Sunday, January 17, 2016

At the Corner of Central and Prime


Let us make you a meal..Pic courtesy of Central Market

Today

Today is a bright, 50 degree Sunday afternoon -- brisk and beautiful. Have already had my invigorating walk at White Rock. I had a cool blog topic about a Netflix movie, but a month went by and I’ve lost the impetus not to mention the relevant details on that. So today will be a combo of recent TV, streaming entertainment deals, and dining out. Probably enough to constitute a blog.

Golden Globes

I was annoyed by the Golden Globes last week.. Ricky Gervais was a bit of an ungracious arse in his insults toward Mel Gibson and Ben Affleck among others. I don’t see the point of creating antagonism where there was none before. You can be abrasive and fun without being a total snark.

Golden Globes also annoyed me by giving awards almost pointedly to new, unheard-of shows (Mozart in the Jungle, Wolf Hall, The Affair etc). I decided to watch some of these unknowns to see how well they deserved their Globes. It just happens that Showtime is offering a freebie special on Hulu-- first episode of several hit series for free. I took the bait and watched episode 1 of The Affair. I must say -- the Globes probably nailed it on this one.

The Affair

I watched episode 1 of The Affair this morning -- it’s about two married people cheating on their respective spouses. I figured it would be a one-dimensional soap, but it quickly unfolded into a neo-noir mystery. The story is in flashback form .. the man and woman are at a police station, separately giving their versions of something that happened. Their stories differ noticeably and the viewer is all agape -- what brought them to a police station? What happened? I’m on edge now to find out. It seems clear from their stories that they are no longer lovers or even friends to each other.

Amazon Prime

I have to say, we are in an age of entertainment overload. We have Time Warner, iTunes, Netflix, Hulu, Crackle, Vudu, etc, etc ad infintum. Now we can add Amazon Prime to that mix .. they have several exclusive offerings like Transparent and Mozart in the Jungle. This week they’re offering a year of Prime for only $76 (normally $99). A full season of a hit show can run $24 on Apple or non-prime Amazon. One movie rental is $5.99.. I figured it wouldn’t take much to run it up to $76. I’m now on Amazon Prime, God help my television addicted soul. I better watch my $76 worth.

Neighborhood Walmart and Central Market

About a year ago I praised the Neighborhood Walmart on Lower Greenville Avenue in Dallas. I thought it was a great remodel and a good alternative to pricier groceries in the area. Alas, I spoke too soon.. the store is being closed in 2 weeks. Apparently it underperformed. Am sorry to see that -- I liked their $4.99 deli chicken among other things. Some Greenville area snobs are glad to see Walmart go -- that attitude is also unfortunate. Now we lose tax base, local employment and we get a boarded up vacant building for weeks to come. Sounds like a lose-lose to me.

I decided to try out Central Market and see if they could address the void created by Walmart. My trial items were Starbucks Frappuccino 4-packs and 4-Way Nasal spray. Central Market carries mostly homeopathic type meds -- no 4-Way. They had only store-ground coffee and fancy specialty brands -- no Folgers or Starbucks. I was bummed that they couldn’t help on that, but decided to try their gourmet kitchen and cafe for lunch as a consolation for the failed scavenger hunt.

They offer weekly lunch specials in the 7-10 dollar range -- all prepared while you watch. They have a variety of items -- shrimp salad, ciabatta sandwiches and grilled pork. I had the ciabatta salami sandwich and fries -- while seated in their bright, modern sunlit cafe. I see why Central Market has been such a mainstay for these 15 years.. the experience was very enjoyable. I’ll be back.

Conclusion

I’ve stumbled upon some new things this past week, and am sorry to be losing Walmart. On the whole, it’s a week of positive discoveries. I have a show to binge watch, a cafe to frequent and $76 worth of benefits to squeeze from Amazon Prime. It could be better -- it could be a lot worse.

© 2016 Snillor Productions

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