow Dave as he heads into town after a night on the (mahjong) tiles, where he meets and interviews one Ms.Watanabe, boss of local charity ANT-Hiroshima. Off microphone she mentions Martin Luther King, whose birthday it is today, so Dave poots forth on the significance of the good man and we get to hear a chunk or two of his famous speech.

Next Andy spins another STAVKA (www.ardle.net/stavkahome.htm) platter, this time the track 'All Just For Show', before we hear newcomer Mrs.H reading something in Japanese. Fear not - 'tis merely MLK in Nihongo, for this is the subject of Dave's 'Real Japanese' segment.

My, aren't we serious for once?

abombcity@gmail.com
www.abombcity.com
www.ardle.net
www.hirohurl.net
www.myspace.com/abombcity

This week's fix of ABC takes us out of the studio and on to the streets of Hiroshima.

Beginning in a cafe, the lads soon move off to a 'karaoke box' to talk about what New Year means for the Japanese: sunrises, special food that looks good but tastes awful, and the obligatory exchange of meaningless cards. We are then 'treated' to Dave singing a couple of songs, and by 'singing' I mean shouting out the words at random intervals and pitches. You have been warned.

Luckily some 'real' music is at hand in the form of Andy's band STAVKA (www.ardle.net/stavkahome.htm) who play the track 'Low Ogre'.

Next we consider poo, and how it relates to the Japanese and the Germans. In this context we get a sticky anecdote from Andy and Dave reads a popular German children's tale concerning the brown stuff which has become a hit here in Nippon.

Returning to the subject of 'PC', Dave tells us how we can follow a 10-point plan to rid ourselves of that particular affliction, while Andy insults Dave's clothing.

Finally, the lads brave the cold to stagger around Nagarekawa, Hiroshima's nightlife area, to bring you the sights and sounds of sleaze, to be enjoyed from the comfort of your armchair.

abombcity@gmail.com
www.abombcity.com
www.hirohurl.net
www.ardle.net
www.myspace.com/abombcity

Dave returns to the studio, and Andy relates to him a scary tale of shady mafia guys, spicy Chinese food and the perils of frequenting hole-in-the-wall restaurants in Hiroshima.

Somewhere along the way giant squid drop in, and we learn why pudgy cricket umpires are submerged in a mountain of white jumpers every summer.

Andy's band STAVKA (www.ardle.net/stavka.htm) put in an appearance with the tune 'Fortune City Breakout', before the lads turn their attentions to the horrors of PC.

Dave reviews the book 'The Retreat of Reason - Political Correctness and the Corruption of Public Debate in Britain' by Anthony Brown. Controversial historian David Irving also gets a (dis)honourable mention in this context, and Andy faces a PC test concerning some contentious and controversial issues, which he fails miserably, according to Dave.

Finally, Dave's new language series, 'Real Japanese' gets another airing in which we learn all about what the average female 'OL' can expect career-wise, and how she must watch out for the see-you-home wolf!

abombcity@gmail.com
www.abombcity.com
www.hirohurl.net
www.ardle.net
www.myspace.com/abombcity

In this (slighty) festive episode Andy is joined in the studio by local writer Andrew Kozelka who gets all serious about life in Japan and the world of literature, despite Andy's best attempts to derail him by dollops of the obligatory A-Bomb City crap humour.

Along the way we hear some jolly Christmas tunes from the likes of the Moscow Liturgical Choir, Osaka's Shonen Knife, and Californian punk band The Dickies, before we are treated to a reading of some of Mr.Kozelka's poetry.

Rounding out the show is an unusually classical piece from Andy.

Oh, and Dave makes some minimal but insightful contributions from time to time...

abombcity@gmail.com
www.abombcity.com
www.hirohurl.net
www.ardle.net
www.myspace.com/abombcity

Knee-deep in high oriental culture and tradition this week, as Dave interviews a doctor acquaintance about his musical pastime: playing the 'shakuhachi', a Japanese species of flute.

After the interview we move straight to the concert hall, where we treat you to a live recording of the good doc performing traditional music on said 'shakuhachi' backed by the 'koto' and 'shamisen', other instruments of Old Nippon. Yes, it's all that plinky-plinky stuff that evokes images of Samurai, Geisha and other people with funny hairstyles shuffling around drafty wooden palaces in the Kyoto of centuries gone by.

The antidote to all this comes in the form of 'The Eye of the Beholder', a track by Andy's electronic outfit Easter Islanders.

We conclude with another chunk of the doc's concert...

abombcity@gmail.com
www.abombcity.com
www.hirohurl.net
www.ardle.net
www.myspace.com/abombcity

An unusual episode in which both our regular hosts are out and about in different directions, digital recorders in hand, with Andy pasting it all together back in the studio.

Dave presents a recording of traditional Japanese songs rendered by an old  gentleman acquaintance to an audience of appreciative senior citizens.

Next, STAVKA (www.ardle.net/stavkahome.htm) introduce us to 'Anna from Havana', a pop-rock gem dating from 1999.

Andy then takes over the helm, conducting a two-part interview with his American friend Dan, a loquacious and eccentric geezer who regales us with tales from the countryside, run-ins with the yakuza, and dodgy goings-on in provincial universities, punctuated by a few old tunes from his collection of scratchy 78's. Yeah!

abombcity@gmail.com
www.abombcity.com
www.hirohurl.net
www.ardle.net
www.myspace.com/abombcity

Starting with another crap joke, the lads soon venture into the unlikely territory of animal noises and how they are represented in both English and Japanese. Points are awarded for their comparative realism...

Andy's musical persona STAVKA (www.ardle.net/stavkahome.htm) play the abrasive rocker "Lowest Common Denominator Blues", after which the animal theme continues as David forces Andy to translate some well-known English nursery rhymes into Japanese. Cover your ears, listeners, as some very dodgy singing ensues...

Preston Mendoza is mysteriously absent this week, so Andy gives us some more insights into the murky world of shortwave 'number' stations and plays a few examples; David can barely stay awake...

abombcity@gmail.com
www.abombcity.com
www.hirohurl.net
www.ardle.net
www.myspace/abombcity