New leaves...

("Twisty Leaf", 7/08, MTL, Ezra S.)

Here's a fresh leaf for you to ponder.

May new leaves turn for you today.

Ez

A salute...

("Banana Boxes at a Flea Market", 7/08, Lachute, QC, Ezra S.)

I send my best to all the monkeys out there. Including the Japanese chimp "Ichiro" who almost shot his handlers but instead traded the stolen tranquilizer gun for a fresh banana.

And best to all the Ez Sez readers out there.

Stay bananas,

Ez

Patterns...

(Click pic quick for juicy view)

Solvation...

I have no idea why Al Gore isn't the president, nor why he's suddenly giving speeches that resemble State-of-the-Union addresses, but here's his latest impassioned speech... "We Can Solve It".

Maybe Barack Obama should hire ol' Al as his running mate?

Click HERE to watch the new Gore speech about electrifying America in the next ten years.

Ez

E.T. as The Pope

Here's a picture of me and E.T. dressed as the Pope.

(Photo by Marc Ostrick)

Hemped-Up Lotus

(Click pic quick for juicy view)

Wow! Lotus has just released details of a car called the Eco Elise. A hemped-up version of its nifty Elise sports car.

The hood, hardtop and spoiler are all made of composite hemp fiber panels and the seat upholstery is made of plush hemp fabric.

Plus, it looks pretty wild with those red solar panels (feeding power to the A/C!) on top.

More details at the official press release HERE.

I'm a fan of companies that inject a little more eco into our 'eco'nomy.

Ez

Mike n' Mary 2B Married....

(Click pic quick for juicy view)
("Hand in Hand", Photos by Ez, NYC, 2006)

Congratulations to regular Ez Sez readers Mike Swanhaus and Mary Marrangioni in SOHO NYC. These two lovebirds and friends of mine got engaged this past weekend and I'm so excited for them. Mike was my college roommate and Mary is his new life-long roommate.

Love to all from Montreal,

Ez

Pete Seeger Pix

"My main purpose is to show people how good it is to sing together..."
-Pete Seeger, 1980 LP liner notes

I was lucky enough to be at the Pete Seeger concert this weekend. It took place a few blocks from my home in NDG. What an honour to have this legendary folk singer (now 89 years old and going strong!) play here.

Here are a few photos I took...




Sing on,

Ez

UPDATE: My photos were posted on the web site of CKUT Radio's Folk Directions. You can now view them there as you listen to podcasts of that exceptionally folk-filled show!

Bird, bird, goose...

Actual 9-1-1 call...

Ezra: (In a bit of a flap) Hello!? I'm standing here at the corner of Dr. Penfield and McTavish and there is a... um....a bird... with eight... little birds... about to try to cross traffic on that blind curve on Dr. Penfield Street.


9-1-1 Operator: A bird...?

Ezra: Yes, a BIRD!!! With eight other birds behind it!

9-1-1 Operator: OK, sir... so, what exactly do you want me to do?

Ezra: You better get a police car here real fast to stop traffic or I don't think these... birds... will make it.

9-1-1 Operator: Sure, Ok, I'll send a police car... right away.


Well, the police car never showed up. Not to help the birds, nor to take me off to the loony bin.

In the interim, however, I remembered the word 'duck' and realized that having called the birds 'ducks' in the whole panic might have really helped my case with the operator.

It should be noted that when I first spotted the birds as I was driving by I referred to them as 'goslings' (a word I think I picked up in a nursery rhyme as a kid). Alexandra, who was in the car with me at the time, looked at me funny and said, "Goslings?"

We pulled over and hurried back to help the birds cross Dr. Penfield Street.



Once they were across safely...


...the ducks entered the McGill University campus...


...where they were presented with an honourary ducktorate degree. Ok, actually, where a few students kept them at bay in a courtyard and fed them bread. Finally, McGill security arrived and contacted the city's animal control to take them back to the mountain reservoir from where they had likely wandered.

Just another Montreal morning.

Happy Goslings,

Ez

It's the same you...

In difficult times, remember...
you are the very same person
who went through really good times.

-Ez

Happy St-Jean Baptiste Day

("Dave's School Bus for Vegetables", 6/24/08, MTL, Ezra S.)

Gowerteh sees the light... Sorry I Missed Your Party

(Photo: Nerile Kamchu, 1974, Gelatin albumen G-type print, ©2002 Mirolexa ImageBank Pty.)

I was touched by this Gowerteh poem, so I thought I'd share it...

He or she supposedly wrote this about an early incarnation of the modern day flash-camera (then the size of 'a robust yet listing watership')...

MUSIC IN THE FLASHES
By J.Y. Gowerteh, 1682, Lower Caernery Mainlands
As featured in Széardoj's Lament, Vol. 47, Lines 612-643
Reprinted with permission

Music in the flashes
People sayeth it matters
All I sayeth is: try me
Music in the flashes

Rocked me like the future
Devoid of food and habit
Someone screameth out: smile now!
Music in the flashes

Sire, crimp, like shorn hair, the thought
Paper rife... and taut
Memories prevail
Love me through the hail
Flashes lighteth our way
The 'morrow, now today
Ask me for lit matches
Music in the flashes

And smile
Sun child
Mist reveals the shiver
Silver'd paper dreams
Listen for good portraits
You are a love
You are a love
Music in the flashes

Goose bumps, no?

Be well, Ez Sezzer, and keep snapping those digital cameras...

Ez

Related Link: http://www.sorryimissedyourparty.com/
(Would Gowerteh be shocked at how it all may have come so true? You be the judge...)

UPDATE: Thanks for all the comments, guys!

Public Service Announcement

Dear Everyone,

Hello!

Sincerely,

Ez

Spring straining...

("Spring Straining", 6/08, MTL, by Ezra S.)

Big thanks to Alexandra for noticing this nice shadow coming of the strainer and for suggesting it as a photo.

Ez

Ben's Building Update

An update to my 100th post from exactly one year ago about Montreal landmark Ben's Delicatessen:

The CBC and other news sources are reporting that Ben's will soon be torn down by developers. Montreal's Ville-Marie Borough voted that the building has no exceptional heritage value. Their decision cannot be appealed, according to the article.

So, the fate of this Streamlined Modern era building seems to have been sealed and the deli will be no more.

A planned 15-storey condo will go up in the building's place. The city will require it to have some design cues hearkening back to the architecture of the original building.

Another Montreal landmark has disappeared.

Piano for the cows...

Ever seen a concert for cows?

This pianist had the pleasure of putting on such a show.

Click HERE to watch.

Moooo-ve over Liberace...

Enjoy!

Ez

Hemp stadium?!

The new 2012 London Olympic stadium might be wrapped in hemp.

Curious? Have a look-see HERE.

Best to all from Montreal,

Ez

Lake of who?! Lake of Stew!

I was hosting the singular Ralph Bronner of Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps in Montreal one week last Fall (we were premiering the Dr. Bronner's Magic Soapbox doc at Film Pop) and he was invited to a local bi-weekly 'hootenanny' at the Mile-End café Le Cagibi featuring a band called Lake of Stew. So we went, hoping for the best.

It WAS the best. What a band! Loads of twangy old instruments, beards flying, feat stomping and a seemingly endless slew of incredibly catchy original tunes that the hoootin' and hollerin' crowd seemed to know by heart. Oh, and a few of the guys in the band appear to be seven feet tall. Quite an unforgettable spectacle. And all played without mics or amps. The nine-or-so women and men up there just belted everything out in some powerful, primordial folksy kinda way.

(photo by Roger Aziz)

After they took their bows, Ralph jumped out of his seat and up onto stage and proceeded to rave about them. I was so moved by what he said that I scrawled his words down on the proverbial crumpled napkin and handed it to Rick Rigby (one of the 3 (?!) lead singers from the band) for posterity.

Lake of Stew recently posted Ralph's words on their site as part of a push to spread the word for what was a packed and boisterous CD launch last night at Sala Rossa on Montreal's famed St. Laurent Blvd...


Ez Sez the band's CD Ain't Tired Of Lovin' is nothing short of a new Canadian classic. One of the strongest debut albums I've ever heard, it lands somewhere between the very best material by The Band and "Honky Tonk Women" by the Stones. It got 4 stars in the Montreal Gazette and 8 on 10 from The Montreal Mirror.

See you out at the Lake this summer for some good times. This is a big band you'll be hearing big things about if you haven't already.

As they sing on the stunning last song* on the CD... "Unhuh, unhuuuuuuuuuuuuuh...",

Ez

Visit the official Lake of Stew site and hear song samples
HERE.

* The last song on the CD, "Free Medicine" is one of the most beautiful tunes I have heard ever. Yes, ever. For real: ever. A la prochaine post...
(Lake of Stew at the CD launch, 5/16/08, by Ezra S.)

UPDATE: Lake of Stew has announced their first Canadian East Coast summer tour! Check them out in your town. Dates here at their MySpace page and Facebook page.

Le Présent imparfait...

("Palmistries", 4/08, AZ, Ez)

THE PRESENT TENSE
(5/10/08, MTL, Ezra Soiferman)

When the grid gets zapped we’ll have a laugh
Computer’s gone and won’t come back
All I see are screens gone black
When the grid gets zapped we’ll have a laugh

When the skies from smog have all turned brown
Choking life across this town
All I see are greedy clowns
When the skies from smog have all turned brown

Forgotten future, redundant past
The present tense, the only path
The present tense, the only path

Now the rice fields rise in price and water
Bodies strewn across the gutter
All I saw was danger, mother
Now the rice fields rise in price and water

Are the hardest times now behind us?
Or ’m I just blessed with hopeful trust
Join me now as I hop this bus
Are the hardest times now behind us?

Forgotten future, redundant past
The present tense, the only path
The present tense, the only path

A universe that heals
A scar that asks, “what pain?”
Dream, don’t scream forever
We’ll find our way again
The present tense remains
We’ll find our way again

Forgotten future, redundant past
The present tense, the only path
The present tense, the only path

"Take Me Back"

There's a freaky new episodic internet series I'm hooked on. It's called Take Me Back and it's by a couple of Montreal filmmakers named Joe Baron and Seth Mendelson. This is strange stuff that will have probably have you scratching your head and wanting more episodes.

Several of the first installments are already up and can be seen here. More are coming soon!

To get on the TMB mailing list for upcoming episode alerts from Joe and Seth, click here.

Enjoy!

Ez

("The Man In The Mask", a character in Take Me Back. I told you... freaky stuff. Ez)

Ketchup Cap Soup

("Ketchup Cap Soup", 12/02, MTL, Ezra S.)

I spotted this scene in a restaurant one eve.

A plus tard, moutarde.

Ez

Buttons Away

("The Road From Sedoner", 4/23/08, AZ)

BUTTONS AWAY
(Ezra Soiferman, 5/01/08, Montreal)

Too much typing and electric gripin'
'Puter away
Buttons away
That's what they'll say
Hit 'Shut Down' today
Put those buttons away...
And breathe...
Fresh sweet air of trees
No more down on our knees
Slaves to the keys
We were slaves to the keys
Buttons away
Buttons away
Freedom today
Buttons away


Dear Ez Sez Reader,

I took a bit of time off from this site and other pursuits for some travels and have returned to the delightful Ez Sez grind with the aforedimentioned poem and pic.

Holidays'll do that to you.

Hunt and peckingly yours,

Ez

On perfection...

Fundredee...

IT'S A FRIDAY
(4/17/08, MTL, Ezra S.)

It's a pocket of gold
A mouthfulla soul
A stone on a roll
A clap of the hand
It's a Friday
That's all it is, man
It's a Friday
Some kinda French fried day
That comes tearin' in sideways
It's a Friday
You love
You'll love
You love
Like a hand in a glove
Or some sunshine above
It's a Friday
It's a Friday
You love
You'll love
You love
It's a Friday


Ez

The old Birthday beard shot...

This shot is a self portrait I took 6 years ago on my 30th birthday. That was my last beard. I'd shaved it off on that milestone birthday. I'm posting the before/after pic in honour of my 36th birthday today.

Happy Ezra's birthday, guys. Have a peanut-butter, banana & hemp smoothie for me, would'ya.

Ez

Doodle, doodle, yeah!

(Click pic quick for juicy view)Fresh stuff from the notepad to you, Ez Sez readers.

Write on,

Ez

P.S. What's a Hilroy, Ez? (For those outside of Canada who may be unfamiliar with this popular brand of notebook.)

Can this be Ethicle?

There's a new site out there that allows you to support a good case each time you do a web search. It's called Ethicle.org.

Every time you do a search 1 cent is given to the charity you select.

Check it out and use it HERE.

That's my 2 cents for the day.

Ezra

Ever seen an elephant paint?

This is too wild for words. Click HERE to watch.

Enjoy the video.

Ezra

Back from the hack...

("Ez by Mr. Epelbaum", 3/08, MTL. Photo by Mr. Epelbaum at Regent Photo on Parc)

I'm back from the hack. Yesterday's Ez Sez posting was a slight scare (luckily it took place on April 1st) but I'm back and ready to bring you more.

Stay tuned for more Ez Sezzishness this Spring.


Ez

P.S. Spamping will NOT be something we need to worry about. We got them hackers on the run...