Juan Epstein...Ubu...Wiki-Wiki-Wiki!

That might be the most non-sensical title for one of these here posts yet but it is based in reality, and here's how. Kara and I are switching gears yet again but I'll get into that soon enough. We made our traditional weekend breakfast of scrambled eggs, cheese, and salsa on a bagel a couple of times over the holiday. I decided that as they are a sort of combination of two very different cultures cuisines a fitting name was in order, and from now on they shall be known as Juan Epsteins after the character from the TV show WELCOME BACK KOTTER. For those of you not in the know he was the self-described "Puerto Rican Jew".

The UBU part refers to the web site Ubuweb.com( which is temporarily down except for the bit I'm about to talk about). From what I remember the site usually covers avant-garde and experimental music leaning towards performance art. I believe they had some footage of Joseph Beuys, and Michael Peppe among others and the Ubu may refer to the band Pere Ubu but I digress. In 2003 they embarked on the ambitious project of posting one mp3 by an Outsider Musican a day for a year, thus THE 356 DAYS PROJECT.

http://www.ubu.com/outsiders/365/

I've only scratched the surface with these songs but I can say that the version of Kenny Roger's "Lady" by Wooshie Spkamoto now ranks among my all-time favorite songs. Even those familiar with the genre known as Outsider Music will find a lot to take in. The conspicuous absence of the usual suspects (Wesley Willis, Hasil Adkins, Mrs. Miller, Daniel Johnston, etc, etc.) makes one realize that we are in the midst of the TRUE devotees and obsessives of this stuff. WFMU dj Irwin Chusid is represented along with The Hoof & Mouth Sinfonia and the track "Next", and the selections were curated by a looong list of folks including musician R. Stevie Moore. RSM brings me to my next subject, the website WIKIPEDIA.COM the free and interactive encyclopedia. Here's the entry I made for him yesterday which some kind soul already took the time to expand, and improve upon...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._Stevie_Moore

I found the site when it kept popping up while I was Googling various subjects. I finally gave in and it's pretty amazing just for the sheer amount of information it contains and for the revolutionary hands on feel. I felt honored that my entry wasn't just automatically deleted, and I just felt Mr. Moore deserved a mention.