A Serious Man and Budget Food & Drink in Columbia

As I mentioned in a post earlier this week, I went to see A Serious Man on Tuesday at The Nickelodeon. It is a film by the Coen brothers about a man named Larry Gopnik trying to find balance in a personal world that seems to be crumbling all around him. His wife announces she's leaving him for a pompous-ass friend of theirs, one of his college students is trying to bribe him for a better grade or will sue him for defamation, his live-in brother has a nasty sebaceous-cyst problem and is not only malingering but also has a gambling problem, and his children are whiny little adolescent brats. He seeks out the help of 3 very different rabbis to try to help him sort out his problems.

I thought the film was quite entertaining and clever. Although, I appreciate the brothers' comedies like The Big Lebowski and Raising Arizona a bit more than this one.

My favorite scene of the movie comes when Larry is on the phone with the Columbia Record Club--(you remember the one, where you sign up to receive some free albums, but then end up getting sent a lot of crap you don't want and have to send back or get charged for it)--trying to resolve a dispute over a membership his son set up unbeknownst to him. Larry keeps repeating the line, "But I did nothing," over and over...symbolic of how he has done nothing to "deserve" what is happening in his life, but conversely has done nothing to change it. A very clever scene indeed.

The movie is worth watching. It also reminds me of American Beauty--same basic plot--man gets screwed in his personal life; learns life has to be actively participated in to be enjoyed...

image via here

While at The Nickelodeon, I picked up Volume 1, Issue 1 of Columbia's Super Budget newsletter. For those who may not know, Super Budget Columbia has a website and Facebook page as well, which give us poor Columbians lists of places to eat, drink and be entertained for cheap. I for one appreciate a deal, especially a sweet deal like eating good food or drinking alcoholic beverages on the cheap, so I decided I'd share some of my favorite most recent Super Budget finds with you:

Food First:

Mondays are Pizza Nights!
Free pizza at Kelly's Pub during Monday Night Football
$1 large slices at The Whig until midnight
$1 large slices and $.40 wings at Village Idiot* until 10 pm
(The Whig and Village Idiot pizza are 2 of my absolute favorites in Columbia)

Tuesdays are Taco Nights!
$.50 tacos at The Whig-see my precious post about this
$1 tacos at Utopia
or, if you want more pizza, $1.25 large slices at Pizza Man, (my 3rd favorite pizza in Columbia!)

Wednesdays
$1 large slices during Happy Hour only at The Whig

Saturdays
$1 Mean Bean Burritos after 6 pm at El Burrito

Drinks:
Mondays
$2 well liquor at The Whig

Tuesdays
$1 Bud and Bud Light bottles at Village Idiot*

Wednesdays
$2 drafts all night at The Whig
$2 drafts all night at Delaney's

Thursdays
$5 Wine Tasting at WineStyles, 5-7 pm ($5 refunded with purchase of 2 bottles of wine)

Fridays
FREE Wine Tasting 4:30-6:30 at Simply Savory

Saturdays
$1 Wine Tasting, 2-5 pm at The Gourmet Shop

Sundays
$2 import bottles all day and night at Village Idiot*

Entertainment:
FREE admission for Richland and Lexington county residents to the Riverbanks Zoo
every Friday through February 26, 2010!

*Offers good at the Village Idiot in 5 Points ONLY

Know of any other cheap or free food/drink/entertainment in Columbia? Please share!

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