ezra winton

Tyrell on Roadsworth’s stump

Posted by ezra in Art, Personal Travails

I was with my little brother Tyrell las week in downtown Montreal, and low-and-behold, in front of the huge shopping mall on St Catharines Street, we saw street stencil art that was clearly done by the infamous Roadsworth. This semester we are showing a film about Roadsworth at Cinema Politica, produced by my friend Sergeo Kirby. The new street art was part of a city project, which surprised me to hear, considering how political it was. There were stencils of fish and text that said “Overfishing, Overshopping” and the ones…read more

Sep.26

David Byrne is rocking my radio world

Posted by ezra in Personal Travails

Svetla and I have been diligently scrubbing and sorting out our newly-floored flat for the past four days, with some last-minute Cinema Politica schedule and finance stuff. While we’ve been keeping uber-busy, we have been listening to the ten volume set that Svetla has called Hotel Costes, as well as the FABULOUS line-up playing at radiodavidbyrne.com. You can listen directly from the site or through iTunes, and it is sure to get your feet moving and remind you that summer is still happening. The all-African set is astounding and reinforces…read more

Aug.31

And the Oscar goes to…

Posted by ezra in Personal Travails

To accompany the post below (from August 6th) I’ve uploaded this short trailer video of the recent crazy wedding in Bulgaria that saw Svetla and I joined in ceremony and celebration a third time. The cameraman has done a great job and cut this little ditty to the song “accidentally in love.” If anyone is interested in viewing the feature length version, speak to our agent. The video is password-protected, just type in “Svetzra” and it should work. Enjoy! Svetzra’s BG Wedding (wedding #3) from Ezra Winton on Vimeo.

Aug.07

Good news in Bulgaria and a christening

Posted by ezra in Dispatches, Personal Travails

I’ve been in Europe for almost two weeks and have yet to find the right time to sit (with wireless) and write a post. Here it finally is (pictured above is me in front of the church I was christened in and me with the priest, my godmother Villy and Svetla’s sister Joanna, who translated the ceremony for me). First the good news: My SSHRC (Social Science and Humanities Research Council) Doctoral Fellowship has been upgraded to a SSHRC CGS Doctoral Award, which means an increase from $60,000 over three…read more

Jul.16

Back from the dead and in BC

Posted by ezra in Dispatches, Personal Travails

A lot has happened in the five or so weeks since my last post: I suffered an evil sinus infection that laid me out for about a month and reminded me of just how much Quebec’s health care is in the dumpster; I applied a third time to the Canada Council for the Arts for Cinema Politica (hoping the odds of being turned down three times in a row are, well too unlucky for even us); I wrote my end-of-first year comprehensive PhD exams; I found out I passed (wooohoooo!!);…read more

May.27

I’m sick..

Posted by ezra in Personal Travails

Folks: I’ve been very sick with a sinus infection for over two weeks, and right before my PhD exams to boot! I will return to posting at the end of May.

May.07

Good news comes in…ones?

Posted by ezra in Academix, Personal Travails

While suffering the blow from the Canada Arts Council (for the second time, a jury didn’t rank Cinema Politica high enough to receive funding) and going to Hot Docs to discover, um, filmmakers narrowly focused on their own projects (I can’t blame them), I am delighted to report some good news. Last Thursday, April 17th, 2008, I received word from some faculty and profs at Carleton that I had been awarded the SSHRC (apologies for the instructive graph above – I did it for Michael) Doctoral Fellowship – meaning I’ll…read more

Apr.25

April 4th, snow

Posted by ezra in Personal Travails

For all of you reading this in parts of Canada that aren’t experiencing snow – take a look at the view from my apartment this morning and remember how good you have it!! It’s snowing for god’s sake it’s snowing!!!! I want spring, please someone deliver spring to Montreal! To keep me sane while I’m blogging away and writing papers, I’ve been tapping the following online podcasts for entertainment, inspiration, and bits of imagined sunshine… + Democracy Now! (one hour daily podcast with Amy Goodman) + Film School (weekly 20…read more

Apr.04

In the dead of the night on a Greyhound bus, there’s always Deadwood

Posted by ezra in Personal Travails

Greyhound bus, 9:30 PM, somewhere between Ottawa and Montreal. Long bus trips are trying at the best of times, so making a two and a half hour sojourn twice a week between Montreal and Ottawa seemed a natural site for some intervention in the form of distraction. Every Wednesday evening after a long day of classes and TA discussion groups my colleague Michael and myself hurry our exhausted bodies and brains to the Greyhound bus station in Ottawa to barely make the 9PM run to Montreal. Once in our seats,…read more

Mar.09

If a jacket burns and there is no Facebook group, does anyone see it?

Posted by ezra in Academix, Personal Travails

The following post was originally (as in five minutes ago) posted on one of my graduate class’s blog, called Entertainment Studies. It’s about Facebook and burning jackets. I get it already – Facebook is great because it connects us to old friends that we might not otherwise have been connected with, it’s more subtle and informal than email or telephones, it’s a way to promote events (the film series I curate, Cinema Politica, has several Facebook groups). Many of these great qualities I have decided to miss out on, and…read more

Jan.18