Found these U/4 prawns at the new Rouse’s Market at Burbank and Lee. Knew immediately I had to throw a pair on the grill. Gave them the usual pre-grill treatment of Lucina Robust Garlic EVO, Lea&Perrins, Tony’s, and black pepper, but I could also see bacon wrapped with a bbq/Tiger sauce mix. And just looking at them you can tell they are prime for cast iron blackening. The new Rouse’s, along with Whole Foods, Fresh Market, and even Calandro’s have such a better seafood selection than I ever saw as a kid. Shipping and logistics are so much better than the good old days and demand is much more sophisticated as well. The new Rouse’s had fresh clams and mussels and Gulf oysters, jumbo lump crabmeat and crabfingers along with claw meat, live lobster and a nice variety of whole fish and fillets. You can get scallops just about everywhere now and most places have some already prepped, skewered, and wrapped in bacon, ready for a dusting of seasoning and a quick toss on the grill or into a skillet. This is, perhaps, the second best thing about this new, modern age we live in. The first of course is getting to listen to any music you want anytime anywhere for just ten dollars a month. When I was a kid, that ten dollars bought you one album, so other than what was playing on the radio at the time, you had to pick and choose your music very carefully. It is the reason why I was so late to the Allman Brothers and Gov’t Mule who I love now. Back then my southern rock dollars went to Lynyrd Skynyrd and Doobie Brothers. And you had to buy albums and later eight tracks or tapes if you wanted to listen to anything but hits. You could only catch one or two George Benson tracks on the airways if you were lucky and it’s not really Frank Zappa’s Apostrophe or Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon or Willie Nelson’s Red Headed Stranger if you don’t listen to the whole album straight through. A lot of people would make the same argument about Traffic, Led Zep, Bowie or the Beatles as well. Until You Tube and Wiki I had no idea the reason ZZ Top covered Hendrix so well was because Billy Gibbons band the Moving Sidewalks used to open for Jimi back in ’68. There will always be a segment of the population that embraces the nostalgia of “the good old days” but don’t count me among them. Food that is better sourced, access to all music ever recorded, much less industrial pollution (even though it is still way too much) and a much greater population of those who have survived cancer are just a few of the available points of evidence that life is better in 2018 than in 1968. I’m not saying there aren’t arguments available to the half empty side, there are plenty, but I like to choose positive whenever I can. Here’s to the half full crowd.Â