Pick Three with Shawn Fogel of Golden Bloom

1. Breaking Bad 

I have a history of getting pretty nerdy (obsessed) with certain TV shows.  When I was younger my uncle would tape The Simpsons for me on VHS every week.  I watched those tapes so many times that I had memorized the commercials as well as the dialogue.  In college I scheduled my classes around Law & Order reruns at 1PM on A&E, and probably knew more about Lenny Briscoe and Jack McCoy than I did about whatever class I was going to later that afternoon.

Nowadays I’d have to qualify both of these shows as “mild obsessions” compared to my relationship with Breaking Bad.  I am flat out HOOKED!  There isn’t a single flaw in any aspect of the perfect diamond that is this show.  The acting is superb, the cinematography is fantastic, and the writing is just unbelievable.  Vince Gilligan has created something that oscillates between funny and unsettling; something that is both full of heart and downright horrifying.  By the end of each episode my heart is beating so fast, I may as well be on Heisenberg’s blue super-meth!  At the end of four seasons, the characters are so real, so deep and so complex, I would argue they rival some of Shakespeare’s finest work.  Someday college students will be studying the development of Walter White’s character arc, his epic journey from milquetoast to super-villain.  And when they do, I say sign me up to be the professor!

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Pick Three with Grant Widmer of Generationals

1. Man vs Wild

The only thing I like to do more than watch Man vs. Wild is talk about Man vs. Wild, especially if I’m drunk. When I bring up Man vs. Wild, someone will inevitably say “It’s fake, there are youtube clips that prove that Bear exaggerates how much danger he is in.”

I guess I just don’t really care. He thought to squeeze an elephant turd into his mouth for the fluid, a trick he learned “from an old ranger.”

He weaved a rope out of willow branches to try to corral a wild horse to ride to safety. I’m a fan, I just like his style.

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Rock For Love Artists Take Over Pick Three: J.D. Reager of The Near Reaches

Born-and-raised in Memphis, TN, J.D. Reager is a longtime veteran of the local music scene, both as a solo artist and a member of such bands as Two Way Radio, The Original Cyndi, Pezz, Glossary and The Modifiers. J.D.’s current group, The Near Reaches, will be playing the Full-Moon Mixer at Shelby Farms on August 12 and Rock for Love 5 at the Hi-Tone on August 18.  He is also a founder of the Rock for Love benefit project, a partner in the independent label/arts collective Makeshift Music, a regular contributer to the Memphis Flyer, and a counter-jockey for Shangri-La Records.

See J.D. Reager  perform with The Near Reaches on August 18th at The Hitone at Rock for Love 5.

1.  Limes - Tarantula!/Blue Blood re-issue (Goner)
One of the more underappreciated bands in a town full of underappreciated bands is Shawn Cripps’ Limes.  This is a record that grows on you a little more each time you listen – like a great movie and that requires re-watching to fully “get it.”

Also, Capt. Harlan Tiberius Bobo  thinks Tarantula! is the best record he’s ever been on, and I think maybe that says something.
(Download 8 free songs from The Limes here)

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