Jump straight to the latest entry, or read the chronolog ical history...

1 April 1996
There is now some semblence of a JWH site. This is not an April Fool's prank. But come to think of it... This is the 11th anniversary of the "rediscovery"/release of the Dukes of Stratosphear's 25 O'Clocl EP, Virgin catalogue number WOW1, which also happens to be the Mod Lang catalogue number for JWH's Dynablob. Coincidence? Probably.

2 April 1996
Got up early and made some changes on the "Live" page (new dates, caption revision) and corrected a screwy link on the home page.

5 April 1996
Arrived at work to find a lovely color scanner sitting on my desk. A present engineer and I agreed that since it'll be ages before its true purpose becomes apparent, there's no better way to figure out its intricities than to do, er, practice scans and conversions.

Started making corrections and additions that got put on hold while contending with Passover.

6 April 1996
Revised home page (slightly), announced tickets contest, added this page, added mini-catalog to RSPCJWH page, vacuumed the living room, touched up some graphics, and generally spiffed up the place.

10 April 1996
The ticket contest is over. Finished. Wiped from the face of the web. Winners have been chosen, all participants have been thanked. There was a deadline; it was observed. No extentions were available. So please, people--and you know who you are--stop writing and asking me if you're too late. Okay? Thank you.

(And aren't you glad that you don't contribute to any of the publications for which I'm on the editorial board?)

11 April 1996
Please see entry for 10 April.

14 April 1996
Put up the new, scanned pictures. Considered adding some more, but worried about overkill. I don't have that many anyway, and I'd rather ration them.

15 April 1996
Hey, cool, almost everyone else in the office is at the National Association of Broadcasters' convention in Vegas. You know what this means? I could spend the whole day goofing off, and no one would know. Well, I could do that anyway. But now I can do it with graphics. So I've started the process of search engine registration.

16 April 1996
Yahoo is evil. No, that's a bit hasty. Yahoo just isn't very smart. Trying to add a URL and create a new category in one fell swoop is confusing the poor thing, and apparently the usual category-creating procedures don't work terribly well in the Music/White_Pages/ area. I never thought I'd say this, but I'm beginning to long for the old days (circa 1993), when we did this sort of thing with anonymous FTP. No trouble creating directories there, uh-uh. We did things in Unix, and we liked it. Ten miles, through the snow, no shoes, uphill both ways.

17 April 1996
Aha! I have hit upon the secret! When trying to do something tricky in Yahoo, think like you're trying to do something simple in ftp! Or, just hope for a dull patch and try everything. Whatever the case, Yahoo has accepted my entry (ooh, I feel so honored). It's also been accepted by Starting Point, which says they're selective and then says that if you link to their index from your page, they'll feature you in their "hot" section. Uh...

4 May 1996
Changed the city and location for the Phoenix date. The gig is now at the Electric Ballroom in Tucson, instead of at Union Hall. Which is a bit of a pity, because then the audience could have broken out into "Union Maid" and it would have been quite appropriate. (Look it up; the reference is in the first verse.)

As long as I'm here, I want to apologize to everyone who's written me and hasn't received a response. I truly appreciate the feedback, and I take it all to heart (especially the good ones!), and I'm going to get back to each and every one of you while you (hopefully) still remember having written. Really, I'm not a flake. I've just got a bit of a time crunch. Besides that whole "work" thing, I've been preoccupied with my comedy troupe's shows. Thankfully, they're over for now. I love the Berubians, playing the Comedy Store is always a blast, but many people are surprised how much practice goes into improv. (Brief plug: The Berubians do improv and sketch comedy around the Los Angeles area... come see me channel Dr. Seuss... mail me for more info on shows or workshops... end of plug.)

Yahoo swears they've accepted the link, but it hasn't been added yet.

12 May 1996
New album selections from Wes, new info about summer activies, started working on the form for the tape-trading bulletin board. I don't like forms. Well, actually, the forms are okay. It's doings scripts that I dislike. The beauty of the Web is that people like me, who haven't done any "real" programming since high school (ah, good old 2A--twelve ways to balance your checkbook using Pascal) is that we can glance over a few tags and get a page up and running in a couple of hours. Perl, however, reminds me that I was a humanities major in college.

Still no word from Yahoo.

22 May 1996
The Further tour dates are in and up and, quite frankly, I'm jealous. While I'm stuck in Los Angeles, the Further folk (I'm sorry, I still want to call it Deadapalooza) get to go to all sorts of cool places around America. Well, I can't speak for every single place being cool, as I haven't been to every single one of them. The point is, besides playing in or near major cities, the tour is visiting a lot of America's nooks and crannies. It's like the Majic Bus without reading assignments. Anÿd I'll be here to pass onall the information.

Damn, I need a vacation.

Yahoo says they're way behind on processing submissions, and to give them a little longer. I'd criticize, but I feel kind of sorry for the interns. Besides, I know how it is to face a backlog. Oy, do I ever...

6 June 1996
So many minor changes, so little time to actually note them...

First of all, we're finally Yahooed. Yee-haw. Thanks to Ryan's World Wide Wes page (which you really should check out if you haven't already--there's a handy-dandy link on the front page), we now have a bold-faced Harding, John Wesley category in the artist listings. This lends a certain amount of mystique to the whole thing--after all, one hopes casual surfers think, if this person has more than one page devoted to him then he must be good.

After some serious poking around, I was able to correct the Arsenal link and find the Blue Moon link. Plus, we're cross-linking with Rock'n'Rap Confidential. We'll be cross-linking with Rhino as soon as the massive game of phone tag gets somewhere. (The Starbucks on Imperial in Brea, perhaps?...)

I'm thinking of putting together a site FAQ to alleviate my guilt at not getting a chance to answer everyone's mail. Send your suggestions to me (but, as always, don't be offended if you don't hear back from me while you still remember having written!).

The tendinitis in my right wrist is flaring up, but I don't suppose anyone else cares much about that.

16 June 1996 Ibuprofin is cool. Doen't make a dent on my headaches, but does wonders for the wrist.

I've been making some minor changes and corrections over the past few days. As Wes hurtles round the continent, he'll be doing some side gigs that aren't part of the official tour, and I'm getting those up (and taking them down, in some cases) as soon as I'm informed. Keep an eye on the "Live" page for updated info.

Wes is going to be keeping a tour diary for Rhino. It will definitely be accessable from this site, but beyond that, details are sketchy. I expect it will take a few days to work out the kinks--like whether there will be a local copy, or just links to Rhino, and how often these things will be coming. In true showbiz fashion, there are four people trying to coordiate this through a massive game of phone- and email-tag. I feel a comedy sketch in here somewhere.

It was great to see so many net-type folk at the Starbucks performance in Orange County on 7 June. There was a pretty big crowd on hand, all there far too early in the morning to see one hell of a performance. I missed the free coffee, but Suzan brought cookies, so that made up for it!

Yahoo's finally changed the page description so that it makes some sort of sense. Yee-haw.

2 July 1996
I've been making lots of niggling little changes and additions, but actually publicizing them has been hampered by the continuing saga of Rose's Adventures in Cable Television.

Speaking of sagas, Wes is sending along regular entries for the Furthur Tour Diary. Reading them, I realize that I'm in the wrong line of work. Just my luck that none of the instruments that I play are portable and lend themselves to band performances.

It occurs to me that not only are Los Lobos from very near where I'm from, but the Flying Karamozov Brothers are fellow UCSC alums. Not sure what this means, other than that it's too hot for linear thought.

20 July 1996
Recent fiddling: New albums. Further Furthur entries. Suzan Fruchtman has graciously loaned me some pictures taken by her and Ryan Harding on Wes' recent visits to the L.A. area. (Yes, I realize that Ryan lives in England. It's a long story.) I'll be scanning them in soon, though what I'm actually going to do with them remains to be seen.

By the way, let me re-emphasize that if anyone has anything they'd like to see on the page, or has any suggestions for inclusions, or anything like that, please don't hesitate to drop me a line. I really do read all of the mail I get, even if I can't always answer it right away.

Heaven knows, I wish I could increase the turnaround time; if anyone with a seat on the MacArthur Foundation grant selection board would like to put in a good word for me so that I can devote more time to these non-desk endeavors... well, you know what to do. *:)

12 August 1996
Major changes afoot. The Furthur Tour Diary is complete. The tape-trading bulletin board is almost here; see the Wes Live page for details. A whole slew of pictures are coming and--drumroll please--those much-requested lyrics for earlier albums will be here shortly after that. Stay tuned.

On a completely different front, if you're in the Los Angeles area and have ever flirted with the idea of doing improv/sketch comedy, have I got an opportunity for you. Mail me for details.

10 October 1996
Yes, I know, it's been a while since I actually talked about any of the new changes. Sorry about that. Wes was taking a break, and I was trying to bring some sort of internal order to the International Channel site. The changes went up on Monday 7 October (which was also my birthday, for what it's worth), so check out my tables!

So now I can actually finish up the projects I've mentioned above, and work on some new ones. More details will appear on these pages just as soon as they finish materializing.

On a completely different topic, I highly recommend Billy Bragg's new William Bloke album.

2 December 1996
So, everyone enjoying the shows? Everyone impressed by Stephen Fearing? Anyone in L.A. want to help me move? (Well, it was worth a shot...)

21 January 1997
JWH hits Europe. Final bugs almost worked out of the tape trade page (never thought it would be this much trouble, but I think you'll all like it). The Berubians' first full-length play (technical director: Rose Ellen Auerbach) is up and running. Has hell frozen over? Nah, just my feet...

17 March 1997
New URL for World Wide Wes (actually got it up there a couple of weeks ago, but didn't actually get round to noting it till now), dates in Spain, the first inklings of spring and summer gigs in North America, and have only not put up the tape-trade thingy because I'm in the wonderful position of moving again. (For those keeping score, this is the second one-year lease I've signed in three months. There is a special place in hell reserved for landlords who don't pay their mortgages.) By the way, the tape-trade board actually does almost exist, even if it is starting to seem like one of those characters on a tv show that everyone discusses but is never actually seen. With any luck, I'll get the thing up in time for the one-year anniversary of this site. Maybe Maris and Tino will be there.

4 July 1997
Why, yes, this is how I spend my day off! Dates, etc. have been going up as they come in since my last note in this space. Just updated the links page, so check 'em out when you get a chance. In other news, we're looking at finally getting our own domain name, like everyone else (as my friend Eric Lipton wrote in Orpheus Gets Laid--which is, by the way, coming soon to a stage near you, providing you're in Hollywood--peer pressure ain't so bad, depending on the peers). If anyone has a lead on a good, reasonably inexpensive ISP to host us, please let me know. We're really not much trouble. A couple of megs, a few accounts, that's all we ask. If anyone's running an ISP out of their basement and wouldn't mind giving us an account and letting us point our domain name to it, there's a couple of tickets to the aforementioned Orpheus in it for you. Did I mention I'm in it? Hey, come back here...
Anyway, this is part of an effort to integrate and expand the flow of JWH info, which will lead to such innovations as email updates, increased RSPCJWH tie-in, and, yes, tape-trading.

4 September 1997
New list of recommended albums. New desk inventory (see the FAQ). The Pocketful of Miracles laserdisc is now available (see the RSPCJWH page). No new JWH dates to announce, but there are things coming up that are worth it, honest. (In the meantime, Orpheus Gets Laid can be seen at 10pm on Fridays and 8pm on Saturdays in September at The Next Stage, in Hollywood on Sunset and La Brea, right above the Lava Lounge--so if you're in the area, come on up! End of blatant plug.)

4 October 1997
If you live in a fairly major American city, Wes is probably coming your way in November. If you don't live in a fairly major American city (or even if you do), take heart--Dynablob 2 is forthcoming. Of course, if you're a member of the RSPCJWH, you already know this. And you already know that I'm taking over Julie's share of the editorial reins of The Bastard Sun. For those of you who've written to me about the newsletter and haven't heard back from me yet--sorry, I was practically living at The Next Stage (see previous entries)--thank you for your support. Julie has done a great job for so long, and I've been away from print journalism for so long, that I need all the support I can get!

As hinted in various places, we're preparing to move the site. It'll still be the same source of information and ramblings that you know and love, only better. If all goes well, Wesweb.net should be operating in a couple of weeks.

For those who wrote about other matters: Yep, that was me winning Ben Stein's money on Comedy Central on 19 and 21 September, thus ensuring that no one will ever again play Trivial Pursuit with me. Yep, my birthday is 7 October. And, yep, Orpheus Gets Laid was a smashing success and a great time to boot. But between musical comedy and doing this between improv nights, I'll take this. It's much easier on the knees.

Copyright (c) 1996, 1997 Rose Ellen Auerbach/Sometime Yesterday Productions