Zebraic

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("Steps & Stripes" Peru/Detroit/London, by Ezra)

Every one of us has stripes of one form or another.

Ez

An Ez Sez Public Service Reminder...

("Branches Reaching, Sun Teaching" by Ez)

Be true to your self.

An old friend reminded me of this earlier today.

Now I share it here beneath the branches...

Ez

Posthumous Pickle Party

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Lots of news to share about my documentary Posthumous Pickle Party about Simcha's Fruit Market on The Main, Montreal's famous St. Laurent Blvd:

-Posthumous Pickle Party was created and co-produced by Matt Zimbel and filmed, directed and co-produced by Ezra Soiferman. Editing is by Andrew David and music is by Socalled. Additional footage by Socalled and Melissa Auf der Maur.

-The film aired on Vision TV in Canada on August 29th 2012. Read a review in the CJN here. Globe and Mail review here.

-The film was written up on February 21st, 2007 by columnist Bill Brownstein in the Montreal Gazette. Read it here.

-The film first played at Film Pop (part of Pop Montreal) on October 7th, 2006. The show was sold out (sorry to those who couldn't get in) and pickles were distributed afterwards. Read one fan's review.

-The film screened Thursday, Feb 22nd to a sold out crowd at Montreal's NFB Cinema as part of the Rendez-Vous du Cinema Quebecois film fest. Pickles were served again afterwards.

-The film has been profiled on Global-TV, CBC-Radio, CBC-TV, The Gazette, The Canadian Jewish News, The Montreal Mirror, Hollywood Reporter, Variety, Radio Centre-Ville and beyond. Thank you to all members of the media who helped spread the word.

-The film was selected as one of the best docs at the Rendez-Vous film fest in the May 18th, 2007 issue of 24 Images magazine.

-Canal D, the French-language documentary broadcaster, showed the French version of the film on Sunday, December 16th, 2007 (9pm) and Thursday, December 20th (1pm). Thanks to all who watched!

-The film won the Ville de Montréal Prize at the closing ceremony of Eurofest 2008 at Cinema du Parc. More info.

-The DVD is available through Perpetuum Productions. Email Ezra at: ezrasoif at gmail dot com to order a copy.

Simcha Leibovich, subject of Posthumous Pickle Party, photographer unknown

Thanks for all your interest in the movie as it was being made. Thanks to all who have packed the screenings so far.

Food critic Barry Lazar and klezmer/hip-hop star Josh "Socalled" Dolgin analyze pickles in Simcha's walk-in fridge.

The Film's Synopsis:

At the heart of Montreal’s St. Laurent Blvd., one of Canada’s most renowned and culturally rich urban thoroughfares, lies Simcha’s Grocery. A month after the death of owner Simcha Leibovich, a motley group of his customers return to the legendary institution to reminisce about the enigmatic entrepreneur and eat his last batch of famous homemade pickles. A tasty and irreverent romp through one of the last old-style businesses on “The Main”.

Featuring: klezmer/hip-hop wunderkind Josh “Socalled” Dolgin, the legendary, now deceased Montreal sculptor Stanley Lewis, food critic Barry Lazar and many more devoted customers of Simcha’s.

(Renowned sculptor Stanley Lewis and food critic Barry Lazar during the film's "taste-test" scene)

Above: Listen to the track "Mourner's Kaddish" custom-created for the film by Socalled with vocals by Giovanni "Subtitle" Marks.

Keep all the best things in life marinating,

Ez

The next Elvis on the charts?

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(Full-length CD released today on XL Recordings)

Remember where you were when you first heard the name Elvis Perkins?

Was it at Ez Sez? Was it right now?

Who, you might be asking, is Elvis Perkins? And is that his real name?


("Elvis Perkins [holding yellow hat] in Dearland and Clownland", Montreal, 2006, by Ezra Soiferman)

Yes, that's his real name and Elvis is none other than a dear friend of mine, a rapidly rising star and a true artist.

Not a bad combo.

I could not be prouder of Elvis on the occasion of his CD "Ash Wednesday" being released at record stores across the USA and Canada today and at iTunes too.

Elvis, younger brother of my old NYU film school friend Osgood, has overcome some unimaginable tragedies in his life and has had some incredible successes. This epic CD falls firmly on the side of the successes but speaks volumes about the tragedies.

I cannot rave enough about this disc I've been fortunate to have had for a while now.

Simply, it transcends.

This is code for don't rush to find it. It will undoubtedly find you.

Whenever you hear it, enjoy this music and have a good Ash Wednesday tomorrow too if you partake.

Ez

("Elvis's 'Dearland' band" by Ezra Soiferman, 2006, Montreal)

COOL LINKS:
Elvis's MySpace here. (Featuring the song "Ash Wednesday")
Official site here. (Featuring: "While You Were Sleeping": "...a trancelike feel and chilling lyrics." -Rolling Stone, 2/22/07. "...when Perkins started to play, the room was filled with one of the loveliest melodies heard in a while..." -Chicago Maroon, 2/20/07)
CD Review by ASU College Times here. "...stunning debut"
CD Review by The Recorder here.
CD review by NYUnews here.
Live show review by the Boston Globe.
Cool article in San Diego CityBeat here.

See the CD's first music video: "Without Love"

UPDATE:
Here are a few stories about the new CD that I've heard from friends who like me had the self-distributed version of it before today's official release:
-Dan has had the CD in his car stereo for 7 months now. He tells me a friend of his has caught the bug too. Her CD never leaves her car stereo either.
-According to her officemate, Anne listens to the CD once a day at work
-Ez once listened to the song "Ash Wednesday" on repeat for a whole day straight
-A friend in Montreal writes: wow. love him.
-What will your Elvis story be? Send them in to Ez Sez.

UPDATE:
Read a great interview with Elvis in the Village Voice (July, 2007) here.

Bobby D. on TV...

Every once in a while, usually during momentous events happening live, I'll shoot a few pix off the screen of the ol' Trinitron. Here's one of Bob Dylan when he was on the Grammies five years back.

I'll post a few other "TV Screen-Shots" on Ez Sez down the road.

Thanks for continuing to check back in to this site. Great to have you here again.

Always welcome,


Ez

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!

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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.