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