I took these three bird pix on a road trip through Quebec the last few days.
("Twisty Leaf", 7/08, MTL, Ezra S.)
("Banana Boxes at a Flea Market", 7/08, Lachute, QC, Ezra S.)
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
("Hand in Hand", Photos by Ez, NYC, 2006)"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!
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.
In difficult times, remember...
you are the very same person
who went through really good times.
-Ez
(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')...
("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
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.
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
The new 2012 London Olympic stadium might be wrapped in hemp.
Curious? Have a look-see HERE.
Best to all from Montreal,
Ez
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.
(Lake of Stew at the CD launch, 5/16/08, by Ezra S.)
("Palmistries", 4/08, AZ, Ez)
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", 12/02, MTL, Ezra S.)
I spotted this scene in a restaurant one eve.
A plus tard, moutarde.
Ez
("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
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
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
Fresh stuff from the notepad to you, Ez Sez readers.
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
