My Father and The Man in Black (Part 2 – Review)

/ riainthecity / 19 Comments

Jonathan Holiff said, ‘The movie has a star attached to it and thus it may have an appeal for movie goers.’ Well that holds true but you will find that the movie has more of an appeal because it is about you and me. It is a story so true to life that all of us can relate to it. 

My Father and The Man in Black

Director/Writer: Jonathan Holiff

Actors: Jonathan Holiff, Joshua Robinson, Saul Holiff

Duration: 90 mins

Genre: Documentary

My Father and The Man in Black: the phrase ‘The Man in Black’ holds a special significance for Johnny Cash fans, for we know that the man, the legendary man in black, always donned black. Hence, when I first heard the name of this particular film, I hoped and prayed that it will be about him and that I, as a fan, would take home some little known facts about Johnny Cash. After all, Jonathan Holiff is the son of Saul Holiff, Johnny Cash’s manager from 1960 to 1973, so he must have access to some awesome stuff about Johnny Cash, right?

Right. He did.

But I got to take home a lot more than what I had hoped for, in a good way of course.

What Jonathan has in store for us, is a universal story of parent child misunderstandings and one man’s journey to make amends with his father, beyond the grave.

I was rooted to my seat from the very first scene (you will have to see the movie to find out what it is! 😉 ) and I was genuinely disappointed when the film ended and the credits began to roll. I wish it had been longer! Reason being that the direction and story telling skills were incredible and I felt as if I was living and breathing alongside Saul Holiff and Johnny Cash and I didn’t want the dream to end!

The film also explores the relationship between Saul Holiff and Johnny Cash,to a certain extent, but the focus is on Jonathan Holiff and Saul Holiff’s relationship. However, Johnny Cash fans are in for a treat; the film has original audio recordings of conversations between Saul Holiff and Johnny Cash! (Do I hear cheering?)

A word of advice: keep some tissue paper handy when you watch the film because you are in for a roller coaster ride! One minute you will be tapping your feet to an awesome selection of tunes (Think Ring of Fire!) by Johnny Cash and the next you will be holding your breath to find out what happened between Jonathon and Saul.

The movie is suitable for all ages, is a visual and audio treat and promises to leave you with wanting more!

Disclaimer: I have not done a movie review for a movie I have loved this much, so please pardon my incoherence. I give it 4 thumbs up, hands and feet included!

P.S: Clicking on Jonathan Holiff’s name will take you to his IMDB page. For the film’s Facebook page click here and you can follow Jonathan Holiff on twitter @Holifffame

This goes out to all the dads! – My Father and The Man in Black (Part 1 – Teaser)

/ riainthecity / 25 Comments

Starting a blog post can sometime be the hardest part and then verbal diarrhea just takes over...

Becoming a father isn’t difficult, but it’s very difficult to be a father. – Wilhelm Busch

I have often heard the aforementioned saying but my dad has always made fatherhood look very easy! One might wonder why I didn’t do this post prior to Father’s Day and honestly I don’t really have an excuse for that except for the fact that I don’t think there needs to be a special day to make our fathers feel special and that every day can be used to do that!

My dad is a wonderful human being. He is kind, understanding, loving, patient and he always says the nicest things but not all fathers are like that and I know cause I have met quite a few. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that they don’t love their children but circumstances are such that they either don’t have the time or are not able to express it and that’s just incredibly sad!

Growing up, my dad often wished, and he has told me so, that his father would spend more time with him, perhaps just for a day but alas that never happened. Not because grandpa didn’t want to but due to the fact that he was always rather busy and time just flew by as it always does. Dad isn’t bitter but it leaves a void and leads to a vicious cycle, a cycle that is often hard to break.

Perhaps this is the reason that when I got to watch director Jonathan Holiff’s My Father and The Man in Black during NXNE, it hit right home.

I’ll be honest I didn’t intend on catching this particular film, I had a midterm the day before and all I was thinking was… ‘what are the symptoms of schizophrenia?’… ‘Can shaping be used as a behavior modification strategy for people who have lost the ability to speak?’ and the likes of that!

It was by chance that NXNE had organized a conversational showcase with Jonathan Holiff and I just happened to be in the same room as the wonderfully talented director! A friend of mine told me that we should attend this particular session and basically all he had to say was that the film involves Johnny Cash and I was like, ‘HECK YES! Let’s go!’ and the rest, as they say, is history!

I want to do a review of the movie and I will but for now I will leave you with a trailer of the movie and I will let you be the judge before I say anything about it!

Pssst, there is an interview as well! Stay tuned!

P.S: Let me know what you guys think of the trailer and all the Johnny Cash fans in the house say AYE!

No one’s judging you! well…apart from the whole world that is! :D

/ riainthecity / 29 Comments

You guys! have you ever come across a site you fell in love with the moment you laid eyes upon it?

Yes? No? Maybe?

For me, that first happened when Twitter came around and it has happened again! Go check out Judgmint and you will know what I mean!

No no! It is not another social network but rather it’s a place for people to confess their ‘sins’ and then you guys can decide how much they should donate to charity in order to feel less guilty if not be guilt free!

Here are some classic examples and yes some of them made me laugh! [Does that make me a bad person? wait don’t answer that!]

I can so relate to this! 


This is EVIL! I want them to PAY UP! 

OH NO YOU DIDN’T! [I think this one had the highest price tag on the site…wait…charity tag? what’s the word?!]

So what are you waiting for? Go on, use judgmint (@Judgmint) and do some good today! Oh wow that sounds incredibly cheesy! Seriously though DO IT!

P.S: Let me know if you guys like the site! Also, you just need to enter your email address to sign up! Down with lengthy and long ass sign up forms! YAY! SO much win! 😀 oh and no SPAM too!

Inappropriate amounts of love… and the end of a love affair

/ riainthecity / 30 Comments

We guys are close right? We share a bond don’t we?

Isn’t an internet bond still a bond, I mean sure it’s no ionic bond but still a bond eh? (what the hell kind of lame joke was that ria? TSK TSK!)

I have an unhealthy liking for lists! THERE I SAID IT!

If lists were a person I’d make sweet love to them! I’d cook, clean and bear it’s children and never ever complain cause lists are rad!

I make a list the moment I wake up, a list before I eat, a list before I read and a list before I go to bed. I keep 5 diaries, 3 for making lists, 1 for planning to make lists and 1 just to write sweet nothings to my lists in!

You know what? If lists asked me to, I would even give up twitter for them and that’s serious!

So obviously when I came across a list of 25 things to do before you turn 25, I was like YAY! HOLY MOLY! WHOOPA! WHAM BAM! you get the picture…

However most of the lists had repetitive questions and that was such a turn off. So here is a list of the top 10 things most of these lists say I should have done!

1) Have a really good one night stand with a gorgeous guy…

Granted we are close but still not that close that I disclose the answer to this to you… YET;)

2) Do an illegal drug.

Nope! I am from Singapore, I wouldn’t have been alive to tell the tale!

3) Confront a fear

Hmmm I can’t really think of anything… I guess I did sort of overcome my fear of heights!

4) Make a real guy friend who is really just a friend! 

DONE! and he is oh so awesome!

5) Try an exotic food whose name you can’t pronounce

PEEETZAAA anyone? 😉

6) Go to a pride parade!

Went to one in Montreal in 2010! LOTS OF FUN!

7) Finish College! 

Amen to that! and also THANK YOU GOOD LORD!

8) Take a multi day hiking trip

Done!

9) Look back on the past 25 years and make sure you have no regrets

Actually I am gonna start a series of letters to myself on this blog! Do I hear unanimous grunting? :p

Ok so I lied, I didn’t get to number 10. The reason being that I read a ton of lists and I got so God damn bored! No more lists for me from now on!

What about you? Are there things that you are trying to accomplish before a certain age? Let me know cause you know ria likes knowing! 

5 Things That Girls Do Post Break Up That We Shouldn’t Be Doing!

/ riainthecity / 37 Comments

So the title is a tad long but this has to be said! 

I get it… heartbreaks SUCK! You want to cry, you want to throw a tantrum or in extreme cases, ruin his life but HEY! heartbreaks are a part of life and SHIT JUST HAPPENS!

I remember my first major heartbreak…couldn’t eat for days, was distraught, blamed myself for everything and just freaking WANTED him! In short, I was going nuts!

And I know that I am not alone, a lot of us go through this but it’s time we stopped behaving stupidly due to heartbreaks! Below is a list of 5 things that girls do post break up that we shouldn’t be doing or at least be doing them in moderation!

1) Retail Therapy:

Hollywood has really glamorized this but just think about it for a second, so he broke your heart and the only way you think you can get over a heartbreak is by breaking your bank? Real smooth move!

Also, this is bad cause personally I have bought a lot of useless shit this way that I had no idea what to do with later!

 2) Haircut

I have not done this myself but just explain to me, why? Is he attached to your tresses? Your hair is awesome! Don’t cut it. Period.

Also, change is good but this could happen! 

3) Binge Eating

Ice cream is great but HEY GIRL! He is not worth those extra calories!

4) Turning into philosophers

Tweeting or blogging pictures like this. Need I say more?

It’s as if, ‘A heartbreak is like gaining a direct PhD in philosophy! I ain’t going to school for that sh*t!’

5) Behaving as if he is the only guy in the world!

He isn’t! Someone else is going to come along and chances are that he may be a douche as well!

This is how I look at it, being in a positive, good relationship is like achieving Nirvana and most of us are going to be stuck in this cycle for quite some time, so might as well BE AWESOME and logical!

STAY AWESOME!

Cheek to Cheek

/ riainthecity / 11 Comments

Oh hey you guys!

So Megan at Monday Morning Musings is having a Cheek to Cheek photo project over at her blog and I thought hey why not spread the word for her! After all, who doesn’t like cheek to cheek photos? They are sweet, adorable and make you go awwwwwwwwwww and ria likes all things awwwwww! 😀

awwww-ness taken from the project’s facebook page! ❤

She is doing a Parent and Child Cheek to Cheek photo contest (details are over at her page that I have linked above!) but I want to extend it to all of you. Got a cute cheek to cheek picture with your spouse, girlfriend, boyfriend, niece, nephew, kid, friend or pet or even your ugly dolls or stuffed toys? I wanna see it! Send it to me at riatarded (at) gmail (dot) com and obviously send your pictures with the little people to Megan (digitalmail (at) meganbroutian (dot) com) or you could send them to me and then I could send them to her. Technicalities, technicalities eh? 😉

So, the past one week has been a rather bumpy one here in TO. From a flooded Union station to shootings at Eaton Centre to shootings near the Scarborough Town Centre. To be honest, I teared up yesterday when I heard about the guy who passed away because of the shootings at the Eaton Centre. It made me angry and sad at the same time. What is this world coming to? I don’t want to have to hear about people dying… I want all of this to stop.

On a more personal front, t’s father passed away recently and I hope that he is in a better place now. Lots of love to you and your family T.

How has your week been? Let me know and yes, do send me the photos! Thanks! I’ll be putting them up on this blog! 🙂

Being thankful

/ riainthecity / 36 Comments

Many a times I find myself in a situation whereby I am asked what I’m thankful for. It is one of those questions that I find really hard to answer because quite frankly there is just too much to be thankful for.

There are so many things that we rant or crib about everyday but take a moment to take a look around and to see how many rights there are in your life before you start complaining about the wrongs.

So here is a list of things that I am thankful for and then I want to know what YOU are thankful for (:

I am thankful for… my grammy telling me, when I broke my tooth and thought that I was ugly, that ugly ducklings turn into beautiful swans.

I am thankful for… my mom being alright and coming back home from the hospital.

I am thankful for… being with you.

I am thankful for… my family.

I am thankful for… knowing that everything will be ok in the end.

I am thankful for… having a warm meal waiting for me when I get back home.

I am thankful for… having clothing on my back and a shelter above my head.

I am thankful for… having so many people in my life who really do give a crap about me and are willing to put up with my eccentricities. Seriously, how do you guys do that?!

I am thankful for… the summer and the winter and the spring and the fall. Wheeee! (changing weathers do make me unusually happy! :D) 

I am thankful for… being able to express myself using words, I don’t know what on earth I will do without that!

I am thankful for… being alive and for being in good health.

I am thankful for… everything that has happened in my life so far and events that have made me the person that I am today. I know that I crib and complain about things at times (ok many times… sometimes even during the same day ;)) but I know that God has a plan.

I am thankful for… having YOU GUYS in my life!

Seriously though, I find a lot of things and people cute and adorable. I don’t know why is that but it just is! and I guess I am thankful for that too! 😀

But enough about me! What are you thankful for? 

P.S: TTC, I have got a bone to pick with you! I am not thankful for you! STOP breaking down already! >.< NOT COOL!

Twitter & Other MESHy Stuff

/ riainthecity / 31 Comments

Soooo… I am in twitter rehab, a self imposed one of course.

Why?

Simply because twitter is threatening to take over my life!

I don’t have the time to write, to read stuff (I borrowed 3 books from the library and read NONE. I KNOW, IT’S OUTRAGEOUS =p) and my attention span has been reduced to that of a goldfish!

I know, I know, moderation is key, but if you know me, you know that in ria’s world, moderation doesn’t exist. Why do I do THAT?

Also, I attended MESH this year and it was AWESOME!

For those of you who don’t know what MESH is and would like to find out, here is the link! GET CLICKING! 😀

The one thing that I really loved about MESH, apart from the talks (haha lies) 😉 , was the chance to meet so many interesting people from all walks of life. I actually met someone whom I’ve been following on twitter for quite some time! SMALL WORLD O_O

A shout out to all my lovely people, some of whom I met at MESH, while others are just wonderful people I’ve come to know recently!

Elizabeth from Bargain Babe Montreal – She scours for deals on the Internet and posts the best ones on her blog! She is fun and quirky and I adore her! (@bargainbabemtl)

Darlene from Business Wire – She is hilarious! Enough Said! Her twitter handle is @DWebb2pt0

Trisha – She is a writer and she is delightful! Also, she is the one whom I’ve been following on twitter for quite some time! (@evelyntrisha)

Alexandra Pope – My friend from the weather network 😀 YAY!  (@XelaTWN)

Lucia Vena – Digital Strategist @feastinc and an awesome lady! ❤

Shanti Hadioetomo – My Asian Love!  (@shantomo)

Jeff DeChambeau – Philosopher, techlover and a funny person!  (@jeffdechambeau)

Amit – I linked this to his blog but he is secretive and stuff. Makes him all the more intriguing right? 😉 He is awesome! (@ajethani)

There is someone else whom I want to mention in this list but all I’ve got for him is HOT GUY haha so I shall refrain from doing that at the moment. Also, I forgot his name >.<

Is there something you guys are trying to quit? How is that working out for you? Also, if I don’t follow you on twitter, leave your twitter handles in the comments section below.

P.S: t I am still waiting for you to get twitter!

Something Joel Said.

/ riainthecity / 10 Comments

‘Being funky is about being ourselves, being original, having that confidence and cool to wear what you want, say what you will. The fashion industry in London is now having a reinvigoration of old models to take back the fashion walk ways… I am talking about 70, 80 year olds who dress as funky and as stylishly as any pop star walking down Hollywood. This for me, is funk, because funk is not about the young and hip. It’s about having the guts to carry something forward. Being an anarchist, a revolutionist, a deviant. For me, I managed to be funky again by daring to do the kind of art I like…

During my BA, I was trying too hard to be a good artist.

Now, having a more liberal arts education in London, I don’t see my life and art as two different entities. Now, I just do what I like to do, like how I always do in my life, but just translated into the language of contemporary art.

I always had a passion for cinema. Now, Sci-Fi fantasy films are the major focus of my work as an artist, homeboy and a proletariat.’

Joel is a dear friend of mine and this was his submission for The Uninspired Chronicles. You can interpret it in anyway you like =] I LOVE IT!

If you love contemporary art, you can visit his site here.

Pointless

/ riainthecity / 36 Comments

I just want to burst into tears for no good reason.

Stupid hormones.

Typing this post seemed like such a good idea.

I want to fly away.

Honestly, right now, i’d give anything to be a bird.

Isn’t summer supposed to be a happy time? I feel caged, oh hey I sound like my 19 year old self! YAY! whoopdef*ckingdo!

How is your summer coming along? Put a caption on the picture below?

Image