Happy 4th of July!!!

Dear Concentrate Readers,

The writers, editors, photographers, videographers, programmers, support staff, and office massage therapists at Concentrate will be taking a well-deserved week off to rest, recuperate, and honor the things that make our country great. 

We hope you too will enjoy this coming 4th of July with family, friends, and neighbors.

Thanks for reading our magazine and please feel free to give us your thoughts, ideas and complaints. My email box is always open!

In the meantime, we offer up a delicious Fourth of July cocktail, as well as some patriotic movie suggestions.

We'll see you again on July 10 with a brand new issue of Concentrate.

Jeff Meyers
Managing Editor


1/4 oz. Absinthe
1 oz. Blueberry Vodka
1/4 oz. Simple Syrup
Splash of Lemon Juice
Drizzle of Raspberry Liqueur
Ginger beer
Fresh Blueberries

Muddle fresh blueberries and add syrup, Absinthe, juice and vodka. Add ice and shake and pour into highball glass. Drizzle Liqueur and top with Ginger Beer. Garnish with one sugar cube.


1.  To Kill a Mockingbird (1962): "...all men are created equal...That’s no ideal to me. That is a living, working reality!" Atticus Finch makes clear that our Constitution is a living document that challenges us to embrace decency, fairness, tolerance, and the courage to do what is morally right.  

2.  1776 (1972): The signing of the Declaration Of Independence as a musical. Witty, clever and surprisingly historical (the song lyrics were based on correspondences from the time), they just don't make 'em like this anymore.

3.  Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942): Look, James Cagney rocks. Seriously. The guy could sing, dance and act with the best of them. And this infectiously entertaining musical won him the Best Actor Oscar. Well played, Mr. Cagney, well played.

4.  Rocky (1975): You may not have seen this in a while but it's instructive to remember that Rocky Balboa actually loses his July 4th fight against Apollo Creed. And yet, he's still a winner. There's a message in there for you overzealous sports parents. Yeah, Rocky is meat and potatoes entertainment but it's a damn tasty cinematic meal.

5.  All The President's Men (1975): It seems almost unforgivable, however, that Rocky beat out All The President's Men for the Best Picture Oscar. This Dustin Hoffman-Robert Redford masterpiece is as good an argument for necessity of a free and open press as Hollywood has ever made. Alan J. Pakula's movie is part thriller, part drama, part historical record, and all-American.

6.  The Great Escape (1963): The Fourth of July was meant for jail house moonshine. Or that yummy Stars & Stripes cocktail. This thrilling WW2 prison break adventure film is pretty much the tops when it comes to extolling the virtues of freedom, camaraderie, and courage. Plus Steve McQueen is pretty much as cool as cool gets.

7. The Conversation (1974). In honor of NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden how about an evening of paranoia about our country's intelligence agencies? Francis Ford Coppola's other 1970s masterpiece stars Gene Hackman as a state-sponsored eaves-dropper who gets the tables turned on him.

8.  Born On The Fourth Of July (1989) - Tom Cruise's first foray into 'serious' acting yielded mixed results, but what do else would you expect from an Oliver Stone film? Brilliant, over-heated, showy, thoughtful and messy, Stone embodies and is victim to America's conflicted view of itself. But if you're feeling a bit jaded about the current state of the union, this could launch an evening of politically cynical cinema that includes: Wag The Dog, Bob Roberts, Bulworth, Dr. Strangelove, The Candidate, The Parallax View, The Best Years Of Our Lives, Coming Home and, yeah, even First Blood.