Glow Habs Glow

Don't you mope

Habs have hope

Go Toke Go!

Good luck to newly-promoted Canadiens goalie Dustin Tokarski and the whole team. 

Take a look at previous Montreal playoff goalie miracles.

Ez

Yes we can...

(Crushed, 5/2014, Montreal, by Ezra S.)

Half Upon the Curb

(Half Upon the Curb, 5/14, Montreal, by Ezra S.)

Trash TV

(Trash TV, 4/14, Montreal, by Ezra S.) 

A usual site these days... 

abandoned tube TVs

plunked upon the pavement 

left behind to be smashed, trashed 

and carted of to the landfill

Had your fill of Trash TV?  

Ez

Happy beardsday...

(click pic quick for juicy view)

For my birthday, this past Sunday, I created the photo series above.

In a nutshell… as my beard got sheared, things got weird!

Ez

Bring the Bonfire

Click the image above to watch

Hello Again Friends and Foodies!

Here is the 2nd Urban Bonfire video I directed: "Bring the Bonfire: Epis. 1 - Blackstrap BBQ"

This one has Urban Bonfire's Ryan Bloom taking a stock Kamado Joe grill out on the road and challenging award-winning Blackstrap BBQ "Pitmaster" Dylan Kier to a flame-filled duel to see if his famous steaks, ribs and pork roasts come out as well on the "Joe" as with his prized, industrial-grade hickory smokers.

Please watch the video to find out and thanks for sharing it with your food-lover friends.

You can also visit Urban Bonfire's Facebook page for lots more backyard and BBQ-related fun.

If you still haven't seen the first video in this series, "Meet Urban Bonfire", you can watch it here. Thanks to all who checked it out last week and sent feedback. I loved reconnecting with you all.

Have a great weekend,

Ez

It's Bonfire time...

(click to watch "Meet Urban Bonfire")

Spring is here and warm outdoor time is (~hopefully~) right around the corner up here in Montreal and out where you are.

Cool news to share... I was asked by an old friend, Ryan Bloom (co-owner of the exquisite Rustique Pie Kitchen), to direct two short films for his brand new venture, Urban Bonfire, located right next door to Rustique on Notre-Dame West in St-Henri.

Ryan describes Urban Bonfire like this: "Our goal is to work with people and their spaces to maximize both the economic and experiential elements of every rooftop, balcony, backyard, deck or country home they want to bring to life."

Urban Bonfire will not only sell you a sweet barbecue, they'll also take your backyard and whip it into an oasis for family & friends. For Ryan and Urban Bonfire partner/designer Stefan Marchant, everything revolves around "Celebrating Outdoor Gathering Spaces".

And that's exactly what we went for in the two videos we created for their gorgeous new shop.

Please watch the first video, Meet Urban Bonfire, which just launched on the store's website and on YouTube. It features music by among others, another old friend, Dylan Silverstein, and was deftly edited by Rebecca Lessard.

If you enjoy the video, feel free to share with a friend who may need a barbecue, some grilling accessories, or even a spruced-up backyard.  There's even a bbq promo on now at the shop too.

The 2nd video, in which I follow Ryan and a barbecue to Verdun's beloved Blackstrap BBQ, will launch next week. I'll share that with you then.

Enjoy the spring! Hope you're outside grilling and chilling soon...

Ez

Presque-Spring…

"Log Peddler", 2/13, Montreal, by Ezra S.

It was one of those
"that was a cold one"winters
"that was a hard one" winters
"that was a long one" winters

But we have emerged at what feels like the other end
And the sun is burning on through

Happy presque-Spring from Ez to you.

Winter rolls along…

"Slush Balloons", 1/14, Montreal, by Ezra S.

Holiday cheer...

Happy holidays to all from ezsez.com.

Eagle

"Self portrait as an eagle on the surface of a trampoline", Oct. 2013

Smith's Falls, ON, by Ezra S.

Fuzzy Cactus

("Soft & Fuzzy", May, 2013, St-Adolphe d'Howard, QC, By Ezra S.)

Sometimes even a cactus looks soft and fuzzy. But be careful….

Water drops...

"Water Drop Leaf", Oct. 2013, Montreal, By Ezra S.

On the bus...

Me and Lulu on the bus to go skating with her class. Fun times!

Nuages...

"New Age Nuage" (8/2012, Montreal, by Ezra S.)

...Then there was the time what looked like America floated by in a sunset cloud...

Wire Flyer

"Wire Flyer"  (12/2012, Montreal, by Ezra S.)

Things can rest and things can soar.

Love to all from Montreal.

Ez

Daisy in the rain...

"Wet Daisy", 6/13, Laurentian Mountains, by Ezra S.

Took this wet daisy pic over the summer after an overnight rainstorm. Now it's Fall and we're on our 11th straight day of sun in Montreal.

In spite of government shutdowns, debt ceilings, innumerable wars, radiation-filled oceans, and all the other swirling, whirling and twirling chaos around us, it's nice to know there's still sun, rain and purty flowers.

Thanks for dropping by EzSez to sniff the flowers.

Ez

Big hemp news from California

"Hemp Leaf" by Ezra S., 7/10

Mazel tov! After a decades-long ban, hemp, aka the non-psychoactive sister of marijuana, is now legal to farm again in California.

Hemp can be used to make everything from food, fuel, fibre, fabric, paper, paint, pretzels, plastic, soap, rope, concrete and coats... And a lot, lot more.

From this SF Bay Guardian article: "The California Industrial Hemp Farming Act (SB 566) was signed into law on Wednesday by Gov. Jerry Brown, after years of deliberation dating back to 1999, a process that included multiple gubernatorial vetoes. The freshly signed law will allow approved California residents to grow hemp for industrial purposes by reclassifying the once-felonious plant as a "fiber or oilseed crop."

Right on, California!

Ez

Update: There is one big caveat to all this... Federal approval. Here's more on that from the Huffington Post.

My new documentary: "Dockside to Bedside: 100 Years of Herzl"

(above: Trailer for "Dockside to Bedside", 1 min.)

Friends,

Good news... The team and I have created a brand new hour-long TV documentary: "Dockside to Bedside: 100 Years of Herzl".

I spent a year as a “fly on the wall” at the Goldman Herzl Family Practice Centre at the Jewish General Hospital in Montreal, documenting the institution's mosaic of patients, staff and stories throughout its milestone 100th anniversary year.

Located in the unlikely locale of a former Catholic convent on the grounds of Montreal’s Jewish General Hospital in Côte-des-Neiges (Canada’s most multicultural neighbourhood), Herzl is one of Canada's first free medical clinics and an innovative healthcare model. For a century, it has pushed the boundaries in areas as varied as family medicine, breastfeeding, teen health, urgent care, home visits for the elderly, drug addiction, palliative care and many more. 

Herzl patient Julie Lindsay, her newborn daughter, 

and Herzl's head lactation consultant, Carole Dobrich  

The film looks back at the clinic’s hundred-year history, from makeshift dockside dispensary serving newly arrived Jewish immigrants and Montreal’s poor, through its transformation into part of the bedrock of Canada’s medical landscape, becoming a recognized leader in preventive medicine and compassionate care. Today it thrives under Dr. Michael Malus, who is Herzl’s Director and the Jewish General's Chief of Family Medicine.

Dr. Michael Malus, Chief of Herzl

The film has an original score by Josh "Socalled" Dolgin (who scored my earlier films "Man of Grease" and "Posthumous Pickle Party") and was narrated by former CBC anchor Dennis Trudeau. It was produced by my wife, Alexandra Yanofsky and my old friend Christos Sourligas. Phyllis Lewis (who edited the Oscar winning NFB short "The Danish Poet") edited the film and Natalie Karneef wrote and researched it. Post sound and mixing was done by Matt Sherman of Gift of Sound and onlining was done by Rachelle Hamilton. The film is distributed by Incendo Media. A great big thanks to all the above and the entire team and all the staff and patients at the Herzl Family Practice Centre for creating this project with me.

Herzl's Dr. Mark Karanofsky kibbitzes with patients 

If you're in Montreal, tune in to City TV Montreal on Saturday, September 21st at 8pm, to watch the film. During the coming months, I'll have updates up at EzSez.com with additional broadcast dates, public screenings and ways for people outside of Montreal to see the film. 

Health to all from Montreal,

Ez

Update:  On September 18th, we received a great review from Mike Cohen at The Suburban. You can read it here. 

Heart-shaped tree

"Heart-Shaped Tree" (9/13, Montreal, by Ezra S.) 

Spotted this recently and it made me realize that even trees have hearts, especially those shaped like hearts. 

Here's to more hearts. And to more trees. 

Ez

The unexpected...

(Click article for larger version)

I share this article from today's CJN. 

Bagels to all,

Ez

Lightning bolt

So a lightning bolt dropped in just like that this afternoon during a heatwave's hard rain.

It arrived about 10 minutes after I had shipped off the master tape of my latest film to its broadcaster and about 10 seconds up ahead of where I was driving.

Happy to be here at EzSez to tell the tale and share the pic.

Love to all from Montreal.

Ez

Goodbye, Tony

(Tony Koulakis at Cosmos, 2008, Photo by Ezra S.)

A few days ago Montrealers were hit with the tragic news that Tony Koulakis, beloved retired chef of Cosmos Snack Bar in Montreal, had been killed. His younger son Johnny, who lived with Tony, was arrested under suspicion of having stabbed his father. 

I'd been a customer of Tony's since grade 11 and was blessed to have him as the main subject of "Man of Grease", a film I made in 2000 and which was released last year on DVD. 

The news of Tony's death hit me and so many others with a massive wallop. We all knew Tony, retired and sick at home with breathing issues, wouldn't last forever, but we never knew he would meet such an unthinkable end. 

So many people who were fans of the film reached out to me over the past few days to offer condolences to me and through me to Tony's family and I wanted use this blog post to acknowledge their/your extremely kind calls and emails. I was greatly helped through the past few days by all the support. 

As one Cosmos customer wrote in a moving letter to the editor today, it's Tony's family who will need the most support in the coming days, weeks and years. Nikos and Niki who ran Cosmos ever since Tony's retirement a few years back, have a big hole to fill in their lives. Their father and mentor is now gone. Their kid brother is in jail, and the future must look pretty daunting. When, and if Cosmos reopens (there has been talk that it may not reopen), please join me in visiting the place and sharing good memories about Tony with Nikos and Niki and their tireless support staff. 

As my wife Alex reminded me, we need to keep the good memories of Tony at the top of our minds to help ease the pain of the tragedy that befell him. 

Tony was known to some as the God of the Potatoes. I think I once read you can't kill a god. Tony will live on in every delicious breakfast I eat. Every time I walk down that block of Sherbrooke Street West where Cosmos is located. Every time someone mentions Man of Grease to me. And every time someone mispronounces my name the way Tony used to.

I'll miss Tony for the rest of my life. It'll be hard to find a star as bright or as memorable as him in any other film I make. The guy was a true legend and a complete classic. 

Just like the famous sandwich he made a million times over, each time with as much love as the last, the man was a Creation. 

As a facebook friend wrote, "Rest In Grease, Tony." 

Azer

(Ezra Soiferman)

Photo Exhibit

Dear Friends,

It is with great pleasure that I invite you to attend the opening of my new photo exhibit, "These Streets Magnetic".

I've been invited to show my work in the gallery at the Victoria Park building in Westmount and I wanted to share the news.

The show features juicy, large prints of documentary street photographs I shot over the past five years in Amsterdam, Brooklyn, Halifax, Manhattan, Montreal, Toronto, and Woodstock. 

Please join me for the vernissage on Thursday, June 27th, from 5-7pm in the lobby gallery at the Victoria Park building (376 Victoria Ave., Westmount, QC).

The exhibit runs until mid-September, in case you can't attend the opening, but it would be wonderful to see you next Thursday evening. 

Best to all from Montreal,

Ezra

Ezra Soiferman

EzSez.com

Stingray

"Stingray" (6/13, NDG/Montreal, by Ezra S.)

Mount Royal Statue

"The Angel's Reach" (Montreal, 8/12, by Ezra S.)

Streetlight Wires

"Streetlight Wires" (6/13, Downtown Montreal, by Ezra S.)

Can a tree get a parking ticket?

"Invisible Blood" (3/13, NDG/Montreal, by Ezra S.)

Phone book

 ("Phone Book", 9/2012, MTL, by Ezra S.)

Flowerfly

"Butterflower" (8/2012, Montreal, by Ezra S.)

All rolls along.
Sending hellos and hellos.
Ez