Pineapple Express, kung fu, BBQ, Musa the restaurant

I find Seth Rogen funny. He may not have a lot of range but he's consistently amusing whenever I see him. In Pineapple Express he plays yet again the relatively straight but fun-loving and easy-going slightly chunky dude, this time teaming up with his old Freak and Geeks alumni, James Franco. Franco's a natural for that stoner role he's carved for himself, and in Pineapple Express he's just as endearing as ever. So, we've got this lovable pair who are funny whenever they're on screen (which is the most of the film), and the film itself has all the ingredients of being great -- the right atmosphere, the right plot hooks, and some likable, engaging characters. Unfortunately, the second half just unravels and gets out of hand and is silly and predictable and doesn't tie all the ends and lets you down as you watch it slip away, bemoaning the promises of something better. Like the drug, Pineapple Express is light and airy fun.

I went to a black-belt seminar on Saturday, seeing my old friends and teachers again. It was good to be back, working and training hard. Though called a seminar it was more of a relaxed "train what you want" type session. Myself, I worked on tiger-crane, of which I held a fragmented version in my head for many months. A complicated, lengthy form, I learned almost half of it in the two hours we were there. Afterwards was a BBQ at someone's nearby house. I say house, but when someone has their own swimming pool, cabanas, hot tub, sauna, tree-house with leather furniture and a skate park, "house" seems inadequate.

Someone pointed out to me that this has been the coldest and wettest summer in Toronto in a while, which at the time I wasn't so sure about but definitely this past weekend has put up quite the argument for it. I mean, it has been downright chilly these past few nights! I actually had to turn on my car's heater at some points. Which reminds me, on the drive to KW I had a near-religious visual experience. Saturday evening, Toronto overcast with no sky to be seen, dark and heavy clouds spewing down. As I near Kitchener, I can see that the sky is opening up ahead of me, a band of blue at the horizon. The sun is peeping near the edge where the clouds end and the sky begins. And as I'm cruising on the 8 off the 401, I'm struck by this golden beam. I keep driving and the walls of the highway (where the 8 dips as it approaches the downtown) and the road are still slick with rain and the sun is just at the right angle to blind you and it's reflecting on all these surfaces and they're all gold and all brilliant and you put your hands in front of you and are still driving and can barely see the car in front of you, it being nothing more than a vague outline, a darker shade of gold. Everything is gold, in every direction, shining. It was incredible, something I suspect I may never see again, something that cannot be captured on film or in a painting. Even these words are but a pale description, falling short of the experience.

Once I got to my destination, while BBQing we took in the remaining amazing view -- ocean blue skies, clouds sharply defined with orchid purples , a double rainbow, and an ethereal light to it all. Oh, I was in KW to watch UFC with friends, which was overall fun.

And yet, somehow there is more this day, which you may have heard about. I didn't make it home until after 3:30 or so, and that was about the time of those propane tank explosions near Keele and Wilson, not far from the Downsview Airport. I experienced it as this loud rolling rumble, which I had a first thought was thunder but it just kept going and going and going. Oh yeah, I remember the first distinctive bang, a crack that shook my apartment's windows. Nutty, to think about it now. And all those sirens! I had assumed it was the usual Saturday night crowd. Huh.

Ok, last point for this post -- I just had the steak and salad special at Musa and it was fantabulous, just amazilicious. The steak was a regular tasty steak except that it was covered in wine-soaked portobello mushrooms. This scrumptious duo sat on a bed of salad with balsamic vinaigrette and a few shavings of Parmesan. This combination of flavours was angelic, delightful, a veritable explosion of delectability. Highly and wholly recommended, if any of their other dishes are as good.

Ok, enough for tonight. I have packing to do the next few nights, but maybe I'll have another entry before my trip.

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