That popping sound in The Sandlot

I've seen The Sandlot at least a dozen times, and it was on the third or fourth viewing that I noticed a popping sound in two scenes. The first is when the boys tell Smalls to walk over to the fence and peek through the hole. The second is when the boys are looking down at the ominous busted baseball.

To me, it sounds like bubble gum popping. We see the boys chewing gum throughout the movie. The sound could easily be one of them popping a bubble off-camera. But somehow, the sound doesn't seem like it's part of the film.

I like to think that the popping sound is supposed to be part of the world outside the film, part of the audience. Maybe it's the narrator, popping his gum during a quiet moment in the story. Or maybe we're supposed to imagine the sound coming from an audience member, someone else in the theater.

I haven't decided where this falls on the scale of Creepy to Cool.

In which Cabin Pressure predicts real life

(I wrote this four weeks ago, but I had limited internet access while I was on vacation in Greece.)

On the plane to Greece, I listened to an episode of Cabin Pressure. I thought it’d be neat—Cabinception— and since it’s a sitcom, there wouldn’t be anything to freak me out mid-flight.

Well, I was almost right.

I listened to “Boston” (series 1, episode 2) and the bit comes up with Martin asking over the intercom for any doctors on the flight.

Half an hour later on my real-life flight, the captain made a similar announcement: “Ladies and gentlemen, one of our passengers requires medical assistance. If you have had any medical training, please notify a flight attendant.”

Fortunately, we had a couple doctors and a nurse on board, the man who was ill got better, and the captains didn’t have to yo-yo between diversion destinations.

(I didn't listen to any Cabin Pressure on the way home. Just in case.)