Quick question for you...

Supposing having a great idea is a miracle and making it a reality a good deed... is losing it because you neglected to write it down some type of sin?

Feel free to share comments anonymously below...

Ez

Fresh snow in Montreal

Snow news is good news.

Ez

Ez Sez: Happy Valentine's!

... and if you're there already, enjoy it all.

Love is everywhere. Tap on in.

The Ez Sez Quote above is a little something I wrote last year at Valentine's Day. I share it with you here a year later.

Have a lovely day everyone. Best to you from all the lovers here at Ez Sez.

Ez

Ez Sez Quote of the day

This Machine Wins Grammies®

(Woody Guthrie in 1941 by Lester Balog courtesy of the Woody Guthrie Archives)


Mazel tov, Woody Guthrie, on your Grammy this week.

Your words, music and message spin on and on like a wonder wheel.

Total humdinger of a prize. Bravo to you and the whole team.

Ez

Meet 'Ez Sez Quotes'

This Ez Sez Quote comes from a stack of a couple hundred handwritten ones I've been jotting down on small squares of paper for the past 15 years or so.

Ez Sez Quotes will now start to see the light of day (and the light of your beloved monitor) on this here Ez Sez blog site.

And who knows where they might appear after that... Feel free to bandy them about when there are awkward lulls in conversation.

Thanks again for stopping by when you need a break from the grind or a grind of the brakes.

Regards to all from Montreal,

Ez

Another busy week for all?

Ez Sez: Don't let the great rush of life lessen the lessons of the great rush of life.

Long live weekends...

Ez

Those $100 Bills In Iraq

(Ezra Soiferman, From the series "Apostrophe-S", Toronto, c.1997)

I heard about this brilliance on the radio and then a few hours later Googled it up to see if my ears had deceived me. Had the U.S. really accidentally lost $12 billion in cash in Iraq?

Upon facing the fact that I hadn't been dreaming - and the fact that the powers that be had actually lost it - this lyric whipped itself up inside me like a sandstorm in a depleted-uranium strewn desert...

$100 BILLS
(Ezra Soiferman, 2/9/07, Montreal)

Losing shrink-wrapped stacks of $100 bills
Missing now and gone for good
Give up, George, or send troops home
In plastic wrap like all that loot
Losing shrink-wrapped stacks of $100 bills
Losing wars and $100 bills

Ears go numb and mind goes soft
When the news comes on I turn it off
Can it get much worse on this here globe
In sand and fire on a dangerous road

Losing shrink-wrapped stacks of $100 bills
Missing now and gone for good
Give up, George, or send troops home
In plastic wrap like all that loot
Losing shrink-wrapped stacks of $100 bills
Losing wars and $100 bills

Fear pervades across the ranks
Choppers down and morale tanks
Stuck out here in a bloody mess
Save our souls and may god bless

Losing shrink-wrapped stacks of $100 bills
Missing now and gone for good
Give up, George, or send troops home
In plastic wrap like all that loot
Losing shrink-wrapped stacks of $100 bills
Losing wars and $100 bills

Losing shrink-wrapped stacks of $100 bills
Losing wars and $100 bills


Have a nice weekend and keep plastic wrap out of the hands of politicians and young children.

Ez

Hemp For The Homeless (2007) - Thanks to all!

(click any pic for juicier view)

Friends,

This past snowy Friday, I zipped around by car and foot distributing all 50 Hemp For The Homeless "Hemp Help Kits" I'd prepared for people in need in Montreal.

I'd set off on the Hemp For The Homeless Project because I'd recently won $500 in a contest ("Penny Idol") and decided to put it towards helping to combat homelessness.

Since I am a big believer in the unparalleled versatility and durability of the hemp plant (a crop grown without pesticides, that heals farmland as it grows and offers Canadian farmers a sustainable wage) and the vast array of products that can be derived from it (fabric, food, paper, fuel, beauty products, construction materials, etc.), I decided to embark on a project that would put it all to good use in a new way...

(Hemp Help Kit assembly line)

I conceived of Hemp For The Homeless as a way to fuse environmentalism, healthfulness and a desire to help fellow citizens.

(My smart stuffed with boxes of hemp kits)

Those who received the Hemp Help Kits (hemp fabric tote bags filled with useful, nutritious and tasty products) included:

-The Old Brewery Mission's Women's Shelter
-Passages Women's Shelter
-Refuge Des Jeunes youth shelter
-A dozen people in need who I met in the subway and out on the cold streets.

To view the actual letter each HFTH recipient received in his or her kit, please click here.

I'd like to offer a huge thank you to the following generous people and companies who contributed (either free, at cost or well below cost) the following items to the 50 Hemp Help Kits:

-Abaka Hemp - Recycled hemp clothing fabric for the hemp paper used in the help kits. This super hemp clothing company is based in Shawinigan, Quebec, and their products are available at Co-op La Maison Verte in NDG and other stores throughout the province.



-Bonnie Harnden + Syd Apel - Fresh-baked oatmeal, chocolate-chip, raisin and hemp cookie recipe

(Bernard Bélanger, le boulanger with hot cookies!)

-Bernard Artisanal Bakery - Fresh-baked oatmeal, chocolate-chip, raisin and hemp cookies. Bernard's delicious organic sourdough breads and cookies are available at Co-op La Maison Verte in NDG and other locations in Montreal.
-Chana Goodfriend - Help in packing the kits and readying them for delivery
-Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps - 18-in-one all-purpose fair trade organic liquid soap bottles. "All-one!", as Ralph Bronner, the company's VP says. They also offered up delicious, nutritious and organic Alpsnack hemp energy bars and organic hemp peppermint and orange lip balm.
-EcoLips - Tasty Hemp-vanilla lip conditioner
-HT Naturals - Gorgeous long sleeve hemp/cotton T-shirts, Hemp/cotton tote bags
-La Ferme Communautaire Mange-Tout - Organic vegetables for the salads Rumi made (see below).
-Manitoba Harvest - Snack-packs of fresh hulled hemp seeds from the fields of Manitoba.
-Marie-Josée Gosselin - French translation of the project letter supplied in the kits.
-The Montreal Film Group - Web site hosting by the MFG
-Papeterie St-Armand - One-of-a-kind recycled hemp/cotton paper for the custom note-pads I added to the bags.
-Penny Idol - Startup funds courtesy of the contest I won. The contest was part of Montreal filmmaker Raphael Levy's short film The Hermitian Penny. My lucky 2006 penny, Juan Redscent, will be starring in this film.
-Rumi Restaurant - Delicious cole slaw, potato salad and Jerusalem artichoke salads made with organic Ferme Communautaire Mange-Tout vegetables and Manitoba Harvest hemp seeds

(Todd from Rumi Restaurant on Hutchison St. with a few tasty salads)

To read the full history of Hemp For The Homeless project click here.

If you're interested in sponsoring another round of Hemp Help Kits to go out to those in need, please contact me at:  ezrasoif at gmail dot com.

I would also like to thank everyone who voted for my penny and poem during Penny Idol and all those who encouraged me along this journey. Your support helped in many ways.

It's been an incredible lesson for me to see the difference one red cent can make.

Here's to your projects and dreams.

Ezra


Finally, here's the CBC Radio One interview I did today with Bernard St-Laurent in case you missed it and would like to hear.


And here's the article Yahoo.ca did on Hemp For The Homeless.

Stay healthy, happy and hempy. Ez

(Ez holding a HFTH kit)

Only days til Valentine's... give the planet some love

KEEP THE AIR ALIVE
(Ezra Soifeman, 2/3/07, Montreal)

Walk that love through the snow
This'll get us somewhere
But not if there's no fresh air
Let the skies talk

Don't let epic troubles
Overtake your epic drive
Let the skies talk-
Keep the air alive

For an atmosphere of a single toxic soul
Can make the world crumble, let alone punch ozone holes
For an atmosphere of purity, would we give up all we know?
Let the skies talk, let them heal, watch the show

Don't let epic troubles
Overtake your epic drive
Let the skies talk-
Keep the air alive

Keep the air alive
See where we may go
Keep the air alive
Walk that love through the snow


Ez

Hemp For The Homeless

Things are happening over here at my Hemp For The Homeless project.

Kits are being assembled this aft and all will be distributed tomorrow...
http://www2.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif
Stay tuned for a more info, pix and a detailed account soon.


Ez

Update: Here's the detailed account of how it went.

MFG Party

(Click for juicy view of invitation)


The Montreal Film Group which I co-founded and co-direct with Val Lonergan is having a big party tonight (January 29th, 8pm) at Club Lambi on St-Laurent in Montreal. If you're in the film or TV business, drop on by.

Best to all from Montreal,

Ez

UPDATE: The party was a great success! Over 200 people attended and talked each others' ears off. Thanks to Cheskie's Bakery on Bernard and Park for the amazing deal on pastries and to the Tremblant Film Festival for sponsoring the party!

Thanks to all the volunteers who helped and to everyone who showed up. See you at the next event to be announced soon on the MFG web site. Consider joining the MFG if you are in the film/TV business in Montreal. Ez

Paths I've Crossed

("Roundabout Triangle in Rectangular Frame", Ezra Soiferman, France, 11/06)

ODE TO THOSE WHOSE PATHS I'VE CROSSED
(Ezra Soiferman, 1/27/07, Montreal)

They made me love the world
They made me love myself
For this alone I love the world
For this alone I love them too

Ode to those whose paths I've crossed
Ode to those round the next bend...

Rodney DeCroo Shows

(Click for bigger version of this pic)

Are you a fan of Springsteen, Mellencamp, Steve Earle?

If so, you'll probably love the music of Rodney DeCroo. Rodney's in Montreal for a 3 month stint playing various shows around town. I caught his show a Shaika about a week ago and was totally blown away.

On Friday Jan. 26th at 9PM he plays the legendary Yellow Door at 3625 Aylmer. Joining him for a few tunes will be banjo player and singer Maica from Co-op La Maison Verte.

Rodney will also be playing at Honey Martin's Pub (5916 Sherbrooke St. W.) each Sunday night at 9 for the next few weeks.

He'll be playing Shaika Café (5526 Sherbrooke St. W.) on Valentine's day too, and...

He'll be playing Shaika with Rae Spoon (as "Trucker's Memorial") on March 22nd. A rare treat to have the two of them in town together at once. Here's Rodney and Rae's Trucker's Memorial site.

Hope to see you out at some of these shows...


Ez

P.S. Sample a few Rodney DeCroo tunes here.

Bliss is on its way...

Friends,

My breakfast cereals and taste buds are salivating for this new "hempmilk" product.

Coming soon, says Mike Fata and friends at Manitoba Harvest in their newsletter I got just now.

You heard it here first:

"Happy & Healthy 2007! We hope that you and your family are off to a prosperous start to 2007. We have been working very hard putting together Hemp Bliss, the world's first certified organic hempmilk. It will be available soon in Original, Vanilla and Chocolate for all to enjoy. Stay Tuned!"

Ez Sez: Plants putting cows out to pasture where they belong.

Seed by seed, box by box.

I love it... (and I haven't even tried it yet.)

Ez

World's Worst Non-Existent eMail Address

One eve in 2002 it occurred to me that the world's worst and most difficult email address would have to be:

underscore_dash-at@dot.com

(Say it aloud for kicks.)

That's my post for the day. A little somethin' to ponder.

Regards from my ponderosa to yours.

Ez

Ez Sez: Woody Sez'd First (sort of...)

(Click pic for juicier view)


("Woody Series", c. 2003, NYC, Ezra Soiferman)

I've been asked where the name "Ez Sez" comes from and today I'd like to shed some light on the background of my blog's name.

Legendary American folksinger Woody Guthrie had a newspaper column called Woody Sez back in the day.

Here's a brief description of the column from the California Historical Society:

"In 1939 Guthrie penned a column entitled 'Woody Sez' for the People's Daily World, the West Coast Communist newspaper published in San Francisco. The 'Woody Sez' columns provide evidence that the time Guthrie spent in California during the late 1930s, observing first-hand the harsh conditions experienced by the migrants from the dust bowl, contributed to radicalizing the folksinger."

So you see, I'm not the first by any means to have a column or blog called so-and-so Sez. Never claimed to be. Ez Sez just has a nice ring to it and it's an honour to carry on the 'Sez' tradition that Woody - one of my very favourite writers and singers - employed.

Upon investigation - after I began my early Ez Sez writings in a notepad about a year ago - I discovered that in the early 1930s the poet Ezra Pound had a newspaper column entitled Ez Sez as well.

Plus ca change... plus ca reste pareil.

Keep sezzin' on your end too. No Ezra or Woody will ever own the sole right to speak his or her mind with a catchy column or blog name.

Ez

P.S. To learn what Woody thought about what Love is and how it works, you'll probably want to read his poem "My Secret". Don't say I didn't warn you...

Yes

(Click image for juicier view)


("Waxen", Barcelona/London/NYC, 2006, Ezra Soiferman)

Yes

All I can say in these hard times is Yes
Yes to no
Yes to maybe
Yes to yes

Ez

P.S. Happy birthday Lorraine and Fitzy too.

Luck & love...

(Click notebook for juicier view.)

A Loonie For Your Thoughts...

(click image for juicier view)


In honour of the Ville de Montréal upping the parking meters in parts of the city by 50% recently (2 hours in Old Montreal is now $6 instead of $4 and a quarter now gets you 5 long minutes in some of those fancy new digital meters), I present this new series called "A Loonie For Your Thoughts" from the EzraPix Archives.

The shots were taken in Montreal and New York City.

I can only guess the city needed to raise extra funds to pay for all those new street signs on Park Avenue...

Ez

More EzraPix series at: EzraPix.com

Holy hemp!

This morning, MSNBC features a story by The Today Show's food editor extolling the many virtues of hemp food.

Am I dreaming?!

Read it here: "Nutty hemp a hot food trend"

Enjoy!

Ez

UPDATE: There's now a clever satire about the above article online at: "Hemp: A Coming Epidemic!"

The Winter Again

("L'Icense Plate", 1/98, Montreal, Ezra Soiferman)

Montreal finally had a snowstorm today. First biggie of the season.

And we thought the days of snow in town were over...

Ez

Self-Portrait

The thought yesterday brought...

Who is Josh Ritter?

(Photo of Josh Ritter in Ireland by Doug Rice)

In case you've never heard of this smiling dude, I present here for you a hot tip:

Josh Ritter.

Twang, heart, soul and fire. All pouring from this Idaho singer's mouth and your stereo speakers. Been a fan since album 2 and now he's up to album 5.

A brand new slide show from his latest tour (in Ireland where apparently he's a household name for years already) was just put online today. One of the best rock photo series I've seen in years. Let it load up for a moment then slide away...

PLUS: Josh, who always seems to be in a great mood in concert (a real gift) is on Letterman tonight (Friday, Jan 12, 11:35PM, CBS). (Update: you can now see the performance on YouTube.)

When Josh comes through Montreal I bring him hot bagels backstage (I do this for all my favourite artists when they come to town). Last time, he dedicated a song to me and the bagels asserting that "Montreal bagels are the closest bread comes to crack."

Well, Josh, your songs are the closest music comes to hot bagels.

Rock on everyone. Enjoy the tunes and slide show pix.

Ez

Visit Josh Ritter's official site.

Or his official fansite.


("Bride's Bagel", 9/00, Montreal, Ezra Soiferman)

A Bog On The Blog

(Click image for juicy view)


I was going to call this EzraPixSeries one "Hands, Trunks & Feet" but opted for the title "A Bog In The Blog" instead.

Might it be because it's both raining big thick raindrops AND snowing soft, slow flakes at the same time outside now?

Could very well be.

God bless Mother Nature.

Enjoy the fresh EzraPix series. More pix series at EzraPix.com

Ez

73%

("Barceloner Boner", 12/06, Ezra Soiferman)

It took a humdinger of a junk mail to point out the following fact to me, and in turn, to you:

"Hi, Dude. I don't care why your one-eyed monster is so small, but 73% of women do. They are pretty sure that a bigger ramrod will make their desire stronger. You have the chance to change your life."

Here's to SPAM for bringing us the facts. And here's to that other 27% of women into smaller ramrods...

Like this lovely bubby who appears in a friend's doc about seniors and their sex habits.

As they say, oy gevalt.


Ez

"Kinky corsettes..."

The title of this post, Kinky corsettes, is actually the first two words of this outstanding song that I'd be eating with chopsticks in the left hand and a fork in the right if it were a Chinese dish.

To see Dave Sanders and his band Weeping Buffalo play live, drop in with a trail of friends to Sala Rossa on St-Laurent in Montreal on January 22. I'll be there. And about a dozen poets up on stage during the night. And a few other singers/bands Dave's invited. A night he's calling Looking For Tetro. (That dude on the flyer above.)

This may just be be hailed as the one-night festival that didn't call itself a festival and still sent you home feeling like you enjoyed something like you haven't in a while. That's my gut feeling.

You might like it so much you'll even try to sneak out the back door with a fistful of cash as Dave sez in the song.

Maybe see you there. If you go, remember to request "that Fistful song with the naked MySpace page". Well not naked... it's wearing kinky corsettes.

Here's to both chopsticks AND forks.

Ez

P.S. The official Dave Sanders site is here but it doesn't have the kinky corsettes song. There are four other great songs at the official page. Enjoy!

"That's so weird..."

I walked into a cafe today and bumped into an old friend. She looked at me kinda freaked out and said...

"That's so weird..."

I had to know...

"What's so weird?"

She was silent. Then she said...

"I was just looking at your picture on your blog a second ago and then you walked in. Whoa..."

I just replied "Cool!" at the time, but maybe the proper reply would have been:

"Sorry for interrupting, I'll leave you to be alone with my blog."

Blog etiquette... such a complicated thing.

Either way, keep enjoying the blog, folks. And if I saunter into the room, don't be freaked out... It's the very same me.

Ez

Shuffle It Up

("Smorga's Bored", 2002, Chicago, Ezra Soiferman)

Anyone who's used iTunes knows the power of the Shuffle feature. It basically randomizes all the songs on your computer.

Just wanted to thank whomever invented this function. It really adds that great 'buffet feeling' to another important part of life: musicalization.

Here's to mixing things up in the world and having a soundtrack to go along with it.

Ez