John Beck

Athlete. Artist. Agnostic. Humanist. Skeptic. Unfinished.

American Idol

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I haven’t watched American Idol since it went live but I’m shocked that guy Nick Mitchell/Norman Gentle, whatever his name is, is still on American Idol. Incredible. I have no idea how he made it this far. He’s awful but he’s just so entertaining and funny and I’m totally going to vote for him and I hope he makes it to the finals. I wasn’t planning on voting at all this season but I will certainly be voting for him as soon as the lines open.

Die Die Die

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At work today a three year old kid circled his table and repeatedly shouted “DIE! DIE! DIE!”, regardless, it was NOT the most interesting thing that happened today.

Inglourious Basterds

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The trailer for the new Quentin Tarantino film starring Brad Pitt is now online. It looks pretty awesome. There’s not many films with Nazis in them that aren’t any good, throw in Quentin Tarantino and Brad Pitt we’ve got something special. I can hardly wait. Here’s the link to the trailer: http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1808404206/video/11988602/standardformat/

Ryan Newman captures first modified win at New Smyrna

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In only his second start in a touring series modified car, Ryan Newman drove to a thrilling victory at New Smyrna Speedway on Monday night.

Newman, who started seventh, piloted the No. 7 NY Aggressive Hydraulics modified through the field to claim his first win in a modified and a hard fought victory for car owner Kevin ‘Bono’ Manion.

“That was a lot of fun,” Newman said. “I have to thank Ted (Christopher) because he raced me clean there at the end. It was a pretty exciting race from where I was sitting.

“To win this race is a big deal. I’m not a guy from the Northeast but I know how important of a win this is for these guys.”

Newman quickly drove through the field and into second place where he engaged in a head-to-head battle with legendary modified driver Ted Christopher. The two drivers swapped the top spot numerous times over the final 14 laps of the 25-lap race.

Newman had to endure multiple caution flags and several restarts before taking the lead from Christopher on lap 21 for good to clench his first victory in the modified ranks.

“Tonight was my dad’s birthday, so I think this is a nice present for him,” Newman said. “I’m looking forward to racing and having some more fun here again tomorrow night.”
Newman will race at New Smyrna again on Tuesday. Action begins at 7:30 p.m. ET.

Delaware Water Gap with Mike Murray

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Yesterday was a beautiful day here in Trenton. The temperature reached 64! Mike Murray and I decided it would be a good day for a little road trip. As the previous week’s snow was melting a way we hit the road and drove up North to the Delaware Water Gap. The crumbling slums of Trenton were now behind us the glorious mountains were on the horizon. Along the hour and a half journey we discussed how awesome the state of New Jersey is. Moments ago we left the capital city and here we are in the rolling hills of Flemington, Clinton and Oxford. New Jersey has such a wide variety of resources in which all are relatively close to each other. We have big cities and small farming communities. Big sporting arenas and casinos to mountains and wildlife preserves. If for some reason New Jersey isn’t good enough, NYC and Philly are just a stone’s throw away, not to mention Baltimore/DC and Boston. We love this state!

Before we arrived at the Delaware Water Gap we stopped of at Hot Dog Johnny’s. A place I last frequented with Mike’s brother Jimmy nearly 4 years ago. It was delicious! The queue was out the door and flooded into the parking lot. After that we went further down the road into the Delaware Water Gap. We were very unprepared for this trip. Even though it was 64 and the snow was melting in Trenton, in the DQG there was still a foot of snow on the ground and it was damn cold. We braved the freezing temperatures and journey to the summit toward Crater Lake and were able to catch a few decent pictures, some of them are displayed on the right, others are up on Facebook. Regardless we had a great time, even saw some of our customers up by the river. Next time we visit will be this summer and we will hike up Kittatinny Point. This time we will be prepared.