Can't Control Love

Sean Lowe does the unthinkable when The Bachelor heads to Thailand

Oh these two-hour shows. How many times must we hear Lindsay say amazing? Or that she’s scared to tell Sean she loves him?

Or what about AshLee and her fear of abandonment? Note to producers: We got it, okay? We also get that she’s in love, that she’s found her soul mate, that she’s no longer broken.

And Catherine. She’s so weird. And Sean is so hunky. And she’s so glad he accepts her for who she is.

Sean looks away when AshLee starts to cry. Could it be? Will he send her home? Or is that just clever editing?

All the girls pretend to worry about the fantasy suite, but they all say yes in the end, of course. That Sean. He’s a gentleman. He just wants to stay up and talk.

After three dreamy dates — and three nights in the aforementioned fantasy suite — Sean admits to host Chris Harrison that he’s made up his mind about who he is sending home. He says he’s fallen in love, that he thinks he’ll get down on one knee and propose. But, first, someone has to go.

Then the show trudges on to the inevitable video messages. Sean looks away when AshLee starts to cry. Could it be? Will he send her home? Or is that just clever editing?

On the day of the rose ceremony, it rains. “It’s definitely setting the depressing mood,” Sean says just moments before he hands out the final two roses.

“I do not want to have to send her home today. But I know I have to. I wanted to be the man who loved her forever. That’s what I really wanted. I just know that I’m not supposed to be with her.

“I’m heartbroken because I know this is going to be difficult for her. And I’m worried that she won’t be okay once this is over today.”

Okay. After that speech, we’re all thinking it’s AshLee. But that’s too easy, right? And so we wait for a twist.

“It kills me inside that I might break your heart,” Sean says during the rose ceremony. “And I also hope that you realize how much you mean to me and how hard and incredibly difficult for me it was to make this decision.”

Bleep! Lindsay says a bad word. But she gets a rose. Phew. One down.

Then, Sean sits there, second rose in hand, for what feels like three hours.

And then he says her name: Catherine. She takes his rose and breathes a sigh of relief.

A rejected AshLee storms off. “She didn’t say goodbye to us,” Catherine says.

“She’s pissed,” Lindsay says.

AshLee walks ahead of Sean, then flips around and says, “Just stay here.”

But he chases after her. “Can I just explain myself, please? I want you to go away with closure. I want you to know why I made my decision. I thought it was you, from the very beginning. I felt like our relationship was — there was a lot of intensity there.

“This was honestly the hardest decision I had to make. I think the world of you. I don’t want you to ever doubt that. I did not want to hurt you.”

She just stares at him. She doesn’t even blink. Then she turns and gets into the car.

“This wasn’t a silly game to me,” she says. “This wasn’t about a joy ride. And about laughter and joking and having fun.” She’s wide-eyed and a little crazy. But no tears. Not yet.

“I let him in, and I loved him,” she says, as the tears start to fall. “I just feel real heavy in my heart. It’s the ultimate reject.”

Oh, AshLee. You will have your revenge — er, chance — as the next Bachelorette, perhaps?

AshLee was the first to declare her love for Sean. A lot of good it did her.

Photo courtesy of ABC

AshLee was the first to declare her love for Sean. A lot of good it did her.

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Vinyl Record News

Dallas record store chain Josey Records spins new location in Garland

Josey Records

Vinyl at Josey Records

Dallas music maker Josey Records has extended its reach east: The record store chain, whose empire includes one of the largest single independent record stores in the U.S., has opened a location in Garland, at 1005 Northwest Hwy., at the intersection of Centerville Road, where it's selling its trademark assortment of vinyl records, CDs, cassettes, turntables, music posters, new releases, and music accessories.

This is the sixth location and the third in the Dallas area, joining the original in Farmers Branch which owners Waric Cameron and Luke Sardello opened in November 2014. They've since opened locations in Plano, Tulsa, Kansas City, and Vidalia, Missouri.

The original location is a giant place with 16,000 square feet devoted to vinyl, 45s, CDs, turntables, and T-shirts. They do a good job showcasing new releases and collector vinyl — they made CultureMap's list of 5 best places in Dallas to buy vinyl records — and are known to host album release and listening parties such as a recent blockbuster celebrating Linkin Park.

They made headlines in June 2020 when they acquired the vast musical inventory of Bill’s Records following the death of owner Bill Wisener; Cameron and Sardello both worked at Bill’s, and knew the sprawling collection first-hand.

"It has taken us years to even start going through it, but in last two years, we've made some headway," Cameron says. "Bill's has its own audience, so we created a specific Instagram account, just for Bill's Records merchandise called @billsrecordsvault."

They chose Garland because they saw it as an area that was under-served.

"There are very few record stores in that area of northeast Dallas, Casa View, Garland, Rockwall, Mesquite," Cameron says. "We have customers who live over there, so it seemed like a good place for a store."

The storefront they're in was most recently The Music Store, which sold and rented musical instruments and accessories; but coincidentally, it's next to an address that was once RPM Records, a hip record store from the '90s.

The Garland store follows the same model as their others: selling new and used records and merchandise, and buying used goods, as well.

"One thing that's cool is that each location takes on its own identity," he says. "We buy used CDs, vinyl records, cassettes — we're a used resale business — and what we buy from our customers dictates what that store becomes. For example, our Plano store has a lot of classic rock. So we're looking forward to seeing what Garland gravitates to."

Garland does have one thing that the other locations do not.

"Right now, Garland has this incredible collection of jazz," Cameron says. "We bought a great collection of jazz records — someone called and wanted to sell it. We get that a lot, we buy major collections from all over the U.S., we even make house calls. So we saved it for the Garland store."