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Today and Tonight: Red, White & Igloo – Queen City Cartel Boombox 003

America. Political stances aside, the Fourth of July is the one day a year where mostly everyone will bust out their patriotic attire, fire up the grills and shoot off those fireworks they scored from Pennsylvania (or trek downtown to watch regulated ones). For a while, my family and I had the same tradition each year. We would camp at Southwick Beach, which was just outside of Syracuse. I have the fondest memories as a child of chasing fireflies, spending time with my grandparents, the smell of the campfire and the exciting but almost terrifying feeling of holding a sparkler and running wild. My “Uncle Kenny” (we weren’t blood related) would gather the family, head to the beach and we would walk a decently far way down, where the campsites ended and there was hardly anyone in sight. My entire family and I, under the starlight ,with the sound of the[...]

Column 9: The Sandlot Celebrates the Fourth of July

Every once in a while, a movie comes around and catches you off guard for its surprisingly spectacular use of music. Does it surprise you that The Sandlot is on that list? The 90s favorite is loved for many things, but I’d surmise that its soundtrack ranks low on that list for most people. It’s not that people don’t think it’s great (the 1960s music definitely sets the stage for a nostalgia explosion), but it’s just overlooked in favor of the movie’s other great elements. This Fourth of July, I urge you to re-watch this classic, especially the scene in which the gang celebrates the holiday in the most American way possible: Playing baseball in a neighborhood lot, wearing jean shorts, scarfing down hot dogs on their way to the game, watching fireworks in awe…all set to perhaps the best rendition of the “America the Beautiful” the world has ever[...]