John Beck

Testing the blog and RSS feed. I noticed that images weren’t displayed properly when importing my blog into other sites nor when viewing in the RSS feed. Then I noticed that links in the RSS feed weren’t working properly, not viewing images and getting an error when clicking on the article link. Hopefully this will fix it. I’ve embedded an image in this article to ensure that it is posting properly.

A good buddy of mine makes some of the most delicious homemade pies. I wanted to create a logo for his pies that would really stand out. I’ve been inspired by industrial labels that are usually found on machines or machine parts. I think they are beautiful and often overlooked but when they are used in a different context then I think people are immediately drawn to them. In the case of my buddies pies, the taste alone isn’t enough to bring notice too, mainly because it is such a huge market and there is so much competition, hopefully this logo will draw more attention to how great his pies are. What do you think of the logos?

Last week I had switched hosts for my website. If you link to my site or subscribe to the RSS feed update everything to point to www.beckinabox.com. Today I finally got around to fixing the “Photo Albums” section and added a bunch of photo albums, in case you didn’t see them on Facebook. The blog is much easier to update now as well, something that really prevented me from making frequent posts. Some more minor changes and tweaks will coming in the next few weeks.

This is just a test. MobileMe may be shutting down their personal web servers so today I got some hosting from GoDaddy. I know, I should have done it sooner. The Apple way was just so damn easy. But now that I’m on a ‘grown up’ host I have plenty of more options. So this test post is to test php. Hope it worked.

It took me a while to figure out compression (still didn’t) but I finally uploaded my latest video. You can find it in the Artwork > Video section or you can click HERE. For the most part I’m happy with it. It’s a bit different from what I usually do. It was a spontaneous shoot so the camera work could have been better, I tried covering up the bad camera work with all the different layers that I have going on. I like how dark it is although I wish at certain times the light on my grandmother was a little better. Some shots look beautiful though. It was my first time using my Canon P&S camera, a PowerShot SD780. It shoots HD video on an SD card. I’m going to try to use this camera more so hopefully I will be uploading more videos, mostly music videos for Joseph Martin’s music. Doing music videos will give me more freedom to experiment with this camera. Let me know what you think of the video and how I can improve on the future videos.

My buddy Joseph Martin wanted me to tell you about his new website The Umbrella Engine. You might know Joe as the composer for many of my videos. He has also assisted me in writing a few of my videos. I have a new video which should be on the site tomorrow some time. The new video is a music video to a track by Joseph Martin titled “A Moment of Frost”. It’s my first video in almost 3 years. It will be up tomorrow and I’ll update the blog accordingly. Meanwhile, check out the Umbrella Engine and tell Joe I said hi!

Went to Wegman’s Wine & Spirits yesterday, this is what I got:

Yards – Brawler Pugilist Style Ale – 6 pack bottles
Brooklyn – Lager – 6 pack bottles
Dogfish Head – Palo Santo Marron – 4 pack bottles
Chimay Red – 1 350ml bottle

Laird’s Applejack – 1 bottle
Francis Ford Coppola’s Claret – 2 bottles
Francis Ford Coppola’s Rosso – 1 bottle

A little over a month ago I bought my first bicycle. I’ve ridden many bikes as a kid but this one is mine! For almost 2 years I’ve had my eyes on the bikes from Bowery Lane Bicycles. Not sure what took me so long to get one. They’re incredible bikes, excellent design and handmade in NYC using American steel. I’ve been following them on Twitter and saw that they were heading to Philadelphia. I asked them if they would drop me off a bike while I was working at DeLorenzo’s and they agreed. I offered them some pizza but unfortunately they arrived during the off hours (I still owe you guys). So, the 2 owners of the company, Mike and Patrick, hand delivered the bike to me at work. These guys are the coolest, we chatted for a bit and then they headed back to NYC.

Bowery Lane Bicycles offers 3 bikes, all single speed cruisers. I chose the Bronks Raw. I love the raw steel look and the visible welding plus it comes with a bell. I upgraded my seat to a Brooks B67 saddle. I got a Bern Macon bike helmet. I got the Beamer 3 headlight and the Superflash taillight both from Planet Bike. I also got the Kryptonite Series 2 KryptoLok U-Lock bicycle lock. I threw a cheap handlebar iPhone mount in there also, mainly for tracking my bike rides. I’m looking for a way to transport the bike in my little Honda Civic. Any suggestions? Here’s a picture of my bike, that’s my portable radio in the crate:

So, if you see me out on the roadways give me a friendly wave!