My last Dine About Town 2004 experience was at Roy's Restuarant, located on Mission between 1st and 2nd streets. I ate there last night with a friend of mine.

My friend had been there before, and wanted me to try it since it was Hawaiian style fusion food. I had never heard of the place, so I was intrigued.

The restaurant was crowded, and while there were hawaiian sounding dishes on the menu, it wasn't exactly what I would call Hawaiian food. It's more east and west fusion food, with a Hawaiian accent. They did have butterfish on the menu however, which was cool because butterfish is like a staple in Hawaiian eating.

Anyway, the food was excellent and probably a notch below Chez Panise. Considering the prices and the quality of the food, it's a heck of a bargain. Chez Panise has unbelievable food, but it is so not cheap.

Here's the what I had from from the Dine About Town menu:

Appetizer:
Roy’s Hawaiian Fusion Sampler - Shrimp Stick, Szechuan Baby Back Rib & Kalua Pork Lumpia

Dinner:
Charred Garlic Honey Mustard Beef Short Ribs with Hanalei Poi and Lomi Lomi Tomato (I had to see what the poi tasted like. The colour was off, but it was real poi.)

Dessert:
Caramel Macadamia Nut Almond Tart With Our homemade vanilla bean ice cream (what's a hawaiian meal without some macadamia nut?)

My friend says the Szechuan Baby Back Ribs are her favourite. She had the Roy’s Classic Roasted Macadamia Whitefish with a Lobster Butter Sauce for her dinner choice.

They play cheesey loungey Hawaiian music, so it's like you're eating in a hotel in Hawaii. You can't escape cheesey Hawaiian lounge music when you're in Hawaii; it's everywhere.

Still, the food is so good that it warrants a return visit. Supposedly they have their own hawaiian cocktails on the menu, but we didn't try any of those and I'd go back just to see if they can get a cheesey Waikiki mai tai right.

So I saw the movie Mystic River yesterday, and it was interesting to watch the movie after having just finished reading the book. I was curious to see how the film screenplay and adaptation would compare to the book.

The movie faithfully sticks to the plot of the book, with some minor changes, and dialogue from the book is lifted into the screenplay. The novel was a crime novel, and like the book the movie is dark and gloomy.

There were a couple of what I would call schmaltzy scenes in the movie complete with sentimental loud music, where I'm looking at the screen and thinking what was that shot about.

I was surprised to see Kevin Bacon and Laurence Fishburne in the movie, because all you hear about is Sean Penn and Tim Robbins. It's an ensemble movie, meaning there really is no one character that stands out and the book as told from the point of view of the three boys.

Sean Penn was his usual explosive self. Having seen him on stage, you only get a hint (albeit a huge one) of the force of his rage and his powder keg personality. I'm not sure if it's his best performance since "The Sweet and Lowdown" and "I am Sam" I thought were better, but it's a good one. I've been told his performance in "21 Grams was fantastic, and the two combined might have led to his nomination.

Tim Robbins was fantastic. He really managed to inhabit his character very well, and his facial expressions and bod postures were so believable. Technically, Robbins gave a superb performance and probably his best.

It's not his usual character, and he probably got kudos from Academy voters for playing the role. I kept contrasting Robbin's character in Robert Altman's "The Player" with his "Mystic River" character, and I was amazed at how he was able to transform himself.

Robbins is a tall guy for Hollywood standards, and just by virtue of his height he has a commanding presence when in the room with most male Hollywood characters. Robinns managed in this role to make himself small, physically and emotionally, almost disappearing in a scene, and that kind of skill got him his oscar nomination. Plus his Boston accent was probably the best of the three main characters.

Marcia Gay Harden was very good as well, and by the end of the movie you could really feel sorry for her character. She was so tragic.

"Mystic River" is a damned good movie, but I don't know if it's Best Picture quality. Those schmaltzy musical shots gave the movie a subtle over the top feeling, like it's saying "look at me wink, wink, I'm an american tragedy". Those scenes were unnecessary because the characters themselves were all emblematic of the failure of the american dream and how one choice in life affects you for the rest of your life.

Catholics beware! I'm not sure if it's deliberate, but I thought there was not so subtle slap at the Catholic church in the movie especially in the light of certain recent scandals that have rocked the church. It might be just my imagination, but I got message.

And I guess other people did too. Check out this review from Newsday, Mystic River: Effect Eastwood shows a slow, sure hand in tale of revenge.

I thought this would be a lazy lay about the house day for me, but I ended up doing my taxes. I'm getting a huge refund! YEAH!!!

The refund is much more than I was expecting, so I think I'll buy a new TV, a dvd player and new vcr with the extra money. Maybe even a mini stereo as well, depending on what kind of deals I can get.

I'm going to wait another month just in case more forms come in, and then I'll get do some serious entertainment shopping.

So my weight loss is going ever so slowly, but I just measured myself and I lost an inch off the bum, one inch off my thighs, and an inch off my waist.

My clothes are fitting better, but they're still tight because gaining 10 pounds added two to three inches practically everywhere. To think that back in April I was complaining that my jeans were too loose and I was so not happy at having to buy smaller jeans since I'd just bought my jeans two months ago.

Maybe it's true what they say that every five pounds that you gain means you go up one size.

The loss of inches are coming from the walking and my light workout. Perhaps if I just increase my workout, I'll lose two inches off my thighs and two inches off my butt. And cross my fingers, my jeans should fit again. If the scale stays the same, I'm fine with it (although not very happy) as long as the inches keep coming off.